FCB Faith is your rhythm and prey station. I listen, my mom listens, pretty much the whole family. I cannot, I cannot. I canna. Said, don't, don't. And no joke. Listen to FCB Faith on iHeartRadio, Odyssey at Faith dot com, or tell your smart speaker to play FCB Faith on iHeartRadio. This is the FCB Podcast Network. Great when they drunk Ja boot change at top. We don't listen to y'all. We don't listen to y'all. This the hold make them scream out now like a sound because. The ruck is in the crowd. Tune in the charge for the out Tune in the for the out. Welcome to a special edition of the Outlaws. This is Darvey Oda, Kingpenmorrow. Don't forget too. Like us on Facebook at Facebook dot com, slash the Outlaws Radio, follow us on Twitter or x and Instagram at the Outlaws Radio. We have a very special interview with Michael Harris a k A. Harryo, who is one of the founders of death Row Records, the legendary death Row Records. We're gonna talk about a lot of things. We're gonna talk about his initiatives in the community to help improve the community. We're gonna talk about his endorsement of former President Trump. We're gonna dig into that as well, and just some of the things that he's trying to do, some of the things that Harry OH is trying to do to help improve the community. We're going to talk about his Opportunity Plan or the Old Plan. We're going to talk about his Community First initiative and all of that good stuff. So we're gonna jump into that interview right now. All right, we have a very special guest on the show today. He is a founder of one of my all time, all time favorite record labels, Death Row Records. Michael Harris, also known as HARRYO. Welcome, How are you doing? Are great? Man, I'm gonna be here. Thank you. How you doing this one? I'm good, I'm good, good. Thank you for taking the time. I really appreciate it. Yes, sir, Yeah, looking forward to speaking. Yes, sir, So talk a little bit about the old planned, the Opportunity Plan. Let's start there first, talk a little bit about that. Well, before we go to the Old Plan, let's just talk about Community First and what that organization entails. Community First was an organization that we created five and one see for to highlight the voice of the community Blacks in particular, but the. Community as a whole in terms. Of creating policies that every day Americas should care about. No, we don't speak for the entire community, but we know there's certain things that are essential. One is having access to capital to help grow these and develop these communities into what they should be opposed to what they have continued to be. Also, we have what we call a redemption agenda, which speaks to the incarcerated who while they incarcerated should be equipped with a skill setting too so that when they come home they're able to enter the job market and then that should be second chance hiring opportunities for them when they come on that side of the wall as well. And so we try to highlight different programs and initiatives that we could go after and get people to support us on. In terms of education, one of the things that we wanted to talk about with school choice and how important that is that children have access to better schools, either if those schools are in their community or outside of their community. Children should not get substandard education. And so we're a big component of school choice and also in terms of job opportunities, we want PELL grants to include trades that people can jump into, because everybody don't want to go to college, but they want to get into meaning for employment, and so we just have a litany of things that speak to what the community can get into right away and change their lives. So talk a little bit about what inspired that. What gave you the idea to create your organization and the plan. What did you see where you felt like, Okay, this is a need. What inspired you to create this? Well, it's been a long journey. While I was away, that was away for like thirty three years, but doing some parts of that conservation, I used to think about different ways to get involved in philompathy and how you can create different organizations that can speak. To the needs of the community. So this kind of evolved from that, just thinking about the programs that I was involved with while I was away and some of the programs that helped change my life and other people's lives that I helped create as well, And I was thinking like, why, you know, that's important for us to do here, but why is this a necessity? Like where is the prevention here? Like how can we do things in the community that prevent one people from even going to prison for different reasons. But more importantly, how can we create an economic system that those communities can thrive from? And so it's always been in my mind trying to figure out what's the way they gay society to do that. And then when I came home. I just watched a lot of these communities that had deteriorated and continue to deteriorate because it doesn't have economic infrastructure. And so I just thought this particular election, But I'm not just limited to this election. I know it's important when you start talking about policies that you deal with all government up and down the ballot, But I just thought this particular election spoke to the black voice, and that the black voice was essential to whoever wins the election, and that if that is the case, then how do you utilize that power to make a deal with the incoming president to. Speak to your community needs. And so there goes the title community first. So if we start off with the community first being a subject matter, being a focus point, and we take it all the way up to the election, that windows whoever wins becomes the president, we don't put it on your mind, and so we put out a challenge to both candidates, and President Trump tapped back in and said, if he's elected president, that he would work with us community first with the old plan to make sure these initiatives are are pushed through so that the community can benefit from that presidency. See, that's what's important. We have to start supporting people that support us. And so that's why I wanted to put it out there. Okay, this is what we want to be supported on. Who's going to acknowledge us. If you can't acknowledge us when you need us, then of course we know how that's going to turn out when you don't need us. So that's how we got there. And I was going, Uh, that was the next place I was going to. I saw that you made an endorsement. Talk a little bit about that and again talk about you know what brought you to that point, and uh, talk a little bit more about his response to your plan and your initiative. Well, like I said, it was, uh, you know, it was a well thought out plan, I said. I with some experts and we talked about things that that were doable, that was realistic, that things that shouldn't be you know, it shouldn't be a fore reach, you know, like, how can we improve on the opportunity zones and and make that uh, that opportunity that President Trump actually bipartisany by partisan matter voted into law where the wealthy, some of the wealthies of our community business sectors could invest in over look communities and of course, uh receive a tax benefit for it for it, but at the same time, we get to bring these these these these funds into our communities to build out our community, to develop our community, to build models, to build shopping centers, to build businesses that we can employ people. So I just think that that needed to be flushed I needed that needed to be flushed out. And so I worked with Shay Hawkins, who was one of the architects of this plan, to be able to see how we could, if if we get some support from the incoming president, how we could broaden that opportunity zone so that people in the community can truly benefit from that opportunity. And so as we went down the list of things that, uh, you know, for self sufficiency, that we could bring into the community and change the traject to our community, we started to see things that President Trump had already done in his previous. Administration, which was. One of the things he did was he signed in the law permanent permanent funding for HBCUs. He also, like I said, implemented the Opportunity Zone, but he also brought in he signed law, pushed in law for first the First Step Act. So I think it's. Important when you start thinking about who's going to be the person that you choose, what's the track record, like what have you done in the past that points to what you could possibly do in the future. And I just think that it was clear that he had done some things that had a tremendous effect on our community. Thousands of people were released from the First Step Act back into you become positive and productive citizens. Uh. The HBCU, I know it has been enhanced since he did the permanent funding for it, but that was essential for education for people to. Look like us. And so it was those kind of things that was like part of the due diligence, you know, like there is some history here, so what it was time for me to make that choice after he tapped in. It was easy because he basically had already done some things that affected our community, and it also did funding for a sickle cell anemia to russ a cure, and I just thought that that was unique and different, but it was specifically directed to our community. So when. I put out the challenge to both candidates, and he tapped back in and and in a sense, he says, look, I want to build on what I did before, and I want to work with community first to help build out the old plan. That's when we decided that we would support him as president of the United States. And uh, and we never heard from the other side even to today, because we was a you know, bipartisan organization, and so our theme is we support. Who support us? Wow, that was that was actually gonna be the next question, I asked, So there was because because I remember seeing that you all had put it out to both candidates. Yes, and I saw President Trump's former President Trump's response, but so you had you guys have heard nothing, no response from the Airs campaign. Now spends crickets, not one thing, you know, And we put it out, we put it directly to both campaigns. So and we've been out here talking about it. We had been out there talking about it, promoting it, letting it know. It was it was it. Was, it was what our agenda was about and we still haven't heard anything. And so uh, once President Trump said yeah, look, I'm committed to working with you guys. To me, that was a form of support that and acknowledgment, and so we we we endorsed President Trump the President. After that, the conclusion of our interview with Harry O coming up next here on the elows. Welcome back, Welcome back. Make sure that you subscribe to the show on Apple, podcast, Spotify, iHeart, or wherever you get your podcasts. And if you listen to this show on Apple, please make sure you leave us a five star review and a comment is very important for the algorithm and for those of you that have already done so, thank you oh so very much. And now to the conclusion of our interview with Here we Go, We're talking with Michael Harris aka here we Go. So, since you've put this plan out you just mentioned, walked us through everything with you, endorsement the former president and everything else like that, have you gotten any other support from any other members of the community, celebrities you come from, the people in the hip hop world obviously know you. Have you gotten any other support for your initiative? And what you're trying to do. Yeah, look look this. You know, look, everybody notices the slippery slope, but in terms of people who really know which ways that errors this point. I have received your support from the hip hop community as well as business, from the business sector who connects with men, and I believe it's something they can get behind. And so I just think that it's been an opportunity because we started our campaign out with you know, we're all out here to educate ourselves about both candidates or both parties, and one of the things we want to lock into we said, look, let's just put policy of a party, and so let's go through both parties and see who says something and does something or either. Sometimes in President Trump's case, there's some things he didn't actually run over, but he actually came through for. So these are of this kind. Of due diligence we've been involved in, Like this is serious business. You know, when you start talking about putting your vote out for somebody. To see if within the four year period of time they're going to move the needle for your community, it's a long time to wait and to be stuck in to so you have to really make sure that you're making the right decisions. So we haven't been telling people who to vote for. We just said do your own research. And I just think that on both party sides, there's some things that have happened to benefit the community, but it just seems like this particular candidate had been more for our community in his period then the last four years had done for our community. And so I just think that it's important that we that we get there first. First, Let's get the wisdom, Let's get to knowledge, let's see, let's go through the information, and then make our decision based on wisdom opposed to getting emotional about you know, race and sexism and things that has been playing in our country for so many years. And like I said that, you know, I spoke at the Madison Square Garden that that's an issue that we should all agree that we still have a problem with, and that's something that we should all work on. That we have a lot that we that we have a lot of work to do when it comes to that. But I think what brings this country together is when you focus on the similarities that we have. That's what unites us. And so these are the kind of things I've been trying to focus in on what do we what are what are our similar common goals and how can we reach them together instead of getting focused on things that can separate us. Mm hmm, yeah, that makes sense. So after the election, regardless of the outcome, what's next for Community First? What's what's next on the agenda? What what are your plans moving forward? Well, look, we would love to have somebody in the office that supports our plan. But but what regardless of how it turns out, Community First is still going to be committed to going into the communities, working with different organizations to try to keep pushing our a gender. It's not a one shot Harry. For us, this is a continuum and we believe that you have to work up and down about it to make that happen. So Community First to probably take a break like everybody else for no Christmas Holidays, but you know, we're gonna be right back to work at the top of the year because there's a lot of serious work that has to be done and I just don't want to be a part of you know, we tried, it didn't work, and then we stopped. It's like it's going to take a lot of heavy lifting to fix the problems that plague our communities and the way people perceive us and think about us instead of thinking about how we can work together to uplift all communities. Absolutely, we're talking with Michael Harris Akareo and we have a few men this left, but one thing I definitely wanted to ask you again. You have an incredible story, incredible journey along history, and as I mentioned at the beginning, part of that history also involves being one of the founders of death Row Records, which has become a legendary historic brand. It's been relaunched, still in existence today. Snoop Dogg is now running it and having success with it as well. Talk about what it's what it's like to know that you were a part of something so legendary like that, that you were that you actually were one of the founders of it. Talk a little bit about what that's like. Well, you know, you know, people from different lenses, they see Death Row Records different ways at different times. But like you say, I was there at the conception of it, and I knew what the original purpose of it was for. And I just think that at that time, especially when it comes to music, we just was in We were locked into such small boxes in terms of being owners, managing our own record label, and then to be able to create a platform that could tell stories. About the community. Rat was just a whole unique form of entertainment that actually was able to really do illustrative stories. And so it was an. Opportunity to talk about our community in a way that some media would never cover us. And at the same time, it was fun, it was party, it was you know, it was just things that was happening in the community, and also cautionary tales could be told through this form of music. So in the beginning, you know, it just it was just about a collective group of people coming together with their talents and skill sets and building our own platform, and it just turned into it just blew up, and uh it just was the right time, right place, Uh, you know, at different people that had different inputs to make it feel a certain kind of way, you know, based on our own varying experiences. And then Minds was kind of unique because I was actually incarcerated with I helped create this company, and so I had a different less that I was looking through from behind the walls, you know, and how important it was to have a platform that could speak about our truths. And some some of it worked out, you know, like like planning it, and some of it kind of win left. But death Ro just kept going, you know, it just it was one of them phenomenons that you. Know, out of ran the people from all walks of lives who. Said, you know, you know, I mean, I'm going to bed ass mayon ass, you know, people from different races, and they just sayd that that death ro was a soundtrack of their college days or you know, their life. And so when I hear that, you know, it's still throws me back a little bit, like because I just thought we were just really talking to our community. And then we started to see that so many other communities locked into that that time, and they enjoyed what we were doing. Absolutely. And uh, I know I've seen Snoop shout you out a couple of times. You guys still have a relationship, you and Snoop. Yeah, we're business partners. Oh wow, wow, that's fantastic. Okay, I'm part of I'm the CEO of death Row. Oh wow, the CEO and uh and we also just created death Ro pictures and actually we have a documentary coming out soon. That was shot by One on one Studios and directed by Antoine food Car. So it's gonna it's gonna probably be the most comprehensive story ever told on death Row. That's fantastic. I'm definitely as a as a death Row fan since I was young. I'm definitely looking forward to that. So let everybody know if they want to get more information about Community First and O plan, where they can go, website, social media, all that good stuff, how they can follow you and keep up with with all the other stuff that you got working well. They can go to Community First Action dot org or at Community First Action or the official Harry out is my ig. So that's how you can follow us. And we always out there and we love to hear from you, and you know, and we want to work with the community, not just from me being out there being a social activist, but you know, in the entertainment world, how we can help tell these stories that may not have an opportunity to be told. So and we're still trying to figure this me the thing. You know, it's a new platform, it's a new system, but we just think that people should be paid for their creativity and we want to work with different artists and companies to make sure that people are they benefit from the talent. Absolutely, thank you so much for coming on the show and spending time with us. We really appreciate it. Thank you for having me, sir, and there's been a pleasure talking with you and looking forward to see more interviews from you. Yes sir, Yes, sir, thank you. One more time. I want to send a special shout out to Michael Harry O Harris for coming on the show. We really appreciate it. We are out of here. We'll see you next time. This has been a presentation of the FCB podcast Network, where Real Talk lifts visitors online at fcbpodcasts dot com. M
