 Hey, so I am Jermere. I go to Burlington High School. I'm in my 11th year, and you know, it's my friends Oliver and Bonnie. I think they can introduce me. Okay, hi. My name is Boniface, I'm a junior. I go to Burlington High School. I'm just gonna pass to Oliver. Oh, hi. My name is Olivier. I also go to Burlington High School and I'm a sophomore. Is it okay if, why name would you prefer to use? Luis, is that okay? Yeah, Luis is fine. Okay. Okay, so can you tell us like a little bit about yourself, like who you are, what you do? Yes, well, Louise Calderon, also formerly of Burlington High School, Burlington High School alumni. Was a seahorse myself. And also known as Olivia Calderon's father, who was also a 11th grader, third year student at Burlington High School. So she's your colleague at school. Also, Ravon C, the world-renowned rapper, Ravon C, also a Burlington High School alum, their dad. And besides that, I'm involved with a number of things, but my day job is I own and operate a marketing, advertising and PR agency in Burlington called OK, OK, Marketing and Creative. And we work with a number of different local businesses, national and international brands. We also work with a bunch of organizations and we're involved with a variety of different projects. I am also on the board of directors of the King Street Youth Center, Chill, Burton Snowboards Action Sports Program. I am on the board of a group called Winooski Strong, which is where I live in Winooski. And I am on the board of a group called the Vermont Professionals of Color Network, as well as on a board for a group called the Friends for Adogs. So pretty busy around town, working on a number of different events and organizations all around building our community. Okay. So usually it seems like all these community organizations are always trying to make the community better in some ways. What do you think that you do to, I guess, help out the community or make it better in some ways? What I think that I do personally is, I never forget who I am and where I came from, and how long that I've lived in this area. It's a very long time and how hard it was for me and how strange I felt all of the time that I was growing up when I was at BHS. My family is from Cuba. I was the first person in my family born in the United States, so I was the first to have this American experience and my mother and my sister and I moved here when I was young, like 12 years old from Miami. So going from a world of just being around my people, black and brown people speaking Spanish around me, then I moved up here to Vermont and it was a very white place and I experienced a lot of culture shock. And so there were people along the way that were really important to my development that were adults that try to help me and point me in the right direction and include me and involve me and expose me to opportunities. But there were a lot of adults that did not. There were a lot of adults that like today would have been considered failing students. So I never forget that and that's what drives a lot of what I try to do for our community. I have gone on to have a really successful career and it had an amazing variety of experiences and gotten to meet and work with and for some very amazing people. And it was really because a couple of two, three people really reached out and tried to make a difference in my life. And so I center that and I think about young people who maybe you three, you know, that some of the work that I would be doing with open doors for you folks so that you can also have some of these experiences. So that's kind of what I'm about with the work that I do. Let's see again. You mentioned that you work with the Friends for Adults. I just want to know what's that. Have you ever heard of that before? I think I have, but I don't, I'm not sure what's that. Well, Friends for Adog Foundation is a group. This is our eighth year as a foundation and our friend, my friend DJ Adog was a Burlington DJ and a legend. He was one of the best DJs in the world in my opinion. And I'm a DJ also. I grew up DJing here at the University of Vermont radio station at WRUV. When I was in a sophomore, a junior at BHS, I did, like what you guys are doing, I did a show up at WRUV. And so I got to meet Andy Adog Williams back then and we became friends, lifelong friends. Andy got sick years ago with leukemia and unfortunately passed away. And then a bunch of our friends got together to have a celebration in his honor and his memory. We celebrate, Burlington celebrates Adog Day on August 26th around his birthday every year. And we have a number of events all around town, a lot of music, art, dance performances. And then the foundation itself works with like the King Street Youth Center providing programming at the King Street all around music and art and culture. And as well as a number of different initiatives around trying to find bone marrow matching for folks that might need it. So it's a local organization, but it's one that's a dear to my heart. And if you've been on the waterfront and you see the skate park down there, the skate park down by the waterfront, that's named after Adog and the Adog Williams skate park. Oh, yeah. Also one question. Since you said that working in a community, what can be improved in a community? What can be improved in the community? Yeah. Man, that's a really broad question, right? I'm gonna just narrow that down to issues that are important to me. And I think you guys perhaps during these times. Today is May 26th. This is one day after the anniversary of the murder of George Floyd and everything in the world as I know it can be marked as before George Floyd and then after that day, George Floyd. So we're one year in the new American history after George Floyd. And this last year, we saw our community get together, rally together and to speak out around injustices in Winooski and in Burlington and in Vermont and in the country and in the world. And then we saw people take that energy that was out into the streets and change for those conversations and these cultural shifts, these power shifts had to happen because of the energy that people in the streets, specifically young people apply a lot of pressure. And now we're starting to see power shift significantly in this community here and across the country. And so that's what's necessary. It's the energy that is out there that then if harnessed properly can convert into power and to make real change happen. It's like electricity. If you just take electricity on the wild, it's just out. But if you take it and you control it and it becomes, it feels a light bulb then it lightens the whole room. And that's kind of how I see a lot of the work that's happened this past year. So what I think that needs to happen in our community is to realize that we're just in the beginning of generational change, which means to me, at least 10 years, your generation. You guys are 17, 16, 17 year old young people. 10 years from now, you are gonna be in a different place. You're gonna start some of your early jobs and the work that is happening today is gonna impact that life that you're gonna have 10 years from now, that job that you're gonna get, that business, hopefully that you're gonna start, that house that you're gonna wanna buy so that you can start to build your own generational wealth. All of that is gonna happen in 10 years and it may seem like a million years from now because that's roughly about what half of your life is now but it'll come quick. And so what's happening today is gonna impact that. So what I see the need for is young people like yourselves, specifically young people of color like yourselves to get off of the sidelines and to get into the game and to get involved and find a spot anywhere but to get active and get vocal and get in front of this and be part of this movement, especially living up here in Vermont. What are the ups and downs working in the community as you are? You look like a busy guy. Yes. What are the ups and downs? I mean, it doesn't happen, change doesn't happen overnight. So I work in the, my job is a fast-paced job. I can do things and I can, expect results quickly. We operate social media or social media experts, right? So I can come up with something, put it out and instantly the world sees it. But like working in the community, things operate at a different pace. So you decide, I have to remind myself to be patient and but I also try to apply methodologies and tactics that I know that work in my professional world to issues that are in our community to try to speed the process up a little bit and try to see change sooner. But also like, one thing that happened is interesting that I didn't see at all come in was I work with an organization as I mentioned earlier, the Vermont Professionals of Color Network. And we were, there was a BIPOC COVID vaccine clinic that the city had announced, a couple of people had gotten together and announced this and I saw that it seemed like the robot was a little questionable. It had a lot of like gaps in it and they were just getting started and they were trying to figure it out. And I asked a bunch of questions and they folks said, hey, these are great questions. Why don't you come in tomorrow and help us get involved and get going. So I came in and was able to with my colleagues build out the BIPOC COVID vaccine clinics here in Burlington and I've been working with the state. I've been working with the city and we were able to really quickly put together a clinic that is for people of color and their households and it's the least medical experience that people have ever had. It's a complete vibe. People come up, the music is dope. They see each other, people like us are in the space. A lot of us, I'm there to greet people and it's a different experience for our culture and our community from a medical experience that we have had here historically. So for me, I was able to take, something that was kind of like challenging and then immediately fix it and work on it and make it great. And it's been a really amazing program and we have vaccinated thousands of people in our community. We've saved thousands of lives and we've been doing this for the last two and a half months and we're doing it up through July. Have you guys been vaccinated? Yeah, I got my first one. You got your first one? Okay. Yeah, I already got my second two. Okay, cool. Where'd you guys go get your shots at? LV. Oh, you did an LV? Yeah. Okay, all right, cool, cool, good. Yeah, those are our partners over in Winooski. So yeah, we've been working together on that. That's great. Oh yeah, from high school, from high school, why would you go from a high school and how did that change you to the person that you are today? Okay, that's a great question. High school was terrible. High school was terrible. Burlington High School was a terrible experience for me. That was the worst experience for me. It was a long time ago and the world, the country wasn't at a point where you could just say, hey, this is racism. Like no one even knew what institutional racism was, but that institution was racist. And I would bear, like if I had to get in there, I might still find some racism within that institution today. But it definitely was in 1988 to 1992 when I went there and there were people who just made me feel terrible. And I was lucky enough to meet some folks that put me on to, you know, actually like, it's a long story. There's a long story. I won't bore you with all the details, but I started to do radio. I got involved, like you guys are doing a TV show. So somebody like reached out to you and you guys, next thing you know, you're doing a TV show, same thing for me. I got to go do radio at WRUV. And at the time, you know, I did a, it was, I had a very popular, I was 15 years old, 16 years old, like doing radio. And there was no Spotify. This is before the internet or Spotify. So like if you wanted to hear hip hop music, I was one of the main DJs. And I had a big popular show Friday nights, 8 to 11. And if you wanted to hear Tribe Called Quest in Burlington, Vermont or Public Enemy or any of the music you had to tune into the radio station. So I was like, I was a young kid just like doing it, just like you guys. And I found that I really liked it. It was really fun. I got to like be creative and express myself and be part of a scene in the culture. I went out to school a few years later for radio at Emerson College in Boston. And that happened just because like, you know, there were a bunch of people who said that, you know, you're not, you're probably not gonna do it. It's probably not gonna happen for you. And there was one white lady, Monica Sargent from VSAC who was like, you should come with us. We'll go look at the school anyway. And you know, that's my advice is like, there'll be people who'll tell you don't worry about it. Just go get a housekeeping job somewhere. And I would challenge you to say that's not enough for you, you know? Like you guys are incredible people. You have a TV show. You are doing way more than other people you're a same age are doing. So the world is yours to do. Just my advice for young people is to not let anyone dim your light in any way, right? There's always a way to do anything that you wanna do. So a lot of times it's just a bunch of paperwork. There'll be a bunch of people that tell you no, but there'll be eventually somebody that says yes. And those yeses are the doorways that open that put you on a pathway. So for me, that was that. Like I did radio, then I met other people. We got other projects, this, that, you know? And just got onto the sort of a journey where I ended up eventually making a career, you know, being able to get a job as a profession doing what I do. And then, you know, did that for a while. And then next thing you know, I have a career, you know? But for me, the thing is was, and this is, I'm sure different, maybe a little bit different now, but, you know, my advice for young people is just when you get the opportunity, unfortunately in this country, you guys are gonna have to prove yourselves much harder than your white counterparts. So just be prepared for that, start training for that, start getting ready for that, and just deliver. Just deliver as much as you can, as hard as you can. But don't let any challenges slow you down or deter you at all. Just get up every single day and go handle it. For sure, thanks. Sorry for the pep talk, but I go back when I was a kid, man, these guys were like, yo, nah, you're not, nah, you're not, not for you. You know, and even my family, like even my mom, like she came from Cuba, you know what I mean? She was an immigrant, like just being here was enough. Just the fact that I was gonna graduate from an American high school was like it, you know what I mean? And like, they weren't even talking to me at my house about college, you know? Like it just wasn't in our like, it just wasn't in our scope. And, you know, I got exposed to other people. I got exposed to, you know, just like you guys, they got exposed to these students. And then they were like, oh, no, college is a thing, you know, like here, apply for it, apply for the financial aid, apply for the scholarships, the grants, all of that. But I tell you what, man, like you guys got like, you got to go, you want it, you got to dig for it because I don't know anybody, nobody's ever just giving it to you at the end, you know? For sure. Okay, Jeremy, any questions? Yeah, so you talk about like a lot about like doing these community work and stuff like, I don't know, it seems like fancy jobs. And then you talk about music, which is like kind of different and stuff, but like, how do you like balance those two? That's a great question. I'm glad you asked that. Couple of years ago, I had this, I worked for, I went from, you know, DJing and then I ended up getting a job at Burton Snowboards. I was, I worked in marketing for Burton Snowboards for many years. And then I ended up getting moving to California, doing another company, Fox Racing, doing marketing. I worked for American Eagle Outfitters, doing marketing. Then we came back here and I started in my own agency and I worked for a bunch of different companies, okay? I ended up going back to work at Burton. And my whole time as a marketing person, DJing was the thing, like DJing and throwing a party. Like, so being the guy who threw the party, when I was young, they told me that I was, it was, I was just gonna get in trouble. But that becomes a job. That becomes events, you know what I mean? Like if you wanna have a party and you wanna invite people, it's the same as doing any event. You gotta like, have a good show, book talent, promote it, get people to come. It has to be dope so that people come back, you know? And so I was able to like figure out these sort of life, DJ lessons to my career and make a whole job out of it. And then, and I thought it was great. And then I met a bunch of different people along the way, different artists and whatnot. And my friend who I went to BHS with also, he and I worked together at Burton Snowboards and his father is Bernie Sanders. And when Bernie was getting ready to run for president in 2016, so back in 2015, Dave Driscoll, my friend from childhood and colleague at Burton, we were just be talking about, like I was asking him a million questions, what about, what's Bernie gonna do for the poster and what's the music gonna be about? And like, what's the soundtrack of the campaign? That kind of stuff. I just sort of came at it like as a DJ and these were all great questions and they asked me to join the campaign. So then I ended up working on Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign as the director of arts, culture and the youth vote for 2006 campaign. And that directly came out of like, being a Burlington high school student who did a radio show at WRUV that then led to one other thing that then led to another thing that all of a sudden, a few years later, boom, I'm on a presidential campaign and overseeing a part that was like, probably the funnest and coolest part of the whole thing, which was just the energy around it, the bands and the young people. And so I treated that campaign the same way I treated DJing. I just like DJed the campaign. I just took, like how I take two songs and put them together and make a vibe and then I put 200 songs together and make a whole set. It was sort of the same approach to that campaign. I took this artist and that event and this rapper and put them on stage with Bernie and then this and that. And then it all kind of became a vibe. Yeah, sounds like it. Yeah, Olivier, you have any questions? Yeah. What is important for you about community? About community? What is important for me about community is like, it's about, I mean, again, for me, it's like coming here and still being considered the only guy who looks like me in the room a lot of the times. It's important for me to have been able to build roots in this community. This is my community. I grew up here. I have made things happen here. I couldn't move anywhere in the world, but I choose to live here and work here and raise a family here because I love it here. I love living here and I love this place. So for me, what's important about building the community or having community here is being part of it, getting in it, getting engaged, doing my part, whatever that might be, whatever that could be at the time to add to it, to make it better, to make it better for the next generation, to make it better so that, to do work that matters so that at some point someone says, this dude came through one time and he fought for us so that it was easier for the next generation. So that's what I'm trying to do here. That's why it's super important for me. Yeah. We're the next generation. You are the next generation. Yeah, you guys are, man. Let's talk about you guys a little bit. Can I ask you guys a couple of questions? Yeah, sure. Olivier, do you prefer to be called Oliver or Olivier? Olivier. Olivier. Yes. Yeah, okay. Tell me about your name. What do you mean? Well, like, who gave you your name? Oh, my dad. What's your dad's name? Her baby. Nice. It's a dope name. I'm just curious because, you know, in the beginning, you guys said, is it, you prefer Louis or Luis? And, and, and you're, and Bonnie said Oliver, but, you know, one thing I would, I would, I love your name, man. One thing I've learned along here is when I first got here, I was my whole life known as Luis. And then when I got up here, it was easier for everybody to call me Louis. And so I let, I let everybody, I, I, you know, you know, call myself Louis to people. But then this last year, I realized, yo, like, my father named me Luis and I made it easy for people to take my name away. So that's one thing for sure, you know, hold on to, hold on to your, hold on to your name, bro. No, it's kind of same like that too, yeah. Yeah, it's your, your father gave you that. Hold on to it. You make these people work. All right guys, it looks like we're wrapping up. You guys have any last questions? I'm no, just thank you for your time. Yeah, this was an honor. It was really an honor. We got to learn a couple of stuff that we didn't know about our community and how to improve in near future. I guess this was a very good opportunity. Well, listen, the opportunity, the honor, the pleasure and honor is mine. You guys are the future, okay? I want you guys to know that, to know that right now. You guys are the future. And just like your organization, I promise to you, I vow to you to be my brother's keeper. I am my brother's keeper. So if you guys need anything ever, anything at all, you want to talk to somebody who looks like you that's made it in this community, you can always reach out to me, you can always come up to my office and I would be happy to mentor you guys and just show you guys what I know. Everything I have is yours. And that's what it takes to build. But you guys are out here in the streets doing the work and I'm proud of you guys. You guys are brilliant. And I can't wait to see what amazing things you all end up doing individually and together, all right? So be proud of yourselves and know that you've made your ancestors very proud. You are your ancestors' wildest dreams. Thank you so much. Thank you. Bye, my boys. Bye. I'll talk to you soon, all right? Yup. Bye.