WEBVTT - Minneapolis Town Hall Highlights 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.400 Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:12.879 Reason Choice Media and speaking of elected officials who are 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:17.120 accountable to the people, who are regularly representing what we 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:21.279 need done, ensuring that our voices are heard, and that 0:00:21.360 --> 0:00:25.000 there's an advocate in one of the highest offices in Minnesota. 0:00:25.000 --> 0:00:30.280 Please join me and welcome me your Attorney General, Keith Ellison. 0:00:34.320 --> 0:00:36.200 He's got a receiving line, y'all, he's. 0:00:36.080 --> 0:00:47.120 Coming, Attorney General, Keith Ellison. Ladies and gentlemen, I mean 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:47.480 I try. 0:00:47.479 --> 0:00:49.640 I said, I'm channeling Angela Davis. That's who I was 0:00:49.720 --> 0:00:52.120 named after. I yield the floor to the Attorney General there. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.840 Thank you, Angela Hey, thank you guys for being out 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.920 here tonight. I can't think of a more important place 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:02.280 for you to be. Our country, in our state, in 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:05.319 our city, in this very moment, has been the site 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:10.759 of the largest single escalation of ICE agents of immigration 0:01:10.920 --> 0:01:16.360 officials in the history of the United States. Ordinarily, ICE 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:19.200 has about one hundred people for. 0:01:19.240 --> 0:01:22.600 The five state area, the five state area. 0:01:23.640 --> 0:01:29.920 Now they have four thousand ICE agents for just the 0:01:29.920 --> 0:01:36.399 state of Minnesota, which is an increase. I don't have 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:38.440 to tell you what's been happening. You live here, you've 0:01:38.440 --> 0:01:41.119 been seeing it, you've been experiencing it yourself. 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:44.160 But this blanket of. 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:51.840 Attack is certainly not normal, not justified, and it's not legal. 0:01:53.920 --> 0:01:58.920 So what we have done about Operation Metro Surge, first 0:01:58.920 --> 0:02:01.880 of all, as we filed a lawsuit which was heard yesterday, 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:07.760 and what we argue was very simple that if the 0:02:07.800 --> 0:02:13.360 federal government cannot bully and take over Minnesota and pass 0:02:13.480 --> 0:02:16.080 laws to make us do what the federal government wants, 0:02:16.400 --> 0:02:19.200 if they can't do it with an executive order or 0:02:19.240 --> 0:02:23.000 with a piece of legislation, they certainly can't do it 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:29.560 with four thousand armed, masked men. If they couldn't pass 0:02:29.600 --> 0:02:32.760 the law that said all Minnesota law enforcement is now 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:37.000 an ice agent, which they could not do, they certainly 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:39.119 can't say, oh, you don't want to do it our way, 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:42.760 We're going to send people with guns in large numbers 0:02:42.760 --> 0:02:47.120 to your state to intimidate and even kill people. At 0:02:47.120 --> 0:02:51.040 the end of the day, I believe we are going 0:02:51.080 --> 0:02:56.000 to prevail because we're right and what we're doing is just, 0:02:57.480 --> 0:02:59.639 and I am telling you that we're not here to 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:04.639 back down. And I will also tell you this, there 0:03:04.760 --> 0:03:10.440 is no legal barrier to a state prosecutor. 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:16.240 Charging a federal agent. You understand there's. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:21.400 No legal barrier. I've been a lawyer for thirty six years. 0:03:22.120 --> 0:03:25.480 I'm here to tell you that law and morality are 0:03:25.560 --> 0:03:29.160 not the same thing. That unjust things happen in the 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:33.080 name of the law. But what I'm telling you is 0:03:33.120 --> 0:03:38.720 that it is not a fact that the federal agents 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.520 can commit crimes in this state and never have to 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:45.640 worry about accountability. You heard the Vice President of the 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:51.200 United States tell you absolute immunity. I don't know if 0:03:51.240 --> 0:03:54.000 he's lying or if he just doesn't know the law, 0:03:54.040 --> 0:04:00.520 but he's absolutely wrong. You could pick lying or ignorant, 0:04:00.520 --> 0:04:03.080 but he's wrong either way. 0:04:03.520 --> 0:04:06.560 You can pick either one. But it is not the case. 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.000 And the real challenge, and I'm just gonna be very 0:04:09.000 --> 0:04:14.040 clear with you guys, is the pragmatic reality of completing 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.679 an investigation and then getting a case to a grand 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:19.760 jury or getting enough probable cause to charge. 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.520 Now, there's a lot of cases. 0:04:24.200 --> 0:04:28.240 That are hard to bring because you do have evidentiary barriers. 0:04:28.640 --> 0:04:35.240 In this situation, there's so much video evidence. There is 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:41.279 so much video evidence, and look, so the reality of 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.920 the situation is I'm not going to stand Uparia and 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:46.200 say I'm charging that dude with this, and I'm gonna 0:04:46.200 --> 0:04:48.159 tell you why, because that would be improper. 0:04:48.200 --> 0:04:49.480 Prosecutors shouldn't do that. 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:54.400 You all will remember when George Floyd was murdered, first 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.280 we got the evidence together, then we charge all four 0:04:57.279 --> 0:05:01.360 of them with murder. H I'm just using that as 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:04.480 an example to let you know that nobody here should 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:07.400 feel that these people are just gonna skate on this. 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:12.320 Okay, you shouldn't feel that way. Now. When when when 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:13.320 on the first time. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:19.400 When they killed uh Renee Good, local police went and said, 0:05:19.440 --> 0:05:24.039 we need to process the crime scene, find evidence, put 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:27.480 put things down, you know, the little little cards and 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:30.239 put the numbers down, and make sure that we process 0:05:30.320 --> 0:05:30.839 the scene. 0:05:31.200 --> 0:05:32.400 And the federal agent. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:33.800 Said, no, you're not going to be allowed to do that, 0:05:33.880 --> 0:05:36.200 and we're going to take the casings, we're gonna take 0:05:36.240 --> 0:05:38.280 this car, and we're going to take the gun. 0:05:39.880 --> 0:05:42.400 So then it was like, okay, that's different. 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:47.000 And then they shot a man in North Minneapolis who's 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.680 who survived only right over there some of y'all might 0:05:50.720 --> 0:05:53.120 have been who was there that night in North Minneapolis 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:56.400 when it was when the chemical irritant was in the 0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:58.080 wear ear like smoke everywhere. 0:05:58.480 --> 0:05:59.800 Good to see you there, Latania. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:03.080 And then but and then they said, no, you're not 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:05.080 going to process that scene. So now on this one, 0:06:05.440 --> 0:06:07.800 we hear about Preddie getting shot. We went to court 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.240 and got a court order and got a judge to 0:06:10.360 --> 0:06:12.920 rule that the evidence may not be destroyed, may not 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:16.360 be tampers with, and we have to have access with it. 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.440 And the judge issue the order Saturday night. 0:06:19.520 --> 0:06:22.440 We were back in court yesterday arguing it and the 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.120 court is not ruled yet, but we are confident that 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:27.719 they're not going to be able to mess around with 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.919 this evidence. So what I'm just telling you that that 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:36.839 whether it's a civil action that we've taken or whether 0:06:36.880 --> 0:06:40.880 it's the criminal cases, we are going to do everything 0:06:41.000 --> 0:06:44.960 we can to make sure there's truth and accountability here. Now, 0:06:45.040 --> 0:06:51.839 let me just tell you this, this situation, this oppression 0:06:51.880 --> 0:06:55.480 that Minnesota is under right now, will not be solved 0:06:55.760 --> 0:06:59.280 in a courtroom. It just won't be Like so after 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:04.560 the Floyd case, did police brutality stop. No, That's why 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.839 at the time I said, this is not justice, but 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:13.560 it is accountability. The real justice and the real freedom 0:07:13.640 --> 0:07:16.880 and the real true democracy will be because you go 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.720 out in the street and demonstrate and say no to 0:07:19.800 --> 0:07:23.520 this oppression. It is the people in the street, in 0:07:23.560 --> 0:07:26.520 the hearts and the minds of the people marching in 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:30.080 nine below weather, standing up and saying no, We're not 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.880 going to let you roll over us this way, which 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:37.720 is going to win the day, together with elections, together 0:07:37.760 --> 0:07:40.400 with the artists, together with all of these things that 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.800 we collect to try to create a just society. 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:44.440 And it's not overnight. 0:07:45.440 --> 0:07:50.840 And I cannot guarantee you perfect safety as you fight 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:55.720 for justice any more than people could guarantee Martin Luther King. Oh, 0:07:55.760 --> 0:07:58.000 nobody's ever going to hurt you if you stand up 0:07:58.000 --> 0:08:02.320 for justice, or nobody's ever gonna hurt you. Nobody's ever 0:08:02.360 --> 0:08:05.600 gonna harm you if you protest. 0:08:05.760 --> 0:08:08.280 Jimmy Lee Jackson, we all know what happened. 0:08:09.760 --> 0:08:14.000 There's no guarantee of perfect safety when an oppress or 0:08:14.040 --> 0:08:18.760 feels threatened that you're trying to be free yourself. So 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:21.760 at the end of the day, friends, I am asking 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:26.120 you to protest. I'm asking you to protest peacefully and safely. 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:31.360 But I would rather you be out there facing those 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.800 bad guys and that is exactly what they are than 0:08:34.880 --> 0:08:37.280 sitting at home worrying about your own comfort and safety 0:08:37.720 --> 0:08:41.240 safely not doing anything. We need people to be We 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:44.800 need everybody to do whatever they can do. And some people, look, 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:47.760 they got bad needs, they've got disabilities. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:48.440 They can't be out there protested. 0:08:48.720 --> 0:08:51.760 Well, maybe you can make calls and get people to 0:08:51.800 --> 0:08:55.320 the election that's coming up. Maybe you can do mutual 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:57.280 aid for people who are shut up in their homes 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.480 and can't even go to work because they're scared to 0:08:59.559 --> 0:09:02.520 isations going to stop them. But at the end of 0:09:02.559 --> 0:09:05.000 the day, all of us have to do something in 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:08.640 this movement that we're in, and you being here tonight 0:09:09.320 --> 0:09:12.520 is doing something, is doing. 0:09:12.280 --> 0:09:14.720 Something important, because let me tell. 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:23.240 You, presence is Presence is power, friends, witnesses power. And 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:26.160 let me tell you the bad ones out there who 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:29.040 are trying to press all of us, they know very 0:09:29.120 --> 0:09:31.360 well that you're having a meeting here tonight at the Capri. 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:33.160 You think they don't know. 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:35.520 If they knew, if they were spying on you in 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:37.520 the sixties. You think they're not spying you on you 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:38.480 in the twenty twenties. 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:43.920 Of course they are, But screw them. 0:09:44.600 --> 0:09:45.720 We're not scared of them. 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:50.200 And I don't care if mister Miss Christinoan knows that 0:09:50.280 --> 0:09:52.880 I'm here working with you guys. 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.920 And you should not. And if you're scared that she's 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:57.240 going to know about you, be they or you in 0:09:57.280 --> 0:10:01.160 the wrong place. This is this movement. 0:10:01.720 --> 0:10:07.200 We are guarantee success because we are faithful. We are 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:10.080 guarantee success because we are faithful, and we won't quit 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:12.920 and we won't ever give up. Now, a last word 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:14.600 that I want to say to you, And I don't 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:16.920 know if Angela wants me to answer any questions or not, 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:18.839 but there is one word I want to say to 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:23.880 you before I rap. I want to urge you and 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:28.720 talk to you about the fundamental importance of human solidarity 0:10:28.840 --> 0:10:33.400 in this moment, because so often we're oppressed based on 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:37.560 our identity and as African Americans. You and I know 0:10:38.600 --> 0:10:41.080 two hundred and forty six years of slavery, one hundred 0:10:41.120 --> 0:10:45.360 years of Jim Crow, and disparities in race every single 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:50.240 year after that, there's never been a moment where black 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:54.920 life in America has been celebrated in official channels. The 0:10:55.000 --> 0:10:58.640 one time somebody black becomes president, it scares this country 0:10:58.720 --> 0:11:00.840 so bad that it brings on Donald Trump. 0:11:01.920 --> 0:11:06.920 So you and I both know the deal here. But 0:11:06.960 --> 0:11:08.160 what I'm saying to you. 0:11:08.160 --> 0:11:12.960 Is, as a child who's as a child of African descent, 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:15.160 as a black man in America, who can trace my 0:11:15.280 --> 0:11:20.199 roots in America since seventeen forty two, I can. 0:11:22.960 --> 0:11:25.400 These folks can't tell me I don't I'm not from here. 0:11:26.880 --> 0:11:29.360 And no black person in this room whose ancestors came 0:11:29.400 --> 0:11:31.520 here and slavery can be told you're not from here. 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.360 But did you know that you were not a citizen 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:35.920 up until the fourteenth Amendment? 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:37.480 Did you know that? 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.520 Did you know that the Supreme Court justice in the 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:44.679 United States, the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:47.840 said black people who were born, lived their whole lives, 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:52.079 and died in this country for seven generations up until 0:11:52.120 --> 0:11:58.679 the about eighteen fifties were not citizens. So this thing 0:11:58.720 --> 0:12:03.040 about citizen his own always been racially informed. Did you 0:12:03.200 --> 0:12:07.080 know that the first statutes on immigration to this country 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:11.160 said only free white people could come here. It wasn't 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:18.280 until nineteen sixty five that Asian, Latin American, and African 0:12:18.320 --> 0:12:22.040 people could immigrate to the United States. Immigration was a 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:24.520 civil rights bill, just like the Voting Rights Act was. 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:27.560 And so I'm gonna send me over here like a 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:28.079 sign man. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:40.480 He just said, might drop. 0:12:40.559 --> 0:12:43.880 Okay, y'all give it up again for Attorney General Keith Dallison. 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.000 He walked all the way out. We love him. 0:12:47.080 --> 0:12:49.880 We're so grateful for his passion, first commitment, for being 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:52.560 here with us this evening again on such short notice. 0:12:52.720 --> 0:12:56.040 Thank you so much, Attorney General Keith Ellison. I'm bringing 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:59.520 out my co host Andrew gillim Bacari Sellers. We have 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:03.280 a quick pianel with some clergy folk who are doing 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:04.600 tremendous work. 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.560 Who cares about truth when the last more. 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:13.079 Than saying it. 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:18.240 As you all know, there was a big organizing effort 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.280 with clergy at the airport just last week. It is 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:26.680 important that folks are raising their voices because we know 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:28.920 there's a whole other one that has a whole church. 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:30.920 But he's also working with ice, but we'll talk about 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:35.400 that another time. Please welcome to the stage Reverend doctor 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:39.600 Kiaren McKinney, Professor and Community Liaison at Betha University, Minister 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:45.400 Janeyamuri be Betsamurray Believe, Co Executive Director of Faith in Minnesota, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:49.760 and Isaiah and our good sister when Tana Mellikin Executive 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.400 director of Groundwork Action co hosts. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:53.199 You're coming back out. 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.040 We're gonna ask some quick questions and I know we're 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.480 getting the calls to action. So the hour is late 0:13:57.520 --> 0:13:59.000 and we got to work. I don't know where when 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:04.120 Tana is, but she will join us soon hopefully. All Right, Well, 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.320 first of all, ladies, can you talk about the importance 0:14:08.520 --> 0:14:13.400 of motivating and moving clergy to act at a time 0:14:13.520 --> 0:14:17.520 like this. I think about the letter from the Birmingham 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:20.200 jail and what doctor King was challenging us with. 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.200 Come I Andrew challenging. 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.480 Us with, and it feels like this moment is yet 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:30.640 again a choice between white nationalists, Christianity and black liberation 0:14:30.800 --> 0:14:33.880 theology and then somewhere in between everybody else when Tana, 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.040 everybody give it up for when Tana we introduced one 0:14:36.120 --> 0:14:39.880 Tina Mother King. Yes, but I want you to weigh 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:41.480 in on that Janay, and then I'll yield to you. 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:43.960 I mean absolutely. 0:14:44.160 --> 0:14:47.080 The reality is that we are we are going to 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:52.080 constantly recreate history and we get to beat the ciders 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:53.640 on if we're going to be history makers in the 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:57.120 midst of it. And so I would say it is 0:14:57.200 --> 0:15:02.640 not just about frankly agitating the Church, but it is 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.360 about agitating America that proclaims and professes to be the Church. 0:15:07.000 --> 0:15:09.680 And so when you are living in a place in 0:15:09.680 --> 0:15:13.640 the land that weaponizes my Jesus and my Bible, I 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:19.400 am I find it incredibly important that people who say 0:15:19.440 --> 0:15:21.720 that they know God, say that they know Christ, actually 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.520 live that out and call other folks into it. And 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.280 so the action that we took on Friday, on the 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.720 Day of Truth and Freedom, even the fact that that 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:33.600 I think it's important to say, even the fact that 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:36.120 day came into being was because of a bunch of 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:39.600 people of faith and union leaders and community members who 0:15:39.600 --> 0:15:42.040 said that we are going to take ourselves seriously enough 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:45.160 to build the kind of power to orchestrate the kind 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:48.640 of organizing necessary to have something like that. Because the 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.560 reality is that people can call for an economic blackout 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.880 or a general strike and like say that thing. But 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:57.760 then you got to look back to what happened in Montgomery, 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:01.280 Alabama in nineteen fifty five. When folks in a church 0:16:01.320 --> 0:16:04.040 said we're going to have the Montgomery bus boycott. It 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:06.400 was not just oh, let's do this thing and we're 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:08.720 going to say it and it'll happen. They put in 0:16:08.800 --> 0:16:11.000 the ground game to have three hundred and eighty one 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.280 days of people being able to get to work, to 0:16:13.280 --> 0:16:14.720 be able to get their kids, to be able to 0:16:14.760 --> 0:16:17.240 go to groceries and not take the bus, and so 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:21.440 with a man and so I do think that people 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:24.520 of faith have to make sure that we are truly 0:16:24.560 --> 0:16:27.400 taking ourselves seriously enough to strategize what does it mean 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:29.440 to do something today, what is it going to mean 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:30.920 for us tomorrow, what is it going to look like 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.880 for our people to day after that, and actually put 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:37.440 in the real grit in organizing that's required to make 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:38.480 that kind of thing come to be. 0:16:44.520 --> 0:16:47.400 I had a shirt that said, Jesus is not just 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:51.360 a Sunday thing because a lot of times we don't 0:16:51.480 --> 0:16:53.720 ascribe to the notion that they teach us in the 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:57.320 Book of James that says that faith without works is dead. 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.200 Because sometimes we become a very praying people, our knees 0:17:01.240 --> 0:17:06.160 get sore, we put holes in the carpet and forget 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:08.280 that we have to put our shoulder to the wheel 0:17:08.280 --> 0:17:10.879 on Monday to go out and get out the ditch. 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.040 My question is about the disconnect that the church has 0:17:14.800 --> 0:17:18.040 perceived with this new generation that's coming up and how 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:23.520 we as believers of whatever can bridge that gap because 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:25.280 we need them in our doors. The church used to 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.879 be Andrew and I we were having this discussion and 0:17:28.160 --> 0:17:31.359 Angela as well last week on the show, but we 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:33.760 all agreed that the church used to be that, and 0:17:33.840 --> 0:17:37.080 our stress used to be the epicenter of change. That's 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:40.560 where we had our organizational meetings, that's where we had 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:43.600 our precinct meetings. That's where we fed the hungary in 0:17:43.640 --> 0:17:47.240 our communities. I mean, this event in nineteen sixty five 0:17:47.280 --> 0:17:51.280 would have been in somebody Baptist church in Minneapolis. Doors, 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.840 open bus is going to get folks bringing them here 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.399 church moms. I mean, so, how do we get back 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:02.840 to that or evolve to the next iteration of that 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:07.119 while also opening our arms to a generation that feels 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:10.040 is that the church is not their home anymore. And 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:12.439 for me, that's that's almost devastating. 0:18:15.880 --> 0:18:21.959 McKinney, that's a hard one, see because and maybe it's 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:26.400 because I'm older, and that disconnect, I see, it's there. 0:18:27.400 --> 0:18:31.640 I have ninety four nieces and nephews, ninety four nieces 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.600 and nephews and grand nieces and great grands and so 0:18:36.200 --> 0:18:38.560 when I started doing this, I started calling up my 0:18:38.600 --> 0:18:41.040 nieces and nephews and saying, come come with me. 0:18:42.400 --> 0:18:45.440 You have to care. You don't have a choice. And 0:18:45.520 --> 0:18:49.000 it's like, oh, that's a Karen reverend and Karen. But 0:18:49.160 --> 0:18:50.000 some of them listen. 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:54.080 So I think there's a disconnect, but there's also you know, 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:58.800 they see what's going on and they care. And so 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.000 when I said come to this training, you know, some 0:19:01.080 --> 0:19:03.879 of four of them showed up and came to the 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:06.520 training and and it's like. 0:19:06.440 --> 0:19:08.040 You have you have to be out there with me. 0:19:08.640 --> 0:19:12.200 So so I think they're seeing and I'm not sure 0:19:12.200 --> 0:19:14.800 that that. I mean, I know there's a disconnect, but 0:19:15.160 --> 0:19:17.320 in my church, we have a rebirth of young people 0:19:17.640 --> 0:19:20.439 because I remember the days when you know, I'm standing 0:19:20.520 --> 0:19:22.639 and I'm shaking hands and standing by the door and 0:19:22.680 --> 0:19:23.920 there's not too many young people. 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.200 But then I counted seven babies. I said, seven people 0:19:27.240 --> 0:19:28.240 with seven babies. 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:30.720 Walk by, you know, and it's like, we're getting people, 0:19:31.200 --> 0:19:34.199 and so they want they people are hungry for it. 0:19:34.680 --> 0:19:38.400 And in my church, which is Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church, 0:19:39.680 --> 0:19:47.080 we we we are unashamedly black, yes, and we're proud 0:19:47.119 --> 0:19:49.680 to be a black church and own that even if 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:50.879 all of our members are. 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:55.800 Not, and so we want that that black history. 0:19:56.760 --> 0:19:59.880 We profess that, we say that we are proud of that, 0:20:00.160 --> 0:20:03.360 and we call forth people to be active and not 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.800 sit back. And so you know, I was designated in 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:09.640 my church to be when we started this Black Core 0:20:09.760 --> 0:20:12.359 Leadership Team, We're going to be one of these churches 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:15.679 that is involved in Isaiah and faith in Minnesota. The 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:18.480 pastor said, you take the lead on that. So I 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:20.720 took the lead on that. And I was with those 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:23.960 people who got arrested on Friday because I'm taking the 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:29.520 lead on that, and that's the expectation. And there's all 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:31.760 kinds of people from my churches and all the other 0:20:31.880 --> 0:20:35.280 churches that they put in and they say yes. And 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:38.720 I left this meeting, left a meeting where people were saying, 0:20:38.800 --> 0:20:41.879 we're going to Caucus and are you committed to caucusing 0:20:42.320 --> 0:20:44.880 and are you committed to bringing ten more people with 0:20:44.920 --> 0:20:48.320 you to Caucus on February third, And people were saying, yes, 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:51.080 I'm committed to this for the long run, and I'm 0:20:51.119 --> 0:20:52.439 going to ask my people. 0:20:52.560 --> 0:20:54.159 So we're still we're still doing it. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:55.280 Yeah, I love that. 0:20:55.359 --> 0:20:56.800 Give her a round of applause for that. I mean 0:20:57.320 --> 0:20:57.880 and I am. 0:20:57.960 --> 0:20:59.960 I mean, my last comment on this is that I am. 0:21:00.080 --> 0:21:04.480 I am absolutely unapologetic about the onus that I put 0:21:04.520 --> 0:21:07.760 on the Black Church. And the reason being is because 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:09.639 I feel like as a community, and this may be 0:21:09.720 --> 0:21:12.560 right or wrong, but I'll probably die with this. We 0:21:13.119 --> 0:21:18.480 don't survive, but we thrive if our church is the 0:21:18.520 --> 0:21:21.040 foundation of our community, not just our faith. 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:26.560 Yeah, I would agree with you speaking of the foundation 0:21:26.640 --> 0:21:30.439 of our community. Sit next to someone who created the 0:21:30.440 --> 0:21:35.359 Groundwork Institute, And I want to just take a moment 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:41.720 here because without Antana, protests and general strikes in all 0:21:41.760 --> 0:21:44.280 of that, the rally last week would not have happened 0:21:44.680 --> 0:21:45.400 last Friday. 0:21:45.440 --> 0:21:47.000 And so let's please give it up. 0:21:46.880 --> 0:21:50.840 For Auntana and all the work she's doing. And I 0:21:50.880 --> 0:21:54.240 also just want to acknowledge the human cost of the 0:21:54.280 --> 0:21:58.120 work she is battling to make sure that her loved 0:21:58.119 --> 0:22:01.199 ones are safe in the midst of putting her body 0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:03.760 on the line for all of us. And so I 0:22:03.800 --> 0:22:07.200 want you for a moment to talk about the fact 0:22:07.440 --> 0:22:11.720 when I'm acknowledging you give all of you to this community. 0:22:12.160 --> 0:22:13.960 I want to know and this is probably going to 0:22:14.040 --> 0:22:16.000 be very hard because you're a black woman in America, 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:17.679 but I want to know what this room can give 0:22:17.760 --> 0:22:18.280 back to you. 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.000 First, I just want to say thank you for having me. 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:26.679 And I also want to say the only reason I 0:22:26.720 --> 0:22:28.640 was a part of the march in the rally last 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:31.000 week is because Janey propositioned me to show up and 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:34.800 take that role. Janey was the person that really was 0:22:34.840 --> 0:22:37.000 the foundation of it and called me into her team. 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:39.520 They actually just voted me in on Monday as a 0:22:39.560 --> 0:22:42.119 physical member, and so I just want to acknowledge all 0:22:42.160 --> 0:22:42.880 the work she did. 0:22:44.000 --> 0:22:47.480 So thank you. 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:47.680 So. 0:22:47.840 --> 0:22:52.320 As angel shared, I am an air trained American, I'm 0:22:52.400 --> 0:22:56.200 a US citizen, but I also am struggling with immigration 0:22:56.880 --> 0:23:00.720 issues across my family. I mean, just yesterday, when coordinating 0:23:00.720 --> 0:23:02.880 with Angela around this, I had a family member picked 0:23:02.960 --> 0:23:05.560 up and now they're in New Mexico and we're trying 0:23:05.560 --> 0:23:08.640 to figure out what to do about it. Lately, in Minnesota, 0:23:08.680 --> 0:23:11.360 most folks have been getting sent to Texas and how they're. 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:13.000 Wet folks going to a new state. 0:23:13.440 --> 0:23:15.840