WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 030522 Ways Police Can Justify Shootings 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:05.560 And now watch my back like. 0:00:07.960 --> 0:00:13.600 Strike water from headquarters behind him in the borders. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:16.000 If you're just turning in civic sack around. Your host 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:19.239 ramsis John. I'll go by the name Q Ward, and 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:22.880 you should sit around. You've got a lot more coming up. 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:33.680 You're going to talk about one specific way that police 0:00:34.560 --> 0:00:39.600 are able to justify the killing of black people. You know, 0:00:39.880 --> 0:00:41.319 a lot of what we talk about on the show. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.879 If you're new around here is, uh, you know, the 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:50.720 way that police treat black bodies and black lives. And 0:00:50.880 --> 0:00:54.560 I think that it's a reflection of I think it. 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:56.520 I think it's fear based. You know, this is me 0:00:56.640 --> 0:01:02.240 trying to be to give the officers some grace he has. 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.200 You know a lot of people have different opinions, but 0:01:04.319 --> 0:01:07.520 I recognize every time you say that, Well, you know what, 0:01:07.640 --> 0:01:09.840 how about we just get into it. But first let's 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:17.600 talk about how to become a better ally. So today 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:23.280 we're going to talk about a person named Reverend Robert W. 0:01:23.560 --> 0:01:30.560 Lee not to be confused with Robert E. Lee. Okay, 0:01:30.680 --> 0:01:35.399 so this article comes from CNN. Robert W. Lee felt 0:01:35.440 --> 0:01:38.920 like his integrity was being challenged when Confederate defenders can 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:42.360 continue to accuse him of lying about being a distant 0:01:42.400 --> 0:01:46.039 relative of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. He proved them 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.880 wrong with a four hundred page genealogy report he received 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.880 in October. But the North Carolina pastor and social justice 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:56.560 advocate says the accusations or a distraction from the difficult 0:01:56.600 --> 0:02:01.480 conversation the American needs to have about his quote. I 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:03.400 believe it was an attempt to discredit the hard work 0:02:03.400 --> 0:02:07.320 I put into removing the statues and monuments to my ancestor, 0:02:07.560 --> 0:02:11.960 Lee Toldcien in last week. In January, Axios reviewed the 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:15.720 genealogy report and interviewed the pastor, his father, and his grandmother. 0:02:16.280 --> 0:02:20.440 The family has consistently disputed claims by Confederate sympathizers that 0:02:20.520 --> 0:02:23.799 the social justice advocate was not related to the Confederate general. 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:26.480 They hired a genial as just to put an end 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:31.880 to false reports. In short, this pastor, Reverend Robert W. Lee, 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:36.760 is a descendant of Robert E. Lee, and not only 0:02:36.800 --> 0:02:40.080 does he work to get Robert E. Lee's statues taken down, 0:02:41.080 --> 0:02:45.760 he is a social justice advocate, and he went so 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:50.959 far as to prove that he is the distant relative 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:54.120 of Robert E. Lee. Or I mean I'm sure it's 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:59.280 a direct lineage, but you know relative nonetheless, and I'm 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.920 sure there's this discus bloodline is probably not, or at 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:04.560 least the name doesn't. The name probably follows this guy. 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:07.880 So the Confederate sympathizers really wanted him to be on 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:11.000 their side, and he's totally not. So that is a 0:03:11.000 --> 0:03:13.440 better ally, And if you want to become a better ally, 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:15.840 you can take a page out of that book. So 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.240 once again, shout out Robert W. 0:03:18.440 --> 0:03:18.680 Lee. 0:03:19.200 --> 0:03:22.639 Around here, we never shout out Robert E. Lee. All right, 0:03:24.480 --> 0:03:36.440 Next up, we know that when you fight the law, 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.760 there's a good chance the law is going to win. Right. 0:03:42.560 --> 0:03:45.640 In fact, we have an upcoming episode that we're working 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:50.080 on producing right now, Q and I that talks about 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.720 this in depth, so you we might revisit some of 0:03:53.800 --> 0:03:56.760 these topics in the future. But suffice it to say 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:03.600 that there are maybe ten thousand laws, federal statutes, or 0:04:03.640 --> 0:04:06.800 other things that you can do wrong that you can 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:10.120 be arrested for, and you probably know twenty or thirty 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:14.040 of them, right, But that means there's ten thousand opportunities 0:04:14.080 --> 0:04:16.320 for you to not know something and then get arrested 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:21.360 for it. And if you admit that you did something 0:04:21.520 --> 0:04:25.040 or are unconfused, and you're communicating and trying your best 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:30.520 to you know whatever. You know, if the police want 0:04:30.520 --> 0:04:33.160 a conviction, they want to take you down, they can 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.640 if they get behind your car and follow you long enough, 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:38.279 you will break a law that you didn't know existed, 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.160 and they'll pull you over justifiably, and then they can 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:45.279 interrogate you and you know, effectively do what they want. 0:04:45.360 --> 0:04:48.039 That's kind of how the laws are set up, right 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:54.320 to privilege police officers at every conceivable point along the process. 0:04:55.040 --> 0:04:59.440 And people that know that are people that are aware 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:01.640 of how to play the game, you know, and people 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:07.280 that don't know that might feel like, you know, maybe 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:10.279 just being a good person is good enough, or maybe 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:12.920 if I just cooperate that's good enough, or maybe if 0:05:12.920 --> 0:05:15.200 I you know what, And then people there's other people 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:17.200 who don't feel that way. They're like, no, these people 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:19.080 are not here for me. I need to run. And 0:05:19.120 --> 0:05:22.719 we already know that you can get nine warning shots 0:05:22.720 --> 0:05:24.680 in the back as you flee the police officer because 0:05:24.680 --> 0:05:27.200 they were afraid. We've seen it happen over and over again. 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.960 We might even happen again this week, So not trying 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.080 to be all doom and gloom like it's a no 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:38.440 win situation. But we have to be I see your face, dude, 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:41.920 Well we have to deal with the real around here. Right. 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:49.120 So something that I found interesting was the ways that 0:05:49.240 --> 0:05:54.279 officers can defend themselves, and one that stood out to 0:05:54.360 --> 0:06:03.880 me was how police shoot into a fleeing car. Right. 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.000 I would love to see how they are able to 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.400 excuse a person running away on foot. But they have 0:06:12.400 --> 0:06:17.640 a way that they they have advantages if they end 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:20.240 up on the bench in a courtroom trying to justify 0:06:20.279 --> 0:06:22.560 their actions. So I'll read. This comes from the New 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:26.160 York Times and the contributors were Kim Barker, Steve E. 0:06:26.360 --> 0:06:34.200 Dare and David Kirkpatrick and Ariya Sundrum. Right, so this 0:06:34.279 --> 0:06:37.600 time's investigation was into a common defense for shooting motorists 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.560 that found that some officers had put themselves in danger 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:44.520 or others appear to face no peril at all. Right. 0:06:45.400 --> 0:06:49.160 This comes from Phoenix City, Alabama. They spell it differently, 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:54.360 So on a Sunday in May twenty seventeen, a patrol 0:06:54.400 --> 0:06:58.800 car sat outside the city's oldest public housing project. Housing 0:06:58.839 --> 0:07:02.360 projects are basically the projects, and I'm sure everyone knows 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:04.799 what the projects are. So police car was sitting outside 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:09.840 of the projects waiting for anyone acting suspiciously. How about 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:13.920 that the two police officers heard Cedric Mifflin before they 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:18.080 saw him, blasting music from a silver Mercury Grand Marquee. 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.400 That sounds about right, projects grandmar Quys. Okay, Then they 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:25.480 tried to pull him over. He wasn't wearing a seatbelt. 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:29.680 Mister Mifflin, a twenty seven year old black man, kept driving. 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:34.520 What happened next is disputed, naturally, but how it ended 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.840 as certain officer Michael Sievers leapt out of the patrol car, 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.680 drew his gun and fired sixteen times at the moving car. 0:07:41.360 --> 0:07:45.240 He thought mister Mifflin intended to run him over, he 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:52.800 said later, Now, from what I've seen, it doesn't matter 0:07:52.840 --> 0:07:57.720 which direction you're driving, because in some places, the way 0:07:57.760 --> 0:08:01.840 the laws are written, they can say you are going 0:08:01.880 --> 0:08:04.760 to hit another person. They could say you were going 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:07.400 to hit me if you're even if you're fleeing. Do 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.760 you see how it's it's written in such a way. 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.800 And we're going to talk about their like the police 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:15.440 conduct codes where they can't be held accountable for those 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.400 sorts of things, Right, and you need to know this 0:08:18.520 --> 0:08:22.840 because we all need to know the world that we're 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.560 living in. We need to know that if we don't 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.280 know this, then we think maybe if I get away, 0:08:27.320 --> 0:08:30.080 I can live to see another day. Right, And it 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.439 might make you stop and think. Now, granted, this is 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.480 an Alabama situation, and not everyone lives in Alabama, but 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:41.839 these types of things are very much commonplace. Police officers 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:46.959 teach their children how to react to police very differently. 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:56.120 All Right, an investigation into traffic stops across America and 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:00.800 the deaths of hundreds of motorists at the hands of police. Okay, 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:06.040 here's one of the the I guess statutes or rules 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.600 or whatever. Personnel as the police shall adhere to the 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:13.240 following restrictions when their weapon is exhibited. I think that 0:09:13.320 --> 0:09:16.720 means like drawing their weapon. Okay, Officers should not fire 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:20.880 their weapons from or at a moving vehicle unless circumstances 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:24.720 require otherwise. See how big that. 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:28.240 Is, unless circumstances require otherwise. 0:09:28.240 --> 0:09:31.600 See how big that is. And this is the Scott's 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:36.560 the Scott County Sheriff's office in Iowa, and that's the 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:40.720 among the shortest and Vegas policies about shooting at moving 0:09:40.800 --> 0:09:48.040 vehicles that this Times article found and you got to know, 0:09:48.360 --> 0:10:00.319 so almost everything that is related to policing and and 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:10.360 the criminal justice system in this country is it disproportionately 0:10:10.400 --> 0:10:16.040 affects black people, right, and black people are oftentimes at 0:10:16.040 --> 0:10:18.000 the bottom. We talked about that in the first part 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.080 of the show. You know, black people are oftentimes at 0:10:20.080 --> 0:10:22.760 the bottom, and we have to be resilient, and we 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:29.199 are resilient people. But that doesn't mean that we don't 0:10:29.240 --> 0:10:32.360 see it. We don't see like how like you know, 0:10:32.440 --> 0:10:34.800 I know white folks, some white folks were like, oh, 0:10:34.920 --> 0:10:36.880 there's no such thing as white privilege. I wasn't born 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.600 with a million dollar check. And of course with white privilege, 0:10:40.760 --> 0:10:43.640 that's not what that's about. White privilege is not being 0:10:43.679 --> 0:10:45.600 born with a couple strikes against you. You get a 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:50.319 clean slate when you start right anyway. But for some 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.640 of us, seeing white people interact with the police is 0:10:53.679 --> 0:10:56.360 like a superpower. I was jogging today and I saw 0:10:56.440 --> 0:10:58.880 there was two ladies that were talking to the police 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:02.720 on purpose. They were just just having a conversation. It 0:11:02.760 --> 0:11:06.640 was crazy, And for me, I'm like, oh, man, if 0:11:06.640 --> 0:11:08.480 the police are around, I need to make sure that 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:11.280 nobody's afraid. I need to make sure they're not here 0:11:11.320 --> 0:11:13.880 for me. I know I didn't do anything wrong, but 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:16.440 that's just the reality of the world that we live in, right, 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.400 It's not paranoia. It's like the reality, actual lived reality. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.040 We've been picked on by the police, collect together and 0:11:23.160 --> 0:11:27.600 apart and separately, and all that I've been picked. 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:32.360 On by the police while feeding the homeless. 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.000 I remember that. And I think that what this does 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:48.280 is this hopefully helps suggest to you listening what it 0:11:48.360 --> 0:11:52.920 must feel like to be a black person, how it 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:57.800 feels to be a black person everybody. It's like we 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:01.760 talked earlier about black lives. We have to say black 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:06.439 lives matter, because otherwise, if we just look into our environments, 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:08.920 look at the news, and look at these sorts of things, 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:17.080 it feels like black lives don't matter. That's how it feels. 0:12:17.880 --> 0:12:21.520 And I think sharing what it feels like to be 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:25.400 a black person in America is very important. And you know, 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:27.600 around the world, you. 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:33.480 Know, it's it's it's important to point that out right, 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:38.640 like white supremacy and racism are not just prevalent here. 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:42.000 You know, I've been watching the news, as you know, 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:45.520 things around the world are very contentious and downright scary. 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.960 Right now, if you're paying attention to the coverage of 0:12:49.000 --> 0:12:53.920 the you know, the conflict in Ukraine, and I'm listening 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:56.680 to the reporters from all of these different places around 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.280 the world that are covering that conflict in that story, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:03.000 and the reason that they're so caught off guard by it, 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.880 or so appalled by it, or so in shock or 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:12.200 just otherwise feel it's something unordinary, it is because the 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:17.839 people involved are white. Mmm, they're white European people. And 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:22.320 the reporters, you know, professional journalists that are covering this 0:13:22.440 --> 0:13:25.040 thing see fit to point out like, hey, we need 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:27.319 to let you guys know this stuff isn't happening, and 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:32.560 list some country where the people are brown, right, as 0:13:32.559 --> 0:13:34.800 if if it was happening there, you shouldn't be shocked, 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.160 Like this stuff happens there all the time. In any 0:13:38.160 --> 0:13:40.920 place that's popping to your head as you're listening to me, Yeah, 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:47.920 those places, Afghanistan, anywhere where the people aren't white Christians, 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.719 we should expect that, but not these are. These are 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:56.520 European people. They look like eyes, Yeah, they have blonde 0:13:56.559 --> 0:13:59.040 hair there, they have blue eyes, look like us. These 0:13:59.040 --> 0:14:02.720 people are saying this and they don't feel like they're 0:14:02.760 --> 0:14:06.280 saying anything wrong, you know. And then you look at 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:09.560 you know, on the ground. While most people have a 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:14.160 sentimental view of what Ukrainians are going through, but even 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:17.920 as they're being persecuted, you know, you look at people 0:14:17.960 --> 0:14:22.720 trying to flee the country and African students in Ukraine 0:14:23.560 --> 0:14:26.920 being refused and exit, being put off of charters and 0:14:26.960 --> 0:14:29.760 buses and trains trying to get over the border and 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:30.560 out of the country. 0:14:30.600 --> 0:14:31.960 They have to go to the back of the line 0:14:31.960 --> 0:14:35.240 in fact. 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:35.960 And not just that, if they're already on, they have 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:40.400 to get off. So this is not unique to America. 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.640 We've just mastered it here. Yeah, you know, well. 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:46.560 I think there's something to be said about that because 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:54.520 in America, you know, and we all have a way 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.720 to contribute to American society in a very small way. 0:14:58.240 --> 0:15:01.840 So this is all of our responsibility in America. Our 0:15:02.240 --> 0:15:09.720 American culture is the de facto global culture. Right, if 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:13.120 it comes from America, it's right, it's cool. It's pop, 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.280 the movies, the music, you know, that's black music, by 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:21.200 the way, but say that, but if it comes from America, 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:24.920 then it's the best. You know. Oh, you're in America. 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:32.360 We have been around the world. I've seen it. You know, 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.360 Oh you're American. I've seen people come to America. It 0:15:36.520 --> 0:15:39.400 is America, you know. I heard. That's a that's an 0:15:39.440 --> 0:15:46.400 actual story I can tell. And so if Americans, if 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:55.320 we perhaps I'll say it this way, if we were 0:15:55.320 --> 0:16:01.440 born into a culture that doesn't value black life, that 0:16:01.640 --> 0:16:09.240 doesn't appreciate our Mexican brothers and sisters, you know, and 0:16:09.280 --> 0:16:10.880 the fact that at least in the part of the 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:15.240 country where we live, this is where they're from, right 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.960 and our Native brothers and sisters, you know what I mean. 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.920 If we have a culture like that, and we allow 0:16:21.960 --> 0:16:25.200 that culture to persist, and we do not challenge that culture, 0:16:25.560 --> 0:16:29.360 then we should never be shocked when we see in 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:34.280 Ukraine that they don't value black life. We have to 0:16:34.320 --> 0:16:39.600 accept responsibility for our influence over the global culture as well. 0:16:40.360 --> 0:16:43.120 Now you might argue with me, well, no Britain did this, 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:46.200 and France is a lot older of the country. Yeah, sure, 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:49.360 And if I go there, I will tell them about 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:53.000 themselves too. I'm really good at that. Actually, acuse a 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:58.400 little better at it, but I'm not bad. But we're 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:03.160 here in the United States of America, you might think 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:06.200 this is the greatest country in the world. I wouldn't 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.359 be mad at you for thinking that, provided that you 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:13.000 challenged it to continually improve. You have that Mamba mentality 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:17.040 where the best only means that you need to get better. 0:17:18.160 --> 0:17:20.080 And if you feel like that, then yes, you can 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.080 tell me that America is the best country in the 0:17:22.080 --> 0:17:25.200 world because you are challenging the country to be better. 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:29.520 And I guess for some people it is though. Talk 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.159 to them, right, like, if the country suits your needs, 0:17:32.240 --> 0:17:34.960 everything about the way the country is constructed, the way 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:39.199 the laws are enforced, the way society responds to you. Right, 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:41.240 if you're Jeff Bezos, this is the best country in 0:17:41.240 --> 0:17:45.160 the world. Yeah, right, if you're the if you're the 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:48.879 if you fit the status qull right, if you are 0:17:48.880 --> 0:17:52.639 the heterosexual, Christian white man and you just so happen 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:56.359 to be rich, there is no There is no better 0:17:56.400 --> 0:17:59.239 place on earth than here. Sure, right that so that 0:17:59.280 --> 0:18:02.000 statement can't be blanketed in a way that it applies 0:18:02.400 --> 0:18:06.080 to every citizen that lives here. And that lack of accountability, 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:09.200 I think is what kind of rubs us both wrong. 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:11.080 If you're going to hold us up as the best 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.280 nation in the world. We should be constantly proving that, Yeah, 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:17.359 you didn't become the best three hundred years ago, and 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:20.160 you're still the best because of that. If you haven't 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.600 improved since then, if you haven't made strives to make 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:24.600 the land of the free and the home of the brave, 0:18:24.640 --> 0:18:27.040 if you hadn't gone out of your way to make 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:30.400 that true for everyone that caused themselves a citizen here, 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:33.600 then you can't hold that flag up until the rest 0:18:33.600 --> 0:18:35.480 of the world. How much better than them you are. 0:18:35.600 --> 0:18:37.520 I want to add to that, because you said something 0:18:37.560 --> 0:18:43.840 really important three hundred years ago, right, and every citizen. So, 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.200 there were a group of citizens three hundred years ago 0:18:48.920 --> 0:19:02.960 who afforded this country it's economic status, superpower status, right. 0:19:04.000 --> 0:19:07.600 And what I mean specifically is that there were black 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:10.920 bodies brought over here to do the labor, and that 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:14.560 labor built this country and built this country's wealth. And 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:19.960 for black people to charge the country with doing better, 0:19:20.000 --> 0:19:26.159 for Kaepernick to kneel, I think that's fair. And for 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:28.240 people to say, no, you have to leave this country. 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:31.400 Wait a minute, No, that's not what we're talking about. 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.840 We love Africa, sure in the romantic sense, but this 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:39.080 is home. I was born in California. Those are the 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:43.520 beaches that I go to, you know, and I think 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:47.760 it's dismissive when people adopt arguments like that, you know, 0:19:47.920 --> 0:19:50.560 the only thing that we're trying to do. Again, you've 0:19:50.600 --> 0:19:57.359 never heard of like any real realistic like race, you know, 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.280 like black people aren't looking for revenge or anything that. 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:06.400 It's like, listen, man, Ever since W. E. B. Du Bois, 0:20:06.880 --> 0:20:13.399 there was the ask to be treated equally, the ask 0:20:13.640 --> 0:20:19.320 to allow us our value as conscious beings. Who's whose 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:23.119 consciousness was endowed to us from a common creator, whoever 0:20:23.160 --> 0:20:25.600 you believe that to be. We all come from that 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.840 same creator, right, We're just like, we just want to 0:20:29.880 --> 0:20:32.800 be treated fairly. We would like for our lives to 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:36.679 have some value in society. It may not have value 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.800 in your home specifically, but if there's a government in place. 0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.679 You know, for hundreds of years we've been asking for that. Well, 0:20:44.720 --> 0:20:47.800 I guess not hundreds, but at least a hundred. 0:20:48.600 --> 0:20:53.719 Now you can say hundreds we've been asking for it, sure, Okay, yeah, 0:20:54.000 --> 0:20:57.000 but I mean eighteen one hundred and fifty of like 0:20:57.200 --> 0:20:59.800 normal asks. It hadn't been a realistic ask at once. 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:05.200 But but you get the point. I'm making so so yeah, 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:08.280 I think there's something to be said about absolutely taking 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:14.359 some responsibility for the goings on in other countries in 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:20.119 the way that those other countries treat melanated individuals. You know, 0:21:20.160 --> 0:21:22.160 I think Andre three thousand was the one who wore 0:21:22.160 --> 0:21:26.200 a shirt on stage at one of his last performances. 0:21:26.200 --> 0:21:28.959 It's had to have been years ago, but you know, 0:21:29.040 --> 0:21:31.760 Andre three thousand of outcasts. Hopefully you know that name 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:35.560 if you're listening to us, But he says on the 0:21:35.560 --> 0:21:40.280 shirt it said something to the effect effectually said around 0:21:40.320 --> 0:21:46.000 the world, darker skinned people get treated worse. And then 0:21:46.000 --> 0:21:49.960 it asked a question why, And I just remember, you know, 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.920 it's funny what a man recollects. I remember that shirt 0:21:53.119 --> 0:21:54.440 just stood out to me. I was like, man, he's 0:21:54.440 --> 0:21:57.920 on stage and he's really putting that question out there. 0:21:58.000 --> 0:21:59.840 Maybe it's a real ask, maybe he wanted to know. 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:03.119 But I do believe that we do bear some responsibility 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:04.879 if we live in the dominant culture, and if you're 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:07.479 listening to us, then we count you as an ally 0:22:08.320 --> 0:22:12.480 and we lean on you to help take the conversations 0:22:12.520 --> 0:22:16.160 that we have in this room into your friend circles 0:22:16.200 --> 0:22:18.800 and into your homes, at your kitchen tables with your 0:22:18.800 --> 0:22:24.879 grandfathers and your grandmothers, who you know, maybe they're you know, 0:22:26.640 --> 0:22:30.560 they've supported the last president because he could, you know, 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:33.920 maybe bolster their wallets or their checkbooks, and they maybe 0:22:34.040 --> 0:22:36.239 didn't give too much thought to the human beings who 0:22:36.320 --> 0:22:39.760 might be affected by his speech and maybe even his policies. 0:22:40.640 --> 0:22:43.440 People had to live with that. You know, we're based 0:22:43.480 --> 0:22:45.879 in the southwest of the United States, so that border 0:22:45.920 --> 0:22:48.840 wall he was talking about, that's right in our backyard. 0:22:48.880 --> 0:22:50.840 And the people that we know and love and interact 0:22:50.880 --> 0:22:53.280 with on a day to day basis, they had to 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:55.440 deal with a lot of they felt like they were 0:22:55.480 --> 0:22:59.000 under attack. We talked about black suicide in the last segment. 0:22:59.280 --> 0:23:02.080 You know, it's very easy to feel like you're under attack, 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:06.760 and so let's all take responsibility. And I know we 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:11.040 got a little bit sidetracked here, but also when it 0:23:11.080 --> 0:23:16.760 comes to interacting with the police, I think that we 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:20.760 really just wanted you to know that there's a lot 0:23:20.920 --> 0:23:24.720 more ways that police are able to justify their actions. 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:35.480 We know that these are just excuses. These are these 0:23:35.560 --> 0:23:37.760 these are there's not a real threat. Here's the cars 0:23:37.840 --> 0:23:40.240 driving away from None of those things are real. But 0:23:40.280 --> 0:23:42.320 the way the law works in this country, the laws 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:46.240 work in this country. They privilege police officers and allow 0:23:46.280 --> 0:23:48.399 them the exit and then they get a pat on 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:49.840 the back. Believe it or not, you're a good cop. 0:23:49.880 --> 0:23:51.600 You shouldn't have gone through that, and so forth, and 0:23:51.680 --> 0:23:53.800 so you just need to know these things. I'm not 0:23:53.880 --> 0:23:57.320 knocking on police officers, the out officers. They're human beings. 0:23:57.359 --> 0:24:00.760 I'm talking about the institutions and I have to and 0:24:00.880 --> 0:24:04.680 don't at me. And I think now it's time for 0:24:04.960 --> 0:24:09.280 the way Black History fact. So we'll do that. So 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:19.040 the way Black History back today comes from blackhistory dot Com. Wick. 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:21.919 Maybe you don't know what the WICH program is, but 0:24:22.040 --> 0:24:25.080 I do. Do you know what the WICK program is? Indeed? 0:24:25.359 --> 0:24:33.600 All right? So I grew up poor and the WI 0:24:33.760 --> 0:24:38.000 program was a term that I heard a lot. You know, 0:24:38.119 --> 0:24:41.920 my family was poor. You know, it didn't always live 0:24:42.040 --> 0:24:43.680 the life I live now, you know what I mean. 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:51.080 And the WIG program, for those that don't know, WICH 0:24:51.160 --> 0:24:55.560 stands for Women, Infant, and Children. It's a federal nutrition 0:24:55.720 --> 0:24:59.159 program to help families of all races across the country 0:24:59.200 --> 0:25:04.280 with low cost food products. Like it says, it's just 0:25:04.280 --> 0:25:07.120 a government program. It's not quite food stamps or welfare. 0:25:07.359 --> 0:25:09.240 Maybe it is welfare. I'm not sure it's a qualifies it, 0:25:09.280 --> 0:25:16.080 but it's the WICK program. And again women infant in children. Uh. 0:25:16.560 --> 0:25:22.760 And the biggest group of recipients of welfare is white women, 0:25:23.720 --> 0:25:25.879 poor white women, just so you know. So we're not 0:25:25.920 --> 0:25:29.040 talking about black people specifically today, of course we are, 0:25:29.640 --> 0:25:33.760 but in terms of welfare, most of the money goes 0:25:33.800 --> 0:25:37.119 to poor white women with kids, and rightfully sell because 0:25:37.119 --> 0:25:39.359 that's a huge chunk the much bigger chunk of the 0:25:39.359 --> 0:25:42.640 population than black women they have you believe otherwise. How Yeah, 0:25:42.680 --> 0:25:44.359 but you know the way the narrative pain. So we 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:45.720 have to That's what we're here to do, is to 0:25:45.800 --> 0:25:48.720 challenge all that nonsense that these other people get off 0:25:48.720 --> 0:25:51.520 all the time. And they got the right one for 0:25:51.640 --> 0:25:56.720 it too, because we'll be doing that, all right. So 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:59.720 the Wick program was created by the Black Panther Party 0:25:59.800 --> 0:26:07.679 in the late nineteen sixties. Now not as such, but 0:26:09.200 --> 0:26:11.280 the free breakfast program, which we might have some time 0:26:11.320 --> 0:26:13.600 to get into in schools, how they have a free 0:26:13.640 --> 0:26:19.840 free breakfast program in the morning that was taken adopted 0:26:19.840 --> 0:26:24.040 by the government and implemented in schools across the country 0:26:24.040 --> 0:26:26.360 free breakfast for kids, because the Black Panthers were doing 0:26:26.359 --> 0:26:30.640 the same thing about this Wick program, right, so we 0:26:30.680 --> 0:26:33.399 will say that it was created by the Black Panther 0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:36.760 Party in the late nineteen sixties. Some of the foods 0:26:36.760 --> 0:26:41.160