Welcome To Lets Just Talk About It Podcast
July 27, 2023

(Ep.59) A Story of Survival....

(Ep.59) A Story of Survival....
The player is loading ...
Lets Just Talk About It Podcast with Chuck
00:00
00:00
00:00

Have you ever wondered how the power of resilience can alter the trajectory of a life? In an enthralling conversation, I have a dialogue with David Carmichael, a man who withstood struggles that would have otherwise broken many. Raised in a foster home in Goldsboro, North Carolina, David takes us on a remarkable journey of survival, from navigating the harsh streets of Washington DC to the painstaking quest to find his half-sister. His story is a testament to sheer determination, resilience, and the relentless pursuit of a better life.

Switching gears, we dive into the life of Bo Billy, an individual who began as a problem in the Virginia State Prison System but emerged as a friend and protector. We explore his transformation, how he became my guardian in the direst of circumstances and the bond that has survived for over three decades. As we wrap up, David and I reflect on the importance of not letting our past define our future. Despite our trials and tribulations, we hold the power to architect a future brimming with hope and possibility. Be prepared to be inspired and moved by this profoundly touching episode.

Don't hold It in but let's just talk about It.

$LetsTalk22

Facebook: Chuck LJTAI

Instagram: letsjusttalkaboutit22

Tik-Tok: @letsjusttalkaboutitmedia

YouTube: Lets Just Talk About It Podcast

Transcript
Speaker 1:

Welcome back to another episode of let's Just Talk About it podcast. I'm your host, chuck, and if you're here for the first time, this platform was created to give genuine people just like you an opportunity to share a portion of your life's journey. So, with that being said, today I have David Carmichael on with me, where he shares how it was growing up in a foster home with his brothers and sisters in Goldsboro, north Carolina, and ultimately, to his survival in the streets of Washington DC. So you don't want to miss this amazing story. As a matter of fact, do me a favor, go and grab your husband, your wife, your children, or even call a friend and listening together to my conversation with David or let's just talk about it podcast. Hey, let's jump right in Today. I have David Carmichael on with me today. So, first of all, man, how you doing today.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I'm blessed today.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for asking. Yes, sir, man, good to have you on and, as always, david man, I love to jump into my interviews to have those genuine conversations with genuine people just like yourself. So, first of all, where are you from?

Speaker 2:

That's why I'm older than I am. I'm 62 years old. Okay, I'm from the state of North Carolina, in the city called Goldboro. When I turned 18, I left Goldberg and moved to North Virginia, got you Be with my sister. I lived there maybe six months, tried to get a job down to the shipyard, but I was too young for the job so it didn't hire me. So I moved to Washington DC and I've been in DC ever since then.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So you've been in DC since that time, since 1978, yeah, wow, 1978. Wow. So how was it for you growing up in that era, that time of 1978?

Speaker 2:

Well, I was raised in a foster home with another five brothers and sisters, with my mother. I actually passed away when I was like six years old so I never knew my mother. My father was one of those that had another family besides the family of me and my brothers and sisters Got you. So I was raised without a father the biological father. But I was raised going to church, which I'm glad I did Absolutely. I was told right from wrong at the early age I didn't like going to church, but when I got older you was made to go right. I was made to go Absolutely. But when I look back on it now that was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Speaker 1:

Yes, sir, we can't understand it when we were young. But yeah, yep, absolutely man. So you say you was raised in a foster home.

Speaker 2:

Yes, well, a straight up was back being six of us. The foster home they like take two tears, they don't take six. It was six of us. Yeah, they said we'll take these two, we'll take that two, we'll take a year, we'll take a boy. But fortunately we found someone that took all six of us, my brother and sister. So I was able to at least grow up with my brothers and sisters. Yeah, so I was blessed as far as being into the found nice foster home that took all six of us. Mm-hmm.

Speaker 1:

So being in a foster home, man, what was that whole experience? Like man, because I always say, david, you never know who's listening, somebody who's going through the same experience, man, and sometimes we feel like we're the only ones who've experienced being without our fathers and our mothers. So how was that for you, emotionally, growing up in that environment?

Speaker 2:

Well, emotionally, I knew that something was missing. Yeah, the love wasn't there. The foster parent was more concerned about what they received. Yeah, from having six kids there, feeding them was not a priority. But when the first church, come around to see the kids there and all that, that's the only time when the good meals occurred. You know the fried chicken, the potato salad, all that good stuff. That's when it came out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

So when the check came out, then it was yeah, when the check came out, it was that's the only time when the good stuff came out. Yeah, well, I felt blessed because I was around my brothers and sisters, so I was raised that off as no big deal as part of our growing up.

Speaker 1:

Wow. So man you in that foster home. So when you finally got grown you know it could be on your own. How was that like? How did you cope in DC?

Speaker 2:

Well, one of the reasons I was anxious to leave the foster home because I was told that I had a half sister in North Virginia and I've never been to North Virginia.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

So I said I wanted to journey to locate her, which I did, and, as in the KAL, I moved there for a few months and it felt different A new world, new responsibilities. Because when I was in the foster home, you know, I was going to store, stealing the location candy from the shelves, so I was no different than the other guy that was in my neighborhood. We all got in trouble and doing things that we knew we shouldn't have done. But being in the foster home, it was not a good experience. So I was anxious to leave there and when I did I felt I can say you owe yourself more, yes. So I knew there was another world out there somewhere, but I had no idea on how to get there or what to do.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, wow, so you like, grew up trying to find your own way in life.

Speaker 2:

Yes, that's pretty much what happened. And when I left North in Kansas, dc, things began to turn and stuff. And I say that because the reality kicked in. You know where you're going to live, where you're going to work, get survival, you know. So I made guys that had other ideas like, hey, you can get a couple dollars here doing this. Back then we called it, we called it Weed.

Speaker 1:

Back then my day Right, right, right.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we called it Weed, yeah, and that had been other name, but so I started selling Weed to survive. Right, it worked for a while until I got locked up for doing it. Okay, talk about it. All right, I was locked up at a prison in DC called the Lordy Prison. Wow, I heard about Lordy. Yes, it was bad what you heard about I'm true, true, and it was very, very bad. Yeah, I was sentenced to five years back in the day for selling Weed, but when I went there, I met so many people that had been out of jail and they were going to teach me, so that was there. I picked a bad habit, thinking that I can get smarter at not getting caught.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, them kind of things. So, being in Lawton for the first time as a young man, going in there, because I heard about Lawton they tore it down now right, yes, yeah. So what was that experience? Going in there because I always say again, you never know who's listening that whole prison experience, going in there for the first time as a young man, that had to be kind of scary for you.

Speaker 2:

It was. It was very scary because by me being knocked in the area, most of the guys that knew each other from the neighborhood and my first morning there they served breakfast and I never forget they served pancakes. That morning I was hungry too, right, and I noticed they would bring the pancakes around, serve guys. They'd give them guys four or five pancakes. When they got to myself they gave me one. So I said, excuse me, can I get another additional pancake? And they may say look, no, you're not, because we don't know you. Who are you? Wow, we don't know you. And after a minute. So I said you have to know me in order to give me another pancake. So they called the problem that there was enough to get in the situation where I want to get. Yeah, it started something where I had a beef with the guy at the prison, yeah, which ultimately means being stabbed at the prison. Wow. You know, one thing led to another behind the pancake behind a pain because I wasn't from. Yes, because I wasn't from a particular neighborhood. Hmm, you know, by the time we know, I learned to adjust. I met guys that were like me, that wasn't from the DC area. Right, I was young. That was probably 20 years old at the time. Wow, Wow. And I was letting my way. I did my time. I got out, got a job, of course and the streets will continue to call me and I went out back in, back in the back of the mall, because the rent in DC was extremely high and the job I had did not cover the rent. I'm making the streets that's the one I did I did what I did Right, but the rent was extremely high and I wasn't in a car which I wasn't getting, couldn't pay for.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

I wanted to find a thing like I feel I'm a man now I'm 21. I should be able to do this and do that, do the other, just after you got out of prison. Out of the Lord After I got a lord. Yeah, so within two years guess where I was at again Back at Lord Back at Lord Wow yes.

Speaker 1:

Wow.

Speaker 2:

And this time was another five years. It was for 20 years, wow, and I said, oh my God, I had a wine back up here, so that 20 years was the worst thing that could happen to me.

Speaker 1:

Hold up. Wait, don't touch that stop button just yet. We're not done, but I just wanted to pause for a minute and talk about my new business venture called let's Just Talk About it Media LLC, a business geared towards helping you along your journey of becoming a podcaster and a content creator. It's like having your own personal consultant. You can also purchase some promotional space right here on let's Just Talk About it podcast with Chuck to promote your business on one of my episodes, just like I'm doing right now. So, hey, if you're interested, you can reach me at 757-737-2861 or you can email me at let's Just Talk About it 22 at yahoocom. Okay, I'm done. Let's jump back into this amazing conversation with my friend, david Carmichael. Let me ask you you said you went back, so what would you say to a young man right now Feeling like somebody owes him something? What would you say to him right now who's on that road to a lort in prison?

Speaker 2:

Well, I would say what I would say to most young men today. If I can speak to my younger self, I would say hey look, young man, whatever you want in life, you're going to get it. Yeah, but you have to work for it. It's not coming easy. If it come easy, it's gonna go easy. Work for it and you appreciate it more. You don't have to be involved in a life of crying on the jail because you're wasting your life in jail. It's not worthy In this lawsuit trying to get fast money. It's not worthy, because everyone I met in prison had the same ideas I had. They made money and when China came they lost it all. So I would say to a younger person stay focused. Not me. Taking life was not getting educated. So if I can go back many years ago, I would be educated. I was finished high school and I try to go to college Because life is short and there's no time to be in jail wasting your life away. So there was a too young a person right today, life on the streets, it's not worth fussing, got you.

Speaker 1:

So now you're back at Lawton. So what happens then?

Speaker 2:

Well, I learned from my previous to get my business, you know, because everybody was in particular groups or gangs and all that kind of stuff. So I learned to stay away from, you know, all types of illegal activities. Even smoking marijuana with guys could cause a problem when your time up yeah, when your time up. I've seen so many guys come there with two years and around there with 10 years, you know for fighting and getting fighting other guys or getting fight with officers. So your time would definitely get ran up at Lawton Prison or any prison with that matter. So I learned how to stay to myself, keep my head down, you know, lift you to officers and do my work assignment and take myself away from the whole environment, like going to myself closing my door. That way I can avoid most of the problems.

Speaker 1:

So I met you through Bo Billy. A lot of people heard about Bo Billy, his name, so you're friends with Bo, so you met Bo on your second time around.

Speaker 2:

Yes, I did. I met Bo Billy when I went back the second time and the prison I was at was for the so serious, serious, serious offenders. Okay, this ain't Lawton now, he's still Lawton. Lawton had a variety of prisons. All of us called Lawton for the minimum, the maximum, the medium, they all called Lawton. And on this one day the prison said everybody, lock down, lock down, lock down.

Speaker 1:

We wanted them wide.

Speaker 2:

We wanted what's going on, but this was unusual and before we knew it we had to have the helicopter flying above and they had extra officers coming in from the back area and they were escorting this guy named Bo Billy into the prison.

Speaker 1:

Wow, he had to hold prison down.

Speaker 2:

They had to shut the whole prison down. We didn't know what was going on. They had them cussed up. They all kind of changed right, stomping, lazing everything, and behind that they had dogs, behind them the helicopters they brought him in. He was a serious, serious someone that they called a serious problem. So that's why I met Bo Billy. So when I got to the torture home he told me that he's from the Virginia State Prison System and Virginia had problems with him. So they sent him off to DC Lawton to be housed.

Speaker 1:

Wow. That was my first time meeting Bo Billy Right. So how did you get close to him being? He came in with dogs and chains and all that kind of stuff. How did you get close to him?

Speaker 2:

Well, at the time I had a job working in the kitchen and my job was to feed the inmates on lockdown in a lockdown unit, Right? So I would cook the food and go to the area where Bo was locked down at. We called the whole. Yeah, the whole, yeah, yes, I'd go to the whole. I'd give him his food and he said man, I don't want that garbage, you just throw it back out. So after a couple of days I saw him there. Look, I was preparing something special for you, yes, for you. So I started frying chicken or fish or french fries on a special phrase and it started taking it to him, he started eating, yeah. You're looking at that for him and we became friends. And man, I tell you that was 30 years ago. Wow, 30 years ago. And 30 years ago in retro day, Bo Billy is still in prison.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And this was 30 years ago. So I made him, you know, do faith because the job I had at the time working in the prison system- yeah, a lot of people don't know about Bo Billy.

Speaker 1:

They heard about him, but Bo is a good dude. Once you get to talk to him, you know what I mean.

Speaker 2:

That's so true. I learned that firsthand Because, as I mentioned at the Lord's prison, it's so valiant, he is so very valiant. I had got stabbed for the second time at the prison. Wow, and by this time Bo Billy was no longer on lock down, he was out in the regular population unit. Ok, when Bo Billy here I got stabbed, he really got nice to go look for the guy that stabbed me. And when the guy said he was Bo Billy coming, he ran to the police office. Hey, this guy didn't stab me. You know I want protection. The same guy that stabbed me, bo Billy. We were going to stab him because of the friendship him and I had developed.

Speaker 1:

You know.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yeah, bo Billy is a good guy. I want you to know him. Yeah, Lord, you got it. He's taking friendship. Yeah, he's taking friendship, but it's serious, wow, yes. So from that point on, we became good friends and right today we stay communication with one another as often as we can. He's still trying to get out 30 years later.

Speaker 1:

Wow Again, shout out to Bo Billy free. Bo Billy man. I hope he makes that parole so he can come out here and get that second chance. Yes, yes, so that whole experience about getting stabbed, so that had to be a scary experience for you.

Speaker 2:

It was. It was. It was not just for me, yeah, it was my family as well, right, right, like most people, they get stabbed in prison. They get flown out on the helicopter to be serious, right, it doesn't be like a simple couple, it would be a serious stab. And in my case I ended up with a punch along and I had passed out and the chaplain at the prison had called my family and said hey, your brother didn't make it, he died on the way to the hospital. He died either way in the helicopter to the hospital. It showed what family it is, wow, because so many people get stabbed in prison, so many didn't make it. So the chaplain he was better than me, but he called my family and said, hey, your brother's died and he arrived at the hospital, you know. So I tell you this. But what they didn't know was that I was unconscious for like three days at the hospital, you know, and by the grace of God, you know, I came around.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

You know. So what it did is you know I had surgery. They passed the wounds up, give me an extra-toe surgery and closed the wounds up and all that. You know I had lost a lot of blood, wow. And I landed on the cold ground for a long period of time at a lower prison Right, and my heart started beating out. You know, I was. Frankly, I guess I probably was gone, but due to the personnel at the hospital, they had been back around.

Speaker 1:

Wow, wow, man Glad you made it, man Glad you made it. So what happened to? Yeah, thank God, yeah, thank God man. So what happened to Bo in that situation? Did they get him off the compound or what? Did they lock him back down? What happened?

Speaker 2:

Yes, once the guy he was asking three guys both going, all three of it didn't care. Bo seen the guy, they stabbed me and both are going towards him and the guy ran to the officer said, hey, I need to protect this guy going to stab me. So call us is protect the guy, they protect him, I'm gonna put him away. And then they locked Bo down so Bo couldn't get to him.

Speaker 1:

Wow, man, that's a friend, protect you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, he was a friend, no doubt yeah so let me ask you something.

Speaker 1:

We're talking about Bo Billy, and everybody deserves a second chance. If you had a chance to speak on his behalf to the parole board for him, what would you say to him?

Speaker 2:

I was to the parole board that, from the way I know Bo Billy could be he's really debilitated now. He wasn't saying questions was many years ago. Bo Billy is a chance at freedom. You hear about the bad things that Bo Billy did, but what about the good things he did? People don't know that Bo Billy saved a correction officer from getting killed or raised or whatever. He saved her life Wow, they don't hear about that. Yeah, they don't hear that. He did good things. He saved by the inmates from getting stabbed, but also life that he saved. They don't talk about that. So Bo Billy did just as much good things as he did bad things. So what I said to people that don't know him he needs a break. 30, 40 years of incarceration is enough for anyone. Yeah and in Bo Billy case, he didn't kill anyone, he wouldn't even change your sentence. So I would say to them you know, have a heart, give him parole, give him a chance to show that he deserves a chance at freedom.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that's deep man. I appreciate you sharing that man because, again, you never know who gonna hit us. You know what I mean. You never know who's gonna hit us, yeah, so you out now, david? Like we hear a lot about trauma, we hear a lot about depression and so forth. Do you feel like you know what I'm saying? That's a problem for you since you've been out, or have you learned to manage in society?

Speaker 2:

good Well, anyone that comes out from the prison system is on the spirits of a certain amount of trauma. Right, you know that comes with man release. That's a fact, because it's a new world when you come out from incarceration. And, yes, I've experienced trauma, but I didn't let her favorite to the point where I need to be recastrated again. I have family support. I have friends around me that would guide me in the right direction and tell me what I know, what I should do, what I should not be doing. So trauma, mental illness all that comes out from being incarcerated alone through the time how can a person be incarcerated for eight to nine years and not develop mental issues?

Speaker 1:

right now that's gonna happen.

Speaker 2:

Yes, but it's how you deal with that issue. You know when you come out.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I did seven years of eight months. I didn't do nearly half the time y'all guys did, but you know a day is enough. But even coming out and going in the store, you always feel like somebody watching you. Sometimes you know what I'm saying that kind of thing. So, david man, what are you up to now? You home, you're free, what do you do?

Speaker 2:

now. Well, now I'm home, I'm free, and I tell my friends now, since I've been home, there is no bad days. Talk about, every day is a good day. I like that. I tell my friends, by the grace of God, it's a nine every day, because I could have been in both situations or so many others. There is no bad day compared to. You know where we come from. That's right. So, yes, so you know, I'm grateful. I'm thankful, as a matter of fact, for your holiday, which is a bad day for you when you're locked up. Holiday is bad. Yeah, all of it's bad days. Because you know, you've been around your family, friends. This past holiday, I just sat there outside to myself and I prayed to God Taking him with me and be out on the holiday, yeah, although I did nothing special, but I wasn't locked up. So I say to all the young guys out there that's throwing stones at the prism, you continue those stones, you're going there and you don't have to be there. It's a waste of time, it's a waste of your life, absolutely, man.

Speaker 1:

Before we go, is there anything you want to say to the listening audience? Or you know to bowl, or whoever?

Speaker 2:

before we go, I'm gonna say that for those that still incarcerated or those that's in a bad position in life, it doesn't mean you have to stay there. It doesn't mean that you have to live in a path of living now. Your future is your future.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you can make it.

Speaker 2:

You can mold it any way you want to be. You decide your ending. You decide how you want your ending to be in life. You decide what comes next.

Speaker 1:

Right.

Speaker 2:

Don't let them decide for you. You decide. So you're giving the chance to freedom. Take it, thank God for it and enjoy your freedom and have a happy life. Yeah, if I was facing anyone.

Speaker 1:

Man, I enjoyed this conversation with you, david. I appreciate it, man, your wisdom that you gave to the listening audience, to the young guys, and the encouragement you gave to both and to those who are coming out. I appreciate you, man.

Speaker 2:

Well, I appreciate you having me on.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, man. All right, thank you. Y'all, have a good day. All right, you too? Wow, what an amazing conversation. Shout out to my friend, david Carmichael, for having this dialogue with me. You know, one of the things he said that stuck out to me was that if you're in a bad situation in life right now, that it doesn't mean you have to stay there. In other words, it's not the end, that either you could choose to live in the past or you could choose to create a better future for yourself. That is all up to you. So again, shout out to you, david, as always. Thank you so much for tuning in to let's Just Talk About it podcast and please check out my website. Just Google Let'sJustTalkAboutItPodcastcom and then hit that Subscribe button to receive all the new episodes every Friday. You can also find me on Facebook. Just type in Chuck L-J-T-A-I, which means let's Just Talk About it. So, as always, until next time, don't hold it in, but let's Just Talk About it. Talk to you soon, anxious music.

Podpage Voice Mail Mic Icon Podpage Voicemail Arrow Icon