This is New Wisco Weekend, and I'm your host, Lisa Hale.
Rob D's is a Wisconsin artist, educator, and activist, but no matter which hat he's
wearing, he believes in kindness to the core.
And a big goal these days is helping the kids he works with across the state to take
their stories and turn it into art.
Once again, here's our Terry Bar.
How do you fulfill all of those roles, artist, educator, activist?
It's really just about putting my best foot forward and whatever it is.
I'm either in the context of just trying to be a light.
If there's some way that I can spark something for someone else, whether it's through music
or if it's impacting the kids that I work with, hopefully people can get something from
what I've gone through and kind of push it along and pay it forward as I try to pay it
forward.
That requires a lot of faith and a lot of belief that even when things ain't okay,
things gonna be okay.
Hip hop for you is also a really big part of your life, but you also use it to sort of
help kids learn more about the music and how to do it and why it matters.
Why is that important for you?
For me, it's important in understanding being a voice for the voiceless.
Sometimes, I'm saying, especially for me, being a child of hip hop, understanding that
your voice makes noise, like your voice resonates, your story resonates.
What you come from and what you've gone through is something that you hope that you could
pass along that others can gain from it, and that's the same way that I feel like with
the babies that I work with, shorties, the youngins and that, to give them to understand
that they have a story that's important.
But yeah, I mean, like, to really be able to get kids to understand in a lot of ways
where, like, arts programming is getting cut.
The importance of sharing stories is something that needs to connect us all.
I've often heard that the word inspiration associated with what I do, but like, my biggest
hope of inspiration is to inspire others.
These babies are the future, so we gotta inspire them.
When you see the light bulb go on above their head, they're getting what you're talking
about.
What does that feel like?
I taught a class this morning, and it's an ultimate educational program that I'm working
with.
So these are kids that have basically been expelled or taken out of other programs.
I won't go into the name of the program, but on a first day to see them buy into what
we're talking about, like, you can see when you talk about the light bulb going off,
it's probably a light bulb that nobody's ever really gotten to get them to open up.
There's a certain responsibility so that there's a joy that comes from it, but it's
like, okay, man, let's roll up our sleeves now.
Let's get to it.
So in seeing that, it's always encouraging, and it's always heartwarming.
At least for me, it always encourages me to continue to try to be mindful and do that
and share that connectiveness.
How are we doing?
What are we missing in our discussions about, you know, whether we want to talk about
black history or black future?
Probably going to be weird to say it, but I think we're missing the humanity of it all.
And that goes very deep, but I think it not just having humanity be a checkoff point,
you know, but have it actual be an actual action to really care about common man and who
we are and our experiences.
And being able to appreciate the humanity of it all, I think that will help the progress
has been avoided as we grow more through the times that we are living in.
I think we should really start looking at appreciating the humanity and letting that
guide our forward motion.
You kind of lead this mad lit program.
We're answering year five.
And honestly, when this started, I had no clue where we would be a year five, but here
we are.
So excited about that, the whole premise is being at the top of stage street to just
share in the humanity of it all, understanding that people come from different backgrounds
and we still need to co-exist together to make things happen.
That's the celebration of bad lit.
We have musicians, we have visual artists, we have small business vendors that don't necessarily
get a chance to interact in the downtown area.
So we come and we actually move towards a better understanding and existence for ourselves.
I think with the times that we live in, composure is required.
And it's kind of what I talk about just keeping your composure even in being recognized in
the town and the interactions that we're interactions that I encounter.
And the responsibility of being an African-American and a predominantly white place, even the
composure of the climate that our country is in.
All of these things kind of require a certain amount of composure and that's kind of where
this song came from.
It was kind of me just kind of throwing something out there and saying, hey, here it is.
That's it.
Thank you again for joining me, Rob D's the artist.
Let's take a listen to his song, Composure.
Ain't no time to walk with my head down.
Part of being a man with skin as brown.
Had that to be in the man about time and that all come out in the soul of the sound now.
Speaking of which, this is why I spit.
It's fresh sentiment, a lot of cats on bed.
Red and amber.
I'm so happy that you left me.
And I put some stain on it now.
But that's what I needed.
So you smell like that, this regression rat.
Great to move forward.
Ain't no time to love back.
Listen, let me live so I can get at that.
Because I'm a blue collar baby, I'm a t-card dad.
So 10 and I might meet because I speak in facts.
Robby St. Luke, because I was speaking in facts.
Walking my ability, these words in my debris.
Had to keep composure through all of this greed.
Some throw jazz for us to fall off.
Like they don't only spot for us to fall off.
Work on visions, make sure they solve off.
Drew out of date point plays I call off.
This is for those separable organizations.
So the glasses can't trip 90s days.
So we'll be able to keep calm.
And now I'm tapped in my deeper feelings.
Things fall apart, man.
Now I'm getting it.
But I know my black excellence is often expected.
Staying cool, eating when it's time is so hectic.
I call jazz and my just want stuff.
I don't sweat it.
Falling for the whole lust.
Now I'm batting.
And come up short in a way that I can batting.
That was a decision with no time to trip.
Come on, soul on the line.
Word of words, hazelnut.
It's funny.
Managed to pray.
The attention.
Just pray.
People get my attention.
No matter the hurt which happens to pose.
It's gonna get better man.
Stay close.
Don't come up at times.
We fail.
And get the joy at times.
We end up.
You just spread your wings.
And sail.
And you just keep your confusion.
You're composing.
It seemed like we all going through it.
The cooler has prevailed.
Composes how to do it.
We all got demons.
And we skew how it flows.
We were shaped up a story.
No one could have knew it.
Last name.
Franklin.
But I ain't no saint.
In the word snowfall.
One is said you can't be black and white.
It's kinds of require strength.
And I go for what I know.
Shoot.
Think I ain't.
For seven and for best.
Not part of my debate.
It's because I'm with the love.
Thank you for being a part of New Wisco Weekend's issue on the random acts of kindness.
New Wisco Weekend is produced and written by Terry Barr and Lisa Hale.
Our executive producer is Todd Michaels, directed by Lisa Hale.
Lead correspondent is Terry Barr with features from Conrad Krieger, Brittany Merlot, and Pete Schwabba.
Our commentator is Amanda Nimmer.
If you have a story you'd like to hear us cover, feel free to email me anytime.
lesa.hale at civicmedia.us.
I'm civic media Northeast Wisconsin Bureau Chief Lisa Hale for WISS
and WGBW News.
Be unstoppable.
