WEBVTT - Everything is Political Part 1 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:07.160 What's up, family, I'm your girl to make a d 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:10.600 Mallory and it's your boy, my son in general, and 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:14.480 we are your hosts of street politicians the place streets 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.800 and politics. Me, what's going on, my son, Lennin, you know, 0:00:19.079 --> 0:00:23.759 just putting up with it? This weather is freezing, like everywhere, 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:28.120 it's cold. It ain't like well nowhere all of America 0:00:28.360 --> 0:00:31.920 except in Miami. I guess that's what they said. They say, 0:00:32.000 --> 0:00:35.760 you know it's always warm in Miami. Yeah, well not always. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:41.400 I used to live hour and a half south of Miami, 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:47.360 and sometimes you need your coke like a jacket or cool. No, no, 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:52.640 you know, forty degrees it's cold, you know, especially for them. 0:00:53.040 --> 0:00:56.760 It's places like Atlanta that really make me laugh though, 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.639 because they still, in all these years, have not been 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:03.760 able to catch up with the weather issues, even though 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:07.800 George's weather has changed so much, and so whenever they 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.639 whenever it gets cold or there's a snow, a little 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.840 bit of snow, it shuts down the whole town and 0:01:13.959 --> 0:01:16.360 people are like on the roads for hours and hours. 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:19.360 And in fact, that happened in Virginia just a few 0:01:19.360 --> 0:01:23.120 weeks ago, where people were on the road stuck for 0:01:23.240 --> 0:01:27.040 maybe like twenty four hours because of snow that is 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:29.600 nothing like what we get in New York. So I guess, 0:01:29.640 --> 0:01:33.520 you know, other places they don't like this snow. Yeah, 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:37.320 I mean, snow is cool. It just it's just it's 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.680 cool when it first happens. Yes, yes, it just you know, 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.199 it just stops travel. It makes it hard to move. 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:48.559 You're sliding, you're slipping. You know. In theory, snow is cool, 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:52.640 when in reality it hinders a lot of stuff. Man, kids, 0:01:53.000 --> 0:01:55.800 it's good for kids. So there's a lot happening in 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.800 the news. UM, and I think one particular situation that 0:02:00.280 --> 0:02:03.160 most of us have been watching for a while is 0:02:03.240 --> 0:02:08.280 that of the case of Lauren smith Fields. She was 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.440 twenty three years old. I believe UM went on a 0:02:11.520 --> 0:02:15.360 date with someone that she met online from Bumble and 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:20.160 UM that evening, I guess she died. Um. There was 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:23.520 lots of drugs in her system. The man who she 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.359 was with UM at first was I think he called 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:30.720 the police, but then after calling the police, he may 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:34.880 have disappeared. But once they were able to interview him 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.600 or talk to him, they found that he was a 0:02:37.800 --> 0:02:40.560 the police. They found he was a very nice man, 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.240 and they decided that they would not investigate him and 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:46.680 they would let him go and just decide that she 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:51.760 had a drug overdose. UM. And you know, uh, this 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:55.440 happened in Connecticut. The man happens to be a white man, 0:02:56.160 --> 0:03:00.160 and there has been outraged for a while about out 0:03:00.160 --> 0:03:03.040 this situation. When I first saw it, it was about 0:03:03.080 --> 0:03:07.760 two months ago. UM I reached out to um miss 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:12.280 Fields family members and had just been trying to see, 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:14.960 you know, what could we potentially do to support But 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:19.000 they have a great attorney who used to be one 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:23.239 of the presidents of one of the Connecticut uh in 0:03:23.360 --> 0:03:26.240 double A CP and so he had been working and 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:30.600 you know, different people involved. And then Cardi b spoke 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.760 out about the situation. She you know, and first of all, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.160 as far as they were concerned the the report that 0:03:37.240 --> 0:03:42.080 came back the autopsy in in this particular jurisdiction in Connecticut, 0:03:42.360 --> 0:03:46.800 their position was that it was a close matter, um, 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:51.040 that it was you know, accidental or drug overdose and 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:54.280 that's it. So they were not even going to potentially 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:57.120 look at, you know, whether she had a history of 0:03:57.200 --> 0:04:01.640 drug abuse or you know, where did these drugs come from? 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:04.440 You know, whether or not this man supplied the drugs. 0:04:04.840 --> 0:04:07.120 They weren't even look into any of those things. But 0:04:07.160 --> 0:04:10.320 when Cardi spoke out about it, uh, it made it 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.800 brought more attention. You started to see more information pick 0:04:13.880 --> 0:04:17.360 up online. I know. Also some time ago, Shaun King 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:21.640 had been talking about the case. So now it seems 0:04:21.680 --> 0:04:24.719 that there is going to be an investigation. The criminal 0:04:24.760 --> 0:04:28.159 investigation has happened. Bumble has sort of come back into 0:04:28.200 --> 0:04:32.719 the conversation. At first, their statement was very dry. Um. 0:04:32.760 --> 0:04:35.719 You know, corporations try to invest to stay away from 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:39.680 anything as it relates to protecting black women unfortunately and 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:43.480 just black people in general. Um and which is a 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:47.520 major critique. But they now have weighed in there will 0:04:47.600 --> 0:04:50.640 be a criminal investigation, and that's a real, real good 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.320 thing for this family that has really been mourning the 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.719 loss of their daughter and feeling so broken about what 0:04:56.880 --> 0:05:01.279 happened to her. It was, it was very very crazy, tragic. Man. 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.680 I've been reading up on it. You know, good to 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.279 see that actually opening a criminal case on him and 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.960 shout out the Cardi b for you know, utilizing her 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.680 voice in her platform and just speaking of Cardi, you know, 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.760 Cardi just got some good news in the news lately, 0:05:15.800 --> 0:05:19.320 you know, she was awarded for her defamation suit against 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:23.599 I forgot who exactly it was. She's a I don't 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.880 think she's a YouTuber. She's like, I don't know she's 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:30.440 she's maybe and I don't even know what we call. 0:05:31.080 --> 0:05:33.520 I don't want to be disrespectful to the work that 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:36.680 they do, But I guess she's a blogger. She's she 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:40.920 does YouTube videos and I think she has a podcast 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:44.800 as well. Her name is so yeah, she was. She 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:49.159 had put out some allegations about Cardi B And after 0:05:49.320 --> 0:05:52.960 years of litigation, you know, Cardi was awarded almost about 0:05:52.960 --> 0:05:57.520 four million dollars roughly more or less. And you know, 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.840 I think it's at precedent. You know, I've definitely been 0:06:00.880 --> 0:06:04.719 a victim of quote unquote cyber bullying when they just 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.279 make up things and talk about you and utilize these 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.800 platforms and YouTube pages just to come up with the 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:15.080 most outrageous and outlanders things to try to defame and 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:17.560 discredit you. So you know, you know, I might try 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:19.880 my hand in it, man, I might look and see 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.839 if if I give me a couple of dollars, man, 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:26.120 Yeah right, yeah right. I actually posted that a few 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:30.880 nights ago, after the whole situation happened. I posted that 0:06:31.080 --> 0:06:34.000 it's you know, maybe I need to get some clips 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:37.800 from YouTube and call some of the lawyers, the many 0:06:37.880 --> 0:06:41.040 lawyers that I know. In fact, three lawyers went into 0:06:41.080 --> 0:06:43.880 the comments section like let's do it, like, let me 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:47.520 know when you want to file, um, you know, against 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.760 some of these folks, because to your point, um, you know, 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.360 people spend a lot of time. Sometimes I look at 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:57.520 the YouTube hits and I have been, um guilty of 0:06:57.720 --> 0:07:01.760 not using YouTube and all these other platforms for my 0:07:01.880 --> 0:07:05.839 own reasons, right, Like there are people who are literally 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:10.200 making money every day on our names because they need 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.280 the clicks, they need the subscriptions, they need the likes, 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:19.040 and I, you know, but I actually am like, damn, 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.880 I'm not even using it as much on my own name. 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:26.120 And you know, on one hand, I really, first of all, 0:07:26.240 --> 0:07:28.040 don't have a lot of time, and I know Cardi 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.040 doesn't either, so you know, it takes a good legal 0:07:31.080 --> 0:07:34.160 team that keeps things going. But I don't have a 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.920 lot of time or energy for it. However, and the 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.160 other part of it is that clearly these are people 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:45.360 that are so desperate they need your content in order 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.640 to or need you to make content because they don't 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.760 have anything that they can talk about that would help 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:54.800 them to be able to, you know, be successful on 0:07:54.880 --> 0:07:57.880 these platforms on their own. So they need to be 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.760 able to use the name of other people who have following, 0:08:02.960 --> 0:08:07.720 who have support, who have haters. Uh, And they need that. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:12.240 And I think it's pretty pitiful when your entire platform 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:17.800 is being built off of you trying to discredit, destroy, 0:08:18.000 --> 0:08:22.600 defame another individual. Um and you know, and and and 0:08:22.680 --> 0:08:26.080 in in this particular situation, there were things that she 0:08:26.200 --> 0:08:30.520 said about Cardi that probably would have never progressed in court, 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.800 right because either it came up in one of Cardi's 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:37.920 songs or she said something that gave that alluded to 0:08:38.040 --> 0:08:41.720 these different issues. But the one thing that you can't 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:46.040 do is say that someone has a venereal disease or 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:50.320 that someone is having a sleeping with someone and you 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.200 don't know what you're talking about. That's a problem. You 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:57.120 can't actually do that because that's when it becomes defamation. 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.839 And I know for sure that people have said things 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:04.480 like that and even worse about me. So hey, like 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:07.400 you said, you never know, and I'm really going to 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:10.360 get I'm gonna have some folks take the time because 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:13.040 I don't watch or listen to any of that at all, 0:09:13.520 --> 0:09:16.400 But I probably need somebody to make some clips and 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.640 send it to me so we can make a determination 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:23.240 about whether or not it's something we want to pursue. Yeah, listen, 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:26.520 I'm very vocal and I have opinions about different people, 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:30.040 and sometimes they're not favorable, but their opinions based on 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:32.200 something that I know. You know, so I don't never 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:35.520 state anything as fact. That's not fact, you know. For me, 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.480 it's just lies. If you want to make lies about somebody, 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.040 if you're gonna tell a story, you canna be like you, 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:41.960 I don't really like your shirt, or I don't think 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.600 somebody could wrap good, or those are your opinions. I'm 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:47.600 cool with all that. That's you know, that's critique. That's 0:09:47.640 --> 0:09:50.360 when you're a public figure, you open yourself up for 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.960 levels of critique, have opinions of you. But when you 0:09:54.000 --> 0:09:57.000 start making both faced lies about somebody did this and 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.520 somebody stole this and somebody did this, now you're you're 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.360 utilizing your platform to discredit and lie on somebody. And 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:06.320 that's that's what the problem is for me, because I 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:08.760 don't care what you think about me. That's that's good. 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.240 You got an opinion about it. When you lie, it's 0:10:11.240 --> 0:10:13.680 just stupid, you know, it's just it's just doesn't make sense. 0:10:13.679 --> 0:10:17.000 So shout up to Cardi for probably sending precedents in 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.920 this error right now, and and and letting people know that, Look, 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:22.319 you can have your own opinion, but you don't you 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:25.880 don't get to have your own facts. Yeah. Absolutely, And 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.839 you're right. It's not about whether not people like me 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.560 or they think I'm I'm good at what I do 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.520 or not good at what I do. That's not relevant 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:37.960 whether they think that the Democrats are you know, I'm 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:40.640 loyal to the Democrats. But when people start saying you're 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.360 being paid by the Democrats, that is slander, because the 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:47.640 Democrats have never paid me a damn dime. In fact, 0:10:47.960 --> 0:10:51.400 the Democrats try to run in the opposite direction from 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.960 me so that they don't have to be associated with 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:56.880 whatever other lies that other people have told. And by 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.760 the way, this is not just about YouTubers and bloggers. 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:07.120 I even have major newspapers, like major publications that have 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:12.600 printed complete lies, and you know, and and and and hey, 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.640 that's an even different situation. I don't know if I'm 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:19.760 looking for money from Joe Joe who has a podcast 0:11:19.920 --> 0:11:22.720 or a YouTube page. I'm not even think that's not 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:26.079 even my goal. But I think, like you said, continuing 0:11:26.120 --> 0:11:29.720 to set a precedent that this internet stuff, what what 0:11:29.760 --> 0:11:33.000 people are doing, the bullying, as you said, the harassment, 0:11:33.400 --> 0:11:36.200 it needs to end somewhere. And I just want to 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:38.880 send out my own condolences to the great between the 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:44.400 King who lost her son recently. Um, the whole world 0:11:44.480 --> 0:11:47.720 was shot by that man. I know that you you 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:51.600 you have a level of communication with her so and 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:54.079 you actually met her son, so you know, we were 0:11:54.120 --> 0:11:57.320 together when the news happened, and I've seen how you 0:11:57.400 --> 0:11:59.319 responded to that. So I just want to send out 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:04.240 my condole to her. Yeah, that's the saddest thing ever. Um, 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:08.480 Regina King is a beautiful, beautiful woman. I spent some 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:13.880 time um during the summer with Regina and in the summer, 0:12:15.720 --> 0:12:22.079 and the relationship between them, it's so beautiful that I 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:25.720 sat and thought to myself, Wow, okay, I want to 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:27.760 make sure that my son, like you know, when I 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:30.680 talked to him, that I say it like this or that. 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.120 Like I was watching them and in my mind mimicking 0:12:34.520 --> 0:12:38.120 how much better my relationship would be if I handle 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.160 certain discussions. Because we were talking about everything, you know, 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:43.520 how that goes is summertime. We were kicking and we 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:48.199 were eating, drinking, chilling, hanging together and you know, and 0:12:48.480 --> 0:12:51.959 we were together for hours. Shout out to my my girl, 0:12:52.000 --> 0:12:55.640 our friend Marvatt Brittle because she is friends with Regina 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:59.400 and she brought us all together over dinner. And you know, 0:12:59.520 --> 0:13:03.600 as we sat there, even his maturity and how he 0:13:03.679 --> 0:13:07.440 was able to talk about his mother's career and different things, 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:10.520 different stories of things that you know, there was those 0:13:10.559 --> 0:13:13.760 old war stories. I sat there and listened to them, 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.680 and I was in awe of the connection, the bond 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.600 that the two of them have. And so to know 0:13:21.840 --> 0:13:25.760 that Um, he died by suicide is so painful, It 0:13:25.920 --> 0:13:31.000 is so painful. And um, there is a state legislator. 0:13:31.480 --> 0:13:34.200 His name escapes me at this moment, but he's a 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:39.079 young black man who also um, has died by suicide 0:13:39.120 --> 0:13:42.720 in the last few days. Also another friend of ours 0:13:43.240 --> 0:13:46.800 who we will you know, of course, protect the identity 0:13:46.840 --> 0:13:49.560 of these individuals, and I actually I think it's not 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:54.079 a secret. But nonetheless, another friend of us of ours 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:58.160 who was a minister, his daughter died by suicide just 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:01.120 in the last several weeks, all so in her twenties. 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:05.160 There's something going on. Um, you know, as you've been saying, 0:14:05.679 --> 0:14:08.880 and I and you and I have debated and discussed 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:12.679 this whole issue of people and during a pandemic, being 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:16.120 locked in their homes, being away from people, away from 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:20.560 their regular movement, you know, away from folks who might 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:24.080 check on. You can see something in your eyes, the 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:28.000 changes in how you operate. There's something to be said 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:30.920 about that. And I just you know, I I don't 0:14:30.920 --> 0:14:36.000 even know how to express to Regina and and his father, 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.640 Ian Senior. Um, you know how sorry I am about 0:14:39.680 --> 0:14:42.280 the loss of their son. I'm sure that she will 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:47.160 come out of this as a powerhouse and do something great, um, 0:14:47.200 --> 0:14:50.400 you know, in this area. So God bless her. That's 0:14:50.400 --> 0:14:53.280 all I can say is God bless her. Definitely, God 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:56.000 bless her. And like I said, we are living in 0:14:56.360 --> 0:15:00.320 very traumatic times and so much trauma, like you said, 0:15:00.360 --> 0:15:03.880 the pandemic, just the streets in general violence, It's just 0:15:03.960 --> 0:15:08.240 so many things I've watched, I've watched you know, people 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:12.480 that I know, I've I've seen mental just your mentality 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.680 is just shifted in this time, you know, and it's 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.440 it's it's harder to deal with, you know. So I'm 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.880 praying for our youth. I'm praying for everyone who's dealing 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:23.240 with that trauma. I'm praying for everyone who's having those 0:15:23.280 --> 0:15:26.320 thoughts right now. You know that that you reach out 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:28.800 to somebody you know, get you some therapy, get you 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:31.880 someone that you feel comfortable talking to, But don't hold 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:35.040 it in right and don't get to a place where 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.479 it's so dark that you feel like that's your only options. 0:15:38.520 --> 0:15:42.800 So absolutely, and you can never and you never know 0:15:42.840 --> 0:15:46.000 why people make these decisions, so you can never think 0:15:46.040 --> 0:15:50.640 you're above it. And once again RP to Iron and 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:53.680 our love goes out to Regina King in that time 0:15:53.800 --> 0:16:03.520 of morning. And Supreme Court Justice Brier is retiring in 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:07.640 six months, which means that there is an open Supreme 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:12.800 Court seat coming up. I think if anybody understands anything 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:16.520 about politics and the way that our society works, the 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:22.280 Supreme Court nominations and confirmations are extremely important. This is 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:28.120 how decisions are made, final decisions at the highest levels 0:16:28.240 --> 0:16:32.080 of the courts um in our society. This is how 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:37.120 decisions are made. Right now, we already have too many 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:41.800 conservative people on the bench on the Supreme Court. That 0:16:41.840 --> 0:16:45.200 does not allow us to be as progressive as we 0:16:45.320 --> 0:16:49.800 need to be to fight against all of this craziness 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:55.560 that's going on. Vote of suppression laws, uh, abortion issues, 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:59.320 a woman's right to choose. There's so many things that's 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:03.920 happening in our society and we have always depended on 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:08.600 the Supreme Court as an option, as a forum um 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.240 that we would be able to go to to get 0:17:11.800 --> 0:17:15.440 have some kind of fairness. So with a seat coming up, 0:17:15.720 --> 0:17:19.720 thank god he's retiring while there is a president in 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:27.240 office that leans leans towards a more liberal or the 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:32.400 more liberal side, so hopefully they will put and and 0:17:32.440 --> 0:17:38.159 get someone confirmed. Nominate someone who is um, who is 0:17:38.320 --> 0:17:41.600 who is more likely to side with you know, people 0:17:41.640 --> 0:17:45.840 like Sonya Soto mayor um the Supreme Court justice from 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:50.439 the bronx right. So hopefully we will find that type 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:55.560 of individual and have them uh confirmed. Now, the whole 0:17:55.680 --> 0:18:00.440 talk of the town is that during the campaign, which 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:03.879 there's there was a lot said during the campaign canceling 0:18:03.920 --> 0:18:08.520 student debt, dealing with criminal justice reform that this administration 0:18:08.840 --> 0:18:12.159 has not made good on. But one of the things 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.720 that they said was that one of the things that 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.040 President Biden said was that he would nominate a black 0:18:18.080 --> 0:18:21.879 woman to the Supreme Court if a seat became open. 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:25.280 So here we are. Now. He has already put eight 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:30.359 black women um at the appellate court level, which is good, 0:18:30.720 --> 0:18:33.639 but the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land, 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:37.480 and it is beyond time. I saw so many people 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:40.439 from you know, Nina turn up and you just name it, 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:44.800 all these folks. Congress Woman Cory Bush tweeting, it's been 0:18:45.000 --> 0:18:48.720 time to have a black woman sit on the Supreme Court. 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:52.680 So here's our shot. So do the right thing, Joe, 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.680 come on the right thing. But any black woman won't 0:18:56.760 --> 0:19:01.840 do so we have to. We're not doing you know, 0:19:01.960 --> 0:19:04.400 we're not doing um what do we call it, um, 0:19:04.560 --> 0:19:07.720 identity politics. Identity politics. We're not doing that. We we 0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:10.800 failed at that already. You know, we've tried that. You know, 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:13.440 moving forward, we need the right black people in land 0:19:13.880 --> 0:19:17.280 in position. But we don't want just any any black 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.000 person in positions. So do the right thing and get 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:24.000 the right person right. So we'll see, Yes, we will. 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:33.080 So from my thought of the day I was sitting 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.480 you know, first of all, of course, people are watching 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:43.399 New York to police officers were murdered here justin in 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:50.040 the last few days. Sick, sad, depressing young men. I 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:52.080 don't care if they were ninety years old, doesn't matter, 0:19:52.280 --> 0:19:56.199 but they still were young men. They didn't deserve it. 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.600 It's so painful. Just so I don't like to see 0:19:59.680 --> 0:20:04.399 people will be murdered in general. Forget about cop guy 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:08.919 on the street, neighbor. You know, families like it's just 0:20:09.200 --> 0:20:12.880 it's the worst thing when it's the worst of us, 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:18.400 when people take the lives of other people literally for 0:20:18.440 --> 0:20:22.479 no reason at all, and it's just it cripples the city. 0:20:22.920 --> 0:20:26.600 It hurts so many people when you see things like 0:20:26.680 --> 0:20:32.000 that happen, and so you know, for those families, same 0:20:32.119 --> 0:20:35.879 with the Regina King's situation. It's a lot of people hurting, 0:20:36.359 --> 0:20:40.359 a lot of people hurting. And I certainly send my 0:20:40.560 --> 0:20:45.359 condolences to the families of these two officers and to 0:20:45.600 --> 0:20:50.199 the entire police force, because that is a scary feeling 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:54.000 that you can show up for work, go to respond 0:20:54.080 --> 0:20:57.320 to a dispute and be shot by someone in a 0:20:57.440 --> 0:21:00.199 in a situation you can never even imagine. I was 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:03.679 thinking to myself, these two officers probably were going you know, 0:21:03.960 --> 0:21:06.320 gonna go try to help out with this dispute that 0:21:06.400 --> 0:21:09.760 seemed to be happening between a mother and son, you know, 0:21:09.960 --> 0:21:13.600 probably laughing in the car or wherever they were talking 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:15.680 to each other. Okay, now let's get out, let's deal 0:21:15.720 --> 0:21:18.800 with this and keep it moving. Who would have thought 0:21:19.080 --> 0:21:21.840 that that moment would be the end of their lives. 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:25.560 It's wrong and there's no way to There's no excuse 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:29.760 you can make for it. There's no political explanation, none 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:33.880 of it. Yes, of course there's some sickness and some 0:21:34.040 --> 0:21:37.320 deep mental illness issues that need to be addressed, but 0:21:37.520 --> 0:21:41.600 even with that, still this these two men should be alive, 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:44.919 These two officers should be alive. Then you have the 0:21:45.000 --> 0:21:48.080 loss of life of the son of a woman who 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:50.199 had to call the police because she was in a 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:53.600 dispute with her son. So now he also is diseased. 0:21:53.880 --> 0:21:56.840 It's just way too much death. And the thing that 0:21:56.880 --> 0:22:00.600 I was thinking, because of course, you start to see 0:22:00.640 --> 0:22:04.960 what happens all the time that the elected officials run 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:08.480 to how to, you know, go back to old things. 0:22:08.760 --> 0:22:12.320 We're never really creating a new cycle, a new system, 0:22:12.760 --> 0:22:16.399 or really focusing on where guns are coming from. And 0:22:16.440 --> 0:22:19.600 I'm not talking about Ray Ray getting on the train 0:22:19.760 --> 0:22:22.760 or getting in his car driving down to Virginia. I'm 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:25.679 talking about how the guns got to Virginia, how the 0:22:25.760 --> 0:22:30.320 guns get to Connecticut in other places in large numbers, 0:22:30.359 --> 0:22:34.560 and there are no checks and balances on these weapons. 0:22:34.640 --> 0:22:37.520 That's the real work for me. So when I hear 0:22:37.680 --> 0:22:40.639 I see a blueprint from Eric Adams that I think, 0:22:40.840 --> 0:22:44.439 you know where he is focusing on, Mayor Eric Adams 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:46.879 in New York City, you know, focusing on what to 0:22:47.000 --> 0:22:49.320 do to reduce gun violence. Which I'm sure there's pressure 0:22:49.359 --> 0:22:52.560 from the business community, there's pressure from black folks, there's 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:56.879 pressure from the clergy, there's pressure from everybody. And for him, 0:22:56.920 --> 0:23:00.440 as a former cop, to lean in the direct of 0:23:00.800 --> 0:23:03.919 and also go ahead and say that he's going to 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:09.760 reinstitute a modified sort of stopping frisk program and call 0:23:09.840 --> 0:23:12.880 it something different so that it won't it can get 0:23:12.920 --> 0:23:16.200 around the decision that was made by the courts that 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:22.680 stopping frisk is unconstitutional. Um it really is. So it's disrespectful, 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:27.120 it's painful, it just and for someone who was deeply 0:23:27.160 --> 0:23:30.399 involved in fighting to get the court decision and to 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:34.760 get at that time, Mayor Bloomberg and um, and the 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:38.840 police Commissioner Ray Kelly to call off stopping frisk, which 0:23:38.880 --> 0:23:41.439 they really just changed the names to broken windows. But 0:23:41.560 --> 0:23:45.800 now going on into too many things. Um, you know, 0:23:46.440 --> 0:23:50.719 it's it's it's painful for me because I'm waiting for 0:23:51.200 --> 0:23:55.520 the mayor that will come along, the president, the whomever 0:23:55.720 --> 0:23:58.679 that will come along and say, yes, we do have 0:23:58.720 --> 0:24:00.560 to get guns off the street and got to find 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:02.320 a way to be able to do that. And I 0:24:02.400 --> 0:24:05.440 and also in the blueprint that Eric Adams has released, 0:24:05.640 --> 0:24:08.960 he talks about dealing with mental health, dealing with education, 0:24:09.000 --> 0:24:12.600 and understanding that the focus has to be all those things. 0:24:13.040 --> 0:24:15.520 So I'm glad to hear that. Let's see how it 0:24:15.560 --> 0:24:20.199 works out, because usually everybody says health, education, this that 0:24:20.240 --> 0:24:23.280 in the third and what is the actual focus, what 0:24:23.359 --> 0:24:26.600 gets the most resources and the most play is the 0:24:26.680 --> 0:24:30.840 punitive area, which is putting police on the streets that 0:24:31.000 --> 0:24:34.200 end up stopping young men who are out there, young 0:24:34.280 --> 0:24:38.439 men and older men and people who are probably not 0:24:38.600 --> 0:24:42.520 carrying weapons at all. That for me is problematic. That's 0:24:42.520 --> 0:24:44.920 actually not my thought of the day though. My thought 0:24:44.920 --> 0:24:48.000 of the day, really quick and you can respond to this, 0:24:48.640 --> 0:24:54.080 is that I worry about though our people. Usually all 0:24:54.119 --> 0:24:56.080 the things I said would have been my thought of 0:24:56.080 --> 0:24:58.000 the day. Why do we keep doing the same things 0:24:58.080 --> 0:25:01.399 over and over again expecting different results? But my thought 0:25:01.400 --> 0:25:05.359 of the day is actually, for us, young men, what 0:25:05.440 --> 0:25:09.679 do we think is going to happen when we're just 0:25:09.680 --> 0:25:14.400 shooting in the lobby of the hospital, shooting on the streets, 0:25:14.440 --> 0:25:18.879 just doing whatever, stabbing, beating up women? What do you 0:25:18.920 --> 0:25:22.840 think it's gonna Do we understand our people, and particularly 0:25:22.920 --> 0:25:26.720 young men, do you understand that there is about to 0:25:26.760 --> 0:25:31.720 be open season war on you for and on your 0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:35.280 brothers and sisters who may or may not be involved 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:38.600 in any of that type of activity. That's my thought 0:25:38.600 --> 0:25:40.800 of the day. What is what is going on in 0:25:40.840 --> 0:25:44.240 your mind when you think that the actions you're taking 0:25:44.640 --> 0:25:47.760 will lead somehow like you're not leading your own war. 0:25:47.960 --> 0:25:51.520 These people have arsenal and resources and they are going 0:25:51.520 --> 0:25:56.200 to unleash on our communities. Correct, And I was just 0:25:56.720 --> 0:25:59.400 you know, thinking about that. Just think about in response, 0:25:59.440 --> 0:26:01.560 because I haven't really responded to any of these things, 0:26:01.560 --> 0:26:04.239 and usually I'm vocal on my social media about all 0:26:04.280 --> 0:26:06.879 these things, and I just put together, you know, a 0:26:06.960 --> 0:26:10.199 whole response to it. But that's exactly what it is. 0:26:10.280 --> 0:26:14.520 Just like, if you don't understand what's going on and 0:26:14.560 --> 0:26:17.440 where we are right now, then you you are not 0:26:17.560 --> 0:26:20.240 paying attention, you know, Like you said, they're about to 0:26:20.320 --> 0:26:23.840 have open season on us. They're going to do everything. 0:26:23.920 --> 0:26:27.119 They have body cameras to where they're gonna be able 0:26:27.160 --> 0:26:29.400 to sense that you've got guns on you. They got 0:26:29.400 --> 0:26:36.120 face recognition devices, They're utilizing every every piece of technology 0:26:36.359 --> 0:26:38.600 they're gonna utilize. Officers are gonna come up to you 0:26:38.720 --> 0:26:43.000 very aggressive now because they're aware that any interaction with 0:26:43.200 --> 0:26:46.160 people can end their lives. It's gonna be a different season, 0:26:46.480 --> 0:26:49.360 and I just I hope that our young kings are 0:26:49.560 --> 0:26:52.119 very prepared for this, you know, because this is what 0:26:52.280 --> 0:26:54.560 it This is what it is, man. So I'm praying 0:26:54.920 --> 0:26:57.080 that this there's a wake up call. I'm playing that 0:26:57.160 --> 0:27:00.280 these young kids understand that this is gonna be We 0:27:00.320 --> 0:27:02.520 took him out the crack era where they had to 0:27:02.520 --> 0:27:04.680 war on drugs, to war on violence. It's gonna be 0:27:04.720 --> 0:27:08.240 a lot different. It's gonna be a war on violence. 0:27:11.600 --> 0:27:16.080 So I'm super super super duper excited about this next guest. 0:27:16.200 --> 0:27:20.879 Over many years, I have been receiving counsel talking to 0:27:21.240 --> 0:27:25.879 mentorship from this woman and trying to understand what in 0:27:25.920 --> 0:27:30.280 the world is happening in America. UM. And I'm particularly 0:27:30.320 --> 0:27:34.280 attracted to her because, like me, she's always in trouble 0:27:34.359 --> 0:27:37.000 for saying for telling the truth and saying it like 0:27:37.080 --> 0:27:40.159 it is. And so today we have with us a 0:27:40.160 --> 0:27:43.000 woman who, by the way, is a lawyer. So black 0:27:43.040 --> 0:27:47.560 women super super, super accomplished. UM. I've already said she's 0:27:47.560 --> 0:27:50.639 a freedom fighter because she speaks up all the time. 0:27:51.040 --> 0:27:55.359 She is the United States representative for the eighteenth Congressional 0:27:55.560 --> 0:28:00.399 District in Texas. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, thank you so 0:28:00.480 --> 0:28:05.159 much for joining street politicians. I could not be at 0:28:05.200 --> 0:28:08.680 a happier place. I am in between going to my 0:28:08.920 --> 0:28:13.520 senior high schools. UH to break through after we've had 0:28:13.680 --> 0:28:19.159 this moment of silence, this moment of UH, a pandemic 0:28:19.240 --> 0:28:22.280 that has touched their lives. I wanted to let them 0:28:22.320 --> 0:28:27.480 know that their their voices there, UM, their courage, UH, 0:28:27.520 --> 0:28:32.400 their leadership, their power for change. Why don't we have 0:28:32.880 --> 0:28:36.359 a student loan debt reduction? UM? You know, why are 0:28:36.440 --> 0:28:40.520 we still not having HR forty the Commission to Study 0:28:40.560 --> 0:28:43.360 and Developed Reparation proposed Why do we study slavery. Why 0:28:43.360 --> 0:28:46.960 don't we are still trying to march towards police reform, 0:28:47.160 --> 0:28:49.400 But why are we trying to march toward justice? It's 0:28:49.440 --> 0:28:51.480 all about democracy and what they're doing about it. But 0:28:51.520 --> 0:28:54.360 in any event, I am delighted to be here with you. Uh. 0:28:54.400 --> 0:28:56.800 And UM, I hope that I am a street politician 0:28:56.800 --> 0:28:58.800 because I just came out in the street. Thank you 0:28:59.160 --> 0:29:03.320 very much. You paved the way. You the you the 0:29:03.360 --> 0:29:07.880 front line, and you forgot to see that she got 0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:16.440 the best here in the business. Don't. Definitely, And we're 0:29:16.440 --> 0:29:18.440 fighting for the Crown Act. We haven't gotten the pass yet, 0:29:18.520 --> 0:29:21.200 brothers and sisters, but I I will just take this 0:29:21.280 --> 0:29:24.920 moment to you all. I am the original um as 0:29:24.960 --> 0:29:29.800 they say, UM, I should have said. I never called 0:29:29.800 --> 0:29:32.400 myself a victim, but I am the original target of 0:29:32.400 --> 0:29:35.800 the Crown Act in terms in terms of the United 0:29:35.840 --> 0:29:40.640 States Congress, because I did this more than two decades ago. Uh. 0:29:40.680 --> 0:29:43.760 And just a just a quick story. I was in Africa. 0:29:44.360 --> 0:29:48.239 I had the regular, regular, regular style UH, and I 0:29:48.280 --> 0:29:50.960 had to borrow some um, what do you call it? 0:29:51.000 --> 0:29:54.239 Electronic curlers? Uh? And I plugged it in and I 0:29:54.240 --> 0:29:59.960 started the fire inside inside the hotel room. I start 0:30:00.000 --> 0:30:02.080 of the fire. They were knocking on the door, sad 0:30:03.800 --> 0:30:05.560 because I was not in the room where I plugged 0:30:05.600 --> 0:30:07.360 it in at But to make a long story short, 0:30:07.400 --> 0:30:10.480 it didn't burn down. But I learned my lesson, uh, 0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:12.680 and I've been happy ever since. But it was a 0:30:12.680 --> 0:30:15.120 shock to people's eyesight on the floor and standing for 0:30:15.240 --> 0:30:17.280 the floor and so here they went. But you know what, 0:30:17.640 --> 0:30:20.120 I never I never moved because I felt comfortable in 0:30:20.200 --> 0:30:22.479 my skin and in my hair. And I want all 0:30:22.520 --> 0:30:25.280 of those, whatever your hair is, as a black woman, 0:30:25.720 --> 0:30:29.920 UH and any other woman UH that chooses and brother, 0:30:30.480 --> 0:30:34.720 be comfortable in who you are. I'll end on that. 0:30:34.960 --> 0:30:37.040 We can we can end the whole interview with that. 0:30:39.040 --> 0:30:41.880 But I just want to know, a congresswoman, just being 0:30:41.880 --> 0:30:44.040 such a big fan of the work that you've done, 0:30:44.440 --> 0:30:46.560 how did you get your start? How did you start 0:30:46.640 --> 0:30:51.520 doing this? You know, I have a vein of strain. 0:30:51.800 --> 0:30:54.360 I just like to be a problem solver. I like 0:30:54.440 --> 0:30:57.080 to get in the mix. I always like to get 0:30:57.080 --> 0:31:00.880 a yes for people who've been mistreated, and I go 0:31:00.960 --> 0:31:03.000 and fight for him. I always want to get it yes. 0:31:03.160 --> 0:31:04.400 I want to get I wanna be able to come 0:31:04.400 --> 0:31:06.880 back and say it's been resolved. And I also think 0:31:06.880 --> 0:31:09.600 that if you gain any power, it should be pushed 0:31:09.600 --> 0:31:12.680 out away from you to others. And so you know, 0:31:12.800 --> 0:31:17.920 I can go back through I was busybody. Uh sure 0:31:17.960 --> 0:31:20.000 this will get written up in a product podcast. But 0:31:20.400 --> 0:31:24.280 you know, from high school, uh, from middle school, I 0:31:24.320 --> 0:31:26.960 was an activist. In that time. It was student government 0:31:27.040 --> 0:31:30.040 and fighting for students and saying what students should have 0:31:30.400 --> 0:31:33.000 less in high school. Then coming into Yale, let me 0:31:33.040 --> 0:31:35.600 just say I was a child prodigy. So um, when 0:31:35.680 --> 0:31:38.320 y'all started looking at the history, I don't want people 0:31:38.320 --> 0:31:40.320 start looking to the eighteen hundreds and seeing whether she 0:31:40.400 --> 0:31:42.040 was point in the eighteen hundreds. But let me just 0:31:42.080 --> 0:31:44.760 say that I got to college when I was two 0:31:44.840 --> 0:31:47.000 years old, toddler. But I was there for the body 0:31:47.000 --> 0:31:49.960 seal trial in behavior, I was there. I was there 0:31:50.000 --> 0:31:55.360 for the uh, the the literal shutdown of the Yale 0:31:55.400 --> 0:31:59.640 campus for example, YDS was there. Every group was there, 0:32:00.080 --> 0:32:02.040 and we had to stand. We were students. I was 0:32:02.040 --> 0:32:04.840 in a black student, an officer with the Black Students 0:32:04.880 --> 0:32:07.160 of Yale. Y s a ye, which is their fiftieth 0:32:07.200 --> 0:32:11.080 commemoration this year. But we literally were we stood in 0:32:11.080 --> 0:32:13.440 the gap. Of all these student groups that came in 0:32:13.960 --> 0:32:17.760 to deal with the war, to deal with Bobby Seal, uh, 0:32:17.800 --> 0:32:22.360 to deal with how Yale was responding. Um, we cooked 0:32:22.360 --> 0:32:24.480 the rule that everybody had to eat because it was 0:32:24.480 --> 0:32:26.760 no food. But the point is is that, I mean, 0:32:26.920 --> 0:32:28.880 you have to feed all these people. But the real 0:32:28.920 --> 0:32:32.560 point is I really cut my teeth. People think Ivy 0:32:32.600 --> 0:32:36.400 League students are you know, just dazing and gazing. Yet 0:32:36.520 --> 0:32:41.040 we're doing out our work, but we're doing the cerebral work. Uh. 0:32:41.080 --> 0:32:46.320 That that thinks about how we're going to empower our people. 0:32:46.400 --> 0:32:48.840 And at that time it was students, diverse students. And 0:32:48.880 --> 0:32:53.400 so I started there and I think I never looked back. Uh. 0:32:53.440 --> 0:32:57.440 In terms of going to to UM, I went to 0:32:57.520 --> 0:33:02.320 Africa after graduating. I traveled as just a person with 0:33:03.000 --> 0:33:05.000 uh you know, by myself. I was there on a 0:33:05.000 --> 0:33:08.960 fellowship dealing with looking at the common law system versus 0:33:08.960 --> 0:33:13.800 a tribal law. UM. I was under a guidance back 0:33:13.840 --> 0:33:16.200 in the States, but I wasn't under any guidance uh 0:33:16.200 --> 0:33:18.600 in in Africa. And I traveled. I even have a 0:33:18.640 --> 0:33:22.600 story of going to bogatang uh in Ghana, you know, 0:33:22.640 --> 0:33:24.600 traveling by bus and I got off the bus. It 0:33:24.640 --> 0:33:26.760 was a rest stop in a village and a woman 0:33:26.800 --> 0:33:28.440 came and say, will you take my baby? Will you 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:30.840 take my baby? Catel, I was, you know, American in 0:33:30.960 --> 0:33:33.960 terms of my accent um, I've had these times of 0:33:34.040 --> 0:33:38.360 experiences with the richness of the continent. I became uh 0:33:38.640 --> 0:33:42.240 infused with the connection. And that was some time ago. 0:33:42.720 --> 0:33:44.800 I think I've had experiences that others have not. Just 0:33:44.880 --> 0:33:49.320 traveled so that brought me here. Obviously a lawyer, I 0:33:49.400 --> 0:33:52.719 did corporate law. I practiced corporate law. Um. But I 0:33:52.800 --> 0:33:55.000 was a pioneer in it because I was the only 0:33:55.000 --> 0:33:57.680 person in the firm that I went to. But then 0:33:58.600 --> 0:34:01.720 the doors opened. I was a staffer on the Hill 0:34:01.840 --> 0:34:05.440 for the Select Committe on Assassinations, which was reopening the 0:34:05.480 --> 0:34:07.960 investigation of King and Kennedy. If anybody could believe that, 0:34:08.000 --> 0:34:10.399 we actually looked at it again, still trying to find 0:34:10.440 --> 0:34:13.120 answers and what happened. And then that just generated, as 0:34:13.160 --> 0:34:16.360 I conclude, to where I am today. I was always 0:34:16.680 --> 0:34:20.279 digging into something to make it better or to get 0:34:20.280 --> 0:34:24.120 the facts. And I tell people today that this democracy 0:34:24.160 --> 0:34:27.640 that is fragile will only last if whoever you are, 0:34:28.560 --> 0:34:31.799 you dig into something. Either make it better, or get 0:34:31.800 --> 0:34:35.440 the facts and get the answers. Wow, get the facts 0:34:35.440 --> 0:34:39.720 and the answers. Uh, it's so much in that because 0:34:40.280 --> 0:34:44.000 you know, everyone goes in different directions. So some folks 0:34:44.280 --> 0:34:48.480 as activists, you know, they go off to do diversity 0:34:48.520 --> 0:34:52.680 and inclusion work. You know, they made start schools or 0:34:52.920 --> 0:34:54.759 do that type of work. But it's something to be 0:34:54.840 --> 0:34:59.680 said about people who brave through the political process because 0:34:59.719 --> 0:35:03.359 I know how difficult it has been, and I can 0:35:03.440 --> 0:35:06.440 remember a time when very similar. I guess one of 0:35:06.440 --> 0:35:10.919 the reasons why I'm so um attracted to you, congresswoman, 0:35:11.040 --> 0:35:14.440 is because I've sat on the fringes with knowing I 0:35:14.520 --> 0:35:17.720 was right, you know, knowing I'm speaking up about something 0:35:17.800 --> 0:35:20.440 that's right, but people have found ways to try to 0:35:20.520 --> 0:35:24.000 ostracize me and to try to, you know, say that 0:35:24.080 --> 0:35:27.759 I'm crazy for whatever my opinions are. And then all 0:35:27.800 --> 0:35:30.799 of a sudden, the world recognizes that what we've been 0:35:30.840 --> 0:35:34.080 talking about, it's actually back. And I've watched that happen 0:35:34.120 --> 0:35:36.160 to you, where people try to say, no, you know, 0:35:36.239 --> 0:35:39.320 she's just always mad about something they gave you, the 0:35:39.400 --> 0:35:42.480 angry black woman. You know, No, she just wants to 0:35:42.560 --> 0:35:46.040 raise hell. And now here we are at a time 0:35:46.120 --> 0:35:50.200 when you are have become sort of front and center 0:35:50.760 --> 0:35:53.799 for some really really important things. And I am I'm 0:35:53.840 --> 0:35:56.759 really proud to see that that happened. UM, I don't 0:35:56.800 --> 0:35:59.040 know my son and you next because I'm you know, 0:35:59.120 --> 0:36:04.920 I'm like, I'll keep Talkin't gonna stop you. No, no, okay, 0:36:04.960 --> 0:36:10.560 So Washington last last week, these last two weeks crisis 0:36:11.480 --> 0:36:15.200 turning people off really bad. Congresswoman. We're hearing from folks 0:36:15.280 --> 0:36:17.360 all over the country. You and I have talked about it. 0:36:17.880 --> 0:36:21.600 They're finished with the process because voting rights is something 0:36:21.640 --> 0:36:24.600 that I think most people felt we definitely are going 0:36:24.640 --> 0:36:26.719 to pass that, you know, so we don't have to worry. 0:36:26.760 --> 0:36:29.200 You know, they weren't really focused on it, whereas some 0:36:29.320 --> 0:36:32.799 of us, as organizers Latasha Brown, Cliff all Right from 0:36:32.840 --> 0:36:38.240 Black Voters Matter, UM, Melanie campbell Um, also Horror masters 0:36:38.280 --> 0:36:40.759 Berry and many other women who are a part of 0:36:40.760 --> 0:36:44.000 the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation and Black Women's 0:36:44.080 --> 0:36:47.799 round Table, UH and so many other organizes. We've been 0:36:47.840 --> 0:36:52.279 out there for months, months, even years. Someone like a 0:36:52.320 --> 0:36:58.120 barbera Armline have been talking about dealing with voting rights. UM. 0:36:58.200 --> 0:37:02.279 I think about Reverend Barbera who said a few nights ago, 0:37:02.640 --> 0:37:05.640 he said, perhaps we're at a time when this whole 0:37:05.680 --> 0:37:09.640 thing is going to crash because it cannot hold up 0:37:09.960 --> 0:37:12.480 as it is. And I think people are feeling that 0:37:12.560 --> 0:37:16.520 level of frustration. Where are we what happened last week? 0:37:17.000 --> 0:37:20.640 And where do we go from here? Because as you said, 0:37:20.680 --> 0:37:24.600 democracy is fragile, it always has been. But without our 0:37:24.800 --> 0:37:28.760 right to vote, I don't know what this country looks 0:37:28.800 --> 0:37:31.120 like and what our society looks like in general, what 0:37:31.200 --> 0:37:37.799 the world looks like going forward. Failure is not an option. UH. 0:37:37.880 --> 0:37:39.839 And I want us all to embed that in our 0:37:39.880 --> 0:37:42.480 soul in and our DNA. And you have called the 0:37:42.560 --> 0:37:45.040 role and all of you on this podcast, because you've 0:37:45.080 --> 0:37:48.040 called the role of the sisters who have been out there, 0:37:48.560 --> 0:37:50.920 each of them, I know them, We've we've been in 0:37:51.000 --> 0:37:54.840 different fights together. UM. If I could have gotten arrested 0:37:54.880 --> 0:37:57.759 more times than I did, UM, I would have done so. 0:37:58.000 --> 0:38:01.000 But I got arrested with Melanie and others UH, and 0:38:01.040 --> 0:38:03.439 others got arrested. Thank you for your work last week, 0:38:03.520 --> 0:38:06.560 and it is work is work of passion, UM. And 0:38:06.920 --> 0:38:10.320 what I said to the students today is that you 0:38:10.440 --> 0:38:13.000 must you must take this country it is your country. 0:38:13.040 --> 0:38:15.080 You must you must take it, must take it in 0:38:15.120 --> 0:38:19.720 your hands. And so UM. Obviously last week the persons 0:38:19.719 --> 0:38:21.399 who have the right to vote, or those of us 0:38:21.400 --> 0:38:23.239 in the House who did vote and do what we're 0:38:23.280 --> 0:38:27.680 supposed to do, said that we're not finished. This cannot finish. Um. 0:38:27.760 --> 0:38:31.200 We will not have a democracy, uh if we do 0:38:31.239 --> 0:38:33.360 not have the protection of the votes that are planning 0:38:33.360 --> 0:38:36.919 to be stolen in two I'm a witness right now 0:38:37.040 --> 0:38:40.759 of votes right now as I speak, being thrown out 0:38:40.800 --> 0:38:46.520 in Texas because of the voter suppression of requiring numbers 0:38:46.520 --> 0:38:49.360 that seniors and disabled persons. They never did it before. 0:38:50.040 --> 0:38:52.440 Then you know, you wonder haven't we been on TV 0:38:52.560 --> 0:38:55.360 talking No, these people are not. They just hear the 0:38:55.360 --> 0:38:57.680 word voting rights. They thank you fighting for voting rights. 0:38:58.239 --> 0:38:59.799 They haven't heard that they have to put a number 0:39:00.120 --> 0:39:02.400 where and their ballance of being thrown out. Is that 0:39:02.440 --> 0:39:05.279 happening across the country. So what I would say to 0:39:05.640 --> 0:39:09.480 those who um have poor their their heart and soul 0:39:09.640 --> 0:39:14.520 have have gone to the great lengths um that people 0:39:14.600 --> 0:39:17.440 go through. Revend Barber, who's been up here, is I 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:19.880 can't have you give up. I've got to have you 0:39:19.960 --> 0:39:22.840 to stand on the battlefield just a couple of more times, 0:39:23.440 --> 0:39:27.560 because uh, it has to be said to the leadership, 0:39:28.640 --> 0:39:33.319 uh that um steers things, that we will have to 0:39:33.360 --> 0:39:35.640 come back. We've been told that we will come back. 0:39:35.680 --> 0:39:37.279 When I said come back, it will come back to 0:39:37.320 --> 0:39:41.880 the floor. And those who have chosen to take a 0:39:42.040 --> 0:39:46.680 segregation is tool that has oppressed people of color and 0:39:46.719 --> 0:39:52.040 women from its very genesis, and just a little constitutional insight, 0:39:52.840 --> 0:39:56.120 both Madison and Jefferson said, we're through with the filipbuster. 0:39:56.280 --> 0:39:59.520 That is the tyranny of the minority, and frankly it 0:39:59.600 --> 0:40:04.520 is unex symptible. So how can people today in stand 0:40:04.680 --> 0:40:09.600 on the pompousness of the righteousness of I just can't 0:40:09.640 --> 0:40:12.520 do anything. It's it's the feel abuster. It is absolutely 0:40:13.160 --> 0:40:17.959 um sinister. So all I can say is to them, 0:40:18.480 --> 0:40:21.879 can you can you just find one more gut kick 0:40:24.120 --> 0:40:27.560 that you can get so angry about that gut kick 0:40:28.560 --> 0:40:31.480 that you're gonna say it's not bringing me down because 0:40:31.560 --> 0:40:35.520 I'm not going down with it. So it is more 0:40:35.600 --> 0:40:38.040 of what has been what have been done, I frankly 0:40:38.040 --> 0:40:41.840 want more. We're gearing up for HR forty because people 0:40:41.920 --> 0:40:46.719 have to listen. Uh, and you know, I people laugh 0:40:46.719 --> 0:40:48.799 because I don't like talking about myself. But all the 0:40:48.800 --> 0:40:54.240 folks that are talking, um, I can match their academic credentials. 0:40:54.400 --> 0:40:56.800 I've been a judge, I've been on the Select Committee 0:40:56.800 --> 0:40:59.560 on assassination. So I had to dig deep to be 0:40:59.600 --> 0:41:02.320 able to um do what I was supposed to. I 0:41:02.360 --> 0:41:05.120 got offered the U S Attorney's position Assistant US Attorney, 0:41:05.120 --> 0:41:10.000 which I turned down. Um, I've turned uh, I've turned 0:41:10.000 --> 0:41:13.600 corners on so many things, and so I don't allow 0:41:13.760 --> 0:41:17.239 a definition of myself externally. I'm asking those folks who 0:41:17.280 --> 0:41:19.880 put themselves on the line, listen to no one but 0:41:20.000 --> 0:41:24.080 yourself and let you be the hero and siro of 0:41:24.160 --> 0:41:27.080 the final success of this voting rights. It is shameful 0:41:27.760 --> 0:41:31.760 that we can count Richard Nixon, George H. W George 0:41:31.800 --> 0:41:36.440 w Uh and um Bush and Ronald Reagan who voted 0:41:36.440 --> 0:41:39.960 for voting rights. I mean that's Republicans. So we have 0:41:40.040 --> 0:41:46.279 people now on Republicans fifty lockdown, absolutely absurd, and then uh, 0:41:46.320 --> 0:41:50.319 fellow travelers of Democrats talking something that is ludicrous about 0:41:50.320 --> 0:41:52.920 a filipbuster and go on, build back better other things. 0:41:53.440 --> 0:41:57.000 Reparations HR forty and so I'm just saying, don't let 0:41:57.080 --> 0:42:00.200 there be external definitions of who you are in bet 0:42:00.200 --> 0:42:02.800 in your DNA, what it's gonna make America your America, 0:42:03.480 --> 0:42:07.000 and fight until it gets done. And that's my that's 0:42:07.000 --> 0:42:09.799 my aspect. I will fight, of course, I'll put in 0:42:09.800 --> 0:42:12.319 the word because we're on a podcast, not violently for 0:42:12.400 --> 0:42:15.799 me until it until it gets done. But I am 0:42:15.840 --> 0:42:17.960 not going to let a failure is not an option. 0:42:18.000 --> 0:42:20.120 And I hope that just gets out in the loudest way. 0:42:20.120 --> 0:42:22.480 I'm sure somebody is sitting back saying, oh, there we 0:42:22.560 --> 0:42:25.720 go again. It's always on us. No, I'm just saying 0:42:25.800 --> 0:42:30.320 to you, you look inside yourself, what you want to 0:42:30.360 --> 0:42:32.200 leave here, what you want once you want to see done, 0:42:32.280 --> 0:42:37.319 Then failure is not an option. Wow. That's a lot, 0:42:37.680 --> 0:42:39.759 And I know, I know it has to be frustrating 0:42:39.800 --> 0:42:44.120 to see two Democrats vote against something that is is 0:42:44.239 --> 0:42:48.200 just human, that's rolling rights like it. Just I know, 0:42:48.520 --> 0:42:51.319 just just listening to you, understanding the groundwork and which 0:42:51.360 --> 0:42:54.520 you've you've been that person, you know the start work 0:42:54.640 --> 0:42:57.120 on the front line fighting for these things, and know 0:42:57.200 --> 0:42:59.640 that somebody in your party is against something that's just 0:43:00.320 --> 0:43:02.759 like this, It's just really must be hurtful for you, 0:43:03.200 --> 0:43:07.000 just hearing it. You know, it's like it's like you're 0:43:07.040 --> 0:43:10.600 thirsty and you drink water, right, I mean, that's the basic, basic, 0:43:11.400 --> 0:43:15.840 uh saving entity. You might want to have some sweet 0:43:15.840 --> 0:43:19.319 punch or some wonderful orange juice, but you're thirsty to live, 0:43:19.600 --> 0:43:24.359 you drink water. This is about living. Um. As I said, 0:43:24.400 --> 0:43:27.839 I have just a number of cross themes. I work 0:43:27.920 --> 0:43:31.240 for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I maybe, beside John Lewis, 0:43:31.360 --> 0:43:33.319 one of the only members of Congress that actually went 0:43:33.640 --> 0:43:36.279 to the Auburn worked out of the Auburn office on 0:43:36.840 --> 0:43:40.840 Auburn Street. I guess the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in George, UM, 0:43:40.880 --> 0:43:43.920 maybe one of the few that went on plantations UH 0:43:43.960 --> 0:43:48.240 that with sharecroppers at the eighteen hundred nineteen hundred UH 0:43:48.280 --> 0:43:53.080 to to register people to vote, and had a white 0:43:53.080 --> 0:43:56.080 man sitting on a porch chewing whatever he was chewing. 0:43:56.560 --> 0:43:58.680 Take out one of them skinny rifles and we had 0:43:58.719 --> 0:44:01.680 to run like heck because we were trying to get 0:44:01.760 --> 0:44:06.319 people on the plantation to vote. So it's in it's 0:44:06.320 --> 0:44:08.239 in my DNA. I don't know if they said at 0:44:08.239 --> 0:44:11.680 the same time, I was a judge. So what I'm saying, 0:44:11.760 --> 0:44:15.160 we come with different backgrounds, and you want to know frustration. 0:44:16.080 --> 0:44:17.759 I was there on the floor of the House. I 0:44:18.040 --> 0:44:21.640 excuse me, Florida Senate. We were in session in the House. 0:44:21.680 --> 0:44:25.160 I was determined to It was a sense of hope. 0:44:25.200 --> 0:44:27.480 I said, this is gonna happen. It has to happen, 0:44:27.880 --> 0:44:32.719 because that's because the House passed. Right, It passed in 0:44:32.760 --> 0:44:35.239 the House, so it wants it advanced. Once the bill 0:44:35.360 --> 0:44:39.239 advanced to the Senate, the first thing that had to 0:44:39.280 --> 0:44:42.960 be done is killing the filibuster, changing the rules so 0:44:43.280 --> 0:44:45.880 that the bill could come to the floor and folks 0:44:45.880 --> 0:44:48.320 could vote on it. And they and and and two 0:44:48.360 --> 0:44:51.520 Democrats sided, which would not you know us, we're gonna 0:44:51.560 --> 0:44:54.279 call names. We will we you didn't say it, we're 0:44:54.320 --> 0:44:59.759 saying uh. Senators, Senators mansion in cinema. They sided with 0:45:00.200 --> 0:45:05.560 all the Republicans, not even one that would vote to 0:45:05.760 --> 0:45:08.480 protect our voting rights, that will vote to change the 0:45:08.560 --> 0:45:11.200 rules for the filibuster. Now, would it have only been 0:45:11.320 --> 0:45:15.200 changed that one time, or would it have been changed forever? 0:45:15.320 --> 0:45:18.640 The filibuster at one time it was it was an exception. 0:45:19.360 --> 0:45:23.000 And also it was framed like if it's a constitutional issue, 0:45:23.360 --> 0:45:28.400 the constitutional issue U surves this so called filibuster, and 0:45:28.440 --> 0:45:30.560 all it was was a talking filibuster. Let me just 0:45:30.640 --> 0:45:33.880 humorously say to people, understand that the filibuster is Senator 0:45:33.960 --> 0:45:36.120 Jackson Lee. She'll jackually could go to the floor as 0:45:36.120 --> 0:45:39.399 a senator and say I'm going to filibuster, and I'll 0:45:39.440 --> 0:45:41.799 see you. I'm going on to the Bahamas. I don't 0:45:41.800 --> 0:45:44.480 have to be anywhere, and you will need sixty boats 0:45:44.560 --> 0:45:47.239 to break me coming on the floor saying I'm going 0:45:47.280 --> 0:45:50.640 to filibuster. Maybe I'll make some opening remarks, and then 0:45:50.680 --> 0:45:53.000 I'm going I go to my office. I can go 0:45:53.040 --> 0:45:56.279 home to my district. Can anyone imagine that that would 0:45:56.360 --> 0:46:00.719 stifled the very heart and blood of Democrat? See that 0:46:00.760 --> 0:46:03.279 you did? You do that? And so all that was 0:46:03.360 --> 0:46:08.239 happening is the fact that, um, we would have you 0:46:08.239 --> 0:46:12.400 would have the responsibility of of keeping the floor, and 0:46:12.400 --> 0:46:14.880 when you yielded the floor, we could then go vote 0:46:15.360 --> 0:46:18.000 on what the original bill was, and at that time 0:46:18.040 --> 0:46:20.279 it would be voting Ryan's freedom to vote and on 0:46:20.360 --> 0:46:23.120 John Robert Lewis. Can you imagine that that is the 0:46:23.200 --> 0:46:26.799 simple thing that we were asking you to do. I 0:46:26.840 --> 0:46:29.440 don't think anybody could either fathom what are you talking 0:46:29.480 --> 0:46:32.480 about and that we could not get one of the 0:46:33.360 --> 0:46:40.319 professed moderates who know that they and other Republicans, I 0:46:40.320 --> 0:46:42.400 want to ask them, how many of you are have 0:46:42.560 --> 0:46:48.439 been somewhere shining on Martin Luther King's commemoration. I bet 0:46:48.520 --> 0:46:53.719 every single person was somewhere U shining uh through the 0:46:53.840 --> 0:46:56.680 through their lifespan uh. And when it was even more 0:46:56.719 --> 0:47:02.360 popular being somewhere on Martin Luther King professing your commitment 0:47:02.400 --> 0:47:07.080 to his values and feigning uh your hurt for his death, 0:47:07.760 --> 0:47:10.960 then why were you not there to show it when 0:47:11.000 --> 0:47:13.759 he and his family, his legacy and his family were 0:47:13.800 --> 0:47:16.920 begging you to pass this legislator. And John Lewis we 0:47:17.000 --> 0:47:19.920 all know he can point to where he shed blood 0:47:20.120 --> 0:47:23.160 on the Edmond Pettis Bridge, And so you know, it 0:47:23.200 --> 0:47:26.600 baffles us to be able to understand how people can 0:47:26.640 --> 0:47:31.319 comport uh their words over the years that they have 0:47:31.400 --> 0:47:34.280 been somewhere seeing making and Martin Luther King's speech, for example. 0:47:34.320 --> 0:47:36.480 I know they have done it because I know they've 0:47:36.480 --> 0:47:40.719 been invited. And then to equate that to the inaction, 0:47:41.200 --> 0:47:45.920 the shameful inaction of what happened on that night, And 0:47:45.960 --> 0:47:48.640 I can tell you that you want to talk about 0:47:48.680 --> 0:47:52.480 people who are saying we're through the feeling of despair. 0:47:53.239 --> 0:47:57.160 But I had to pull that gut check and that hit. 0:47:57.840 --> 0:48:00.360 I had to. I had to pull myself up. Eliot. 0:48:00.360 --> 0:48:02.640 It's not an option because we will not have an 0:48:02.640 --> 0:48:05.600 election in two if we do not have these protections. 0:48:08.560 --> 0:48:13.520 Whoa you are here dropping gods for today? But um 0:48:13.560 --> 0:48:15.400 as a as a you know the LEAs sponsor on 0:48:15.400 --> 0:48:18.960 the HR forty, which is related to the reparations. I 0:48:19.000 --> 0:48:21.799 want to know what is it? And where are we 0:48:22.040 --> 0:48:24.200 right now? And like Dr King said, are we are 0:48:24.239 --> 0:48:28.279 we gonna get our checking? Okay, Well that's what we wanted. 0:48:29.880 --> 0:48:34.880 Question is when do we get the checks for tell us? 0:48:35.160 --> 0:48:37.319 Tell us this is the last question we know. You 0:48:37.400 --> 0:48:41.319 have to go, Um, what is the HR forty bill 0:48:41.440 --> 0:48:44.800 because some folks think that means as soon as it passes, 0:48:45.000 --> 0:48:48.719 check start being written. That's not true. Um, And and 0:48:48.760 --> 0:48:51.239 where are we at this point? Well, one thing I'm 0:48:51.239 --> 0:48:53.880 gonna say to everybody hanging there with me, Okay, you 0:48:54.000 --> 0:48:57.080 all got to hang in there with me on HR forty. Um, 0:48:57.080 --> 0:48:59.279 you're gonna be a You're gonna be seeing some some 0:48:59.360 --> 0:49:01.920 action I is coming. We've been meeting with three D 0:49:02.080 --> 0:49:04.839 organizations representing era to make it. You know, because you've 0:49:04.880 --> 0:49:08.480 been on this call that we've had UM and we've 0:49:08.520 --> 0:49:10.920 got you know, from color Change to everybody we can 0:49:10.920 --> 0:49:13.879 possibly imagine and others. UH. And you have been there 0:49:13.960 --> 0:49:16.760 and we are very grateful. And so we have putting 0:49:16.800 --> 0:49:20.160 out in our portfolio in our words why we can't wait. 0:49:20.200 --> 0:49:23.000 And we have been I think the most strategic UH. 0:49:23.000 --> 0:49:25.040 And I'm gonna use the word respectful because first it 0:49:25.080 --> 0:49:28.000 was the twenty election and we said, can you stand down? 0:49:28.320 --> 0:49:30.440 We got to get these people through and we want 0:49:30.440 --> 0:49:32.640 to make sure that we're you know. And and this 0:49:32.719 --> 0:49:37.000 has been filed and and uh coddled and filed by 0:49:37.080 --> 0:49:41.480 John Knyrors in ninety nine, right after the reparations given 0:49:41.480 --> 0:49:44.440 to Japanese Americans in nineteen eighty eight, signed by Ronald Reagan. 0:49:44.440 --> 0:49:46.439 And that's why our bill came. And they of course 0:49:46.480 --> 0:49:48.680 are supporting UM. I'm gonna say yeah for the Japanese 0:49:48.680 --> 0:49:51.160 Americans and they are out there they wonder what what what? 0:49:51.600 --> 0:49:54.040 But in any event, and so we have baby this 0:49:54.120 --> 0:49:57.279 thing all along. What it is is uh. And in 0:49:57.360 --> 0:49:59.399 this Colblum, let me hold up a show in town 0:50:00.120 --> 0:50:03.919 show and Tell says Black and Hispanic communities board disproportioned 0:50:03.960 --> 0:50:07.440 share of Texas early COVID nineteen death. You can do 0:50:07.480 --> 0:50:09.360 a study in all fifty states and we're gonna be 0:50:09.480 --> 0:50:14.240 right there. What it is saying is that throughout presence 0:50:14.280 --> 0:50:17.920 here in this country, through the trajectory of slavery, we 0:50:17.960 --> 0:50:22.160 have felt severe disparities up to two or we can 0:50:22.200 --> 0:50:24.279 cite and people will stand back and they'll look at 0:50:24.280 --> 0:50:26.440 people in these homes, and they'll look at people playing 0:50:26.440 --> 0:50:30.719 basketball and football, and they'll look at people with uh, 0:50:30.800 --> 0:50:33.600 the fancy cars, and they will say, what are they 0:50:33.680 --> 0:50:38.240 talking about. They're talking about the reality of the massive 0:50:38.280 --> 0:50:41.000 disparities in the masses of people who happen to be 0:50:41.040 --> 0:50:44.240 descendants of enslaved Africans. And so this is a commission 0:50:44.280 --> 0:50:47.279 to study slavery and developed, we modified it and given 0:50:47.320 --> 0:50:52.200 an action item reparations, which will come as analyzed in 0:50:52.320 --> 0:50:56.120 a myriad of response because you cannot go to one 0:50:56.160 --> 0:51:02.760 inditiontion from social services, to health care, to education, to science, 0:51:03.000 --> 0:51:09.000 the psychological, to the criminal justice system to education that 0:51:09.040 --> 0:51:15.640 you cannot find that line that says black people. And 0:51:15.680 --> 0:51:17.759 we have gotten to a point where our friends who 0:51:17.840 --> 0:51:20.680 do not look like us have been saying, now we 0:51:20.800 --> 0:51:24.879 get it. JOHNS. Hopkins has done a study in one 0:51:25.760 --> 0:51:33.279 saying there is a connection from the slave presence two 0:51:33.360 --> 0:51:37.560 now in African Americans, and of course there is a diaspora. 0:51:37.640 --> 0:51:39.799 We must remember there was a trans atlantic slave train. 0:51:40.680 --> 0:51:43.480 And for those of us who want to see this 0:51:43.600 --> 0:51:46.400 in that view, We've got brothers in the Caribbean and 0:51:46.480 --> 0:51:50.520 sisters dealing with this because they had slavery. We've got 0:51:50.560 --> 0:51:54.520 the issue in UH, South and Central America. UH, the 0:51:54.600 --> 0:51:58.560 Africans in Mexico, the Africans in Brazil. I've got the 0:51:58.640 --> 0:52:02.040 largest population nigel Arians in the United States are now 0:52:02.080 --> 0:52:06.480 in Houston, not in Atlanta. So it you know, this 0:52:06.719 --> 0:52:11.480 is going to focus on African Americans, but there are 0:52:11.760 --> 0:52:15.480 complementary efforts around the world. I'm gonna thank my sister 0:52:15.760 --> 0:52:18.919 Congress when Barbaraly. She has been with me just two 0:52:18.960 --> 0:52:22.960 and two together about the importance and urgency of passing this. 0:52:23.680 --> 0:52:29.520 We were together in um Durban on that original UH 0:52:29.680 --> 0:52:33.320 Conference on Racism, way back when when people are afraid 0:52:33.360 --> 0:52:37.600 to go um and so I just want people to say, 0:52:37.800 --> 0:52:43.000 my brothers and sisters who are Caucasian, Anglo, my Latin X, 0:52:43.200 --> 0:52:46.760 Hispanic brothers and sisters, Asian, Asian, Pacific, South each Asian 0:52:47.080 --> 0:52:50.200 and all myriads of black people. This should be a 0:52:50.320 --> 0:52:55.440 unifying factor and my indigenous people, my Native Americans, who 0:52:55.680 --> 0:52:59.880 um again, I've been on Peblos, I've been on reservation, 0:53:00.680 --> 0:53:04.759 my heart aches. But as we will know, they were 0:53:04.800 --> 0:53:08.240 giving those Our land was never given the forty acres 0:53:08.239 --> 0:53:12.000 in the mule, and reconstruction never succeeded. And so we 0:53:12.080 --> 0:53:17.600 have a legitimate um uh posture to be able to 0:53:17.640 --> 0:53:19.840 see this going. And my question is to the world, 0:53:20.040 --> 0:53:22.319 to America, what do you want the world to see 0:53:22.320 --> 0:53:24.719 you as? When we talked to the world about reparations, 0:53:24.719 --> 0:53:28.240 which is a which is a unilateral or universal human 0:53:28.320 --> 0:53:31.160 rights terminology, they get excited when they say, oh, you 0:53:31.160 --> 0:53:33.960 mean the United States would admit to the sin of slavery. 0:53:34.440 --> 0:53:38.120 To get excited uh. And America doesn't know what this 0:53:38.160 --> 0:53:41.480 will do for them. It will inspire human rights around 0:53:41.520 --> 0:53:43.719 the world. So let me just say where we are 0:53:44.560 --> 0:53:47.319 is we did a historic mark up, never hasn't been 0:53:47.320 --> 0:53:50.120 marked up. It's out of judiciary, it's ready for the floor. 0:53:50.239 --> 0:53:52.680 But we're looking at several options. What we're doing now 0:53:52.960 --> 0:53:55.840 is we're now raising the interests for people to be 0:53:55.920 --> 0:53:58.359 pushing back to the Congress and saying we want HR 0:53:58.400 --> 0:54:00.879 forty now, and that's what we need. So the three 0:54:01.400 --> 0:54:04.920 organizations are gonna be coming. We asked for our viewers 0:54:04.920 --> 0:54:08.440 and listeners UH to push to all the Congress. And 0:54:08.520 --> 0:54:11.319 let me be very clear, we are as anxious and 0:54:11.320 --> 0:54:14.760 incited as what is about to happen, and I'm gonna 0:54:14.800 --> 0:54:19.879 I'm gonna take it as a given um with trepidation 0:54:20.000 --> 0:54:23.000 and prayers, but that we will have in the months 0:54:23.000 --> 0:54:26.040 to come. A person sitting on the Supreme Court at 0:54:26.080 --> 0:54:30.160 the appropriate time of Justice Briars Uh leaving the bench 0:54:30.680 --> 0:54:33.600 that was an African American, a woman. That that is 0:54:33.680 --> 0:54:36.560 that should be without further thought. And I hope that 0:54:36.600 --> 0:54:40.719 the podcast would note that we can to gum and 0:54:40.760 --> 0:54:44.439 walk at the same time. This justice qualified. By the way, 0:54:44.960 --> 0:54:47.800 no doubt nobody has to look for qualified black women. 0:54:47.920 --> 0:54:51.160 They are there that done. That should not negate, that 0:54:51.200 --> 0:54:53.680 should not be and we got this. It should not 0:54:53.800 --> 0:54:57.760 get negate. Voting rights, police reform and h R forty 0:54:58.080 --> 0:55:00.440 never negated. If you if the bill I'm sit the 0:55:00.440 --> 0:55:02.719 Florida you are you confident about the votes at this time? 0:55:02.760 --> 0:55:06.400 Are you at least close. We are very very close. 0:55:06.600 --> 0:55:08.920 We are very very close. You know. I can just 0:55:08.920 --> 0:55:10.640 say we're about three out and we just had a 0:55:10.640 --> 0:55:14.319 meeting today. We're going for the big push um so 0:55:14.880 --> 0:55:18.240 and that is good, but we need this outside thunder 0:55:18.800 --> 0:55:22.480 yuh to let people know it's okay. You'll be welcomed home, 0:55:22.640 --> 0:55:25.920 you will be appreciated. Uh. It is only fairness. It 0:55:26.080 --> 0:55:29.000 is not uh. It is not taking from someone. It 0:55:29.120 --> 0:55:33.160 is the government actions and sanctioning of slavery. I would 0:55:33.160 --> 0:55:37.160 be as much if the government was against Quakers and 0:55:37.160 --> 0:55:41.520 and and characterize them and such that took things from them, 0:55:41.520 --> 0:55:43.640 took what they had. I mean I focus on Quakers 0:55:43.680 --> 0:55:46.880 in Pennsylvania. Uh, and and went and and and took 0:55:46.960 --> 0:55:50.239 from them all that they had there, that was there, 0:55:50.360 --> 0:55:53.680 that they had developed. I would be with them. Uh. 0:55:53.719 --> 0:55:57.680 And so be with us, be with us, be with 0:55:57.880 --> 0:56:00.440 us that don't look like you and old that it 0:56:00.560 --> 0:56:04.279 is not anger, is not anguish, It is reality. It 0:56:04.400 --> 0:56:06.920 is right, noess, and it is righteousness. And you know 0:56:07.000 --> 0:56:10.560 John Lewis on the reparations bill, beloved by everybody, on 0:56:10.600 --> 0:56:15.520 the reparations bill, Dr King had that insufficient check um. 0:56:15.800 --> 0:56:18.480 The concept that when we come to try and get relieved. 0:56:18.840 --> 0:56:22.080 It always looks like we're out of luck. Uh so 0:56:22.239 --> 0:56:25.320 in his own words and interpretation, and he was speaking 0:56:25.360 --> 0:56:28.520 to the whole issues of social justice. If we it 0:56:28.760 --> 0:56:30.840 here's a here's a comical or either the thing that 0:56:30.880 --> 0:56:34.160 you've always heard. If you lift our boats, you're gonna 0:56:34.200 --> 0:56:37.799 lift all boats. Uh. It is not going to be 0:56:37.880 --> 0:56:41.280 selfishly that it does not impact the greatness of America. 0:56:41.480 --> 0:56:45.000 And that's what I say. Uh. You lift us as scientists. 0:56:45.120 --> 0:56:49.880 You recognize that we uh you know, discovered blood plasma. 0:56:50.440 --> 0:56:52.880 Were the sisters and NASA doing all the numbers on 0:56:52.920 --> 0:56:56.160 the black boards. That we are astronauts, we are scientists, 0:56:56.160 --> 0:56:59.320 that we are we are we are uh chemists, we 0:56:59.400 --> 0:57:03.600 are mathemat titians. You make us plentiful. You're lifting a 0:57:03.760 --> 0:57:09.120 boats about. That's a great word. Thank you so much, congresswoman. 0:57:09.560 --> 0:57:12.120 We have to have you back. There's so much to 0:57:12.160 --> 0:57:15.280 talk about, and you do such a good poetic job 0:57:15.760 --> 0:57:18.080 of helping us to understand where we are. And as 0:57:18.120 --> 0:57:20.280 you said, failure is not an option, so we will 0:57:20.280 --> 0:57:23.080 make sure to continue to carry that message. Thank you, 0:57:23.120 --> 0:57:26.280 and please go back to your schools and your work. Um. 0:57:26.400 --> 0:57:30.240 And you know be great people doing it. This has 0:57:30.280 --> 0:57:32.959 been exciting. I thank you for giving me the opportunity. 0:57:32.960 --> 0:57:35.840 I'll let them know. Um when I go in and said, 0:57:35.880 --> 0:57:40.320 I've been called a street politician? Which which is? Which 0:57:40.320 --> 0:57:42.200 is where you do your business? Is it not right 0:57:42.600 --> 0:57:44.680 if where you do your business? And it is so 0:57:44.720 --> 0:57:47.280 ironic that I'm doing this When there was some folks 0:57:47.280 --> 0:57:48.720 out in the street talking about the e p A 0:57:48.760 --> 0:57:50.760 and they were out in the street. We got an 0:57:50.800 --> 0:57:52.480 announcement that the e PA was gonna look at all 0:57:52.480 --> 0:57:54.760 this pollution in our community. And they weren't in their house, 0:57:54.760 --> 0:57:56.360 they weren't in the meeting room. They were out in 0:57:56.400 --> 0:57:57.800 the street. And I was doing a zoom with them 0:57:57.800 --> 0:58:00.440 out in the street. So let me just say, you 0:58:00.520 --> 0:58:02.600 get your best things done in the street. Thank you 0:58:02.640 --> 0:58:04.360 for the work that you all have done. Can I 0:58:04.440 --> 0:58:06.840 call on you to push forward now in RTY a 0:58:06.920 --> 0:58:09.200 little and not to give up on voting rights, to 0:58:09.200 --> 0:58:12.160 to keep pushing us the calls are coming in uh, 0:58:12.200 --> 0:58:14.240 and to be able to tell people it's right to 0:58:14.280 --> 0:58:17.240 have a black woman's Supreme Court justice. Now, keep on pushing, 0:58:17.520 --> 0:58:21.640 keep on pushing the sweets that's right. Say thank you, 0:58:21.680 --> 0:58:25.040 but keep on pushing. Thank you guys, appreciate you. Bye bye, 0:58:25.200 --> 0:58:33.640 God bless bye bye you listen, that was gospel. That 0:58:33.800 --> 0:58:38.480 was dope. You know. The Congresswoman is amazing her the 0:58:38.520 --> 0:58:41.600 way I mean she breaks it down so simple, but 0:58:41.680 --> 0:58:45.080 it's so powerful. You know, she just gave me a 0:58:45.080 --> 0:58:47.280 little more energy because I ain't goa lie begining jaded. 0:58:47.360 --> 0:58:50.080 You know, I'm like, man, when you see somebody that's 0:58:50.120 --> 0:58:54.040 been in this game that long, continuing to fight, continue 0:58:54.080 --> 0:58:56.960 to have faith and not being broken, it has to 0:58:57.040 --> 0:58:59.600 give you some level of energy, some level of spirits. 0:58:59.640 --> 0:59:04.600 So I think you mixed the conversations between the congresswoman 0:59:05.040 --> 0:59:09.400 and now our next uh guest that's coming up. Um, 0:59:09.440 --> 0:59:11.919 that's when you start to see where our power is real. 0:59:12.000 --> 0:59:16.160 So I'm excited about this next conversation that we're having. Yep, 0:59:16.360 --> 0:59:20.640 definitely excited to talk to our brother. Brother. He's got 0:59:20.680 --> 0:59:23.080 he got, he got what the people say they need, 0:59:23.480 --> 0:59:28.160 what the people need, So let's bring them on. So 0:59:28.480 --> 0:59:32.160 one of our friends is joining us today as our 0:59:32.280 --> 0:59:36.840 change maker. Um, you know, our friends are dope. So 0:59:36.880 --> 0:59:39.560 I know there are some people who probably feel like, 0:59:39.960 --> 0:59:42.080 well they always have their friends on. Well, we've got 0:59:42.120 --> 0:59:44.120 a lot of friends around the country doing a lot 0:59:44.160 --> 0:59:47.720 of great things. And this young brother, it's someone that 0:59:47.840 --> 0:59:51.720 we've been on the battlefield with. UM. We have been uh, 0:59:51.880 --> 0:59:56.120 we've done civil disobedience together, We've been arrested together. So 0:59:56.240 --> 0:59:59.680 y'all probably been in the same patty wagon we had. 1:00:00.520 --> 1:00:04.520 Uh been out here fighting for the cause and standing together. 1:00:04.560 --> 1:00:09.040 And I particularly appreciate the level of commitment UM that 1:00:09.760 --> 1:00:13.480 doctor West Bellamy has shown to this movement. He is 1:00:13.560 --> 1:00:17.280 an author of two books, UH, the former vice mayor 1:00:17.400 --> 1:00:22.000 of short Charlottesville, Virginia. We know so much about Charlottesville, 1:00:22.120 --> 1:00:25.160 so that's what that's a different interview for another day, 1:00:25.560 --> 1:00:29.240 just to talk more about the history of Charlottesville. Uh. 1:00:29.240 --> 1:00:33.440 He is currently the political science department chair at Virginia 1:00:33.480 --> 1:00:38.520 State University and the co chairman of our Black Party, 1:00:38.560 --> 1:00:41.400 which is what brings him today to our show. So 1:00:41.480 --> 1:00:45.400 thank you Dr Bellamy West our brother, for being with 1:00:45.520 --> 1:00:49.280 us today. Thank you so much. I appreciate you all 1:00:49.320 --> 1:00:51.800 for having me always, Peace and love to both of y'all. 1:00:51.840 --> 1:00:53.760 Thanks for all the work y'all do for the community 1:00:53.800 --> 1:00:55.400 and for the culture as a whole. I don't think 1:00:55.440 --> 1:00:57.720 we can give you all your flowers enough but it's 1:00:57.760 --> 1:01:02.280 definitely appreciated, well, listen, definitely appreciated to be acknowledged by 1:01:02.360 --> 1:01:04.960 someone who fights just as hard, if not harder, than 1:01:04.960 --> 1:01:08.320 we fight. So we definitely appreciate that. So I want 1:01:08.360 --> 1:01:10.360 to I want to say, what is our Black Party? 1:01:11.080 --> 1:01:13.240 What is it? What is it? Yeah? So, our Black 1:01:13.280 --> 1:01:15.960 Party is a political organization in which we have a 1:01:15.960 --> 1:01:19.600 five seven designation which allows us to raise money. We're 1:01:19.640 --> 1:01:21.880 in the form of a pack or superpack, if you will, 1:01:22.240 --> 1:01:25.920 and essentially we're a platform designated for black folk. We 1:01:25.960 --> 1:01:28.520 firmly believe that there's nothing wrong with black people owning 1:01:28.520 --> 1:01:31.120 our politics, and we have a tagline that we believe 1:01:31.160 --> 1:01:33.400 to be very true. Before you are a Republican, before 1:01:33.400 --> 1:01:35.800 you are a Democrat, before you were independent, before you 1:01:35.840 --> 1:01:38.720 had any political affiliation, you were black. And there's nothing 1:01:38.760 --> 1:01:42.080 wrong with black people centering the needs of black folks 1:01:42.120 --> 1:01:45.080 when we're developing political agendas, and there's nothing wrong with 1:01:45.160 --> 1:01:47.120 us saying that we have to put our needs in 1:01:47.160 --> 1:01:50.360 our interests first. So across the country, we're mobilizing, the 1:01:50.440 --> 1:01:52.920 organizing with different folks in terms of being on the 1:01:52.920 --> 1:01:55.160 ground as well as on the state level to ensure 1:01:55.240 --> 1:01:58.720 that we're developing agendas and educating our people about how 1:01:58.800 --> 1:02:02.720 politics works, and furthermore, how we must stand still and 1:02:02.760 --> 1:02:05.680 be steadfast in regards to putting our knees and interest 1:02:05.880 --> 1:02:07.880 before anyone else is because we have to look out 1:02:07.880 --> 1:02:11.520 for ourselves. When did you start our Black Party and 1:02:11.640 --> 1:02:15.680 where would you say you are in the process today? Yeah, 1:02:15.680 --> 1:02:18.880 so our Black Party started essentially about a year and 1:02:18.880 --> 1:02:22.320 a half ago. Myself and our co founder, the Honorable 1:02:22.400 --> 1:02:25.760 Candice Hollingsworth, who was the former mayor of Hyestville, Maryland, 1:02:26.000 --> 1:02:28.320 the first black woman to serve as mayor in that regard. 1:02:28.640 --> 1:02:32.160 And our other starring committee members include the Honorable Stephanie Morales, 1:02:32.160 --> 1:02:35.280 who's the first black woman to serve as Commonwealth Attorney 1:02:35.400 --> 1:02:39.160 Enfortsman Virginia. We also have our brother Rashard Lambert who's 1:02:39.200 --> 1:02:42.240 out of Philadelphia who's the leader of Forbes the Culture 1:02:42.520 --> 1:02:45.480 and in former council woman Leo Webb, who is the 1:02:45.520 --> 1:02:47.560 first black woman to serve as city council woman and 1:02:47.840 --> 1:02:50.640 in running for New York Senate in Bingham to New York. 1:02:50.880 --> 1:02:52.919 So the father of us got together with our big 1:02:52.920 --> 1:02:56.040 brother Puff and you know, uh much love to Diddy 1:02:56.080 --> 1:02:59.120 and work together chounded out working with several folks from 1:02:59.120 --> 1:03:01.160 across the country, and that regard to to try to 1:03:01.200 --> 1:03:04.360 develop different ways in which we can form pathways for 1:03:04.400 --> 1:03:07.600 our people to control our own political apparatus. So that 1:03:07.640 --> 1:03:09.520 was about a year and a half ago. We caused 1:03:09.560 --> 1:03:11.320 some traction, cost some steam, and then we were just 1:03:11.360 --> 1:03:13.160 slowly building. I mean, when you're trying to build a 1:03:13.160 --> 1:03:15.520 platform like this, we have to understand that this is 1:03:15.520 --> 1:03:18.120 a marathon. Right now, we're at about ten thousand members 1:03:18.160 --> 1:03:21.280 from across the country. We have several state directors, were 1:03:21.280 --> 1:03:26.640 in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Indiana, as well as Virginia. 1:03:27.200 --> 1:03:29.360 And what we're doing right now is looking to build out. 1:03:29.360 --> 1:03:32.600 We're working with our dear sister Tesla Figara about It's 1:03:32.640 --> 1:03:35.720 all about You in two and our underground political training, 1:03:35.960 --> 1:03:38.160 so we'll be supporting her as well as others. And 1:03:38.160 --> 1:03:40.080 then we have some stuff in which we're rolling out 1:03:40.120 --> 1:03:42.760 throughout the course of the year, specifically dealing with and 1:03:42.840 --> 1:03:45.560 pretending to the thirty Attorney General races across the country. 1:03:45.800 --> 1:03:47.600 We want everybody to make sure they're tapped into that. 1:03:47.800 --> 1:03:49.680 And then on the local level, how do we get 1:03:49.680 --> 1:03:52.200 our folks engaged and not only run for office, but 1:03:52.320 --> 1:03:57.600 ensure that we're writing a policy that's advantageous to our folks. 1:03:58.440 --> 1:04:02.439 Let me just say, pask one thing because I think 1:04:02.520 --> 1:04:06.000 and I think this is important. Clearly you have decided 1:04:06.360 --> 1:04:10.280 that it is. It is, it is necessary. At this point, 1:04:10.280 --> 1:04:13.800 it's critical for us to work on um, you know, 1:04:14.120 --> 1:04:18.160 organizing our own folks, getting our people and our voting block, 1:04:18.200 --> 1:04:21.800 if you will, together, how we vote our political power. 1:04:21.960 --> 1:04:24.880 We all understand that, but there are some people who 1:04:24.920 --> 1:04:27.560 come from the mindset that, well, we need our own 1:04:27.600 --> 1:04:30.560 party and we don't need to vote for the Republicans 1:04:30.600 --> 1:04:33.760 and Democrats anymore, we should just do away with that. 1:04:34.080 --> 1:04:36.640 Is that what our Black Party is saying or do 1:04:36.840 --> 1:04:39.960 or is there a process that you understand has to 1:04:40.000 --> 1:04:42.040 take place in order to get to where it is 1:04:42.080 --> 1:04:44.840 we're going. I think it's a combination of votes. So 1:04:44.960 --> 1:04:47.760 we have to understand that all of this stuff is multifaceted. 1:04:47.840 --> 1:04:50.080 At one point, excuse me, at some point, we would 1:04:50.120 --> 1:04:51.800 love to for us to be able to say that 1:04:51.880 --> 1:04:54.080 we have our own voting block, similar to what you 1:04:54.120 --> 1:04:56.920 see with a POC or within the Irish community APOC 1:04:56.920 --> 1:04:59.600 as of Jewish entity if you will, um similar to 1:04:59.600 --> 1:05:02.200 what you see with the Latino community or Latino community, 1:05:02.240 --> 1:05:06.200 in which they have very formulated voting blocks and organizations 1:05:06.200 --> 1:05:09.120 that are specifically advantageous for their communities. That's what we're 1:05:09.120 --> 1:05:11.480 trying to develop. But as you alluded to, there is 1:05:11.560 --> 1:05:13.360 a process of which we have to go through, and 1:05:13.440 --> 1:05:16.240 for us, we're being very candid in terms of our 1:05:16.320 --> 1:05:18.640 votes are not free, so we need to go with 1:05:18.680 --> 1:05:20.840 the individuals who are going to represent us in the 1:05:20.880 --> 1:05:24.200 best and most formidable way, regardless of their political affiliation. 1:05:24.520 --> 1:05:26.560 But nonetheless, we're going to make sure that we hold 1:05:26.640 --> 1:05:29.720 everyone accountable and if no one comes forth to do so, 1:05:29.920 --> 1:05:32.800 then we do it ourselves. Just to break down the process, 1:05:32.840 --> 1:05:34.280 if you will, in order to get on the ballot, 1:05:34.320 --> 1:05:36.680 there's only a couple of organizations who've been able to 1:05:36.680 --> 1:05:39.479 do so. Um to knowledge right, or in a grander scale, 1:05:39.520 --> 1:05:41.400 you look at the Working Families Party, which is a 1:05:41.480 --> 1:05:45.200 multicultural and ethnic group that's across the country, but they're 1:05:45.200 --> 1:05:47.560 not specifically black, and no love, no disrespect to to 1:05:47.600 --> 1:05:49.360 the Working Families Party, like you know, shouts to me 1:05:49.440 --> 1:05:51.600 and my Reese and whatnot. But what we're saying is 1:05:51.680 --> 1:05:54.640 that we want to create something that is specifically focused 1:05:54.720 --> 1:05:58.440 on our people and developing and gaining ballot status is 1:05:58.480 --> 1:06:00.880 a process. But we're in this of the marathon. I mean, 1:06:00.880 --> 1:06:03.600 everybody likes to quote Nipsey Rescue, Peace to the King 1:06:03.640 --> 1:06:06.600 and the marathon continues. Well, let's truly run this marathon 1:06:06.840 --> 1:06:08.040 and do what we have to do to get to 1:06:08.080 --> 1:06:10.640 where we need to be. That's dope. So what I 1:06:10.680 --> 1:06:13.400 want to know is, because this is something that I've 1:06:13.400 --> 1:06:15.760 been thinking about for years, Like we've always been thinking 1:06:15.800 --> 1:06:18.240 about we need something different, we need to start our 1:06:18.240 --> 1:06:21.760 own what is the time process that you think it's 1:06:21.760 --> 1:06:24.560 gonna take? Okay, so in this amount of time we 1:06:24.600 --> 1:06:27.440 should have this amount of people, Like what what? What 1:06:27.600 --> 1:06:31.040 would you be able to say that you think the 1:06:31.040 --> 1:06:32.920 amount of time is gonna take for this to be 1:06:32.960 --> 1:06:36.320 like a powerhouse voting block. Yeah, I think it's a 1:06:36.440 --> 1:06:39.080 it's no doubt, like a five to tenure plan. And 1:06:39.120 --> 1:06:41.120 you know, we were starting this and shout out to 1:06:41.160 --> 1:06:43.560 my man Jay Morrison. Uh, there's a lot of folks 1:06:43.560 --> 1:06:45.600 who were having conversations and he and I were having 1:06:45.640 --> 1:06:48.520 conversations in regards to how we work together and whatnot. 1:06:48.720 --> 1:06:51.000 And I think we we have to be very candid 1:06:51.000 --> 1:06:53.760 in my personal estimation, like everybody doesn't have to do 1:06:53.840 --> 1:06:56.440 the exact same thing. And it's okay for us to 1:06:56.520 --> 1:06:59.720 work in multiple avenues and multiple lanes, but we need 1:06:59.760 --> 1:07:01.680 to be stead fast in regards said that we're gonna 1:07:01.680 --> 1:07:03.479 do what we have to do for us. So while 1:07:03.520 --> 1:07:06.680 we're all working in our different respective lanes, that means 1:07:06.680 --> 1:07:09.360 that it's gonna take some time again the corral folks 1:07:09.560 --> 1:07:11.320 and for some folks to say, hey, we're gonna work 1:07:11.360 --> 1:07:13.360 for this work in this regard, and other folks are 1:07:13.400 --> 1:07:15.080 gonna say, hey, we're gonna work at it and look 1:07:15.120 --> 1:07:16.880 at it from this way. But when you look at 1:07:16.880 --> 1:07:20.440 a specific voting block per se, we have to willing 1:07:20.480 --> 1:07:22.760 to change our focus. So do we want to be 1:07:22.840 --> 1:07:25.360 something like the quote unquote Democrats or something like the 1:07:25.400 --> 1:07:27.520 Republican Party. I don't think that we have to be 1:07:27.600 --> 1:07:31.040 either of which because they have literally like billions of 1:07:31.080 --> 1:07:33.440 dollars put behind them. But what we can do and 1:07:33.440 --> 1:07:35.320 where we can start, and again this is within our 1:07:35.360 --> 1:07:37.680 five And see your plan is on the local level 1:07:37.960 --> 1:07:41.560 in places like south Folklon Georgia, or places like Brooklyn 1:07:41.800 --> 1:07:43.720 right where we well, even though you know Brooklyn is 1:07:43.840 --> 1:07:45.280 is no longer Brooken and as it used to be. 1:07:45.320 --> 1:07:47.640 It's not the home of Biggie and Ja. It doesn't 1:07:47.640 --> 1:07:49.920 look quite the same. But when we look at places 1:07:49.960 --> 1:07:52.400 like that where we have higher concentrations of our folks, 1:07:52.640 --> 1:07:55.320 can we get our folks together and say, listen, Democrats 1:07:55.360 --> 1:07:57.360 don't know what they're supposed to do for us. Republicans 1:07:57.400 --> 1:07:59.440 aren't there what they're supposed to do for us. Let's 1:07:59.480 --> 1:08:01.360 get the signal satures needed to get on the ballot 1:08:01.520 --> 1:08:04.160 and then to run our own candidates. Like those things, 1:08:04.240 --> 1:08:06.520 they don't take long that that's like a year long process. 1:08:06.720 --> 1:08:09.200 You literally just have to get the certain amount of 1:08:09.240 --> 1:08:11.640 signatures to qualify to be on the ballot, and usually 1:08:12.040 --> 1:08:14.360 bib the ten percent of the amount of persons who 1:08:14.440 --> 1:08:17.520 voted in the previous election. So you get those signatures, 1:08:17.680 --> 1:08:20.160 you get your candidate on the ballot, you register as 1:08:20.160 --> 1:08:22.800 your party, and then you run. It's it's actually quite 1:08:22.800 --> 1:08:24.840 that simple. We have to raise our money, we have 1:08:24.840 --> 1:08:26.840 to be able to support each other. But there's so 1:08:26.880 --> 1:08:29.400 many folks, like you alluded to my song, you've been 1:08:29.439 --> 1:08:32.200 thinking about this. I mean, there's so many people who've 1:08:32.200 --> 1:08:35.280 been thinking about this, like let's pull our resources. And again, 1:08:35.360 --> 1:08:37.120 we don't all have to do it the exact same way, 1:08:37.320 --> 1:08:39.120 but we want to have an umbrella for folks to 1:08:39.120 --> 1:08:41.800 say you can come under this mantra and we can 1:08:41.880 --> 1:08:45.400 move forward in some capacity together. I said the time, 1:08:45.560 --> 1:08:48.960 unity is not uniformity, and I think that's what pop 1:08:49.120 --> 1:08:51.960 us from our progress because everyone wants it to look 1:08:52.000 --> 1:08:54.800 one way. It doesn't have to look one way. We 1:08:54.880 --> 1:08:57.680 just gotta be going to the same place. Like can 1:08:57.720 --> 1:09:00.760 look different than my car. We just same place, you know. 1:09:00.840 --> 1:09:04.720 So I definitely appreciate what you doing. You have a 1:09:04.800 --> 1:09:07.559 question you want to ask, So do you think that 1:09:08.000 --> 1:09:11.599 UM as a part of because and I want people 1:09:11.640 --> 1:09:14.960 to hear this because I get folks, you know, running 1:09:15.000 --> 1:09:17.680 me down. You know you, you you know you just with 1:09:17.720 --> 1:09:20.400 the Democrats, you just you know you you you paid 1:09:20.479 --> 1:09:22.840 for about the Democrats? Why are you fighting for our 1:09:23.000 --> 1:09:25.960 voting rights? It doesn't matter, you know all of that. 1:09:26.000 --> 1:09:29.160 We hear it all the time, and I have and 1:09:29.200 --> 1:09:33.040 I constantly say to people there are folks like you 1:09:33.560 --> 1:09:37.240 who are working on building an apparatus. I tell them 1:09:37.280 --> 1:09:39.479 all the time. I've been in conversations with puff about 1:09:39.520 --> 1:09:43.599 this for years, trying to build an apparatus that gives 1:09:43.720 --> 1:09:48.160 us the money and also the political education and the 1:09:48.240 --> 1:09:52.839 political will to challenge some of these folks in different 1:09:52.840 --> 1:09:56.519 parties with our own candidate, as you said, and or 1:09:56.800 --> 1:10:00.840 come together and decide in whatever party, whether it an independent, 1:10:00.880 --> 1:10:04.280 a Republican or Democrat, we're going to vote together so 1:10:04.360 --> 1:10:07.000 we can make a difference, or we're coming together as 1:10:07.040 --> 1:10:12.280 the party demanding certain things be on these individuals agenda, 1:10:12.600 --> 1:10:15.439 because you have to be careful that if you know 1:10:15.880 --> 1:10:18.680 you're looking at so for us in a situation like 1:10:18.760 --> 1:10:21.920 Trump and Biden, right, there are folks you know, well 1:10:22.120 --> 1:10:25.040 neither one of them, Okay, fine, absolutely to seventy something. 1:10:25.080 --> 1:10:27.800 Ye know, white men. We've never ever thought that any 1:10:27.880 --> 1:10:30.400 either one of them would be great and the great 1:10:30.439 --> 1:10:33.200 savior for our community. But we know what we were 1:10:33.240 --> 1:10:37.759 looking at the difference between the two candidates. The question 1:10:37.960 --> 1:10:41.640 is how do we have something where we're able to, 1:10:42.040 --> 1:10:45.559 in an organized fashion when we're coming down to the 1:10:45.680 --> 1:10:50.080 last minute in an election like that, demand from both 1:10:50.120 --> 1:10:54.400 of them certain things. Now, some people will say, well, uh, 1:10:54.439 --> 1:10:57.080 that's what ice Cube was doing, right. Ice Cub was 1:10:57.160 --> 1:11:01.360 trying to force both candidates to speak to our issues 1:11:01.880 --> 1:11:04.200 and We've said over and over again, and I want 1:11:04.200 --> 1:11:06.120 to get your opinion on this. You're you know, on 1:11:06.320 --> 1:11:09.479 what you always an honest opinion. What we've said is 1:11:09.840 --> 1:11:13.680 it's very difficult to negotiate when you have missed the 1:11:13.760 --> 1:11:17.360 moment when there were multiple people in the field. So 1:11:17.439 --> 1:11:21.920 at the time, when there were nine million people running 1:11:22.040 --> 1:11:25.960 for the Democratic nomination, was the time to have our 1:11:26.040 --> 1:11:30.320 Black Party, you know, our issues on the table, to say, 1:11:30.560 --> 1:11:33.600 of these two candidates, we want these things and to 1:11:33.680 --> 1:11:37.360 get them to commit. But to wait until there's two 1:11:37.439 --> 1:11:41.599 candidates and we're looking at some one person who killed 1:11:41.640 --> 1:11:45.280 six hundred thousand people by the time he was running 1:11:45.280 --> 1:11:49.320 for office um by ignoring a real, a true issue 1:11:49.360 --> 1:11:51.760 in terms of how people should have been taking care 1:11:51.760 --> 1:11:55.080 of themselves for a virus um. And then we're looking 1:11:55.120 --> 1:11:58.160 at another person that's not great at all either, but 1:11:58.240 --> 1:12:01.639 they were very different. So it's you do you agree 1:12:01.880 --> 1:12:04.200 with what I'm saying or do you feel like we 1:12:04.280 --> 1:12:08.800 still should have abstained or or just use it as 1:12:08.840 --> 1:12:11.160 an opportunity to say, hey, we may lose this one, 1:12:11.160 --> 1:12:13.840 but now let's just build our own party and leave 1:12:13.920 --> 1:12:17.240 the other two parties completely. Well, well, I think you're 1:12:17.439 --> 1:12:19.920 you're right and all of it. And I think again, 1:12:19.960 --> 1:12:22.160 like we have to be willing to understand that this 1:12:22.200 --> 1:12:25.479 game is so complex, and it is indeed a game 1:12:25.560 --> 1:12:27.080 that we have to be willing to play if we 1:12:27.080 --> 1:12:28.960 want to be able to change the outcomes of our people. 1:12:29.280 --> 1:12:32.280 This game is so complex and nuance that there's multiple 1:12:32.280 --> 1:12:34.519 approaches that we have to be willing to take. So 1:12:35.000 --> 1:12:37.600 in my personal estimation, it's always the right time to 1:12:37.640 --> 1:12:40.559 mobilize by folks, It's never too late in order for 1:12:40.640 --> 1:12:42.640 us to be able to mobilize each other and and 1:12:42.680 --> 1:12:45.280 out we would have this discussion, and I mean, you 1:12:45.320 --> 1:12:47.200 know you've had it. We we've all had it. Shout 1:12:47.200 --> 1:12:50.000 out to man Stephen Green and every Reverend Green and 1:12:50.040 --> 1:12:52.439 everybody else, like we've all had this talk. Like maybe 1:12:52.439 --> 1:12:55.120 we were a little too late, maybe we started you know, 1:12:55.200 --> 1:12:57.280 we missed our market because we kicked off in July 1:12:57.880 --> 1:13:02.599 of essentially that the two candidates were already picked. And now, 1:13:02.720 --> 1:13:04.559 like you alluded to, we don't have a great deal 1:13:04.560 --> 1:13:07.280 of leverage quote unquote to the to the layman's eye. 1:13:07.479 --> 1:13:09.800 But again, I don't ever believe that it's the wrong 1:13:09.840 --> 1:13:13.000 time for us to mobilize our people and now that 1:13:13.120 --> 1:13:15.800 we have some footing under us, now that we're the 1:13:15.800 --> 1:13:18.480 word is getting out, now that we're continuing to mobilize. 1:13:18.600 --> 1:13:21.040 That gives us that much more leverage in the mid 1:13:21.160 --> 1:13:25.479 term elections and furthermore in the presidential elections. But that's 1:13:25.520 --> 1:13:28.599 only on the federal level. We talk about the local 1:13:28.640 --> 1:13:32.080 and state level. We always have leverage because there's elections, 1:13:32.320 --> 1:13:34.679 their election cycles that are taking place all of the time. 1:13:34.800 --> 1:13:37.360 And I'll let me be clear, Like I'm a former 1:13:37.400 --> 1:13:40.720 elected official. I ran as a Democrat. I was seen 1:13:40.760 --> 1:13:43.320 as a quote unquote rising part of the Democratic Party. 1:13:44.120 --> 1:13:46.439 You know, I was real cool with our former governor. Like, 1:13:46.560 --> 1:13:49.400 I get it, I understand the game. But that still 1:13:49.479 --> 1:13:50.920 doesn't mean that we don't have to do what we 1:13:50.960 --> 1:13:53.040 have to do for our folk. And just because we 1:13:53.120 --> 1:13:56.040 have friends in certain spaces doesn't mean that we negate 1:13:56.080 --> 1:13:58.559 the needs of our people on the local and state level, 1:13:58.600 --> 1:14:00.800 and obviously on the federal level, but at home in 1:14:00.840 --> 1:14:03.120 the streets, like when you two are are going in 1:14:03.120 --> 1:14:05.800 the rest of until Freedom, God the Angelo and Sister 1:14:05.880 --> 1:14:07.840 London and everyone else, when y'all are going out in 1:14:07.880 --> 1:14:10.639 the streets and mobilizing and organizing, there's never a wrong 1:14:10.720 --> 1:14:13.720 time to do that. And you know, for me, Hu 1:14:13.800 --> 1:14:16.000 Change said something that I that always sticks with me. 1:14:16.320 --> 1:14:18.040 He said it on his last album, like, there's certain 1:14:18.080 --> 1:14:20.800 situations that make you care less about voting, and we 1:14:20.840 --> 1:14:23.320 have to be able to pierce through those things when 1:14:23.320 --> 1:14:25.680 a mother loses her child and and a kid is 1:14:25.720 --> 1:14:28.439 shot in the middle of the street, sometimes about you know, 1:14:28.479 --> 1:14:30.360 one of our own because of many of the systemic 1:14:30.400 --> 1:14:33.200 issues that we have, or like like my son also 1:14:33.240 --> 1:14:35.760 often talks about kill coward culture and how we have 1:14:35.840 --> 1:14:38.760 to make sure we hold individuals accountable. Those individuals when 1:14:38.760 --> 1:14:40.920 they're going through these things at certain moments in times 1:14:41.040 --> 1:14:44.160 they're not necessarily thinking about the political asparatus. Where we 1:14:44.320 --> 1:14:46.639 come in is that we have to continue to remind 1:14:46.720 --> 1:14:48.960 them that these things are bout products of systems, and 1:14:48.960 --> 1:14:51.920 these systems change by us being engaged, and these systems 1:14:51.960 --> 1:14:54.160 change by us being engaged with people who look like us, 1:14:54.360 --> 1:14:56.839 who care about us. And that's why again it's always 1:14:56.840 --> 1:14:59.240 the right time for us at work. That was a 1:14:59.240 --> 1:15:05.600 long answer. I definitely, I definitely take that into consideration. 1:15:05.720 --> 1:15:07.960 You know, I just think for me, like what you 1:15:08.040 --> 1:15:10.960 said is is definitely But for me, is this the 1:15:11.000 --> 1:15:13.640 system is gonna be there, right, we said, we we 1:15:13.680 --> 1:15:15.639 can act like And I tell people all the time, 1:15:15.680 --> 1:15:19.280 you don't gotta vote, but just the person, the person 1:15:19.400 --> 1:15:22.519 who gets into office, the laws that they pass, whatever 1:15:22.560 --> 1:15:25.200 they do, you still gonna follow the law. So if 1:15:25.240 --> 1:15:27.719 you decide that you're not gonna vote in this election, cool, 1:15:28.040 --> 1:15:29.960 but you still gonna stop at the green light. You 1:15:30.040 --> 1:15:33.320 still gonna pay taxes. Whatever laws they've put into you 1:15:33.439 --> 1:15:35.880 still have that. You just understand. As long as you 1:15:35.920 --> 1:15:39.960 acknowledge that, then then we all came for me. I 1:15:40.000 --> 1:15:41.519 want to be I want to have a little bit 1:15:41.560 --> 1:15:43.720 of a say so about the laws they're going I 1:15:43.760 --> 1:15:45.479 want to be have a little bit of say so 1:15:45.760 --> 1:15:48.280 about things that are gonna govern my life. So you know, 1:15:48.360 --> 1:15:50.400 and it's to each his own. Some of us just 1:15:50.479 --> 1:15:52.840 feel like, forget the system. I'm just gonna go about 1:15:52.840 --> 1:15:55.720 it whatever me personally I want to have. I want 1:15:55.720 --> 1:15:59.320 to be engaged in every inch of the process that's 1:15:59.320 --> 1:16:02.479 gonna have something to affect my life. But we, like 1:16:02.560 --> 1:16:04.439 you said, we don't all got to do it the same. 1:16:04.560 --> 1:16:06.760 I could vote, he cannot vote, but we all know 1:16:06.880 --> 1:16:09.320 that ultimately we gotta get free. So long as you're 1:16:09.360 --> 1:16:11.639 doing something over there to get us free. I might 1:16:11.680 --> 1:16:14.000 be voting for these one and two laws that I 1:16:14.040 --> 1:16:16.120 know it's gonna give us a little more freedom, and 1:16:16.160 --> 1:16:18.720 you might be not voting and building an apparatus over 1:16:18.720 --> 1:16:20.960 there that's gonna do something to help us sustained. But 1:16:21.000 --> 1:16:23.240 we all got to be doing something right. And I 1:16:23.280 --> 1:16:25.559 think to your point though, that's why we also need 1:16:25.720 --> 1:16:29.439 different kinds of candidates, because individuals who relate to like 1:16:29.479 --> 1:16:32.240 where we're from and where we come from. I mean, honestly, 1:16:32.240 --> 1:16:35.080 they're like unicorns, and we need to be able to 1:16:35.120 --> 1:16:38.200 develop more of these unicorns while also getting our people 1:16:38.200 --> 1:16:40.120 to understand that there's no such thing as a perfect 1:16:40.120 --> 1:16:43.320 politician or a perfect elected official. Like we can't put 1:16:43.360 --> 1:16:46.120 folks on these these certain pedestals. You've gotta be, you know, 1:16:46.240 --> 1:16:49.439 the flyers, dude who can articulate in a certain way 1:16:49.720 --> 1:16:51.800 but still not do anything, but still kick it with 1:16:51.840 --> 1:16:54.320 the homies and so on and so forth. Like those 1:16:54.360 --> 1:16:57.720 individuals are rare. But when we get persons who do run, 1:16:57.840 --> 1:17:00.160 whether they you know, may come from certain environments, not 1:17:00.560 --> 1:17:02.760 let's make sure that we train them and hold them accountable, 1:17:02.920 --> 1:17:04.720 but also we love on them so that they can 1:17:04.760 --> 1:17:07.920 pass policies that are gonna be helpful for our people. 1:17:08.280 --> 1:17:10.719 And that's where and we have to miss I'm sorry, 1:17:10.720 --> 1:17:13.080 we have to wrap up, but because we have uh 1:17:13.120 --> 1:17:16.040 well and we have to wrap us but but um 1:17:16.960 --> 1:17:19.120 uh but also we have to put our money where 1:17:19.120 --> 1:17:21.559 our mouth is. And so the last question real quick 1:17:21.680 --> 1:17:24.519 is how much is it going to cost for our 1:17:24.560 --> 1:17:28.240 Black Party to get to stage too? And then you know, 1:17:28.520 --> 1:17:31.880 the ultimate stage. How much money do we need? So 1:17:31.920 --> 1:17:34.080 we need about ten million dollars for us to go 1:17:34.160 --> 1:17:36.720 to the next level. And with that ten million will 1:17:36.720 --> 1:17:39.360 be able not only to bring on more state directors, 1:17:39.360 --> 1:17:41.599 but get field directors on the local level. And that's 1:17:41.640 --> 1:17:43.080 really what we're trying to place a great deal of 1:17:43.080 --> 1:17:45.560 our emphasis. In addition to that the training models and 1:17:45.560 --> 1:17:47.479 again shout out to Tesla, but we want to make 1:17:47.479 --> 1:17:50.040 sure that these trainings are free and affordable to every 1:17:50.120 --> 1:17:52.600 available rather to all of our folks. Though you know, 1:17:53.000 --> 1:17:55.680 donate at our Black Party dot com. Excuse me, www 1:17:55.720 --> 1:17:57.960 dot Black Party dot org. You can look us up 1:17:58.000 --> 1:18:00.400 on all of our socials. Wcuse me at our Black 1:18:00.439 --> 1:18:02.320 Party and you know we're here. We're here for RUSS. 1:18:02.360 --> 1:18:07.719 But this is a marathons. Let's keep running our Black 1:18:07.800 --> 1:18:12.719 Party dot com dot org. Okay, okay www dot our 1:18:12.800 --> 1:18:17.439 Black Party dot org. Ten million dollars. That means one dollars, 1:18:17.479 --> 1:18:20.439 five dollars, ten dollars, a hundred dollars, hundred thousand dollars. 1:18:20.439 --> 1:18:24.400 We need it all, we needed Black Party. Let's love y'all. 1:18:24.479 --> 1:18:27.760 Appreciate you all, We appreciate you. Can keep doing the work. Man, 1:18:27.800 --> 1:18:32.960 we read no doubt, no doubt. Well, yes, sir, all right, 1:18:35.680 --> 1:18:39.519 shout out to our brother doctor doctor West Bellamy, you know, 1:18:39.560 --> 1:18:42.680 and just breaking down our Black Party and just you know, 1:18:42.800 --> 1:18:45.400 just showing what is needed right now. And a lot 1:18:45.439 --> 1:18:47.880 of people don't understand. Like I said during the interview, 1:18:47.920 --> 1:18:50.800 it's not about uniformity, is about unity. We don't kind 1:18:50.840 --> 1:18:53.280 of do the same things at the same Zack, Tom. 1:18:53.600 --> 1:18:55.920 We just gotta be going to the same place and 1:18:55.960 --> 1:18:58.439 believe that we're gonna get there and and sometimes we 1:18:58.560 --> 1:19:01.040 gotta take different routes and there's nothing wrong with that. 1:19:01.120 --> 1:19:03.120 So I just want to commend him and all the 1:19:03.200 --> 1:19:07.360 brothers and sisters who are on the committee for our 1:19:07.360 --> 1:19:10.040 Black Party, who started it, who's seen the need for 1:19:10.280 --> 1:19:13.840 and and I'm filling in those gaps. Yeah, I mean 1:19:13.880 --> 1:19:17.760 our Black party, all of these things, just listening to 1:19:17.840 --> 1:19:21.880 the need we can't fail our black party, all of 1:19:21.920 --> 1:19:25.240 that together. I think it's all of that, like you said, together, 1:19:25.320 --> 1:19:28.000 and it's not one thing, but it's all things, and 1:19:28.120 --> 1:19:30.360 certainly a focus on black people. And I think, and 1:19:30.400 --> 1:19:34.320 that's what hearing West say that, and knowing that Congresswoman 1:19:34.400 --> 1:19:38.479 Lee also feels that way, it's super important. It definitely is. 1:19:38.560 --> 1:19:41.080 And you know, and and in light of how dope 1:19:41.120 --> 1:19:43.400 this interview was and how powerful it was, and just 1:19:43.800 --> 1:19:47.120 listening to the congresswoman, you know, my, my, I don't 1:19:47.160 --> 1:19:54.400 get it. It's gonna be real simple and it's not 1:19:54.439 --> 1:19:57.519 gonna be followed by a lot of talk or anything. 1:19:57.560 --> 1:19:59.639 It's just that I don't get So I don't get 1:19:59.640 --> 1:20:01.679 it to a no problem. I don't want to anyway, 1:20:01.720 --> 1:20:04.680 So you know what, you don't get less going we 1:20:04.880 --> 1:20:07.040 want to after I say this, but I don't want 1:20:07.840 --> 1:20:12.120 It's how the police who killed Brianna Taylor is still 1:20:12.120 --> 1:20:17.120 not in jail arrest the cops that killed Brianna Tail. 1:20:17.960 --> 1:20:21.320 And with that said, I'm not gonna always be right, 1:20:22.200 --> 1:20:24.559 Jamicka Mallory is not gonna always be wrong, when we're 1:20:24.600 --> 1:20:29.400 both always and I mean always be a thing all right. Peace. Now, 1:20:31.280 --> 1:20:32.200 that's how we owned