(bright upbeat music) - [Announcer] Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP, focusing on business law and commercial litigation, is proud to support "Rob on the Road: Region Rising."

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- [Rob] Mentoring matters to Berry Accius, Founder and CEO of the Northern California nonprofit, Voice of the Youth.

Berry has been guiding and mentoring young adults for more than a decade.

Berry shares his personal journey and how it made him a pillar of strength on "Rob at Home."

- [Narrator] And now, "Rob on the Road: Exploring Northern California."

- I'm thrilled to have Berry Accius join us now on "Rob at Home."

Berry is a community treasure and a community advocate, who has his finger on the pulse of Sacramento.

Berry, it is so good to see you, and thank you for joining us here on "Rob at Home."

- Ah, thank you, Rob, for letting me in your house, in your home.

- I'm thrilled for you to be here, and in your home, who's watching right now.

Berry, what do you... First of all, tell us about what you do.

You're a community advocate, you're well known throughout the region, but a lot of it is driven by heart.

- Yes, first off, outside of just being an advocate and the CEO for Voice of the Youth, I am a father first, so that title I put ahead of all titles that I've had in this leadership circle, as well as a mentor.

And I have been given the humble treasure of being a Pops, an Unc, a father figure to so many young people in our community.

And there's always been this idea that young men need to be guided a little bit differently than young women, and I looked at that as I created the mentorship program, Voice of Youth in 2008, being a girl dad first, having a daughter, which was a blessing in disguise, even though I was worrisome, feeling like all my bad deeds of being a young man is gonna come back to haunt me with my daughter.

I saw the significant need to make a mentorship program that wasn't specifically for just boys, for the male component, but it had to also be a blend with the girls.

- Berry, we have seen you so many times in our region in times of crisis.

- Yes.

- All the cameras show up and interview you whenever there's a crisis in our community.

But you're there every day.

- Yeah.

- Helping, reaching out a hand to anyone in need.

Tell us about first the organization that you founded in 2008, and what is your why for the organization?

- Well, when I first started Voice of the Youth, it was strictly about serving the population that I felt were voiceless.

And that was the youth from ages 12 to 25, right?

And now the new trend is creating that, that model where 25-year-olds are still a part of that youth age.

It's not considered too much of, they're adults, but they still need the kind of support that we gave with Voice of the Youth.

So I feel like I was ahead of the curb.

Because I remember with me growing up, being a teenager, my most pivotal years were the years where my father no longer could reach me, and if I had older individuals, and I did, but they were all negative.

I had an older brother, but he was kind of lost in the sauce.

I had older figures in my community that I looked at and I looked up to, but they were pretty much doing things that were probably negative.

I mean, 90% of them were doing negative things, right?

And I just followed suit.

So I remember that I thought about my life as a grade schooler, a high schooler, if I had a voice.

And mind you, I had a voice, but the voice was such a negative tone.

If I had somebody to shape my voice and create leadership, take me into the right path, how much my life would change.

- Your inner monologue you felt was negative?

- Hundred percent, (laughs) a hundred percent.

- I understand that, I understand that.

- Yeah, a hundred percent.

- I struggle with that to this day.

I think part of human nature is to struggle with that.

- Oh yeah, I think that you keep hearing voices in your ear that's telling you you're never gonna be anything but what you are, right?

And negative voices and negative examples of like...

Especially from a young Black male perspective, I'm watching the glorification of negativity.

So I'm going to go to what people are celebrating.

In my eyes that's what they're celebrating.

In my eyes that's what's getting them a claim.

So I'm gonna follow suit.

I'm not gonna go what my dad is talking about.

My dad used to have a saying, you hang out with 10 losers, what you think you're gonna end up being?

And I'm thinking in my mind like, well, I'm gonna be a winner because none of my friends are losers, right?

(laughs) From my idea with Voice of the Youth, it really came from the struggle that I had as a teenager and watching the navigation of understanding who you are and then figuring out the leadership and the follower syndrome that a lot of us fall into, that I should have really led the pack and led the pack in a different way, but I kind of led the pack astray.

So I'm like, I'm not going to allow this generation to be led astray.

Whether they listen, I'm gonna set up the foundation, the building blocks as my father did.

'Cause I had my father growing up, which was probably the one reason I felt the foundation that I was standing on, it never collapsed, because my father showed me what manhood looked like.

He gave me a great example.

- That's the thing.

We remember how people make us feel.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- And no matter where we go along our journeys, we always remember that love.

- Oh yeah, and my father was a clear example.

Now the nurturing part of it, because he was all male in that kind of generation, you didn't see too many males show that type of genuine emotion.

But you know they had emotions for things that I was usually doing that were negative.

And it's so great 'cause now, as me and my father have bridged that gap, as we're both older in our days, we go back to those times and we're able to not only laugh about it, but talk about some of those things, you know what I mean?

So it's real therapeutic for me because I could go back and not only show my father what you did wasn't in vain because he was looking at his successful son, and he knows that the stuff that he poured into me, it actually worked, but I'm actually being able to stand with him and support him as he gets older.

So it puts a smile on his face that it's like all my sacrifice, it worked.

And he's watching me in real time, not only be a committed father, but really surrender myself to our community in such a way, as he did, what a lot of people don't know, for my mother.

'Cause my father took care of my mother as she was mentally ill for my whole teenage life.

- Tell me about when you begin to feel that switch in yourself about making whatever that is for you.

'Cause we all know those feelings where we have to start to change our thinking.

- Yeah.

2008.

- Was it 2008?

How old were you?

- It was 2008, it was 2008.

I believe in my probably middle twenties, late twenties, something like that.

- So you were able to change the, dramatically change the trajectory of your life in your mid twenties.

- Yes, in the sense of it.

I would say late twenties.

- That's great.

- I had to say to myself, when I started being a real bad boy at age 13, what is it getting me now?

And I also had to look myself in the mirror and say, "What kind of man do I want my daughter to see?"

So in this life, if I was to pass away right now, what would my daughter say about me?

And what would people say about my legacy?

What is the legacy that I'm leaving?

I had to wake up to this reality.

The things that I was doing wasn't gonna lead me to anywhere positive.

It was a decision to say I no longer want to be a part of that spectrum.

I don't want to see what's on the other side of the door anymore.

'Cause I know, right?

Because we're well aware of the consequences, but we often believe that we're Teflon.

It won't happen to me.

- Yeah, and we see how quickly anything in this world can happen for good and for bad.

- Yes.

- I like to call that getting off the elevator before it hits the bottom floor.

You just got off at a different floor.

But that's not...

It's very, it's hard to do, and yet once you do it and you step outside your comfort zone, you realize how crunched you were inside of it.

- Yeah, well, think about the comfort zone that you're in.

- [Rob] Discomfort zone is what I usually say.

- Yeah, well, the fact that I was really uncomfortable being comfortable, if that makes any sense, I was really uncomfortable being comfortable because I never really fit the shoes that I was given.

- I think about the fact that when differences in culture are celebrated, we bring out the best in everybody.

- A hundred percent.

- And when we focus on anything that divides us, it is a waste of time, energy, and it is a waste of space.

- A hundred percent.

And I found myself trying to always fit in to American culture and forgetting my Haitian culture.

You understand what I'm saying?

So as a Black male, this was hard for me to, first of all, comprehend the transition of changing the personalities.

Who I was known for, I was known for being this guy named Smooth B, right?

So you think about it, Smooth B, the 24-hour hustler, I was known for that guy.

So to reintroduce myself back to Berry Accius, it was a difficult transition.

I ain't gonna lie, I didn't trust it because I was so used to when things didn't go right, let me go back to Smooth B.

'Cause Smooth B was that character that protected me all through my adolescence.

And it helped protect me through my adult age.

And that's why it's very significant for me to open up the eyes of our youth to see who they really are.

Who is that real person?

Who's that real personality that they're trying to adapt to, or they want to open and have the world to see?

And if that person is that person that you like, will the whole world like it?

And that's kind of where I had to accept, I had to like Berry Accius just as much as I loved Smooth B.

And I could sit there and say now I love Berry Accius, even though there may be some people that don't like me.

(laughs) I'm okay with that.

- [Rob] That's when you know you're living your true self.

- Hundred percent.

- How does it go day to day for you with being such a positive mentor to so many people?

What does your day look like?

- Hectic.

(laughs) Early mornings and super late nights.

Because again, the direction of my leadership has shifted.

At first, like I said, it was father first, I moved into mentorship, then I moved into being really another family member for so many of my youth.

I fill in that gap.

As I like to say, I'm a real model, not a role model.

A role model will play a role, a real model, I will show you the flaws of who I am, but the flaws of who I am will hopefully bring you to greatness.

So my testimony- - I love that.

- Yeah, my testimony is going to help enlighten and empower folks.

So now you move into the advocate and activist side when I'm advocating for healthier foods and for a different kind of food scene in these areas that are food deserts, and I'm bringing in different foods that our young people are not eating, our older people not eating.

We're entrusting in our skills that we don't have to always go to McDonald's.

We can go ahead and cook at the house.

And then when you think about all the things that was happening in our community with the social justice component, being a voice for the voiceless and being a direction for so many of our underserved communities that have been oppressed by different laws, historically, and being a sound voice that has been on the ground, that has seen it, that has transformed from it, I think that it's all been like a set of current events.

So now as you become an advocate for so many, I get phone calls every day about numerous things outside of my daily regiments of checking in with my youth, trying to get funding because it's a forever thing when you talk about funding.

And even in the next step that I thought, which was crazy, and I never thought I would be in this space, is when COVID hit, right?

When COVID first hit, everybody was kind of in disarray.

Folks was locked in their houses.

I myself found three other chefs.

We named ourselves Three Black Chefs.

And I said, "What our community needs right now, they're going to need food and they're gonna need a sense of normalcy."

So we were able to create a whole food program, Three Black Chefs, and for five months we were able to feed our community in the height of COVID, when no one really knew what was going on with the vaccinations.

People were in just total fear.

People were locked down in their houses.

Every Wednesday through Saturday, folks came into an area in Meadowview where we had our kitchen, and we gave people some real food for the soul.

Not soul food, but food for the soul.

And we created a family atmosphere where a lot of families would just come, pick up their food and leave.

But when they came, we were entrusted to give them good nourishment, but give them smiles, give them extra food, make 'em feel like this was the place to be, having the DJ, just making it a family atmosphere.

So in that sense of giving back, right?

We always fed the homeless, we did all those different things, but we took it to the next level.

And that then went into me doing my shoe giveaways, elevating our backpack giveaways, doing our gift giveaways.

For even in that, now you transfer, transform into being an advocate for making sure when our families are in those low places, that we're supporting them as well, in that area.

So it's all these different hats that I'm running around wearing.

It could be overwhelming at times, but I believe the Most High has my back.

We have a great team that lifts us up.

And the beautiful part about it all is the young people that come in our program, they're all significantly a part of all of this.

So they can always understand.

It's never like an adult thing.

It's always the young people are involved so they can start understanding the importance about giving back to our community.

- I hear so much of your life being about a message and a higher calling.

So take this time to talk directly to a member of our youth who is in need of you.

What would you say to someone who was sitting, if it was just you, and on the other side of this camera was somebody in need?

- I would just say obstacles create opportunities.

Don't let this moment define you.

Your future's ahead of you.

Your past has created you, but your presence will define you.

And that you should never give up.

And I feel like me understanding that, me believing in myself first... Because I couldn't stand by and wait for someone to believe in me.

I had to believe in myself.

I always tell my young people, I already believe in you.

But that doesn't matter if you don't believe in yourself, you don't attempt to conquer these demons.

I'm gonna support you with that, but you have to take this battle head on.

And I feel like in my life, I took the battle head on.

I talk about accountability matters because when I speak it, I speak it in truth.

I don't speak it in a sense of, hey, I'm just saying good words.

I don't smoke, I don't drink.

I don't waste my time pointing fingers at those who do it.

But when my young folks are looking at ways of transitioning where they don't really wanna smoke as much, they don't wanna drink, they can look at me and they say, "Uncle, how did you do it?"

- How did you do it and become happy?

That's another thing because people feel like they can't be happy without it.

- No man, I'm freaking the happiest I've ever been without that stuff, right?

But you have to find a purpose in your happiness, and that purpose in happiness is not gonna always come from people, or it's not gonna always come from a thing.

If you can't find it within self, you gotta keep on searching, gotta keep on looking.

And I feel those words inspire so many people when they can see an individual like myself who has such a great testimony.

I've had all the dramas that so many of these young people have had.

There's this bit of vulnerability to me, right?

It doesn't, I don't wear it.

You don't feel it, you don't sense it.

- Someone who has such a big heart and stands up, and when you put your arms around someone who is at their worst moment, you clearly have come through it yourself.

- But I don't think a lot of people look at that, Rob.

I just don't think.

I think that a lot of people just feel... One of, I think the most frustrating things about doing this work that I sometimes often hear, especially through the times when I started becoming more relevant, a lot of individuals would look at my gratitude for our community, my unconditional love, and my give back to our community as if it was some type of plot or some type of hustle.

So I think that the most disheartening thing about doing this work is folks don't realize how much work we put in behind the scenes and how much sacrifice that our team is committed to do for our community to get the best of the best.

But at the same time, y'all don't really know who I am and what I hold in my heart and the true testimony.

And it's not for me to shower folks with my frustrations or to get empathy from people to hear my sad story.

'Cause I know everyone has one.

But sometimes you have to be able to understand, there's no way a person could be this motivated if it wasn't something that motivated them.

- Bingo.

- To be able to support that community the way I do.

- And that's why, one of the reasons why I wanted to talk to you, because- - I appreciate that.

- You cannot share, you cannot wear the responsibility of what you wear on your shoulders for so long without sharing how hard it was to get there.

- Oh man, tough.

- And you have done that.

And I think that your message is as profound for adults who need a restart and a reboot.

Hear this message from Berry, you can do this.

And you can pour this into yourself and into others.

And it begins in one moment.

- Yes, it does.

- Where you just step outside of what may feel like your comfort zone.

But it is really the crushing zone.

- Yeah, why we do our Give Back Matter program, the way we do it, because I know from doing this work, when I'm elevating a child, if I don't elevate that family member in the house that's taking care of that child, that child just comes to me for those couple hours, goes back to them for those days, and we gotta rework it and do it all over again.

- And you gotta, yep.

- So I try to elevate both, not at the same time, but just line 'em up a little bit as much as I possibly can.

Of course I'm doing a lot more for the young people 'cause some adults are gonna have to figure it out.

But being able to support both parties, simultaneously at times, it's important because that helps level up the parent to see, you know what, I can do it.

Because every parent meets the challenges where they need some support, they need that, I won't call it a handout, I just say a push of love.

- [Rob] I love it, I love that, a push of love.

Best truth.

- More truth than you can handle.

(laughs) - That is truth.

That is the real deal.

Which is why you say instead of role model, real model.

- Oh man, brother, I'm flawed, and my story tells it all.

I don't think I know it all.

- To be human is to be flawed.

- Yes, but you know what, a lot of these folks will run around here thinking they have the perfect plan, and that's not who I am.

The beautiful thing about me is I stand credible to my people, to my community.

I've tried to help many, sometimes I fall short.

I think I've helped a lot more than I've fallen short with.

And I think I've supported a lot more families and a lot more young people that I've let down.

So I just say that I come with flaws, but my flaws have generally created the person that's continuing to invest and impact our community.

And I'm so grateful and I'm honored, as well as humbled that my little life, (laughs) when I was going through the stages of darkness, that I would reinvent myself to be such a pillar in the community and be recognized for all the great work.

And also to be called by good men like yourself to even speak to the community in this way.

And hopefully folks have learned a lesson and take heed and actually support, support the good works of Voice of the Youth, and continue to propel good deeds and good fellas.

- I love this about Robin Robert.

She says, "Make your mess your message."

- Mmm, oh, that's dope, like that.

- Turn a mess into a message as well.

And I just have to say that you are such what I needed to hear today.

- Appreciate that, Rob.

- And I hope that it's what you who are watching needed to hear today.

Because I want to remind you of the goodness that is on this Earth in people like Berry, who is consistent with his love.

We all can be like Berry.

And yes, we're all flawed, but we're also flawed and flying.

So I salute you, brother.

- I like that.

Boy, you got some...

I think I might have to take that one from you, brother.

- Take it, take it.

- Flawed and flying.

I love it.

- It's yours.

- Thank you, brother.

Flawed and flying, I love that.

That's great messaging, man.

Like I said, we just continue to do the great works, continue to pour into our community and continue to show the love, man.

And we need it right now more than ever.

- Yes, we do.

And I'm hoping, sometimes, sometimes you have to make a little fun of it, but in real life, that I'm gonna continue to do the work, the real work that needs to be done and continue to be a steward and continue to live by example, not just by conversations or talk, just continue to live in truth.

It's just a beautiful thing to be here and be present.

And like I said, we are going to fight and bring back humanity.

They are still a lot of good people in this world, and I am thankful that I'm one of them.

- Because if it's not right, then it's not over.

- Yeah.

- Thank you, Berry Accius.

I'm so grateful for your time.

- Appreciate it, brother.

- And I'm grateful for you.

- Thank you, brother, appreciate you.

- Thank you.

- No doubt.

Blessings indeed.

(bright upbeat music) - [Rob] Thanks for joining us.

You can watch when you want at robontheroad.org - [Announcer] Murphy Austin Adams Schoenfeld LLP, focusing on business law and commercial litigation, is proud to support "Rob on the Road: Region Rising."

More information available at murphyaustin.com.