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What is You Can Mentor: A Christian Youth Mentoring Podcast?
You Can Mentor is a network that equips and encourages mentors and mentoring leaders through resources and relationships to love God, love others, and make disciples in their own community. We want to see Christian mentors thrive.
We want to hear from you! Send any mentoring questions to hello@youcanmentor.com, and we'll answer them on our podcast. We want to help you become the best possible mentor you can be. Also, if you are a mentoring organization, church, or non-profit, connect with us to join our mentoring network or to be spotlighted on our show.
Please find out more at www.youcanmentor.com or find us on social media. You will find more resources on our website to help equip and encourage mentors. We have downloadable resources, cohort opportunities, and an opportunity to build relationships with other Christian mentoring leaders.
You can mentor is a podcast about the power of building relationships with kids from hard places in the name of Jesus. Every episode will help you overcome common mentoring obstacles and give you the confidence you need to invest in the lives of others you can mentor.
Speaker 2:Hey, guys. Today's episode is an interview with Corey Cross Dean, the father of Christian hip hop himself, or at least one of the fathers. I think you're gonna enjoy today's episode. We talked about the school to prison pipeline and the reality of what black boys face in our culture and day today. So if you enjoyed today's episode, please let us know about it by rating the podcast, sharing it with someone you know.
Speaker 2:And if you're on YouTube, click that subscribe button. Thanks. Welcome back to the You Can Mentor podcast. My name is Steven, and I have a very special guest today coming from Minneapolis. This is Corey Cross Dean.
Speaker 2:Mister Dean, how are you doing today?
Speaker 3:I'm doing well, man. How are you?
Speaker 2:I'm good. Now now Cross, you are a hip hop recording artist. Tell us a little bit about your your history and how long you've been an artist for.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So I've been an artist for about, I don't know, roughly over 25 years. I'm pioneer at Christian hip hop. You know? So, that updates me, you know, way.
Speaker 3:But it's a good thing because, you know, I was a part of, you know, a lot of the groundbreaking things back, when they had Holy Hip Hop Music Awards in Atlanta. You know, when Christopher played Martin from the movie House Party, who's one of my good friends, He featured me in a documentary, called Holy Hip Hop, The Movement. You know, that that came out when we had, you know, DVDs. You know?
Speaker 2:Some people don't even know what a DVD is anymore.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I know. Right? So, you know, that's that's kinda how far the music goes back. But, yeah, I'm a founder and CEO of Oneway Entertainment, which is, you know, a Christian hip hop record label.
Speaker 3:We have 7 artists that are on our record label. You know, we've been grinding for a minute. We've had success in that. I've been blessed to be a Grammy nominated artist, and then I also have 3 children who are prolific Christian hip hop artists. So for us, it's like the first family of Christian hip hop.
Speaker 3:You know, we we're all immersed in it. My wife is immersed in it. You know, she received a Grammy nomination when I did because she was part of that that same project. She does spoken word. So, you know, it's just a family of double artists, you know, moving, you know, towards Jesus Christ, man, impacting culture, more specifically urban culture, you know, and just kinda, you know, reestablishing and setting a a precedence for urban con urban inspirational content because as you well know and as many other mentors know around the country who work in urban communities, there are so many negative depictions in urban culture when it comes to music video and film.
Speaker 3:So we're just you know, we've been working hard, you know, in relationship to mentoring, but we've, you know, been spiritually impacting people through through our music on the other side, and we've kinda brought all of that together.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I love it. Well and that's how I connected to you. I saw that you were on a list of black entrepreneurs that people should watch out for. Obviously, I'm having you on this podcast not because of Christian rap, but because of mentoring.
Speaker 2:But at the same time, that influences how you mentor and and how you reach kids. And so I'm I'm excited to talk about all of that though that and and the fact that you're older than Rapzilla and all the other things that that kinda I guess, the new lingo for finding Christian rap artists. I know a guy at Dallas Baptist University. He was a student when I was a college pastor. His name was Street Hymns, and he's been doing a lot of Christian rap battles and stuff, and it's just blowing people away because, I mean, that kind of culture is very vulgar, and he's just rapping about the bible.
Speaker 2:And it'll kinda catch you off guard when when when you meet people within the Christian hip hop scene. But, yeah, who who is your favorite artist currently that that's kind of just hidden hidden hidden their stride right now As you're you're kind of the the grandfather of Christian hip hop, who's who's the the guy coming up right now people should watch out for?
Speaker 3:Oh my goodness. That's a that's a tough question because that's that's such a biased question. Well, not a biased question, but I would provide a biased answer because I really and this is just my honest opinion. I I think that my 2 children are. I think, my son Titus, he's a basketball player in Liberty University, but he's also a prolific artist.
Speaker 3:And my daughter Selena Lena, you know, they're both in college and, you know, you've mentioned the term hitting their stride. That's exactly where they they are at in their careers right now because they both have released 2 albums individually. And then they just released an album collectively, so they're artists in their own right. But when they come together, they form a group, which is called Sis and LeBro. And I'm excited about, you know, what they're what they're doing and the concerts that they're having.
Speaker 3:They're both are, really impacting, the culture around them on campus. You know, so they're doing their thing from that perspective, and I'm looking forward to the projects that they have coming out. Titus, he recently and when I say recently, I'm talking about this week, just released a new music video called Enough Said. It's a really a really fascinating video. It's very futuristic.
Speaker 3:It's a lot of digital effects and special effects, and, you know, it's it it depicts him being on earth and, you know, talking to God and going to heaven and the gates opening and he having this experience and then him being sent back to earth to finish the work that he's done. I mean, it's just Wow. It's it's crazy. So I'm excited about those about those 2 kids, man.
Speaker 2:Man, I'm excited too. I'm gonna link to them in the show notes so our our listeners can check them out. So Titus and Selena.
Speaker 3:Yes. I am Titus and I am Selena Lina on their
Speaker 2:own TV. Come on, man. It's awesome. Well, mister Dean, the reason I have you on the podcast today is to talk about another organization that you founded, the Man Up Club. So I'd I'd love if you shared a little bit about the story behind you you starting this mentoring organization.
Speaker 3:Yeah. So the Man Up Club is a mentor leadership organization for young black males between the ages of 12 24. We mentor young men in 4 areas, which is life skills, social skills, academic discipline, and civic responsibility. And we have 3 main goals within the organization, and that's to, you know, get young black males to graduate from high school, keep them out of the prison pipeline, and to get them to go on to either college or have a trade after high school. So I started the organization back in 2012.
Speaker 3:I was a student advocate for about 400 African American students at a local school in the in the Twin Cities and just assessed the needs of the kids, basically, and found out that it was young black males that faced a multitude of challenges. And so I wanted to put something in place that would, you know, help them, you know, navigate some of those social systems, you know, and in the classroom and build reports with administrations and teachers and, things like that, just so that they could, you know, have opportunity. And a lot of these young men were not the ones who were, you know, engaged in extracurricular activities, such as sports after school and things like that. These were the kids who was kinda just caught between the cracks of, you know, not not necessarily being, you know, very athletic and all of that, you know, and then just going to school and kinda going home, but not really going home after school, just hanging out and getting into all kind of stuff. So we wanted to impact those guys, and, you know, we looked at graduation rates here, and they were subpar.
Speaker 3:We didn't wanna, you know, we wanted to put something in place that would bring them up and raise that graduation rate, man. And the other piece is that, you know, a lot of those young men, when they would get into altercations at school, they would immediately be referred to, you know, the police and arrested, and then it became a civic issue, and they would have, you know now they would have a record, you know, that will follow them the rest of their lives. And so we're talking about some systemic issues that just impacted young black males from the onset. So I designed the man up club as an after school program, just as a student advocate, and, had young men wear these suits once a week, which changed their perception and how the teachers approached them and dealt with them and the administration and what have you. And it's amazing what, you know, when you put a suit on a young man, what that would do as far as how he's perceived.
Speaker 3:You know, we'd like to believe that we can accept people for who they are and, you know, at face value or what have you, and not judge a book by its cover, but, you know, the reality is we always do. And so we need to be able to teach our young men, you know, how to navigate the system as it is and not how we think the system should be. I think that's one of the things that as mentors, we run a mistake. We we know that things are supposed to be equal, but in reality, we know that things are not equal. And I just believe that if you're really gonna service a young man and get him ready for survival, then you need to teach him the truth of what they're facing.
Speaker 3:And so, you know, that was, you know, kinda one of the core things about the Man Up Club is that, you know, we didn't teach from a perspective of what if. We talk from them from the perspective of the reality. What is the reality? Right. And we the reality is that the playing field is not fair and that we need to get these young men equipped to play on a playing field that's not fair so that they could survive regardless of what the circumstances are.
Speaker 3:So you fast forward to 2015, we developed it in the men of club into a nonprofit organization, 501c3, and we wanted to be we did that because we wanted to be able to partner, with school other schools and then church and local businesses as well as other nonprofit organizations. So we've been going strong for I think we're going into our 6th year now as a nonprofit organization. And we have several chapters around the city and operating cohorts where we mentor 10 to 15 young men at a time. And, you know, so many so many different things that are a part of our program with, you know, outside of just what we're mentoring young guys. You know, we have volunteers that tutor our young men.
Speaker 3:We go on field trips and all sorts of things. And then we have an annual festival that we do called God Flow, which is a a pretty big festival in the community. You know, we do trauma healing circles and all sorts of things, man, that we do to get these young men ready for life.
Speaker 2:Come on. Well, I love it, and, I mean, you just mentioned so much. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's a lot.
Speaker 2:And and I I love just your your heart to focus, I mean, just based off of your advocacy in the school of saying, hey. This particular population of students has more obstacles, more challenges than others. Like, the the playing field is not fair for these kids. How can I engage and equip them to to make it? And now you you mentioned something, the prison pipeline.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I don't know if our listeners know what the prison pipeline is. Could you explain that?
Speaker 3:Well, yeah. I mean, it's just it's it's it's basically ways in which and and systemic ways in which young men are kind of preempted for to get prepared for prison, you know, and that can come in in several different ways. And, you know, as far as like the you you add the graduation rate and you add living in poverty, you know, to some of these things. And for example, even in the schools that I worked in as a student advocate, you had a school that was, you know, it's a predominantly white school, but you're talking about 2,000 students and you got about, 4 to 500 who are African American. And these young men will be getting put out of class, and they will go to the detention to the detention room.
Speaker 3:So if you got a school that's predominantly a white school, and then you have a detention center, but the detention center is filled with African American, kids, then, you know, you gotta understand, you're basically preparing them to go to prison because of how the how it's structured. Then you have these schools who kinda operate kind of like prisons, where you got kids who come in, they come through metal detectors. They are when they go in the classroom, the door locks behind them to the classroom as if it was, you know, a prison door, what have you. You know? And then you have these rules and regulations that are designed and set up for failure is not is not set up for success, is not set up to be, redemptive, is is set up to be for consequences and punishment, or what have you.
Speaker 3:And so there there's just so many system systemic things that are in place that kind of softens the kids' minds and get them comfortable with, and then kind of massages them into this psychological thought process that, well, maybe prison isn't so bad. It's not quite a huge leap or transition from being free to being incarcerated because there are so many similarities. So that, you know, when kids get caught up and they make this transition, unfortunately, from living in a free society to, confined in a prison, that has a psychological effect on these kids. And so, you know, that's just one aspect of what I refer to as this, you know, the this prison prison pipeline. And then you look at, you know, the murder rate of of African Americans murdering each other and kids murdering each other, and then, you know, being fatherless.
Speaker 3:There's so many layers to this thing, but that's what I refer to when I talk about the prison pipeline, all of these variables, in life that kind of squeezes you down and funnels you down and closes the opportunity gap to the point where based on your situation and circumstance and your past and your experiences, it kind of funnels you into this system. And that system is incarceration. That system is is prison, basically. And once you're caught up in it and you get a record or what have you, you know, that's where it really gets crazy because it's hard to get out of it. You know, obviously, I mean, you can get out of it.
Speaker 3:Let's be clear about that. You can get out of it, but it becomes extremely difficult once a young man has a felony, and then, you know, you gotta try to reintegrate them back into society and try to, you know, navigate, you know, getting them a job or housing, and it it it's just a big web.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. Well and and it sounds like I mean, gosh. Just in your formative years, anywhere any direction of a black kid looks, there are images and symbols and environments that are preparing you and conditioning you to define yourself a certain way. Absolutely. And then that leads to, wrong beliefs.
Speaker 2:And and then if you face incrimination, prosecution, and imprisonment, then that those things that were defining you, now the system defines you and and stays with you the rest of your life. And so it's like no matter what, especially in your formative years, how how important that is. And I love what you said. It's like all all of those things in the school, the metal detectors, the locking doors. How much does that influence the way teachers view kids and view them as suspect?
Speaker 2:And so when you say sending your boys to school with suits on is trying to redefine how how people would look at them, I think that's that's very powerful to to, I guess, challenge the assumptions that are being made about who who a black boy is within
Speaker 3:You you hit you hit the nail on the head. We're basically challenging the assumption. That that's, like, very critical because we we do assume, and we do have prejudices, and and racism does exist. It's alive and well, and, you know, there's a lot of people in in positions of power who who hold these thoughts and who hold these perspectives. So, you know, the thing is, you know, we're we're we're in a war.
Speaker 3:You know, that's just that's it's just that simple. And we need to be able to put our kids in, you know, number 1, we need to put parameters around them and give them advice and, coach them in situations and give them tools. And the suit is nothing more than a tool. Giving them tools to help navigate the the system, you know, and give them the best chance at success from the onset, from from that that's that's the that's the critical piece is from the onset. It's unfortunate that it's that way in America, but the reality is the reality.
Speaker 3:And I can take 2 black boys, and I can let one dress himself however he wants to dress according to the culture under which he lives. And I can take another young and give him the knowledge that I have and give him the resources that I have, which might happen to be a suit and put it on them. They can have the same scholastic aptitude. They can come from the same environment what have you. But if you present those 2 boys together to the same people, oftentimes and more times than not, it is going to be the young man that is in a suit who's going to receive the benefit of the doubt.
Speaker 3:And he's going to be the one that, typically, they would people would feel more comfortable. And this is not just, you know, the the young black man the white people feeling comfortable with the young black man. This is all people, being comfortable with the young black man that has the suit on. You know? And it's just a sad reality that we have to take these kinds of steps in order to, you know, give our kids an opportunity just to be seen as normal.
Speaker 3:That's the key is just to be seen, because there are so many young men who operate in this world as themselves, as their God given selves with whatever resources they have or lack thereof. But the reality is they're not seen. And so when you're when you walk in a society and live in a society and dwell in the society under which you feel devalued and you're not seen, you know, then you have you you kinda act out and you start to do things that are uncharacteristic of your natural behavior.
Speaker 2:Wow. I feel like we could keep talking about this because I mean, the the thing that's in my head right now is mentoring. We help kids cope with the reality, the the reality that they're in, and we don't necessarily focus on changing the reality, the the situation, the I mean, how you put it, the systemic issues. Like, I would I would love to be able to address those things. It's very difficult to figure out how to do that, and so we just focus on coping strategies for kids and figuring out, okay, how do we do both?
Speaker 2:How do we change the system and not just focus on coping with the reality and and fitting in and trying to become normative within the system of how it is? I don't know the answer, but I feel like we have to do both of those. But, I mean, obviously, you're in Minneapolis. I mean, George Floyd was more murdered in your in your city, and and you guys were I mean, you were leading concerts I saw just at at where he was killed. And you on obviously, you have a lot of experience in this, and I don't know who who brought you up, who mentored you, who taught you to cope with the realities.
Speaker 2:I don't I don't know if you could go into that, if if you have stories of mentors that that helped you engage in in coping with with the the realities of of our nation.
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, I have mentors. So, unfortunately, I never I never met my father, but my father was a very educated man. He was a pastor. He traveled the world. He had his doctorate and his PhD.
Speaker 3:We just didn't have a relationship, and, unfortunately, I I never met him. And he passed away, when I was playing, college football. But I was fortunate enough in my journey to to meet a couple of gentlemen who were very influential and instrumental played instrumental roles in my life as to, you know, how I developed in the past that I took and how I made my decisions and what have you, and that that was critical. One gentleman was named mister whom I met in high school who was a white male, and he lived totally different than I did. And, you know, he he just approached me.
Speaker 3:I was I was a blue chip athlete in the state of Missouri as a football player, one of their top prospects. And he had approached me after a football game and just simply said, hey. I'll I'll cut you a deal. You know? He says, hey.
Speaker 3:You know, are you do you plan on going to college? My answer was no. He says, hey. I'll make you a deal if you come to my house every day after school, after practice. I'll tutor you, and I promise to get you, you know, some offers to college, you know, whether they're academic or athletic.
Speaker 3:And so for me, that was enticing, and I I took the deal. But the key was me taking the deal, me seeing the value of what he had to offer me. You know? And I got it. I I latched onto it, and I didn't let it go.
Speaker 3:And so I went to his house every day after school, and I studied. I studied hard, and, you know, his life was completely different from mine. His family was completely different from mine, and their culture was completely different from mine. So, you know, that's to say regardless of, you know, what the differences are, you know, we still have to make choices if we really, you know, wanna change our our future. Now I could have easily just said, nah.
Speaker 3:You know, I don't wanna deal with the white people, or no. I don't wanna make the commitment to studying every day. I wanna, you know, kick in with my friends. All of these things were there, but you know? And you still had racism, but I but I had to make the decision to be an individual as opposed to just flowing with the crowd.
Speaker 3:And long story short, I stuck with it. He got me multiple scholarships to different schools around the country. I ended up going to college. I ended up making the dean's list. I ended up breaking school records in football and, you know, going on and, you know, to do some important things that I and I've been and see some opportunities that I never would have been able to see as a result of him speaking into my life.
Speaker 3:But the thing was I trusted him, because I looked at his life and what he had. You know, his kids didn't watch television. They you know? And, you know, all of his kids went to Ivy League Colleges. You know?
Speaker 3:And they didn't look at me as this little poor black kid. They just looked at me as a a person who had some potential, and they wanted to, you know, basically help make my life better. So he invested in me, and he and he didn't he never invested money. He invested his time, which was the most valuable asset. And then, you know, once I went to college, I I had another mentor that, came into my life, and he was a black man.
Speaker 3:He was the dean of the business school. His name was, Frank McKinney. And so, you know, he helped me at my next stage in my life as far as stepping into manhood and becoming a man and, you know, giving me responsibilities. And he was the first person who had ever cosigned for me to get a car. You know?
Speaker 3:And that was huge because, you know, I had people in my family who wouldn't dare do that. You know? And, you know, for him to have a one credit, but to put his name on the line for me, that meant something to me. And so I, you know, I valued him to the point where I never wanted to let him down. And so, you know, he simply said to me he says, hey.
Speaker 3:And I had never heard anybody say this to me, even as I was growing up and having growing up poor and struggling with bills and things like that. He said to me, if you ever, feel like you're gonna get in a situation where you're not going to be able to make this payment, you make sure you let me know right away. I've never heard those words before from anybody. You know? And that hit me differently.
Speaker 3:And so it motivated me to be to to put myself in a position to make those payments. And even if I was in a situation where I wanted to compromise those payments, because as teenagers and young people, we wanna do that, I didn't do it because I didn't want him to have to go in his pocket and do more for me. You know? But but it's just these opportunities where people that they give us that we have to make good on. And so for me, I recognize that having those 2 mentors in my life really kinda shaped, you know, me today and how we, first of all, even started the man of club and how we run it.
Speaker 3:You know? And it's just kinda based on my childhood of what people have done for me.
Speaker 2:I love it. Not I hear so much, I mean, reading about your program, how much they influence you to do do what you're doing and to see your mentoring being the fruit of their investment in you spending time, which, I mean, is the primary investment. And I I believe the the greatest investment we can make is in people, but the greatest asset we have is time. So I I totally agree with you there. And Yeah.
Speaker 2:For for mentors who try to circumvent and build relationship through finances, they're missing out on on a lot that they can give just through their presence.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And and recognizing that I mean, even even just for me, I I know there are a ton of mentors, if I'm honest, that are out there who are white and think that it's best for them to be a white mentor to a black kid and and don't even think about a a black mentor for a black kid and and other mentors who think I don't have everything that this kid needs. I can't relate it with his experience and our differences, and they feel, I I guess, inferior or incapable of providing the mentorship that a kid needs. But to hear you say that you took a guy up on the value that he was giving you and turned his investment into, I mean, exponential you you turned it exponential in giving away everything that he's given you to the kids that you're serving now. I think that's a great encouragement for any mentor of a kid who feels like they can't relate.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Absolutely. I I I can totally understand where you're coming from. A lot of them feel disconnected, but I think that, the key is just understanding what it is that you do have to offer. I mean, obviously, we're all human beings, and this is a humanitarian issue.
Speaker 3:And the investment is you're investing into human capital, so we have much more in common, you know, than we think. You know, race is just one aspect of it. I mean, it's and it's a very small part of the equation, and, yeah, we have different experiences. But the truth be told, we have a lot of similar experiences. The only difference is that we just simply do not allow each other to truly understand what our individual experiences are because of the color of our skin.
Speaker 3:We'll allow that to be this type of barrier, you know, that exists when it really shouldn't exist in the grand scheme of things and what we can get accomplished. You you take that small percentage of racism that exist in the minds of people. That's a very small percentage, this layer that keeps the majority of what you have to offer somebody at bay. And so if we can just break that little thin line of racism, then we can open the floodgates to human interaction and human growth. That's how I'm looking at it.
Speaker 3:Wow.
Speaker 2:That's good. One one of your program focuses you mentioned was civic responsibility, and I haven't heard of very many organizations focusing on on that. Can you unpack just kind of the the reason y'all y'all value that so much?
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yeah. And it it's a big component, and, you know, you talk about development of young people and, you know, naturally, you wanna, develop them socially, and you wanna develop them emotionally, and you wanna develop them academically. And that's all focused on the person from an inward perspective of you pouring into them. But I think that I think we should mentor kids from a holistic perspective and allow them to be able to pour out of themselves into into society because that's that's where we live.
Speaker 3:And to let them understand that they have something to offer the culture. They have something to offer society, the surroundings under which they live, and that they have a responsibility in it, and that they're not just existing. I think that's part of the problem is that young people are born into this world and they're kind of, you know, often told to to be seen and not heard, which kind of puts them, you know, in a category or ice isolates them and confines them and doesn't allow them to operate at their full capacity. But more importantly, it doesn't allow them to even understand their value in the grand scheme of things in this in this system called America and the world that they live in. And so they need to be able to give back as a contributor.
Speaker 3:So when we talk about civic responsibility, there's a responsibility that young people have to their community, that they live in. They have a responsibility to their church. They have a responsibility to their neighborhood. They have a responsibility to the person who owns the local grocery store, to the organizations and businesses that are around them because they're they're utilizing these resources. These are resources that they have to utilize in order for them to meet their daily wants and daily needs.
Speaker 3:And so there's a responsibility that comes with that. And so we want our kids to be able to give back. You know? So for example, even with, you know, the George Floyd situation, you know, doing that murder, I mean, we, you know, there were emotions that were high. Young kids were angry.
Speaker 3:They were mad. They were upset. But the thing is, as a mentor, we needed to be able to stress to them that that's not the only responsibility that they have, is just to to feel those emotions. They have a responsibility to be a part of their community, to help move it forward, and to help the community heal, and so we give them that civic responsibility. If there's looting and there's fires and things like that, then we have a response a civic responsibility to help clean up and restore our community.
Speaker 3:Our young men have a response a civic responsibility to talk and meet, with the chief of police and talk with his department on how we can build relationships between young black men and the police department outside of them coming to make an arrest. There's a civic responsibility that needs to be held there. You know? And even giving young people a voice, you know, to speak to their city council about what's going on in their community or even as and and oftentimes, what you'll find is young people that you know, we typically just have the the the the the main form of civic responsibility that we wanna give our young kids is when it's consequential in regards to, say, for example, community service, what have you. That that's not the only form of civic responsibility that our kids should engage in, and they should understand civic responsibility outside of consequences, but just of being of goodwill and being a good humanitarian and being a good per a person of goodwill, period.
Speaker 3:Bottom line.
Speaker 2:So you're you're getting back to the same the system. How the system works is when you're punished, that's when you need to serve the community. Yeah. And that's that's not healthy. Yeah.
Speaker 2:It gives it gives a wrong perspective of what it looks like to be a citizen.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, then community service just looks like punishment because you've never taught a kid the value of serving this community prior to getting in trouble.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:You know? It's it's no different than, you know, a person having a house, and they gotta maintain that house. If you're living in a community, you know, you gotta cut the grass. You gotta shovel the snow. You know?
Speaker 3:That that's part of civic responsibility. Now now we teach that as parents to kids and giving them chores. You know? But once again, chores to some kids seem like there's consequences. You know?
Speaker 3:And and that's a piece that starts at home. And so for us in the men up club, you know, we we wanna we wanna get out. We wanna meet people. We wanna talk to people. You know?
Speaker 3:You know, we I even make young men, you know, carry the elderly's groceries. I mean, we we we we we keep we keep it that simple. It's like, hey. You know? These are responsibilities that you have to have.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. I love it. How how many mentors do you feel like join the man up club and it it just awakens that that kind of responsibility as, man, I'm a man, and I'm supposed to be courageous, responsible. Because I I feel like that kinda activates some stuff in me just as you're talking.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, for us, we for great mentors, and, you know, we want people to be able to pour into the lives of our of our kids. And the thing is we want them to be able to to see the value, you know, in being able to do that. And it's not just kids that need to feel like that they have something to to offer. You know?
Speaker 3:From a mentor standpoint, I think, you know, that's critical. I don't I don't I don't know of too many things that are more important than being a mentor because it doesn't really matter what you accumulate as an individual. If you don't have the heart to reconnect with other people, to share it, or to build them up, you know, to me, I think I think you really have don't understand the full value what you've been given. And so for me, it's about being a good steward over what I have. And and that's not just material things.
Speaker 3:You know, there's a lot to be offered and to be able to pay pay what we call pay it forward, to be able to make these deposits and investments. And the thing is, I think I think the unfortunate reality for mentors is that we get discouraged because we don't see the instant gratification of what we of the investments that we're making. But truth be told, you gotta understand the power under which anytime you're in anytime that you're depositing something good in a person, it's going to develop. It it has to develop. And, it just it's it's a matter of time.
Speaker 3:And so I just think that, you know, being able to speak into to mentors' lives and to and to let them know that what they have is gold, The, you know, the the the the knowledge, the resources, the the guidance, the strength, the affirmations, the character, all of these things that that can be deposited, the comfort, the safety net that you can provide somebody else. Human to human personal interaction is invaluable.
Speaker 2:Mhmm. That's so good. Last question. Is there an issue that you guys recently addressed or talked about in y'all's groups? I know you guys do group mentoring where you have kinda community centers where the boys come and they hear a teaching and and you guys have a group discussion.
Speaker 2:Is there anything that y'all discussed recently or or that you've addressed in a story of of kids overcoming that reality that they're they're facing that obstacle?
Speaker 3:Well, yeah. I mean, I'll give you one that we recently discussed just hours many hours ago, which was last night. You know, we I simply posed the question to the young men. Well, some let me let me let me preface this first. So a lot of times, we think mentoring requires super deep discussions, and we have to have this big recipe for it.
Speaker 3:And what I've recognized over the course of doing, mentorship and working with young people is you don't. I think what they respect is you being direct and to the point, because they don't get that a lot. They get a lot of hustle, people coming at them from different angles, trying to either take things or get things or what have you. And so, you know, we we kinda just keep it real, raw, and straightforward. With that being said, one of the questions that I asked them, which was a very simple question, but yet it was very powerful, was, do you believe that you are a man?
Speaker 3:Period. Have you truly stepped into manhood? Yes or no? And allow them to answer that question in affirmative. You have some young men who will wanna dance around that and try to create circumstances, situations, excuses, and that's not the quest, and that's not how you answer the question.
Speaker 3:The question that needs to be answered directly, do you believe that you're a man? Do you believe that you've stepped into full manhood to consider yourself to be a man? Period. And, you know, some of them said, yeah. I do.
Speaker 3:But it was shocking, and the magic is in it when you get the ones who say no, and they're well over 21. That's the powerful piece. And then to get them to analyze their answer and why they gave the answer under which they gave. Because when they give their answers, they will begin to define for you what they think a man is. So then you get into the real crux of their thought process and their value system or what have you, and then you can speak into that.
Speaker 3:And I found that to be, you know, extremely powerful. And then more importantly is the takeaways, you know, for those of them who said that, no. I don't consider myself to be a man. The beauty of it is that you've you've put them in a position where they have to do some self examination and to analyze themselves. And the beauty in it is for the ones who did say no, who are well over 21, getting them to understand that they've operated in the great aspect of humility and that there's such a reward that's coming behind that.
Speaker 3:Whereas other guys, some of them who there's maybe a couple or few who said yes, knowing that they're not, it reveals some of the pride that they were operating in. So you have all of these dynamics in the room that you can deal with and that you can mentor through, you know, and then be able to give them assignments for the next time that you meet them and talk to them. You know? And so for the ones who said, no. I don't think I'm a man yet, then the assignment is okay.
Speaker 3:Then you need to go, and you need to find 2 things that is holding you back from stepping into being a man. You know? So it's it's it's so so just to give you some context around that, those are that that's one of the things that we've been dealing with.
Speaker 2:That is such a good conversation. So
Speaker 3:Yeah. This is yeah. They're they're very, very interesting.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Unless you get into their mindset of
Speaker 3:just Yeah. Absolutely.
Speaker 2:I mean, I encourage any mentor to to ask your kid that question.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:So cool.
Speaker 3:Very powerful question.
Speaker 2:And well and I feel like God really believes in your message, Corey Cross Dean. Man up. I mean, that's a message for mentors. It's a message for kids. For for us, I think God's standard of what it means to be a man is high.
Speaker 2:And that's a high calling, and we'll always be reaching for it, but it's worth it. It's it's it it's it's it's worth it. And and so, really, thank you so much for being willing to call people up into that because I know it calls you to a higher standard. And I think that's the call of a mentor is to be willing to be called to that higher standard to call people up into manhood. So thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 2:It was awesome getting to know you. How how can people connect with you after after they listen to this?
Speaker 3:Yeah. I mean, first of all, I can go to our website, you know, and read about us and our programs that we have to offer. I mean, there's a a plethora of things there that they can just kinda engage in, whether it's, you know, videos and film or, you know, just reading articles or or just just connecting in different ways to to contact us or volunteer. So our website is the man up club dot org, or they can you know, if they want to get in touch with me, they could email me, at info at the man of club dot org, or they can call us at 612-642-1929.
Speaker 2:It's awesome. Corey Cross Dean. And what song of yours should we put in our show notes? Is there is there a song? I know you want me to put Titus and Selena up
Speaker 3:there. Let me think, man. There's so many songs that we have. Let me see what I've got out. Well, I it depends on what you're into.
Speaker 3:So because I run 2 different lanes.
Speaker 2:Okay. So
Speaker 3:I have I have a lane where I still, you know, do hip hop music and create that content, but then I've stepped into this other realm where we do a where I do more of a a mature sound, which is more of like if you take if you take soul music that we all like your Al Greens and your, Otis Redding's and Smokey Robinson and Frankie Beverly and Mayes and Earth, Wind and Fire, that that feel, that style. I've taken that style, and I've incorporated it into gospel music. So I have a album out called gospel accorded to soul.
Speaker 2:I saw that. That's your most recent one.
Speaker 3:That's my most recent. So I wanted to do something different to offer that, and there's a, I think, there's a song. There there's so there's so many songs on there. I'm trying to think of one that really the good life.
Speaker 2:The good life. Okay.
Speaker 3:The good life. There's a and there's a video out. It's called the good life. And I think that's a song right now that would really resonate with people and what we're dealing with and what we're going through. Because I think sometimes, even in the midst of turmoil or tragedy, despair, or feeling depressed, and if you feel if you're pessimistic or what have you and things look dark, I think there's still I think the beauty is in how you deal in that moment.
Speaker 3:And so the the good life is a way to really put that all of those things on the periphery, where you can internally build yourself up and understand that regardless of what's going on, if you're still breathing, that's an opportunity for you to still have and celebrate the goodness of life.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So that's that piece. And then if you're a hip hop head and you wanna just, you know, deal and and and and rap, I would probably suggest a song that I've done with me and my children. All 3 of us are on it, and it's called reset, and there's a video behind that. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay. So good, man. Looking forward to posting those on the page when this podcast releases. So thank you so much for your time, man. Looking forward to connecting more in the future with with the rest of the mentoring orgs in the the learning lab.
Speaker 2:So
Speaker 3:Well, I appreciate you reaching out to us, and, you know, I hope we can continue to build a great relationship.
Speaker 2:Yeah. You got you gotta teach us how to deal with cold weather here in in Dallas. Y'all been living this your whole life. And
Speaker 3:Yes. It's quite different.
Speaker 2:We're suffering, man. We need that good life. So