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| Onif Humberto Diaz |
www.ibotvonline.com
which he and his brother created with regard to "the music industry," which "demonstrates [their] collective passion for all things hip hop."
Onif also claims that he used to manufacture and deliver thousands of units of Maple Holistic's shampoo per day. Unfortunately, Maple ended their business relationship with Onif on a sour note, and he does not "believe in corporate America."
Also, says Onif, "I would be stupid to become a bum or a drug dealer."
An apparent philosopher, Onif also says, "It’s hard to live without money when life is so costly." "People rush to blame the dead for their own death." "A conscious, informed public capable of critical thinking is far more dangerous than giving them a gun and telling them what to do." "The mass media and the educational system seek to keep you distracted in a naive bubble." "We are so influenced by media... we do what it tells us to do to the point that we don’t know ourselves anymore."
"The true terrorists of our world do not meet [in] some alley at midnight and hangout at a house or... scream 'Allahu akbar!' ['God be praised!' in Arabic] before some violent action. The true terrorists of our world wear five-thousand-dollar suits and work in the highest positions of finance, government, and business."
"A Conspiracy Theorist is nothing more than a derogatory title used to dismiss a critical thinker."
A master of rhetoric, Onif asks, "How can we trust a system that is designed by rich men making public education policies while they send their kids to private schools?"
Touché!
Onif also asks, "What does a rich guy who had chauffeurs driving for
him all his life know about making policies for public transport?"
Touché! Touché! Touché!
Onif tells us that his father "opened [the] Grand National Supermarket in Long Branch, New Jersey," although new owners currently operate it.
Onif is "from New Jersey but... usually [goes] to every
State in America on Craiglist and [searches] for opportunities," and "[hopes we] can feel [his] drive and hunger."
We feel it!
La Libertad: Where were you born?
Onif: I was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
La Libertad: Where do you currently reside?
Onif: I now I live in South Amboy, New Jersey. I was born and raised in Elizabeth, New Jersey; then I moved to South Amboy, New Jersey at the age of ten, which was a big transition, going from
being in a class with a lot of minorities to being the only minority in class, so I had to make sure my voice was heard.
My middle school tried to put me on pills because I was "too hyper" or didn't have "self control," but, thank God for the mother I had, she fought it, and I ended up having to see [therapists] every now and then, but a lot of these schools do that and make these kids retarded when, really, they are just being children and having fun; I outgrew a lot of things, but that's normal in the ways of maturing.
La Libertad: What is your occupation?
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| Marques Townes |
Onif: I am an entrepreneur. I am finding myself and ways to make money without a job. I never liked waiting for my check, and, in a lot of these work places, they treat you like another number and don't care if they fire you or let you go. That's why I'm so big on building yourself and establishing connections on your own, because it's possible, and, in our generation, we have it easy; we have things like CraigsList, which was a huge platform for me; I was able to create advertisements and sell stuff to an a audience behind my screen, and it's effective; it's the "black market" - definitely a new way to network. Applications like LinkedIn allow you to put yourself out there in the world and connect with people.
La Libertad: What do you love most about your work?
Onif: I'm going to say it's a love and hate relationship with what I do; I love what I do because I am meeting new people and networking. I met some amazing people who have made millions and lost it all, and I can never understand that. If I [had ten thousand dollars], my next move would be to make [twenty thousand dollars] and so on! But I hate at times because I won't have any money; it's not consistent, and it's hard, especially in my situation where I have a lot of things to pay; my parents got deported when I was sixteen; I had my brother by me to help, but it wasn't the same; I had to figure out what I wanted to do and what I was good at, and the only way I found out what I was good at was by taking risks and trying different things, [taking] the time to get to know your brain and what you can do. Then you enter college with
your head high, knowing what you want to do because you've got your
experience from applying yourself to different things.
But school to me is a distant cousin from knowledge; school is a building which they happen to put knowledge in, and tell us we have to go to school to acquire this or that, but Malcolm X learned in prison, and, like many of our billionaires who didn't go to "school," there is something called self education, and you can teach yourself something for free because the information is out there now, on our phones and computers. School is a business, and I'm not letting them take my money.
La Libertad: What inspires you?
Onif: My parents inspire me honestly. I look at what they did... they came here with nothing and no English and survived; my father opened a business with no English or citizenship, that already tells me that anything is possible. I know two languages, English and Spanish and I'm a citizen of the United States of America; why can't I do it too?
A lot of people are ungrateful, and they can be in a better position if they apply themselves and go get it! Jay-z said this in [the album] Watch the Thrones, [in the song] "Otis," which had me going crazy; he said:
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| Sam |
"Dominicano, all the plugs that I know
Driving Benzes, with no benefits
Not bad huh? For some immigrants..."
[Laughs] That, to me was crazy because my father was in a Mercedes-Benz with no benefits, but not bad, huh? For some immigrants... [Laughs]
La Libertad: What is the hardest part of your job(s)?
Onif: ...Finding financial security or finding [the] right connections who can help me, and I can stay for the long run. You won't catch me working at "McDonald's" or Walmart; there's no progression in those places; you are another number and your future doesn't look bright. It's a depressing feeling when you mean s*** to your job, which means you don't mean anything to yourself, and [that will] turn into doubting yourself, which causes self destruction; it's all systematic and physiological.
La Libertad: What talents and hobbies do you have?
Onif: I am a writer, and I love to express myself with the push of a pencil. When I'm not doing anything, I play ball, or I work on my next move to make money; I yearn for financial security, and I'm worried almost all of the time about my future and where I'm going to live, but I love that; it drives me, and it makes me hungrier to want more, and to accept the challenge of not having it at all right now, but I know it's going to come; I just have to keep pushing.
La Libertad: What foreign languages, if any, do you read, write, and/or speak?
Onif: I speak Spanish pretty well, but I can't write it.
La Libertad: Where have you traveled?
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| Sam |
Onif: I [have] been to California; Florida; Canada; and my country, my roots, [the] Dominican Republic.
La Libertad: What are your career goals?
Onif: I would like to put a book out in the near future, and maybe appear on television doing something funny or simply on the "Oprah" show spreading "positivity" and hope. I would also love to see my
clothing line everywhere!
[NOTES: "The Oprah Winfrey Show" went off the air in 2011. She does, however, have an entire television network of her own, the Oprah Winfrey Network (O.W.N.) in the U.S.A. and Canada.]
La Libertad: What projects are you working on?
Onif: For a few years now, me and my friend Aaron Lewis have been working on our clothing Line "unmatched," and it's a lifestyle for any occupation, no matter who you are; unmatched is the lifestyle; it's the missing puzzle piece to your missing puzzle piece. It's a movement.
People need to wake up realize we are in a system and it can either kill us or make us.
La Libertad: What upcoming events, if any, do you intend to participate in?
Onif: I have a few projects and platforms I'm working on right now - a reality T.V. show, and some music. Definitely still, unmatched.
La Libertad: What links would you like to share?
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| Anthony Manning |
unmatchedclothing.com
It's a lifestyle!
Follow the Twitter:
@UnMatchedCC
Instagram: @unmatchedclothing
Here's one of my ads on CraigsList, so you can see what I am doing:
newyork.craigslist.org/jsy/ats/5258937704.html
Here is my LinkedIn profile:
https://touch.www.linkedin.com/?sessionid=1828378195233013&as=false&rs=false&can=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fhaywardbryant&dl=no#profile/396773884/NAME_SEARCH:QE52
La Libertad: What else, if anything, would you like to tell our readers?
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| Chubb |
Photos by Ghemar
Introduction by William Mortensen Vaughan
Interview by Libertad Green
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