Speaker 1: Podcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
Speaker 1: welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
Speaker 1: mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I'm your host, ramses.
Speaker 2: Job, he is Ramsy's jah, I am q Ward. You
Speaker 2: are tuned into Civic Scypher.
Speaker 1: Indeed you are, and today to say we have a
Speaker 1: special guest, that would be an understated gross understates absolutely,
Speaker 1: but we only have this special guest for a small
Speaker 1: amount of time, and so normally where we would go
Speaker 1: through all of the pleasantries of you know, hitting our
Speaker 1: segments and features and so forth, We're just going to
Speaker 1: cut to the chase and get right to the good stuff.
Speaker 1: We are joined today by the one and only Eric Holder,
Speaker 1: the former US Attorney General during the Obama administration and
Speaker 1: the first African American to become deputy Attorney General in
Speaker 1: US history. He is currently Senior council at Covington and Berling,
Speaker 1: where he successfully tries discrimination lawsuits and has represented several
Speaker 1: life sciences companies in litigation and investigations. Eric Holder, welcome
Speaker 1: to the show. We appreciate you spending some time with
Speaker 1: us today.
Speaker 3: Well, I want to thank you all so much for
Speaker 3: having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Speaker 2: So we were lucky enough to be in the same
Speaker 2: room with you recently. Talk to us about campaigning in
Speaker 2: the swing state of Arizona for the Harris Walls campaign
Speaker 2: and what that experience has been like for you thus far.
Speaker 3: Sure. I was in Phoenix, I guess probably about ten
Speaker 3: fourteen days ago, and it was a great experience, a
Speaker 3: lot of enthusiasm there, a lot of people I think,
Speaker 3: really anxious to start voting. And now early voting has
Speaker 3: actually started in Arizona. So I want people to make
Speaker 3: a plan and to vote early in person. You can
Speaker 3: do it now and do it by mail. Go to
Speaker 3: Iowa vote dot com if you have any questions about that.
Speaker 3: But Arizona plays a particularly important role this year. There
Speaker 3: are seven states that are going to decide this election.
Speaker 3: I've been quoted as saying, you know, Kama Harris is
Speaker 3: going to win by She's going to get five million
Speaker 3: more votes than Donald Trump, but that doesn't mean she's
Speaker 3: going to win the election. It's going to be decided
Speaker 3: seven states. In Arizona is one of those states, and
Speaker 3: so people have to get out and vote. And I
Speaker 3: think black folks have to make sure that they get
Speaker 3: out and vote, because so much of what is of
Speaker 3: concern to us is going to be decided about who
Speaker 3: the next president is. And we know who Donald Trump is,
Speaker 3: and we also know now who Kamala Harris is. The
Speaker 3: choice could not be more stark. And so I hope
Speaker 3: that all Arizona's and especially African Americans who live in Arizona,
Speaker 3: will get to the polls as quickly as possible.
Speaker 1: Sure, sure, Now, Now I want to ask you a question,
Speaker 1: you know, as someone who has you know, your level
Speaker 1: of insight and oversight on the topics like these, what
Speaker 1: sort of things have the voters in Arizona been particularly
Speaker 1: interested in? Or what sort of things should Arizona's voters
Speaker 1: be interested in?
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think that's a really good question,
Speaker 3: and I think, you know, people need to make an
Speaker 3: intellectual decision here the factor in some degree of emotion.
Speaker 3: But I think you know, people have been focused in
Speaker 3: Arizona and other places around reproductive rights, around protecting the
Speaker 3: right to vote, around issues related to the climate. These
Speaker 3: are all the kinds of things that you see motivating
Speaker 3: people that people have talked to me about as I've
Speaker 3: gone around the country, and certainly what I heard, you know,
Speaker 3: when I was in when I was in Arizona. So
Speaker 3: I would think those are the kinds of things. And
Speaker 3: it's interesting that in Arizona you've got, you know, some
Speaker 3: down bout measures that you've got to focus on as
Speaker 3: well that kind of demonstrate again what I was saying.
Speaker 3: You know, the state Supreme Court there decided to keep
Speaker 3: in place an abortion band that goes back to the
Speaker 3: Civil War. Arizona's are going to have the ability to
Speaker 3: say to Clint Bollock and Catherine King, to Supreme Court
Speaker 3: justices that they shouldn't stay on the court. They have
Speaker 3: it's called the retention elect you can say that they shouldn't.
Speaker 3: Republicans in Arizona, sixty six percent of the people serve
Speaker 3: in the state legislation in Arizona believe that Joe Biden
Speaker 3: didn't win the twenty twenty election. Their election deniers, and
Speaker 3: so you can vote them out of office as well.
Speaker 3: But those kinds of things, democracy, protection of democracy issues,
Speaker 3: reproductive rights, climate, the protection of voting rights. These are
Speaker 3: all the things that people have been focused on around
Speaker 3: the country and in particular in Arizona.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we've seen some added focus on the state of Arizona,
Speaker 2: so we know that Arizona is pivotal with this upcoming election.
Speaker 2: We noticed that former President Obama will be in the
Speaker 2: state of Arizona this week, and on a recent appearance,
Speaker 2: President Obama made some remarks regarding black men. He said,
Speaker 2: I quote, part of it makes me think, and I'm
Speaker 2: speaking to men directly, part of it makes me think that, well,
Speaker 2: you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman
Speaker 2: as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and
Speaker 2: other reasons for that. Now, do you have any thoughts
Speaker 2: on those statements by former President Obama?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think he was expressing a concern that he had.
Speaker 3: My hope would be that those marks made people and
Speaker 3: men in particular, think about, well, you know, if I'm
Speaker 3: not for Kamala or if I'm thinking about voting for Trump,
Speaker 3: you know what's this all about. And you know, if
Speaker 3: you look at Donald Trump and if you're black, you
Speaker 3: got to remember this is a guy who labeled Barack
Speaker 3: Obama as not being born in the United States. That
Speaker 3: was racist. You know, he was a birth he started
Speaker 3: that stuff. He was also the person who wanted to
Speaker 3: execute the Central part five, those five innocent young black
Speaker 3: men charged improperly in New York. You know, many years
Speaker 3: ago his company would refuse to rent to black tenants,
Speaker 3: had to be sued by the Justice Department. So that's
Speaker 3: who Donald Trump is. If you look at what Kamala
Speaker 3: Harris has said about her agenda for black men, you know,
Speaker 3: a million small business loans, FI giving up to twenty
Speaker 3: thousand dollars to black entrepreneurs. She's championing education, training, mentorship
Speaker 3: programs to help black men to get good, good paying jobs.
Speaker 3: Focusing on health issues that are particular concern to black men,
Speaker 3: prostate cancer, mental health, you know, diabetes, and then legalizing
Speaker 3: marijuana and making sure that African Americans have the ability
Speaker 3: to succeed in this new marijuana industry. So you compare,
Speaker 3: you know, who Donald Trump is what Kamala Harris is proposing.
Speaker 3: I don't think the choice is is a difficult one.
Speaker 3: And I think Brock was trying to say that if
Speaker 3: you're having doubts, you know, look at the facts, look
Speaker 3: at the facts, and make a decision based on those
Speaker 3: facts and then vote early. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So let's go with voting early, because you mentioned
Speaker 1: that earlier and I made a note of it. But
Speaker 1: also you and I were talking before you came on,
Speaker 1: and we were checking with each other to make sure
Speaker 1: that we had both voted early. Talk to us a
Speaker 1: bit about the importance of early voting, like what impact
Speaker 1: does that have and why should people vote early if
Speaker 1: they're able to.
Speaker 3: Yeah, for me, I always vote early because it's like
Speaker 3: a protection thing. You know, there's a problem with my ballot,
Speaker 3: I don't want to find out about it, you know,
Speaker 3: if I've not filled in something correctly, if I for
Speaker 3: whatever reason, didn't bring the necessary I D with me,
Speaker 3: I find out about it, you know, that day, and
Speaker 3: then I have the ability to come back, you know,
Speaker 3: a couple of days and make sure that my ballot
Speaker 3: is actually cast. So I think it's it's it's a
Speaker 3: protective thing. And to you know, Republicans try to make
Speaker 3: it difficult for certain people to vote. In African Americans
Speaker 3: to vote, They come up with all kinds of things.
Speaker 3: You have to see it, make make sure they have
Speaker 3: your necessary I D. And make sure that you're in
Speaker 3: the appropriate place. And if you have questions again go
Speaker 3: to I will vote dot com. But I think voting
Speaker 3: early ensure is that you also have the ability to
Speaker 3: decide when it is you're going to vote. You know,
Speaker 3: maybe you're doing something on election day. Your hours at
Speaker 3: work will not allow you to be at the polls
Speaker 3: on election day. You know, voting early or voting voting
Speaker 3: by mail allows you to you know, work, voting in
Speaker 3: which is really important around the other parts of your life.
Speaker 3: But the thing that really drives me the most is
Speaker 3: that protective notion that I get to the polls, if
Speaker 3: there any see that my ballot is accepted, is there
Speaker 3: any issues I can come back, you know, later in
Speaker 3: the day or the next day and make sure that
Speaker 3: my vote is actually accepted by the system and then
Speaker 3: is ultimately counted before we let you go.
Speaker 2: You touched on this a little bit already. When we
Speaker 2: are headed to the ballot box and we are about
Speaker 2: to cast our vote. Some of the things that we
Speaker 2: should consider making an intellectual choice, of course, but of course,
Speaker 2: as you stated, there is some emotion involved. Recently, Vice
Speaker 2: President Harris announced a new Opportunity Agenda for black men.
Speaker 2: Talk about some of the ways that could impact people
Speaker 2: who are still trying to make up their mind about
Speaker 2: how they should vote men in particular in this election, yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean, you know, as I was saying, you know,
Speaker 3: this notion of small business loans to focus on help
Speaker 3: black entrepreneurs, mentorship education programs, focusing on the health of
Speaker 3: black men, and and then coming up with ways in
Speaker 3: which you allow African Americans, particularly men to be engaged in,
Speaker 3: you know, the legalized marijuana industry. I mean, that's that's,
Speaker 3: you know, kind of that's where her specific opportunity agenda
Speaker 3: is for African American men. But I but I think,
Speaker 3: you know, you have to look at at at her record.
Speaker 3: You know, I've heard some people in the community say, well,
Speaker 3: she's a prosecutor. Well, guess what, you know, I'm a
Speaker 3: prosecutor or. I was a prosecutor. But the question is,
Speaker 3: you know, what kind of prosecutor are you? And I'd
Speaker 3: like to think of myself in the same way that
Speaker 3: I think of of Comma, as somebody who used the
Speaker 3: power that we had to go after people who did
Speaker 3: negative things in our community while making sure that our
Speaker 3: people were treated were treated fairly and equitably in a
Speaker 3: criminal justice system that too often has turned its back
Speaker 3: on black folks. You know, I was proud of the
Speaker 3: fact that when I was in the Justice Department, that
Speaker 3: we had a drop in the crime rate, and we
Speaker 3: also have the smallest number of people in the criminal
Speaker 3: federal prison system that we had in forty years. And
Speaker 3: that's the kind of things that I did, and that's
Speaker 3: consistent with the way in which Kamala conducted herself. And
Speaker 3: what we have to always remember is that I want
Speaker 3: people to be treated fairly in the criminal justice system,
Speaker 3: but I don't want people in the criminal justice system
Speaker 3: at all if I can possibly help it. And that's
Speaker 3: what she has tried to focus on herself, to try
Speaker 3: to come up with ways in which you prevent people
Speaker 3: from becoming involved in the system. And always remember that
Speaker 3: the vast majority of African Americans are nothing more than
Speaker 3: law abiding folks who simply want to do the things
Speaker 3: that every American wants to do, you know, send your
Speaker 3: kid to school safely, make sure feel safe in your house.
Speaker 3: And so she is about protecting people, but also making
Speaker 3: sure that people who become engaged in the system are
Speaker 3: treated fairly and with dignity.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, and you know, I think that it's really
Speaker 1: critical that we doubled down on that because, in our
Speaker 1: opinion and our estimation, the easiest way to change the
Speaker 1: system is to do it from the inside, you know,
Speaker 1: or do it from the top down. And so that
Speaker 1: seems to be consistent with you know, your legacy as
Speaker 1: you mentioned, and Kamala Harris's legacy as well, you know, Ramseys.
Speaker 3: That's that is a really important point. And when I
Speaker 3: came out of law school, that was a question that
Speaker 3: I had asked myself. You know, how did I think
Speaker 3: I could have the best the greatest impact. I'm a
Speaker 3: kid of the sixths, you know, so I was demonstrating
Speaker 3: taking over buildings, you know, all that kind of stuff. Sure,
Speaker 3: and how how could I best impact the system? And
Speaker 3: the determination I made was to go if I was
Speaker 3: a prosecutor, a person in law enforcement making law enforcement decisions,
Speaker 3: that I could have a greater impact than if I
Speaker 3: was a defense attorney just representing the interest of one person. Now,
Speaker 3: defense attorneys are extremely important, you know, and they play
Speaker 3: a huge important role in the system, but you've got
Speaker 3: to have good pricecutors were making sure that the right
Speaker 3: people get charged with the right crimes, asking for appropriate sentences,
Speaker 3: and then so also making determinations about even if somebody
Speaker 3: is arrested, a case should not be brought against that person,
Speaker 3: and I thought, I think Kamala believed the same thing,
Speaker 3: that that's the way in which we could have the
Speaker 3: greatest impact on making the criminal justice to said system,
Speaker 3: you know, more fair than it historically has been.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, And I appreciate you saying that. You said
Speaker 1: that much better than I ever could. I know that
Speaker 1: we are over on time. We appreciate the extra couple
Speaker 1: of minutes with you. I know you have to run,
Speaker 1: but before we let you go, I want to make
Speaker 1: sure that I say it as often as I can.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump did not send you twelve hundred dollars. That
Speaker 1: was a Democratic Congress that sent you that twelve hundred dollars.
Speaker 1: Donald Trump held up that twelve hundred dollars because he
Speaker 1: wanted his name on the check. And if you think
Speaker 1: that Donald Trump went to his bank and took that
Speaker 1: money out and sent it to your house, you're playing
Speaker 1: right into his hand. Is for everybody listening, want to
Speaker 1: make sure that you know that Eric Holder appreciate you
Speaker 1: taking the time to talk with us. It's been a
Speaker 1: joy and an honor. Indeed, this is something we've very
Speaker 1: much been looking forward to. So thank you so much
Speaker 1: for taking the time. Once again our guest today, former
Speaker 1: US Attorney General during the Obama administration, the one, the
Speaker 1: only Eric Holder.
Speaker 3: Well, thanks for having me and you all are doing
Speaker 3: a great job. I am extremely proud of you two
Speaker 3: young men. You all are doing a great job.
Speaker 2: Thank you, brother, We appreciate you. Man