Calling All Poetry Potluck Cuzzins: A Conversation with Calvin Early

This week, I sat down with renowned poet, community leader, and Poetry Potluck founder Calvin Early. We talked about the power of words, the importance of community, and what it means to create spaces where people feel safe enough to be seen and heard. 

As someone being honored for his impact at Charles Hadley Park, Calvin reflects on the journey that brought him here, the people who poured into him along the way, and why legacy is really about service. From poetry and storytelling to mentorship and community building, this conversation is full of wisdom, heart, and reminders that your gifts were never meant to be kept to yourself. 

Whether you're a poet, creative, community advocate, or someone trying to find your voice, this episode will remind you that the things we create can outlive us and continue to bring people together long after we're gone. 

Pull up a chair. You're going to want to hear this one 

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Welcome, welcome, welcome, y'all. This is a very special episode of Girl Come Sit With Me. And in honor of Men's Health Month, I decided to switch it up a little bit and say, you know what? Hey, sir, come sit with me. Y'all, we have Calvin Early in the building. Calvin, how are you doing today?

SPEAKER_01 0:19

I'm doing beautiful. I'm doing I'm in my happy twelve. So I'm I'm in a great space right now.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

The things that you've been making shake is insane. Thank you. Y'all, pay attention to his shirt. So his shirt says poetry potluck. So Calvin, you so Calvin is the owner of the Poetry Potlo. Now, I know many times when we hear poetry potluck, we think poetry and food. But one of the things I realize is the poetry potlook is so much more than that. It is the community, it's also the resources. So I signed up for health insurance when I moved down here at the poetry potluck. My sons love, they're always there's always different activations. It even gives opportunities to those in the community like myself. I was honored to be at multiple.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

So like the it's here to help everyone.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

And that is exactly what it's doing. That is exactly what it's doing. And fun fact, Joy named my podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:25

Hey girl, come sit with me. Let's talk about love and identity. We've been breaking chains, healing from pain, laughing through storms and dancing and rain. Hey girl, come sit with me.

SPEAKER_03 1:38

Because the way you're able to make these opportunities, not just for us as individuals, but also for our community, you literally bring the poetry pot look to all of these different historical black-owned places, places that are for us. And what inspired you, or how did you even curate that idea?

SPEAKER_01 1:59

So that'll take me back to something you you said earlier. And it's I only bring it up because it's a point for me to make.

SPEAKER_03 2:15

It feels like a collective.

SPEAKER_01 2:16

Yeah, and it started for that reason. It started because there were poets, simply poets and creatives who just didn't know each other. They were activating in the same city, but in almost like separate communities that occasionally intertwined. But a backyard barbecue is one of the most comfortable spaces for people to get together. And it started as a legit just a backyard barbecue. Everybody brings something. We did a little poetry, you know what I mean? Because it was what the people needed. And everything that's grown into the poetry potluck since then has been a contribution from the thoughts, the actions of the people who attend the poetry potluck.

SPEAKER_03 3:00

I love that. Even when I'm there, you feel, I remember when I first moved, I'm very scary when it comes to my children or very protective, as most parents naturally are. But when we went there, I automatically felt like my kids are safe. We're good. Even other adults are looking out for my kids. You know, it's really a family. When you say cousins, that's a real thing. You truly have embodied that. And now you've expanded it because the poetry potluck even happens out of town sometimes.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Yeah. Yeah. So we um in 2023 was the first time we took the poetry potluck on the road. We went to New York. Um, well, actually 2022, we went to New York and then again in 2023. Um and that was like really what sparked it, just having this desire to see like, what does this look like in another space? Does it still hold up? Um, years ago, 2014, I was invited to Abu Dhabi to go and perform. And I remember feeling like is this gonna resonate with people? Um, and I did my work, I had a great response from the audience. People came up to me and talked to me about my poetry, and it was a reminder that like no matter how different we are, we do we do share a lot of the same series, sit similar experiences. We laugh, we love, we experience mourning, we experience hardship. Like these things are common to all people. Um, and the same thing here, I knew I felt like the poetry pop luck would work in other spaces because they shared interests of people in different spaces. It's exact exactly the same. Absolutely no matter where you are, people desire and want fellowship. No matter where you are, people need access to vital resources. All of these things are common. People want to go out and have a good time without worrying about the cost of food and the cost of drink. It does not matter where you go, that is gonna be a common thing, and that is uh definitely gonna be something that makes people gravitate towards a gathering like a poetry pop-up.

SPEAKER_03 5:04

And I don't think that people realize how often the poetry pop-up happens. Isn't it once a quarter, I believe? Well, it it's or every three months.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Almost like once a quarter spread out. Yeah, so we uh January is our annual annual family cookout. Uh April, we activate for National Poetry Month. In June, uh we activate for Juneteenth. Um June, Juneteenth, August, we do our maiden date, and then in November we do our annual Friendsgiving. So Friendsgiving is yeah, and then and then we do two family vacations a year. So though the ones that I mentioned are the are what we do at home, and then we do two family vacations. This year we did Detroit. What up though? Yeah, that was a Detroit was an adventure. Detroit was absolutely an adventure. The love there was so great, the Howard Family Bookstore, and it's one of again, one of the reasons why we why we do it, why we take it to other cities.

SPEAKER_03 6:04

And even it's the fact that you take it to other cities and you still manage to make sure you find black owned places.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:12

How do you even know in different cities to even go about that avenue?

SPEAKER_01 6:16

You have to activate uh activated my networks. Um I think early on in life, probably one of the first networks I could say I was a part of was just Miami in general, so schools. Might have been my very first network, people that I met in school. My second network that really like uh was probably like rap communities, rap creative communities. Later on in life, it was the poetry community. And then from being a part of the poetry community in South Florida, I went to Southern Friday and I started traveling to different places. That's a not just a national network, that's a global network. When I mentioned Abu Dhabi, it's because of that network that that happened. And now I'm a member of Black Men Build. Black Men Build is a national organ, a national power building organization. We have a national network. So when we just went to Detroit, we activated at the Howard Book Family Bookstore, which is the Black Men Build Hub in Detroit. So it's connecting to the networks that you have access to. You don't have to like reinvent the wheel, go somewhere completely blind. Somebody knows somebody that can connect you. And I also find that it's it's better that way because you have a familial kind of connection. You know what I mean? You're not a stranger off the street, it's not a cold call. It's hey uh Dom, do you know somebody in Atlanta who can connect me to this person? And when Dom calls, and Dom says I need to connect you to my friend Calvin, this is something totally different.

SPEAKER_03 7:45

Now I'm gonna you know what I realize? You are a historian. When you think about it, you are a wealth of knowledge. Every time I come around, I didn't realize a lot of people there had no idea about the vast history of Virginia Key Beach. Mind you, my granny would tell me stories about how they weren't allowed on South Beach. So they would go to Virginia Key Beach. And that was the beach for us. And you made sure everywhere you go, you make sure you educate all of us on the history and you make it more, you make the experience feel more welcome.

SPEAKER_01 8:24

Thank you. I I really appreciate it. I so my um years ago I went somewhere and I was I was in Oakland and somebody was taking me around, and um, me and a group of friends, and this young lady knew all about her city. And I realized like I didn't know that much about my city, and I didn't like that. So I made it a mission to start learning things specifically about black Miami after that, and then more parts, you know, not just our culture, but I want to know more and how it connects to our culture. Um, and then I had a desire to share that. And so when I thought about like where could the post- I never wanted to live in a single place. I felt like there was something else that was needed, and I like the idea of moving around. So where why? Because I think that that's one of the reasons, one of the ways that we built a connection to community. I think that people leave the city so much and it's easier to leave because you don't have a connection outside of your family. You don't have those rules. Yeah, your connection is your connection is to your family, your family can come visit you. Yes, your family can move, you know what I mean? You can come back and visit them, but the city itself does not move when you leave. The city is left behind when you leave. And we lose a lot of people that uh, you know, it's it's the brain drain, you know what I mean? Like we lose a lot of amazing people who would help influence who we are in this city, but they don't they don't have uh a connection to it for one reason or another. And this is one way I think that we can help people create connections to the city.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

I love that. And speaking of creating, one of the things that I enjoy is you open up the floor for all types of creatives. I'm talking about painters, I get my waist beads, I wait for the poetry potlet to get my waist beads. My favorite knitted hat that I have that's so cute that fits, because y'all know, you know, with all these lobels and everything. And she made it on the spot. So I love that. And speaking of creative, one of the things that I really appreciate is how you make the space for all these other creators. But I don't think people realize you yourself are world-renowned poets.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Thank you. Thank you. Uh wow, as you say that out loud, somebody uh over the weekend just asked me, like, hey, are you ever gonna do poetry again? I was like, what's what's happening here? What when did I stop? What's happening here? You never stopped. Um, but I think it's like I'm definitely in a place where like I've done a lot. I've I've done a lot with my poetry career that I'm really proud of.

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Like, I'm sorry, I just had to put that out there. Nice little plug there. Insane.

SPEAKER_01 11:04

Yeah, I I don't know. I I guess I'm just um I'm in a season where I really get like so much of my joy from watching. I really do get like uh I had an experience this weekend where I had an opportunity to get in what like what I think will probably be a historic photo. You know what I mean? Like it'll probably be something that people look back on years later. What you won't see in the photo is me on the opposite side just looking at the photo being taken, you know what I mean? Um because that was what made me most happy. That was what I needed, you know what I mean? It was my brothers, you know what I'm saying? It was it was poets who like I came up with, I came up under really watching them. And um, they all came back to this uh event that we all go to this Southern Friday this year. Um, and I mean, not in one space, all of them together, years, years, years, years. So it's just uh it's it's no different to me than that with the poetry. I sat back in the rooms and I just listened, you know what I mean? And uh like just listening to people share their stories is where I'm at. Like, I want to provide a platform for that. That makes me more happy than me being on stage.

SPEAKER_03 12:12

I love that because I've seen you perform even at your one man show. You all his one man show was incredible and so inspiring. And you lit you literally received a standing ovation, and the room was packed. The entire think about the entire theater was packed, and all of us were floored. I was shocked. Floored. I was shocked. Really? All of us knew it was gonna be packed. We knew, oh, let's get there early.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Yeah, and I mean there were people with tickets who ended up not being able to make it, so there were there were even more tickets sold than there were people in the building.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

That is incredible. That's a testament to who you are and your gifts, even how you coach others. Like you've helped me with some of my poems, and I'm just so grateful for it. Because what you do, you have this thing where you will talk to us and make us step outside of our poem. Look at it from the outside, and you're like, just you'll be like, okay, now step back into it. What can the your audience think of the five senses? You will always say things like, What will they hear? What will they feel? What will they see? Are they seeing what you're seeing? Are they supposed to be looking at it from your point of view or theirs? You have this way of opening our mind, and you will turn. I remember I wrote a sonic, I'll never forget. I wrote a sonic, and I didn't even share the sonic with you. I ended up wrote a sonic, watched you perform, and I listened to you coach another poet. Oh, wow. I listened to you coach, I was eavesdropping, totally eavesdropping. I listened to you coach another poet, and I went back home that night, and that sonic turned into an entire poem. And the first time I performed it, you ended up being at the open mic, and I was like, oh, Calvin's here. Oh, yeah, I'm gonna perform it. I performed it and you complimented me after, and I told everybody and a mama that you complimented yes at Limbo Lounge. That sounds familiar, yeah. Yes, when I tell you, it was I told everybody, it was just an honor because you don't you don't fluff, you're very straight to the point, very direct, but we know it's coming from a place of love.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah, I think um, and I think, and and I'm doing even better than my predecessors. Uh my predecessors were were a lot rougher in their language and the way that they speak. And I was it might have been effective, but it wasn't always kind. Um, but it was honest, and it's and it's always gonna be, it's always gonna be the truth. So I think that like our goal is always to find like balance. Like, how can I do this a little bit different? Uh what what what would be my technique? Like, I don't think even if I wanted to, I could do it the way that they're doing it. You know what I'm saying? I don't think it would be the same, you know. Um so it it just taught me to find like and I've also done it differently, and it didn't work out. I'm like, okay, how can I say that differently to somebody else that didn't have the desired response, you know? Um, and also that whole unsolicited advice thing, that's a very careful thing, you know. I don't if somebody asks me, maybe I'll say something, or if I have a good relationship and then I'll ask, are you okay with me sharing a thought that I had, or do you have the capacity to listen to what I might have to share with you? Because some and sometimes people be like, nah, I don't really want to hear about it. That's cool.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 15:57

That's real. Yeah, you gotta be willing to accept that.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

But that's a testament really to everything that the word cousins embodies, and that's why I'm so excited for the poetry pilot. Typically it's on Sundays, but this go round is this Saturday, right here where we are at Charles Hadley Park. And you re not reinvented, but what would be the proper term? Because the way this space has been revitalized.

SPEAKER_01 16:27

There you go. It's like that's it. Revitalized, reactivated, renovated, re-re-re.

SPEAKER_03 16:35

Yes, all the reasons. Okay, all the reasons, and even then, you called on your network, and we you were like, hey, this is what we're doing. If you have time, donate your time. I'm not asking for any money, just donate your time. And all of us came, and now we can look and say, Oh, I painted that triangle right there. I outlined that right there.

SPEAKER_01 16:56

Yeah, in terms of showing up, that was a bigger deal to me than my one man's show.

SPEAKER_02 17:03

Really?

SPEAKER_01 17:04

In terms of like people showing up to paint this skating rink in the sun and like really get down, really mess up their clothes, really like that experience and and coming out for 10 days straight, that was way bigger to me than my one man's show. Like, people came out to like truly volunteer their time and be of service, like that was immensely um impactful to me on an on an internal level. And um we we reactivated this space, really. Uh initially it started with my own self-interest. It was me saying, I don't want to have to leave my neighborhood to skate. That's what I was already feeling like that before I knew this existed. And then I came across a skating rink, and I remember asking somebody, what is this? Like, why haven't why do I feel like I'm at this park all the time and I I ain't never seen this? I don't know what I'm looking at right now. I've been coming to this park for years. Like, why is it like they just dropped it here and I've missed it? They're like, no, it's a skating rink, it's always been a skating rink. And I walked around and the floor was cracked, and it was just it wasn't safe. And I heard stories about people like skates dipping down into the crack, people cascading over the railing. Like it's it's happened a few times, yeah. But one guy like um broke his jaw or something out here, so I was like, I really want to figure out, like, I'll just ask. Like, really, I started with just asking. One, whose job is it to get it fixed? Two, how do I contact that person? And then again, circling back to my network. Hey, I I want to do this. I understand that it's this person's job. Can you connect me with them? I got a call one day. Um, there was something going on here at the Carrie P. Meek Center, uh Senior Center, where I work with the seniors and I've done photography projects with them. And somebody called me and said, Hey, the assistant city manager is down here for an event. I told her about you and what you're trying to do. You need to get down here and meet her. So I get down, I come down here, I meet her. She's excited about the project. The city agreed at that moment to do, she she like made a soft agreement to repair it. Then I um I came to a different community meeting at the same senior center. I was talking about the project and what it would cost to paint it. And at that time, Commissioner Christine King was in the um at the meeting, and she overheard what I was saying, and she agreed then and there to give the $10,000 to do the painting. Um, that allowed me, and then continuing to work with uh Christine King's office, the Liberty City Community Trust, Bank United, like a few different people have really like helped to pour resources. Uh Safin the 305 grant gave me one of the first uh sponsors or the first sponsorship I ever got, which allowed me to do an act and just the once they repaired the rink that allowed me to do an event here to just tell people about it more. That was even before we painted.

SPEAKER_03 20:01

So it's been a lot of different support and people pouring into it, and a lot of groundwork that we don't even see now to come back and have another poetry potluck here this Saturday from what time again?

SPEAKER_01 20:14

From three to eight this Saturday. And I also wanted to mention you you mentioned um that it's not usually on Sundays. I think that is since we're documenting something, I think it's important to mention that it is our values, our community conversation, connection, and culture. And we've also been talking about network. The poetry potluck is on a Saturday this time around because that was what was required to keep the community in loop in our network. So on Friday, there will be the uh Liberty City, the first ever Liberty City Book Fair, um, hosted by the Roots Book Fair and Marketplace. They're gonna be blocking off the whole street. And then on Sunday, um, every year, uh, one of our primary community partners here, the Manor Park Friends Forever, they will be hosting their annual Father's Day event here at the park. So it it mattered to put it on a Saturday at this time to make it work for the community so that everybody could. It's a jam-packed weekend. It's hard, it would have been harder to do with everything on the same day.

SPEAKER_02 21:15

Yes, you know what I mean.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

And it's an important time for all us to program. I think that all of it can be done. I think that people are looking for things to do. I think that we don't have a shortage of events, you know what I mean? Especially black people are looking for things to do. And there are a lot of people who are coming into town around this time. So we really want to we we want to keep the community active for this weekend, and it worked better to work together.

SPEAKER_03 21:40

That is so true because now you have a weekend instead of everything being on one day, and it's summertime as well. So now people have something for them to do with their family on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. So the whole weekend is already taken care of.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 21:56

And isn't this space about to be renamed?

SPEAKER_01 22:00

Yes. So um we put in legislation a little while ago. Well, we worked with Commissioner Christine King's office and her team and the commissioner and the chairwoman herself to put in the legislation to have this uh skating rink and officially named the railroad shop roller rink. It will be named after the historic community that once stood where this park is now.

SPEAKER_03 22:26

Wow, that is incredible. See what I told you? You're a historian.

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 22:32

You're literally bringing back the history into all of us. Love that. Do you feel a sense of pride or has it set in the impact that you're making? Not just for your family, but also for those of us who are around you, who have the honor to be around you, and for the community as a whole. Do you understand the impact?

SPEAKER_01 23:02

Um, no. I would say I probably don't. Not fully. Not fully. And I know because uh when people do share things, like even what you just said, there's like uh whatever the feeling, I don't know how to describe it, but like you just said something that I don't know. So that means that I don't know. Like I responded, my body responded internally to it like it was new information. And and it is information that I've heard before, but every time I hear it, it's like, yeah, really? Is it really making an impact? Um, but the objective is to is to keep going. As I learn more, I want to share more. So it's my person, it's also bringing people on my personal journey. Um, I'm already, and I also have to get better at like staying in place because I'm super excited about this. It's about to be named. And in November, we're doing um Millionaire, Black Millionaires Row in the Lindsay house. And I'm I'm super excited about that. My mind is already there on Friendsgiving. It's also my favorite potluck of the year, so um, like it's just my mind is always like on the go to two potlucks ahead.

SPEAKER_03 24:10

And see, that's interesting because well, before we even switch gears, how do people support all of that everything that you have going on?

SPEAKER_01 24:20

So we we we don't do a good job of the the general public, the cousins, really are present like physically, right? Like not that not generally, we don't make a financial a lot. And I think that in the same ways that I I look at it, like people will be willing to come out here and pay, people will be willing to give too. But we don't um we don't always make that like people pay a uh uh a donation when they come in or whatever, people give a donation, but like ongoing donations or you know, just donate on a regular basis, not often enough. We have a few corporate sponsors that really are believing our work. Um, and we could be doing a better job of providing opportunities for the cousins to give back.

SPEAKER_03 25:08

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 25:08

But there is a donation link on very good.

SPEAKER_03 25:11

That's what I needed. Okay, yes, and then with the donation link, am I able to start a subscription where I get donate on a regular basis?

SPEAKER_01 25:20

Yeah, there is uh we use the Give Miami Day service every year, and they allow custom uh participants to be able to sign up for like running subscriptions. Okay, so we have like two people who would like donate $25 every month.

SPEAKER_03 25:35

Okay. Well, I would love for us to even if we can do something where we can mention it or where I can mention it more within the girl, come sit with me, community. If you don't mind, I would love to do that because we have to keep things like this going in in the community because when I volunteer, so eat well exchange, the nonprofit I volunteer for, shout out to Eat Well Exchange. Yo, we volunteer in there with the seniors and we do cooking classes. See, yes, it's on Mondays. We volunteer here with culinary nutritional classes. When I tell you, I remember my first time instructing one of their classes, and you randomly popped up.

SPEAKER_01 26:25

It was I'm always here, I loved it.

SPEAKER_03 26:27

When I tell you, they was like, Yeah, and Calvin's gonna be here, and all of them was like, Calvin is supposed to be here, and they all just went and they started telling me I already knew about the portraits you do with them. When I tell you, you are loved, you are appreciated, you are needed, thank you, and valued. So this Saturday, what is going to be different about this poetry potluck? Or what can people even expect for this Saturday, 3 to 8 p.m. at Charles Hadley Park? Poetry potluck, cousins coming through. What can they expect?

SPEAKER_01 27:03

I'm hoping that the that this uh poetry potluck will make Charles Hadley Park look the way that you know I remember growing up, coming here for 4th of July, coming here for Christmas, stuff like that. Um, it's gonna be full all up and through this area of the rink. We're gonna have skate rentals, we'll have uh bounce house, a huge bounce house obstacle course. We'll have a train ride going around for the kids. We'll of course have a DJ, we'll have some barbecue out here, barbecue that you can buy and barbecue that'll be free to the community. Uh, we will also have, of course, live performances and poetry, uh, a band. It's gonna be a really, really, really dope event, man. I'm excited. Um, we're gonna have art, art walls, and things up. It's a very full event. We're bringing the space in. Of course, you know we're gonna have some of your favorite vendors and community resource partners will also be here. So, yeah, look forward to a great event. I and because it's men's uh wellness month, I think it's important to mention that Dade County Street Response will be here, um, doing exams and general checkups, handing out supplies and resources. Oh, that's so um, they are a completely free clinic right over here at the Miami Freedom Lab. Also, the Black Collective will be here doing a hydration station, so we'll have plenty of water and things for people. I'm I'm really excited.

SPEAKER_03 28:18

Oh my goodness, that is gonna be so much fun. Did you know? Well, I'm not sure if you remember, but my first activation ever as girl come sit with me was right here. Charles Hadley Park at the poetry pop-up.

SPEAKER_01 28:33

The one that we did in that that January?

SPEAKER_03 28:35

Um, no, this one was the one where I was stationed right there in the middle of the roller range.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

Okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know exactly which one you're talking about. And that's and that also goes to show like just how much programming we've already done here. Like it actually surprises me how much programming has passed, like this fast. Yeah, and to be able to provide spaces like that. The first time we ever did anything like that was with Joy and CoSpace.

SPEAKER_03 28:57

Yeah, her Joy has the five Joy is the owner of CoSpace, she has the five-minute podcast, which we love, and it's nice because she brings that out everywhere as well.

SPEAKER_01 29:06

Yeah, and what happened, she she was telling me about the setup that they had at CoSpace, and I was like, Can the stuff move? Like, can you bring it outside? What if you did it on site? And that sparked a whole new thing, you know what I mean? And that gave me the vision. Like, I wouldn't have had that thought when a girl come sit with me, comes around. I'd be like, I don't know if that fits, but because Joy took a chance and did that, you know what I'm saying? Now it opened my mind to other possibilities. So I being able, we call them our cousins' activations, which is basically us providing a space for cousins to test something out. Right over here behind the camera, we have Alexis, right? Yeah from Divine. Um, and uh Alexis has done pottery uh making demos. She's done which I don't know if we would call it a horde horticulture or with the plants, propagating, propagating, propagating, so like we've we've done so many different things, and that's her art, that's her work, and we want to provide an opportunity to bring it to new cousins, bring it to a platform, and she's also doing a service, just like you're doing the service, because you're interviewing business owners, entrepreneurs, creatives, you're giving them an opportunity to share and expand their platform. So, like the it's here to help everyone.

SPEAKER_03 30:20

It and that is exactly what it's doing. That is exactly what it's doing. And fun fact, Joy named my podcast. Oh, wow. Yeah, she named Girl, come sit with me on a sister's wall. We were just walking around and she named it. I love that. I love it. Yes, okay. What's something you wish people would know in our community?

SPEAKER_01 30:43

Um, I'll take it back to our values. Community, conversation, connection, culture. I think that these are the things that have anchored our work. I think it's why the poetry potluck has seen not just success, but sustained. Why it is sustained, why it is still here. I think it I think it will no longer be here if there's no longer a need or a desire. And I think that as long as we are implementing practices that highlight and really cultivate community, conversation, connection, and culture, we'll be doing that right. And I think that if that is something that we can do in our day-to-day practice, how we treat one another, how we think of connecting, how we uh highlight and are part of culture, I think that that continues to bring us closer, keep us closer, um, and and strengthen bonds.

SPEAKER_03 31:39

Oh my goodness, that was beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

While you were saying that, you made me think of the poetry pot like you all did in Opalaka at what used to be, I believe it used to be the City Hall. Yep. And they renovated it, it's newly revitalized, it looks beautiful. And it's interesting because now it looks like how it did when I was a little girl. And for years, once they shut it down, I would drive by and say, Wow, I wish I could go inside there one day. I wish I could go inside there one day. And I was able to do that for the first time at the poetry potlop. So it's these experiences that when we get to the poetry parlor sense, you have turned this into a mecca in a sense. Because it feels like every time you bring the poetry parlor to a different space, it feels like we're entering a Mecca and we know that it's for us. We know that we're safe, and then it starts bringing up all these old memories, like double dutch. We play double dutch at the poetry parlor, we've skated, we've done we've line danced, learned line dances, all of these things, even have poetry workshops, all of these things that makes us go back into that inner child. And as it as we continue to heal our inner child, heal that part in us, the little boy, the little girl in us, we show up better as adults. So it feels as if we may enter the poetry public one way, but I see all of us leaving better. I see all of us leaving in a better mental capacity.

SPEAKER_01 33:18

I think the term cousins embodies a level of um, it brings out a part of our childlike nature, you know. Like when I think of my cousins, there's a level of endearment. I feel like sometimes there are cousins that I have, I still interact with them almost like we are still kids. Like if there's still a part of that. So when I think of calling everybody cousins and treating everybody with that nature, it just means something else. And we know that we spell it a certain way so that you can identify the poetry potlock cousins, but we know that same cousins in uh throughout the black diaspora is a way that we connect. The same way we call somebody auntie, the same way we call somebody unc or uncle, you know what I'm saying? And that's that's in any across the diaspora. If you go to the continent, if you go to Africa, they call, you know what I'm saying, the the guy at the corner store or at work, like they that's uncle, that's auntie, like that's universal language to us, you know. So um, it's just a part of staying connected.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

When you agreed to be on girl, come sit with me. I was absolutely elated. Thank you so much. You're definitely a vital part of the girl come sit with me, even though this one is hey sir, come sit with me. You definitely have played a special role, and you've already played a special role in my growth, and now you're just permanently in my heart. And I'm noticing you're permanently in a lot of our hearts. So I just have to make sure I pour into you, remind you all of these things. And thank you so much. Thank you all so much for tuning in. You heard it here first on the Girl. Come sit with me podcast. Make sure you come this Saturday, right here at Charles Hadley Park, from 3 to 8 p.m. The portion product will have everything you can think of, plus more. It's a family event. This Saturday, we have the renowned poet Calvin Early. Have a good one, y'all. Thank you.