WEBVTT - An Incredible Week for Democracy 0:00:11.840 --> 0:00:14.440 Good morning, peep Sin. Welcome to Bokay, a daily with 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:19.000 Meet your Girl Danielle Moody recording from the home Bunker, Folks, 0:00:19.840 --> 0:00:27.000 I cannot express on this good, good Friday, what a 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:32.480 fantastic fucking week America has had. And I say that 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:36.760 knowing that there are too many times when I come 0:00:36.800 --> 0:00:40.800 on air where it is to share yet another disappointment, 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:48.080 another devastation and try to muster the strength to provide 0:00:48.080 --> 0:00:52.159 you with some level of hopefulness. But on this good Friday, 0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:57.320 waking up to the news that Britney Griner is free, 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:02.440 that after ten months in Russia in captivity, after being 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:08.040 sentenced to nine years for empty vape cartridges found in 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:13.000 her suitcase as she was working in Russia, because we 0:01:13.080 --> 0:01:17.440 don't pay female athletes anything on par with male athletes 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.240 in this country, let alone just you know, women in general, 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.120 that required her to be in Russia on the offseason, 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:30.319 is finally released. President Biden. The Biden administration had been 0:01:30.360 --> 0:01:34.119 working behind the scenes, as we know, to negotiate an 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.440 exchange and it was a one on one exchange with 0:01:37.560 --> 0:01:42.479 a notorious arms dealer that had been in prison convicted 0:01:42.520 --> 0:01:45.559 in New York and it was serving out a twelve 0:01:45.640 --> 0:01:49.160 year prison sentence to be released in twenty twenty eight 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:54.640 has been swapped for Brittany Griner. Now, folks, do not 0:01:54.760 --> 0:01:57.520 trouble yourselves with the bullshit that is going to be 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.560 coming out and that has already started spewing out from 0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:04.360 the right about how this was a terrible decision on 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:06.920 Biden's part. And yes, of course, because we don't get 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:08.679 they don't give a fuck about black people, they don't 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.200 give a fuck about queer people, and they just want 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:14.680 to uphold Putin, you know, as their savior. Do not 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:20.600 let that news take away from what an incredible story 0:02:20.720 --> 0:02:25.480 this is. Now we have no idea what kind of 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:29.600 condition Brittany Grinder is in, but we do know that 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:34.320 her healing process can begin now that she is finally 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.840 on her way home to her wife, to her family, 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:41.720 to her friends, to her teammates, to her community. This 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:47.080 comes on top of Georgia once again showing up and 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:50.960 showing out and denying white supremacy in the face of 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:53.960 voters suppression, in the face of all that is evil 0:02:54.720 --> 0:02:58.399 that was propping up herschel Walker, the most unqualified man 0:02:58.480 --> 0:03:01.840 to do mostly anything, but damn sure unqualified to be 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:06.080 a Senator of the United States. Defeating him at the 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:14.600 ballot and electing Reverend Warnock for a six year term 0:03:15.040 --> 0:03:18.600 as a US Senator. To be the first black man 0:03:18.600 --> 0:03:23.640 elected in Georgia for a six year term is nothing 0:03:23.720 --> 0:03:28.800 short of herkey Land, and so I tweeted this earlier today. 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:31.880 It is not often that we get to celebrate victories 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:34.800 these days. It feels like we are always hanging on 0:03:34.840 --> 0:03:38.160 by a thread. And so when victories do find themselves 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:43.880 at our doorstep, folks, embrace them, embody them, celebrate them, 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:47.960 uplift them, and hold them close to your heart, because 0:03:47.960 --> 0:03:51.480 we will need that as energy to keep going, to 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:57.000 keep fighting, to keep persevering. This was an incredible week 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:00.600 for democracy, an incredible week for justice, and an incredible 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.640 week for freedom. And I can think of no one 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:08.040 better to join me in conversation with regard to how 0:04:08.080 --> 0:04:11.800 we are closing out this midterm election and how we 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:15.960 are closing out this horrific traumatic experience for Britney Griner. 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:19.680 Then my friend the host of Make It Plane, the 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:28.400 Reverend Mark Thompson, that conversation is coming up next. Folks. 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.919 You know, for the entire year we have been doing 0:04:32.080 --> 0:04:35.480 a countdown to the midterm elections with our good good 0:04:35.480 --> 0:04:39.240 friend the Reverend Mark Thompson, host of Make It Plane, 0:04:39.640 --> 0:04:44.120 and you know we were able to talk. Mark, I 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:47.159 believe it was the day, the day of the final 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:51.200 day to vote for midterm elections. Now the results are in, 0:04:51.279 --> 0:04:55.040 and not only are the results in general of where 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:58.040 we stand as Democrats in both the House and the Senate, 0:04:58.080 --> 0:05:02.600 but we have just completed what feels like Georgia's seventeen 0:05:02.760 --> 0:05:07.440 thousandth election that it has had over the course of 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:09.520 this year. So I just want to get your initial 0:05:09.640 --> 0:05:13.960 thoughts on, you know, based on all of our conversations 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:17.239 that we have had, how you think things have turned 0:05:17.279 --> 0:05:20.160 out and how you feel about it. Well, first of all, 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.800 as always a pleasure to be here with you. And yes, 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:30.680 first you have to congratulate Georgia voters for once again 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:34.560 black voters in the South and some white voters even 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:41.560 for saving America. I went over the course of the 0:05:41.839 --> 0:05:47.120 past weeks and several days in Georgia canvassing with black 0:05:47.200 --> 0:05:51.240 voters matter, and I felt as though I had to 0:05:51.279 --> 0:06:00.400 do it. My conscience would not allow me to sit 0:06:00.520 --> 0:06:03.719 idly by with the risk of my people waking up 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.159 Wednesday morning and herschel Walker being in the Senate, I 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:08.359 just could not live with myself. So I had to 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:11.440 do something, as others did. As a matter of fact, 0:06:12.560 --> 0:06:15.880 my contribution to what Black Voters Matter had already been 0:06:15.920 --> 0:06:20.200 doing in Georgia was just a drop in the ocean. 0:06:21.000 --> 0:06:24.360 But I was thankful that they allowed me to participate 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:26.440 with them and go out and meet voters and talk 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:31.080 to people and encourage people to get out to vote. Now, 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:38.839 to be clear, we operated under nonpartisan auspices. But when 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:42.400 you get people to vote, when you save the people, 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:48.640 this is your sacred, blood stained obligation to do this. 0:06:49.800 --> 0:06:54.679 They tend to vote the right way. One woman, even 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.080 on Tuesday we engaged. She kept asking me, well, who 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:00.599 do you want me to vote for. I can't really 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.440 tell you that in this capacity, but I don't know 0:07:03.440 --> 0:07:06.160 who to vote for. I said, we'll just vote, and 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:07.720 then I said, you don't know who to vote for? 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.680 And then she looked at me and she says, well, 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:13.440 I know who I don't want to vote for. I said, well, 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:15.160 then you need to act on that. You need to vote. 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:18.440 The fact of the matter is, and I don't think 0:07:18.480 --> 0:07:20.360 we say this enough, So I'm going to say it 0:07:20.360 --> 0:07:24.600 as much as I can, Ladies and gentlemen, when one 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:31.480 doesn't vote, you are still voting because you're helping the 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:36.239 person whom you might not want to see in office 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:40.080 get in office, because you haven't cast your vote for 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:43.280 the other person, the right person, the person you've chosen. 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:47.000 So when that young woman said to me, I don't 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:48.520 know who to vote for, but she knew who she 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.800 didn't want to vote for, That's when I explained to 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.000 her how important it is to vote. And I've been 0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:59.360 saying that to everyone. When you don't vote, you are 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:06.760 actually really voting. When people don't vote for Joe Biden 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.480 and they just assume he's gonna win, you're casting a 0:08:09.600 --> 0:08:15.840 vote for Trump. Objectively, those of us who represent the 0:08:15.840 --> 0:08:23.240 progressive community, whom also intersectionally represent what doctor King called 0:08:23.320 --> 0:08:28.320 the beloved community before he died, the the the assignment, 0:08:28.360 --> 0:08:32.160 the moniker, the designation that got him killed. We are 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:37.880 in the majority in America, African Americans and Latinos, all 0:08:37.920 --> 0:08:42.400 people of color, Indigenous people, lgbt qia, the working class, 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:48.720 youth women. Obviously, we are in the majority voter. So 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:53.439 if we all vote, then we win. When we don't vote, 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:56.040 we don't and those non votes go to the benefit 0:08:56.080 --> 0:09:00.840 of other people. So I was thankful to be a 0:09:00.840 --> 0:09:04.640 part of that. It was exhilarating, although in exhaustive experience, 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:06.400 I still have not caught up on sleep. I was 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.880 on a zoom when I got back home, flew flew 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.040 back in the six am flight Wednesday morning. By four 0:09:12.040 --> 0:09:15.280 o'clock Wednesday afternoon, I'm on a zoom and I literally 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:17.800 fell asleep on a zoom and everybody felt so sorry 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:19.760 for me. They just left me on his zoom. See 0:09:20.280 --> 0:09:22.319 I'm not literally crashed out in the zoom all the 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:24.640 way back like this in the chair, just gone, and 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:27.199 everybody just you know, prayed over me and they understood, 0:09:27.200 --> 0:09:31.720 and I had everybody's forgiveness later in today. But this 0:09:31.880 --> 0:09:35.240 was important, and you're right, seventeen thousand times to be specific, 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:41.480 people had to vote five times in two years for 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:46.760 Raphael Warnock. Georgians are thankful they get to exhale from 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:50.840 voting every year for something. They get a little break now, 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:55.679 thank goodness, and they've earned it. But but God bless Georgia, 0:09:56.040 --> 0:09:57.920 God bless all the voters, and God bless all of 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:00.800 you who contacted your friends and family and Georgia and 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.360 got them to get out to vote. You know, I 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:09.560 have to tell you that I had uh Latasha James 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:17.080 on another show, um to to talk about the vote, 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:19.600 to talk about the energy on the ground. And that's 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:21.360 kind of what I want to talk about because I 0:10:21.400 --> 0:10:25.000 think that we take for granted those of us who 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.400 live in quote unquote blue States, those of us who 0:10:28.520 --> 0:10:33.079 live um in you know, in kind of democratic le 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:38.240 protected or so we think, protected areas and regions of 0:10:38.240 --> 0:10:42.720 the country. We take for granted the exhaustion right to 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:48.040 your point about this, about the zoom, the exhaustion that 0:10:48.160 --> 0:10:51.559 people of Georgia have faced over the last five years, 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.920 and how the policies have been in put in place 0:10:55.080 --> 0:11:01.360 purposefully to exhaust the voters. And I just wanted you 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.920 to be able to, you know, share a little bit 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:08.000 more about what you heard from people on the ground, 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:14.920 about the things, the ways that they have been you know, targeted, right, Like, 0:11:15.200 --> 0:11:17.560 I can't imagine what it must have been like to 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:22.240 watch television in Georgia for the last like for the 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:27.280 last five years. I mean, this senatorial race, I believe 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:31.000 was historic in the amount of money that was spent 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:36.840 on advertising on targeting the people of Georgia. So I 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:39.959 just want to get a sense from you Mark about 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:44.640 you know, the energy of the people there, right, the 0:11:44.800 --> 0:11:49.199 resolve and the perseverance of the people of Georgia when 0:11:49.280 --> 0:11:52.760 they are inundated with vote of suppression, when they continue 0:11:52.880 --> 0:12:00.000 to be taxed year after year. Well, I was there 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:05.120 weekend and watching TV was not a pleasant experience, So 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:08.840 there is an inundation. Although I do think Ralphael Warnock 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:13.280 had the most effective commercials. Oh yes, I mean they 0:12:13.280 --> 0:12:17.080 were clear, they were cutting people of all racest talking 0:12:17.120 --> 0:12:20.800 about what was important in the election, and I think 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:24.520 that helped him. I mean it. Georgia showed out again 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:31.840 even on Tuesday in very respectable numbers. You talked about, 0:12:32.400 --> 0:12:37.400 you know, the fatigue. I've never really bought into fatigue 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:41.120 and politics, but I have now because of Georgia. I mean, 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:44.080 you know, and people imber with two people we talk 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:49.000 about Clinton fatigue. Wow, I mean it's a blessing. People 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:50.920 didn't get Warnock fatigue having to go out and do 0:12:51.000 --> 0:12:55.240 this all the time every year for the past five years, 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:58.360 practically for the past two years. Five times in the 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:02.680 past two years. I should say so, But I think 0:13:02.720 --> 0:13:06.280 the commercials got over on people. I think that now 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:10.000 it's time for Georgia. So these need need to be 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:12.600 the next commercials. Now it's time for Georgia to get 0:13:12.720 --> 0:13:18.200 rid of this primary system. It no longer serves the 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:22.480 purpose that the white supremacists who set it up wanted 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:25.360 it to serve, because we are now empowered to vote. 0:13:25.360 --> 0:13:29.280 It was originally meant to dilute our voting power, but 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:33.679 now that we've shown the discipline that we have, it's 0:13:33.720 --> 0:13:36.760 made a difference. A matter of fact, Republicans are so stupid. 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:44.320 If the if there had been no runoff in the 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:51.360 first election with us Off, then us Off would not 0:13:51.640 --> 0:13:56.439 be in the Senate and the Republicans would have a majority, 0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:01.240 see because he lost it anyone to run. Yeah, but 0:14:01.320 --> 0:14:04.760 they're so stupid they set themselves up for that failure. 0:14:05.200 --> 0:14:08.040 So so again, these are decisions. They make all decisions. 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:11.160 They may end up causing losses for them, So maybe 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:15.640 we shouldn't complain. Um, we beat back the red wave, 0:14:15.760 --> 0:14:21.000 the so called tsunonymy tsunami, the tsunami, let forgive me 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:26.520 for and that never happening. So you know, I think 0:14:26.640 --> 0:14:32.080 that this is this is a turning point and a 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.680 major one. And let me just also say this, if 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:36.600 I could Danielle and feel free coming out because I 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:39.800 know I'm talking too much, um um, but I don't 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.080 get talking my own show. So when i'm against I 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:43.720 try to. You know what I'm saying. When you talk, 0:14:43.760 --> 0:14:45.760 when you're host, you don't talk. You guests talk. So 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:47.880 I'm a guest. I get talked. I'm saying stuff, do 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:49.240 you I don't even get time to say on my 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:55.880 own show. Um in. This is the week, the week 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:59.040 of the runoff was the week of the anniversion of 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.560 my gummy best boy Cat. When was the last time 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.760 we as a people, or any people in America was 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:08.640 so disciplined as they were in nineteen fifty five to 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.680 not take the buses for over a year and walk 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.080 to work. Who Who's going to do that today? What? What? 0:15:16.320 --> 0:15:20.160 What Americans are gonna do something like that? So selfless 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:23.600 and self sacrificing for the good of all today, that's 0:15:23.600 --> 0:15:27.880 a lot to walk to work every day for three days. 0:15:28.040 --> 0:15:33.200 So to put it in a relative context, going back 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:37.600 out and voting in numbers like this five times to 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.920 ensure that crazy people aren't seated in the Senate, especially 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:48.000 herschel Walker. It to me is reminiscent of the discipline 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.440 it took. It's not quite the same, but I think 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:53.320 in the same objective context, it is folking going to 0:15:53.400 --> 0:15:55.360 walk to work every day for over a year now. People, 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:57.800 we're not made like that anymore. People aren't built that way. 0:15:57.800 --> 0:15:59.800 We aren't built for that. But if we can go 0:15:59.800 --> 0:16:06.200 out out in all these consecutive times to vote, then 0:16:06.400 --> 0:16:11.040 that's that's an important thing. And frankly, everyone will say 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.720 that Jesus suffered and Dad, so we don't have to. 0:16:13.840 --> 0:16:17.080 Those who who suffered during the Montgomery bus boycott, those 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.160 who died in Selma did so that so we wouldn't 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:22.400 have to. So the least we can do is do 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.560 what we did and vote as we did in Georgia 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:32.000 during the runoff. Yeah, I mean amen to that in 0:16:32.040 --> 0:16:35.000 so many different ways, because when people say, you know 0:16:35.080 --> 0:16:37.800 that I don't vote, or one side is just as 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.120 bad as the other, you know, I get a sick 0:16:41.160 --> 0:16:47.160 pit in my stomach because I do believe right, and 0:16:47.280 --> 0:16:50.880 remember every time I vote, who died so that I 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:55.040 could be able to press that button, right like I 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:57.760 I think about that all the time, And that is 0:16:57.880 --> 0:17:01.880 you know, that that's the problem with teaching history, right, 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:07.400 with not reminding, having constant reminders, having constant anniversaries that 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:10.399 lift up the people who did sacrifice their own lives 0:17:10.440 --> 0:17:14.480 so that yours could be better. So I appreciate you 0:17:14.560 --> 0:17:16.640 Mark for lifting that up. The last thing I want 0:17:16.640 --> 0:17:22.240 to say on Georgia is herschel Walker was an embarrassment, 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:29.640 was an embarrassment of a candidate, was an embarrassment of 0:17:30.160 --> 0:17:34.639 so many different things. And I just wanted to ask 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:41.080 you if you think at all at all if Republicans 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:47.840 will learn anything from trying to prop up literally prop 0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:50.560 up this man because he went on he by himself, 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:54.480 always had his white handlers with him. If they will 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:59.920 have learned anything from this loss and the kind of 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:08.320 candidates that they should be running moving forward. Well, see, 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:11.880 even when they lose, they win because I think they 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:17.919 actually get off on demoralizing us and putting people like 0:18:18.000 --> 0:18:20.879 that up, so to some extent, you know, they still 0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:26.600 got something out of that. They are probably more interested 0:18:26.600 --> 0:18:28.320 at this point because they know it's going to be 0:18:28.400 --> 0:18:30.879 challenging and continue to win elections with the changing demographics 0:18:30.880 --> 0:18:35.480 in this country, So they're still interested in demoralization and 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:41.280 cultural attack and the preservation of white supremacy. So they 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.600 still got something out of that. They got a black 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:49.800 man to say out loud, he doesn't mind being called 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:52.720 a coon. Now, I had some white friends call me 0:18:53.440 --> 0:18:56.919 and so, man, we don't know what to say. This 0:18:57.080 --> 0:18:58.600 is just saying, you know, we don't want to speak 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:01.840 out about I'm saying you're just said on man, I'm 0:19:01.880 --> 0:19:05.480 giving all white folks permission. Then whenever you see somebody 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:08.880 call themselves a coon, you have permission to call them out. 0:19:09.000 --> 0:19:10.600 You know what I say, it's one of my friends. 0:19:10.760 --> 0:19:11.800 What do you mean you don't know what to say? 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:13.919 You know what that is. You know what a coon is, 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:15.920 and how disgraceful that is? Say it, say something about 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:19.320 it called out? Well, I don't know because I'm not black. No, no, no, 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:22.480 you don't have to be black to say that an 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:25.480 African American referring to himself and embracing himself as a 0:19:25.560 --> 0:19:31.880 coon is a setback and and something wrong there. Yeah, 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:33.520 so you want to debate. You wanted to call me 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:37.239 and ask my permission. You know we're not Hey, let 0:19:37.280 --> 0:19:40.240 me say this carefully. Were not like other folks who 0:19:40.440 --> 0:19:44.119 don't allow others to speak about our experience. Hello, I 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:46.680 think you know y'all get that later, h and when 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:51.960 they're no consequences for its standing with us, in solidarity 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:54.800 with us to say, you don't need to call somebody 0:19:54.800 --> 0:19:56.439 a coon, or you don't need to refer yourself as 0:19:56.480 --> 0:20:03.760 a coon. So I don't know that they learn anything, Danielle. 0:20:04.880 --> 0:20:09.480 There's there's a sickness that they still get off on 0:20:10.040 --> 0:20:13.320 saying these things, doing these things, projecting these and having 0:20:13.400 --> 0:20:16.240 him running around and saying those types of things. I 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:18.159 don't they they're not. I don't think for one minute 0:20:18.560 --> 0:20:21.920 they're finished. They may ultimately be finished politically, they may 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:24.280 ultimately and they may know that, I mean sooner later 0:20:24.359 --> 0:20:26.160 numbers are gonna bear that out. There is no way 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:28.679 that this is going to continue. So let you know 0:20:28.720 --> 0:20:32.560 they're gonna you know, grasp, you know, hold on. What 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:35.800 did Charlton Heston say that those who will take a 0:20:35.840 --> 0:20:38.919 gun from me, mister n ra A here, they have 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:41.360 to pride from my cold dead hands. You know, we're 0:20:41.359 --> 0:20:43.479 gonna have to pride whatever, We're gonna have to pride 0:20:44.160 --> 0:20:47.800 from those who ultimately will go to the grave because 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:51.679 Father Time is undefeated. But um, I don't know that 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:56.840 they learned a dog on thing, switching gears with the 0:20:57.040 --> 0:20:59.760 with the time that we have left. Um, you know, 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:05.360 it isn't often that I say I tweeted this as 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:08.280 that platform still stands, but on you know, it's like 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:16.720 a three legged stool that our celebrations are very far 0:21:16.800 --> 0:21:22.360 and few between these days. Georgia being a major victory 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:29.720 for the Senate for democracy, for true leadership. Right. Brittany Griner, 0:21:31.560 --> 0:21:38.440 after ten months in a Russian prison, after being sentenced 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:42.800 to nine years of hard labor in a Russian penal 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:49.560 colony for having empty vape cartridges that other people, mind 0:21:49.600 --> 0:21:55.160 you in Russia, have just been deported for right, used 0:21:55.240 --> 0:21:59.280 as a political tool in this geopolitical warfare that has 0:21:59.320 --> 0:22:01.800 been going on between the United States and Russia for 0:22:01.880 --> 0:22:04.600 quite some time. As Russia is in the midst of 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:10.600 war in Ukraine, has finally been released and been traded 0:22:10.920 --> 0:22:16.359 for a Russian prisoner. I woke up to that news 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:21.040 Mark and was in tears because as a black queer woman, 0:22:22.119 --> 0:22:26.280 my heart was breaking for Brittany to be held prisoner 0:22:26.600 --> 0:22:33.480 in a known homophobic, abusive country. We know how little 0:22:33.520 --> 0:22:36.399 we think about black people in this country and their worth. 0:22:36.960 --> 0:22:40.480 So the idea that our government would actually fight for 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:45.760 her release. I want to get your reactions to this news. 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:50.600 It is great news. In fact, I'll put it this way, 0:22:50.800 --> 0:22:54.040 hang all the missile too. Brittany Ground is coming home 0:22:55.160 --> 0:23:02.520 this Christmas. It's it's beautiful, it's touching. Um. And a 0:23:02.560 --> 0:23:05.880 lot of hard work went into this. And I'm gonna 0:23:05.880 --> 0:23:08.520 say something else that might sound controversially some people are 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:11.760 getting credit and taking credit for this, but it was 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:14.280 a lot of folk, including some of you who are 0:23:14.280 --> 0:23:20.000 our listeners, who join us in these prayervisials to to 0:23:20.240 --> 0:23:28.679 bring her home. Um. Some represented that some of the 0:23:28.680 --> 0:23:31.919 things we were preparing to do, go out in the streets, 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:34.320 have more privilege, which really always was a plan which 0:23:34.640 --> 0:23:37.720 we were planning to be in the streets more, to 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:39.960 be at the we we had provisions at the Russian 0:23:39.960 --> 0:23:43.240 Embassy and the Russian Consulate. We were going to do more. 0:23:46.080 --> 0:23:48.400 And then some folks, well, don't do that, because that's 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:50.000 gonna upset the White House, and the White House is 0:23:50.000 --> 0:23:53.600 gonna look bad and the Russians. But Malcolm said, bandon 0:23:53.640 --> 0:23:59.879 means necessary. The very assertion that there were those of 0:24:00.080 --> 0:24:03.080 us who might do that made the White House get 0:24:03.200 --> 0:24:08.359 up an act. So it worked. So I want to 0:24:08.359 --> 0:24:12.080 commend those who involved in all those all those efforts. 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:18.560 Victoria Kirby York at the National Black Justice Coalition, one 0:24:18.600 --> 0:24:23.800 of our LGBATS, great LGBT organizations, Angela Rye, Tamika Mallory, 0:24:25.160 --> 0:24:29.800 rem doctor Barber, so many who were involved in that 0:24:29.960 --> 0:24:33.159 process that that kind of moved the White House to 0:24:33.240 --> 0:24:38.160 do something. It's high time she come home. Um, I'm 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:41.560 I'm I'm grateful. I'm overjoyed as well. It makes me 0:24:41.600 --> 0:24:46.159 emotional too because the thought of that sister in that 0:24:46.280 --> 0:24:52.560 condition was absolutely horrifying, and we've yet to learn exactly 0:24:52.560 --> 0:24:55.120 how she was treated. I was on a call earlier 0:24:55.160 --> 0:24:58.159 today and even some of the government officials are going 0:24:58.200 --> 0:25:01.960 to give her the send the support to decide when 0:25:02.000 --> 0:25:09.680 she wants to share, Yeah, what her experience was. So, Um, 0:25:11.560 --> 0:25:15.480 I'm I'm glad that she's home and we all should 0:25:15.480 --> 0:25:18.199 celebrate this. It's it's been from the run off to 0:25:18.240 --> 0:25:21.879 Brittany Grinder, Well, we'll remember the week when all of 0:25:21.880 --> 0:25:27.760 that happened as one of the greatest weeks in our time. Yeah, 0:25:27.800 --> 0:25:32.840 and you know, and I will say that I cannot imagine, um, 0:25:33.880 --> 0:25:38.600 what she was put through for those ten long months. 0:25:38.680 --> 0:25:43.080 But my heart rests easy that her healing, which will 0:25:43.119 --> 0:25:51.600 probably be lifelong UM emotional, mental, physical healing UM, can 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:56.000 begin as as as she makes her way back home 0:25:56.000 --> 0:25:59.440 to her wife and to her family, to her friends, 0:25:59.440 --> 0:26:04.359 to her team mates, and to the community. As you said, Mark, 0:26:04.480 --> 0:26:08.480 that has lifted her up in prayer, in coverage for 0:26:08.760 --> 0:26:13.640 the last ten months brought attention where without that attention, 0:26:14.280 --> 0:26:18.879 who knows what her fate UM would have been. And 0:26:18.920 --> 0:26:21.200 I think that it's really important for people to recognize. 0:26:21.200 --> 0:26:24.879 You know, sometimes we say that if the only action 0:26:24.960 --> 0:26:27.160 that you can do is to share something, to share 0:26:27.160 --> 0:26:30.399 a photo, to share some information, that all of us 0:26:30.440 --> 0:26:32.560 have a voice and have a platform, whether it's for 0:26:32.680 --> 0:26:36.359 five people or five million people. And I don't want 0:26:36.359 --> 0:26:40.640 to downplay the fact that you know, images of her, 0:26:40.880 --> 0:26:44.440 articles of her you know, t shirts, all of these 0:26:44.480 --> 0:26:48.160 things were made and done to continue to have her 0:26:48.320 --> 0:26:51.679 name be said so that she wouldn't be erased and 0:26:51.720 --> 0:26:55.720 that she wouldn't be forgotten. That those things are powerful. 0:26:56.119 --> 0:27:00.320 You know, we we we all don't um march y'all 0:27:00.359 --> 0:27:05.080 can't afford to give money, UM, but understand that lifting 0:27:05.200 --> 0:27:08.879 her name up and her presence up is what also 0:27:08.960 --> 0:27:14.399 played a part um in in having her en route home. Um. 0:27:14.440 --> 0:27:17.400 Mark last question for you, you know, as we get 0:27:17.440 --> 0:27:21.040 ready to turn the page on this year and go 0:27:21.119 --> 0:27:26.440 into twenty twenty three, Um, you know what what what 0:27:26.600 --> 0:27:30.479 message do do you want to send to people who again, 0:27:31.160 --> 0:27:35.160 this has been a weary year. Right, we're we're hopefully 0:27:35.200 --> 0:27:37.680 going to be ending on these on these high notes, 0:27:37.680 --> 0:27:41.600 but it's been a weary, long year that has tested 0:27:42.359 --> 0:27:45.760