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Speaker 1: What's up. It's way for the Angela Yee.

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Speaker 2: I'm Angela Yee and I am very excited to be

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Speaker 2: joined today by Natasha Alford, who is many things, but

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Speaker 2: first off.

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Speaker 1: Happy Mother's Day.

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Speaker 3: Thank you so much. You know, feel so good to

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Speaker 3: be part of part of that club. A mom is

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Speaker 3: just trying to make it every day.

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Speaker 2: One of the most important jobs that a person can have,

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Speaker 2: amongst other things that you do. But you are a

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Speaker 2: CNN political analyst but also the VP of Digital Content

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Speaker 2: and senior correspondent at the Grillo.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, and you.

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Speaker 1: Have multiple degrees, you know, but also in author Let's

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Speaker 1: not forget that. Yeah, I'm married me. Is that? Am

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Speaker 1: I saying it right?

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Speaker 3: You're saying it right. Actually, I was advised when I

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Speaker 3: was coming up with this book idea like, be careful

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Speaker 3: with the title. People might be a little afraid of

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Speaker 3: the title. But you said it right, and that was

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Speaker 3: the hope that people would learn to say it and

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Speaker 3: learn what it means right.

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Speaker 2: Because and I want you to talk about this because

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Speaker 2: for me, I'm a person who's you know, I'm half

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Speaker 2: Chinese and I'm also half West Indian and so whenever

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Speaker 2: I would go get my hair done at the Dominican Salon.

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Speaker 2: I would have to explain because they always that I

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Speaker 2: was Dominican, so I would have to say, so echina

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Speaker 2: in negra, yeah, and let them know that because you

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Speaker 2: know that I can speak a little Spanish because I'm

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Speaker 2: from New York, and you know you have to come

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Speaker 2: up speaking some Spanish. I think here, but I always

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Speaker 2: had to explain that. That's why when I saw this

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Speaker 2: American negra, that's automatically I knew how to pronounce it.

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Speaker 3: It's so relatable because a lot of us are asked

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Speaker 3: that question what are you? And I think that that

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Speaker 3: is what sent me on this journey to be like, well,

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Speaker 3: who am I? But also what did I need to

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Speaker 3: know back then to actually love myself? To accept myself?

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Speaker 3: And it takes time. So whoever reads this book is

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Speaker 3: really going on a journey of self discovery that I

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Speaker 3: hope is relatable to a lot of people. A lot

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Speaker 3: of people come from multi ethnic families like this is

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Speaker 3: more normal in America today and will soon be part

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Speaker 3: of the majority. So I thought it was important to

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Speaker 3: talk about what it's like to live between multiple cultures.

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Speaker 2: I think timing wise, this is also a great time

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Speaker 2: for us to have this conversation watching everything that just

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Speaker 2: transpired with Kenjak and Drake too, because I think part

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Speaker 2: of that battle was Ken Jake telling Drake you can't

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Speaker 2: use the N word right because he is half you know,

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Speaker 2: half white and half black.

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Speaker 1: I want to know what your thoughts are on that.

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Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think it's this idea of using

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Speaker 3: blackness when it's commercially advantageous to you. People have an

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Speaker 3: issue with that, and it's about being authentic, right, And

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Speaker 3: so I think that there are people who see Drake

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Speaker 3: sort of almost step into different cultures and sort of assume, right,

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Speaker 3: he gives you that sound one time, you know, pafro beads,

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Speaker 3: and then it's bat one. It's like, you know, it's

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Speaker 3: I think there's a way to do it that pays homage.

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Speaker 3: But then there's this line of are you explored exploriting people?

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Speaker 3: And I think for me, my bigger question with the

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Speaker 3: whole Drake thing was really related to gender because there

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Speaker 3: were so many women who we were part of his

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Speaker 3: early fans, like we made him really popular. But the

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Speaker 3: music has taken this term more recently sort of in

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Speaker 3: a dark space, like really embracing a lot more misogynistic

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Speaker 3: kind of tropes and ideologies. So I think for me

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Speaker 3: that was the thing where I was starting to feel like, damn,

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Speaker 3: does Drake love us? Like does he love you know,

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Speaker 3: the women who put him on? But I think it's

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Speaker 3: a question we're all asking about who has the right

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Speaker 3: to And you know what's interesting, Angela this La La

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Speaker 3: Bad Bunny interview. Did you see that when.

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Speaker 2: She was on the red carpet and she was able

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Speaker 2: to fluidly go in between oh yeah, English and Spanish.

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Speaker 3: She did a great job, she did, but there were

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Speaker 3: some people who thought she didn't do good enough. Right,

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Speaker 3: So even though there are all these people like, oh,

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Speaker 3: look yeah looking Lalla like she's she is. This is

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Speaker 3: an example of an Afro Latina. This is example of diaspora, right,

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Speaker 3: there were people like, ah, but does she really speak Spanish? Well,

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Speaker 3: how comes she didn't you know, respond more in Spanish?

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Speaker 3: Like there's always somebody trying to keep yeah and tell

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Speaker 3: you that you aren't what you are. So I think

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Speaker 3: that's the flip side, the negative flip side of trying

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Speaker 3: to tell somebody you know, who they aren't when clearly

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Speaker 3: like that is their culture. And I think that's part

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Speaker 3: of you know, what the book tries to do as well,

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Speaker 3: is to raise the visibility of black Latinos.

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Speaker 2: You know, I think that you were fortunate to have

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Speaker 2: both parents that were helped, that helped you embrace both

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Speaker 2: parts of your culture because your mom's Puerto Rican and

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Speaker 2: you had a king king I'm trying to pronounce it

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Speaker 2: king saniea. And so that's when you turn fifteen years old, right,

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Speaker 2: and that was something that you wanted to do. As

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Speaker 2: a matter of fact, I can't believe you chose that

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Speaker 2: over a car.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I know, it's kind of crazy to have a car.

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Speaker 2: Or you could have this kin sanieaeh.

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Speaker 1: And so you chose that. Why did you choose that

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Speaker 1: over a car?

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Speaker 3: You know, I think I really wanted to have this

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Speaker 3: right of passage. Those are important aspects of culture, right,

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Speaker 3: These moments that you look back and say, this is

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Speaker 3: something I share with other people. And so for our family,

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Speaker 3: you know, a lot of the women and our family

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Speaker 3: had again, Sanietta, my mom didn't. She's from the Bronx.

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Speaker 3: You know, my grandmother worked a lot of jobs. She

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Speaker 3: didn't really have a lot of money. So my mom

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Speaker 3: didn't want one because financially, her family couldn't do it,

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Speaker 3: but she wanted to give me that experience and I

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Speaker 3: did it. But it was a very African American like,

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Speaker 3: like we had yeah, like alsa, right, we're doing salsa.

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Speaker 3: Everybody was like half the squad was like Black American.

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Speaker 3: You know, we're listening to Jay Z and Little Mo.

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Speaker 3: But I tried to show that that's what it's like

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Speaker 3: to live between multiple cultures. You can't deny any side

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Speaker 3: of you. And there are a lot of us out there.

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Speaker 3: Think about it. We've got Cardi b An offset like,

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Speaker 3: they have a daughter, they have a son. That's an

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Speaker 3: example of children who are going to grow up with

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Speaker 3: different ethnicities or cultures. And those are Black children. So

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Speaker 3: what does it mean to live at that intersection and

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Speaker 3: have some people tell you, oh, well, you're not enough

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Speaker 3: of this or you're not that. And what's what's so

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Speaker 3: important is that people understand and I think you get this.

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Speaker 3: We're Black women no matter what, right, even if we

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Speaker 3: have you know, another ethnicity sort of mixed in in America,

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Speaker 3: people see us as black. So if you are raising

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Speaker 3: black children, you need to know that you are raising

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Speaker 3: black children and teach them to be proud of themselves,

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Speaker 3: but also fight against some of those messages that will

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Speaker 3: teach them that they aren't enough. And I think for

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Speaker 3: latina As in particular, this is important because we have

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Speaker 3: a Spanish language media that often shows white and light

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Speaker 3: skin and fair skin as what is beautiful. Even in

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Speaker 3: Puerto Rico right now, they just passed a law against

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Speaker 3: natural hair discrimination because black Puerto Rican act right, and

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Speaker 3: that's the Puerto Rican version of it, because there were

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Speaker 3: black Puerto Ricans who were being told they had to

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Speaker 3: cut their locks off, that they couldn't their natural hair

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Speaker 3: wasn't professional. I mean this is in twenty twenty four,

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Speaker 3: this is still happening. So I think, you know, within

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Speaker 3: Latin American culture there's this reckoning that needs to happen

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Speaker 3: around race. And the book tries to educate a little

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Speaker 3: bit in terms of history and why in this place.

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Speaker 2: A lot of things do come back to the hair.

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Speaker 2: And you talk about Palo Mallow, Yeah, bad hair and

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Speaker 2: your own hair journey too of you wanting to see

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Speaker 2: have your hair be silky and straight, and the perms

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Speaker 2: that you had to go through to get to that space.

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Speaker 2: But then and I went through this too, right where

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Speaker 2: I would straighten my hair as much as I could,

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Speaker 2: but it would get so frizzy as soon as it

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Speaker 2: got a little humid or damp, and all of a sudden,

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Speaker 2: you know, because I started off going to public school

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Speaker 2: and then I went to private school, and in private school,

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Speaker 2: everybody wanted like this stick straight here.

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Speaker 1: There weren't a lot of black.

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Speaker 2: Kids in the school, so what you saw, what was

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Speaker 2: considered beautiful was that, like, you know, long straight hair,

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Speaker 2: and so I never got a perm. But then when

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Speaker 2: I got a little older, I got this thing, this

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Speaker 2: treatment that made my hair straight and shiny, so easy

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Speaker 2: to take care of, because that's part of what it

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Speaker 2: is too. It's so much easier when your hair is

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Speaker 2: straight and you don't have to, like, you know, worry

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Speaker 2: about getting it tangled up and things like that. But

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Speaker 2: it really did damage my natural hair curls for a

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Speaker 2: long time.

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Speaker 3: It took years before I saw my natural pattern, which

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Speaker 3: is crazy where you know, there's so many little girls

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Speaker 3: who don't even see their natural texture until later. And

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Speaker 3: that is conditioning, right, We're conditioned to do that. You're

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Speaker 3: talking about going to Dominican salon. I mean I would

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Speaker 3: go to Dominican salons because it's like, oh, they know

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Speaker 3: how to get the hair the straightest.

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Speaker 1: But it's gotta be burning and everything get it straight.

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Speaker 3: But where does that come from? Angela? We actually look

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Speaker 3: at history. We think about the colonial era and the

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Speaker 3: fact that there was slavery in Dominican Republican, Puerto Rico

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Speaker 3: and all of these places. And to look wider, to

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Speaker 3: present wider, to have straighter hair. That's an advantage in

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Speaker 3: a society that's racist against black people. So we figured

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Speaker 3: out a way to cope. We figured out a way

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Speaker 3: to navigate. But it's okay to question and say, you know,

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Speaker 3: do I have to buy into all of this? And

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Speaker 3: so even just now in my thirties, am I getting

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Speaker 3: comfortable with wearing my hair curly?

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Speaker 1: Like?

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Speaker 3: That's how long it took.

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Speaker 2: And thank god we have all these products because that

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Speaker 2: was also an issue having the right products for hair

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Speaker 2: with text here to having the curly hair, natural hair products,

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Speaker 2: and they started to even be able to to purchase

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Speaker 2: you know that we didn't used to have that that

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Speaker 2: was we did.

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Speaker 3: The market has finally realized that we're here and so,

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Speaker 3: and I think that's part of these conversations. You show people, look,

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Speaker 3: we're here, we got buying power. We matter. You can't

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Speaker 3: ignore us like we don't have to conform. My favorite

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Speaker 3: story is in Puerto Rico in the aftermath of the hurricanes.

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Speaker 3: Because there was no electricity, you know, people didn't have

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Speaker 3: their like straightening tools and stuff. There were a lot

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Speaker 3: of women who discovered their natural hair texture because they

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Speaker 3: had to. And then I was like, oh, wait, you

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Speaker 3: like this, so you know these are important conversations. Now.

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Speaker 2: Your parents also play a really large part of your story.

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Speaker 1: Your mom.

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Speaker 2: You put a lot of the letters that your mom

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Speaker 2: wrote you, but one thing she always told you.

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Speaker 1: I want to ask you about this.

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Speaker 2: Even as you were getting all these accolades and achievements

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Speaker 2: and learning to be a great speaker, which I want

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Speaker 2: to touch on too, because that's so important, she would

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Speaker 2: tell you to stay humble. Yeah, even when people were

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Speaker 2: praising you. It was always like, Okay, stay humble. Oh

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Speaker 2: she's just a regular girl. I want to know what

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Speaker 2: you thoughts are on that. Looking back at it today.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, I think some of it was genuine. I think

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Speaker 3: my mother always wanted me to remember we're a working

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Speaker 3: class family. We're not better than anybody, right. My dad,

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Speaker 3: he was a custodian for years he cleaned bathrooms. My

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Speaker 3: mother was a public school teacher and she had a

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Speaker 3: guidance counselor who told her she should be a secretary

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Speaker 3: because she was Puerto Rican. Right, those are the things

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Speaker 3: you come up against when you come from marginalized groups,

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Speaker 3: people who tell you that you can't be anything. So

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Speaker 3: she wanted me to stay grounded. But I think also

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Speaker 3: sometimes it's a protective mechanism. I think that in this

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Speaker 3: sort of, you know, race based society that we live in,

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Speaker 3: we don't want young people of color to get too

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Speaker 3: full of themselves because we know the obstacles that they're

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Speaker 3: going to face, right, they're going to take it away

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Speaker 3: from you. We don't want you to get disappointed. So

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Speaker 3: sometimes we might shoot down your dreams, you know. I

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Speaker 3: remember telling my dad, I'm moving to New York. Daddy like,

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Speaker 3: I might get this job at the Grio, and he

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Speaker 3: was like, all right, we'll see what happens. Like how

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Speaker 3: many times do we do that to our children out

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Speaker 3: of love because we don't want to protect that, But

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Speaker 3: then you also are limiting their sense of possibility. So

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Speaker 3: that's what I wrestle with in the book. Sometimes the

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Speaker 3: tensions I had with my family. You'll see a scene

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Speaker 3: in the book where I get into Harvard and the

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Speaker 3: reaction is not like the Instagram videos. Yeah, everybody's like cheering, like,

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Speaker 3: oh my baby got into the school. It was not

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Speaker 3: that reaction.

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Speaker 1: How much is it gonna cost?

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Speaker 3: It was that right, and that's a that's a that's

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Speaker 3: a real white at school. You're gonna be the Are

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Speaker 3: you gonna be the only black girl there? You know?

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Speaker 3: So I think that this book, as much as it

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Speaker 3: is about culture and being black and Latina, it's also

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Speaker 3: about the American dream and what is the path towards

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Speaker 3: the American dream? When we tell young people to go

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Speaker 3: after their education, are we really giving them the support

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Speaker 3: once they get there, Because just you just because you

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Speaker 3: got into Harvard, you got into Yale, it doesn't mean

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Speaker 3: you know how to navigate those spaces. You know, there's

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Speaker 3: a lot of sort of unofficial rules that will make

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Speaker 3: you a success or make you a failure. And also

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Speaker 3: why do we define those places as being signs of success? Right?

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Speaker 3: I wanted to go to an HBCU, I wanted to

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Speaker 3: go to Spellman. We just couldn't afford to send me there,

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Speaker 3: you know, so it raises these questions that I think

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Speaker 3: we should ask.

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Speaker 2: And another thing, since we brought that up, because you

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Speaker 2: did go to Princeton, also, congratulations grating in public policy.

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Speaker 2: Still getting the education, which is not cheap to do.

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Speaker 2: You also went to a Northwestern right, and to Harvard.

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Speaker 2: You're not playing any games when.

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Speaker 1: It kind of like, I mean, this is wow. And

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Speaker 1: I always believe in.

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Speaker 2: You know, whether or not it's going to school to

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Speaker 2: get a degree, but education, right, whether you're getting a

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Speaker 2: certification in something or you're trying to learn more about

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Speaker 2: something and getting educated taking courses. I'm a big fan

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Speaker 2: of that because I feel like we should always be

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Speaker 2: students of something we don't ever know it all right.

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Speaker 2: But what I wanted to ask you was with all

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Speaker 2: of these conversations about DEI happening right now and at schools,

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Speaker 2: saying okay, now we don't have to do certain things

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Speaker 2: when it comes to the admissions process.

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Speaker 1: Clearly you deserve to be there.

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Speaker 2: You belong there, and people are very confused sometimes about

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Speaker 2: what that means. They think if they see a student

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Speaker 2: of color on a campus, that is some type of

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Speaker 2: affirmative action. Right, So I want to see what your

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Speaker 2: thoughts are and a lot of things being rolled back now.

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Speaker 3: Well, first, I think that affirmative action has worked in

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Speaker 3: a lot of ways to help non people of color.

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Speaker 3: Why don't we talk about women that right? Okay, even

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Speaker 3: think about it. You know, I have studied policy this

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Speaker 3: past year and the things I've learned about the ways

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Speaker 3: that certain people were set up for success and others

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Speaker 3: were denied opportunity. It's insane. People want you to think

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Speaker 3: that we are somehow a problem people of color. We

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Speaker 3: don't work hard enough, we don't want nothing in life,

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Speaker 3: and then you learn about the ways that we were denied.

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Speaker 3: The GI Bill African American veterans who served, you know,

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Speaker 3: not being able to actually get mortgages to live in

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Speaker 3: certain neighborhoods while white veterans were able to do that.

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Speaker 3: Think about that people who tried to get into two

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Speaker 3: schools to actually get their education and they were denied

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Speaker 3: because of segregation. So I don't believe in sort of

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Speaker 3: ahistorical takes around this, And I think a lot of

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Speaker 3: people are talking about this without actually knowing the history,

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Speaker 3: and they want black people to feel shame about programs

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Speaker 3: that are about creating equity and writing past wrongs. I

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Speaker 3: don't care if somebody doesn't think that I deserve to

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Speaker 3: go to Harvard or deserve to go to Princeton. I

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Speaker 3: know I deserve to go there. There's a legacy of

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Speaker 3: people who came before me who fought so that I

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Speaker 3: could be there, and my people helped build this country right,

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Speaker 3: and we never got reparations. We never got forty acres things.

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Speaker 3: Things were taken away. So the least you could do

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Speaker 3: if I'm pursuing my education, I want to be somebody

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Speaker 3: I want to contribute is to support me in that.

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Speaker 3: And please know I'm qualified. This is not about putting

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Speaker 3: unqualified people in position. It's about making sure there's checks

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Speaker 3: and balances so that they aren't denied opportunities that they

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Speaker 3: should have.

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Speaker 1: Man, listen, you made me want to go back to

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Speaker 1: school myself.

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Speaker 3: It's never too late. By the way, Princeton was free.

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Speaker 3: Just to be clear, Princeton paid for everything. That's why

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Speaker 3: I went back to school. You know, I just was like,

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Speaker 3: I can't say no to this. I you know, I

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Speaker 3: at this point in my life, I'm making my own education.

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Speaker 3: We go to school for so long someone else tells

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Speaker 3: us what to learn. I looked up, I looked at

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Speaker 3: the world. I said, I'm always talking about problems. I

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Speaker 3: want to know how do we fix the problems in

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Speaker 3: America and beyond. And so that's what I was doing.

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Speaker 3: I was going back and getting the education I always wanted.

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Speaker 2: I saw you were there also on campus while there

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Speaker 2: were hunger strikes going on that just ended yesterday, and

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Speaker 2: so these were the anti Israel hunger strikes. And you know,

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Speaker 2: students have been protesting on campuses all over right now nationally.

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Speaker 2: So I want to get your thoughts on that because

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Speaker 2: some people feel, like you know, I've seen a lot

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Speaker 2: of different differing views on what's happening and students weighing

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Speaker 2: in and being active, which I think is a positive thing.

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Speaker 2: But I want to see what you think.

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Speaker 3: Well. One thing about young people is that sometimes they

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Speaker 3: have a moral compass that the grown folks don't have

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Speaker 3: because we have things to lose, right, And there are

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Speaker 3: a lot of people who are seeing what's happening. They're seeing,

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Speaker 3: you know, innocent civilians who are dying, children who are dying,

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Speaker 3: women who are dying, and they're saying this is not right.

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Speaker 3: But there are people who use that and sort of

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Speaker 3: exaggerate right and say that oh, this is this is

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Speaker 3: about anti Semitism, this is about anti Zionism, or whatever

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Speaker 3: it is. But I see people who are taking folks

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Speaker 3: who are simply saying this is too much like innocent

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Speaker 3: people shouldn't be dying, and they are blanketing them with

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Speaker 3: judgment and sort of this sort of mass stereotype of

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Speaker 3: all the students. When I was on campus, I interviewed

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Speaker 3: many Jewish students who were part of the Gaza Solidarity encampment,

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Speaker 3: and they were saying, you know, not in my name

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Speaker 3: that I disagree with some of the policies the way

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Speaker 3: that Israel is, you know, carrying out this military operation,

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Speaker 3: and I don't want it to be done in my name.

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Speaker 3: Those students were anti Semitic, they were Jewish, right, But

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Speaker 3: if you were looking at some of the coverage on

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Speaker 3: the news, it was as if everyone was being painted

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Speaker 3: with a broad brush. So I think it's important for

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Speaker 3: us as media, our job is to be fair. It's

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Speaker 3: to make sure that we're talking to everybody so we

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Speaker 3: can tell the most accurate version of the story of

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Speaker 3: what's playing out. And I just felt like, you know,

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Speaker 3: there were certain instances in which there were just mass

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Speaker 3: sort of stereotypes being painted about everybody, And as somebody

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Speaker 3: who's literally on a college campus, I can tell you

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Speaker 3: that from what I saw, much of this was motivated

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Speaker 3: by concern about the humanitarian crisis at Princeton.

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Speaker 2: And it's interesting because it depends on what media outlet

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Speaker 2: you're looking at. I was looking at an article about

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Speaker 2: science I was speaking at Duke and they said some

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Speaker 2: of the students like walked out and they were mad,

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Speaker 2: and they were But then other people, depending on which

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Speaker 2: article you read, you know, they said like a few students,

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Speaker 2: and they can make it seem like gets way more

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Speaker 2: people involved than what you think.

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Speaker 3: And there's a diversity of views. When I was covering

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Speaker 3: the Princeton protest, you know, there were counter protesters there

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Speaker 3: who were holding pictures of hostages and saying bring the

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Speaker 3: hostages home. And it's like, you have to I chose

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Speaker 3: journalism because I have empathy, Like I think, I have

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Speaker 3: a heart for people, and so I can understand the

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Speaker 3: pain of people who are saying, my loved ones are

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Speaker 3: are gone, I want them back, and also understand that

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Speaker 3: there are people who are saying, oh, innocent people shouldn't

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Speaker 3: be dying, right, Like we shouldn't be like carpet bombing people.

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Speaker 3: Those stories, all of those stories have to be told

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Speaker 3: in this moment.

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Speaker 1: All right.

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Speaker 2: The other big thing that's happening right now here in

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Speaker 2: New York Donald Trump.

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Speaker 3: Mm hmm. He's still we still talking about him.

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Speaker 2: Year and I see some of his some of his

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Speaker 2: supporters are saying, Oh, he needs to get out of

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Speaker 2: this trial and get back on the campaign trail.

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Speaker 3: Oh, he's on the campaign trail. Honey.

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Speaker 1: This is part of his cat set.

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Speaker 3: That's what he's doing.

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Speaker 1: According to him, he's being targeted.

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Speaker 2: But what I don't understand is why don't people understand

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Speaker 2: that what he did, he broke the lave. We got

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Speaker 2: the person that actually participated, that was down with him

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Speaker 2: for ten years, you know, testifying encor talking about what happened.

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Speaker 2: And a lot of people think he could potentially win

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Speaker 2: this election, and I see a lot of negativity. I'm

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Speaker 2: watching some of these campaigns already and some of these

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Speaker 2: advertisements on television, and it is concerning to me as

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Speaker 2: a person who wants to make sure that people do vote.

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Speaker 2: I see so many things that are not true on

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Speaker 2: social media that's being spread, that's getting you know, millions

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Speaker 2: of views. I want to know what your thoughts are

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Speaker 2: about what's happening with Donald Trump. Do you think that

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Speaker 2: this is something that he could win or get that'll

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Speaker 2: get tossed out?

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Speaker 3: Well? Absolutely? I mean, well, are you talking about the

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Speaker 3: case or the case first? And so in terms of

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Speaker 3: this case, right, I think it's important for people to

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Speaker 3: understand that if you want the law applied right, you

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Speaker 3: want fairness. It doesn't matter who we're talking about.

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Speaker 2: Right, the president does not good immunity exactly, former president exactly.

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Speaker 3: We've seen this before. Think about the Nixon era. The

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Speaker 3: only reason that Nixon didn't go to jail was because

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Speaker 3: Gerald Ford pardoned him. Okay, because he made a decision

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Speaker 3: and said that the country can't undergo this. But even

436
00:20:10,600 --> 00:20:13,760
Speaker 3: Nixon was held to a certain standard. So it's important

437
00:20:13,760 --> 00:20:15,600
Speaker 3: we understand that the law is the law.

438
00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:16,720
Speaker 1: And this is about hush money.

439
00:20:16,960 --> 00:20:20,600
Speaker 3: It's about hush money. It's about intentionally, you know, covering

440
00:20:20,720 --> 00:20:26,719
Speaker 3: up a payment and knowing that from a campaign finance standpoint,

441
00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,959
Speaker 3: that you were crossing lines, you were blurring lines, Okay,

442
00:20:30,040 --> 00:20:35,080
Speaker 3: And so to me, I think that you have to

443
00:20:35,160 --> 00:20:38,720
Speaker 3: let the case play out. But Donald Trump is using

444
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:41,800
Speaker 3: this moment as a campaign moment, he's going out, he's

445
00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:43,720
Speaker 3: talking to the press. At the end of each day,

446
00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,920
Speaker 3: he's saying I'm the victim, and there are people who

447
00:20:46,960 --> 00:20:49,360
Speaker 3: are buying into it. What I think also is that

448
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,359
Speaker 3: people are so overwhelmed with information they can't keep track

449
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 3: of anything. So they're like, Okay, there's how many cases,

450
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:57,159
Speaker 3: there's how many charges, and at a certain point they

451
00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:00,480
Speaker 3: start to tune out. So that's my fear as ajournalist,

452
00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,200
Speaker 3: as a political analyst, is that even all this work

453
00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:06,200
Speaker 3: we're doing to keep people informed, that they're not processing

454
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:09,199
Speaker 3: it because they're just overwhelmed and they're over it. In

455
00:21:09,280 --> 00:21:14,280
Speaker 3: terms of why he's winning in certain polls, one, it's

456
00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,080
Speaker 3: important to remember these polls are samples of the American public.

457
00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:20,560
Speaker 2: They are not I feel like the polls are never

458
00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,320
Speaker 2: reflective of what actually happens.

459
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:24,399
Speaker 3: When you think about it. Have you passed up the phone.

460
00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:26,560
Speaker 3: Have you picked up the phone and been asked to

461
00:21:26,600 --> 00:21:31,200
Speaker 3: answer this question? Chances are you probably haven't, So it's

462
00:21:31,240 --> 00:21:34,920
Speaker 3: not over till it's over. At the same time, President

463
00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:38,440
Speaker 3: Biden should heed the criticism that he's getting, the fact

464
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,240
Speaker 3: that people can't tell you what he did, even though

465
00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,880
Speaker 3: he's done a lot, and so that's a communication issue.

466
00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:48,520
Speaker 3: That is their responsibility as the administration and office to

467
00:21:48,560 --> 00:21:50,600
Speaker 3: make sure that they are reaching people where they are.

468
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,600
Speaker 2: I feel like that's been an ongoing problem that we

469
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:56,919
Speaker 2: have too, because even with President Barack Obama, you hear

470
00:21:56,960 --> 00:21:59,320
Speaker 2: people say they'll be like, he didn't do anything. You know,

471
00:21:59,359 --> 00:22:01,639
Speaker 2: he didn't fight for black people. But if you like,

472
00:22:01,880 --> 00:22:04,280
Speaker 2: I read his very thick book, and it.

473
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:04,840
Speaker 3: Was a big book.

474
00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:06,399
Speaker 2: It was a big book, very long, but it was

475
00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:09,879
Speaker 2: I thought it was very informative about how government works

476
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,480
Speaker 2: and all of the obstacles and difficulties that he had

477
00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:14,800
Speaker 2: and still tried to manage to get things done. But

478
00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,080
Speaker 2: a lot of things that I shut down is because

479
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:19,040
Speaker 2: there is a system that's in place.

480
00:22:18,960 --> 00:22:21,720
Speaker 3: Checks and balances, right, and Angela, I think what you're

481
00:22:21,760 --> 00:22:24,640
Speaker 3: pointing to is very important. How many of us actually

482
00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:27,760
Speaker 3: know the different branches of government? Do we know that?

483
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:30,960
Speaker 3: You know, President Biden isn't a king. Any president isn't

484
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,159
Speaker 3: a king. There is Congress, right, there is Scotus, the

485
00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 3: Supreme Court of the United States. You see what they've

486
00:22:36,520 --> 00:22:40,560
Speaker 3: done with abortion rights. You see that certain legislation President

487
00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:44,959
Speaker 3: Biden had got blocked by just two people in his party,

488
00:22:45,200 --> 00:22:48,120
Speaker 3: you know, Kirsten Cinema and Joe Manchin. And so these

489
00:22:48,119 --> 00:22:51,359
Speaker 3: were key moments in which change could have happened, but

490
00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:53,360
Speaker 3: because there were folks who were you know, had their

491
00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:56,679
Speaker 3: own agendas, it didn't happen. And so every piece of

492
00:22:56,720 --> 00:22:59,920
Speaker 3: this puzzle has to work in order for America to work.

493
00:23:00,040 --> 00:23:03,640
Speaker 3: And my concern is people want they want quick fixes.

494
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,919
Speaker 3: Like democracy is messy. There's give and take, there's fighting,

495
00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:11,720
Speaker 3: there's pressure, there's protests. Authoritarians they just say they want

496
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,520
Speaker 3: something done and they break rules to make it happen,

497
00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:17,320
Speaker 3: or they change the rules entirely. And so you may

498
00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:19,399
Speaker 3: think Donald Trump is going to come in, he's going

499
00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:21,919
Speaker 3: to fix everything, you know, but what is he breaking

500
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,440
Speaker 3: in the process? What are you losing in the process.

501
00:23:24,480 --> 00:23:27,880
Speaker 3: On the other side, he's threatened to go after journalists.

502
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:32,480
Speaker 3: He's threatened to deport students who are quote anti American.

503
00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:35,280
Speaker 3: What does that mean right now we're talking about Gaza.

504
00:23:35,359 --> 00:23:38,080
Speaker 3: What if that means black lives matter in another breath?

505
00:23:38,119 --> 00:23:39,560
Speaker 1: Right, And he encourages violence.

506
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:42,479
Speaker 3: You know, these are all things that I think as

507
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,000
Speaker 3: people are like, oh, but the eggs are high, and oh,

508
00:23:45,119 --> 00:23:49,120
Speaker 3: you know, my rent is high. I have deep empathy

509
00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,000
Speaker 3: for that, but also have we asked the question of

510
00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:54,560
Speaker 3: why things are the way they are. We got hedge

511
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:58,080
Speaker 3: funds buying up single family homes so people can't compete

512
00:23:58,160 --> 00:24:02,639
Speaker 3: who want to buy a house. The inflation, it's not

513
00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,920
Speaker 3: just the president's responsibility to try to bring inflation down.

514
00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:11,600
Speaker 3: Supply chains were disrupted. That was a global problem that affected.

515
00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:12,960
Speaker 1: Us, and we still are seeing the results of that,

516
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:13,480
Speaker 1: and we're.

517
00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:15,520
Speaker 3: Still seeing it. And yet some people are saying that

518
00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:18,840
Speaker 3: that was all President Biden's doing, or even the fact

519
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:22,120
Speaker 3: that unemployment was starting to go down before Trump even

520
00:24:22,119 --> 00:24:25,280
Speaker 3: stepped into office and he benefited from that. But he's

521
00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:28,159
Speaker 3: running around telling people that he brought unemployment down for

522
00:24:28,200 --> 00:24:31,399
Speaker 3: African Americans when it was already on the decline. So

523
00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,680
Speaker 3: it's there's so much information to keep up with that

524
00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,520
Speaker 3: I worry that people gravitate towards the loudest and the

525
00:24:38,560 --> 00:24:41,800
Speaker 3: simplest voice, which often is a Donald Trump, when the

526
00:24:41,840 --> 00:24:44,560
Speaker 3: truth is much more nuanced, it's much more complicated.

527
00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:47,760
Speaker 2: Well, Natasha, I hope that you come up here a

528
00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:50,000
Speaker 2: lot more frequent. I would love to, because I do

529
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,560
Speaker 2: think it's important to have actual journalists, right come on

530
00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,280
Speaker 2: to discuss what's happening, because I feel like there's wayes

531
00:24:56,359 --> 00:25:00,720
Speaker 2: that get you very like confused and muddled, and you know,

532
00:25:00,800 --> 00:25:02,560
Speaker 2: those voices can be elevated, but I want to make

533
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,160
Speaker 2: sure that we continue to elevate people who are really

534
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,359
Speaker 2: doing this work, that study it, that understand policy, because

535
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,119
Speaker 2: this is a critical It's always a critical time. But

536
00:25:11,359 --> 00:25:13,479
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna lie right now. I feel like I

537
00:25:13,520 --> 00:25:15,920
Speaker 2: want to make sure that I'm doing something to make

538
00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,040
Speaker 2: sure that I'm doing my part.

539
00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:18,480
Speaker 1: And I think that's what everybody needs to do.

540
00:25:18,560 --> 00:25:21,359
Speaker 2: It's not just you know, posting on social media, but

541
00:25:21,400 --> 00:25:22,480
Speaker 2: it's like you do have to vote.

542
00:25:22,480 --> 00:25:23,440
Speaker 1: You do have to make sure you.

543
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:26,119
Speaker 2: Know what you're voting for, who you're voting for, what

544
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,800
Speaker 2: you support, what you need to make happen, and participate

545
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,120
Speaker 2: and be a part of that process.

546
00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,120
Speaker 3: I have deep empathy for everyone. I'm a mother, I'm working,

547
00:25:34,200 --> 00:25:37,000
Speaker 3: you know, multiple jobs, but I was in school this

548
00:25:37,040 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 3: past year. Like sometimes it feels like we just don't

549
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:42,080
Speaker 3: have the time. But this is our future, this is

550
00:25:42,080 --> 00:25:45,840
Speaker 3: our children's future. And democracy is not about the politician.

551
00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:49,120
Speaker 3: They are a steward of our country, right, these are

552
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,440
Speaker 3: our rights, this is our land. These are our tax dollars,

553
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:56,399
Speaker 3: and so we put people in place to look over, right,

554
00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:58,919
Speaker 3: what belongs to us. They work for us, for us,

555
00:25:59,040 --> 00:26:02,359
Speaker 3: make them work for you, that's right. So even with

556
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,760
Speaker 3: everything we have going on, even if it's just taking

557
00:26:04,800 --> 00:26:08,199
Speaker 3: a moment to listen, to read, to double check a source,

558
00:26:08,520 --> 00:26:10,879
Speaker 3: this is the work that we must do. Our ancestors

559
00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:12,840
Speaker 3: did it so we could benefit.

560
00:26:12,520 --> 00:26:15,439
Speaker 1: Go to some town, some local meetings, you know.

561
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:17,639
Speaker 3: They did it, so we have to keep doing it.

562
00:26:17,680 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 2: And you know what American Negra is out right now.

563
00:26:20,760 --> 00:26:22,480
Speaker 2: There were so many other things that I had that

564
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:24,159
Speaker 2: I wanted to talk about in this book. You know what,

565
00:26:24,280 --> 00:26:26,600
Speaker 2: Let's do one of them, okay, you know, because you

566
00:26:26,640 --> 00:26:29,120
Speaker 2: get personalized certain things that happened when you were younger.

567
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:31,040
Speaker 1: And there was a time in high school there was

568
00:26:31,080 --> 00:26:34,280
Speaker 1: an older guy, oh gosh, oh yeah, hang around.

569
00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:38,080
Speaker 2: To high school and you, being young and innocent all right,

570
00:26:38,240 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 2: ended up, you know, going back to his house with him.

571
00:26:40,840 --> 00:26:42,600
Speaker 1: Thank god, nothing happened to you.

572
00:26:43,000 --> 00:26:45,840
Speaker 2: But I was thinking about that situation, about how many

573
00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,440
Speaker 2: times people will blame a woman or blame a young

574
00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 2: girl and call her fast for being in that situation.

575
00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,560
Speaker 2: You were a virgin you ended up at his house.

576
00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:55,520
Speaker 1: You were scared.

577
00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,080
Speaker 2: He was on top of you, like and fortunately he

578
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:01,440
Speaker 2: got was this is too much, let me just take

579
00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,480
Speaker 2: you home and nothing happened. But I just thought about

580
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:07,840
Speaker 2: how many times, as young girls, we make decisions that

581
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:10,200
Speaker 2: we wish we wouldn't have made and then end up,

582
00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,159
Speaker 2: you know, in a terrible situation that could have gone

583
00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:14,440
Speaker 2: you know, awful.

584
00:27:14,720 --> 00:27:17,080
Speaker 3: Well, one thing is, our culture is so fear based.

585
00:27:17,160 --> 00:27:19,400
Speaker 3: Our young people are afraid to tell us what's going on.

586
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:22,040
Speaker 3: So we think we'll get punished if we ask certain

587
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:24,879
Speaker 3: questions or talk about certain relationships that are developing. And

588
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:27,000
Speaker 3: all you do is you just push the activity into

589
00:27:27,119 --> 00:27:29,600
Speaker 3: the quiet, right into the dark, where it can't be

590
00:27:29,640 --> 00:27:33,160
Speaker 3: seen or monitored. So I believe in creating a culture

591
00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,280
Speaker 3: where we do talk about these things with our young people. Second,

592
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:38,199
Speaker 3: I think there is this. I mean we're seeing it.

593
00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:40,200
Speaker 3: Even with the rap beef. We were just talking about

594
00:27:40,240 --> 00:27:42,840
Speaker 3: like how normal is it for people to go after

595
00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 3: young girls? You know, that's just normal. We had older

596
00:27:46,359 --> 00:27:48,639
Speaker 3: guys driving around the high schools all the time, and

597
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,800
Speaker 3: young girls think like they're flattered by it. They think

598
00:27:51,840 --> 00:27:53,960
Speaker 3: it means, oh, this means I'm smart. This means I'm

599
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,199
Speaker 3: mature and we have to put our young girls up

600
00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:58,399
Speaker 3: on game Like, no, that's part of the game, right,

601
00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:01,040
Speaker 3: to make you think that you are special in some way,

602
00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:04,359
Speaker 3: when really, what grown man will want anything to do

603
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 3: with a sixteen year old seventeen year old? Right? But

604
00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,440
Speaker 3: I wanted to be honest about these things because I

605
00:28:10,480 --> 00:28:13,840
Speaker 3: think people just think, oh, you know Harvard, she's on CNN.

606
00:28:14,480 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 3: People project a lot of things, like they assume they

607
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,280
Speaker 3: know what your life is, and I had the life

608
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:23,120
Speaker 3: of you know, it was like a regular black girl

609
00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,159
Speaker 3: growing up in upstate New York. Like, this is what

610
00:28:25,240 --> 00:28:28,280
Speaker 3: we were dealing with, older, older adult men driving by

611
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:29,760
Speaker 3: the high school trying to pick us up.

612
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:30,760
Speaker 1: That is not normal.

613
00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,440
Speaker 3: That is not normal. So I wanted to talk about

614
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 3: that to you know, free us up, to share the

615
00:28:36,119 --> 00:28:39,040
Speaker 3: lessons we've learned, and hopefully you know what inspires somebody.

616
00:28:39,040 --> 00:28:41,240
Speaker 3: I think it's a great coming of age story, for sure,

617
00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:42,280
Speaker 3: it is if it's.

618
00:28:44,360 --> 00:28:45,160
Speaker 1: For a long time.

619
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:47,440
Speaker 2: And I've admired all the work that you've been doing

620
00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:50,280
Speaker 2: for think, you know, over a decade now.

621
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:52,200
Speaker 1: I want to say so thank you.

622
00:28:52,200 --> 00:28:54,160
Speaker 3: You were a part of my journey. I mean, you

623
00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,160
Speaker 3: were one of the first people to help me do

624
00:28:56,240 --> 00:28:58,800
Speaker 3: a national radio interview back when I was on the

625
00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,120
Speaker 3: Breakfast Club. And thank you for being somebody who opens

626
00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:04,680
Speaker 3: doors for others and doesn't like close them behind you.

627
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:06,920
Speaker 2: So well, hopefully we do a whole lot more together,

628
00:29:06,960 --> 00:29:09,640
Speaker 2: because you know, anything you need, I'm here.

629
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:10,320
Speaker 3: Thank you, Sis.

630
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:12,920
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be holding you to that same same standard.

631
00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:15,040
Speaker 3: Yes, absolutely, we int it together.

632
00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:16,760
Speaker 2: It is a critical time, so I do want to

633
00:29:16,800 --> 00:29:18,960
Speaker 2: make sure you know, as we're on this platform right now,

634
00:29:18,960 --> 00:29:21,280
Speaker 2: that you're agreed that you'll be back, I will be back,

635
00:29:21,320 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 2: all right, all right, Well, guys, make sure you pick

636
00:29:23,360 --> 00:29:23,760
Speaker 2: up this book.

637
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 1: You are going to love it. It's amazing.

638
00:29:25,120 --> 00:29:27,720
Speaker 2: If you have you know, children, I think this is

639
00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:30,160
Speaker 2: a great book for them to read too, for the youth,

640
00:29:30,200 --> 00:29:33,000
Speaker 2: but for somebody like myself seeing your whole journey scene

641
00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:36,479
Speaker 2: where you are today, it was definitely something special to

642
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:38,560
Speaker 2: be able to read. American Negra is out right now,

643
00:29:38,640 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 2: Natasha Alfred, thank you so much.

644
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:45,040
Speaker 3: Thank you. Angela