E52. Same Things, Different Masks - with Will Tidwell, Founder of Speak Up Zee

Taking Off The Mask

English - August 31, 2021 23:00 - 44 minutes - 101 MB
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Previous Episode: E51. Bicycles and "Harm Reduction" - with Antonio Chavez, Courier & Founder of Lost Soul Courier Collective

Next Episode: E53. Justin Baldoni - on Human Beings and “Human Doings”

“The reason I speak with such passion and love when I’m creating is because I’m the one dealing with a lot of those the things that I’m telling you about...

Somebody is going through the exact same thing, it just has a different face on it. It has a different mask on it.” - Will Tidwell

Ever Forward Club’s Ashanti Branch is joined by Will Tidwell of Speak Up Zee. Often referred to as the “Neighborhood Hero”, Will is a multi-talented poet, writer, speaker, entrepreneur, and organizer of community outreach. Among many things, Ashanti and Will discuss the dualities and contradictions of human beings and their masks, running organizations, and their shared Arkansas roots.

(7:45) Will introduces himself and his origins, passions, work, and platform. He and Ashanti discuss their roots in Little Rock, Arkansas.

(10:45) Will and Ashanti make their masks together.

(15:35) Ashanti shares the front of his mask - hard work, caring, funny. He shares how he applies the front of his mask to his work with youth.

(17:45) Will shares the front of his mask - vulnerability, the process, the happiness. He explores how the front of the mask feeds into the current social media frenzy, and how he wants to redirect this energy in more authentic ways.

(22:25) Ashanti shares the back of his mask - family history, worry, am I enough? He shares how the work of Ever Forward Club “is not always pretty.” Then, he reflects on his most recent trip to Little Rock to attend a family memorial service, which came after a family tragedy.

(26:35) Will shares the back of his mask - failures, the truth, depression, anxiety, fear. He explores how the back of his mask contradicts the front of his mask, how humans contradict themselves all the time, and how other people’s opinions and expectations cause these contradictions.

(32:10) Ashanti and Will discuss the faults of “comparison mode” and the process and merits of growing pains.

(36:00) Will shares his message for young people.

(41:35) Will shares how you can get in touch with him.

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Connect with Will Tidwell:

Website: speakupzee.com

Instagram: instagram.com/willzeetidwell

Facebook: facebook.com/zee.tidwell

Twitter: twitter.com/willzeetidwell

Tik Tok: tiktok.com/@neighborhoodhero96

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