(Tom) This week on Arizona Illustrated, Tucson hip hop artist, Cash Lansky, gives back to the community.

(Cash) And some of those kids were dealing with the abuse in their household.

And that was their way to get away.

So when the pandemic happened, they were like trapped.

That really like hit home.

Definitely have to create this space for kids to be able to go to escape.

(Tom) A real life American hero turns 100.

(Hugh) Guys like himself that have served in Iwo Jima are a special breed of people.

(Tom) Our Invasive Desert Plant series continues with a look at the water sucking salt cedar.

(Tony) And that's how they just become these clusters of gigantic non-native trees that spread like a cancer throughout our wash ways.

(Tom) And doodling just for fun.

(Ryan) It's either a slow motion panic attack.

(laughing) Or it's a meditation.

(Tom) Hello and welcome to Arizona Illustrated.

I'm Tom McNamara.

And today we're joining you from Freedom Park on 29th Street or the Deuce 9 as some like to call it.

It's right in the heart of the 29th Street Thrive Zone which runs from Alvernon to Craycroft and 22nd to Golf Links.

The Thrive approach is an effort by the city of Tucson that aims to transform communities through resident driven activities and by providing opportunities through education, services and jobs.

So now let's meet an ambassador for the project.

Local hip hop artist, Cash Lansky, who says he benefited from after school programs and people to look up to as a kid.

And now he says it's his responsibility to give back.

(Cash) I left Pittsburgh in 1991 from Alaska down here in in 99.

I was 15.

I didn't really see too many Black people... after kind of understanding the neighborhood.

I realized that there was these pockets of where the Black people kind of lived at and it's all up and down 29th.

They're trying to clean up 29th, like these apartments over here, I remember craziness over there I wasn't used to that when I got down here either to see this many apartment buildings like this See like these ones over here, they're boarded up.

They're like redoing these and I remember coming down here and we see somebody out here dead and they had it all taped off.

There's no like Whole Foods, there's nothing really like healthy wise in this area at all.

There should be a big farmers market every weekend.

There's no reason why there shouldn't be.

The second time we moved in here, my mom had got evicted.

I think we came to get the stuff that day and all of our stuff was gone.

We lost everything from that.

I mean like we've been evicted from other places growing up as kids, you know.

We had to move fast like that but that one, everything was taken from us.

That was another reason why I wanted to put those pictures on the back of my album covers.

So I know for a fact those pictures will live forever.

♪ LIGHT DRUMS AND KEYBOARDS PLAY ♪ I wanted to do something different.

Um and I felt like this "Man of the House" project was like um... intimate, that home feeling, that love when you're at home.

Recently put out my new project called "Man of the House," Um...under "Mello Music Group."

This project was... probably my most personal in-depth of who I really am to the core project um...that I've ever been able to create.

♪ Even if it's put no art in it art in it shows ♪ ♪ Taking all in from the highs and the lows ♪ ♪ Is it really worth it ♪ What's the cost ♪ What's the pros ♪ When you know the author ♪ ♪ You know how the story go, go, go, go ♪ I had to kind of grow up fast because my dad wasn't in the picture.

Since I was nine years old, 10 years old, I've been helping my mom raise my brother and sister, doing certain things that an adult should do because I had to step up, um, and play that role.

And that's a lot to put on a kid.

The correlation between when I was a kid to who I am now, from my grandmother to my mom, teaching me about manners, teaching me about respect, Umm...teaching me how to treat people, teaching... how I should be treated, learning these things and seeing what we come from to where we are now and being a father, being a husband is trying to break these generational cycles that we've-we've been caught up in.

♪ Make sure I don't look at my mom ♪ ♪ I'm not trying to cry.

♪ I played this ---- at the listening party ♪ ♪ I wrote down crying ♪ I told them I was different and they told me ain't no way ♪ ♪ Your trials and tribulations make you who you are today ♪ ♪ I told them I was human, never said I was the same ♪ ♪ I know they want the truth and with the truth ♪ "In Due Time," when I wrote that song was dealing with my grandmother passing away, dealing with my best friend going to the military without me and feeling like I let him down, telling my wife, thank you for everything.

And I hope that you don't ever question yourself in our relationship, the role that she's played in my life.

It was me just expressing myself and getting that out and understanding like, I'm human, you know, and I'm allowed to speak about this without being judged.

And just trying to cope with this.

♪ FAINT SINGING The Tucson hip-hop scene is so beautiful.

Like we really are tapped in with each other when it comes to like life, our mental health, to be able to have that...that vulnerability, to be able to speak.

We gotta be able to create these safe spaces.

That was the only thing that never let me down, was music.

We all deal with mental health, and we all deal with mental health differently.

Um I feel like that's a part of being an artist, and we see the world a lot different from um the rest of the world.

And we fight with these demons and these problems and these issues that we have that are deep-seated um that we don't talk about to people every day, but we put it in our music, and our music is what helps us live.

♪ GENTLE MUSIC My grandma passed away three years ago now.

Her and my mom, there wouldn't be no Cash Lansky without those two ladies.

They used to always try to do things for us to make sure we knew who we were as Black kids.

We stayed out of trouble.

We learned that we could be something from being around... people that were successful.

And they was like, "Okay, once I get into position to be able to give back, that's what I wanna do."

I went and spoke at "Safford Middle School" with kids.

I didn't realize that... them even going to school was just an escape out of their household.

And some of those kids were dealing with abuse in their household, and that was their way to get away.

So when the pandemic happened, they were like trapped in those situations.

And I was just like, that really like hit home.

Like yeah man, you definitely have to create this space for kids to be able to go to-to escape... um and feel safe.

♪ CALM MUSIC So...

I start a nonprofit organization called "A Hand Up Not A Hand Out" with my wife, primarily focused on Black and brown kids dealing with mental health issues.

So we do our first community event, It was called uh "Community Time on Deuce 9."

I think we got maybe 200-something people to come out, and it was just a good time.

And then...one of my homeboys reached out to me and was like, "Hey, the city passed money to be able to put into that neighborhood, and they're looking for ambassadors."

(Laura) There's a couple areas in Tucson that were um looked at as possibilities, but this one was chosen because of crime rates, socioeconomic issues, and then lack of representations.

So this area didn't have any active neighborhoods associations, and didn't have um any way for the residents to really connect to getting resources.

Essentially five neighborhoods is what this is.

Alvernon to Craycroft, t-to 22nd to Golf Links.

We also would meet with all of the residents and businesses on both sides of those boundaries.

We wanna just make sure that everyone who's utilizing those main boulevards are part of our team and helping to build our community.

(Kate) In partnership with the "City Living Streets Alliance" has hosted and helped facilitate several community engagement events.

What we've heard overwhelmingly from community members is a big desire just to reconnect.

Because of... risk and danger and crime and historical divestment or disinvestment, a lot of people chose more social infrastructure things as the priorities, or like Cash's event, where people could talk about changes that they wanna see in their neighborhood.

Through those kinds of connections, its pushed and expanded what the project itself comes to mean.

(Cash) So weird how it happened.

Seeing what their vision was for this, I was like, this is perfect.

So when we start doing the community engagements and we start seeing people are like, "Hey, we wanna do more community events" I was like, checklist, I'm already trying to do that.

They were like,"Hey, we wanna do after school programs, we wanna extend hours at the Freedom Park Center."

I was like, this is perfect time for me to try to figure out what I wanna be able to do.

And I think building a relationship with the city has been so important because they're like, okay, there is somebody that wants to do this already, let's figure out how to get you in here.

(Laura) And that's our goal for the future as well, to keep that capacity building happening.

So continuing to train people that wanna become leaders and aren't leaders yet.

You had a lot of tools in your tool belt before you started, but not everyone has... you know all that community leading experience.

And so making sure people are ready to become the leaders of their community.

(Kate) It's already growing one of the other promotores who's only lived in the US for just over a year.

He went to Cash's event, helped with engagement, and then he was like, "This is what I'm doing, I'm going to do this at my apartment complex."

Brought on translators and interpreters.

We were talking with people about the neighborhood and their needs and their experiences and their challenges and their hopes in Swahili, English, Spanish, French, Turkish, Arabic... and Dari.

(Laura) Dari (Kate) Yeah (Cash) The cool thing about the 29th THRIVE Ambassadors was learning from each other because I-I've been wanting to do this for a while now and I never knew where to start.

I think people want to be able to envision theirselves being in these...these rooms, in these conversations, because they see people, Kate, myself, the city, being able to come together and create something that is bigger than ourselves.

So people gravitate to that.

Of like, "Okay, Cash, we've seen you rap a... a million times, but you're doing this now, can you tell me more about what you got going over here?"

And it brings certain people into this.

So I think just trying to be creative in what we're doing, like these action activities, I think are the driving force... in a lot of this.

We used to sit in the middle of these streets at two o'clock in the morning, throwing eggs at cars, running, getting chased in the neighborhoods.

We done sold drugs through here, and that was another one of my things like... You know I always wanted to give back because I felt like we took from what the community could have been.

So it is our jobs to pay that back, ten-fold.

It's crazy because I-I think about a lot of my friends, a lot of them dead in jail, overdosed.

Um... Life got the best of them.

So that makes me want to do it even more.

It's my responsibility now.

Come on here real quick, mom.

Come on, we gonna rap up on my own.

[ AUDIENCE CLAPS ] [ CROWD WHISTLES ] ♪ Love, love, uh ♪ Nobody in this here confess, my dear ♪ ♪ Never had a choice, had to face my fears ♪ ♪ Can't compete yourself to who the next man is ♪ ♪ You just gotta keep your faith like (unitelligible) ♪ ♪ They pocket watching me politicking, they know I'm him ♪ ♪ They shots are dropping, they outta options their ♪ ♪ (unitelligible) they glasses ain't no Kentucky suit ♪ ♪ It's the best to do it, hard to pursue it ♪ ♪ When you don't live what you rap and music ♪ ♪ And mama said the feelings will come ♪ ♪ If I'm anything like it once I'm done, then I'm done ♪ ♪ Get this shirt off my back, put your life to a mark ♪ (Tom) November 11th is Veterans Day, so next we take it a Casa Grande to meet a true American hero, Bob Brutinel.

He's a survivor of Iwo Jima, a recipient of the Silver Star and the Purple Heart.

You know, with living World War II veterans like Bob becoming increasingly rare, younger generations are missing the chance to meet them.

(gentle music) ♪ HOPEFUL MUSIC (Frank) For a hundred years old, absolutely.

Did you shake his hand?

- I did.

- He's got a good grip.

- Firm grip.

He's all there, man.

He'll live for another 20 years, at least.

(Bob) Hello, guys.

What do you say?

You with him?

-I am.

-You're not very proud.

-No, I'm not.

I love you (Frank) Today we are celebrating Bob Brutinel's 100th birthday.

He's a Iwo Jima survivor.

He has earned a Silver Star on Iwo Jima, a Purple Heart recipient.

He came here to Casa Grande in the '40s.

He started a business, Brutinel Plumbing.

At 99 years old, his birthday party was in his office at work.

-Okay, ready?

One, two, three.

Good one.

(Frank) Not only is he a real American hero, but he's been serving our community ever since he came to Casa Grande.

The community needs to know our history is going away.

Kids don't really learn the history of our country.

To meet a real American hero is something that most of 30s and 40s have never really had that opportunity.

We sent out invites to almost every important person letting them know that this is going on because he really deserves to know that his country and his community appreciate what he's done.

♪ MILITARY BAND PLAYING (Mark Brutinel) The White House, Washington, September 4, 2024, Dear Mr. Brutinel, It is a privilege to wish you a happy 100th birthday to thank you for your inspiring service in the United States Marine Corps.

The selflessness of veterans like you who answered our Nation's call to serve during World War II defines the true character of our Greatest Generation.

We remain foreve indebted to all those who have worn the uniform and have sacrificed beyond measure for our cherished freedoms.

On behalf of a grateful Nation, I send you my best wishes to you on this special day.

Sincerely, Joe Biden.

[ APPLAUSE ] (Frank) Without people like Bob, we would not have the country that we have.

(Hugh) World War II, they had a uniform, okay?

And they were lucky to get a pair of gloves.

They had a steel pot, not a Kevlar.

I mean, the whole scenario is a lot different.

And they didn't have what we had.

And it was, they don't call World War II generation the greatest generation for- You know, but... Guys like himself that have served in Iwo Jima are a special breed of people.

You know, when, you know, 40% of the people that landed on the beach were killed in action.

You know, I only lost three or four during my tour in Iraq.

But, you know, there's thousands of people around you.

That's a different story.

(Bob) Don't get up.

- I have to get up.

(Bob) Thank you.

Thank you for your service.

-If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't be here.

- How are you?

- Thank you for your service, sir - It's good to see you.

(Hugh) Bob was a flamethrower, okay?

Everybody knows, you know, everybody watches the World War II History Channel, and the first guy that gets it is a flamethrower.

He was one of those guys, and he survived it.

Matter of fact, up until about four or five years ago, I never even knew he was awarded the Silver Star.

That's how humble a man he is.

We think of ourselves as just doing our job, and, Bob, that's how he thinks himself.

He says, "Ah, I just did my job.

That's all I did.

I just did my job."

(Frank) Got up every day, went to work, continued working in the business, training plumbers and electricians in our community at 99 years old.

Who does that?

(Hugh) True American hero.

You know, plain and simple.

- I'm gonna be here today.

[ LAUGHTER ] - Hey!

Look at you.

- Happy Birthday.

(Tom) In our ongoing desert plants series, we've been showcasing many of the unique plants that make ours a one-of-a-kind bio region.

Well, now we're taking on non-native plants that do very well in the desert, but they become invasive.

In fact, this next tree takes water out of the desert and leaves salt behind.

[ BIRDS CHIRPING ] (Tony) This is Salt Cedar or Tamarix aphllya It is one of many species of the Salt Cedar family that is invasive in the state of Arizona.

They are all listed as noxious weeds.

This species was introduced back in the late 1800s by a lot of Spanish settlers to plant along people's houses, and shade them from the bright sun, and grow very fast, and provide that air conditioning that we all need in the desert.

But unfortunately, now it has escaped that cultivation in people's yards and has gone into our river ways, and is outcompeting all of our native plants, sucking up the water that we hold near and dear here in the desert, and out here, competing our cottonwoods, knocking out the willow populations.

They create this incredible monoculture of just Salt Cedars.

[ QUAIL CHIRPING ] Here in the bottom of the Santa Cruz, Salt Cedars have the potential to reach heights of 60 feet.

This is one gigantic individual that has a few smaller individuals growing at its base.

And that's how they just become these clusters of gigantic non-native trees that spread like a cancer throughout our washways.

The leaves for this plant are very scaly, they almost look like pine needles.

They are covered in salt, and this plant is called a Salt Cedar because it's able to deal with high soil salt concentrations.

It's able to thrive in that.

They build up the salt content in their needles and then they drop those needles to the ground, creating an even higher density of salt at their foot, which outcompetes all of the native plants, it suppresses them from growing, and enables their species, specifically to grow in their footprint.

That accentuates the problem of its invasive capabilities.

Salt Cedar is rarely ever used by native creatures at the very top of a dead old tree, but you don't see little birds using it for nesting.

You never see insects using it.

It's probably due to the salt content in its leaves again.

It's just not something that is palatable to our native creatures.

(Tom) For some, the word routine conjures up a rigid sense of structure that monetizes time and prioritizes productivity.

In contrast, the word ritual might be an activity that creates a more relaxed mindset for thinking, creating, or just being.

In this series, we meet up with people now to learn about their rituals, how they came about, and what rituals mean in their lives.

(Ryan) The doodling is a space where I kind of am allowed to not have to worry about results, don't have to have some kind of fixed way of being in the world or play any particular role.

While I'm doing this, there's a sense that I could do this forever, but I also know that I have a certain amount of time to do it.

So there's a little bit of an urgency there, as well as a state of mind that I'm going for.

Taking me back to that stream of consciousness way of being.

Things can transform into other things and there's no fixed identity.

It can be very freeing.

And kind of being tuned with nature in ways that can give it meaning and use it to ground ourselves so that we are more focused.

I was watching an old 70s TV show called "Rhoda".

And what was interesting about the show, and I started realizing about a lot of TV sitcoms, people are always hanging out.

But I was thinking about my own life and how much I actually get to hang out with people or bump into people on the street.

It's not happening as much for me now.

It could be part of being older and not having a similar kind of scene as when I was younger.

But I think it's also because I just work so much.

Even though we're like- one of the wealthiest nations in the world, we also seem to be one where everyone is fatigued and overworked all the time.

Can you be a real democracy if everyone's trying to always make a living?

This idea of a non-productive space, I think, is super important.

Right now, as I'm speaking, I can't be conclusive because I'm trying to stretch time as long as I can by just, you know, embracing and shifting and changing.

And part of it is my voice that continues without kind of pause, and part of it is my line that continues without kind of lifting the pen for too long.

So it's either a slow motion panic attack, or it's a meditation where a mantra is being repeated and gets transformed through the interaction with the breath and the body and becomes something else and then comes back to one as the mantra.

But I feel it goes beyond time.

Although someone probably could look at my drawing and go, "Well, this person went through the 70s."

Looks a little like an herbal essence shampoo bottle in a certain sort of way.

But you know, again, someone else might have a different connection, you know.

I only wish that I was a giant Arnold Schwarzenegger body builder that was doodling.

Fancy little flowers, I think that would be so much more interesting as for a documentary than it just be a little old man like myself.

But I do feel like the doodling can allow me to pretend to be a a really impressive weight lifter who is embroidering small flowers on a little purse.

You're hearing what's been on my mind, you know.

So it's a little like therapy in some ways.

I mean, it's a dialogue with yourself, and it's not done with language.

It's a visual language, but it could also be like a chicken just scratching on the ground.

Except there's no worm.

I mean, what would be the worm of a doodle, right?

What would be the thing that you're supposed to get out of a doodle?

I guess if it was some self-help or meditation technique, then that would be what you'd get.

But as soon as you assign that to it, it doesn't work anymore.

You know what I mean?

Then we're creating another product again and another expectation again.

So a good word for me with doodles is innocence.

That allows us to be surprised and to learn from doing and not really from producing or consuming.

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Thank you for joining us from here at Freedom Park on 29th Street.

I'm Tom McNamara.

We'll see you next week for another episode of Arizona Illustrated.