As described by T. Rodgers, the S.E.L.F. class gives solutions for human crisis: illness, rites of passage, life skills, parenting gangs and urban survival skills, among other things. A Bloods gang founder, T. Rodgers formulates with people all over the country on how to come up with the rites of passage for this generation, while still keeping it traditional.
During the interview, Unique Access Ent.‘s Soren Baker jumps in to give his take on the S.E.L.F. class. “As times pass, we have had a disconnect between parents,” Baker says. “We’ve had a disconnect with the children being able to follow direction, have direction, listen and different things.”
That’s why, T. Rodgers says, “We ask how you feeling at the beginning at the class, and how you feeling at the end of the class.”
T. Rodgers says he believes that he is just a facilitator, and although he may know the correct answer, it is not his job to give the class the answer. It is only his job to help guide and correct which way they should go.
“In that class, we stress that you have to give up the life you are living to live the life that is planned for you, and a lot of people don’t want to do that,” he says.
Rodgers breaks down the four fears that often plague the regular person: Fear of change, fear of success, fear of failure and fear of the unknown.
Elsewhere in the interview, Rodgers briefly describes the differences between independence (“you have to live on an island with your best friend as a monkey”), interdependence (“to be able to go to a store and buy a cut-up chicken because you do not know how to cut up a chicken”), and co-dependence (“I cannot live without you, I need you”), to which Rodgers adds that one cannot be truly happy unless you learn to be happy by yourself.
Rodgers goes on to establish a couple of formulas taught in his class, “One: Eliminate the negative, establish the facts, and pick your best option. Two: Who, what, when, where, why, and how?” T. Rodgers proclaims. “If you answer those brutally honest, you will find out the answer to any question.”