Speaker 1: And now watching my mic back, you're like that.
Speaker 2: You can strike waters from headquarters behind him and the porters.
Speaker 1: But if you're just tuning into Civic Cipher, I'm your host,
Speaker 1: ramses Jock.
Speaker 3: Go by the name q Ward sometime djq Ward, but
Speaker 3: maybe never again, but we'll talk.
Speaker 1: About that later. No, let's bring it back, man. I
Speaker 1: miss DJ q Ward at the at the Phoenix suns
Speaker 1: Uh Stadium. They're in Arena DJ among other things, the world,
Speaker 1: world class, world traveling DJ. Yeah, let's bring him back. Anyway,
Speaker 1: we are a couple of DJs aren't like man, and
Speaker 1: we decided to do a show for you. Hopefully you'll
Speaker 1: stick around for the second half. We are going to
Speaker 1: talk about what I believe to be something positive. The
Speaker 1: House has passed to build that bands discrimination for hair,
Speaker 1: so we're definitely going to talk about that and our
Speaker 1: way black history of fact. We're going to talk about
Speaker 1: an all black women's World War II unit, so that
Speaker 1: is something we're sticking around for as well. But first
Speaker 1: and foremost, let's discuss how to become a better ally
Speaker 1: bah bah So. I don't know if you've heard about
Speaker 1: this one, but Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen discussed the systemic
Speaker 1: inequalities still lurking in the US economy and the work
Speaker 1: her department needs to do to narrow the racial wealth
Speaker 1: divide during remarks at an event honoring the late doctor
Speaker 1: Martin Luther King, Junior. This comes from abcnews dot Com.
Speaker 1: Quote from reconstruction at Jim Crow to the present day,
Speaker 1: our economy has never worked fairly for Black Americans, or
Speaker 1: really for any American of color, the Treasury chief said
Speaker 1: during the Reverend Al Sharpton National Action Network's annual Record
Speaker 1: is honoring the life and legacy of doctor King since
Speaker 1: taking off his last January. Yellen said that she and
Speaker 1: her team have worked hard to quote ensure that neither
Speaker 1: the figurative Bank of Justice nor any literal economic institution
Speaker 1: fails to work for people of color. She said, the
Speaker 1: Treasury has recently completed its first equity review quote, looking
Speaker 1: across departments and asking where are our operations not as
Speaker 1: inclusive as they should be. Yellen added that they have
Speaker 1: also hired the department's first ever counselor on racial equity
Speaker 1: and sought to hire the quote most diverse leadership team
Speaker 1: and Treasury history. Quote. She added that the Treasury was
Speaker 1: injecting some nine billion dollars in the community development financial
Speaker 1: institutions and minority depository institutions that seek to serve people
Speaker 1: in places that the financial sector historically has left out.
Speaker 1: This is important because you can listen to my show.
Speaker 1: It's on the iHeartMedia podcast network called the Black Information
Speaker 1: Network Daily Podcast. I did an episode called Banking while
Speaker 1: Black and this Treasury Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is an
Speaker 1: example of one person trying to change what that means.
Speaker 1: Hopefully we can make it have some dignity. But yeah,
Speaker 1: that is an example of a better ally, and you
Speaker 1: should aspire to be like her, make some changes if
Speaker 1: you're in a position to do so. So now we
Speaker 1: move on. I have a big old afro. You listen
Speaker 1: to me every week, and I appreciate that. By the way,
Speaker 1: it means a lot to me and to Q and
Speaker 1: to my children and my family and my friends and
Speaker 1: people that I don't know who are black and share
Speaker 1: this experience and people who I don't know who are
Speaker 1: not black and empathize that you listen every week. So
Speaker 1: I'm going to tell you a black story about me.
Speaker 1: I was born in California, Compton, California, in the eighties.
Speaker 1: Nineteen eighty two was when I was born, and so
Speaker 1: I saw a lot of heavy stuff. Imagine Compton in
Speaker 1: the eighties, drugs, gangs, all that sort of stuff. That
Speaker 1: was my reality. I used to think when I was
Speaker 1: very little that the magical age was twenty. If I
Speaker 1: could make it to twenty years old, then I will
Speaker 1: have made it because everyone around me was dying. Sounds crazy, Yeah,
Speaker 1: that was a real thing, and we'd hear these stories.
Speaker 1: Of course, such and such died he was only sixteen, thirteen, seventeen, nineteen, fourteen, teen, teen, teen,
Speaker 1: teen teens. So I thought twenty was the magic number.
Speaker 1: You know, most kids think eighteen or twenty one. That
Speaker 1: was me. I thought twenty right follow me. That number
Speaker 1: stayed with me as I grew six, seven, eight, nine,
Speaker 1: ten years old, moved to Arizona, eleven, twelve, thirteen. All
Speaker 1: those years, twenty is the magic number. I knew. I
Speaker 1: was never going to drink, I was never going to
Speaker 1: smoke cigarettes. That just never really spoke to me. I
Speaker 1: wasn't waiting on the day when I could do those things.
Speaker 1: So for always it was always the number twenty right
Speaker 1: ingrained in my head from those traumas. When I was younger,
Speaker 1: I had a friend that died. There was these two
Speaker 1: kids I played with, Keith and David. They were my age,
Speaker 1: and Keith died on the street where I died in
Speaker 1: the sidewalk. Somebody shot him. Gone didn't get to grow
Speaker 1: up twenty So now I'm going to school and I
Speaker 1: get into college. Those of you that listened to the
Speaker 1: show regularly know the name doctor Camilla Westenberg. She made
Speaker 1: sure that I was able to go to college. She's
Speaker 1: a frequent contributor to the show here. So when I
Speaker 1: got to college, I was really excited. And when I
Speaker 1: was twenty years old, I was kind of staring at
Speaker 1: the end of my schooling career, you know, my academic career,
Speaker 1: or so I thought at the time. I ended up
Speaker 1: going back and getting a master's, but at that time,
Speaker 1: I thought that was the end, and I was in
Speaker 1: a business school. I went to the Wpkrey College of
Speaker 1: Business at Arizona State University. And at that school when
Speaker 1: I was there, there weren't many black people. I'd be
Speaker 1: in huge lecture halls, four hundred students, and I'd be
Speaker 1: the only black person in them. I'd be in small
Speaker 1: classes of course and be the only black person. There
Speaker 1: were Hispanic people in the classes, and no one was unkind,
Speaker 1: no one was me, and everyone kind of got it.
Speaker 1: Thank god. These you know, in academic environments, people tend
Speaker 1: to be cool. But one of the things that I
Speaker 1: realized is that I'm alone in this space. It's just
Speaker 1: me here. I am the sum total of the black
Speaker 1: voice in this conversation. I am the experience that these
Speaker 1: students will take with them as they go out and
Speaker 1: help shape the world of tomorrow. Me just one person, right,
Speaker 1: And that didn't feel like enough blackness, because black people
Speaker 1: do exist where the reason other people exist, you know,
Speaker 1: and black people do matter, Black lives matter. Will say
Speaker 1: it all as often as I can. But where I
Speaker 1: lived in Arizona, numerically, there weren't a lot of black people, right.
Speaker 1: It's not like I grew up in Atlanta and I
Speaker 1: went to a historically black college or university.
Speaker 3: No.
Speaker 1: I went to Arizona State University in Arizona, right, and
Speaker 1: then I'm at this prestigious business school, you know, And
Speaker 1: we all know that there are a lot of social
Speaker 1: factors that kind of play into that. So not everybody
Speaker 1: gets to make it that far. But I did. And
Speaker 1: if you're like me, if you're like Q, you recognize,
Speaker 1: uh oh, I'm the only one here. Immediately it's no
Speaker 1: longer about me. Immediately, I have a responsibility. Immediately, it's
Speaker 1: just like that, Okay, this is not for me to
Speaker 1: show off. This is not for me to stunt. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. It's not my time. I have
Speaker 1: to really represent. If you're listening to this show, you
Speaker 1: know how that word fits in black culture. Represent right,
Speaker 1: So how did I increase the amount of blackness in
Speaker 1: those lecture halls? How did I increase the amount of blackness?
Speaker 1: When I was giving presentations, pitching business ideas, when I
Speaker 1: was writing reports, when I was doing case studies? How
Speaker 1: did I increase the amount of blackness? Well, it's just
Speaker 1: one side of the problem. The other side was I
Speaker 1: now have to go out into the world at the
Speaker 1: end of this school year, and I'm probably going to
Speaker 1: see many rooms that look just like this, or there's
Speaker 1: not a lot of black people in these rooms. How
Speaker 1: do I increase the amount of blackness? How do I
Speaker 1: create a show, a display, a representation that really really
Speaker 1: speaks to the fact that I am not here alone,
Speaker 1: that every ancestor of me, and you is speaking through me,
Speaker 1: right now, how do I do that? It's a very
Speaker 1: very strange question to ask yourself, But that's what happens
Speaker 1: to you know that very well. It just you have
Speaker 1: to take responsibility. So what did I do? I did
Speaker 1: nothing to my hair. I'll say it again, I did
Speaker 1: nothing to my hair. If I leave my hair alone,
Speaker 1: it will reach for the sky on all sides, it
Speaker 1: will grow, and it will flourish, and it will be
Speaker 1: just as fluffy and as big and grand as it
Speaker 1: can possibly be. That's the reason I grew my hair out.
Speaker 1: That's the reason my hair is long, right now, That's
Speaker 1: the reason why I'll keep it long. This is a
Speaker 1: lifelong commitment, just like you know people that put locks
Speaker 1: in their hair and so forth. That's the reason for
Speaker 1: my hair. It's that important to me. It's that important
Speaker 1: to me. No one, there's not a person in the
Speaker 1: world that could tell me to shave my head because
Speaker 1: my hairstyle is inappropriate.
Speaker 3: Right.
Speaker 1: They could try, but it wouldn't fly. But partly because
Speaker 1: I have the ability to have the mobility rather, I
Speaker 1: can make my reality in a way that's a little
Speaker 1: bit easier than other people can right, and so there
Speaker 1: are a lot of people who apps don't have that luxury.
Speaker 1: And now we're going to talk about the Crown Act.
Speaker 1: So I'll read this. This comes from nbcnews dot com.
Speaker 1: It's written by Janelle Griffith. The House of Representatives passed
Speaker 1: the Crown Act, which would ban hair related discrimination. The
Speaker 1: measure HR twenty one sixteen passed in a vote of
Speaker 1: two hundred and thirty five to one hundred and eighty
Speaker 1: nine along party lines. Let's keep an eye out for
Speaker 1: that one to eighty nine because I think it might
Speaker 1: come up again. It was introduced by Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman,
Speaker 1: who was a Democrat from New Jersey. Crown stands for
Speaker 1: creating a respectful and open world for natural hair, and
Speaker 1: the Act prohibits discrimination based on an individual's texture or
Speaker 1: style of hair. The bill now goes to the Senate.
Speaker 1: The legislation states that quote routinely, people of atri can
Speaker 1: dissent are deprived of educational and employment opportunities for wearing
Speaker 1: their hair in natural or protective hairstyles such as locks, cornrows, twists, braids, bontu, knots,
Speaker 1: or afros. Quote here we are today standing on behalf
Speaker 1: of those individuals, whether my colleagues on the other side
Speaker 1: recognize it or not, who are discriminated against as children
Speaker 1: in school, as adults who are trying to get jobs,
Speaker 1: individuals who are trying to get housing, individuals who simply
Speaker 1: want access to public accommodations and to be beneficiaries of
Speaker 1: federally funded programs. Watson Coleman said in remarks on the
Speaker 1: House floor Friday morning, this demonstrates to Bill's necessity, She said,
Speaker 1: because there are people in positions of authority quote who
Speaker 1: think because your hair is kinky, it is braided, it
Speaker 1: is a notce, or it is not straight and blonde
Speaker 1: and light brown, that you somehow are not worthy of
Speaker 1: access to those issues end quote.
Speaker 3: Oh.
Speaker 1: She added, that's discrimination. There's no logical reason that anyone
Speaker 1: should be discriminated against on any level because of the
Speaker 1: texture of their hair or the style of their hair.
Speaker 1: Watson Coleman said, I want to take a moment here
Speaker 1: before I continue. Katanji Brown Jackson is uh when she
Speaker 1: was sitting in those confirmation hearings regal as she is
Speaker 1: wearing what is now, according to this a protected hairstyle,
Speaker 1: looking as natural as she wants to be. She looks
Speaker 1: like God. Think about that. And there are people who
Speaker 1: are not accustomed to seeing what a natural human being
Speaker 1: looks like. Remember the first human beings that you could
Speaker 1: call a human being looked exactly like that woman, and
Speaker 1: they were their hair exactly like that woman. Right, These
Speaker 1: hairstyles aren't ancient. Before the first human being had the
Speaker 1: first mutation to create the first blue eye, human beings
Speaker 1: look just like that. That is the natural state of
Speaker 1: a human being. This hair that I wear on my
Speaker 1: head is the natural hair of a human being. Everything else.
Speaker 3: Is a.
Speaker 1: Derivative of this. This is the natural. Now, because we
Speaker 1: live in a euro Centric society that centers whiteness as
Speaker 1: the norm, we have to describe our hair, black hair,
Speaker 1: as ethnic hair. But the truth is our hair is
Speaker 1: just hair by definition, the platonic ideal, the very first,
Speaker 1: the prototype. And I think it's important to say that,
Speaker 1: not because I feel like someone is better than the
Speaker 1: other or anything like that. That's not my way. If
Speaker 1: you listen to the show, you know that that's not
Speaker 1: who I am. We're all here together, we're all meant
Speaker 1: to love each other, you know. But there are certain
Speaker 1: truths that need to be said, and this is the
Speaker 1: place where we have to say them. Right. So if
Speaker 1: you're listening today, I also want to implore you to
Speaker 1: rethink concepts like that that you may have in your mind.
Speaker 1: Rethink them. You know, I grew up in the same
Speaker 1: society as you and as everyone else, very Eurocentric. You know,
Speaker 1: if it's white, it's right. You know, so no one
Speaker 1: who thinks that is wrong or bad. That's just kind
Speaker 1: of the world that was created for us to grow
Speaker 1: up in. Right. And we call the institutions that reinforce
Speaker 1: those ideas white supremacist institutions, right, But we don't. That's
Speaker 1: not us saying that the individuals who have been made
Speaker 1: to think these things are themselves white supremacists, because then
Speaker 1: that would make me a white supremacist. Right. And if
Speaker 1: that's true, then it's true for me. And if it's
Speaker 1: not true, then we all have to recognize that there
Speaker 1: are institutions that exist outside of us that have had
Speaker 1: a degree of influence over us. Right. But it's very
Speaker 1: important if I say nothing else, that I say that
Speaker 1: this hair is hair and every other type of hair
Speaker 1: is other hair. It's important that you know that. Again,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying it's better. I'm saying it's the original.
Speaker 1: Now I'll continue my backque, did you want to jump in?
Speaker 3: No, I actually didn't. For our listeners that can't see you,
Speaker 3: they can't really understand how personal it is, and not
Speaker 3: just for you, but you have a son that rocks
Speaker 3: a big, beautiful afro to about it, and really it
Speaker 3: is really important for people to be able to hear
Speaker 3: it from a perspective that's firsthand. Yeah, my hair isn't
Speaker 3: very long. It used to be. I we're braids in college.
Speaker 3: Haven't had the patience to grow my hair back out
Speaker 3: since then, and quite frankly, my hair does not look
Speaker 3: as glorious as Ramses does when it is long. So
Speaker 3: I think you are a uniquely qualified person to speak
Speaker 3: on this topic, and it was important for people to
Speaker 3: be able to hear it from such a first account
Speaker 3: and personal point of view.
Speaker 1: Oh, thank you for that.
Speaker 3: Cue.
Speaker 1: Well, in that case, I'll continue without naming him. She
Speaker 1: referred to Andrew Johnson, a black varsity high school wrestler
Speaker 1: in New Jersey with locks who was forced in twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen to make a choice cut his hair or forfeit
Speaker 1: his match. Quote. This bill is vitally important. She said.
Speaker 1: It is important to the young girls and young boys
Speaker 1: who have to cut their hair in the middle of
Speaker 1: a wrestling match in front of everyone, because a white
Speaker 1: referee says that your hair is inappropriate to engage in
Speaker 1: your match. Quote. The Biden administration this week said it
Speaker 1: quote strongly supports and quote the Crown Act and looks
Speaker 1: forward to working with the Congress to enact this legislation
Speaker 1: and ensure that it is effectively implemented. More than a
Speaker 1: dozen states, including New Jersey and New York, had passed
Speaker 1: versions of the Crown Act. California was the first date
Speaker 1: to do so. House Majority Leader Steiny Hoyer, a Democrat
Speaker 1: from Maryland, told his colleagues Friday that the bill should
Speaker 1: have unanimous support. Fourteen Republicans voted for the bill. Good
Speaker 1: a military took steps to inherit discrimination last year, said Hoyer,
Speaker 1: who is white. If anybody thinks this isn't a real issue,
Speaker 1: obviously the military thought it was an issue, and it
Speaker 1: was an important enough issue that they took action. He
Speaker 1: said it was disappointing that one hundred and eighty eight
Speaker 1: Republicans opposed the legislation when it was recently brought to
Speaker 1: the floor under an expedited process. Like Watson Coleman, other
Speaker 1: proponents of the bill mentioned a number of children directly
Speaker 1: and indirectly who drew national attention after they were reprimanded
Speaker 1: for wearing their hair in braids, dreadlocks, or other protective styles.
Speaker 1: Before a vote was taken, a number of black and
Speaker 1: African American legislators spoke of having been discriminated against because
Speaker 1: of their hair. I do want to mention that I
Speaker 1: have not been discriminated against because of my hair that
Speaker 1: I know of, because the way the rest of that
Speaker 1: story goes is I finished college and then my first
Speaker 1: job was on a hip hop radio station KKFR and Phoenix,
Speaker 1: Arizona Power ninety eight point three it's now called and
Speaker 1: so I went into a welcome space. But imagine having
Speaker 1: that same experience, right I was going to go into
Speaker 1: corporate law, That's why I was in business school. Imagine
Speaker 1: having that same experience coming from Compton, you know, and
Speaker 1: realizing that twenty is the magic number. When I get
Speaker 1: to twenty years old, I'm going to celebrate I've made it.
Speaker 1: I get to twenty years old, I'm in this space
Speaker 1: where there is no blackness. What can I do? What
Speaker 1: can I do now that I'm a man? No one
Speaker 1: can tell me what to do with my clothes, my hair.
Speaker 1: I've made it. What can I do? I can check
Speaker 1: two boxes off right here, maybe more to grow my hair.
Speaker 1: Imagine if I walked into a law firm and they
Speaker 1: look at my hair, the most natural hair style on
Speaker 1: earth that has ever existed, and they say it's inappropriate
Speaker 1: and that I can't work there, or if I want
Speaker 1: to work there, I have to shave my hair right.
Speaker 1: It is something that they deem is more appropriate. So
Speaker 1: that was never my reality, but as we're seeing for
Speaker 1: a lot of people that has been I'll continue quote.
Speaker 1: As a black woman who loves my braids, I know
Speaker 1: what it's like to feel isolated because of how I
Speaker 1: wear my hair. Representative Corey Bush said on the house floor, quote,
Speaker 1: this is the last time we say no more to
Speaker 1: Black people being made to feel like we have to
Speaker 1: straighten our hair or in order to be deemed professional.
Speaker 1: Representative Gwen Moore said someone had told a previous employer
Speaker 1: that she was an embarrassment because of the way her
Speaker 1: hair looked. Wow. She accused some of her colleagues, such
Speaker 1: as Representative Jim Jordan, or republic from Ohio, of avoiding
Speaker 1: the conversation about discrimination that disproportionately affects black people. Jordan
Speaker 1: said Friday that he wanted to focus on gas prices,
Speaker 1: inflation and issues of importance to the American people and
Speaker 1: accused Democrats of distancing from those issues. And response to
Speaker 1: Jordan's remarks, Representative Al Green, who was a Democrat from Texas,
Speaker 1: said quote, black people are American people too, and when
Speaker 1: you say the American people don't want it, you cannot
Speaker 1: exclude black people. Black people would have this beyond the floor.
Speaker 1: This is a kitchen table issue in black households. Que
Speaker 1: you have a daughter, your daughter will have black hair.
Speaker 1: She does have black hair, excuse me. And as we
Speaker 1: know pretty much around the world, hairstyles are a lot
Speaker 1: more important for women than for men. And so with
Speaker 1: that said, and with my children also knowing that this
Speaker 1: is taking place in the world, knowing that we're making
Speaker 1: moves to protect the natural state of being for human beings,
Speaker 1: which should exist on a federal level right regardless of
Speaker 1: what these one hundred and eighty eight Republicans are suggesting
Speaker 1: to know that that's the world that we're moving into.
Speaker 1: I think that's a beautiful thing. I think it's a
Speaker 1: wonderful thing. And for me to know that this is
Speaker 1: our reality, it makes me feel optimistic. Oftentimes on the show,
Speaker 1: we're not able to feel that way, and it makes
Speaker 1: me feel hopeful, and it makes me feel like we're
Speaker 1: growing closer as brothers and sisters in this country and
Speaker 1: on this planet. And so I'm happy that I got
Speaker 1: to share this story about the Crown Act and a
Speaker 1: little bit of my story too. It's always kind of
Speaker 1: fun when I get to do that on the show.
Speaker 1: So so yeah, onward and upward. Let's keep it going, y'all.
Speaker 1: Now it's time for the Way Black History Fact. Today's
Speaker 1: Way Black History Fact comes from cnn dot com, and
Speaker 1: we are going to talk about the all Black Women's
Speaker 1: World War II unit, which is going to be awarded
Speaker 1: the Congressional Gold Medal. Much of this article was contributed
Speaker 1: by Eric Levinson, neilam Borah, and Redeka Meira All of CNN.
Speaker 1: All right, I will read, oh wait too, I think
Speaker 1: your mic is off. I'll read an all Black Women's
Speaker 1: Army Corps unit that sorted millions of pieces of mail
Speaker 1: and unheated warehouses during World War Two will finally be
Speaker 1: awarded a Congressional Gold Medal decades after the fact. President
Speaker 1: Joe Biden signed a bill into law on March fourteenth
Speaker 1: that awards a Congressional Gold Medal to the women of
Speaker 1: the six eight hundred and eighty eight Central Postal Directory
Speaker 1: Battalion nickname six Triple eight. The honor was granted quote
Speaker 1: in recognition of their pioneering military service, devotion to duty,
Speaker 1: and contributions to increase the morale of personnel station in
Speaker 1: the European theater of operations during World War Two. The
Speaker 1: bill states. The bipartisan bill, introduced by Senators Jerry Morgan,
Speaker 1: a Republican from Kansas, and Jackie Rosen, a Democrat from Nevada,
Speaker 1: was passed by the Senate in April and the House
Speaker 1: last monment. The sixth Triple eight was a unit made
Speaker 1: up of about eight hundred fifty ye black women who
Speaker 1: were tasked with overcoming a massive backlog of mail. According
Speaker 1: to the Department of Defense, the unit traveled to Great
Speaker 1: Britain in nineteen forty five, surviving encounters with Nazi U
Speaker 1: boats and a German rocket explosion along the way before
Speaker 1: spending months sorting through mail and packages stacked to the
Speaker 1: ceiling in unheated warehouses. According to the U. S. Army
Speaker 1: Center of Military History, they adopted the model no Mail
Speaker 1: low morale. The units set up a new mail tracking
Speaker 1: system and cleared the six month backlog of mail in
Speaker 1: just three months. The center said. By the end of
Speaker 1: the war, the unit processed about seventeen million pieces of mail.
Speaker 1: According to the National World War Two Museum, like much
Speaker 1: of the country, the military was segregated throughout World War Two,
Speaker 1: Black service members face continuous racism, and the women of
Speaker 1: the six eight hundred eighty eight have sharp memories of
Speaker 1: being segregated on trains, spat at and demean by white
Speaker 1: men and women. The unit later was moved to France
Speaker 1: and then ultimately disbanded without fanfare in nineteen forty six.
Speaker 1: There were no commemoratives ceremonies for members when they came
Speaker 1: home at the end of the war. The sixth Triple
Speaker 1: eight was led by Army major Charity Early, who later
Speaker 1: rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel. She died in
Speaker 1: two thousand and two, and her son praised the belated
Speaker 1: recognition last year. It's wonderful and it's time, said Stanley Earl.
Speaker 1: It should have happened fifty sixty years ago, but now
Speaker 1: is the opportunity for the recognition that these folks did
Speaker 1: all the right things that were so important. As of
Speaker 1: last year, only seven members were believed to still be alive,
Speaker 1: he said. The medal is part of a belated recognition
Speaker 1: of the unit's efforts. In recent years. A monument honoring
Speaker 1: the battalion was dedicated at Fort Leavingworth, Kansas in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: The documentary The six Triple eight nomel Low Morale celebrated
Speaker 1: the mail tracking system of the battalion created. In a statement,
Speaker 1: Moran and Rosen praised the signing of the bill and
Speaker 1: the battalion's war efforts. Quote the heroic barrier breaking members
Speaker 1: of six Triple A Battalion, which included brave Nevada women,
Speaker 1: played a crucial role in the operations of our armed
Speaker 1: forces during World War Two, Rosen said, quote. They deserve
Speaker 1: the nation's highest honors for their service. There is no
Speaker 1: better time to give them this long overdue recognition than
Speaker 1: during Women's History Month. And I'm proud to see President
Speaker 1: Biden sign our bipartisan legislation into law. The women of
Speaker 1: six Triple Eight have earned a special place in history
Speaker 1: for their service to our nation, and as of today,
Speaker 1: their sacrifices enshrined into law with the highest distinction Congress
Speaker 1: can bestow. Moran said quote, it has been an honor
Speaker 1: to meet members of the battalion and help lead this
Speaker 1: effort to awards six Triple Eight with the Congressional Gold Medal,
Speaker 1: the highest expression of national appreciation from Congress. Now I
Speaker 1: want to say something, and then of course, Q you
Speaker 1: jump in. But again I do another show, and recently
Speaker 1: we were talking about the proceedings or the confirmation hearing
Speaker 1: for Judge Kanji Brown Jackson and I had an opportunity
Speaker 1: to discuss why it was so important to see this
Speaker 1: happen and how historic it was. And at the end
Speaker 1: of one of my episodes, and feel free to go
Speaker 1: check it out once again, it's on iHeartMedia's app and
Speaker 1: you look, it's called the Black Information Network Daily Podcast
Speaker 1: with Rams's Job. But as I was recalling how it felt,
Speaker 1: I had a message that I've written, and it said
Speaker 1: that black women have served this country, and black women
Speaker 1: have saved this country from itself time and again, and
Speaker 1: the country is always a little bit better off oft
Speaker 1: when we benefit from a little bit of black girl man.
Speaker 1: And that was dedicated to Judge Jackson, of course, but
Speaker 1: indirectly dedicated to all black women who have in fact
Speaker 1: saved this country from itself time and again. Think voting right,
Speaker 1: black women tend to help save the country. I mean,
Speaker 1: depending on who you're talking to, but a lot of
Speaker 1: people really feel that way. Black women have turned the
Speaker 1: tides in a lot of very important elections in this
Speaker 1: country's history, and anytime black women are recognized, it's very important.
Speaker 1: And obviously we have a show here that exists to
Speaker 1: provide some balance so that we're so that people don't
Speaker 1: think we're just rappers and singers and dancers, that we
Speaker 1: can so we can be politically informed and politically engaged
Speaker 1: as well. And because we have this show, we are
Speaker 1: always going to do our best to celebrate some black
Speaker 1: girl magic. So yeah, and the last minute, your response
Speaker 1: to this battalion, what do you think your thoughts?
Speaker 3: To say it is incredible will be an understatement. Trying
Speaker 3: to imagine their conditions, the way that they were treated
Speaker 3: by their fellow soldiers, be they black, I mean, be
Speaker 3: they white men or women, Black women in this country
Speaker 3: have had to bear inhumane conditions, treatment, and even legislation.
Speaker 1: For far too.
Speaker 3: Long, and for those who are not paying attention, even
Speaker 3: the way that Justice Jackson is being treated, you know,
Speaker 3: and open hearings by members of our government could be
Speaker 3: viewed as abusive. So to say that this is overdue
Speaker 3: is an understatement. They deserve this honor understatement, and I
Speaker 3: smile a little bit at it, but I'm still kind
Speaker 3: of disappointed at where we are as a country with
Speaker 3: regard to our treatment, recognition, and respect of black women.
Speaker 1: Well, you know what it is. You know. You could
Speaker 1: look at it like it's too little too late. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you are, but I'm saying one could
Speaker 1: look at it like it's too little too late. But
Speaker 1: I think that I'm choosing to look at it like,
Speaker 1: you know, better late than never, you know.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: And yeah, had had this not happened, I might not
Speaker 1: have been even known about this. I learned so much
Speaker 1: during this show that I never expected. And so you know,
Speaker 1: I'll take it. I'll take it. You know, it's about time,
Speaker 1: so we'll leave it right there. So once again, thanks
Speaker 1: for tuning in to Civic Cipher I'm your host.
Speaker 3: Rams's josh I go by the name q Ward.
Speaker 1: Be sure to check us out at Civic Cipher dot
Speaker 1: comedy download this in any previous episodes. The domination helps
Speaker 1: the show grown shows growing because we follow us on
Speaker 1: our social media at Civic Cipher and until next week.
Speaker 3: Y'all correct, Hey, y'all, like yo, we handle this.
Speaker 2: These brothers a fabulous that our lady showing you where
Speaker 2: bomb traveled this world speak tones from sunlight to move
Speaker 2: busting on stage like gonna fights the.
Speaker 1: Mock roll my mic back.
Speaker 3: You're like that.
Speaker 2: Journalists with journalists too. We can strike the borders with
Speaker 2: waters from head, borders behind in, the beline sides up,
Speaker 2: and the borders the press passing.
Speaker 1: We bring it to you as it happens.
Speaker 2: The streets love popping from music and rapping the street
Speaker 2: compand to slash, we expander. You're gonna fight the slander
Speaker 2: with the proper propaganda.
Speaker 1: What's happenings?
Speaker 2: You've got a questions to ask in deduces just a
Speaker 2: TV show you're passing And this from a wife wartime
Speaker 2: journalist headlines wait God, prehis and recess like this like
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