WEBVTT 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My name is Jon Gray. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 They call me the Dishwasher. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I cofounded Ghetto Gastro, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a Bronx-based collective 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 that works at the intersection of food, design, and art. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We create experiences that challenge people's perceptions of the Bronx, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the place that I call home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's a funny thing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I just touched down in Vancouver from Paris a few days ago. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We took over the [?] with the Bronx Brasserie. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Oui, oui, cherie. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It's wild, because in Paris, they have this saying, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 "Le Bronx," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 which means something is in disarray or a problem. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That's the ?? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We shut it down on time. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This lingo came into play when the Bronx was burning, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and movies like "The Warriors" and "Fort Apache" 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 still make an impression. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Some may disagree, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I believe the Bronx was designed to fail. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The power broker was a joker. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Robert Moses, instead of parting the Red Sea, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 he parted the Bronx with a six-lane highway 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and redlined my community. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My great-grandparents had a home on Featherbed Lane, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and contrary to the name, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 they couldn't get a good night's rest 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 due to the constant blasting and drilling that was necessary 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to build the cross-Bronx expressway 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a block away. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I consider these policy decisions 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 design crimes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Being a resilient people that we are uptown, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 out of the systematic oppression, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 hip-hop culture rose from the rubble and the ashes like a phoenix. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Hip-hop is now a trillion-dollar industry, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but this economic activity doesn't make it back to the Bronx 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 or communities like it. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Let's take it back to 1986. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was born in the heart of the AIDS crisis, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the crack epidemic, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and the War on Drugs. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The only thing that trickled down from Reaganomics was ghettonomics: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 pain, prison, and poverty. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was raised by brilliant, beautiful, and accomplished black women. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Even so, my pops wasn't in the picture, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and I couldn't resist the allure of the streets. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Like Biggie said, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you either slinging crack rock or you got a wicked jump shot. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Don't get it twisted, my jumper was wet. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My shit was wet. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 But when I turned 15, I started selling weed, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I didn't finish high school, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the New York Board of Education banned me from all of those, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I did graduate to selling cocaine when I turned 18. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I did well. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 That was until I got jammed up, caught a case, when I was 20. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I was facing 10 years. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I posted bail, signed up at the Fashion Institute, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I applied the skills that I learned in the streets 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to start my own fashion brand. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My lawyer piqued my ambition, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so he suggested that the judge grant me a suspended sentence. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 For once in my life, a suspension was a good thing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Over the course of two years and many court dates, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 my case got dismissed. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Both of my brothers have done jail time, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so escaping the clutches of the prison industrial system 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 didn't seem realistic to me. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Right now, one of my brothers is facing 20 years. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My mother put in great effort in taking me out to eat, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 making sure we visited museums 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and traveled abroad, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 basically exposing me to as much culture as she could. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I remembered how as a kid, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 I used to take over the dinner table and order food for everybody. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Breaking bread has always allowed me to break the mold 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and connect with people. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Me and my homie Les, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we grew up on the same block in the Bronx, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 two street dudes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 He happened to be a chef. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We always discussed the possibility of doing something in the food game 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for the benefit of our neighborhood. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Les had just won the food show Chopped. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Our homie Malcolm was gearing up to run the pastry kitchen at Noma, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 yeah world's best Noma in Copenhagen. You know the vibes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 My man Petey had just finished training at Eataly, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Milano to be exact. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We decided the world needed some Bronx steasoning on it, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 so we mobbed up and formed Ghetto Gastro. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 While I'm aware our name makes a lot of people uncomfortable, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for us "ghetto" means home. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Similar to the way someone in Mumbai or Nairobi 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 might use the word "slum," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 it's to locate our people 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and to indict the systems of neglect that created these conditions. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So what is Ghetto Gastro? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ultimately, it's a movement and a philosophy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We view the work we do as gastrodiplomacy, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 using food and finesse 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to open borders and connect culture. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Last year in Tokyo, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we did a Caribbean patty, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we do jerk wagyu beef, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 ?? konbu. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We remix the Bronx classic with the Japanese elements. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 And for Kwanzaa, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we had to pay homage to our Puerto Ricans, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we did a coconut charcoal cognac coquito. ?? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This here is our black power waffle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 with some gold leaf syrup. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Make sure you don't slip on the drip. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Here we got the 36 bricks plant-based ??. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Strawberry fields, you know the deal. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Compressed watermelon, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 basil seeds, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 a little bit of strawberries up there. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Back to the Bronx Brasserie, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 you know we had to hit them in the head with that caviar and cornbread. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We also practice du-ragdiplomacy. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Laughter) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Because, we don't edit who we are when we do our thing. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Due to our appearance, we often get mistaken 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 for rappers or athletes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 It happened here last year at TED. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 This dude ran down on me, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and asked me when I was going to perform. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 How about now? 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 So you see, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 we've been bringing the Bronx to the world 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but now we focus on bringing the world to the Bronx. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We just opened our spot, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 an idea kitchen 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 where we make and design products, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 create content, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Music) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and host community events. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The intention is to build financial capital 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and creative capital in our hood. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 We're also collaborating with world-renowned chef 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Massimo Bottura 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 on a refettorio in the Bronx. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 A refettorio is a design-focused soup kitchen and community center. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 You see the vibes. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 The recent outpouring of grief about the murder 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 of rapper and entrepreneur Nipsey Hussle 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 is largely due to the fact that he decided to stay and evolved in place 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 rather than leave his hood. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 After his death, some may see this decision as foolish, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 but I'm making that same decision every day, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to live in the Bronx, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to create in the Bronx, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 to invest in the Bronx. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 At Ghetto Gastro, we don't run from the word "ghetto," 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 and we don't run from the ghetto, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 because at the end of the day, 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Ghetto Gastro is about showing you what we already know: 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 the hood is good. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Thank you. 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 (Applause) 99:59:59.999 --> 99:59:59.999 Yeah! Yeah!