Speaker 1: Welcome to the Tutor Dixon Podcast. Today, we are going
Speaker 1: to dig into the impact of the crisis at the border,
Speaker 1: but now it's well beyond the border. We've all heard
Speaker 1: about the migrants that are being sent to New York
Speaker 1: and Chicago and all of these other big cities, but
Speaker 1: the question is what's really going on on the ground
Speaker 1: in those cities. Well, it turns out some of the
Speaker 1: residents are fighting back against this, and one of those
Speaker 1: women is Kata Trust. She is one of those who
Speaker 1: is fighting against local resources being re routed to migrants
Speaker 1: over residents. Kata is a fifty seven year old mother
Speaker 1: on the West Side of Chicago who actually sued the
Speaker 1: city of Chicago over their handling of the migrant crisis,
Speaker 1: and she is here with us today. Kata, welcome to
Speaker 1: the podcast.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so. You are in this situation, and I think
Speaker 1: for those of us who are on the outside, a
Speaker 1: lot of us are watching and saying, well, what is
Speaker 1: this like for the people who are being impacted every
Speaker 1: single day? And you had that situation where they were
Speaker 1: taking a center that your boys had actually used to
Speaker 1: play with friends for sports and things like that, and
Speaker 1: they were going to turn this over to a migrant
Speaker 1: shelter and then tell us a little bit about that.
Speaker 1: What made you say, you know what, enough is enough?
Speaker 2: Well, one of the first things that happened was the
Speaker 2: fact that we were upset about is the fact that
Speaker 2: no one really sat down with the community to ask
Speaker 2: us about it. So I live in the Austin community
Speaker 2: over on the west side, and there are at least
Speaker 2: four major parks in the area, and there are parks.
Speaker 2: All of the parks have programs going on in them,
Speaker 2: but the Amason Park where my children grew up playing football,
Speaker 2: where our seniors go every day to communicate and fellowship
Speaker 2: with each other, that was the park that they were
Speaker 2: talking about closing. It was one of our most used
Speaker 2: parks as opposed to some of the other parks, and
Speaker 2: had there been some kind of conversation, we could have
Speaker 2: possibly come up with some sort of happy medium. But
Speaker 2: because the city just decided to betrayally take the park,
Speaker 2: not have a conversation with the residents there and just
Speaker 2: say hey, listen, we're going to take this park the
Speaker 2: migrants needed, and there's nothing that you could do about it.
Speaker 1: And so they were just going to turn it would
Speaker 1: they have put up tents or what was going to
Speaker 1: happen there.
Speaker 2: We're not sure what was going to happen exactly, can't
Speaker 2: even tell you. Look at no, no, they did not.
Speaker 2: But if you look at all of the other migrant areas,
Speaker 2: so they're inside of those facilities, they have tents outside
Speaker 2: of the facilities, and I'm sure that once there were
Speaker 2: too many people inside that there quite possibly would have
Speaker 2: been tents outside.
Speaker 1: And then you fought back against this, so it didn't
Speaker 1: actually happen, right.
Speaker 2: Well, well, you know what we decided we hit So
Speaker 2: they called the city, came out and they was, you know,
Speaker 2: to tell us about their plan. And when we found
Speaker 2: when they scheduled the meeting to come out and tell
Speaker 2: the community what was happening, we rallied ourselves together. We
Speaker 2: made phone calls so much so that we had over
Speaker 2: a thousand people to show up for a community meeting,
Speaker 2: basically to say to the city that this is our park.
Speaker 2: We didn't even really allow them to tell us what
Speaker 2: kind of plans they had because we just didn't care.
Speaker 2: We had just repositors. We're not giving our park up.
Speaker 2: And so I got up the next day, I went
Speaker 2: over to the Circuit Court of Cook County, and I
Speaker 2: filed the motion to have a judge to look at
Speaker 2: this case.
Speaker 1: And then you ended up winning the case.
Speaker 2: Right, Well, I don't I won't say that we won
Speaker 2: the case, but I think that we pushed enough for
Speaker 2: the city to think about not necessarily using the park.
Speaker 2: So what happens is you fouled the motion, we had
Speaker 2: to hire an attorney. The attorney came in, she went
Speaker 2: into court when we went in with her, and basically
Speaker 2: what they said was that we really couldn't do anything
Speaker 2: unless the city decided to bring migrants in. And so,
Speaker 2: you know, although we filed the lawsuit, we were we
Speaker 2: had to press out every single day, We had marches
Speaker 2: every day, we had people who camped out, who took
Speaker 2: post overnight to make sure that the migrants didn't come.
Speaker 2: And so we never really had to do anything because
Speaker 2: the city realized that we were not playing and we
Speaker 2: were not going to back down.
Speaker 1: So just out of curiosity when you started, I mean,
Speaker 1: I think maybe I'm wrong about this, but I really
Speaker 1: started hearing about the border having this crisis when Donald
Speaker 1: Trump was running the first time. It was like this
Speaker 1: was a topic of conversation we started to hear that
Speaker 1: the border was open too many people were coming in.
Speaker 1: And I think that at that time those of us
Speaker 1: who were tuned into politics were paying attention. But I
Speaker 1: just am curious. Do you think that that many people
Speaker 1: in your in the community of Chicago were paying attention
Speaker 1: to this, or like you know, northern communities that really
Speaker 1: weren't seeing this happen it was really staying down south.
Speaker 1: Do you think that people were paying attention to the
Speaker 1: politics of an open border. Back then, we.
Speaker 2: Were paying attention. But you know how you hear people say,
Speaker 2: it really doesn't affect you until it hits home. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and so we were paying attention. I was watching what
Speaker 2: was happening at the border. I had concerns even then,
Speaker 2: but like I said, until it begins to affect where
Speaker 2: you live. And it's just like you know, when you
Speaker 2: listen to Governor Abbott, a lot of people have made
Speaker 2: him the boogeyman. You know, this is his problem. He
Speaker 2: shouldn't have said these people here. But what people have
Speaker 2: to think about is just think about what we have
Speaker 2: coming to Denver, the migrants we have coming to New York,
Speaker 2: and the migrants we have coming to Chicago and just
Speaker 2: think that all of those people were at some point
Speaker 2: staying in Texas, and Governor Abbott had the responsibility of
Speaker 2: trying to find someone for those some place for those
Speaker 2: people to stay on his own right, no help from
Speaker 2: the government.
Speaker 1: I think it's amazing that you say it that way.
Speaker 1: I think that's so well said, because I was in
Speaker 1: New York a few months ago and I was sitting
Speaker 1: there talking to a woman I just met, and she
Speaker 1: said to me, I just don't understand why Governor Abbott
Speaker 1: is doing this, because New York is such a small
Speaker 1: place and Texas is such a big place. Why won't
Speaker 1: he just keep them in Texas? And I thought, it's
Speaker 1: it's not so much a political ploy or a trick.
Speaker 1: It's that if you are the ones that are out there,
Speaker 1: Mayor Adams and Mayor Johnson insane, we want to have
Speaker 1: all these people come to our city. Be careful what
Speaker 1: you wish for. You know, you should, you should know
Speaker 1: what it really is. And I think he was making
Speaker 1: exactly what you said, making the point of, hey, I
Speaker 1: have to try to juggle this every day. You guys
Speaker 1: need to take up some of this slack to help
Speaker 1: me out.
Speaker 2: And I don't even think it was taking up some
Speaker 2: of the slack. I think that I remember Mayor Laurie Leeford,
Speaker 2: a former mayor, standing up and saying, well, you know,
Speaker 2: we're the city of big shoulders, and you know they
Speaker 2: can come here. You know, we can handle it here
Speaker 2: in Chicago. I remember her standing there saying that and
Speaker 2: having a back and forth. And so you had some
Speaker 2: of the mayors of cities that were sanctuary cities being
Speaker 2: very critical of some of the comments that Abbot was making.
Speaker 2: And so when he started sending migrants to these different
Speaker 2: places that had sanctuary cities who wanted to protect migrants
Speaker 2: and didn't want them to be deported, I kind of
Speaker 2: understand it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I am, I agree, Hey.
Speaker 2: We can take it, we can handle it. And so
Speaker 2: he began sending him and like, you know, all of
Speaker 2: a sudden, we're demonizing him and the migrants. But you know,
Speaker 2: we have to do a better job of making sure
Speaker 2: that our legislators and our elected officials are looking at
Speaker 2: these issues and are dealing with these issues. And you know,
Speaker 2: one of the biggest things that happened from this situation
Speaker 2: for me is the fact that I began to see
Speaker 2: that my Democratic elected officials were basically sitting on their
Speaker 2: hands and the people are saying one thing, and you
Speaker 2: guys are doing something completely opposite of what the people
Speaker 2: are saying they want. And so that.
Speaker 1: Actually just recently really happened in Chicago because there was
Speaker 1: an opportunity for a vote on whether or not to
Speaker 1: be a sanctuary city, and Mary Johnson he did some
Speaker 1: politic cool shenanigans really to get that off the ballot
Speaker 1: and say, the people of Chicago don't get to choose.
Speaker 1: But when you look at the situation that you're in,
Speaker 1: doesn't this seem like exactly why we have this method
Speaker 1: of government where it's we the people, and we do
Speaker 1: get to choose, you would think.
Speaker 2: And the fact that our mayor worked so hard to
Speaker 2: take the away the wife of the voters to make
Speaker 2: that choice is really a problem for me and I,
Speaker 2: you know, I think about the fact that he didn't
Speaker 2: want us to make the choice on the sanctuary city,
Speaker 2: but now we're having to make a choice on this
Speaker 2: bring Chicago home that's supposed to put monies aside for
Speaker 2: the homeless, but there's no language in that bill to
Speaker 2: make sure that it goes to the homeless who have
Speaker 2: already been here, and so that.
Speaker 1: Means people that are actually Americans.
Speaker 2: I'm sure that they're probably going to rubber stamp that
Speaker 2: money and send it right to the migrants if we
Speaker 2: allow it to pass. And so now in Chicago, we're
Speaker 2: pushing to have that ordnance turned down because again we're
Speaker 2: I think that if we allow ourselves to continue to
Speaker 2: give the city money to spend on someone other than us,
Speaker 2: they're going to do it. And so this is going
Speaker 2: to be our way and stepping in and saying, well,
Speaker 2: we didn't get a chance to vote on the sanctuary city,
Speaker 2: but we do have a chance to vote on this
Speaker 2: initiative to make sure that you are not taking our
Speaker 2: tax dollars and giving them to people who don't live
Speaker 2: here or who have not worked to put into the system.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, we sat here on the other
Speaker 1: side of the lake in Michigan and watched that election
Speaker 1: for mayor, and I remember people going, why the most
Speaker 1: progressive one, Why choose the person who doesn't have the
Speaker 1: best interests of the community at heart? But I do,
Speaker 1: and I hear people at the times that what they
Speaker 1: voted for it. But look, I'm in Michigan, and people
Speaker 1: get voted in that I didn't choose clearly obviously since
Speaker 1: Iran right. So I just wonder if there's still that
Speaker 1: mentality of we just vote for a party rather than
Speaker 1: really digging into candidates. And I think that that happens
Speaker 1: on both sides. Don't get me wrong, I think that
Speaker 1: happens on both sides. Depending on where you are in
Speaker 1: the country. Do you see a shift in people across
Speaker 1: the country saying, you know what, I'm done just voting
Speaker 1: because I've always voted a certain way and now it's
Speaker 1: time to really dig into what people are saying.
Speaker 2: You will see a shift. And that's one of the
Speaker 2: things that I've been talking a lot about. This taught
Speaker 2: me a lesson. First of all, I supported Brandon Johnson.
Speaker 2: I voted for Brandon Johnson. I voted on him primarily
Speaker 2: because he was someone I knew. I knew him, we
Speaker 2: you know, had a relationship, or so I thought, and
Speaker 2: not to make it personal, but when you have a
Speaker 2: relationship with people and you go out and you support
Speaker 2: them and you get them elected, and then you see
Speaker 2: that your voice matters very little or if at all,
Speaker 2: to them, then you have to do something differently. And
Speaker 2: basically what this situation taught me is Number one, you
Speaker 2: can't vote for people. You know, you can't vote vote ethnicity.
Speaker 2: At this point, you really can't even vote party because
Speaker 2: you just never know what you're gonna get. And I
Speaker 2: think that voters have to begin to be smart and
Speaker 2: vote candidates that best speak to our self interests. And
Speaker 2: they may be Republican, and they may be Democrat, they
Speaker 2: may be Green Party, they may be independent. But one
Speaker 2: of the great things about America is the fact that
Speaker 2: we have the right to choose. And because we have
Speaker 2: the right to choose, I think that people need to
Speaker 2: stop being so locked into party and people and people
Speaker 2: that we know and ethnicity, you know, race, color, you know,
Speaker 2: we look at all of those things that really should
Speaker 2: not play a part because if a person does not
Speaker 2: represent your best self interest, then we're doing ourselves a
Speaker 2: disservice by voting for them. And so that's the biggest
Speaker 2: lesson I walked away with this time.
Speaker 1: Well, can I ask you, I mean, maybe this is
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe you're not allowed to ask these questions,
Speaker 1: but I am just gonna ask it. When your community Chicago,
Speaker 1: as the community has historically voted Democrat, I mean that
Speaker 1: just seems to be the way Chicago goes. It's a
Speaker 1: blue city. We always think of it as a blue city.
Speaker 1: What is it that you hear from Republican politicians in
Speaker 1: Chicago that you don't like? I think that that's something
Speaker 1: that a lot of people who listen to this podcast
Speaker 1: would go, oh, man, we could learn something.
Speaker 2: Republicans here in Chicago. And the only thing about the
Speaker 2: Republican Party that I don't like in the past is
Speaker 2: it seemed like it was so hate. There was so
Speaker 2: much hate being spewed, and that was an issue for me.
Speaker 2: But I think that if we come together, because that's
Speaker 2: not the sentiment of most Americans, and a lot of
Speaker 2: times we let the sentiment of the few change the
Speaker 2: trajectory of what we do. And I think that there
Speaker 2: are definitely more good people in this world than bad.
Speaker 2: And I think if I would say anything to the
Speaker 2: Republican Party, I would say, I realized that there is
Speaker 2: a base that you like to speak two. But given
Speaker 2: what's happening in the country now, that won't be the
Speaker 2: majority of the people who might support you. So if
Speaker 2: it means maybe pulling a back from some of the
Speaker 2: views that we've had, that may have been offensive to others,
Speaker 2: then we certainly might want to do that.
Speaker 1: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
Speaker 1: the Tutor Dixon Podcast. So tell us, I mean, if
Speaker 1: you're willing to tell us what that is, like, what
Speaker 1: exactly are you you talking about? Because I do really
Speaker 1: believe that there are people that want to hear it
Speaker 1: and or that need to hear it. There's two groups.
Speaker 1: There's one that needs to hear it and there's one
Speaker 1: who wants to hear it and doesn't know how to
Speaker 1: ask the question.
Speaker 2: Well, so there are several things. I think that historically,
Speaker 2: most black black Americans have felt like the Republican Party's
Speaker 2: biased toward our race. And I think that in some
Speaker 2: cases that happens in the South when you look at
Speaker 2: what's happening with Pursian voter roles and voter id and
Speaker 2: you know, some of the ways that they've gone in
Speaker 2: and changed the Voting Rights Act in the South, that definitely,
Speaker 2: you know, is an issue for a lot of blacks.
Speaker 2: But by the same token, I think that there are
Speaker 2: some things about the Republican Party that, you know, we
Speaker 2: can get with, especially now because the crisis at the
Speaker 2: border is certainly something that has a lot of blacks
Speaker 2: looking at the Democratic Party saying, you know what, you
Speaker 2: all are not listening to us, and we may need
Speaker 2: to do something different. So for those people who may
Speaker 2: be on the fence, because you know, you have a
Speaker 2: lot of people saying, well, we're just gonna sit it
Speaker 2: out and we're gonna stay home. But I think if
Speaker 2: the Republican Party thought about softenings some of the views,
Speaker 2: then those people who were talking about sitting it out
Speaker 2: may just come out and take a Republican balot. And
Speaker 2: I know here in Chicago there are a lot of
Speaker 2: people saying we have to do something different. I don't
Speaker 2: know if I can report the Republican string yet, but
Speaker 2: I do know that something different has to happen. And
Speaker 2: so I think this is such a great opportunity for
Speaker 2: the Republican Party, you know, to really pull in. And
Speaker 2: as I've said myself, I absolutely will not be voting
Speaker 2: Democratic this upcoming election, and that's just the impact that
Speaker 2: it has had on me. And that's not just my sentiment.
Speaker 2: But I do think that if the Republican Party would
Speaker 2: soften some of the views, maybe back back a little
Speaker 2: bit on abortion, and allow the states to make that decision.
Speaker 2: I think that those are things that will bring people in.
Speaker 2: Women want the right to choose. Not that I'm getting
Speaker 2: into that issue, but those are things.
Speaker 1: No, I mean, that's what I think that that's what
Speaker 1: I think that the Republican Party hasn't heard. They haven't
Speaker 1: heard somebody from the community say, look, we want this,
Speaker 1: this is what it. You know, we're afraid you were
Speaker 1: going to take this. And I mean, certainly in my race,
Speaker 1: we heard all kinds of different views on that. I
Speaker 1: don't I don't think anybody had a full understanding of
Speaker 1: where the country stood on that because Roe v. Wade
Speaker 1: always was there. You know, nobody really had a true
Speaker 1: finger on the pulse of where people felt that abortion
Speaker 1: should be. And that really, I mean, trust me, I
Speaker 1: lived it. I know how much that hurt the Republican Party.
Speaker 1: And I've heard you say, or I've My understanding is
Speaker 1: that you've said that you don't think that people will
Speaker 1: just become Republicans and you don't think that should happen.
Speaker 1: You feel like there should be an independent to people
Speaker 1: that they should choose based on the person. And I
Speaker 1: kind of like that idea that you have people who
Speaker 1: are not. You know, historically we have been locked into party.
Speaker 1: And it's interesting to hear someone in your position who
Speaker 1: obviously you and I have been in different parties, right,
Speaker 1: but to say, wow, I'm I'm not gonna switch over,
Speaker 1: but I'm ready to step back. And I find that
Speaker 1: interesting because when I was campaigning, Tulca Gabbard came to
Speaker 1: Michigan and we had long talks about this, and she
Speaker 1: was like, look, I'm not a Republican, but there are
Speaker 1: times when I see that point of view. But I'm
Speaker 1: an independent. You know, I've walked away from the Democrats,
Speaker 1: but it's not because I was ready to go. Oh,
Speaker 1: but I belong here. And I think that's where we
Speaker 1: haven't had that conversation with people. It's okay to not
Speaker 1: have a party. It's okay to be in the middle
Speaker 1: and decide person by person.
Speaker 2: I think that we have to have more conversations like that.
Speaker 2: I think that we really as a people have to
Speaker 2: step away from voting party of being married to party,
Speaker 2: because I think that when you're married to party party,
Speaker 2: both parties will take you for granted. But I think
Speaker 2: that when they know that people have the ability to
Speaker 2: switch up or to do differently from what their grandparents done,
Speaker 2: you know, because you know you have these families, Well,
Speaker 2: my entire family votes Republican, or my entire family has
Speaker 2: voted Democratic for years, like my family, and just being
Speaker 2: able to be free enough to say, you know what,
Speaker 2: it's not about party. Who best represents my goals, my needs,
Speaker 2: my desires, my ideals. That's the candidate that we want
Speaker 2: to support.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because we have someone in Michigan, one of
Speaker 1: our I think she's a state rep. Mallory mcmarrow, and
Speaker 1: she just came out said that after I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just the timing. She didn't say this part, but the
Speaker 1: timing of after the Detroit Lions almost made it into
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl, she said she would like to put
Speaker 1: an entertainment tax in Detroit. So she wanted to pass
Speaker 1: a bill in the state House that would say Detroit
Speaker 1: could add an entertainment tax. And I just think, why,
Speaker 1: why why another tax? Why would you be able to
Speaker 1: say I want to introduce a bill to tax another city.
Speaker 1: Just allowed this one city to put a tax. So
Speaker 1: what is an entertainment tax too? How far does that go?
Speaker 1: Are we talking about casinos? Are we just talking about games?
Speaker 1: Are we talking about movies, what do we consider entertainment?
Speaker 1: And then that just expands and I see these things
Speaker 1: and I think, if I look at just the taxes
Speaker 1: and licensing fees and permitting fees, and I were to
Speaker 1: break up all this cities in the state of Michigan,
Speaker 1: Detroit is the worst. It has the most fees, it's
Speaker 1: the most difficult, and it is probably one of our
Speaker 1: strongest black communities. And yet they continue to vote for
Speaker 1: people who allow them to have more money taken out
Speaker 1: of their paychecks every month. And I'm like, is it
Speaker 1: that they're sneaking these things in? Because I do think
Speaker 1: that I'm hypersensitive now and I wasn't, But now to
Speaker 1: these bills that they're putting in where there's a tweak
Speaker 1: and attacks here and a tweak and attacks there. But
Speaker 1: why aren't people in that community stepping aside, stepping back
Speaker 1: and saying, wait a minute, we have twice as many
Speaker 1: taxes as the folks on the other side of the state.
Speaker 1: What the heck is going on?
Speaker 2: You'll have people who'll say that, and they'll say it
Speaker 2: in public conversations, but there what is the alternative? So
Speaker 2: the alternative is either and especially if you're talking about
Speaker 2: a predominantly black community, and so if the alternative is
Speaker 2: to vote Republican or vote for the tax, then you'll
Speaker 2: find that most of those people are Democrats, and they'll
Speaker 2: vote for the tax because they're voting Democrat, not necessarily
Speaker 2: because they want to be taxed. But the mindset is,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna do what I've always done, even though I'm
Speaker 2: expecting a different outcome, which is the definition of insanity.
Speaker 2: Let me just say to do the same thing and
Speaker 2: expecting something different. Which is why it is so important
Speaker 2: for me to begin saying to voters all over this
Speaker 2: country stop going along with the party, especially if the
Speaker 2: party is working against you. We have to stop that.
Speaker 2: We have to stop saying, well, you know historically this
Speaker 2: is what my family has done. No, this person is
Speaker 2: trying to tax you and you are already paid the
Speaker 2: highest taxes in the entire state of Michigan. Stop it,
Speaker 2: stop it. We have to stop as people in this
Speaker 2: country voting party. Voting party has not benefited us, whether
Speaker 2: you were a Democrat or Republican. But when we really
Speaker 2: start getting ourselves together and in the mindset of voting
Speaker 2: for a person and what they stand for, it's gonna
Speaker 2: make the world of difference I think.
Speaker 1: I mean, you're right if you look back. I mean,
Speaker 1: a mayor Daily is different than a mayor Lightfoot is
Speaker 1: different than a mayor Johnson. And yet you're looking at
Speaker 1: all Democrats, right, So every administration has been very different.
Speaker 1: I mean, it is hard to know when someone is
Speaker 1: making you promises and you made a great point. You
Speaker 1: knew him, and why wouldn't he have your voice in
Speaker 1: your needs top of mind. It's just it is very
Speaker 1: hard also because I think elected officials can be manipulated
Speaker 1: by special interests as well, because you have all of
Speaker 1: these people that are I got you here, I did
Speaker 1: this for you, what are you going to give me back?
Speaker 1: I mean, there is some crony capitalism in there that
Speaker 1: is a challenge as well, and that's why I think
Speaker 1: that we as the voters have to hold these people accountable.
Speaker 1: That's why I think the fact that you were bold
Speaker 1: enough to say, hey, I'm gonna sooe the city and
Speaker 1: you are among I think six other lawsuits where people
Speaker 1: said no, we're done, that to me is where we
Speaker 1: start to see change. And that, to me is you
Speaker 1: being more valuable than anybody out out there that is
Speaker 1: serving because you're holding the servant accountable. And it's so
Speaker 1: important that people are aware that you can hold the
Speaker 1: servant accountable because I think people people go, oh, they're elected,
Speaker 1: and I think people also forget that they're not up here.
Speaker 1: They are right here at the same level as you are.
Speaker 1: They are the ones that are supposed to be helping you.
Speaker 1: These are not famous people, they're servants of us. And
Speaker 1: so I love the fact that you were bold because
Speaker 1: I've heard this in so many cases. I've heard this
Speaker 1: when it's come to even we had a two parents
Speaker 1: on here where their child had the school had done
Speaker 1: something behind their back with their child, and they said,
Speaker 1: we sued the school and suddenly the school stopped hiding
Speaker 1: things from parents. And it's like, you know, sometimes it's
Speaker 1: not about who you elect, it's about who in your
Speaker 1: community is bold enough to hold that elected official accountable.
Speaker 2: Sit that's you know what, and that's the bottom line.
Speaker 2: We have to hold them accountable. And by continuing to
Speaker 2: go out and to vote along partying lines, it takes
Speaker 2: away that accountability, which is why you have so many
Speaker 2: people now really looking at the Democratic Party and saying, wait,
Speaker 2: wait a minute, wait a minute. You guys have been
Speaker 2: failing us for years. At some point we have to
Speaker 2: stop and say no, we're not going to continue to
Speaker 2: take this. We're not going to continue to elect people
Speaker 2: who are not supporting our best interests. We have to
Speaker 2: stop that. And I think, let me tell you, I
Speaker 2: had a call from a gentleman yesterday, found my number
Speaker 2: from Antarbor, Michigan, and he said that he heard me
Speaker 2: on someone show and he said that we are listening,
Speaker 2: and he was calling from Michigan. So people are listening.
Speaker 2: And I think that you're going to begin to see
Speaker 2: and it may not be a big shift, but there's
Speaker 2: going to be a shift because I think that people
Speaker 2: all over the country now are really taking a step
Speaker 2: back and looking at our candidates, looking at who they are,
Speaker 2: what they're saying, what their platforms are, what things they've
Speaker 2: supported in the past, because that's going to let you
Speaker 2: know where they stand. And we're got to start paying
Speaker 2: more attention. You know, even too, and I tell people
Speaker 2: this all the time when we're electing judges. How many
Speaker 2: times do you see people take the list of judges
Speaker 2: and who can do any manimighty more? Those are some
Speaker 2: of the most important people that you are going to elect,
Speaker 2: take a time, pay attention. What kind of cases did
Speaker 2: they work when they were attorneys? What was their completion rate?
Speaker 2: All of those factors. We as educated voters must start
Speaker 2: paying attention.
Speaker 1: To prosecutors, district attorneys, all of these. Yes, and I
Speaker 1: don't think that you know, maybe I'm unique, but I
Speaker 1: obviously we're both say the same thing because I don't
Speaker 1: think historically people have really dug into those positions. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: that person's a train that's a trained position. They know
Speaker 1: what they're doing. Whoever it is it's going to know
Speaker 1: what they're doing. But lo and behold, we find out
Speaker 1: that suddenly we're not actually prosecuting crime. And I think
Speaker 1: that's been a real wake up call for people. Two.
Speaker 1: I mean, earlier this week, we spoke with a gentleman
Speaker 1: who is just an amazing guy. Grew up in Philadelphia
Speaker 1: in the sixties, and he was like, we never worried
Speaker 1: about safety. We never worried about whether we could go
Speaker 1: to the shop down the street. He was like, it
Speaker 1: makes me sad to think that now we have to
Speaker 1: worry about safety. I mean, we're we were just talking
Speaker 1: about the anniversary of the students on Michigan State's campus
Speaker 1: who were shot in cold blood on campus and how
Speaker 1: that could have been prevented had we been tougher on crime.
Speaker 1: But what is a society if we are not making
Speaker 1: sure that people who convict crimes are stopped from doing it.
Speaker 2: Exactly, and not to mention the fact, you know, one
Speaker 2: of the things that you know, we have an issue
Speaker 2: with here at Chicago is gun violence, and we still
Speaker 2: don't want to change gun laws. You know, I know
Speaker 2: that the IRA is powerful, but are they more powerful
Speaker 2: than the voices of the people. And if they are,
Speaker 2: why why are we making laws to prevent the amount
Speaker 2: of guns that are on the streets that are ending
Speaker 2: up in the wrong hands. There has to be a
Speaker 2: way for us to stop this.
Speaker 1: Let's take a quick commercial break. We'll continue next on
Speaker 1: a Tutor Dixon podcast. How do you stop it? Because
Speaker 1: the majority of the guns you're talking about have been
Speaker 1: bought and sold illegally, and they've been they've been picked
Speaker 1: up illegally, So how do you how do you do that?
Speaker 1: I mean, there's so many Honestly, there are so many
Speaker 1: discussions that I feel like we really need to sit
Speaker 1: down and unpack as a group, and it's like one
Speaker 1: of the you know when you were little, you all
Speaker 1: sat around table and you were like, Okay, we have
Speaker 1: a problem. We don't leave the table until we solve
Speaker 1: the problem. Come back and tell us what the solution is.
Speaker 1: And we're not. We're struggling so hard to come to
Speaker 1: the table. And I think that for people who don't
Speaker 1: live in an area where they experience gun violence or
Speaker 1: understand what it is to have that threat out there
Speaker 1: and to have that constant concern, it's like out of sight,
Speaker 1: out of mind. It's a really hard conversation to have
Speaker 1: if you're not sitting there with someone who's going you
Speaker 1: don't get it. You don't live it, you don't see
Speaker 1: what it's like. And maybe that's where people haven't seen
Speaker 1: what it's like. They haven't been able to understand from
Speaker 1: the perspective of living it.
Speaker 2: I think that there are so many issues. I think
Speaker 2: that it goes back to mental health. We got to
Speaker 2: deal with mental health. We have to deal with how
Speaker 2: we're handling crises and communities hurt people, hurt people, and
Speaker 2: so you know, if you have someone who has had
Speaker 2: a loved one that was taken by gun violence, the
Speaker 2: best thing to do is to make sure that those
Speaker 2: people are getting the necessary tools to handle that grief,
Speaker 2: because if they don't, then you get this continuous cycle.
Speaker 2: You know, someone killed my brother, my sister, my cousin,
Speaker 2: so now I need to retaliate, and so you go
Speaker 2: into this vicious cycle that just goes around and around
Speaker 2: and around. And that's what we face here in the city.
Speaker 2: So there are so many conversations that have to be had,
Speaker 2: and I think that it takes us bringing people from
Speaker 2: out of different areas and different communities and them together
Speaker 2: so that they can have conversations. Because if you live
Speaker 2: in Connecticut, that's probably not your reality and you probably
Speaker 2: don't understand even why these things are happening the way
Speaker 2: that they are. But if you're someone from Connecticut talking
Speaker 2: to someone from Detroit, from Chicago, from Memphis, then they
Speaker 2: have a better idea of what is happening and why
Speaker 2: it's happening because you're talking to people who are in
Speaker 2: the midst of it. We don't spend enough time getting
Speaker 2: people who are going through things together with people who
Speaker 2: have never experienced those things so that they can have
Speaker 2: an understanding. And so when those people are not in
Speaker 2: the same rooms and not at the same tables and
Speaker 2: not having the same conversations. There's no wonder that they
Speaker 2: don't understand each other, and we don't do a good
Speaker 2: job of making sure that those lines cross.
Speaker 1: A few years ago, I was on a journey and
Speaker 1: it was two young men and they were gosh, the
Speaker 1: one guy was They were both in their twenties, and
Speaker 1: they had stolen I mean, it was a terribly stupid crime,
Speaker 1: to be honest. They had stolen marijuana from another house
Speaker 1: and they had used the gun to hit them. They
Speaker 1: didn't shoot the gun, they used the gun to hit them.
Speaker 1: But the question was really did they both have a gun?
Speaker 1: Did one of them have a gun? And that was
Speaker 1: what we really had to decide. Were they guilty of this?
Speaker 1: And it was And I remember it was another woman
Speaker 1: in me and the jury who were like, I cannot
Speaker 1: place the gun there. I just don't. I don't feel
Speaker 1: like I have enough evidence to place the gun. And
Speaker 1: you know, it's funny because when you're on a jury,
Speaker 1: you don't know actually what the sentence will be. You
Speaker 1: don't know what's going to happen to these two guys,
Speaker 1: and I don't know their history, right so all I
Speaker 1: know is there's two young guys. And when we left,
Speaker 1: and it was the whole community was there because these
Speaker 1: men were loved among the community. And when we left,
Speaker 1: when we finally came out and decided that they were
Speaker 1: both guilty, I was very obviously visibly upset, I guess
Speaker 1: because we had to be walked to our cars afterward.
Speaker 1: And when the guy who from the court was walking
Speaker 1: me to my car, he said, what you don't know
Speaker 1: about this case is that both of their fathers are
Speaker 1: in prison and the one gentleman's uncle just attempted to
Speaker 1: kill a cop. And he said, you have to understand something.
Speaker 1: They didn't have opportunity, like they were never going to
Speaker 1: be able to be a part of society because they
Speaker 1: had always been in this cycle of violence. They were
Speaker 1: always involved in these gangs. And this young kid, what
Speaker 1: you don't know, was the leader of this local gang
Speaker 1: in the community and his kids will probably get dragged
Speaker 1: into the same kind of life and that has In
Speaker 1: that moment, I was like, no, why, okay, but how
Speaker 1: do I peel back the layers of this onion and say,
Speaker 1: but why is it because they didn't have the opportunities
Speaker 1: in school were there not after school programs? Is there
Speaker 1: no place for kids to play?
Speaker 2: Like?
Speaker 1: How does this happen? I just I think that having
Speaker 1: not lived that lifestyle growing up, I'm like, there's got
Speaker 1: to be some way to let them have fun and
Speaker 1: play and be kids before this happens a lot.
Speaker 2: Of times, it's a continuous cycle. And so when you
Speaker 2: look at the family life, there may have never been
Speaker 2: an opportunity for him to go on a straight and
Speaker 2: narrow because of what he was exposed to. You are
Speaker 2: your community, You are the people that you are around.
Speaker 2: You adapt based on what you are seeing or what
Speaker 2: you're hearing in your community. So if that was his
Speaker 2: family's life you talked about his uncle, his father, that
Speaker 2: was the life that he had around him. And so
Speaker 2: the gentleman was probably right because unfortunately we didn't step
Speaker 2: in earlier to make sure that things got settled. I
Speaker 2: asked our new superintendent a couple of days ago. I
Speaker 2: asked him because here in Chicago, most of the crimes,
Speaker 2: including violent crimes, that are being committed as of late
Speaker 2: by young people between the ages of twelve and twenty five.
Speaker 2: So what I asked him was, when you pick these
Speaker 2: offenders up for the first time. What kind of interaction
Speaker 2: is there with the parent. Are you guys going into
Speaker 2: the home talking to mom and dad finding out what's happening.
Speaker 2: Is there a substance abuse problem? Is there a problem
Speaker 2: where the parent is a lacking education, where the parent
Speaker 2: does not work, where the parent is struggling, Because all
Speaker 2: of those are usually facts that will cause a child
Speaker 2: to be out committing crimes. So when we picked these
Speaker 2: young people up who are eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, what
Speaker 2: kind of mechanisms are in place to help the parents
Speaker 2: as well as the young people Because the fact of
Speaker 2: the matter is if we can put those kids in
Speaker 2: all of the programs we want to, but if we're
Speaker 2: not fixing the entire family what's happening at home, we're
Speaker 2: basically taking him out, putting a band aid on, and
Speaker 2: then sending him back in to have the wound reapplied.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I mean, these two guys, it was like it
Speaker 1: was so devastating because they were both it was gosh,
Speaker 1: they were on each like their twentieth felony, and so
Speaker 1: when they got when they were sentenced months later, they
Speaker 1: were both sentenced to thirty years. And I mean this
Speaker 1: was years ago. And it's still like I still think
Speaker 1: about it all the time. I'm like, these these guys
Speaker 1: had kids, little kids, like each of them had three
Speaker 1: or more kids, and those kids will never know their dads.
Speaker 2: And realistically, you know, even with those young men who
Speaker 2: went to jail, when that happens, do we go to
Speaker 2: these mothers of these kids, do we offer them counseling?
Speaker 2: Because you know, one thing about it having a child
Speaker 2: go to jail, it's almost the same as losing a
Speaker 2: child because they're never the same, They don't come back
Speaker 2: the same. You really lose your young people. So what
Speaker 2: kind of services are we providing to those families or
Speaker 2: are we just continue?
Speaker 1: You know?
Speaker 2: So there are so many factors.
Speaker 1: Yeah, wow, I could actually talk to you about all
Speaker 1: of this stuff for hours. I mean it has been
Speaker 1: so just nice to be able to have this open conversation.
Speaker 1: And I feel like there's an opportunity to just continue
Speaker 1: to try to explore because I think that we just
Speaker 1: we as Americans, there's so many different light lifestyles. You know,
Speaker 1: you have people out west, you have people out east.
Speaker 1: I mean, we are really a diverse country. How much
Speaker 1: do we talk to each other? So I cannot tell
Speaker 1: you how much I appreciate you coming on today.
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's been
Speaker 2: a pleasure.
Speaker 1: Well, I suspect we are going to see a lot
Speaker 1: more of you, Kata trust. Thank you a lot.
Speaker 2: Thank you for having me, and.
Speaker 1: Thank you all for joining us on the Tutor Dixon Podcast.
Speaker 1: For this episode and others, go to Tutor disonpodcast dot com.
Speaker 1: You can subscribe right there, or head over to you
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Speaker 1: Have a blessed day.