Speaker 1: Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast
Speaker 1: the balance and defend the discourse from the Hip Hop
Speaker 1: Weekly Studios. Welcome back to Civic Cipher. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Ramses joh.
Speaker 2: Rams' job is a superhero. I just need to say
Speaker 2: that outloud. My name is Quentin Ward, but my friends
Speaker 2: called me Q and you guys are still I hope
Speaker 2: tuned in to Civic e Cipher and.
Speaker 1: If not, then welcome, Welcome, Welcome to the show. We
Speaker 1: got a lot to talk about, including how to get recharged.
Speaker 3: Okay, that's necessary.
Speaker 1: Yeah, man, you need some flowers, You need some community,
Speaker 1: you need some fellowship, you need some joy for those
Speaker 1: of you who want the world to be a better place.
Speaker 1: For those of you have hearts that beat the way
Speaker 1: that ours beat, that feel like we can be better
Speaker 1: as a people, as a country. Community is necessary, and
Speaker 1: we're going to share an example of us coming back
Speaker 1: from the National Urban League National Conference where we were
Speaker 1: energized by community, and we hope that our shy our
Speaker 1: story will inspire you but also encourage you to seek
Speaker 1: out community. Ird Before we get there, it's time to
Speaker 1: discuss Baba becoming a better allied. Baba and today's Bobba
Speaker 1: sponsored by Friends of the Movement. You can sign up
Speaker 1: for the free voter whilet from Fotmglobal dot Com support
Speaker 1: Black businesses and allied businesses as well as make an
Speaker 1: impact with your spending. Again, that's Fotmglobal dot Com and
Speaker 1: Today's BABA comes from the Black Information Network. Black and
Speaker 1: other minority farmers are receiving two billion dollars in direct
Speaker 1: payments from the federal government after facing years of discrimination.
Speaker 1: The Associated Press reports, man, if I could pick a
Speaker 1: life that was full of discrimination and hardship and then
Speaker 1: you get paid a little bit of money at the
Speaker 1: end of it all, I wouldn't pick it right, But
Speaker 1: this is my life. I'm happy, I'm proud. But man,
Speaker 1: nobody would choose this. I don't want to talk about
Speaker 1: discrimination all day. But this is a story and you
Speaker 1: need to know about it. We appreciate your allyship I'll continue.
Speaker 1: According to the USD, over twenty three thousand farmers were
Speaker 1: approved to receive payments ranging from ten thousand to five
Speaker 1: hundred thousand. Five hundred thousand dollars sorry. Another twenty thousand
Speaker 1: people who plan to start a farm but were denied
Speaker 1: a USD alone receive payments between thirty five hundred and
Speaker 1: six thousand. The payments come after a long history of
Speaker 1: the USDA refusing to process loans for black farmers, approving
Speaker 1: smaller loans compared to white farmers, and putting foreclosures on
Speaker 1: black farmers quicker than their counterparts. In a statement, USDA
Speaker 1: Secretary Tom Vilsack said the payment quote is not compensation
Speaker 1: for anyone's loss or the pain endured, but it is
Speaker 1: an acknowledgment by the department.
Speaker 3: Quote.
Speaker 1: National Black Farmers Association founder and president John Boyd Junior
Speaker 1: said the aid is helpful, but only serves as a
Speaker 1: band aid to a bigger problem.
Speaker 3: Quote.
Speaker 1: It's like putting a bandage on somebody that needs open
Speaker 1: heart surgery.
Speaker 3: Boyd said.
Speaker 1: We want our land, and I want to be very
Speaker 1: very clear about that. Boyd is still active in a
Speaker 1: federal lawsuit over the one hundred and twenty percent debt
Speaker 1: relief that was approved by Congress for black farmers in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. Five billion dollars was allocated for the
Speaker 1: program in the one point nine trillion dollar COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: stimulus package. However, black farmers never received the money, as
Speaker 1: white farmers filed several lawsuits claiming their constitutional rights were
Speaker 1: being violated because they were excluded from receiving that aid.
Speaker 1: I doesn't feel like Babo does it, but it is
Speaker 1: kind of is. It's not nothing.
Speaker 2: When we were going over the story, I wrote in
Speaker 2: my notes two billion is not enough. But we have
Speaker 2: to acknowledge that two billion is something. And to continue
Speaker 2: to do nothing because it's not enough, I don't think
Speaker 2: would be the right step to take either. So one
Speaker 2: step forward, hopefully followed by a.
Speaker 3: Bunch of their steps.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that's a good segue, because you
Speaker 1: take your wins where you can get them. We in
Speaker 1: this country, black people in particular, but all marginalized communities
Speaker 1: are fighting a hard, uphill battle that we don't get
Speaker 1: to win in our lifetimes. You know, Doctor Martin Luther
Speaker 1: King said it best. You know, I've seen the promised land.
Speaker 1: I may not get there with you, and I feel
Speaker 1: that way too. I feel like I'm not going to
Speaker 1: live in a world where I don't have to worry
Speaker 1: about my sons. That won't be what happens with my life.
Speaker 1: I will never be free of this burden, this worry,
Speaker 1: but I will do my job, and hopefully my sons
Speaker 1: will do their job, and their sons will do their job,
Speaker 1: and one day we will all be able to live
Speaker 1: in an environment, in a country, in cities, in a
Speaker 1: world that doesn't need to have conversations about reparations, because
Speaker 1: those conversations will be in hindsight, and the reparations will
Speaker 1: be effective, and they will create economic empowerment for marginalized
Speaker 1: communities and create access. And then the systems that we
Speaker 1: discuss on the show that artificially repress and suppress the
Speaker 1: initiatives and the aspirations of marginalized peoples in this country
Speaker 1: will have been eliminated and everyone will have a more
Speaker 1: equitable go at. Let's call it the American dream or
Speaker 1: having a human experience.
Speaker 3: Period. But now.
Speaker 1: We have a fight on our hands, and it is
Speaker 1: easy to become discouraged. Even with two billion dollars in
Speaker 1: rewards for the farmers, we had to talk about six
Speaker 1: hundred billion dollars that was stolen from us through unfair
Speaker 1: taxes and people stealing land. And then you and I
Speaker 1: were born in the eighties into a world and you know,
Speaker 1: I'm from Compton, you're from Detroit, but we're born in
Speaker 1: environments where we look around and we're like, you know,
Speaker 1: it seems normal when you're a kid. When you get
Speaker 1: a little older, you're like, not everybody lives like this.
Speaker 1: Why was I born like this? And why are the
Speaker 1: back the black people the ones that are like this?
Speaker 1: And why did I have to be born like that?
Speaker 1: And you know, these people seem happy and these people
Speaker 1: are shooting and starving and standing in welfare lines, and
Speaker 1: you know, and it's just your story, and you what
Speaker 1: do you do? You can't change it. But I think
Speaker 1: that understanding that you have to have your fight, you
Speaker 1: have to go, you have to play your part, which
Speaker 1: is something that both of us do.
Speaker 3: It. That fight is.
Speaker 1: An easier fight when you feel like there's progress being made,
Speaker 1: even if it's little incremental progress, and it's energizing while
Speaker 1: you're fighting to know that you're not fighting alone. You
Speaker 1: and I we sit in this studio every week and
Speaker 1: we discuss heavy topics and I cry all the time,
Speaker 1: and I thank you for for allowing that, because I
Speaker 1: don't want to cry.
Speaker 3: Who wants to cry? But this stuff is heavy.
Speaker 1: But every so often we get outside and we get
Speaker 1: around other people, and it breathed life into our campaign here,
Speaker 1: and I want you to discuss something that you shared
Speaker 1: with me when we were at the National Urban League
Speaker 1: conference about It was about Captain America. So I want
Speaker 1: you to say that because it was so perfect, So
Speaker 1: share that with our listeners.
Speaker 2: Kid, Well, I have to start where you left off. Okay, please,
Speaker 2: we're in this studio as you guys, hear our voices,
Speaker 2: and this is a comprehensive endeavor for the two of us,
Speaker 2: quite literally everything about this show, from the production to
Speaker 2: the imaging, to the writing, to the camera work to
Speaker 2: the research. We are the show talent. We are the
Speaker 2: show producers. We are the show engineers, we are the
Speaker 2: show mixers, we are the show.
Speaker 3: We're the show.
Speaker 2: And we understand that we're not the only people that
Speaker 2: care about the things that we're talking about because we
Speaker 2: have a show, so there has to be an audience
Speaker 2: for that. And a lot of you reach out to
Speaker 2: us via social media, via email and we appreciate that.
Speaker 2: But when the only people that you see in the
Speaker 2: fight with the frequency that we see each other is
Speaker 2: each other, Ramses has heard me say on these microphones,
Speaker 2: and when these microphones are off, what are we doing.
Speaker 2: There's the work that we do matter, Are we having
Speaker 2: any impact? Are we actually making any progress? It can
Speaker 2: get very discouraging. And then there's the comment section on
Speaker 2: anywhere you can find Ramses and Q and civic cipher
Speaker 2: flooded with people who do not think and feel the
Speaker 2: way that we do. And that part always confuses me.
Speaker 2: I think that's why I get in such a negative
Speaker 2: emotional space is because I can't compute.
Speaker 1: Well. Speaking of compute, a lot of them are bots.
Speaker 1: I found that out recently, so just take that with you.
Speaker 2: But but for those that aren't, I could understand why
Speaker 2: our former present that would be a fan of himself.
Speaker 2: I get it. All the things that he wants to
Speaker 2: do benefit him directly, so I think he's despicable. And
Speaker 2: of course I don't agree with anything that he ever says. Ever,
Speaker 2: I get it though, everything that he wants to do
Speaker 2: will make his life good.
Speaker 3: If everyone negatively.
Speaker 2: Impacted by his messaging, I would say by his policy,
Speaker 2: but he doesn't really have any policy. It's like, hey,
Speaker 2: I hate all these groups of people, do you.
Speaker 3: Guys hate him too? Awesome, Let's run for president.
Speaker 2: However, once in office, you have to do something, So
Speaker 2: he just does things that lean into that hate, that
Speaker 2: desire for divisiveness, and the results impact so many people
Speaker 2: in a negative way that if all of those people
Speaker 2: against him, you wouldn't even have to tally the votes.
Speaker 2: It would be a landslide victory that wasn't even close
Speaker 2: enough for you to have to at the last minute
Speaker 2: still be trying to do to count those last few
Speaker 2: million votes.
Speaker 3: Nope.
Speaker 2: So sometimes I feel like we're the ones who are
Speaker 2: like crazy because we're saying things out loud to each
Speaker 2: other that we think are like obvious truths and make sense,
Speaker 2: and then we get weird pushback from people online, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, rams.
Speaker 1: Are.
Speaker 3: Are we okay? Like? Are we? Are we the ones
Speaker 3: that are tripping?
Speaker 1: Like let me, let me, let me add something right here.
Speaker 1: Some people have a predisposition toward community helping everyone. Some
Speaker 1: people have a predisposition toward helping themselves. It's a scarcity mindset,
Speaker 1: you know. And I'm not saying that there's no only
Speaker 1: two groups and people are permanently relegated to that, but
Speaker 1: go with me. It came across a meme recently, and
Speaker 1: the meme said, if you could bring one of these
Speaker 1: things back, which would it be? And one of them
Speaker 1: was two bedroom apartments for five hundred dollars. One of
Speaker 1: them was eighty nine cent gas, one of them was
Speaker 1: you can afford to use car for like a thousand bucks,
Speaker 1: and the other one was like grocery store prices were
Speaker 1: super cheap. And you could see how all of those
Speaker 1: could help everyone in society. But what I noticed is
Speaker 1: that people's impulse was to go gas prices or grocery
Speaker 1: store or whatever. But the thing that helps the most
Speaker 1: people was the rent. And it's almost like people were
Speaker 1: blind to that that if I chose rent, even if
Speaker 1: I'm not a renter, Ramses doesn't rent, I own. I
Speaker 1: own all the properties that I have, So for me,
Speaker 1: rent is that's not a thing. But I do realize
Speaker 1: how much it helps society because when you can't afford
Speaker 1: your rent, the next thing that happens is either a shelter,
Speaker 1: which is technically homeless, or on the streets, which is
Speaker 1: also homeless. And then the problems start. If you have kids,
Speaker 1: you need daycare, If you need trying to get a job,
Speaker 1: where's your address, like it's a nightmare. If you have
Speaker 1: any other condition, health issues, you need medicines, you need
Speaker 1: deliver whatever it starts there, so you see how housing
Speaker 1: holds up.
Speaker 3: The rest of society. Well, a lot of people they can't.
Speaker 1: Gas prices, which is great, so it's groceries.
Speaker 3: Listen.
Speaker 1: I'm not mad at anybody says that, but you got
Speaker 1: to understand that some people they can only see their
Speaker 1: immediate reality and things that can benefit them. And I
Speaker 1: think that people like you and me and people that
Speaker 1: listen to the show are people that can think beyond themselves. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and put ourselves second because we'll benefit ultimately as well.
Speaker 2: I think everyone has a hint of self first. I
Speaker 2: think that's a natural inclination. That's, however, not what I'm
Speaker 2: talking about. I'm talking about people who are going out
Speaker 2: of their way to make life hard.
Speaker 3: Those are the extreme.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's different than just making it better for yourself,
Speaker 2: because I think most people, hey, let me feed my
Speaker 2: kids and then I'll donate to that charity that helps
Speaker 2: everybody else.
Speaker 3: That's normal. But let me get rid of that charity
Speaker 3: because that food ain't for my kids.
Speaker 2: That's a whole different. Not let me not donate, No, no, no,
Speaker 2: you have to stop that. Those are the type of
Speaker 2: people that were dealing I'm thinking of the Fearless Fund
Speaker 2: exactly right.
Speaker 3: Point.
Speaker 2: I don't don't remember the amount, but it was less
Speaker 2: than a tenth of a percent of funding for new
Speaker 2: business founders and new entrepreneurs that are women minority. It's
Speaker 2: less than a tenth of one percent that went to
Speaker 2: black women. And someone said, no, that's not allowed. That's
Speaker 2: what I'm talking about. Everyone has some sense of let
Speaker 2: me take care of mine and let me put my
Speaker 2: mask on first. I get it, even people who are
Speaker 2: grossly selfish, sure, but those who go out of their
Speaker 2: way to make life worse or more difficult for other people,
Speaker 2: that's almost said a bad word.
Speaker 3: That's different.
Speaker 1: Okay, So let me I don't understand, So let me
Speaker 1: stop you right here now. With the weight of this
Speaker 1: that we carry with us into all the conversations and
Speaker 1: with these that's one fight that we have to fight,
Speaker 1: just one.
Speaker 3: We got a ton of them we have to have.
Speaker 1: We have to be versed on every type of conversation politically, police,
Speaker 1: societal systemic injustices, economic dismpower disenfranchisement, uh, critical race there
Speaker 1: like you name it, environmental racism, all kinds of stuff. Right,
Speaker 1: it can become overwhelming. But what happens in this Marvel
Speaker 1: movie with Captain America.
Speaker 3: So that anyone has seen.
Speaker 2: Avengers Endgame and the color that I just provided was
Speaker 2: very necessary because I want you guys to understand why
Speaker 2: Rams and I feel like this scene from this movie.
Speaker 2: At the climax of the movie, Captain America, Thor and
Speaker 2: Iron Man finally encounter Thanos again that was just the
Speaker 2: bad guy for those after the events of Infinity War,
Speaker 2: and even after some events that happened earlier in this
Speaker 2: movie where they encounter him and get rid of him
Speaker 2: for lack of a better term, they finally encounter him
Speaker 2: in a meaningful way that will have a tremendous impact
Speaker 2: on the entire universe. And once again is very important
Speaker 2: to point out Danos did away with them in Infinity
Speaker 2: War and End Game. He's doing it again. And we
Speaker 2: are used to this arc and storytelling where the good
Speaker 2: guy comes out on top. Not in this case. Dano's
Speaker 2: whooped him into the last movie. He whipping him again
Speaker 2: in this movie, which is synonymous with what our experience
Speaker 2: has been like in this country. We remain under the boot.
Speaker 2: We are not even allowed self determination because we have
Speaker 2: not aggressively sought out our reparations we have not aggressively
Speaker 2: sought out to be paid back. We just want to exist.
Speaker 2: The forty acres and a mule that we never got
Speaker 2: we got and was taken back. Then can we just
Speaker 2: have what we have and be happy. Nope, can't do
Speaker 2: that either. We will seek you out any happiness, Yeah,
Speaker 2: any happiness, an the ownership in the autonomy, anywhere where
Speaker 2: you're thriving, we will seek it out and put it away.
Speaker 2: We will get rid of it. You're not even allowed
Speaker 2: to exist in the way that all these documents that
Speaker 2: were written in the seventeen hundred said you could.
Speaker 3: And as Thanos is.
Speaker 2: Doing his thing again, there is a moment where the
Speaker 2: only person standing is Captain America. He is the only
Speaker 2: person on camera, and bloody and broken, his indestructible shield broken,
Speaker 2: his limbs broken, his face bloody. He stands up, tightens
Speaker 2: the strap on his shield, and is ready to get
Speaker 2: after it. Let's get busy. But what he's facing is
Speaker 2: not just Thanos, but the entirety of his army that
Speaker 2: he's gathered throughout different galaxies, in different universes. You know,
Speaker 2: imagine millions of soldiers and ships and giants and Thanos
Speaker 2: and Captain America like, let's get it me against the
Speaker 2: entirety of you, and audibly you hear a callback from
Speaker 2: I think the movie was Civil War of Sam saying
Speaker 2: on your left, and in the theater you could hear
Speaker 2: everyone kind of like, did I just hear what I
Speaker 2: think I just heard? And as you're figuring that out,
Speaker 2: these sling portals start to open, and Doctor Strange and
Speaker 2: Pepper Potts and Black Panther and all of the Wakandans
Speaker 2: and the Sorcerers Supreme and all of his Sorcerers and
Speaker 2: soldiers and other Avengers start to arrive through these portals.
Speaker 2: And when ramses and I walked into the World War
Speaker 2: three after the World War Two I'm sorry two the
Speaker 2: World War Two Museum in New Orleans during the National
Speaker 2: Urban League's National conference, it felt like we stepped through
Speaker 2: one of those portals, or like everyone else to say,
Speaker 2: to the portals into where we were fighting this thing
Speaker 2: by ourselves. And we looked at each other, and we
Speaker 2: looked around and realized, not only are we not by ourselves,
Speaker 2: but we are surrounded by real active champions in this space.
Speaker 2: And ramsays, you can name some of the incredible Avengers
Speaker 2: that lost into this room with us.
Speaker 1: Listen throughout the whole week that we were there. Just
Speaker 1: to share a few names. Let's go with Justin Pearson.
Speaker 1: See Jasmine Crockett was there, Gary Chambers, Mark Moreal, he was.
Speaker 3: Like the hero of he is the hero who's the irony.
Speaker 1: Tony Calls from a Black Information Network was there, of course,
Speaker 1: he was one of the presenters. Ben Crump was there.
Speaker 1: And on top of that, the National Urban League. You
Speaker 1: would think is all black people, right, and make no mistake,
Speaker 1: it was a black event thoroughly, but man, let me
Speaker 1: tell you it was some people in there that wasn't black,
Speaker 1: and they was with it. And they they are people
Speaker 1: that were born to love and they're fans of equity
Speaker 1: and they, you know, are just the best kind of it.
Speaker 1: Like if I go to heaven and those white people
Speaker 1: ain't there, I'm in the wrong place because those people
Speaker 1: are going to the right heaven. I just you can
Speaker 1: see it. You could, you could feel their energy. And
Speaker 1: you know, this show exists too. Again Foster and cultivate allyship.
Speaker 1: We try to give you a lens into a life
Speaker 1: that you might not know about, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: And we try to inform and all that sort of
Speaker 1: thing too. But but you know, we don't always know
Speaker 1: who the message reaches. Well, when we were there, people
Speaker 1: were coming up to us knowing who we were.
Speaker 3: That part would never stop being stressed.
Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy, you know? And it just was a
Speaker 1: fantastic event. We were able to do our live podcast
Speaker 1: which is up on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast
Speaker 1: if you want to check that out, and where we
Speaker 1: talked about, you know, the gen Z effect on you know,
Speaker 1: the vote, the upcoming election. But the point we wanted
Speaker 1: to share with you for today's episode is that that
Speaker 1: sense of community was invigorating and we know that it's
Speaker 1: really easy to falter, you know, slow down with your activism.
Speaker 1: And if you find that that's true for you, I
Speaker 1: promise plugging in with community, we'll get you right back
Speaker 1: on track. So we have to leave that one right there.
Speaker 1: As always, the show is too short and we have
Speaker 1: more content than time, but we do appreciate what we
Speaker 1: are able to share with you. So shout out to
Speaker 1: all the programmers around the country, and of course shout
Speaker 1: out to you for listening to us talk about these
Speaker 1: very important issues each and every week. Once again, I
Speaker 1: have been your host Rams' job. He is ramses Jah
Speaker 1: I am q Ward. We are also going to start
Speaker 1: giving you guys more right there is a show that
Speaker 1: we do for the radio that you guys tune into
Speaker 1: every week. We are going to start.
Speaker 2: Doing more for the socials, more for our YouTubers, more
Speaker 2: for those who don't sit in the car and listen
Speaker 2: to the radio. You know, we have the podcast as well.
Speaker 2: We're going to start having some exclusive content that's not
Speaker 2: a part of the show that you guys tune into
Speaker 2: every week.
Speaker 3: Yea.
Speaker 1: And in order to tap into that, you can hit
Speaker 1: us everywhere at civic side for civ C, C I,
Speaker 1: P H E ER. That's on every social media side
Speaker 1: except Twitter. We don't rock with them, So tap in
Speaker 1: with us until next week, y'all.
Speaker 3: Peace,