WEBVTT - Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett on the Future Under a Kamala Harris Presidency PART 1 0:00:00.680 --> 0:00:03.640 Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to 0:00:03.640 --> 0:00:06.320 welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, where our 0:00:06.360 --> 0:00:09.880 mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. I am 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:12.719 your host, Rams's Jah and trust you will hear from 0:00:12.800 --> 0:00:18.840 Qward very soon. This is a special episode. Recently we 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:23.239 got to sit down with the one and only US Representative, 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:30.800 Jasmine Crockett and have a fantastic conversation about politics. We 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.080 do often talk about politics on this show for the 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.280 benefit of you, our listeners, and for the benefit of us. 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:39.960 We are citizens in this country and voters the same 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:43.599 as everyone else, and who better to get some insight 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:48.680 from than the clapback Queen herself, and of course were 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:51.680 honored to be able to sit down with her or 0:00:51.800 --> 0:00:54.720 over an hour. If you want the full uncut interview, 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:57.960 you can always check out our website Civiccipher dot com. 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:00.520 But we do want you to stick around because this 0:01:00.560 --> 0:01:05.800 conversation discusses a number of things, many things of course 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:10.080 important to Black America, but a lot of things important 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:12.920 to America at large. Of course, we. 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:18.480 Are having to discuss the election season that we're in 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.000 and the candidates that we have to choose from and 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:26.319 so the Jasmine lets her feelings be known about that 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:30.600 true to form. So I just think it's a fantastic conversation. 0:01:30.640 --> 0:01:32.160 We're really excited to share it with you, So stick 0:01:32.200 --> 0:01:33.959 around for that and so much more right here on 0:01:34.000 --> 0:01:35.000 civic ciper. 0:01:36.520 --> 0:01:37.640 So. 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:40.759 One of the things that we talk about a lot 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:45.520 on this show is the state of things in the 0:01:45.520 --> 0:01:52.360 political arena in recent years. We've seen a number of 0:01:53.120 --> 0:02:02.680 villains rise to various moments throughout again recent history, and 0:02:03.080 --> 0:02:06.280 we always have a new reason to be concerned about 0:02:06.320 --> 0:02:10.680 our future. I won't spend too much time discussing that 0:02:10.760 --> 0:02:15.560 because these villains have been well discussed and they're often 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:21.840 delineated on this very program. But another thing that we 0:02:21.919 --> 0:02:29.440 get is we get heroes. And one of the heroes 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:34.680 that we've discussed on this program many times, actually we 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:40.680 have the honor of sitting with and talking to today 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:47.720 she is the Clapback Queen herself. Today we are joined 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:50.840 by the one and only Jasmine Kraft. Welcome to the show. 0:02:51.880 --> 0:02:54.560 Thank you so much. I did not know where you 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:55.400 were going with that. 0:02:56.160 --> 0:02:59.320 It definitely David thinks that I would be the one 0:02:59.360 --> 0:03:02.040 wearing the case at the end of that, But I 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:07.000 appreciate your kind thoughts and words. Sure, sure, it's because 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:08.960 we are living in some very dangerous times. 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:13.080 Absolutely, absolutely. You know. One of the things that we 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:21.040 end up dealing with on this show is positioning black 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:28.040 women in a way that people can see them the 0:03:28.080 --> 0:03:30.640 way that we see them. And often I put Q 0:03:30.800 --> 0:03:33.640 in the in the Yeah, I put him out in 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.520 front to say this, but I'll say it this time. 0:03:36.840 --> 0:03:40.160 On this show and all of our shows, we affirm 0:03:40.640 --> 0:03:44.080 that the black woman is as close to God as 0:03:44.120 --> 0:03:46.360 we can be on this planet. And so when we 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:50.600 suggest that you know, black women come to the rescue, 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:53.360 black women are wearing the capes, that's something that we 0:03:53.480 --> 0:03:55.840 mean and when we've meant that the entire time that 0:03:55.840 --> 0:03:59.240 we've been in this space, so you know, for our 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:03.520 long time listening as they understand that to be very true. 0:04:03.840 --> 0:04:06.720 But there are some people who are new to the show, 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:10.600 of course, and people who are just now getting engaged 0:04:10.800 --> 0:04:13.440 in politics. Maybe they've just come of age, or maybe 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:17.280 this particular election cycle is of interest to them. So 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:22.320 for those people, who admittedly is a very small amount 0:04:22.320 --> 0:04:25.160 of folks, i'd imagine, but after those people who are 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:28.839 not familiar with who you are, give us a little 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:31.080 bit of background just to bring them up to speak 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:31.800 for the conversation. 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:36.880 Yeah. Absolutely, So I am, I guess technically considered a politician. 0:04:38.240 --> 0:04:41.839 I hate to be classified as a politician, but since 0:04:41.920 --> 0:04:46.280 I am the congresswoman that proudly represents Texas thirtieth Congressional District, 0:04:46.760 --> 0:04:49.920 which is anchored in Dallas County, Texas. 0:04:50.360 --> 0:04:51.320 I am a freshman. 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:55.440 Our terms are two years at a time, and so 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:59.560 I'm in the second year of my first term. I 0:04:59.640 --> 0:05:02.839 have been considered to be the most viral member of 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:08.760 Congress during this current term. And you know, in recent times, 0:05:08.760 --> 0:05:11.039 I've done all these interviews where people have asked me 0:05:11.080 --> 0:05:13.320 about the virality and do you know what's happening when 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.719 it's happening, and you know, are there things that you 0:05:15.720 --> 0:05:18.839 can do to try to make it happen? And I 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:22.760 tell people all the time that it's the unadulterated, unfiltered, 0:05:23.279 --> 0:05:27.679 raw moments, never the prepared remarks that go viral, and 0:05:29.000 --> 0:05:31.320 just to kind of give the listeners a little bit 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:36.160 more acclamation. I am an attorney by trade, and so 0:05:36.320 --> 0:05:38.720 I did criminal defense work. I did civil rights work 0:05:38.760 --> 0:05:40.520 as well as some personal injury stuff. But I was 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:43.080 a trial lawyer. I wasn't a death lawyer. I was 0:05:43.120 --> 0:05:46.400 the girl that showed up in court. And I've represented 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:51.120 anywhere from capital murder all the way down, and so 0:05:51.279 --> 0:05:54.680 I tried cases for almost two decades before I come 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:57.800 into Congress, and I tell people all the time, I 0:05:57.839 --> 0:05:59.359 don't really like people to come in front of me 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:01.240 and waste my fune five minutes, because that's all we 0:06:01.279 --> 0:06:05.080 get is five minutes. And so my ability to cross 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:10.040 examine people and get my point across quickly has really 0:06:10.080 --> 0:06:14.080 helped me in Congress. And knowing quote unquote my case, 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:17.520 knowing what it is that is the subject matter of 0:06:17.560 --> 0:06:21.120 any potential hearing at any point in time, allows me 0:06:21.240 --> 0:06:24.520 to be able to deal with whatever lies somebody tries 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.919 to lib out there. I tend to be the girl 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:34.680 that consistently wants to rise to the occasion of recognizing 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:39.520 that black folk are great, and no matter how many 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.240 times they try to disparage us, whether it's because of 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:45.400 the color of my skin or whether it's because I'm 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:48.720 a woman, I'm going to make you feel really bad 0:06:48.800 --> 0:06:49.960 that you try to mesa. 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:52.200 And so. 0:06:52.800 --> 0:06:56.280 But even in doing that, you know, I look at 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.120 representation completely different. My official title is that I a 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:03.960 US representative, and for so long I have heard so 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.200 many people say I just don't really feel like I'm 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:07.719 seen or heard or represented. 0:07:08.520 --> 0:07:10.280 And I never wanted to be that person. 0:07:10.640 --> 0:07:14.560 I wanted people to say, I have a representative that 0:07:14.720 --> 0:07:17.560 is sitting at the table and making sure that my 0:07:17.680 --> 0:07:18.640 position is heard. 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:21.440 And it is those moments. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:25.600 In my opinion, that go viral because it is it's 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:29.119 not the norm, it's the exception. When the norm should 0:07:29.200 --> 0:07:33.920 be whatever community you come from, your representative should sound 0:07:34.000 --> 0:07:38.760 like you, look like you, and should be lobbying the 0:07:38.920 --> 0:07:41.160 case for the issues that matter most for you. 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:44.640 The first time we got to connect with you in 0:07:44.680 --> 0:07:49.000 person was at the National Urban League National Convention, but 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.800 we have been cheerleaders and supporters in the stands waiving 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:57.640 on prom pomps for you long before that. At that time, 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:00.840 all of us were very excited some news that we 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:05.840 had just gotten regarding the Democratic ticket for the office 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:12.720 of president. Our vice president has been very vocal about 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:17.400 her feeling like she needs to earn people's votes, specifically 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:20.440 black men, so she doesn't feel she's entitled to them 0:08:20.560 --> 0:08:23.240 just because she's black. What are some of the issues 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:26.120 you think are important to that base that she's trying 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:29.000 to reach in whose votes that she's now trying to earn. 0:08:29.360 --> 0:08:34.360 Yeah, yeah, I love her, you know, thank you for 0:08:35.280 --> 0:08:36.800 given that level set. 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:39.240 And I'm just going to say this real quick before 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:40.040 I answer your question. 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:43.760 Please, I think as black people in general, we have 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:48.160 always been the ones that have never shied away from 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:52.800 hard work. We aren't given positions on boards, we're not 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:57.920 given positions in government, we're not given positions in schools 0:08:57.960 --> 0:09:02.080 like we're not the legacies get admitted to these institutions. 0:09:02.480 --> 0:09:05.320 We've had to work and earn every single thing that 0:09:05.360 --> 0:09:09.319 we've ever gotten. And the fact that the vice president 0:09:09.400 --> 0:09:11.880 is absolutely committed to going out and earning the votes, 0:09:12.360 --> 0:09:15.440 taking her fight straight to the people. I mean, you know, 0:09:15.600 --> 0:09:17.480 I think I don't sleep, and then I think about 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:20.080 her schedule and then I'm like, I'm like, but she 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:25.520 got a PJ so mah, because I'm like running through 0:09:25.559 --> 0:09:27.760 the airport, like, yes, can you get me through screening 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:29.800 so I can get to my next city. But nevertheless, 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:34.679 I definitely don't have time to pity myself as I 0:09:34.720 --> 0:09:39.000 have the privilege of going around the country and arguing 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.000 and making a case for why the Harris Walls ticket 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:45.199 is the ticket that is the Team USA ticket, to 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:47.040 ticket that will look out for all of us and 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:52.040 not leave anybody behind. I appreciate the fact that she, 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.040 as well as Governor Walls, are not afraid of hard work, 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:59.040 because they both came from places in which they weren't 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:01.640 born into fortune. They weren't given four hundred million dollars 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:05.680 when they entered this earth. Instead, they had to work 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:07.920 to get everything that they've ever gotten, and so that's 0:10:07.960 --> 0:10:10.040 why they're not afraid of the hard work. As it 0:10:10.120 --> 0:10:13.760 relates to black man specifically, I can say that I've 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:17.080 had a number of conversations with black men, and I 0:10:17.120 --> 0:10:19.680 think one of the things that kind of frustrates me 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:22.640 in general when we start talking about the election is 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:25.440 that I really do subscribe to the idea that none 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:30.400 of us are amnaith no one, and so there isn't 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:35.800 one kind of happy pill for any one group of people. 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:38.079 I will say that there. 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:43.560 Are some targets that are on specific groups that no 0:10:43.640 --> 0:10:46.440 matter what your priorities are, the same targets. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:46.760 Are coming for you. 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.079 And so I think it is important not only for 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:52.880 us to highlight the alternative and talk about the targets 0:10:52.880 --> 0:10:55.959 that are on our collective backs, whether we're talking about 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.840 the fact that Donald Trump specifically wants to get rid 0:10:59.880 --> 0:11:02.480 of criminal immunity for law enforcement officers. 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:05.400 As we have just now gotten to. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.920 The point that we have prosecutors that have the audacity 0:11:08.360 --> 0:11:11.679 to say that law enforcement isn't necessarily above the law, 0:11:12.040 --> 0:11:15.439 we can still probably count on one, maybe two hands, 0:11:15.720 --> 0:11:18.240 the number of prosecutions that we've seen in this country 0:11:18.280 --> 0:11:21.199 for law enforcement officers that have gone out and shot 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:23.960 us did like we were dogs in the street, right, 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.559 And so that's a collective target because we have someone 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:30.000 where you know, there are those of us as someone 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:32.800 who's done the civil rights work and know how difficult 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:35.160 it is to get around qualified immunity and things like that, 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:38.080 because what we'll have is we end up being killed 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:41.000 and we don't get any criminal justice, and we usually 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:45.120 don't get any civil justice. And so as we've been 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.719 pushing the envelope for getting rid of qualified immunity so 0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:51.640 that the civil remedies are available when one of us 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.839 is killed, now he not only doesn't obviously is not 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:58.319 going to support the civil side, but once I go 0:11:58.400 --> 0:12:02.720 even further and say, for those few progressive prosecutors that 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:05.800 have thought that your life mattered enough that they would 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.080 actually prosecute a police officer. I don't want that to 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:09.959 happen anymore. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:13.000 And so that's a collective target. 0:12:13.360 --> 0:12:16.360 Now when I talk to some other brothers about the 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:18.920 things that matter most of them, for some of them, 0:12:18.960 --> 0:12:21.640 it's I will say, collectively, there's a number of them 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:27.200 that talk about small business ownership, and they don't like 0:12:27.800 --> 0:12:34.200 the idea of potentially Democrats trying to push on quote 0:12:34.280 --> 0:12:38.040 unquote hand me out like they want. They don't want 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:39.600 you to just say, oh, we're going to try to 0:12:39.600 --> 0:12:42.480 get you a good job, you know, a good union 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:44.520 paying job. Like there are black men that are like, 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:46.880 I don't want to go work for somebody else, Like 0:12:47.000 --> 0:12:49.000 I want my own business. What are you going to 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:53.120 do to help me create my own generational wealth and 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:55.960 have my own legacy to leave behind. And so I 0:12:55.960 --> 0:12:58.839 think that's why you hear her really making the point 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:02.960 not just for black men, but like generally speaking, for 0:13:03.040 --> 0:13:05.080 those that are saying, you know what, I want my 0:13:05.120 --> 0:13:08.480 own small business. And so this five thousand dollars tax 0:13:08.520 --> 0:13:10.720 benefit that you used to get when you start a 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:13.320 small business, She's like, you can't do nothing with five 0:13:13.320 --> 0:13:16.000 thousand dollars. She's like, that's only going to help you 0:13:16.040 --> 0:13:18.640 if you've got a concept of a business, right. She 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:22.560 was like, right, exactly right, So she's up in that 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:26.319 to fifty thousand. We've not really talked very much about 0:13:26.320 --> 0:13:28.520 the record, but we know that there were a record 0:13:28.640 --> 0:13:33.080 number of small businesses and black owned businesses specifically that 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:37.000 were able to benefit. As relates to everybody know about PPP. 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.959 Wee, we've got in trouble with PPP. People got in 0:13:42.960 --> 0:13:44.120 trouble with the PPP, but. 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.640 You know, but it truly did, and we've seen a 0:13:48.640 --> 0:13:52.920 record number of newly created black owned businesses because of 0:13:53.040 --> 0:13:55.600 the loosening of the rains a little bit and making 0:13:55.640 --> 0:13:59.120 sure and definitely the initial roll law out was bad. 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:00.319 People. 0:14:00.360 --> 0:14:04.200 Remember first of all, these were democratic policies that were 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:06.640 pushed to the House in the Senate, but it was 0:14:06.800 --> 0:14:09.480 under Donald Trump who was still president when the first 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:12.440 policies were pushed through. And what we saw was that 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:14.120 the only people that got money where people they didn't 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:18.240 even need the money. We saw NFL and NBA teams 0:14:18.320 --> 0:14:21.200 and all of them, they all had access to capital 0:14:21.720 --> 0:14:25.400 and the little guys didn't. It wasn't until we got 0:14:25.480 --> 0:14:28.040 rid of Donald Trump and we ended up with President 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.400 Biden that they actually started to make sure that those 0:14:31.440 --> 0:14:34.680 small businesses that were complaining that the big banks weren't 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:38.160 giving them access to these loans. If people really think back, 0:14:38.640 --> 0:14:41.200 it's like you try to go and apply for the 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:43.920 PPP law and they say all the money had already 0:14:43.960 --> 0:14:45.760 been given out and it was the big guys that 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:49.040 got it. The small guy only started getting it when 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:52.640 Democrats controlled every lever the House, the Senate, as well 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:53.440 as the White House. 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:55.600 So I think that that's one of the issues. Another 0:14:55.640 --> 0:14:57.640 issue that has been brought. 0:14:57.480 --> 0:15:02.000 Up his criminal justice reform, and so you know, there 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:04.680 also was this selective memory or it is just a 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:08.120 failure of us to really talk about and brag because 0:15:08.120 --> 0:15:11.800 Democrats are terrible about bragging. Republicans will take credit for 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:14.280 stuff they am none to do, but Democrats won't even 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:15.320 brag on stuff they didn't. 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:15.720 Done it right. 0:15:16.720 --> 0:15:20.480 And so you know, they felt as if there were 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:23.160 some changes that were made on the federal level while 0:15:23.160 --> 0:15:25.760 Trump was in office. None of that again was initiated 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.960 under Trump. He signed it into law. So yes, should 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:31.600 we say, okay, thank you for signing it into law 0:15:31.800 --> 0:15:34.800 if we can. But don't conflate that with that actually 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:37.200 being on his policy positions. 0:15:36.960 --> 0:15:38.360 That he actually lobbed. 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.000 When we look at the things that he lobbed, he 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:43.920 lived and got us the Supreme Court. If you think 0:15:44.000 --> 0:15:46.760 that Trump is looking out for us, just look at 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:51.000 our Supreme Court justices and right now their approval rating 0:15:51.400 --> 0:15:53.440 is the lowest that is historically ever been. 0:15:53.960 --> 0:15:57.080 Because it's his justices. They got rid of affirmative action. 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.680 And for those that you know, I don't know what 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:05.000 different opinions may exist around affirmative action. Affirmative action has 0:16:05.120 --> 0:16:08.720 never been about a gimme. That's never what it did. 0:16:08.760 --> 0:16:11.160 What it did is said, listen, all you got is 0:16:11.160 --> 0:16:12.760 a bunch of lily white people. Those are the only 0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:15.880 people you will consider. There is great lengths that exist 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.480 in some of these people that aren't lily white. That's 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:22.160 all it is. But you don't get there, and somehow 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:24.880 they gonna give you. Well, because you was an affirmative 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:27.600 action in mission hooding, you get an extra ten points 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:28.320 on every tense. 0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:30.280 Like that ain't what it is like. You got to. 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.680 Survive, like you've got to make it in and you've 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.880 got to survive. But it at least makes them actually 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:39.240 look at you and say, you know what, let's open 0:16:39.360 --> 0:16:43.560 up this pool of candidates. And so now what we've 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.440 seen is we've seen a decrease in the enrollment of 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:52.440 diverse students at these IVY leagues and other pwis. And 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.760 what we've seen is that there's a higher demand for HBCUs. 0:16:56.400 --> 0:16:58.720 And when we think back to Donald Trump, now, one 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.920 thing that presidents can do, presidents always do is they 0:17:01.920 --> 0:17:04.960 put out their budget and that signals to the Congress, 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:06.640 these are the things that we want to do. This 0:17:06.720 --> 0:17:08.919 is how I want to place money. But at the 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:11.040 end of the day, the budget belongs to the Congress. 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:13.280 It doesn't belong to the president. So he just kind 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.119 of like, this is my robap, please follow it. Especially 0:17:16.200 --> 0:17:19.280 if we control if the same parties control the House, 0:17:19.320 --> 0:17:23.520 it's in it. When Donald Trump put out his budget, 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:27.439 he wanted to zero out funding for HBCUs. That that 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:33.360 was his proposal, is to zero out HBCU money and 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.159 to give credit where credit is due. It was a 0:17:36.160 --> 0:17:41.679 Bush that had initially agreed to this level of funding, 0:17:41.720 --> 0:17:44.520 which is definitely not where we need our hbc used 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:44.719 to be. 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:45.520 But it was. 0:17:45.480 --> 0:17:47.280 Something and it was a Republican. 0:17:47.560 --> 0:17:51.160 It was a Bush that signed the initial funding into 0:17:51.240 --> 0:17:53.159 law for our HBCUs. So this was two hundred and 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:54.400 fifty three million dollars. 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:57.359 But Trump saw it as an opportunity to do a 0:17:57.359 --> 0:18:01.400 photo app and so after a black woman in North 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:06.199 Carolina who attended a HBCU who taught at an HBCU, 0:18:06.320 --> 0:18:11.880 doctor Adams. It was doctor Adams, my CBC colleague, who 0:18:11.920 --> 0:18:14.679 fought to get that money back, and so once it 0:18:14.720 --> 0:18:17.639 came back, he then invited all the HBCU presidents in 0:18:18.160 --> 0:18:20.400 for a photo. And so everybody's like, see Donald Trump 0:18:20.400 --> 0:18:23.400 was taking care to HBC's not really not really guys, 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:26.600 kind of like those STiMi checks, not really, not really, 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:31.560 not really guys. So they did that. But then when people, 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:34.439 you know, I was constantly kind of going in on 0:18:34.480 --> 0:18:38.639 people before the vice president became the nominee, where people 0:18:38.680 --> 0:18:41.080 felt away, they felt let down. They were like, well, 0:18:41.400 --> 0:18:43.879 you know, she the vice president, but I mean, what 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:45.879 has she done. I'm like, first of all, if you 0:18:45.920 --> 0:18:49.400 can't name five other vice presidents, we not about that conversation. 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.960 Let's start there, like we like you at least need 0:18:52.000 --> 0:18:55.880 to be able to name five other vice presidents and correct, 0:18:56.720 --> 0:18:59.959 but most people can't get to the names right because 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:02.680 most people don't look at a vice president at all. 0:19:02.720 --> 0:19:04.840 I mean, a vice president is a supporting cast member, 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:10.080 and she has been integral. And I think that Joe 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:12.919 Biden takes a different stance. He tries to do more 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:15.879 of a partnership type of situation, kind of like what 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.800 he came into with Barack Obama. And so I think 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:22.240 that that's kind of how he tries to govern. That 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:25.760 led to a record sixteen billion dollars with a B, 0:19:26.240 --> 0:19:31.719 not sixteen billion dollars for the investment into HBCUs. It 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:36.119 mattered that there was an HBCU grad that was sitting 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:40.040 there as a second in command, and not even just 0:19:40.160 --> 0:19:44.280 from the monetary standpoint, I mean when we look at 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:51.399 Howard and the spike in applications just once she became, 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.960 because then it's not for so long there's been these limitations. 0:19:55.000 --> 0:19:58.959 If you went to an HBCU and she's defied the limitations, 0:19:59.200 --> 0:20:02.200 she's on the verb of becoming the most powerful person 0:20:03.720 --> 0:20:08.880 in the world, and she graduated from AH and so 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:11.639 I think that that really tells if I had to 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.920 tell a story about black people in general, is that 0:20:16.160 --> 0:20:20.520 we are more resilient than any other form of people 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.600 that we've ever met. When you think about our presence here, 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.080 they can talk about kicking us out and this and that, 0:20:26.119 --> 0:20:28.840 But we ain't asked to come here. We got dragged here, 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.919 to be clear, right, like, we got dragged here, and 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:37.040 we labored and we built correct. We built this country 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:41.080 and we're still here. And while we still have so 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:45.560 many obstacles that we still get faced with, we somehow persist. 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.000 And if I had to send one message to my 0:20:49.000 --> 0:20:52.200 black man is to know that like, there never should 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:56.840 be competition. I appreciate that you laid out kind of 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:00.280 the historical context of your show and being clearly you've 0:21:00.320 --> 0:21:05.520 always uplifted black women. I see no reason for any 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.639 of us to fight one another. 0:21:08.480 --> 0:21:10.120 I love my black men. 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.840 I know that I probably wouldn't necessarily be here but 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:18.119 for black men in my life, because it was a 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:20.680 group of black male lawyers that are like my brothers 0:21:21.320 --> 0:21:23.399 that came to me and was like, you got to run, 0:21:23.440 --> 0:21:25.600 and we know it costs money. We put money down. 0:21:26.040 --> 0:21:29.480 The first people to bet on me were black men 0:21:29.720 --> 0:21:32.959 like that was who was like, let me invest in you. 0:21:33.080 --> 0:21:38.600 And so I think that we have to appreciate that collectively, 0:21:39.400 --> 0:21:43.359 this world has never given us our due. And so 0:21:44.200 --> 0:21:47.560 one thing is for sure, regardless as to whether or 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:49.800 not you agree with her one hundred percent or not 0:21:49.880 --> 0:21:52.840 at all, one thing is for sure is that she 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:58.000 understands the struggles that this life presents to you more 0:21:58.040 --> 0:22:02.720 than any white man ever will. And so, you know, 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:07.040 regardless of what's what. But like I keep saying, they're 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:10.160 gonna kick me off the trail because because I never 0:22:10.359 --> 0:22:12.360 I never say what they tell me to say. Number 0:22:12.359 --> 0:22:15.800 one and number two I remember, I'll make this final 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:18.800 point that y'all can move on. I went to North 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:22.120 Carolina and I was doing a fundraiser for the Victory Fund. 0:22:22.680 --> 0:22:26.640 And this was soon after Arkawi's not r Kelly, that's 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:31.399 messed up. I don't call them mar Kelly Puffy. This 0:22:31.880 --> 0:22:37.119 soon after child, I call them are a lot of birds. 0:22:37.920 --> 0:22:40.640 Yeah, that clearly in my mind anyway. 0:22:40.680 --> 0:22:44.920 Nevertheless, and so I said, if you want a better 0:22:45.200 --> 0:22:50.080 example of how this country views us, no matter how 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.120 much money we have and how the systems are inequitable, 0:22:53.880 --> 0:22:58.960 look at Diddy situation and look at Trumps. Now. I'm 0:22:58.960 --> 0:23:00.760