Out of the Blocks
Aaron Henkin, Wendel PatrickOut of the Blocks
Out of the Blocks is a uniquely immersive listening experience that emerges from a mosaic of voices and soundscapes on the streets of Baltimore. A custom-tailored score colors and connects this tapestry of stories hidden in plain sight.
2017
Out of the Blocks is a uniquely immersive listening experience that emerges from a mosaic of voices and soundscapes on the streets of Baltimore. A custom-tailored score colors and connects this tapestry of stories hidden in plain sight.
2017
Don’t let your past determine your future.
We're still writing that story.
The pandemic has taught me to pay attention to what you do have.
The words that I was speaking at that time, I didn’t recognize how much power they had.
Heaven’s algorithm opened up a window that gave us a blessing.
I’m older, and it seems like I tear up more when I see beautiful things.
I don’t care if I got a million dollars or one dollar. I stay the same.
I sometimes think that fear actually attracts fear.
To be honest, same song. I’m tired. I just don’t know how to stay stopped.
At that point, I was on my knees, crawling. Now, I’m actually able to walk.
Listening to myself, I just couldn’t believe where I was at that point.
Every time you feel like giving up, keep looking up
Is there a musicality to the order of the cosmos?
Would that be an emotion to have about it? Sick of it?
We’re not a museum. We’re a business.
A quick message from Aaron & Wendel
We have a crazy relationship, but we love each other.
To everything there is a season. I guess this is just the end of this season.
I got something on the inside of me that the world needs.
You can’t make a change unless you’re in the middle of that change.
We still suffer from disinvestment by the powers-that-be. How much longer is it going to take?
I’ve been surviving for a mighty, mighty long time.
Being a barber, one of the most important things you learn is to listen.
And when you fall, forgive yourself and get back up again.
Mother Nature and I, we have an agreement.
Art says more about the artist than anything else. You’re going to bring your own story.
I grew up learning to survive and scrapping it out. Not succeeding really isn’t an option.
We might bend, but we don’t break.
Just like in life, this thing changes. This was a lump of clay, and now it became what it’s supposed to be.
Do what you love to do. If you don’t, you’re going to be miserable, and that’s not what life is about.
"Some people get breaks. Some people don’t.”
There's beauty in waking up, and there's pain in waking up.
I’m not no gourmet chef or anything, but I got some skills.
My dad’s not too big on compliments, but he hasn’t killed me yet, so I think I’m doing alright.
It certainly is a test of a relationship, I think.
If the winds are right, I could be to the Bahamas in ten days. It’s nice to have the option.
People say Baltimore has grit and character. That character is because of the people.
What’s it sound like when 150 kids head out into the streets of Seoul to interview strangers?
I got shot two times, and I walked out of Shock Trauma three hours later.
If you live and breathe, you’re in politics.
Once you know your past, you know where you’re going.
I said, 'Maybe I could contribute to helping somebody. Maybe I could start a podcast that could start their recovery process.'
Each day starts off at ground zero. Based on my motivation, it’ll either be mundane or it’ll be a masterpiece.
Most people see a warden as a dictator. I think I'm a problem solver.
If you ask a question, be prepared for the answer.
Things are different now. Nowadays, the enemy is invisible.
No matter what they did to us, we’re still surviving.
I continuously push them, and I accept no excuses. I refuse for our youth to think that excuses are OK, because they’re pricey. They cost a lot.
You can’t help it if you were born in a tornado. You’re going to have to learn how to fly.
To be frank, the unrest started long before the riots, and the unrest is still happening today.
Between two people a thousand miles away, there is a red ribbon that connects them.
Why? I’ve been faithful, God, and I’ve served you. I just don’t understand, and I have not gotten an answer.
It’s the land of opportunity. But I’m still looking for a better way of life.
Thank you for always having my back all these years. It’s been a long time.
I quit my job, and here I am today, working longer hours than ever before, but enjoying every minute of it.
We don’t have to shrivel up in order fit into the world. We really can be as strong as we are.
You add up your money at the end of the week, you pay that bill, and then you do it all over again.
There are so many realities going on in the same space.
Once you forget the struggle, you won’t appreciate where you are.
The back-story of an audio bro-mance
How do you deal with the negativity? It's coming at you from all directions. What makes it worth it? Why?
Got scars, warts, and wrinkles, and we ain’t afraid to show it.
As bad as the whole crack epidemic was, it didn’t compare to the change that I saw from, like, 2008 to 2012 in Detroit.
Cut this episode into pieces, then build your own!
I told him, "Man, you're alive. Thank God you're still alive. THAT'S the 'good morning.'"
I see all the problems in America – and all the solutions – all on one block.
The filthiest scene in a film, ever, was filmed here on this block of Read Street.
My father came here to find the tree of wealth. When he married my mom and had children, he realized that tree of wealth wasn’t money, but it was us.
This neighborhood is a little bit of a bubble. You’re surrounded by people who look like you and speak the same language as you. Seattle is my home, but in a way, this little neighborhood is my home within that bubble.
“As a musician, you have a responsibility to not give something away too early.” Wendel Patrick
Life is too short, the world is too cruel. Just love one another.
Stories about making a living, and trying to live life along the way
We’re from an urban population. We never had tepees. We had houses, just like everybody else did.
I love my city, and I rep it to the death.
When World War II broke out, that’s when it began to change, because at that time they let blacks move where they wanted to move.
Desegregation began the exodus out of The Ville. It was sort of like a gift and a curse.
I remember, my kindergarten teacher told me, 'You know what you are? You're a square trying to fit in a circle.'
This is quite possibly the first time ever that a musical score for a podcast was written for, and performed by, a full symphony orchestra.
Years ago, I could walk from Falls Road to Chestnut Avenue, and honest truth, I would know everyone. Absolutely everyone. And you can't say that anymore.
Neighbors. That's what we were. Now, the new houses, nobody from this neighborhood can afford them.
So many people come through this area, from the man who asks for change to the man in the tailored suit.
Melanated people - we are here. We are thriving. Our businesses are thriving. The return to kings and queens is here. We are vibrating higher by the millions.
The whole concept of Black Wall Street is becoming more real. We have solid business leadership and core values here. It’s good to have businesses, but where’s our political power?
I repossess autos, boats, motorcycles, things of that nature. It’s rough. I’m just the messenger.
Redemption comes in many forms here. Every day you can find someone who can claim redemption because they walked into Paul’s Place, including me.
If what I tell you can help just one of you all, then I feel good because I know that somebody actually heard what I was saying and took it to heart.
You walk into the ring and all of a sudden it's like you wake up and you're standing in the middle of traffic. The only way you get out of this alive is if you hurt somebody.
We have our own community here. It's like no other neighborhood. We're R.I.C.H. Raised in Cherry Hill.
This place, people counted it out to drown. But Cherry Hill is literally that. We are a hill. I don’t care how much water you surround us by. We are a hill that will always stand and will always be bold.
It’s not always peaches and cream, but this is a place that you know is always going to be real.
Between two people a thousand miles away, there's a red ribbon that connects them.
My dad had a meat shop here in the market.I grew up working for him. There was no heat, no air conditioning. If it was 25 degrees outside, it was 25 degrees in here.
All this headache, I'm going to leave it one day. One day, I'm going to find a good life.
When they opened up, I remember Saturday nights the lines were out the door because it was such a novelty to have kosher pizza in Baltimore.
Greektown is still a tight-knit community, but the radius has been decreasing over the years. It's turning into a melting pot again.
We live a life to where we know how certain stories end, and we're trying to write an end to a whole different story.
I smile, even when it hurts.
Everybody sticks together, no matter what.
Young Wisdom
January 21, 202128min 35sec
Have you ever been a mentor to someone? Maybe you had a mentor of your own? How did it change your life? January is National Mentoring Month, and this episode we turn our attention to the voices and the stories of some young Baltimoreans we met through a network called Maryland MENTOR. They’re young, but they’ve got life-lessons for a willing ear of any age.