WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 010921 ft. Elijah Banx & Tessa Farrell 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.800 Yeah, that's right, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:06.240 of Civic Cipher. I am your host, Ramsey's job. Big 0:00:06.240 --> 0:00:09.280 shout out to my man q Ward, who is in 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:13.160 Detroit today. Actually, but that's all right because he's handling 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.280 business and we're still taking care of business out here. 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:21.079 A lot of stuff has happened, obviously, we got to 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:23.160 talk about it, you know, as we do every week, 0:00:23.320 --> 0:00:26.960 and today I have a couple of very special guests 0:00:27.000 --> 0:00:32.720 in the building. One uh, frequent contributor. She she helps 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:38.120 us see you know, from a different vantage point, you know, 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:42.040 she helps she helps provide a lens you know to 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:46.120 a lot of the yeah, yeah, that we're not able 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:49.720 to really see. And she's kind of able to, you know, 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.120 participate from time to time. So we're always happy when 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:54.880 she she comes up and hangs out, Uh, Tessa ferols 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.360 with us. How you doing good? Thank you? Okay, okay, 0:00:57.360 --> 0:01:02.400 I appreciate you coming by. And then a good friend 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:07.440 of mine. You know, the stars are among us now, uh, 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:11.920 you know, and that just shows the growth that we're experiencing. 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:15.840 That shows the necessity of these types of conversations, and uh, 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.880 you know, we're always grateful I'm always especially grateful when 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:23.080 you're in town. But uh, the one and only Elijah Banks. 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.400 Man, I appreciate you. Man. You know it's love. Anytime 0:01:25.440 --> 0:01:27.120 we sit down, there's nothing but love. 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.920 Absolutely, absolutely. So you know, I know that you come. 0:01:31.160 --> 0:01:32.480 You know we're based in Phoenix. I know that you 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:34.039 come to Phoenix from time to time. But you know 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:40.000 the show is broadcast, you know, pretty widely, so you know, 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:43.360 let everybody know a little bit about your background before 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:45.040 we get to the to the meat and potatoes. 0:01:46.240 --> 0:01:48.320 I go by the name of Elijah Banks. You spell 0:01:48.400 --> 0:01:52.320 Banks with the X no ks. I'm a pop artist 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:56.760 from Long Beach, California. I'm signed to radio legend Big 0:01:56.800 --> 0:01:59.800 Boy from Big Boys Neighborhood. So you know they calling 0:01:59.880 --> 0:02:03.680 me Prince of La right now. Yeah, I seen the 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.400 Woman Crushed Wednesday record, the Loan record. You know what 0:02:06.400 --> 0:02:08.440 I'm saying. You just be on the lookout for me. 0:02:08.480 --> 0:02:11.640 You're gonna hear a lot more, a lot more coming 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:12.239 out this year. 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:17.560 Absolutely absolutely. And as I stated, I've been fortunate enough 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:21.320 to be able to sit down interview Elijah Banks a 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.600 couple of times in twenty nineteen. Now, right, that was wow. 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:28.920 And you know we had a chance to hang out 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:30.639 a few times, and it just so happened to line 0:02:30.720 --> 0:02:32.720 up that he was in town, and you know, we 0:02:32.800 --> 0:02:34.720 got some stuff to talk about. And of course Tessa 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.880 has been out in the streets, you know, and really 0:02:39.960 --> 0:02:46.120 helping chip away at this mountain of white supremacy along 0:02:46.120 --> 0:02:49.200 with the rest of us, so very much. Someone who 0:02:49.440 --> 0:02:54.200 is empathetic and sympathetic to the black and brown and 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.600 people's agenda. Someone who recognized if I don't I don't 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:03.119 speak for you, but from my estimations, who recognizes that, 0:03:03.240 --> 0:03:05.880 you know, there's a necessity and in terms of rising 0:03:05.919 --> 0:03:10.360 and solidarity, and so absolutely today's episode, we want to 0:03:10.400 --> 0:03:13.040 talk about something that we didn't get to talk about 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:15.919 because you know the way, you know, these things time out. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.200 But you know, the attack on the US Capitol building, 0:03:20.400 --> 0:03:23.720 so you know, just straight out the blocks banks. What's 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:24.680 your thoughts? 0:03:24.720 --> 0:03:29.240 Crazy, insane, Like I've never seen anything like that. I 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:31.600 really am still trying to kind of wrap my head 0:03:31.639 --> 0:03:35.040 around what they were thinking. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, 0:03:35.120 --> 0:03:38.640 Like when and where did they think that that was okay? 0:03:38.720 --> 0:03:42.080 And and the people that allowed them to do it 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.520 and get away with them, what were their thoughts. I'm 0:03:45.560 --> 0:03:47.360 still trying to process everything. 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:52.480 Absolutely your initial reactions, I. 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.520 Mean probably that, but really fundamentally, I feel like I 0:03:55.600 --> 0:03:58.360 know that that's all just a sense of entitlement and 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:01.880 righteousness that white people believe that they have. That they 0:04:01.880 --> 0:04:04.840 didn't need an explanation or justification or reason. It was 0:04:04.920 --> 0:04:05.440 just this is. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:05.960 What we want. 0:04:06.000 --> 0:04:08.120 We're not getting it. We've gotten what we wanted our 0:04:08.240 --> 0:04:11.680 entire lives within that system of privilege, and now we're 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:13.960 mad about it, and so we're going to show the 0:04:13.960 --> 0:04:18.640 world we're mad. So in some ways it wasn't surprising 0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:23.400 at all and also met with continued levels of audacity. 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:28.000 Yeah. Absolutely, I want to say something real quick. So 0:04:29.560 --> 0:04:32.560 one thing, I mean, you know, on radio or if 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.400 you're listening to the podcast, which, by the way, you 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:38.240 can download this in all previous episodes of Civic Cipher 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:40.679 if you visit the website Civiccipher dot com. It's available 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:43.760 on your favorite podcasting platform. But if you're just listening 0:04:43.760 --> 0:04:46.920 to our voices and not watching this on YouTube or 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:49.480 wherever it's broadcast, you might not be able to tell. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.520 But Tessa, the fiery speaker that she is, is in 0:04:53.560 --> 0:05:00.480 fact white as a ghost. Casper to friendly one. So 0:05:01.520 --> 0:05:04.919 when she's talking, you know, I just want that to 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:07.159 you know, to understand that this is the way the 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:10.320 world looks through the eyes of a woman who has 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:15.280 lived her whole life with whiteness at that wind at 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.960 her back, and so the way she challenges it might 0:05:19.000 --> 0:05:22.040 sound a little different from the way someone who didn't 0:05:22.080 --> 0:05:25.400 have that experience growing up might challenge it. Now, my 0:05:25.480 --> 0:05:37.479 initial reactions were that I wasn't really surprised. Now, obviously 0:05:37.520 --> 0:05:43.839 I was like concerned, you know, but it was just 0:05:43.920 --> 0:05:46.560 kind of like watching history being written. You know, it's 0:05:46.600 --> 0:05:51.000 not like anything that you know, when you see the 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:53.760 guy dressed up in the Viking hat on the podium, 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:56.599 you know, I'm like that checks out. You know, you 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.920 see the Confederate flags waving and there, it's like, yes, 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:02.000 you know, I kind of used to it. And you know, 0:06:02.080 --> 0:06:04.720 the boldness, the audacity, you know, on and on and 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:14.039 on has never really not been the norm. You know, 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:20.560 this is really, uh something that a lot of times, 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.080 you know, people will use this sort of stuff to 0:06:25.120 --> 0:06:30.240 intimidate and suppress black and brown folks, and you know, 0:06:30.680 --> 0:06:35.920 their plight toward you know, accomplishing whatever because of that 0:06:36.160 --> 0:06:42.280 entitled confidence that white folks have. Often some white folks 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:47.800 have oftentimes because they are aware of the fact that 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:51.320 the police work for them, look like them, represent their interests. 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:56.880 It emboldens, at least, in my experience, has emboldened many 0:06:56.920 --> 0:06:59.279 white folks over throughout the course of my life that 0:06:59.320 --> 0:07:03.560 I've seen to move in such a way that a 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.400 normal person who really values their own safety or at 0:07:06.480 --> 0:07:09.480 least is, you know, partially aware of the fact that 0:07:09.600 --> 0:07:11.840 you know, anything could happen at any time, I would 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:16.240 reasonably try to avoid, you know. Recently I shared an example, 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:20.800 and you'll be able to follow me. We Q and 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:26.840 I had a conversation about someone named Andre Hill who 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:29.920 was shot in his garage recently while he was working 0:07:29.920 --> 0:07:32.480 on his car. I think, or I don't even know 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:34.400 what he's doing, because I couldn't even read into the story. 0:07:35.080 --> 0:07:37.160 But the police pulled up shot him in his garage. Right, 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.800 I have a garage in my house. Right. This was 0:07:40.840 --> 0:07:43.560 some years ago. But I was doing something to one 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:47.080 of my trucks in the garage and one of my 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:50.800 neighbors came out and had some sort of complaint about 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:55.040 me working in my garage and took exception to me 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:57.800 doing that. Now, I wasn't harming anybody, wasn't bothering, wasn't 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:01.040 making any noise. He just didn't like my garage door 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:04.280 open and my truck partially you know, out of out 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:06.360 of the garage where I could get a little sunlight. 0:08:06.840 --> 0:08:08.920 So I think I was like changing your head light 0:08:08.960 --> 0:08:11.480 bulb or something like this, something simple, But he just 0:08:11.480 --> 0:08:15.440 took exception to it and came across and proceeded to 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:20.080 get in my face and sort of you know, I'm 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:23.119 putting it mildly, but it was basically challenging me working 0:08:23.160 --> 0:08:28.720 on my own vehicle on my property. And you know, 0:08:28.800 --> 0:08:33.000 the boldness that it takes to do that is largely stemming. Yeah, 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:36.120 it comes from one type of person, and usually it's 0:08:36.160 --> 0:08:38.720 toward other types of people who don't look like that. 0:08:38.800 --> 0:08:40.560 It's like they feel like they have dominion over it. 0:08:40.600 --> 0:08:43.520 I don't like this truck partially parked in the garage, 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:48.160 so move it because I say so. Now, I'm not 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:50.559 sure his situation, but I don't have a mortgage on 0:08:50.640 --> 0:08:54.120 my house, you know, so I live here, This is 0:08:54.160 --> 0:08:58.200 my this is my land. Nobody's you know, kicking me 0:08:58.240 --> 0:09:00.880 off of it. I'm not sure if his circumstances. And 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:02.720 then he starts to you know, well, I do this 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:04.360 for a living. And you know, he said something like, 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:07.439 I'm a lawyer, to which I responded, I pay lawyers. 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.520 You know, that doesn't impress me, you know, so you know, 0:09:11.600 --> 0:09:13.280 the only thing a lawyer can do is work for me. 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:18.600 And you know, we have our little back and forth, 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.000 our little exchange. But the one thing that I recognize 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:24.079 this man was a lot older than me, and physically 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:27.200 I'm in a lot better shape than he is. And 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:31.360 so the one thing that he said to me that 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.280 gave me pause, and I think that he knew that, 0:09:33.640 --> 0:09:35.360 was that he was going to call the police on me. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:40.120 And in that moment, you know, the optic shift entirely 0:09:40.520 --> 0:09:44.000 because he could get punched in the mouth. But the 0:09:44.040 --> 0:09:47.600 police will come and decide whatever they want to decide. 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:49.920 He probably will not be wrong. And it's you know, 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:57.160 and so that relationship between these emboldened people, oftentimes white, 0:09:58.760 --> 0:10:01.920 because of the fact that that they're they feel the 0:10:01.960 --> 0:10:06.680 police works for them kind of That's why this capital 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:12.040 attack hasn't surprised me at all. So, you know, some 0:10:12.080 --> 0:10:14.240 of the things I've seen, some of the memes going 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:17.600 around and you know, just pointing out the fact, you know, 0:10:17.800 --> 0:10:19.960 obviously some of them are funny, but pointing out the 0:10:19.960 --> 0:10:25.880 fact that you know, in short, that if black folks 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:27.880 had done a fraction of this. 0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:32.680 Even jogged past the capital too fast. 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:37.160 Yeah, talk about it, man. So you know, and you've 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.360 you've taken place, taken part in a lot of the 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:41.240 protests in. 0:10:41.280 --> 0:10:45.600 La right, Yeah, for whenever I am in town. Yeah definitely. 0:10:45.640 --> 0:10:47.280 Yeah, Yeah, I know I've seen some of that on 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:50.280 on social media. So what's the climate, Like, what was 0:10:50.280 --> 0:10:51.679 the climate like out there when. 0:10:51.480 --> 0:10:54.000 That was Oh man, it was it was tense. It 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.760 was definitely tense. Just I like, I I one thing 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.520 I did, I can't say it brought the people together. Sure, 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:03.280 I love that part, but when it came to like 0:11:03.320 --> 0:11:06.200 the people versus the police, and it just felt a 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:11.240 little retro like it was something that like I've seen 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:13.280 in movies, you know what I'm saying, stuff like that. 0:11:13.640 --> 0:11:16.680 Nothing I've personally been able to experience in this lifetime 0:11:16.800 --> 0:11:20.480 that type of distension between the police and people. Yeah. 0:11:20.559 --> 0:11:22.560 Yeah, And growing up in Long Beach, I'm sure that 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.440 you have your own stories with the police. 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.559 Yeah, definitely, And it's crazy good and bad. Like I 0:11:27.640 --> 0:11:30.960 know some great cops, I know some some bad cops, 0:11:30.960 --> 0:11:33.080 you know what I'm saying, Like all the way from 0:11:33.559 --> 0:11:38.920 Long Beach to lapd Like it's it's crazy how history 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.760 kind of repeats itself. Sure, how we're going through the 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:46.000 same things that you know you or your father had 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:47.920 to go through, you know what I'm saying, because we're 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:51.800 different ages. Yeah, where it's constantly repeating itself. 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:56.200 Absolutely, So you know, the the thing is, you know, 0:11:56.640 --> 0:11:58.520 when I was I was born in Compton. When I 0:11:58.559 --> 0:12:01.080 was born it was the eight so I grew up 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:04.280 in Compton eighties Compton, so crack was hitting hard and 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:06.200 that sort of thing. And you know, I've said this 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:08.560 before on the show. That has very much shaped my 0:12:08.640 --> 0:12:12.440 view of the police. The police have never been the 0:12:12.559 --> 0:12:14.960 good guys, you know, as a whole, They've never been 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.200 a yeah, in my book, the police have always been 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:24.760 you know, not dissimilar to gangs, which in a lot sure, absolutely, 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:29.200 And having seen police behave in a way that's not 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:34.080 so much protecting and serving but more like bullying and terrorized, 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:38.240 terrorizing communities and this is this has lived experience. This 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.840 isn't you know, hearsay I've actually seen these things happen again, 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:44.600 they very much shape my view of it. When we 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:51.080 get to the point where we're watching protests. I saw 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.120 the whole thing unfold. I spent the whole day watching 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:59.800 these Trump supporters stand outside of the United States Capitol Building, 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:05.280 and you know, they were talking about explosive device, they 0:13:05.320 --> 0:13:07.720 were talking about everything. You know, these these people might 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:10.679 be armed and they're just standing there. No one is 0:13:11.360 --> 0:13:14.200 taking aggressive action, you know, against them or anything like that, 0:13:14.240 --> 0:13:18.880 which is fine, But I recognize that had they been 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:23.640 had there been Black Lives Matter banners instead of confiscated. 0:13:23.000 --> 0:13:26.400 Disconnect, I can see it plain, like loud and clear, 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:28.920 like you feel me, like for sure. 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:36.760 Yeah, So you know the part that really again it 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:38.960 didn't surprise me. The part that really stuck with me though, 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:43.120 is that they they these people represent so much more 0:13:43.120 --> 0:13:48.160 of a threat. But the perceived threat, you know, they 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:51.080 represent an actual threat, but the perceived threat when you 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:55.520 have black skin is so much greater. It's so much 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:59.439 more intense. Like black people are somehow scarier unarmed black people, 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:04.200 as we've seen over and over again, then armed white 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:07.720 men and women in this case, and they're Trump supporters 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:12.280 they're they're you know, described as being patriotic, and their. 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.560 Their behavior is just like malicious. You can, you know, 0:14:14.840 --> 0:14:18.240 like you could just feel the energy within them, Like 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:20.880 look at the way they they they're trying to make 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:23.160 their point. Look at the way that we're trying to 0:14:23.160 --> 0:14:26.840 make our point. Totally different attitudes, different energies, you know 0:14:26.840 --> 0:14:29.360 what I'm saying. So I don't understand why they weren't 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:33.160 really as forceful, you know what I'm saying. 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.480 Yeah, I mean I think even just the point they're 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:39.040 trying to make, like, right, well, you're saying lives matter, 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:41.800 and they're out saying we wanted someone to win an election. 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.880 Now we're mad that, you know, you're contesting otherwise, Like 0:14:44.920 --> 0:14:46.560 the even the point they're trying to. 0:14:46.520 --> 0:14:49.000 Make is is wild. 0:14:49.120 --> 0:14:52.520 Yeah, in comparison to how people fighting for life are 0:14:52.560 --> 0:14:53.200 being treated. 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:59.520 And one of the things that I have to assume 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:06.480 is that a good number of those people believe. They 0:15:06.520 --> 0:15:11.720 have to believe that if this man has lost an 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:15.960 election and all the news media outlets are calling the election, 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:21.600 and then this man challenges the states to recount the ballots, 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.560 and then all the states recount the ballots, and then 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:27.960 he challenges the states at the state level or the 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:30.280 Supreme Court and all this sort of stuff. Every single 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:32.640 one of them gets shot down. I think everyone said, 0:15:32.680 --> 0:15:34.760 every single one except for one. And it wouldn't have 0:15:34.800 --> 0:15:38.240 been enough to overturn even the results in that one state. 0:15:40.320 --> 0:15:45.479 And that might even have been like some fraudulent activity 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.520 that benefited him or something like that. That's the only 0:15:48.560 --> 0:15:51.600 one that they found of. You know, So these people 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:54.640 in front of this Capitol building are armed with all 0:15:54.720 --> 0:16:01.080 of that information, and you know, I would call it delusion. 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:02.920 It was definitely a delusion. 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:06.280 Yeah, but there's also has there also has to be 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:10.360 a good number of those folks who are just there 0:16:10.400 --> 0:16:13.960 for their last hurrah if there's a way, like you know, 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.360 and I would never do anything like that, but follow 0:16:17.400 --> 0:16:22.680 me for a second. If Obama could have run and 0:16:22.760 --> 0:16:25.640 won for a third term, would it not have been 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.600 worth it to go and support him. I'm not saying 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:29.400 run up in the Capitol building, but you know what 0:16:29.400 --> 0:16:31.800 I'm saying. So I could see people saying, like, listen, 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:35.400 let's go, let's you know, say that we we know 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.360 that our guy can't do this, but let's just go 0:16:38.400 --> 0:16:40.160 stand there with him, because that's the guy we believe 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:46.160 and that's our champion. The point that it gets from 0:16:46.640 --> 0:16:50.120 you know, patriotic and you know, standing by your candidate 0:16:50.200 --> 0:16:53.840 or his ideas or whatever. You know, a display, if 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:59.920 you will, to embarrassing this country on the world stage 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:04.800 is rushing and the police opening the barricades people, you 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:10.119 know what I'm saying. So that's the part where it's like, man, America, 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:12.480 your privilege is showing. You know, you might want to 0:17:12.600 --> 0:17:15.239 you know, put your you know, put put your clothes on, right, 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:16.919 you know what I'm saying, because normally this is is 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:19.560 buttoned up a little bit. But you know, for those 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:23.040 of us who have walked in the streets, all three 0:17:23.040 --> 0:17:29.119 of us here have and have you know, been subjected 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.399 to tear gas and rubber bullets. I haven't personally been 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:32.919 shot with the rubber bullet let. Me not put that 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.320 in there. Yeah, but you know, every you know, I've 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:37.879 been with people who you know what I'm saying, like, 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:40.120 and the terror still grips your heart just the same 0:17:40.160 --> 0:17:41.120 when you're running and. 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.960 Watch it just even yeah, just even watch it go down. 0:17:45.440 --> 0:17:50.960 And then and you know, again, I live in Phoenix, Arizona. 0:17:51.320 --> 0:17:54.080 That's Washington, d C. That's perhaps one of the most 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:57.960 protected places on Earth, and these people not only did 0:17:57.960 --> 0:18:05.679 they breach the perimid, but they went inside. Now, Tessa, 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:08.440 I want you to talk a little bit about what 0:18:08.480 --> 0:18:14.200 you saw happen when they actually were running around inside 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:15.159 the capital buildy. 0:18:16.440 --> 0:18:18.160 What I saw happened by way, like. 0:18:20.080 --> 0:18:22.640 You told me that you saw people carrying stuff and 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:26.840 you made a comparison to like looters or something like that. 0:18:27.160 --> 0:18:29.399 Love the way you put that. See if I can 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:29.879 do it twice. 0:18:29.920 --> 0:18:32.760 But yeah, I think it's just you know, we watched 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:36.199 how many people, even people that came out saying that 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:39.800 they support Black Lives Matter, but they don't support looting 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.639 or they don't support, you know, support property destruction. That 0:18:42.760 --> 0:18:45.320 was you know, like a really big rhetoric for a while, like, well, no, 0:18:45.359 --> 0:18:48.720 I support black lives, but you know, I think looting's wrong, 0:18:48.800 --> 0:18:51.919 and you know, destroying businesses like it doesn't serve the purpose. 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.280 And now we're watching both people that said that in 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:59.560 support of Black Lives Matter and people that obviously have 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.760 sat on their platform the entire time saying we don't 0:19:02.760 --> 0:19:05.240 care about black lives, we care about property. We care 0:19:05.280 --> 0:19:10.639 about you know, our our stores, our businesses, consumerism. You know, 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:14.720 are now invading a building, taking what is you know, 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:18.800 federal property. They're invading federal property, taking federal property, stealing 0:19:18.800 --> 0:19:24.439 male you know, breaking apart buildings, taking the podium. It just, 0:19:26.080 --> 0:19:29.119 you know, it's just where just the hypocrisy of all 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:33.000 of it. I guess it's just in some respects. I 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:35.600 don't want to say amusing, as if it's like anecdotal somehow, 0:19:35.680 --> 0:19:39.840 but you can just tell none of it means anything, 0:19:39.960 --> 0:19:41.920 you know, none of it, None of it means anything 0:19:42.720 --> 0:19:48.720 what people are trying to communicate, whatever their arguments were. Obviously, 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:51.320 you know, I've read several things saying too like, obviously 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:54.200 these people were never about I don't want to say 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.960 these people. I think it's really important to not disassociate 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:01.000 myself too much from people that were there, because I'm 0:20:01.040 --> 0:20:03.760 still a product of that very same system. I think 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:09.040 it's really important for white people not to disassociate from 0:20:09.080 --> 0:20:12.920 what we're seeing on TV for what we were witnessing, 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:18.040 because it's really easy to be like, well, I'm not 0:20:18.080 --> 0:20:20.080 one of them. I would never do that. But the 0:20:20.119 --> 0:20:23.440 reality is is that we all benefit. We all white 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.520 people benefit from that system, and it manifests the aspects 0:20:27.560 --> 0:20:29.800 of our lives that may not look as drastic as 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:31.520 that moment did, but still as. 0:20:31.560 --> 0:20:32.320 Very real. 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.919 And so I don't want to say them, but I 0:20:36.920 --> 0:20:40.879 lost my train, I thought altogether, but just oh, it 0:20:40.960 --> 0:20:42.760 was about the police. They were saying. You know, all 0:20:42.800 --> 0:20:45.240 of these people have again been on their pedestals saying 0:20:45.240 --> 0:20:49.280 black lives matter, yet they were, you know, antagonizing cops. 0:20:49.320 --> 0:20:53.119 A cop has died, you know, so the point is 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:55.840 they never cared about or blue lives matter. I'm sorry, 0:20:55.680 --> 0:20:57.240 but you know they've been saying blue lives matter this 0:20:57.280 --> 0:20:59.159 whole time, and now a cop has been killed, they 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.440 were still antagonized police, you know, threatening police. They came 0:21:02.480 --> 0:21:05.199 in with chemical warfare. You know, they were saying that 0:21:05.240 --> 0:21:07.560 they had chemicals and all these things. So they didn't 0:21:07.600 --> 0:21:10.359 care about blue lives anymore than they cared about black lives. 0:21:10.359 --> 0:21:14.600 It just, you know, was an angle to further their agenda. Sure, 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:17.159 the agenda of white supremacy and white power. 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:22.800 Anyways, I know that something. I'm glad you said that too, 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:26.159 because I remember something that happened a while agough this 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:28.239 was in two thousand and five, so you guys were 0:21:28.240 --> 0:21:32.840 still babies. I'm sorry that was a cheap shot. I 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:35.280 had to take it though. That's all right, though, it's 0:21:35.320 --> 0:21:37.639 okay to be the og in the room. But no, 0:21:37.920 --> 0:21:41.399 this happened in two thousand and five. I remember I 0:21:41.480 --> 0:21:46.840 was working at Power ninety two in Phoenix, Arizona, and 0:21:46.960 --> 0:21:54.240 we were watching on TV the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. There 0:21:54.320 --> 0:21:57.000 was this television program, it might have been on MTV 0:21:57.119 --> 0:21:59.359 or something like that, and they were doing fundraising to 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:03.560 help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina. For those of 0:22:03.560 --> 0:22:05.919 you old enough to remember, you know what it is. 0:22:05.960 --> 0:22:09.280 But if you don't, Hurricane Katrina was basically a huge hurricane. 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:12.560 We lost a major US city. Basically it was underwater 0:22:12.600 --> 0:22:15.160 and lots of people died and everyone else had to evacuate. 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:18.479 No homes, no nothing, everything you thought was gone. Imagine 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:20.879 waking up and everything that you own has gone. It's 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:23.720 swept away in the water. So and it still hasn't 0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:25.200 been rebuilt. Oh yeah, that part. 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:27.400 Resources still not been allocated. 0:22:27.920 --> 0:22:36.520 So what happens is Mike Myers is an actor. He 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:39.840 had a lot of bigger roles back then, but we 0:22:39.920 --> 0:22:44.280 knew him as like the Austin Powers guy. He was 0:22:44.320 --> 0:22:48.879 doing an interview a live taping with none other than 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:51.320 Kanye West, and say what you will about Kanye West, 0:22:51.400 --> 0:22:56.800 Once upon a time, this man spoke the truth and 0:22:56.920 --> 0:23:02.479 he said, I'll never forget it. He said, you know, 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:05.960 the news is reported, mind you, this is live TV. 0:23:06.800 --> 0:23:10.399 Kanye says, the news when they see a white family 0:23:10.440 --> 0:23:15.359 go into a store and grabs supplies, they say just 0:23:15.400 --> 0:23:18.160 that this white family is or they don't say white 0:23:18.200 --> 0:23:19.919 family on the news, but they say this family is 0:23:19.960 --> 0:23:22.960 going in and trying to get supplies so that they 0:23:22.960 --> 0:23:26.919 can you know, take care of themselves because you know, 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:28.439 blah blah blah, and they get they gave it a 0:23:28.440 --> 0:23:31.840 bit of a story background. People could empathize with the 0:23:31.880 --> 0:23:37.040