Beyond Sight: Cazerny Bussey on Vision, Advocacy, and Empowering the Blind Community

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Living the Dream podcast with Curveball. If you believe, you can achieve.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Welcome to the Live in the Dream with Curveball Podcast. A show where I interview guests that teach, motivated, and inspired. Today I am joined by a producer, singer, songwriter, artist, author, author, and advocate, and CEO of Even Though I'm Blind, Kasani Bussi. Kasani is a Brooklyn born. He founded his organization, nonprofit organization, to promote greater accessibility, opportunity, and platform for the blind and visually impaired. Kasani lost his sight after an unsuccessful eye surgery at age 15, but he is living proof that losing your sight does not mean losing your vision. So we're going to be talking to Kasani about how his focus on financial literacy, his focus on family, and he wants to leave a positive legacy behind and do everything that he can to positively impact blind and visually impaired people's life. And we're also going to talk about his motto, Kasani Love Shit. So Kasani, welcome to the show. Absolutely, man. Me and Kasani and BMJ together. So uh why don't you start off by telling everybody about yourself?

SPEAKER_02 1:52

Yeah, no doubt, man. Um, well, you know, just a uh Brooklyn born, like you said, raised, growing up in a very loving family. Um, you know, been around music since forever. My father, he was actually a member of the old school rap group, Stessasonic. So, you know, he definitely recognized that I had a gift for music at a young age, and he started like molding me into it. And um, he would have me singing when I just wanted to play Nintendo, honestly. I just wanted to play the game, but he he was like, Nah, come out here and practice that song. And all my aunts and uncles would come to the house, and he'd call me out to sing in front of him. And um, you know, looking back now, you know, I really thank him for it. But at that time, I was just like, man, I just want to be a kid, you know. Uh very active in Brooklyn, grew up in a time when uh we would go outside and play football in the streets. And um I tell people like we used to throw uh basketballs and hoops, and uh when we have hoops, we use like garbage cans to throw them in. So we was like, you know, really, you know, young, growing up in the community, very active. It wasn't like too much internet um in them days when I was coming up, and I ain't that old, so you know how fast internet just came and swept everything. But um, by the age of 12 years old, I actually was able to go in and record a song I worked, I wrote called Work Your Body. Um, in a professional setup, it kind of altered and changed my life a little bit because I I seen how I was able to write a song, take it in the booth, and the magic of like hearing it rough and getting it mixed kind of like altered how I felt about music. I was like, yo, this is felt like a place I wanted to be. But even then, I was still more on the level of like, ah, you know, rather play the game, you know, go outside with my friends. It was still like a side thing, but it did open up a realm in my life where I felt like yo, music could probably be a thing that I pursue. Grew up with my cousins. I say all that to say, man. Very active, competitive in sports, auditioned to get in junior high school. I mean, auditioning junior high school to get in Frankenstein Nights to the School of Performance Arts. And from there, it was like a dream come true. I made it in. Um, I did a vocal test to get in. The school was very new at the time, so they wasn't accepting a lot of people. It was founded by Tony Bennett, so it was a newer school in New York at the time. I think it had only been open two or three years prior to me getting in there. I made it in freshman year. Everything fire, everything lit. You know, you meet your friends, you know. By sophomore year, my retinas detach. Oh, I found out they was detached. I go to the INA Infirmary out in New York City. Um, they say they gotta go in and, you know, reattach the retinas. I do one surgery, they do it. I go home, come back a couple of weeks later, my sight came back slowly because when they first did the surgery, my sight was gone. And they said, go home, it just started fading back in, and it did. So, okay. Um, I went back, they did the checkup, did another surgery. They said it was a lot of scar tissue and stuff like that, so they had to go in again for another surgery. Um going for the surgery, and then they say, well, go back, come back in another three weeks, come back in three weeks. Long story short, thought my sight was coming back, goes in a room with Dr. Rosen, because that was his name, and he says, Oh, well, your sight not coming back, your optic nerves is dead, you're blind. And I'm like, What? I'm blind. It went dark at that time. Everything went totally dark. And I guess, you know, I was thinking that it was coming back like it did the first time because I knew my environment, but you know, they said it was gone, so I had to make a choice at that time. I had to choose to uh, you know, I either live through my my vision or you know, tap into total darkness. And I could say, um I definitely chose a vision at that time. Looking back, I didn't know I had to make the choice, but I'm assuming I did now because I'm here today, moving with purpose and turning, you know, what could be a bad thing or limits to other gave me a purpose to, you know, stand up and do the advocacy work that I'm doing. So, you know, I feel like you know everything happened for a reason.

SPEAKER_01 7:27

Yeah, but speaking of that, you know, talk about how that uh life-changing vision loss, you know, changed your life and and your mindset and your purpose.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

Yes, absolutely. Well, like I said, I was very sportsy in the sports. Um I ain't gonna lie, I was still bouncing balls, trying to, you know, hold on to that for as long as I can. But you know, you come to reality, you know, it's a lot of things that you're not able to do. And that's why I emphasize, you know, coming up. I was very active in a lot of different, you know, physical, um, competitive sports. And, you know, um, even when I even when I lost my sight, I still chose to like run and um, you know, run track with sighted guys and stuff like that because, you know, it was just in me. But I did have to change, you know, my outlook on a lot of different things, and I had to kind of adjust and adapt. And I I would say definitely tap into music a lot more. You know, um, it was like this thing that I used to like enjoy doing to it turning into like being like a therapy to me, you know, an outlet for me to really express and to create on a you know creative level. So I I I definitely woke up in my gif a lot more, I would say. Because prior to that, like I said, it was just something that I I enjoy doing. Now it's something that I do to express and to release, you know, so it did become more of like a therapy to me. Now, at the age of 15, when I when I went back to high school, you know, um my principal, she had offered to send me to a school for the blind because they didn't have any blind students in the school. So they like, you know, they wasn't really equipped to, you know, put me through. But I I I declined. And I told them that I wanted to stay in the school. I was, you know, really used to my friends. And you know, I I I even had a girlfriend at the time. I'm like, no, I'm staying in. And I told my father, and yeah, they they said, okay. So they brought me in a level of mobility training to the school. Um, they brought teachers in that taught me like a level of breath. Of course, it was kind of challenging because, you know, I would have to get taken out of like a lot of my classes and stuff like that. So it was kind of a, you know, a different kind of experience than I was used to. But, you know, just kind of adjusted. And I can honestly say at the time I was like really into school, because school to me was more so like exciting because it was a music school. But at this time, I'm just now like, I just need to get out at this point. Like, I wasn't really too excited about the music aspect of it and the the vocal because it was a performance art school and it had artists, you know, uh musicians, and it had dancers and actors. And I was just like, I just need to keep up with my class. I'm not trying to be left behind, you know. And, you know, it turned into one of those situations. And, you know, long story short, by the uh end of my senior year, um, yeah, I graduated with my class and I was on top of my class. I had an advanced regions diploma. And um, the reason why I tell that story is because when I was leaving out of the school for my senior year, it was a young lady by the name of Valeria. And she's she was totally blind at the time, and she was now a freshman in the school. And um she came in, and this, you know, the school accepted her blind. And I thought that was really cool that, you know, the school was now willing to actually, you know, um help a blind, you know, person through, you know, the academic layer. And she was really impressive to me too, because it seemed like she was a lot more advanced in, you know, blindness training and techniques than I was. So I was really amazed by her. But, you know, he just showed me, you know, now that I look back that on me, you know, standing up and making it through, kind of sort of paved, you know, the way for a lot, you know, of people that probably had the ability to come in, you know, after me. You know, no telling how many other blind students Frank Janacha had, but you know, when Valeria got through, she probably paved the way for another one after her. And it just came to show that there's really no limits to what we could do with a little accommodation and hard work and focus and you know, us standing up and taking that first step and standing up for what we what we want and what we believe in could definitely open doors for not just us, but but others, you know, coming after us.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Was there any time during this uh difficult process of losing your sight that you felt like felt like you weren't gonna be able to accomplish uh the things that you wanted to accomplish and live your dream?

SPEAKER_02 14:21

Man, you know what? I'm gonna tell you the truth. And and you know what, I don't think I was ever asked that question that way. But it was times when I felt like there were certain dreams I had to let go. Because like I said, I was into sports, you know, like I was into basketball, you know, and I had to let it go, you know. But when I, you know, it kind of altered. It kind of opened up and showed me my true uh desire and my true passion, and it it led me more into uh the art of you know music and you know creativity. And it's like, yo, you had you had you had a dream on one side and you just kind of had to shift it. I can't say that it stopped and made me feel like I couldn't, because I was always trained up from young to believe that I can and I I will achieve. Now, has it been times when I felt like things was hard and you know, things was impossible at the time? I definitely went through that, you know, situation when I would get on certain stages to perform, and you know, I didn't have the ability to uh, you know, always stay straight on stage and you know, you know, just have these different experiences because, you know, when I lost my sight, man, I was like in a mix of just music at the time. Like I released my um first single um at the age of like 16. It was called Definitely. And I released it through uh Jacob period, through uh Unique Distributors, you know, so it was a pretty big uh release. They actually released it in vinyl at the time. You know, CDs was out at that time, but they released my record in vinyl. I was able to go like down the Beach Street and you know, see my record in the store. They actually released the same day as uh La Toya Lucky single. I don't know what album or single she was releasing at the time, but I do remember, you know, um signing some of my records, and she was just like a couple of feet away from me on the other side, you know, signing her record. So, you know, for me it was like a super dope, dope experience to be able to be in that position to have a record released on that level. And, you know, it was just kind of like, all right, well, your life not over. You know, you had to shift some things and you know, you had to, but I knew that I had to stay, you know, I I knew I had to be who I was. I had to stay who I was. I couldn't let myself and who I was was just a uh like my my dad and mom always told me, man, you was greatness, you know, you was a cheat, you was an achiever, no, you you had what it took to be great, and you know, I said, okay, well, whether I'm gonna do that in music, whether I'm gonna do that in my authorship, and whatever I had to do it in the life, I was gonna, you know, stand on that. But it was definitely hard through the you know, transitioning, you know.

SPEAKER_01 17:38

Well, what do you feel like you can express through music that you can't express through ordinary conversation?

SPEAKER_02 17:44

Oh man, yeah, that's my escape, man. Music has took me to places where um I've seen things before, you know, they manifested. So music was my outlet to really express what them things could be and what they would have been at the time. Um I've wrote records about, you know, ladies that I really uh that I that I that I that I desired. You know, I I told my preference in certain records. Um I've wrote records about, you know, me growing up in, you know, East New York, Brooklyn, when, you know, it was a time when I was in a hood and you know, we went to free lunch, and and then I wrote that we wouldn't have to be on Medicaid food stamps in the future, that we would get out the struggle. You know, I've wrote, you know, my future outcomes and reached a lot of those levels. Like uh yeah, man, like I I wrote songs like even though I'm blind, that you know, put me in the position of telling the world that even though I'm blind, I could picture her beauty in my mind, you know. Like in the verses, I would say, I wish that I could see a pretty smile, you know? And then in the chorus, I would say, but even though I'm blind, I could picture as in my mind. So just manifesting that inner beauty, you know, because a lot of people is so uh caught up sometimes in the you know the physical thing, but the music gave me the opportunity to show people that you know beauty is you know, it goes way beyond the the physical aspect of a being, you know, it goes deeper and sometimes, you know, that that outer beauty might be be this be deceptive, you know. So yeah, music just gave me the ability to tap in.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Well, let's talk about even though I'm blind, you know, your nonprofit organization. Talk about uh what inspired you to found Even Though I'm blind and what misconceptions do you hope to change about blindness in society?

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Well, man, through my whole life, and it's a lot, you know, I'm running through the story. I've had a very dope experience and just like my life coming up. You know, I've done so much, traveled to so many places, met so many great people, and learned so many lessons. And um, I would say, like, through a lot of my experiences, I was the only blind person in every room I was in. You know, it was no other blind people around. And for me, it was kind of like, you know, I was cool and I was, you know, I was doing my thing. I didn't really see a big issue with it. But when I got, you know, a little older, I started kind of realizing that it was, it had to be more, you know, people out there that was, you know, blind and visually impaired. So I start taking it amongst myself to do research because I was going in with the mind of like, I'm gonna go inspire these blind people, let them know, like, you know, even though you're blind, you know, you're great. Y'all, you know, things that I grew up hearing, you know, I was just gonna go back and share it with them, like, you know, let them know because I didn't, I, I, I didn't see them anywhere. I started doing research in 2022, and yo, I just realized that it was so many amazing blind people in the world. It's like they started inspiring me. So this thing kind of backfired on me. It was like, well, I thought I was gonna be the one going in there saying, even though I'm blind after uh, but then I started seeing lawyers, I started seeing college students, I started seeing, you know, I started seeing people with the shaft uh organizational owners and business owners and even people into sports, and I just started seeing this whole world open up, and I'm like, wow, well, it kind of really sparked me up and inspired me. So it backfired on me. It's like, yo, I then I quickly shift my mission from me being this person that was gonna go being this inspiration to them. I say, yo, it's enough of us to to inspire the world. Like the world might need to see this. Because every time I would be in the room and I would do the simplest of things, I would be in the room and I would do the simplest of things, they would be amazed, like, oh, you can do that. You can do this. And I was like, Yeah, I mean, yeah, I could make a sandwich, of course, you know. But for them, that was just so amazing. But I was coming up to technologist, people that was making technologies, and like I said, Harvard students. So it was like, well, if you think me making a sandwich is amazing, imagine what you're gonna see when you start seeing what's really going on in this community. So I formulated uh even on Blind, which is a media uh organization for the blind and visually impaired, and in 2023, soon after the research, I felt very confident that, you know, these stories had the potential to really change perception and the way people view us as, you know, blind and visually impaired individuals. I said, well, we're gonna use this media platform as a uh a programming um platform to program the perceptions of how you see a person with a white cane. Now, when you see me walking with a white cane, you're not gonna automatically just assume blind. You're gonna say that that's a human, that's a person. And that person might just be the person that is doing it is being uh the lawyer for for Google. Because I did come across the lawyer for Google that was totally blind. And you never know who you come, or could be curveball, you know. You know, it could be any of us, one of us blind people. And I just figured me taking that one initial step would definitely make the world a lot more aware in the future, position blind and visually impaired people for greater opportunities, you know, get our stories out there on levels that maybe didn't have the opportunity prior then because, you know, they just didn't know. You know, people was ignorant to the abilities and capabilities we had as blind and visually impaired people. So I say, let me show them the asset. We're not liabilities, we're assets. And then I said, we're the ones with the visions. A lot of people that have the physical sight lacks the vision that we are forced to see through. A lot of times, if a blind person moves without a vision, we're in double time of darkness or lack of view. But if we want to prevail in life, and that's anybody, whether you're sighted, blind, anything you may be going through, the vision will be the driving force. So even on blind, we're just here, man, to present these wonderful stories to the world to just really, you know, do our part in changing the perception and view of how people see us as blind and visually impaired people.

SPEAKER_01 25:54

Well, speaking of that, you know, uh, despite advances in technology, you know, blind people still face barriers in education, employment, and life. So what do you feel like needs to urgently change and how can communities and businesses become more inclusive?

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Absolutely. I think with that a lack of uh open-mindedness, I think that we need to start by um you know raising the conversation. You know, we need to continue to raise the conversation, because you know, I'm I'm not the first one that that came forth uh to this uh this mission. I would call it a mission because it is something that is is valuable and it needs to be completed, it need to be fulfilled. And um, yeah, the lack of understanding, the lack of uh accessibility, because even though um blind people need the accessibility and the access, a lot of people that are in positions to do the hiring and you know, that are in positions to make the the big decisions, you know, a lot of times they don't have the accessibility. A lot of times they're not aware, they're not in position to even, you know, think out of the box that they was kind of, you know, uh raised and trained in, you know. So a lot of times it's not always their fault, because a lot of times they always are not educated. So that level of education and presentation is, you know, because I I'm I'm an advocate for like excellence. So if you're blind and you have what it takes to fulfill a task or a job, or like I said, fulfill a mission to completeness, I am into trying to strive for excellence as well. So if you are in that position and you're capable, you should at least have the chance, the fair chance, you know. Um I'm not saying to put just people in positions just because you know everybody deserves a chance, but I think that everyone deserves a chance. And if you're able to really, you know, execute, I think that, you know, um, you should get fair opportunity, you know, like everybody else. And this is what the media is here to do. It's here to show our capabilities, it's here to show what we bring to the world, the asset of the vision we all hold as, you know, blind and visually impaired people.

SPEAKER_01 28:42

Well, let's talk about the money, master. Alex's guide to financial literacy. Talk about what people can expect when they read it, why you ex why you uh you know wrote it and where to get it, and also uh what is one of the uh financial literacy lessons you wish that all young people would learn in life? Well, when they're young.

SPEAKER_02 29:04

Absolutely. Well, um, the book was inspired because I am a father. Um, I have five beautiful children that I love dearly. Um my oldest is 16 at the time. My first set of twins, they 13, and uh my second set of twins are, you know, 11 at the time of this recording. And it's like, you know, they're at the age now where, you know, you want to start to, you know, give them the lessons of life, you know, um, raise them up in financial literacy. Uh growing up, it wasn't something that, you know, and me and my pops and mom, we was really close, but it wasn't something that they like instilled in me. Yeah, and they did give me all the love and stuff like that, but the actual financial teachings and principles of how to manage, you know, money flow, I didn't really grow up in it. So I figured, you know, I had the opportunity since it came to me, you know, through my education of financial literacy, because I I've choose to learn it, um, to give it to my children. And, you know, from there, I'm an uncle, I'm a friend, I'm a cousin, I'm a family member, all my all my youngins out there, all my young adults, all the ones that I love, and out to the community and in the world, I think that we all have a little room for financial literacy and freedom. And um to show the world that it is obtainable. Like we could we could have this financial freedom if we uh know what it takes to reach that that level. So I make the book. Alex is one of the characters in the book. Alex is a young boy that goes and meets up with his friends at the uh oak tree. And, you know, when they meet up at this tree, like a lot of young people do, they talk about what they want, you know, they impose it. One one friend is into, you know, she's a foodie, so she always wants to try a new restaurant or eat the newest food, and then he got the one friend that's a tech fiend, so he always wants the newest gadget, you know, got the one one friend who got the, you know, all the subscriptions, and it's just like he he's faced with all these different temptations and people that he really, you know, respect and and and the people that he hangs with, and he has to kind of be that person that makes the decision. He has to choose through the temptation of all these shiny, beautiful things to say, yo, I'm gonna put a portion of my allowance up every day. I mean, you know, every week. I'm not gonna just spin it and he admits that the stuff was very intriguing, but he decided to make that choice to save a part of that allowance. And uh by um the the by um the fourth chapter, he was able to open up a business because um of the money. Now, when his friends first saw his his his jar, which was a saving jar, he put that first allowance in there, it didn't look like much. But by the fourth chapter, they saw the jar again, and they started seeing that the jar was filling up. And after them seeing this jar accumulating like the current, they like, wow, like you, they they started seeing that what Alex was doing was real. And now they like, wow, like so, wow, you know, then they started asking Alex questions, and Alex was in position now because he's been so good at saving, he was able to open up these this this lemonade stand and start to explore with different flavors of lemon and even put some of his friends on in positions to help him to run this thing just to start that order. And um, yeah, you know, just one of the principles was that, you know, um you don't gotta, you know, save it all. You don't gotta, you know, live frugal. You know, just put a portion away, save a portion and know that value of that little. That little has potential to accumulate through through time, you know, and you know, just take your time with it and know the value of that.

SPEAKER_01 33:42

Well let's talk about uh you're a father of five, so let's talk about uh how fatherhood has influenced your ambitions, your decisions, and the legacy that you want to leave behind for your children.

SPEAKER_02 33:55

Absolutely. Um shout out to dead fathers, man. They just uh featured me on a uh, you know, their media platform. They're a pretty notable group that, you know, highlights fathers and they highlighted me as a blind father. And um, you know, I I respect every father, you know, whether you blind, whatever, whatever you might be going through, but definitely to all the blind fathers out there, because you know, it's definitely, you know, it's a challenge when I got four daughters and I only could imagine their beauty, you know, and I can't see it with my my physical eyes, but um, I kind of feel like, you know, when I get to the pearly gate someday, I feel like my my vision, like in the song, say um, I could picture you in my mind. I feel like my picture is gonna be really accurate because, you know, our our children that are given to us is just perfect in that way. Like they're everything we could imagine. And they like really my my they my strong point. They my weak point as well. Like they are the part of me that can make or break because um, on one hand, you want the best for them and you want to uh prevent them from going through the challenges that life may bring everyone, you know, and you want to protect them from that. But then on the other hand, it's like sometimes it's the things we go through that teach us our lessons. You know, we all gotta go through something in life. And when you grow up and you start to know that truth, you you start living with like this level of balance, like, you know, I want to hold on to them forever, but you know, I can't shelter them to the point where they won't have independence or they won't have the ability to make, you know, learn their own choices and you know, just take the the lesson that the universe and God is giving to them as individuals. Because, you know, a lot of times your children could be the ones that's that's your greatest teacher. But you gotta be able to be a little flexible and let them grow into their individual selves. And you know, you got to treat them all like that. Like I got two sets of twins. I can never assume that just because you know, um my twins was born on the same day that they the same person. Because they are totally different in, you know, who they are, and they they they bring something unique to the world, you know. So, you know, just just to see that growth, man, and that development is just, and that's what every that I I I love all the um children, I love all the young adults. This is why I work so hard and so digitally to to try to pave the way and just to try my best to be the most positive example that I could be for them. You know, and there's some things like yo, you're a kid going the back, but you know, you know, just try my best to make the world a little better because they are coming after us, and it will be people coming after them. So just to put them in that position and let them know who they are, young. You know, show them that your blind father, not stopped by anything. Like blindness couldn't stop me from having my vision. And and sight is not necessarily vision. Teaching them these unique lessons that that we learn through life. And, you know, just seeing what they'll do with it, man, is just one of the greatest things in the world to me.

SPEAKER_01 37:35

Absolutely. Well, let's talk about your motto, CFL Y. Cassani Forever Loves You. Talk about what that means to you personally, and if uh listeners take away one thing from this interview, what would you hope that to be?

SPEAKER_02 37:48

Well, absolutely. CFL Y, that's C Fly, Kazerni Forever Loves You. It's a logo with a big C in the middle of it, symbolizing the Kazerne. Then it has the wings on each side, you know, two wings. You got the the yin and the yang, the balance, they both rise. One goes up, one comes down, and together they fly, you know, like both sides of the story made me who I am. You know, it wasn't always the good times that made me who I am, you know. It's like everything that I've been through put that crown on top of that sea on that logo. You know, that's that's the mind. That's that that's the the lesson. So when I was creating the um logo, it came with, you know, it came with that. Like it came, it's told a story, you know. You got the crown, the crown couldn't happen without both of the wings, you know, the the light and the dark, you know. And um, you know, the sea is just me. And I I do forever love my people. Love to me is more of an action word. It's me doing what, you know, I was put here to do. You know, because I'm here for a reason. I think we all are here for a reason. And if you are truly living that purpose that uh you're here to serve, it's gonna be for others. I don't see a world where you just can live for yourself and I, you know, I think we all here together. And um the love aspect of that is just me doing my part to uplift us all as a culture, as a community, you know, whether you blind, visually impaired, sighted, white, black, you know, whatever, old, young, we all in this thing together. And my thing is Kazernie forever, love you. And I'm gonna show you that through my actions and what I'm doing out here, and just to make us, you know, better as a people, as a humanity. And, you know, if it's anything that I could leave you with to remember, it's so many things I could leave, and thanks to you, Kirby, for putting me in a position to be so open. Because a lot of times, you know, we be media focused, and we might be talking about one project, but you gave me an overview. But what I would say is, you know, um, everything you're going through up into today is making you who you are tomorrow. Like, you know, so you could choose at this point, right, that we're in right now, to look at both sides and accept both things for what they are. Like you could accept, I could accept me being sided up into 15 and accepting me being blind since then and figuring out that I had to learn that, you know, sometimes you gotta close your eyes to truly see true love. Because, you know, judgments and stuff like that, it's here to kind of block out judgment a lot of times. But sometimes you gotta close your eyes to see true beauty, you know, and don't be deceived by a person's grin or they frown. Because just because a person might be going through a bad day and they might be having a bad day and they may look unapproachable, don't mean that's who they are. Like everybody goes through things. You just gotta kind of be led by your vision and by your heart. And you know, that's that's the lesson, man. Be led by that. Let that be your leader.

SPEAKER_01 41:45

Well, tell us about any upcoming projects uh that you're working on you or your organization, any musical projects, anything that the listeners need to be aware of.

SPEAKER_02 41:55

Absolutely, man. It's so much going on, man. Even on Blind has been doing so much media coverage and, you know, just really shaking things out in the world. You know, you could definitely go check out a lot of the things we've done, you know, this far, even on Blind.com or even on Blind on all social medias, but we have so many exciting things coming up, so many events to cover. Um, everything is basically on uh the website. You can go check us out and look at our calendar and just see so many of these great stories that we're putting in the forefront of the world. But um, a very a really special project that we're working on is the Blind Money Game Project, the BMG project, where I partnered up with uh Big Saint, um amazing brother. He's become a brother in these years, and we're basically music is our passion. You know, I started this thing out with the music, even I wanted to play the game at the time. The music was that foundation, and my father recognized it. And Blind Money Game is a label that uh, you know, we we bring a lot of artists together that are blind and visually impaired, and we allow them artists to really do art. You know, and Saint opened up the platform for us to really express ourselves through music, and he's putting us in these different environments where we can have this professional recording environment and you know, giving us these stages where we could perform in front of people on a, you know, on a professional level. And, you know, that for me, giving us the opportunity opening up this for for these artists working to get one of these records charting here in a year or two. More blind artists on the billboard charts. I think that um it is definitely on its way. And um, I think you should all look out for that, you know, the blind money game project and just so much more. Um, the even on blind experience podcasts, where we do our interviews, we uh, you know, put the brands out there of these great people that we're dealing with in the community, showing you what we're doing, even on blind radio, Ariana Dewberry. I mean, she she's doing her thing, hosting and you know, interviewing these great artists and showing the world. And then we have a big project that is really special to me, um, Blind History Revealed. Um, my sister, who is cited, her name is Beasia Gray, and she's doing history on a lot of the great blind entities that came before us, right? And she's revealing it through the world. She does, um, right now, currently in school for her history degree, she's about to graduate with her history, journalist degree, and she's been using her education to do deep researches on some of these great blind people that that that in history, just in just history overall, blind, and you know, the misconceptions and the things that was forgotten, you know, or left behind. She's bringing them to the forefront so the world could see. And uh, she said it was inspired by me and everything I'm doing. So it's just all aligning, just to really make the world a more aware place, you know, we all coming together to make this impact. So uh, yeah, just so many things on the way that we're excited about. And um, I always like to leave y'all with saying, I'm not trying to create a blind world. That's not my vision, you know. I didn't actually be blind, but I am here to show us that, you know, there's people behind them white cane, this treasure behind these blind eyes, you know, and um you might need to open your eyes to see it.

SPEAKER_01 46:10

Absolutely, ladies and gentlemen, and uh to keep up with everything that Kasani and his organization is up to, even though I'm blind.com, check out the radio station. He uh features a lot of great blind artists on there, and check out the podcast. He's doing some great things. Also, uh check out that uh Blind Money Gang project. Uh you know, once that uh gets out and released, and uh got a lot of great talent out there, whether it's hip hop, uh RB, uh all genres of music. Uh it's more than just uh Stevie Wonder and Rachel's out here, so y'all be on the lookout and also to keep up with all things live in the dream and learn every time we drop a new episode. Visit www.girlball337.com. Share the website, the show, and this episode to everybody that you know for signing up and knowing you for a few years. Thank you for all that you're doing. It's trying to get us out there and give us an opportunity as a blind and visually impaired people. And thank you for joining me.

SPEAKER_00 47:17

Thank you with a for more information on the Living the Dream with Curveball Podcast, visit www.curveball337.com. Until next time, keep living the dream.