The Hilltop Glove Podcast | Black Ferris Bueller

[00:00:00] Ta-Myia: Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Sean Allison, Sean, also known as the Black Ferris. Bueller is an event curator, writer, and DJ in Charlotte, North Carolina. Born in Indianapolis, Indiana. He enjoys exploring Charlotte and finding new adventures.

[00:00:19] As a columnist at Pride Magazine, his unique and often funny perspective, easily excites readers and some naysayers too on all great, on all the great events in the city that the city has to offer. He loves keeping people informed and he quotes culture revolves around everything, and I want to kill the spirit of boredom.

[00:00:38] A lot of people complain about. He also works at the rundown of, he also has a column called the Rundown of Things. It is, it consists of a number of local events to attend in the community from Thursday to Monday. Thank you, John. Sean, how are you today? 

[00:00:51] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Oh, I'm fine and dandy. I'm great. That's 

[00:00:54] Ta-Myia: good.

[00:00:54] That's good. So, can you tell the audience a little bit about yourself? Why do you call yourself the [00:01:00] black Ferris bu. 

[00:01:00] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Certainly. So my, this journey started in 2012 and at the time, c at that year had just ended and people in the city were pretty much like, oh, there's nothing to do. It is boring. All the fun is gone.

[00:01:13] So I was like the hell with that. And I went out into the city and just found all sorts of stuff to get into and I started making, event, QE on Facebook, a lineup, whatever. And just finding just more so more up to things people Yeah. People didn't even think would exist. And I'll just make like little weekend lineups and encourage people to go And I just, I've been doing this 10 years now and Wow.

[00:01:40] The whole. , it's like, it's like a to-do thing now. People are waiting on my list. Yeah. People waiting on today's list now. 

[00:01:45] Ta-Myia: Oh wow. Wow. So you're like the itinerary guy, like, let me hit you up. Like what? What do I need to do for the weekend? 

[00:01:51] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Right. And. With that, my, my focus comes more so for for, for black constituents because media outlets here don't really mm-hmm.

[00:01:59] know, [00:02:00] care or understand what we like in particular. Yeah. So I literally had to fill in that vein and really just dig even more for, for stuff that we would either enjoy or said that it may be beneficial to us as a people. Mm. Mm 

[00:02:13] Ta-Myia: mm mm-hmm. , can you tell us more about your upbringing? How was it growing up as a child in Indianapolis and then transferring here to Charlotte?

[00:02:21] Childhood was 

[00:02:21] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: cool. I wish I could go back to the,

[00:02:23] was arts and my mom was heavy amuse my father as well. My aunt really got me. She, she brought me around to, to theater. Mm-hmm. and, and performance arts, things of that sort. And when I was a kid, I was involved with this group called Kane's Kids through my church. And we went, we would go around Indy dressed in full African garb, reciting mm-hmm.

[00:02:45] Poetry and excerpt some speeches from black writers, poets, or tours, things of that. And it really just instilled a strong, strong sense of pride in us. And I still keep in touch with those guys to this day. Wow. Wow. And I just used all that, which [00:03:00] I captured back then, and I just exert that as I am now.

[00:03:04] Mm. Okay. Well, 

[00:03:05] DJ And?: mm-hmm. always. I guess next question up would be, and this is something that you're doing on a daily. You work in culture, you work in making sure that people are able to go out and have cool experiences within the city of Charlotte, and that they can see what is around them and experience the people, the food, the music, and et cetera.

[00:03:23] And of course there's many ways to define culture. What does the word culture mean to you, and how important is it to you? Really it is really just like the whole, I guess the Webster's definition of it. A, a collection of ideas and, and attitudes and stuff that we just, that really just defines us.

[00:03:39] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: And to put it in contemporary terms, is that things that we've learned from yesterday year from our ancestors and stuff, or, or grandparents and parents who still live. We, we use that to, to, to progress ourselves as a people. Mm-hmm. But the thing with now, , we are adapting so many negative behaviors, and we're calling it culture.

[00:03:58] We, we just have this, [00:04:00] we have this tendency to Good point, to label everything as culture or like, oh, this is for the culture, this is for the, mm-hmm. , 

[00:04:06] DJ And?: like Devi on it. Keep explaining like on that for the culture topic part. Mm-hmm. , like, what is it, what does it, what do people mean when they say for the culture?

[00:04:14] What, what does that mean to you when people say they're doing it for the culture? 

[00:04:17] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: It's, it's gimmicky, man. Like I, I, I try to really stay away from all that. Like I'm more hashtag for the community more than for the culture. Yes. I like that. 

[00:04:26] DJ And?: I like that. Write 

[00:04:27] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: that down . Because, cause the culture is just, it's ever expanding a community is your base.

[00:04:33] Mm-hmm. . And that should always, and that should always be your foundation. Mm-hmm. 

[00:04:37] DJ And?: So do you think you have a a pretty good dial on the, the, the base and the found? In Charleston, I mean, not in Charleston, but 

[00:04:43] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Charlotte, I would say I do, I mean, there's still a whole lot of people that I have not met who have been following my work for years.

[00:04:51] Mm-hmm. , you know, I've been plugging and stuff about that time and like I'm, I'm, I'm out. I'm, I'm always out and stuff. I'm, I'm not I don't favorite places I go. I [00:05:00] have my favorite things where I do, yeah, Uhhuh , but I try to be as visible and accessible as possible. Even if you just want to step outside the inbox and just like, Hey, you exist.

[00:05:09] I'm like, yeah, I'm not a ghost. I, I'm here. , 

[00:05:11] Ta-Myia: are you friendly? Is the question, because isn't your birthday September 8th? 

[00:05:15] Skip: Ooh, yeah. 

[00:05:15] Ta-Myia: We, we in the building, oh, Lord. Our birthday, September 9th. That's, I was, I was looking at your oh, you're, 

[00:05:21] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: I'm. I'm emailing you a hug right now. 

[00:05:23] Ta-Myia: Aw, thank you. . Yeah, so a lot people tend to tend to think we're mean, you know, just looking at us.

[00:05:29] Oh yeah. But we're friendly people. That's what we're organiz. 

[00:05:33] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: That's what y'all, I mean, I greet, I greet everybody with, with kindness and love and a hub. Good. So that's just, that's just how I was raised. That's, that's in me. That ain't going nowhere. 

[00:05:43] Ta-Myia: Now, are you an only child? Do you have sibling? 

[00:05:45] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: No, I have one brother and odd enough, he is a complete opposite of me.

[00:05:50] That boy, don't be

[00:05:51] boy. I love him. I love him, bro. That's, that's my mini, there we 

[00:05:53] DJ And?: go. Is he young, younger, younger brother? 

[00:05:55] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Yeah, he's seven years younger. 

[00:05:57] Ta-Myia: Got a gap in between y'all. Okay. . Oh, that's good. So [00:06:00] like, do you know is it kind of overwhelming with people sending you, you know, details about events and then organizing things and then putting it out on a timely manner?

[00:06:09] Because I know that's being a Virgo that I'm like all about time. So it, 

[00:06:13] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: it is. And the very thing with me again is just politeness. People just jump in my inbox. Mm-hmm. , Hey, can you send this out for me? Like, no. Talk to me first, like, Greet me for, hi, I'm so and so. Like, don't build a relationship with Josh.

[00:06:26] Like, yo, you know, I got this event coming up in a couple days. Can you, man, hold up.

[00:06:30] DJ And?: What did they say? Buy, buy you some dinner first. Right? 

[00:06:32] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Not even that, just just off offer some kinda, you know, conversational, pleasant trick. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:06:38] Ta-Myia: See that's crazy. I like to get straight to the point date, time, location. I don't need nothing else. Oh gosh. Oh guys. But you know, he's, he's making a itinerary, so I, I can understand why you wanna get more, you 

[00:06:48] DJ And?: wanna build a, build some kind of relationship.

[00:06:50] Yeah. Rapport. Understand who these folks are, what is it? They, they do their feel. Mm-hmm. , what they bring to the community, et cetera. You want to know their first and last name or something? 

[00:06:59] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Like, [00:07:00] and before I even plug your event, like I wanna know what the background of it is. Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. so I can know how to word it.

[00:07:06] Mm-hmm. how I choose to, to do that. And you know, even, even then it's, it's like, it, it's a tedious process of how I do it and my busiest times or really like holiday times, like I. Or like if there's festivals or, or certain celebrations going on. Mainly like Juneteenth. Mm-hmm. . Oh God. Might back 

[00:07:23] Skip: first. I can't believe it.

[00:07:25] Yeah. 

[00:07:25] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Yeah. That would be crazy too. But I usually, if I have a day off from, from work, like early in the week, I'll go to the library where I can just really just zone in and focus. Mm-hmm. and just. take my time with writing and, and I, and I really do put things in chronological order. Mm-hmm. so folks aren't, so, things aren't just all over the place.

[00:07:43] I really acknowledge that. And with the writing describing each event, I understand that we as black people, we're not a monolith, we like several different things. So if those who like theater, if those. You have those who, like visual arts, you have those who like Afrocentric events. Mm-hmm. , you have [00:08:00] your hiphop, you have your hiphop pair, you have films, you have photo photographers, you have visual arts.

[00:08:05] You have a whole gamut of, of stuff to, to, to cover. And what I do is that I just write and try to attract that reader and I just send it out and I just try to Try to captivate them with my words, because at the core of this, what I'm doing is that I realize that as many as, as we create these events, more black folks or or whoever can go out to these events and spend money with us, I'm really thinking of that whole third principle, Kwanza, which is Eugene Cooperative Economics.

[00:08:35] Mm-hmm. . So we can keep that ballot circula. That's why I said I'm for the community more than for the culture. 

[00:08:39] Ta-Myia: Mm-hmm. , you created an own lane for yourself. So how did you get linked with the magazine, pride Magazine? 

[00:08:45] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Lady, beautiful lady named LaShonda. BCOs. I first met her start this, I met her 2009.

[00:08:52] It was actually s c a, she had she was a photographer in in a columnist with them. And she had took notice of my outfit, so she just [00:09:00] wrote a little thing about me, what I was wearing. And then fast forward some years later, she became the editor in chief of that magazine. Okay. And by that time I was still just in the thick of my thing doing things on Facebook, and she reached out to me in 20, early 2016, and she was like, we're, we're starting an online magazine.

[00:09:19] And we need a event curator. And, you know, I've been following you for a while. I love your style. I love your funk. I love your flavor. So I always tell people I didn't apply for that position. 

[00:09:30] Ta-Myia: It's all about who you know. You made an impression. 

[00:09:33] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Yeah. Yeah. So tell us more 

[00:09:35] Ta-Myia: about your your hashtags, because I, I read the column I, I like it

[00:09:38] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Which one? . , 

[00:09:39] Ta-Myia: you know the, the Black hashtag Black Ferris Bueller. And the other ones that you have on the column, like where did you get the name for those? 

[00:09:46] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Well tell y'all the story. The Black Ferris Bueller? Yeah. I was watching for one was one of my favorite, favorite movies and Okay. Every time I watch it, I just see or notice something different.

[00:09:57] So this particular time I. I was like, [00:10:00] it, it, it, that movie has a lot of layers to it. It does. It does. So when it was over that, that year, up that day, I watched it, I turned the channel to this to hbo and it was this old Steve Harvey comedy special on, I think it was called One Man. Okay. And he he had talked, he had this bit about.

[00:10:17] And white people have differentiating weekends of leisure, and it was just truthfully hilarious. He was like, know white folks have, you know, wonderful weekends, you know, white folks do. 

[00:10:28] Skip: That's the Harvey 

[00:10:29] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Voice , right? Folks do stuff on the weekends. Yo black ass never dreamed of doing, you know? Camping, fishing, hang gliding and some, somewhere in America this weekend, a white man is gonna go hang gliding.

[00:10:43] It's gonna go kite across straight

[00:10:45] early in morning. And they old fishing. They got white folks, got boats and extra rising reels in case some friends, you know, come along. Real tall do. He was like, your ass ain't fishing your ass. Sitting on a bank on a bucket wig. He was like, but [00:11:00] we don't have no wonderful weekends. We just have a couple days off.

[00:11:02] You know? That's it. Just enough to get us over so we can ourselves. Cause you know, Monday is back to the bullshit. Mm-hmm. , oh, you might set the grill up or something, you know, invite,

[00:11:11] I'm like, I'm like, you know, we can and should be having wonderful weekends too. Like nothing is ethnically specific to having fun. Yeah, that's true. So I just took that and I went, I thought back to the movie and I thought back to my own life at that time. I just went out and just had all kind of fun.

[00:11:29] I didn't care. Mm-hmm. and I just did a little, reaching back to my childhood, I'm like, knowing how culturally rude I was. So I just sat for a few and I'm like, I needed a name to really not only capture people's attentions, but to just kind of just capture the essence of me. So I was like the black Ferris Buer.

[00:11:47] Mm-hmm. and it. This is dope. It's stuck. Now, of course I've had, right now of course, I've had naysayers come out. Why you name yourself after a white chauvinist? I'm like, who? Who in a movie? He didn't make records with the women. Yeah, right. [00:12:00] Yeah. Not at all. So, so I'm like, you know, forget y'all. I still love you.

[00:12:03] Anyway, , but. And people have given me other names. Like some folks call me the Baldhead Connect. I love this one. Somebody call me the Green Book of Charlotte and I take that one. Yeah. Dope. The Weekend Warrior. Yeah. Your or your favorite friendly neighborhood Dope events dealer. I love that. That 

[00:12:20] DJ And?: is nice.

[00:12:20] That's crazy. Nah, that's crazy. I'll take that one. 

[00:12:23] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: So 

[00:12:23] Ta-Myia: you could really like, like literally brand yourself in different communities. With what you're doing. Yeah. Can you talk to Columbia ? So I'm serious. Can you like do it in Columbia? Cuz like a lot of people say there's not a lot of things going on, but there it's like, who?

[00:12:36] You know? You know? Yeah, yeah, 

[00:12:37] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: yeah. And that's the thing, like the, and like I said with my initial statement, I want to kill the spirit of boredom. Mm-hmm. , like there's stuff for everyone to enjoy. The problem is that more so with black folks, we're living in a time. Everybody's for the culture, but they don't wanna expand their minds.

[00:12:52] Mm-hmm. to different cultures. Everybody don't, everybody just want to hear what's hot and what's contemporary, what they see on tv or hear on the [00:13:00] radio. Yeah. And I'm like, that's not where true artistry exists. Like you, you have to crack open some books, you gotta go to some museums. Mm-hmm. , you gotta really get out here and, and.

[00:13:10] Mingle 

[00:13:11] Ta-Myia: with some people. Carpe diem. Mm. That could be your next hashtag. Seize the day. Yeah. . 

[00:13:15] Skip: That's neat that you said. That's neat that you said that too, because even with our podcast, one of the things that we're very mindful of when it comes to like the guests that we bring on is we try to go out of our way to speak with people outside of like our quote unquote tribe.

[00:13:31] Mm-hmm. . So like the people I might talk to on a regular basis, whether or not it. Going to events, whether or not it's here in Columbia, whether or not it's here in Charlotte. Right. Because even though mm-hmm. , like I said, we interacted a couple times. In a way, in a sense, you're a part of my tribe in a sense.

[00:13:47] You get what I'm saying? Because when I usually come to events and things, I usually run into you, we chat and stuff or you know, we've chatted multiple times. So it's like, For me, it's like what do I, can I do to be [00:14:00] mindful of reaching out and speaking to people outside, like people I might not normally talk to, have conversations with.

[00:14:05] And that's one of the things we've really been trying to do with our podcast too, is just who, the folks, we aren't, like I said, we always see day in, day to day, like I said, just like we're like I said Aaron what? And then just like with smile, like we, we always look at that and we try to go out our way to do that.

[00:14:19] And so That's neat that you mentioned. Yeah, it is. 

[00:14:21] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: It's really just at the core, it's all about having an open mind. Cause outside of being black, you know, we are, we are all human beings. Mm-hmm. , and we are, we gotta coexist. We just put aside our petty differences and, and learn from each other. I mean, never, never forget who, who, who raised you, where you come from, but you know, never lose the sight of your, your humanity.

[00:14:43] You gotta, you gotta love each other, man. And that's why I try to, my mother has this quote and I try to live by this every single day. She says, be kind and polite to everybody you meet because you may be the only Jesus that person know. 

[00:14:56] Ta-Myia: Wow. I like 

[00:14:57] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: that one. That's mama's wisdom, man. That's [00:15:00] the foundation I've been from, so, Because you 

[00:15:01] Ta-Myia: never know if you talking to an angel or you just never know.

[00:15:05] You never know. Say, 

[00:15:06] DJ And?: to watch the way move around. Most definitely. 

[00:15:08] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Right? Cause and, and even I've been here long enough to really just know. How cliquish this town is, and, and I don't, I don't roll with a particular circle or group or nothing. Like, no, I just, I'll walk into a little formal dinner with some Chuck Taylor's be like, yo, 

[00:15:23] Ta-Myia: you don't have entourage.

[00:15:24] I'll be following you around if I up there

[00:15:26] the weekend warrior. Yeah, y'all 

[00:15:28] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: can come up here and I'll show y'all around. Hey, that's all we need. Right? Invitation, right? 

[00:15:32] Ta-Myia: That goes right into our that goes right into our next question, . What are your top go-to spots in the city? The queen city. 

[00:15:38] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Oh, man. Well, everything's being gentrified as such an alarm 

[00:15:41] DJ And?: rate.

[00:15:41] Oh, break that down. Break that down. What do you mean? What, what, what areas are being gentrified quickly? 

[00:15:45] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Shoot a lot of city what is, what is formerly known as North Charlotte is now Nota. And while a lot of stuff goes on there, it's just sometimes I just walk through. I just really think like 20 years ago, this was just the, the sea of, of [00:16:00] black households and now it's like upside down.

[00:16:02] Mm. True. They made it beautiful and more aesthetic, but there ain't no soul down there. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Got 

[00:16:08] DJ And?: you. It turned into Brooklyn 2.8, right? Mm-hmm. . 

[00:16:11] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Right. And actually Brooklyn was a whole nother thriving little black Wall Street, if you wanna call it from like where the, yeah. Hornets played all the way to the edge of deer, or it was just this sprawling driving.

[00:16:22] C. and even where the Panthers played, that's his on top of a a black hospital. I was sitting right there. Wow. Don't know that. 

[00:16:28] DJ And?: Dang, you just hurt my feelings. Wow. Yeah. Good gracious. Yeah. People don't know that. Nah, that's something. 

[00:16:34] Skip: Hey, that's interesting, especially coming from you because it is dope because you could tell.

[00:16:37] A lot of, a lot of people who live in Charlotte are transplants. Mm-hmm. , right? But you could tell from your story, and this is what, what you're sharing with us, you're somebody that's invested not in just the history and in the culture in the city in which you live in. And that's really dope. And you don't really see a lot of that.

[00:16:52] Especially, and just from conversations I've had with people who, like I said, who live, who live up there is, it's usually, it's [00:17:00] like, okay, this is where I'm coming here to kind of, to get up mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. . Mm-hmm. , or to set myself up to move on to this next day or to get out of this, this is where I'm gonna set up my opportunity.

[00:17:09] But you never hear people talk about, , like the history. Mm-hmm. of Charlotte. Now. We had a great interview last last season with Carla. Yeah. Oh, Carla Lopez. Aaron Lopez Car. Lopez. Lopez. Lopez, yeah. 

[00:17:19] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Fantastic. She's so dope. I, she's, she 

[00:17:22] DJ And?: is dope. Yeah. 

[00:17:22] Skip: And she broke down so many, so much of that stuff to us.

[00:17:25] But, you know, she's, she's born and raised in Charlotte. Mm-hmm. , but most of the time, right. You know, even like, even when we go, like I go up there and events and stuff, most people I run into are like from other parts of the country. Right. Yeah. And they can't really tell you. Any of those states. So it's just awesome.

[00:17:37] You could just share that information with us and you're not even from there 

[00:17:40] DJ And?: originally. Yeah, that's what's crazy. Yeah. That means you must have en entrenched yourself into the community in some way, 

[00:17:45] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: shape, or form. I mean, you have to, it's like this is your backyard, so why not tend to it? Yeah. And it's not just good point.

[00:17:52] You know, this events, you know, this is just really turning. , you know, advocacy and kinda activism. Mm-hmm. , you really, you really be a voice for, for people, [00:18:00] not so much the constituents, but the artists who live and work here. Like, that's their life's work. And Yeah. And, you know, art is just, just revolutionary itself, so why wouldn't you want to support them?

[00:18:10] Why wouldn't you wanna and it, it is more than just going to their showcases, buying their albums, or buying their food or whatever. , you know, you, you, you gotta keep that stuff going. Mm-hmm. Cause if you, if you use so much for the culture, a, a, a culture could die fast without your support fast. No, seriously.

[00:18:25] DJ And?: Especially in this day and age. Mm-hmm. , like, if the wave is not sustained mm-hmm. , and I mean like two weeks of not doing something to it. Yeah. It is dead. Like you done lost that wave. It's going, you gotta wait for another one to. . Yeah. 

[00:18:37] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Hey, so, so really like the last 10 years, I'm just consistent with this because I believe in this city, I believe in the people who live here.

[00:18:45] I believe in the artists who create, and like I have a, I have a kinship with them. Mm. Like sit on wax. That ain't where you from, where you at? Mm-hmm. . So 

[00:18:54] Ta-Myia: how do reach the younger generation? That's just curious cuz it seems like your target audience is a little bit [00:19:00] older. 

[00:19:00] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: That's one avenue. I haven't really gone down yet.

[00:19:03] Now, there have been some instances where I've, where I've just, where I actually give to youth through, through monetary gifts and stuff, but I've never really spent too much time with, with, with younger folks. And, and I, I realize that now. I just had conversation with somebody the other day, came to my job, they were shopping and we end up having a little powwow.

[00:19:23] and he was like, yo, you need to come down and talk to these boys and just really give them a sense of just who you are from a black male perspective. Yeah. I'm like, yeah, it's important we have to. , we have to nourish those minds. Mm-hmm. . Cause that's, this is, this is the generation who's gonna grow up in Thank you.

[00:19:37] Now to change the world. Yeah. But also when we go, they gonna have to take care of us. Mm-hmm. , thank 

[00:19:42] you. 

[00:19:43] Ta-Myia: Right. And that's, that's 

[00:19:44] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: the scary part. I don't 

[00:19:45] DJ And?: want them, I don't want them beating my ass. and saying, grandfather, you ain't getting your oatmeal today. I want get my cream wheat, my oatmeal warm with sugar in it.

[00:19:52] Skip: so, 

[00:19:53] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Yeah, that's, that's gonna be when I get on more stable ground, I'm gonna really try to seek out some youth and [00:20:00] try to pull into them as best as I can. What I know. Cause I'm still learning. And, and even with that, whatever I do or wherever I go, like today is my day off. I always make it a habit to try to learn something new.

[00:20:11] Mm-hmm. . Cause life, life itself is a classroom you never stop life. Good. 

[00:20:16] DJ And?: Point and, and back to what Tamara was saying earlier, I know we, we got off this topic, but your go-to spots, like if there's some places in Charlotte, say somebody's coming in this weekend places that they would want to go see.

[00:20:25] Could you, could you name like three of them? 

[00:20:27] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Three places? Yeah. Cam North End has just a whole range of stuff to get into, like they. Festivals out there. Mm-hmm. They do. There's local shopping out there local food. That's one. You've got what Studio 2 29 in Uptown. That, that's one of the last remaining buildings of the original Brooklyn neighborhood.

[00:20:46] And they are Wow. Totally vested in this community. Yeah. Yeah. And another one, God, there's, there's not many, but there's so many. Really just on, on the West, west end, historic West End babies, Ford, like they've really revitalized that area. [00:21:00] And there's this new spot that just opened up over there.

[00:21:02] It's called Archive, c l t. It's it's, it is, it's, her sister owns it. Name is Charise and it's a, it's a coffee and tea bar, but when you walk in, it's just all black nostalgia. The place is decorated with all these, with all these issues, these vintage issues of Jet Ebony Magazine and Essence and Okay.

[00:21:19] Vibe Jive Magazine and things. And that the wall, when you walk in, it's, it's it's hand painted with all sorts of, of black artists and writers of y. 

[00:21:29] DJ And?: Man. I know it's dope. I know it's dope. My brothers get he up here pointing at me around time. I'm trying to tell you, bro. trying to tell you. Take your, take your your black ass up there and go 

[00:21:36] Skip: look at this.

[00:21:36] I wanna go. Y'all need to go. Oh, that's why we're gonna be up there Yeah. On this month. Because I'm glad you just, I'm glad you mentioned all that, Sean, because so part of it is, you know, cuz over, like for about, cuz I met you about three years ago. It's around 2019. And of course, you know, you had the pandemic and everything mm-hmm.

[00:21:52] but between the, of course like I said, meeting you and then I started working a lot with JA too and stuff coming back and forth with him and Keil working on some different [00:22:00] projects. So I've been up there quite frequently. The irony is I've actually probably been doing a lot more stuff up that way than I've been doing here in Columbia over like the past two years.

[00:22:08] So that's what's kinda wild about. But one of the things I've been trying to always get them to realize too is like, Hey, you know, it's only an hour. It's only like an hour and 10 minutes away. Mm-hmm. . And it's a great way for you to just go check out some different things, meet some amazing people. And like I said, they got some, some amazing spots up there.

[00:22:24] As a matter of fact, when I came up there last month, I stopped by archive. Yeah. And like I said, our archive is a fantastic place and it's actually somebody we're gonna be interviewing too in the next couple weeks too. Charise. She, yeah, she, yeah, 

[00:22:34] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Charice is awesome. She's a beautiful, vibrant young woman.

[00:22:38] I, I love her. I love what she's done with that place and just the the new fresh energy she's brought to, to that area. It, it gives, it gives people hope. 

[00:22:46] DJ And?: That's another big point. You just made. . What you do in cultivating a weekend experience for folks within our community is the fact that it also is about sustaining economics [00:23:00] relationships ties, mm-hmm.

[00:23:01] and, and positive growth because that you, in order to do that stuff, you have to be there. Like you, you have to bring the energy in, you gotta get the foot traffic, you gotta see people doing things so that you can tie everybody together because it makes it stronger in the long. And it also creates a great economic base.

[00:23:16] Do you think about that when you're actually putting these things together, like that impact that you're creating? Because basically it's almost like you're Conde Nast for, for black folks in this area, like in that region, when they want to go somewhere, they wanna see something, you know, that Con Asst tells you, go here, eat their food.

[00:23:31] It is good. Yeah. That's, you're that guy. Do you, do you think about it like that when you're putting those things together, those implic. 

[00:23:37] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Because I you know, I was always taught to just be a demure individual. I mean, of course, you, you, your horn every now and then, but, you know, I, I, I, this is a labor of love for me, so.

[00:23:47] Gotcha. I I go, I go with this. Like, even when I'm out, I, I actually prefer to be social without the media. Oh, wow. Mm-hmm. , 

[00:23:55] Ta-Myia: I like that. Say that one time. Hashtag social media. 

[00:23:58] DJ And?: Social without the media, 

[00:23:59] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: social, [00:24:00] the media. So like, when I'm out engaging people, like my phone is away and not you know, my full attention is on.

[00:24:06] Yeah. Let's hanging down. . Well, like actually I just give you quick stories. Like when early on when I first started, I would just go to like different artists concerts and things, and there'll be times where I'd be the only one there. And also what I do is I get there at the beginning and I say the whole course.

[00:24:20] I don't just stay like 30 minutes and just catch a little buzz. Like, no, I want the full effect of what you're doing. And then when it's over, let me have the floor, I'll let you have the floor talk to me. What your art represents on a more interpersonal level. Just Mm. And or like a dj I'll I'll help them break down.

[00:24:38] Cause I know they thanks. They exert so much energy. . Yeah, I know. They exert so much energy while they spin mm-hmm. and you know, just try to be at ease on their shoulders. But again, it's just really just how you interact with people and you just, again, politeness and kindness. Mm-hmm. , it, it goes so much farther than you would think, 

[00:24:54] DJ And?: and a personal skills are very important in the realm that you deal in.

[00:24:58] Right. And, 

[00:24:59] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: [00:25:00] and somebody brought up some. to me a few weeks ago. Like, if the internet was to go out right now, you gotta know how to work these streets. True. 

[00:25:06] DJ And?: That's true. Yeah. true. Back to street teams and that's right. And, and speaking on what you're talking about with the social media aspect and, and being social without the media.

[00:25:15] I know making a point, I, I wrote this down cause you were talking about this earlier, is like getting on the mindset. Only paying attention to e easily digestible culture like fast food culture, which is mm-hmm. , you know, that is the, the thing, the, the signs of the time. Do you think that the, the culture that is in your community, that is what you would call the, the, the meat and potatoes, the stuff that you should be trying to ingest that has all of the vital nutrients and et cetera, for your everyday life, do you.

[00:25:42] That stuff is just harder to, how do you say? Hard, not just harder to consume, but harder to access? Or do you think it's just lack of 

[00:25:51] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: knowledge? From my outreach, what I've seen is that a lot of it's lack of knowledge. Cause I post like so many times during the week if, if I'm able [00:26:00] to. And people still looking at me like, man, how did you find that?

[00:26:03] Where did you find it? I'm like, I look, I look in places where people don't mm-hmm. , I go to stuff or if I know someone who's hosting, I get a little inside info on that. I take pictures of flyers I take, I collect flyers. I screenshot. I go scroll through my old emails. I look through newsletter. I check out different websites and I just compile everything together and people just still like, man, how does this negro do it every week?

[00:26:28] Yeah, it's hard, 

[00:26:29] DJ And?: man. That's difficult. I know for you, like you say, you don't like tooting your horn, but bro, that's work. 

[00:26:33] Ta-Myia: Just 2, 2, 2. Give a little clap. You need a little round of applause. 

[00:26:37] DJ And?: There we go. I didn't drill. Sorry about that. But 

[00:26:39] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: No, but

[00:26:40] do

[00:26:40] experience something different. It's more to, you know, black culture than, than twerking to every brunch, than shooting the ops . Right? Right there, there, there's so much more to us. There's, we, we have such a rich storied history and it's, it's like, why wouldn't you wanna engage that? Why wouldn't you wanna explore that?

[00:26:58] Why wouldn't. , why wouldn't you want to involve your [00:27:00] kids in there, right? 

[00:27:01] Ta-Myia: Mm-hmm. If somebody ask me to another brunch, I swear to God, , I cannot just stop asking me for Brunes. You don't wanna wear your best white clothes out to the brunch? No. I wanna go to a museum. I wanna go to see some music. I don't. I don't live music.

[00:27:14] You see what I'm saying? I don't wanna see people twerk, be on phone, anti-social at 

[00:27:18] DJ And?: the brunch, so it be so popping when you be at the brunch. Tricking. 

[00:27:21] Ta-Myia: I don't got time twerk in with, I'm an energy person. I don't, 

[00:27:24] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: no. 

[00:27:24] Skip: No, but with, that's, no, actually that's cool that you said that. Cause I actually about to bring off another question.

[00:27:28] Mm-hmm. , of course, you know, c a a used to it was a fixture in, in Charlotte. Yeah. Yeah. And of course it dominated a lot of the cultural scene, especially in the black community even. Mm-hmm. outside of the February, march, right? Mm-hmm. . Yeah. Of course it's no longer there. It went up the road to b.

[00:27:48] And know Covid, it's had an impact. You know, things are opening back up, but what changes do you see going on within the culture, in the community, especially when it comes to events and the impact's [00:28:00] possible gonna have on what, what it is that you do? 

[00:28:02] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: For one, it's the, it's the kind event that people create as well, as well as the, the time of year you have to, you have to factor that.

[00:28:09] and then also who is behind it, because like I said, people are very clique-ish as as to who, who throws events. Know I'm not going dog out nobody's name, nothing. Mm-hmm. . But there's, there's certain people here who just throw the same thing. Mm-hmm. over and over again. It's like when we in the pandemic, we were on our butts for two, roughly two.

[00:28:28] and they came back with the same stuff. I'm like, you couldn't take two years and, and try to create some new concepts or something. I'm like, dude, you whack . 

[00:28:36] Ta-Myia: So like what's your relationship with promoters? ? Yeah. 

[00:28:39] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: I'm a bit of a rebel. 

[00:28:40] Ta-Myia: That's why I asked. Cause I already knew. I was like, I wanna hear 

[00:28:42] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: this.

[00:28:43] Yeah, I'm a bit of a rebel. One way football season. For those who don't know, I actually boycotted football when Kaepernick took his stance. I've been standing with him ever since, and people are like, man, I got a football. I don't.

[00:28:54] I'm calling bad as from that or stuff that just looks too commercial and gimmicky, [00:29:00] like No, I'm, I'm grassroots, I'm underground. I'm, I'm Fieldy, bro. Love, I love it. Time. You, 

[00:29:05] DJ And?: you a field girl. I like, I'm, I'm, 

[00:29:08] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: I'm a field bro. Yeah. Catch me outside. . 

[00:29:10] Ta-Myia: I'm dying to hear about a Memoral ex, a memoral experience weekend that you had, like something that was like over the.

[00:29:17] that you cannot forget. Some crazy stuff happened. What kind of story do you have about that? Yeah. Ferris Bueller. 

[00:29:23] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Stop. Yeah. Yeah. Too many tonight.

[00:29:25] Oh God. It's actually, I'll just go back to this summer. We, we had a vibe called Fresh Up. You know, shout out to Winston for putting that whole thing together. It was this whole, it was, it was called the House Music Jam. So, so they were, they were playing all sorts of house from like Baltimore, jersey Chicago new, all that.

[00:29:44] And left there. Went to su Casaa that night about danced my kneecaps off and, yeah. Yeah, it. The street was, there's a vibe called for us next weekend for for John c Smith's Homecoming. They shutting off, oh, forget this homecoming season. Yeah. Mm-hmm. . Yeah. So they, y'all [00:30:00] really need to come outta here for that.

[00:30:01] So they shutting off portion of babies for, and just making it this whole giant block 

[00:30:05] DJ And?: party. They shutting down a portion of babies for shut up for real. 

[00:30:09] Ta-Myia: Never do that here. Yeah, man. . That's 

[00:30:10] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: some cool 

[00:30:11] DJ And?: man. That's, that's, that's 

[00:30:13] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: extra cool. And it's free 99. 

[00:30:16] DJ And?: Ouch. You can't even say nothing. Oh Lord. Okay.

[00:30:19] And it's free 99, that's 

[00:30:20] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: next weekend. I, I hope y'all will come up here. I get off work at two

[00:30:24] Ta-Myia: man. Have to catch your itinerary. Yeah, yeah. 

[00:30:26] Skip: I'm glad you mentioned all this cuz I've been trying to get them to go up there because it's like, so the past couple times I've been going up, cause like I said, I just been going up farm beat. But I, I've always been trying like, Hey, you know, I'm riding up today, won't y'all ride up and blah, blah blah.

[00:30:39] And they're like, well, you know, I got this and I got that. And 

[00:30:41] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: I'm like, yeah, we have things to do. 

[00:30:43] Ta-Myia: We have things to do. It's like I never know where to go, so I only go to like specific things like if I have a concert to go to, I don't just roam Charlotte cuz I don't know my way around. But now that I got connection with you all right, we good?

[00:30:55] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Yeah, you right. You found the right Negro . . You found the right Negro.

[00:30:59] DJ And?: [00:31:00] I like that. I like that. Okay, so before we wrap up, we always ask this question of all of our guests because of course this is a show about. Us millennials learning how to adult and be proper individuals and learn how to business well, because quite, to be honest, we don't have many we didn't get much tutelage in this from generation before us.

[00:31:19] And those that did, hopefully they shared it. We'll try to pick up what crumbs we can, we'll try to put put pieces together, the puzzle. But how do you manage the time between work home and organizing a weekly itinerary for local? How do you do all of that and still, like, you know, live your life?

[00:31:35] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: You know, you just this book some years ago was by Hill Harper. It's called letter to a Young Brother, and the first line he wrote in the book is that you have to be, you have the right to be unreasonably happy. So I go into this, , first of all would've smiled. Of course I have my down days, my bad days, all that.

[00:31:52] But going work life, which is not all that glamorous cause it's, it's retail. Mm-hmm. and no one really, it's re mm-hmm. I'll just say [00:32:00] retail sucks. Mm-hmm. , I hate retail. I'm thankful I'm, I'm thankful for income and all that. But retail, it sucks. Yes. Real. It's hard. But when. When I'm putting these things together, I just really just keep in mind just how much I love my people, how much I love my community, and that I, I do this, I don't do this for, for likes or for admiration or for any kind of notoriety.

[00:32:22] Like I just really, truly care. I really care and. . You know, if I die tomorrow, God forbid, just, I would hope that people will leave. Just, just kind thoughtful words about me. Now, I don't burn no bridges, even though I'm rebel. But I just, again, it just, just you, you learn on people, you know? Yeah. And just how balance all that out is.

[00:32:45] Again, I just take my day off whatever, whatever day is afforded to me, and I just write and I just create and just make my black boy joy work. Do you, do you Absolutely. 

[00:32:57] DJ And?: Do you do or do you have any practices to help with [00:33:00] rest or rehabilitation and recuperation from those wild weekends? 

[00:33:04] Ta-Myia: Yeah. What's your self-care routine look like?

[00:33:06] Yeah. How do you recover ? 

[00:33:07] DJ And?: Because you know, we old now and I it be hurting to get up in the morning from them 

[00:33:10] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: late nights. Contrary, probably I'm not old. I may be 37, but I ain't old know. Right. See, 37 year old about to be 38. . No, 

[00:33:17] DJ And?: I hear, I heard this is 

[00:33:18] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Godless too. This podcast 

[00:33:20] DJ And?: was too Wonder Fellas on his old Fells named Ji, and the name Ji tell you enough, right.

[00:33:24] He, he's like 70 years old. He said. He said, boy, I get, I ain't get old till I tell y'all I'm old. And I was like, good point Jism. Good point. So that's the model you kinda live 

[00:33:32] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: by, right? Yeah. Oh, one of the things I do that just really just takes me away from everything. I, I'm actually, I actually play kickball.

[00:33:40] I'm in the league. There we go. Okay. Yeah. I've been in the league for six years. The leagues called Mars Main Attraction recreational sports. So it's been a total elixir from, from life. Yeah. When I'm out on that. When I'm out on that field, I'm free. Like nothing else matters to me. See? See, I 

[00:33:56] DJ And?: told you. See, I gotta get back to the basketball man.

[00:33:58] I miss being able to know [00:34:00] me Tooly too. I used to play basketball. The pandemic was not nice to me about that at all. But yeah, having those outlets like man, some kind of form. You 

[00:34:10] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: have to, you have to cause you, you'll crash. Physical activity. Yeah, you'll go crazy. Right. Like, like we all, we all were just eating.

[00:34:16] So much we, we developed, a lot of us developed PTs d you know? Yeah. Until you put the snack down. . . 

[00:34:22] DJ And?: Eat, eat, eating snacks, watching a corn hole on ESPN . This is bad out here. It was bad. It was bad. Cause 

[00:34:27] Ta-Myia: we gotta unlearn some ways. Yeah, we 

[00:34:29] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: do. Seriously. Right. 

[00:34:30] Ta-Myia: So do you have any upcoming projects that we need to stay on the lookout for any events besides the one next weekend?

[00:34:36] Yep. 

[00:34:37] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: I'm not, I don't host any events per se, but you know, with all the stories I've written, I am writing a book for those who are interested, who all, who all may listen to. I'm writing a book, the book, the book is called, and it is a title. That's no paradoxical short stories of white people work weirdos and willfully ignorant

[00:34:56] Wow. Oh, okay. I like 

[00:34:58] Skip: that. Yes. I can't wait for that. I [00:35:00] like, of course. When, when you're ready, please let us know. Let us know so you can come back on and talk about the book course. 

[00:35:05] DJ And?: We can purchase the book too and get some reading on it. Give you a nice little I'm that be dope. 

[00:35:09] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Yeah. Y'all like Kevin has read my stuff, but the rest of y'all have to read some of my wild adventures like it.

[00:35:15] I'll go back and read rest stuff. Yeah. Damn . I'm definitely 

[00:35:17] Skip: gonna store that. Store load . Definitely gotta get That's 

[00:35:21] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: definitely yeah. That grocery store. Yeah. 

[00:35:24] DJ And?: Well we are gonna get ready to wrap up. Before we wrap up, would you mind giving our audience your socials as I like to say, this is the time, if you do any shameless promotion, you want to do the floor is your.

[00:35:33] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: No doubt, no doubt. So Sean, the Alison ii, that is my Facebook account. It is maxed out at 5,000, but you can still follow me that front to everything and that's,

[00:35:44] so my IG is black Ferris Bueller C lt, that's B L A c. F E R r i s B u e l L E r C L t. It's all one word. That's it. And 

[00:35:56] Ta-Myia: then how can we find the itinerary? Cause you know, I need to stay on [00:36:00] top of things. Mm-hmm. . 

[00:36:01] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: If I don't actually get to write things out, I run stories in the morning of what's the term?

[00:36:07] And you can either screenshot that. Or I'll screenshot my own stuff and just compile it in a, in a whole post. And you know, the closest go from there. Smart. Smart, 

[00:36:16] DJ And?: smart. Well, man, brother, it is, it was a pleasure speaking with you this morning on this beautiful Saturday morning out here feeling the nice crisp, the crispness of the fall air coming in.

[00:36:26] I want to, I want to wish you a great week and even better and to this month. We actually look forward to seeing you next weekend. Now that we know that something's popping and going on, please do please drag my, drag, my happy ass up there so I can have some fun. Yes. But that's right. Yeah, no, most definitely.

[00:36:43] I'm not gonna lie, you ain't gonna miss me on that one. But for myself, DJ and what? Skip. Yep. Tamaya. We want to wish everybody a beautiful weekend, a happy Saturday. We want to thank you for joining us here on the Hilltop Love Podcast. We want to thank our guests, Shawn d Alexander Shawn d Allison.

[00:36:59] What I wanna call you [00:37:00] Alexander. I know why. The football player, Sean Alexander. I don't know why that's in my head. I've been watching too much football. I apologize, brother. He protesting right now. I know, that's what 

[00:37:08] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: I'm saying. I've, I've been, I've watched football for such 

[00:37:10] DJ And?: a long time. It just popped in my head.

[00:37:11] That's an old player from the Seahawk, so it don't even matter. . All right. So, yeah. He ain't, he retired. This is old. We ain't no, this ain't no recent football. But I want to thank you so much Mr. Allison, for joining us today. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I wanna say peace, love, and happiness to everybody that's listening, and we will see you on the next episode.

[00:37:27] Bye. 

[00:37:28] Shawn "Black Ferris Bueller" Allison: Peace, peace.