DAD IS NOT A NOUN

Who is Wally Green?

Growing up in one of the most dangerous housing projects in Brooklyn, at a very young age I sought protection through gangs, guns, and violence. Home life was one of constant abuse and domestic violence by my stepfather. I was repetedly told by him that I was no good and would never amount to anything, and with my mother being abused and yet still protecting him, I was filled with extreme hatred. He swore that the only future I would have would be in jail or dead somewhere. In the midst of all the abuse and turmoil in my life, at a late age I found a totally unusual sport and excelled, becoming one of the most Internationally famous and entertaining American players in the world! If it wasnt for the sport of table tennis, I would have probably ended up in jail or dead, but through this sport my eyes were open to all the endless possibilities that life had in store for me. Table Tennis in many ways helped me to realize that the whole world wasnt bad, and that there were much better things for me other than being in the streets. The sport of table tennis truly saved my life!

 

I have appeared in numerous local and international newspapers, magazines, and local as well as international TV, including: The New York Times, New York Daily News, Time Out New York, World Journal, Wall Street Journal, ESPN magazine, various AP articles, International sports articles, the Today Show, the Early Show, Current TV, ESPN, LX New York, In Style magazine online, Steve Harvey Show, Marble Play TV, Hampton Roads Show, Catch the Dream (Japanese TV) , Numerous appearances on Chinese tv in China, etc. I also have an appearance in a worldwide K-Swiss commercial, the TV show Mercy as well as being the star of a three part commercial for an iPhone accessory called "The Sinch." My ultimate goal involving the media is to eventually have my own TV show! "The Wally Green Show!"

 

We are expanding the SPiN brand! Already  with 7 locations! New York, Toronto, LA, Chicago, San

Fransisco, Philadelphia, Seattle with Austin Texas and Washington D.C. coming soon! I am currently working on an autobiography about my life titled "From the Pistol to the Paddle. I am a huge part of an award winning documentary titled "The Tables." We have won numerous awards including Holly Shorts Film Festival in Hollywood which is an Oscar qualifying film festival. I'm also currently working on my new documentary titled "My North Korean Ping Pong Diplomacy." This is where 2 years ago I went to North Korea alone to represent the US in competition! I was the only westerner who attended! Yep that's right! I have been to North Korea!

EMPOWERINGCUTS: Over the last four years and throughout the pandemic, Joshua Santiago has been providing free haircuts and grooming services to individuals experiencing homelessness across Philadelphia. The professional barber drives Uber to earn a living then hits the streets, cutting hair almost everyday. Now, after purchasing a large camper RV which will be used as a mobile location, Joshua hopes to change even more lives, one haircut at a time

Empowering Cuts has worked with over 50 organizations in over 20 different cities from coast-to-coast. We have been featured in roughly 10 different written and visual news outlets. Last but certainly not least, we have been responsible for grooming over 7,500 men, women and children all over the country, FREE OF CHARGE. We don’t just cut hair. We wash it, style it, and have even done nails and makeup for women, as well, all in the hopes of brightening someone’s day!

.https://www.gofundme.com/f/bring-hope-one-haircut-at-a-time

On  July 8, 2010, was a day two decisions were made... Lebron's decision that shook the sports world & the jury rendered their verdict in the murder of Oscar Grant... So I had the opportunity to talk to father, husband, photographer, illustrator, artist,  film director, and Oakland native Shomari Smith on how 10 years later those two decisions parallel to each other and still relevant today.

Grant was 22 years old when he was killed in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 2009 by BART Police Officer Johannes Mehserle in Oakland, California.

Mesherle was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and served 11 months in prison.

In October 2020, Oakland prosecutors re-opened the investigation into Grant's shooting death.

"We have listened closely to the requests of the family of Oscar Grant. The murder of Oscar Grant greatly impacted the county and the state," Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O'Malley said in a statement emailed to NPR.

"We are re-opening our investigation," O'Malley continued. "I have assigned a team of lawyers to look back into the circumstances that caused the death of Oscar Grant. We will evaluate the evidence and the law, including the applicable law at the time and the statute of limitations and make a determination."

In this episode of Dad Is Not A Noun I had the opportunity to kick with Dr. Mustafa Santiago Ali on the subject of systemic racism..

Dr . Mustafa Santiago Ali is the Vice President of Environmental Justice, Climate & Community Revitalization for the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) and the Founder and CEO of Revitalization Strategies. Before joining the NWF, Mustafa was the Senior Vice President for the Hip Hop Caucus (HHC), a national nonprofit and nonpartisan organization that connects the Hip Hop community to the civic process.  As HHC Senior Vice President, he led the strategic direction, expansion, and operation of the HHC’s portfolio on Climate, Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization.

Prior to joining the HHC, Mustafa worked 24 years at the EPA. He began working on Social Justice issues at 16 and joined the EPA as a student, becoming a founding member of the EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ). He most recently served as Senior Advisor for Environmental Justice and Community Revitalization and Assistant Associate Administrator. Mustafa worked for EPA Administrators beginning with William Riley and ending with Scott Pruitt.

Frequently seen on TV, including MSNBC, CNN, VICE, BET, Samantha Bee and Democracy NOW.

Featured and/or cited in over 250 news publications to date, including GQ, New Republic, Ebony, Bustle, The Guardian, The Root, Los Angeles Times, and The Washington Post.

Guest lecturer at over 100 colleges and universities, including Howard, Harvard, Yale, Berkeley, Duke, George Washington, Georgetown, and Spelman; and former instructor at West Virginia University and Stanford University.

Mustafa currently serves a board member on Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, TREE, and Climate Hawks Vote. Current co-host of the live radio show and podcast, Think 100% “The Coolest Show On Climate Change.”

Innovation & education starts at home, so

I had the opportunity to chat it up with VT Heroes creator Jason Richardson on his Tokuatsu themed( Think Power Rangers) deck building fighting game on how his game helps young adults learn problem solving through battling your opponents and enhance their imagination in building up your character.

VT HEROES, is a fighting card game that is inspired by tokusatsu, sentai, and traditional arcade fighting games. What is tokusatsu and sentai? Think Power Rangers, and the like. The thing that makes VT HEROES visually stand out of the crowd is the fact that within the sentai and tokusatsu genre, it eliminates the idea of body standards by having some of the fighters as slender, or plus sized. You also see cool thing such as the assigned VT colors, Red, Green, and Black (mostly dominated by male figures) are female figures. The Pink one is usually associated with female characters, are now (in VT Heroes) associated with super muscular males!

Two players create their fighter using 3 Stat cards based on their Hero, Element, and Totem abilities. Once they do that they gather their 40 Action cards and battle in a rock-paper-scissors style fight using moves that fit within the 4 categories, Attack, Defense, Power, and Intelligence. VT HEROES is super easy to learn, but complex enough to keep fans of fighting games more than satisfied.

The Founder & Host of @theblackexjp Ranzo talked about the video he shared watching Mount Fuji's last sunset of 2020 and the importance of his self-reflection that lead him to prioritize what's important to him. Ranzo has been changing the narrative of black people on the global level through his YouTube channel he launched in 2017. The essence of his videos are to counter the negative misconceptions or stereotypes that the mainstream media portrayal of black people.

The backbone of his videos are interviews with black people living in Japan, In recent years, Ranzo has expanded the channel’s geographic focus to include all of Asia. #bje #theblackexperiencejapan #blackexperiencejapan #dadisntanoun #DaDNotNoun #dadisnotanoun #dinan #podcast #podcastersofinstagram #interview #comingsoon #mtfuji #asia #tokyo #japan #mountfuji #youtube #youtuber

Happy New Year!!! From the first day of elementary school to now sophomore at college my guest 12yrs old  Caleb Anderson is wise beyond his age.. I had the privilege to talk to him and his mom Claire Anderson about innovation and education starts at home.. First, I want to thank my cohost Uncle Derek (Derek Phillips) retired Assistant Principal and Founder of the Real Dads Network.. Please follow Real Dads Network on IG @realdadsnetwork & go to www.realdadsnetwork.org

Recently featured on CBS News, 12-year-old Atlanta native Caleb Anderson has already been accepted to Georgia Tech, and plans to study aerospace engineering.

Caleb’s mother, Claire, says she first realized her son was gifted when he was four weeks old and began mimicking her speech. By age two, he could read the U.S. Constitution and could complete fractions!

I'm excited that Dan Lish just released his EgoStrip Book 1, a beautiful collection of Dan Lish's stunning character illustrations from Hip Hop and the world. Dan Lish has been creating characters and worlds professionally for over 25 years. ... This passion drew him to New York, where he lived and worked for 8 years as a Concept Artist and freelance illustrator for clients including; Rockstar Games, Lucas Arts and Sony. Beginning in 2014, he began a series of illustrations on his train commute from Brighton to London which would come to be known as Egostrip: “Using a little black book and an ink pen I drew my favourite hip hop artists taking a journey into my stream of consciousness.”

Dan’s work has seen support from the likes of Pharoahe Monch, DJ Prince Paul, Biz Markie, De La Soul and many more – J Live provides the foreword for the book and Raekwon has given his Chef’s kiss of approval, following Dan’s cover work on The Wild album in 2017.  I digged into The Chronicles of a Hip Hop Legend (#TCOHHL) Radio archives and discovered the interview myself, D. Turner, C. Stats, and Maya Socialista discuss the latest and greatest in Hip Hop news and other topics and also, kick it with Hip Hop's visual artist, Dan Lish. This was a great opportunity to explore the life, career, and inspiration behind Dan's artwork.

Call yourself a Hip Hop and art enthusiasts? Then this episode is for you!

Visit http://www.egotripland.com/artist-dan-lish/ and http://danlish.com to see Dan’s artwork. Also, visit https://tcohhl.wordpress.com/2016/01/10/artist-dan-lish-depicts-hip-hops-legends-in-a-different-light/ to see our write-up on Dan Lish

I want thank everyone who has subscribed to the YouTube channel &  just the audio podcast which is available on All podcast platforms... My goal with Dad is Not a Noun is to do my part to change narrative for men of color in fatherhood.. I'm not father, but I'm a fan of great fathers and this platform is dedicated to you. I created this YouTube Channel while my job was shutdown due to covid19 and it has been amazing experience to talk to so many amazing people with the mindset of community. One of my favorite interviews was  with Principal Tabari Wallace via IG Live, who's been on Ellen and his story been shared on all major network outlets for a in depth  conversation on why he was named Principal Of The Year in 2018. He is more  than just the principal of West Craven High School, who  enlisted 14 groups of educators to visit every senior stuck at home. He is a visionary, educator, and leader who

has transformed three schools in six years to educational excellence.

On this episode of Dad Is Not A Noun I decided to dig into the The Chronicles of a Hip Hop Legend (#TCOHHL) Radio archives and in 2015 myself, D.D. Turner and C. Stats, kicked it with Will Feagins Jr.; Creator and Director of the newly released documentary, Divided Time. Divided Time explores the lives of Hip Hop/Recording Artists attempting to find a balance between the joyous responsibility of parenthood and the ever-present allure of pursuing that which they are passionate about...Their music. But what happens when the pursuit of passion isn’t providing resources for the family’s sustainability? Shit! In the words of Ronald Johnson from A Different World, “You get a job!”