WEBVTT - Black Men Vote, but have the candidates earned it? 0:00:05.280 --> 0:00:07.760 What's the Family's your girl to make a d Mallory 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.240 and it's your boy, my son the General, and we're 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.520 your host of street politicians, the place where the streets 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:21.200 and politics. My son Lennon, Grandma t me that is 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:27.360 you are what's your name again, gee Bob? That's so 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:33.040 cool though. We got that kind of legacy building, legacy, legacy, legacy, 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:36.120 my little young my young king man. I ain't seen 0:00:36.159 --> 0:00:40.159 him in a while. I'm actually going to participate in 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:44.600 caretaking in just a few hours once we finished the 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:54.240 show today. Duties today. I'm gonna do my grandma duties today. Uh. 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.320 You know, I wanted to just also make sure that 0:00:57.720 --> 0:01:02.760 folks who are listening in that you all know something 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:07.080 that I posted about this weekend. And sometimes we're taping 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:09.680 days in advance, so when you all are listening to 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:13.240 the show, you're listening to things that we've taked some 0:01:13.360 --> 0:01:17.480 time ago, maybe three days or two days. Sometimes it's 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.960 really quick because you know, life happens and we need 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:25.680 to discuss very very important topics. But there are times 0:01:25.760 --> 0:01:30.039 when we're taping our show in advance, um, and you know, 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:33.760 and around the schedule of guests and what happen, and 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:37.280 so in those instances sometimes you all are hearing us 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:42.560 speaking on issues and it might not necessarily fit with 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:44.959 some of the other things that's happening at the time. 0:01:45.280 --> 0:01:48.360 So we're working on that, but just wanted to folks 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:51.520 to know it. I wrote it on my page, my song. 0:01:51.640 --> 0:01:55.200 You reposted it. But UM, I think it's important also 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.320 that we stated on this show so that you all 0:01:58.400 --> 0:02:03.680 will be aware of how things happen. And um, you know, 0:02:03.720 --> 0:02:06.760 we do our best to stay as current as possible 0:02:06.800 --> 0:02:11.400 with the news, uh, and so you know, keep sending 0:02:11.440 --> 0:02:14.799 those topics, as my song would say, keep us up 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:17.840 to speed on all the things that's happening, and make 0:02:17.840 --> 0:02:22.560 sure you hit up at Street Politicians Pod where we're 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:26.600 checking the d m s and we're learning more about issues, people, things, 0:02:27.040 --> 0:02:32.760 the goings on of the world. So that's that on that, um. 0:02:32.960 --> 0:02:39.120 And now it is election season. There's actually early voting 0:02:39.160 --> 0:02:43.600 happening in this moment. November eighth is the day, the 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:48.480 final day to vote. UM, I think that, Uh, there's 0:02:48.520 --> 0:02:54.560 been so much concern around a number of issues just 0:02:54.760 --> 0:02:57.520 in the media. There's all types of things happening in 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:02.200 the media. There's controversy there's uh, you know, a lot 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:06.680 of just drama, a lot of pain, a lot of laughter, 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:10.760 just all types of things going on on social media 0:03:10.880 --> 0:03:15.160 and in the media, and as a result of that, uh, 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:19.360 things can get drowned out. The mid term elections is 0:03:19.400 --> 0:03:23.000 something that does not get the type of attention that 0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:26.639 it needs in general, and they are, I believe, very 0:03:26.720 --> 0:03:30.600 specific reasons for why that happens, one of them being 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:35.320 that there are actual forces that do not want us 0:03:35.400 --> 0:03:38.840 to focus on the mid terms because the men terms 0:03:39.200 --> 0:03:44.320 put people in power who are able to either push 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:49.880 for or against the president's agenda, the federal government's agenda, 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:55.640 and they have the ability from a local perspective to 0:03:56.280 --> 0:03:59.880 either push things down to the ground that is coming 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.800 from the top, or they can sort of willy nilly 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:07.760 as much as possible in their own states and their 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.119 own counties, so on and so forth. The reason why 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:15.440 that's important is because many of our followers and our 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:20.440 listeners are people who are very, very concerned about whether 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:24.640 we should be participating in the voting process. We don't 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:29.880 see much that is happening for black people especially, and 0:04:30.160 --> 0:04:34.960 radical change leaps and bounds and jumps for it. We 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:39.920 are tired of hearing. It takes time. It's been taking 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:44.280 over four hundreds some even say five hundred years, and 0:04:44.360 --> 0:04:49.640 people want to see real progress swiftly happen in this nation. 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.480 With that being said, UM and while we we know 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:57.320 that from a federal level we have to fight like 0:04:57.480 --> 0:05:01.599 hell to get drips, what you also know is that 0:05:01.680 --> 0:05:06.839 the local government, the mid term elections determined much of 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:11.359 what happens in your state. It also, of course determined 0:05:11.400 --> 0:05:15.640 some of the federal UH, federal legislation as well, because 0:05:15.680 --> 0:05:18.760 you have senators running for office around the country. Shout 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:23.120 out to our boy Gary Chambers who is in Louisiana 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.320 right now running for Senate UH. And there are others 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.440 around the country that are also running for those positions. 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:34.479 So those positions are very high level federal positions, UM. 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.839 And they of course have some local standing. But you 0:05:37.920 --> 0:05:45.120 have other local elected positions on the ballot. Not to mention, 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:51.160 you have other um what is the word, uh, ballot initiatives, 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:56.200 so on valot initiatives. These are issues, not people that 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:00.240 you can need to support or vote down. So in 0:06:00.320 --> 0:06:03.440 different states you have about so for instance, in Florida, 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:08.200 a ballet initiative was whether or not to restore the 0:06:08.320 --> 0:06:13.520 voting rights of people who were convicted of felonies um 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:18.400 in that state. And and thankfully the people which we 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:22.479 were on the ground there with the initiative knocking on doors. 0:06:22.720 --> 0:06:26.640 We knocked on thousands of doors. And thankfully there was 0:06:26.680 --> 0:06:29.480 an initiative past and shout out to all the people, 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:36.160 all the leaders who were organizing in Florida. Uh, think 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:39.120 about Desmond need and there are others who were doing 0:06:39.240 --> 0:06:43.960 incredible work in Florida. The and and of course the 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.560 valid initiative passed. So this this is serious stuff. It's 0:06:47.680 --> 0:06:49.600 it's easy to just be like, oh, we don't care 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:51.640 this and that, but no, this is on your street, 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:56.840 your block, your community, your schools. Uh, everything that has 0:06:56.880 --> 0:06:58.880 to do with your life is a part of the 0:06:58.920 --> 0:07:02.159 mid term election. And people who know that want to 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.520 suppress your vote and stop you from going because they 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:08.440 want to be the ones to maintain power and control. 0:07:08.960 --> 0:07:11.520 So with that being said, I'm let you speak my 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:15.600 song because I'm running my mouth. But um I am 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:21.160 today we have an incredible show of individuals who will 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:24.280 come and talk to us about a particular issue, and 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:28.360 I let my song talk about what that issue is. Yep, 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.560 we will be joined by some of my esteem colleagues 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:34.440 and brothers and people that I just respect to talk 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.600 about the black mail both and it's gonna be very 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:41.360 critical in this election because what we realize is that 0:07:41.400 --> 0:07:44.240 black men are really divided. You know, there are a 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.200 lot of black men that lean more towards conservative views 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.840 and ideologies. There's certain things that as black men that 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:56.320 the Liberal party doesn't you know, it just doesn't fit 0:07:56.360 --> 0:07:58.960 with us, you know. So in the majority of the 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.600 things we do, but there are very distinct things that 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.640 I think black men are just against, you know. So 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:08.720 we'll discuss those things, you know, and we'll talk about 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:10.280 how important it is for us to vote. You know, 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.600 a lot of us really don't even want to vote. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.320 I'm just being honest. Like having conversations with black men 0:08:15.360 --> 0:08:18.440 in our communities, they like, man, vote for what? Like 0:08:18.560 --> 0:08:21.080 vote for who? You know, we voted. We we keep 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.120 haying to vote to God, we keep haying this and that, 0:08:23.680 --> 0:08:26.280 But what what are we getting for our vote? You know? 0:08:26.520 --> 0:08:30.800 And then there's a very intentional you know, there's very 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:35.800 intentional push from the conservative size not to get black 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.240 men to vote, right, so they completely ignore the things 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:42.040 that have happened and try to act like nothing has happening. Oh, 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:44.760 nothing happened. Y'all voted for this, and look we're happen 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:48.080 nothing happened, Nothing happened, and you know, so it's it's 0:08:48.679 --> 0:08:52.600 very important for us to continue to highlight the things 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:55.120 that are happening, to say, hey, look this is that 0:08:55.280 --> 0:08:57.600 what happened. And then when things don't happen, let's talk 0:08:57.600 --> 0:09:00.640 about why they're not happening, you know, because they uh, 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.480 you know, intentional, you know, people from the conservatives side 0:09:04.520 --> 0:09:08.880 and white have who have white supremacists mind states who 0:09:08.920 --> 0:09:12.240 are not trying to allow certain lawyers to be passed, 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.800 certain you know, policies to go into effect. So those 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.360 those things aren't really discussed when you're look at the 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:21.760 media that wants to push this propaganda is just like, oh, 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.320 this president isn't doing anything. This person you voted in, 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:26.880 you know, every democratic state isn't doing this. And I'm 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:31.720 not I don't really go party politics, you know, I'm 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.240 not nonpartisan. I go with the best what I think 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.319 is the best. But you still can't convince me that 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:43.520 a party with ninety seven percent of the representatives inside 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:45.560 of it are all white, that don't come from the 0:09:45.600 --> 0:09:49.640 communities that I come from that don't understand the realities 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.600 that go on in those communities every day are better 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:56.440 for me than people that I actually have grown in 0:09:56.480 --> 0:09:59.520 this movement with people that I've went in school, that 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:03.680 I know have the same exact ideologies and understanding what 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:06.160 goes on in our communities. So there's a there's a 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:12.000 deeper rooted problem within government, and I think for us, 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:16.360 government was never really designed for blacks. It just really wasn't. 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.600 So we're trying to completely shift something that was really 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:22.680 never divided, I mean, designed for us. So we're trying 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:25.040 to change the culture of the government. We're trying to 0:10:25.679 --> 0:10:31.280 initiate new ways of of um politic operation, We're trying 0:10:31.320 --> 0:10:33.920 to initiate new things into it. And that takes a lot, 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:36.760 you know, because this government is not gonna just give 0:10:36.840 --> 0:10:39.080 up its power structure. It's not just giving up the 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:41.760 structure that's built on white supremacy all the time without 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.360 a fight. So that's what we're witnessing. We're we're we're 0:10:44.400 --> 0:10:48.960 witnessing white supremacies last stand, you know, and what they're 0:10:49.080 --> 0:10:52.320 utilize as our own. A lot of times they'll utilize 0:10:52.360 --> 0:10:55.600 people that look like us, you know, but never really 0:10:56.240 --> 0:11:00.240 don't identify with our realities most of the Unfortunately, to 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:04.160 the black representatives that are in the Republican Party, they 0:11:04.360 --> 0:11:08.160 they're so far removed from what's going on in our communities, 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:11.000 our everyday lives. You know. They'll tell you they're black, 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:13.320 and they usually picked the dog skin once to make 0:11:13.360 --> 0:11:15.960 sure the dog skin, you know, and they say, hey, 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:17.960 this is that Like when I'm looking at Hershey Walker, 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:21.360 and I'm just saying, and this is why it's very 0:11:21.440 --> 0:11:24.800 dangerous for me, right because Hershew Walker has one or 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:29.160 two talking points that black men agree with, right, because 0:11:29.320 --> 0:11:34.600 they don't do the research. You know, he's you can 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:36.920 tell he's not educated, but he goes up there and 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:39.160 says one or two things that he knows appeals to 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.120 black man. Black men like football, so they know Hershew 0:11:42.120 --> 0:11:45.000 Walker from being a football player. So there's a level 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:47.400 of identifying with him. But when you look at his 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.680 background understand his reality, it's not the reality of the 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:54.000 average black men in our communities. So there's this false 0:11:54.080 --> 0:11:57.040 narrative that's being pushed, and they continue to push this. 0:11:57.480 --> 0:12:00.760 Once again, it's not about partisan politics for me, it's 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:05.120 about understanding the system. It's about understanding the individuals, just 0:12:05.240 --> 0:12:08.840 understanding how the game is being played and understanding actually 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:14.800 to have actual change, right, you have to go through transformation. 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:18.560 You know, you can't. You can't think that you're gonna 0:12:18.760 --> 0:12:21.880 continue along the strang same path and look to the 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.200 same people to make changes for you that have never 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:27.680 really made changes. Most of us say, hey, neither parties 0:12:27.679 --> 0:12:31.200 for us. Okay, we understand that. So in the process 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.480 of us building something different, which I always say, because 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:36.679 that should be the main thing that we should be doing. 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.840 We should be trying to how do we build a party, 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.880 not just a party, but just a voter collective, a 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:47.680 collective voter on block with millions of people that we 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:51.439 sit down and we come up to each you know, 0:12:51.679 --> 0:12:55.320 um participating, everybody who's running for offers and say this 0:12:55.360 --> 0:12:58.480 is what we need as a people. We have these 0:12:58.480 --> 0:13:02.440 conversations before primaries when we're looking to see who is 0:13:02.440 --> 0:13:04.920 going to be you know, the candidate. When we have 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.000 these compisations, we sit down and said, well, these are 0:13:07.040 --> 0:13:10.400 tangible things that we need. Can you provide those things? 0:13:11.000 --> 0:13:13.000 Are you willing to provide? You willing to go on 0:13:13.040 --> 0:13:15.839 the campaign trail and say this is what I'm trying 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:17.800 to do, right, and that's what we need to do 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:21.560 it every candidate. And then as we do that, we 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.959 can shift and we create that power. Then we can say, 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:26.600 you know what, we want our own party. But we 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.960 can't keep creating third and four parties that only get 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.160 one and two percent of the vote and say and 0:13:32.280 --> 0:13:34.240 just do it as you know, just a vote of 0:13:34.360 --> 0:13:36.599 some moral conscious I don't want to. I'm tired of 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:40.400 moral victories, right. The moral victories ship is over for me. 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.719 I'm grown, I got kids, they've got kids. I want 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:46.680 to see tangible change. I want to see things happening 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.719 in real life, in real time. So you know, this 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:53.320 comes very critical. There's someone would say that that's that 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.240 you said something that's really powerful about doing the same 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.200 thing over and over again. And there are some people 0:13:58.160 --> 0:14:00.600 will say that that's the problem with voting for the 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:04.360 Democratic Party. We are Black women are number one in 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:08.480 terms of voting block, and black men actually are number two. Um. 0:14:08.559 --> 0:14:13.560 And so we are the absolute power base of the 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:17.000 Democratic Party. And I know there is a need, um 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.760 and a need and a desire to move away from 0:14:21.160 --> 0:14:24.800 the party. But again to your point, you know, and 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.160 there are people doing that. We have you know, the 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:31.920 brother from UM from West Belomy from our Black Party 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:39.080 working with alongside Puff to create a new party and 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:42.320 do exactly what you said first of all, start with 0:14:42.800 --> 0:14:47.920 UH you know, supporting candidates, getting people together, aligning on goals, 0:14:48.280 --> 0:14:52.200 and then eventually becoming a party that has its own 0:14:52.800 --> 0:14:56.400 uh own process in general. So we do need that, 0:14:56.520 --> 0:14:58.600 and there are people who are building it, but we've 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:00.680 attempted to build it in the hasks. This is not 0:15:00.720 --> 0:15:03.680 the first time that people have said we want to 0:15:03.720 --> 0:15:06.280 build a part of political party. But we as a 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.000 people have to decide if we are at the place 0:15:09.040 --> 0:15:14.480 where we're ready to support that party hands down, no confusion, 0:15:14.920 --> 0:15:17.600 We're in. I don't know when we're gonna get there. 0:15:17.640 --> 0:15:20.200 I think what has been done to us in terms 0:15:20.240 --> 0:15:23.720 of the division that exists within our community is strong 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.560 enough that um you know, who knows whether we will 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:30.480 whether we'll get there anytime soon, but we certainly can 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:34.200 get better than just throwing our votes away. And I 0:15:34.240 --> 0:15:40.400 think we should start the conversation with our guests today. 0:15:41.800 --> 0:15:44.640 As we said, we've got a great panel of folks 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:48.600 today that are dealing with UH, the issue of voting 0:15:48.640 --> 0:15:53.680 around the nation in different ways. Um. And each person 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:57.880 here has a group of sort of their constituents and 0:15:57.960 --> 0:16:01.200 folks that they touch and talk up to on a 0:16:01.360 --> 0:16:07.120 daily basis. That makes this conversation well rounded. UM. And 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:10.040 you know, I was we were just saying, my son, 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.520 this election situation, this is the part that we talk 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:19.760 about local elections, local work that also helps to push 0:16:20.040 --> 0:16:24.960 federal legislation, to either block and or support federal legislation. 0:16:25.280 --> 0:16:27.760 So this is the stuff that folks say they care about. 0:16:28.080 --> 0:16:32.119 But yet and still we're not seeing enough people engage. 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.200 And you know, I'm sure there are many reasons. I 0:16:35.280 --> 0:16:38.360 won't state them all, but I don't I would I 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:43.200 would say from the jump as we start this conversation 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:48.160 that we understand clearly why so many, particularly of our 0:16:48.280 --> 0:16:52.960 black men feel disenfranchised and are are you know, really 0:16:53.000 --> 0:16:54.880 just sort of trying to figure out what are other 0:16:54.920 --> 0:16:58.920 ways to address their needs and concerns than to rely 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.760 on this political is them. So let me introduce the 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:04.919 folks who are here with us today. Um. All of 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:09.200 them are our brothers. Reverend Jamal Bryant, who is from 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:13.800 the Great Church in Atlanta, Georgia that I preached that 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:19.080 one day his new birth Missionary Baptist Church. Thanks Jamal, 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.480 thank you for being with us. We have Wisdom Cole 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:27.200 from the n double A CPS, the Youth and College Director. Uh. 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.119 And we have Mondale Robinson from Black Male Voter Project. 0:17:31.200 --> 0:17:33.159 If you don't know Montdale, you need to get to 0:17:33.200 --> 0:17:35.600 know him, because you know he's on the news telling 0:17:35.640 --> 0:17:38.280 the people some things. I don't heard you saying stuff 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:40.720 on the news, Mondale that a lot of people are 0:17:40.720 --> 0:17:45.840 afraid to say unbought and unbossed around the blackmail vote. 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:50.840 Will be joined eventually by Congressman Jamal Bowman. Uh. And 0:17:50.920 --> 0:17:52.880 so I think he will help us to eat round 0:17:52.880 --> 0:17:56.080 out the conversation even more so, whoever wants to start, 0:17:56.800 --> 0:18:01.719 whoever wants to start on me just asked the first question. 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:05.440 You know, I just want to know what do you 0:18:05.560 --> 0:18:09.639 think is the biggest each of you? What do you 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:13.680 think is the biggest hurdle for getting black men to vote? 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:19.480 I'll jump in. Uh. Stacy Abrams is in the fight 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.119 of her life trying to become governor. All of the 0:18:22.240 --> 0:18:26.359 data is coming back. She has failed, like to get 0:18:26.400 --> 0:18:30.480 any real momentum or synergy around black men. Black men 0:18:31.040 --> 0:18:34.040 feel taken for granted and have not been a part 0:18:34.119 --> 0:18:38.200 of of the conversation. And so this last ditch effort 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:43.320 here in Georgia has been trying to really mobilize black men. 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:47.439 The last two presidential elections hinged on the backs of 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:52.000 black women, but this now mid term election I think 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:56.200 is a really uh in the strength of black mail participation. 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:00.880 You know, I think we have to meet black men 0:19:01.000 --> 0:19:03.000 where they're at. Part of the work in terms of 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:06.320 turnout is making sure that we're engaging particularly you know, 0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:09.040 the young black male voters, UM, and the places and 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:11.760 spaces that they interact in. You know, I'm thinking about, 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.160 you know, the young black men who are are in college, 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:16.240 who are into e sports, right, Like, how are we 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:19.600 connecting with that demographic, that population of young black men. UM. 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:22.679 How are we making sure that we are messaging appropriately UM. 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:25.840 Often times I feel like our population may be overlooked UM, 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.119 and I think it's really important that we engage them 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.000 in all aspects, and that means making sure that we're 0:19:30.000 --> 0:19:35.400 willing to go where we need to go the UM. 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.560 I love that question. Bro. First of all, thank you 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:43.160 all for having me. Let's be clear, UM, black men 0:19:43.240 --> 0:19:46.080 have everybody in the world not to participate in America's politics, 0:19:46.400 --> 0:19:49.680 especially the electoral process. If you consider the fact that 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:51.960 a hundred and fifty two years ago they passed the 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.399 fifteenth Amendment supposedly giving us to write the vote, when 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:57.199 an actuality, oh they gave us was the right to 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:00.840 be the game pigs for voter suppression. You ask, what's 0:20:00.840 --> 0:20:03.560 the greatest hurdles keeping black men fro participating as a 0:20:03.560 --> 0:20:06.119 couple of them? Is not one? The first one is poverty. 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:09.280 Most black men live on the margins. Telling people who 0:20:09.320 --> 0:20:11.320 live on the margins they need to go vote does 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.399 not ring true when they've seen no electoral change in 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:19.280 their lived experiences. Uh. The second one is uh antipathy 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:21.640 the world looking black man as if we're apathy, If 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:23.879 we have a level of apathy or a slaune or 0:20:23.920 --> 0:20:26.760 notus about the election, it's not true. What's actually the 0:20:26.800 --> 0:20:29.439 one on this there's a level of antipathy hate for 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:32.919 the very transactional nature in which blue politics and politicians 0:20:33.200 --> 0:20:36.880 address us. Let me correct some misnomers. First of all, uh, 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.960 black women are super soldiers as it pertains to our communities, 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.040 and that's a fact. Black men also participating the electoral 0:20:43.080 --> 0:20:45.720 process and record numbers in their last two present elections. 0:20:45.920 --> 0:20:48.040 The world won't tell us that because what the world 0:20:48.119 --> 0:20:50.679 is doing, they're based in their voting off of exit 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:52.520 posts to say that Donald Trump got more of the 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:55.240 black man vote. But in actuality, if you look at 0:20:55.320 --> 0:20:58.280 the real data, like the the real data in these states, 0:20:58.640 --> 0:21:02.200 if you look at uh the voter turnout for primaries 0:21:02.400 --> 0:21:06.760 partisan primaries, you saw it massive increase in a specific 0:21:06.960 --> 0:21:10.960 demographic a black man um not age, age didn't separate us. 0:21:11.000 --> 0:21:13.040 It was old black man who had been what the 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:17.400 world called sporadic voters came out in increasing numbers. So 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:22.280 considered this no demographic in Georgia in twenty had a 0:21:22.359 --> 0:21:25.159 huge increase or a larger increase than black men that 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:28.600 have set out the last five federal election. That means 0:21:28.640 --> 0:21:30.880 these brothers were old enough to vote for Barack Obama 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:33.480 but did not vote for him in twenty twelve, did 0:21:33.480 --> 0:21:36.879 not vote in twenty fourteen, sixteen, or eighteen. It's about 0:21:36.880 --> 0:21:40.120 four hundred and sixty thousand brothers in Georgia that meet that. 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:42.600 That's nearly half of the brothers that are registered. Of 0:21:42.680 --> 0:21:45.000 that four d and sixty thousand, hundred and twenty four 0:21:45.200 --> 0:21:49.040 participated in the election. So people have this missing number 0:21:49.080 --> 0:21:52.800 based on UH exit poll, which actually started by this 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.200 dumb company called Edmonds UM and they did it wrong 0:21:56.240 --> 0:21:59.480 every year, and scholars have also criticized them. But what 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:02.080 happens is the world runs with that because it's easy 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:04.480 narrative to say that black man sitting out with black 0:22:04.520 --> 0:22:08.359 man not voting for Democrats, when when the actuality we 0:22:08.440 --> 0:22:11.359 vote for our community more than anybody except for black women. 0:22:11.600 --> 0:22:13.760 And the same thing is happening right now. So people 0:22:13.840 --> 0:22:17.200 keep saying that, you know, there's there's no excitement around 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:19.600 candidates for black man, that's the wrong question to ask 0:22:19.640 --> 0:22:22.040 the black man. People did the same thing in twenty 0:22:22.080 --> 0:22:24.439 Are you excited for Joe Biden? Are you excited for 0:22:25.080 --> 0:22:28.280 or um? Uh? Also, I mean I'm sorry, yeah, they 0:22:28.280 --> 0:22:30.720 asked them also to this fectorcycle. If you're asking that 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:33.119 black men are excited about abrams, if you're asking them 0:22:33.119 --> 0:22:35.239 they're excited about whatnot, you can probably get a hell 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:37.560 note from black men. And that's just the fact because 0:22:37.560 --> 0:22:40.680 that's the wrong question. Excitement is not equate if you're 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:43.320 gonna vote or not. Right, So black men are policy 0:22:43.400 --> 0:22:45.239 voters even though the world won't tell us that. So 0:22:45.280 --> 0:22:47.359 what we know is why there may not be no 0:22:47.440 --> 0:22:50.120 excitement for the candidates. Black men are definitely turning out 0:22:50.280 --> 0:22:54.800 in record numbers. We've already we're outperforming um every demographic 0:22:54.920 --> 0:22:57.880 right now with the sporadic that's so called sporadic voters. 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:00.840 They're not super voters. In Georgia. Right now, black men 0:23:01.440 --> 0:23:04.320 have closed a gap between Black women, which is normally 0:23:04.320 --> 0:23:07.640 a tempera cent participation, yet it's only two percent right now. 0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:10.359 And the voters that we're turning out are our ratic 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:13.040 voters more than our supervoters, which is a good thing 0:23:13.240 --> 0:23:15.640 because supervoters have not missed an election, so it means 0:23:15.640 --> 0:23:17.800 even if they haven't voted, they're probably still gonna vote. 0:23:17.880 --> 0:23:19.560 And if we're turning out those voters who don't normally 0:23:19.560 --> 0:23:23.840 turn out, we're doing our damn job. M So you 0:23:24.080 --> 0:23:26.680 because I I've heard that it's not just black men, 0:23:27.240 --> 0:23:30.600 but that the numbers in terms of all young people, 0:23:31.320 --> 0:23:34.600 UM and just the black community in general is not 0:23:35.000 --> 0:23:38.159 where it needs to be in order to assure a 0:23:38.280 --> 0:23:42.960 victory for the particular candidates, particularly in Georgia. Would you 0:23:42.960 --> 0:23:45.560 guys agree with that or you know, is that what 0:23:45.560 --> 0:23:47.480 we're saying, and and Monte, I just want to say 0:23:47.680 --> 0:23:50.280 we agree with you and stated before you all came 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:53.640 on that black women are number one, but black men 0:23:53.720 --> 0:23:56.800 are number two in terms of the power base of 0:23:56.840 --> 0:24:00.880 the Democratic Party specifically, uh, and that it is very 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:05.560 much so disrespectful for us to keep ignoring how much 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:09.800