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I learned to surrender to life: Bashir.

Bashir, Reported by Maceo, Philadelphia, 3 min

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Answers What would you say to someone under ten?, see how other cities answered

To quote this piece: Bashir, “I learned to surrender to life: Bashir,” We Them Media, https://wethem.xyz/watch/i-learned-to-surrender-to-life-bashir-germantown-philadelphia. Each transcript line links to its second.

Germantown, Philadelphia. Maceo introduces himself and the platform and asks the usual questions; the answers are not usual. Where is he from? “Germantown, man, but I moved in and out,” with time in New York, where his twin flame is, and two kids at home.

How is he living? “I live good, man. I learned to surrender to life, man. I learned to surrender to all the aspects of life. And now I can get what I want.” What he thinks stops most people is upstream of circumstance: “Everybody’s limited from life. from how they think.” His own method: “As long as I think outside the box, man, I allow the universe to fill in the blanks.”

On the city he does not soften it. “I think Philadelphia is a very historic city,” and “it’s a lot of pain here. It’s a lot of pain. It’s a lot of struggle.” What he does about it is the image the piece is named for: “I’m the candle, I’m the light, so I’m the big candle, and I’m out here trying to light other candles, man,” to help people “understand that they can be much more than they are.”

His message to anyone under ten in Philadelphia is the longest answer he gives: “Dream big. There’s nothing beneath you,” and then, three times over, the thing not to let decide it for you: “Don’t let your environment create who y’all want to be. Don’t let y’all families, don’t let what y’all see on TV, don’t let nothing y’all see outside of y’all self determine who y’all want to be.” The channel titles him Bashir The Businessman. Names are as the channel titled the pieces when they were published; where the transcript heard something different, this page says so rather than choosing. The transcript below is from the original audio.

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Who speaks, by their own introduction on the tape: Maceo at 0:02. Transcribed from the original audio and corrected for names. Search every transcript

These are the speaker’s own words. We have not checked their claims.

0:00MaceoWhat’s up, man? Uh, I’m out here. My name is Maceo and I’m with We Them Media. And I’m out here, I’m asking people. What’s your name?

0:07BBashir.

0:08MaceoHow old are you?

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0:09B44.

0:11MaceoOkay, and where are you from?

0:11BPhilly.

0:13MaceoOkay, what part of Philly?

0:14BUh, right here, man. Uh, Germantown, man, but I moved in and out.

0:18MaceoOkay, cool, cool.

0:19BI’ve been around New York, like a lot of places in the city, man.

0:23MaceoWhere in New York?

0:24BUh, well, where my twin flame is at, you know, if y’all know about twin flames.

0:29MaceoOh, shout out to her.

0:30BShout out to her, man. on my neck, man.

0:33MaceoRent.

0:34BOkay. Yeah, man. 2 kids. Yep. 7 and Serenity. Shout out, most def. Give it up. Gang gang. What’s up?

0:43MaceoSo how you living?

0:45BI live good, man. I live good, man. I learned to surrender to life, man. I learned to surrender to all the aspects of life, and, and now I can get what I want. Nothing, nothing stopped me from being where I want to be. Everybody limited from life from how they think, you know what I mean? I think outside the box. As long as I think outside the box, man, I allow the universe to fill in the blanks. You know what I’m saying?

1:10MaceoMm-hmm. And what do you think about Philadelphia?

1:14BI think Philadelphia is a very historic city. I think it’s a very, um, um, I think it’s a lot of pain here. It’s a lot of pain. It’s a lot of struggle. But a lot of my people, man, just like I’m the candle, I’m the light. So I’m the big candle. And I’m out here trying to light other candles, man. So, and illuminate that light with inside my folks, man, to help them to understand that they can be much more than they are. You know what I’m saying? That’s beautiful. No doubt. No doubt, bro.

1:53MaceoIf you could ask people across the city one question, what would you ask them?

1:59BIf I could ask them one question, what would I ask them? Who do you want to be? Because you the writer of your own story. So if you believe that you the writer on your own story, then who do you want to be? Then it’s a question of what do you want to create? Because you can be who you want to be.

2:22MaceoAnd do you have a message for the, for the, for the people under the age of 10 years old here in Philadelphia?

2:29BUnder the age of 10? Wow. Dream big. There’s nothing beneath you. Y’all can do whatever y’all choose to be. Don’t let nothing stop you. Imagination is y’all oyster, you know what I’m saying? Don’t let your environment create who y’all want to be. Don’t let y’all families, don’t let, don’t let what y’all see on TV, don’t let nothing y’all see outside of yourself determine who y’all want to be. Because y’all are so much more.

3:02MaceoI appreciate it, man.

3:07BNo problem, man. No problem. I appreciate you.

That was the whole tape.

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