WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 092521 Ramses Ja & Q Ward 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:03.120 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:03.880 Rams's Jah. 0:00:04.280 --> 0:00:08.320 They call me q Ward mostly because my name is 0:00:08.320 --> 0:00:13.119 is Quentin, but never mind, just we can just go 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:14.319 with Q hey. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:16.120 Q works for me. I am at at that one bid. 0:00:16.280 --> 0:00:18.520 And of course we're back up in you one more 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.760 again to broadcast the balance and to defend the discourse, 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:23.840 to bring all things that you may or may not 0:00:23.960 --> 0:00:26.880 know about happening in Black America in hopes of creating 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:32.200 better allies and more informed purveyors and partakers of black culture. 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.400 Be sure to stick around your radio, because today we 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:40.600 have a lot to talk about, including school district in 0:00:40.880 --> 0:00:43.760 Oregon that once upon a time we talked about this 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:48.000 on the show they banned BLM protests and posters and 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:51.520 paraphernalia and that sort of stuff on their campus. Well 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:54.680 now apparently they have some students that are participating in 0:00:54.800 --> 0:00:59.000 some online slave auctions, so we definitely need to talk 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.040 about that. We're also going to talk about whether or 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:06.080 not the NFL should play the Black National Anthem in 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.920 addition to the regular national anthem. There's some big names 0:01:09.920 --> 0:01:12.560 that has some thoughts about that, and of course we're 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.080 going to discuss what that means we're also going to 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:20.440 talk about, uh, the history of the Star Spangled banner. 0:01:20.480 --> 0:01:22.119 So we're going to do that with our way black 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:26.720 history fact and of course we are going to spend 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:30.480 some time talking about ebony excellence. This time we're going 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:33.000 to talk about Little naz X. He's been in the 0:01:33.040 --> 0:01:36.000 news a lot, but we want to give him some 0:01:36.080 --> 0:01:39.080 credit whereas due, because not all of the news makes 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:41.760 its way to your ears. So all that and more 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:45.640 coming up in today's episode of Civic Cipher certainly some 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:47.240 stuff you don't want to miss out on. So with 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.320 that said, let's get into some ebony excellence. How do 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:56.840 you feel about that, que Let's get it? Yes indeed? Okay, Well, 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:03.240 Little nas X, for those that know, Lil nas X 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:07.600 is the person who sang Old Town Road that was 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.880 the number one number one song of all times, the 0:02:10.919 --> 0:02:14.680 longest running number one hit record in the history of 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:18.680 hit records. And of course he's got some other songs 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:22.079 and more recently he's made news just being controversial. He's 0:02:22.080 --> 0:02:24.760 done a lot of stuff with like some demonic symbols. 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:28.079 He was you had a pregnant belly and it was 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:31.480 a metaphor for him bringing his album into the World, 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:33.680 and you know, everyone takes issue with this guy, but 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:37.240 I want to talk about him for a second because 0:02:37.240 --> 0:02:39.520 I do believe that he's an example of ebony excellence. 0:02:40.880 --> 0:02:42.679 For those who don't know, Lil nas X was named 0:02:42.680 --> 0:02:47.240 twenty twenty one suicide Prevention Advocate by LGBTQ organization The 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:51.280 Trevor Project. He started a fundraiser with the Bail Project 0:02:51.320 --> 0:02:55.960 and raised sixty thousand dollars for incarcerated individuals nationwide for 0:02:56.080 --> 0:02:58.560 his registry. For his Montero album, where he had the 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:03.760 pregnant belly, he created a baby registry and that registry 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:10.240 spotlight sixteen charities focused on healthcare, justice and LGBTQ and 0:03:10.320 --> 0:03:17.320 BIPOD causes. So definitely someone who's not just antagonizing people 0:03:17.440 --> 0:03:20.680 think to Kashi six ' nine, but actually is really 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:24.359 trying to take this controversy that surrounds him and pointed 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:29.160 in the right direction. In addition to those I've seen 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:33.880 that he's cash apped actual pregnant people to help them 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:36.160 prepare for the babies that they're coming, he's also made 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:38.600 children's hospital visits in Atlanta, where he's from, and he's 0:03:38.640 --> 0:03:42.960 partnered with ug and made Pride themed boots and a 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:46.840 Pride theme collection to benefit GLAD And of course he's 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:50.600 donated to the Freedom Fund of Minneapolis after the protest 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:52.960 to twenty twenty. So once again, want to take the 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.320 time out to highlight some ebony excellence. This week it's 0:03:56.360 --> 0:03:58.680 little Nasa X and we're not mad at that at all. 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:04.920 So oh yeah, with that said, it's time to get 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:10.480 to the meat and potatoes of today's show. So you 0:04:10.600 --> 0:04:14.080 heard me talk about the Oregon school district that banned 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:18.240 the BLM posters and the T shirts and you know, 0:04:18.400 --> 0:04:22.919 all the signage and everything like that. Well, as I 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.480 mentioned in this a lot of these notes come from 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:27.560 the Atlanta Black Star, So if you want to check 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:31.080 out the various articles for yourself, that's the source for 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.960 this material. But now they have students that were involved 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.640 in a slave auction and they were joking about what 0:04:37.720 --> 0:04:42.240 they pay for their black classmates, right, So that by 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:47.039 itself is alarming, and I think that for me, it 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:54.480 shows exactly why these conversations about black lives matter and 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:59.000 the history of black people in this country, why these 0:04:59.000 --> 0:05:02.120 things need to be taught in schools. You know, these 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:06.520 these these teachings have been challenged across the country. We've 0:05:06.520 --> 0:05:09.960 done many episodes talking about that, and then, of course 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:13.800 there are people who can't get past this silly notion 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.640 that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization or domestic 0:05:17.720 --> 0:05:21.880 terrorist group, and their you know whatever whatever news story 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:23.719 that they come up with that they invent out of 0:05:23.760 --> 0:05:29.640 the thin blue sky and then repeat, you know, but 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:32.080 there's no real source to you know, the majority of 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:35.360 you know what they talk about. But I think that 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:41.839 this really illuminates why the conversations are necessary, necessary, why 0:05:41.880 --> 0:05:44.720 it's necessary to say things like black lives matter, and 0:05:44.760 --> 0:05:48.960 why black lives matter does have a presence in society, 0:05:49.080 --> 0:05:52.599 and dare I say it even on school campuses, you know, 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:57.120 for those things to be politicized by the school board, 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.240 I think it ignores the humanity of it, because black 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:02.560 lives matter, regardless of how you feel about it, can't 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:05.400 exist as a statement on its own in its own right, 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.400 just as a thought, and anybody that agrees with that 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:11.640 should be able to share that thought or wear that 0:06:12.080 --> 0:06:14.279 thought on their clothes, on a button, you know, on 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:16.919 a sign, if they so chose. This is my thoughts 0:06:17.000 --> 0:06:18.919 on it, and I believe that when you don't do 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.599 that you end up with situations like this. Now you 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:28.440 might recall we did talk about a snapchat slave auction 0:06:28.680 --> 0:06:32.159 where there were some students in it might have been Michigan, 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:36.720 you know, just talking about their classmates and you know, 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:41.120 getting off all kinds of you know, racist language that 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.440 of course, these children picked up from their homes or 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.000 you know, other whatever wherever they get it from. Because 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:52.760 no one's born being racist. We know that. But what 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:55.800 I have here says in the snapchat group chat, students 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:58.960 use photos of students and racist slurs and joked about 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:02.080 how much they pay for black classmates. The chat first 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.280 popped up in Michigan, so that's when you and I 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:09.159 first talked about a que late last year, and is 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:15.400 also surfaced in Texas, of course. But on Friday, others 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:19.520 reported one student's use of the chat, and I want 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:22.200 to read this quote and get your thoughts. Q Newburg 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:25.400 High School became aware of a very serious and inappropriate 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.280 incident on social media in which one of our students 0:07:28.320 --> 0:07:33.320 took part in a snapchat group themed slave trade and 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.600 use photos of other Newburg High School students in the group. 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:43.760 The district's statement said, heng on, let me read this too, 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.680 and then get your thoughts. Screenshots posted on Instagram by 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:50.400 a user named Royce Dewey show a discussion of students' 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.040 private lives and the prices other students would pay for them. 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:58.480 Screenshots show student comments such as all blacks should die 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:04.840 and let's have another Holocaust. Okay, your initial reaction to that. 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:19.320 I've read before that racism is so inherently American that 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:27.080 when you protest racism, our proud patriots think that you're 0:08:27.240 --> 0:08:33.720 protesting America and frame it as such. When we have 0:08:33.760 --> 0:08:40.120 a political party whose last leader campaigned on the idea 0:08:40.200 --> 0:08:48.920 of racism, bigotry, and deviceism, that makes a statement like 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:57.240 black lives matter political because it's anti the entire messaging 0:08:57.320 --> 0:09:04.600 for that political party. So then a school parents parents 0:09:04.640 --> 0:09:10.880 that political belief and bans students from simply saying other 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:21.400 people's lives that don't look like me matter. But they're 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:26.640 comfortable doing so in a school district where a large 0:09:26.720 --> 0:09:31.280 enough segment of the population feels that way anyway, so 0:09:31.320 --> 0:09:34.360 they don't get pushed back, they don't have anybody digging 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:37.520 deeper or trying to teach any lessons. It's far more 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:42.320 comfortable that way, And even though people are not born. 0:09:42.440 --> 0:09:46.240 Racist people are born into racist families. Sure, people are 0:09:46.240 --> 0:09:50.040 born to racist parents, and they're teaching and teachings and 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:56.040 ideologies from their very first thought. Their very first words 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:01.600 are racist, even in in some cases by parents who 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.440 would never consider themselves that because they hear the term 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.440 and understand it to be a bad thing, even though 0:10:07.480 --> 0:10:10.839 they share all the beliefs, thoughts, and ideologies of a person. 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:13.360 That is, no one just wants. No one wants to 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.880 be called that bad word, even if they had a 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:22.960 shirt on that says I am by definition this. And 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:28.400 there's something about our young people expressing things like that 0:10:28.400 --> 0:10:30.559 that hurts and hits me in my stomach in a 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.240 way that's different than adults. I don't know why. I 0:10:33.280 --> 0:10:35.840 don't have an explanation for. But when you were just 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.440 reading what they were saying in that group chat, knowing 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:48.040 that it was impressionable teenagers, that hit me different. I 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.160 typically hear stuff like that and get mad. This time 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.439 it was like, oh man, you know what I mean. 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.760 Like I felt sad for them instead of mad at them. Sure, 0:10:57.080 --> 0:11:01.800 Sure that was my initial response as I heard it, 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:04.560 was like, oh man, you know what I mean, And 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.560 that's that's a as. You know, that's a different response 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.319 for me. Typically I hear stuff like that and I'm 0:11:09.360 --> 0:11:13.480 ready to the tables over and throw stuff. But when 0:11:13.559 --> 0:11:15.240 you just read that, I felt bad. 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:18.720 I felt sad for them, you know the thing that 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:19.880 that really sucks man. 0:11:20.920 --> 0:11:25.800 So so the thing that getting back to the school 0:11:25.800 --> 0:11:30.559 district and their initial ban on Black Lives matter and 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:35.319 pride symbols being worn on the campus or being displayed, 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:49.800 that really feels like that passivity that is oftentimes associated 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:55.800 with white moderates, as MLK put it, folks who this 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:00.199 isn't really my problem, and I really don't want to 0:12:00.320 --> 0:12:05.160 rock the boat, so let me just try my best 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:09.240 to step away and hopefully it'll all blow over. It's 0:12:09.280 --> 0:12:14.960 those people, and I'll say it, those cowards. And I 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:19.400 choose that word carefully because sometimes people need to hear it. 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.360 You know. There's been times in my life when I've 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:27.679 maybe behaved in a similar manner. And when you use 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:30.360 strong words like that with me, you know, I tend 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:31.920 to react to it because no one wants to be 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.280 called that. But if that's you know, if that's a 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:37.720 fair statement, I think that it should stand on its own. 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:43.680 And this story reminds me specifically of the way our 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:49.480 show started Civic Cipher, where we went to our old 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.600 program director. This is the short version of the story, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.680 but we went to our old program director in twenty 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.600 twenty and we says, hey, can we put on a 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:04.840 show that will allow some of the leadership on the 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.760 streets to come up to the station and explain what 0:13:08.800 --> 0:13:14.120 they mean when they say defund the police, because it 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.600 sounds scary if they don't get to explain it. But 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:20.600 if they explain it, it sounds like it's actually been 0:13:20.640 --> 0:13:23.640 given some thought. And I think that people who listen 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:28.600 to this radio station that plays seventy percent black artists 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:32.839 and sagan. 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:34.679 Probably a higher percentage than that. 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.520 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, absolutely so. But you know the 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:40.840 point is it's one hundred percent black music. This is 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:44.960 this is the sounds. I can trace these sounds to 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.640 a slave field, you know, and that's there's a lot 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:51.360 of different radio stations in this country whose sounds get 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:54.320 traced back to a slave field, right. And so my 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:59.920 challenge was, you know, you should set aside some time 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:06.880 so that these people whose culture you're profiting from, these 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.760 are my people too, you know, whose culture you're profiting 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:14.920 from can say their peace, you know, be a real 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.480 ally in this moment. Do you love black people? Because 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:19.840 you clearly love black culture. It's feeding your families, and 0:14:19.960 --> 0:14:22.120 you know, do you love black people? Yes? If so, 0:14:22.680 --> 0:14:26.480 then allow them a moment of time on your airwaves. 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.720 You got twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:32.000 Give these people an hour per week to come up 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.640 and say their peace, to maintain a relationship with the 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:40.640 with the community that you're profiting from. Right and as 0:14:40.640 --> 0:14:44.480 the story goes, you know, Q and I were told 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:52.160 no that they wanted to do the FCC mandated show. 0:14:53.280 --> 0:14:59.600 It's it's a what's it called an community service type 0:14:59.640 --> 0:15:03.720 of thing at the FCC mandates every broadcast station do, 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.640 and the one at that station was about going to 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:09.800 the dentist and getting your teeth fixed or getting your 0:15:09.800 --> 0:15:12.360 teeth cleaned or something like that, good dental health. So 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:16.040 that was the PSA they were running, and they opted 0:15:16.080 --> 0:15:19.480 to run that instead of run the show you're listening 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:22.960 to right now, Civic Cipher and so we had to 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:27.480 resign because obviously that's we could not be complicit in 0:15:27.520 --> 0:15:30.520 that behavior. We felt that black lives were worth more 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:34.600 than that, and Ultimately they came around when the community 0:15:34.600 --> 0:15:36.920 found out what happened when we resigned. You know, the 0:15:37.000 --> 0:15:40.400 community stood by us, and this is why, you know, 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.680 we were able to create Civic Cipher and then because 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:45.680 of the support of many programmers around the country. Now 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:52.440 you're hearing our voices. But this story about this school 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.360 in Oregon kind of feels the same way. You know, 0:15:56.400 --> 0:15:58.240 at our old station, they were like, you know, we 0:15:58.360 --> 0:16:02.280 really just don't want to get involved, you know, in 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:04.080 any of this stuff. We don't want to pick a side. 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.240 And of course the station was in Arizona, which at 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.880 the time was still a very red state, and a 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:13.360 lot of the advertisers of that radio station, you know, 0:16:13.520 --> 0:16:18.560 might have had some right leaning corporate you know, big 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:21.920 wigs who might have taken issue with the station picking 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:24.720 a side or something. Who knows what they're they're thinking was. 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.560 But our charge was that, hey, this is life and death. 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:30.600 Hey we really need to change these ideologies. We need 0:16:30.760 --> 0:16:34.080 we need to really do something. And because this station 0:16:34.800 --> 0:16:37.440 has I think it had a forty thousand watts signal 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.800 and a broadcast to you know, Phoenix, six million people, 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:43.400 you know, here's your opportunity to be on the right 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:47.960 side of history, you know, And I think that I 0:16:48.000 --> 0:16:50.560 see the same thing here when I'm looking at this school, 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:54.440 in the Newburgh High School, because they had an opportunity, 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:58.120 it was brought to their doorstep. The problem was set 0:16:58.160 --> 0:16:59.800 squarely in their lap, and they had to take it 0:16:59.840 --> 0:17:03.720 to vote to say, are the students allowed to say 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.720 with their clothing, with their signage, with anything, are they 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:10.480 allowed to say that black lives matter? Are they allowed 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:15.119 to show support of LGBTQ students? You know, these students oftentimes, 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:18.280 you know, we talked about when we talked about Lil 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.919 nas X, you know, suicide prevention. You know, that's a 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:25.439 tough road. I don't know myself firsthand, but sometimes when 0:17:25.480 --> 0:17:29.520 I listen to stories of my LGBTQ brothers and sisters, 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.160 you know, my heart breaks because I recognize that's that's 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:35.119 a that's a tough road, and so we have to 0:17:35.200 --> 0:17:39.760 by definition, stand in solidarity with them, you know, as 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:44.119 as as you know folks who hold a space for 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:46.639 black voices, you know, we also try our best to 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:51.000 be an ally to our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, and 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:52.960 you know, really all of our brothers and sisters who 0:17:52.960 --> 0:17:58.320 are marginalized to somegro or another. But I digress. You know, 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:03.879 in looking at this school, I see the cowardice in 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:08.960 their refusal to allow those statements to exist in their world. 0:18:09.040 --> 0:18:11.480 They want to pretend like everything is okay. They want 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:14.120 to pretend like everything is going to blow over. And 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:17.119 then now what we're seeing, of course, is one of 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:20.040 their very own students coming up in at least in 0:18:20.119 --> 0:18:24.320 this report talking about all how all blacks should die. 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.200 Obviously he didn't get the memo that black lives matter. 0:18:27.840 --> 0:18:30.439 You know, who knows. Maybe that those signs could have 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.639 made some sort of impression. Maybe he could have found friendship, 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.879 you know, by you know, seeing someone with a shirt 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:40.600 you know that he was already friends with, and perhaps 0:18:40.600 --> 0:18:42.800 the concepts being explained to him. You know, he's still 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:46.640 a student, which means that he can still learn. I'm 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:49.520 assuming it's a he you know, the name Royce Dewey. 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:53.800 But you know the other part of this is let's 0:18:53.800 --> 0:18:59.720 have another Holocaust. You know, uh that's rooted in Nazism, 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:03.040 you know, so someone has to teach the student that, 0:19:03.560 --> 0:19:05.560 you know, no one's born knowing about the Holocaust either. 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:12.120 So again, what I see is cowardice. In that decision. 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:15.960 Now I want to read it a little bit more so, 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:18.399 this is what happened earlier. Quote. As a school board, 0:19:18.440 --> 0:19:21.040 it's our job to make decisions that are going to 0:19:21.119 --> 0:19:24.520 be there for every single kid at Newburgh High School, 0:19:24.600 --> 0:19:26.840 not just the kids that are represented in one group. 0:19:26.880 --> 0:19:30.639 It has to be all kids, board chair Dave Brown 0:19:30.720 --> 0:19:37.440 said at the time. Right, So his refusal to highlight 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:40.520 one group of students that really needed it has now 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:44.440 affected all kids because what we see is racist behavior 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:47.000 continuing to happen from what I'm assuming is a non 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:51.680 black student. And I got a couple of quotes here 0:19:51.680 --> 0:19:53.720 that I want to get off just to kind of 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.000 show what the community is think. And obviously the school board, 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:01.080 you know, decries this action and cause it reprehensible and 0:20:01.160 --> 0:20:04.240 so forth. But one of the fathers said about black 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:08.240 lives the Black Lives Matter flag during the meeting, quote, 0:20:08.400 --> 0:20:11.280 it's certainly not a symbol of love to those of 0:20:11.400 --> 0:20:15.280 us that have members of our family and law enforcement. 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:20.159 End quote. So I want to challenge that because there 0:20:20.160 --> 0:20:22.880 are some people who really feel that way. Maybe they're 0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.040 not listening here, but you, as a listener, might come 0:20:25.080 --> 0:20:27.880 across people who feel this way. And may not have 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:35.080 the language to challenge that sentiment. And the truth is, 0:20:35.960 --> 0:20:41.639 Black Lives Matter has some aggressive tactics, you know, and 0:20:41.680 --> 0:20:46.479 some aggressive language, and rightfully so, it's challenging a system 0:20:46.520 --> 0:20:50.280 that has been bullying black and brown bodies for centuries. 0:20:50.600 --> 0:20:53.159 You're speaking about the organization, however. 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:58.239 Sure, sure, But so the organization, what I know is 0:20:58.280 --> 0:21:00.680 on the streets, there's a lot lot of people that 0:21:00.800 --> 0:21:06.760 take the incendiary language and run with it. The organization 0:21:06.800 --> 0:21:09.679 I have not seen that, but I have seen it 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.320 to some degree being sort of aggressive, you know, And 0:21:12.680 --> 0:21:15.120 I think that it's meant to agitate. The Panthers did 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:17.320 the same thing. They call the police pigs and so 0:21:17.359 --> 0:21:19.240 forth and so on, and I do think that there's 0:21:19.280 --> 0:21:21.200 a place for that in such society. We have free 0:21:21.200 --> 0:21:23.240 speech in this country, and if you want to get 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:25.159 the needle moving or get some attention, a lot of 0:21:25.160 --> 0:21:27.879 times that certainly does help that cout. Whether or not 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:31.080 it's right, I don't, you know, but I do recognize 0:21:31.119 --> 0:21:33.760 how as a tactic it can be effective in getting attention. 0:21:34.280 --> 0:21:41.280 The reason I interjected, though, good A person that reads 0:21:41.320 --> 0:21:53.240 Black Lives Matter and thinks that it is somehow antonym 0:21:53.359 --> 0:22:06.160 antithesis opposite of enemy too, law enforcement is without even 0:22:06.359 --> 0:22:13.159 trying making the point for those who marched in the 0:22:13.200 --> 0:22:17.080 streets saying that very statement, whether or not they were 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:21.399 representatives of the organization or not, the fact that this 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:24.760 person heard, read, or saw Black Lives Matter and felt 0:22:24.800 --> 0:22:27.800 that that was somehow something hurtful. The statement in and 0:22:27.840 --> 0:22:31.520 of itself, the flag in and of itself was some follow, 0:22:31.720 --> 0:22:35.920 somehow a hateful or hurtful symbol to law enforcement. 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:40.919 So that's what I want to talk about. So what 0:22:41.720 --> 0:22:47.240 the major challenge of Black Lives Matter to law enforcement 0:22:47.359 --> 0:22:53.200 has been the system. There has never been a system 0:22:53.240 --> 0:22:58.280 in place to execute police officers, you know, but you 0:22:58.320 --> 0:23:00.639 can make an argument that there is definitely a system 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:02.959 in place and has been in place for many years, 0:23:03.160 --> 0:23:07.800 many hundreds of years, that executes and terminates the lives 0:23:07.800 --> 0:23:10.160 of black people and brown people in this country. Right, 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:16.760 So the purpose of Black Lives Matter, or rather the 0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:21.440 statements that are often directed at policing, is really directed 0:23:21.480 --> 0:23:24.720 at the system. Dismantling the system, rethinking what policing means, 0:23:25.480 --> 0:23:29.600 revisiting different ideas of community policing, defunding the police so 0:23:29.640 --> 0:23:32.960 that they don't look like a military. They look like 0:23:33.040 --> 0:23:35.680 police officers that yes, they can fight crime, but they 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:37.040 don't have to show up to get a cat out 0:23:37.080 --> 0:23:39.440 of a tree or to you know, do a welfare check. 0:23:39.600 --> 0:23:41.480 You know, you don't need a murder weapon to see 0:23:41.480 --> 0:23:43.560 if somebody's doing okay. You don't need a murder weapon 0:23:43.560 --> 0:23:45.879 to pull someone over most of the time. But this 0:23:46.640 --> 0:23:50.400 culture of fear that really inhabitates, you know, the policing 0:23:50.440 --> 0:23:53.720 systems in this country has kind of caused Black Lives 0:23:53.720 --> 0:23:58.560 Matter to come up with to rethink what policing is 0:23:58.680 --> 0:24:01.240 should be and they've gotten a lot of support, which 0:24:01.240 --> 0:24:03.359 is why we're still talking about it now. Now, I 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:07.040 do want to read another quote because a mother disagreed 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:11.000 with this person saying that Black Lives Matter was a 0:24:11.080 --> 0:24:15.919 challenge to law enforcement, and she cited that the student 0:24:15.960 --> 0:24:18.760 participation in the slave auction was a clear illustration of 0:24:18.760 --> 0:24:22.520 the racism and discrimination that plagues the community. And the 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:24.879 board members are now taking a second look at the 0:24:24.880 --> 0:24:26.760 band after passing it with a four to three vote 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.359 last month, So that's definitely something to keep in mind. 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:31.920 And one last quote. I want to leave you with 0:24:32.480 --> 0:24:34.600 this quote. My heart is so broken for these kids 0:24:34.640 --> 0:24:36.520 who have gotten the message that they are not even 0:24:36.560 --> 0:24:39.080 seen as human by some of their fellow students. End 0:24:39.160 --> 0:24:41.840 quote Heidipender, the mother of a black student at the school, 0:24:41.880 --> 0:24:45.200 tod KGW news quote. To imagine your own child being 0:24:45.200 --> 0:24:47.199 talked about as if they were sub human slaves to 0:24:47.200 --> 0:24:49.159 be sold by other students. It made me feel like 0:24:49.200 --> 0:24:52.960 I was going to throw up in quote. So we're 0:24:53.000 --> 0:25:00.240 going to leave that right there. And yeah, now, well. 0:25:03.600 --> 0:25:05.320 My mic back like that. 0:25:07.280 --> 0:25:11.160 Strike head borders behind him. 0:25:11.160 --> 0:25:16.560 And if you are just tuning in the civic cipher, 0:25:16.600 --> 0:25:20.919 I'm the host Ramsy's job, they call ward, and I 0:25:20.960 --> 0:25:23.639 would love for you to stick around, because coming up, 0:25:23.760 --> 0:25:26.040 we are going to be talking about whether or not 0:25:26.680 --> 0:25:32.120 the NFL should play the Black national anthem. In addition 0:25:32.480 --> 0:25:36.439 to the national anthem, we're also going to talk about 0:25:36.600 --> 0:25:40.080 the Star Spangled banner and the reason that it didn't 0:25:40.080 --> 0:25:44.119 become our national anthem for a century. A lot of 0:25:44.119 --> 0:25:45.640 folks don't know about that, so we're going to spend 0:25:45.640 --> 0:25:50.080 our way Black history fact discussing that. But first we 0:25:50.119 --> 0:25:57.000 are going to discuss becoming a better ally. So let's 0:25:57.000 --> 0:25:57.880