Andre Hardy and Yogi have been friends since childhood. In this conversation, we discuss how they met and how sports, family, and community—three of the things that have mattered most in my own life—brought them together and kept them together through the years. They touch on their high school and college athletic careers, and Andre's career as an NFL running back. Both men are great husbands, fathers, and grandfathers; we talk about the seriousness and importance of fatherhood and their shared feelings about breaking the cycle of absent fathers in their families. Last but not least, we reminisce together about the good old days in the neighborhood, with its legendary games and characters—Highland Park, the Little Neighborhood, and Hoover High, here in San Diego, CA.

Spoken word intro piece is by legendary underground Hip-Hop MC Myka 9 of Freestyle Fellowship. Origins and influences are featured in this episode's conversation with Dwight Trible, including his love and appreciation for jazz drummer extraordinaire Brian Blade and his collaboration with the great Kenny Garrett, whose album "Sounds from the Ancestors" he played on. He describes his early life in Cincinnati, before he moved to Los Angeles, and some of the racial issues he encountered as a young boy. We talk about what it was like for him to work with Leimert Park elders and legends like Billy Higgins, Art Davis, Horace Tapscott, and Kamau Daáood. We discuss The World Stage, founded by Daáood and Higgins, and its importance as a grassroots, community-owned cultural center for progressive music. Content and the sacred are important themes throughout.https://dwighttrible.com

In this episode, Anthony Joseph discusses growing up in a culturally rich community, raised by his grandparents, playing soccer and eating mangoes. We talk about his move to the United Kingdom in his early twenties—a completely different world for him to learn to navigate—where he met legendary UK poet Linton Kwesi Johnson. He shares about his music career and love for jazz and poetry. "Kamau," the first track on his album The Rich Are Only Defeated When Running for Their Lives, was named for Barbadian poet Kamau Brathwaite, a major influence. Joseph's latest book is Sonnets for Albert.For more details and information about Anthony Joseph visit his website.https://www.anthonyjoseph.co.uk

In this episode, I sit down with Kaira Jewel Lingo to talk about her dedicated interweaving of mindfulness and social justice. She reflects on the influence of her parents, a black mom from Chicago's westside and a white dad from southern Texas who worked in the Civil Rights movement. She shares about her childhood years in Kenya, including the experience of living simply and how that's shaped her life as an adult. Finally, we discuss her journey meeting Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh and becoming a nun. She now lives as a lay teacher of Buddhism. EARLY LIFE My lifelong journey of weaving contemplative practice with social justice started with being born into an interracial family within a residential Christian community that was focused on voluntary simplicity and service to the poor and marginalized.  NUN LIFEAs soon as I saw the Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, or Thay as his students call him (Vietnamese for ‘teacher’), I knew he was my teacher. The community of nuns, monks and lay practitioners was also deeply inspiring to me, living authentically what he taught. In 1999 I was ordained as a Buddhist nun at the age of 25 and spent fifteen years as a nun, engaging in a 24-hour-a-day mindfulness practice made up of daily sitting and walking meditation, eating meals in silence to be fully present for our food, dharma study and community building, leading retreats and guiding students individually.PRESENT DAYThen, in my early forties, after spending nearly my whole adult life as a nun, I made another huge shift after a long discernment process, deciding to leave monastic life to start all over. So, when many friends from my youth had already started families and spent several decades in their professions, I was learning in middle age to do the things my peers had been doing since their early twenties—using a cell phone, running a household, and paying taxes. It was a major transition on many levels: personally, socially, financially, professionally, spiritually, and culturally. In a sense, I was reinventing my whole identity. https://www.kairajewel.com

A mythic figure in the Southern California arts scene, Kamau Daáood is a performance poet, educator, and community arts activist. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he was instrumental in transforming Leimert Park into a cultural center and is widely acknowledged as a major force driving L.A.'s Black cultural renaissance. Kamau was a member of the Watts Writers Workshop and developed his style as a "word musician" with the Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, under the direction of Horace Tapscott. Over the course of hundreds of readings, his words have lifted audiences from their seats. He's shared a podium with Gil Scott-Heron, The Last Poets, Amiri Baraka, and Sonia Sanchez, and has read in Egypt and Somalia. In this episode, we discuss his passion, energy, and intensity as a poet and ambassador of arts and culture for the community in L.A., and his pride in contributing still to its vibrant traditions. We discuss jazz and what legends like John Coltrane, Billy Higgins, and Mr. Tapscott have meant to him and his journey, as well as his relationship with Juno Lewis—the master instrument-maker, vocalist, and percussionist who played on Coltrane's classic album Kulu Se Mama.

When I was just a kid, my mom took me to the Jack Murphy Stadium, home of the San Diego Chargers, to see Lincoln vs. Clairmont in the CIF High School Football Championship. In the early 80s, the CIF final was always played at Jack Murphy and was a very big deal. I was there to see Lincoln's star quarterback, Rodney Hill. He was only 5'6" and couldn't even see over the line of scrimmage. Although Lincoln lost the game, I was mesmerized by his play. Rodney Hill is one of the legendary San Diego athletes that this podcast has, from the beginning, sought to document. I came to know him personally, years after his incredible high school football career, but I didn't know until this interview that he was an equally great baseball star who started out at Sunshine Little League.In this episode, we take a deep dive into Rodney's illustrious career, from his time as a Pop Warner player himself through to his role as head coach for the Balboa Raiders Pop Warner team. At Balboa, he seized the chance to give back to his community as a coach, mentor, and father figure. His teams went to ten Q-Bowls—the Pop Warner equivalent of the Super Bowl—and won seven of them, as well as two national championships and one Junior Rose Bowl title. In San Diego, he's considered by most to be the greatest Pop Warner coach of all time.Also visit my website https://www.withanthonythomas.com to learn more about the podcast.

What happens to the brain and body when pushed to the brink? In this episode, Hannibal Smith relates his experience running 100 miles in 24 hours—his mind-state as he began the race and the struggles he encountered as he ran.He also shares his history with NXPT Fitness Gym, from member to coach and owner; we discuss his friendship with co-owner Dan Hark and how their synergy has been a vital component of the gym’s success. Before we wrap, Hannibal answers questions from some current gym members.This is Part 2 of my interview with Hannibal; Part 1 can be found at A Long Way From the Block Podcast Episode 20, available  across all platforms. Also visit my website https://www.withanthonythomas.com to learn more about the podcast.

During this episode Cynsere talks in-depth about his involvement with Peace on the Street,  a not for profit organization committed to empowering the East Harlem community with Zen arts, Martial arts and Zen meditation.  Cynsere is also heavily involved in All Kings, an organization committed to supporting and empowering men impacted by the criminal justice system. You will also hear why as an All Kings Facilitator, a Martial Arts student of Sifu Richard Garcia and a practitioner of Zen Meditation under Zen Priest Stan Koehler, he feels it's his duty and obligation to pass on what he has learned to the younger generation. https://www.peaceonthestreet.comhttps://www.allkings.org  

I had the pleasure to sit down and dialogue with one of today's top innovators in music, Damion Reid.  In this episode we discuss his early influences on the drums, one of which was  learning and being mentored by legendary Jazz drummer, Billy Higgins.  Damion discusses how he developed his sense of  value for the elders, and a deep respect for history and the ancestors.  We talk about how he came to know Robert Glasper and was  a big part of Glasper's early trios  which brought him a grammy nomination for the 2015 album "Covered."  We discuss his most recent project with the group Selebeyone, which includes  alto saxophonists  Steve Lehman and Maciek Lasserre,  MC's HPrizm and Gaston Bandimic with Damion Reid on drums.  Selebeyone's  latest album "Xaybu" is available now on all platforms. Lastly we take a deep dive into Hip-Hop and some of his favorite MC's and producers.Damion Reid is from West Covina, California a city east of Los Angeles. He attended New England Conservatory of Music and The New School in NYC. He has toured and performed alongside Greg Osby, Terence Blanchard, Steve Coleman, Robert Hurst, Reggie Workman, Jason Moran, Ravi Coltrane, Lauryn Hill and many others. 

From Lords cricket ground to central saint martins art college to Spitalfields market and now to the world.With sustainability and upcycling being the buzzwords of the moment, Kervin Marc Designer of Tag 3 Militaire, artist and upcycling extraordinaire for years have reworked military materials. Using kit bags, tents and all manner of discarded ex-military findings. Marc has on display the history of his designs and arts.After a very successful interview in 2021 he agreed to come back on for a part 2.In this episode we continue the discussion  on what motivates him to bring high quality fashion to the world.  With his own store front in the Notting Hill neighborhood of London he has created a great place for conversation and community. https://kervinmarc.com