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Ep 33 | The Cheyenne Bryant Credentials Controversy · Color Commentary

• Charles Cole: Welcome to Color Commentary, a podcast where the stories shaping our world are told in black and white first, and then we dig into their deeper meaning in full color. Each week I'll be bringing you the news like this. First, we'll start with what I like to call the black and white section. A clear, straight shooting rundown of the facts and the tradition of greats like Ed Bradley, Walter Cronkite, and the classic voices of journalism. Then we'll shift into the color commentary section where I add my own personal opinions and insight. Sometimes it'll just be me, Sometimes we'll have guests. Sometimes we'll have our illustrious producer, Tommy chime in. But let's figure out together exactly what this show can be and what's your feedback shaping this journey. Let's get into it. Now, before we get into today's story, I just need to take a few minutes, a few moments, crowd, like work with me because last night happened. So there's two things that's on my mind. The first one, game one of the Western Conference Finals. The San Antonio Spurs are hosting the number one seed Oklahoma City Thunder. They're an OKC is loud. The Spurs pulled it out 122 to 115. And there was it was just a great game, double overtime game, a game for the ages. But somebody arrived last night. Victor Wimbayamba. Wimby had 41 points and 24 rebounds and three blocks. Felt like he had a lot more than three blocks because he changed so many shots. They wouldn't even go into the hole when he was there. The man shot 56 % from the field and 92 % from the free throw line. His efficiency game score was 40.1. Just for context for people that are not basketball nerds, the entire OKC bench combined for 50 points. Wimby almost did that on his own. I just gotta riff on this a little bit. What you saw last night was a mix of what we hear about Will Chamberlain with Steph Curry skills sneaking in there. The man pulled up from the logo to send the game into double overtime. He just walked across the line and just launched it with like 30 something seconds left. It was like for the game. Like they were the loss, more than likely, had he not made that shot. And let me just tell you why I'm enjoying this kid. It's all the things that we have griped about from my generation of basketball. People are too buddy-buddy. So, you know, people want to be friends and it's not, you know. Everybody just travels and it's not physical like it used to be. Listen, Victor Wimbayama, he hates Chet Holmgren. They've hated each other since high school. There are clips of them and they're disdain for each other, okay? And Victor, clearly I played Chet last night and Chet is an incredible player. He's gonna have an incredible career. And if you are Chet, you might feel a little salty because you were supposed to be that first year you were there, right? For y'all that don't remember, Chet came in a year earlier but got hurt. He was supposed to be the unicorn with this, you know, the super tall skinny frame with this incredible skill set, KD 2.0, and he got hurt and didn't get to do it. He had to make his debut alongside that damn alien that we call Wimby. Wimby is from a different world. But put that to the side. Victor had to watch Shea get the MVP award in front of him. And you could tell he was seething. He hated it. He hated it. And he went out and he took it personally and he put, as we call BTA, belt to ass. I don't know if they're going to win the series. I don't know if they're going to win the title. What I do know is we are in the new generation of something different. We have never seen this before. And knock on wood, the only thing that can slow that man down is injury. Now he's tall. For y'all that don't know sports, Tall players are susceptible to leg and foot injuries. It's almost like a horse, you know. It's usually a death ticket for a horse if they hurt their leg or their foot, their hoof. So he does a lot of things to take care of his lower body, to take care of his self in general. I just pray he doesn't get hurt. The kid's incredible. So shout out to him. Shout out to a great game. I'm still looking forward to a great series. Okay, so can still very, very much win this. the series, but regards to how it finishes, we just all got to witness something that I've never seen in my lifetime. In the 42 years I've been here, I've never seen somebody like Victor Wimby. I just haven't. I know this isn't a sports podcast. I know that y'all like me to talk about culture and what's going on with black people. I know, I know. want to talk. Sometimes I sneak in some nerd stuff about some movies and stuff. It's such a, this is a cultural moment. Last night will go down in history. It will be shown again and again. 30 years from now when they're doing documentaries, last night's game will be there. ⁓ if you did not get a chance to see it, go watch it. I'm sure you can watch a replay of it, but it's one of those games. That's one of my riffs, all right? I got another riff though, I'm not done. I gotta talk about this because this keeps happening to all of us. and nobody is saying it out loud. But when did fucking tipping, I censored myself for those just listening. When did tipping become a requirement for everything? I'm not talking about sit down restaurants where somebody takes your order, brings you food, refills your water, deals with your attitude, checks in on you all night. I'm not talking about these people at all. Those are well-earned tips. I I'm talking about when I go to ⁓ a small little place to do some reading and it's self-serve and I order and I gotta pick up my stuff or self-serve my coffee or pick up the food. And then you flip over the damn tablet and they're asking for you to give tips. And some of these places are egregious with the tips. They're not just doing the standards 15, 18, 20. Some of them starting at plus 20%. What is this? When I'm at the airport and I'm flying back to Oakland, Tommy, on now a ticket that used to be five or $600, that's now $900, and I need to get some protein or something to snack on, and I pick it up myself, and they ask you for a tip, What, I don't understand. I just, don't understand. Just because it's not about being chipped. I am somebody who is happy to tip. I think tipping keeps us honest. I think, look, I'm going to give the standard 20. I know there's a stereotype about black people and tipping. I'm not a stereotype. I'll tip. I will gladly tip you. I'll tip you more if the service is great. And I will threaten. I like to say this. Me and Tommy were talking about this off camera before the show. ⁓ But like, I like to threaten if the service is bad or they got a bad attitude that I'm not tipping or I'm a tip less. I usually still, I never don't. I still tip, but I'm gonna, I retain the right, damn it, to say I'm not tipping when there's bad service. But we not even talking about These people want tips for doing nothing. I donated to a campaign, like a political campaign, and they asked for tips. They didn't do anything. Now somebody is gonna do this. They're gonna take their glasses and poke them up and say, well, actually, you know, somebody had to do the back door on that and build it out. No, somebody had to do their job. Is that what someone had to do to their job? Why wouldn't kids online or on social media ask for free money if everywhere they go, people are asking for free money? What is happening? Now, let me zoom out because people are gonna say, well, I expect a better take from you on that. You know more, blah, blah, blah. You know about the economy, sure. Our economy is in the shit can right now. I am aware and people are struggling. I am aware. And there's a struggle around people getting livable wages. I again am aware. But when did that become the issue of the consumer and not the corporation? Why are you not going at a corporation that for the most part is probably scurrying their tax burden already anyway? Go with them about that wage. But just this expectation that we tip on every single thing, it's getting out of hand. It's getting ridiculous. And I get it. TIP workers are people who genuinely need that money. So I understand that. I completely understand it. You know why I can take this stand though? Because I grew up in abject poverty. And if somebody did charity out of the kindness of their heart, I'm so grateful. I used to get clothes from the Salvation Army. I'm super, super grateful. But my parents are always clear. You don't get to expect that people, other people are gonna just take care of you. You don't just get to expect these things. And now that's where we are. Where do you draw the line? Like really, like where do you draw the line? There's no line right now and there needs to be one, cause this is ridiculous. Hopefully Riverside at the end of us recording this doesn't then pop up after I've paid them for ⁓ a subscription to then say, ⁓ can you also tip us as well? No, I cannot. If you want me to tip like that, okay, then lower the principal price and then I'll just put that tip directly on there. You don't like that option? Well, this tipping shit is getting out of hand. And then I travel to other countries that don't even let you tip. They're offended with that. Anyway, ran over, ran over. But in the comments, right, or hit me up. Let me know how you feel on tipping. You can say, Charles, you bugging, you tripping. Or you can be like, yo. I completely understand. Tommy, this is one of those we gotta clip up. Cause I do wanna hear from the audience on this one because maybe I'm tweaking. Maybe I'm tweaking. Anyway, now for our main topic. And this is gonna be fun because I asked Tommy, know, Tommy's my barometer on a lot of things, right? We share a lot of things culturally and some things we don't. And it's rare that we haven't. ⁓ I'm excited. I'm genuinely excited. And Tommy is not in a position where he can like say something on camera. So I'm really going to take advantage of this, right? I'm excited to introduce Tommy to something new here. I see he popped up over there, but y'all can't hear him if you say nothing. You know what I'm saying? So I'm in power. I have the power right now. But no, today's episode we're going have a little bit of fun with it. I'm going tell you this now. We're to talk about Dr. Cheyenne Bryant. And I'm gonna dive into this credentials controversy, ⁓ honestly, raw, and you're gonna give me, I'm gonna tell you right now though, I have no intention on dog pouting on this lady. I stay out of ladies business. What she does is not necessarily my business. ⁓ I'll explain more how this topic came to me. I'm a doctor, so people have been asking because there are some controversial things that were said. Like I said, I'm gonna be honest, but if you're looking for me to just kind of try to sudden this lady, This is not gonna be the episode for that. ⁓ Tommy may be pulling his hair out ⁓ as a producer of me, because this is not how you win viewers. I understand. ⁓ But I have some integrity there. So anyway, who is Cheyenne Bryant? Well, she is a media personality and a self-described psychology expert and life coach who has built a significant platform in black digital and celebrity spaces. She is perhaps best known for a wildly circulated 2024 interview in which she confronted football star Cam Newton on camera about his decision to father eight children with multiple women without getting married. The clip went viral. It made the rounds on social media and talk shows, and it significantly raised her public profile. Brian has since appeared in live sessions with high profile clients and celebrities, including Nick Cannon, Shannon Sharpe, She's been featured on The Breakfast Club, which is one of the most listened to radio shows in Black America. She's appeared on and is listed as a producer for MTV's Team Mom Family Reunion. She publicly identifies as Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, and her website states she holds a doctorate in counseling psychology from Argosy University, as well as a master's degree in marriage, family, and child therapy. ⁓ Her undergrad degrees are from Cal State University, Northridge, and those degrees are in psychology and pan-African studies. So questions about Brian's credentials have circulated online for some time now, but the controversy hit a fever pitch when she appeared on the Joe Button podcast and openly stated that she does not hold a therapy license and has no interest in obtaining one. Her explanation that licensor is, in her words, really only needed so you can build insurance. I know, it was very bold. That statement struck a nerve, particularly among licensed mental health professionals who pointed out that licensure exists not primarily for billing purposes, but to protect the public. A license requires demonstrated clinical competency, supervised practical hours, state board examinations, adherence to a code of ethics, and legal accountability when a practitioner causes harm. Without a license, none of those requirements apply. The immediate online backlash came heavily from credential therapists and psychologists who argued that someone operating under a doctoral title, advising the public on psychological matters, particularly on sensitive issues such as trauma, relationships, and mental health, without the regulatory framework that licensure provides, poses a real risk to vulnerable people. As the press mounted, Brian appeared on The Breakfast Club and she offered an explanation for why she cannot produce documentation of her doctoral degree. She stated that Argosy University, the university where she pursued her doctorate in counseling psychology, lost its accreditation in 2019 and subsequently closed permanently. Brian says that closure left her unable to access her academic records. Okay. The Argosy University collapses. It's a real undocumented one. That absolutely happened. It was all over the news when it happened. The university, which operated ⁓ multiple campuses around the country, it lost its accreditation, and then it just shut down. The closure left tens of thousands of students and alumni in bureaucratic limbo regarding their records, degrees, and financial aid. Many Argosy alumni have spoken publicly about the difficulty of verifying their credentials. However, Critics have pointed to several significant complications with Bryant's explanation. Doctoral dissertations from accredited US universities are routinely indexed in ProQuest, a national academic database that archives graduate theses ⁓ independently of the awarding institution. Comprehensive searches of ProQuest for Cheyenne Bryant return no results, while nearly 600 dissertations from the university are present in the database under other authors' names. Additionally, Former Argosy University students and alumni have publicly stated that they were able to retrieve their official transcripts after the closure through state agencies or through the Parchment platform. That's an independent transcript service that retains records from closed institutions. This directly challenges ⁓ Brian's claims that the records are permanently inaccessible. Brian has acknowledged that when Argosy collapsed, she was offered a full tuition refund on her financial aid. She declined the refund, she says, out of concern that accepting it would legally void the credit she had earned. Legal experts have noted, however, that accepting a financial aid refund from a failed institution does not automatically erase a legitimately earned doctorate and would not delete a dissertation from an independent database like ProQuest. ⁓ and by the way, she declined the refund anyway, so it should just, that should still be moot. Brian has since appeared on multiple platforms to address the controversy and has been consistent in her position. She earned the title. She will not prove it to the public. And the criticism is rooted more in envy than in legitimate concerns. On the breakfast club, she said, I have multiple degrees and I'm not going to prove anything to anyone. My obedience is to God, not to the people. When you're Baptist like me and you grew up like that sometimes, you know, when you read God, like, you know, you. Sometimes you read it like you're passing it, God. ⁓ Anyway, it's a cultural, another cultural moment for the people out there. On the Marissa Mitchell show, when Mitchell asks directly why she would not provide documentation to end the conversation, Brian said, my proof isn't something that I have to prove to individuals. Okay, my proof is already within my credentials, my work, and also more than just my titles, it's- and how effective I've been. She cited her work on Canon and Sharp as evidence of that effectiveness. She attributed the backlash to people being uncomfortable with her success and in lane she created herself saying that admiration often turns into envy. She also clarified in a 2025 interview with Shannon Sharp that she does distinguish between therapists and life coaches in her own framing. She noted that therapists diagnose and treat clients while life coaches focus on guidance, personal development, and resources without handling diagnoses or insurance building. She further shared that early in her career, she did work as a licensed marriage, family, and child therapist at a nonprofit under supervision where she diagnosed clients and billed insurance before transitioning away from that model. In a separate May, 2026 Instagram video, Brian addressed why she no longer practices under a license. Critics noted her stated reason that she makes more money and is not bound by strict boards. The clip was condemned by mental health professionals as a direct admission that financial incentive rather than patient welfare drives her professional choices. Critics have also raised concern about Brian's pricing structure. She has been reported to charge between 350 and $1,500 per session. That's $1,500. I have a little bit of an accent, but that's she charges for her coaching and consulting services. These rates comparable to or exceeding many licensed therapists and clinical psychologists. The argument made by detractors is that charging luxury tier prices while operating without a licensure in a community that already faces significant barriers to affordable and culturally competent mental health care raises serious ethical questions that go beyond credential verification. So here's what I'm gonna say. Let's just say where it stands and then I'm going to get into my thoughts. As of recent, right, May, 2026, Bryant has not produced a diploma, transcript, graduation photograph, or any other documentation of her doctoral process. She has not dropped the doctor title. She has not expressed any intention to pursue licensure. The Procress record remains empty under her name. other Argosy alumni have continued to step forward to say that they were able to access their records. And this conversation has been on fire. Okay. It has been everywhere in black media. It is crept into black sports media. is in social media, professional mental health circles. It's everywhere. It's everywhere. ⁓ Dr. Umar Johnson went through some similar things, but he actually did prove his credentials, people who just still got questions about the school, whole different conversation and topic. And I do know a lot of parents that trust and listen to Dr. Umar and he's helped them. He's helped make sure, you know, I've seen families with kids ⁓ that were put in special education that didn't need to be there. Those parents listen to Dr. Umar, ask them questions and it helped their kids. So, you know, amen. go with God, right? Like he was able to prove that. But that's the news. Now let's talk about it. You're listening to Color Commentary with Dr. Cole. ⁓ Okay, so here are some questions that I got. Now, I will say these questions are a mix of things that I've gotten on social media and people that have reached out with me is having a doctorate. And I fed the story into AI to see what questions ⁓ are coming up for them that they wanna ask. So let's see. So the one that came up first, if someone cannot or will not produce documentation that they earned a doctoral degree, should they use the title doctor? ⁓ Is there any version of this where the answer is yes? Well, sure. Dr. Dre is a problem. She was not a doctor. might have a bunch of honorary doctorates, but I don't have a problem with that. Dr. Dre, Dr. J, like, but those are public personas. And again, and maybe when all this is said and done, maybe Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, ⁓ whether she admits it or not, like I think she is using the name as part of her public facing Monica the way Dr. Dre does the way Dr. J did and I'm pretty sure she has incorporated that or you know, she's put some protections around that for her brand and for branding purposes. So yeah, that can happen. Is this a little murky because this person is saying that they are an actual doctor? Sure, sure. And I don't know what she is, right? Again, I told you this is not the best Dr. Cheyenne Bryant. ⁓ I will say this, and I don't think a lot of people are going to be honest about this. I think a lot of this is because she's an extremely attractive woman too. I think that she did offend a lot of people that do this work for real, that may not be getting the same attention and platforms that she is getting. And I think that many of them feels slighted that not only is she experiencing a huge dose of pretty privilege. She is talking about and talking two things that she hasn't put the hours in on. I think that's the root of a lot of this. I'm not here to say who's right or wrong in that. It's just what I'm seeing. It's what I am experiencing. I could be off. I think that the lady built a brand for herself and is making her a lot of money. ⁓ And I think people are going to come for that. Now, how she handles this, I don't know if she's handled it. the best, but I've never been in a situation. I will say this to somebody who's had some type of viral success to a much, much, much, much smaller degree. And I'm gonna use myself because I didn't always handle that well either. When we had a very popular show, A Black Hands, and we were touring or, you you get fans and it was four of us. So everybody on the show had a ton of people that liked them. And we, every, each one of us had a ton of people that did not like us. My castmates took that criticism far better than I did. ⁓ I just, I don't like people getting them me the way that they were. I'm not, I wasn't able to shake that off. So again, I can't, did she handle it perfectly? No, but hell, I got a plank in my own eye, man. I can't look at the. at the splinter in hers, the splinter in hers, right? Old Bible verse. Remember, we referenced God earlier, Baptist, me, a Bible verse there. Those of you that know, know, okay? The boy knows the Lord, okay? All right? ⁓ Now, this ProQuest thing, there's a question that says, ProQuest indexes dissertations from nearly every Aquarii university in the United States, including Argosy. There is no dissertation under her name. What does that tell us? What does it not tell us? Now, I am not, I'm no longer talking about her. Now we're off. Here's the thing. If my university shut down, and which would be very frustrating, right? And you have to get these things. Would I still be able to prove I'm a doctor? Yes, and ProQuest will be one of those ways. You can go into ProQuest and you can look it up. Here's my theme from ProQuest right here. You see it Tommy, I think it's upside down. Yes, you guys see it. You see ProQuest at the side. It is there, right? And they have every dissertation and all that good stuff, right? Here's a copy of my dissertation. I got like four of these by the way, you can buy them. Cause I gave some original copies to certain people in my family or people that really supported me in doing it. I turned my dissertation into a book. ⁓ So you can find it there. But even if I had none of that, even let's say I didn't even know about ProQuest. Tommy, Crowd, the dissertation writing process is so daunting at times. It's such a process that builds you down to build you back up that I have versions of, I have edits of my dissertation in so many places. My friends have edits of my dissertation. People, Tommy, if we were friends during that time, you would have had a rough copy because I would have asked you for European on something. It's really, if somebody was pressing me like this, you could just say the title of what you studied. What was your research question? It's not difficult. I can tell you, my research focused on black males that grew up impacted by the crack epidemic. And we looked at the trajectory of cradle to now of what impact that had. I spent so much of my life doing it. And people were saying, they were asking me this question because, you know, and I get it. It's a very valid question if you didn't go through this process. Even at master thesis, it could be stressful like this. I think when I was doing my masters, you had a choice between capstone and thesis. I definitely chose capstone. I did not want those problems during that time. You understand what I'm saying? So. When you talk about this ProQuest piece and it not being there, that's a very telling thing. Again, don't know her situation, don't know maybe somebody has slipped through the cracks before, maybe she is the case that did that. I don't know, it's not really my business, but I'm telling you all, I'm telling the lay person that goes through this, it's such an experience. I don't wanna say, people be saying traumatic, we gotta stop abusing the term traumatic and trauma. ⁓ but it breaks you down and it builds you back up. It's a religious experience. You got some damn proof of wanting, right? So that was a question that I got. The other question was about how much money she makes. She makes more money and has fewer restrictions without a license. Is that a legitimate business decision or is it an admission that the system of accountability that licensure creates was inconvenient for the model she wanted to build? No, I would say this. I think the woman is a hustler and I don't have a negative kind of, I think I'm a hustler. don't, don't, people put a negative connotation, like the ether puts a negative connotation on a term hustle or hustler. Where I come from, my neighborhood, black culture, black street culture, North Oakland, being a hustler is a good thing. It just, means that you have ingenuity. You know how to make money. You know how to be successful with the circumstances around you and flip those things, right? So I say that with no ill will. Here's what I think. I think that she made a business choice. ⁓ You can go online and sell anything. I don't know if her business is gonna, I think she's gonna take some hits in some places. There's a rumor that I read that the book company is like offering refunds if people want it because of this credentialing thing. I don't know if that's true. I'm not sure, but let's zoom out of that. think she made some, I think, The savvy part was she's making sure not to call herself a therapist. I think she has in the past. I think she's since cleaned that up. She calls herself a life coach. You don't have to have shit to be a life coach. If you put a service out there and you say the service is $500 and people click on and sign up and say they wanted to do that service, for the most part, that's on them. Because here's the thing, I have seen the woman. She's charismatic. ⁓ People like that. And I can see people still wanting her services. Hell, I can see more people wanting her services now with this controversy. She might end up raising the prices. I don't know. I don't know. ⁓ Another question. She built her platform in black spaces advising black people on some of the most intimate and vulnerable parts of their lives. Relationships, grief, trauma, family dynamics. Was a specific harm when someone without verifiable credentials operates in that space and who is most at risk? Now, you might think I'm gonna sound hypocritical in this question, but these are two different questions. I do think that there is an issue here, especially if those people think that you are operating from the level of an expert that is backed by ⁓ having a doctorate degree and having studied in this enough to be licensed. These people, if these people are thinking that they're assuming that you have these things and they're trusting you with this stuff, ⁓ that's a problem. That is a problem. And again, black people already don't get the most professional of things, right? Sometimes you can't afford. you know, that licensed person or that type of therapist, you might have to go to a clinic and you get, your therapist is somebody who is a student that's studying to be that and has to get hours or you're getting a, you know, or in schools where you're struggling and like, you know, they don't have enough teachers because it's in this urban area and you get these very young teachers or inexperienced people or an emergency credentialed people. they're, you know, in service and quality can suffer. So it is a problem if these people are buying this under the pretense that this person is licensed and or has the credentials available. My flip of that though is now if everybody knows if everything is on the table now and that's who you go to for your grief counseling or your family dynamics, go ahead. If that's what you wanna do. I don't know Dr. Ayanna's Vincence like I don't know if I've ever asked or the people have, but she's trusted by many people. She's trusted in the black community on some level ⁓ because of what she's been able to do. ⁓ I think Dr. Cheyenne Bryan is an entrepreneur. ⁓ I think that this is going to be a setback because obviously she's not interested in proving ⁓ these things. But I do think that now, I don't know, man, maybe it's one of those, the truth will set you free moments. Maybe now that this controversy is here. she can move forward and the people that still want to be fans of her and rock with her can continue to get her services. Now there's no recourse for you if the shit is bad. You can't sue for malpractice because now you're going in and knowing what this person has and doesn't has or what they're not willing to show. Now it's on you as a consumer. Now it's on you as a consumer. She charges between 350 and $1,500 per session. Look, the market is the market. If you're gonna pay 350 or $1,500 for it, that's a market thing. Again, I'm interested to see where she goes from here. And she seems to like to do work with celebrities or high profile people. And sometimes one of the things in our people that we get criticized for, maybe not as super publicly, but people are aware is that sometimes we wanna... We rather look rich than be rich. You know, as I say this with a chain on. So again, I'm very. I'm very careful to not try to blast somebody that I don't know. I don't know their intentions. Dealing with this strictly from the level of somebody who's had a doctoral degree and went through a process. ⁓ I would be vastly offended if people thought that I didn't and I would absolutely show. But that's just me. Maybe it says something about her better than me that she don't care what people think, or at least she says she doesn't care what people think. But I do think it's starting to affect her business. And I think that it's affecting the business of people that are in partnership with her. All right, double standard. This question came, supporters have pointed out that Dr. Umar Johnson has faced credential controversies for years and that the same community energy has not been consistently applied to him. Is there a double standard at play here? If so, what does it tell you how we evaluate black men versus black women in these conversations? I would say it's completely different. I think that the people that criticized Dr. Umar, especially about the school and the school not being built, still criticized Dr. Umar Johnson about the schools and the school not being built and where it is and what part of the process that's in. I think it's different though, because when he was pressed about his credentials, he was able to produce and show. He has a side D. He's able to show his work. And again, and maybe this is where the people that support Dr. Brian have an argument. I've seen Dr. Umar, like, I've seen people changed by what he said. I am a student of, and I know he knows this person as well, because they talk about very similar things, but the OG, Dr. Juwanza Kunjufu. ⁓ We had a few different conversations. Man, I was really wanting to do some Chicago dates with him at some churches here. He was local and then he passed away. ⁓ But what him and both Dr. Umar talk about is, how many black boys get put into special education when they're not supposed to be there. And I think that they are doing a service for the community and making sure like, yo, ask these questions so you know. So I'm not mad at that. I think the other thing is I don't see the double standard because Dr. Umar Johnson caught hail, still catches hail and he stands up to it. I think they both are catching stuff. I think they just have different ways of which they go about it. You know, ⁓ how do I feel about this woman? don't know. Listen, man, Dr. Brian, I'm not a part of her demographic. She's not making things for me, right? Like, I don't care about celebrity relationships or having those discussions online, but I know that they're very popular and I know that she's built up some things. ⁓ But there might be people that swear by her, And it kind of is what it is, like, at this point. But... What does this just mean for accountability was the next question that you all sent. Bryant says her proof is in how effective she's been pointed to her celebrity clients. I already feel like I answered that already. I think I answered that right. Tommy, if I didn't and you need me to answer that again, pop in and let me know and I will. ⁓ But not. Here's the final question that we had in our riff. If Cheyenne Bryant tomorrow produced every document, a diploma, a transcript, a pro quest, dissertation, would that change the conversation or has this become something bigger than the paperwork? I think that's a great question. I think that for many people, it would kill the conversation. It would kill it for me. I mean, I'm not really in it. I'm doing it because it's such a popular thing and I've been asked to discuss it, but hopefully I've handled it with a decent level of decorum and grace ⁓ and honesty. But it would be moot for me at that point. It's just like, like she proved it. Now, either you like her you don't. I think it wouldn't change the conversation for a lot of people though, because I do think, I think that the pretty privilege of stuff is having a, I think it's having a negative impact in several ways for her. And I think people would argue she was able to get away with this because most of these platforms were very masculine leaning platforms, not just led by men, but masculine in a sense of they're about sports, right? It's Cam Newton and you know, and we talking about him and his baby mamas or Shannon Sharp and. You know what I'm saying? Or Nick Cannon, who has a lot of kids, you know, in that sphere, right? Like, I get it. I understand. And they say it, the criticism is that she goes there because they're so enamored by her beauty and the potential of her possibly flirting with them or, you know, having a chance. I'm telling you, this is what people are saying. That they would never push back or push on her, to which, Maybe I agree in some parts, but not in all because she came for Kim Noon's neck, right? Like she kind of got it him. She kind of, she got it Nick Cannon. Now Shannon, it's like she was choosing with Shannon. I saw some clips there. Shannon could have asked her for dinner afterwards. I don't know. And again, I'm not trying to, I know there's always politics at play here, a black man, a black woman, you know, this, that, and whatever. Look, man, you get to be attractive. Some people are just attractive. And is she using her feminine wiles to get opportunities? Does a bodybuilder use his masculine wiles to get like, it's a part of their brand. She probably ain't doing all them damn, you know, ⁓ sit-ups for nothing. You know what I'm saying? She hitting that gym, she doing her thing. So I would just say, ⁓ this has been an interesting conversation. And I've been interested in listening to people more than like commenting, because I didn't comment for a while. And then I finally did on my TikTok when I was doing my walk and got a lot of, when I started to get DMs versus, ⁓ the messages publicly. I was like, oh, this is something I gotta do, Tommy. you know, people got strong thoughts, but they don't want them strong thoughts out there. But I will say this, if you wanna be a doctor, man, go be it. It's not impossible. It's not the most difficult thing in the world to do. It's very hard. It is very hard and many people quit. And that's the point. If everybody could do it, everybody would do it. It's the reason why what? 2 % of the entire world has advanced terminal degrees to that level or something like that, I have to check my numbers. But it's a really, really small percentage. It really is. ⁓ If you're thinking about being a potential scammer, I would say don't. I would say don't. I don't think the world needs it. And maybe this public raking... I don't know, man. I can't fix, it's hard to fix my mouth to say it. I'ma say this, but I don't believe it. Because this is, I read, I read books. This is the Scarlet Letter, Tommy. I read the Scarlet Letter as a child, okay? I just, don't like publicly flogging people. I don't, man. I don't think it's good to do. I don't love it. And so, but maybe this needed to happen or some people believe it needed to happen to discourage a new generation of people from being scammers. But the internet is here, scammers are here. They're here. For every message you see, that's probably another message after it somebody's claiming to do something that they can't for a price. And you know, and that's where that is. If you are in this situation, just listen. You don't have to be, I used to say this about Rachel Dolezal. Y'all remember Rachel Dolezal? It's the white lady that told everybody she was black and then got exposed. And she was publicly flogged and she lost these positions. And now she's doing things for money that I don't think she wants to do it that her kids want to see her do. But. What I would say, once all that smoke cleared, Rachel did a lot to help a lot of black people in her NAACP chapters and all that stuff. If she would have just been who she was, I think she still could have did it to a degree. Now, would she probably have gotten this far? Probably not. Maybe not, right? But you can still be you and do great things, even if you care about a different group. So with Dr. Cheyenne Bryant, what I would say to these other people that are trying to mimic that. If you want to be a life coach, you don't have to be a doctor to be a life coach. Just be really dope at life coaching. Learn the algorithm, learn how to play it, learn how to build your content and do those things. But anything built on a lie is just unsustainable. But again, the 10 year old living in a shelter, super poor me that would have did anything to have some money because money at that time would have changed every perceivable problem that I had when you're desperate. This is what you do. People do these things. I'm not saying it's right. I'm not saying it's okay. But once you get to that success, how do you rectify it? How do you make it right? And I think you address it. I think you come out, I think you be honest. I think you throw yourself at the mercy of the court or public opinion. And then you guys gotta keep moving forward. I think Dr. Shine Bryant will continue to move forward. Again, I have no ill will or thoughts. I don't know her to kind of say those things or do those things. My point is largely to the community of people who might be thinking this might be a good idea to do or to mimic. It's not. It's not worth it. It's not worth the stress that comes with it. And one of the things that from going from poor to being able to take care of myself that I did notice is that things do get bigger than money and things that you might've did for money, probably at the time you may be ashamed of now because you're in a different place. I think that's something that we all should kind of deal on. I think similar to the whole tipping thing. So y'all didn't think I could connect these things, did you? I got you. Watch me work. the whole issue that I had with the tipping thing and we made light of it. But it's a larger societal issue that we have to tip everywhere because everything is out of whack between how much people make and how much things cost. And people are trying to survive. But instead of society dealing with the problem, we built these stop gaps or these band-aids where that passes on to the consumer. The same here in this situation, when you are scamming, somebody gets hurt when you're scamming. somebody gets hurt that didn't deserve it when you're scamming. So don't scam. How many of y'all are tired of your phone ringing and it says likely scam and somebody telling you somebody's in your account, call this number now. You know what I'm saying? Think about where those people must be, where that is the livelihood that they gotta live in. Like really think about it. If you don't have to scam, think about how blessed your life is that you have not hit the level of bottom to where all your scruples are just gone in that way. Am I giving sympathy to the scammer? Yeah, I'm saying I understand. I don't think you should do it. I struggle now with how much I charge to do certain things. So what I normally do is I tend to charge corporations or organizations that have a budget. tend to charge them my full price and I utilize that full price. If I can bump it up a little bit to help supplement over here, when I go and do stuff where I love to do it, my favorite place is to do trainings in like local churches. I love those people that's in those places. And especially when they want to learn more about their kids' education, they want to just do better. and know that they can't afford it. So, you know, I supplement from there. So these people don't have to pay or they, you that's how I choose to do it. But then again, I'm not as prominent or successful as Dr. Cheyenne Bryant. So what do I? Anyway, thank you again for listening to Color Commentary. We'd love to hear from you. So drop us an email at colorcommentarypod at gmail.com. And if you like what you hear, please subscribe to the show, leave us a five-star review, share it on social media, and join us every Thursday for more Color Commentary with Dr. Cole. Peace.