[00:00:00] You're listening to the what's the fuzz podcast, where we break you out of your vacuum seal and get down to what's real, never miss another episode. Again, subscribe to us on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. And now your host Rhyner.

Rhyner: [00:00:23] Hey, what's up, everybody. Welcome to the show. New listeners, old listeners and accidental clickers, please. Don't believe it's July 19th, 2020. And I've almost lost my entire conception of time. No joke. Before we get into the interview today, I'll start off with the preamble. Black lives still matter, and the protests have not stopped.

Though we may not all be able to go out there, uh, on the streets right now. You can still do your part in your communities face and point. A continuous flow [00:01:00] of racists have been outed in the furry community, whether it's the person apologizing or the firs and the comments going, "I forgive you. It's Otay."

We need to work together to kick that shit out, burn it and extinguish it. In some cases, I truly believe that we can change someone's mind about these things like young people, you know, around 16 or whatever that don't understand systemic racism or what we're doing to people at the borders, et cetera.

That's why, when you're seeing furries out there on some goofy shit, you call them out on it, send them some what's the fuss. Preferably the first episode. And, uh, one last thing. Here's how to tell if they're sincere, if they're explaining why did the thing, and they only realized [00:02:00] what they did is wrong because of the call out.

And they use verbiage, like I'm listening to BIPOC voices, I'm learning, whatever it is. And it's more about them than the apology itself to the people that they hurt. And they're not taking action and they choose to retain negative piece rather than

taking the turning point to be vehemently. Anti-racist tell them to walk that shit back, tell them to try again and do some research and spend some real time reflecting on how they're part of the problem on what they can do to change it. Anyway. Tonight. I'm joined by Gozi.

Gozi: [00:02:46] Hey. Yeah. Hey, how's it going? A pleasure to be here.

Rhyner: [00:02:51] It's nice to meet you, man. I've been following you for a bit now. You've been doing some cool stuff out

there.

Gozi: [00:02:57] Yeah. Uh, yeah, I've been doing it [00:03:00] a lot of the last, uh, two-ish months, but yeah. You know, uh, you know, I appreciate it. Uh, everything's been going well, I've been, I haven't haven't, I've been certainly having a time.

I don't know if it's been a good time, but it's been, it's been a time.

Rhyner: [00:03:13] I feel you there, man, if you guys aren't familiar. Yeah. With Gaza, he's a graphic designer and you can hit them up on red bubble under Ngozi goods. That's G O Z I G O O D S. And you can follow him on Twitter at light-skin tiger. He calls people out for saying WeChat shit all the time releases, updates on his art and this other cool stuff.

Seriously, like check 'em out, uh, to start the interview off today, I want to start you off with an icebreaker question. Is that okay?

Gozi: [00:03:42] Yup. Yeah. Sure. Go ahead.

Rhyner: [00:03:45] Alright. Gotcha. So would you rather deal with someone who is dangerously ignorant or dangerously empathy? Empathetic?

Gozi: [00:03:55] Oh, uh I'd honestly, probably rather deal with [00:04:00] someone who's dangerously ignorant.

Rhyner: [00:04:02] Why is that?

Gozi: [00:04:06] I don't know. I guess I know how to deal with somebody who is way more outwardly doing, uh, doing these bad things, even if, even if they can't see how they, uh, how wrong it is, I could see them forward and I can know to either a not interact with them at all. If, if I had the option to, or if I don't have it and I have to work with them in like a work or a school type setting, I can adjust myself.

I can't tell if somebody is just apathetic a lot of times, but I can tell if somebody is ignorant and I just, for my sake, I would rather know somebody ignorant and work with that. And then not know if somebody is just completely apathetic.

[00:05:00] Rhyner: [00:05:00] I gotcha. So it's better to have like a warning sign, so you don't have to deal with their mess if you don't want to.

Gozi: [00:05:06] Yes, exactly.

Rhyner: [00:05:08] So yeah. You know, apathetic person, they know what's going on, they just don't care. So it's like wasting your time either way. Exactly. Awesome. Awesome. Now we get onto the meat of the interview, so. On being a furry. What got you interested, invested in the invested in the furry fandom in the first place?

You feel like it's a big part of who you are?

Gozi: [00:05:37] I don't know if it's a big part of who I am, who I am. I could say. I mean, I'd certainly say that it is a part of who I am, but I don't know if it's necessarily a huge part. So, and there, like how I actually got into the fandom. Uh, so I, I just said I'm a graphic designer and, uh, I work, I work a lot with logos and photo [00:06:00] manipulations on things like Photoshop.

So I'll look up certain things, I'll look up certain animals in which I'm trying to recreate something. And, you know, occasionally you will see. Somebody post on for affinity or, you know, a picture of somebody for Sona. If you look up something, you look up something like golden tiger. You're gonna find, you're gonna find something.

If you scroll down far enough,

Rhyner: [00:06:29] only a matter of time. Yeah.

Gozi: [00:06:31] It's kind like, uh, it essentially over time. I would go, I became more and more. They like, I saw this stuff. I become, I've been grabbing gravitas kind of ever since I was a teen. So before that I was still pretty internet savvy. So you spend enough time on the internet, you're going to eventually see it.

Uh, so, you know, I'm you know grew up. I still knew about it kind of got into college [00:07:00] and then, you know, kind of said and thought about it. Like I saw more and more and I was like, you know what, let me give it a shot. And, you know, Hey, it's, it's worked out decent enough, decent easily enough for me, there's obviously been some downsides, but, you know, Hey, I've met some really cool people, people that have really, you know, made me rethink and reshape who I am and what I stand for.

Uh, so that's, that's, uh, that's really, uh, Benefited me since I've been in the fandom, but yeah, yeah, no, I really only been active for about a year and a half at this rate, which is kind of wild. Oh, wow. Yeah. Uh, no, I, I met some really, really good people and had some really good experiences.

Rhyner: [00:07:47] That's crazy.

Cause you've only been at this for like a year and a half. You already tearing shit up.

Gozi: [00:07:55] Yeah. I mean, the thing is that obviously I didn't come from, [00:08:00] I'm not gonna say come from, but you know, I don't have a, when seemingly a traditionally furry background. So like my thoughts are going to be way different than what.

Might be some of the other thoughts, some of the pervading thoughts from the internet. Oh no, but you know, in general for culture. So is it, I, instead of, I'm not terribly one to try to, I'm not going to say conform, but you know, like when I enter a space, like I want to make sure that it's a space that is good for me.

And like, I can say this stuff and I can do the stuff that, you know, I, I feel as though. Is is right. So if you want to say me coming in there and just starting tearing stuff up, you know? Sure. So it shows you can say that, but, uh, yeah, I mean, you know, I just have a different mindset and different view than a lot of the people who have traditionally been in the fandom.

And the good thing is that I know that there's people who do agree with me and [00:09:00] there's going to, there's only going to be more coming in.

Rhyner: [00:09:06] So when you say a furry culture and your ideals, what ideals do you hold that are in opposition to. Those held by the greater amount of the furry fandom.

Gozi: [00:09:17] It's not, there's really not a ton of difference. Uh, like obviously I stand for, you know, people being, whoever they want to be, uh, issues of equality. I, I, you know, obviously lock step with that, but I guess it's kind of just the aspect of furry culture that I do kind of feel it either.

I don't really like is. Something that I've kind of learned about this is this thing called toxic positivity. I I'm, I'm a naturally positive person. Like I like to see. I like to see the good in everything. I like to be the guy that the most motivation guy, the guy's like, yeah, yeah. Do this. Uh, but [00:10:00] you know, I've seen positivity be used in a way in the fandom, in which it's used to hide and like shelter things that really shouldn't be sheltered.

You know, things like racism, you know, you you've seen it. Yeah. Seen a lot of those stuff that's happening. That's been happening. Uh, in which, you know, people will try to call these things out, but then they get shut down because there's a group of people. We're not, I'm not gonna say I agree with you, but there aren't people that will go out of their way and say, you know, Hey, like, why are you talking about this?

You know, I thought we were all, all one big happy family. Uh, and the thing about that is that we don't bring these things up. And say, Hey, we have to change this because we don't like right. If we didn't like where we were at, we would just leave. The reason why we do these things is because, you know, we genuinely care.

We genuinely care. We genuinely want to make this place better [00:11:00] for everyone. Now we do feel as though it's good, but obviously as we, as people, myself and a ton of other people have demonstrated over the last few weeks, you know, it's often. Oftentimes, it's not the case for, by POC. And, you know, it's something that obviously we want to see changed.

And so that's kind of something about the fandom that I don't really like, but obviously, you know, it's something that can be changed. There's a, there's somewhere. That's been a safe space for, uh, people who are, you know, out of the. The stereotypical norm of greatest society. And that's something that that's been fantastic, but you know, if we would want those same ideals of, you know, equally and respect given across.

The entire multitude of the fandom, because there's, you know, there's a ton of us out there. [00:12:00] I don't think people really realize that there's a ton of us out there. And there's a, you know, a ton of obviously a ton of support that I've seen behind it. And that's something that I've, I've really enjoyed. I know we've kind of gone a little bit all the way around the question, like twice.

Yeah. It's something that I, I feel as though is my biggest gripe with the fandom right now. Just the aspect of. The toxic in seemingly in nature, positivity that a lot of people can, uh, show.

Rhyner: [00:12:32] No, it's all good. I completely understand what you mean. Like with some of the things, things that come out, like I've only gotten tapped into the mainstream of like the, you know, all the furries that know each other that, uh, and these.

These furries with like thousands of followers and stuff he outed for this terrible, terrible shit that the other worry [00:13:00] otherwise would not have taken accountability for. Well, I mean, Do you want to call what their apologies?

Yeah.

Accountability. I think anyway, anyway, the point is that they have these legions of fans and the comments sipping for them.

"It's okay. Everybody makes mistakes. It's okay we don't mind. We still wuv u"

Gozi: [00:13:23] you, like, what what'd you say? It's kind of stuff that like, exactly, like you said, in the beginning, that's the toxic positivity that I'm talking, targeting, like kind of a lot of stuff that happened this week. I'm not gonna name names, but if, you know, you know, uh, uh, you know, for somebody to come out and do these things and then have, you know, a ton of people saying.

That, you know, we forgive you, we do all of this and do all that. But none of the things that the person did was directed [00:14:00] towards them or their group, you know, like that's kind of stuff that I'm talking about. And also, you know, A side thing that I was kind of really don't like, is that we tend to not have the focus on the right thing.

Like, like there's not a lot of outrage on stuff that needs a lot of outrage and then, you know, way too much on stuff that, uh, is really kind of insignificant it. Like I, I'm not talking about like, uh, obviously when somebody comes out with issues of sexual abuse, racism, all kinds of stuff like that, that should be the main focus.

But if somebody has like, I, I kind of hate to use this, but like the stolen plushy issue,

Rhyner: [00:14:44] I was thinking the same

last year, everybody was talking about that. And you know, it's just stuff like that, uh, that I, I kinda seen don't [00:15:00] really like,

Holy shit. It's like, you've read my mind. How did you

Gozi: [00:15:06] do that? Uh, you know, telepathic stuff like that.

Rhyner: [00:15:11] Jesus Christ that whole time. I was just like that fucking plushy that goddamn plushy, everyone lost their shit over fucking writing twit longers about how strenuously they looked all over that goddamn con for look for that stupid fucking plushy.

Meanwhile, they want to sit for racists on Twitter like us. Okay. I see where your priority is. Yeah. Okay, cool. Thank you. And then the parks, the talk, the poxy toxic positivity, like drips into other things like tone policing, people telling frickin Vatican that she sounds angry telling Wolf that he sounds

angry

whenever they just are trying to speak their mind.

It's ridiculous.

Gozi: [00:15:58] Yeah. I mean, [00:16:00] Uh, I I've known that for kind of, it seems like ever since I've gotten into the fandom and they are, I'll say it's like, they're, they're one of the most passionate, uh, you know, just raw people. And like, like raw in the, in the best way. You know, they, when they care about something they care and they have genuinely genuine care, genuine interest in wanting that things best interest at heart and to see people.

You know, not only doing the stereotypical AIDS, like why are you being so angry about this? I can't lose this. And you're so angry about this thing. And not only that, but then also like using that anger to, you know, mis-gender mislabel. Like it's not that hard. It's really not that hard to, you know, kind of thing that I do feel as though [00:17:00] does tend to bleed over into a bit of the.

Uh, when I'm talking about the toxic, some of the toxic nature, how mis-gendering is a very, you know, it's a, no-no obviously it's a no, no in life, but the same people who will say these things and, you know, advocate for, for these types of ideals, they will also ignore some of the same things when it, when it's in regards to racial issues.

So like the things that, the things. Well, if I don't, I don't really know Wolf that well, but we've become pretty good acquaintances over the last little, little start to time, but I haven't met, I haven't met him yet, but you know, like these things happen with allow the other by POC spoken up over the last time.

Mandy, my girlfriend, uh, like she's gotten a few things. About people saying how angry she is and like how, like [00:18:00] Mandy is the sweetest person I've ever known. Like, come on, let's see. She doesn't really like, that's not her. And like for you to even insinuate that, like, can you conflate passion? And equate that to anger when a black person does it.

But if some, if a white person does the exact same thing, you're going to be all up in arms. Like you're going to be locked up with them. You're going to be agree with and be like, Oh, they're so passionate. You know, it that's one of the double standard things that is, I I'm really, uh, you know, I I'm really, I'm really seeing.

Rhyner: [00:18:40] Yeah. I'm, I'm pretty fucking tired of seeing that shit. Literally, anytime anyone wants to explain anything and they're not white, it's suddenly a super angry rant. Yeah. And going back to the accountability, I just keep thinking about when. NASA got outed for being a [00:19:00] fucking asshole or whatever. And they immediately like this own him and swapped him, whatever.

But these other con uh, convention, uh, staff, they can't seem to. It around their head that they can do the same thing, but they don't need to preserve this negative piece where you know, the racists aren't doing anything wrong right now.

Gozi: [00:19:24] Yeah. It's really not that hard. And the thing about like, like me and NAS were, you know, we, he was essentially somebody who I looked up to.

You know, in the, in the fandom, like I see this black guy doing stuff, I'm like, hell yeah. Uh, but you know, he obviously did very deplorable thing and like, even though it hurt for me to, to know that he did those things, it was not hard for me to completely cut him off, like, like call them out, cut them off and you know, like [00:20:00] exile him.

So I don't know why it's so hard for other people to do so.

Rhyner: [00:20:06] We don't need to band together with racists. We need to pick them out.

Gozi: [00:20:09] Don't

Rhyner: [00:20:10] have them,

Gozi: [00:20:12] the band with racists and bigots because, uh, uh, because they might have a cute suit or, uh, make videos online or, you know, make art, you know, we really don't need to do those things.

Rhyner: [00:20:27] Exactly. There's plenty of people that do those things, that aren't terrible. People, you know, priorities again. And was there anything you wanted to add before we went on to the next question?

Gozi: [00:20:38] Uh, I mean, no, I've kind of said my piece.

Rhyner: [00:20:42] Got you, got you. Uh, do you feel as though there's a shortage of black role models or influencers in the furry fandom?

Gozi: [00:20:51] This might be a bit of a shock, I will say no. I I've met a ton of just incredibly dope [00:21:00] people who I feel as though deserve much larger platform than they have, but it's just that the audience isn't there. That's my issue. Like there's a, there's a ton of black people, Latinex people, native American people, Asian people.

I like there's a ton. Of people out here that are doing these things and they're doing these things so well, but like the audience isn't there because, you know, one reason or another, you know, Sometimes it might be, Oh, they don't have a first suit. Alright. It's like, Oh, they don't do this. Alright. They don't do that.

Okay. Uh, you know, it's one of those, you know, it moving the goalposts things kind of happen a lot, but no, there's a ton of, you know, just dope out, out there and [00:22:00] you know, it, I could, I can go on and list like list a few, but it's. I would say that there's a lack of role models because of the people are out there.

The people are, are very much out there and it's just are the people, you know, willing to listen and willing to, you know, support that. That's really the thing.

Rhyner: [00:22:25] Hmm. So you mentioned the goalposts thing and I think someone else mentioned it before, maybe it was Wolf. But they mentioned how, no matter what they did, it was never good enough for furries to recognize them.

What's up with that.

Gozi: [00:22:42] Yeah. I mean, I, I don't want to explicitly call this racism, but it is a bit of, you know, it is a bit of the whole like apathetic. Thanks because, you know, if let's say, [00:23:00] you know, a few of the, the big YouTube furries did something like that, a charity stream, they would be inundated with praise inundated with all this.

And that'd be the only thing. We'd see. The only thing we'd see on Twitter, but, you know, because. Uh, because they aren't one of, they aren't part of a, you know, part of this group, they gifted an upload quote, unquote. So to say a crowd, you know, like a lot of times that a lot of times what people like, who did the stream and, uh, people like that, people like us will kind of does get pushed aside.

And like I said, like I'll always be a reader as to why these things are. Like why they don't get the same thing. Like, Oh my, like I said, like, Oh, they don't have a suit. Oh, uh, [00:24:00] I don't like how you do this. Like, I don't like how you'd say this, you know, it's, it's kind of a bit of pseudo racism in a way in my mind.

That's kind of how I feel, uh, regarding, regarding kind of issues such as that. It's

Rhyner: [00:24:20] like, they're always trying to find something,

Gozi: [00:24:22] some reason why he's trying to find something

Rhyner: [00:24:28] fricking stupid. Well, if you want, you can, uh, shout some folks out if you,

Gozi: [00:24:32] uh, yeah. Uh, I mean, I've already talked about Mandy Wolf that, uh, soul solar dog he's. So soul is probably one of the most creative people I've ever known. And like that that's going beyond the stretches of furry, like even into my graphic design stuff, like he's.

He's so creative. He's he's so creative on so many fronts. [00:25:00] Uh, you know, like he he's even saying, uh, uh, jinx jenkson boots, I think on Twitter. Uh

they're

they're good. Uh, let's see. Hi. I think you might have interviewed him. Uh,

I'm trying to think I got so many running through my head. Uh, it's kinda hard cause I know I'm gonna miss people and I'll apologize for that. But you know, it, it, it's just so many different folks that are out here and like, You can go through my, my timeline and my followers. And you can see, you can see these people, these people deserve these platforms and deserve to have these things.

No. How have a lot of things that the, you know, people who [00:26:00] will be oven RS or gardening, uh, very minimal bullshit in the fandom. But will not say word regarding things like black lives matter or anything about the protest or anything about the victims, but we'll sit and take in and create content towards low nods X.

Who would say he wants a suit, they will manage to crank that out in the day, manage to say anything more, anything that's a more deliberate and more or less vague than like, fuck racism. They just stuff like that. So I feel as though, you know, It sounds on my feet, but you know, just ask more of your content creators, ask more of your people that you hold in high regard in the fandom.

It's not to say, you know, being tagged me antagonistic about towards them, but you know, just. It [00:27:00] mentally, you don't have to call them out, but mentally make a note of these things. Like if they'll speak on one thing, but once we got another think why, and then keep that in mind. If you choose to, you know, keep, uh, consuming that content stuff.

Rhyner: [00:27:18] Yeah, exactly. Especially if someone's got a big following and there are small content creators doing similar things, like, you know, bump up a little bit. You could help out a little bit. You have to give the guy a bone. Why not? But yeah, that's good. Everyone needs a starting place. And you know, those, those content creators that you shut it out, I'm sure they're awesome.

And you heard it from him. Folks. If you want to find more, you just stock his Twitter account. You'll find loads of talent at light-skin tiger. Anyway. Uh, was there anything else that you wanted to add before we go on?

Gozi: [00:27:56] Uh, no, that'll be can we can keep going, keep it [00:28:00] trucking.

Rhyner: [00:28:00] Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha. Gotcha.

Let's see. Next up on the content creation. Would you consider yourself a small time creator?

Gozi: [00:28:15] I'm kind of a weird spot right now. Yeah. I mean, like.

Uh, I I'm about at 2,800 followers on Twitter right now. It's I don't know.

I guess, I guess I would still consider myself small, but I feel that that's disingenuous. So

Rhyner: [00:28:49] I don't know.

Gozi: [00:28:51] Yeah. I mean, Yeah. You know, it sure we can call it small, but you know, I don't want to be, um, I don't want to be [00:29:00] like those people who, uh, you know, had that hashtag last week with like thousands of followers and be like, Hey, like I'm small, I'm a nobody.

So, you know, I, if I were to call myself and I'd call them, I certainly call myself a midsize. I feel much better about that.

Rhyner: [00:29:21] Mid medium. That works fine. So what drives you to make these designs? When did it start being a passion for you in particular? Is there a particular moment?

Gozi: [00:29:35] Not really. There wasn't a particular moment.

I did kind of think it was a bit of time. It was kind of like last summer when I started to really think about that, like I did in my first. I will say there was a particular moment, uh, you know, it kind of ties back into everything. Yeah. FWA last year. And like I was wearing, I was wearing like joggers, a [00:30:00] hoodie, you know, something I would typically wait anywhere else.

Uh, Yeah. So like somebody, somebody said like, I didn't look like a furry or, and, you know, kind of gave me those looks like I wasn't supposed to be here. So I kind of, and that, that process has kind of gone. Yeah. I said that I make, in terms of, you know, I think that, Hey, I know that there's a lot of people that are like me out there who, you know, have these thoughts, like are part of the fandom, but, you know, don't, aren't really.

Uh, they don't really see the stuff or like, like they, they don't have the, they wouldn't wear a lot of the stuff that a lot of furries wear, uh, and like make some of the stuff that a lot of furries make. So that, like, that's something that I kind of keep in mind with everything that I do, uh, you know, just think of not only what I would want, but also what allow the people.

Uh, [00:31:00] in, you know, in my position, in a similar vein as me would want.

Rhyner: [00:31:08] Yeah. I can see designs here that really speak out to people. That are under these kinds of things. I mean, I like, like the, I will bite.

Gozi: [00:31:17] Yes.

Rhyner: [00:31:18] I like that a lot.

Gozi: [00:31:19] That's cool. Yeah. I mean, I want to blend like street culture along with the fandom. And I think that there's, I think that there is a very much a close tie.

Like it is something that very much can be done. It's just, you know, uh, if I feel as though it's something that not a lot of people have done, because there hasn't been. Somebody in order to try to push that boundary. You know, just keep

like, like street graffiti, that kind of

thing. Yeah. Like, I mean, people already have art of people wearing like streetwear and like do it, like having these things, but you know, [00:32:00] nobody, I'm not gonna say nobody because a few people have done it already.

Like, I'm not gonna say I'm the first, but, uh, yeah. I mean, you know, there's other people like me, you still doing this. No, just it just keep on trying to find that lane find I'm still trying to find the one that's just like, yes, yes, this is, this is that perfect blend. But you know, it's, it's all, it's all connected into just how I was brought up my, my general cultural feelings and trying to take that and blend that in with the fandom.

Rhyner: [00:32:39] Oh, I totally get where you're coming from it. Oh, fuck that guy. By the way. What a Dick?

Gozi: [00:32:45] Oh yeah. Yeah. I

Rhyner: [00:32:47] just, you don't have a fricking tail or ear or ears on or whatever everyone deserves to be in the furry space if they want to. And if they don't want to wear some dumb ass paws or whatever, you know, [00:33:00] you can't make yeah.

Goodness gracious. Did you have any advice for people that were on the brink of jumping in to starting their content creation careers, but need that push to get started?

Gozi: [00:33:15] Yes. Do not be afraid to reach out. I know that, uh, the fear of, you know, rejection like being ignored is something that prevails like, trust me.

I, I have had iPads and still have it. But, you know, don't be afraid to reach out. Like if you see something you like or see somebody that you can see yourself in, don't be afraid to reach out to them. You know, I don't don't do the creepy, like, hi message. You, you know, like sit down, write something together, you know, something that's going to be like, Hey, you know, I saw your work.

I really appreciate it. Do you have any tips on like how to get started or. You know, uh, [00:34:00] Hey, you know, I see a lot of myself in you. I, I feel like you represent me. Can you give me some pointers as to, you know, how to navigate this? And that's how I do a lot of people early in the fandom, uh, and in my graphic design careers.

So, you know, like connections connect with connections, incredibly important. Don't be afraid to reach out, uh, just like it. You, you, you, you, you might and probably will be ignored, but that's fine. Like, just understand that's mine. It happens to everybody. It, I know it hurts. Trust me. I know it hurts, but you know, it's going to be worth it in the end.

And for like anybody who's act who does want to actually create content and stuff, I will say, but take me for what I do. Graphic design YouTube is my best friend. YouTube the internet there's tutorials for everything. [00:35:00] If you want to learn anything specific, you can just look it up on YouTube. Somebody is probably already done.

And it's a saying that I didn't really know about that until a few years ago. Uh, it's just, you know, Don't be afraid to ask and I'll, and I'll say, you know, don't be afraid to ask for help from other people that you see doing this stuff. And that kind of ties into the first one, but, you know, use the internet, use Google, use YouTube.

These things are your friend do not shy away from what is at your fingertips. You have the world at your fingertips. You can learn how to do just about anything.

Rhyner: [00:35:44] Exactly. Don't be intimidated by followers. That's made up. Yes. Superfluous does not matter.

Gozi: [00:35:52] Everybody is a person at the end of the day. There's a person behind that account. There's a person behind that. First suit is the [00:36:00] person behind that icon. We're all people

simply simply put, you know, Even in like, especially in the grand scheme of things is entirely insignificant. We're all people, you know, some people, some people would have the big head. I, I know that, but you know, I, I it's really, for myself, you know, like we're all people at the end of the day.

Rhyner: [00:36:28] Exactly. And everybody, and anybody can be reached.

All you need to do is send that first message. Don't just say hi, like he said, you just need to lay out, Hey, here's what I'm doing. This is why I'm doing it. You're totally cool. And I did something similar whenever I write in article. Like, I will reach out to people with 40 K followers or whatever, and surprisingly, most of them actually do respond.

So [00:37:00] firsthand accounts, just get out there and do your best. You will be surprised at who will respond to you. And maybe not so surprised

at who will

go for people that are always interacting with their followers, making lots of tweets, et cetera, et cetera. And you know, the internet is your resource. Thank you for that one.

A Gozi. Is there anything else you wanted to add?

Gozi: [00:37:28] Uh, no, we can keep it pushing. Gotcha.

Rhyner: [00:37:32] Gotcha. By the way, really quickly, I've actually linked some sources for BiPAP furries in the community to go to there's a discord chat, BLM resources, telegram chat, and a card packed full of donation links, education links, and more.

Just click on the show notes or the links below the player. If you're listening on Spotify or Apple podcasts or somewhere else, just head to Reiner rights.com and click on [00:38:00] any of the interviews. Most of their, uh, they're updated with the latest links. Usually

Gozi: [00:38:06] sometimes I get lazy

Rhyner: [00:38:08] and if you're on telegram, you can join my channel at Reiner rights or join the BiPAP free telegram chat at firs of color.

All right. That's all I wanted to say. So on being black, how do you feel being black has impacted your life in the past three months? Cause if we go lifetime, this might be a lot longer positive or negative. Doesn't matter.

Gozi: [00:38:35] Like with, with the, uh, protests and stuff that had been happening, uh, I really have started to seed more and more.

I've seen a ton of support, which has been, you know, insane to see, but also, you know, I I've seen, uh, I've seen the true cause of a few people, you know, that that does kind of hurt, unfortunately, but it's kind of something that I've [00:39:00] kind of grown and used to. You know, being black eventually to a point that it can kind of suck.

No, just, just numb everything going on. But you know, I, it is an experience that I love seeing. How black culture has been highlighted so much over the last little bit and having the opportunity to do things like this and, you know, to speak out. It's something that I, I really do enjoy. And I'm not, I'm not gonna sit here and say the past three months have been fantastic because I not only on top of protests, we also have COVID-19, that's been negatively affecting black people.

And I mean, obviously, and other people of color, uh, harder than everybody else. And that also ties into the whole racial inequality issues. They think things have obviously had its downsides, for sure. And there are times where, you know, [00:40:00] you don't really feel as though you're actually being, there are times where you do feel though you might be being used as a prop.

So to say so that other people can feel better about themselves and you know, only elevate their social status. But it's been, it's been cool to see. It's been cool to see people see genuine support from people. People

Rhyner: [00:40:23] are using.

Gozi: [00:40:26] Some people have decided and oftentimes into the fandom and in general, you know, a lot of people online have decided that Hey, black lives matter is something that a lot of people agree with.

I will use that in order to boost my status amongst my peers to make myself look good. But then like they, they may have a history of things that go against black lives matter. And when they're caught out on it or. So [00:41:00] then talks about it. You know, they'll maybe shy away from that. And then maybe not, it's been over a month now.

They might be back on what they normally do. A lot of people have been reaching out to Mandy who have had checkered past. So to say, they've reached out to her regarding these issues and like a big. A very big YouTuber once again, not going to name names, but a very big YouTube reached out to her, uh, yesterday.

Hey, like saying like, Hey, Hey, do you want to collab? And like, not only does that seem as though it makes it like, you know, I'll use her words herself. Like she, it made her feel though as it's an as, as an accessory, but also like it's July is July. The stuff happened late. May. Like George Floyd got killed Memorial day and it's taken you until now to the side.

Hey, maybe I want to make it. Maybe I want [00:42:00] to make a video with a black person. You know, it's just stuff like that. You know, it's a ton of genuine support, a hundred percent, but you know, there have been, there's been a few people who have decided to use the black lives matter movement, the protests for clout.

So to say,

Rhyner: [00:42:18] They think it's hip and trendy to do these things. When it's black people literally begging for the systems that are oppressing them, not to kill them, or maybe not to kill them as much, you know, just these little things that we've

Gozi: [00:42:36] maybe just a little bit important, just simple things like the ability.

Rhyner: [00:42:43] Can't believe this shit on top of it, people turning the Briana Taylor thing into like a meme and making George foyer into like a fashion.

Gozi: [00:42:53] Yeah. I

Rhyner: [00:42:57] don't know. I [00:43:00] understand the, the old black women that would come to the casino with their Michelle Obama purses and jackets and shirts and stuff like that's cute and everything, but I don't think you should be merchandising a man that the entire world has seen die in a terrible

Gozi: [00:43:22] way. It's a little

Rhyner: [00:43:24] message.

Oh man.

Gozi: [00:43:28] Yeah,

Rhyner: [00:43:29] I remember you mentioned going numb and I would meant, I also went numb back when Ferguson happened. Uh, most of my friends were white and they didn't understand what was going on. So I was just like, okay, I guess everything going on in Ferguson is just some fuck shit. And I shouldn't really be paying too much attention to it.

Okay. And then you tubers on, uh, that were, you know, on the philosophy [00:44:00] philosophy. Sketch a skeptic skeptic. Yeah. They're called skeptics. I used to watch them back then a frickin Sargon of a Cod or whatever the hell his name is. Yeah. Oh my God. I can't believe I real listened to that fucking cock Lord.

What the hell is wrong with me? So I, I thought that black lives matter was some fucking terrorist organization. No joke really did for like four years or something up until this point. And it took toward Florida in the protests and mainly, uh, Brianna Taylor and Sandra blends deaths. Those hit me the hardest when I was reading through them and everything.

I live in Evansville, which is about an hour or two hours from Louisville. So learning that a black woman got shot in her sleep, scared the shit out of me, out of me.

Gozi: [00:44:58] Yeah, I'll say two things. One, [00:45:00] it, trust me. I know people listening that would be like, Oh, I'd say some would not say it, but you know, I might have thought some bad things. It's okay to be wrong. It's it's OK to, you know, to be wrong as long as you're willing to make it right now. Uh, it's okay to be wrong in the past if you're willing to make this right now.

And to the thing about is that there's a ton of kids that we just don't even know about. Like how many of these cases have occurred and stuff that, you know, we just, they're just not enough media coverage and not enough outrage, but the same things that have been happening and have been happening for a very long

Rhyner: [00:45:31] time.

Yeah, exactly. On top of all the ones that they fricking purposefully cover up, like Maclean's a legend Maclean's fricking death. Like it's so frustrating. Like you get to this point where you're just whittled down a wheel down and there's like nothing left, but you still have to keep pushing. We're all pushing right now in our own ways.

From the inside, from the [00:46:00] outside, all directions everywhere. White lives matter. God dammit.

Oh goodness. And. I guess that was a good time to go ahead and ask you when you say the words that you're black, I'm black.

Gozi: [00:46:21] Yeah.

Rhyner: [00:46:21] Where does that come from to you?

Gozi: [00:46:24] Well, I mean like, you know, it comes from not only, you know, ancestral, uh, it not only comes from ancestral, you know, roots and stuff like that, but as well as, you know, just like my lifestyle and my.

My, uh, my upbringing, obviously, you know, I've had descendants of slaves and all that. The first is I can trace back. My roots is rock Hill, South Carolina. I don't know where my people came from in Africa. [00:47:00] I, the, the furthest I know is just rock Hill, South Carolina. And that's, that's something that has really impacted me.

And so, you know, like having to live my life as a black man, you know, it ha it obviously has its downside, but, you know, I, the thing that I enjoy so much about being black, the ability to take the downsides and make them any upsides and overcoming despite of what's happening. So like what I mean by being black, you know, I just don't mean, you know, I just don't mean I listened to rap and, you know, like I wear the stuff that I wear and like, I wear my hair in braids, you know, I, you know, it's something that I really do take pride in because of the history, because of, you know, not only the people before me, but the people who I know are going to come afterwards,

Rhyner: [00:47:49] that was a pretty dope answer.

Not going to lie. Thank you. You mentioned how you come from South Carolina.

Gozi: [00:47:56] Well, so, uh, my family currently lives in North Carolina. I was [00:48:00] born in North Carolina, but I can trace back. My ancestry is South Carolina.

Rhyner: [00:48:06] I got you. So it's not like these other families that can go like. Further back.

Gozi: [00:48:13] Yeah. Like I know people who can go into like a medieval times, like they can say like, yeah, like what their last name means, what, like, what all this means.

Like, all I can say is like, Hey, my ancestors were brought here. They went to like, I, I, I don't even know if they were. If they got to America into South Carolina, I just know that South Carolina was the last record that I showed. And honestly, I feel lucky enough that I know that far back.

Rhyner: [00:48:43] Yeah. That sadly kind of true.

Like some people can't even say that because of how fuck their lineage became.

Gozi: [00:48:51] Yeah. Yeah. Crazy

Rhyner: [00:48:54] shit. Well, I guess I got one last question for you. Are you [00:49:00] ready for it?

Gozi: [00:49:02] Strapped in. Ready to go?

Rhyner: [00:49:04] All right. Awesome. So in regards to what's going on right now with BLM, what concerns do you have for the future?

Gozi: [00:49:15] Uh, it's kind of two concerns. One is a bit of. Things being so diluted to a point in which, you know, I'm not gonna say diluted in terms of, you know, each aspect of, uh, of like that racism impacts is affected by this. I'm saying that, you know, we, things come accepted like, uh, like meaningless changes, Dana, that don't even have to be made.

Like, I, I think I remember like realtors in Texas were gonna like stop calling the bedroom, like the master bedroom, like that, that wasn't [00:50:00] a concern, you know, like we, we want things that do. Actual change, like, you know, changes in law enforcement changes in legislation, changes in the justice system. These like those things actually matter.

So I am kind of concerned that people who are actually empower our own, we are only going to have those that don't matter anything. And I am a bit concerned of retaliation. Uh, you know, that people who are so against that are going to actively seek, seek these things out and then fight against them so much the point in which, you know, like what happened, like a lot of what happened in the civil rights era, back in the sixties, fifties, the late fifties and sixties, those are the things that I am concerned about.

But the thing about is that I know that. History will always, always, always on the sides of things like this, like his, or was it always going to be on our side? There are people in the, you know, back in the civil rights era who were fighting [00:51:00] against these things who have, who have children or grandchildren who are fighting for these things now.

And that's something that's only going to get more and more as times change times for breasts. So I, I'm always going to be hopeful regarding these things.

Rhyner: [00:51:16] I couldn't have said it better myself, honestly, all these meaningless performative changes, like the syrup changing names and the master bedroom and the,

Gozi: [00:51:27] yeah.

Rhyner: [00:51:28] The white actors, voice actors, whatever. It's just a bunch of stuff to make you feel like things are changing when they're not what we need is police reform slash defunding the police to fund education. Social services, mental health, health in general, et cetera. We, we need to help people feel better.

Live better lives, not feel like they're a cog in the system. Like they are right now, especially a system [00:52:00] that is actively working against them in every turn.

Gozi: [00:52:03] Yeah.

Rhyner: [00:52:05] Like just today, I, I looked on Twitter as I do, and I come across a video that mentions how. Uh, hospitals are less likely to give a kidney to a black someone on someone who is black on the donor list because they secrete more.

I forget what it's called. It's some

Gozi: [00:52:29] thing. That's all that too.

Rhyner: [00:52:31] Yeah. Yeah. That is what they mean when it's like a systemic problem. Like it's not just colon, colon people Negro or whatever

Gozi: [00:52:40] it is. It reaches into everything. Well, like I said, you know, like sounded that it's not something that's going to be fixed overnight.

We know that, uh, let you know, like I said, the more that we push, the more that we fight now, the better it's going to be.

Rhyner: [00:52:54] We need to be actively working toward making things better because we care about it. It's not [00:53:00] because we hate it. We don't like dying, but

Gozi: [00:53:04] yeah, I I'll, I'll say it. This is a hot take. I prefer to be alive.

Rhyner: [00:53:09] Yeah, right. That's a fucking hot tyke right there. Oh my goodness. Hey, but the future is bright and I know if we keep working toward it, we will get there eventually, even if it takes like a hundred, 200, 300 years. Yeah. Can't stop fighting.

Gozi: [00:53:28] And then like being like, even if it's not for me, for my kids, my grandkids, my, you know, Yeah, whole lineage and everybody else that comes back to me and not only my family, you know, the kid in, you know, Minnesota, the black in Minnesota, the, you know, the kid in London, the kid in Australia and the kid in Tokyo.

Like I want things to be better for not only me, but for others. Like not only me, my family, but everybody else.

[00:54:00] Rhyner: [00:53:59] Exactly.

Oh, yeah.

All right. I was looking for the name of the woman who statue got, uh, who replaced Edward Colston statue. Oh, her name?

Gozi: [00:54:19] I didn't, I remember seeing her name, but I can't recall it off the top of my head right now, fortunately, but yeah, I mean, it's, it's just things like that where, you know, it took however so long to, you know, They weren't even thinking about taking down the statue of a colonizer and somebody like that.

But you know, the only statue of a black woman up for a day, like quick they'll quickly take that down.

Rhyner: [00:54:48] Oh, wow. I thought it was there to

Gozi: [00:54:50] stay now. They took that down after a day.

Rhyner: [00:54:54] Oh, what the fuck. Okay. Okay. I was trying, I was trying to end the sentence [00:55:00] positive. No,

Gozi: [00:55:03] I will spin it positively for you. The thing, the things that we see and the things that we are encountering are things that the people haven't done.

You know, a lot of times and stuff. A lot of times we have left things up to powers that be, it sounded re you know, I'm not advocating for, I, I'm not, I'm not repeat the lines of what I'm saying, but you know, you know, people have a ton of power in this country. People have a ton of power in numbers, power and whatever.

So utilize these things in ways that make it. You know, make it known, make it voice, be known, whether that's voting and I'm not going to it's exclusively voting does not solve everything voting helps, but it does not solve everything. You know, things like, you know, and once you vote, you know, hold these people accountable, hold politicians, accountable, hold everybody.

Even if it's not right, like an official accountable, uh, And, you know, it obviously [00:56:00] changed, starts with all of us. Change starts with the individual, even if you're not donating or doing these things, you can look in the mirror and say, Hey, a lot of stuff that I've done in the past or whatever it wasn't good.

I wanna make a change and you make that change. Other people are going to make that change any reaction. So, you know, if you feel as though, you know, you're like, Oh, I might not have as big of a platform or, you know, I don't really have the resources. There are so many ways that you can help just internally, like speak up legit voice, be heard, make the change, be the change you want to be.

That's it.

Rhyner: [00:56:39] Hell. Yeah, brother. All right, then it was great chatting with you guys. If you'd like to support the show, you can share this episode around, tell us what you found to improve. You know, that kind of thing. We've got a tip jar link below and check out our stuff. So media's @RhynerAD my sound engineer, Sean @ [00:57:00] Viogoat.

And of course the guest of honor today, Gozi at light-skin tiger. Was there anything you want to say before we close off today? Uh,

Gozi: [00:57:09] no. I'd like to thank you for having me, you know, this is Mary fun, very fun thing to do. And, you know, thanks to everyone who support me. Well, this time, you know, like I said, my door is open.

If anybody wants to talk, I mean, you know, be, be respectful, but yeah. Uh, you know, my line, I appreciate it.

Rhyner: [00:57:29] Thank you so much for coming on the show was a lot of fun and everybody out there, please send him a DM that says hi dot, dot, dot. I would really appreciate. Thanks for so much for listening, buddy.

I'll catch you next time. See ya.