SPEAKER_02 1:46

Welcome to the Hilltop Club Podcast, where Skip and DJ Ann want to interview guests and discuss topics such as business, current events, and pop culture. The motivational podcast for the hip hop millennial. Today we have a very, very uh poignant guest, uh, especially with what's going on in time and whatnot right now, um, and covering current events, taking uh collection and history of things through um through photos. Uh we have Mr. Crush Rush with us today. Um we're gonna be discussing some things that are going on with him in photography, how he deals with his business, what he likes about photojournalism, but also some current events and things that are going on in life. Um, but of course, you know it's me, DJ Ann Wet, and my brother Skip.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 2:55

We'll be up here handling these uh this little podcast in this morning. But I am very excited about this because I was I was waiting for this this interview because this is some stuff that we like to talk about. We talk about these things often, uh, but to have somebody who actually is in depth on these things because they actually cover uh is gonna be a very good uh uh conversation for us to have. So, I mean, we're just gonna jump right into it. How are you doing today, Mr. Crush Rush?

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Hey man, how's it going? It's uh it's a morning, you know. Everything you've been going on, and you know, being on the line right now, trying to figure out if the world's gonna be on fire or not in four days, you know. Well, other than that, man, I'm pretty good, you know. I'm pretty good.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

Got me a nice gallon of the water over here, you know, just chilling. My dude, there we go. Yeah. Alright, so um, man, I I do want to get to what we came here to talk about, but man, we we gotta give our audience some background into you, uh, what you do, how you do it, why you started doing it, um, and your love behind it. So, like, very simply, man, um, how did you get into photography? Like, what was the what was the spark that helped you jump into this field?

SPEAKER_00 3:59

Well, you know, it's uh when it my my journey into photography is a is a it's a sweet and a and a sour story. Um so when I was young, I don't know if y'all remember the Nintendo 64, uh, but back in the day, uh when we were kids, there was a game called Pokemon Snap. And I extensively, with quotes, rented Pokemon Snap from Blockbuster. When I say extensively, I mean that thing never went back. Um I fell in love with Pokemon Snap, and then it hit me one day. I was like, wait a minute, I can take photos in real life. So I started using my allowance to get the disposable cameras, and around that time, my great-grandmother was going through dementia, which is the sour side of it. So the love for photography coming from Pokemon, and then like watching my great-grandmother go from being, you know, one of the first seamstress at Lurie's, just being a really sharp woman to not knowing who I was. I was really, really hell-bent on photographing memories because you know, I was like, what if I get old one day? What if I forget? What if my, you know, other people in the family forget? If I have these photos of the family or these photos of adventures in my life, maybe it'll help, you know, keep my mind fresh, or something that I can look back on and say, hey, look, I did this, even if I don't remember it. Here's proof that I did it. So that's what really, really got me into photography and what made me fall in love with it. It's just the passion of capturing things and just really documenting what's going on in case something happens and I forget. Or you know, my mom forgets, or my dad forgets. You know, just having that proof.

SPEAKER_02 5:33

Man, I understand that. That is uh, like you said, that's that's that's a pivotal piece of your of your story and your history. And for for that to happen like that, you said you actually took you took some lemons and you turned them into lemonade on that one. I'll give you that. Like that's a hard thing to deal with. I know our um Kevin and I, our grandmother, she also had to go through similar things. And I remember that time and and seeing that you're right, being able to have something to look back into the past to show you what was going on to give you a memory is is phenomenal. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. So I feel you on that. Um, how old were you when you when you got that camera, when you first started getting, like when you got your first not your disposable camera, but when you got your first real uh shooting camera?

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Yeah, so actually, believe it or not, I have I have my two first original digital cameras right next to me. Um Dang, go ahead. Yeah, man. You gotta keep it. You gotta know where you started. Man, these things ain't even bigger than my hand. Um I had a PowerShot S10, uh 2.1 megapixel camera. I think I got that probably around 2001, was when I got my first digital camera. Um I would have probably got two and a half years later, uh, which is a four-megapixel camera. Um, I don't know if you remember back in the day, but if you had a 2.1 megapixel camera. Yeah, that's bad. The razor phone with the 2.1 Look, you don't need to look at the photos that look like Minecraft photos now, but homeboy like, yo, look at Shorty right here. I took a picture of her. He's like, now I don't even know who that is. I can't even see her face. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:15

Yeah, but you ain't lying, you're not telling lies.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

Yeah, you know, like I, you know, technology has changed, and you know, I have all my dis you know, I have my my digital cameras, and you know, up until recently I started selling my own, you know, the cameras that I no longer use, because you know, at this stage, the gear that I get is expensive. So to work with gear, I usually sell the old gear. So, but I still got all my old classics, um, you know, my old, old digital cameras that I know nobody would ever want to buy for any reason whatsoever.

SPEAKER_02 7:44

Man, that's cool. That's really interesting. I'm happy that you did keep those pieces because like you said, again, with you being a uh a photojournalist, man, you're holding on to that history. You have that that your first things that you work with, uh those first tools, and you can always tell and share those stories with other people. And that makes it interesting, man. That is cool as heck, man.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

Um I look at I look at it this way, you know, cameras and photography, you know, when you take a photo, you're capturing microseconds of light that will never be redispersed and redistributed ever in that fashion. So all of those original cameras that I have, man, they have captured moments, pivotal moments and movements of light that will never ever repeat themselves. And, you know, these are photos of my great-grandmother who's past, photos, you know, just all types of photos that have been made on those cameras. That that energy, that sensory is capture that energy. And I feel like I have a genie in the cameras, even though I can never pull that genie out. I know that those genies are still in those cameras because there is energy that and light that will never be able to, you know, it will never be able to be reduplicated. You know, so that I I can't I have to keep those cameras. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 8:57

Man, I like how you talk about photography. And I could tell you're very passionate about it. Like you're talking about almost on an esoteric level, like we're breaking down exactly what's going on with it. And you're right about that. That's one reason why you know a lot of Native American uh groups and stuff considered photography. They would see you taking pictures and say, You're taking my soul. Like you're actually holding it and capturing it in a box, and there's some truth behind that too. So I love hearing how you're talking about this because um a lot of a lot of people, when they're in certain careers, especially careers where they're artistic, to hear the passion behind it lets you know why there is value to it. Um speaking of that value, uh, when did you first realize you can make a career out of you know, taking um taking pictures, being a photographer, and actually working in the real world with photographer?

SPEAKER_00 9:45

So my story about photography, like, is it it's full of heartaches. It really is, you know, starting off, you know, with the situation with my great-grandmother, um, and and photography was never something that honestly I felt I ever thought that I would be doing as a career. I actually got really, really lucky. Uh-huh. Um in 2008, the economy crashed. I'm pretty sure you all remember that. I was working at Verizon Wireless. Um, I was a technician, I was doing really, really good for myself. Um, around that time, Verizon Wireless had acquired all till. So they had just acquired Altell, they had all these stores, they had all this overhead, they had all these bodies that they had to figure out something to do with, and then the economy crashed, and then money got tied up. Um, I was the youngest person in the store. You know, they let me go. They were basically saying, hey, crush, like, look, you know, you're the youngest, you've got a lot of energy, you got a lot of life, you've got, you know, you already worked these IT jobs, you got a great resume. Somebody will hire you, you know, and and we're gonna let you go instead of letting go some somebody that's been here 10, 11, 12 years, you know, it's they can't reset. Yeah, they can't reset. Right, right, right. It made sense. But at the same time, because I was so young and I was making the amount of money that was, and I had the skill set that I had, nobody would hire me. Literally, nobody hired me because of my resume. It was saying that it was kind of like a threat, you know, like why would you want to bring in a young wild energy that can change everything? And and so I struggled. I was on unemployment. Um, I was getting like $130 a week, man, which wasn't even a fraction. I wasn't getting even a fraction of whatever. And so um a buddy of mine, he was like, hey crush, uh, you still messing around with cameras, you still, you know, taking pictures of free time, you know, and I'm like, yeah, man. He's like, uh, well, how about you come out to the nightclub and take photos every weekend? This nightclub was Taboo, Taboo Nightlife and everything. Right. And so uh I went out there and I started taking photos of all the patrons of Taboo Nightlife. And then one thing led to another, and everybody was really feeling it, and then I started realizing that, like, hey, look, everybody's got my pictures as their profile pictures on MySpace and Facebook. You know, back in the day, MySpace was still pimping. That was when MySpace was taking this exit, you know. But um, you know, seeing people have that and and like getting paid for it, I started making connections inside the club, and then I started doing events for people, and then I started really taking it seriously. And um, I found myself one day, I was downtown, just out taking photos, and there was a uh a protest. Um, Nikki Haley was sitting outside at the state house, and like the people were from the union and they were protesting something that Nikki Haley did, and she was just like straight up not even giving them no play. Like she her sandwich, and they was yelling, and she was like, nah, I'm good, I ain't talking to y'all. I can just remember all of the emotion and everything, and I was taking pictures, and then like some of the people was like, hey, look, these are really great pictures, and there was no news and media out here. Can we use these photos for so-and-so? And I was like, Yeah. Why now? I was like, wait a minute.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Right place, right time.

SPEAKER_00 13:03

Right, right place, right time. And I was like, wait a minute, there was no news people out here, but I was out here, and I remember at that time just like looking at different news networks, trying to figure out what news network I went. I was like, wait a minute. I don't have to look at nobody else's news in Columbia. I can be the news, I can do this. And that started, you know, started studying up on photojournalism and and one thing led to another. Here I am, man. Just a constant journey of putting one foot in front of the other and reaching a destination.

SPEAKER_02 13:35

Man, that's an interesting story of from where coming from what you did were doing in Verizon to going to the nightclub and it ended up actually being the newsman. Right. Well, I have to ask you this because you you were just breaking it down for us. So, what's the difference with photojournalism? What exactly how would you explain what photojournalism is in comparison to quote unquote normal camera showing up, shooting a five to ten minute clip to putting it into the news for quote unquote uh news purposes?

SPEAKER_00 14:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you have photojournalists, the video side of it is still photojournalism. However, deals are a more, I feel, powerful um way of photojournalism. So basically, what photojournalism is is using photos to tell a story with the addition of words. And record journalism is using words to tell a story with an addition of photos. So, you know, one gives emphasis on words, one gives emphasis on photos. Now, what when I can say this as a professional and as someone who appreciates quality photojournalism, there is a difference between telling a story and taking snapshots. In the day and age with gotta have it fast, gotta see the news fast. A lot of people who are covering things take snapshots. And snapshot is like, oh, here's a wreck. Let me go up, let me take a picture of the car, let me take a picture of who who the car belongs to, and that's it. Photojournalism is let me take a picture of the wreck. That means all the emotions involved. That means the first responders, that means the car. That means if I see a small crack in the mirror that looks like it couldn't have a blood spot. You know, that's what photojournalism is to really connect with the viewer to make them feel as if they were there in that moment of time so that they can understand that this is a reality and this is something that happened to someone.

SPEAKER_02 15:29

So once you're putting them in, you put you're putting them in the exactly.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

All right, people have to feel. People have to feel for them to really be empathetic.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Got it. Got it. That makes so much sense because I was looking through your photos on your different sites, and that's one of the things. I know we were pointing this out when we were having our pre-production talks. We were like, wow, man, like even like man, one of my favorite photos is the photo at the rodeo with the gentleman holding on to the uh to the to the horse trying to stay on to it. How the emotion, like you said, the emotion in his face and looking at him and the animal and the actual chaos going on. Yeah, man, that was so amazing how you took that photo. And like you said, it tells that story. You don't even have to have words with it. It was just the way in which you took the photo. It mattered. Yes, sir. Yes. Much kudos, man. And with that, with that being said, with that being said, what do you see right now as the current state of journalism in this age? Because I like how you talked about the fact that everything is quick, quick, quick. People take snapshots and run with things. How do you what do you feel, where do you feel this stuff is going? How do you feel that's actually moving uh journalism? This quick, quick, quick move.

SPEAKER_00 16:37

Well, I feel like the the tried and true photojournalists, we are really in a we're in a bind. Because with all the presses, with the with all the attacks on press, and it it started off as a as a disease coming from the right spectrum. Um, you know, they're and uh, you know, the the bringing in of Donald Trump and the way that he really started to attack the press, what we start to see is that that disease has now made its way to left-laning politics as well. And what it breaks down to is people are afraid of accountability. Um, why would a photo capturing your moments in time be problematic?

SPEAKER_02 17:21

Get 'em. You're right. You see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

So what happens is it's it's the it's the it's the attrition between good and evil, or good and bad or what is perceived as good and bad in societal norms. You know, so if somebody's doing what they're supposed to do, oh, hey, look, here's a camera. I want to be in the camera. Hey, crush rush, hey, come to this thing because this is good. But if you out tearing up something and doing something you're not doing, or, you know, if you're out passing bad laws and, you know, now recovering that, hey, we don't want the media here. We don't want this. So it's like everybody wants us when they want to highlight something good they're doing, but when they're doing something that's controversial, oh, we become the enemies. We we become just the people we're trying to tell the bad side of things without the good, but it's like, nah, if you got a problem with what we're doing, there's a good chance that you should have a problem with what you're doing.

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Very true. You can't have one without the other. You can't have one without the other.

SPEAKER_00 18:20

It is the balance of life and the balance of nature. And that's just the reality of it. People are afraid of accountability. And one thing that photos and videos do, which we have seen with all the different um Black Lives Matter issues, with cops being aggressive, um, you know, cops, you know, firing on unarmed people, um, you know, short force, is that video and photos have really told a different narrative. Because it's like, hey, look, a man can say, look, so-and-so did this, I feared for my life I had to shoot him. But if you see a video that's like, look, bro, homie was 30 yards down the street with his back facing you. You didn't have to shoot him, then that completely changes the narrative. And so now we see what's really has been going on and what black and brown people have been saying for the longest is like, hey, look, I didn't deserve what happened to me. But it's my word against a whole coalition of people who have been trained to really push the narrative to protect themselves.

SPEAKER_02 19:18

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 19:19

The power of photos and videos and accountability.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

I mean, with what you're saying, you can go as far back as the early civil rights movement. The one thing that broke it, literally for everybody, and this is like a foundational thing, are the fire hoses and dogs being sicked on people in Alabama. Right stuff, though that that news made it to places like France and England. And that's when they said, yo, there's something wrong with those people over there. And that's when Cains released, like you said, that that photojournalism and that and that videography, it changed everything. And that's what you're saying. Like putting, shining a spotlight on injustice and bad policy and bad actors, it always is a positive. But like you said, there's a machine that works against it. I'm happy you're talking about that because that also brings you into a position where you have to work and connect with people at on different backgrounds. Just because you, you, you take pictures, you get into places. I'm like, I'm looking at, like, yo, what's he doing there?

SPEAKER_00 20:21

Yo, hey, hey, you and everybody else, man. My baby going nuts. I can't even tell you how many text messages. Hey, look, kidding. When I told my mom I got a bulletproof vest, she's like, what?

unknown 20:33

What?

SPEAKER_00 20:34

I'm like, yeah, mom.

SPEAKER_02 20:37

It's not my fault that America is turned into Iraq, but you know, it's like you're like a almost to the sense, like you say you're you're almost like a uh a photojournalist in a war, in a war situation right now, some kind of siege. But yeah, man, so with with your with you doing that, how do you do that, first of all? I don't know how you explain this, but how do you connect with people of different backgrounds to be able to put yourself in positions to cover things that you may not even be a proponent for? Like you're covering, you can be covering them and have a totally different perspective or a political viewpoint, but you get into those places, you take those photos, and then you come out unscathed. How do you explain that?

SPEAKER_00 21:16

Well, so my whole thing is I have a couple of uh pillars of of my personality that I really hold dear, and I really, no matter what, I like to think that everybody likes the basic foundations of human living. We all want to have a good meal, we all want to have a place to stay, a safe place to stay, and we all want to be with the people that we love, no matter if they're terrible people or not. You know, when I'm out shooting, no matter what type of chaos is going on around me, no matter what people are saying, I always remember that I can connect with them on those three basic pillars. Um so that allows for me, if I focus on that, it allows for me to really keep my emotions at bay. Um, you know, sometimes things get a little heavy, and up until recently, I've never actually had an incident in where I let my emotions get the best of me. The good thing about journal photojournalism is the best photojournalism is photojournalism that is unbiased, that is just tells you the facts. Like, I if I if I let my emotions really run rampant being an emotional person, an outspoken person, I would be in a lot of trouble as a photojournalist. Um, and the thing about it is too, like, you know, I had a mentor back in the day. I'm a I'm a religion miner. And um, when you're being a religion miner, you have to really, really just understand that people are different. People have different ideas, people have different societal norms. And once you realize that, and realize that at the end of the day, we're all spinning around on a space rock, not knowing what's going to be happening in the next five years, it really kind of lets you just live in that moment and do what you need to do. Um, we overthink things as humans way too much, even when we disagree with people, there's still a process that in our minds that make us become over-defensive and and and sometimes over-aggressive because we have to protect what we feel like is normal. But normal for us may not look like normal for somebody else. So, and you can't change anybody's mind by attacking them, point blank, period.

SPEAKER_02 23:16

Speak on it, yep. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 23:18

So, like, if I really want to make change, I have to meet these people. I have to show them, especially if it's a racist. I have a lot of friends that used to, you know, be Aryan Brotherhood, you know, just very, very ultra right racist, and now they're my friends and have changed their lives completely. But it's because I had to talk to them and be like, hey, look, like this preconceived notion that you have about minorities is just wrong. And if you can talk to me, I'm not the only one like me. So you maybe just realize that, hey, look, like what you thought you knew about people is wrong, and you should just start exploring because I'm not the only one. I'm not the only, you know, like cool, calm, collective brother that has an intellect and can speak, you know, with a vocabulary. That's I ain't the only one. Exactly. You know, so it's amazing.

SPEAKER_02 24:09

Because like you're saying, and this is this is the point that you're getting to, and I like this point. Humans, especially like just people in general, we are extremely varied. We have many different facets. None of us are, we don't have many of us that are just monocultural. We are not. Usually we have many, especially in this day and age, you you understand with, especially with technology, how fast things are. You can have so much going for uh for one person that that you can't you can't pinpoint them and put them down in one box. Right. And you have to be able to see those things. And and and I'm I'm happy that you're able to do that, especially with the stuff that you deal with. I'm happy that you point out a point, like if you allowed your emotions to run all of that, you would be very bad at what you do. And I'm happy that you're at least honest enough to say that because a lot of people who are in your position who write, do photos, create journalistic pieces, they love to just work on a bias. And you know what I mean. Like they have straight news networks and and and websites that only feed people what they want to do. They want right. Yes, and never offer people any other ideas or perspectives for so that they can actually stretch their brain. They do not do that, and it leads to what we're looking at right now. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

That's what made my life dangerous because people think they see these million dollar making, you know, talking heads on these big news networks, and they identify that as news and what a journalist looks like, and so they take their frustration out on the people out here, like, bro, I ain't making a million dollars. I might eat ramen one day, or I might go get me a $20 real eye, you know, like it can go.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

But I might be ramen, you know what I'm saying? Exactly. So when dealing with those things, coming out of that and understanding how to properly balance your your perspective and your emotions in a healthy way, how has that impacted your views on life as a whole when when it just dealing with humanity? How has that impacted you?

SPEAKER_00 26:02

Well, I'm a lot more peaceful in my thought process. I've always been a peaceful person physically, but like in my thought process, you know, it's easier for me to let my frustrations subside. Um I also identify as a Zen Buddhist, so I do a lot of meditation to help balance myself. Um to really power. There we go. Right, to really find myself. It it has really made me a social chameleon. I mean, I've got connections all over the place. You know, I mean, I got connections in the streets, I got connections in the government, connect like it's just meeting people and having the ability to communicate with people and connect with people has been my greatest asset to really make my life and shape my life the way that I want it.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

That's your superpower, man.

SPEAKER_00 26:46

It is, it is, and I just really think because it is I always light up because people like, dang crush, you know everybody. Everybody knows you. And I'm like, yeah, man, that was a journey. Like that.

SPEAKER_01 26:59

It didn't just happen.

SPEAKER_00 27:00

It didn't just happen. Like, I had to manifest and work to get to that point, and like I just had to realize that like, man, I you just gotta, you just gotta meet people where they stand, you gotta talk to people, you gotta, no matter what it is, how it is, just have some level of respect for them, at least initially, until they, you know, if they step on your toes, they prove themselves wrong, yeah, exactly. Protect your neck, but like at the same time, like, you know, you still there's still a level of civility that has to be had, especially as a working professional. And, you know, being a black man, you you know, there there are politics of respectability at play. There are some, you know, there are some some different things that I have to act differently or speak differently in regards to ills that may have may be done against me to save face, because you know, if I get pissed off from holding in something, then I become the angry black man. So I have to really let that go, you know, in real time. I can't let things fester because then I don't want to snap on somebody that you know might have slightly pissed me off. Yeah, that's not deserving. Everybody else who's pissed me off. So you gotta balance yourself, you gotta let that stuff go. You gotta meditate, you gotta really just find balance. And get a hobby. I can't express that enough. I love photography, but photography is my job, and I have other hobbies to offset that.

SPEAKER_02 28:25

My guy, that's what I'm talking about. That's like you said, like I could tell that you've you've understood what you're doing, and you do not let it run you, you run it. Right. That's that's what you want to do, man. That's that's man, I'm telling you, for any professional, like I said, what this podcast is about, learning how to adult properly and whatnot, that is one of the hardest things to learn. How to run it and not let it run you. Come on. And with that being said, talking about your experiences with folks and relationships, man, 2020 was one heck of a year. With all the things, all the things that had gone on in 2020, have you had to, based on the stuff that happened, have you had to leave some relationships behind? Have you ran into any issues with folks because of all of the stresses and whatnot behind the events of 2020?

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Yeah, absolutely. Um, 2020 has definitely been, it was a year that I really had to explore the depths of what happiness looked like for me. You know, we all, it's easy to say, hey, I'm happy. But then when you sit down and you're you're you're in the room by yourself and those thoughts are ringing out, that's when you really start to think, am I happy? What does happiness look like for me? And so 2020, like, what really hit me was like all the people in my age group that was like getting sick and dying from COVID. And I'm like, damn, it was doing good. Like one dude was like uh a workout specialist, he was like fitness guru, he was like 34 years old with three kids, dude was in tip top shape and died. And I'm just like, yo, imagine just going to the store one day, then the next day you're sick, and then like a week later you're dead from something that you didn't even do, and you did everything that you could to not be in that situation.

SPEAKER_01 30:10

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 30:10

So I'm like, man, I really have to start identifying what happiness looks like for me because time ain't granted, and if I'm here, I need to be happy. So relationships, you know, I had to really back off some for some friends. I had a romantic relationship that wasn't, it wasn't serving me in the way that it should have been serving me for a very long time, but I let love and familiarity, you know, cause me to stick it out longer than what I should have. Um, so I I had to, you know, step away from that relationship. There were some relationships that I had, you know, with friends that just wasn't serving me in the way that it was supposed to. It was very one-sided. Um I let those go. And another thing that was great, I actually my my relationship with my parents, it has grown tenfold once I've stopped, you know, spreading myself thin with all these other relationships with people that wasn't serving me. You know, and so now it's like a whole different, like it's almost like I got a different set of parents.

SPEAKER_01 31:10

Like I don't even I can't even break that down.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

I'm still like my mom calls me randomly just to like chit-chat. I'm like, yo, let me get off my phone, I got stuff to do. And it's like that was unheard of, you know, just checking in and like calling in, and like now if I don't hear, you know, and then in 2020, one of the great things about it, I was actually able to find my biological family. So I got a whole nother thing. You know what I'm saying? A whole nother set of relationships that I want to build on and have been building on. And like they are so dope. You know what I'm saying? Like, and all my mannerisms that I find out that I've never understood why I had, I get them all from my biological family. I was 33 years away from them, and I still have some of the same mannerisms as my brothers, my sisters. My mom loves ginger ale and watermelon. And if you know me, I love gingeril and watermelon. You know what I'm saying? Like so all those different things, like I have a lot of relationships that I look forward to building. You know, I spent 33 years away from them, but I want to spend 33 years getting to know them, you know, from this next point. And so I have to really, you know, be conscious about who I give my energy and what I give my energy because I want to make sure I give it to the people that truly deserve it and the people that were truly respect it and appreciated.

SPEAKER_02 32:28

So you would say in 2020, it helped you cut a lot of fat from that relationship scene and focus on the meat and the positive aspects and the folks that you really need to be investing your spirit into.

SPEAKER_00 32:41

Yeah, I cut all the fat from my relationships and like put it on my actual body. Because like that's what I think.

SPEAKER_02 32:49

Stop Yo, I'm gonna take that right there, Kevin. Cut that one. We're gonna use that little stuff. I cut I took all the fat and put it on my body. Yeah, 2020 really did do that to us all. It did do that to us all.

SPEAKER_00 33:02

But look, my photo belt still ain't filled right too. I said I wasn't gonna buy no new pants, man. I said I wasn't gonna do it and I ain't did it.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

I'm gonna have to just back in my old pants, man. Man, alright, man. All right, that's beautiful, man. I love hearing people explain and express themselves like that, especially in an honest, forthright way. Because, especially with folk in our age range, we have to understand how to do that and how to deal with those things, especially when you're getting into this age. I like how you explain finding your biological family members and et cetera. You're at the age where you can do that. You can do that. There's nobody that's gonna stay in the way. It's just is it something that you need for yourself? Is it something that you think will be of positive, uh, will create positive growth in yourself? So, man, it's good to hear. And I know a lot of people who are listening to the podcast, they will enjoy hearing that because you do have people with similar stories that just do not know how to or ever heard of anybody doing it. Yeah, you have to be able to navigate it. Yeah. Um, moving on, I this is this is my this is my fun stuff because this is why I wanted to come to talk to you. Um, I know I want I wanted the other stuff because I I love to get to talk and bother and know people. Kevin tell you, we're a very talkative family. We we talk all the time, we'll talk you to death, we'll sit and talk with you for three hours if necessary, even if we do not know you. But you know what's going on right now.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

I'm part of I'm basically part of the family, so this is what I'm right there with you. I'll talk to you.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

I'm so happy about this. Because like, man, crush, crush is fine, crush, he'll talk. It's no problem, he'll talk. With your ability to connect with such diverse backgrounds as we talked about earlier in a myriad of situations, I know you have some interesting tales from your work and travels. Would you care to share some of these stories with us? It doesn't even matter if they relate to your work or not.

SPEAKER_00 34:48

I'll actually tell you uh the most recent one, which is interesting. So I was taught earlier I touched on the fact that like until recently I've kept my cool. So, you know, for the people that do know me, you know, I'm a very loyal person to my friends. Um I'm a very I have a to be five, five and a half, ladies, I'm five, six. Don't ignore what I said about the five. I have a very, I have a very protective, lionistic, like tribe mentality about me. And I I've never really understood it until I met my biological family because apparently that's how my grandfather was and his pastor of all the men. So I'm very protective over people I feel that are my family, my friends. And uh at a recent protest, we had the Proud Boys, the Proud Boys came into town. If you don't know the Proud Boys, they're uh a very ultra-right leaning organization that has been identified as a terrorist network by the uh poverty law center. Uh they were here in Columbia, South Carolina at a protest. Um first they approached me, and one of the guys, he grabbed my badge, he was looking at my badge, he was like, Are you Antifa? And I was like, Excuse me, what? And he was like, Oh, you a journalist, but you don't know who Antifa is? I was like, first of all, hold up, calm down. Second of all, like, the reason I said what is because I can't believe you asked me such a dumb question. So I think they realized that like I wasn't with their shenanigans at all. So then they started having a conversation with me. But then they started really trying to intimidate and harass my colleague and good friend and neighbor, Sean Rayford, who was also a falling girls here in the city. And um, you know, they were intimidating him and trying to say that they was gonna smash his camera and all that stuff. So when Sean came over to me and he was like visibly shooken up, I was like, yo, hold up. And so I literally power walked all the way over to the group of them, called one of them, was like, hey, look, man, I need to talk to you. And so I'm like going off, I'm like, wait a minute, like 10 minutes ago, you was over there trying to tell me that you had to be cautious because the media is making you out to be a bunch of bad guys. But here you are, 10 minutes later, over here attacking one of our city's decorated journalists. I was like, bro, what in the hell is wrong with you, cuz? And so one of the other guys who wasn't a part of the conversation started coming over, and I was literally, I'm not talking to you. And then he started starting to cry. He's like, Sean Rayford is Antifa, Antifa. And I was like, bro, what are you even talking about?

SPEAKER_02 37:18

Talking about. Oh my lord.

SPEAKER_00 37:20

I'm like, so if he's Antifa, where we've been out here three hours, where is this supposed boogeyman, Antifa? And he wouldn't stop. He wouldn't stop, and it pissed me off. So the two officers that, you know, I from working at the state house so much, they already knew who I was.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 37:36

They probably like, whoa, wait a minute, crush is blowing up. I've never seen this birthday. So they came over to me, and the guys is non-stop. Sean Rafert's Antifa, Sean Rafe was Antifa, and we're gonna find this information out. And I legitimate over the officers, they're pulling me away. And I like, you know how it goes that the black, the black finger, you know, it's like when the arm goes in the air and you're pointing down, and you know, you know, you know what I'm like, well, if Sean Rafer is Antifa, then you all a bunch of effing racists. And they all they all kind of looked at me in the opposite and like, okay, crush, come on. Okay, crush, come on, come on, let's get out of here. And so I lost my cool, but like, and then so what happened was the guy that I originally talked to, he ended up like breaking away from the group because I think he realized that like, yo, like these dudes are insane, and maybe I'm as strong as them. But as we walk, as he walked past me, I literally was like, yo, man, what's what's what's up with that? And he was like, Man, I actually know Sean Rafer. He used to he used to serve me a bunch of Jaeger bombs down in New Brooklyn. I'm like, where's your backbone? Where's your fortification? Like, so all these other little yahoos that don't know him, you know him, but you didn't even stick up and say nothing. But now you want to walk away. So I'm just like, man, where's your backbone? Stuff like that bothers me. And the thing about it is, all I was thinking, like, if they if they mess with Sean Rafefer, they'll mess with me. And Sean Rafer don't even live a quarter of a mile from me. So I'm just like, if he got problems down the street, I'm gonna have problems because I'm gonna show up. Come on, show but show out.

SPEAKER_02 39:11

And that goes back to what you were saying earlier, man. It goes back to what you were saying earlier with allowing certain things to run you and you not run it. That that gentleman was being ran by the Proud Boys. He wasn't running it.

SPEAKER_00 39:23

Exactly. Exactly. And he and like him and the guy, because like I like I had talked to him, and he was, you know, basically he was just basically saying that, look, we had to check with you because people are trying to dox us and share our information. I was like, bro, I'm a journalist in 2021. Not only am I a journalist in 2021, I'm a black journalist in 2021, and I've covered some ultra-right stuff that people just don't agree with. And I was like, if I need to show you my other inbox on Facebook, you'll understand exactly what fresh hell my life is. Because my other inbox is like full of racism, attacks, people saying that I'm fake news. This is like it's crazy.

SPEAKER_02 40:03

Man, so you really get you really get those type of attack emails and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_00 40:09

Absolutely. People have tried to dox me. Um, you know, people are like saying they're gonna f like sent me pictures of my old car, and I'm just like, good luck with that, like that thing got wrecked. It's just it's crazy. And so it every time something goes viral, you know, I've had you know my photojournalistic work go viral, you know, a couple times over the last couple years. But the uh on May 31st, when I covered by the police headquarters with the young girl that had the less lethal shotgun almost, you know, to her chest.

SPEAKER_01 40:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 40:43

People thought that was fake. And then like some of the news network from outer, like overseas was taking that photo and saying that it was from Portland and all that stuff. And so it was so many problems. People saying that that didn't happen, this is a fake photo, and then people in South Carolina who just couldn't believe that something happened was like, what agency is this? You manipulated this photo, that never happened, the gun isn't facing the girl, you're this and this and that, you're this and this and that. You were there. Yeah, and that's what people out there that think that they can use tactics of intimidation to make me remove a photo that like crazy. So yeah, my other inbox is a is a mess. Whenever I need to laugh, sometimes I just go there and see how bad people like because the people that attack me, first of all, they don't make sense half the time. Second of all, they can't spell for nothing.

SPEAKER_02 41:34

That's what I was about to say. You know you're dealing with ignorance. You know it's ignorance.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Oh, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Like, sometimes I get people talking, you know, I'll make a status message that's talking about some of the ills in America, and they'll be like, if you don't love America, then leave. And I'm like, bro, if you love America so much, why is your profile picture a confederate flag?

SPEAKER_02 41:55

That's my y'all lost the war.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

The Confederacy literally waged a war against America, and you're telling me if I don't like America to leave, like, bro, your Confederacy left America. What? I don't understand it.

SPEAKER_02 42:13

That's what I'm saying. They don't, they can't, they can't justify themselves at all, so all they can do is attack you. That's it. That's one of those weird situations, man. And speaking of, man, um, you know what is coming up this Wednesday. Uh it's gonna be January 20th. It's inauguration day. This episode will actually be airing on that day, mind you. And of course, it's being played up as a political powder keg due to the actions of those on the Capitol on the 6th of January. Man, what what where will you be at that day? What are you planning to do, and what is your week gonna look like leading up to it?

SPEAKER_00 42:47

I will be at the State House, come hail the high water. You know, I I I am fully protected. I've got gas mask helmets, bulletproof vests. I've got mace, you know, I've I've got a couple things of self-protection, and I have my mental fortification, which is my strongest weapon when dealing with something like that. Um, you know, America is is in a in a very critical state, in a very fickle state right now, um, with what is going on. You know, do I worry? A little bit. Whatever. You know, but I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic that in the end good will prevail. And also knowing, you know, the officers in charge, you know, knowing Merrill Ron Kelly, knowing Skill Pole, knowing uh Crosby, which is the uh one of the heads down at the um the state house, like they're really, really serious about this thing. Like they I know for a fact that Crosby, he ain't gonna let nothing happen at his statehouse. Like he's That's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_02 43:47

You know that they're ready.

SPEAKER_00 43:49

Crosby ain't for the shenanigans. He ain't he's probably one of the coolest stern guys I know. He ain't gonna, he's not, he's not down for the shenanigans. It ain't gonna go by. And if it does happen, there will be swift repercussions for any bad actor.

SPEAKER_02 44:03

Um I hope they hear that out here.

SPEAKER_00 44:06

Yeah, I mean, look, that's it the only people who wouldn't notice it would be people from out of town because anybody who has protested or rallied at the statehouse, whether it's right leaning or left leaning, will know Crosby because you have to go, he's out there. He's he's that's what I was wondering.

SPEAKER_02 44:20

That's what I'm wondering. Like, have you seen, has that, have you seen a lot of just folk from out of town?

SPEAKER_00 44:25

Well, the Proud Boys that came into town that was starting to issue, some of them were from Charleston. Um previously some of the people who were kind of rowdy have been from out of town. But like I said, they're ready. You know, they're actually having a show of force right now. Columbia Police Department is having a show of force down at Bull Street to show, like, hey, look, if you want it, we got it. So if you want it, we got it. Yes. I mean, we got, I mean, a lot of people don't realize, but every capital, um, because of the military surplus that we have, there's a program that they have basically infused every capital before any of this went down with access to military grade weapons. Now, I hate that because we talk about the organization of the police department. But like the senses like this, when people are talking about overthrowing the whole government, I'm like, okay. If that clap, make them clap, baby. You know, come on, exactly. You know, if look, we got a mind tank. If we if we need to bring out the mind tank because the white supremacists are trying to overthrow the government, then I mean, let it roll.

SPEAKER_02 45:33

That's what you gotta do, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 45:36

And so we have we we have we have the power. I I saw a glimpse of it. I mean, you can actually look up on the internet, there's a whole thing to show you. What cities got what? I mean, we got tanks. We got helicopters, we've got all different types of rifles and optics and all types of everything here in Columbia. You know, so I I hope that these people come in with some sense because they can't bring in the firefight. It ain't gonna happen. They don't have the numbers, they don't have the weaponry, and I don't think that anybody in Columbia will be stupid, but if they do get stupid, you know, being someone who respects law enforcement but still has my issues with them, if they want a problem, they're gonna give them a problem. So that's just, you know, I hope that people come in out of town and come in with some sense, not thinking that, you know, oh, Columbia's small, so they ain't gonna catch the smoke, because they're gonna catch the smoke.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

Come on, that's a warning shot for everybody right there who's looking in to come in and cause some problems.

SPEAKER_00 46:36

Right, right. I mean, they uh when Columbia Police Department says, look, we're gonna have a show of force, bro, you can't.

SPEAKER_02 46:42

You should have known. Exactly. They should have known.

SPEAKER_00 46:45

Let it go, dog.

SPEAKER_02 46:46

Let it go. So what are they? So what's the show of force today? Where so it's on Bull Street from what time to what time?

SPEAKER_00 46:53

So it started at 11:30. Um, you know, I got my colleagues out there, so if Need Push comes to show up, I'll just ask them, you know, to use their photos on my platforms if needed to. But yeah, it's a show of force. And I imagine that they probably got the APV out. I imagine that they probably got the uh mine tank out. Um we got some small, you know, small artillery ballistic type vehicles in the city. Um we kind of, like I said, we kind of saw a glimpse of on May 30th when the riot happened. Um if you go through some of my photos, you'll see some of those vehicles and see some of the tests and and and and weapons that they had, just to kind of a glimpse of what Columbia Police Department of Richmond County has to offer.

SPEAKER_01 47:33

It's crazy.

SPEAKER_00 47:43

Even here in Columbia, um, a lot of respect for those individuals and you know, my friends of law enforcement. But just like everywhere else, there's some work that can be done. There's some things that can be improved. Um community outreach that can be done and community connectivity to really kind of facilitate a healthier relationship between law enforcement and the civilians. So, you know, but like I said, if they want the problems, Richland County, Columbia, they got they they got an answer to it. They got something for it.

SPEAKER_02 48:09

And I think after this, after we get through this period, and once we get through inauguration day and we can move on with with governing as normal, quote unquote as normal, I think they'll be able to work on those things because I think the law enforcement especially, they're gonna start realizing that the people that they were fighting for fighting against on certain issues, especially certain social issues, yeah, are nothing when it comes to people who are looking to try to overthrow power.

SPEAKER_01 48:35

Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 48:36

They're gonna be more willing to sit down and talk with people that have issues with police brutality or the way in which force is used on the citizenry and et cetera. Because they're gonna be like, yo, we got people who got militia groups who are just trying to come in and just shoot it straight up. They don't even want to sit down and talk.

SPEAKER_00 48:51

Right. Well, here's the thing this is like the capital, the capital happening. I've got mixed emotions because it's a bad thing, but with all bad things, there's something something good. Something good, right? Right. And so now actually hearing prominent lawmakers and now the next president of the United States coming out and saying, hold on. Now, if that was a bunch of black people on Texas, it would have been a lot of blood on them stairs, man. Like, and like, you know, as minorities, we all was thinking that, like, how in the world was there only one person to get capped in that whole thing?

SPEAKER_02 49:25

Come on, how do you how do you get in with no arms and no legs?

SPEAKER_00 49:28

Right, right. And an officer guy? Like, they wouldn't need some officers, dog? Yes. Could you imagine us with all our homies, a couple thousand of our homies going down there trying to cause the ruckus?

SPEAKER_02 49:41

Man, they would have cleared them out, man. They would have dropped them all.

SPEAKER_00 49:45

They would have rolled the tanks over us, dog. They wouldn't even shot the tanks, they would just really use any artillery. Right, heavy artillery, man. Like, and so that's the reality. And so hearing prominent politicians and prominent community leaders, you know, on the right and the left saying, hey, look, man, like, how did that happen? Something right here. That to me, that that brings me hope that the conversation about policing minorities is really, really about to come into a real fruition and we're about to really start talking about what imaging, what police imaging is gonna look like and what policing is gonna look like in these minority communities. Because if a if a if a Confederate flag can get in our nation's capital and raid around and not catch a hot one to the chest, yeah, we got a problem.

SPEAKER_01 50:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 50:36

Because ain't no Black Lives Matter flag was gonna be up in that building. No ground and not catch a hot one.

SPEAKER_02 50:42

Not at all. Man, man, I'm trying to tell you, man. I appreciate you sitting down with us and having a conversation with us today, especially on these topics and your career in photojournalism. Because I know you could be out there shooting right now. And man, I'm trying to tell you, but we I'm just happy we got to talk to you about these things because these are things that are on our minds. We know these are current events, um, and these are some topics that a lot of people have questions about, especially just understanding how these things are covered and how the information gets to them from the actual source. Because most people aren't gonna be out at the protests, most people are not gonna be in these places to see these things live action. And we need some reputable sources and people that we can trust to bring us proper information and things that have been uh screened before we get them so that we aren't out here getting messed. Because everybody can't, we don't want to be running around here looking like looking like the Proud Boys or having misinformation that drives our energies into negative spots. And so, man, I commend you on your work, on what you do out here, putting your life online, actually putting yourself into dangerous situations so that we don't have to. It's almost like Jay-Z said, I sold drugs so you don't have to.

SPEAKER_00 51:47

Like literally, like, images so you don't have to. Exactly.

SPEAKER_02 51:53

Yeah, seriously.

SPEAKER_00 51:54

You know, one thing I like to, you know, to all the people listening, I want you to, this is what my task is for you. I want you to find more news sources. I want you to start really digging in and fact-checking and really trying to explore what the type of news is that you're getting and making sure that it doesn't have a bias and it doesn't change the way that you process things in reality. Um, a lot of us, especially with the pandemic, have been spending a lot of time in our own bubbles. You know, we're we're not outside meeting people like we normally would. I would like to really challenge you all to find local photojournalists, no matter where you're at. Every city has them. The people that are working the hardest are the people that are not making the big bucks. I can tell you that 100% because I'm one of them. The people who are out here busting our tails to really give you the story as it is are the ones that are, we are, we are catching the flag. We are the ones under fire, we are the ones that are stressed out, we're the ones that have to protect ourselves and organize amongst ourselves because we don't have a film crew and a safety crew out watching our back. We have to watch our backs and put and and and really like, I don't know, we we we we are strong. You're solo, you're solo out there, so yeah. Me and my colleagues had a meeting yesterday about safety protocols. I mean, we got you know all types of tourniquets, bandages. We because we have to, we're our own first aid, we're our own bodyguards, we're our own cameras, we're our own eyes. We just we have to be hyper-vigilant. So find you some local photojournalists who are out there busting their tails to give you news in the accurate way. We don't have any advertisers that we have to appease to, we don't have any overhead people that we have to appease to, we don't have any lobbyists that we have to bend things this way to appease to. Find you quality journalists, find you quality photojournalists. If you have a local paper, start supporting your local paper because that's where reality is, and that's where a lot of the non-biased news comes from.

SPEAKER_02 54:11

Man, you put you summed that up perfectly. You sum that up perfectly. And speaking of which, could you give our audience um some of your information, some ways in which they could support you, find your works, and et cetera? And I know we will post that stuff up on our Instagram and our page.

SPEAKER_00 54:25

So for current events, a lot of times since Instagram is an easy way to disseminate news, I post a lot of my stuff on Instagram first, um, which is Instagram.com slash crushrush s c. C-R-U-S-H-R-U-S-H-S-C, and that is me. My website is shuttercrush.com. I also have a photo blog that I'm going to be using more in 2021, um, and that's Crush in the City. So that's C-R-U-S-H-I-N-T-H-E-C-I-T-Y, Crush in the City. So those are ways that you can find me. Of course, I'm always on social media. I have a name that's easy to find. If you Google Crush Rush, if you see anybody else that's got the name, they're a fraud.

SPEAKER_01 55:09

So it ain't no other one.

SPEAKER_00 55:12

It ain't no other one. Um, so so yeah, that's the easy way to find me. Like I said, just look for quality news sources. If you see my name attached to it, it ain't gonna be no BS unless I'm crap posting on Facebook just to be funny. So I will cut up on social media every once in a while.

SPEAKER_02 55:30

Ain't no problem with that, man. But again, like I said, man, we appreciate you. We appreciate your time, your energy, your work. Um, we want you to be safe out there this week, man. But go get that work in, man, because like you said, we'll be sitting, Matt, ready to ready to read, read on it. Um, get those images in so we can know what's going on here, especially um locally but around the world, man. Again, much appreciated. I got you. Back, call me the chiropractor. Hey, that's it for today's episode of the Hilltop Glove Podcast. Make sure to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms. Also, follow us on Instagram and Facebook at Hilltop Glove.