#50 Marquis Hunt, recording artist, interfaith leader, author and thought leader, 9-25-23, Part 2: OTOH episode 50

In this second part of our conversation with Marquis Hunt, we explore his life as a musician, and he offers sage advice on how to work across divides in his community. He offers advice such as "hate that which is not love" and points out how often these days, some divisive elements are targeting as "bad" such currently central points in the culture wars as being black, gay, transgender, etc.  He focuses on finding ways to neutralize the efforts of those who try to vilify people who are different, which he associates with a form of hostage-taking. Drawing a distinction between those who design division societally and those who are caught up in this designed divisiveness, unaware that they are "unwilling co-conspirators," he emphasizes the importance of our approaching these two sources differently. He points out how we are built to handle toxicity in both physical, emotional, and more metaphysical ways as a way to empower us and offer a sense that we can make a difference.  Marquis also talks about humility, the importance of being honest with oneself, and being in right relationship with oneself and others. The importance of appropriate boundaries turns out to be a rather widely encompassing notion that he uses, with concrete examples, that can help us "love anyway."  His assertion is that everything he does, whether in music or in his work in the community, is in essence, listening and breathing, something he learned in his musical pursuits.