Speaker 1: I'm Tamika d Mallory and it.
Speaker 2: Shit Boy my son in general.
Speaker 1: We are your host of TMI.
Speaker 2: Tamika and my Son's Information, Truth, Motivation and.
Speaker 1: Inspiration, Name New Energy. What's going on? My Son Lennon?
Speaker 2: What's going on? Tamika May How are you?
Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm good. You know, it seems like the
Speaker 1: last few weeks we've really been live and in the action.
Speaker 1: TMI has been on the road. So many things happening,
Speaker 1: you know, so many people are outside right now, folks
Speaker 1: who are either engaged in voter engagement work or people
Speaker 1: who are doing just the normal day to day work
Speaker 1: organizing and communities. There's a lot that's happening. And you know,
Speaker 1: I think, I really know that you share the sentiments
Speaker 1: that it is good to know that our audience that
Speaker 1: they're sticking with us through the transition of you know,
Speaker 1: us being more outside. You know, in this time, I
Speaker 1: guess we always are outside, but it seemed like as
Speaker 1: we dip zag across this country and meet with more people,
Speaker 1: it feels more logical, if you will, to really take
Speaker 1: the voices of the people from the community rather than
Speaker 1: having to you know, excuse me, rather than having to
Speaker 1: you know, sort of invite folks to come to us.
Speaker 1: We're going out to where our people are and bringing
Speaker 1: their voices and making it one with TMI, and so
Speaker 1: I'm excited about it. I now think I need a
Speaker 1: microphone or some type of device connected to my phone
Speaker 1: because I see other people doing that and I was
Speaker 1: thinking today I need to get some type of device
Speaker 1: so I could be like, you know, hooked up and
Speaker 1: profect to know what my outside recordings.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I think I think we actually have.
Speaker 2: They gave us those little mics. I really see a
Speaker 2: matter of fact, I have it in my house. I
Speaker 2: just never hooked it up to my phone. But I
Speaker 2: guess since we are traveling and doing a lot of
Speaker 2: improm too podcasts to where you know, we're on the
Speaker 2: moment and we're meeting with different individuals and we might
Speaker 2: need to interview like today, you know, it was one
Speaker 2: of those days where we should have just interviewed so
Speaker 2: many different people. But you know, the discussion that we
Speaker 2: had today was amazing. Shout out to everybody you know
Speaker 2: in Detroit. We're in Detroit right now and we had
Speaker 2: a dope panel. I don't want to mention everybody but
Speaker 2: I don't want to mention anybody and mention and forget anybody.
Speaker 2: So I'm just saying it was a great panel. A
Speaker 2: lot of different names. If you can think of something,
Speaker 2: I could probably feel. Most of the.
Speaker 1: Men here, Yellow Paine, Yeah, uh, Freeway Killer, Mike, push
Speaker 1: your T, push your T, Joe tak It, Edie, Joe take.
Speaker 1: Our moderators were wayno and also Britney Pacnet and Pastor
Speaker 1: McBride who's coming up right now as a guest for
Speaker 1: this evening, for this show. And uh, there was some
Speaker 1: other folk. Of course, our brother Philip Agnew.
Speaker 2: And this a mm hmm Black Sam brother. Another I
Speaker 2: forgot his cousin that was deal with him, so I
Speaker 2: forgot his name. Also, I swear Visit was there. That's
Speaker 2: my that's my guy. You know what I'm saying. It
Speaker 2: was And it was a it was a very dope conversation,
Speaker 2: just getting everybody's perspective and just hearing you know, where
Speaker 2: we are in the world right now, not just polities,
Speaker 2: but just in general. Like it was very empowering talking
Speaker 2: about financial security, talking about entrepreneurship and how we should
Speaker 2: be utilizing our resources and building with each other and
Speaker 2: creating generational wealth and community wealth together. So that was
Speaker 2: very very impactful, you know, and I think those conversations
Speaker 2: are so much needed around this country because you get
Speaker 2: to hear no, you know, we always hear that black
Speaker 2: are in a monolith, and you got to see that tonight.
Speaker 2: But it was brilliant because everyone had a way of
Speaker 2: expressing themselves that was brilliant. But it was just different
Speaker 2: perspectives and it was different point of views. There were
Speaker 2: a couple of contentious moments. You know, you were involved
Speaker 2: with one of those, but even in those moments, it
Speaker 2: was love and respect. It was just people wanted you
Speaker 2: to understand what their perspective was.
Speaker 1: So why do you want to say they want me
Speaker 1: to understand. They wanted the everybody to know.
Speaker 2: I just said, just you. I said no, I said,
Speaker 2: people wanted they wanted to be understood. It I was
Speaker 2: some about us in general. I said, there was a
Speaker 2: contentions moment that involved you because there was a pushback,
Speaker 2: and you know, but it was still in love and
Speaker 2: respect and everybody just wanted their position to be understood.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I mean, I think, you know, first of all,
Speaker 1: just to put this in a proper context, for those
Speaker 1: who are listening in the discussion today. The panel that
Speaker 1: we did, and not just a panel. We also did
Speaker 1: a lot of community canvass and registering voters, knocking on doors,
Speaker 1: reminding people of the upcoming election, as well as as
Speaker 1: well as just you know, being in space with our
Speaker 1: people and shout out to our brother Mark and being
Speaker 1: who organized us, being who organized us all to be together.
Speaker 1: There is a new campaign that we were a part
Speaker 1: of launching today and that is vote or Else. You
Speaker 1: know that every election season there are slogans that people
Speaker 1: organized under to help make the point that it's important
Speaker 1: for us to exercise our constitutional right to vote as
Speaker 1: well as our ability to have our voices heard. That
Speaker 1: people will know we are interested in these issues, we
Speaker 1: are paying attention, we are organized, and our communities will
Speaker 1: not be left behind or discounted and discredited and disengaged
Speaker 1: and so voter else. I think the or else part
Speaker 1: is so loaded. And I remember back in twenty fifteen,
Speaker 1: I believe when we worked on Justice or Else with
Speaker 1: the Nation of Islam and many other organizations from around
Speaker 1: the country, Quinya Nasaha and so many that gathered for
Speaker 1: the Justice or Else gathering where many people hundreds of
Speaker 1: thousands of people came out to say and declare that
Speaker 1: for us, it's justice or else. And you know, shortly
Speaker 1: after that we developed until Freedom, which I think is
Speaker 1: in line with that same ideology, that same mindset that
Speaker 1: it is until freedom, that it is justice for our communities,
Speaker 1: that it is that we vote. It's the the or
Speaker 1: else for us is too dangerous and therefore we know
Speaker 1: that the vulnerabilities of any community are preyed upon, and
Speaker 1: we are going to show that we're not of just
Speaker 1: a vulnerable people, but but we're and empowered people. And
Speaker 1: so that's what voter els Vote or else was about today.
Speaker 1: All of those incredible names, people who again come from
Speaker 1: different perspectives. Every single one of us has a different
Speaker 1: point of view. Even when we agree, we still have
Speaker 1: a different point of view or different ways that we
Speaker 1: see approaching our concerns or the issues we care about.
Speaker 1: And you know, some folks are a little bit further
Speaker 1: away from that than others. But I think it was
Speaker 1: a very very powerful conversation.
Speaker 2: Oh, it was definitely powerful, and it should be replicated
Speaker 2: around this country, you know, especially in this time when
Speaker 2: we're talking about voting and for the engagement and what
Speaker 2: the communities want, you know, I think we should replicate
Speaker 2: that all around this country. Go to different cities and states,
Speaker 2: you know, get powerful voices from different cities and states
Speaker 2: and have those conversations and let our people be able
Speaker 2: to disseminate the information because I know it's a lot
Speaker 2: of stuff that a lot of people just don't know,
Speaker 2: and and we've force fed misinformation on purpose, you know,
Speaker 2: I always hear I'm constantly hearing people from our community's
Speaker 2: parrot you know, false information, and then when you correct them,
Speaker 2: they believe what's on the internet. So you know, I
Speaker 2: think it's very informative and it's just needed at this time.
Speaker 2: So shout out to everybody who was on that panel,
Speaker 2: and hopefully we'll continue to do it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I hope so too. I hope that you know
Speaker 1: that the resources are there and that the interest is there.
Speaker 1: I think the interest is there, but you need resources,
Speaker 1: and people be like, well, what do you need resources for?
Speaker 1: Why can't you just go out and show up of it?
Speaker 1: But how do you get there? How do you get
Speaker 1: to Detroit from New York? It costs, it's a plane
Speaker 1: to where do you sleep? You need a hotel? There
Speaker 1: are other people who among those who were named, they
Speaker 1: need a place, you know, to stay and to be
Speaker 1: transported to get to a different city. I mean, this
Speaker 1: is it's a process. People need at least one meal
Speaker 1: while they're in another city. There the venues have to
Speaker 1: be paid for. We were in a Union house today,
Speaker 1: which is a convention center. It is very, very difficult
Speaker 1: to cover all of the expenses in a union operated facility.
Speaker 1: I support unions and I certainly support us being in
Speaker 1: those spaces, but it costs money, and the union every
Speaker 1: minute over the time, it costs more money. And so
Speaker 1: you know, we are absolutely you know, in a place
Speaker 1: where we need to be able to have the resource.
Speaker 1: It's necessary. And it's funny because so many people are like, oh,
Speaker 1: you know, y'all are being paid. You paid by the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party, you paid by this. I would love to
Speaker 1: know where the money is because I haven't. I haven't
Speaker 1: seen it. I don't know.
Speaker 2: Also, man, listen, they tell me that all the time,
Speaker 2: and I said, I wish because if they could pay
Speaker 2: me just for telling the truth, that's free money for me.
Speaker 2: So you know, I don't know where it is that
Speaker 2: you know, I've been accused of it for years and
Speaker 2: still haven't got a dime to do it. But listen,
Speaker 2: if somebody was to pay me to tell the truth,
Speaker 2: please contact me. Let me know how I get to
Speaker 2: do it. Easy job I ever.
Speaker 1: Had, oh one of the organizers for the voter Else
Speaker 1: day of activation that happened today. Again, it wasn't just
Speaker 1: a panel. The panel was the culmination. It was sort
Speaker 1: of the end of a full day beginning at ten
Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning on the street to Detroit from
Speaker 1: the East Side and the West Side. Group of individuals,
Speaker 1: all those that we named earlier. We're out knocking on doors,
Speaker 1: talking to community, registering voters, engaging people, and going again
Speaker 1: to where the people are, not expecting them to show
Speaker 1: up at a convention center or a event space, but
Speaker 1: really going out and taking the message that we have
Speaker 1: out into the community. And I think it's important that
Speaker 1: people are able to see that. They know they watch
Speaker 1: us online and they see how we you know, they state,
Speaker 1: they understand the positions that we take on a variety
Speaker 1: of issues. They know that we don't all agree and
Speaker 1: we don't all support the same things. I think it's
Speaker 1: pretty powerful for them to see us walking through communities
Speaker 1: together today knocking on doors and saying that listen, we
Speaker 1: may not agree, but our communities are stronger together. And
Speaker 1: you know, one thing that we know for sure is
Speaker 1: that we have to be empowered and make sure that
Speaker 1: our votes are counted. And so one of those who
Speaker 1: was involved in the initial organizing, along with Marvin Ban
Speaker 1: of today's efforts is our brother, dear friend and and
Speaker 1: really our mentor in many ways past to Mike McBride
Speaker 1: of so many he has so many titles.
Speaker 3: I'm a Jamaican man. I'm a Jamaican man all the
Speaker 3: way from the Bay Area. I got fired down. But
Speaker 3: what's happening to y'all? Live free?
Speaker 1: The Black Church pack. You know, you're involved in so
Speaker 1: many different things, and I think Voter Else. My son
Speaker 1: and I were speaking before you got on about how
Speaker 1: powerful today was. You know, all of the information that
Speaker 1: we took in, I learned things, and I also, you know,
Speaker 1: hope that my contributions or our contributions were helpful as well.
Speaker 1: And so those are the spaces we on to Bill
Speaker 1: wa why don't he tell us pastor Mike, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: how how did this come about? The voter else idea?
Speaker 1: And all the concept and how did it, you know,
Speaker 1: move to Detroit specifically.
Speaker 3: Well, first of all, thank y'all for rocking with us
Speaker 3: out on this. Couldn't have did it without you all,
Speaker 3: and obviously my son Jamika, Angelo, Linda, the antil Freedom
Speaker 3: family and our family for life. And so when we
Speaker 3: all rise rise together. We ain't following yet, but it's
Speaker 3: it's getting getting tough out here. But let me just say,
Speaker 3: you know, voter Else was a wonderful collaboration between my
Speaker 3: guy and Marvin Bing. I've known Marvin for non it's
Speaker 3: going on over ten years. We met in Ferguson, actually
Speaker 3: both us getting tear gas done on the sideline. He
Speaker 3: worked for MS Internationals. We both started pulling grandmothers in
Speaker 3: freet people out of the street and we've been rocking
Speaker 3: with each other ever since. We just said, I know,
Speaker 3: we just started talking a little bit about several months
Speaker 3: ago about the gaps that we had seen in the
Speaker 3: electoral conversation, in the electoral engagement, in all the ways
Speaker 3: in which particularly black men, a culture, street organizations, people
Speaker 3: in the hood at the neighborhood weren't involved, weren't really
Speaker 3: kind of animated or what they were asking for nobody
Speaker 3: was really creative in space for them to have that conversation,
Speaker 3: and so Margaret said, man, let's call out my guy
Speaker 3: way On. You put Wayna on the thing, and literally
Speaker 3: or Else was Wayno's idea. Wayna was like, what would
Speaker 3: it look like if we help people to understand that
Speaker 3: what's at stake in this election is the or Else?
Speaker 3: And he was like, man, I would be hot. I
Speaker 3: don't we just call this the or Else project? And
Speaker 3: we put voter front of it to be clear, and
Speaker 3: it just kind of started to really emerge from there.
Speaker 3: The first idea was to do a record. It's some
Speaker 3: artists and we know and all they're new. I signed
Speaker 3: a whole bunch of people who you know, got the
Speaker 3: name in the hip hop industry being Single, Dango, Smoke,
Speaker 3: There's all these different people, and started to put an
Speaker 3: EP together and then from there it evolved to a
Speaker 3: kind of town hall great debate format. Part of what
Speaker 3: we said is because they had already been in Detroit
Speaker 3: working with Hill Harper, let's just take that energy from
Speaker 3: the Hill Harper campaign and build on it. And that's
Speaker 3: what culminated today. It was a wonderful day of just
Speaker 3: conversation of activation, of showing up in the neighborhood where
Speaker 3: nobody else shows up. And it was amazing first and
Speaker 3: hopefully of many efforts to activate the people who were
Speaker 3: getting left behind and out of the conversation.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it definitely wasn't amazing, you know, just being in
Speaker 2: the room with a lot of my favorite artists, you know,
Speaker 2: artists that I've looked up to, artists I've been friends
Speaker 2: with for years, and some that I just met, you know,
Speaker 2: and just and just hearing different perspectives. You know, also
Speaker 2: talk about the fact that it's a whole music project, right,
Speaker 2: the whole music project where it's going to be talking about,
Speaker 2: you know, the things that come from our community, the
Speaker 2: topics that are important in our community. So I'm definitely
Speaker 2: looking forward to that. But I also want to ask you,
Speaker 2: you know, as you go throughout these different states and
Speaker 2: you're having conversations, you know, what do you think is
Speaker 2: one of the most important things to black men in
Speaker 2: this time when we're talking about election, because we're talking
Speaker 2: about voter ass that isn't really being focused on by
Speaker 2: either campaign.
Speaker 3: Well, I think that too often the conversation about what
Speaker 3: black people need, particularly black men need, is approach from
Speaker 3: a solely definitive framework, or at least a defensive framework.
Speaker 3: We need to stop shooting one another, we need to
Speaker 3: stop getting killed by the police, we need to stop masking,
Speaker 3: and we definitely need all those things. But part of
Speaker 3: what I think came out tonight is this idea that
Speaker 3: we have aspirations as well. We are not and should
Speaker 3: not be defined, both inter personally, personally by our communities
Speaker 3: or even by our political conditions, by the worst thing
Speaker 3: that's happened to us, that's happening to us, or the
Speaker 3: worst thing we've done. And so part of what I
Speaker 3: think we are hearing from a lot of black men
Speaker 3: is an economic message. They want to understand, how can
Speaker 3: this administration to come, how can they help prepare an
Speaker 3: economic roadmap into not just the middle class, but into
Speaker 3: a multi generational sustainability, prosperity and self determination. And so
Speaker 3: I think that both political parties are all political parties
Speaker 3: for that matter, whether you're the mayor the dogcatcher, prosecutors, governors,
Speaker 3: presidential candidates, senatorial candidates, I think people are asking more
Speaker 3: about an economic message because keep it real, it sucks
Speaker 3: being broke. You know, it is not a good feeling.
Speaker 3: When you don't feel like you can sustain yourself, provide
Speaker 3: for your family, desperation sets in, frustration sets in, and
Speaker 3: the real talk there's nothing the society hates more than
Speaker 3: a poor black man that they feel like they have to.
Speaker 2: Take care of.
Speaker 3: They'd rather kill us or put us in jail to
Speaker 3: move us out of society. And I think brothers are
Speaker 3: starting to say to themselves, you know what I'm saying,
Speaker 3: I'm not just going to keep allowing my life to
Speaker 3: be defined by my worst condition. I want a president
Speaker 3: who has some aspirational offerings to put out in the universe,
Speaker 3: and then we will do what we need to do
Speaker 3: to go and achieve that and organize to secure that.
Speaker 3: I think that's what we're hearing. Definitely, brothers don't want
Speaker 3: to be shot dead in the street. The brothers also
Speaker 3: want to be able to kind of make a life
Speaker 3: of dignity and prosperity. And I think that's the message
Speaker 3: we're hearing all across the country as we move around.
Speaker 1: Well, let me just say that I as a black woman,
Speaker 1: would love for us for our black men to be
Speaker 1: in the position to be able to take care of us.
Speaker 1: I know the ministers who are listening tonight understand what
Speaker 1: I'm talking about. Are you with me? SISIs listen. We
Speaker 1: want the brothers to be focused on the bag, the economics.
Speaker 1: It's nothing wrong with that. As you said, it's not
Speaker 1: just that. I mean, obviously we know black men don't
Speaker 1: want to be shot and killed, abused, degraded, and all
Speaker 1: the other things that happen to our men and to
Speaker 1: our communities in general. I think that it is important
Speaker 1: to note that, you know, the more economically stable we are,
Speaker 1: the more we can continue to build, the more we
Speaker 1: can look at police in our own communities or community
Speaker 1: safety and what that looks like rather than just policing.
Speaker 1: You know, we can look at funding our own organizations
Speaker 1: that do grassroots work. We can look at mental health
Speaker 1: support for our loved ones who are in need, taking
Speaker 1: care of our elders, being able to look at models
Speaker 1: like you know, one that the Black Panthers started some
Speaker 1: time ago and that it's still happening even today, which
Speaker 1: is to feed our people, to have services where people
Speaker 1: can pick up groceries or a hot meal in the morning.
Speaker 1: I mean, these are things that we want to see
Speaker 1: happen in our community. So economic development. And why I
Speaker 1: am so excited that so many black men are paying
Speaker 1: attention to that issue passing my and my son is
Speaker 1: because I understand that there are benefits that stretch beyond
Speaker 1: just having having money in your pocket or having nice things.
Speaker 1: That there's also a community empowerment that we're looking to
Speaker 1: establish as a result of being able to uh, you know,
Speaker 1: succeed and to have economic freedom. So I'm all about it.
Speaker 1: And I also like to be showered with nice gifts
Speaker 1: and taking out to nice dinners. So I need all
Speaker 1: the black men around me and all my relationships to
Speaker 1: have have the money they need. But anyway, that's meaning
Speaker 1: out there.
Speaker 3: I hope you know, we we take it around from
Speaker 3: time to time. Yeah, yeah, I.
Speaker 1: Do mean that I want when I want to and
Speaker 1: my son, he tries to to make sure his mama
Speaker 1: is good, but when I go to visit with him,
Speaker 1: I want to be taken care of. I want my
Speaker 1: father to continue to slip that little one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty dollars in my hand that I didn't ask for.
Speaker 1: I want all those things because you know, I feel
Speaker 1: that you know, I deserve it. I think that you know,
Speaker 1: our communities are stronger when our men are stronger. I
Speaker 1: think that, you know, there is an unfortunate narrative that
Speaker 1: has developed somewhere along the way that we don't need
Speaker 1: our men, and that has to be dispelled. It is
Speaker 1: not true. I believe that our men, when our men
Speaker 1: are strong, our communities are healthy and support. I certainly
Speaker 1: support that. I certainly support the aspirations of black men
Speaker 1: because I believe that for almost every black man that
Speaker 1: I am in relationship with, again, family members, friends, they
Speaker 1: are somewhere somehow taking care of supporting, standing next to
Speaker 1: behind in front of a black woman and their black
Speaker 1: children and other black community members. And so I know,
Speaker 1: I believe that every black man that I know wants
Speaker 1: to see me healthy, and you know, my family and
Speaker 1: their own offspring and people around them, the extended family.
Speaker 1: So I'm all about it. But here's what I want
Speaker 1: to talk about on the panel. I also, I think
Speaker 1: Brittney Pagnett asked, you know, what do I think about
Speaker 1: this election as it relates to this whole idea of
Speaker 1: economic empowerment? And I was talking about pastor mic and
Speaker 1: love for you to speak to this how you know
Speaker 1: there are many and I didn't get into it today.
Speaker 1: But I have had, unfortunately some conflict with some of
Speaker 1: our brothers who will say to me, you know, y'all
Speaker 1: are talking about voting, and you know you're looking at
Speaker 1: who's running for office, but we need to be focused
Speaker 1: more on economic empowerment, investing and what have you. And
Speaker 1: they say that politics is sort of a waste of time.
Speaker 1: It's just the trick, it's just the game. It's a
Speaker 1: waste of time. I've been saying though, that when you
Speaker 1: listen to the key points coming out of the two
Speaker 1: individuals running for president, you hear them literally talking about
Speaker 1: things that will impact your ability to have successful businesses.
Speaker 1: So when they start talking about tax cuts or just.
Speaker 2: Life in general, well successful life in general.
Speaker 1: Right, But when you start hearing them talking about tax
Speaker 1: cuts and tax codes and tariffs and all of the
Speaker 1: things that we've heard over the last several weeks, I'm
Speaker 1: hoping that our people understand that if you want to
Speaker 1: go out and start you know whatever, cleaner's business, or
Speaker 1: as was said today, that we need to make sure
Speaker 1: about killer Mike and pushing t we're talking about making
Speaker 1: sure we start business, is that that can also support
Speaker 1: or work in conjunction with government because of the contracts
Speaker 1: and what have you. But if the if the tax
Speaker 1: codes do not meet the needs of particular communities, or
Speaker 1: if it is harmful to us, how does that impact
Speaker 1: the businesses, the very businesses we're talking about growing past
Speaker 1: the night.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that it's really important to remember a
Speaker 3: couple of things. Number One, we live in a capitalistic society.
Speaker 3: And it's not just a kind of soft capitalism. It's
Speaker 3: a hard capitalism, which just means that the economic kind
Speaker 3: of engine of this country is extremely exploitated. It prays
Speaker 3: on the poor, it prais on the middle class, and
Speaker 3: it rewards the rich, the wealthy, and the elite. And
Speaker 3: so these are the conditions in which we have two
Speaker 3: presidential candidates in the Democratics and Republican Party. Obviously we
Speaker 3: have Jill Stein and we have Cornell West, who are
Speaker 3: third or fourth party candidates that likely have no path
Speaker 3: to the presidency to get the electoral college. So we
Speaker 3: have two primary options in an arch harsh capitalistic economy.
Speaker 3: We have one who is a self proclaimed billionaire who
Speaker 3: has demonstrated he is open for business to the highest bidder.
Speaker 3: A billionaire autocratch across the world who are and is
Speaker 3: willing to make decisions to enrich himself at the expense
Speaker 3: of everyone in this country, literally everyone, right, And then
Speaker 3: you have someone who is a Kamma Harris, obviously from
Speaker 3: the Bay Area, one of the most kind of progressive
Speaker 3: parts of the country, who comes from a very similar
Speaker 3: background as many of us, and has figured out a
Speaker 3: way to navigate herself to become the first black woman
Speaker 3: to be nominated to the presidency. I think that what
Speaker 3: we have to do is listen not only to their plans,
Speaker 3: but also just appreciate their backgrounds and their priorities and
Speaker 3: understand that one of these individuals is going to be
Speaker 3: the next political leader that we have to now either
Speaker 3: negotiate with or organize to push towards the things we
Speaker 3: care about. Just from a simple like which one would
Speaker 3: I rather go up against for the next four years
Speaker 3: to extract as many games as I want. I would
Speaker 3: rather go up against someone who I believe has similar
Speaker 3: values as us, even within a harsh political capitalistic economy
Speaker 3: versus are, rather than someone who has the opposite values
Speaker 3: in US and is in build and perhaps even participating
Speaker 3: in making this harsh economic capitalistic society even worse for US.
Speaker 3: So I think their players are extension not just of
Speaker 3: their values, but it's also an extension of the proximity
Speaker 3: by which we can at least relate. And when we
Speaker 3: build the power necessary through organizing, organizing money, organizing people,
Speaker 3: organizing ideas, that's the way I decline building power. We
Speaker 3: build that power. I believe that, prayerfully, the next president
Speaker 3: of the United States will become a Harris. She will
Speaker 3: be responsive, she will be movable. Will she give us
Speaker 3: everything we want? The political conditions have to be so
Speaker 3: that she is able to, or the political conditions have
Speaker 3: to be so where she is forced to. And so
Speaker 3: I do believe the policies around not just taxes, but
Speaker 3: the policies around right now. And this is something I
Speaker 3: believe that they're doing a terrible job talking about. But
Speaker 3: right now, one of the things that Kamala Harris as
Speaker 3: the vice president, certainly with Joe Biden as the president,
Speaker 3: have pushed us called the Justice for the Initiatives. I
Speaker 3: want everyone who's listening to this podcast to google the
Speaker 3: Justice for the Initiatives. It is a initiative started by
Speaker 3: the Biden administration related to the Infrastructure Bill, the bill
Speaker 3: that was a part of his Build Back Better Plan,
Speaker 3: the only part that got passed through the Congress. Over
Speaker 3: the next five years, they have to spend four billion
Speaker 3: dollars with a B on infrastructure, roads, building, energy, free houses,
Speaker 3: charging stations, all kinds of things that all of us
Speaker 3: need in our communities. And listen to this. Forty percent
Speaker 3: of the four billion dollars that have to be spent
Speaker 3: in the next five years must be spent in neighborhoods
Speaker 3: where forty percent of the population are under resource and
Speaker 3: or fort of positively spent with black businesses or directly
Speaker 3: impacted people. This is not black business directly impacted. So
Speaker 3: let me just say in summary, there is an economic
Speaker 3: model of economic policy that's in place. A lot of
Speaker 3: us don't know about it. Even I know about it
Speaker 3: because somebody came and told me about it from our
Speaker 3: philanthropic partners, and we've been building and trying to get
Speaker 3: ourselves in position to spread this throughout the hood and
Speaker 3: the neighborhood and our organizing network. All I'm saying is,
Speaker 3: these are the opportunities that she and this administration she
Speaker 3: will create can put in place for us. But at
Speaker 3: the end of the day, it still will require our
Speaker 3: self determination, our elbow, grease of hard work, all of
Speaker 3: the stuff we talked about on the panel. We're not
Speaker 3: waiting for someone to do something for us. We're just
Speaker 3: asking you to make an open door, an easy pathway,
Speaker 3: and then we'll go do it ourselves. I think Kama
Speaker 3: Harris is willing to do that. I know for sure
Speaker 3: Donald Trump is not. And that is why none of
Speaker 3: us should be giving Donald Trump a serious consideration. If
Speaker 3: we care about the future of black people, and.
Speaker 2: You said, you said a lot that we need to
Speaker 2: kind of unpack, you know, we definitely shouldn't. And I've
Speaker 2: been very vocal and always saying that I would kamal
Speaker 2: of high and you know, there's pretty much nothing that
Speaker 2: can change that. But when I'm having these conversations, you know,
Speaker 2: with people who are impacted in marginalized communities, with people
Speaker 2: who just know day to day and they just don't
Speaker 2: feel represented in the Democratic Party. We don't, especially black men,
Speaker 2: but there are a lot of black men just don't
Speaker 2: see this picture of what they call masculinity and I
Speaker 2: and I would go as far to say that it's
Speaker 2: creating some level of resentment. And I'm watching the divide,
Speaker 2: especially online. You know, I'm watching the divide and I'm
Speaker 2: having conversations with black men and they feel like this,
Speaker 2: there's this conspiracy to raise us this and that, and
Speaker 2: I would like to speak like, are you hearing that,
Speaker 2: and what do you think that you know the party
Speaker 2: needs to do to address that?
Speaker 3: Well, of course I'm hearing it. I mean, I think
Speaker 3: it's not a new conversation, right, I think that black man.
Speaker 3: And let me say like this, not all black men
Speaker 3: are invited to the seat to the table, or not
Speaker 3: all black men are extended a seat at mini table.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 3: You have to be a respectable black man most of
Speaker 3: the time, unless you're a rapper who's super wealthy and
Speaker 3: has lots of kind of cultural cachet to be invited
Speaker 3: into places that are elite, right, that are our decision
Speaker 3: making space. And so absolutely, I think that if you're
Speaker 3: a preacher, you can get into a lot of rooms.
Speaker 3: If you're a business person, you can get into a
Speaker 3: lot of rooms as a black man. If you are
Speaker 3: a wealthy black man, you need a lawyer. But if
Speaker 3: you are someone who has a certain energy, a certain
Speaker 3: tenure in her voice, a certain look, a certain smell,
Speaker 3: a certain experience, and you don't have to polish that
Speaker 3: aggression that you know what, we would say, the strength
Speaker 3: that we had to tap into to make it through
Speaker 3: the griminess of our daily existence. That energy is very
Speaker 3: difficult for a lot of people to handle in a room.
Speaker 3: And so I do think that the Democratic Party and
Speaker 3: many spaces in the United States of America have put
Speaker 3: so many of our men, particularly black men, in like
Speaker 3: very toxic predatory environments, and then punish us when we
Speaker 3: have to bring all of that energy with us into
Speaker 3: a meeting that once we leave the meeting, we have
Speaker 3: to go back into a very toxic predatory environment. So yes,
Speaker 3: the Democratic Party, as well as many other institutions in
Speaker 3: this country, including the church, pluding, our schools, including lots
Speaker 3: of businesses, are not always able to create the conditions
Speaker 3: where black men from a certain kind of experience, a
Speaker 3: certain kind of texture, a certain kind of energy, are welcome.
Speaker 3: Having said that, our job, people like you, Angelo, myself,
Speaker 3: Phil Agne Killer, Mike, all of but Articul and the
Speaker 3: brothers on the State, our job is to keep fighting
Speaker 3: for our community and not throw in the town. And
Speaker 3: I will say to all of us online who are
Speaker 3: in a comments that's talking about while you know we
Speaker 3: can't be involved in white we can participate. I just
Speaker 3: want to remind you that at every era of black
Speaker 3: people in business in this country, some white man was
Speaker 3: trying to keep you out of a room. And every
Speaker 3: generation of black people, particularly black men, up until now,
Speaker 3: have fought for our people against the kind of odds.
Speaker 3: And so we should name this contradiction. We should name
Speaker 3: this fallacy, We should elevate it. We should push whoever
Speaker 3: is guilty of that kind of behavior towards our people
Speaker 3: to not only cease and desist right but to maybe
Speaker 3: build our own tables like we did today and demonstrate
Speaker 3: that not only is there something we can offer, but
Speaker 3: we will cost you politically if you do not like
Speaker 3: create a space for our voices, the totality of the
Speaker 3: black experience to be heard. And so the Democratic Party
Speaker 3: has a problem. The Republican Party certainly has no plan
Speaker 3: to do this except for a very symbolic what do
Speaker 3: you say, the kind of they know how to pray,
Speaker 3: you know, they're how to manipulate, they know how to
Speaker 3: kind of do performative justice. We want more to performance,
Speaker 3: We want more to symbolism. We want concrete material conditions,
Speaker 3: shifting policy decisions inclusion, and I think that's part of
Speaker 3: the big work that we're trying to build with the
Speaker 3: voter else and all the other movement work that we're collecting,
Speaker 3: we're trying to do and this is why this conversation
Speaker 3: is being raised, because we have to raise it no
Speaker 3: one else with.
Speaker 1: Absolutely well, my hat goes off to both of you brothers,
Speaker 1: you know, because you all are courageous, you are saying
Speaker 1: the things that need to be said. I think so
Speaker 1: many of our people acknowledge your work, acknowledge both of
Speaker 1: your efforts, knowing that you are come together, you know,
Speaker 1: looking at you pastor mic who while you are extremely bold, courageous,
Speaker 1: progressive and and when needed even confrontational, but at the
Speaker 1: same time, there are many who do look at you
Speaker 1: as more respectable of us, of you know, of the
Speaker 1: many black men that you are around, uh, and the
Speaker 1: fact that you have linked up with the Marvin Beings,
Speaker 1: the Mysons and the Angelo Pintos and others and are
Speaker 1: standing sort of in the middle of that, in the
Speaker 1: midst of those types of folks, the beanie Seguels and
Speaker 1: the whole thing. And then going back to people who
Speaker 1: have power and proximity to power, and not just going
Speaker 1: to get access to yourself, but to open the door
Speaker 1: for these others to be able to share their experiences,
Speaker 1: their knowledge, their expertise. You know, I think that it
Speaker 1: is so important for people to understand that what we
Speaker 1: might not have attended the top schools, you know, we
Speaker 1: may not have been born with the silver spoon and
Speaker 1: lived in the best communities and all of that, but
Speaker 1: we have an expertise that is based upon the experiences
Speaker 1: that we've gone through the people. We know the fact
Speaker 1: that many of those who do have access and proximity
Speaker 1: to power are folks who would never spend time in
Speaker 1: the middle of the day walking through communities like the
Speaker 1: ones that we were in today, where we are all comfortable.
Speaker 1: It is comfortable for us to be this. It's not
Speaker 1: like no one standing around worried, nervous. You know, we
Speaker 1: were standing and having conversations, having meetings, you know, right
Speaker 1: there in the middle of the street. You know, comfortable
Speaker 1: in our communities. That gives us a level of expertise
Speaker 1: and we will not be devalued. No one will tell
Speaker 1: us that some white consultant or some person who went
Speaker 1: to school and studied urban communities knows more than a
Speaker 1: Mason who has who comes from the community, is still
Speaker 1: in the community and has also suffered the unfortunate collateral
Speaker 1: consequences of being in a community, growing up in poverty,
Speaker 1: and dealing with all the things that you know you've
Speaker 1: dealt with my son. So, as a Black woman, I
Speaker 1: just want to say to both of you, kings, that
Speaker 1: I sit back and I look at y'all and I
Speaker 1: feel like we are in still in good hands. My
Speaker 1: father was the first man that I knew I was
Speaker 1: in good hands. But now that I look at the
Speaker 1: two of you, I know that the torture has been
Speaker 1: passed along and you all are keeping that flame going
Speaker 1: of protecting black women, protecting our families, protecting our communities.
Speaker 1: And I say this last thing that you know, one
Speaker 1: of the issues that concerns me is that a lot
Speaker 1: of black women, especially as we and not just Black
Speaker 1: women but women in general, are really fighting for our
Speaker 1: right to bodily autonomy, to having the right to choose.
Speaker 1: It is important to us that we see our brothers
Speaker 1: stand side by side and stand in solidarity with us
Speaker 1: and not say, well, these folks over here are offering
Speaker 1: us some type of you know, trickonometry if you will,
Speaker 1: of a possible financial reward for voting for this guy
Speaker 1: who I won't name, and then but agree with or
Speaker 1: and or turn the blind eye to women and our
Speaker 1: rights being taken away from us. At the same time,
Speaker 1: we can't do that. We have to push to ensure
Speaker 1: that all the things that we want to see in
Speaker 1: our communities are done. It's going to take a law.
Speaker 1: It's not gonna be just this particular election that will
Speaker 1: accomplish that. Nonetheless, we're moving the ball forward. We cannot
Speaker 1: go back. And I'm I'm definitely a supporter of Kamala Harris,
Speaker 1: but I'm a supporter enough to say that a part
Speaker 1: of support is also to hold people accountable and the
Speaker 1: telling the truth. And so hopefully we can accomplish all
Speaker 1: those things at once that I get the right and
Speaker 1: my granddaughter gets the right to choose what she and
Speaker 1: her doctor think is best for her care, and at
Speaker 1: the same time have a path towards financial freedom. So
Speaker 1: I appreciate you passing, Mike, thank you for being with
Speaker 1: us today, and thank you so much for bringing us
Speaker 1: all together in Detroit, Michigan. It was truly an event
Speaker 1: and a day that must be replicated in places around
Speaker 1: the nation.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and we plan to do that. And I encourage
Speaker 3: all of you that are listening, you know, to remember
Speaker 3: that the power always lies with us and our ability
Speaker 3: to organize. We were not a people that is asking
Speaker 3: for a handout. We already worked for free. It's called slavery, right,
Speaker 3: So we we did our free labor. Now we want
Speaker 3: what is deserved and what we have already put in.
Speaker 3: And I do think part of what we did today
Speaker 3: was plant a seed in the ground that I hope
Speaker 3: turns into a huge oak of righteousness, an oak of
Speaker 3: justice where we can indeed keep gathering our people, which
Speaker 3: is what black people have been doing for years. They've
Speaker 3: been called hush Harbor's places where we can have our
Speaker 3: own conversation on our own turns away from the gaze
Speaker 3: of the slave master and the oppression. So you being
Speaker 3: there to mecause obviously you've been there, my son, helping
Speaker 3: us to keep sowing the seed. I hope that we
Speaker 3: come to North Carolina something very similar. Let's hit the
Speaker 3: rural side of North Carolina. I hope we do it.
Speaker 3: In Georgia. Let's let's hit the spots where people are
Speaker 3: not being engaged, you know, and let's keep doing it
Speaker 3: on big scales and then let's do it on smaller skills.
Speaker 3: My son says, I'm so powerful today you just say, hey,
Speaker 3: you know what if we just came together like this,
Speaker 3: five six, seven of us, even if we don't agree,
Speaker 3: and just hash out our differences, but then leave with
Speaker 3: the united praying and move forward. I think this is
Speaker 3: what I hope we were able to model today. And
Speaker 3: doing it with you guys, we always have a good time.
Speaker 3: And not like working with people you like right to
Speaker 3: do hard work, because the work is hard. I ain't
Speaker 3: working nobody, I don't like. I'm just telling that right now.
Speaker 3: Too old in times. So when you can work with
Speaker 3: people you like and laugh and have jokes and cry
Speaker 3: and listen to good music and you know, talk talk
Speaker 3: talk shop, it's a blessing. I love y'all. I'm gonna
Speaker 3: stop talking. I'm alone with the Black Preacher and I
Speaker 3: sleep and time that It's been great.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: Again, We appreciate you, man, because it is important the
Speaker 2: work that you do on so many different fronts, you know,
Speaker 2: being a black preacher like you said, and still taking
Speaker 2: the time out to invest in community and build with
Speaker 2: grassroots organizations and make sure that there's a connection between
Speaker 2: the church and the state, right. And I love the
Speaker 2: fact the way that you play that that position. You know,
Speaker 2: you you bring so many different ideas and people together
Speaker 2: and you've been doing it since I met you. So
Speaker 2: I just want to say that we definitely appreciate you
Speaker 2: and we need people like you, especially in these times.
Speaker 2: So I know you tie it and we had you
Speaker 2: up all night, way past your bedtime.
Speaker 3: We definitely Hey, we'll do it again tomorrow night.
Speaker 2: Right now? Safe?
Speaker 1: Well, I think you know, today was a good day.
Speaker 1: That was a great conversation. Love Pastor Mike so much,
Speaker 1: you know, just a good, solid, all the way thorough individual.
Speaker 1: Everybody that we talked to has said the same thing
Speaker 1: so many times today. I had people say to me,
Speaker 1: while you are blessed that Pastor Mike is your friend
Speaker 1: and your supporter, and so it's been good. I mean,
Speaker 1: all we can do is keep pushing, continue to do
Speaker 1: our work, continue to do our part getting out there
Speaker 1: in our communities. Is you know, I noticed that you
Speaker 1: guys were having a pretty contentious conversation with a young
Speaker 1: man today who didn't want to be registered and after
Speaker 1: just you know a little bit of respect and building
Speaker 1: and next thing you know, he had the clipboard and
Speaker 1: he was registering. And now you know, with that type
Speaker 1: of engagement, we had to go back. We've got to
Speaker 1: knock on this door. We have to make sure that
Speaker 1: he also has access to the voting polls and not
Speaker 1: just registered, but that he actually goes to do his part.
Speaker 1: So there's a lot of work to be done. I'm
Speaker 1: here for it. I spent a week you know in
Speaker 1: Paris and join myself and you know, living life with
Speaker 1: my friends. But I said that when I got back,
Speaker 1: I would get to running immediately to do this work
Speaker 1: for the next less than fifty days. And I think
Speaker 1: we got off to a great start today with Voter Else.
Speaker 2: Definitely got up to a great start. Shout out to
Speaker 2: Marven being shout out too Passive McBride for you know,
Speaker 2: coming to the show, and just shout out to everyone
Speaker 2: that was a part of this event. Like I said,
Speaker 2: it was a lot of artists in which you know,
Speaker 2: I'm fans of and friends of and some that I
Speaker 2: just met today. But it was just one of those rules,
Speaker 2: is one of those spaces that it was just powerful.
Speaker 2: You know, even the off camera and the prior to
Speaker 2: the conversation, just being in green rooms and just building
Speaker 2: with brothers and you know, ideology and just talking about
Speaker 2: the things that are need in our community and just
Speaker 2: seeing us all come together. And I know, that's what
Speaker 2: it looks like. That's what the beloved community looks like.
Speaker 2: That's what we want America to look like. You know,
Speaker 2: brothers in the building, inside of rooms, building with each other,
Speaker 2: talking about how we create generational wealth, how do we
Speaker 2: you know, create unity, How do we stay together in
Speaker 2: these times and speak about what it is that is
Speaker 2: directly impacting us and it's needed. So you know, once again,
Speaker 2: I enjoyed the conversation. You know, I love what you
Speaker 2: had to say. You know what I'm saying, Our sisters
Speaker 2: had to say when you were talking and you and
Speaker 2: your taker came in with very key you know, elements
Speaker 2: into that conversation. You know, we we we're so much
Speaker 2: better together and they know that, and the intentionally, intentionally
Speaker 2: try to divide us. So I just want us to
Speaker 2: be very strategic. I said that all the time. We
Speaker 2: just have to be so much more strategic, and we
Speaker 2: have to understand what the enemies. They've been doing the
Speaker 2: same thing for generations. Is trying to keep us divided,
Speaker 2: you know, and I just don't want us to fall
Speaker 2: for that. So with no service, with no further ado,
Speaker 2: we come to the end of another beautiful show. Shout
Speaker 2: out to all of our followers and listeners who love us,
Speaker 2: who make us the number one podcasts in the world.
Speaker 2: Don't worry. We coming back full throttle with our visuals,
Speaker 2: so I want you to be prepared for that. But
Speaker 2: in the meantime, we want to say that we love
Speaker 2: you and we're going to continue to be authentic. I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna always be right, Tamika, the Mallories not gonna
Speaker 2: always be wrong, but we will both always and I
Speaker 2: mean always be authentic. Check out the video.
Speaker 1: Version of t M every single Wednesday on Iwoman dot TV.
Speaker 3: That's how