house. Kids can come and do home work, wash clothes, and we have so many things we’re doing to create the peace kids are missing in their homes. It’s still in the community. They don’t have to go downtown. We have so many things we’re doing to create a community that is more like a peace campus. Legacy Living is just building right now. I’m opening a restaurant in Riverdale as well. It’s almost like a Whole Foods, but we don’t have that in the urban community. I already have an area, I’m just going through the process with the health department. We’re inserting so many things to impact the community where people can have more. If they are exposed to it, they’ll want more. I want to be the guy to expose people to different things. I wrote a proposal for the airlines to partner with me at donating a one way ticket there and back for young guys who have never been out of the hood. This is something the airlines can donate to the community. We’re pouring into the community. I want it to be where Legacy Living is really teaching people how to live in their legacy; not just giving them a template, but exposing them and giving them a real platform to take from something. That’s just like your magazine. Each step you got toward it being ready, you got more and more excited. The more you nourished it, it grew until this point.
U.G. Digital Mag: That makes perfect sense. I’m grateful to you, not only for how you’ve followed your dreams and inspired so many others. I listen to what you talk about, and I can
live a life where her legacy is ongoing. That’s how you know your worth. It’s how you know you have lived a life of worthiness. Even if you did something that angers a person in a certain way, the worth of who you are and what you give is what is remembered. That’s why I say Legacy Living is teaching people to live in their legacy. Everybody wants a name, but how do you live in your name. You have to go with the blows, learn from them, and become who you are wit them.
U.G. Digital Mag: The relationship you two have is based on the type of man you are. That, and the relationship with your sister, along with your upbringing, is what allows you to have a good relationship with him. You can appreciate it for what it is.
Sam Sparks: I appreciate you for saying that. I accept him in a way that is in my upbringing and what it’s supposed to be later on.
U.G. Digital Mag: Where does the brand of Legacy Living for from this point?
Sam Sparks: We’re about teaching appearance in every aspect. I’m opening two barbershops here in Chicago, and I have Legacy Living apparel coming. We are inserting certain things in the community where we partner with iGoChicago, and I’m one of the CFO’s of that company as well. We’re buying homes in the community, old homes at that have been abandoned and destroyed. We’re rebuilding them, making libraries, studios, peace houses. One house we have is a peace
Sam Sparks: To try answer that, I can only say that it taught me to make decisions in life that make sense. That’s it. Making decisions that make sense. The definition of that young lady was making decisions in her life that made sense. She was dealt cards that she did not choose, but she played the cards and made a decision to live life the right way. She knew exactly who she was supposed to be. Every time the doctor put her on her death bed, I believe she had a clear conversation with God, who asked her in she was ready.
U.G. Digital Mag: I think it speaks volumes, and it’s not to say anything negative about physicians, but in the end, I don’t think they can decide when it’s somebody’s time. I’ve seen cases where doctor’s say one thing, and the patient defies the odds. I think God makes all the decisions. I know the life she lead inspired many people, including you in regard to the things you’ve been able to accomplish.
Sam Sparks: Honestly, I’ve learned that the encounters you have are what builds the relationships you have. Every moment I had with her, we were building the relationship. It may hurt to not have her physically, but I’m blessed that she is my strength. I can talk and be who I am because of it. Harv is great. I don’t take away from the man who he is. He’s a vessel, he’s my big dawg, and I love him because he poured into me like no other. That man is magnificent in another way. The strength about the brand of Sam Sparks and Legacy Living is off the strength of me seeing her