Speaker 1: Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'my host Ramsy's job.
Speaker 1: They called me q Warden. That just so happens to
Speaker 1: be my actual name, Ramses. What's up whatever? Everything, Big week.
Speaker 2: Massive week.
Speaker 1: We made it.
Speaker 2: Oh man, I know he was worried for a while.
Speaker 2: I was waiting to exhale. Yeah, man, Like like Angela Bassett,
Speaker 2: I was waiting.
Speaker 1: Oh man, so uh yeah man.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: The inauguration of America's forty sixth president along with the
Speaker 1: star of the show the first there was multiple stars.
Speaker 1: Well you know the main star I'm talking about Kamala Harris.
Speaker 2: Ok. Yeah, because our former first Lady was a star
Speaker 2: as well. Oh yeah, she saw she was doing. I
Speaker 2: don't know if you saw what she was doing, but
Speaker 2: she was a star as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, absolutely, So you know, uh, I definitely want
Speaker 1: to uh shout out a couple of people just because
Speaker 1: they work really hard to make it happen, and I
Speaker 1: know they're listening to us today. So I wanted to say,
Speaker 1: uh congratulations to uh doctor Kimilla Westenberg. I want to
Speaker 1: say congratulations to Janelle Wood. Those two, you know, first
Speaker 1: and foremost, because they work really hard out in the
Speaker 1: streets along with everyone else. But those are close friends
Speaker 1: of the show that we're really concerned about, you know,
Speaker 1: the inauguration taking place and everything, and they work really
Speaker 1: hard to see that coming to fruition. So your efforts
Speaker 1: are appreciated by us younger folks, and we appreciate you
Speaker 1: and thank you so much. But in the studio we
Speaker 1: have a very special guest. Now I'm gonna tell a
Speaker 1: little story here. So, as many of you know, our
Speaker 1: show is based in Phoenix, and we live in Phoenix.
Speaker 1: And for those of you that have followed my story
Speaker 1: for any length of time, you know that you know
Speaker 1: I started in radio in two thousand and five. Well,
Speaker 1: once upon a time there was a friend of mine.
Speaker 1: His name was Bootleg keV. What was Iskev? You feel me? So, Kevin?
Speaker 1: I met keV when he was three years old. I
Speaker 1: was seven. So we grew up together. That's my little
Speaker 1: brother forever. And once upon a time we came across
Speaker 1: a CD, right, and this CD was by a guy
Speaker 1: named Atlas, and the name of the song was called
Speaker 1: Hood Famous. Now, the reason that that stood out to
Speaker 1: Kevin Bootleg keV at the time, he might have been thirteen,
Speaker 1: maybe twelve thirteen somewhere.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: The reason he loved that city so much is because
Speaker 1: that CD represented an independent album, you know, or single.
Speaker 1: I think we I had a single, but it was independent.
Speaker 1: It was independent music being pressed on the streets of Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 1: Kevin loved he turned me onto it, and the song
Speaker 1: was Dope wod famous. I still I still know the melody,
Speaker 1: I still know bars. So that getting getting our hands
Speaker 1: on that piece of music really inspired me and Kevin
Speaker 1: to really make a go at the music industry and
Speaker 1: hopefully one day having music pay our bills, which is
Speaker 1: how we ended up getting into radio and getting up
Speaker 1: into DJing and so forth. But you know, that was
Speaker 1: kind of part of the nexus, was coming across that CD.
Speaker 1: So the man behind that that music, Atlas, you know,
Speaker 1: as these things go, he ended up becoming a real
Speaker 1: good friend of mine and becoming a real good friend
Speaker 1: of Civics. So this is, you know, maybe we're knocking
Speaker 1: on twenty years later, right. The thing is, Atlas, you know,
Speaker 1: grew up as we all we all have, and Atlas
Speaker 1: had a little boy, and Atlas's little boy is making
Speaker 1: noise too, and we are very very fortunate to have
Speaker 1: Atlas's son, not.
Speaker 2: A little boy, any not at all, any man.
Speaker 1: But Atlas's son is with us in the studio, and
Speaker 1: his name is Atlas. How you doing, brother? Doing you?
Speaker 1: I'm great man? They got that powerful voice. Listen all right, man,
Speaker 1: I like that. And you're not just in here to
Speaker 1: hang out with us. You're in here for a very
Speaker 1: special reason because well, first I want to talk about
Speaker 1: your dad because I think that helps frame sort of
Speaker 1: what you're doing. Okay, so I know your dad is
Speaker 1: really into education. Obviously, the Million Dollar Teacher Project is
Speaker 1: one of the sponsors for Civic Cipher. Not only that,
Speaker 1: Atlas is very influential when it comes to the black agenda.
Speaker 1: He's a he's a very powerful voice in at least
Speaker 1: in the city where we live. But now that he
Speaker 1: has a national stage with a million Dollar Teacher Project,
Speaker 1: his voice carries even further. And he absolutely is motivated
Speaker 1: to see obviously, you know, a better world for all people.
Speaker 1: But you know, he, like many of us and many
Speaker 1: people listening to my voice right now, recognize that there's
Speaker 1: there are special issues and and there are more there's
Speaker 1: more immediate threats if you will or or hindrances to
Speaker 1: progress that are present in the black community. So growing
Speaker 1: up with a father like that, you know, it's it
Speaker 1: makes perfect sense to me that you would end up,
Speaker 1: you know, exactly the way you are. So anyway, you're
Speaker 1: here to talk to us today about SEED. Yes, so
Speaker 1: so let's talk to the people. What SEED.
Speaker 3: So initially SEED stands for Students Engaged in Ethical Donations,
Speaker 3: And so what SEED is It is the first youth
Speaker 3: giving circle within Arizona. But I'm pretty sure, well we're
Speaker 3: all pretty sure, that is the first all black youth
Speaker 3: given circle within the United States, maybe even the world.
Speaker 3: And so essentially what that is is, you know, it's
Speaker 3: a bunch of African American males from the ages of
Speaker 3: sixteen to twenty one, and they all pitched together through
Speaker 3: donations from like from within the organization and external donations
Speaker 3: from people who support is just based off word of
Speaker 3: mouth or whatever the case may be. And we use that,
Speaker 3: we use those funds and we disperse it back into
Speaker 3: the community. We give out grants and other types of
Speaker 3: financial support towards organizations that are either student led or
Speaker 3: student based within within Arizona.
Speaker 1: So that to me sounds like a scholarship, is it
Speaker 1: is a scholarship or is it more than a scholarship.
Speaker 3: I wouldn't say it's a well, I guess you kind
Speaker 3: of say it is like like a scholarship in a way.
Speaker 3: The whole process kind of goes with the organization kind
Speaker 3: of presenting to us what they would exactly use the
Speaker 3: funds for some of like an application for a scholarship,
Speaker 3: and then you know, we'll grant them the scholarship money.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so so so it's a it's a fund
Speaker 1: that you'll use to support like businesses or efforts or
Speaker 1: undertakings or all the above. And then you know what,
Speaker 1: why why did you feel like this was important? Why
Speaker 1: did you create seed? So? I created seed because, you know, seeing.
Speaker 3: My dad as you mentioned, you know, growing up around
Speaker 3: him and him being very for the people, it was
Speaker 3: just naturally just to be, you know, be bestowed into me.
Speaker 3: And so throughout, like my childhood, I have always been
Speaker 3: you know, doing things such as like community service hours
Speaker 3: or my eye sorry, were I'm at like a food bank,
Speaker 3: you know, like donating food and packaging and food packages
Speaker 3: and stuff like that. But you know, as I grew
Speaker 3: older and I kind of got a more maturest tense
Speaker 3: of the world. I kind of noticed that even though
Speaker 3: the work that I was doing was good and was
Speaker 3: you know, beneficial, it was on a small scale. And
Speaker 3: so I kind of realized that there are initiatives out
Speaker 3: there that are kind of pursuing change and are doing
Speaker 3: things to enable change, but may not have the necessary
Speaker 3: funds to do so. So so instead of you know,
Speaker 3: meetaking on the task myself of just you know, going
Speaker 3: out every Sunday it's like, to a homeless shelter and
Speaker 3: feeding those people. I realize, especially with my dad having
Speaker 3: his own nonprofit, that you know, money definitely goes a
Speaker 3: long way with nonprofits and other like justice type organizations,
Speaker 3: and so so the whole premise behind it was just
Speaker 3: understanding that, you know, instead of me, you know, personally
Speaker 3: being out in the field doing it, I mean in
Speaker 3: a group of guys, can just be in the background,
Speaker 3: be behind the curtains and just run the show like
Speaker 3: that and you know, just kind of make our influence
Speaker 3: be felt within the community just by just my giving
Speaker 3: out the grants.
Speaker 1: You are an inspiring person.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: I try my best. How old are you nineteen? Hu?
Speaker 2: You are leaps and bounds ahead of where I was
Speaker 2: at nineteen young man.
Speaker 1: So listen on this show. We very much believe in
Speaker 1: community service. No people that listen to us, obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: will be able to make that connection just because of
Speaker 1: the format of the program here. But Q and I
Speaker 1: we actually have a nonprofit and we've we've had we've
Speaker 1: put on an event for ten years now something like that.
Speaker 2: This September will be year nine.
Speaker 1: Nine years okay, okay, so knocking on ten years. We're
Speaker 1: pretty close. And our nonprofit is called the Change Society,
Speaker 1: and we do an event monthly when it's you know,
Speaker 1: when it's safe, called Hashtag Lunchbag. So you know, that's
Speaker 1: something that we're really proud of. I think that we
Speaker 1: had an estimation that we had fed like some like
Speaker 1: fifty thousand people or something in total.
Speaker 2: In the organization that we that were partnered with Living
Speaker 2: through Giving based out of Los Angeles, California shops to
Speaker 2: my boy AJ who founded and started Hashtag Lunchbag through
Speaker 2: our national and global partners, were well over a million
Speaker 2: people fed.
Speaker 1: Right, So you know, this is something that's kind of
Speaker 1: been in our hearts. But I will say that if
Speaker 1: we started when we were nineteen man, that's a whole
Speaker 1: other level. So, I mean, I know that this is
Speaker 1: our first I'm sitting down together, but I will say
Speaker 1: that I'm proud of you. So how do you see
Speaker 1: seed growing? Like, what's you know, the growth potential for
Speaker 1: this project.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So within the first five years, I do want
Speaker 3: to stay local and just kind of build our kind
Speaker 3: of reputation around the community within Arizona. But immediately after
Speaker 3: that fifth year, right into the sixth year, I do
Speaker 3: want to start branching out towards you know, other states,
Speaker 3: because there are there are other organizations that operate that
Speaker 3: there are others, sorry, there are other giving circles out
Speaker 3: there that would be eager to really connect with us
Speaker 3: and really any given circle, and so definitely just building
Speaker 3: our network and our connections globally it would definitely be
Speaker 3: the next step. And that's perfect because you know, I'm
Speaker 3: only nineteen, and so I'll have two to three, two
Speaker 3: to three years left within the organization before I.
Speaker 1: Have to move on.
Speaker 3: And so within those two to three years, I can
Speaker 3: start working in and d of manifesting, but in those
Speaker 3: connections outside of Arizona.
Speaker 1: Okay, very good, And I'm guessing that your your dad
Speaker 1: helped you make Seed.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so, so I'm a co founder of the other
Speaker 3: co founder, Jaden. He wasn't able to make it tonight,
Speaker 3: but both of our dads, they really helped us with
Speaker 3: the origination of Seed.
Speaker 1: Awesome. Now, just just so we're like a little bit
Speaker 1: more familiar outside of Seed. You know, what, what do
Speaker 1: you do? What are you involved in? Yeah?
Speaker 3: So, I am currently a sophomore at a s U,
Speaker 3: a major in architecture in real estate with a minor
Speaker 3: in business, and.
Speaker 1: So there's that.
Speaker 3: I'm also I'm involved in Greek life. I'm the vice
Speaker 3: president of membership for my fraternity, Sagmata Gamma at a SU,
Speaker 3: one of the best chapters on campus.
Speaker 1: And besides that kind of just school work. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of.
Speaker 3: Into YouTube, so I I somewhat have a YouTube channel
Speaker 3: going on work out things like that. But that's about it.
Speaker 1: Well, let's you know, let's let's let's make sure that
Speaker 1: we plug you the right way. We gotta, we got
Speaker 1: a full show to do, so if you will hang
Speaker 1: out with us, but let's let's let's plug you the
Speaker 1: right way. So where can people go to find out
Speaker 1: more about Seed? And where can people go to find
Speaker 1: out about you, like your YouTube and so for sure.
Speaker 1: So for Seed, I'm assuming you need donation support all
Speaker 1: that sort of stuff too, So make sure you ask
Speaker 1: for it because you know, we got to ask for it.
Speaker 1: If you need money, hey, now's the time, thank you.
Speaker 3: So So for Seed, we only have an Instagram right now.
Speaker 3: It is Seed Philanthropy, that's it. Within that Instagram account,
Speaker 3: you'll be able to see all of our members, will
Speaker 3: be able to keep up with us, keep updates with
Speaker 3: who we're supporting and things like that. And within our Instagram,
Speaker 3: within our bio, we have the link to our website.
Speaker 1: Uh it's a zreap dot org slash Seed.
Speaker 3: And through that link you'll be able to give us
Speaker 3: donations or you can actually sign up and become a
Speaker 3: member if you are someone that you know will be
Speaker 3: interested in Seed. And for me person only, my instagram
Speaker 3: is at Soldier's World and my YouTube is kmet Soldia.
Speaker 1: Yeah okay, and don't forget money. Money is what we
Speaker 1: need to part with if we're gonna empower and support
Speaker 1: properly these sorts of initiatives. We have to invest in
Speaker 1: the change and the changes that we want to see.
Speaker 1: So ATLAS is heeries asking for your support. You hear
Speaker 1: my voice, you hear his voice one more time. Where
Speaker 1: can they find it?
Speaker 3: You can find you can find out a nation link
Speaker 3: or members sign up link at azreap dot org, slash
Speaker 3: seed and anything really helps. It needed to be two
Speaker 3: thousand dollars, even though we would love two thousand dollars.
Speaker 3: It could be twenty dollars. A foundain around ten dollars,
Speaker 3: five dollars. Regardless of what it is. It doesn't go
Speaker 3: into my pockets and the members pockets goes right back
Speaker 3: into the community and we put it towards the great cause.
Speaker 3: And that that Instagram one more time was what seed
Speaker 3: philanthropy and just straight out no underscore, is no numbers
Speaker 3: or anything like that.
Speaker 1: So at seed Philanthropy on Instagragram. Okay, so you heard
Speaker 1: it again philanthropy.
Speaker 2: Okay. I hope you all paying attention to how polished
Speaker 2: this young man is.
Speaker 1: And he's doing his thing. Man, I like this is
Speaker 1: our first time sitting together. I'm proud of you. I'm
Speaker 1: very proud of you. Please keep going man. That that
Speaker 1: makes my heart.
Speaker 2: Hap If I find the time machine, I'm taking that
Speaker 2: lists with me back to.
Speaker 1: I need friends like you. So yeah, once again, if
Speaker 1: you're if you're just tuning in the civic scipher, I'm
Speaker 1: the host ramsas. Yeah, they called me q ward and uh,
Speaker 1: another thing that we wanted to talk about. You don't
Speaker 1: mind hanging out with us today. Another thing we wanted
Speaker 1: to talk about was this week. So one of the
Speaker 1: I want I want to start because I want to.
Speaker 1: I want to, you know, I want you Q to
Speaker 1: talk to me about the inauguration because I didn't get
Speaker 1: to see it, and this is our first time kind
Speaker 1: of going over. But I do want to say this.
Speaker 1: This will be the last time I may a man,
Speaker 1: this name a man, God is with me. If I
Speaker 1: if nothing else happens, this would be the last time
Speaker 1: I say it on purpose. Okay, I work in media.
Speaker 1: I've worked in media since I graduated from college. I
Speaker 1: worked in media for sixteen years now, been on the
Speaker 1: radio that long. We have a responsibility to you know,
Speaker 1: to the truth. We have responsibility to report, you know,
Speaker 1: even though I've worked in hip hop formats and you know,
Speaker 1: done that sort of a thing. You know, when you
Speaker 1: have a platform and your voice, you know, reaches lots
Speaker 1: of people. You there's a fundamental responsibility there. We're all
Speaker 1: in agreement there, yes, yes, But also with that comes
Speaker 1: the acknowledgment that there's some power you can you can
Speaker 1: shape the narrative. It can be true, but you can
Speaker 1: put your own spin on it. Yes, and they think
Speaker 1: that we can see that happening in all media formats.
Speaker 1: So far be it from me to tell anyone else
Speaker 1: how to do what it is that they do. You know,
Speaker 1: to have a platform and to have a boy stick
Speaker 1: carries and people that tune in every week, that's a gift.
Speaker 1: It's not one that I take lightly. But for me,
Speaker 1: for this show, I think that this will be the
Speaker 1: last time that I talk about Donald Trump unless something
Speaker 1: else crazy happens. I feel like giving power to that
Speaker 1: evil continues to drag his name into our Now is
Speaker 1: our future. This is the future that we hope for,
Speaker 1: So I'm calling it. This is the future. So we
Speaker 1: don't need the past, especially that part of it in
Speaker 1: the future. Now, I recognize that was something we had
Speaker 1: to grow through, you know, everything in context, But in
Speaker 1: terms of just picking on them, you know, I'm not
Speaker 1: a buzzard, so you know that's dead. I'm gonna let
Speaker 1: that be it. But with that said, where we are
Speaker 1: right now, we have to understand what happened to fully
Speaker 1: appreciate what's happening or what has happened at the inauguration.
Speaker 1: So this is my commitment for those of you that
Speaker 1: follow me on Facebook. You might have seen me talk
Speaker 1: about that earlier in the week or however it goes.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think that, you know, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of us that, you know, really feel like that past
Speaker 1: administration was toxic. That's put it. And you know, I
Speaker 1: you know, I broke my own rules, you know, because
Speaker 1: I said, you know, you know, we got to everything,
Speaker 1: you know, in moderation and context. You know, you're not
Speaker 1: supposed to block people just because they have different political
Speaker 1: opinions from you. You have to teach them, you have
Speaker 1: to grow with them. They're still your brothers and your sisters,
Speaker 1: your countrymen. You have to share, you know, you have
Speaker 1: to share time in space with these people. You go
Speaker 1: out like that, but it's not a block like four
Speaker 1: or five people already to speak.
Speaker 2: So, but and we talked about this on the show.
Speaker 2: You were not blocking those people because they voted Republican
Speaker 2: and you voted Democrat. That because we have a lot
Speaker 2: of friends over our entire adult lives that have done that,
Speaker 2: and it hasn't been an issue because we just had
Speaker 2: differences in political beliefs.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this was different, very different.
Speaker 2: And if you can't acknowledge that this was different, it's
Speaker 2: because there's something in yourself that you're ashamed to admit,
Speaker 2: so you rather fight with us on it. This was
Speaker 2: not about politics. This is about basic human decency, humanity,
Speaker 2: and bigotry and racism.
Speaker 1: And I think that we said it best when we
Speaker 1: had that episode that you know, in this instance and
Speaker 1: in all instances, but you know, your politics is a
Speaker 1: reflection of your morals and your character, you know, and
Speaker 1: they don't have to necessarily be in alignment with mind,
Speaker 1: but if they stand in contrast to mine, if direct, yeah,
Speaker 1: if if your if your political ideology is rooted in
Speaker 1: my subjugation or the subjugation of my brothers and sisters
Speaker 1: from you know, of of Mexican descent or whatever. You know,
Speaker 1: we could we could slice this five one hundred ways,
Speaker 1: then you know, I think that that's a reflection of
Speaker 1: your character. And so yes, my block block button absolutely works,
Speaker 1: and I had the chance to exercise it a few
Speaker 1: times this week, but well, that said, that's enough empowering
Speaker 1: the past. I would like to know what your thoughts
Speaker 1: were the inauguration.
Speaker 2: Q Ward, Hmm, I had some unexpected joy today. Talk
Speaker 2: to me so and and there might be some people
Speaker 2: that share this opinion, but I know that I was not.
Speaker 2: I didn't jump up and down when Joe Biden became
Speaker 2: the candidate who I was gonna have to do.
Speaker 1: I don't think that was what he was for, you
Speaker 1: know what I mean.
Speaker 2: And I've been very much against and I didn't realize
Speaker 2: it until today. You know, once again watching another inauguration,
Speaker 2: but this time for the first time as a father
Speaker 2: with both of my mixed children. It was just a
Speaker 2: different experience than I expected. I did not expect to
Speaker 2: be overjoyed today because in the year of George Floyd,
Speaker 2: there's some discouraging truths in the idea that as the
Speaker 2: world was watching, as the microscope was on us, and
Speaker 2: as we were garnering levels of empathy and participation from
Speaker 2: our allies that in my lifetime I had not seen before,
Speaker 2: I was kind of disappointed that there's some parts of
Speaker 2: my mind that say this is as good as it's
Speaker 2: gonna get, and this isn't good enough, Like the most
Speaker 2: sympathy you get from your mom, from your girlfriend, from
Speaker 2: your friends, or like right after you just got beat up, right,
Speaker 2: your girlfriend hugs you, tie your mom put some ice
Speaker 2: on it, gonna make your favorite meal, you know what
Speaker 2: I mean? Like the people that care about you. And
Speaker 2: that was funny by the mean it to be. But
Speaker 2: when you're sick, when you're down, when you're at the bottom,
Speaker 2: the people that care give you the most sympathy. You know,
Speaker 2: I had meningitis years ago. The most I got messages
Speaker 2: from people that I realized they love me because of
Speaker 2: how they responded to me being in peril. George Floyd's
Speaker 2: murder and the visual of him being murdered caused a
Speaker 2: lot of people who otherwise have made excuses or justified
Speaker 2: or whatever their reasoning was, to respond in a different way.
Speaker 2: And that's why you might have saw the largest global
Speaker 2: civil rights movement ever right that his was a catalyst
Speaker 2: for that. However, you look around today, you look around
Speaker 2: to you know, a couple of Wednesdays ago, and you're like, wow,
Speaker 2: even as you continue to see our brothers and sisters
Speaker 2: being shot and murdered and beat for looking like us,
Speaker 2: And that being the reason. Something in me said, man, like,
Speaker 2: even after that, this is still like, it's still this
Speaker 2: because it doesn't get better. Like once I got back healthy,
Speaker 2: I wasn't getting the same amount of text I wasn't
Speaker 2: getting the same amount of phone calls. Of course you were,
Speaker 2: but you know that that that as people see you
Speaker 2: recharge and get back strong, it's like, okay, good now.
Speaker 2: So soon as we start smiling and start walking back
Speaker 2: up right, Oh they're good now. That sympathy, that empathy,
Speaker 2: that participation, those allies they fade, and it's like, man,
Speaker 2: in the year of George Floyd, like the summer of
Speaker 2: George Floyd just having passed. You know, this inauguration just
Speaker 2: having passed, and our first the first black woman to
Speaker 2: hold office in the White House, the first woman to
Speaker 2: hold office in the White House was a black woman.
Speaker 2: Super powerful. As I'm holding my mixed black daughter in
Speaker 2: my arms, I'm feeling real, real proud dad as I'm
Speaker 2: watching that. But I was prepared to be discouraged by
Speaker 2: all these things. And then Joe started talking, and Joe
Speaker 2: started saying things, please forgive me. The President started saying things,
Speaker 2: I'll never call you Joe again. President Biden, if you're
Speaker 2: hearing me, President Biden started to say the things that
Speaker 2: our nation absolutely needed to hear, but that I was
Speaker 2: certain that I didn't want to hear right about working
Speaker 2: together with them, about unifying about you know, let's and
Speaker 2: I'm like, what's would this meet me in the middle stuff?
Speaker 2: They just showed us year after year, month after month,
Speaker 2: week after week, day after day. They don't care about us.
Speaker 2: They rather see us die than disrupt, than to make
Speaker 2: life inconvenient for them. Why are we going to such
Speaker 2: lengths to extend these olive branches and work with these
Speaker 2: people who fourteen sixteen days ago would have tried to
Speaker 2: kill you if they could actively right, Except I realized
Speaker 2: as he kept saying it, it wasn't just like a
Speaker 2: part of his speech, This is how this man really
Speaker 2: feels that that's what we need. The opposite of Donald
Speaker 2: Trump would not have been for President Biden to say
Speaker 2: the exact same things, except on our side, to have
Speaker 2: that same divisive rhetoric, to set, to have that same
Speaker 2: us against them mentality that I wanted him to have.
Speaker 2: I wanted him to be juiced up and ready for
Speaker 2: as much smoke as possible until I realized I was
Speaker 2: being a hypocrite. I was just like those people who
Speaker 2: in their minds justifiably stormed the Capitol because they were
Speaker 2: being wronged. I was essentially saying, well, no, we should
Speaker 2: storm the Capitol now because we were wronged. And President
Speaker 2: Biden is saying over and over again, like we should
Speaker 2: all be done with that mess, that nonsense, and that toxicity,
Speaker 2: because there is no way forward, not together. If he
Speaker 2: kept that same energy, just with the other point of view,
Speaker 2: four years later, we'd still be sitting in the same spot. Ye,
Speaker 2: So you know, and then our sister showed out, you know,
Speaker 2: Vice President Harris showed out, you know, our former first lady,
Speaker 2: our forever first lady, Michelle Obama. She showed out, bro.
Speaker 2: And then I want to make sure I'm saying this
Speaker 2: young lady's name correctly, because Amanda Gorman, the brilliant poet
Speaker 2: laureate who did the inaugural poem today, showed out. So
Speaker 2: these brilliant queens again. As I'm holding my little girl,
Speaker 2: I was overjoyed. I drove over here singing. Wasn't no
Speaker 2: music in my car, and I wasn't singing out loud,
Speaker 2: but I was rocking like I drove to the studio
Speaker 2: in that same spirit, carrying that same energy, because we
Speaker 2: discourage ourselves from being happy because we're waiting on another
Speaker 2: shoot fall. I don't even get too excited because I've
Speaker 2: heard a lot of he's just like every other politician talk.
Speaker 2: I've heard a lot of you know, all of the
Speaker 2: things on his agenda won't be done. Of course they won't.
Speaker 2: That's how our government has always worked, Let's be honest
Speaker 2: about that. But having the right ideals, even if you
Speaker 2: can't execute the plant, wanting to unite us and push
Speaker 2: us all forward for the better of everybody is how
Speaker 2: you're supposed to feel. Whether or not you're full of
Speaker 2: busted or whether or not you're able to carry out
Speaker 2: every bullet point on your agenda. The intention matters, the
Speaker 2: desire to matters. A Yeah, it was. The whole thing
Speaker 2: was very very positive, full of joy, full of love,
Speaker 2: and full of the energy to unite us. I'm hoping
Speaker 2: that he doesn't get the same pushback that I wanted
Speaker 2: him to give them before I started watching the inauguration.
Speaker 1: Well, the good news is that, you know, as divisive
Speaker 1: as the previous administration was and really galvanized a lot
Speaker 1: of us, you know, a lot of US independence of course,
Speaker 1: liberals and conservatives, even you know, the Lincoln was it
Speaker 1: the Lincoln project or whatever. There's a bunch of Republicans
Speaker 1: that were like, Yo, this dude is not he does
Speaker 1: not represent Republican ideals. So we're voting against him, or
Speaker 1: we're voting so that he can you know, we can
Speaker 1: unseat him. You know, galvanized us got us all on
Speaker 1: the same page, and you know, you know, here we are,
Speaker 1: so you know, it's amazing what we can accomplish when
Speaker 1: we do come together. And you know, another result of
Speaker 1: that is that you know, now there's a democratic leaning
Speaker 1: House of Representatives as well as a Democratic leaning Senate,
Speaker 1: so that's all three major branches. Or there's still the
Speaker 1: Supreme Court. But you know there's ways around that too,
Speaker 1: if people wanted to really get in there and do
Speaker 1: the most, which is something that I probably wouldn't do
Speaker 1: if I was in that place, because you know, that's
Speaker 1: just such a scary thing to have gone through as
Speaker 1: a country, just to know that these people that you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people are going to take issue with
Speaker 1: what I'm about to say, but I'm gonna say it.
Speaker 1: How I say it, These people that bless their heart,
Speaker 1: are given to fear. They think that the world, their
Speaker 1: world is changing, that they're they're going to lose or somehow,
Speaker 1: you know, they think the world is as black and
Speaker 1: white as it is in their mind. If you do this,
Speaker 1: then this, if you do that, then that everything else
Speaker 1: is just what it is, and that static world to
Speaker 1: them makes sense. And you know this, the previous administration
Speaker 1: was able to speak to their fears and so forth
Speaker 1: and tap into that fear and rile them up against
Speaker 1: decency nor you know, like standard. You know, their countrymen,
Speaker 1: you know, and you just gave them everything that they needed.
Speaker 1: And so, you know, I've said it before on the show.
Speaker 1: I do feel bad for the people that kind of
Speaker 1: fell into that. I know how now that I'm older,
Speaker 1: now that I've traveled the country, I've talked to these people.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 1: Obviously, in order to be in this position, you know,
Speaker 1: I can't just be in here like yeah, so this
Speaker 1: is my way and that's the way it is. Well,
Speaker 1: I can, but that's not really the right way to
Speaker 1: do this type of show, you know. So you know,
Speaker 1: I was holding a little bit of space for forgiveness
Speaker 1: and there's a seat at the table for people that
Speaker 1: don't agree with me, provided that we can all be respectful.
Speaker 1: But you know, this previous administration, it's like getting out
Speaker 1: of an abusive relationship, you know what I mean. It's
Speaker 1: like we're like, ooh, you know, just anything that's not
Speaker 1: that so absolutely, but you know, and it was important
Speaker 1: that we recorded the show today. You know, normally we've
Speaker 1: card to show you know, at airtime, but we had to.
Speaker 2: Record it today just be I reached out and I'm like, listen,
Speaker 2: I just first of all, I had I saw a
Speaker 2: movie yesterday that had me in my emotional space, like
Speaker 2: I saw it for the third time yesterday, by the way,
Speaker 2: I called you and told you that, and then after
Speaker 2: how I was feeling after I watched the inauguration, I'm like, bro,
Speaker 2: we got to talk, like now I need I need
Speaker 2: a microphone on like earlier. So so forgive like two
Speaker 2: hours ago, so forgive the delay.
Speaker 1: In receiving this message. But but yeah, that brings me
Speaker 1: to the you know, the next part of it, which,
Speaker 1: by the way, for you just tuning in side from
Speaker 1: me host rams.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they called me q ward and shout out to
Speaker 2: our esteemed guest, like, I might start looking up to
Speaker 2: this kid, and he's a full decade and some change
Speaker 2: younger than me, the young scholar, mister Atlas.
Speaker 1: Yes, sir, but well before we move on, because I
Speaker 1: do want to talk about the movie. In fact, that's
Speaker 1: part of the reason why we hite me to sit
Speaker 1: down today. Atlas. Did you get a chance to take
Speaker 1: anything in from the inauguration? It is? You know?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so sadly had class today, so I wasn't able
Speaker 3: to watch the full thing, but I was able to
Speaker 3: see a few highlights and all that, and my initial takeaways,
Speaker 3: I'm really not like a huge like politics guy. I
Speaker 3: do find it important, but like you won't see me
Speaker 3: like watching CNNN like twenty four to seven or anything
Speaker 3: like that.
Speaker 1: You gotta go to school.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but one of my main one of my main
Speaker 3: takeaways from that was definitely seeing Kamala Harris up there,
Speaker 3: just because I guess for me personal that kind of
Speaker 3: cemented the idea that at this point or at this rate,
Speaker 3: really anything as possible, like for our people. I really
Speaker 3: hope that you know, my younger sister, my younger cousins,
Speaker 3: they probably weren't watching, but hopefully they see her when
Speaker 3: they get older as an example that, you know what,
Speaker 3: growing up in the world where people say you really
Speaker 3: can't do anything, you can't do this, you can't do that,
Speaker 3: they see your as an example as well, they're all wrong.
Speaker 1: You can do whatever you put your mind to.
Speaker 3: And definitely seeing Kamala Harris up on stage like slidified
Speaker 3: the idea that not even that but kind of just
Speaker 3: you know, strengthen the notions of like enabling us as
Speaker 3: a people. Like Kamala Harris is a product of you know,
Speaker 3: Martin Luther King and all of our grandparents fighting like
Speaker 3: for our rights way back in the day. Kamala Harris
Speaker 3: is a product of even the horrible things are happening
Speaker 3: before then and that lead up to today.
Speaker 1: And Kambla.
Speaker 3: Harris is in a way not to like rag about seed,
Speaker 3: but like kam La Harris kind of like slies the
Speaker 3: idea of seed actually being a thing, you know, just
Speaker 3: like you wouldn't expect, you know, a nineteen year old
Speaker 3: African American, you know, college kid to do something like this,
Speaker 3: or even a high schooler in a co founder doing
Speaker 3: something like this, but I mean against all odds and
Speaker 3: in the world where we are marginalized. You know, they're
Speaker 3: still trying to find a way to actually make their
Speaker 3: voice heard and make their impact it that they want to.
Speaker 3: So I found that part about it specifically powerful.
Speaker 1: A couple of things, Uh, you should always brag about Seed.
Speaker 1: This this is the place for that.
Speaker 2: Almost y'all say that. If you don't brag about Seed,
Speaker 2: we're going to. We absolutely should. We're very proud of you.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Which one more time, how can people support see
Speaker 1: where can they find that more information? Right now?
Speaker 3: We only have an Instagram account. It is at Seed
Speaker 3: Philanthropy on Instagram. There is no underscores, no numbers, nothing
Speaker 3: like that, just Seed straight out. Our website is as
Speaker 3: reap dot org slash Seed. On that website, you can
Speaker 3: either donate to us anything helps, or you can become
Speaker 3: a member if you know a cousin, a nephew, a
Speaker 3: son that you feel would be a good fit for
Speaker 3: the program or you feel like he would benefit a
Speaker 3: lot for the program. We're always taking new members. So
Speaker 3: that is as reap dot org slash Seed for our website,
Speaker 3: and see Philanthrope on Instagram for our actual account.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, and the main thing that Seed is in need
Speaker 1: of is money invest in the future, all right, so
Speaker 1: especially that kind of future. Yeah, that's that's what we're
Speaker 1: talking about. So shifting gears a little bit. Qward, you
Speaker 1: wanted me to watch a movie because I have sons.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about this movie, yes please, let's so. The
Speaker 1: name of the movie is American Skin. And I recognize
Speaker 1: that maybe some folks haven't seen it yet. I know
Speaker 1: it's not a new movie, but the way that the
Speaker 1: world is right now.
Speaker 2: Actually it wasn't festivals a little bit ago, but it's
Speaker 2: new to the normal, the normal viewer or consumer just
Speaker 2: few days ago.
Speaker 1: Okay, so but I'm saying like, it's not like today's
Speaker 1: the days like you know, so some people might have
Speaker 1: already been able to.
Speaker 2: Go yes, I'm yes, yes, yes so, but there's a.
Speaker 1: Lot of people that may not have been able to
Speaker 1: watch it yet. So I'm gonna do my best to
Speaker 1: tell you what the movie's about without giving away any spoilers.
Speaker 1: But basically, it is a story. This is a work
Speaker 1: of fiction, and it chronicles it's like documentary style filming,
Speaker 1: but it chronicles a man who was pulled over for
Speaker 1: a traffic stop. He had his fourteen year old son
Speaker 1: in the car with him. I have a fifteen year
Speaker 1: old son, So this is why Q wanted me to
Speaker 1: watch it. And like I cried like probably like six
Speaker 1: times during the movie. So this is tough, man, because
Speaker 1: you know, you can see a lot of stuff and
Speaker 1: you you know, anyway, so it's a traffic stop. You know,
Speaker 1: we all know the story. Traffic stop. You know, you
Speaker 1: gotta reach in the glove box, you know, do this,
Speaker 1: and the third officer gets scared. A little kid ends
Speaker 1: up getting shot. So this man sees his son get
Speaker 1: shot in the street, and you know everything that comes
Speaker 1: after that. Uh, the city is looking to you know,
Speaker 1: or rather the people are looking to get a conviction,
Speaker 1: like a murder conviction from you know this, this child's murder, at.
Speaker 2: The very least to have charges brought against the officer
Speaker 2: who murdered the young man.
Speaker 1: Right, And when that doesn't happen, the father ultimately this
Speaker 1: this I'm giving you the real quick and dirty version
Speaker 1: of the movie. You really have to watch it again,
Speaker 1: American Skin. But after the the verdict comes back and
Speaker 1: that the officer won't be charged, the father decides that
Speaker 1: he's going to take the police hostage, and he does
Speaker 1: it he actually does it, and then he liberates temporarily
Speaker 1: at least some folks in the jail that are on
Speaker 1: the premises and conducts a fair trial. And the prisoners
Speaker 1: and you know, some normal folks that happen to be
Speaker 1: at the police station at the time. They serve as
Speaker 1: the jury. The officer who shot his son is the accused,
Speaker 1: and another police officer defends that officer, you know, working
Speaker 1: as a lawyer, and you know, they have a secondary trial,
Speaker 1: and you know, the rest of the story plays out,
Speaker 1: and so what we end up seeing is what that
Speaker 1: looks like from both sides. And one thing that I
Speaker 1: thought was very important about this movie is that it
Speaker 1: really if you don't know what it's like to live
Speaker 1: in fear of the police, it helps you to see
Speaker 1: what life is like living in fear of the police.
Speaker 1: If you don't know what it's like to feel like
Speaker 1: you have no voice at the table, you know, you
Speaker 1: just have to kind of take everything on the chin,
Speaker 1: you know, it helps to explain what that's like. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of people they feel like they can talk
Speaker 1: back to the police. A lot of people feel like, well,
Speaker 1: I'm entitled to my dignity. That's not something that black
Speaker 1: people have, you know, as standard in this country, dignity
Speaker 1: goes right out the window. What do you need, officer? Okay,
Speaker 1: you want me to you know what did Dave Chappelle say,
Speaker 1: spread my cheeks and lift my sack? Yes, sir, you know,
Speaker 1: because it's a matter of life and death. But this
Speaker 1: movie kind of helps, you know, provide a window into
Speaker 1: what that experience is like. But another thing this movie
Speaker 1: does is it gives a voice to the officers. And
Speaker 1: you know, no matter what your persuasion is, you know,
Speaker 1: on this side of the argument of black lives matter
Speaker 1: versus blue lives matter, as if there was such a
Speaker 1: thing perpetuated by us on our end, the black lives matter, folks.
Speaker 1: For those who are unclear, you know, it helps to
Speaker 1: know what it is that the officers go through as well.
Speaker 1: One thing that I will say, and you know you
Speaker 1: know me. You listen to me every week, and if
Speaker 1: you don't, you probably know me any but you might
Speaker 1: know me from TV or something else. But you know
Speaker 1: I'm a good person. But one thing that I'll never
Speaker 1: not be as black. If you've ever seen you've seen
Speaker 1: my hair, and that speaks volumes. I got a big
Speaker 1: ol'd afro so to my babies, And that's that's deliberate.
Speaker 1: You know, I wear it on TVs, on the billboards,
Speaker 1: on the magazines, everywhere I go, except for that one
Speaker 1: time when I had it straightened. You didn't like that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you're just walking the Princey Kravitz.
Speaker 1: But again, it's important to know that, you know, there's
Speaker 1: there's another side to this. There are people who they
Speaker 1: do wake up, they put on a uniform, they you know,
Speaker 1: go out there and they feel like what they're doing
Speaker 1: is making the difference. Their job is to protect the
Speaker 1: good guys from the bad guys, as it were. They
Speaker 1: you know, you can't see the forest from the trees,
Speaker 1: so it's very difficult to see a broken system when
Speaker 1: you're in it and it appears to be working from
Speaker 1: your vantage point. Your motivation therefore is to defend it
Speaker 1: because it's you know, this person was bad, that person
Speaker 1: was bad. This is a casualty. That's the cost of
Speaker 1: this thing that we're doing. In fact, they talked about
Speaker 1: that in the film. You know, there's this opinion that
Speaker 1: you know, the in the movie, it explores it that
Speaker 1: black people are constantly reaching for things to spin a
Speaker 1: narrative to make everyone else the problem except for black people.
Speaker 1: And the film discusses that, you know, and for those
Speaker 1: of us that know, for those of us who have
Speaker 1: been educated, for those of us who know our history
Speaker 1: and understand how things came to be. You know, we
Speaker 1: didn't just click on in nineteen ninety or nineteen eighty
Speaker 1: five or whenever we were born. We've done the research
Speaker 1: and we've seen that the world was not always like this,
Speaker 1: That things like mass incarceration, things that were perpetuated or
Speaker 1: initiated by our own government that have disproportionately affected black people,
Speaker 1: from housing to you know, from the thirteenth Amendment to
Speaker 1: redlining to you know, crack in the eighties and and
Speaker 1: you know, mass incarceration and so forth, and know the
Speaker 1: history of it, the things that were done to black
Speaker 1: people specifically, you know, those are things there were. There
Speaker 1: were things discussing the movie that made me want to
Speaker 1: throw up in my mouth. But I needed to hear
Speaker 1: them because I understand now, and I did, but you know,
Speaker 1: to see the dramatization of it that people really feel
Speaker 1: that way. People these people have no idea, they really
Speaker 1: do think, Okay, you guys are just horrible people, and
Speaker 1: if you stop being horrible people, then all these problems
Speaker 1: will stop happening, which is exceptionally short sighted, but it's
Speaker 1: fair if that's all you know. And and the thing
Speaker 1: is if you come to the table with a little
Speaker 1: bit of compassion as a black man, and you understand, Okay,
Speaker 1: my brother doesn't know as much as I do. My
Speaker 1: Caucasian brother doesn't know as much as I do. And
Speaker 1: there was a Hispanic man in the movie too, and
Speaker 1: he was super cop. He was like copped out. Did
Speaker 1: you see the part, right, I'm a spoilerst he.
Speaker 2: Was Mississippi State trooper cop.
Speaker 1: Yeah, like that. Okay, for those of you to listen
Speaker 1: to the show, you might get that reference when me
Speaker 1: and Q got pulled over Mississippi.
Speaker 2: But and you have to warn people if you're gonna
Speaker 2: spoil a movie they haven't seen. You got it, Like, okay,
Speaker 2: I'll just I'll just speak around it. But there's a
Speaker 2: scene where this this Hispanic officer talks to an inmate
Speaker 2: who is also Hispanic, right, and the inmate was speaking
Speaker 2: Spanish and my Spanish no subtitles too, that's important.
Speaker 1: None. You could not hear what he what you couldn't.
Speaker 1: If you don't speak Spanish, you can't understand. Fortunately, I
Speaker 1: can speak a little bit of Spanish, so I go betto.
Speaker 1: I understood a little bit about what he was saying, right,
Speaker 1: But it didn't matter because the tone never lost as cool.
Speaker 1: And you see the officer gets so upset and so
Speaker 1: riled up. He's like, you think you're better than me,
Speaker 1: this and that and the other. And so this movie
Speaker 1: really tackles how two people can be in the same
Speaker 1: race and on two different sides of the same issue,
Speaker 1: which speaks to the institutional nature of the racism, not
Speaker 1: the racism per se. Right, you know, this is not
Speaker 1: spoiling anything. But the captain of the police force was black,
Speaker 1: and so a lot of the officers felt like, well,
Speaker 1: the captain's black, so we can't it's impossible for us
Speaker 1: to be racist. We work with this guy every day,
Speaker 1: We love this guy, you know what I mean. And
Speaker 1: you can see that there is a disconnect between you know,
Speaker 1: them living their life and the real world, the real
Speaker 1: people that are affected by the decisions that they make,
Speaker 1: you know. And so this film did an excellent job
Speaker 1: of telling a story beginning and from both sides. Now
Speaker 1: obviously the film. It's it's it's written and directed by
Speaker 1: a black person, So that's going to be present in
Speaker 1: the film. You're going to you're gonna see that. It's
Speaker 1: it's a it's from a black perspective, and it's a
Speaker 1: black story. We all know that. We we see it
Speaker 1: played out on on CNN and on our cell phones
Speaker 1: every few weeks when someone else is murdered in the streets,
Speaker 1: and those are just the stories we hear about. But
Speaker 1: it speaks to the fear that this country has when
Speaker 1: interacting with black people, black men especially. There's just fear there,
Speaker 1: you know, And even though there's nothing to be afraid of,
Speaker 1: it's just built into the conversation. So people can make
Speaker 1: decisions based on a fear that's rooted in racism. And
Speaker 1: these people don't see the connection from their behavior to racism,
Speaker 1: but those of us on this side can absolutely see it.
Speaker 1: There's no reason to be afraid. I'm a man with
Speaker 1: a beating heart, same as you. I want to go
Speaker 1: home to my babies, you know, and you get to
Speaker 1: go home to your babies. And so this isn't just
Speaker 1: an endorsement of the film, although that is definitely that
Speaker 1: you should definitely watch American Skin. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it's free yet, but pay for it. Support support this man.
Speaker 1: He made the movie himself. I think it was directed or.
Speaker 2: Produce, written, directed, and starring Nate Parker.
Speaker 1: Okay, Spike Lee.
Speaker 2: Spike Lee's definitely one of the one of the producers. Please,
Speaker 2: I don't want to cut you off.
Speaker 1: No no, no no. So so here is where I
Speaker 1: want to shift because my understanding is that this film
Speaker 1: has received some There's been an issue with how how
Speaker 1: the film has been received, and I think you can
Speaker 1: speak to that.
Speaker 2: So before speaking to that, I want to kind of
Speaker 2: piggyback off of what you said. Again, this is civic
Speaker 2: Cipher with the esteemed Ramsey's job.
Speaker 1: Oh thank you.
Speaker 2: They called me q Ward and that just so happens
Speaker 2: to be the name my mama gave me. My mom
Speaker 2: is typically in here watching this. I'm surprised that she's not.
Speaker 2: At some point, I'm sure she will be because she
Speaker 2: be on Ramsey's case. And I got my young scholar
Speaker 2: over here at Las say what's up to the.
Speaker 1: People it's going on? Atlas Hopkins.
Speaker 2: The idea that they fear us, bro I'm I know
Speaker 2: how I behave when I'm afraid. Yeah, and I know
Speaker 2: how we were treated by those officers in the middle
Speaker 2: of the night in Mississippi on the side of the highway.
Speaker 1: That was one time in our life. That's all the time.
Speaker 2: That's not how I treat people when I'm afraid of them. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you get what I'm saying. I think fear is a
Speaker 2: very convenient excuse to explain why you just killed something, Right,
Speaker 2: I was afraid that it was gonna kill me, So
Speaker 2: it's not justified. But I know how, Like I'm afraid
Speaker 2: of my mother, I know how I stealed. I'm super grown.
Speaker 2: I'm scared her if her tone twitch a little bit,
Speaker 2: I'm scared, like literally physically afraid, right, So I know
Speaker 2: how fear causes me to respond. Sure, And they don't
Speaker 2: respond to us like they're afraid of us. They respond
Speaker 2: to us like they're intolerable, like they're fed up, Like
Speaker 2: the way exterminators treat rodents and you call the exterminator
Speaker 2: that come to your house. They're not afraid of them.
Speaker 2: They're going to get rid of them without prejudiced. Wow,
Speaker 2: that's how they treat us, not like they're scared of us.
Speaker 2: Like if we went on a safari in Africa. We
Speaker 2: was in a truck with no road, no bars, no
Speaker 2: and a lion walked up and we were afraid. You
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. Fear is different. Yeah, I think
Speaker 2: that's just a very very convenient excuse for them to
Speaker 2: justify the attempt at extermination. And that might sound like
Speaker 2: extreme language, but watch the videos that get posted every
Speaker 2: few days. Right, it's hard to fear the man running
Speaker 2: away from you, or hard to explain that that's fear.
Speaker 2: If you've seen a trailer for this movie American Skin
Speaker 2: written directed starring Nate Parker. When you watch the trailer,
Speaker 2: even in the trailer you see that his son is
Speaker 2: retreating from the officer, it's hard to tell me that
Speaker 2: you were scared of that kid. Besides the fact that
Speaker 2: he was fourteen, Besides the fact that you already know
Speaker 2: that it's a cell phone and not a gun, because
Speaker 2: he tried to say he might have been reached for
Speaker 2: a gun, but you already know it's not. Besides those
Speaker 2: obvious truths, he's retreating from you. So it's very very
Speaker 2: hard to convince me that that was out of fear. Right,
Speaker 2: your job is to protect and serve. But who like
Speaker 2: in this country, our military and our police are voluntary.
Speaker 2: People are not drafted into these positions, right, So if
Speaker 2: you sign up to protect and serve, it's to protect
Speaker 2: and serve the citizens, not yourself and each other. Because
Speaker 2: you hear that as justification too. I wanted to make
Speaker 2: it home to my family. And those officers are in
Speaker 2: such a dangerous job. They signed up for that job,
Speaker 2: their lives on the line to protect ours is the
Speaker 2: whole point. So you're gonna murder me so that you
Speaker 2: can go home. I'm unarmed on my phone. You're the
Speaker 2: trained officer with the weapon, so kind of miss me
Speaker 2: a little bit with your fear. You were asking me
Speaker 2: about the way that the movie was rated and received.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry for that ramp, but can I get the
Speaker 2: fear stuff?
Speaker 1: So, so talk about the ratings, how how it was received?
Speaker 2: What's up?
Speaker 1: So all right, I'll speak on it well first, then
Speaker 1: if I'm gonna talk, I'm gonna say this, fear super convenient,
Speaker 1: But you're absolutely right, cute, it doesn't tell the whole story.
Speaker 1: Fear with a gun, Fear plus a gun plus a
Speaker 1: lack of respect for black life, a lack of empathy. Sure,
Speaker 1: and you know, I think that a lot of times
Speaker 1: there's you you become like to a to a man
Speaker 1: with a hammer, the world becomes a nail or everything
Speaker 1: in the world becomes a nail or something like that.
Speaker 1: If you end up telling yourself a story that every
Speaker 1: body needs to obey you because you're the authority. As
Speaker 1: soon as people don't do things exactly the way that
Speaker 1: you want, then you know, you end up your ego
Speaker 1: is bruised and you need to prove a point or
Speaker 1: whatever the story is, and you just end up being bullies.
Speaker 1: And that's what it is, and people pay with their
Speaker 1: lives because you have a god complex and a gun.
Speaker 1: So this is something that we do know and it's
Speaker 1: it's more than fear, but it's very much rooted in
Speaker 1: that because you don't grab your gun until you're afraid
Speaker 1: generally speak, or until you feel disrespected, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, unless when you arrived as the exterminator, you
Speaker 1: get okay, you arrived with the intent to exterminate. Now
Speaker 1: let me say this before we get out of here.
Speaker 2: I need about forty five seconds to speak on that
Speaker 2: rady before we get out of here.
Speaker 1: Two course, that's what we're gonna talk about. But I
Speaker 1: saw a video today. This It was from Tucson, Arizona,
Speaker 1: and there was a woman who walked into a Low's
Speaker 1: Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson. I actually been to this place.
Speaker 1: She walked in and sat down in the lobby and
Speaker 1: there was a lady, white lady next to her who
Speaker 1: didn't like her sitting there, so asked her to move.
Speaker 1: You know. It was a little bit of back and forth,
Speaker 1: but nothing crazy. The woman got up, walked to another table,
Speaker 1: sat at the other table. The woman was still upset
Speaker 1: because the black lady didn't leave, so she called the police.
Speaker 1: The police came, took the black lady out in handcuffs
Speaker 1: and no point. The whole time. You can see on
Speaker 1: the video the white woman, she's older at Karen, screaming, belligerent.
Speaker 1: She's been drinking, of course, she's been hanging out down
Speaker 1: or whatever. Just didn't like the fact that there was
Speaker 1: a black woman and there spoiling her fun. Police came
Speaker 1: and they take the black woman away. And the crazy
Speaker 1: part about it is the police were there asking what happened,
Speaker 1: or asking witnesses everything, what's happening. Somehow these police were
Speaker 1: convinced that this black woman was the instigator, this black
Speaker 1: woman was the threat needed to be handcuffed and then
Speaker 1: escorted away. It's been the night in jail. So with
Speaker 1: any luck, I'll be able to get her on the
Speaker 1: show so she can tell her story. But in the meantime,
Speaker 1: we don't rock with Low's Montana Canyon Resort in Tucson.
Speaker 1: And if you do, then you're supporting racist administration, racist staff,
Speaker 1: and racist behavior. And I think that that very much
Speaker 1: speaks to this culture of fear that surrounds black people
Speaker 1: that is oftentimes the genets or the nexus of these
Speaker 1: behaviors that end up being so drastic, you know, taken
Speaker 1: on by the police and ultimately criminal justice system, which
Speaker 1: is why this film was so important. The thing is,
Speaker 1: this film is the sort of thing that I want
Speaker 1: to make sure that we support. I want people to
Speaker 1: watch it, I want people to talk about it, because
Speaker 1: these are things that can happen in your world, on
Speaker 1: your time, you know, at your comfort level, and then
Speaker 1: you can have a conversation about it with your friends.
Speaker 1: The thing is, the reason this film needs your help
Speaker 1: is because we've found that there's some people working against
Speaker 1: the way that the film's being rated, So in brief,
Speaker 1: what does that look like you?
Speaker 2: So, I'm sure you guys are familiar with the movie
Speaker 2: rating website Rotten Tomatoes. I have to, in full disclosure,
Speaker 2: admit that typically when I'm looking to see what movie
Speaker 2: I want to see next, the Rotten Tomato score kind
Speaker 2: of gives me an idea of whether or not I'm
Speaker 2: going to invest my money in my time and seeing
Speaker 2: said film, and the Rotten Tomato scores for the movie
Speaker 2: American Skin were and are bad per the critics on
Speaker 2: the website, It's an incredible moment, except the movie isn't
Speaker 2: just good, like, oh, that was cool, the movie's amazing.
Speaker 2: So then I was confused, So I go on to
Speaker 2: Rotten Tomatoes. Thirteen white men review this movie. No women,
Speaker 2: no minorities. Watch the movie American Skin, so on Amazon, Prime, iTunes,
Speaker 2: a bunch of different streaming services have it, but you
Speaker 2: have to buy it. So support this movie. See this movie.
Speaker 2: It's important and it's powerful, and then go to Rotten
Speaker 2: Tomatos and rate it that part and.
Speaker 1: With that said, we'll get out of here. So be
Speaker 1: sure to check out the website civiccipher dot com to
Speaker 1: recap this and any previous shows. Of course, you can donate.
Speaker 1: We need your donations. The show is growing all the time,
Speaker 1: the growth opportunities we can take advantage of them with
Speaker 1: your support fiscal support. One more time at let's let
Speaker 1: everybody know how they can support you as well.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir so Alice Hopkins. Of course you can follow
Speaker 3: us first at CE Philanthropy on Instagram for sure. Refer
Speaker 3: to our website at azret or size seed to support
Speaker 3: us with donations or anything like that.
Speaker 1: All right, y'all, and we'll see you next week right
Speaker 1: here on Civic Cipher