Speaker 1: Positively Gam is sponsored by Vasiline. See how they are
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Speaker 1: We have to lay the blame fully at the feet
Speaker 1: of white supremacy, and if we allow people to have
Speaker 1: this kind of tragic comparative conversation the entire time, then
Speaker 1: no one will take responsibility, no one will be held accountable,
Speaker 1: and we'll just kind of move on as Wow, you
Speaker 1: remember that while week in the beginning of where we
Speaker 1: thought all the hell was over in it's it's so
Speaker 1: interesting that you that you put it that way, and
Speaker 1: thank you for sharing all of that, all of it, Brittany,
Speaker 1: because I'm feeling the exact same way. What's up, everybody,
Speaker 1: I'm Gammy and this is positively Gam. Every week I
Speaker 1: have raw, in depth conversation with inspirational people pushing for
Speaker 1: change on everything from aging, relationships, politics, wellness, to the
Speaker 1: current issues facing the black community. This episode was recorded
Speaker 1: January eight, so some news headlines may have changed. Today,
Speaker 1: I'm going to be discussing the insurrection at the Capitol
Speaker 1: and the Georgia runoffs. Joining me on positively Gam today
Speaker 1: is Tia Mitchell, a Washington correspondent for the Atlanta newspaper.
Speaker 1: Tia was actually inside the Capitol as it was being invaded.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much, Tia for joining me today. I
Speaker 1: know this has been a very stressful time for you.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. It has been, and I appreciate
Speaker 1: the opportunity to talk about it on your podcast. Yeah, mentally,
Speaker 1: how are you processing all of this? Like what a
Speaker 1: way to start the new year? I don't think I
Speaker 1: really allowed myself to do too much processing because quite frankly,
Speaker 1: we still were busy trying to report the news. Even
Speaker 1: you know, on Wednesday we went back to the Capitol
Speaker 1: and still cut Congress, and then on Yesterday Thursday, was
Speaker 1: still very busy covering the aftermath of what happened on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: And so, you know, I don't you know, part of
Speaker 1: me is a little bit scared to like let it
Speaker 1: all out because then in all the flood and I'll say,
Speaker 1: part of one of the reasons why it's been easy
Speaker 1: to kind of compartmentalize is that in real time, we
Speaker 1: really didn't know what was going on outside of the
Speaker 1: House chamber because there are no windows. We were focused
Speaker 1: on the debate on the floor, so we didn't see
Speaker 1: like the videos and the pictures that were circulating on
Speaker 1: TV and cable news until after we had been evacuated.
Speaker 1: So I think we didn't know what to be fearful
Speaker 1: of in the moment. Only now are we seeing it.
Speaker 1: Let me take you back a minute, though, because as
Speaker 1: a black woman, I want to ask you, did you
Speaker 1: have any trepidation at all for even being in d C?
Speaker 1: Knowing that this group of Trump supporters had been there
Speaker 1: three weeks prior, protesting and causing a bit of havoc.
Speaker 1: And I actually would compare them two the KKK because
Speaker 1: they actually erected a news in the capital and they're
Speaker 1: running around with Confederate flags. So some people might take
Speaker 1: issue with that. I do not. So did you have
Speaker 1: any trepidation just about even being in d C? Or
Speaker 1: did you feel totally safe because you were going to
Speaker 1: be inside of the Capitol Building? So I don't. I
Speaker 1: did not anticipate that the Capitol Building would not be safe.
Speaker 1: But I think when you're a journalist and you're going
Speaker 1: into a situation that might be dangerous, we kind of
Speaker 1: again have to put that aside because that's what our
Speaker 1: job requires us to do. I I cut my teeth
Speaker 1: as a young journalist covering crime in Jacksonville, Florida. So
Speaker 1: it's like, I've seen some things, I've been in some
Speaker 1: scary situations, and you kind of, you know, being a journalist,
Speaker 1: a good journalist requires a level of boldness and you know,
Speaker 1: an ability to kind of navigate tough situations. Not that
Speaker 1: you know it's a good thing, but unfortunately a lot
Speaker 1: of times that's what journalists are called to do. And
Speaker 1: so I knew, you know, we knew that the protests
Speaker 1: were planned, and it was like, but I can't be
Speaker 1: fearful of that because my job is to go to
Speaker 1: the capital and report what's happening, and so I'm gonna
Speaker 1: do my job and then when other things come with that,
Speaker 1: then I've got to work through that. But again, I
Speaker 1: don't think, you know, part of the breakdown that members
Speaker 1: of Congress in the law enforcement community have to deal
Speaker 1: with now is that it's clear that they did not
Speaker 1: anticipate the level of violence and that violence into ring
Speaker 1: the capital. And you know, that'll be for those who
Speaker 1: are studying it to figure out where the breakdowns were
Speaker 1: and who should have anticipated it. But you know, it
Speaker 1: really just wasn't on the radar, that level of violence
Speaker 1: coming to the you know, to the chambers of the
Speaker 1: House and the Senate, desecrating kind of what for America
Speaker 1: is like the symbol of our government. You know, the
Speaker 1: capital is the symbol of our government. Right exactly where
Speaker 1: were you located. I was in the House chambers. The
Speaker 1: House was debating Arizona's electoral college votes. They were in
Speaker 1: joint session to you know, tally the electoral college votes,
Speaker 1: and it's like the final official step to Joe Biden
Speaker 1: becoming president. But usually it's very ceremonial. But as we know,
Speaker 1: Republicans mainly in the House, but a few in the
Speaker 1: Senate were hoping to challenge some of the state's electoral
Speaker 1: college votes, and so they came in a joint session,
Speaker 1: successfully challenged Arizona, and so then they had to separate.
Speaker 1: So the Senate went to its chambers to debate for
Speaker 1: two hours. The House was in its chamber to debate
Speaker 1: for two hours. And because I covered Georgia for the
Speaker 1: Atlanta Journal Constitution, six of our eight Republican House members
Speaker 1: were in favor of that challenge. So I was paying
Speaker 1: attention to Arizona because at the time we knew Georgia
Speaker 1: would be challenged next. Georgia was the next kind of
Speaker 1: on the list, and so again I was just really
Speaker 1: focused on covering how the debate was going and how
Speaker 1: it was unfolding, because I knew my state was going
Speaker 1: to be the next one to go through that process,
Speaker 1: and so we didn't know. The first thing I saw
Speaker 1: was that some of the other buildings in the Capital
Speaker 1: complex were evacuated because they said there was some type
Speaker 1: of security threat. Later we found out it's because the
Speaker 1: bombs were discovered at the r n C in the
Speaker 1: DNC headquarters, so they evacuated some of the buildings. But again,
Speaker 1: the House is still debating like everything's normal. And then
Speaker 1: we started getting told by staff to like get everything
Speaker 1: we needed and put it in the chamber because they
Speaker 1: were gonna lock down the chambers to make sure that
Speaker 1: no one can come in and out. But still there
Speaker 1: was no panic. Debate was still ongoing. It wasn't until
Speaker 1: they stopped the proceedings and hustled out the leaders, you know,
Speaker 1: people like Stenny Hoyer and I believe Nancy Pelosi. Where
Speaker 1: I sit, you can't really see Nancy Pelosi, but I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure Nancy Pelosi was escorted out Vice President Pence.
Speaker 1: So were you on the floor. We were up. The
Speaker 1: media sits up like if you can picture the House
Speaker 1: chamber and you can picture where the speakers sit. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's like a balcony. That's where visitors normally sit. And
Speaker 1: then above and behind the speaker's chair is where media sits,
Speaker 1: so we can kind of look down on everything. And
Speaker 1: at some point they stopped it, hustle the leaders out
Speaker 1: and they started to tell us, you know, people are
Speaker 1: trying to enter the capital. And again, at that point,
Speaker 1: we didn't know if they meant two people or two hundred.
Speaker 1: We didn't know that there were hundreds, if not thousands
Speaker 1: of people at that point right outside the capital. I
Speaker 1: had last looked outside around one pm, and at that
Speaker 1: time there was a protest of I would say several
Speaker 1: hundred people, but they were behind barricades and they were
Speaker 1: about a hundred yards away from the capital steps. So
Speaker 1: that was the last image I saw was like of
Speaker 1: a it was just a regular old protest. There was
Speaker 1: nothing violent about it at the time, and they were
Speaker 1: behind barricades in a way, So you know, when they said, oh,
Speaker 1: people are trying to enter the capital, I think in
Speaker 1: my mind, I'm thinking one or two rogue people, not
Speaker 1: the entire protest had pushed its way to the capital.
Speaker 1: But then the next thing is they started handing out
Speaker 1: gas masks and said there were people in the rotunda.
Speaker 1: They were trying to use gas tear gas to push
Speaker 1: them away, and they gave us gas masks, and so
Speaker 1: that was clearly an escalation. And then soon after that
Speaker 1: is when they started. At the time, I would say
Speaker 1: there were one hundred to two hundred members of Congress
Speaker 1: in the chamber at that moment, and they started evacuating
Speaker 1: the members. But again, most of the members were on
Speaker 1: that ground floor, but there were some members up in
Speaker 1: the visitor gallery because they were socially distancing, you know,
Speaker 1: and so it was harder for us on that second floor.
Speaker 1: So eventually they were trying to evacuate us. They said, nope,
Speaker 1: you gotta stay right where you are. We gotta lock
Speaker 1: these doors again, and they said just get down, and
Speaker 1: there were I would say at that point there were
Speaker 1: about fifty people still inside the chamber, members of Congress,
Speaker 1: the media, and some of the Capitol police. And that's
Speaker 1: about when, you know, we could hear people banging on
Speaker 1: the doors, But again, we didn't know if that's one
Speaker 1: person running around banging on different doors, it was multiple.
Speaker 1: We didn't know. We heard a loud pop, we didn't
Speaker 1: know if that was a gunshot. And then you know
Speaker 1: that picture that a lot of people have seen, the
Speaker 1: members of the Capitol Police. They've got a piece of
Speaker 1: furniture barricading the door and their guns are pointed as
Speaker 1: the rioters are trying to knock down the windows to
Speaker 1: get into the chamber. We saw that happen, you know,
Speaker 1: because those were the Capitol Police officers trying to keep
Speaker 1: people from coming in the chamber, knowing that there were
Speaker 1: members of Congress still in the chamber, And that lasted
Speaker 1: for about I would say a few minutes, maybe no
Speaker 1: more than ten, and then they were able to get
Speaker 1: it under enough control to then finish evacuating us. And
Speaker 1: so when we left the chamber, we could see where
Speaker 1: the rioters had been subdued by police who had them
Speaker 1: at gunpoint, had them laying face down on the floor.
Speaker 1: But you never came in contact with any rioters yourself,
Speaker 1: not the active rioters. Now there are other journalists who
Speaker 1: did who were covering the protests, But again because I
Speaker 1: was in the chamber covering the actual proceeding. The only
Speaker 1: time I came in contact with the writers is again
Speaker 1: when we had to kind of walk past them a
Speaker 1: little bit, but they had been subdued at that point
Speaker 1: and we were with the way to a different location.
Speaker 1: But even then, you know, what we didn't know was
Speaker 1: even then there were probably at that point hundreds of
Speaker 1: people in the capital. They had gone into the Senate
Speaker 1: Chamber and started to vandalize it and things like that,
Speaker 1: gone into other people's offices, Speaker Pelosi's offices. All that
Speaker 1: was going on at the same time. We just didn't know.
Speaker 1: So let me ask you this, because so few people
Speaker 1: were arrested during this insurgence, and you say you walked
Speaker 1: by and there were rioters who were they were down
Speaker 1: on the on the ground right when you say they
Speaker 1: were subdued, Yeah, face down. So about how many people
Speaker 1: was that? Would you say that that was? I could
Speaker 1: see I would say four or five. But there was
Speaker 1: like a corner, so you know, it was it was
Speaker 1: very short hallway where I could see four or five.
Speaker 1: I have no idea if there were more around the
Speaker 1: corner or not. You know, the US Capital for those
Speaker 1: who have never visited it. You know, it's an old
Speaker 1: building full of like corridors and hallways and in columns
Speaker 1: and statues, So it's not a wide open buildings, you know,
Speaker 1: it's not the open floor plan if you will, of
Speaker 1: modern architecture. It's a lot of hallways and corridors, right,
Speaker 1: I get that. I just find it very interesting once
Speaker 1: again that these people, though they were subdued, it doesn't
Speaker 1: seem like they were actually arrested, right, And that's a
Speaker 1: good point. We don't know if those people were arrested.
Speaker 1: We do know that if you look at the pictures
Speaker 1: of the number of people in the capital, that the
Speaker 1: amount of people who were arrested is a small fraction
Speaker 1: of that. You are absolutely correct, exactly, And I find
Speaker 1: that very very strange. But so okay, So after things
Speaker 1: got under control, you are allowed to leave or did
Speaker 1: you stay because you had to? Yeah? We stayed. We stayed. Um.
Speaker 1: First of all, I didn't want to leave in pandemonium.
Speaker 1: And at that point, when we were evacuated to a
Speaker 1: safer location, we could watch cable news and we actually
Speaker 1: got to see what it looked like outside the capital,
Speaker 1: and we stayed there for several hours and then we
Speaker 1: were told that Congress was making plans to go back
Speaker 1: into session. The members of Congress were very and yet
Speaker 1: you know, the Democrats are in leadership in the House,
Speaker 1: but the Republicans are in leadership in the Senate. But
Speaker 1: both parties were very resolute that like, we're not gonna
Speaker 1: let this violence deter us from this constitutional duty that
Speaker 1: we have to tally the Electoral College votes. So, you know,
Speaker 1: at six pm is when DC's curfew went into effect,
Speaker 1: and that gave law enforcement, you know, the legal standing
Speaker 1: to disperse the crowd. And so by around eight pm
Speaker 1: is when we went back to the House chamber. Literally
Speaker 1: I went back to the same seat I was earlier
Speaker 1: in the day. They picked up where they left off,
Speaker 1: and I didn't leave the capital till about one am.
Speaker 1: I really handed to you, I'm not I'm not sure
Speaker 1: how I would have handled a situation like that, But
Speaker 1: you know, as you say, as a reporter, it's part
Speaker 1: of your job, part of your responsibility to remain calm,
Speaker 1: and I guess just follow the procedures at are being
Speaker 1: you know, file the instructions that you're receiving from the
Speaker 1: people in charge. Yeah, we and I think every journalist
Speaker 1: handles it differently, you know, for me, it was going
Speaker 1: into reporter mode. So I dictated a first person account
Speaker 1: to a colleague. I did Facebook live and a periscope
Speaker 1: on Twitter to kind of communicate what I was seeing.
Speaker 1: And then I made sure to post on all my
Speaker 1: social media, and I made sure to call my mom,
Speaker 1: one of the in the house chamber. When we were
Speaker 1: on lockdown. I called my mom because at that point
Speaker 1: I didn't know how long we were going to be
Speaker 1: in lockdown, and she is not on social media, and
Speaker 1: I knew that in short order folks were gonna start
Speaker 1: reaching out to her about me, and I didn't want
Speaker 1: her to not have heard from me and to not
Speaker 1: know what was going on. So I did call my mom.
Speaker 1: And you know, I I'm one of those people who
Speaker 1: those you know, the unread text messages and unread emails
Speaker 1: bothers me. So you know, I'm responding to text messages
Speaker 1: and people, you know, checking up on me as much
Speaker 1: as I can. But you know, another colleague of mine
Speaker 1: told me he was like, I had a panic attack,
Speaker 1: and I just had to. I had to go ahead
Speaker 1: and have my panic attack. And then he regrouped and
Speaker 1: I we were talking on our way back to go
Speaker 1: back to work. He was like, yeah, I had a
Speaker 1: panic attack earlier, you know, so and you didn't experience
Speaker 1: any of that. I think because for me, I'm one
Speaker 1: of those people when when I release, I release it
Speaker 1: is a release. So I gotta give myself some space
Speaker 1: to to know that my emotions may have a powerful release,
Speaker 1: and you know, I just haven't. I'll be honest, I
Speaker 1: haven't really given myself that space yet. You know. It's
Speaker 1: just been a lot going on and and again, I
Speaker 1: think also part of it is reconciling what could have
Speaker 1: happened is probably the toughest part for me. You know,
Speaker 1: if those people had infiltrated the House Chamber knowing that
Speaker 1: the officers there would have been outnumbered, and if they
Speaker 1: had got inside the House Chamber and realized that there
Speaker 1: were members of Congress and members of the media there,
Speaker 1: It's hard to imagine some of the worst case scenarios.
Speaker 1: And I'm glad it didn't come to that. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm sad for those who did die. We're at five
Speaker 1: people now dead. But there were members of Congress there
Speaker 1: that were the targets of the misinformed and disinformed anger
Speaker 1: that had been radicalized and and riled up even by
Speaker 1: our president and so, and they also it was clear
Speaker 1: they didn't have a plan. It was complete anarchy and chaos.
Speaker 1: So it could have been worse. It was bad, it
Speaker 1: could have been worse. When they got to the Senate chamber,
Speaker 1: all the senators were gone. When they the offices, there
Speaker 1: were members in their offices. It's just lucky enough. The
Speaker 1: offices it appears that Rioters entered were empty of people.
Speaker 1: And that's the part that I, you know, haven't really
Speaker 1: allowed myself to get too far down the rabbit hole.
Speaker 1: And I also, you know, I'm a praying woman. I
Speaker 1: prayed in the chamber, you know, before I began speaking
Speaker 1: to you, I found out that my church home in Louisville, Kentucky,
Speaker 1: even Wednesday night, during midweek Bible study, pastor Kevin Cosby told,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a online service, and he said, we're
Speaker 1: praying for Tam Mitchell. She's locked into the Capitol right now.
Speaker 1: And so I had an entire church family praying for
Speaker 1: me on Wednesday. And I don't take that for granted either. Absolutely.
Speaker 1: What final thoughts would you would you have on this situation?
Speaker 1: And what what is you know one thing you want
Speaker 1: to get off your chest. It is the power of
Speaker 1: media in that mainstream media, your your local newspapers, your
Speaker 1: national papers, your local TV stations, you're for the most
Speaker 1: part your cable news like your MSNBC and CNN. We
Speaker 1: have been working hard to bring accurate news, to bring
Speaker 1: people news that is not directed by someone with a
Speaker 1: political agenda or with an extagrind. But what is the
Speaker 1: actual truth? And I think what happened Wednesday shows us
Speaker 1: how dangerous it is when people are misinformed and disinformed
Speaker 1: and lied to. And it shows to me I just
Speaker 1: want to stress, like how important it is like the media,
Speaker 1: and I know we get a bad rap. And let
Speaker 1: me be clear, we're not perfect. I'm not perfect. But
Speaker 1: to have a news store that you can trust doesn't
Speaker 1: mean that they'll always be perfect, but that means you
Speaker 1: can trust that they're always trying to do the right
Speaker 1: things for the right reason and when they fall short,
Speaker 1: they'll be accountable. And I hope people are. You know,
Speaker 1: I know, I'm a journalist. It's self serving, but like
Speaker 1: those people at the Capitol have been radicalized by media
Speaker 1: who has lied to them and by people who they
Speaker 1: look up to their leaders who have lied to them.
Speaker 1: And and I'm hopeful that as a nation we can
Speaker 1: start saying, let's speak in truth, let's speak in accuracy,
Speaker 1: let's speak in the real Even as we now reckon
Speaker 1: with the the racial differences and how this riot was
Speaker 1: treated compared to other protests throughout the year in America,
Speaker 1: We've got to deal in truth about white supremacy and
Speaker 1: institutional racism. Absolutely absolutely. Do you have any feelings or
Speaker 1: any thoughts about who you think should be for the
Speaker 1: persons that should be held accountable for this breach? I
Speaker 1: don't you know, my journalism had I'm gonna not go
Speaker 1: too far into my opinion, but i will say this,
Speaker 1: as they identify people who were breaking the law, it
Speaker 1: would make sense to charge them appropriately because that's what
Speaker 1: we've been told, and not charge them for merely violating curfew, right,
Speaker 1: I mean, you charge them for whatever laws that they've
Speaker 1: been proven to have broken, because that's how our system
Speaker 1: is supposed to work. And again it goes back to
Speaker 1: the white supremacy and institutional racism. Because the Republican Party
Speaker 1: told us over the summer they were the party of
Speaker 1: law and order, So where is that law and order now,
Speaker 1: you know, and again there's a lot of reckoning that's
Speaker 1: gonna happen with you know, the leaders, the law enforcement
Speaker 1: leaders and who was called in to help and win
Speaker 1: and why. And again that's accountability, and that's very needed
Speaker 1: because there was Again, it could have been so much worse.
Speaker 1: And and we're looking at people who are still as
Speaker 1: of right now radicalized to not trust the Biden administration,
Speaker 1: not think Joe Biden was elected with a fairy election
Speaker 1: because they've been fed lies. So where are we going
Speaker 1: to move from here? Is something that I think our
Speaker 1: government leaders are gonna have to reckon with and and
Speaker 1: I'll be you know, the journalists TIA will be watching
Speaker 1: and reporting it and bringing it to the readers of
Speaker 1: the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Well, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: being with us, Tia. We appreciate you taking the time,
Speaker 1: and please take time for yourself to heal and released
Speaker 1: and whatever you need to do to recover mentally, emotionally,
Speaker 1: and spiritually from this event. Thank you, Gammy, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. Keep doing the good work. We
Speaker 1: need you. Thank you. Tell the listeners where they can
Speaker 1: find you on social media. Oh, thank you. Listeners can
Speaker 1: find me on both Facebook and Twitter at TIA Reports
Speaker 1: t I A R E p O R T S excellent,
Speaker 1: take good care to you. Thank you. Now in the
Speaker 1: second part of my conversation, welcome to Positively gam Today,
Speaker 1: I have with me Jared Hill, Award winning journalist, writer,
Speaker 1: host of the podcast Fanti and is most notably known
Speaker 1: for breaking the twenties six Team Melania Trump Michelle Obama
Speaker 1: r n C plagiarism story. Also with us is Sarah Riggs,
Speaker 1: Amiko business leader and Georgia politics expert. She is and
Speaker 1: working on flipping the state blue since when she ran
Speaker 1: for Lieutenant governor alongside Stacy Abrams. After conceding in the
Speaker 1: Georgia Senate primary election, she hit the ground running and
Speaker 1: campaigned for both Warnock and osof Congratulations and thank you
Speaker 1: for your hard work and flipping this the Senate. And lastly,
Speaker 1: but not least, we have Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an activists
Speaker 1: who was part of Obama's Task Wars for police reform.
Speaker 1: She's a writer and host of the podcast Undistracted. Thank
Speaker 1: you all for joining me today. Well, first of all,
Speaker 1: let me just start by saying Happy New Year. And
Speaker 1: what a hell of a way to start. I'm not
Speaker 1: someone that I don't consider myself politically astute, but I
Speaker 1: have been glued to the TV over the past two
Speaker 1: days watching the news and I am just emotionally uh
Speaker 1: drained from all the footage and commentary. The capital hasn't
Speaker 1: been breached since the War of eighteen twelve. So to
Speaker 1: each of you, what is your initial reaction to this
Speaker 1: and just jump in. Who wants to go first? Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm happy to start. You know, gave me. The thing
Speaker 1: that strikes me first and foremost is we told you so.
Speaker 1: You know, for those of us who knew who Donald
Speaker 1: Trump was from the day he came down that escalator
Speaker 1: and spouted xenophobic, racist nonsense to launch a presidential campaign,
Speaker 1: this is exactly what we feared. For four years. We've
Speaker 1: been ridiculed by the Republicans who did absolutely nothing but
Speaker 1: enable him during that time. We've been called snowflakes, and
Speaker 1: that's the most polite word. But the reality is we
Speaker 1: knew this moment was coming. This is exactly the kind
Speaker 1: of despotic, authoritarian, anti democracy behavior he has done and
Speaker 1: made himself proud of from day one. So I think
Speaker 1: the thing that comes to mind for me. As we
Speaker 1: told you, so, what about you, Brittany? You know I
Speaker 1: will say yeahman. First of all, thank you for having
Speaker 1: me and for having this conversation, because so many people
Speaker 1: need to be having it. The capital hasn't been breached
Speaker 1: since eighteen twelve, but white supremacy has been breaching our
Speaker 1: boundaries for generations since the founding of this country. People
Speaker 1: who have claimed shock and surprise have not been paying
Speaker 1: attention to Sarah's point. We have been telling you so,
Speaker 1: not just about Donald Trump, but about how violent white
Speaker 1: supremacist patriarchy functions. It functioned that way when it stole
Speaker 1: this land from indigenous people. It functioned that way when
Speaker 1: it enslaved Africans here in America, my ancestors. It functioned
Speaker 1: that way when spit on Elizabeth Eckford when she was
Speaker 1: trying to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Speaker 1: It functioned that way when Mike Brown was killed, when
Speaker 1: Brianna Taylor was killed, when Tamir Rice was killed, when
Speaker 1: George Floyd was killed, when Tony McDade was killed. None
Speaker 1: of this is new. All of this is deeply familiar, and,
Speaker 1: as we so often say, is as American as apple pie.
Speaker 1: And so the question that I have on this morning
Speaker 1: is why did it take so long for people to
Speaker 1: heed the warnings of those of us who were at
Speaker 1: the most risk under this presidency that did not create
Speaker 1: the problem, but most certainly campaigned on it, one on
Speaker 1: it and emboldened it. Why did it take so long
Speaker 1: for people who should have removed their approval, support for
Speaker 1: and perpetuation of this administration. Why did it take the
Speaker 1: literal insurrection of the US capital for them to finally
Speaker 1: say enough is enough and I'm no longer going to
Speaker 1: sign on to this. We have to be who were
Speaker 1: in this moment that we do not let the people
Speaker 1: who are accountable for what happened not just Wednesday, but
Speaker 1: certainly over the last four years, that those folks are
Speaker 1: not able to just re enter polite society and re
Speaker 1: establish their their reputations right. And that's elected officials, that's
Speaker 1: appointed officials, that's journalists who have humanized these folks. That's
Speaker 1: police officers who on Wednesday, we're opening up barricades and
Speaker 1: taking selfies and not only failed to prepare, but chose
Speaker 1: not to prepare for what was a clear threat. So
Speaker 1: so that's that's where I am today, hoping we really
Speaker 1: hope people accountable. Yeah, it's it's so interesting that you
Speaker 1: that you put it that way, and thank you for
Speaker 1: sharing all of that, all of it, Brittany, because I'm
Speaker 1: feeling the exact same way, and I'm feeling like, oh
Speaker 1: so now the good wife folk feel threatened. Right now,
Speaker 1: the good white folks feel feel threatened? You know, but
Speaker 1: we've been dealing with this kind of terror and and
Speaker 1: and destruction for centuries centuries. What what is your feeling, Jarret? Well,
Speaker 1: when you when you say that, it makes me think
Speaker 1: about I was up really late last night writing because
Speaker 1: I've been really frustrated by all of this language about
Speaker 1: you know, we are better than this, this is not
Speaker 1: who we are, all of that kind of language that
Speaker 1: is incredibly frustrating to me. And every time I hear
Speaker 1: that as a journalist, there's always this conversation about objectivity
Speaker 1: and journalism and all of that kind of stuff, and
Speaker 1: I've never really believed that that was true. And when
Speaker 1: I read news newspieces that say that it centers whiteness
Speaker 1: in a way that really really frustrates me, because if
Speaker 1: you are a black person in this country, if you
Speaker 1: are a brown person in this country, if you are
Speaker 1: a queer person in this country, if you are any
Speaker 1: marginalized group in this country, you know that, no, this
Speaker 1: is who we are, right, This is who we have been,
Speaker 1: This is who we were will probably be for the
Speaker 1: foreseeable future. And it's frustrating to continue to hear people
Speaker 1: talk about, you know, our better angels in this virtuous
Speaker 1: thing that America is supposedly supp used to be but
Speaker 1: continues time and time again to prove itself not to be.
Speaker 1: And I know that for myself when we look at
Speaker 1: Donald Trump, when we look at the way that Republicans
Speaker 1: have allowed this kind of thing to continue to happen.
Speaker 1: When Brittany says, like, you know, we are that people
Speaker 1: have to say stand up and say no more. Like
Speaker 1: I don't see enough people standing up and say no
Speaker 1: more now. Right, Like we are days removed from this,
Speaker 1: We've not had a briefing from from any kind of
Speaker 1: security agency. We've not heard you know, Congress come out
Speaker 1: with you know, what they're going to be doing next.
Speaker 1: We were now starting to see that there's movement for
Speaker 1: impeachment and things like that. But but what about the
Speaker 1: fact that these people got into the capital. The people
Speaker 1: in our presidential line of succession were in like great harm,
Speaker 1: right or we're at great risk. There's so much to
Speaker 1: consider with what just happened. And if I think about
Speaker 1: like the foreign actors who might want to attack this country,
Speaker 1: or the other people who are around this country that
Speaker 1: are waiving that same Trump flag, that Confederate flag, in
Speaker 1: that American flag, as if they are all the same thing,
Speaker 1: they are now emboldened to maybe go into their own
Speaker 1: state houses or to this state house and do the
Speaker 1: same thing. Sarah, I see you shaking your your head.
Speaker 1: Did you want to add something? Yeah, I just look.
Speaker 1: I'd say to white folks out there who are listening,
Speaker 1: you need to hear this. And it's not comfortable and
Speaker 1: it's not pleasant and candidly, that's not relevant. It's necessary.
Speaker 1: This is the kind of work. And you know, Jared,
Speaker 1: I appreciate what you're saying about the language. This is
Speaker 1: not who we are. And I know that's something actually
Speaker 1: that in recent months I've used once that I can remember,
Speaker 1: and I think what we're trying to say and what
Speaker 1: we maybe need to be more careful about in the
Speaker 1: language is this is not who we want to be.
Speaker 1: And if we don't, then we need to recognize the
Speaker 1: violent nature of white supremacy, and we need to understand
Speaker 1: how deep its roots are in a nation that was
Speaker 1: built with enslaved labor on lands that were confiscated from
Speaker 1: indigenous peoples. And and that's a tough thing for folks
Speaker 1: to hear, but you know, I run trucking company, and
Speaker 1: for our drivers, you can't drive just looking in the
Speaker 1: rear view mirror. You gotta drive looking through the windshield.
Speaker 1: But you need that reference point, right. You need to
Speaker 1: know where you've been, and you need to understand any
Speaker 1: hazards that were in your way so that you can
Speaker 1: avoid them in the future. And if we continue to
Speaker 1: deny the kind of white supremacy that fueled not just
Speaker 1: the Trump presidency but the entire state of the GOP
Speaker 1: and the people who have held their nose and voted
Speaker 1: for him or turned a blind eye when he called
Speaker 1: people like journalists the enemy of the state, when he
Speaker 1: derided black athletes and called them curse words, when he
Speaker 1: called Mexicans rapist. When you ignore that, when you ignore
Speaker 1: the small lies he tells, you're not entitled to be
Speaker 1: surprised and offended and woke. Now that somebody breached the
Speaker 1: capital in his name and four people are dead. You know,
Speaker 1: work needs to be done by us, but it requires
Speaker 1: that we listen and that sometimes you're gonna have to
Speaker 1: hear things that that you didn't want to or you
Speaker 1: don't want to talk about. But it's the necessary work
Speaker 1: for progress to happen, right, And and we actually have
Speaker 1: to really rewrite American history by telling the truth about
Speaker 1: American history because we've been lying to ourselves all of
Speaker 1: these years and and it's time for all of that
Speaker 1: to stop as well. Now, you know, joy Read gave
Speaker 1: a really explicitly accurate explanation, in my opinion, and why
Speaker 1: these white insurgents and writers were not afraid, and I
Speaker 1: encourage everyone to go to YouTube and just look it
Speaker 1: up and listen to it. But basically, she said, they
Speaker 1: weren't afraid because they see themselves in the police and
Speaker 1: they're not in jeopardy, so they felt comfortable taking selfies
Speaker 1: and taking pictures of themselves and in their crimes as
Speaker 1: the police were helping them down the stairs and giving
Speaker 1: them a you know, pouring water in their eyes because
Speaker 1: they know that they were not in jeopardy because they
Speaker 1: are not us. They are not black, and we all know,
Speaker 1: and we listened to commentators over and over again all
Speaker 1: all day yesterday talk about had they been black, they
Speaker 1: would have been brutalized, arrested or dead. And Brittany, you've
Speaker 1: had personal experience with this, so share with us, please,
Speaker 1: your experience in Ferguson. Where you you were in Ferguson
Speaker 1: marching about Michael Brown, were you not? Yes? Indeed, I'm
Speaker 1: a native St. Louis and I grew up fifteen minutes
Speaker 1: from Ferguson. I've been an activist my entire life, but
Speaker 1: that was certainly a moment of international attention on our
Speaker 1: city and one of the things people really don't remember.
Speaker 1: And I talked about this on MSNBC the other night
Speaker 1: with Brian Williams. It was illegal to stand still in
Speaker 1: Ferguson because the people who were raising their voices on
Speaker 1: West Florest and Avenue were young and old and almost
Speaker 1: exclusively black. The police were literally creating rules in order
Speaker 1: to suppress and terrorize us, so we would be told
Speaker 1: that this was no longer a peaceful assembly, and tear
Speaker 1: gas promptly thereafter, even though we'd be standing there with
Speaker 1: cell phones and cardboard signs. We'd be pepper sprayed and mazed.
Speaker 1: People would be would have guns in their faces upon
Speaker 1: getting off of a city bus right and trying to
Speaker 1: get home or go pick up their child from school.
Speaker 1: This was the kind of terror that was occurring in
Speaker 1: a residential neighborhood. And for a portion of that time,
Speaker 1: there was something that the police created called the five
Speaker 1: second rule that if we were found to be standing
Speaker 1: still for more than five seconds, we could be summarily arrested.
Speaker 1: And after that, god knows what, So we literally walked
Speaker 1: in circles. It is. It is wild because the police
Speaker 1: just knew that they had the authority to operate that
Speaker 1: went until and unless someone told them that they couldn't,
Speaker 1: And it took lawsuits and judgments and judge rulings for
Speaker 1: them to actually say this is unconstitutional. But in the meantime,
Speaker 1: we were being terrorized at the You know, I've experienced
Speaker 1: that in Bad Rouge, I've experienced that in Baltimore. I've
Speaker 1: experienced that all over this country. And the hypocrisy present
Speaker 1: in the police response is an important part of the conversation.
Speaker 1: But we have to make sure it's not the only
Speaker 1: part of the conversation because when it for two reasons, one,
Speaker 1: we have to lay the blame fully at the feet
Speaker 1: of white supremacy. And if we allow people to have
Speaker 1: this kind of tragic comparative conversation the entire time, then
Speaker 1: no one will take responsibility, no one will be held accountable,
Speaker 1: and we'll just kind of move on. Is why you
Speaker 1: remember that while week in the beginning of where we
Speaker 1: thought all the hell was over in we cannot afford
Speaker 1: to simply dismiss this this moment with it just being
Speaker 1: kind of full of hot takes, right. And the other
Speaker 1: reason why we have to not limit the conversation to
Speaker 1: that specifically around the police is that what we know
Speaker 1: to be true and what we are finding out more
Speaker 1: and more is that it is highly likely that members
Speaker 1: of the Capitol Police force that we're supposed to be
Speaker 1: holding the line did not because they were participating in
Speaker 1: the insurrection that they helped plant, that they helped create
Speaker 1: it that they we know. For example, we've got witnesses
Speaker 1: who are saying that Capital police officers lad insurrectionists to
Speaker 1: certain members offices. We have video of police officers, like
Speaker 1: I said, taking selfies with insurrectionists. We've got reports that
Speaker 1: people were coming in dressed as insurrectionists but flashing their
Speaker 1: police badges to say, I'm one of you, and you're
Speaker 1: you're just like me. Right. If you look at this
Speaker 1: last Camp Haines season, across police unions were tripping over
Speaker 1: themselves to endorse Donald Trump. If seventy plus million Americans
Speaker 1: voted for Donald Trump a second time, don't you think
Speaker 1: that a bunch of those people are on police forces.
Speaker 1: Don't you think that, perhaps, especially given the union response,
Speaker 1: there may be a disproportionate amount of police officers in
Speaker 1: that crowd. This is a guy who encouraged the police
Speaker 1: to rough us up, not telling them to behave more
Speaker 1: equitably and more justly. These are people who this is
Speaker 1: a guy who encourage police violence. So we have to
Speaker 1: recognize that not only um with the response, I've been
Speaker 1: very different, that the choices here were deliberate, and the
Speaker 1: Capital police deciding not to prepare or hold the line
Speaker 1: was a deliberate choice, not just because they were okay
Speaker 1: with what happened, but perhaps because some of them wanted
Speaker 1: it to happen. And that's what we have to talk
Speaker 1: about exactly. Eggs actually Brittley. So uh, I so agree
Speaker 1: with you, Jarrett. Yeah. I the one of my friends
Speaker 1: text me, we've been the group chats have been very active,
Speaker 1: I will tell you that, and that we've we've seen
Speaker 1: on social media, you know, white folks that were part
Speaker 1: of it, that we're saying, like they're not supposed to
Speaker 1: treat us like that, right, like when when there was
Speaker 1: any resistance to them there. We see that there are
Speaker 1: various kinds of things on social media over the course
Speaker 1: of months where they have been preparing for this. Right
Speaker 1: So it's not even like the Capitol Police could say
Speaker 1: that they were surprised they didn't see this coming, because
Speaker 1: Donald Trump himself has been talking about this from his
Speaker 1: own Twitter feed. There's very there. Their accounts from journalists
Speaker 1: that have been talking about this for months back into
Speaker 1: saying this kind of thing is going to happen. So
Speaker 1: the idea that the Capitol Police had no idea that
Speaker 1: this was gonna happen, the idea that they could not
Speaker 1: have been prepared, but also the fact that those people
Speaker 1: were in the capital for three hours it was really
Speaker 1: telling to me, right, Like, I was out working on
Speaker 1: something else and started getting text messages like what the
Speaker 1: hell is going on. By the time I got home,
Speaker 1: we were still like seeing video and photos were starting
Speaker 1: to come out. The idea that our Congress people we're
Speaker 1: ducking and hiding and locked into their offices, their offices ransacked.
Speaker 1: We saw a representative saying that those people that the
Speaker 1: insurrection is the domestic terrorists, calling them what they are, right,
Speaker 1: they were getting to places. He was like, I have
Speaker 1: a hard time finding those places, and I don't and
Speaker 1: I work here, right, and I've been here for years,
Speaker 1: So we know that there were people that were that
Speaker 1: were guiding them to the right places to go to
Speaker 1: be able to get into Nancy Pelosi's office, to walk
Speaker 1: out with the speaker's podium, to be able to ransack
Speaker 1: these offices, and who knows what they took, who knows
Speaker 1: what they found? Right, And we haven't even had a
Speaker 1: plaything to be able to talk about where they went right,
Speaker 1: to be able to know where they were inside those offices.
Speaker 1: And the fact that you know, minimal arrests have been made,
Speaker 1: and the excuses for why arrests haven't been made, and
Speaker 1: the fact that most of the charges that have been
Speaker 1: merely been for viole aiding curfew is actually it's just me.
Speaker 1: I'm just incensed. How do we Well, Before I move
Speaker 1: on to that question, I want to ask what you're
Speaker 1: feeling is about invoking the Amendment? I mean we should
Speaker 1: have been having that conversation. I mean a long time ago, right,
Speaker 1: Like the amendment is one of those things where it's
Speaker 1: like Donald Trump has shown us week after week after
Speaker 1: week four for four years and and and and for
Speaker 1: the year and a half prior to him being elected,
Speaker 1: right or and I use air quotes around elected because
Speaker 1: I feel a way about that too, But like, but
Speaker 1: we have seen every week a different reason for Donald
Speaker 1: Trump to have that twenty Amendment invoked, or for the
Speaker 1: House and for the full Congress to impeach him. And
Speaker 1: so when people are are talking about what we're considering
Speaker 1: the twenty Amendment now we're considering impeaching him, we're considering
Speaker 1: resignations and all that, it's like, well, since where have
Speaker 1: you been all of this time? Right? We've see these people,
Speaker 1: these officials from the White House who are considering resignation,
Speaker 1: and it's like, sweetie, you got ten twelve days left.
Speaker 1: What are you talking about? Like, Oh, this was the
Speaker 1: straw that broke the camel's back, like Donald Trump has
Speaker 1: been inciting this for years. He summoned these people to
Speaker 1: d C to do this. And so when we think
Speaker 1: about the amendment, that would take some courage from Mike
Speaker 1: Pence that we have not seen. It would take some
Speaker 1: courage from the cabinet members that we have not seen,
Speaker 1: and it would take some kind of like some kind
Speaker 1: of uh, some kind of integrity from our government that
Speaker 1: we just haven't seen. We've seen Mike Pence ducking calls
Speaker 1: from Majority Leader now Chuck Schumer and the Speaker of House,
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi. He doesn't want to deal with this, just
Speaker 1: like he hasn't wanted to deal with it since the
Speaker 1: day he signed onto that ticket. If this is you know,
Speaker 1: a day late and a dollar short, to be sure,
Speaker 1: but it is the fastest and most efficient way to
Speaker 1: remove Donald Trump from office. You know, whatever we thought
Speaker 1: about what happened at the Capitol this week, this is
Speaker 1: still the man who controls the nuclear codes in this country. Exactly, exactly.
Speaker 1: Here's the thing I want us to to be clear
Speaker 1: on the technical piece. Because government is I used to
Speaker 1: work on Capitol Hill, government is incredibly opaque on purpose.
Speaker 1: It's important that people understand the ins and outs of this.
Speaker 1: The twenty five Amendment requires action from the Vice president
Speaker 1: and a majority of the members of cabinet. We've had,
Speaker 1: we've had, and we've had two members of cabinet, Secretary
Speaker 1: Chow and Betsy DeVos resigned. If enough of them resign,
Speaker 1: there will not be a majority of cabinet to invoke
Speaker 1: the twenty five Amendment. So Ayanna Pressley, the congresswoman from
Speaker 1: from Massachusetts, are are good sis. She reminded us that
Speaker 1: we have to see through these calls for the twenty
Speaker 1: fifth Amendment from people who have no intentions of invoking it,
Speaker 1: that actually, if we're going to take action that on
Speaker 1: the technical side of things, impeachment and removal are actually
Speaker 1: the best course of action. And to Sarah's point, we
Speaker 1: have to be very very careful because so much can
Speaker 1: happen in twelve We saw what happened in three hours.
Speaker 1: A lot can happen in twelve days. Action has got
Speaker 1: to be taken. And Corey Bush, my congresswoman from my
Speaker 1: hometown of St. Louis, has said, not only do we
Speaker 1: have to go after the president, we need to get
Speaker 1: all of the congress people who sold the idea that
Speaker 1: this was a fraud election up out of Congress too,
Speaker 1: and that those people on the Senate side and the
Speaker 1: House side need to lose their job, and she's drawing
Speaker 1: up papers for that too. So those are two things
Speaker 1: that people should be paying attention to because government is
Speaker 1: confusing on purpose, and we got to see straight through
Speaker 1: to what's happening. I don't care what anyone thinks. I'm
Speaker 1: gonna say it out loud. They don't deserve the public trust,
Speaker 1: they don't deserve to hold office. They're no longer qualified.
Speaker 1: If you turned a blind eye to the kind of
Speaker 1: things we've seen Donald Trump do for years, you shouldn't
Speaker 1: be there. You don't belong and you don't have anything
Speaker 1: to add to strengthen our democracy in our union. I
Speaker 1: just really quickly, I would say one of the other
Speaker 1: important elements of this with Donald Trump being impeached, the
Speaker 1: importance of him being impeaches that he can't run for office.
Speaker 1: He can't run for president again, right, and like we
Speaker 1: know that he plans on running for president again. We
Speaker 1: know that I would expect him to counter program with
Speaker 1: the rally on on the day of the inauguration. And
Speaker 1: like the fact that that impeachment would stifle him from
Speaker 1: being able to do that. I think is a really
Speaker 1: important element of why impeachment is so important. Exactly good
Speaker 1: point now to all of this too, when we're talking
Speaker 1: about accountability. How do we hold the new administration accountable,
Speaker 1: particularly to the black community. How do we do that?
Speaker 1: What does that mean? So it means a couple of things. One,
Speaker 1: it means being engaged in politics at every single level.
Speaker 1: Part of that is because a lot of the policies
Speaker 1: that affect us every day that we think are being
Speaker 1: decided at the White House, are actually being decided in
Speaker 1: governor's mansions, on the floors of state legislatures, with your
Speaker 1: all your people, and your city councils, and in your
Speaker 1: mayor's offices. So it's actually really important for us to
Speaker 1: get into the weeds of this thing to make sure
Speaker 1: that the things that we want to see be true
Speaker 1: in our communities that we are pushing on at the local, state,
Speaker 1: and federal level. The second think we need to do
Speaker 1: is to be part of an organizing community. Sarah will
Speaker 1: tell you Georgia has been blue for a long time.
Speaker 1: Georgia wasn't read, Georgia was suppressed, and it was a
Speaker 1: collective of organizers, activists, community members, volunteers, canvases, everybody playing
Speaker 1: their part to make what people thought was impossible happen
Speaker 1: after ten years of work. Right, So you have to
Speaker 1: be a part of a community of people who are
Speaker 1: working on the things that you are passionate about. It
Speaker 1: is one thing to tweet about it or to Facebook
Speaker 1: about it, is another thing to put your money behind it,
Speaker 1: and it is another thing to get with other people
Speaker 1: who help you strategize and organize around it. That last
Speaker 1: part is so important, And you don't have to be
Speaker 1: a part of the big national organizations if you don't
Speaker 1: want their organizations right in your community that deserve your support,
Speaker 1: your funding, and your volunteerism. The last thing that I'll
Speaker 1: say is I fully believe in the concept of critical friends.
Speaker 1: I believe that real love is actually telling people the truth,
Speaker 1: and the same is true in politics. So I have
Speaker 1: developed a relationship with now thank you, Madam Vice President
Speaker 1: Kamala Harris over over the last couple of years, the
Speaker 1: last year in particular, and when she calls me, we
Speaker 1: have really forward, honest, candid conversations, right, and that's what
Speaker 1: she wants. She doesn't want a boiler plate answer for
Speaker 1: what's happening in our streets regarding policing, and guess what,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna give you one, even if that's what
Speaker 1: you wanted. The good news is that she wants the truth.
Speaker 1: We have to be willing to speak up and tell
Speaker 1: the truth. So when the bill is not reaching the
Speaker 1: kind of heights of policy that we want, we have
Speaker 1: to say so. When the action that is being taken
Speaker 1: by the White House or by Congress is not going
Speaker 1: to the places where we where we wanted to go,
Speaker 1: we have to say so. And we have to come
Speaker 1: forward with the ideas that say, instead of do this,
Speaker 1: do that. So here's what I want the cancelation of
Speaker 1: my student debt to look like. Here's what I want
Speaker 1: transformation and public safety in my community to look like.
Speaker 1: Here's what I want the Green New Deal to look
Speaker 1: like in my community. Right, we have to get clear
Speaker 1: about all of these things and continue to raise our
Speaker 1: voices as if these people work for us, because they do.
Speaker 1: I think a really important part of that is Brittany
Speaker 1: is kind of laying out all of the different ways
Speaker 1: that it looks practically applied. Right. I think so many
Speaker 1: of us get really wrapped up in voting and think
Speaker 1: that that is the avenue for democracy to be to
Speaker 1: be seen. But I think realistically, when it comes time
Speaker 1: to when when the inauguration is over, right, there is
Speaker 1: still work to be done. And I think that's so
Speaker 1: much of America, as we've seen in turn out with
Speaker 1: voting in so many other places, like so many people
Speaker 1: are way more engaged than they've ever been. My parents
Speaker 1: were never people who could tell me who the Secretary
Speaker 1: of State was and you know who the senator of
Speaker 1: that was. But now they are able to say, did
Speaker 1: you hear about what so and so just did? And
Speaker 1: I think it's important that people continue to stay engaged
Speaker 1: because this is the time that we can make the
Speaker 1: most moves. Right. We have a democratic House, a democratic Senate,
Speaker 1: and a democratic president. We can talk about the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court on an the day, but like what we have
Speaker 1: sold many we have so many different things that we
Speaker 1: want to get done, and we've got to make sure
Speaker 1: that we stay engaged, that we stay organized, and that
Speaker 1: because I think during the Obama era, so many people
Speaker 1: were so excited that Barack Obama got elected and he
Speaker 1: was saying immediately right like no, no, no, This isn't over.
Speaker 1: We still have work to do. And I think people
Speaker 1: got comfortable and lazy, and that that was why so
Speaker 1: many people were so surprised by Donald Trump. And it's like, no,
Speaker 1: we've seen this rising on the other side the entire
Speaker 1: time Barack Obama was president, and so Donald Trump was
Speaker 1: not a surprise for a lot of people. So it's
Speaker 1: important that you don't just you know, vote in your
Speaker 1: election or vote in your runoff or whatever it is.
Speaker 1: You have to stay engaged to be able to make
Speaker 1: sure that we're able to affect the change that we need,
Speaker 1: because getting someone elected is not enough. Yeah, that too.
Speaker 1: I think it's really important we elevate individual stories, especially
Speaker 1: from marginalized communities, whether that is the LGBTQ community, whether
Speaker 1: it is communities of color, the black community, also rural
Speaker 1: right in places like Georgia, our rural community. These are
Speaker 1: are in desperate situations both economically and in terms of
Speaker 1: access to healthcare, in terms of access to equitable education.
Speaker 1: You know, the color of your skin or the zip
Speaker 1: code where you're born may well determine the kind of
Speaker 1: access you have to opportunity for the rest of your life.
Speaker 1: In some of these places, so I think the other
Speaker 1: thing we can do to keep people accountable, and we've
Speaker 1: recently started a platform to do this, is is let
Speaker 1: people tell their stories. Right, millions and hundreds of millions
Speaker 1: of dollars are spent by political interest groups, parties packs
Speaker 1: to elevate the narrative that they want. But the more
Speaker 1: we can elevate the stories of how these policies and
Speaker 1: the failure or the lack of accountability for politicians impacts
Speaker 1: real people in our communities, the better impact we're going
Speaker 1: to have in terms of holding elected officials accountable, making
Speaker 1: them look at what those decisions have cost to real
Speaker 1: people in our communities. Now, Sarah, I want you to
Speaker 1: really talk about Georgia, because you know, everything that happened
Speaker 1: at the capital really overshadow the winds that we had
Speaker 1: for War Knock and John also in Georgia, and it's
Speaker 1: really really hugely important, and it's important for black people
Speaker 1: in particularly, not just black people, but black people in
Speaker 1: particularly that don't believe in the government that a lot
Speaker 1: of times don't believe in the vote. This was an
Speaker 1: opportunity where we really really put tent toes down and
Speaker 1: got it done. Georgia really got it done and we
Speaker 1: were able to flip the Senate. So talk talk about
Speaker 1: the importance of that win. Absolutely, we saw a couple
Speaker 1: of things. So first of all, John asof made history
Speaker 1: as the first Jewish American elected to the U. S.
Speaker 1: Senate from Georgia. He's the youngest senator in forty years
Speaker 1: since Joe Biden actually entered the Senate. And you know,
Speaker 1: I heard on Twitter the other day I thought was
Speaker 1: something was funny he should name his first wild Rafael,
Speaker 1: because the Reverend Raffael Warnock was a fantastic partner for
Speaker 1: him in this election. And John and Rafael are both
Speaker 1: good friends and I couldn't be more happy for their win.
Speaker 1: But the reality is that Reverend More knocks deep roots,
Speaker 1: not just as the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and
Speaker 1: in the Black church we at large, but his deep,
Speaker 1: deep roots in the social justice movement on everything from
Speaker 1: ending mass incarceration, to protecting access to the ballot box
Speaker 1: for communities of color, and to engaging with the black
Speaker 1: community on every aspect of economic opportunity and jobs in
Speaker 1: our state. Really brought a lot of balance to the ticket,
Speaker 1: and I think it motivated people. Let's be clear black
Speaker 1: women organized in Georgia and led to this happening, you know,
Speaker 1: from Stacy Abrahams to Infolt two writers like a Noah
Speaker 1: Chonga who had been out there sharing this message for
Speaker 1: a long time. And I think having more Knock on
Speaker 1: the ticket also energized black men. And I suspect that
Speaker 1: when we deep dive into the numbers from this win,
Speaker 1: the black belt, that southwestern part of Georgia and the
Speaker 1: rich agricultural area across the southern half of the state,
Speaker 1: the rural places that we think of as traditionally white
Speaker 1: Republican counties, Uh, those are very diverse counties. It's just
Speaker 1: a lot of times black voters in those areas haven't
Speaker 1: had anything to show up for. And I think to
Speaker 1: his credit, you know, John ass Off really came to
Speaker 1: back for Rafael Warnock and vice versa. There was a
Speaker 1: great piece in the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning by
Speaker 1: Jim Galloway, who's kind of the senior writer for the
Speaker 1: last forty years of the a j C and politics,
Speaker 1: and he said, you know where Reverend Warnock had to
Speaker 1: be very careful sometimes in avoiding stereotypes of black men
Speaker 1: running for office. John Assof would come in and and
Speaker 1: get his back. And when the right attacked Reverend Warnock
Speaker 1: for his positions on Israel, John Assof as a young
Speaker 1: Jewish man with deep roots in that community, came in
Speaker 1: and had his back. It is this beautiful, elegant alliance
Speaker 1: that really is reminiscent of the great partnerships of the
Speaker 1: civil rights movement in the South. So I, for one
Speaker 1: think that this, you know, this is an election where
Speaker 1: we oh entirely the flipping of Georgia, not just in
Speaker 1: these two Senate races, but delivering sixteen Electoral College votes
Speaker 1: for Commonis and Joe biden Um electing the first Black
Speaker 1: and South Asian woman to be the Vice President of
Speaker 1: the United States. We owe that a lot too, to
Speaker 1: the Black community and also to our Latin Next communities,
Speaker 1: to our Asian American Pacific Islander communities. You know, these
Speaker 1: are voters who for too long have been marginalized and sideline,
Speaker 1: left out, left behind, And nevertheless they showed the greatest
Speaker 1: hope in this democracy of any demographic in the entire state.
Speaker 1: They showed up, they made their voice heard, they made
Speaker 1: history happen, and I think you're gonna see great things
Speaker 1: from both Warnock and ofss Off. And you know, I
Speaker 1: say that as somebody who lost in the I'm your
Speaker 1: right to John also right, I mean, and I mean
Speaker 1: and I meet it with all my heart. I mean,
Speaker 1: nobody's twisting my arm here to give compliments. He is
Speaker 1: an idealistic, forward thinking, honest person. I think he'll do
Speaker 1: the right thing. And Reverend Warnock, we don't you know,
Speaker 1: we don't have to guess he's been getting arrested in
Speaker 1: the capital, you know, if you want to talk about
Speaker 1: the difference in police presence between what happened on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: Reverend Warnock was arrested in the rotunda for prey with
Speaker 1: Reverend Cynthia Hale. I mean, this is this is the
Speaker 1: kind of work that he's done for decades, and I
Speaker 1: honestly couldn't be prouder to have these two minutes my
Speaker 1: U S. Senators. Yeah, well, you know, we haven't had
Speaker 1: a Democratic senator in Georgia, so I'm feeling extremely hopeful
Speaker 1: that the Democrats are in power. Just just out on
Speaker 1: to Sarah's point really quickly. I think it's also important
Speaker 1: to recognize that we have Ruphael Warnock being the first
Speaker 1: black person that has ever been elected from a Confederate
Speaker 1: formerly Confederate state. Have John Austin that is the first
Speaker 1: Jewish Man. But we also know what it's like to
Speaker 1: be the first, right or to be the only or
Speaker 1: one of the few when you're in those rooms. And
Speaker 1: I think it's important that we recognize that when those
Speaker 1: people go into those those rooms, into those committees, into
Speaker 1: all of those all of the different ways that they
Speaker 1: have to to work to be able to get things
Speaker 1: done for us, the challenges that they're going to face
Speaker 1: are going to be great, and it's going to be
Speaker 1: important that we are they're supporting them and back in
Speaker 1: them and also in their ear for the things that
Speaker 1: we need. Yeah, and we've only had eleven black senators
Speaker 1: in the history of this country. I mean, that's just
Speaker 1: impossible for someone like me to believe. And so what
Speaker 1: what we're not has done and he is he is
Speaker 1: everything you hope he'll be in that office. I'm confident
Speaker 1: he'll do a great amount of work. But you know,
Speaker 1: he's the twelfth in the history of the country. It's
Speaker 1: in a remarkable thing we've accomplished, and it's a shame
Speaker 1: that yet again the maga Hat folks have overshadowed what
Speaker 1: should have been a real triumph of the resilience of
Speaker 1: our democracy and of the black community, especially in Georgia.
Speaker 1: We could go on forever. I really feel like we're
Speaker 1: not done, but I know we have to wrap it up.
Speaker 1: I know Brittany has to leave one last question. One
Speaker 1: I just want to ask each of you, and we'll
Speaker 1: start with you, Brittany, what is one final thing that
Speaker 1: you want to get off your chest? Oh, gosh, one
Speaker 1: final thing. It's it's it's to have disciplined hope. We
Speaker 1: have done hard things. We have done them many times before.
Speaker 1: We have done them during a pandemic and one of
Speaker 1: the most unprecedented elections of our time. We are capable
Speaker 1: of greatness when we decide to get together and make
Speaker 1: it happen. So as to remain committed, because as far
Speaker 1: as I'm concerned, can no insurrection is still my joy
Speaker 1: and they certainly can't stop this work. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: the thing that I'm most hopeful about going forward is
Speaker 1: this rising multi racial, multi generational coalition that can do
Speaker 1: those hard things Brittany talked about, that can put the
Speaker 1: first black senator in office from the state of Georgia,
Speaker 1: that I have hoped my kids will not be dealing
Speaker 1: with pay equity and the kinds of racial justice strife
Speaker 1: we saw, especially with the amad are Very shooting and
Speaker 1: in Ray Schard Brooks in Atlanta as well over the summer.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, everything from making sure no one
Speaker 1: in this country is sick because they're poor or poor
Speaker 1: because they got sick, to having clean air and clean
Speaker 1: water in an environment that's treasured and valued the way
Speaker 1: it should be. All of it's possible now, like voters
Speaker 1: did that. So every time you you think your vote
Speaker 1: doesn't matter, you know, just remember the year we took
Speaker 1: our country back. Yeah, what about you, Jarrett, I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about mental health, to be honest with you. I'm thinking
Speaker 1: about the mental health of the organizers, of the journalists,
Speaker 1: of the elected, of the staffers, of all of the
Speaker 1: people who are going to have a mountain to climb
Speaker 1: in the coming weeks, months, and years of this next administration.
Speaker 1: I I serve as the vice president of the National
Speaker 1: Association of Black Journalists here in Los Angeles, and I'm
Speaker 1: always thinking about our journalists and what it is like
Speaker 1: to have to cover these stories day to day, what
Speaker 1: it is like to have to be in the field,
Speaker 1: to to hear these stories, to see the things that
Speaker 1: you see every day, and how disheartening it can be,
Speaker 1: how depressing it can be, how difficult it can be
Speaker 1: on your psyche. And you know, my friends work in
Speaker 1: various different levels of the of the federal government, and
Speaker 1: it is a stressful, stressful job. It is a stressful
Speaker 1: place to work. And I just wanna to to send out,
Speaker 1: you know, the thought that we should be thinking about
Speaker 1: these people and supporting them in various different ways, because
Speaker 1: it is not an easy thing to do, to be
Speaker 1: the person who has to serve, who has to vote,
Speaker 1: who has to write, who has to speak, who has
Speaker 1: to stand in front, who has to stand in back,
Speaker 1: who has to do all of these different things. I
Speaker 1: think it's really really important. Thank you guys. This was
Speaker 1: This was I'm telling you. I just feel like we
Speaker 1: we just just that's just a little bit of everything
Speaker 1: that's going because there's so much, so much to talk
Speaker 1: about that we just didn't have time to do. But
Speaker 1: I certainly appreciate your time. Tell the listeners where they
Speaker 1: can find you on social media. Brittany, thanks so much
Speaker 1: for having me. You can follow me, people can follow
Speaker 1: me at Miss pac Yetti on Instagram and Twitter. Yes,
Speaker 1: you can find me everywhere at Jarrett Hill. It's Jarrett
Speaker 1: with two Hours and two Teas on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook,
Speaker 1: UM and the show that I host, Fantai is about
Speaker 1: the complex and complicated things that we love and have
Speaker 1: challenges around UM and we talk about all of those
Speaker 1: things that comes out every Thursday. Fantai is available on
Speaker 1: all podcasts platforms spelled f A N T I GAM.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for having me. Folks can follow me
Speaker 1: on Instagram or Twitter at Sarah rigs Amiko. That's s
Speaker 1: A r e h R I g G s A
Speaker 1: m I c O. And I'd love for folks to
Speaker 1: take a minute and check out my new project, Rediscovering
Speaker 1: Our American Dream. We are working to redefine the American
Speaker 1: Dream to be inclusive of all communities, communities of color,
Speaker 1: rural communities, poor communities, immigrant communities, people who have been
Speaker 1: traditionally left out and left behind. So we've created a
Speaker 1: platform where you can upload your story on everything from
Speaker 1: immigration to starting a small business, to why you vote,
Speaker 1: or the importance of access to affordable healthcare. So folks
Speaker 1: can visit our website at www dot our American Dreams
Speaker 1: dot org again, that's www. Dot our American Dreams dot org.
Speaker 1: So grateful and look forward to talking again soon. We'll
Speaker 1: have to do it again. Thank you so much, thanks
Speaker 1: for having us, Gammy absolutely thank you guys. So here's
Speaker 1: my take away from this conversation. In forty five most
Speaker 1: recent speech on Twitter, not only does he continue with
Speaker 1: his lies. Katie Kerrick described his final statement as the
Speaker 1: most chilling in twenties. Teen Lindsey Graham said, if we
Speaker 1: nominate Trump, he will destroy us and we will deserve it. Well,
Speaker 1: he has and you do as you all sat by
Speaker 1: complicit as forty five ran rampant viewing, hate, beer and
Speaker 1: destruction through our democracy. The American people have suffered literally
Speaker 1: through his sickness. He must be impeached so we will
Speaker 1: never be subjected to his reign ever. Again. Thank you
Speaker 1: to my guests Tea, Jared, Sarah and Brittany. We had
Speaker 1: so much to unpack in so little time. We just
Speaker 1: may have to do this again. If you're listening on
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, be sure to rate and review the episode.
Speaker 1: Follow me on my Instagram at Gammy Nari's to share
Speaker 1: with me your thoughts on the episode I'm here, I'm talking,
Speaker 1: and I'm listening. As always, Stay grateful, y'all. Happy New Year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Positively GAM is produced by Westbrook Audio. Executive producers Adrian Vanfield, Narris,
Speaker 1: Jada Pinkett Smith, Amanda Brown, and Fallon jethro Co Executive
Speaker 1: producer sim Hoti, Segment producer Ash Francis, associate producer Erica Ron,
Speaker 1: editor and mixer Calvin Bayliss. Positively GAM is in partnership
Speaker 1: with Art nineteen