Speaker 1: Join us on the Poetic Odyssey, a celebration of voices, cultures, and.
Speaker 2: The power of words. I'm Amanda Ecking.
Speaker 1: Welcome to the poet Speaks, where every syllable ignites inspiration
Speaker 1: for get you involved with what stories are on these tracks?
Speaker 2: This idea of the bronx. Now, boogie down Bronx. That's
Speaker 2: what people say, right. Don't become someone's subway story.
Speaker 3: Medicate me with a lick of the like.
Speaker 1: I am not afraid to love you.
Speaker 3: All of us have a story.
Speaker 2: Microphone magnifying, notick.
Speaker 3: No one want to listen. So I think that's what
Speaker 3: made me write. In writing the writing Disco.
Speaker 2: You ready, amazing poetry O. It's hello everyone, Welcome back
Speaker 2: to the poet Speaks podcast. Now our next guest is
Speaker 2: a dynamic professional spoken word artists who performs powerful pieces
Speaker 2: of poetry with an urgent intent to highlight the need
Speaker 2: for social change. He's also the writer, producer, and director
Speaker 2: of several spoken word musical stage plays which center on
Speaker 2: love and the unpredictability of relationships. As founder and CEO
Speaker 2: of the entertainment and outreach organization Creative Love Network, he
Speaker 2: believes that poetry, music, and the arts can both entertain
Speaker 2: and positively impact lives.
Speaker 3: Everyone.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Poet Speaks podcast. Larry Love, Larry, how
Speaker 2: are you?
Speaker 3: I am good today? How are you?
Speaker 2: I'm doing pretty good myself, Doing pretty good myself.
Speaker 1: Now.
Speaker 2: I feel like there's no way that you couldn't be
Speaker 2: good with the name like Larry Love.
Speaker 3: Right, that's what they say.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to get straight into it. How did
Speaker 2: you get the pen name Larry Love. I think everyone's
Speaker 2: going to just be curious.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm gonna give you two different versions, if that's
Speaker 3: all right. First, we have the Hollywood version, okay, And
Speaker 3: that's where I would like to say that I took
Speaker 3: the name Malcolm X and noticed that X was replacing
Speaker 3: the last name, So instead of Larry and my given name,
Speaker 3: I put Love there to represent my love for my
Speaker 3: people and for my art and the passion that I
Speaker 3: have for poetry. That's the Hollywood version. Now, the actual
Speaker 3: version is back some time ago, there was a song
Speaker 3: by the name of Larry Love, and they used to
Speaker 3: play on the radio, and my brother tagged me with
Speaker 3: that name, and my friends picked up on it, and
Speaker 3: I've been Larry Love ever since, and just to keep
Speaker 3: it one hundred. Of course, as a teenager, once you
Speaker 3: get a couple of young ladies to say Hi, Larry Love,
Speaker 3: of course you're not going to ever change that name.
Speaker 3: So it stuck with me and that's where it came from.
Speaker 3: So those are the two versions.
Speaker 2: All right, that's the love. Then we go, there we go?
Speaker 2: All right? Well, speak of speaking of childhood memories, I mean,
Speaker 2: tell us a little bit about where did you grow up?
Speaker 2: How did how did your childhood affect the writing and
Speaker 2: the process to become a poet as you are today,
Speaker 2: And tell us a bit did poetry find you in
Speaker 2: childhood or did it find you elsewhere in life?
Speaker 3: Okay? I grew up in sunny southern California, born and
Speaker 3: raised in south central Los Angeles. I was born a
Speaker 3: couple of months after the Watch Revolt, if you know
Speaker 3: anything about that. So I like to tell people that
Speaker 3: I was born breathing the air of revolution. My parents
Speaker 3: were both revolutionaries involved in the Black power movement, So
Speaker 3: always around us was reminders of how important we are
Speaker 3: as individuals and as a people. Black is beautiful. Always
Speaker 3: have pride in who you are and where you come from.
Speaker 3: Surrounded by heroes and kings, and queens of African heritage.
Speaker 3: So those things were around me and instilled in me.
Speaker 3: So of course that bled into my writing and the
Speaker 3: way that I see the world. As far as poetry
Speaker 3: finding me, I would say I was more of a writer,
Speaker 3: been a poet at an early age, and later in
Speaker 3: life I developed a love for spoken word. But I've
Speaker 3: always written from a very young and early age.
Speaker 2: Wow wow wow, So kind of taking that back that
Speaker 2: is amazing. So you were born right before you said,
Speaker 2: right before the rights or during the rights in Los.
Speaker 3: Angeles, right after the riot, so two months after that.
Speaker 2: Wh wow, my goodness, So tell us kind of tell
Speaker 2: us a bit of any anecdotes you have. I mean,
Speaker 2: that is such a prolific time in history, and you
Speaker 2: know history does repeat itself. You know, we see those
Speaker 2: same and you know what the future holds some of
Speaker 2: those same movements, those same problems. A lot of our
Speaker 2: community communities all over we're still facing those same issues now.
Speaker 2: I mean, do you remember that time period growing up
Speaker 2: in La South Central? During that time, your parents were,
Speaker 2: like you said, they were revolutionaries themselves. What was that like?
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people don't even realize how
Speaker 2: intense those riots intense South. You know Los Angeles was
Speaker 2: during that time. Tell us a bit about what growing
Speaker 2: up in that was like.
Speaker 3: Nah, it definitely was a unique experience. For sure. The
Speaker 3: fallout from that we're still feeling today, and of course
Speaker 3: history peaced itself. I was here also for the ninety
Speaker 3: two riots in Los Angeles after the Rodney King incident,
Speaker 3: so I got to really live it through that particular one.
Speaker 3: The first one. I was very very young, but still,
Speaker 3: like I said, being emerged and growing up in that environment,
Speaker 3: with my parents, family and friends of the family being
Speaker 3: involved in that movement, it influenced me a lot. So
Speaker 3: it was a period of change, of transformation, empowerment. So
Speaker 3: you would see a lot of demonstrations. You would see
Speaker 3: people standing up more for themselves as opposed to what
Speaker 3: we used to see in films. I mean, my father's
Speaker 3: generation was one that wasn't really about the turning the
Speaker 3: other cheek and couldn't understand why the water holes being
Speaker 3: turned on individuals and the dogs released didn't didn't inspire
Speaker 3: them to physically fight back. Of course, we understand that
Speaker 3: things were different at that time and you can't really
Speaker 3: equate one to the other, but the climate in which
Speaker 3: I grew up was more forward. I mean, we would
Speaker 3: say they would say more what they felt and just
Speaker 3: really be more I would say aggressive in pursuing liberty, justice, freedom.
Speaker 3: But it was definitely a different time. It was a
Speaker 3: time where blacks were coming into their own so caught
Speaker 3: up in the music of that time, which I feel
Speaker 3: was the golden era of music. It had messages, it
Speaker 3: had meaning. I fell in love with R and B
Speaker 3: of that time, and that still resonates with my writing
Speaker 3: and the way that I create today.
Speaker 2: Absolutely absolutely. It's so interesting because it's now. So I
Speaker 2: grew up in Sacramento, California, you know, now I live
Speaker 2: on the East Coast in New York. It's interesting comparing
Speaker 2: the two. You know, people you know hip hop originated
Speaker 2: here in the Bronx. You know, you talk about the
Speaker 2: messages in the music, but we know obviously hip hop
Speaker 2: transverse from the Bronx all the way to Cali, right,
Speaker 2: and a lot of those messages were so prelevant in
Speaker 2: the music in California, telling the struggles of people in Compton, right.
Speaker 2: We have so many different forms. I'm curious, you know,
Speaker 2: it's interesting. I feel like I can only compare now
Speaker 2: when I'm in New York, you know, people they're very
Speaker 2: proud of being from the city Harlem, the different boroughs, right,
Speaker 2: the Bronx, you know, and did same thing with California
Speaker 2: more specifically, LA people are very proud to be native born,
Speaker 2: bred Los Angeles people, right if they're stomping grounds. I'm
Speaker 2: curious for you. I mean, what is the change you've
Speaker 2: seen in LA from then versus now? Is there a
Speaker 2: difference you've seen greatly in the community, not just writing
Speaker 2: and you know, poetry, but also just in the grand
Speaker 2: scheme of things. How was LA changed?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I've actually seen quite a few transformations, one being demographically,
Speaker 3: of course, going from a block that was predominantly African
Speaker 3: American to it being not so much right now. So
Speaker 3: I'm seeing a lot of that. Gentrification is big in
Speaker 3: LA right now. So a lot of historical sites and
Speaker 3: landmarks you're seeing undergo a change and a transformation. As
Speaker 3: far as growing up in it, when you were immersed
Speaker 3: in it, you just adapt and make way for the change.
Speaker 3: You try to hold on to old values and old
Speaker 3: stories and old history as well, because that's very very
Speaker 3: important and we consistently fight with that. A good brother
Speaker 3: of mine and his organization of which I'm also a
Speaker 3: part of, has worked to turn Crenchhall Boulevard, which you
Speaker 3: may have heard of, to turn a portion of that
Speaker 3: into Malcolm X Boulevard. So that's been an ongoing fight
Speaker 3: and it's been pretty successful. So we should be seeing
Speaker 3: that come about pretty soon. Yes, it's been a lot
Speaker 3: of changes, and I've seen quite a bit growing up
Speaker 3: in LA but I wouldn't trade it in for anything
Speaker 3: in the world. Like you said, we are proud Los Angelinos.
Speaker 2: Here, absolutely absolutely. So let's kind of circle back a
Speaker 2: little bit to your writing. I mean, tell us a bit.
Speaker 2: That's such a colorful platform to come from from so
Speaker 2: much history, right through your parents, through the city that
Speaker 2: you're living in. Tell us how that then developed you
Speaker 2: as a writer and kind of take us through when
Speaker 2: that kind of professional now making those moves towards becoming
Speaker 2: a professional poet, you know, obviously working with different aspects
Speaker 2: of spoken word from the stage plays. Tell us how
Speaker 2: that kind of that transition happened for you where you thought, hey,
Speaker 2: I can actually do this as a job as a profession.
Speaker 3: Okay, Well, the writing started early, like any of us,
Speaker 3: we look for validation, particularly from our parents. First there
Speaker 3: are our first heroes. So fortunately I was alive how
Speaker 3: to use my imagination that was never stifled. So I
Speaker 3: always liked to write. And getting that positive feedback and
Speaker 3: hearing people say, oh, you're a great writer. That instilled
Speaker 3: in me a desire to want to improve in it.
Speaker 3: Never set out to do anything as far as poetry.
Speaker 3: In fact, I was thinking poetry, Yeah, who he wants
Speaker 3: to do that? So I was involved in hip hop
Speaker 3: earlier on, during the Golden years of hip hop, did
Speaker 3: a lot of that. Worked on a project called We're
Speaker 3: All in the Same Gang, which is a West Coast
Speaker 3: version of an anti gang project. So I was involved
Speaker 3: with that project along with some of the other legends
Speaker 3: on the West Coast as far as hip hop goes,
Speaker 3: later it transformed into spoken word poetry. Friend of Mine
Speaker 3: drug me into an open mic and bam, I fell
Speaker 3: in love there. I could say what I needed to
Speaker 3: say without having to worry about being constrained by the
Speaker 3: measures of a beat or having to have a beat
Speaker 3: behind me. I can just go ahead and do what
Speaker 3: I needed to do. So that opened up a whole
Speaker 3: new round for me. And as far as doing it personally,
Speaker 3: I've always had a belief that you should be compensated
Speaker 3: for your art, for your talents and your abilities, and
Speaker 3: so I set out to find ways that you could
Speaker 3: monetize that, and in turn starting my company, the Creative
Speaker 3: Love Network, I've extended that to other poets in the community,
Speaker 3: teaching them and providing platforms for them to also showcase
Speaker 3: their work and be compensated for it. So that's kind
Speaker 3: of the progression of me as a writer and going
Speaker 3: into poetry.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, what was your inspiration for writing back then
Speaker 2: versus now at the stage you're at now, What are
Speaker 2: the two differences in inspiration or do you still feel
Speaker 2: inspired by the same, by the same mysteries and you know,
Speaker 2: curiosities in your life.
Speaker 3: Absolutely, the fire runs through both both back then at now.
Speaker 3: That hasn't changed the passion for writing and communicating getting
Speaker 3: a message out. I enjoy evoking emotion from individuals, being
Speaker 3: able to have someone on the verge of setting a
Speaker 3: tear or are ready to jump up in protest, or
Speaker 3: really feeling what I'm writing, And the gift of spoken
Speaker 3: word poetry performance poetry has allowed me to really merge
Speaker 3: both of those worlds where I can write and also
Speaker 3: deliver it, and I have a gift for delivering the
Speaker 3: words that I write in a way that impacts people,
Speaker 3: that really makes it powerful. So it was a great
Speaker 3: thing to find spoken word and that might and then
Speaker 3: just from there taking it to different levels, in different stages,
Speaker 3: to the professional around where I can incorporate that into
Speaker 3: things like campaigns for Corporate America, sending out messages with
Speaker 3: various companies and organizations, or on the lesser level where
Speaker 3: I'm in the street, in the community, just getting things
Speaker 3: across to students and things like that. Poetry is a
Speaker 3: powerful form of communication and if you use correctly, you
Speaker 3: can absolutely impact and change lives. Yeah.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, It definitely seems as if you've taken you know,
Speaker 2: your work as a poet as an active service, right,
Speaker 2: I kind of want to draw back. You said something
Speaker 2: really interesting there. You create that album attendedity of people,
Speaker 2: the gun violence off the Street remind me the name
Speaker 2: of the album that you had mentioned with some West
Speaker 2: Coast rappers as well.
Speaker 3: Okay, the project and the album itself was called We're
Speaker 3: All in the Same Gang and it was a joint
Speaker 3: work between Warner Brothers Records back then and a good
Speaker 3: brother who was one of the founding members of the
Speaker 3: Crypts brother named Michael Conception. So he put that whole
Speaker 3: concept together, got the artist together, and I was brought
Speaker 3: in to assist with writing and being a part of
Speaker 3: that project.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean that sounds beyond phenomenal. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: I think so much of gang culture, especially in rap
Speaker 2: I think it's completely romanticized. I think not many people
Speaker 2: really know the history of cribs and bloods, et cetera,
Speaker 2: et cetera. Compton, South Central, whatever may have you for you.
Speaker 2: I mean, you know, when you look back on that
Speaker 2: work that you did, I mean, do you look at
Speaker 2: that now? Like that was so important to do and
Speaker 2: even now even more important today. A lot of young
Speaker 2: folks still need to hear that, a lot of old
Speaker 2: folks still need to hear that that message of peace
Speaker 2: right within our community street life.
Speaker 3: Absolutely and to that effect, I'm in the schools multiple
Speaker 3: times a week. I'm a mentor for young black men
Speaker 3: high school and middle school age. So I go in
Speaker 3: and I take that message in along with my brothers
Speaker 3: who are also a part of the organization. The program
Speaker 3: is called see a Man Be a Man. So the
Speaker 3: idea is to show them what a real man looks
Speaker 3: like and to show them different outlets and different pathways
Speaker 3: outside of the gang, drugs and the typical things that
Speaker 3: we are shown as on by media. You know. It's
Speaker 3: to dispel those rumors in those stereotypes, so absolutely important
Speaker 3: and I'm constantly doing that work as well. And it's
Speaker 3: also about providing them alternatives. You know, in poetry. One,
Speaker 3: if I find a young man or even a young
Speaker 3: lady who's interested in writing or doing some sort of poetry,
Speaker 3: even if it's something outside of the yards, it's up
Speaker 3: to us to give them that guidance, show them how
Speaker 3: they could do it, open their eyes, their eyes in
Speaker 3: their minds to other alternatives. So yes, it is still
Speaker 3: relevant today. And I'm not sure how long you're in
Speaker 3: New York, but there was a record called Self Destruction
Speaker 3: that was an East Coast version of that same thing.
Speaker 3: In fact, that came out first, and then we're all
Speaker 3: in the same game. Was it a reaction, not a reaction,
Speaker 3: but a way for us to also do that same
Speaker 3: type of project and spread that message on the West coast.
Speaker 2: So absolutely absolutely, I'll definitely check out for that. Now
Speaker 2: that's a Yeah, it's such a it's such a message
Speaker 2: that is just still so needed today. You still see
Speaker 2: that that lifestyle is still it's still prelevant with a
Speaker 2: lot of folks in our community, especially a lot of
Speaker 2: young people. So shouts to y'all for still holding that
Speaker 2: work to the fire and you know, putting that out there.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 2: I do want to talk about kind of shifting gears
Speaker 2: here a bit, you know, so I found it fascinating,
Speaker 2: you know you so you you've kind of lived a
Speaker 2: lot of different lives as a poet, you know, with
Speaker 2: the rap spoken word now you do now you have
Speaker 2: you also have a mixture of musical stage in poetry, right,
Speaker 2: you know you directed several spoken word musical stage play
Speaker 2: which center on love and the unpredictability of relationships. Tell us,
Speaker 2: how does how?
Speaker 3: How?
Speaker 2: How do you? How did you fall into this this
Speaker 2: new schema honestly of Larry Love, this new interpretation of yourself,
Speaker 2: so many iterations of who you are in your art, right,
Speaker 2: tell us how you fell into stage plays and musical
Speaker 2: stage plays.
Speaker 3: Okay, Being in the creative community, you find a lot
Speaker 3: of individuals with varying skill levels and talents. So I
Speaker 3: would find myself I've always been an observer, so I
Speaker 3: would sit and watch and just marveled at some of
Speaker 3: the talent that people around me had. So I had
Speaker 3: an idea of, like, wow, it would be good to
Speaker 3: bring all of this talent together outside of just a
Speaker 3: typical open mic where you come up and performance it out.
Speaker 3: So how can we put together some sort of production
Speaker 3: that's on a bigger scale than just this and provide
Speaker 3: a platform for those particular artists. So again, to me,
Speaker 3: music and poetry are very much intertwined. I look at
Speaker 3: music as a form of instrumental poetry and poetry as
Speaker 3: a form of lyrical music, so it all goes together.
Speaker 3: The key is to be able to fuse that in
Speaker 3: a way that the audience understands that they're receiving both,
Speaker 3: but they don't see any interruption, right, it's just a
Speaker 3: smooth process. And then taking these puzzle pieces and putting
Speaker 3: them together and making everyone in that play feel like
Speaker 3: they're a star in their own right, so there's no
Speaker 3: supporting actors. Everyone is a star in my plays. So
Speaker 3: writing and I've always had the ability to come up
Speaker 3: with scripts that are realistic no matter who I'm writing for.
Speaker 3: It really brings out the character. So doing the work
Speaker 3: to write it, getting people together, having the ability to
Speaker 3: manage people because we're talking about multiple people that will
Speaker 3: be acting, multiple people that will be doing poetry, singers
Speaker 3: and musicians, all of this going on at one time,
Speaker 3: and having the foresight to see how all that would fit.
Speaker 3: So that's how that came about. And then after doing
Speaker 3: the first one, the success of that just opened up
Speaker 3: the floodgates, and now you know, it's something that's a
Speaker 3: staple in what I do and what our company does.
Speaker 2: Yeah, tell us a bit. I mean, how does a
Speaker 2: production like that, Like you said, no one is supporting,
Speaker 2: everyone's there the main character. How do you even begin
Speaker 2: to contemplate the scale financially but also production wise, and
Speaker 2: where do y'all kind of hold your plays? What's that
Speaker 2: look like in La Okay?
Speaker 3: Well, one thing I've learned a long time ago that
Speaker 3: it's hard to do anything by yourself, at least to
Speaker 3: the level of excellence that you expect. So it's about
Speaker 3: having a team. I have a phenomenal team behind me,
Speaker 3: my business partner first and foremost, my queen is Diane,
Speaker 3: and then we have Miss Andrea Lee, who is driving
Speaker 3: force and making sure the company's name is ringing bells
Speaker 3: out there concantly and making things happen. Our newest edition
Speaker 3: Anthony the Boogeyman Rutger, he's one of the most phenomenal
Speaker 3: poets to have a touch of microphone. So in combination
Speaker 3: with that, along with the behind the scenes people that
Speaker 3: I have, we have a number of professionals that are
Speaker 3: not into poetry per se. They are movers and sakers
Speaker 3: and can make things happen as far as what goes
Speaker 3: on behind the scenes. So a team is very, very important.
Speaker 3: You have to have that in order to really push
Speaker 3: anything for it on the level that you want to
Speaker 3: do it. From there, it just takes foresight and I
Speaker 3: have an uncannyability to manage people per se, to make
Speaker 3: people feel connected and important in all aspects and to
Speaker 3: find their greatest gifts. And that's what you want to
Speaker 3: pull out and highlight that part and when you put
Speaker 3: them in those positions to succeed, and then you place
Speaker 3: all those parts side by size in a cohesive way.
Speaker 3: And that's where the writer comes in because you have
Speaker 3: to be able to write it in a way that
Speaker 3: it makes sense and it flows. That's a little more
Speaker 3: difficult for most people, but I enjoy that. I'm a
Speaker 3: chess player at heart, so I like making those moves
Speaker 3: and making so everything works out the right way. So yeah,
Speaker 3: it's a big undertaking and I am exhausted usually by
Speaker 3: the end of the production, but it's a very rewarding
Speaker 3: feeling once you have this vision in your head and
Speaker 3: then you see it play out in real life before you.
Speaker 3: As far as the venues, we played at various venues
Speaker 3: throughout the LA area, and that changes based on our need.
Speaker 3: Sometimes we need more lighting, bigger stages, smaller stages, so
Speaker 3: just depending on what we need. So yeah, that's pretty
Speaker 3: much the gist of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, tell us a bit about what one of those
Speaker 2: plays look like. Like I said, it plays center on
Speaker 2: love and unpredictability of relationships. What's the inspiration look like
Speaker 2: for that? Give us one of the names of one
Speaker 2: of the plays that y'all have done.
Speaker 3: Okay, what is a series called to Love or to Leave?
Speaker 3: And so in that case, we take a couple or
Speaker 3: a couple of different couples and put them on stage
Speaker 3: and they're acting out the dynamics of their relationship. So
Speaker 3: one of them that we wrote was an issue with alcoholism.
Speaker 3: So the husband I played that role, Michael, and that
Speaker 3: particular play had a problem with alcohol and also a
Speaker 3: little bit of domestic abuse in this. So we always
Speaker 3: try to tap into real life situations and make people
Speaker 3: think and deal with real situations. So that was the
Speaker 3: issue going on. So throughout that play we had that transpire,
Speaker 3: showed how he fell into that, how he tried to
Speaker 3: dig himself out of it, and how his wife or
Speaker 3: his partner reacted to that and the dynamics of that relationship.
Speaker 3: So by the end of the show, we involve the audience.
Speaker 3: We give everyone a black roles and a red roles,
Speaker 3: and we asked them to vote based on what you've seen,
Speaker 3: what do you think shit happen? Should she stay with him?
Speaker 3: If that's the case, everyone raised the red roles. If
Speaker 3: she should leave him, raise the black roles. And we
Speaker 3: do that and they go crazy in the audience yelling
Speaker 3: why they should stay or go, And it's a way
Speaker 3: to keep the audience involved and also have them have
Speaker 3: an interest so they determine the outcome of the show.
Speaker 3: So you can think about that in terms of later
Speaker 3: in life. I remember that play that Creative Love and
Speaker 3: Larry Love did about the same situation, and I remember
Speaker 3: how I felt when I saw that, and I was
Speaker 3: the one that raised the black roles she should leave him.
Speaker 3: So I'm in that situation, do I follow that same advice?
Speaker 3: So it's something that continues on and then we bring
Speaker 3: back different characters in that same play and let them
Speaker 3: determine whether they should stay together or go based on
Speaker 3: their dynamics and their relationship. But it's really interactive.
Speaker 2: Now that's amazing. Wow, what is the audience response. I'm
Speaker 2: sure y'all get people come up to you all the
Speaker 2: time talking about like, yeah, I have my roads there. Well,
Speaker 2: what's been the kind of feedback that you've gotten. That's
Speaker 2: such an interactive, engaging experience to be a part of.
Speaker 3: Oh, we get the whole scale. Need you in that role?
Speaker 3: I hated you? That's a good sign. That means it
Speaker 3: was played correctly and that the writing was on point.
Speaker 3: So we get that all along, and even the characters
Speaker 3: of this day, some of the posts will walk out
Speaker 3: and people will call them the name of that character
Speaker 3: instead of their regular name. Oh, you were Firecracker in
Speaker 3: that or you were Michael in that play. So the
Speaker 3: response is real good, and I always question whether they're
Speaker 3: ready for another episode. It's always overwhelming. Yes, I'm invested.
Speaker 3: I need to see what happens with the other couple now.
Speaker 3: So the response is always very good and getting intertwining
Speaker 3: music along with that. So you may be acting doing
Speaker 3: a piece of a poetry performance and then all of
Speaker 3: a sudden the song breaks out. It's all woven together
Speaker 3: to make it cohesive.
Speaker 2: That's yeah, that's a hell of a monologue. Then now
Speaker 2: that shit that that sounds amazing, And tell us how
Speaker 2: often when can people go see those? How often do
Speaker 2: y'all put on those performances? In stage plays?
Speaker 3: We try to do something quarterly, gotch So every quarter
Speaker 3: we do something Right now, we're doing the series called
Speaker 3: Kings and Queens of Poetry and Music, So we have
Speaker 3: two huge thrones on stage and we represent the queens
Speaker 3: and the kings of poetry. Have them come up on
Speaker 3: stage and show why they deserve to wear the crown
Speaker 3: of king or queen poet. So we do that in
Speaker 3: conjunction with honoring the elders in the poetry community. So
Speaker 3: every time we do that, we choose a king and
Speaker 3: queen poet who's laid footprints in this game of poetry
Speaker 3: and done incredible things in the community. So we make
Speaker 3: sure to give the flowers to those who have paved
Speaker 3: the way for us, while also introducing these new and
Speaker 3: upcoming poets that are deserving of a stage as well.
Speaker 3: So that's the series we're doing now. We've been doing
Speaker 3: that for the last year now, took a quick hiatus
Speaker 3: as we're now getting our poets on college campuses. We
Speaker 3: just finished a three day conference where we are an
Speaker 3: agency represent poets and getting them on college campuses all
Speaker 3: across the country and putting them in spotlights and allowing
Speaker 3: them to get monetary rewards that they deserve. So that's
Speaker 3: been very exciting and looking forward to doing a lot
Speaker 3: of that in the coming years as well.
Speaker 2: That's really what's up. That's definitely such I'm sure for
Speaker 2: you feeling like every bit full circle moment. You know,
Speaker 2: you're now giving back to those and giving them that
Speaker 2: opportunity to be independent in their art. So that's such
Speaker 2: a shout to all y'all. Shout to y'all. That's amazing
Speaker 2: what y'all are doing. So tell us a bit about
Speaker 2: now you've already mentioned a bit, but tell us a
Speaker 2: little bit more about Creative Love Network. So this is
Speaker 2: also this acts as an agency as well for poets
Speaker 2: as well. Tell us a bit about the whole DNA
Speaker 2: behind Creative Love Network.
Speaker 3: Okay, for that, the idea came about again seeing all
Speaker 3: the talent that was out in the community and trying
Speaker 3: to figure out how to provide a bigger platform for
Speaker 3: them to demonstrate their art. So the name is a
Speaker 3: play on Larry Love Creative Love Network, and it really
Speaker 3: demonstrates what we're about, the love that we have for
Speaker 3: creating and then providing that network for everyone to work
Speaker 3: together and to also have an outlet. It's two parts
Speaker 3: to the company. The first part of the entertainment part,
Speaker 3: so that's providing the platform, the plays, the stages, the
Speaker 3: events promotions, so we put on big events throughout the
Speaker 3: LA area. The other side is the outreach side, because
Speaker 3: we always want to be about community and about people.
Speaker 3: So that side of it requires that all of our
Speaker 3: poets are Most of our poets and people in the
Speaker 3: organization are also certified to teach some form of life mastery,
Speaker 3: so we have people that can do life coaching, anger management, parenting,
Speaker 3: various things. We have a theme of self love. So
Speaker 3: we have a book entitled The Power to Change the
Speaker 3: Way You Love Yourself. We incorporate that in our programs
Speaker 3: and plays. So it's about the creative side and the
Speaker 3: upliftment of our people and people in general. So those
Speaker 3: are the few aspects of the company. So we're constantly
Speaker 3: doing things that are creative forms of therapy, so to speak.
Speaker 3: So teaching you how to better love yourself, teaching you
Speaker 3: how to forgive yourself for past things that you may
Speaker 3: or may not have had any control over, how to
Speaker 3: push through trauma, deal with anxiety, things like that. We
Speaker 3: focus on that in the classroom while at the same
Speaker 3: time entertaining. So it's again based on our belief that
Speaker 3: words have the power, whether they're spoken, saying, written, or heard,
Speaker 3: to impact lies and change people for the better.
Speaker 2: Absolutely. I mean, what a CIA if you could just
Speaker 2: pick a dream out from the sky? I mean, where
Speaker 2: do you see that? Where do you see the ORG going?
Speaker 2: What is your kind of dream for the ORG eventually
Speaker 2: going in the next couple of years.
Speaker 3: The long term plan and goal is to really touch
Speaker 3: more people because I believe our mission is a solid
Speaker 3: one and one that is necessary. So getting to a
Speaker 3: point where we can touch more people across the country
Speaker 3: the world. So to that effect, we're taking steps to
Speaker 3: do more multi multimedia things. Tap We want to tap
Speaker 3: into television, cable outlets, different factions across the country, different
Speaker 3: chapters maybe of the organization that can put on these
Speaker 3: type of events and these type of workshops, get into
Speaker 3: the school system. So it's really just expanding the work
Speaker 3: that we're doing here and taking that global that that
Speaker 3: is the goal.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely, Now that's that's beyond amazing. The Creative Love Network,
Speaker 2: Everyone go check them out for sure. Now tell me
Speaker 2: was there a Was there a pivotal moment in your
Speaker 2: life when you knew you were a writer? There is
Speaker 2: any story you remember from maybe childhood, adulthood where it
Speaker 2: is it clicked with you. Could you name any memory
Speaker 2: where hey, I know I am a writer.
Speaker 3: Now, okay, if we're going to go back to early days,
Speaker 3: it was sixth grade graduation when I was allowed to
Speaker 3: write the graduation speech and perform it. So that I
Speaker 3: had reservations like how can I do this? How are
Speaker 3: they going to respond? But I got courageous and did it.
Speaker 3: And the response when people started clapping and applauding that
Speaker 3: told me, Okay, they like my words and they like
Speaker 3: my delivery. So on that day, I think the poet
Speaker 3: was born in that auditorium in sixth grade. And then,
Speaker 3: of course later as we progress, I get into school
Speaker 3: in college and professors are telling me you really need
Speaker 3: to change your major, you should be doing something in writing,
Speaker 3: and getting that feedback constantly told me that Okay, this
Speaker 3: is a gift that I have and I should try
Speaker 3: to really do something positive with it.
Speaker 2: That's what's up. That's what's up sixth grade, everyone in
Speaker 2: the auditorium. So push your kids to go speak at
Speaker 2: an auditorium young as young asy to get them. That's
Speaker 2: what's up. Thank you for sharing that. All right, and Larry,
Speaker 2: our last question for you on the post Piece podcast.
Speaker 2: All Right, Larry Love, why do you need to get
Speaker 2: your words out?
Speaker 3: M Because as I said earlier, I I truly believe
Speaker 3: that words have the power to change people, change the world.
Speaker 3: So I believe my words speak to freedom, they speak
Speaker 3: to liberation, they speak to progression. My words are like
Speaker 3: the tip of a knife, sharp tip of a knife
Speaker 3: that's kind of peeling back the layers of this self
Speaker 3: doubt that our people have been wrapped in for so
Speaker 3: many decades and years, So peeling that back and helping
Speaker 3: people to really understand that we are great, we are valuable,
Speaker 3: We deserve every blessing that comes our way. And so
Speaker 3: I have to continue to speak because who am I
Speaker 3: how to hold that in when I have a gift
Speaker 3: and ability to reach people. So it's my duty and
Speaker 3: my job to make sure my words are heard one
Speaker 3: thousand percent.
Speaker 2: All right, y'all heard them?
Speaker 3: All right?
Speaker 2: Thank you so much, Larry. And before we wrap up,
Speaker 2: wrap up, tell us what's next for you in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty five and beyond, and tell us where can folks
Speaker 2: come find out more about your amazing work. Drop any
Speaker 2: social media or websites that you have.
Speaker 3: Twenty twenty four, we're almost at the end of it though.
Speaker 3: Right right now we're focused again on the getting those
Speaker 3: poets out to these college campuses. So that's a big
Speaker 3: emphasis of ours, and we had a lot of success
Speaker 3: at this conference and a lot of universities reached out
Speaker 3: to us, so we'll be organizing that and sending units
Speaker 3: of ports all across the country in the coming year.
Speaker 3: On a personal level, I'm working on a spoken word
Speaker 3: album right now, so that's something I'm very excited about
Speaker 3: for twenty twenty five. The title of the projects title
Speaker 3: is Roses and Revolution, so it allows me to tap
Speaker 3: into both my revolution every side and my love for
Speaker 3: black love, so combining those two things and again Roses
Speaker 3: and Revolution. So look out for that coming. And the
Speaker 3: Creative Love Network has a lot of things on tap.
Speaker 3: We're looking to start a cable show pretty soon. We
Speaker 3: are also a book publishing organization, so we have several
Speaker 3: books that are being worked on right now that we'll
Speaker 3: be bringing to Fruition in the next year or so.
Speaker 3: And just getting out there and touching people, teaching them
Speaker 3: about loving themselves and spreading our talents and our appreciation
Speaker 3: for this art that we call poetry.
Speaker 2: There we go. All right, thanks so much, Larry. Did
Speaker 2: you did you drop your social I might miss that
Speaker 2: or do you have a website?
Speaker 3: I have not dropped it in My team would be
Speaker 3: so mad at me because I always forget to do that.
Speaker 3: All right, all right, poor Larry Love. On all platforms,
Speaker 3: the company is Creative Love Network, So poet Larry Love
Speaker 3: and Creative Love Network on all platforms, tap in with us.
Speaker 3: The website creativelovenetwork dot com. Check with us, see what
Speaker 3: we're doing, follow us, and yeah, a lot of big
Speaker 3: things planned.
Speaker 2: All right, sounds good noworries everyone. We'll put all of
Speaker 2: Larry's information in the description box and the details down below.
Speaker 2: All right, everyone, Larry Love thanks so much for joining
Speaker 2: us on the poet Speaks podcast today.
Speaker 3: Shout up to you, queen.
Speaker 2: All right, thank you so.
Speaker 3: Much to everyone.
Speaker 2: Go ahead and check out all theirs amazing work and
Speaker 2: check out the post Speaks podcast where you listen to
Speaker 2: your podcasts. All right, Bollie, everyone pee