Speaker 1: What's up, family, I'm your girl to make a d
Speaker 1: Mallory and it's your boy, my son in general, and
Speaker 1: we are your hosts of street politicians the place streets
Speaker 1: and politics. Me, what's going on, my son, Lennin, you know,
Speaker 1: just putting up with it? This weather is freezing, like everywhere,
Speaker 1: it's cold. It ain't like well nowhere all of America
Speaker 1: except in Miami. I guess that's what they said. They say,
Speaker 1: you know it's always warm in Miami. Yeah, well not always.
Speaker 1: I used to live hour and a half south of Miami,
Speaker 1: and sometimes you need your coke like a jacket or cool. No, no,
Speaker 1: you know, forty degrees it's cold, you know, especially for them.
Speaker 1: It's places like Atlanta that really make me laugh though,
Speaker 1: because they still, in all these years, have not been
Speaker 1: able to catch up with the weather issues, even though
Speaker 1: George's weather has changed so much, and so whenever they
Speaker 1: whenever it gets cold or there's a snow, a little
Speaker 1: bit of snow, it shuts down the whole town and
Speaker 1: people are like on the roads for hours and hours.
Speaker 1: And in fact, that happened in Virginia just a few
Speaker 1: weeks ago, where people were on the road stuck for
Speaker 1: maybe like twenty four hours because of snow that is
Speaker 1: nothing like what we get in New York. So I guess,
Speaker 1: you know, other places they don't like this snow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, snow is cool. It just it's just it's
Speaker 1: cool when it first happens. Yes, yes, it just you know,
Speaker 1: it just stops travel. It makes it hard to move.
Speaker 1: You're sliding, you're slipping. You know. In theory, snow is cool,
Speaker 1: when in reality it hinders a lot of stuff. Man, kids,
Speaker 1: it's good for kids. So there's a lot happening in
Speaker 1: the news. UM, and I think one particular situation that
Speaker 1: most of us have been watching for a while is
Speaker 1: that of the case of Lauren smith Fields. She was
Speaker 1: twenty three years old. I believe UM went on a
Speaker 1: date with someone that she met online from Bumble and
Speaker 1: UM that evening, I guess she died. Um. There was
Speaker 1: lots of drugs in her system. The man who she
Speaker 1: was with UM at first was I think he called
Speaker 1: the police, but then after calling the police, he may
Speaker 1: have disappeared. But once they were able to interview him
Speaker 1: or talk to him, they found that he was a
Speaker 1: the police. They found he was a very nice man,
Speaker 1: and they decided that they would not investigate him and
Speaker 1: they would let him go and just decide that she
Speaker 1: had a drug overdose. UM. And you know, uh, this
Speaker 1: happened in Connecticut. The man happens to be a white man,
Speaker 1: and there has been outraged for a while about out
Speaker 1: this situation. When I first saw it, it was about
Speaker 1: two months ago. UM I reached out to um miss
Speaker 1: Fields family members and had just been trying to see,
Speaker 1: you know, what could we potentially do to support But
Speaker 1: they have a great attorney who used to be one
Speaker 1: of the presidents of one of the Connecticut uh in
Speaker 1: double A CP and so he had been working and
Speaker 1: you know, different people involved. And then Cardi b spoke
Speaker 1: out about the situation. She you know, and first of all,
Speaker 1: as far as they were concerned the the report that
Speaker 1: came back the autopsy in in this particular jurisdiction in Connecticut,
Speaker 1: their position was that it was a close matter, um,
Speaker 1: that it was you know, accidental or drug overdose and
Speaker 1: that's it. So they were not even going to potentially
Speaker 1: look at, you know, whether she had a history of
Speaker 1: drug abuse or you know, where did these drugs come from?
Speaker 1: You know, whether or not this man supplied the drugs.
Speaker 1: They weren't even look into any of those things. But
Speaker 1: when Cardi spoke out about it, uh, it made it
Speaker 1: brought more attention. You started to see more information pick
Speaker 1: up online. I know. Also some time ago, Shaun King
Speaker 1: had been talking about the case. So now it seems
Speaker 1: that there is going to be an investigation. The criminal
Speaker 1: investigation has happened. Bumble has sort of come back into
Speaker 1: the conversation. At first, their statement was very dry. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, corporations try to invest to stay away from
Speaker 1: anything as it relates to protecting black women unfortunately and
Speaker 1: just black people in general. Um and which is a
Speaker 1: major critique. But they now have weighed in there will
Speaker 1: be a criminal investigation, and that's a real, real good
Speaker 1: thing for this family that has really been mourning the
Speaker 1: loss of their daughter and feeling so broken about what
Speaker 1: happened to her. It was, it was very very crazy, tragic. Man.
Speaker 1: I've been reading up on it. You know, good to
Speaker 1: see that actually opening a criminal case on him and
Speaker 1: shout out the Cardi b for you know, utilizing her
Speaker 1: voice in her platform and just speaking of Cardi, you know,
Speaker 1: Cardi just got some good news in the news lately,
Speaker 1: you know, she was awarded for her defamation suit against
Speaker 1: I forgot who exactly it was. She's a I don't
Speaker 1: think she's a YouTuber. She's like, I don't know she's
Speaker 1: she's maybe and I don't even know what we call.
Speaker 1: I don't want to be disrespectful to the work that
Speaker 1: they do, But I guess she's a blogger. She's she
Speaker 1: does YouTube videos and I think she has a podcast
Speaker 1: as well. Her name is so yeah, she was. She
Speaker 1: had put out some allegations about Cardi B And after
Speaker 1: years of litigation, you know, Cardi was awarded almost about
Speaker 1: four million dollars roughly more or less. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think it's at precedent. You know, I've definitely been
Speaker 1: a victim of quote unquote cyber bullying when they just
Speaker 1: make up things and talk about you and utilize these
Speaker 1: platforms and YouTube pages just to come up with the
Speaker 1: most outrageous and outlanders things to try to defame and
Speaker 1: discredit you. So you know, you know, I might try
Speaker 1: my hand in it, man, I might look and see
Speaker 1: if if I give me a couple of dollars, man,
Speaker 1: Yeah right, yeah right. I actually posted that a few
Speaker 1: nights ago, after the whole situation happened. I posted that
Speaker 1: it's you know, maybe I need to get some clips
Speaker 1: from YouTube and call some of the lawyers, the many
Speaker 1: lawyers that I know. In fact, three lawyers went into
Speaker 1: the comments section like let's do it, like, let me
Speaker 1: know when you want to file, um, you know, against
Speaker 1: some of these folks, because to your point, um, you know,
Speaker 1: people spend a lot of time. Sometimes I look at
Speaker 1: the YouTube hits and I have been, um guilty of
Speaker 1: not using YouTube and all these other platforms for my
Speaker 1: own reasons, right, Like there are people who are literally
Speaker 1: making money every day on our names because they need
Speaker 1: the clicks, they need the subscriptions, they need the likes,
Speaker 1: and I, you know, but I actually am like, damn,
Speaker 1: I'm not even using it as much on my own name.
Speaker 1: And you know, on one hand, I really, first of all,
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of time, and I know Cardi
Speaker 1: doesn't either, so you know, it takes a good legal
Speaker 1: team that keeps things going. But I don't have a
Speaker 1: lot of time or energy for it. However, and the
Speaker 1: other part of it is that clearly these are people
Speaker 1: that are so desperate they need your content in order
Speaker 1: to or need you to make content because they don't
Speaker 1: have anything that they can talk about that would help
Speaker 1: them to be able to, you know, be successful on
Speaker 1: these platforms on their own. So they need to be
Speaker 1: able to use the name of other people who have following,
Speaker 1: who have support, who have haters. Uh, And they need that.
Speaker 1: And I think it's pretty pitiful when your entire platform
Speaker 1: is being built off of you trying to discredit, destroy,
Speaker 1: defame another individual. Um and you know, and and and
Speaker 1: in in this particular situation, there were things that she
Speaker 1: said about Cardi that probably would have never progressed in court,
Speaker 1: right because either it came up in one of Cardi's
Speaker 1: songs or she said something that gave that alluded to
Speaker 1: these different issues. But the one thing that you can't
Speaker 1: do is say that someone has a venereal disease or
Speaker 1: that someone is having a sleeping with someone and you
Speaker 1: don't know what you're talking about. That's a problem. You
Speaker 1: can't actually do that because that's when it becomes defamation.
Speaker 1: And I know for sure that people have said things
Speaker 1: like that and even worse about me. So hey, like
Speaker 1: you said, you never know, and I'm really going to
Speaker 1: get I'm gonna have some folks take the time because
Speaker 1: I don't watch or listen to any of that at all,
Speaker 1: But I probably need somebody to make some clips and
Speaker 1: send it to me so we can make a determination
Speaker 1: about whether or not it's something we want to pursue. Yeah, listen,
Speaker 1: I'm very vocal and I have opinions about different people,
Speaker 1: and sometimes they're not favorable, but their opinions based on
Speaker 1: something that I know. You know, so I don't never
Speaker 1: state anything as fact. That's not fact, you know. For me,
Speaker 1: it's just lies. If you want to make lies about somebody,
Speaker 1: if you're gonna tell a story, you canna be like you,
Speaker 1: I don't really like your shirt, or I don't think
Speaker 1: somebody could wrap good, or those are your opinions. I'm
Speaker 1: cool with all that. That's you know, that's critique. That's
Speaker 1: when you're a public figure, you open yourself up for
Speaker 1: levels of critique, have opinions of you. But when you
Speaker 1: start making both faced lies about somebody did this and
Speaker 1: somebody stole this and somebody did this, now you're you're
Speaker 1: utilizing your platform to discredit and lie on somebody. And
Speaker 1: that's that's what the problem is for me, because I
Speaker 1: don't care what you think about me. That's that's good.
Speaker 1: You got an opinion about it. When you lie, it's
Speaker 1: just stupid, you know, it's just it's just doesn't make sense.
Speaker 1: So shout up to Cardi for probably sending precedents in
Speaker 1: this error right now, and and and letting people know that, Look,
Speaker 1: you can have your own opinion, but you don't you
Speaker 1: don't get to have your own facts. Yeah. Absolutely, And
Speaker 1: you're right. It's not about whether not people like me
Speaker 1: or they think I'm I'm good at what I do
Speaker 1: or not good at what I do. That's not relevant
Speaker 1: whether they think that the Democrats are you know, I'm
Speaker 1: loyal to the Democrats. But when people start saying you're
Speaker 1: being paid by the Democrats, that is slander, because the
Speaker 1: Democrats have never paid me a damn dime. In fact,
Speaker 1: the Democrats try to run in the opposite direction from
Speaker 1: me so that they don't have to be associated with
Speaker 1: whatever other lies that other people have told. And by
Speaker 1: the way, this is not just about YouTubers and bloggers.
Speaker 1: I even have major newspapers, like major publications that have
Speaker 1: printed complete lies, and you know, and and and and hey,
Speaker 1: that's an even different situation. I don't know if I'm
Speaker 1: looking for money from Joe Joe who has a podcast
Speaker 1: or a YouTube page. I'm not even think that's not
Speaker 1: even my goal. But I think, like you said, continuing
Speaker 1: to set a precedent that this internet stuff, what what
Speaker 1: people are doing, the bullying, as you said, the harassment,
Speaker 1: it needs to end somewhere. And I just want to
Speaker 1: send out my own condolences to the great between the
Speaker 1: King who lost her son recently. Um, the whole world
Speaker 1: was shot by that man. I know that you you
Speaker 1: you have a level of communication with her so and
Speaker 1: you actually met her son, so you know, we were
Speaker 1: together when the news happened, and I've seen how you
Speaker 1: responded to that. So I just want to send out
Speaker 1: my condole to her. Yeah, that's the saddest thing ever. Um,
Speaker 1: Regina King is a beautiful, beautiful woman. I spent some
Speaker 1: time um during the summer with Regina and in the summer,
Speaker 1: and the relationship between them, it's so beautiful that I
Speaker 1: sat and thought to myself, Wow, okay, I want to
Speaker 1: make sure that my son, like you know, when I
Speaker 1: talked to him, that I say it like this or that.
Speaker 1: Like I was watching them and in my mind mimicking
Speaker 1: how much better my relationship would be if I handle
Speaker 1: certain discussions. Because we were talking about everything, you know,
Speaker 1: how that goes is summertime. We were kicking and we
Speaker 1: were eating, drinking, chilling, hanging together and you know, and
Speaker 1: we were together for hours. Shout out to my my girl,
Speaker 1: our friend Marvatt Brittle because she is friends with Regina
Speaker 1: and she brought us all together over dinner. And you know,
Speaker 1: as we sat there, even his maturity and how he
Speaker 1: was able to talk about his mother's career and different things,
Speaker 1: different stories of things that you know, there was those
Speaker 1: old war stories. I sat there and listened to them,
Speaker 1: and I was in awe of the connection, the bond
Speaker 1: that the two of them have. And so to know
Speaker 1: that Um, he died by suicide is so painful, It
Speaker 1: is so painful. And um, there is a state legislator.
Speaker 1: His name escapes me at this moment, but he's a
Speaker 1: young black man who also um, has died by suicide
Speaker 1: in the last few days. Also another friend of ours
Speaker 1: who we will you know, of course, protect the identity
Speaker 1: of these individuals, and I actually I think it's not
Speaker 1: a secret. But nonetheless, another friend of us of ours
Speaker 1: who was a minister, his daughter died by suicide just
Speaker 1: in the last several weeks, all so in her twenties.
Speaker 1: There's something going on. Um, you know, as you've been saying,
Speaker 1: and I and you and I have debated and discussed
Speaker 1: this whole issue of people and during a pandemic, being
Speaker 1: locked in their homes, being away from people, away from
Speaker 1: their regular movement, you know, away from folks who might
Speaker 1: check on. You can see something in your eyes, the
Speaker 1: changes in how you operate. There's something to be said
Speaker 1: about that. And I just you know, I I don't
Speaker 1: even know how to express to Regina and and his father,
Speaker 1: Ian Senior. Um, you know how sorry I am about
Speaker 1: the loss of their son. I'm sure that she will
Speaker 1: come out of this as a powerhouse and do something great, um,
Speaker 1: you know, in this area. So God bless her. That's
Speaker 1: all I can say is God bless her. Definitely, God
Speaker 1: bless her. And like I said, we are living in
Speaker 1: very traumatic times and so much trauma, like you said,
Speaker 1: the pandemic, just the streets in general violence, It's just
Speaker 1: so many things I've watched, I've watched you know, people
Speaker 1: that I know, I've I've seen mental just your mentality
Speaker 1: is just shifted in this time, you know, and it's
Speaker 1: it's it's harder to deal with, you know. So I'm
Speaker 1: praying for our youth. I'm praying for everyone who's dealing
Speaker 1: with that trauma. I'm praying for everyone who's having those
Speaker 1: thoughts right now. You know that that you reach out
Speaker 1: to somebody you know, get you some therapy, get you
Speaker 1: someone that you feel comfortable talking to, But don't hold
Speaker 1: it in right and don't get to a place where
Speaker 1: it's so dark that you feel like that's your only options.
Speaker 1: So absolutely, and you can never and you never know
Speaker 1: why people make these decisions, so you can never think
Speaker 1: you're above it. And once again RP to Iron and
Speaker 1: our love goes out to Regina King in that time
Speaker 1: of morning. And Supreme Court Justice Brier is retiring in
Speaker 1: six months, which means that there is an open Supreme
Speaker 1: Court seat coming up. I think if anybody understands anything
Speaker 1: about politics and the way that our society works, the
Speaker 1: Supreme Court nominations and confirmations are extremely important. This is
Speaker 1: how decisions are made, final decisions at the highest levels
Speaker 1: of the courts um in our society. This is how
Speaker 1: decisions are made. Right now, we already have too many
Speaker 1: conservative people on the bench on the Supreme Court. That
Speaker 1: does not allow us to be as progressive as we
Speaker 1: need to be to fight against all of this craziness
Speaker 1: that's going on. Vote of suppression laws, uh, abortion issues,
Speaker 1: a woman's right to choose. There's so many things that's
Speaker 1: happening in our society and we have always depended on
Speaker 1: the Supreme Court as an option, as a forum um
Speaker 1: that we would be able to go to to get
Speaker 1: have some kind of fairness. So with a seat coming up,
Speaker 1: thank god he's retiring while there is a president in
Speaker 1: office that leans leans towards a more liberal or the
Speaker 1: more liberal side, so hopefully they will put and and
Speaker 1: get someone confirmed. Nominate someone who is um, who is
Speaker 1: who is more likely to side with you know, people
Speaker 1: like Sonya Soto mayor um the Supreme Court justice from
Speaker 1: the bronx right. So hopefully we will find that type
Speaker 1: of individual and have them uh confirmed. Now, the whole
Speaker 1: talk of the town is that during the campaign, which
Speaker 1: there's there was a lot said during the campaign canceling
Speaker 1: student debt, dealing with criminal justice reform that this administration
Speaker 1: has not made good on. But one of the things
Speaker 1: that they said was that one of the things that
Speaker 1: President Biden said was that he would nominate a black
Speaker 1: woman to the Supreme Court if a seat became open.
Speaker 1: So here we are. Now. He has already put eight
Speaker 1: black women um at the appellate court level, which is good,
Speaker 1: but the Supreme Court is the highest court in the land,
Speaker 1: and it is beyond time. I saw so many people
Speaker 1: from you know, Nina turn up and you just name it,
Speaker 1: all these folks. Congress Woman Cory Bush tweeting, it's been
Speaker 1: time to have a black woman sit on the Supreme Court.
Speaker 1: So here's our shot. So do the right thing, Joe,
Speaker 1: come on the right thing. But any black woman won't
Speaker 1: do so we have to. We're not doing you know,
Speaker 1: we're not doing um what do we call it, um,
Speaker 1: identity politics. Identity politics. We're not doing that. We we
Speaker 1: failed at that already. You know, we've tried that. You know,
Speaker 1: moving forward, we need the right black people in land
Speaker 1: in position. But we don't want just any any black
Speaker 1: person in positions. So do the right thing and get
Speaker 1: the right person right. So we'll see, Yes, we will.
Speaker 1: So from my thought of the day I was sitting
Speaker 1: you know, first of all, of course, people are watching
Speaker 1: New York to police officers were murdered here justin in
Speaker 1: the last few days. Sick, sad, depressing young men. I
Speaker 1: don't care if they were ninety years old, doesn't matter,
Speaker 1: but they still were young men. They didn't deserve it.
Speaker 1: It's so painful. Just so I don't like to see
Speaker 1: people will be murdered in general. Forget about cop guy
Speaker 1: on the street, neighbor. You know, families like it's just
Speaker 1: it's the worst thing when it's the worst of us,
Speaker 1: when people take the lives of other people literally for
Speaker 1: no reason at all, and it's just it cripples the city.
Speaker 1: It hurts so many people when you see things like
Speaker 1: that happen, and so you know, for those families, same
Speaker 1: with the Regina King's situation. It's a lot of people hurting,
Speaker 1: a lot of people hurting. And I certainly send my
Speaker 1: condolences to the families of these two officers and to
Speaker 1: the entire police force, because that is a scary feeling
Speaker 1: that you can show up for work, go to respond
Speaker 1: to a dispute and be shot by someone in a
Speaker 1: in a situation you can never even imagine. I was
Speaker 1: thinking to myself, these two officers probably were going you know,
Speaker 1: gonna go try to help out with this dispute that
Speaker 1: seemed to be happening between a mother and son, you know,
Speaker 1: probably laughing in the car or wherever they were talking
Speaker 1: to each other. Okay, now let's get out, let's deal
Speaker 1: with this and keep it moving. Who would have thought
Speaker 1: that that moment would be the end of their lives.
Speaker 1: It's wrong and there's no way to There's no excuse
Speaker 1: you can make for it. There's no political explanation, none
Speaker 1: of it. Yes, of course there's some sickness and some
Speaker 1: deep mental illness issues that need to be addressed, but
Speaker 1: even with that, still this these two men should be alive,
Speaker 1: These two officers should be alive. Then you have the
Speaker 1: loss of life of the son of a woman who
Speaker 1: had to call the police because she was in a
Speaker 1: dispute with her son. So now he also is diseased.
Speaker 1: It's just way too much death. And the thing that
Speaker 1: I was thinking, because of course, you start to see
Speaker 1: what happens all the time that the elected officials run
Speaker 1: to how to, you know, go back to old things.
Speaker 1: We're never really creating a new cycle, a new system,
Speaker 1: or really focusing on where guns are coming from. And
Speaker 1: I'm not talking about Ray Ray getting on the train
Speaker 1: or getting in his car driving down to Virginia. I'm
Speaker 1: talking about how the guns got to Virginia, how the
Speaker 1: guns get to Connecticut in other places in large numbers,
Speaker 1: and there are no checks and balances on these weapons.
Speaker 1: That's the real work for me. So when I hear
Speaker 1: I see a blueprint from Eric Adams that I think,
Speaker 1: you know where he is focusing on, Mayor Eric Adams
Speaker 1: in New York City, you know, focusing on what to
Speaker 1: do to reduce gun violence. Which I'm sure there's pressure
Speaker 1: from the business community, there's pressure from black folks, there's
Speaker 1: pressure from the clergy, there's pressure from everybody. And for him,
Speaker 1: as a former cop, to lean in the direct of
Speaker 1: and also go ahead and say that he's going to
Speaker 1: reinstitute a modified sort of stopping frisk program and call
Speaker 1: it something different so that it won't it can get
Speaker 1: around the decision that was made by the courts that
Speaker 1: stopping frisk is unconstitutional. Um it really is. So it's disrespectful,
Speaker 1: it's painful, it just and for someone who was deeply
Speaker 1: involved in fighting to get the court decision and to
Speaker 1: get at that time, Mayor Bloomberg and um, and the
Speaker 1: police Commissioner Ray Kelly to call off stopping frisk, which
Speaker 1: they really just changed the names to broken windows. But
Speaker 1: now going on into too many things. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: it's it's it's painful for me because I'm waiting for
Speaker 1: the mayor that will come along, the president, the whomever
Speaker 1: that will come along and say, yes, we do have
Speaker 1: to get guns off the street and got to find
Speaker 1: a way to be able to do that. And I
Speaker 1: and also in the blueprint that Eric Adams has released,
Speaker 1: he talks about dealing with mental health, dealing with education,
Speaker 1: and understanding that the focus has to be all those things.
Speaker 1: So I'm glad to hear that. Let's see how it
Speaker 1: works out, because usually everybody says health, education, this that
Speaker 1: in the third and what is the actual focus, what
Speaker 1: gets the most resources and the most play is the
Speaker 1: punitive area, which is putting police on the streets that
Speaker 1: end up stopping young men who are out there, young
Speaker 1: men and older men and people who are probably not
Speaker 1: carrying weapons at all. That for me is problematic. That's
Speaker 1: actually not my thought of the day though. My thought
Speaker 1: of the day, really quick and you can respond to this,
Speaker 1: is that I worry about though our people. Usually all
Speaker 1: the things I said would have been my thought of
Speaker 1: the day. Why do we keep doing the same things
Speaker 1: over and over again expecting different results? But my thought
Speaker 1: of the day is actually, for us, young men, what
Speaker 1: do we think is going to happen when we're just
Speaker 1: shooting in the lobby of the hospital, shooting on the streets,
Speaker 1: just doing whatever, stabbing, beating up women? What do you
Speaker 1: think it's gonna Do we understand our people, and particularly
Speaker 1: young men, do you understand that there is about to
Speaker 1: be open season war on you for and on your
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters who may or may not be involved
Speaker 1: in any of that type of activity. That's my thought
Speaker 1: of the day. What is what is going on in
Speaker 1: your mind when you think that the actions you're taking
Speaker 1: will lead somehow like you're not leading your own war.
Speaker 1: These people have arsenal and resources and they are going
Speaker 1: to unleash on our communities. Correct, And I was just
Speaker 1: you know, thinking about that. Just think about in response,
Speaker 1: because I haven't really responded to any of these things,
Speaker 1: and usually I'm vocal on my social media about all
Speaker 1: these things, and I just put together, you know, a
Speaker 1: whole response to it. But that's exactly what it is.
Speaker 1: Just like, if you don't understand what's going on and
Speaker 1: where we are right now, then you you are not
Speaker 1: paying attention, you know, Like you said, they're about to
Speaker 1: have open season on us. They're going to do everything.
Speaker 1: They have body cameras to where they're gonna be able
Speaker 1: to sense that you've got guns on you. They got
Speaker 1: face recognition devices, They're utilizing every every piece of technology
Speaker 1: they're gonna utilize. Officers are gonna come up to you
Speaker 1: very aggressive now because they're aware that any interaction with
Speaker 1: people can end their lives. It's gonna be a different season,
Speaker 1: and I just I hope that our young kings are
Speaker 1: very prepared for this, you know, because this is what
Speaker 1: it This is what it is, man. So I'm praying
Speaker 1: that this there's a wake up call. I'm playing that
Speaker 1: these young kids understand that this is gonna be We
Speaker 1: took him out the crack era where they had to
Speaker 1: war on drugs, to war on violence. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot different. It's gonna be a war on violence.
Speaker 1: So I'm super super super duper excited about this next guest.
Speaker 1: Over many years, I have been receiving counsel talking to
Speaker 1: mentorship from this woman and trying to understand what in
Speaker 1: the world is happening in America. UM. And I'm particularly
Speaker 1: attracted to her because, like me, she's always in trouble
Speaker 1: for saying for telling the truth and saying it like
Speaker 1: it is. And so today we have with us a
Speaker 1: woman who, by the way, is a lawyer. So black
Speaker 1: women super super, super accomplished. UM. I've already said she's
Speaker 1: a freedom fighter because she speaks up all the time.
Speaker 1: She is the United States representative for the eighteenth Congressional
Speaker 1: District in Texas. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, thank you so
Speaker 1: much for joining street politicians. I could not be at
Speaker 1: a happier place. I am in between going to my
Speaker 1: senior high schools. UH to break through after we've had
Speaker 1: this moment of silence, this moment of UH, a pandemic
Speaker 1: that has touched their lives. I wanted to let them
Speaker 1: know that their their voices there, UM, their courage, UH,
Speaker 1: their leadership, their power for change. Why don't we have
Speaker 1: a student loan debt reduction? UM? You know, why are
Speaker 1: we still not having HR forty the Commission to Study
Speaker 1: and Developed Reparation proposed Why do we study slavery. Why
Speaker 1: don't we are still trying to march towards police reform,
Speaker 1: But why are we trying to march toward justice? It's
Speaker 1: all about democracy and what they're doing about it. But
Speaker 1: in any event, I am delighted to be here with you. Uh.
Speaker 1: And UM, I hope that I am a street politician
Speaker 1: because I just came out in the street. Thank you
Speaker 1: very much. You paved the way. You the you the
Speaker 1: front line, and you forgot to see that she got
Speaker 1: the best here in the business. Don't. Definitely, And we're
Speaker 1: fighting for the Crown Act. We haven't gotten the pass yet,
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters, but I I will just take this
Speaker 1: moment to you all. I am the original um as
Speaker 1: they say, UM, I should have said. I never called
Speaker 1: myself a victim, but I am the original target of
Speaker 1: the Crown Act in terms in terms of the United
Speaker 1: States Congress, because I did this more than two decades ago. Uh.
Speaker 1: And just a just a quick story. I was in Africa.
Speaker 1: I had the regular, regular, regular style UH, and I
Speaker 1: had to borrow some um, what do you call it?
Speaker 1: Electronic curlers? Uh? And I plugged it in and I
Speaker 1: started the fire inside inside the hotel room. I start
Speaker 1: of the fire. They were knocking on the door, sad
Speaker 1: because I was not in the room where I plugged
Speaker 1: it in at But to make a long story short,
Speaker 1: it didn't burn down. But I learned my lesson, uh,
Speaker 1: and I've been happy ever since. But it was a
Speaker 1: shock to people's eyesight on the floor and standing for
Speaker 1: the floor and so here they went. But you know what,
Speaker 1: I never I never moved because I felt comfortable in
Speaker 1: my skin and in my hair. And I want all
Speaker 1: of those, whatever your hair is, as a black woman,
Speaker 1: UH and any other woman UH that chooses and brother,
Speaker 1: be comfortable in who you are. I'll end on that.
Speaker 1: We can we can end the whole interview with that.
Speaker 1: But I just want to know, a congresswoman, just being
Speaker 1: such a big fan of the work that you've done,
Speaker 1: how did you get your start? How did you start
Speaker 1: doing this? You know, I have a vein of strain.
Speaker 1: I just like to be a problem solver. I like
Speaker 1: to get in the mix. I always like to get
Speaker 1: a yes for people who've been mistreated, and I go
Speaker 1: and fight for him. I always want to get it yes.
Speaker 1: I want to get I wanna be able to come
Speaker 1: back and say it's been resolved. And I also think
Speaker 1: that if you gain any power, it should be pushed
Speaker 1: out away from you to others. And so you know,
Speaker 1: I can go back through I was busybody. Uh sure
Speaker 1: this will get written up in a product podcast. But
Speaker 1: you know, from high school, uh, from middle school, I
Speaker 1: was an activist. In that time. It was student government
Speaker 1: and fighting for students and saying what students should have
Speaker 1: less in high school. Then coming into Yale, let me
Speaker 1: just say I was a child prodigy. So um, when
Speaker 1: y'all started looking at the history, I don't want people
Speaker 1: start looking to the eighteen hundreds and seeing whether she
Speaker 1: was point in the eighteen hundreds. But let me just
Speaker 1: say that I got to college when I was two
Speaker 1: years old, toddler. But I was there for the body
Speaker 1: seal trial in behavior, I was there. I was there
Speaker 1: for the uh, the the literal shutdown of the Yale
Speaker 1: campus for example, YDS was there. Every group was there,
Speaker 1: and we had to stand. We were students. I was
Speaker 1: in a black student, an officer with the Black Students
Speaker 1: of Yale. Y s a ye, which is their fiftieth
Speaker 1: commemoration this year. But we literally were we stood in
Speaker 1: the gap. Of all these student groups that came in
Speaker 1: to deal with the war, to deal with Bobby Seal, uh,
Speaker 1: to deal with how Yale was responding. Um, we cooked
Speaker 1: the rule that everybody had to eat because it was
Speaker 1: no food. But the point is is that, I mean,
Speaker 1: you have to feed all these people. But the real
Speaker 1: point is I really cut my teeth. People think Ivy
Speaker 1: League students are you know, just dazing and gazing. Yet
Speaker 1: we're doing out our work, but we're doing the cerebral work. Uh.
Speaker 1: That that thinks about how we're going to empower our people.
Speaker 1: And at that time it was students, diverse students. And
Speaker 1: so I started there and I think I never looked back. Uh.
Speaker 1: In terms of going to to UM, I went to
Speaker 1: Africa after graduating. I traveled as just a person with
Speaker 1: uh you know, by myself. I was there on a
Speaker 1: fellowship dealing with looking at the common law system versus
Speaker 1: a tribal law. UM. I was under a guidance back
Speaker 1: in the States, but I wasn't under any guidance uh
Speaker 1: in in Africa. And I traveled. I even have a
Speaker 1: story of going to bogatang uh in Ghana, you know,
Speaker 1: traveling by bus and I got off the bus. It
Speaker 1: was a rest stop in a village and a woman
Speaker 1: came and say, will you take my baby? Will you
Speaker 1: take my baby? Catel, I was, you know, American in
Speaker 1: terms of my accent um, I've had these times of
Speaker 1: experiences with the richness of the continent. I became uh
Speaker 1: infused with the connection. And that was some time ago.
Speaker 1: I think I've had experiences that others have not. Just
Speaker 1: traveled so that brought me here. Obviously a lawyer, I
Speaker 1: did corporate law. I practiced corporate law. Um. But I
Speaker 1: was a pioneer in it because I was the only
Speaker 1: person in the firm that I went to. But then
Speaker 1: the doors opened. I was a staffer on the Hill
Speaker 1: for the Select Committe on Assassinations, which was reopening the
Speaker 1: investigation of King and Kennedy. If anybody could believe that,
Speaker 1: we actually looked at it again, still trying to find
Speaker 1: answers and what happened. And then that just generated, as
Speaker 1: I conclude, to where I am today. I was always
Speaker 1: digging into something to make it better or to get
Speaker 1: the facts. And I tell people today that this democracy
Speaker 1: that is fragile will only last if whoever you are,
Speaker 1: you dig into something. Either make it better, or get
Speaker 1: the facts and get the answers. Wow, get the facts
Speaker 1: and the answers. Uh, it's so much in that because
Speaker 1: you know, everyone goes in different directions. So some folks
Speaker 1: as activists, you know, they go off to do diversity
Speaker 1: and inclusion work. You know, they made start schools or
Speaker 1: do that type of work. But it's something to be
Speaker 1: said about people who brave through the political process because
Speaker 1: I know how difficult it has been, and I can
Speaker 1: remember a time when very similar. I guess one of
Speaker 1: the reasons why I'm so um attracted to you, congresswoman,
Speaker 1: is because I've sat on the fringes with knowing I
Speaker 1: was right, you know, knowing I'm speaking up about something
Speaker 1: that's right, but people have found ways to try to
Speaker 1: ostracize me and to try to, you know, say that
Speaker 1: I'm crazy for whatever my opinions are. And then all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, the world recognizes that what we've been
Speaker 1: talking about, it's actually back. And I've watched that happen
Speaker 1: to you, where people try to say, no, you know,
Speaker 1: she's just always mad about something they gave you, the
Speaker 1: angry black woman. You know, No, she just wants to
Speaker 1: raise hell. And now here we are at a time
Speaker 1: when you are have become sort of front and center
Speaker 1: for some really really important things. And I am I'm
Speaker 1: really proud to see that that happened. UM, I don't
Speaker 1: know my son and you next because I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I'm like, I'll keep Talkin't gonna stop you. No, no, okay,
Speaker 1: So Washington last last week, these last two weeks crisis
Speaker 1: turning people off really bad. Congresswoman. We're hearing from folks
Speaker 1: all over the country. You and I have talked about it.
Speaker 1: They're finished with the process because voting rights is something
Speaker 1: that I think most people felt we definitely are going
Speaker 1: to pass that, you know, so we don't have to worry.
Speaker 1: You know, they weren't really focused on it, whereas some
Speaker 1: of us, as organizers Latasha Brown, Cliff all Right from
Speaker 1: Black Voters Matter, UM, Melanie campbell Um, also Horror masters
Speaker 1: Berry and many other women who are a part of
Speaker 1: the National Coalition of Black Civic Participation and Black Women's
Speaker 1: round Table, UH and so many other organizes. We've been
Speaker 1: out there for months, months, even years. Someone like a
Speaker 1: barbera Armline have been talking about dealing with voting rights. UM.
Speaker 1: I think about Reverend Barbera who said a few nights ago,
Speaker 1: he said, perhaps we're at a time when this whole
Speaker 1: thing is going to crash because it cannot hold up
Speaker 1: as it is. And I think people are feeling that
Speaker 1: level of frustration. Where are we what happened last week?
Speaker 1: And where do we go from here? Because as you said,
Speaker 1: democracy is fragile, it always has been. But without our
Speaker 1: right to vote, I don't know what this country looks
Speaker 1: like and what our society looks like in general, what
Speaker 1: the world looks like going forward. Failure is not an option. UH.
Speaker 1: And I want us all to embed that in our
Speaker 1: soul in and our DNA. And you have called the
Speaker 1: role and all of you on this podcast, because you've
Speaker 1: called the role of the sisters who have been out there,
Speaker 1: each of them, I know them, We've we've been in
Speaker 1: different fights together. UM. If I could have gotten arrested
Speaker 1: more times than I did, UM, I would have done so.
Speaker 1: But I got arrested with Melanie and others UH, and
Speaker 1: others got arrested. Thank you for your work last week,
Speaker 1: and it is work is work of passion, UM. And
Speaker 1: what I said to the students today is that you
Speaker 1: must you must take this country it is your country.
Speaker 1: You must you must take it, must take it in
Speaker 1: your hands. And so UM. Obviously last week the persons
Speaker 1: who have the right to vote, or those of us
Speaker 1: in the House who did vote and do what we're
Speaker 1: supposed to do, said that we're not finished. This cannot finish. Um.
Speaker 1: We will not have a democracy, uh if we do
Speaker 1: not have the protection of the votes that are planning
Speaker 1: to be stolen in two I'm a witness right now
Speaker 1: of votes right now as I speak, being thrown out
Speaker 1: in Texas because of the voter suppression of requiring numbers
Speaker 1: that seniors and disabled persons. They never did it before.
Speaker 1: Then you know, you wonder haven't we been on TV
Speaker 1: talking No, these people are not. They just hear the
Speaker 1: word voting rights. They thank you fighting for voting rights.
Speaker 1: They haven't heard that they have to put a number
Speaker 1: where and their ballance of being thrown out. Is that
Speaker 1: happening across the country. So what I would say to
Speaker 1: those who um have poor their their heart and soul
Speaker 1: have have gone to the great lengths um that people
Speaker 1: go through. Revend Barber, who's been up here, is I
Speaker 1: can't have you give up. I've got to have you
Speaker 1: to stand on the battlefield just a couple of more times,
Speaker 1: because uh, it has to be said to the leadership,
Speaker 1: uh that um steers things, that we will have to
Speaker 1: come back. We've been told that we will come back.
Speaker 1: When I said come back, it will come back to
Speaker 1: the floor. And those who have chosen to take a
Speaker 1: segregation is tool that has oppressed people of color and
Speaker 1: women from its very genesis, and just a little constitutional insight,
Speaker 1: both Madison and Jefferson said, we're through with the filipbuster.
Speaker 1: That is the tyranny of the minority, and frankly it
Speaker 1: is unex symptible. So how can people today in stand
Speaker 1: on the pompousness of the righteousness of I just can't
Speaker 1: do anything. It's it's the feel abuster. It is absolutely
Speaker 1: um sinister. So all I can say is to them,
Speaker 1: can you can you just find one more gut kick
Speaker 1: that you can get so angry about that gut kick
Speaker 1: that you're gonna say it's not bringing me down because
Speaker 1: I'm not going down with it. So it is more
Speaker 1: of what has been what have been done, I frankly
Speaker 1: want more. We're gearing up for HR forty because people
Speaker 1: have to listen. Uh, and you know, I people laugh
Speaker 1: because I don't like talking about myself. But all the
Speaker 1: folks that are talking, um, I can match their academic credentials.
Speaker 1: I've been a judge, I've been on the Select Committee
Speaker 1: on assassination. So I had to dig deep to be
Speaker 1: able to um do what I was supposed to. I
Speaker 1: got offered the U S Attorney's position Assistant US Attorney,
Speaker 1: which I turned down. Um, I've turned uh, I've turned
Speaker 1: corners on so many things, and so I don't allow
Speaker 1: a definition of myself externally. I'm asking those folks who
Speaker 1: put themselves on the line, listen to no one but
Speaker 1: yourself and let you be the hero and siro of
Speaker 1: the final success of this voting rights. It is shameful
Speaker 1: that we can count Richard Nixon, George H. W George
Speaker 1: w Uh and um Bush and Ronald Reagan who voted
Speaker 1: for voting rights. I mean that's Republicans. So we have
Speaker 1: people now on Republicans fifty lockdown, absolutely absurd, and then uh,
Speaker 1: fellow travelers of Democrats talking something that is ludicrous about
Speaker 1: a filipbuster and go on, build back better other things.
Speaker 1: Reparations HR forty and so I'm just saying, don't let
Speaker 1: there be external definitions of who you are in bet
Speaker 1: in your DNA, what it's gonna make America your America,
Speaker 1: and fight until it gets done. And that's my that's
Speaker 1: my aspect. I will fight, of course, I'll put in
Speaker 1: the word because we're on a podcast, not violently for
Speaker 1: me until it until it gets done. But I am
Speaker 1: not going to let a failure is not an option.
Speaker 1: And I hope that just gets out in the loudest way.
Speaker 1: I'm sure somebody is sitting back saying, oh, there we
Speaker 1: go again. It's always on us. No, I'm just saying
Speaker 1: to you, you look inside yourself, what you want to
Speaker 1: leave here, what you want once you want to see done,
Speaker 1: Then failure is not an option. Wow. That's a lot,
Speaker 1: And I know, I know it has to be frustrating
Speaker 1: to see two Democrats vote against something that is is
Speaker 1: just human, that's rolling rights like it. Just I know,
Speaker 1: just just listening to you, understanding the groundwork and which
Speaker 1: you've you've been that person, you know the start work
Speaker 1: on the front line fighting for these things, and know
Speaker 1: that somebody in your party is against something that's just
Speaker 1: like this, It's just really must be hurtful for you,
Speaker 1: just hearing it. You know, it's like it's like you're
Speaker 1: thirsty and you drink water, right, I mean, that's the basic, basic,
Speaker 1: uh saving entity. You might want to have some sweet
Speaker 1: punch or some wonderful orange juice, but you're thirsty to live,
Speaker 1: you drink water. This is about living. Um. As I said,
Speaker 1: I have just a number of cross themes. I work
Speaker 1: for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. I maybe, beside John Lewis,
Speaker 1: one of the only members of Congress that actually went
Speaker 1: to the Auburn worked out of the Auburn office on
Speaker 1: Auburn Street. I guess the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in George, UM,
Speaker 1: maybe one of the few that went on plantations UH
Speaker 1: that with sharecroppers at the eighteen hundred nineteen hundred UH
Speaker 1: to to register people to vote, and had a white
Speaker 1: man sitting on a porch chewing whatever he was chewing.
Speaker 1: Take out one of them skinny rifles and we had
Speaker 1: to run like heck because we were trying to get
Speaker 1: people on the plantation to vote. So it's in it's
Speaker 1: in my DNA. I don't know if they said at
Speaker 1: the same time, I was a judge. So what I'm saying,
Speaker 1: we come with different backgrounds, and you want to know frustration.
Speaker 1: I was there on the floor of the House. I
Speaker 1: excuse me, Florida Senate. We were in session in the House.
Speaker 1: I was determined to It was a sense of hope.
Speaker 1: I said, this is gonna happen. It has to happen,
Speaker 1: because that's because the House passed. Right, It passed in
Speaker 1: the House, so it wants it advanced. Once the bill
Speaker 1: advanced to the Senate, the first thing that had to
Speaker 1: be done is killing the filibuster, changing the rules so
Speaker 1: that the bill could come to the floor and folks
Speaker 1: could vote on it. And they and and and two
Speaker 1: Democrats sided, which would not you know us, we're gonna
Speaker 1: call names. We will we you didn't say it, we're
Speaker 1: saying uh. Senators, Senators mansion in cinema. They sided with
Speaker 1: all the Republicans, not even one that would vote to
Speaker 1: protect our voting rights, that will vote to change the
Speaker 1: rules for the filibuster. Now, would it have only been
Speaker 1: changed that one time, or would it have been changed forever?
Speaker 1: The filibuster at one time it was it was an exception.
Speaker 1: And also it was framed like if it's a constitutional issue,
Speaker 1: the constitutional issue U surves this so called filibuster, and
Speaker 1: all it was was a talking filibuster. Let me just
Speaker 1: humorously say to people, understand that the filibuster is Senator
Speaker 1: Jackson Lee. She'll jackually could go to the floor as
Speaker 1: a senator and say I'm going to filibuster, and I'll
Speaker 1: see you. I'm going on to the Bahamas. I don't
Speaker 1: have to be anywhere, and you will need sixty boats
Speaker 1: to break me coming on the floor saying I'm going
Speaker 1: to filibuster. Maybe I'll make some opening remarks, and then
Speaker 1: I'm going I go to my office. I can go
Speaker 1: home to my district. Can anyone imagine that that would
Speaker 1: stifled the very heart and blood of Democrat? See that
Speaker 1: you did? You do that? And so all that was
Speaker 1: happening is the fact that, um, we would have you
Speaker 1: would have the responsibility of of keeping the floor, and
Speaker 1: when you yielded the floor, we could then go vote
Speaker 1: on what the original bill was, and at that time
Speaker 1: it would be voting Ryan's freedom to vote and on
Speaker 1: John Robert Lewis. Can you imagine that that is the
Speaker 1: simple thing that we were asking you to do. I
Speaker 1: don't think anybody could either fathom what are you talking
Speaker 1: about and that we could not get one of the
Speaker 1: professed moderates who know that they and other Republicans, I
Speaker 1: want to ask them, how many of you are have
Speaker 1: been somewhere shining on Martin Luther King's commemoration. I bet
Speaker 1: every single person was somewhere U shining uh through the
Speaker 1: through their lifespan uh. And when it was even more
Speaker 1: popular being somewhere on Martin Luther King professing your commitment
Speaker 1: to his values and feigning uh your hurt for his death,
Speaker 1: then why were you not there to show it when
Speaker 1: he and his family, his legacy and his family were
Speaker 1: begging you to pass this legislator. And John Lewis we
Speaker 1: all know he can point to where he shed blood
Speaker 1: on the Edmond Pettis Bridge, And so you know, it
Speaker 1: baffles us to be able to understand how people can
Speaker 1: comport uh their words over the years that they have
Speaker 1: been somewhere seeing making and Martin Luther King's speech, for example.
Speaker 1: I know they have done it because I know they've
Speaker 1: been invited. And then to equate that to the inaction,
Speaker 1: the shameful inaction of what happened on that night, And
Speaker 1: I can tell you that you want to talk about
Speaker 1: people who are saying we're through the feeling of despair.
Speaker 1: But I had to pull that gut check and that hit.
Speaker 1: I had to. I had to pull myself up. Eliot.
Speaker 1: It's not an option because we will not have an
Speaker 1: election in two if we do not have these protections.
Speaker 1: Whoa you are here dropping gods for today? But um
Speaker 1: as a as a you know the LEAs sponsor on
Speaker 1: the HR forty, which is related to the reparations. I
Speaker 1: want to know what is it? And where are we
Speaker 1: right now? And like Dr King said, are we are
Speaker 1: we gonna get our checking? Okay, Well that's what we wanted.
Speaker 1: Question is when do we get the checks for tell us?
Speaker 1: Tell us this is the last question we know. You
Speaker 1: have to go, Um, what is the HR forty bill
Speaker 1: because some folks think that means as soon as it passes,
Speaker 1: check start being written. That's not true. Um, And and
Speaker 1: where are we at this point? Well, one thing I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say to everybody hanging there with me, Okay, you
Speaker 1: all got to hang in there with me on HR forty. Um,
Speaker 1: you're gonna be a You're gonna be seeing some some
Speaker 1: action I is coming. We've been meeting with three D
Speaker 1: organizations representing era to make it. You know, because you've
Speaker 1: been on this call that we've had UM and we've
Speaker 1: got you know, from color Change to everybody we can
Speaker 1: possibly imagine and others. UH. And you have been there
Speaker 1: and we are very grateful. And so we have putting
Speaker 1: out in our portfolio in our words why we can't wait.
Speaker 1: And we have been I think the most strategic UH.
Speaker 1: And I'm gonna use the word respectful because first it
Speaker 1: was the twenty election and we said, can you stand down?
Speaker 1: We got to get these people through and we want
Speaker 1: to make sure that we're you know. And and this
Speaker 1: has been filed and and uh coddled and filed by
Speaker 1: John Knyrors in ninety nine, right after the reparations given
Speaker 1: to Japanese Americans in nineteen eighty eight, signed by Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 1: And that's why our bill came. And they of course
Speaker 1: are supporting UM. I'm gonna say yeah for the Japanese
Speaker 1: Americans and they are out there they wonder what what what?
Speaker 1: But in any event, and so we have baby this
Speaker 1: thing all along. What it is is uh. And in
Speaker 1: this Colblum, let me hold up a show in town
Speaker 1: show and Tell says Black and Hispanic communities board disproportioned
Speaker 1: share of Texas early COVID nineteen death. You can do
Speaker 1: a study in all fifty states and we're gonna be
Speaker 1: right there. What it is saying is that throughout presence
Speaker 1: here in this country, through the trajectory of slavery, we
Speaker 1: have felt severe disparities up to two or we can
Speaker 1: cite and people will stand back and they'll look at
Speaker 1: people in these homes, and they'll look at people playing
Speaker 1: basketball and football, and they'll look at people with uh,
Speaker 1: the fancy cars, and they will say, what are they
Speaker 1: talking about. They're talking about the reality of the massive
Speaker 1: disparities in the masses of people who happen to be
Speaker 1: descendants of enslaved Africans. And so this is a commission
Speaker 1: to study slavery and developed, we modified it and given
Speaker 1: an action item reparations, which will come as analyzed in
Speaker 1: a myriad of response because you cannot go to one
Speaker 1: inditiontion from social services, to health care, to education, to science,
Speaker 1: the psychological, to the criminal justice system to education that
Speaker 1: you cannot find that line that says black people. And
Speaker 1: we have gotten to a point where our friends who
Speaker 1: do not look like us have been saying, now we
Speaker 1: get it. JOHNS. Hopkins has done a study in one
Speaker 1: saying there is a connection from the slave presence two
Speaker 1: now in African Americans, and of course there is a diaspora.
Speaker 1: We must remember there was a trans atlantic slave train.
Speaker 1: And for those of us who want to see this
Speaker 1: in that view, We've got brothers in the Caribbean and
Speaker 1: sisters dealing with this because they had slavery. We've got
Speaker 1: the issue in UH, South and Central America. UH, the
Speaker 1: Africans in Mexico, the Africans in Brazil. I've got the
Speaker 1: largest population nigel Arians in the United States are now
Speaker 1: in Houston, not in Atlanta. So it you know, this
Speaker 1: is going to focus on African Americans, but there are
Speaker 1: complementary efforts around the world. I'm gonna thank my sister
Speaker 1: Congress when Barbaraly. She has been with me just two
Speaker 1: and two together about the importance and urgency of passing this.
Speaker 1: We were together in um Durban on that original UH
Speaker 1: Conference on Racism, way back when when people are afraid
Speaker 1: to go um and so I just want people to say,
Speaker 1: my brothers and sisters who are Caucasian, Anglo, my Latin X,
Speaker 1: Hispanic brothers and sisters, Asian, Asian, Pacific, South each Asian
Speaker 1: and all myriads of black people. This should be a
Speaker 1: unifying factor and my indigenous people, my Native Americans, who
Speaker 1: um again, I've been on Peblos, I've been on reservation,
Speaker 1: my heart aches. But as we will know, they were
Speaker 1: giving those Our land was never given the forty acres
Speaker 1: in the mule, and reconstruction never succeeded. And so we
Speaker 1: have a legitimate um uh posture to be able to
Speaker 1: see this going. And my question is to the world,
Speaker 1: to America, what do you want the world to see
Speaker 1: you as? When we talked to the world about reparations,
Speaker 1: which is a which is a unilateral or universal human
Speaker 1: rights terminology, they get excited when they say, oh, you
Speaker 1: mean the United States would admit to the sin of slavery.
Speaker 1: To get excited uh. And America doesn't know what this
Speaker 1: will do for them. It will inspire human rights around
Speaker 1: the world. So let me just say where we are
Speaker 1: is we did a historic mark up, never hasn't been
Speaker 1: marked up. It's out of judiciary, it's ready for the floor.
Speaker 1: But we're looking at several options. What we're doing now
Speaker 1: is we're now raising the interests for people to be
Speaker 1: pushing back to the Congress and saying we want HR
Speaker 1: forty now, and that's what we need. So the three
Speaker 1: organizations are gonna be coming. We asked for our viewers
Speaker 1: and listeners UH to push to all the Congress. And
Speaker 1: let me be very clear, we are as anxious and
Speaker 1: incited as what is about to happen, and I'm gonna
Speaker 1: I'm gonna take it as a given um with trepidation
Speaker 1: and prayers, but that we will have in the months
Speaker 1: to come. A person sitting on the Supreme Court at
Speaker 1: the appropriate time of Justice Briars Uh leaving the bench
Speaker 1: that was an African American, a woman. That that is
Speaker 1: that should be without further thought. And I hope that
Speaker 1: the podcast would note that we can to gum and
Speaker 1: walk at the same time. This justice qualified. By the way,
Speaker 1: no doubt nobody has to look for qualified black women.
Speaker 1: They are there that done. That should not negate, that
Speaker 1: should not be and we got this. It should not
Speaker 1: get negate. Voting rights, police reform and h R forty
Speaker 1: never negated. If you if the bill I'm sit the
Speaker 1: Florida you are you confident about the votes at this time?
Speaker 1: Are you at least close. We are very very close.
Speaker 1: We are very very close. You know. I can just
Speaker 1: say we're about three out and we just had a
Speaker 1: meeting today. We're going for the big push um so
Speaker 1: and that is good, but we need this outside thunder
Speaker 1: yuh to let people know it's okay. You'll be welcomed home,
Speaker 1: you will be appreciated. Uh. It is only fairness. It
Speaker 1: is not uh. It is not taking from someone. It
Speaker 1: is the government actions and sanctioning of slavery. I would
Speaker 1: be as much if the government was against Quakers and
Speaker 1: and and characterize them and such that took things from them,
Speaker 1: took what they had. I mean I focus on Quakers
Speaker 1: in Pennsylvania. Uh, and and went and and and took
Speaker 1: from them all that they had there, that was there,
Speaker 1: that they had developed. I would be with them. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so be with us, be with us, be with
Speaker 1: us that don't look like you and old that it
Speaker 1: is not anger, is not anguish, It is reality. It
Speaker 1: is right, noess, and it is righteousness. And you know
Speaker 1: John Lewis on the reparations bill, beloved by everybody, on
Speaker 1: the reparations bill, Dr King had that insufficient check um.
Speaker 1: The concept that when we come to try and get relieved.
Speaker 1: It always looks like we're out of luck. Uh so
Speaker 1: in his own words and interpretation, and he was speaking
Speaker 1: to the whole issues of social justice. If we it
Speaker 1: here's a here's a comical or either the thing that
Speaker 1: you've always heard. If you lift our boats, you're gonna
Speaker 1: lift all boats. Uh. It is not going to be
Speaker 1: selfishly that it does not impact the greatness of America.
Speaker 1: And that's what I say. Uh. You lift us as scientists.
Speaker 1: You recognize that we uh you know, discovered blood plasma.
Speaker 1: Were the sisters and NASA doing all the numbers on
Speaker 1: the black boards. That we are astronauts, we are scientists,
Speaker 1: that we are we are we are uh chemists, we
Speaker 1: are mathemat titians. You make us plentiful. You're lifting a
Speaker 1: boats about. That's a great word. Thank you so much, congresswoman.
Speaker 1: We have to have you back. There's so much to
Speaker 1: talk about, and you do such a good poetic job
Speaker 1: of helping us to understand where we are. And as
Speaker 1: you said, failure is not an option, so we will
Speaker 1: make sure to continue to carry that message. Thank you,
Speaker 1: and please go back to your schools and your work. Um.
Speaker 1: And you know be great people doing it. This has
Speaker 1: been exciting. I thank you for giving me the opportunity.
Speaker 1: I'll let them know. Um when I go in and said,
Speaker 1: I've been called a street politician? Which which is? Which
Speaker 1: is where you do your business? Is it not right
Speaker 1: if where you do your business? And it is so
Speaker 1: ironic that I'm doing this When there was some folks
Speaker 1: out in the street talking about the e p A
Speaker 1: and they were out in the street. We got an
Speaker 1: announcement that the e PA was gonna look at all
Speaker 1: this pollution in our community. And they weren't in their house,
Speaker 1: they weren't in the meeting room. They were out in
Speaker 1: the street. And I was doing a zoom with them
Speaker 1: out in the street. So let me just say, you
Speaker 1: get your best things done in the street. Thank you
Speaker 1: for the work that you all have done. Can I
Speaker 1: call on you to push forward now in RTY a
Speaker 1: little and not to give up on voting rights, to
Speaker 1: to keep pushing us the calls are coming in uh,
Speaker 1: and to be able to tell people it's right to
Speaker 1: have a black woman's Supreme Court justice. Now, keep on pushing,
Speaker 1: keep on pushing the sweets that's right. Say thank you,
Speaker 1: but keep on pushing. Thank you guys, appreciate you. Bye bye,
Speaker 1: God bless bye bye you listen, that was gospel. That
Speaker 1: was dope. You know. The Congresswoman is amazing her the
Speaker 1: way I mean she breaks it down so simple, but
Speaker 1: it's so powerful. You know, she just gave me a
Speaker 1: little more energy because I ain't goa lie begining jaded.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm like, man, when you see somebody that's
Speaker 1: been in this game that long, continuing to fight, continue
Speaker 1: to have faith and not being broken, it has to
Speaker 1: give you some level of energy, some level of spirits.
Speaker 1: So I think you mixed the conversations between the congresswoman
Speaker 1: and now our next uh guest that's coming up. Um,
Speaker 1: that's when you start to see where our power is real.
Speaker 1: So I'm excited about this next conversation that we're having. Yep,
Speaker 1: definitely excited to talk to our brother. Brother. He's got
Speaker 1: he got, he got what the people say they need,
Speaker 1: what the people need, So let's bring them on. So
Speaker 1: one of our friends is joining us today as our
Speaker 1: change maker. Um, you know, our friends are dope. So
Speaker 1: I know there are some people who probably feel like,
Speaker 1: well they always have their friends on. Well, we've got
Speaker 1: a lot of friends around the country doing a lot
Speaker 1: of great things. And this young brother, it's someone that
Speaker 1: we've been on the battlefield with. UM. We have been uh,
Speaker 1: we've done civil disobedience together, We've been arrested together. So
Speaker 1: y'all probably been in the same patty wagon we had.
Speaker 1: Uh been out here fighting for the cause and standing together.
Speaker 1: And I particularly appreciate the level of commitment UM that
Speaker 1: doctor West Bellamy has shown to this movement. He is
Speaker 1: an author of two books, UH, the former vice mayor
Speaker 1: of short Charlottesville, Virginia. We know so much about Charlottesville,
Speaker 1: so that's what that's a different interview for another day,
Speaker 1: just to talk more about the history of Charlottesville. Uh.
Speaker 1: He is currently the political science department chair at Virginia
Speaker 1: State University and the co chairman of our Black Party,
Speaker 1: which is what brings him today to our show. So
Speaker 1: thank you Dr Bellamy West our brother, for being with
Speaker 1: us today. Thank you so much. I appreciate you all
Speaker 1: for having me always, Peace and love to both of y'all.
Speaker 1: Thanks for all the work y'all do for the community
Speaker 1: and for the culture as a whole. I don't think
Speaker 1: we can give you all your flowers enough but it's
Speaker 1: definitely appreciated, well, listen, definitely appreciated to be acknowledged by
Speaker 1: someone who fights just as hard, if not harder, than
Speaker 1: we fight. So we definitely appreciate that. So I want
Speaker 1: to I want to say, what is our Black Party?
Speaker 1: What is it? What is it? Yeah? So, our Black
Speaker 1: Party is a political organization in which we have a
Speaker 1: five seven designation which allows us to raise money. We're
Speaker 1: in the form of a pack or superpack, if you will,
Speaker 1: and essentially we're a platform designated for black folk. We
Speaker 1: firmly believe that there's nothing wrong with black people owning
Speaker 1: our politics, and we have a tagline that we believe
Speaker 1: to be very true. Before you are a Republican, before
Speaker 1: you are a Democrat, before you were independent, before you
Speaker 1: had any political affiliation, you were black. And there's nothing
Speaker 1: wrong with black people centering the needs of black folks
Speaker 1: when we're developing political agendas, and there's nothing wrong with
Speaker 1: us saying that we have to put our needs in
Speaker 1: our interests first. So across the country, we're mobilizing, the
Speaker 1: organizing with different folks in terms of being on the
Speaker 1: ground as well as on the state level to ensure
Speaker 1: that we're developing agendas and educating our people about how
Speaker 1: politics works, and furthermore, how we must stand still and
Speaker 1: be steadfast in regards to putting our knees and interest
Speaker 1: before anyone else is because we have to look out
Speaker 1: for ourselves. When did you start our Black Party and
Speaker 1: where would you say you are in the process today? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so our Black Party started essentially about a year and
Speaker 1: a half ago. Myself and our co founder, the Honorable
Speaker 1: Candice Hollingsworth, who was the former mayor of Hyestville, Maryland,
Speaker 1: the first black woman to serve as mayor in that regard.
Speaker 1: And our other starring committee members include the Honorable Stephanie Morales,
Speaker 1: who's the first black woman to serve as Commonwealth Attorney
Speaker 1: Enfortsman Virginia. We also have our brother Rashard Lambert who's
Speaker 1: out of Philadelphia who's the leader of Forbes the Culture
Speaker 1: and in former council woman Leo Webb, who is the
Speaker 1: first black woman to serve as city council woman and
Speaker 1: in running for New York Senate in Bingham to New York.
Speaker 1: So the father of us got together with our big
Speaker 1: brother Puff and you know, uh much love to Diddy
Speaker 1: and work together chounded out working with several folks from
Speaker 1: across the country, and that regard to to try to
Speaker 1: develop different ways in which we can form pathways for
Speaker 1: our people to control our own political apparatus. So that
Speaker 1: was about a year and a half ago. We caused
Speaker 1: some traction, cost some steam, and then we were just
Speaker 1: slowly building. I mean, when you're trying to build a
Speaker 1: platform like this, we have to understand that this is
Speaker 1: a marathon. Right now, we're at about ten thousand members
Speaker 1: from across the country. We have several state directors, were
Speaker 1: in Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Indiana, as well as Virginia.
Speaker 1: And what we're doing right now is looking to build out.
Speaker 1: We're working with our dear sister Tesla Figara about It's
Speaker 1: all about You in two and our underground political training,
Speaker 1: so we'll be supporting her as well as others. And
Speaker 1: then we have some stuff in which we're rolling out
Speaker 1: throughout the course of the year, specifically dealing with and
Speaker 1: pretending to the thirty Attorney General races across the country.
Speaker 1: We want everybody to make sure they're tapped into that.
Speaker 1: And then on the local level, how do we get
Speaker 1: our folks engaged and not only run for office, but
Speaker 1: ensure that we're writing a policy that's advantageous to our folks.
Speaker 1: Let me just say, pask one thing because I think
Speaker 1: and I think this is important. Clearly you have decided
Speaker 1: that it is. It is, it is necessary. At this point,
Speaker 1: it's critical for us to work on um, you know,
Speaker 1: organizing our own folks, getting our people and our voting block,
Speaker 1: if you will, together, how we vote our political power.
Speaker 1: We all understand that, but there are some people who
Speaker 1: come from the mindset that, well, we need our own
Speaker 1: party and we don't need to vote for the Republicans
Speaker 1: and Democrats anymore, we should just do away with that.
Speaker 1: Is that what our Black Party is saying or do
Speaker 1: or is there a process that you understand has to
Speaker 1: take place in order to get to where it is
Speaker 1: we're going. I think it's a combination of votes. So
Speaker 1: we have to understand that all of this stuff is multifaceted.
Speaker 1: At one point, excuse me, at some point, we would
Speaker 1: love to for us to be able to say that
Speaker 1: we have our own voting block, similar to what you
Speaker 1: see with a POC or within the Irish community APOC
Speaker 1: as of Jewish entity if you will, um similar to
Speaker 1: what you see with the Latino community or Latino community,
Speaker 1: in which they have very formulated voting blocks and organizations
Speaker 1: that are specifically advantageous for their communities. That's what we're
Speaker 1: trying to develop. But as you alluded to, there is
Speaker 1: a process of which we have to go through, and
Speaker 1: for us, we're being very candid in terms of our
Speaker 1: votes are not free, so we need to go with
Speaker 1: the individuals who are going to represent us in the
Speaker 1: best and most formidable way, regardless of their political affiliation.
Speaker 1: But nonetheless, we're going to make sure that we hold
Speaker 1: everyone accountable and if no one comes forth to do so,
Speaker 1: then we do it ourselves. Just to break down the process,
Speaker 1: if you will, in order to get on the ballot,
Speaker 1: there's only a couple of organizations who've been able to
Speaker 1: do so. Um to knowledge right, or in a grander scale,
Speaker 1: you look at the Working Families Party, which is a
Speaker 1: multicultural and ethnic group that's across the country, but they're
Speaker 1: not specifically black, and no love, no disrespect to to
Speaker 1: the Working Families Party, like you know, shouts to me
Speaker 1: and my Reese and whatnot. But what we're saying is
Speaker 1: that we want to create something that is specifically focused
Speaker 1: on our people and developing and gaining ballot status is
Speaker 1: a process. But we're in this of the marathon. I mean,
Speaker 1: everybody likes to quote Nipsey Rescue, Peace to the King
Speaker 1: and the marathon continues. Well, let's truly run this marathon
Speaker 1: and do what we have to do to get to
Speaker 1: where we need to be. That's dope. So what I
Speaker 1: want to know is, because this is something that I've
Speaker 1: been thinking about for years, Like we've always been thinking
Speaker 1: about we need something different, we need to start our
Speaker 1: own what is the time process that you think it's
Speaker 1: gonna take? Okay, so in this amount of time we
Speaker 1: should have this amount of people, Like what what? What
Speaker 1: would you be able to say that you think the
Speaker 1: amount of time is gonna take for this to be
Speaker 1: like a powerhouse voting block. Yeah, I think it's a
Speaker 1: it's no doubt, like a five to tenure plan. And
Speaker 1: you know, we were starting this and shout out to
Speaker 1: my man Jay Morrison. Uh, there's a lot of folks
Speaker 1: who were having conversations and he and I were having
Speaker 1: conversations in regards to how we work together and whatnot.
Speaker 1: And I think we we have to be very candid
Speaker 1: in my personal estimation, like everybody doesn't have to do
Speaker 1: the exact same thing. And it's okay for us to
Speaker 1: work in multiple avenues and multiple lanes, but we need
Speaker 1: to be stead fast in regards said that we're gonna
Speaker 1: do what we have to do for us. So while
Speaker 1: we're all working in our different respective lanes, that means
Speaker 1: that it's gonna take some time again the corral folks
Speaker 1: and for some folks to say, hey, we're gonna work
Speaker 1: for this work in this regard, and other folks are
Speaker 1: gonna say, hey, we're gonna work at it and look
Speaker 1: at it from this way. But when you look at
Speaker 1: a specific voting block per se, we have to willing
Speaker 1: to change our focus. So do we want to be
Speaker 1: something like the quote unquote Democrats or something like the
Speaker 1: Republican Party. I don't think that we have to be
Speaker 1: either of which because they have literally like billions of
Speaker 1: dollars put behind them. But what we can do and
Speaker 1: where we can start, and again this is within our
Speaker 1: five And see your plan is on the local level
Speaker 1: in places like south Folklon Georgia, or places like Brooklyn
Speaker 1: right where we well, even though you know Brooklyn is
Speaker 1: is no longer Brooken and as it used to be.
Speaker 1: It's not the home of Biggie and Ja. It doesn't
Speaker 1: look quite the same. But when we look at places
Speaker 1: like that where we have higher concentrations of our folks,
Speaker 1: can we get our folks together and say, listen, Democrats
Speaker 1: don't know what they're supposed to do for us. Republicans
Speaker 1: aren't there what they're supposed to do for us. Let's
Speaker 1: get the signal satures needed to get on the ballot
Speaker 1: and then to run our own candidates. Like those things,
Speaker 1: they don't take long that that's like a year long process.
Speaker 1: You literally just have to get the certain amount of
Speaker 1: signatures to qualify to be on the ballot, and usually
Speaker 1: bib the ten percent of the amount of persons who
Speaker 1: voted in the previous election. So you get those signatures,
Speaker 1: you get your candidate on the ballot, you register as
Speaker 1: your party, and then you run. It's it's actually quite
Speaker 1: that simple. We have to raise our money, we have
Speaker 1: to be able to support each other. But there's so
Speaker 1: many folks, like you alluded to my song, you've been
Speaker 1: thinking about this. I mean, there's so many people who've
Speaker 1: been thinking about this, like let's pull our resources. And again,
Speaker 1: we don't all have to do it the exact same way,
Speaker 1: but we want to have an umbrella for folks to
Speaker 1: say you can come under this mantra and we can
Speaker 1: move forward in some capacity together. I said the time,
Speaker 1: unity is not uniformity, and I think that's what pop
Speaker 1: us from our progress because everyone wants it to look
Speaker 1: one way. It doesn't have to look one way. We
Speaker 1: just gotta be going to the same place. Like can
Speaker 1: look different than my car. We just same place, you know.
Speaker 1: So I definitely appreciate what you doing. You have a
Speaker 1: question you want to ask, So do you think that
Speaker 1: UM as a part of because and I want people
Speaker 1: to hear this because I get folks, you know, running
Speaker 1: me down. You know you, you you know you just with
Speaker 1: the Democrats, you just you know you you you paid
Speaker 1: for about the Democrats? Why are you fighting for our
Speaker 1: voting rights? It doesn't matter, you know all of that.
Speaker 1: We hear it all the time, and I have and
Speaker 1: I constantly say to people there are folks like you
Speaker 1: who are working on building an apparatus. I tell them
Speaker 1: all the time. I've been in conversations with puff about
Speaker 1: this for years, trying to build an apparatus that gives
Speaker 1: us the money and also the political education and the
Speaker 1: political will to challenge some of these folks in different
Speaker 1: parties with our own candidate, as you said, and or
Speaker 1: come together and decide in whatever party, whether it an independent,
Speaker 1: a Republican or Democrat, we're going to vote together so
Speaker 1: we can make a difference, or we're coming together as
Speaker 1: the party demanding certain things be on these individuals agenda,
Speaker 1: because you have to be careful that if you know
Speaker 1: you're looking at so for us in a situation like
Speaker 1: Trump and Biden, right, there are folks you know, well
Speaker 1: neither one of them, Okay, fine, absolutely to seventy something.
Speaker 1: Ye know, white men. We've never ever thought that any
Speaker 1: either one of them would be great and the great
Speaker 1: savior for our community. But we know what we were
Speaker 1: looking at the difference between the two candidates. The question
Speaker 1: is how do we have something where we're able to,
Speaker 1: in an organized fashion when we're coming down to the
Speaker 1: last minute in an election like that, demand from both
Speaker 1: of them certain things. Now, some people will say, well, uh,
Speaker 1: that's what ice Cube was doing, right. Ice Cub was
Speaker 1: trying to force both candidates to speak to our issues
Speaker 1: and We've said over and over again, and I want
Speaker 1: to get your opinion on this. You're you know, on
Speaker 1: what you always an honest opinion. What we've said is
Speaker 1: it's very difficult to negotiate when you have missed the
Speaker 1: moment when there were multiple people in the field. So
Speaker 1: at the time, when there were nine million people running
Speaker 1: for the Democratic nomination, was the time to have our
Speaker 1: Black Party, you know, our issues on the table, to say,
Speaker 1: of these two candidates, we want these things and to
Speaker 1: get them to commit. But to wait until there's two
Speaker 1: candidates and we're looking at some one person who killed
Speaker 1: six hundred thousand people by the time he was running
Speaker 1: for office um by ignoring a real, a true issue
Speaker 1: in terms of how people should have been taking care
Speaker 1: of themselves for a virus um. And then we're looking
Speaker 1: at another person that's not great at all either, but
Speaker 1: they were very different. So it's you do you agree
Speaker 1: with what I'm saying or do you feel like we
Speaker 1: still should have abstained or or just use it as
Speaker 1: an opportunity to say, hey, we may lose this one,
Speaker 1: but now let's just build our own party and leave
Speaker 1: the other two parties completely. Well, well, I think you're
Speaker 1: you're right and all of it. And I think again,
Speaker 1: like we have to be willing to understand that this
Speaker 1: game is so complex, and it is indeed a game
Speaker 1: that we have to be willing to play if we
Speaker 1: want to be able to change the outcomes of our people.
Speaker 1: This game is so complex and nuance that there's multiple
Speaker 1: approaches that we have to be willing to take. So
Speaker 1: in my personal estimation, it's always the right time to
Speaker 1: mobilize by folks, It's never too late in order for
Speaker 1: us to be able to mobilize each other and and
Speaker 1: out we would have this discussion, and I mean, you
Speaker 1: know you've had it. We we've all had it. Shout
Speaker 1: out to man Stephen Green and every Reverend Green and
Speaker 1: everybody else, like we've all had this talk. Like maybe
Speaker 1: we were a little too late, maybe we started you know,
Speaker 1: we missed our market because we kicked off in July
Speaker 1: of essentially that the two candidates were already picked. And now,
Speaker 1: like you alluded to, we don't have a great deal
Speaker 1: of leverage quote unquote to the to the layman's eye.
Speaker 1: But again, I don't ever believe that it's the wrong
Speaker 1: time for us to mobilize our people and now that
Speaker 1: we have some footing under us, now that we're the
Speaker 1: word is getting out, now that we're continuing to mobilize.
Speaker 1: That gives us that much more leverage in the mid
Speaker 1: term elections and furthermore in the presidential elections. But that's
Speaker 1: only on the federal level. We talk about the local
Speaker 1: and state level. We always have leverage because there's elections,
Speaker 1: their election cycles that are taking place all of the time.
Speaker 1: And I'll let me be clear, Like I'm a former
Speaker 1: elected official. I ran as a Democrat. I was seen
Speaker 1: as a quote unquote rising part of the Democratic Party.
Speaker 1: You know, I was real cool with our former governor. Like,
Speaker 1: I get it, I understand the game. But that still
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that we don't have to do what we
Speaker 1: have to do for our folk. And just because we
Speaker 1: have friends in certain spaces doesn't mean that we negate
Speaker 1: the needs of our people on the local and state level,
Speaker 1: and obviously on the federal level, but at home in
Speaker 1: the streets, like when you two are are going in
Speaker 1: the rest of until Freedom, God the Angelo and Sister
Speaker 1: London and everyone else, when y'all are going out in
Speaker 1: the streets and mobilizing and organizing, there's never a wrong
Speaker 1: time to do that. And you know, for me, Hu
Speaker 1: Change said something that I that always sticks with me.
Speaker 1: He said it on his last album, like, there's certain
Speaker 1: situations that make you care less about voting, and we
Speaker 1: have to be able to pierce through those things when
Speaker 1: a mother loses her child and and a kid is
Speaker 1: shot in the middle of the street, sometimes about you know,
Speaker 1: one of our own because of many of the systemic
Speaker 1: issues that we have, or like like my son also
Speaker 1: often talks about kill coward culture and how we have
Speaker 1: to make sure we hold individuals accountable. Those individuals when
Speaker 1: they're going through these things at certain moments in times
Speaker 1: they're not necessarily thinking about the political asparatus. Where we
Speaker 1: come in is that we have to continue to remind
Speaker 1: them that these things are bout products of systems, and
Speaker 1: these systems change by us being engaged, and these systems
Speaker 1: change by us being engaged with people who look like us,
Speaker 1: who care about us. And that's why again it's always
Speaker 1: the right time for us at work. That was a
Speaker 1: long answer. I definitely, I definitely take that into consideration.
Speaker 1: You know, I just think for me, like what you
Speaker 1: said is is definitely But for me, is this the
Speaker 1: system is gonna be there, right, we said, we we
Speaker 1: can act like And I tell people all the time,
Speaker 1: you don't gotta vote, but just the person, the person
Speaker 1: who gets into office, the laws that they pass, whatever
Speaker 1: they do, you still gonna follow the law. So if
Speaker 1: you decide that you're not gonna vote in this election, cool,
Speaker 1: but you still gonna stop at the green light. You
Speaker 1: still gonna pay taxes. Whatever laws they've put into you
Speaker 1: still have that. You just understand. As long as you
Speaker 1: acknowledge that, then then we all came for me. I
Speaker 1: want to be I want to have a little bit
Speaker 1: of a say so about the laws they're going I
Speaker 1: want to be have a little bit of say so
Speaker 1: about things that are gonna govern my life. So you know,
Speaker 1: and it's to each his own. Some of us just
Speaker 1: feel like, forget the system. I'm just gonna go about
Speaker 1: it whatever me personally I want to have. I want
Speaker 1: to be engaged in every inch of the process that's
Speaker 1: gonna have something to affect my life. But we, like
Speaker 1: you said, we don't all got to do it the same.
Speaker 1: I could vote, he cannot vote, but we all know
Speaker 1: that ultimately we gotta get free. So long as you're
Speaker 1: doing something over there to get us free. I might
Speaker 1: be voting for these one and two laws that I
Speaker 1: know it's gonna give us a little more freedom, and
Speaker 1: you might be not voting and building an apparatus over
Speaker 1: there that's gonna do something to help us sustained. But
Speaker 1: we all got to be doing something right. And I
Speaker 1: think to your point though, that's why we also need
Speaker 1: different kinds of candidates, because individuals who relate to like
Speaker 1: where we're from and where we come from. I mean, honestly,
Speaker 1: they're like unicorns, and we need to be able to
Speaker 1: develop more of these unicorns while also getting our people
Speaker 1: to understand that there's no such thing as a perfect
Speaker 1: politician or a perfect elected official. Like we can't put
Speaker 1: folks on these these certain pedestals. You've gotta be, you know,
Speaker 1: the flyers, dude who can articulate in a certain way
Speaker 1: but still not do anything, but still kick it with
Speaker 1: the homies and so on and so forth. Like those
Speaker 1: individuals are rare. But when we get persons who do run,
Speaker 1: whether they you know, may come from certain environments, not
Speaker 1: let's make sure that we train them and hold them accountable,
Speaker 1: but also we love on them so that they can
Speaker 1: pass policies that are gonna be helpful for our people.
Speaker 1: And that's where and we have to miss I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: we have to wrap up, but because we have uh
Speaker 1: well and we have to wrap us but but um
Speaker 1: uh but also we have to put our money where
Speaker 1: our mouth is. And so the last question real quick
Speaker 1: is how much is it going to cost for our
Speaker 1: Black Party to get to stage too? And then you know,
Speaker 1: the ultimate stage. How much money do we need? So
Speaker 1: we need about ten million dollars for us to go
Speaker 1: to the next level. And with that ten million will
Speaker 1: be able not only to bring on more state directors,
Speaker 1: but get field directors on the local level. And that's
Speaker 1: really what we're trying to place a great deal of
Speaker 1: our emphasis. In addition to that the training models and
Speaker 1: again shout out to Tesla, but we want to make
Speaker 1: sure that these trainings are free and affordable to every
Speaker 1: available rather to all of our folks. Though you know,
Speaker 1: donate at our Black Party dot com. Excuse me, www
Speaker 1: dot Black Party dot org. You can look us up
Speaker 1: on all of our socials. Wcuse me at our Black
Speaker 1: Party and you know we're here. We're here for RUSS.
Speaker 1: But this is a marathons. Let's keep running our Black
Speaker 1: Party dot com dot org. Okay, okay www dot our
Speaker 1: Black Party dot org. Ten million dollars. That means one dollars,
Speaker 1: five dollars, ten dollars, a hundred dollars, hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 1: We need it all, we needed Black Party. Let's love y'all.
Speaker 1: Appreciate you all, We appreciate you. Can keep doing the work. Man,
Speaker 1: we read no doubt, no doubt. Well, yes, sir, all right,
Speaker 1: shout out to our brother doctor doctor West Bellamy, you know,
Speaker 1: and just breaking down our Black Party and just you know,
Speaker 1: just showing what is needed right now. And a lot
Speaker 1: of people don't understand. Like I said during the interview,
Speaker 1: it's not about uniformity, is about unity. We don't kind
Speaker 1: of do the same things at the same Zack, Tom.
Speaker 1: We just gotta be going to the same place and
Speaker 1: believe that we're gonna get there and and sometimes we
Speaker 1: gotta take different routes and there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1: So I just want to commend him and all the
Speaker 1: brothers and sisters who are on the committee for our
Speaker 1: Black Party, who started it, who's seen the need for
Speaker 1: and and I'm filling in those gaps. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: our Black party, all of these things, just listening to
Speaker 1: the need we can't fail our black party, all of
Speaker 1: that together. I think it's all of that, like you said, together,
Speaker 1: and it's not one thing, but it's all things, and
Speaker 1: certainly a focus on black people. And I think, and
Speaker 1: that's what hearing West say that, and knowing that Congresswoman
Speaker 1: Lee also feels that way, it's super important. It definitely is.
Speaker 1: And you know, and and in light of how dope
Speaker 1: this interview was and how powerful it was, and just
Speaker 1: listening to the congresswoman, you know, my, my, I don't
Speaker 1: get it. It's gonna be real simple and it's not
Speaker 1: gonna be followed by a lot of talk or anything.
Speaker 1: It's just that I don't get So I don't get
Speaker 1: it to a no problem. I don't want to anyway,
Speaker 1: So you know what, you don't get less going we
Speaker 1: want to after I say this, but I don't want
Speaker 1: It's how the police who killed Brianna Taylor is still
Speaker 1: not in jail arrest the cops that killed Brianna Tail.
Speaker 1: And with that said, I'm not gonna always be right,
Speaker 1: Jamicka Mallory is not gonna always be wrong, when we're
Speaker 1: both always and I mean always be a thing all right. Peace. Now,
Speaker 1: that's how we owned