OnCore Interviews Valentino Dixon, Artist Who Drew His Way Out of Prison with Augusta Picture... — Transcript

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1. 0:03From his tiny cell, the gifted artist
2. 0:05put pencil to paper to pass the time.
3. 0:07Valentino Dixon spent 27 years in prison
4. 0:10after being wrongfully convicted of
5. 0:12murder. I could listen to this a lot
6. 0:14longer because it's the most
7. 0:15extraordinary story.
8. 0:17finally exonerated thanks in large part
9. 0:19to a remarkable skill and some colored
10. 0:21pencils.
11. 0:22Valentino Dixon and Tiger Woods were
12. 0:24shoulder to shoulder.
13. 0:25Valentino Dixon nominated for two Emmys
14. 0:27and a gold medal recipient from the
15. 0:29Vatican.
16. 0:31The greatest golfer of all time, Jack
17. 0:33Nicklaus. I have great respect for for
18. 0:35for for for Nelson Mandela.
19. 0:38Wow.
20. 0:39He's been commissioned to be the
21. 0:41official artist of the Jack Nicklaus
22. 0:43golf course designs in Buffalo. Gather
23. 0:45all of these images.
24. 0:48Then I'm going to play with it in my
25. 0:49brain. Then I'm going to start working
26. 0:50things.
27. 0:51Last month, former First Lady Michelle
28. 0:53Obama bought Dixon's drawing of the 12th
29. 0:55hole of the Augusta National Golf Club
30. 0:57as a Christmas present for former
31. 0:59President Barack Obama. Obama's post and
32. 1:02his backstory
33. 1:04went viral. He's at Augusta National
34. 1:06getting golf lessons from eight-time
35. 1:08major championship winner Tom Watson.
36. 1:10Featured in four issues of Golf Digest
37. 1:12and appeared on In Play with Jimmy
38. 1:14Roberts.
39. 1:29I'm on my way in the Encore building to
40. 1:32do a podcast.
41. 1:34And they surprised me. They did a golf
42. 1:36ball
43. 1:37with my name on it, Valentino Dixon.
44. 1:42And Encore is a company that makes golf
45. 1:44balls, revolutionary golf balls.
46. 1:46Even though I'm not much of a golfer,
47. 1:49you know, it's a special thing for me to
48. 1:50have an Encore ball
49. 1:52and to be a part of this company.
50. 2:25What's going on team Encore? We've got
51. 2:27an exciting guest here today
52. 2:29on our podcast, Valentino Dixon,
53. 2:32world-renowned artist.
54. 2:34Just an incredible story.
55. 2:36Um, for those of you that don't know,
56. 2:37Valentino spent 27 years of his life in
57. 2:41prison for a crime he didn't commit. Um,
58. 2:44he's from Buffalo, New York. Encore Golf
59. 2:46is based out of Buffalo, New York.
60. 2:49And when I heard about the story,
61. 2:52um, and realized Valentino was in
62. 2:53Buffalo,
63. 2:55I reached out to him, cold called him
64. 2:56and just said, "Hey Valentino, we're
65. 2:58we're a golf ball company. We're in
66. 2:59Buffalo. Your story is incredibly
67. 3:01inspiring.
68. 3:03Um, would love to connect and and that's
69. 3:05how we're here sitting sitting today."
70. 3:07So, Valentino, welcome welcome to the
71. 3:09Encore Golf podcast. Thanks for having
72. 3:11me, Steve.
73. 3:12So, tell us about what life life was
74. 3:15like growing up as a kid in Buffalo.
75. 3:17Well, I grew up in inner city, you know,
76. 3:19and you know, an inner city is not um,
77. 3:23easy.
78. 3:24Okay, there's a lot of challenges in
79. 3:27that you know, a young black kid faces
80. 3:29in the city. You know, and if you don't
81. 3:30make the right choices,
82. 3:32you could either find yourself dead or
83. 3:34in prison. And that was just my reality.
84. 3:37Sure.
85. 3:38And
86. 3:40as a kid, what what were your dreams and
87. 3:44what what did you, you know, aspire to
88. 3:46grow up to be?
89. 3:47football every day. Okay. Okay, and I
90. 3:49wanted to be a wide receiver in the NFL.
91. 3:52I was pretty good.
92. 3:53And I also loved to draw. I started
93. 3:56drawing when I was about about 4 years
94. 3:59old.
95. 4:00And my grammar school art teacher
96. 4:01noticed my talent and she really took to
97. 4:04me, Mrs. Charlotte Ross, wonderful
98. 4:07woman.
99. 4:09And she eventually got me into
100. 4:10performing arts in the seventh grade
101. 4:12where I went all the way to a senior
102. 4:14year, you know, for artwork.
103. 4:17But that's what I love to do, football
104. 4:19and draw.
105. 4:21And so,
106. 4:24I know you kind of Mhm. art went away
107. 4:26for a while. Um, yeah.
108. 4:28You know, tell us tell us about kind of
109. 4:31how
110. 4:32how you ended up, you know, wrongfully
111. 4:35Okay. in prison and and how that all
112. 4:37came about for our listeners that may
113. 4:38not know your story. Well, after high
114. 4:40school,
115. 4:42I made some bad decisions, you know,
116. 4:44start start to hanging out in the
117. 4:45streets, hanging out with the wrong
118. 4:46crowd.
119. 4:48And um, you know, found myself in
120. 4:50trouble with the law a few times. Okay.
121. 4:53In August 10th, 1991, I was hanging out
122. 4:56with friends and family members. And it
123. 4:59was about 90 90-person crowd at Louis'
124. 5:02restaurant.
125. 5:03And uh, some guys pulled up and started
126. 5:06shooting.
127. 5:07And a friend of mine returned fire.
128. 5:10You know, and I ran to my car and took
129. 5:12off. You know, everybody kind of
130. 5:14scattered.
131. 5:16And these guys that started shooting
132. 5:17actually shot a a a friend of mine.
133. 5:20Okay.
134. 5:21And I was um,
135. 5:24pulled over and taken in to questioning,
136. 5:27you know, which I didn't I denied that I
137. 5:28was there at the scene of the crime.
138. 5:31And as well 90 other people. So, I
139. 5:33thought things were going to be cleared
140. 5:35up.
141. 5:36But being that I was out on bail, you
142. 5:39know, it was just not a good look.
143. 5:42You know, and the police charged me with
144. 5:44murder, attempted murder and assault.
145. 5:47And I still thought it would get cleared
146. 5:49up. You know. Well, long story short, I
147. 5:52could not afford
148. 5:53a good attorney and I had to go with a
149. 5:55public defender.
150. 5:57And within 2 days, eight people came
151. 5:59forward to clear me to crime. And my
152. 6:02friend that committed the crime turned
153. 6:04himself in to the police and confessed
154. 6:06and explained what happened.
155. 6:08Well, he was told to leave the police
156. 6:10station and the witnesses were
157. 6:12disregarded.
158. 6:1310 months later, I found myself going to
159. 6:15trial with this public defender
160. 6:18who did not call any of the witnesses to
161. 6:20the stand and did not present the
162. 6:22confession to the jury. The jury never
163. 6:25even knew another person confessed to
164. 6:26this crime.
165. 6:28And the lawyer at the time, he felt that
166. 6:31there was no evidence and that we didn't
167. 6:33need to call any witnesses. You know, I
168. 6:35was 21 years at the time,
169. 6:37but I knew that it was wrong. I knew I
170. 6:39needed I needed a defense and I needed
171. 6:41somebody to come in here to clear me.
172. 6:43And I complained to the judge about
173. 6:44this. You know, and I was told to remain
174. 6:47quiet and that I was a disruption in the
175. 6:49courtroom.
176. 6:50And which I did, I remained quiet.
177. 6:52And the jury came back and found me
178. 6:55guilty. And I was given a 39-year prison
179. 6:57sentence.
180. 6:59And I found myself in Attica
181. 7:01Correctional Facility.
182. 7:04And so,
183. 7:07tell us about kind of how
184. 7:10you adjusted to life. Obviously, you
185. 7:13know, you over the years you you
186. 7:15studied, you learned law, you you know,
187. 7:18you read 800 books.
188. 7:21Um, Close to 800.
189. 7:23And you had you had you had to stop
190. 7:25drawing for a while, right? Well, and
191. 7:28kind of,
192. 7:29you know, obviously,
193. 7:31um,
194. 7:32you know, I I can only imagine the
195. 7:34amount of the emotions and just things
196. 7:36you had to work through with everything
197. 7:37going on. But tell us a little bit about
198. 7:39what life was like in there and and how
199. 7:41you kind of managed day-to-day. Okay.
200. 7:44Well, I I stopped drawing for 10 years.
201. 7:47Okay.
202. 7:48After high school,
203. 7:50I stopped drawing and then I went to
204. 7:52prison. I got arrested at 21. So, that's
205. 7:553 years. And I went to the prison, I
206. 7:58didn't draw for the first 7 years. So,
207. 8:00that's a 10-year gap of not drawing, no
208. 8:02artwork, no painting, no nothing. Okay.
209. 8:05And my Uncle Ronnie, he says, "Hey,
210. 8:08all my appeals have been denied. After 7
211. 8:11years, all my appeals denied."
212. 8:13He says, "Hey, you may have to draw
213. 8:14yourself out of prison."
214. 8:16And I'm like, "What the hell is you
215. 8:18talking about?" You know.
216. 8:20And he sent me some color pencils and
217. 8:22some paper.
218. 8:24And I tossed it to the side and it
219. 8:27collected some dust.
220. 8:29And I would call him once a month. And
221. 8:31he says, "Hey, you start drawing yet?" I
222. 8:33says, "No, Uncle, I didn't start drawing
223. 8:35yet." He says, "Hey, you may have to
224. 8:37draw yourself out of prison. If you if
225. 8:40you can reclaim your talent, you can
226. 8:42reclaim your life."
227. 8:43Wow.
228. 8:45He gave me something to think about.
229. 8:48You know, I had become an avid reader,
230. 8:50you know, so I wasn't just, you know,
231. 8:52wasting my days, you know. And I was
232. 8:56always the type of kid that wanted to
233. 8:57learn about everything. So, I read
234. 8:59everything from real estate to self-help
235. 9:02autobiographies,
236. 9:04history, you know, finance, just name
237. 9:07it, I read it, you know. And I wanted to
238. 9:09take the time to equip myself.
239. 9:13Okay. Now, here comes this idea for me
240. 9:16to start drawing again.
241. 9:19And when he said, "You you may have to
242. 9:22draw yourself out of prison," it started
243. 9:24to resonate. Okay.
244. 9:27And I was not even sure if I still had
245. 9:29the talent.
246. 9:31But I took a chance and I drew a rose.
247. 9:33And when I drew this rose,
248. 9:36the other inmates who knew me for years
249. 9:38says, "You know how to draw?" So, it was
250. 9:40kind of embarrassing, you know.
251. 9:43And I said, "Yeah, I know how to I think
252. 9:45I know how to draw." I said, "Oh, you're
253. 9:47a wonderful artist. Wow, this is this is
254. 9:49cool." You know, so that kind of gave me
255. 9:51a push to keep going.
256. 9:53And
257. 9:55I started drawing every day.
258. 9:57And then I never stopped. And I would
259. 9:59draw up to 10 hours a day,
260. 10:01you know, and then read another 3 hours.
261. 10:04Then go work out for hour.
262. 10:07So that was my whole day. My whole days
263. 10:09was taken up. You know, and
264. 10:12I did this for the last 20 years of
265. 10:15prison. Never taking a day off.
266. 10:18Okay? But But after 20 years,
267. 10:21the prison warden came to me and he
268. 10:23says, "Hey Valentino." Cuz I was known
269. 10:25as the artist in Attica by then.
270. 10:27Everybody knew me. The The warden would
271. 10:29walk by and see me drawing. He said,
272. 10:31"You think you can draw my favorite golf
273. 10:33hole?"
274. 10:34And I'm like,
275. 10:36"I don't know warden. I'm from the inner
276. 10:37city. I never golfed before, you know."
277. 10:40He know where I'm from. We both started
278. 10:41laughing. But I knew I could draw the
279. 10:44picture. I said, "Whatever it is, bring
280. 10:45it in." So he brought me in the 12th
281. 10:48hole of Augusta.
282. 10:49What is Augusta? What is the 12th hole
283. 10:51of Augusta? I have no clue. Okay? But it
284. 10:54seems interesting. It has this bridge,
285. 10:57you know, has these flowers, you know,
286. 10:59it's different than your ordinary golf
287. 11:01course. It has character to it as far as
288. 11:03I'm concerned, you know. And
289. 11:06I drew it for him. He loved it. And this
290. 11:08is the picture right here. This is a
291. 11:09copy,
292. 11:10you know, of the 12th hole of First Golf
293. 11:13Drawing. First one. First one.
294. 11:16And he loved it. He took it home. He
295. 11:20made me a copy.
296. 11:22And so I was done with golf. I mean,
297. 11:26I'm in This is a world that I know
298. 11:28nothing about.
299. 11:30And my neighbor Adam Robers,
300. 11:33he was pretty smart guy who attended
301. 11:36Syracuse University. Okay? He says, "Hey
302. 11:39Valentino, you might, you know, need to
303. 11:41draw, you know, some more golf holes." I
304. 11:44said, "Adam, what the hell are you
305. 11:45talking about? What am I drawing golf
306. 11:47holes for?"
307. 11:48He says, "You know, it doesn't hurt to
308. 11:50put together a collection, some type of
309. 11:51collection, you know. Could be helpful
310. 11:54to have a collection." So I says, "Well,
311. 11:56hmm, I don't know Adam."
312. 11:59So he came and tossed some Golf Digest
313. 12:01magazines on my bed maybe a week later,
314. 12:03old issues. He said, "The guy upstairs,
315. 12:06he gets the Golf Digest every month. He
316. 12:08has a ton of old issues, you know. So I
317. 12:10told him about you drawing the warden's
318. 12:12golf hole and he sent these down."
319. 12:15So you know what? About maybe 4 or 5
320. 12:17days later, I started looking through
321. 12:18the
322. 12:19the issues. I said, "You know what?
323. 12:21Maybe I might find something here that's
324. 12:23interesting, that's worth drawing."
325. 12:25And
326. 12:26I believe I came across Pebble Beach.
327. 12:28All right.
328. 12:30It had a lot of character to it and it
329. 12:31was right on the ocean. Okay? So I drew
330. 12:34Pebble Beach. The other inmates are
331. 12:36coming by. I don't know what they're
332. 12:38going to think. I'm thinking that
333. 12:39they're not going to be too keen on me
334. 12:41drawing golf courses. They're used to me
335. 12:43drawing either abstract art, African
336. 12:45art, animals, things like that, you
337. 12:48know. Guys in prison,
338. 12:50what could they know about the world of
339. 12:51golf, you know? You just think that, you
340. 12:54know,
341. 12:55these people come from a different um
342. 13:00environment that does not equal to golf,
343. 13:05you know. And I I hate to say that, but
344. 13:06that's that's that's my reality. Sure.
345. 13:09You know? But surprisingly,
346. 13:12the guys in prison love the golf
347. 13:14drawings.
348. 13:16And I'm like, "Wow, these guys Have you
349. 13:18ever golfed?" "No, I never golfed
350. 13:20before, but I love that picture."
351. 13:21You know what I'm saying? Wow. And
352. 13:24so if this non-golfer loves this
353. 13:26picture,
354. 13:28is it the golfers have to love this
355. 13:30picture eventually. They have They see
356. 13:32this, they have to love it. So I started
357. 13:34drawing golf courses
358. 13:36every single day.
359. 13:39Every day I was doing a different golf
360. 13:42Well, maybe every other day I was doing
361. 13:43a different golf course.
362. 13:45So I started drawing golf courses every
363. 13:47day.
364. 13:48And
365. 13:52I just went everywhere, you know. I went
366. 13:54Every Any golf course that I thought had
367. 13:56character, I was drawing it. Okay?
368. 13:59And after I had about 40 drawings, 40
369. 14:02different golf courses,
370. 14:04I
371. 14:05started reading the columns in the Golf
372. 14:09Digest magazine with golf with Golf
373. 14:11Saved My Life by Max Adler. Okay? And
374. 14:14each month Max would cover
375. 14:16a story of some type of challenge that
376. 14:20someone was going through. And the only
377. 14:22time they felt good is when they golfed.
378. 14:25One guy had been in Iraqi war. He lost
379. 14:27his arm. And he said the only time his
380. 14:30spirit felt alive is when he golfed. So
381. 14:32I started to correlate that with my
382. 14:34situation. I had 20 years in prison, you
383. 14:37know, and
384. 14:39I felt like golf was giving me a new
385. 14:41lease on life. It was strange, you know.
386. 14:43I never golfed, but here I am drawing
387. 14:45these golf courses and I felt like I was
388. 14:46in this peaceful place.
389. 14:48And so I eventually went from this size
390. 14:51and I moved up to that size right there,
391. 14:54to a 20 by 30.
392. 14:55It's gorgeous. Yeah, and that right
393. 14:57there is the 13th hole of Augusta. Why
394. 15:00Augusta? Because Augusta has so many
395. 15:02pretty, beautiful landscapes, you know.
396. 15:06The The brown dirt, the flowers, the
397. 15:09trees. There's always some type of
398. 15:11little bridge basically going through
399. 15:14parts of Augusta.
400. 15:15And
401. 15:17so I decided to write a four-page letter
402. 15:20to the Golf Digest and explain what
403. 15:22happened to me. Okay?
404. 15:24And that I was in prison, a black kid
405. 15:26from the inner city that never golfed.
406. 15:28I'm in prison drawing golf courses. I
407. 15:30sent them one of the drawings. He was so
408. 15:32taken by the story that he asked to see
409. 15:36my trial transcripts. I explained to him
410. 15:39that I was innocent. And once Max read
411. 15:42my trial transcripts,
412. 15:44he concluded like anybody else would
413. 15:46have that I didn't commit this crime.
414. 15:49And he told me that he was going to
415. 15:51write about this.
416. 15:53And in July 2012, I came out three-page
417. 15:56article on the Golf Digest magazine,
418. 15:59which got the attention of the Golf
419. 16:00Channel.
420. 16:01And they did a short documentary which
421. 16:03was nominated for Emmy Award. Huh. Which
422. 16:06got the attention of Associated Press
423. 16:08and news outlets all over the country.
424. 16:11Which eventually got the attention of
425. 16:12Georgetown University,
426. 16:14who I worked with for 6 months, the
427. 16:17undergrad students, three undergrad
428. 16:19students.
429. 16:20And we discovered a Brady violation that
430. 16:23the prosecutor committed. In essence
431. 16:26that when I was arrested, my car and my
432. 16:29clothes was taken in for evidence to see
433. 16:31if I fired a weapon.
434. 16:32Well, anyway, once these items were
435. 16:34tested, they were never turned over.
436. 16:37And
437. 16:39ultimately, this is what freed me, you
438. 16:42know. The students did a documentary and
439. 16:44the prosecutor actually admitted that
440. 16:46the evidence came back negative, but he
441. 16:49never turned it over.
442. 16:50And never disclosed it.
443. 16:51Yeah, never disclosed the
444. 16:52the evidence. And ultimately, this is
445. 16:55what cleared me.
446. 16:58So
447. 17:00in prison, you you had a reputation of
448. 17:03of helping out fellow prisoners. They'd
449. 17:05come to you for advice. How How did that
450. 17:08come about? I think I've I've heard you
451. 17:10say you're you were the Dr. Phil of
452. 17:12Yeah, well, they called me the black Dr.
453. 17:13Phil.
454. 17:13Dr. Phil, okay. Because
455. 17:16as I said, Steve, I read everything,
456. 17:18man. You know, anything that could help
457. 17:20uplift a person, I was reading it. And
458. 17:23prison is a place that's designed to
459. 17:24break your spirit. Very depressing, you
460. 17:27know, it can be a very, you know, you
461. 17:30know, dangerous place. You know, people
462. 17:32are on edge all the time, you know, um
463. 17:38different
464. 17:40personalities clash, you know. Guys are
465. 17:44going through different things.
466. 17:45And
467. 17:47they would come to me, you know, with
468. 17:49the family issues, you know, legal
469. 17:52issues, uh everyday prison issues, you
470. 17:56know. And because prison is such a
471. 17:58violent place, I had a model that 99% of
472. 18:01the time,
473. 18:03these issues can be resolved without
474. 18:04violence. Okay? So whenever I became
475. 18:08aware of a situation within the prison,
476. 18:10I took a chance, even though I had all
477. 18:13of these
478. 18:14drawings around me, I took a chance to
479. 18:17go to try to resolve the issue. Okay?
480. 18:19Even some of the prison guards came to
481. 18:21me with you know, with family
482. 18:23issues. Yeah. And you know, spousal
483. 18:27issues. I read books on relationships,
484. 18:29all kind of stuff like that, you know.
485. 18:31So
486. 18:32you know,
487. 18:33you throw a scenario up at me, a
488. 18:35situation, and you know, and I'm going
489. 18:37to give you my best um solution, you
490. 18:41know. And And usually, you know, I make
491. 18:43sure that it's a good solution, that
492. 18:45it's just not something that I don't
493. 18:47have any proof to support it.
494. 18:49Sure. Okay? You don't want to give
495. 18:51somebody bad information, you know. Uh
496. 18:54But yeah, they called me the black Dr.
497. 18:56Phil. And which is why,
498. 18:58you know, I would be drawing and talking
499. 19:01almost all day long. So if I'm drawing
500. 19:03for 10 hours, I got inmates coming to my
501. 19:05cell.
502. 19:07It'd be five guys lined up. One guy as
503. 19:10I'm talking to and these other four is
504. 19:11waiting. Yeah, it was crazy, a crazy
505. 19:13scene. And
506. 19:15And this came with, you know, me being
507. 19:17in prison so long, you know. I didn't Of
508. 19:20course I didn't have this type of
509. 19:21influence early on. I was, you know,
510. 19:23nobody that nobody I wasn't I was not a
511. 19:26person that nobody wanted to come to for
512. 19:28advice, you know. But because of my
513. 19:31studies and you know, where my mind took
514. 19:34me, you know, people begin to recognize
515. 19:38that, you know, he's not only practical,
516. 19:41but, you know, his solution and his
517. 19:45conclusion here is a good one for us. So
518. 19:47let's trust his judgment, you know, that
519. 19:49type of thing. But you know, this is
520. 19:52what prompted me to come out with the
521. 19:54Drawing Talk with Me show,
522. 19:56you know, cuz I watched Bob Ross paint,
523. 19:59you know, on PBS.
524. 20:01And
525. 20:02because I was drawing and talking, I
526. 20:03said, "You know what? I want to do a
527. 20:04drawing talk show. I want to bring
528. 20:06people on my show, teach them how to
529. 20:07draw, and let's talk about a real life
530. 20:10issue." You know, I've had athletes on
531. 20:13my show, pro athletes, three Hall of
532. 20:15Famers, you know, a heart doctor, school
533. 20:17kids, teachers, 20 people that has
534. 20:20Parkinson's disease, you know, a Buffalo
535. 20:23police officer, you know, the list goes
536. 20:25on. A homeless person. How did this
537. 20:26person become homeless? This person has
538. 20:28a story here, you know, and it's
539. 20:30important to try to learn about the
540. 20:33things that we don't know about.
541. 20:35So,
542. 20:36how did you get to that place where you
543. 20:38could forgive
544. 20:40people who who
545. 20:42you know, did wrong by you?
546. 20:44And come out and and make such a huge
547. 20:47success of yourself? Well,
548. 20:49the Bible tells us that God forgives us.
549. 20:52So, who am I not to forgive the person
550. 20:54that wrongs me?
551. 20:55Okay?
552. 20:56And I'm a healthy guy.
553. 20:59I made it out of there. I'm going to be
554. 21:01grateful for that. You know, when I was
555. 21:03in prison, I paid attention to what was
556. 21:05going on in the world. You hear about
557. 21:07horrific things happening every day,
558. 21:09whether it's a car accident, a fire, a
559. 21:1110-year-old kid losing their life to
560. 21:13cancer. Okay? I'm a 51-year-old guy. I'm
561. 21:16going to be grateful and thankful that I
562. 21:18made it to 51 years old. You know, most
563. 21:20people look at me and they say, "This
564. 21:22guy He didn't do a day in prison." How
565. 21:24do you do 27 years in prison?
566. 21:25Impossible, you know, and that's just
567. 21:29another blessing from from our creator.
568. 21:33I watching one of your videos, one of
569. 21:35your interviews, and and someone
570. 21:37commented that
571. 21:39you know, you look so young and
572. 21:40youthful, and they said, "God God
573. 21:42blessed him with two lives." Oh, wow.
574. 21:44Wow. Well, you know, sometimes God can
575. 21:47bless us with 10 lives.
576. 21:49You know, because life is a progressive
577. 21:52thing.
578. 21:53All right? And I would like to think I'm
579. 21:55always constantly reinventing myself.
580. 21:57Okay? What is it What is it I haven't
581. 21:59done? What is it I need to do?
582. 22:02What is it I need to avoid?
583. 22:04Okay? What do I want to do
584. 22:06in the next year or accomplish in the
585. 22:08next 5 years? Okay? And but it's all
586. 22:12about getting better, and then helping
587. 22:15others get better.
588. 22:18What would you say the next chapter
589. 22:20for Valentino Dixon is? Well, the next
590. 22:23chapter is Well, for me is my book will
591. 22:25be coming out, hopefully in about 6
592. 22:28months.
593. 22:29You know, The Soul of an Unfree Man.
594. 22:31I'll get a Netflix deal. Nice.
595. 22:33Okay, for my Drawing Talk with Me show.
596. 22:36A documentary will be released and a
597. 22:38movie. I'm talking with two filmmakers
598. 22:40right now.
599. 22:42But, most importantly,
600. 22:44how do I make the world a better place?
601. 22:47How do I take this success and help
602. 22:49those in need? Okay? And
603. 22:52this is the type of legacy that I want
604. 22:54to leave.
605. 22:56And for for our listeners, Team Encore,
606. 23:00how can we help? How how can audience
607. 23:03members that that are moved by your
608. 23:04story Okay. help?
609. 23:06Well,
610. 23:07what you can get from me
611. 23:09and take from me is that to never give
612. 23:12up.
613. 23:13No matter what you're going through,
614. 23:15we're all going to be tested with
615. 23:16something, but we don't get to decide
616. 23:17the test. Mine was 27 years of wrongful
617. 23:20imprisonment. Yours may be a death in
618. 23:22the family. May be a
619. 23:24illness that you're going to have to
620. 23:25battle through.
621. 23:27Okay? But, just know that if you hang in
622. 23:30there and if you stay strong and you
623. 23:32stay positive,
624. 23:33that things are going to turn out great
625. 23:35for you.
626. 23:37And how you can help is donate to my
627. 23:39prison reform foundation, the Valentino
628. 23:42Dixon Foundation, which helps to stop
629. 23:45wrongful convictions and also to
630. 23:49help these inner city kids stay out of
631. 23:51trouble, to provide programs for these
632. 23:53kids. They don't have anything. Okay?
633. 23:55And I want to build a community center,
634. 23:57a learning center on the east side. My
635. 23:58neighborhood There's nothing there for
636. 24:00these kids.
637. 24:01And, you know, anybody that sees this,
638. 24:04hey, get in touch with me and possibly
639. 24:06help me raise some money,
640. 24:08you know, for we can make these things a
641. 24:10reality.
642. 24:11Thank you for joining us, Valentino.
643. 24:13Appreciate it.
644. 24:15Thank you.