Speaker 1: Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
Speaker 1: welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our
Speaker 1: mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I'm your host,
Speaker 1: Rams this job. He is Rams this job, I am Qward.
Speaker 1: You are tuned into Civic Scipher as you are, and
Speaker 1: we would like for you to stick around today because
Speaker 1: we have a special guest in the building. He goes
Speaker 1: by the name of Jevin Hodge.
Speaker 2: Welcome back to the show, Jenny. A great to be here,
Speaker 2: looking forward to this conversation.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And for those that don't know, Jevin serves as
Speaker 1: the president of an INACP branch representing nearly two million people.
Speaker 1: He is currently leading one of the nation's most historic
Speaker 1: and influential civil rights organizations in advancing equity, opportunity, and
Speaker 1: community empowerment. He previously served as a state representative and
Speaker 1: a former congressional candidate. And we have a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about with him today, including really the conversation that
Speaker 1: we want to have is kind of the role of
Speaker 1: local organizing, local politics and how people can get involved
Speaker 1: and should people we'll get involved. So again, Jevin is
Speaker 1: the expert, and so far as things like that are
Speaker 1: concerned because neither myself nor Q has gone that far
Speaker 1: politically speaking, But we'd certainly love to get your thoughts.
Speaker 1: And I know for a lot of people around the country,
Speaker 1: pushing back against kind of some of the recent goings
Speaker 1: on politically is something that a lot of people are
Speaker 1: interested and so we appreciate you taking the time to
Speaker 1: stop by. For those that are able to check out
Speaker 1: the second half of the show or check out some
Speaker 1: online content, we will be discussing the boycotting of the
Speaker 1: boycott of DEI. So this is something that was called
Speaker 1: for by Reverend Al Sharpton and it is a way
Speaker 1: to sort of exert some form of power over what's
Speaker 1: happening around all of us. And so we're gonna kind
Speaker 1: of dissect that and examine the merits, the pros and
Speaker 1: cons of that maneuver. But before we go too far,
Speaker 1: let le kick off some ebony excellence, shall we? Yes, sir,
Speaker 1: I think we shall. So today's ebony excellence comes from
Speaker 1: the Black Information Network. Class is now in session at
Speaker 1: Hillman Talk University. Black professors have gone viral for sharing
Speaker 1: their syllabi and reading materials through TikTok, allowing users to
Speaker 1: digitally engage in their curriculum. The viral trend was sparked
Speaker 1: by doctor Barlow, an African American studies professor, who was
Speaker 1: initially using the platform to interact with students in her
Speaker 1: physical classroom. As her videos gained traction, other TikTokers who
Speaker 1: weren't Barlow students began watching her videos to learn more
Speaker 1: about what she was teaching. Throughout the semester, more black
Speaker 1: professors began sharing their course expectations and reading materials to
Speaker 1: educate TikTokers on various subjects, from history to financial literacy.
Speaker 1: One oh one two screenwriting professors are now offering free,
Speaker 1: weekly live classes and corresponding homework assignments at what has
Speaker 1: been dubbed Hillman Talk University. Doctor Barlow said she was
Speaker 1: shocked to learn that the video she initially shared for
Speaker 1: her thirty person classroom sparked a viral trend. The African
Speaker 1: American studies professor has now created a TikTok syllabus specifically
Speaker 1: for her digital students to follow. And you know, Q
Speaker 1: and I were talking about this. We love this story.
Speaker 1: You know, doctor Barlow, you are our ebony excellence this
Speaker 1: week again right now a lot of people are dealing
Speaker 1: with a lot of hopelessness, especially when it comes to
Speaker 1: we'll call it CRT because that's what is popularly known as,
Speaker 1: but really American history, black history being taught in its
Speaker 1: full glory, and for people to take this online gain
Speaker 1: some traction and actually get students enrolled and have syllabus
Speaker 1: and have it be a formal thing. We just think
Speaker 1: that's just a fantastic effort and we wanted to applaud you.
Speaker 3: Pang Gomash to Himan College from a different World is
Speaker 3: a really cool shout out to.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so Jevin Hodge again, thank you for coming back.
Speaker 2: To this show. I appreciate being here. I just really quickly,
Speaker 2: especially to all the viewers out there and the listeners
Speaker 2: out there. These two brothers right here are holding it
Speaker 2: down nationwide. So q Ramses, thank you so much speaking
Speaker 2: truth to power but really upholding journalistic integrity and bringing
Speaker 2: the light these stories. I love this Hillman Talk story.
Speaker 2: I've been following it very closely, and I'm so happy
Speaker 2: to see that it was the ev Any Excellence for this.
Speaker 2: Oh yes, sir, so y'all, thank you for including me
Speaker 2: and having me back.
Speaker 1: On the show this week with you all sure, Okay,
Speaker 1: So let's start where we're supposed to start. The NAACP,
Speaker 1: the NAACP and the minds and the hearts of a
Speaker 1: lot of people, is a civil rights organization that kind
Speaker 1: of encompassed and defined the movement of our grandparents, in
Speaker 1: some cases our great grandparents. And you know, because Q
Speaker 1: and I happened to work with civil rights organizations all
Speaker 1: over the country and you know, individual local chapters as well,
Speaker 1: we happen to know that the NAACP or the NAACP.
Speaker 2: I should say, is.
Speaker 1: Really, I don't want to say, making an effort, let's say,
Speaker 1: has made an effort to include a new generation of
Speaker 1: people to kind of continue the work there. So do
Speaker 1: us a favorite talk to us a little bit about
Speaker 1: your role within the NAACP, and really what the NAACP,
Speaker 1: what this new leaf looks like, and what it means
Speaker 1: to people on the ground.
Speaker 2: I appreciate the question to start. The NAACP is the
Speaker 2: nation's law longest serving civil rights organization. Started in nineteen
Speaker 2: oh nine, right, that's one hundred and twenty six years ago.
Speaker 2: This organization has been on the front lines fighting for
Speaker 2: the advance The National Association for the advancement of colored people,
Speaker 2: fighting for equal rights, fighting for justice for all under
Speaker 2: the law, fighting for economic empowerment, housing security, you name it.
Speaker 2: This organization has been at the forefront, and I have
Speaker 2: to say it is an absolute honor to serve in
Speaker 2: a role. I am a local president of the NAACP
Speaker 2: representing two million individuals. In a way that this works
Speaker 2: is the national can't answer the call for every civil
Speaker 2: rights violation or every inaction injustice that has served in
Speaker 2: this country. So the NAACP is set up in such
Speaker 2: a way where the branch chapters or units as they're
Speaker 2: called within the organization have the jurisdiction and ability to
Speaker 2: under their charter, to live out the organization's mission and
Speaker 2: vision in their local jurisdiction. So the same exact way,
Speaker 2: you have the naac pre president of at Los Angeles,
Speaker 2: you have the of a CP president of Shreveport, Louisiana.
Speaker 2: You have the NAACP president in Tampa, Florida. You have
Speaker 2: the NAACP President of Wichital Kansas. And working in unison
Speaker 2: to protect the rights, to advance equity, and to ensure
Speaker 2: that we have we're living fulfilling the mission and obligation
Speaker 2: of our constitution right, and that declaration that makes the
Speaker 2: United States what it is, that that that we're all
Speaker 2: self evident, that all men and women are created equal,
Speaker 2: that they are endowed by their creators with those certain
Speaker 2: inalienable rights and what are they life liberty and in
Speaker 2: pursuit of happiness right. And so that's our constitution, that's
Speaker 2: the creed that we all subscribe to as Americans. But
Speaker 2: the one thing that we know for certain is that
Speaker 2: it hasn't been like that for us. And and the
Speaker 2: NAACP role is to keep holding individuals and institutions accountable
Speaker 2: until we are all are free.
Speaker 3: You know, rams Is made a point earlier, and I
Speaker 3: want to know kind of what steps can we take
Speaker 3: to further something that he hinted that but that I
Speaker 3: think we have not fulfilled and that we owe it
Speaker 3: to our people to do. When most people here in AACP,
Speaker 3: they do think longest standing legacy civil rights organization, but
Speaker 3: they think of it as something of the past. They
Speaker 3: see that a lot of our leadership are are our grandparents' age,
Speaker 3: and in this effort to reach the generation that now
Speaker 3: should be leading us right that the passing of the baton,
Speaker 3: I think shouldn't even be to people our age. You know,
Speaker 3: doctor King accomplished so much in his twenties. Yep, that's
Speaker 3: exactly right, you know what I mean. So, how is
Speaker 3: it that we get that generation, who at some point
Speaker 3: will be the majority of our country, to be more engaged,
Speaker 3: more leading their generation into taking these steps so that
Speaker 3: they don't live most of their lives in this place
Speaker 3: where we just arrived a week ago or a couple
Speaker 3: of weeks ago.
Speaker 2: In Q, I love how you just position that and
Speaker 2: Ramses you talked about turning the leaf, passing the generational baton.
Speaker 2: I'm thirty one years old, and our organization represents nearly
Speaker 2: two million people, right, and that's our service area. We
Speaker 2: have to tell the story. I'm one of the youngest
Speaker 2: chapter presidents Unit presidents in the country, leading this civil
Speaker 2: rights organization, one of the youngest people in the fold,
Speaker 2: leading this organization, and we need to showcase that, Q
Speaker 2: to your point that this is for everyone, right, and
Speaker 2: our generation is going to be the generation that fights back. Right.
Speaker 2: Doctor King wasn't in his fifties. Doctor King wasn't even
Speaker 2: in his forties. Doctor King, like you said, was in
Speaker 2: his twenties and in his thirties when he led the
Speaker 2: civil right its movement and is going to be us
Speaker 2: up to us, right, It's going to be up to
Speaker 2: us the generation that is mostly impacted by this. I mean,
Speaker 2: just let's just use this for a second. I'm want
Speaker 2: to answer the second part of your question. If you're
Speaker 2: a millennial, you have lived through an economic depression, you
Speaker 2: have lived through a global pandemic, you are likely crippled
Speaker 2: in debt, and you have seen a tyrant elected twice
Speaker 2: to be the President of the United States that has
Speaker 2: displayed in the first nine days of his presidency an
Speaker 2: authoritarian role in this country. And you are a millennial,
Speaker 2: you might have school age children might right, And so
Speaker 2: it is going to be young people that drives this
Speaker 2: country forward. And the reason why I personally believe the
Speaker 2: NAACP is so vitally important in this moment is because
Speaker 2: the NAACP is nonpartisan. The NAACP does not take sides.
Speaker 2: They just hold people accountable. You could be a bad
Speaker 2: personal to right, you could be a bad personal left.
Speaker 2: We're going to get the job done. And when you
Speaker 2: think about what is important right now in this moment,
Speaker 2: it is protecting the future of our democracy. It is
Speaker 2: ensuring that all people have economic justice in this country.
Speaker 2: It is ensuring that people have a place to live
Speaker 2: right housing security, It is ensuring that our education system
Speaker 2: isn't dismantled from within. And so if you're passionate about
Speaker 2: those issues, then the NAACP is a home for you,
Speaker 2: and it's a home for you that comes with a
Speaker 2: brand and legacy that people respect and take serious.
Speaker 1: Now, I appreciate you reminding everyone that the NAACP as
Speaker 1: they wish to be referred to as. Now, so that's
Speaker 1: why you hear us kind of going back and forth
Speaker 1: with how we're referencing them. But the NAACP is nonpartisan. However,
Speaker 1: I would have to imagine that just like with every administration,
Speaker 1: there has to have been a particularly strong reaction to
Speaker 1: the Trump administration in the first handful of days of
Speaker 1: the administration kind of taking power, and this has caused
Speaker 1: a lot of concern for a lot of people on
Speaker 1: the ground, certainly people that listen to this show communities affected.
Speaker 1: You know where this show is broadcast, and we've heard
Speaker 1: it stated that community organization. Community is where we need
Speaker 1: to focus on. Community is where we need to pull
Speaker 1: our resources and create robust, enduring, well formatted, call it systems,
Speaker 1: so that for people who this administration hits the hardest,
Speaker 1: enduring will be less of a chore, less of a
Speaker 1: less burden. Right, So I would like for you to
Speaker 1: talk to us a bit about what community organization entails
Speaker 1: and indeed what the NAACP and similar orgs think, The
Speaker 1: Urban League think, the National Council Negro Women comes to mind,
Speaker 1: you know, these other orgs. What is the role that
Speaker 1: they can that these organizations can play in attracting and
Speaker 1: helping communities organize their efforts in remaining afloat, so to speak,
Speaker 1: during this these four years.
Speaker 2: I would I would say it sums up to this.
Speaker 2: The role of these legacy organizations, these community organizations is
Speaker 2: to serve as the convener, the educator, the organizer, and
Speaker 2: the mobilizer. And when we can do those four things effectively,
Speaker 2: we have a community that is united and that is
Speaker 2: moving in unison. We have an abundance of organizations serving
Speaker 2: our community in some way shaping for right. Urban League
Speaker 2: is doing its role right, the NAACP is doing its
Speaker 2: role right. And then as you look to our other counterparts,
Speaker 2: you got lou Lack. That's doing their role. Right, you
Speaker 2: have these organizations that are on the front lines. But
Speaker 2: right now, more than ever, these organizations and I said
Speaker 2: this not too long I said this at our last
Speaker 2: NAACP meeting, said We're no longer on the front lines.
Speaker 2: We are now special forces. And what we have to
Speaker 2: do now is that we have to reinsert ourselves into
Speaker 2: the community to provide that community education as to why
Speaker 2: their rights are being disenfranchised, why they are being impacted.
Speaker 2: We have to recruit these people to be into the
Speaker 2: fight with us by educating them on what they are
Speaker 2: missing out on, knowing their rights trainings, right, understanding what
Speaker 2: a federal freeze means to them in their everyday life, sure, right,
Speaker 2: and then using the levers that we have to put
Speaker 2: pressure on the institutions, right, that is mobilizing, to put
Speaker 2: pressure on your elected member of your congress, or state
Speaker 2: representative or state senator or city council member, organizing folks
Speaker 2: that they can participate in the democratic process. The entire
Speaker 2: reason that we're in this problem where we're at right
Speaker 2: this second, is because of the systemic and the systemic
Speaker 2: disenfranchisement of limiting people's voices to participate in their democracy.
Speaker 2: The people do not want this administration, but the people
Speaker 2: aren't voting, right. Bad politicians do not get elected by
Speaker 2: good people. Bad politicians get elected by people who are
Speaker 2: apathetic or not participating in the system. So that community
Speaker 2: organization is making sure people are registered to vote, that
Speaker 2: they understand what is happening, that they're participating in their democracy,
Speaker 2: that they're contacting their elected representatives, that we're giving them
Speaker 2: the resources to go down to these city council members
Speaker 2: and these state legislators and to these members of Congress
Speaker 2: to share their stories as to how you know, because
Speaker 2: grandma just lost her benefits, right, Grandma is not going
Speaker 2: to get meals on wheels today, right, That is where
Speaker 2: she's getting her only sense of food. Right. And this
Speaker 2: is impacting us no matter where we're at in this country.
Speaker 2: So that community organization is so vitally important because strength
Speaker 2: is in numbers. But if you aren't participating in the system,
Speaker 2: you can't get mad when the system choose you up
Speaker 2: and spits you out. Right, And when you've been pushed
Speaker 2: on and stepped on by the system for so long,
Speaker 2: you don't want to participate. But it's our role to
Speaker 2: remind folks that they do have power, that their voice
Speaker 2: does matter, that they are important, and that's what we're
Speaker 2: going to do, you know, That's that's what this is
Speaker 2: all about.
Speaker 3: We notice people pay a lot of attention to national
Speaker 3: elections and then after they don't go the way that
Speaker 3: they like or that we like, that apathy does kick in.
Speaker 3: People do disconnect and throw their hands up, and what
Speaker 3: do we do now? Right the role of not just
Speaker 3: civil rights organizations, but community organizers, the community itself when
Speaker 3: it comes to local politics, when it comes to local
Speaker 3: civic engagement, when it comes to finding a plan, because
Speaker 3: a lot of people's angst right now is is there
Speaker 3: anything that we can do? Like what's next? What role
Speaker 3: do organizations like the NAACP play in moments like that
Speaker 3: where we live? How does it affect where we live
Speaker 3: right now? And what can we do to make change?
Speaker 1: Well, there's a few different direct roles that.
Speaker 2: The NAACP plays and organizations like it. Number one is,
Speaker 2: like I said, providing that community education. Folks just do
Speaker 2: not have the information that they need to be successful.
Speaker 2: And this administration is flooding the market and they're doing
Speaker 2: this as a strategic approach to confuse people and to
Speaker 2: keep people all, you know, so discombobulated that they have
Speaker 2: no clue what's happening. So it is our role to
Speaker 2: make sure that we are providing that education and information.
Speaker 2: Number two is participation in the democratic process, and the
Speaker 2: NAACP is a nonpartisan organization. However, we can ensure that
Speaker 2: folks are registered to vote, that they have all the
Speaker 2: information that they need, that we're mobilizing people to vote,
Speaker 2: that they're reminding them about their elections, and providing the
Speaker 2: scorecards of people been on the right side of history
Speaker 2: and the right side of civil rights. And then last,
Speaker 2: the last opportunity here that what can happen immediately is
Speaker 2: that the NAACP can leverage its membership. It can leverage
Speaker 2: the legal redress process, because there are multiple ways to
Speaker 2: set the legal precedent in this country. And we've learned
Speaker 2: that right schools were integrated because of Brown v. Board
Speaker 2: of Education Right and because of infraction or because of
Speaker 2: a violation that may occur at a local branch level.
Speaker 2: It is the legal response that we have on our
Speaker 2: side right now, because legal president doesn't just happen to
Speaker 2: happen to have it doesn't just happen to have to
Speaker 2: happen at the Supreme Court level, it can happen at
Speaker 2: any of the federal court levels or state court levels.
Speaker 2: And when you can lies these opportunities to dictate the
Speaker 2: strategy based off of the legal response, that is going
Speaker 2: to put the ball in our court. Do we know
Speaker 2: why did the federal freeze stop because a judge said
Speaker 2: that it was unconstitutional? Because we had the legal precedent
Speaker 2: that states that it is unconstitutional. And so we have
Speaker 2: to be incredibly surgical with our approach right and incredibly
Speaker 2: coordinated with our partners, and our community needs to be
Speaker 2: incredibly informed because the legal response is going to be
Speaker 2: a significant part of what happens here over the next
Speaker 2: four years in the future of this country because we
Speaker 2: still have very good people in the judicial system that
Speaker 2: upholds judicial integrity.
Speaker 1: So I'll be honest. That made me feel hopeful, and
Speaker 1: I'm looking for hopeful wherever I can get it, So
Speaker 1: thank you for that. I got about a minute, so
Speaker 1: it's not a lot of time. But for folks who
Speaker 1: maybe they have been thinking about running for their own
Speaker 1: city council, their own you know whatever, local office, what
Speaker 1: do you say to them who they might be on
Speaker 1: the cuss they might be intimidated by it. What advice
Speaker 1: would you have where do they start? Anything that comes
Speaker 1: to mind. I know it's a short amount of time.
Speaker 2: Do it. Just do it and reach out to me
Speaker 2: on Instagram twice, Facebook or Twitter at Jevin Hodge. I
Speaker 2: will guide you through the process. We need good people
Speaker 2: running for office. And the reason why, like I said earlier,
Speaker 2: people we lose elections right and we get bad people
Speaker 2: in offices because the apathetics doesn't participate and we have
Speaker 2: the same candidates running. We need new ideas in the process,
Speaker 2: and I would argue that the first thing to do
Speaker 2: is whatever office you want to run for, go to
Speaker 2: that meeting. Go to a city council meeting and learn
Speaker 2: about what the city council members are talking about. You
Speaker 2: want to run for school board, go to a school
Speaker 2: board meeting. You want to run for state legislature, go
Speaker 2: to the state legislature. There are people that and you
Speaker 2: want to see the people that you agree with, Go
Speaker 2: walk up to them and introduce yourself. That's the easiest
Speaker 2: way to get the ball rolling, because if you are
Speaker 2: bold enough to run for office, then you're bold enough
Speaker 2: to go introduce yourself and shake somebody's hand that is
Speaker 2: already in the space of something that you want to do,
Speaker 2: and that would be my first recommendation, Rams' job for president.
Speaker 2: Hey there, we god support that.
Speaker 1: Well, hopefully you're gonna stick around for the rest of
Speaker 1: the show. We do appreciate you coming and share sharing
Speaker 1: your insight on the show. And I know that as
Speaker 1: a long standing member of the NAACP or the NAACP,
Speaker 1: you know, been a long life. I am very much
Speaker 1: looking forward to working together to get through likewise, just
Speaker 1: the next chapters.
Speaker 2: Likewise,