WEBVTT - Don’t Paper Over Icons | Angela Rye SoloPod 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.400 Native Lampid is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:04.960 Reisent Choice Media. 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:11.840 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. I'm gonna tell 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.040 you right here, when you put a poster over her face, 0:00:15.520 --> 0:00:17.919 that's why what brought she used to own the spot 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:21.040 right over there. We're not fucking around. Don't come into 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:25.000 this mother fucking neighborhood. Cover it up, icons, get this 0:00:25.120 --> 0:00:29.000 mother fucking shit out of here. Don't do it. When 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:31.720 you see a black face here, don't put a mother 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:36.440 fucking thing on it. God damn it. Well, you caused 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:39.400 a mother fucking problem, and don't do it again. Don't 0:00:39.400 --> 0:00:42.640 put a fucking thing on you. It parks in this neighborhood. 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.879 Welcome home, y'all. I'm your host, Angela Ry. This is 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.760 the solo pod for Native lampod. And uh, what you 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.000 just heard is from a very good friend of mine, 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.920 good brother Omari Salisbury, who runs Converge Media. And what 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.840 you saw happening there something that is all too familiar 0:01:02.480 --> 0:01:05.760 to many of us all throughout this country. When gentrification 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.039 invades your neighborhood. These are the kinds of reactions you 0:01:09.120 --> 0:01:11.480 may have that and it may be an outburst and 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.320 maybe something that you hold, but it is something that 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:16.400 made me want to put on my soft girl era 0:01:16.480 --> 0:01:19.840 sweater on the last day of Black not Black History Months. 0:01:19.840 --> 0:01:21.840 I wish it was still Black History Months Women's History 0:01:21.880 --> 0:01:24.559 Month because I needed to find some softness in this moment. 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:26.399 But I'm going to bring in my good brother Omri 0:01:26.600 --> 0:01:29.160 so we could talk about this and how he was feeling. Omar, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:29.880 how are. 0:01:29.760 --> 0:01:32.080 You, Angela. I'm good. I'm getting a little. 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.000 More calm today. 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:38.000 Yeah, you know, under every day, I'm a corner reserve guy. 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:39.440 You know the background. 0:01:40.000 --> 0:01:43.880 Yeah, And so it surprised people, but it was just triggering, 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.120 and I think I know now how people feel when 0:01:46.160 --> 0:01:48.560 they're like, man, I was triggered, and that was just 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:52.800 years of just seeing us being really wallpapered over in 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:54.120 our own community. 0:01:54.160 --> 0:01:56.280 There was just a real triggering moment right there. 0:01:56.600 --> 0:01:59.280 Well, let's back into it a little bit. So we 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:01.600 saw what happened. And when you confronted him, tell me 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.880 what was happening? When was this? Where were you in 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:05.360 the city? 0:02:06.040 --> 0:02:07.840 So, I mean, here's the thing is. And I was 0:02:07.880 --> 0:02:08.839 really in a great move. 0:02:08.919 --> 0:02:12.240 This was Saturday and I was leaving Juggins playfield and 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:14.520 it was the Little League Chamboree. They had all the 0:02:14.560 --> 0:02:18.639 black teams, team names, the steal Heads and the Owls 0:02:18.680 --> 0:02:20.960 and the crow Birds and everything. And I'm sitting there 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:23.560 taking pictures, you know what I'm saying. So you know, 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.679 I'm a big baseball guy. So this was great Little 0:02:25.760 --> 0:02:28.240 League Jamboree. And I just go four blocks. I get 0:02:28.240 --> 0:02:30.680 the twentieth in Jackson, I'm in a red light, and 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:32.440 to be honest with you, I'm sitting there chilling them. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:33.560 I'm oblivious. 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:38.720 Somebody drives Western Jackson basically crosses the intersection. He's yelling 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:41.200 out the window and pointing over to the box, which 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:43.160 is to the left of me. He's like, man, don't 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:45.400 do that. And I'm like, well, what's going on? And 0:02:45.440 --> 0:02:47.840 so then I look right there, and what's not on 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.400 the video was that the box was already papered over. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:52.600 You see what I'm saying. And so you know we 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:54.360 should have been there. I'm from the turf. We're in 0:02:54.400 --> 0:02:57.000 the CD ced or see me. I just pulled my 0:02:57.080 --> 0:02:59.240 car right there. I end up blocking traffic, you know 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:01.280 what I'm saying. So that's when I get out the 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:03.160 car and I'm yelling at him out the window. I'm like, 0:03:03.160 --> 0:03:04.959 hold up, what are you doing? And that's when it 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:07.840 starts removing everything. And that's when I start the video. 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.160 And you know what I'm saying, I think you just 0:03:10.200 --> 0:03:14.280 got to let people know because oftentimes we be too quiet. 0:03:14.440 --> 0:03:17.640 We keep this what my mom calls architectural trauma that 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:21.440 we experience in our neighborhood. We internalize it and everything else. 0:03:21.919 --> 0:03:24.120 But like, man, that day, at that time, and like 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:26.800 I said, I was coming from a very happy space 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:29.320 and people know me, I'm a real quiet person out 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:32.200 in public, and yeah, but you know, it just needed 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:35.160 to be said. You know, I still got apologized to 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:38.680 my parents, to our elders and everything that for that, 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:42.840 for that outburst. But you know, it's Angela. You from here, 0:03:42.880 --> 0:03:45.240 it's town business. It's we only fifty thousand strong in 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.320 this city, you know what I'm saying. And so, man, 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.560 we ain't waving a white flag. We ain't give it 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.240 up on nothing, and we used to having to fight 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:53.480 for everything that we get, and so you know, it's 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:55.280 a little bit of fight that came out on Saturday. 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:58.280 Well, and that's the thing you're talking about. Fifty thousand strong. 0:03:58.280 --> 0:04:00.680 It ain't always been that way. See this, which is 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:03.440 this central district of course was majority black, the south 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.800 end was majority black. Nine eight one one eight historically 0:04:06.880 --> 0:04:10.000 has been the most diverse zip code in the entire country, 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.560 not just the state. And so when you see something 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:15.680 like that, I also don't want to erase the sister 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:18.520 you're talking about. So you mentioned I want to talk 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.440 about who was Rawa to especially it's women's history, wen. 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:22.920 So I think it's a good time to let people 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:24.239 know about our local heroes. 0:04:25.279 --> 0:04:27.080 Yeah, so, I mean Rawa sheep man. 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:29.279 She owned the spot there when I was pointing across 0:04:29.279 --> 0:04:31.320 the street in the video called man the hid Moh. 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:33.480 But even more than that, it was it was all 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:34.320 about you know, it's. 0:04:34.200 --> 0:04:37.680 Community space, things that we really be missing these days, 0:04:37.960 --> 0:04:42.400 really into the arts, arts scene, to the music scene, 0:04:42.440 --> 0:04:46.240 to just young creatives, right, And I mean she meant 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.800 a lot to a lot of people in our community. 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:51.120 And you know, one of the one of the reasons 0:04:51.120 --> 0:04:53.880 that she lost the hib mah, you know, the hipmo clothes, 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:58.800 was because of these shifting demographics or gentrification displacement however 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.960 we want to call it, you know, And she had 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:04.880 died a few years after that, and so this wasn't 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:07.119 because there are some icons. If you go to twenty 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:11.920 thirty Union, there's there's Earl Is on a box, Earl 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:12.720 Is still with us. 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:13.520 You know, he's living. 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.200 He's mad an icon as well, and you know he's 0:05:16.240 --> 0:05:18.480 on one of those boxes. But you know, she's someone 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:22.279 very beloved in so many different communities, and it really 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.560 struck a nerve. There's so many different types of people 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.839 that have hit me, you know, regularly just just black women. 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:35.320 There's the artist, there's immigrant community, there's there's man, there's 0:05:35.360 --> 0:05:39.240 so many different people because she touched so many different 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.880 people's lives. And man, you know, Malcolm X said, it's real. 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:45.279 The black woman is the most disrespected person on earth. Man, 0:05:45.440 --> 0:05:47.760 Come on, man, you know what I'm saying. We can't 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:50.159 just sit there. It's a small thing. It isn't the 0:05:50.200 --> 0:05:55.240 whole whatever. But man, it's just not okay. And what 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.839 people should know is real real quick is like because 0:05:57.839 --> 0:06:02.640 of gentrification and displacement, neighborhood and here in Seattle, that's 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:05.919 the same neighborhood that Jimmy Hendrix is from. That's the 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:10.120 same neighborhood that Quincy Jones met Ray Charles on twenty 0:06:10.120 --> 0:06:12.360 thirty Jackson and the rest is history. You know a 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:15.600 lot of people don't understand the black history in Seattle, 0:06:15.760 --> 0:06:19.159 and because of this just gentrification displacement right. 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:20.600 Now, man, some of us. 0:06:20.640 --> 0:06:23.240 All we got left is these power boxes that have 0:06:23.440 --> 0:06:25.400 murals to pass icons. 0:06:25.480 --> 0:06:27.359 So it's serious business for us. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:31.880 Yeah, I think that what struck me one, I've never 0:06:31.920 --> 0:06:34.120 heard you that loud. So I was like, oh, I 0:06:34.120 --> 0:06:37.360 got to watch to see what happened. And what did 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:40.360 strike me was I remember Omari And I haven't told 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:42.880 you this, but I was sitting down when I you 0:06:42.880 --> 0:06:46.080 know it, just like firmly planning back home. I was 0:06:46.120 --> 0:06:49.320 sitting down talking to our former mayor, Bruce Harrow. We're 0:06:49.360 --> 0:06:52.120 sitting there, like right across the street from Seattle, you 0:06:52.920 --> 0:06:56.320 where I went to law school where I mean again, 0:06:56.400 --> 0:06:59.400 he's also a hometown hero, legend, played football, you dubbed, 0:06:59.440 --> 0:07:02.200 like all of that grew up with, you know, my family. 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:05.400 And so Bruce is sitting there, some random white guy 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:08.040 is riding by on a bike and screams f you 0:07:08.120 --> 0:07:10.800 at him, and I'm like, I jump up, like I'm 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:13.720 what I'm Bruce has a whole security detail. I jump 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.400 up and Bruce's like, Nah, it's okay, that's just how 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:19.560 people feel. But that's not how we came up. Like, 0:07:19.600 --> 0:07:23.080 you don't yell out expletives at our elders, you know, no, 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:25.840 I don't care who you are. And so it's what 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:30.640 is jarring about what you displayed on that video is 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.960 how blatant the disrespect is. And I think the reason 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:36.360 why it's gotten so many reposts and so much traction 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:39.480 OMRI is because people have continued to witness this and 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.760 they haven't let out that rage. And it's not just 0:07:41.840 --> 0:07:43.120 happening in our city. 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:46.920 Come on, man, like, so people should know, right Seattle, 0:07:47.560 --> 0:07:51.000 there's probably more, but like officially, Seattle has a civil 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:52.880 rights assassination. 0:07:52.440 --> 0:07:54.120 And that was Edwin T. Pratt. 0:07:54.360 --> 0:07:58.559 He was the former head of the NAACP and everything else, right, 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:01.240 and he was he was a few months I think 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:05.440 after doctor King. And that's like Seattle's civil rights assassination. 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:08.520 Like standing it was kind of almost like how Mega 0:08:08.600 --> 0:08:11.000 Evers got killed. Evert Practice was there in the crib. 0:08:11.360 --> 0:08:13.440 He got murdered in front of his family. There's a 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:16.320 building there in our neighborhood. There's a pract building and 0:08:16.360 --> 0:08:19.280 this apartment building pract you know, I go over there, bro, 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.560 and the people in the building is looking at me 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:25.120 like I ain't supposed to be there. It's named after 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.280 this civil rights icon this you know what I'm saying, 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:32.000 and so like that, that's how crazy it is. And 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.840 you know, in our neighborhood right now, and it's a 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.640 lot of stuff that you know, it's people in the 0:08:37.640 --> 0:08:39.720 Central District. We grin and we bury it and we 0:08:39.800 --> 0:08:42.280 try to figure it out everything else. But there is 0:08:42.320 --> 0:08:45.480 a collective yell. There is a like a frustration to 0:08:45.600 --> 0:08:49.600 it there. There there is you know, I mean, man, 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:52.640 it hurts to be displaced, it hurts to be erased, 0:08:52.679 --> 0:08:55.000 It hurts to be papered over and still have to 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:57.840 pick yourself up every day. You know what I'm saying. 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:01.080 We have a strong cultural history and here to the 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.520 Central District of Seattle, on the south end of Seattle, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:06.640 and those ties are being cut and they're not being 0:09:06.679 --> 0:09:09.719 cut even with care, They're being cut with disregard. 0:09:10.320 --> 0:09:13.360 Yeah, And that's just that's exactly it. To the point. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:17.160 You know, we were raised with the elders who made 0:09:17.160 --> 0:09:19.640 sure that we can never forget our history. That's not 0:09:19.720 --> 0:09:22.160 everybody's story. So the question really is for the folks 0:09:22.200 --> 0:09:25.600 who are coming in here and don't know our history. 0:09:25.640 --> 0:09:28.520 What obligation, what collective obligation do they have, not just 0:09:28.640 --> 0:09:32.640 black transplants, but also white folks who come in. What 0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.440 is their obligation to know our history, to know the 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:38.360 responsibility they hold to not paper over us, to not 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:39.120 erase us. 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.439 Yeah, you know, as somebody who's who's been a migrant worker, 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.120 almost a majority of my career, I spent like twenty 0:09:46.200 --> 0:09:50.200 years overseas. I've been in sixty five countries, launched TV 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.520 and radio stations all over the world. Launched a TV 0:09:52.640 --> 0:09:55.280 station and the UAE and radio and all kinds of 0:09:55.280 --> 0:10:01.080 stuff in East Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda. Man, whenever I was 0:10:01.120 --> 0:10:03.079 in a new country or a new place, first thing 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.680 I really did was learn the customs overall generally and 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:10.080 especially in my neighborhood. You feel me like, I mean, 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:13.240 it ain't hard to really go and some things are 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:14.360 definitely universal. 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:15.680 When you see art, and. 0:10:15.640 --> 0:10:19.640 Especially art of a person, of the description of a 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:24.320 human being, you're not supposed to like deface that anywhere. 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.839 Like we shouldn't have to go to remedial school for that. 0:10:27.240 --> 0:10:30.320 But like I'll just let people know first, sure, and 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:34.720 be very clear here on your podcast that man, when 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.880 you're coming to the Central District of Seattle. Man, it's great, 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.360 you know, we welcome here or whatever. It's all good, 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:44.840 But man, you need to move with some regard and 0:10:44.920 --> 0:10:46.559 some care for the people. 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.080 Understand. I'll throw this in here real quick, an over 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:49.719 run out of time. 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.720 What's unique about our neighborhood is it's one hundred and 0:10:52.760 --> 0:10:55.920 forty years old. It's older than the state of Washington. 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:59.320 William Gross about that land from Henry Yesler over one 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:02.200 hundred and forty years ago on what's now twenty third Union. 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.600 And Henry Gross was a baller. We didn't come out 0:11:04.640 --> 0:11:05.120 here begging. 0:11:05.200 --> 0:11:08.320 We came out here buying, you know, a a long 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:11.640 long time ago. And you know, and our history here, 0:11:11.679 --> 0:11:14.880 black folks history precedes the State of Washington as buyers 0:11:14.920 --> 0:11:16.480 and owners and land owners. 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:18.360 And people just need to respect that. 0:11:19.080 --> 0:11:23.200 Yeah, they do well. I respect exactly how you responded 0:11:23.280 --> 0:11:25.440 to getting papered over o Maria. I bet you he 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.600 won't do it again. And in the meantime, what I 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:30.160 hope we can do, good brother, is really fine. Time 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.320 to hold these conversations in public spaces so that black 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.360 folks know we see each other, and then we figure 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.480 out what our collective response is going forward, so that 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.920 we feel safe in a city that we helped to build. 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:43.200 Man anytime, Agela, I'm here for it. 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:46.160 Thank you, O. Marie, take care all right, y'all. Well, 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:48.880 I wanted you all to hear what's happening in my town. 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.600 And I really appreciate Omri's response because so many people 0:11:53.640 --> 0:11:56.040 look at these things. We scream, we gas, our mouths 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.120 drop open. But the erasure is real and it doesn't 0:11:59.160 --> 0:12:02.800 just happen in Seattle right now. It is also happening 0:12:03.520 --> 0:12:17.280 in the state of Kentucky. There is an HBCU Kentucky 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:20.800 State University, which I believe was established in eighteen sixty six. 0:12:21.679 --> 0:12:25.480 The state legislature, Senate Bill one eight five, I believe 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.920 is working to change the mission of that institution. So 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.720 I asked one of my good friends who is in Kentucky. 0:12:31.720 --> 0:12:33.480 He is moving all over the state right now. He's 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:36.079 also running for the United States Senate. His name is 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.560 Charles Booker. Asked him to join us today to talk 0:12:38.559 --> 0:12:41.240 about what is going on, what's the collective response in 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:44.040 what black people all over the country can do to 0:12:44.280 --> 0:12:46.440 ensure that we push back against this. 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.839 Hello Charles, Hey Angela, it's good to be with you. 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:53.199 Good to be with you too. Your fight looks a 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.839 little different than on Maris, but it's important. Nonetheless, whatever 0:12:56.840 --> 0:12:59.080 our means are, as long as our goal, our end 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:00.840 goal is the same, that's what we got to do. 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:02.840 So talk to us a little bit about what's happening 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:04.480 with Kentucky State. 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:08.400 Well, what we're seeing with K State University is an 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:12.680 attack on not just an institution, but on identity, on culture, 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.120 on community, and it's something we're seeing across the country 0:13:16.160 --> 0:13:21.800 with the underfunding and undermining of HBCU. So K State is, 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:25.120 like you said, an esteemed institution, and this legislation now 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:28.679 is essentially going to put it under state control and 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:31.520 completely restructure it, essentially turned it into a trade school. 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:35.040 They're calling it a polytechnic school. And not only would 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:40.679 it erase the sense of community, substantially reduce enrollment, substantially 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.320 reduced the number of courses and options available for students, 0:13:43.360 --> 0:13:46.400 but also for Greek organizations, which of course I'm a 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.640 member of Cap Alphacib Fraternity Incorporated, would force them to 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:53.319 essentially have to reapply for their charter. It's completely eroding 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:56.720 the sense of community and place that has been a 0:13:56.800 --> 0:14:00.160 staple for so many across Kentucky and across the count 0:14:00.320 --> 0:14:03.000 and beyond. I have folks on my campaign staff who 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:07.040 are from k State University and everybody who has been blindsided, 0:14:07.400 --> 0:14:10.199 and they're afraid of not only what's happening to us, 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:13.480 but this broader picture of the erasure and just the 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.679 trampling on the identity of so many people who help 0:14:16.679 --> 0:14:17.480 build this country. 0:14:18.640 --> 0:14:20.840 I got to ask you, what you think the reason 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:24.920 for this is, Like, it's not new for HBCUs to 0:14:24.960 --> 0:14:28.120 be collapsed into traditionally white institutions. I used to work 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:29.840 at NAFIO, and it was a battle we would have 0:14:29.920 --> 0:14:33.480 all the time, SUNO and UNO, Southern University of New Orleans, 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:36.920 University of New Orleans. There was a constant battle the 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:39.240 closure of the schools. What do you think is the 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:43.440 reason that the Senate, in particular in the state of 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.479 Kentucky wants to do this now. 0:14:46.440 --> 0:14:49.080 Well, this conversation has been years in the making. When 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.160 I was a state legislator, we actually had a lot 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:55.920 of battles around protecting Kentucky State University as our HBCU 0:14:55.960 --> 0:14:58.080 and of course we have Simmons College as a private 0:14:58.200 --> 0:15:01.680 HBCU here in Louisville. But a lot of the argument 0:15:02.000 --> 0:15:06.480 had really revolved around the necessity of having Case State 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:09.800 as an HBCU. There are folks in the legislature, in 0:15:09.920 --> 0:15:13.400 political power who do not see the importance of institutions 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:18.280 that center the black experience, black community, our culture, and 0:15:18.880 --> 0:15:21.760 account for the brave injustice in our country. And so 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:24.800 year after year, Case State has not received the funding 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:27.600 that it is needed and that it has been deserved. 0:15:27.600 --> 0:15:29.400 And we know that's true across the country. A lot 0:15:29.440 --> 0:15:33.400 of our HBCUs have been grossly underfunded. We've seen studies 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:35.520 showing the Case State was underfunded to the tune of 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:39.600 nearly two hundred million dollars over the last three decades. 0:15:39.640 --> 0:15:44.280 And so to essentially claw the funding back and then say, Okay, 0:15:44.280 --> 0:15:46.440 since you're struggling with the crumbs, let me punish you 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:50.000 by taking more funding away. Okay, now you're struggling with that, 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:52.160 let's just get rid of you all together. That is 0:15:52.680 --> 0:15:55.720 very part and parcels to the experience that my ancestors 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:58.680 have facing this country that we certainly face today, and 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:01.240 it's why I'm running for that is why I'm standing up. 0:16:01.280 --> 0:16:02.320 We have to fight back. 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.480 What do you think your response would be? Certainly? The 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:08.760 one thing I appreciate about your charles too, is you 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:12.240 don't wait to be an elected office to make a difference, 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.280 to weigh in to advocate. So I know what your 0:16:15.280 --> 0:16:17.000 position is right now, But what do you think would 0:16:17.040 --> 0:16:19.080 be different if you were in the United States Senate 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.520 with this issue on the table? How would you respond? 0:16:22.360 --> 0:16:24.560 Well, you know, my main argument for why we need 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.600 to not just argue in the streets, which we got 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:29.120 to do. We gotta make noise in the streets, but 0:16:29.160 --> 0:16:31.400 we have to also go into this places where decisions 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:34.160 and policies are made, is because we need leaders in 0:16:34.200 --> 0:16:37.520 those positions who see our humanity. So having a United 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.360 States Senator that understands the value of black institutions, that 0:16:41.520 --> 0:16:45.320 understands the importance of equity, that understands the importance of diversity, 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:48.600 because right now there is a very widespread campaign to 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:51.720 essentially say that diversity is easy. The people that I'm 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:54.560 running against petition on the Republican side are putting out 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:59.720 ads saying that it's Unamerican, it's evil, it's an attack 0:16:59.760 --> 0:17:02.040 on cre ristianity. I mean, they're saying all the things 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:04.639 to essentially erase us, and we know the Senate has 0:17:04.640 --> 0:17:08.280 an important role in not only securing funding and infrastructure 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:11.440 resources for our HBCUs, but being an advocate and using 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:14.680 that bully pullpit. Right now, we can't be silent. This 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.480 is not just about HBCUs. We're seeing the rature of 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:21.919 our history in real time. We're seeing the undermining and 0:17:21.960 --> 0:17:25.160 the attacks on humanity from every angle. People are struggling 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:27.600 to find a way to just put food on the table, 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:29.720 and we know that education is a part of the 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:33.440 key forward. So when they're attacking education, they're letting us know, hey, 0:17:33.640 --> 0:17:36.959 we don't value your life. And what I know and 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:39.920 what I'm hopeful about, is that so many voices, not 0:17:40.040 --> 0:17:43.600 just the lum student leaders, faculty people are speaking up, 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:46.960 the NAACP, they're speaking up to call out the fact 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:48.960 that this is not going to happen on our watch. 0:17:49.480 --> 0:17:51.360 Because they're trying to rush this bill through. They were 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.920 hoping no one would notice, but we did notice. And 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.880 even as a candidate, I'm working with our colleagues out 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.720 in the States to help raise the noise and make 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:04.040 sure that we're taking direct action to make sure if 0:18:04.040 --> 0:18:05.400 they're going to run us over, they want to look 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.000 us in the eyes. And at the federal level, we 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:11.000 need leadership that will fight for working people, that will 0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.840 fight for the hard task, for the critical task of 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.960 pulling up the roots of racism and white supremacy. And 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:19.560 we need our black institutions to do that. 0:18:20.480 --> 0:18:23.560 Absolutely. You brought up the students. I know students were 0:18:23.840 --> 0:18:28.199 marching today on the Capitol, but also there is a 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.880 student response that we have to a local news station there, 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:32.840 So let's run that clip. 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:35.600 We want to get across through the message. 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.240 A small group of leaders meet in the student Activity 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:39.440 Center to strategize. 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:42.360 So I feel like we're washing everything. And again we're 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:44.720 just going to do the same thing with Kentucky State University. 0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.520 They're concerned cenerfl one eight five will have deep negative 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:52.600 impacts on the historic black university established in eighteen eighty six. 0:18:52.760 --> 0:18:55.719 We cannot sit back and say it's okay. 0:18:56.800 --> 0:18:57.480 It's not okay. 0:18:57.560 --> 0:18:58.360 We need to say it. 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.600 The word polytech new vision for the school from the 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.199 state legislature has the student bodies attention. 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:06.960 If it changed the polytech that mean that all liberal 0:19:07.040 --> 0:19:09.280 arts majors will go online and we would lose a 0:19:09.280 --> 0:19:12.200 sense of community that we have as black students here. 0:19:12.359 --> 0:19:15.080 The small group then met with a larger group inside 0:19:15.119 --> 0:19:18.680 Bradford Hall to discuss proposed amendments to the bill. They 0:19:18.680 --> 0:19:22.000 hope to have their voices heard by more lawmakers Tuesday, and. 0:19:22.000 --> 0:19:24.640 We're demanding to keep our identity. And we are also 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:28.200 demanding that they support more than a thousand students on campus. 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:31.160 And the bill it actually states that they would only 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.760 support at least a thousand students, So we actually want 0:19:34.800 --> 0:19:37.119 to have more students on campus. 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.960 You know, the main point here, Charles, is that students 0:19:41.000 --> 0:19:45.200 are activating. We are often under you know, the mistaken 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:49.199 assumption that it takes a huge number of people to 0:19:49.240 --> 0:19:52.760 make a difference. You saw that auditorium. It was not full. 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:55.800 I wish that it was. It would be for a concert, 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.200