WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 011621 ft. Q Ward & Ramses Ja 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.519 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'my host Rams's Jah. 0:00:03.560 --> 0:00:06.200 He calls me q war because that's what my mom 0:00:06.280 --> 0:00:06.880 calls me too. 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:11.520 Yes, indeed, and we are back once again after another 0:00:11.520 --> 0:00:16.280 week full of events. Is very much an understatement. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.640 I'm so glad we just both laughed and smiled, because 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.080 when I was on my way here, Bro, I did 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:22.840 not expect to be. 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:23.920 In a good mood at all. 0:00:24.200 --> 0:00:28.080 Yeah. People ask about the show all the time, and 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:32.280 it's we're never short on content, but just by the 0:00:32.400 --> 0:00:36.280 nature of the show, the things that that we are 0:00:36.840 --> 0:00:40.520 that it's our responsibility to talk about are just in nature. 0:00:40.360 --> 0:00:42.120 Not typically fun. Yeah. 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:45.120 Yeah, and sometimes it's heavy, man. And literally, when I 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:48.599 was driving here, I'm like, I don't know how I'm 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:50.720 going to talk about these things tonight and not be 0:00:51.000 --> 0:00:55.000 actually angry. So I'm glad that we both just at 0:00:55.040 --> 0:00:58.400 the idea of last week, we're able to, at least 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:02.240 right now before we dig into it, exhale and chuckle, 0:01:02.320 --> 0:01:04.360 because goodness, gracious man. 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:08.160 You know what a lot of times people will, you know, 0:01:08.160 --> 0:01:10.039 if I meet them and they're not familiar with the 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:13.840 show or the work that I've done up until now, 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:17.280 or what we're doing now with Civic Cipher. They'll ask 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:19.839 about Civic Cipher. You know, we'll tell me about the show, 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.920 and the easiest way to explain it to people is 0:01:23.400 --> 0:01:27.360 to start by saying that it's therapy, you know, and 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:29.160 so you know, there's a big part of this that 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:33.240 really feels therapeutic to be able to talk about. And 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:35.440 of course it's our hope that you know, everyone that 0:01:35.520 --> 0:01:41.800 listens and participates in whatever capacity with the show gets 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:45.240 this not only a little bit more perspective and education, 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:49.520 but also you know, it has a sense of release 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:57.040 and after listening, just a more concrete version of reality 0:01:57.360 --> 0:02:02.080 that they can subscribe to. But you know, as stated, 0:02:02.440 --> 0:02:06.880 this past week was full of just all kinds of 0:02:07.200 --> 0:02:11.040 you know, you know what I think the heaviest thing is, 0:02:11.280 --> 0:02:16.640 you know, being black in this country. You know, obviously 0:02:16.760 --> 0:02:20.720 there's this idea that the deck is stacked against you, 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:24.840 and then there's this idea that there's a lot of 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.760 people that are really going to help you and that 0:02:27.880 --> 0:02:30.519 really want the world to be a little bit more fair. 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:33.480 And then there's those people who are in the middle 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:37.160 that will do whatever the right thing is at whatever 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:41.120 the right time is, depending on the optics and depending 0:02:41.160 --> 0:02:45.560 on you know, whatever forces are at play, and you know, 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:50.320 in seeing the way that you know, the police ultimately 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:52.800 came around and responded to the folks that you know, 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.800 attack the Capitol building. The police responded somewhat. You know, 0:02:57.840 --> 0:03:00.079 they're they're people are getting arrested, and you know. 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:02.880 Well, I gotta I gotta rewatch the video I didn't. Yeah, yeah, 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:04.840 so that's that's footage I saw. I didn't even have 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.760 a police response, well, you know, except for opening gates 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:10.480 and ushering people and out of the building exactly. 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:12.960 So it's kind of hard to find out how to 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.720 feel about things. And then even if we do figure 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.480 out like okay, well they're finally taking some action against 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:21.880 these people waving the Confederate flag and the lobby of 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:27.919 you know, the Capitol Building, it's there's a part of 0:03:27.960 --> 0:03:31.160 me that feels like, you know, it might be you know, uh, 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:35.040 just them doing it because they're pandering, or it's you know, 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:37.920 they're like, Okay, I guess we got to do something 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.320 as opposed to while this is wrong, this is a 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:45.640 huge injustice, and you know, let's you know whatever, let's 0:03:45.720 --> 0:03:47.720 let's take action. It's like kind of they were compelled 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:57.160 to do it after however long. So the the thing is, 0:03:57.320 --> 0:03:59.520 I want to make sure that we talk about a 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:04.920 couple of things things. The first thing is I want 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:10.000 to say, Hi, Mom, who's checking us out live right now? 0:04:11.360 --> 0:04:14.480 And I want you to know that we appreciate your 0:04:14.480 --> 0:04:18.920 support and all your input. But one of the other 0:04:18.960 --> 0:04:22.159 things that I wanted to talk about was Donald Trump 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:27.040 and him losing his his Twitter account. Something that I've 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:32.440 encountered quite a bit is people the backlash against all 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:36.000 these to pushback, yeah, saying that it's a matter of 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:41.680 free speech. So my brother shout out to Sean. He 0:04:41.760 --> 0:04:44.120 called me the other day, and Sean works in it. 0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:49.400 That's very much an understatement. But more importantly, he's a 0:04:49.400 --> 0:04:53.760 brilliant mind, probably the smartest person that I I certainly 0:04:53.760 --> 0:04:59.039 that I know. But you know, he explained a lot 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:04.520 to me about how this actually works. He told me 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:09.280 about a lawsuit and it escapes me right now, but 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:12.160 it's it's a lawsuit from the early nineteen hundreds, maybe 0:05:12.160 --> 0:05:15.880 like nineteen nineteen or something like that, and basically this 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:23.000 lawsuit was, you know, you know, the First Amendment. We 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:26.080 have freedom of speech, tray, but there's certain things that 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.120 you cannot say, you know, if they cause harm, or 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.920 if they you know, incite some sort of action, you know. 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.159 Or you know, inside a riot. Yeah, caused people to 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:37.679 storm the United States Capital exactly. 0:05:37.760 --> 0:05:40.520 Perhaps another example that he gave to me was that 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:45.920 he wanted to or he suggested rather that you know this, 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:48.960 the result of this lawsuit is why you can't run 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:51.880 into a building in yell fire. If the building's aren't 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.800 on fire, that's not protected under the First Amendment. Right 0:05:56.120 --> 0:06:00.000 And I will get the exact the details of the lawsuit. 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:05.120 But there was a combination of this with the Amazon, 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:12.680 the Amazon pulling down the Parlor app. The Parlor app, 0:06:12.680 --> 0:06:14.920 and for those that you don't know, there's another app 0:06:14.960 --> 0:06:19.080 that exists outside of Twitter and Facebook and all these 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.960 other app apps that you can download and communicate with 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:25.160 people their social networks. Parlor is one that really caters 0:06:25.200 --> 0:06:32.040 to real right wing extremists because they do it well. 0:06:32.040 --> 0:06:35.640 They kind of co opted it, sure because make it 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.039 that made it sound like Parlor was designed for them, 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:42.240 and it wasn't. It wasn't, okay, I'm sure, trust me. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:44.560 I had a long I just drove thirty two hours. 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:47.039 I had a lot of time on my hands. They 0:06:47.040 --> 0:06:49.560 co opted it and turned it into their own. It 0:06:49.600 --> 0:06:52.800 was initially, I think, designed to talk about like what 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:55.120 we had for lunch today or something, you know, I mean, 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.200 like something super basic, super simple, and it was co 0:06:58.240 --> 0:06:59.120 opted into like. 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:04.880 Okay, then yeah, then that launched a cool together, right, Okay, 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:07.920 So then that that then what you're saying happens before, 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.600 you know, a little bit before the research that I 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.400 did on it goes back, and it goes back so far. 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:18.200 But it's been what you're saying for so long that 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:18.920 that makes sense. 0:07:19.000 --> 0:07:19.320 Okay. 0:07:19.360 --> 0:07:22.560 But it wasn't designed originally for that, Like somebody didn't say, 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:25.880 let's design an app so that, right, we extremists can 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.600 plan a cool like that wasn't there, right, okay, Okay. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:32.400 The genesis of it. The thing about it is, uh, 0:07:33.440 --> 0:07:36.560 I actually downloaded this on my on one of my phones. 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:38.680 Oh word, yeah, which is for sale by the way, 0:07:39.280 --> 0:07:41.600 if you want to spend. I got actually two phones, 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:43.800 once for five for ten. If you want to buy it, 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:46.240 I'm happy to sell it to god Parlor already run 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:47.920 it for you if you need it. I didn't even 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:53.200 log in. But yeah, this app, well, I guess it 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:58.600 became a space where free speech wasn't limited. You know 0:07:58.640 --> 0:08:02.720 how on Facebook and and and Twitter especially, the president 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.520 would treat tweet things and then it would say these 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:08.440 these facts are disputed or this is proven to be 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:11.600 not true whatever like label on his tweets. Well, Parlor 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:13.440 was a place that didn't do that. Or you could 0:08:13.440 --> 0:08:17.240 just basically yell fire and there would be no consequences 0:08:17.320 --> 0:08:22.360 on that platform. Another thing is that these are private businesses, 0:08:22.400 --> 0:08:26.000 so they can you know, extend you know, their platform 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:28.400 to whoever they want and deny other people, you know, 0:08:28.480 --> 0:08:31.440 as they choose. So it's not necessarily limiting free speech 0:08:31.480 --> 0:08:35.880 because it's not like press in the same way. So 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.120 there's no there's no press badge that you get, you know, 0:08:39.240 --> 0:08:44.600 like I'm such and such a journalist from a press credential, 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:48.400 right exactly, It's it's a platform. So anyway, so Parlor 0:08:49.920 --> 0:08:55.640 they instead of like building their own infrastructure, they used 0:08:55.720 --> 0:09:02.400 Amazon's like excess infrastructure to become the platform, right, which 0:09:02.440 --> 0:09:07.600 is effectively what my brother Sean does. So Sean understood 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:11.760 how it worked, and they have it's it's the it's 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:14.559 a u P. I figured what that's called for two 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:16.240 and figure that out. But Basically, it's like terms and 0:09:16.280 --> 0:09:21.520 conditions where if you you sign up to use Amazon's 0:09:21.520 --> 0:09:25.880 infrastructure to host your you know, your app, then you 0:09:25.920 --> 0:09:31.040 have to abide by their their rules, and Parlor by 0:09:31.240 --> 0:09:37.240 not you know, throat, not throttling, but monitoring the way 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:42.520 the app was being used, they ultimately found themselves in 0:09:42.600 --> 0:09:45.320 violation of the terms and conditions. Now this isn't something 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:49.000 that is you know, executed across the board. It's just 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:51.240 when you when you become a big enough problem, you 0:09:51.280 --> 0:09:53.400 become a big enough fire, they'll put you out, which 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.760 is exactly what happened. So Parlor ended up losing all 0:09:56.800 --> 0:10:02.160 of their their online infrastructure and have to start over 0:10:02.160 --> 0:10:05.320 from beginning. So that's really what ended up making this 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.600 look like everyone's out to get Donald Trump, you know, 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.800 because he got banned from Spotify and Pinterest and everything 0:10:11.080 --> 0:10:15.920 stuff that is not even relevant for him to communicate. 0:10:16.120 --> 0:10:19.400 And you know, I think that people need to understand 0:10:19.400 --> 0:10:22.520 that that's the way it works, you know. And and 0:10:22.720 --> 0:10:24.560 the funny part about it is a lot of times, 0:10:25.440 --> 0:10:31.079 especially you know, you know Republicans, you know, right wing subscribers, 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:35.880 they love the idea of you know, small government, you know, 0:10:35.920 --> 0:10:40.040 and business and the free market, you know, and that's 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.760 essentially what is happening here. But because this is the 0:10:44.800 --> 0:10:48.160 platform that the president has chosen to speak from and 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:51.840 to tweet his you know, presidential policy, for him to 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:56.839 be limited or denied that it feels like he's being 0:10:57.160 --> 0:11:00.439 you know, that they're limiting free speech of the man. 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.880 And it's it's it's amazing the links that people will 0:11:03.960 --> 0:11:09.880 go through go to rather to justify or otherwise completely 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:14.319 ignore what's happening, and they'll call it anything other than 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.079 what it is. You know, everybody that decided to limit 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:21.720 this man's reach and his capacity to incite you know, 0:11:22.080 --> 0:11:25.280 violence and all this sort of stuff. Do you remember 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:30.599 there was the the video in Texas where there was 0:11:30.640 --> 0:11:32.720 a bunch of trucks and they were traveling next to 0:11:32.800 --> 0:11:34.760 a Biden Harris ban. 0:11:34.840 --> 0:11:41.040 Yeah, next to the the word I'm losing it right now, 0:11:41.040 --> 0:11:44.480 but yes, yeah, So there was campaign the campaign. 0:11:44.000 --> 0:11:46.880 Bus for Biden and there were all the Trump trucks 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:48.880 with the flags whatever, and they like ran this truck 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:50.079 off or they were I don't know if they ran 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.400 it off the road, but they were like attempted to sure, 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:57.160 so you know, that wasn't enough. And then you know, 0:11:57.960 --> 0:12:00.640 Trump like retweeted the picture and he's like, I love 0:12:00.760 --> 0:12:03.600 Texas and like encouraging this sort of behavior where people 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:06.880 get hurt. And then now that we've seen five people's 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:11.360 lives get lost because of this past you know, riot 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:15.320 or whatever, you know, people are actually taking action against 0:12:15.360 --> 0:12:19.840 this guy and limiting their involvement with him or otherwise 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:22.520 his involvement with them and their business because they feel like, 0:12:23.080 --> 0:12:25.600 you know, to free market and you know, this is capitalism. 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:27.760 And again all the right, they really champion this idea 0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.319 of capitalism so much. They're doing what's in their best 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:35.000 interest of the business, and they're protecting their bottom line. Amazon. 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:38.120 You know there's people that will log into Amazon and 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:40.520 try to take Parlor down. You know, there's hackers, there's 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:42.520 all this sort of stuff. So Amazon has to say, what, 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:45.040 I got a whole other business to run. I can't 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:47.960 afford to expose myself to this type of attack. Let's 0:12:47.960 --> 0:12:50.440 severitize with these guys because it's not worth it because 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:53.920 we're making real money over here and Parlor is just 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.600 a thing billions of dollars. So you know, when people 0:12:57.600 --> 0:13:00.000 really understand it, it's like you can't have it both ways. 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:05.360 You can't have you know, h this free market and 0:13:05.400 --> 0:13:09.680 then you know, you know, uh, small business or small government, 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:12.280 you know, big business, business decides how it works, and 0:13:12.320 --> 0:13:16.440 then you know, cry foul when a business decides to 0:13:16.480 --> 0:13:19.320 sever their ties with someone who could potentially expose them 0:13:19.360 --> 0:13:22.959 to risk or you know, affect their bottom line. So 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:24.559 I wanted to make sure we started the show off 0:13:24.559 --> 0:13:26.719 by saying that because a lot of people have been 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:29.920 saying that a lot and they're just they he says, 0:13:30.000 --> 0:13:31.600 it's a witch hunt. So everyone echoes that. 0:13:31.880 --> 0:13:33.280 I mean, of course, and I just see it. We 0:13:33.280 --> 0:13:38.640 got a comment from DJ Swirl Ryan wood updo you know, 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:43.079 talking about the way the NFL chose to limit Colin 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:47.040 Kaepernick's speech when all he did was neil right, the 0:13:47.120 --> 0:13:52.360 most respectful gesture in history. He kneeled during the singing 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:55.520 of the national anthem, and that was co opted you know, 0:13:55.600 --> 0:13:59.720 by you know, Donald Trump, and they turned it into 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:04.439 something completely different, but because it might affect their bottom line. 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.080 That man has been unemployed for going on four years, 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:10.920 so you know those But it's the funny thing is 0:14:10.960 --> 0:14:13.280 it's the same people, the same people who are arguing 0:14:13.600 --> 0:14:16.079 free speech and talking about you can't limit this man, 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.000 and you can't take him down, and you can't stop 0:14:18.080 --> 0:14:23.800 him from expressing himself. Were the same ones on the 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.760 other side of the same argument. Yeah, when it didn't 0:14:26.800 --> 0:14:27.920 serve their best interest. 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:32.560 Absolutely, absolutely, And so I wanted to start there, and 0:14:32.600 --> 0:14:35.120 I wanted to, you know, not to dwell on everything 0:14:35.160 --> 0:14:37.800 that's going you know, on with that, because you know, 0:14:37.920 --> 0:14:43.160 really the truth is, we're waiting on We're waiting on 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:45.520 a new administration, you know, And I don't want to 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:47.200 give too much power to that, but I do need 0:14:47.240 --> 0:14:50.080 to check that when when I need it, when it 0:14:50.080 --> 0:14:53.000 feels necessary, because no matter, we might not take Donald 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:56.640 Trump into next month, but we have to take that 0:14:56.800 --> 0:14:58.320 half of America in the next month. 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:01.520 Yeah, we got to take a and seventy five million 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:05.240 of the people that voted, and lots of people that 0:15:05.480 --> 0:15:09.960 just don't participate, but that agree sure with that seventy 0:15:09.960 --> 0:15:11.640 five million people that voted for him. 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:17.600 Sure, absolutely. And so again just something that needs to 0:15:17.600 --> 0:15:22.600 be said. Now today's show, I wanted to talk about 0:15:24.800 --> 0:15:36.080 the N word. So obviously this word is horrible words. 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:43.240 It's the ugliest word in the English language, and it's 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:48.880 been a source of debate in the black community and 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:53.480 in the black versus everyone else community for one hundred 0:15:53.560 --> 0:16:00.200 years maybe, and we haven't talked about it yet on 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:05.520 this show. Wow. And I think that it's important to 0:16:07.720 --> 0:16:11.680 discuss that because I think that that leads us to 0:16:11.800 --> 0:16:16.520 discussing one better, one, one additional way where we can 0:16:16.560 --> 0:16:20.760 become We can create allies. Black folks can create allies, 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:25.320 and people who are not black can become allies to 0:16:25.400 --> 0:16:29.960 black people, you know, people that sympathize with with black 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:34.560 people's plight in this country. In understanding this this word 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.600 and how it feels and how it's used, it can 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:41.840 help because it and I'll before the show is over, 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:46.040 I'll explain what I mean. But let's start here. So 0:16:47.320 --> 0:16:58.280 the N word. One of the things that people might wonder, 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:02.560 you know, is why does a word have so much power? 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:07.000 Why do you allow a word to be so hurtful? 0:17:07.840 --> 0:17:12.760 You know? And this is not a er versus a conversation. 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.359 This is just you know, someone else saying that word 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:22.199 who's not black to someone who's black. You know, Why 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.000 would a word have so much power? Why would you 0:17:24.080 --> 0:17:27.320 allow it to affect you? If someone you know yells 0:17:27.320 --> 0:17:30.639 a racial slurred any any other race, that's not a 0:17:30.680 --> 0:17:33.239 life and death thing. It's just a you know, a 0:17:33.359 --> 0:17:37.480 very strong insult. You know, with black people, it's especially flagrant. 0:17:37.680 --> 0:17:41.480 Why do you allow this word to have so much 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.520 control over your emotions and over your life. It's a 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:51.560 very sensible question to ask, because it it's the beginning 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:55.040 of understanding. You know, if you're not black, then it 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:58.040 might not hit you in the same way. You might 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:01.639 not understand the depths of it. And so I wanted 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:05.840 to help paint that picture, at least from my perspective, 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.639 And then I want you to offer yours so that 0:18:09.680 --> 0:18:15.840 we can help people understand what it's like for me. 0:18:17.760 --> 0:18:20.439 You know, I was born, I learned how to speak. 0:18:21.119 --> 0:18:24.520 You know, words didn't have any power. You know, there 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.399 was Google, gay guy, and then there was ABC's and one, 0:18:27.440 --> 0:18:28.840 two threes, and you know, and so forth, and how 0:18:28.840 --> 0:18:34.520 you learned and somewhere age between, you know, maybe four 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.679 and six, I recognize that there exists a word that 0:18:40.440 --> 0:18:44.679 is really a bad word. It's the word that should 0:18:44.680 --> 0:18:48.240 make your ears per cup. And you know, of course 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:50.320 I've heard it in my lifetime, yelled at me. I've 0:18:50.359 --> 0:18:52.320 heard it in film, I've heard it amongst friends and 0:18:52.720 --> 0:19:01.199 and you know, the full gambit. But you know, when 0:19:01.240 --> 0:19:03.280 it's used as an insult I'm talking about with the 0:19:03.280 --> 0:19:11.280 hard r At least for me, it calls into question 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:20.760 who I am. It calls into question like it it 0:19:22.359 --> 0:19:26.160 compels me to be the bravest, strongest version of myself. 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:36.600 I recognize that there are human beings who had committed 0:19:36.600 --> 0:19:43.040 no crime, meant no harm to anyone, were hated for 0:19:43.640 --> 0:19:55.600 whatever reason, and lived hard and short lives, and oftentimes 0:19:56.520 --> 0:20:00.280 the last word they heard was that word was the 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:06.720 N word. And those people's bodies are buried in the 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:14.639 ground in this country, all across it, top to bottom, 0:20:14.720 --> 0:20:23.320 left to right, And I am a descendant of those people, 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:34.000 and there's a connectedness from me to them. I can't 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:40.600 explain it beyond that, but I will say that I 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.800 will never slap those people in the face. Those are 0:20:43.840 --> 0:20:49.960 my mothers, those are my fathers. You know. I will 0:20:50.000 --> 0:20:53.760 stand up for them because they cannot stand anymore. I 0:20:53.840 --> 0:20:56.040 owe my life to them because I am their descendant, 0:20:56.080 --> 0:21:01.000 I am their son right And so for me to 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:06.320 let something like that continue to go unchecked, I believe 0:21:06.359 --> 0:21:13.119 flies in the face of the memory of those nameless, 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:16.320 faceless people. That I'll never know, you know, records get scrambled. 0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:18.160 I don't know where I came from. You you shared 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:21.399 a story recent well a few times with me about 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.080 being in Spain and was it Spain? 0:21:24.240 --> 0:21:24.400 Yea? 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:27.600 And they will tell the story real quick. 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:35.000 Well, having dinner in Barcelona and was the only person 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.199 at a table of seven or eight people that couldn't 0:21:38.240 --> 0:21:41.199 answer the question where are you from? And you know 0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:46.640 my initial reaction, very very proudly as usual Detroit, yeah, man. 0:21:47.200 --> 0:21:50.200 And they're like, no, no, no, no, where's your where's your 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:58.040 mother from? Very very proudly, once again making Georgia. And 0:21:58.080 --> 0:22:01.400 they're like, everybody's looking confused, like as if I don't 0:22:01.480 --> 0:22:05.920 understand what they're asking, because clearly I don't, because I'd 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:08.520 never been asked the question with the expectation of an 0:22:08.560 --> 0:22:11.640 answer that they were looking for. So then they start 0:22:11.640 --> 0:22:14.480 telling me where they were from, different parts of Germany, 0:22:15.560 --> 0:22:18.000 different parts of the West Indies, different parts of Asia, 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:22.520 different parts of direct heritage to an ethnic group from 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:25.320 a specific place in the world that was not the 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:32.520 United States, and African American or black almost doesn't mean 0:22:32.560 --> 0:22:34.680 anything everywhere else in the world. 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:37.320 Where does your. 0:22:37.359 --> 0:22:40.040 They one of the gods at the table rubbed his skin. 0:22:40.800 --> 0:22:46.679 Where does that come from? That meaning my brown melan 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:50.320 my melanin, where does that come from? And it was 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:54.440 an embarrassing moment. Black people in America are the only 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:58.119 people on earth that can't answer that question because we 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:01.600 have no idea where we were torn away from. 0:23:01.720 --> 0:23:11.560 Okay, so understanding that, in the understanding that that same 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:17.280 melanin was crime, may as well have been or quite 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:20.720 literally not even may as well have been quite literally 0:23:20.840 --> 0:23:23.320 a crime in some instances, and so forth, and just 0:23:24.520 --> 0:23:30.480 it feels like, do you know, I say this a lot. 0:23:30.720 --> 0:23:35.480 I say that black people, black men are kings specifically. 0:23:38.720 --> 0:23:41.399 I feel like that's important to say because I recognized 0:23:41.440 --> 0:23:43.359 that there was a lot of people who were black 0:23:43.720 --> 0:23:47.520 that lived and died and they were never able to 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:53.360 refer to themselves in any uplifting positive manner. They had 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:57.040 slave names, they were insulted, you know, when they made mistakes, 0:23:57.160 --> 0:24:00.359 and again they lived very harsh lives and died young. 0:24:00.880 --> 0:24:04.320 That was their life. That's the most precious thing that 0:24:04.359 --> 0:24:07.480 a person can have, and it was reduced to like 0:24:07.520 --> 0:24:10.320 in the matrix when it says, you know, reducing human 0:24:10.320 --> 0:24:12.600 being to a battery. You know, that's that's the kind 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:17.000 of the same thing. So this word, this n word 0:24:18.240 --> 0:24:23.920 for me, connects me with those people in a way 0:24:23.960 --> 0:24:30.160 that is visceral, that is palatable, that I feel and 0:24:30.160 --> 0:24:36.440 that I am compelled to honor. And because of that, 0:24:37.320 --> 0:24:39.160 I cannot let it go and checked. And so it's 0:24:39.240 --> 0:24:44.000 more than just someone saying something and me, you know, 0:24:44.119 --> 0:24:48.200 letting it slide off my back. You know, it's it's 0:24:48.240 --> 0:24:55.400 it's it's an attack on not just me, but everyone 0:24:55.440 --> 0:24:59.760 that has worn this color before me, those people that 0:24:59.800 --> 0:25:02.720 have been attack those people that didn't make it, you know, 0:25:05.080 --> 0:25:08.080 and they're not here to defend themselves, and so I 0:25:08.200 --> 0:25:11.040 think that it wells up in me to defend them 0:25:11.240 --> 0:25:14.679 and me if it's just me, Like watch this cue. Okay, 0:25:16.080 --> 0:25:18.919 if somebody insults you, you're gonna have a problem with that. 0:25:18.920 --> 0:25:20.840 I'm gonna speak for you because I already know if 0:25:20.880 --> 0:25:22.760 somebody insults you're gonna have a problem with that, right. 0:25:23.080 --> 0:25:26.080 But if somebody insults me, you have a very very big, 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:29.960 serious problem. Is it's a much different problem. And so 0:25:30.080 --> 0:25:33.400 it's the same thing. And I think that people need 0:25:33.440 --> 0:25:37.760 to understand that because history matters, and even folks that 0:25:38.000 --> 0:25:41.639 black folks that don't understand their history. This word is 0:25:41.760 --> 0:25:46.040 given to them with the same weight, It has the 0:25:46.040 --> 0:25:49.760 same gravity. They understand that it's that serious. If someone 0:25:49.840 --> 0:25:52.000 says that to you, they're attacking you at your core. 0:25:52.480 --> 0:25:55.080 They don't need to know everything else so that they 0:25:55.160 --> 0:25:58.360 just know that this is something that people fought for 0:25:58.440 --> 0:26:01.080 and died for. And I was born into that fight, 0:26:01.400 --> 0:26:04.120 and for better or worse, I must continue to fight 0:26:04.200 --> 0:26:08.760 on the side that I'm on right, And so this 0:26:08.880 --> 0:26:11.040 is part of the reason why this is not something 0:26:11.080 --> 0:26:16.560 that we take lightly. Now, well, before we go any further, 0:26:16.720 --> 0:26:24.159 have you had any incidents that are top of mind 0:26:24.560 --> 0:26:29.879 where you can draw from, like the feelings that stirred 0:26:29.920 --> 0:26:30.240 up in you. 0:26:31.840 --> 0:26:34.200 I mean I've actually had as you can imagine, multiple 0:26:35.200 --> 0:26:38.760 you and I have had the privilege and the pleasure 0:26:38.840 --> 0:26:42.560 of having been able to use music as a vehicle 0:26:42.600 --> 0:26:42.960 to go. 0:26:43.119 --> 0:26:44.000 All over the world. 0:26:44.280 --> 0:26:48.240 Yeah, and our experiences, and we've talked about this, have 0:26:48.359 --> 0:26:52.280 been a lot different abroad than right here at quote 0:26:52.359 --> 0:26:56.280 unquote home. But the two things that are top of 0:26:56.359 --> 0:26:59.119 mind is I was leaving a gig one night and 0:26:59.359 --> 0:27:03.439 Chandler and Chandler you'd imagine to be you know, a 0:27:03.480 --> 0:27:08.000 more progressive place. You know, it's a more newly developed 0:27:08.040 --> 0:27:12.199 part of the valley than Phoenix, Tempi and Mesa. And 0:27:12.240 --> 0:27:15.479 I stopped to fill up and one of those trucks, 0:27:15.480 --> 0:27:17.680 And when I say those trucks, I think everybody that's 0:27:17.720 --> 0:27:19.960 listening knows what I mean. 0:27:20.119 --> 0:27:21.440 Like one of those trucks. 0:27:21.600 --> 0:27:24.159 Trucks pulled up at the I think it was a 0:27:24.160 --> 0:27:25.960 circle K or a quick trip gas station. I was like, 0:27:26.000 --> 0:27:29.120 I don't recall which, and one of the guys rolled 0:27:29.119 --> 0:27:34.080 the window down and in an attempt to intimidate me, 0:27:34.720 --> 0:27:40.280 called me the N word. I'm just putting gas in 0:27:40.320 --> 0:27:43.919 my car. And I never responded in a way that 0:27:44.040 --> 0:27:49.919 was more calm in my life. I just simply finished 0:27:49.920 --> 0:27:51.960 pumping my gas, got in my car, and drove away 0:27:53.000 --> 0:28:01.000 because I understood that there was no response other than that. 0:27:58.520 --> 0:28:00.480 That would have yielded a good outcome. Right. 0:28:01.359 --> 0:28:03.639 And there are five or six guys in this truck, 0:28:04.800 --> 0:28:10.359 and they left the house with the intention of causing 0:28:10.400 --> 0:28:13.200 some trouble with someone. You know, I didn't invite that 0:28:13.359 --> 0:28:15.560 attention from them. I didn't invite that energy. I didn't 0:28:15.560 --> 0:28:18.119 cause it. So that wasn't even in response to me. 0:28:19.000 --> 0:28:23.040 They were going to find someone to interact with in 0:28:23.080 --> 0:28:25.560 that way, and I just so happened to be the 0:28:25.680 --> 0:28:32.600 maybe the easiest or the nearest target. And you know, 0:28:32.640 --> 0:28:34.680 I got in my car, drove home, and the whole 0:28:34.760 --> 0:28:37.640 ride I just thought about how that could have gone 0:28:37.960 --> 0:28:40.280 had one of them just gotten out, because that's just 0:28:40.320 --> 0:28:43.000 the mood they were in. It goes way different because 0:28:43.040 --> 0:28:46.800 I'm you know, I'm going to defend myself. I don't 0:28:46.800 --> 0:28:50.720 know how effectively against five or six guys, but you know, 0:28:50.840 --> 0:28:52.680 one of you will have a much different story than 0:28:52.680 --> 0:28:57.400 the rest of you, I promise. Another instance that was 0:28:57.440 --> 0:29:03.640 a bit more difficult to digest and reconcile as a 0:29:03.680 --> 0:29:14.120 person that I always viewed as a friend. 0:29:13.200 --> 0:29:13.880 DMed me. 0:29:16.200 --> 0:29:19.520 After I posted something unflattering about, you know, the current 0:29:19.880 --> 0:29:28.480 president to defend him, and at some point pointed out 0:29:28.480 --> 0:29:30.880 in this message that he often says. 0:29:32.080 --> 0:29:33.120 White power. 0:29:36.000 --> 0:29:41.000 And felt it was no different than saying black power. 0:29:42.960 --> 0:29:45.520 And I think about the very, very different histories of 0:29:45.560 --> 0:29:50.200 those phrases, and you know, piggybacking off of you speaking 0:29:50.240 --> 0:29:53.880 about the use of the N word, And in that moment, 0:29:53.920 --> 0:29:59.160 I remembered seeing a photograph from either a burning at 0:29:59.160 --> 0:30:02.600 the stake or a lynching. And all I know that 0:30:02.680 --> 0:30:04.760 in the all I know that is in the photo 0:30:05.480 --> 0:30:11.240 there are two dead black bodies I think hanged and burned, 0:30:12.400 --> 0:30:17.000 and around them are just regular But but I don't 0:30:17.040 --> 0:30:20.560 even want to use the word mob, right, because it's 0:30:20.600 --> 0:30:22.640 like it was children. It was like it was like 0:30:22.680 --> 0:30:25.880 a picnic. That's literally what it was. Yes, look up 0:30:25.880 --> 0:30:30.600 the picnics, the woor history. Right, it was a picnic. 0:30:30.680 --> 0:30:34.080 There's families, there's children. This is a regular day. This 0:30:34.200 --> 0:30:36.560 isn't like an angry mob of people. 0:30:36.680 --> 0:30:38.680 Real quick, hold on picnic for those of you the 0:30:38.720 --> 0:30:42.960 too lazy to google, it has its history in lynching 0:30:43.280 --> 0:30:45.240 black people. All right, go ahead, So. 0:30:46.720 --> 0:30:50.360 I really want to make the distinction that this wasn't 0:30:50.400 --> 0:30:54.160 a mob. This was for lack of better well to do, 0:30:54.840 --> 0:30:59.640 normal middle class families hanging out with the kids that 0:30:59.800 --> 0:31:04.360 I'm assuming they had food, beverage and a fun day, right, 0:31:04.520 --> 0:31:10.880 And the word used to make these non radical people like, 0:31:10.880 --> 0:31:13.320 because this is not a mob, to make these regular 0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:17.800 normal let's just say, for lack of better decent people, okay, 0:31:17.880 --> 0:31:21.680 with what they were witnessing was that word. That word 0:31:21.760 --> 0:31:26.320 reduced us to less than yea and had always had 0:31:26.400 --> 0:31:30.080 with it its intentions of not just making us beneath, 0:31:30.480 --> 0:31:35.240 but in causing us harm. So you know, when my 0:31:35.400 --> 0:31:38.320 friend and it's it's I hesitate to say friend now, 0:31:39.720 --> 0:31:43.280 And that sucks because it's just based on this, on 0:31:43.480 --> 0:31:46.040 him caping up for Donald Trump and the way that 0:31:46.080 --> 0:31:48.080 he did, and the rhetoric and the language that he 0:31:48.200 --> 0:31:51.120 used to do. So that makes it very very clear 0:31:51.160 --> 0:31:54.120 that we're not similar people. But this dude has always 0:31:54.160 --> 0:31:57.960 been kind to me, had always been very very nice. 0:31:58.680 --> 0:32:02.240 I always got excited when I saw him, So him 0:32:02.280 --> 0:32:05.600 telling me that he says white power, as you could imagine, 0:32:05.680 --> 0:32:10.000 was startling. Almost It shook me, and I had to 0:32:10.040 --> 0:32:15.160 explain to him how it's not just the black and 0:32:15.200 --> 0:32:17.040 the white, like the night and the day, like the 0:32:17.080 --> 0:32:22.680 wet and the dry. The phrases in and of themselves 0:32:22.760 --> 0:32:30.479 have no similarities. One is based on supremacy, murder, and 0:32:30.880 --> 0:32:35.000 the eradication of a people. The other one is based 0:32:35.000 --> 0:32:40.520 in pride, self assurance, reassurance to my brothers and sisters 0:32:40.600 --> 0:32:42.160 that we are here together. 0:32:42.600 --> 0:32:45.080 How about this go ahead. Don't want to cut you out, 0:32:45.240 --> 0:32:46.600 so and I'll cut. 0:32:46.560 --> 0:32:48.480 It short because it was a really, really long conversation. 0:32:48.560 --> 0:32:51.000 It was a back and forth that had no end 0:32:51.480 --> 0:32:54.840 because his roots were deep and how he felt, and 0:32:54.880 --> 0:32:56.680 I just made it clear to him We're not getting 0:32:56.720 --> 0:33:00.320 anywhere with this because I'm definitely not. This is not 0:33:00.360 --> 0:33:02.360 a good conversation because neither of us are open to 0:33:02.400 --> 0:33:05.920 the opinion of the other except I'm objectively right and 0:33:05.960 --> 0:33:09.440 you're objectively wrong. And that's not typically a stance you 0:33:09.480 --> 0:33:13.400 should take. Yeah, it is, well, typically a discussion you shouldn't. 0:33:13.480 --> 0:33:16.640 You should be open to learning more and being open minded. 0:33:16.680 --> 0:33:19.640 And but I'm not being swayed in this. I'm right 0:33:19.680 --> 0:33:23.040 and you're wrong. Yeah, it's how I feel and feel today. Well, 0:33:23.080 --> 0:33:27.000 and it's factual, you know what I mean? So so 0:33:27.200 --> 0:33:29.120 real quick, That's what I was going to say. So 0:33:30.200 --> 0:33:32.440 a lot of times when people will say things like, 0:33:33.600 --> 0:33:36.959 you know, why can't there be a white entertainment television 0:33:37.000 --> 0:33:39.320 and if there's a black entertainment television, or why can't 0:33:39.320 --> 0:33:42.640 there be you know, white power, if there's black power, 0:33:42.640 --> 0:33:45.200 and why can't there be you know, white pride if 0:33:45.200 --> 0:33:48.920 there's a well, brown pride is a popular thing where 0:33:48.920 --> 0:33:52.200 I'm from in California, brown pride for Hispanic folks. 0:33:54.680 --> 0:34:00.959 And what people fail to realize is that. You know, 0:34:01.200 --> 0:34:05.760 if you want to talk about you know, Irish pride, 0:34:05.840 --> 0:34:08.160 that's totally fine. You know, we'll go and hang out 0:34:08.160 --> 0:34:10.319 with you. You know what I'm saying, that's yeah, good, I'll 0:34:10.400 --> 0:34:13.640 DJ your parade and event we've done it. If you 0:34:13.680 --> 0:34:17.880 want to talk about you know, you know, whatever type 0:34:17.960 --> 0:34:23.000 of pride you know, specific you know, or or or power, 0:34:23.280 --> 0:34:28.239 you know, whatever, there's community, there's culture there. You know, 0:34:28.239 --> 0:34:32.040 we're happy to support that because it's based on something real, 0:34:32.440 --> 0:34:35.279 an actual history. That is that that people can be 0:34:35.320 --> 0:34:39.719 proud of heritage, culture, et cetera. For black people in 0:34:39.760 --> 0:34:41.719 this country, you know, as you stated, you know, a 0:34:41.719 --> 0:34:44.320 lot of ours got mixed up. So black just became 0:34:44.360 --> 0:34:46.160 a catch all term for all of us with our 0:34:46.200 --> 0:34:49.600 shared experiences, regardless of where we're from in Africa. So 0:34:49.680 --> 0:34:54.080 we developed a new community culture, you know, sense of 0:34:54.360 --> 0:34:56.520 who we are relative to each other and relative to 0:34:56.560 --> 0:35:01.719 everyone else, and so and absolute needed to you know, 0:35:02.000 --> 0:35:05.319 be empowered and continue to empower ourselves and our posterity. 0:35:05.840 --> 0:35:09.319 So you know that those those phrases are born out 0:35:09.320 --> 0:35:11.000 of that and people. 0:35:10.840 --> 0:35:12.640 So not to cut you off, born out of the 0:35:12.719 --> 0:35:15.280 necessity to have somewhere where we could belong. 0:35:15.440 --> 0:35:17.480 Yeah, because we were kicked out of everything else. 0:35:17.520 --> 0:35:21.040 It's the same reason we have historically black colleges and universities. 0:35:21.160 --> 0:35:23.840 That was not to say, hey, white people, you can't 0:35:23.840 --> 0:35:26.160 come to school here. It was to say, hey, black 0:35:26.200 --> 0:35:29.000 people that can't go anywhere else, at least you. 0:35:28.960 --> 0:35:30.520 Can come here. Sure. 0:35:30.600 --> 0:35:36.359 Yeah, so many of our institutions were born from that. 0:35:37.680 --> 0:35:40.200 We were being It was more of an inclusive we 0:35:40.560 --> 0:35:42.360 than an exclusive we. 0:35:42.600 --> 0:35:46.200 Just that needs to be said. Absolutely sorry about that. No, 0:35:46.239 --> 0:35:49.120 you're good, You're good. The thing is, so where I 0:35:49.200 --> 0:35:51.160 was going with that was the thing is when people 0:35:51.239 --> 0:35:53.680 say like white power and white pride, they're not referring 0:35:53.680 --> 0:35:56.600 to a culture as much as they're referring to, you know, 0:35:56.960 --> 0:36:01.239 their skin, you know. So there's not the entitlement that 0:36:01.360 --> 0:36:04.560 comes along with it. It's it's rooted, like get rooted 0:36:04.640 --> 0:36:10.360 in the supremacy of whiteness, you know, not just a 0:36:10.480 --> 0:36:16.799 general celebration, because those general celebrations often always are like 0:36:16.840 --> 0:36:21.120 the Irish, like the Saint Patrick's Day Parade is white folks, 0:36:21.120 --> 0:36:23.160 red hair, you know, get out there with the freckles 0:36:23.200 --> 0:36:25.799 and the green you know, kiss me. I'm Irish, you know, 0:36:26.040 --> 0:36:27.400 I'll put one of them sorts. I get out there 0:36:27.400 --> 0:36:28.560 and get jiggy with them. You know what I'm saying, 0:36:28.600 --> 0:36:32.080 It's it's all love. But you know, once you try 0:36:32.080 --> 0:36:35.480 to make a blanket statement, especially in this country, it 0:36:35.520 --> 0:36:40.600 ignores the sins of white folks and it and it, 0:36:40.719 --> 0:36:44.880 you know a lot of the the other prideful statements 0:36:44.880 --> 0:36:47.280 are born out of necessity, you know, as we stated, 0:36:47.360 --> 0:36:49.520 and that there is no necessity for that. There's no 0:36:49.560 --> 0:36:52.719 necessity for white entertainment television because you can just turn 0:36:52.760 --> 0:36:57.040 on the television black entertainment, all the rest of it. Yeah, 0:36:57.080 --> 0:36:59.799 and so there's no space that you need to go 0:36:59.840 --> 0:37:03.000 with specifically only white because that in and of itself 0:37:03.440 --> 0:37:07.600 is exclusionary in its nature. So again it's important to 0:37:07.640 --> 0:37:12.680 say that. Now I do want to share a story, 0:37:13.040 --> 0:37:18.040 an inward story, because this is something kind of similar 0:37:18.040 --> 0:37:21.320 to what happened with you. But it was a friend 0:37:21.320 --> 0:37:26.920 of mine. His name was Jared, and once upon a time, 0:37:27.000 --> 0:37:29.720 Jared was you know, Jared was a good friend too. 0:37:30.160 --> 0:37:32.799 We'd go to Jared's house all the time, and you know, 0:37:32.840 --> 0:37:34.960 we're his roommate's house, but Jared was there, you know, 0:37:36.000 --> 0:37:39.640 and it was my guy, you know, cracked jokes, play 0:37:39.719 --> 0:37:42.400 video games, all that sort of stuff growing up. And 0:37:42.440 --> 0:37:45.759 then one day Jared said something and it changed our 0:37:45.800 --> 0:37:49.319 friendship forever because I'm not the one. I don't know 0:37:49.320 --> 0:37:52.640 if you want to show every way every week, not 0:37:52.680 --> 0:37:54.879 the one, nor the two, Nor am I the two. 0:37:55.640 --> 0:38:01.600 So yeah, so Jared was Shaquille O'Neil. That's all I remember. 0:38:01.640 --> 0:38:06.719 Shaquille O'Neil did something silly, and Jared was one of 0:38:06.719 --> 0:38:09.279 those sports people. I'm not a sports guy, not but 0:38:09.320 --> 0:38:11.080 I know who Shaq is at all. No, I don't 0:38:11.120 --> 0:38:13.399 know nothing about sports, but I know who Shaq is. Right, 0:38:14.480 --> 0:38:17.200 So Jared was upset with Shaq because he like dunked 0:38:17.200 --> 0:38:19.319 on his team or did something something I don't know, 0:38:19.640 --> 0:38:24.239 and then Shaq did something like maybe unsportsmanlike who knows. 0:38:24.520 --> 0:38:28.480 I wasn't paying attention, but Jared said something. He's like, man, 0:38:28.680 --> 0:38:31.480 I can't stand this guy. Shaq hate this guy, you know, 0:38:31.520 --> 0:38:34.320 blah blah blah whatever, and he's just talking, he's talking, 0:38:34.400 --> 0:38:37.320 and then he said something. He's like, I think Shaq 0:38:37.920 --> 0:38:40.279 is the only person where I think it's okay to 0:38:40.320 --> 0:38:43.279 say the inWORD. Now. He didn't say the inWORD, he 0:38:43.360 --> 0:38:47.600 said quote the in word and end quote. He didn't 0:38:47.640 --> 0:38:50.040 say the actual in word to me. He wouldn't do that, 0:38:51.239 --> 0:38:54.719 but I took exception to it. And I think that 0:38:54.760 --> 0:38:57.160 it's important to tell this story because there's lots of 0:38:57.200 --> 0:39:02.000 people who might flirt with this word on some level 0:39:02.760 --> 0:39:05.640 and tell themselves that, Okay, this is not racist behavior. 0:39:05.880 --> 0:39:07.239 You know, I would never do that. You know, the 0:39:07.239 --> 0:39:08.879 people I know are the people I know blah blah 0:39:08.880 --> 0:39:12.759 blahn this, that and the other. But you know, Jared 0:39:12.800 --> 0:39:15.880 and I we didn't talk for some time. This advice 0:39:15.920 --> 0:39:19.319 is to say, I just kind of left because I 0:39:19.440 --> 0:39:23.759 learned a long time ago that and I've since unlearned it. 0:39:23.760 --> 0:39:25.799 But a long time ago I recognize that it's very 0:39:25.800 --> 0:39:29.640 difficult to teach people something that they're not willing to learn. 0:39:29.920 --> 0:39:34.680 You know, people, when they operate from a place of privilege, 0:39:36.200 --> 0:39:41.479 they you know, it's very difficult for them to try 0:39:41.480 --> 0:39:50.640 to learn anything that doesn't suit their immediate you know, reality, 0:39:50.719 --> 0:39:52.799 or enhance their immediate reality. So to learn what the 0:39:52.800 --> 0:39:57.880 world looks like for someone else is cumbersome, you know. 0:39:58.680 --> 0:40:01.439 So I didn't even by to explain to him why 0:40:01.440 --> 0:40:04.120 he was wrong. He's gotten left right, But he recognized 0:40:04.120 --> 0:40:06.600 that he had sort of made a mistake and that 0:40:06.680 --> 0:40:10.520 he needed to apologize. So this might have been did. 0:40:10.360 --> 0:40:13.160 He recognize that he'd defend it or hurt you in 0:40:13.239 --> 0:40:14.920 some way and wanted to fix it, yeah, or did 0:40:14.960 --> 0:40:16.320 he recognize that he was wrong? 0:40:16.440 --> 0:40:19.040 Those are two very different. The first thing, okay, so 0:40:19.080 --> 0:40:20.880 that's where I'm going with the story. So it was 0:40:20.920 --> 0:40:23.560 the first one. He recognized that what he said upset 0:40:23.680 --> 0:40:29.600 Ramses and that he needed to you know, make you know, 0:40:29.640 --> 0:40:37.759 make that right. So after about maybe a year, we 0:40:37.880 --> 0:40:40.360 ended up kind of in the same place, you know whatever, 0:40:40.560 --> 0:40:42.360 and he pulls me aside and he starts talking to me, 0:40:42.360 --> 0:40:44.799 and he's like, hey, man, listen, it's been on my 0:40:44.840 --> 0:40:47.080 mind for a long time. But I remember that day 0:40:47.120 --> 0:40:50.200 when you left kind of quick, you know. I remember 0:40:50.239 --> 0:40:52.960 I said something about, you know, shack and you know, 0:40:53.280 --> 0:40:55.719 using the N word or whatever, and I just want 0:40:55.719 --> 0:40:58.080 you to know, man, I didn't, you know, mean to 0:40:58.160 --> 0:41:00.960 upset you. And so I says to him, and the 0:41:01.280 --> 0:41:03.279 reason I'm telling the stories because I want people to 0:41:03.280 --> 0:41:05.400 listen to us, because hopefully this will add some perspective. 0:41:05.560 --> 0:41:11.040 But I says to him, Jared, you have to understand 0:41:11.040 --> 0:41:16.480 that that word is a word that you could only 0:41:16.600 --> 0:41:20.360 use with Shack. You could not use it with Larry Bird. 0:41:20.400 --> 0:41:26.279 Could You wouldn't make sense, would it. And he's like, yeah, 0:41:26.320 --> 0:41:28.880 I see your point. I would never say it for 0:41:28.960 --> 0:41:31.879 Larry Bird because I wouldn't say unless the person is black. 0:41:31.880 --> 0:41:35.800 And I'm like, exactly, so, using that word to insult 0:41:35.880 --> 0:41:39.160 one black person, you have to understand that that word 0:41:39.320 --> 0:41:42.960 carries the weight of all black people who have heard it, 0:41:44.000 --> 0:41:47.839 who come from it, come from the pain that associated 0:41:47.880 --> 0:41:50.520 with it, you know, and it brings with it all 0:41:50.520 --> 0:41:54.640 the feelings. And I know that you are a well intentioned, 0:41:54.640 --> 0:41:58.000 well meaning person. There's a lot of racist people and 0:41:58.040 --> 0:42:00.280 they don't know that they're racist. They think they're good people, 0:42:00.440 --> 0:42:02.279 and bless their heart, they're working on it, but they 0:42:02.280 --> 0:42:03.960 need to be shown. Hey, this behavior. 0:42:04.120 --> 0:42:06.040 Some of them are not working on it because of 0:42:06.040 --> 0:42:08.680 what you said though. They actually don't realize that. 0:42:08.760 --> 0:42:11.600 They are sure and it's tough, it's hard, you know, 0:42:11.760 --> 0:42:14.080 and and would fight you if you accuse them of it. Oh, 0:42:14.160 --> 0:42:16.919 let me say it. Blue lives matter flags. Listen, y'all 0:42:16.920 --> 0:42:20.520 don't think you're racist. You don't. I know you don't 0:42:20.560 --> 0:42:24.279 think so. I know you don't think that. But eventually 0:42:24.280 --> 0:42:26.160 you'll come around and you'll start to see, you know, 0:42:26.280 --> 0:42:28.120 I was out of pocket. That was the wrong thing 0:42:28.160 --> 0:42:31.200 to do. That was the wrong horse to back. Those 0:42:31.239 --> 0:42:35.160 people were not oppressed. The black people were oppressed. That's 0:42:35.200 --> 0:42:38.080 gonna come in your lifetime. You're gonna see it, and 0:42:38.120 --> 0:42:40.040 you're gonna come and you're gonna apply. And guess what, 0:42:40.640 --> 0:42:43.879 black as we are good at one thing. Letting y'all know, hey, 0:42:43.920 --> 0:42:44.800 we forgive you. 0:42:44.800 --> 0:42:46.720 You are our baby, are the best in the history 0:42:46.719 --> 0:42:49.520 of this planet at it. We're the first people makes 0:42:49.560 --> 0:42:52.719 you our babies. If you if you have parents, you 0:42:52.800 --> 0:42:55.640 recognize they're very forgiving. And I don't mean to, you know, 0:42:55.719 --> 0:42:58.120 be disrespectful if you're older than me or whatever, but 0:42:58.520 --> 0:43:01.120 I do recognize that cult for really speaking, you know, 0:43:01.200 --> 0:43:03.640 there's you know, we can be a little bit more 0:43:03.640 --> 0:43:05.160 patient than we probably should be. 0:43:05.680 --> 0:43:08.839 And it works. Hopefully it will continue to have been 0:43:08.880 --> 0:43:11.560 throughout history, and it will work in the benefit of 0:43:11.640 --> 0:43:14.759 people who are well intentioned and really do desire to grow. 0:43:14.800 --> 0:43:16.719 But for now, waving that flag as a slap in 0:43:16.719 --> 0:43:19.359 the face of all of us trying to actually make 0:43:19.360 --> 0:43:21.000 the world a little bit better for all of us, 0:43:21.520 --> 0:43:26.640 not just some of us. So and real quick if 0:43:26.680 --> 0:43:28.440 you're just tune in NACIPI side from my host rams 0:43:28.480 --> 0:43:31.839 as Josh, they call me q Ward And today's show, 0:43:31.920 --> 0:43:36.560 we're talking about the in word and just the weight 0:43:36.600 --> 0:43:39.480 of it and what it means and so forth. And 0:43:39.480 --> 0:43:43.520 then again, this is not a debate of who can 0:43:43.560 --> 0:43:48.319 say it this this conversation assumes that when it's said, 0:43:48.320 --> 0:43:52.000 it's meant as an insult, and why or even if 0:43:52.000 --> 0:43:54.160 it's not meant as an insult, but it's from a 0:43:54.239 --> 0:43:56.719 non black person to a black person, why we could 0:43:56.719 --> 0:43:59.560 be offended or take exception to it. So well, that said, 0:43:59.600 --> 0:44:05.120 I want to share a story and I hope that 0:44:05.239 --> 0:44:14.040 this story will inspire people listening to it to check 0:44:14.960 --> 0:44:17.359 things that happen in their lives, you know, things that 0:44:17.360 --> 0:44:18.880 they see that they observe. Because the's a lot of 0:44:18.880 --> 0:44:21.040 people listening that would that would I would never say that. 0:44:21.080 --> 0:44:22.600 I would never do that, And they're right, they would 0:44:22.640 --> 0:44:25.120 never do that. You know, I believe that most people 0:44:25.160 --> 0:44:27.600 would never do that. There's some people that want to 0:44:27.640 --> 0:44:30.239 be cool or they think they're cool enough to pull 0:44:30.239 --> 0:44:32.399 it off or whatever. I promise you're not. I don't 0:44:32.440 --> 0:44:35.200 even say that word. I don't even have friends who 0:44:35.200 --> 0:44:37.440 are that word, you know, even if they call that 0:44:37.480 --> 0:44:41.319 to themselves, you know, but you know, in my house, 0:44:41.400 --> 0:44:44.360 that's just not a word that exists. So far be 0:44:44.400 --> 0:44:46.719 it from you to assign it to me or anyone 0:44:46.760 --> 0:44:51.160 in mine. But again, for everyone, I want to show 0:44:51.200 --> 0:44:54.520 you an example that I really like that came up 0:44:54.520 --> 0:44:56.480 in my life and I had an opportunity to do it, 0:44:56.520 --> 0:44:57.759 and I want to walk you through it. It's going 0:44:57.800 --> 0:44:59.400 to take a minute, but I promise it will be 0:44:59.480 --> 0:45:01.800 worth it, especially if you have any amount of empathy 0:45:01.840 --> 0:45:12.440 or love in your heart. So I was at a place. 0:45:16.640 --> 0:45:21.719 It was a workplace, and I was there with a 0:45:21.760 --> 0:45:30.239 person who also worked there. And this person his name 0:45:30.280 --> 0:45:35.920 was Martin. And so when I walked when I walked up, 0:45:36.080 --> 0:45:38.680 Martin says he stopped me at the at before I 0:45:38.680 --> 0:45:41.360 walked inside, and he says, hey, man, don't go in there, 0:45:41.560 --> 0:45:46.640 because you know, the boss is in there with a customer, 0:45:47.600 --> 0:45:49.400 and the customer and the boss are going back and 0:45:49.400 --> 0:45:51.919 forth blah blah blah, and they're yelling at each other. 0:45:52.320 --> 0:45:54.600 And he's like, man, I can't stand when customers do this, 0:45:56.640 --> 0:46:00.520 you know, And he's like venting in you know, talking 0:46:00.560 --> 0:46:03.720 about how frustrated he is. Now just because it matters, 0:46:04.320 --> 0:46:09.040 Martin is white. The boss is black, Okay, the customer 0:46:09.360 --> 0:46:13.239 customer was I couldn't tell you because I never saw 0:46:13.239 --> 0:46:16.960 the customer, but it didn't matter. But Martin was white. 0:46:17.560 --> 0:46:25.280 Martin is probably in his fifties somewhere, beautiful human being. 0:46:25.400 --> 0:46:29.520 I think he's a good man, and I stand by 0:46:29.560 --> 0:46:33.600 that even after you hear this story, because I had 0:46:33.600 --> 0:46:35.800 to make up a lot of I had to decide 0:46:35.840 --> 0:46:37.719 a lot in a very short amount of time, which 0:46:37.719 --> 0:46:40.320 is often the case when you are alarmed by someone's behavior. 0:46:40.719 --> 0:46:44.480 So anyway, Martin is just he's venting his frustration about 0:46:44.480 --> 0:46:49.480 this customer taking out their frustrations on the boss, and 0:46:49.520 --> 0:46:52.000 he says, you know, they're just in there and they're 0:46:52.000 --> 0:47:02.200 trying to jew him, right all right now. Jew is 0:47:02.239 --> 0:47:06.840 a word that describes Jewish people, the Jews. Not a 0:47:06.840 --> 0:47:08.440 bad word, but. 0:47:08.800 --> 0:47:12.399 A religion and an ethnicity. Sure it's not a bad word, 0:47:12.560 --> 0:47:14.520 but if you put a little A lot of people 0:47:14.560 --> 0:47:17.480 don't know that though. Oh okay, okay, yeah, we'll tell them, 0:47:17.480 --> 0:47:21.520 and it's it's both a religion and an ethnicity. 0:47:22.239 --> 0:47:28.439 But you know, the word is the same. It's it's 0:47:28.480 --> 0:47:30.879 it's just a normal word, and it's also a sort 0:47:30.920 --> 0:47:33.279 of a slur, especially in the way that he used it, 0:47:33.920 --> 0:47:37.359 just with a little bit of like if I say, oh, 0:47:39.000 --> 0:47:44.040 my friend is a Jew, right, that does me describing 0:47:44.080 --> 0:47:49.040 my friend. But if I say, oh, my god, they 0:47:49.200 --> 0:47:51.959 look at the Jews over there, it's the same word. 0:47:52.000 --> 0:47:54.480 It's the same exact word, but it just is a 0:47:54.480 --> 0:47:57.319 little has some teeth in it, right, it's the wrong 0:47:57.360 --> 0:47:59.239 way to use it. So it's a it's a funny word, 0:47:59.280 --> 0:48:03.279 but it's it's kind of entry level racism, you know 0:48:03.320 --> 0:48:05.160 what I mean. It's not the the N word, but 0:48:05.200 --> 0:48:07.520 it's you know, and it's it serves as a great 0:48:08.080 --> 0:48:10.000 example for, you know, how to approach these things. 0:48:10.040 --> 0:48:12.640 But it had to be inferred with nuance and context 0:48:12.640 --> 0:48:15.040 exactly to take on a racist meaning, you wouldn't be 0:48:15.040 --> 0:48:18.239 able to read it, whereas the word we're using it's 0:48:18.360 --> 0:48:19.000 just racist. 0:48:19.160 --> 0:48:21.440 Yeah, it's built into the word. And he's saying with 0:48:21.520 --> 0:48:25.799 a smile, yeah, they're in word. There ain't no getting 0:48:25.800 --> 0:48:31.400 around that way. So so yeah, he's he's just talking 0:48:31.400 --> 0:48:33.040 a million miles a minute. He's like, you know, they're 0:48:33.080 --> 0:48:34.759 in there, and they're trying to do him and you know, 0:48:34.800 --> 0:48:37.000 blah blah blah, this and that and the third and 0:48:37.040 --> 0:48:43.279 I'm like, huh huhm. Right now, most people, I promise you, 0:48:44.320 --> 0:48:48.239 this happened to me most people, because he does. He's 0:48:48.239 --> 0:48:52.520 not a bad person. He's I know that he's not 0:48:53.040 --> 0:48:56.640 racist against uh Jewish people. You know that, just you 0:48:56.760 --> 0:48:59.040 just don't end up in a space like that and 0:48:59.120 --> 0:49:02.400 really harbor that genuine sentiment. He's not a Nazi. You know, 0:49:02.440 --> 0:49:04.319 he's working for a black man. He's talking to a 0:49:04.320 --> 0:49:06.600 black you know what I'm saying. So usually if you're 0:49:06.600 --> 0:49:08.800 gonna be racist against somebody, we're first on the list, 0:49:09.360 --> 0:49:12.759 you know usually. But I knew him, and I knew 0:49:12.760 --> 0:49:16.600 that that's not what he meant. It's just what he said, right. 0:49:16.680 --> 0:49:20.160 So you know, Sasha Baron Cohen, the guy who plays Borat, 0:49:20.200 --> 0:49:23.560 he he said brilliant. By the way, Yeah, if you 0:49:23.640 --> 0:49:25.359 if you get a chance to go down to you. 0:49:25.520 --> 0:49:28.520 If you do, if you don't pay enough attention, because Borat, 0:49:28.520 --> 0:49:30.239 the character in and of itself, might make you think 0:49:30.280 --> 0:49:33.600 this dude is an idiot. He's brilliant, super even that 0:49:33.800 --> 0:49:35.560 character is brilliant. If you're paying attention. 0:49:35.680 --> 0:49:39.560 Absolutely So, speaking of which, one of the things that 0:49:39.640 --> 0:49:43.000 he suggested that Borat points out is that, you know, 0:49:43.080 --> 0:49:47.920 Borat has these very anti Semitic one liners in his 0:49:48.040 --> 0:49:51.560 movies right where he talks, he speaks poorly about Jewish 0:49:51.600 --> 0:49:54.160 people and makes fun of Jewish people and pretty really 0:49:54.200 --> 0:49:57.560 really over the top Jewish caricatures too. Right, but he 0:49:57.719 --> 0:49:59.520 is the actual actor is Jewish. 0:49:59.840 --> 0:49:59.920 Right. 0:50:02.200 --> 0:50:04.960 But he says that what it does is the character 0:50:05.080 --> 0:50:09.799 illustrates people's passivity, like you can be Jewish or you 0:50:09.800 --> 0:50:14.000 can be racist or anti Semitic around me, and I 0:50:14.000 --> 0:50:17.600 won't stop you. I'll just let it go on. And 0:50:17.640 --> 0:50:20.200 he says that Borat brings that out of people. It 0:50:20.280 --> 0:50:24.200 really puts people's ideas of what's right and wrong to 0:50:24.280 --> 0:50:26.800 the test, not for themselves, but for what they'll accept 0:50:26.800 --> 0:50:31.920 in their circle. Right. So similarly, when I'm talking with Martin, 0:50:32.000 --> 0:50:34.360 he says this, He says that the person the customers 0:50:34.360 --> 0:50:37.120 in there trying to trying to jew I'm sorry that 0:50:37.120 --> 0:50:38.400 I keep saying it, but I just don't want to 0:50:38.400 --> 0:50:45.360 lose you the boss, right, So you know, I let 0:50:45.440 --> 0:50:48.560 him finish his his rant and get his frustrations off, 0:50:48.600 --> 0:50:50.719 and I knew that he was being a you know, 0:50:50.760 --> 0:50:52.839 a comrade. He was trying to, you know, stand by 0:50:52.840 --> 0:50:56.279 the boss and whatever. And at the end of it, 0:50:56.600 --> 0:50:58.120 you know, he starts walking away. He's like, man, I 0:50:58.160 --> 0:50:59.239 don't want to keep you. I know, you gotta go. 0:50:59.280 --> 0:51:00.880 I just was venting, you know, cause this guy's been 0:51:00.880 --> 0:51:02.960 here forever long. He starts walking away, and I was like, 0:51:03.800 --> 0:51:06.880 you know what, I could just walk away. This guy's old. 0:51:07.480 --> 0:51:11.240 He doesn't mean it, you know whatever, and I really 0:51:11.440 --> 0:51:13.160 I want to impress it. I really had to sit 0:51:13.200 --> 0:51:15.120 with it because I had to find it in myself 0:51:15.160 --> 0:51:17.520 to actually go back to this man who's my senior, 0:51:17.640 --> 0:51:21.600 very much my senior, and approach him about something that 0:51:21.640 --> 0:51:26.400 he did wrong. That's not something that's normal for me, 0:51:26.960 --> 0:51:29.680 a cultural implicator who knows, you know. But for whatever reason, 0:51:29.800 --> 0:51:32.160 I'm not accustomed to dealing with folks who are that 0:51:32.320 --> 0:51:35.839 much older and visibly older than me. But I went 0:51:35.880 --> 0:51:39.880 back to him, and this is what I said. I says, Hey, Martin. 0:51:40.360 --> 0:51:42.799 He's like, yeah, man, what's up. I was like, hey, man, listen, 0:51:42.840 --> 0:51:44.839 come back. Can I talk to you for a second. 0:51:45.080 --> 0:51:48.000 He's like, yeah, yeah, what's up. I was like, listen, man, 0:51:51.120 --> 0:51:53.040 I know you're a good person. I know you're an 0:51:53.040 --> 0:51:55.239 amazing person. You're a good man. You have a good heart. 0:51:55.320 --> 0:51:57.319 And I touched him on his chest when I did this, 0:51:57.640 --> 0:52:00.360 he says, you have a good heart. He's like, yeah, man, 0:52:00.400 --> 0:52:02.280 don well, thank you. I appreciate it. And I was like, listen, 0:52:02.960 --> 0:52:06.359 I'm trying my best to be a good man. I 0:52:06.400 --> 0:52:08.640 have to wake up every day and try again. I'm 0:52:08.640 --> 0:52:12.600 not perfect, and what I need you to do is 0:52:12.719 --> 0:52:16.840 hold me accountable. I need you to check my speech. 0:52:16.880 --> 0:52:19.279 I need you to check my actions and my behaviors. 0:52:20.560 --> 0:52:22.200 And what we're going to do is we're going to 0:52:22.239 --> 0:52:25.920 keep each other in line so that we both can 0:52:26.840 --> 0:52:30.640 become better men. Does that sound good? And he's like, yeah, 0:52:30.680 --> 0:52:33.520 of course, yeah, absolutely. You know I love you man, 0:52:33.560 --> 0:52:35.040 I love what you stand for all this sort of stuff. 0:52:35.040 --> 0:52:38.239 I was like, great, here's the thing. I'm going to 0:52:38.320 --> 0:52:41.200 go first, okay, and he's like yeah yeah, And I 0:52:41.200 --> 0:52:44.000 was like, okay, so watch this. I know you didn't 0:52:44.000 --> 0:52:46.960 mean it. I know you're not this type of person. 0:52:47.120 --> 0:52:55.440 If you're listening. Ramses is so compassionate and gracious is 0:52:55.480 --> 0:52:58.120 the word I like to use the most. He really 0:52:58.200 --> 0:53:00.440 extends that benefit of the doubt people. 0:53:01.040 --> 0:53:02.560 I think it's necessary, though. 0:53:02.440 --> 0:53:05.799 I know you didn't mean it, Ramsey said, he's he's 0:53:05.840 --> 0:53:08.919 helping you get off that racist ledge that you might 0:53:09.000 --> 0:53:09.279 be on. 0:53:09.560 --> 0:53:12.880 Yeah. Yeah, But see, the thing is when you when you, 0:53:12.920 --> 0:53:15.960 when forgiveness is built into the narrative, sir, you can 0:53:16.000 --> 0:53:22.000 create cheerleaders when there's an adversarial stance. You draw battle lines, 0:53:22.400 --> 0:53:24.160 you know, and that you're over there and I'm over here, 0:53:24.160 --> 0:53:25.880 and we're like this forever, and you're always going to 0:53:25.920 --> 0:53:28.279 attack me every chance you get. And I need you 0:53:28.320 --> 0:53:30.000 to be a cheerleader. I need you to help me 0:53:30.160 --> 0:53:32.319 change the world. And that's how I recruit people into 0:53:32.400 --> 0:53:36.640 this love Army or whatever. But I believe in it, 0:53:36.840 --> 0:53:39.200 you know obviously, Oh no, it's not for the show. 0:53:39.280 --> 0:53:41.920 That's I believe in it. I think that it's possible. 0:53:42.480 --> 0:53:45.680 So anyway, so I'm talking to Martin and I says, so, 0:53:46.000 --> 0:53:49.200 what you said just now, I should have said, I 0:53:49.200 --> 0:53:50.799 should have caught it right when you said it, but 0:53:50.960 --> 0:53:53.080 I had to sit with it because it's very difficult 0:53:53.120 --> 0:53:55.560 to do. But what you said right now, you said 0:53:55.640 --> 0:53:58.640 that there was a customer in there trying to you, 0:53:59.880 --> 0:54:02.920 and he as soon as I said that, he was like, oh, 0:54:03.040 --> 0:54:06.040 in his face. He because he didn't even know that 0:54:06.080 --> 0:54:08.239 he said it, and I was like, I'll do you 0:54:08.239 --> 0:54:11.319 one better. I remember once upon a time when I 0:54:11.360 --> 0:54:14.000 was in high school, I thought that that was the 0:54:14.040 --> 0:54:16.640 word that you used. I didn't even know that it 0:54:16.680 --> 0:54:19.719 was a bad word. I had to learn that you're 0:54:19.760 --> 0:54:22.400 not supposed to say that because it's hurtful to people, 0:54:23.320 --> 0:54:25.959 you know, and everyone's entitled to learn. And I learned 0:54:25.960 --> 0:54:28.000 it in high school and maybe you're learning it today, 0:54:28.040 --> 0:54:30.359 or maybe you didn't know that, or maybe you knew 0:54:30.400 --> 0:54:33.000 it and just forgot or whatever. But we're going to 0:54:33.040 --> 0:54:37.120 hold each other accountable accountable here, So I go first. 0:54:37.280 --> 0:54:41.080 So now you owe me one, okay, So you have 0:54:41.160 --> 0:54:43.800 to watch me now the next time I say something, 0:54:43.840 --> 0:54:45.520 the next time I step out of line or make 0:54:45.560 --> 0:54:49.040 a mistake, I need you to come to me and 0:54:49.120 --> 0:54:51.640 let me know, because I'm going to lean on you 0:54:51.800 --> 0:54:53.960 to help me become a better person in the same 0:54:53.960 --> 0:54:59.400 way that I'm going to, you know, hold you accountable 0:54:59.800 --> 0:55:02.759 because I'm the best version of yourself, you know, the 0:55:02.800 --> 0:55:07.400 best man you can be. And it was peaceful, it 0:55:07.480 --> 0:55:12.560 was agreeable. Dare I say jovial, you know, because you 0:55:12.600 --> 0:55:15.759 know he's like, you know, a laugh, but he's like, 0:55:15.760 --> 0:55:17.680 you know, I'm better. You know, I'm better than this man, 0:55:17.800 --> 0:55:20.640 because I remember the time. And then I was like, listen, man, 0:55:20.640 --> 0:55:22.160 you don't have to convince me. And that's why it 0:55:22.200 --> 0:55:24.200 was funny. So I'm like, hey man, we're on the 0:55:24.239 --> 0:55:26.799 same side of this. Now. Neither of us are Jewish, 0:55:27.160 --> 0:55:31.960 you know, but I do recognize that that type of energy, 0:55:33.200 --> 0:55:39.480 that type of disregard for people's sensitivities, especially groups of 0:55:39.520 --> 0:55:43.800 people's sensitivities, their history, their culture, you know, their struggles, 0:55:43.840 --> 0:55:47.160 the things that they come from. That disregard is what 0:55:47.280 --> 0:55:55.520 perpetuates an environment where stereotypes and prejudices are able to 0:55:56.200 --> 0:56:01.239 thrive and continue to take root generation after generation. And 0:56:02.680 --> 0:56:06.360 it is my responsibility, as a person who is attempting 0:56:06.440 --> 0:56:09.280 to become a better man every day of my life, 0:56:09.320 --> 0:56:14.319 to check that I've noticed. I didn't say stomp it out, 0:56:14.360 --> 0:56:16.759 and I didn't say, you know, no aggressive actions, you 0:56:16.760 --> 0:56:19.239 know when that's necessary. Believe me, I keep that in 0:56:19.280 --> 0:56:21.680 my back pocket because I want to a town stomp 0:56:21.680 --> 0:56:25.720 it out. Yeah, but that's not the first card I play. 0:56:26.080 --> 0:56:28.160 Rarely is it the first card I play. Because I 0:56:28.239 --> 0:56:32.320 recognize that you know that's usually when I'm in defense mode, 0:56:32.960 --> 0:56:34.640 you know, when I'm really trying to attack the root 0:56:34.640 --> 0:56:37.279 of something, I try my best to assume that the 0:56:37.320 --> 0:56:41.360 person is a compassionate person who might be misled or 0:56:41.400 --> 0:56:44.520 might be misinformed. You know, we have a tremendous opportunity, 0:56:44.560 --> 0:56:47.000 you and me with this platform here where we can 0:56:47.719 --> 0:56:53.080 have conversations amongst ourselves and allow people that perhaps don't 0:56:53.080 --> 0:56:55.080 get this type of insight into what it means to 0:56:55.120 --> 0:56:58.040 be black, male, female. You know, when we have those 0:56:58.080 --> 0:57:03.399 types of guests, you know, on the show, and they 0:57:03.440 --> 0:57:06.120 can gain some insight into what the experience might be 0:57:06.200 --> 0:57:08.759 like and become better allies. I really do believe that 0:57:08.760 --> 0:57:11.839 this platform holds the potential to create better allies out 0:57:11.840 --> 0:57:15.719 of the people who are already sympathetic, if you will, 0:57:16.280 --> 0:57:20.720 and compassionate and fueled by some conviction to try to 0:57:20.760 --> 0:57:23.560 create a more equitable world for all of us, no 0:57:23.600 --> 0:57:26.880 matter how much melanin we have. And so this is 0:57:26.920 --> 0:57:32.960 a is very much a part of this thing that 0:57:32.960 --> 0:57:37.760 we're doing here on Civic Cipher, and it's also a 0:57:37.760 --> 0:57:40.120 part of my day to day life. And hopefully if 0:57:40.120 --> 0:57:44.840 you're listening to my voice, you recognize that there is 0:57:45.040 --> 0:57:50.320 an opportunity for you to challenge the word, the inWORD, 0:57:50.440 --> 0:57:53.000 especially when it comes up in your life. There's a 0:57:53.000 --> 0:57:55.360 way to do it where you can create cheerleaders out 0:57:55.400 --> 0:57:58.080 of people and you don't create enemies and further, you know, 0:57:58.240 --> 0:58:02.440 they further entrench themselves into their racist behavior. That's not 0:58:02.520 --> 0:58:04.800 to say you can save everyone, but that is to 0:58:04.840 --> 0:58:07.440 say that now you have a little bit more to 0:58:07.560 --> 0:58:11.360 go with. And with that said, I think it's about 0:58:11.400 --> 0:58:12.840 time for us to get out of here. Yes sir, 0:58:13.680 --> 0:58:18.439 so yeah. Once again, thank you everyone for tuning in 0:58:19.040 --> 0:58:21.520 to Civic Cipher. We're going to be back next week 0:58:21.560 --> 0:58:23.480 doing the same thing. Before I go, I want to 0:58:23.480 --> 0:58:25.640 give a big shout out to all our patreons, for 0:58:25.720 --> 0:58:30.760 everybody checking in with us on Facebook, and again for 0:58:30.840 --> 0:58:32.840 the people that support the show in a number of ways. 0:58:32.840 --> 0:58:35.680 If you would like to support the show, please visit 0:58:35.720 --> 0:58:38.760 our website Civiccipher dot com. You can submit questions or 0:58:38.760 --> 0:58:42.640 topics that you want us to discuss, you can donate. 0:58:42.720 --> 0:58:45.400 Donations are very important. The show is always growing and 0:58:45.440 --> 0:58:47.840 your support means the world to us. You can also 0:58:47.920 --> 0:58:52.800 download this and previous episodes of Civic Cipher to review 0:58:53.120 --> 0:58:56.280 and With that said, we'll see you next week, same time, 0:58:56.320 --> 0:58:58.560 same channel. All right, y'all. Peace, Peace,