EP. 006 - MATTHEW

Photo Credit - Matthew Cuban

Poet. Prison Counselor. Educator.

MATTHEW CUBAN 'GREAT DEPRESSION'

Age: 32

Location: Los Angeles, California

My depression is America. I wasn’t born hating myself. I was taught it. My self-loathing was the result of living as a brown boy in a tactically planned environment. Hoods don’t become hoods by accident. They’re designed to breed depression. [Depress.Verb. 1. make (someone) feel utterly dispirited or dejected.] Social engineering reduces and deflates the morale of our communities.

Fortunately for me, I had Ivanna. My mother was the most empathic person I know. Strangers of all classes would walk up to her on the street and she would know exactly what they needed to hear because she could see their raw form. She saw their intention. Because of this, she lived a life free of judgement. She took me to my first poetry event, a show at Jacksonville’s Black History Museum. This moment altered my path.

Photo Credit - Matthew Cuban

Art expanded my ability to travel and see the world. My mother’s love expanded my ability to travel and see people. To know what they need. The young people I work with need a chance to fly, and a chance to fail without punishment.

I bring art where there is none. I know firsthand that young kids in the hood are fundamentally changed by seeing something outside of what they know. And that starts with creating something outside of what they know. As we continue to create new worlds, we prevent ourselves from being devoured and depressed by this one.