Hello, they're my friends. This is fifty plus. I'm James L.
Junior And as I am in navigating my fifties, I am learning a lot
about myself and other people. And so I come on here and I share
with you some of the things that I'm learning and one of the things I
had come across my area of life. UM. Right now, it's Pride
Month. It's a l it's lgbt QI, a plus Pride month, or
it's called Gay Pride Month, and it's naturally it's your naturally celebrated in places
that you're allowed to do it. And there's a lot of it's like anything
else, there's a lot of backlash happening towards queer people, same as with
women, saying with black folks, Latina Fithers. If you're if you are
othered in whatever part of whatever country you're in, UM, if you're othered
to marginalize, there's a lot of backlash. So I do several shows on
race and sexuality and mindset, and I always try to sometimes alone sometimes with
people in the field. And for me, i'm as I'm getting my fifties,
there's two things happening to me. One, I am getting very more
militant in my beliefs of fighting protest, like you know, speaking out that
kind of stuff. Like I know what I know. I've been around for
a long time. I know what I know. I don't know everything,
So that's the other side of me. I'm very curious. That's why I'm
in this business. That's why I'm an interviewer, host, researcher, writer.
I love hearing and talking to other people and having and seeing their opinions
and why they come to conclusions they come to. It takes a lot for
me to just shut somebody out, I know, on this day and age.
Not help with social media of course and certain news channels. We're very
divided machine in America. If you're watching some America other countries I cant speak
to obviously, but in America are very divided, and it's everybody's pickiner sides
matter what it is. I'm Catholic, I'm black, I'm Latin, I'm
gay, I'm a Republican, I'm Democrat, I'm a Trump Republican. I'm
a Biden Democrat. Gets very I'm a gen xer. I'm a baby like
It's it's very everything. It's very separate, un separated and separating, and
so there are some of us out there who don't mind talking to everyone and
hearing different points of view. Now there's some folks who shall not be moved.
They're very milits and their belief I don't focus on them because that just
there's there's always extremes on every side. On every side, there's extremes.
It doesn't matter it's extreme, star Wars or answers extremes, so it goes
extreme everything. But the folks I feel like there's a lot of us who
are, I want to say, in the middle, just a weird people
who have some beliefs due to what we believe. But as some time as
we could be moved, as some as we could talk about it, as
time as we're open to talking about it and feeling about it. So those
are the folks that I like to talk to because I think those are the
folks that will give you honest answers, tell you how they feel, give
you and really tell you and you could really get what you can. Also
watch their body language, what they're saying, how they're saying it, um
while they come to conclusion, they come it's all Several things happened to me
recently that brings all this up. And one of them is a friend of
mine who I've known since high school. Actually I like him. He's a
funny guy. I know him and his wife. We all went to high
school together. And he's always been respectful to me. He's never been should
I say that always I'm fully who I am, my post what I post.
But he's always been very respectful to me, never crazy towards me,
never offensive. All the stuff and most of his posts are just of his
life, and he is a very outdoor life, very active life, actually
life and everything what a few means and things here and there, so and
so I'm fine. So I mean, we're we're fine. I don't know
what do you think is personally or whatever. I'll get to that kind of
stuff. But he supports my work and it's for me. It's okay.
So talking to him, I feel like I would get some abuenttion to hear
from him. So he actually posted some stuff and I have a dark sense
of humor. I would looks you can ride you and so so, I
mean there's flax and I would saying tragedy signs. There's always the humor somewhere,
things that happen to humor somewhere. It's not for everybody, but for
me, I can look at certain things. Ago, Okay, you know
what, that's funny. I can be a Democrat. I'd say, the
air quotes a Democrat just literally by voting only. And if if I see
a Democrat a joke towards a Democrat, it's kind of clever and funny.
I would totally acknowledge it. That was really funny. That was very clever,
you know, um and vice versa. So he posts some stuff and
he had this meme that was it's actually I would say, I say it's
anti gay, so to speak, because it's kind of a joke about UM
taking straight people from me, you being here and stuff like that and all.
I kind of anyway, I actually kind of found it funny. So
are you true they're trying to find that kind of chuckled but like, that's
very clever. The person wrote it is kind of funny that I want to
that person's website, and the rest of the friend of me I was,
I can't. I can follow that website, and so I put a happy
emoments my funny emoji. So my friend my friend got back to me and
this is what This is what he wrote. I'm I saying his name and
thing thinks it's not really important. But what he wrote is important because I
think I always say when one person feels it, it's not just one person,
it means that people feel too. Uh. I want to go and
get to so you okay, So I'm trying. I'm trying to get I
kept out here it is, he wrote. I am not anti bleep.
I just dislike the sense of hate I feel and hear sometimes towards straight people
like we're the enemy. Um anyone call a lot of things that there's nothing
to do with really note at that, but that those that those two sentences
are very important. And I'm like, he feels that way, really like
he feels like they're being attacked kind of on some level as straight folks are
being attacked. And I am you know, at my first you know a
lot of people's first instincts are like, you know, fuck that, you
go off the whole thing. I'm like, no, it's not it.
Because if he's saying that, there are others. So he says, I
just dislike the sense of hate I feel, and here sometimes towards straight people.
I didn't first, well, I didn't respond because I was like,
nothing from respond. I just like, I'm I'm not gonna get into a
discussion with that. But he sometimes feels that that's happening towards straight people.
So I always wonder what is he reading, what is he seeing, what
is he hearing, because he could be hearing actually direct people, I guess
gave people going off on straight folks. That's toally possible, It's totally possible
that could happen, he said. Sometimes. You say, oh, he
said sometimes, But there are folks who believe that's happening all the time.
That's why there are laws being brought up, in things being passed, so
they feel like we really are attacking. And I was like, you know,
for straight people this whole time before that kept us everybody else who was
marginalized down. If you lived an other, if you lived in lifestyle that
was not straight, there there were laws maybe you could you couldn't discuss it
or talk about it was all hidden in the shadows. And I always hear
these phrases, not from this guy, here from other people. Queer people
are shoving their lifestyle down Ours wrote um there's a group called Tarya on A's
a couple whose nickname is Taria Are the Young Gonnarrest. This number one's up
in the country in America, and people are like, they're shoving it down
rights when they show it to the two girls hanging out or kissing or whatever.
And I was that that that's shoving. But first of all, there's
double intondrance shoving down throat. But I always find it very interesting because I
think people do believe that. People really do believe that. They believe that
us just existing, people who are black just as existing, or a Latino
just existing, or gay just existing, or polyamoritional state. You just existing
and asking to be left alone but be able to live your life fully in
the open. That's shoving it down your someone's throat, but your lifestyle because
it's normal quote unquote normal. It is not showing downy body's throat. There's
normal. You're being abnormal. So my my my normality is this you can't
be this um White's feeling like they're being erased and jobs and jobs, and
it's like no, it's like, actually what I see it as, of
course, is for so many years you don't had to worry about it or
think about it because things were in place where you didn't have to worry about
it thinking about it. There are some cities that were probably because I see
in la over the last forty years. Englewood, for example, when I
first got here, was white, and then it was black. Then it
was Hispanic, then it was Histanic in black, and then the blacks one
somewhere else and it became Hispanic, and now it's coming white again. There's
technical things happens, like there are cities in parts of the country. I'm
sure they were like there are no black folks here, Latinos here. Now
they're here. And so for some folks who never had to deal with Latinos
weren't thinking, what are you doing here all of a sudden, you know,
and instead of just working them in and going they're great, it's a
no big deal. It's like they're people and they can help the economy.
It's they're coming in. They're shoving themselves down our throats. So for someone
to say they feel like sometimes there's hate towards straits, it's interesting to me
because I kind of I hope on that I will sit down where you want
to and talk to you about this one of these days, Like one day,
if you're seeing this video and you know what I'm talking about, you
talk to me. Let's talk about them. I love talking about it because
I feel because for me, it's not the majority of the movements that are
out there are not about hating white people. There is hatred towards white We're
absolutely right, is hate tord straight, but there is hatred to state people.
White people are there is because of the people who have been hurt by
said straight people, sad white people said this group said males. There's I
mean, we've there's so many different things that happened. Is that people want
their equal time. They just want to be They just want to live their
lives as freely as possible. And so I just think that's why trams are
getting you know, attacked right now, and drag queens. There's all stuff
that's not quote unquote normal to a lot of people. So it's like,
Okay, we gave them gay marriage, we gave them this game that now
something men won't be women and women want to be men, and they want
dressing, drag and drag and all this pedophile I mean, I've been seeing
this whole pedophile word thrown around. It's like pedophile, it's a serious word,
rumors, all that stuff. Those are serious words, and to apply
them to a group of people where there are really no it's no proof,
no major proof that a whole group of folks that's all they are. It's
like they are always bad apples in each bunch. And what's ironic is that
a lot of times and maybe it's the ones that are, I mean,
who knows, Maybe it's the ones that are that are being shown. But
most of it seems like a lot of the molesters has happened in my own
family were from priests and youth counselors and people who were in positions of power
over children, over their constituency people, you know, politics, religion,
a lot a lot of those are telling evangels. All this stuff is coming
up more and more, and many of them identified as straight. There's both
boys and girls. As someone who was violently sexually assaulted myself by a marriage
and a fied who's straight, it's like it's it's it's just this thing that's
happening, but that's something separate. It's a little girls and pageants and cheerleading
uniforms. We're in makeup somehow that's okay, but not but not drag queens
who there are only a few in the country that have actually gone to a
school allow them. It's it's events, I mean, or there's some people
and some parents have brought their kids to maybe to drag brunch or whatever.
I mean, I wouldn't a drag brunch, but maybe there's always that one
or two. You see that example, So it's not made up their video
out there, But is it a real problem? And I'm going like,
no, I have so many kids and grandkids and these nephew seals have never
had drag queen comes to their school ever. There's never a never a question,
never never, So I'm like, I just it was never. I
mean, just I don't I just don't see it as a problem as it's
it's an actual problem. Um. And I'm just I'm not just watching MSNBC
or CNM, I just rereading. I mean, I'm watching all kinds of
stuff and I'm out there in the world, so I clearly see it differently.
And so as I get older, I just really welcome talking to people
from doing points of view about how they come to these conclusions of what they
think, why they things is happening, And um, how I was in
a car receie with somebody who say, we why don't why don't these girls
or these guys come forward and tell people if they've been raped earlier. And
I'm like, as a person who didn't come forward and myself, it's like,
there's a lot. There's shame, there's guilt, there's like what could
have I done? Would they believe me? There's a lot it goes on.
It's not it's never like you just go to the police station and eighty
I was raped and they believe you. It's like it's never, it doesn't
aways happened. It's many cases where it doesn't happen. A lot of sense,
a lot not sensitivity too that are happening out there too. So I
mean, it's it's just fascinating to me that because there's times when there's times
where I do feel like because I supposely as I get older in my favorite
like, oh I see a situation, How can not everybody see it that
way? If I see someone TV or see something in the TikTok video or
someone, I'm like, there it is it's on canters to what happened,
and literally there are people were saying twain different things I really said because I
go to the comments, always go to the comments. Sometimes they're hilarious.
Guys say that. But a lot of folks, like the insurrection January sixth,
I don't understand. It's like I don't understand. But on the side,
on the side. On another note of that, I know some folks
who want to for Trump. I actually I have fans. I'm sure for
Trump, I'm sure, and but I don't think they're bad people. I
think some are bad people, but a lot of them aren't. I And
I get why his popularity, why he became popular, and what he is
and what he represents to some people. I totally get it. I said,
we can't do anything until we get until people start realizing this stuff and
not just shutting out um. And of course there are some people on the
left who are very extreme too. There's left with the on the extreme.
And I was saying this on to the front of mine. I wish I
never hear the word I. I never hear the word work woke any ever.
Again, I don't hear it, because now it's been turned inside out
and says a word that now is annoying, um, because they usually word
woke on everything. It's like, that's the last thing I want to talk
about, is woke. And this one either, like I don't even want
to hear that either. Um. But this should be conscious television, should
be conscious music, conscious videos, conscious work, conscious art, as well
as fun crazy, flimsy yard and funness and lightweight. That I means should
we both um, And it's okay to have it. But I just I
just keep encouraging conversation. That's the way that I do on my private zooms,
as I do here with you guys. I just I really encourage conversation
and really listening to other people and just listen to why they feel. The
way this was doing. My thing was done during during a messaging so I
can't take touch helped tone from text message. But I believe him when he
says he feels that sometimes and m but I'd like to go deeper in that
at some point whatever. But I just want to share that with you guys.
I'm just it's I understand the devisiveness. I understand people feeling and it's
very rightly so who are fighting for their lives and their well beings. Um
So I'm up down playing that at all, or shore we say that I'm
play ample at all my life for very many different reasons. I feel I'm
on edge a little bit, deciding where I'm going to travel, where I'm
not going to travel, where parts of town I go to a part of
town I don't go to a time of night with time of day. I'm
watching all that it's been. That's been the last few years period. I've
had rifles in my face. I've had been accused of things I like I
said, I've been hurt, but all this stuff in my fifty four years,
I've had all of it happened. So it's it's because of color of
my skin, because of what I look, because I'm tall, big,
fat, whatever, all our place. Um And I'm still trying to live
my life as freely as possible in the midst of all of a sudden's going
on. So yeah, I just encourage this, im. I'm just staying
some some feelings I had and just encouraging everybody to listen to people just say
that's what they're saying. Is kind of like you ask questions like why do
you feel that way. What if you see that makes you feel away?
And sometimes you can educate someone else if you're in the mood. Everybody's in
the mood. But you could be like, you know, um, maybe
you didn't know this, but that's just one incident, or that's something that's
happened twice. But really here's what's you know? Or come with me and
let me show you another side of blank whatever that is. You know I
don't like Chinese food, Well let me take it. We've been trying.
No, I don't had well we take your place has great atmosphere, you
can try some stuff that's right, But nine like, there's just I just
feel like we could if we take time to really listen to each other.
Who knows where we can accomplish. I said, there's some folks who can't
do anything with them. That's fine, but I'm talking to the folks state
that we're all like, we just live. We all want the same things.
That's all our lives and who as a piece? And and I feel
like and I feel like we are shoving sometimes in most throats where we just
because we just want to breathe. There, you know, that's it.
Fifty plus there's on all social media social media, it's on all streaming service
platforms and on YouTube. At jail Jamdia, I'm James lo Junior. Or
talk to you next time.