He Everybody welcome back to another episode of the male perspective I am your host Lana Reed and today is another wonderful day I get to sit down with another amazing man of five Beta Sigma fraternity Incorporated today I have with me brother Carl Benson he is uh with Zeta new Sigma chapter out of
Minnesota and I am looking forward to spending some time with him today and learning more about him and his chap but first and foremost as I always do sir I take a quick moment to pause and say thank you to you for making time for me
Today time is a gift once we give it we cannot get it back so I truly appreciate you setting aside this time of your dat to sit down and chat little me so with that welcome welcome to the show thank you so much I appreciate the opportunity
I was uh really excited it’s been a a hectic time of day but at the end of the day I was looking at my calendar and realized I get to end it with you so it works out really well oh so I’m so blessed I’m so blessed thank you thank
You and I was just noticing you are just Sigma out you’ve got your Lael shock shop shop sh anyways as I open up I always like to ask um how long have you been a sigma and where have you pledged right by definition I’m technically a Neo I was initiated fall
2023 uh Z new Sigma chapter in Minnesota uh so really excited about that opportunity uh shortly thereafter I was actually elected president of the Zeta new SLE chapter um so uh we’re really excited for some of the things we got going on but that is my story of coming
Across well that’s curious um you you you pledged and walk right into leadership um did that present any challenges learning curves learning opportunities I I I mean there’s always learning curves for sure I mean as as a sigma man it’s always something that you’re learning all the time you’re
Constantly learning from the uh the veteran senior old guys U but at the same time I think from a business perspective uh my background is such that it made a lot of sense I knew a lot of the folks that were in the chapter um
They s they somewhat knew me um and they sort of knew my capabilities and I think that there was an opportunity um simply because there were some folks that were you know the term was ending relatively quickly and they got to know me relatively quickly and it just worked
Out okay awesome awesome your your particular line was there a lot of brothers that came in or was it just you uh there’s only six of us there’s only six of us our line was called Blue prophecy our line is called Blue prophecy um there’s a six of us and we
Were all pretty excited about that opportunity and it was a real tight-nit group um we were we met I I think a few of us knew one another um but independently but as a group we were all new to one another so it was kind of
Nice to sort of get to know everybody at the same time um we’re still close clearly and we’ll stay close throughout the rest of our lives truly truly awesome okay so let me ask you this because most of the time when you think about the D9 uh you’re more familiar
With people pledging undergrad you know but there there quite some few that will pledge later in life so for you personally what was it about this particular season in your life and five Beta Sigma that made it all happen at this particular time right so I like I
Turned 50 last year and I think that really what it was really what it was was h f of Sigma sort of fell in line with the things that I was already doing so I was really big in the community serving my community in that way um sending kids to
College or that higher education piece was also part of it and because I’m a I I have one brother but um I that Brotherhood was something I was sort of seeking out so between you know what we were looking at from our principles of 58 to Sigma it just made the most sense
Um I selfishly I always say I love blue um but so so there’s certain D and organizations kept me out but I mean uh because I love blue so much it just worked really well the Stars a lot the Stars Aline y it all fit it all fit how
Many how many brothers are there about in the Minnesota signs so on on paper we have about 176 I’d like to believe that big okay yeah I think we’re we’re spread out pretty well though so I think what we’re really trying to do is get everybody a little more active bring
Everybody back into the fold I guess because we’re you know clearly when you have that many folks you kind of have them spread out some are active inactive um and whatnot but our goal obviously and my goal as president is actually to bring everybody back so um active wise
We’re probably close to 100 um but I think we’re still pretty good okay and your chapter um is Twin Cities right both correct te it’s technically Minnesota so it’s a technically the state of Minnesota um Twin Cities is kind of where we’re all located at and I think that from that perspective that’s
Where we uh we do we do most of our meetings and most of our things are in the Minneapolis and St Paul area okay and how how long how many years have you gentlemen been around uh since 1977 so it it’s been it’s been I laugh because I was born in 1972
But but but it’s great because a lot of the the older guys have taken me under their wing and it’s kind of nice to sort of hear that historical perspective of what happened in you know when they were founded here so we have our 40th anniversary coming up pretty soon okay the
Chapters all right so stepped in the leadership impressive so I’m going to Blink and look up and you’re going to be districts Regional something or another right we’re going to stick to where we are right now we’re pretty I’m pretty excited where I’m at right now so we’ll
See we’ll see what happens in the future okay I’m watching I’m watching I’m watching so let me get into some of the community work that you are doing because um you know I’ve been around Sigma since undergrad and I know you guys are heavily invested in the community and your chapter is no
Different now one of the things that I saw you guys were involved in and um and I think this is a nationwide initiative is bigger and better business so I saw on the Facebook page that you know us common folks have an opportunity to come
Hang out with you guys I think it was first Wednesdays or something like that uh yeah it’s it’s first Wednesday but we call it blue Wednesday um so blue blue Wednesday is an opportunity that we’ve adopted a blackowned business called H Pento Jamaican Kitchen um they have four different locations within the Twin
Cities we’ve adopted the St Paul it’s a brand new St Paul location out on Wabasha um in Men in uh downtown St Paul and the beauty of it obviously is they they as an organization are also big in the community they are also connected to community so for us when we were looking
For that black own business to sort of quote unquote adopt it just made the most sense it’s a new location they’re they’re passionate about what they do in the community as well and it just made us a perfect tie in so when we wanted to do a monthly event monthly Gathering
Blue Wednesday was kind of how we landed on it and everybody loves Jamaican food so it worked out really it worked out really well everybody Curry any day any day any day exactly so the the bigger and better business initiative uh program um in the Minnesota area is
There some sort of way for a business to kind of get connected with you or is there a process yeah so so from a a bigger and better business it’s one of our national programs so and one of the key components of that we call is black
Spend or spending black dollars in Black uh communities and black businesses so part of the adopt a business was that aspect of it but we also try to charge all of our members um and anyone in our community that we we want to sort of tie into black businesses and support black
Businesses because in Minnesota we know that we’re not a huge population of folks so if we can take our dollars and sort of put them back into black owned businesses it works out really well um whether we focus on it on a blue Wednesday or whether we just sort of
Take the initiative to our brothers and say hey in considering where you go out to eat or in considering where you maybe do some event planning or party planning or event spaces let’s see if we can sort of spend those dollars in in our black uh Community um so that was something
That we really excited about when we start talking about black spend but we’re also looking at it from some of the Partnerships we have both with Macy’s and Men’s Warehouse where we’re able to bring our some of the boys that we work with um and get them fitted for
Suits and learn how to tie I and some of those type of things as well so from a business standpoint how do we connect not only the brothers that are in the chapter but with the folks that we’re serving and the and the boys that we serve as well awesome awesome let me
Backtrack um because you you I was close about you said something Minesota is not really a large population of us not really no um anywhere shocking but true it’s kind of cold up here but it’s really a lot of transplants right so when you’re because with tons of Fortune
500 companies and a lot of black folks come through primarily for work or business and of course they bring their families with the challenge for us and what we always find is that from a even alumni chapter but also a Collegiate chapter is that most of the black folks
Are sort of spread out throughout the entire not only Twin Cities but in some cases the whole state so getting them tied together and then also saying to yourself you also have four other organizations if if they want to be fraternity um but most of them come in um
In a fraternity I guess most of the men or maybe the women too come in in a in a fraternity or a sorority and our goal obviously is to try to connect them try to find out when they’re coming in help support them the brothers that come in
With their wives and families um and then sort of figure out a way to connect with them early uh that’s the goal obviously but yeah I mean in Minnesota I I don’t even know the numbers anymore but at one point I think it was probably
Less than 12% or maybe was 12% um and that is kind of inclusive to college campuses you know that numbers got a lot of folks you know black folks in it and then of course there’s the families and then there’s clearly there’s a uh a immigrant Community as well um so it’s
It’s just really depending upon how the the numbers shake out oh wow see now Prince had us all Live Well me living under some sort of Illusion that we were just kind of all hanging out camp down there I mean I mean in certain areas certain areas you know if you’re head to
First Avenue back in the day I mean it was it was a fun time and I think that that was um back with my in my old life kind of deal I I had I did have the opportunity to to meet him and and I could honestly say from a music scene
There is a little bit of that music uh uh Minneapolis sound kind of thing going to so you find a lot of folks doing a lot of work in that space for sure okay okay yeah all right so let me get back to the so I I think I saw when I was
Roing around preparing today being nosy on um your seal your chapter seal two other are your your advisers for two or three other under undergrad did I see that correctly uh your your our chapter is that your chapter your advis uh yeah so we we have a couple Collegian
Chapters that are currently inactive um we’re trying to reactivate them uh pretty soon uh the P chapter for sure is on the University of Minnesota um and that that was actually founded by a number of the guys that are currently in Zeta new Sigma so we’re really focused
On bringing that one back um and I I think that that’s something that over the next year or so you’re going to see that come through as well and a lot of the young brothers that we have on that University of Minnesota campus will be there okay all right all right all right
Last time last time I I was out in Minnesota I want to say it must have been 20 years it was a visit to it was a visit to the Great Mall of America it was it was is that place still around cuz malls are closing it’s still there
And it’s a lot larger probably since you’ve seen it in 20 years ago yeah they they’ve they’ve expanded Ed it uh twice I believe since since in 20 years so it’s a lot bigger and it’s getting bigger again because they connected another hotel so I think that uh yeah
It’s a large space and it’s now an event space too so a lot of events happen there um more so than they used to so they’ll bring a lot of bands in high school bands will go in the Rotunda and do a lot of events there too so the Mall
Of America is that uh key tourist attraction if uh someone’s visiting okay so they’ve expanded their business model because malls Across America are are really kind of closing down it’s becoming like a ghost town in many places so they they redesigned okay all right well let let me get back because
Um you know I was born in the South and I can carry on the conversation for a while so I I can keep you all day but let let me let me let me let me Focus let me Focus here back to the community service that your particular chapter is
And and me being nosy and and roaming around your Facebook page I saw you you gentlemen were recently involved in in a community event with a lady uh I Believe by the name of Joanne Clark and then your brother actor Terrence Howard was there was what was that event about what
Was that all about well uh that was two different events in the same weekend but uh yeah so that’s the the beauty of it that was from a sigma standpoint was fantastic Joan Clark is an iconic figure in the St Paul community and her husband
Uh Otis Clark is a sigma um so we are really excited for the opportunity to sort of not only celebrate her in the naming of the gymnasium at her their High School um but I think that the the beauty of that was being able to bring a
Lot of the sigma Brothers there too who knew not only knew her and wanted to celebrate her but also knew uh of course brother Clark um Terence Howard who is also a brother um he was there for a m I can’t remember exactly the name of it
But it was a movie real real real Revolution I think it was the name of it um and they were talking about how black actors are looking for how they sort of position themselves in the new Hollywood I guess where sometimes you’re not necessarily getting paid the same amount
As others and I think that he was there to sort of talk about some of the things that um how he saw it and how he saw those things we had the opportunity again to sort of sit down with him for a little bit and connect with him I think
He’s the hope is we’re going to bring him back to town um on a little more permanent basis on some of the things that he’s looking at yeah abolutely so so there’s a an entertainment industry in Minnesota there it’s a it’s yes and no I mean it’s more it’s more I wouldn’t
Say it’s huge but there’re there are a lot of folks who are in that acting space it’s a little more theater I guess here than it is sort of the Hollywood feel I know that a few different movies have come here and sort of film parts of
Things that they do but I wouldn’t say there’s a motion picture scene here so much but there is a lot of folks that are in that creative and entertainment space absolutely okay yeah and and and circle back to Joanne Clark the gymnasium she was an educator yes well
She was not only an educator but she’s she was the one in my opinion I I kind of used her model myself and sort of modeled my she was big on getting kids into college right so in a community aspect both through her church and through herself um personally in the St
Paul area um she was really the the leader in the space of sort of creating that not only HBCU College fairs but College fairs in general College and Career Fairs um because what she was when she was roaming through back in the day and saw kids just Milling around
She’s like why aren’t you in school and if you don’t get back to school going to go to college and then she realized it needed to be an opportunity to sort of create space for kids who were kind of like are you going to go to school are
You going to go to work or what does that look like but then also bring your parents in as well so where do your parents fit into this mix of making sure they’re pushing you to do the same thing so for I’d like to say 50 years she’s
Been doing that work and I think that the the beauty of what she does U Joan Clark is that she celebrated um throughout all T different types of Industries and in the state um just last year we honored her at the 100 black men Twin Cities um she was one of our three
Iconic she won the service or leader Legacy award is what it was um for the work that she does in the state of Minnesota and the Twin City St Paul specifically and uh so there’s never a time that you’ll see uh See Her sitting down even at this point she’s still
She’s still going after it so we’re really excited to sort of support her and anything she’s doing as well great great we can only aspire to be like her agre agreed Agreed 100% let me let me switch reels a little bit and and and uh talk about a project that you’ve got
Going on because as I mentioned before we got started I was so excited to see it anytime I see somebody else doing some of the work something similar to the work that I’m doing I get excited but you currently are involved in a podcast you’re co- co-host of a podcast
Changing the narrative explain uh that project and how it came to yeah so myself and uh Dr Warren who’s a friend of mine of course but he was also a member of The 100 black men Twin Cities we sat we were sitting around one day and we thought um what could we do
I’ve always wanted to be in like podcast space but I’ve never really understood it um I just like to talk a lot um and then then there was and he was in that podcast space he’s an educator as well and a college professor and wanted to
Get back into it so we were both sitting around thinking about what we could do and what were kind of important issues right now that we should sort of focus on being in Minnesota of course A lot of it had to do with some of the systemic
Race uh racism challenges that we have but specifically around black men and some of the challenges that black men have just quite honestly navigating the city um so what we really wanted to do was sort of figure out what that looked like and and talk to you know not
Necessarily the the mayors of cities or the CEOs and whatnot but just talk to regular guys about how they experience um being black in Minnesota being black in America and how we can go about changing that narrative and what we really wanted to do was sort of create
The podcast to create space in a platform but realistically our goal is to get an audience of white folks we want folks to sort of understand like these are the people you see um wandering around the city working with you next door volunteering in your communities um teachers in your schools
Um and not necessarily Let The Narrative of what you see on television a lot and a lot of times you see that you know either sports or or trouble right you’re either in trouble or you’re in sports or you’re in entertainment and that’s kind of your picture of black men and quite
Honestly we’re doing a number of different things we’re not only Educators we’re CEOs and we’re we’re running nonprofits we’re sort of in the community in a number of different ways uh church folks parents and fathers and all those things and I think that that’s really what we want to highlight but
Then we want to show that was something that not only us the two of us being there but make sure that we bring in folks all the time to do it so Sunday nights we we uh record them uh we do it via Zoom much like this and then we sort
Of then push it into our the social media channels and whatnot awesome awesome so um my my mentor had told me many many years ago and it’s always stuck with me that uh the negative is always louder than the positive so we have we have to put much more effort
Into putting these positive messages out yeah absolutely so um I I heard that you say push it out on your social media but is it available on other platforms as well yeah so wherever you listen to podcast so we’re on all of them so whether it’s Spotify uh Apple of course
Google um so and then I think we’re actually we’re filming them more on YouTube now too right now it’s going through Dr Gabriel’s YouTube channel but you can type in changing the narrative and it’ll pop up um but I think that the the beauty of it is we want to sort of
Get to the point where we’re seasoned enough if you will to do the kind of uh in person two mics and a guest kind of mic kind of thing that’s you know it’s kind of a goal but right now we’re sort of we we’re finding some traction with
The zoom meetings but I think ultimately that’s kind of the have that video component is something that we’re really sort of striving for we’re still young though We’re Young podcasters so we’re figuring it out young but Mighty young but Mighty yeah there you go there you go there you
Go well let me ask you this then because you mentioned the in person so um when it comes to guests are you only looking for people in the Minnesota or men in the Minnesota area or will that EXP anybody yeah it’s it’s expanded now so a
Lot of uh Dr Gabriel’s from the Alabama area so a lot of folks are coming from the south um so we have a lot of his friends and connections and also folks that uh he’s may have worked with in the past um I grew up on an Air Force Base
Um in the in North Dakota Air Force bre okay okay yeah yeah so m not North Dakota I grew up on an Air Force Base there and moved to Minneapolis as an adult on moved to Chicago as well so we’re grabbing folks from wherever we’ve
Been and and a lot of them you know a few folks are from Minnesota um a few folks are part of different organizations we’re part of but quite honestly most of the folks right now are the you know from other areas outside of the state of Minnesota okay okay your
Co-host is he D9 or no he is not we’re I’m trying to I’ll try to get them in keep I’m sure I’m sure a number of folks would try but I I’m I’m Clos this to them right now so I think I can get them aome okay always recruiting I’m
Always recruiting that’s right that’s right well well let me ask you to kind of expound on the messaging uh of your podcast there is a uh let me see here because we have to be politically correct in today’s world here um there is a messaging there’s a constant
Messaging here in the United States of if you pull yourself up by your bootstraps and apply yourself you will be on equal playing field with everybody else and you Mr Benson are clearly example of that you’re educated you’re a professional man uh my question is here in 2024 when you walk into professional
Spaces as a black man do you feel um you are treated on equal playing field as others or uh I will say yes and no depending upon if if they know me on the front end right so that the how I get in their rooms is generally through connections and relationships so from
That perspective absolutely if I’m just a random you know making cold calls trying to talk to folks and then they do like quote unquote a LinkedIn search or whatever that looks like and it’s like okay I don’t know what this guy’s about um they may or may not call me back but
What I what I see more so as young people um the challenges young people have um in that space and navigating that space because it’s really not about um what I’ve done you know I’m not over my career is not over I guess if you will but I’m really at that point where
I’m really trying to position uh College age students who are coming out into the workforce and making sure they don’t suffer from some of those challenges you speak of because I think ultimately that’s going to be where we sort of see that change right now I I mean it’s
Subtle I like I like to believe that you know racism is always going to be there um some places it’s more overt sometimes it’s more subtle um and I think in Minnesota it’s kind of like you know you know the phrase Minnesota nice no one
Wants to rock the boat kind of deal and you just don’t want to sort of cause any problems um whereas maybe in the South or some other places um you may see some things a little more just in your face and they may say you know something just
Like I’m just not going to do this because you are that um and I think that that’s something that you don’t necessarily see here so much um but at the same time it’s really clicky right so I mean like anywhere you hire people you know you hire people you’re comfortable with you
Hire people that um are recommended and if your network doesn’t include black folks then you’re clearly not going to be part of those conversations so bigger contracts or big bigger opportunities or rfps or anything that comes across often times black folks have to sort of jump through more Hoops
Just to find out about them um whether they’re qualified or not or whether they have the the infrastructure to do the job is another conversation but I think ultimately just to have an opportunity to apply and have an opportunity to know about it takes understanding where your
Network is and making sure you’re able to bring folks in so I never try to come in alone no matter what I do um if I’m taking a job consulting or otherwise most of the people that I work with will be black um whether it’s a graphic designer or web designer whether it’s
Sort of someone in that uh leadership teaching or coaching or um panel discussions whatever that looks like I just intentionally focus on that and and part of it is truly just to give them a platform as well right I can sit back in the background and do what I do um but
It allows these younger folks who are starting their businesses or starting their lives or starting doing what they’re doing to sort of be elevated and that’s kind of my uh my goal right now passion right now well we can see why Z the new Sigma picked you as their
President we can see that all right I was a little perplexed there I said he just pledged and walked in but as the interview unfolds it is clearly apparent clearly apparent and you know some of the stuff you mentioned um I I think that’s the beauty
Of being a part of the D9 or organizations is that you have people that are willing to bring you in you know and give you that exposure and all of that stuff so well let me let me wrap up things here uh and bring it back to Z the new
Sigma um because you appear to be I I I got the whole low down but you appear to be a more than equipped leader so Zeta new Sigma has what on the plate for 2024 we’re just finished the first quarter so I’m pretty sure you’ve got a plan for
The gentlemen that they have to follow so right well we’re we’re we are excited about some of the opportunities of clearly uh CLE cell Foundation is kind of key to us right now so we’re really partnering with them uh not only on a blood drive that we’re doing but some of
Those rare disease uh pushes and and fundraisers that they’re doing March of Dimes March for babies is also coming up in May that’s going to be really exciting because that’s something that we always like to sort of not only get behind from a fundraising standpoint but
A lot of the Brothers come out for that it’s it’s at the Mall of America so we get a lot a lot we we compete in fundraising with all the other D9 so it’s always a good time as well um we actually have our our Greek week coming
Up this summer and that sort of Falls in line with juneth as well so we’re really excited for the next few months and some of the things that we’re get getting after um as we roll into obviously gift giving and the holiday seasons and you know we talk about Thanksgiving and you
Know turkeys and all the stuff that we do there but we really want to make sure that we’re a part of this election year as well go Bringing not only black men out to vote but bringing black folks out to vote and you know whether whatever side you’re on doesn’t really matter to
Me as long as you’re registered to vote um and get out and do that so we’re going to be really pushing that throughout the year as well okay awesome awesome you you just fin we just finished having uh prelims out there okay yep yep yep I think the candidates
Are set if if I’m being honest we’re we know who it’s going to be now now it’s just time to go to the polls and go go to the Post that’s all we can say folks just go go to the Post that’s all we can say politically correct right corre yeah
Just just be and and and you mentioned um I I want to Circle back uh because I think it’s important you mentioned one of the reasons that kind of brought you into this um is is your work with scholarships and young people your chapter do you have the sigma Beta Sigma
Beta Club Sigma we’re chartering it this year so we actually did not have have one officially we’ve been working with students uh we adopted a a school as well so St Louis Park Middle School uh We’ve adopted them as well as our as our location for what will be our Sigma Beta
Club and running those programming and the beauty of that Pro programming as well is we have a lot of Educators um in our chapter um so it’s kind of nice to be in a school where the kids know each other but then also have some black
Teachers coming in if you will to sort of help them navigate that and having black boys learn in all the different areas not only from the financial literacy to stem and some of the mathematics that we do um it’s just a good opportunity and having black men teach that is something we’re really
Excited about okay that’s great you know I don’t know what and this is unofficial research here but I don’t know what it is about five beted Sigma but I you guys are more Educators than any of the other D I don’t I don’t know what it is I just
I think we all fall under the service umbrella I think all the D9 fall under service umbrella but I think how you serve is just you know from a educational standpoint a lot of guys want to go back and get their not only get their masters but you get into the
Doctors and all those type of things and it’s just the beauty of serving and serving in a different way and you realize that education is one of those things that’ll catapult folks further uh quicker if you will than anything else that’s great that’s great and you know and and having these conversations with
These young folks today a lot of them are not seeing the benefit in education but I I just I don’t I don’t know what the future will we’re working we’re working on that obviously I think that from uh we are really focused on getting the black boys and not that I we we
Really want our black ladies to be there too but for from a sigma standpoint Sigma Beta Club standpoint we need our black boys going to college yes um so we want to make sure that we’re giving them those opportunities to do that um and nothing against trade schools or
Anything else we we want all those things but education is going to be the key to all of it yes indeed yes indeed trade schools are wonderful but as we see with this changing World Ai and whatever you know yep some skill sets well let let me let me my random
Question so I can get you on your way you said I am the finish of the conclusion of your day so let me get your own is it no it’s not supposed to be first Wednesday so oh that’s to let’s see here uh what superpower would you want to have that’s
An easy one I would want to be invisible um I I invisibility is something that as a kid I said trying to figure out how I I could uh become invisible just so for a number of different reasons one was just so I could see what Christmas
Presents were being wrapped but then but as I grew up I realized I could be in rooms and have understand what people thought about me kind of deal and sort of navigate how I do that um I never really thought of it from a crime standpoint but Robin Banks might be a
Little easier if you’re invisible U so invisibility is one of those things that uh easy question easy answer for me awesome so you can see what who would think anything negative about you why would you you never know Mr Benson no no well sir if we are ever in the
Minnesota area give us the website and all that stuff how do we connect with you gentlemen and with you guys everywhere is going to be at Minnesota Sigma so if you’re looking on LinkedIn Facebook uh Twitter Instagram it’s going to be at Instagram is zns 1977 everything else is going to be Minnesota
Sigmas also uh please look into our podcast changing the narrative podcast on all your platforms there and then finally from 100 black men Twin Cities we’re doing some great things as well so 100 bmtc is also something to hashtag in there at you can find us at too we’re
Excited okay I love it I love it I love especially my fellow uh Air Force military brat you know I really I really run into one of us it’s a very special unique world we experience so absolutely but anyways I thank you for your I thank you for uh the wonderful work that
You’re doing the example that you’re setting you’re changing the narrative and I appreciate that and um just give my love to the rest of the guys and cool to everybody thank you so much for your time and thank you for reaching out I appreciate you thank you that is all for
This week’s episode of the mail perspective I’m your host Lana Reed and I will see everybody next time get
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