WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 120520 The Importance of Black Commerce ft. Freshmaker 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.480 Yes, yes, y'all, welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:04.720 I am your host, Ramses Job. 0:00:04.800 --> 0:00:06.840 They called me q Ward and that just so happens 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:08.840 to be my real name, Ramses Job. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:13.080 What's up everything in the world, many, I've been waiting 0:00:13.119 --> 0:00:13.720 on this one. 0:00:14.120 --> 0:00:15.240 We been waiting on this. 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:16.320 We've been waiting on this one. 0:00:16.440 --> 0:00:20.599 I mean, y'all, y'all like it's like on time but everything. 0:00:20.600 --> 0:00:24.560 And then he jumped in and I was like, I'm 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:24.960 here too. 0:00:26.520 --> 0:00:28.760 Speaking of which man, the man of the hour, the 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:32.360 man who has decided to come off of the mountain 0:00:33.760 --> 0:00:39.920 of greatness and join us. He goes by the name 0:00:40.680 --> 0:00:49.040 of fresh Maker DJ fresh Maker, Yes, and one of 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:51.280 my favorite people in the world. 0:00:51.440 --> 0:00:52.960 I got to get him a more than just a 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:55.960 DJ shirt though, because the resume is extensive. 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:58.080 Oh yeah, yeah, No, I'm gonna let this great idea. 0:00:58.160 --> 0:00:59.279 I'm gonna let him lay it all out. 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:00.160 It's a great idea. 0:01:00.760 --> 0:01:05.360 But affectionately, we call them fresh and just a pillar 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:11.840 in the community, Black community, especially, way more than an entertainer. 0:01:12.640 --> 0:01:16.000 And so my hope, our hope is that he will 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.080 join us from time to time on the show, just 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:21.440 to kind of keep us abreast of things that are 0:01:21.480 --> 0:01:24.840 going on. But today it was meaningful for us to 0:01:25.240 --> 0:01:33.200 discuss the concept behind the brainchild behind the hashtag circulate 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:36.080 the bag. And so we're gonna get to that in 0:01:36.120 --> 0:01:39.560 just a second. But you know, fresh I need you 0:01:39.640 --> 0:01:42.559 to I need you to introduce yourself to the people 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:46.320 who might not be I don't know who wouldn't know 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:46.840 who you are. 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.800 Soon it's gonna be a very very niche group of people. 0:01:50.840 --> 0:01:52.680 Let's assume that some folks just. 0:01:54.000 --> 0:01:56.800 Uh well, I go by the name of fresh Maker. 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:02.720 Government is Josan e Manuel godparents' names Jay and Sondra, 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:09.640 Jay meaning j birds, Sondra meaning caretaker. So I always 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:12.480 envisioned myself as somebody that flied over and took care 0:02:12.520 --> 0:02:19.000 of people. But I mean, I love music, and so 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:22.160 my father actually was a DJ, and I didn't know 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.520 it until I actually was deep into DJ and so 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:27.720 it was kind of in the blood. But what was 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:31.520 also in the blood was just you know, looking out 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:36.360 for folks, especially when in a position of power or privilege. 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:43.000 And I feel like whenever you put yourself into a 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:49.480 economically agile position, it's your you know, it's your privilege 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:52.640 and your priority to try and put other people into 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:56.640 the same position. So naturally, once I was able to 0:02:56.840 --> 0:03:00.239 catch a foothold into the entertainment world and be able 0:03:00.240 --> 0:03:04.160 to sustain myself financially, I wanted to branch out and 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:09.080 create you know, my own mini economy, and in doing so, 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:14.040 I would create jobs or invest into other black businesses 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:17.160 that maybe didn't have the capital. And so from that, 0:03:18.000 --> 0:03:21.919 I've been able to develop barbershops and salons and tax 0:03:21.960 --> 0:03:28.360 offices in the Phoenix metro area, and it, you know, 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:31.200 supplied other people with jobs or the insight to be 0:03:31.200 --> 0:03:35.720 able to open their own. After doing so, I found 0:03:35.800 --> 0:03:39.920 myself not really you know, feeling a whole lot of 0:03:39.960 --> 0:03:43.680 fulfillment or purpose, and I was looking for something to 0:03:43.720 --> 0:03:46.640 be a part of and I ran into what's called 0:03:46.640 --> 0:03:50.560 the Archwood Exchange and it was just basically a black 0:03:50.600 --> 0:03:54.119 business expo where there were smaller black businesses that were 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.760 all in one space. And I met a great group 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:00.840 of people that's a part of the Phoenix Local Organizing 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.600 Committee and I kind of just stayed there and didn't 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:07.560 want to leave, and so they allowed me to become 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.600 a part of their group. They welcome in with open 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:15.160 arms and basically serving the community through being able to 0:04:15.280 --> 0:04:19.200 tell people about black businesses and be a part of 0:04:19.240 --> 0:04:22.200 them and to intentionally buy from them has been kind 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:23.200 of a purpose of mind. 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:27.839 And that's exactly why it was meaningful for you to 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:33.920 come up here today. Now I want to paint a 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:36.360 little bit more of a picture because I think it's 0:04:36.400 --> 0:04:39.480 important that we kind of lean into this part of 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.360 the conversation while we're here. 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:44.480 So, you are a DJ. 0:04:46.800 --> 0:04:50.279 At many nightclubs in the city, but as Q mentioned, 0:04:50.720 --> 0:04:56.279 that is a very limited view or description. 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:57.279 Of who you are. 0:04:57.839 --> 0:05:02.960 Yeah, and I think that along with DJ, event host 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:11.560 is another tool in your tool belt because a lot 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:13.680 of folks might just know you for just keeping a 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:18.000 party live and keeping the club moving. And there's a 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:20.440 huge part of a NIST in the city where we 0:05:20.480 --> 0:05:25.799 live in Phoenix, the black community, because it's very small 0:05:25.839 --> 0:05:29.880 community in the city, huge part of it that goes 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:35.960 through your your events wherever they may be. So there's 0:05:36.120 --> 0:05:39.120 lots of people who have maybe seen you on a microphone, 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:40.920 don't know that you DJ, or maybe seen you DJ 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.080 and don't know that you're want to mind. But also, 0:05:44.680 --> 0:05:48.040 as you stated, your business man, I know you to 0:05:48.120 --> 0:05:59.120 be a entrepreneur I know you to be an activist. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.440 I know you to be a. 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.480 What's the word I'm thinking about, philanthropist. 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:08.120 Yes, that's the word. 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:10.479 I was gonna say that. Thank you, brother. I'm glad 0:06:10.520 --> 0:06:13.400 we all the line. Oh no, no, no, I wouldn't. I wouldn't. 0:06:14.240 --> 0:06:15.680 We got to talk about that. That's what I was 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:24.160 looking for, among other things, and just a presence. And 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:26.719 I think it's important to mention all those things because 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:38.000 when we talk about these it's school based initiatives. It's 0:06:38.000 --> 0:06:41.120 important to know that a person like you, who has 0:06:41.520 --> 0:06:48.359 achieved a degree of fiscal success or independence, for you 0:06:48.440 --> 0:06:52.680 to come back and try to empower people who have 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:57.240 not reached that place, not by handing out money, but 0:06:57.360 --> 0:07:08.440 by teaching and by leading example and by championing a 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:20.080 philosophy that is based around unity, black empowerment, which is 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:28.000 very important, and independence. That is something that a lot 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:31.560 of people who've achieved the type of success that you've achieved, 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.960 they never come back and do it innovative. 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:37.000 They don't do it that way. 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.360 They might give their cousins, you know, ten thousand dollars 0:07:39.400 --> 0:07:40.960 to start a car wash or something like that, but 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:44.920 in terms of like really, like I said, championing and 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:50.840 a new philosophy. I think it makes it gives a 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:55.480 gravity to this conversation that I think is very important. 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:59.280 And I think that you know, there's a hundred reasons 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:04.000 that you know you belong on that microphone on this show, 0:08:04.120 --> 0:08:12.280 sharing your vision with these cities. But for people to 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.040 know exactly who you are and where you come from, 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:16.800 I think that again, it gives it a little bit 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.200 more gravity. So with that said, I want you to 0:08:20.240 --> 0:08:23.320 talk more about circulate the bag. 0:08:24.240 --> 0:08:30.400 Okay, So I mean it's it's a bunch of different 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:32.360 places that you can start, but I feel like. 0:08:32.880 --> 0:08:33.560 Well, let's start here. 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:36.719 Let's start with where did the idea come from? I 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:41.200 know it to be a hashtag and a concept, but 0:08:41.280 --> 0:08:42.600 where did that Where was that born? 0:08:43.559 --> 0:08:55.240 I would say the the anger of our communities, addiction 0:08:55.400 --> 0:09:01.840 to consumerism speak on it, and the anger at not 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:09.000 being taught the historical lesson of Black Wall Street in school. 0:09:09.120 --> 0:09:12.080 So you notice that there's a lot of things like 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.520 once you're an adult, you're like, damn, y'all didn't tell 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:19.080 me that, and or you have to relearn something or 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:21.960 a story was told to you as a child in 0:09:22.040 --> 0:09:24.160 order for you to be able to grasp it or 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.839 to keep your innocence right. So obviously the story of 0:09:27.880 --> 0:09:33.960 Black Wall Street is just it's a beautiful story until, 0:09:34.000 --> 0:09:36.560 of course, the massacre, and then it's just like something 0:09:36.600 --> 0:09:38.319 that you wouldn't want to have to tell a child, 0:09:38.920 --> 0:09:43.559 but not being taught that in grade school and then 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:47.440 learning about it, you know, as an adult after thirty, 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.880 you're like, the idea comes along that it has always 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:57.240 been possible for us to be together and to focus 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.840 solely on passing each other the ball and scoring. I 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:04.600 feel as far as just a couple of parallels or 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:08.559 comparisons when it comes to our community and spending money. Oftentimes, 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.280 if spending money is like being in a basketball game. 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:16.640 We get the ball and we barely dribble past half 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.720 court before we pass it to another community, you know, 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:23.440 so like we never pass the ball to ourselves in 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:28.520 order for us to score and then cut another community 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.400 off as if to say, hey, we have something for 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:34.840 you to buy, buy it from us, get the ball again, 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:38.680 and then score again and scoring, meaning like reinvesting back 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:43.400 into our community. Right, So that and then one more 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:48.559 parallel would be like basically in hunter gatherer days, right, 0:10:48.960 --> 0:10:53.520 you would have a tribe that would follow their food 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:57.040 source right wherever the herd went. I feel like often 0:10:58.160 --> 0:11:01.040 as Black people, we are the food source for a 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:04.920 lot of other communities. They basically follow to where we are, 0:11:05.520 --> 0:11:10.120 set up shop and hunt us through gouging us for dollars. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.240 So I feel like culture exactly. So I feel like 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:18.839 if we were our own hunter, if we were our 0:11:18.920 --> 0:11:23.920 own offense and defense, you know, we would be able 0:11:23.920 --> 0:11:27.360 to put ourselves in a position to where we could fortify, 0:11:27.800 --> 0:11:35.360 end uplift, basically continuously reinvest. Obviously, through our love for 0:11:35.440 --> 0:11:40.520 consumerism and our lack of wealth knowledge or just having wealth, 0:11:40.800 --> 0:11:45.280 sometimes you have to incrementally go through the mistakes of 0:11:45.360 --> 0:11:47.920 having wealth for the first time. And so I feel 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:52.560 like many of us have had that experience or watch 0:11:52.640 --> 0:11:56.080 somebody have that experience. So since we've gone through that, 0:11:56.760 --> 0:11:59.800 then the only other thing to do instead of continuously 0:11:59.840 --> 0:12:03.839 make the same mistake is to spend money with one 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:09.200 another intentionally with the intent that it will build us 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:14.240 up to where we are not so reliant elsewhere, because 0:12:14.920 --> 0:12:19.760 we really basically, obviously in this country, we're going to 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:24.480 have to leverage our power. We don't have power to 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:28.960 leverage unless we're constantly making each other stronger. And you 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:31.400 can't make each other stronger unless you invest in one another. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.800 So that's the reason that I preach circulating the bag, 0:12:36.000 --> 0:12:41.640 like continuously intentionally spend money with black owned businesses, even 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:45.880 if it may be less convenient, because a black business 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:49.800 may not have the infrastructure as another business will because 0:12:50.160 --> 0:12:55.120 historically you have less. So the biggest there are two 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.360 factors in it that are really big. One is the 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:01.839 intent to seek out, you know, a product from a 0:13:01.880 --> 0:13:04.320 black owned business. If there's something that you want see, 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.240 if somebody black has it, buy it from. If it 0:13:07.280 --> 0:13:08.800 takes you two weeks to get it as opposed to 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:11.559 one week from Macy's, so be it. You know, you 0:13:14.360 --> 0:13:18.440 kept another business alive for another transaction. And the second 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:23.880 part is the experience that you have from that business, 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:28.520 whether it be good or bad. You must say that 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:32.160 to that business. You have to give them their review. 0:13:32.160 --> 0:13:35.000 Whether it be personal or whether it be public, is 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:37.199 very important. If we're going to act as if each 0:13:37.240 --> 0:13:40.920 other is family, even in business, we have to treat 0:13:40.920 --> 0:13:44.920 each other as family. Whereas we would say honestly, because 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:48.800 honesty is love, we would say to our family, I 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:51.160 didn't like this about this transaction or I didn't like 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.480 this about this product. What you do is you offer 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:59.080 a reality check to that business to not necessarily have 0:13:59.480 --> 0:14:04.360 a miscas conception about how they are perceived and how 0:14:04.360 --> 0:14:08.040 they actually are doing business. And it allows for us 0:14:08.080 --> 0:14:11.760 to level up as far as customer service and customer retention. 0:14:12.320 --> 0:14:18.240 So it's not only a responsibility on the business to serve, 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.240 but because we are a family working together, it's a 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:26.240 responsibility on the consumer to report absolutely. 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.520 Okay. You know what I like about it, though, is 0:14:31.000 --> 0:14:31.680 that there is. 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:42.960 Intention behind the philosophy. In other words, it's simple to say, Okay, 0:14:42.960 --> 0:14:47.560 we're gonna support black owned businesses. Here's a cool you know, hashtag, 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:49.400 or there's a cool way of saying it. Circulate the 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:51.640 bag and leave it there. But I like the second 0:14:51.680 --> 0:14:54.440 part where you say, Okay, no matter what positive or negative, 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:57.040 we're going to give back feedback so that we can 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:01.120 actually grow and learn. And I think the education and 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:06.080 the experience that we're able to draw from enriches the 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:11.640 businesses in a in a parallel capacity. And so it's 0:15:11.680 --> 0:15:19.480 not just fiscal, it's also educational. And that's something that 0:15:19.640 --> 0:15:22.160 you know, a place like Macy's if we're going to 0:15:22.240 --> 0:15:25.000 use that example. They have a wealth of transactions to 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.200 draw from, they have buying power, they have you. 0:15:28.080 --> 0:15:31.000 Know, marketing dollars exactly, et cetera. 0:15:31.440 --> 0:15:35.000 So a smaller business, the way that they're going to 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:39.400 you know, keep the fight and to survive is with 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:44.040 information about their customers, what their customer base likes, and 0:15:44.080 --> 0:15:46.800 then super serve their customers until they get to the 0:15:46.800 --> 0:15:49.360 point where they are a Macy's, or until they get 0:15:49.360 --> 0:15:51.520 to the point where they are a you know, Walmart 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:56.080 or whatever it is, and can play and on equal footing. 0:15:56.080 --> 0:15:59.479 But even then, I think it might still be necessary 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.840 to support black businesses, not just financially, but also with 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:08.800 your feedback. You know, any chance there's an opportunity to 0:16:08.840 --> 0:16:11.920 teach somebody, to pull someone aside, you know, whatever the 0:16:11.960 --> 0:16:14.560 case is, or just just to support somebody. I think 0:16:14.600 --> 0:16:16.960 that's important. And while we're on the subject of supporting, 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:18.080 I know, I'm gonna switch gears here. 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:18.960 I'm so sorry, Q. 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:23.520 I'm sorry, fresh I'm gonna switch gears here. Please do 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.360 yourself a favor. You know, I tell you to follow me. 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:28.600 I tell you to follow you every week, follow fresh 0:16:28.600 --> 0:16:34.480 Maker's social media. It's at the DJ Freshmaker put a 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:37.840 post up and while we're talking about supporting and. 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:40.960 I forget what the post was. 0:16:41.000 --> 0:16:42.880 What it was, it was, I think the police were 0:16:42.920 --> 0:16:47.560 involved with somebody, and uh, there was a man kind 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:49.840 of just filming the encounter. 0:16:49.560 --> 0:16:50.160 With the police. 0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:54.440 Police are like, hey, why are you filming us? There's 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.200 nothing going on here, and the guys like, man, I'm 0:16:56.240 --> 0:16:58.840 just mine of my business. I'm filming it. I don't 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:00.640 know who that is, but he's black and I'm black, 0:17:00.680 --> 0:17:02.800 and we don't know you. So we're just going to 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:05.800 film this exactly, film this just to make sure everything's 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.080 on the up and up. And then the police took 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.399 issue with it. You know, the whole thing devolved, and 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.320 then ultimately the police on handcuffed the guy, let him 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:14.520 go on about his business, and then you know, I 0:17:14.600 --> 0:17:15.280 was right with the world. 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.040 But it was the the. 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.639 Intent, the intention there, which was to just look, I 0:17:20.680 --> 0:17:22.720 don't know you, but I see that you're black, and 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:27.359 I recognize that this is a this could potentially be 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:29.160 a lacke and death situation. So I'm going to stay 0:17:29.200 --> 0:17:32.320 here and watch you. And I had a similar experience 0:17:32.480 --> 0:17:33.720 and I get a chance to tell you about it, 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:35.760 but I want to tell you about it on the 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:40.840 air so that people understand that supporting black businesses goes 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.720 There's many levels to it. It's not just spend your 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.439 dollars right, come turn up at the club or you know, 0:17:47.600 --> 0:17:52.040 whatever it is that you think is you know, supporting it. Yeah, exactly, exactly, 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:54.240 that's a great way to say it. This happened to 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:59.280 me the other day walking with my son at it 0:17:59.320 --> 0:18:07.400 was a shopping plaza, and I see a security guard 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:09.639 pull up on a golf cart in front of a 0:18:10.760 --> 0:18:14.200 black man. He's an older guy, beard, you know, the 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.440 whole thing. He had a couple of backpacks with him. 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:19.639 And as I'm walking and it's a small corridor that 0:18:19.680 --> 0:18:21.600 I'm walking through, so it's just a security guard in 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:23.879 this man and then me and my six year old, 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:27.560 and I'm overhearing the conversation because there's no one else around, 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:30.040 and he's like, he's like, the guy's like, why are 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:32.879 you bothering me? Man? I just left the store. I 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.200 spent fifteen dollars in the store and I'm sitting here 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:43.040 and I'm eating right now. The guy didn't look he 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.000 looked like a normal man. He just happened to have 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.560 two backpacks and a beard, right right, But I think 0:18:48.640 --> 0:18:51.280 that what happened is there's probably a Karen or a 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:55.400 Kevin that saw him with two backpacks. It's probably like, oh, 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:59.359 this guy's probably homeless, he's transient, you know, whatever the 0:18:59.400 --> 0:19:00.040 case is. 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:02.439 Me call the police on him, or let me call 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.480 the authorities on him, or whatever the case is. So 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:06.600 I hear these guys. 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:11.080 Talking, and then you know, at first it didn't register. 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:13.800 So I walked into the store I was going, and 0:19:13.840 --> 0:19:16.639 I thought to myself, I'm like, wait a minute, I 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:20.119 should probably go back out there because even though I 0:19:20.160 --> 0:19:22.280 know that obviously there's no this guy's just sitting in 0:19:22.320 --> 0:19:24.719 a golf cart. It's not engaging, there's nothing going on 0:19:24.800 --> 0:19:26.960 like that. I should probably go out there and make 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:27.879 sure that they're okay. 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:29.320 Walk back outside. 0:19:29.880 --> 0:19:32.119 Sorry, story's taking so long, but trust me, there's a 0:19:32.160 --> 0:19:34.960 way to support black people. Walk outside. A guy's still 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:36.640 in his golf cart and the man's on the other 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.119 side of him. So I'm behind the golf cart. The 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.199 guard is looking away from me toward the man, and 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.760 I put my thumb up like this so as to 0:19:45.800 --> 0:19:48.440 ask like you're doing okay, like you got it here, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.720 and the guy looks at me and he's like, uh, 0:19:51.760 --> 0:19:55.240 you know, I I don't know what the thumbs up means. 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:57.320 And now the security guard turns around looks at me, 0:19:57.960 --> 0:19:59.600 So now you know I'm here now. 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:00.960 So I'm just say it like it is. 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:01.479 You see me. 0:20:01.560 --> 0:20:03.920 Listen, man, I see you over there. I know you're 0:20:03.960 --> 0:20:06.040 sitting there eating your food. I overheard you say you 0:20:06.080 --> 0:20:09.000 spent money, and my understanding is that you're getting harassed 0:20:09.240 --> 0:20:12.640 for sitting here and enjoying your food in the shade. 0:20:12.920 --> 0:20:14.959 So I'm just here to make sure that you're okay, 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:17.240 and if you're not okay, I'm here to be your 0:20:17.280 --> 0:20:22.320 support and changing the narrative and framing the security guard 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:24.920 as the aggressor of that situation because you know, a 0:20:24.960 --> 0:20:28.200 lot of times non black folks will see black skin 0:20:28.280 --> 0:20:32.919 as being criminal, aggressive, et cetera. It's important that I 0:20:33.000 --> 0:20:37.040 took the time to do that because once I got involved, 0:20:37.560 --> 0:20:40.600 the officer then directed his line of inquiry towards me, 0:20:41.320 --> 0:20:43.680 and that's something that I'm great at handling. 0:20:44.680 --> 0:20:46.600 So anyway, quick story I wanted to share. 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:51.080 But yeah, there's lots more ways to support black people, 0:20:51.080 --> 0:20:54.119 and there's lots of levels to it. But don't ignore 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:57.360 the fiscal component. And I feel like I should take 0:20:57.359 --> 0:20:59.480 a moment to say that if you like what you 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:02.720 hear on Civic Cipher, you can support the show. 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:03.760 You can go to. 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:06.199 Civiccipher dot com. There's plenty of ways for you to 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.880 donate and keep the show on the air. We love 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:12.560 to hear from you, and of course we can circulate 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:15.040 the bag in this direction. Absolutely, it can provide a 0:21:15.040 --> 0:21:16.840 forum to discuss things like this, So. 0:21:19.160 --> 0:21:22.760 I think real quickly in that situation, what we can 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:26.400 take from that is the like again, the parallel of 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:28.879 like being in the wilderness, like or just being in 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:32.400 your home. If we say to ourselves that our community 0:21:32.520 --> 0:21:37.119 is our home, and normally those whom police us don't 0:21:37.160 --> 0:21:40.960 live in our home. If they are harassing somebody in 0:21:41.000 --> 0:21:44.679 our home, it is almost our obligation to just double 0:21:44.760 --> 0:21:48.560 check exactly because you're in my home, this is my community. 0:21:48.680 --> 0:21:52.640 You don't live here, you just work here, so you're 0:21:52.680 --> 0:21:55.080 not gonna really care what happens to this person. You 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:57.720 could put this person in you know, jail for a 0:21:57.720 --> 0:22:00.679 couple of nights, and they have another bad experience compounds 0:22:00.680 --> 0:22:03.399 onto that. It's it's too bad that I have to 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.160 think about that, but you certainly don't. There you go, 0:22:06.280 --> 0:22:11.360 so technically you are in my family's house acting up. 0:22:11.920 --> 0:22:15.399 I got to make sure you don't get too crazy. 0:22:15.600 --> 0:22:17.800 You and I were talking about that not too long ago. 0:22:18.840 --> 0:22:22.240 We're talking about the Panthers and the way the panthers, 0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:27.960 the Black Panthers, originally their original call to action was 0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:33.679 to police the police, because police brutality is I think 0:22:33.760 --> 0:22:36.760 Will Smith said a bit, it's not new, it's not 0:22:36.800 --> 0:22:41.280 getting worse, it's getting filmed. Yeah, so you know this 0:22:41.520 --> 0:22:44.639 historically has been a problem and for black and brown folks. 0:22:45.720 --> 0:22:50.240 But yeah, it's it's always, uh, there's. 0:22:49.960 --> 0:22:52.720 There's always, Like you said, it's a philosophy of lifestyle 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:58.120 when it comes topporting black people. Now, I do want 0:22:58.119 --> 0:23:01.160 to ask the question just because I feel like there's 0:23:01.200 --> 0:23:09.120 a lot of folks who are allies, White, allies, round allies, 0:23:09.320 --> 0:23:16.760 Native Asian, Muslim, you know, allies of black people, fans 0:23:16.760 --> 0:23:20.639 of black culture, but also allies. They're there when the 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:27.600 going gets tough, and those people might not really have 0:23:27.720 --> 0:23:30.040 all of the details. They might hear, okay, we should 0:23:30.040 --> 0:23:32.879 support black businesses, but not know the why. And so 0:23:33.119 --> 0:23:35.160 that's something that I think that you can expound upon 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:42.639 why is black commerce important to the black community. 0:23:43.200 --> 0:23:47.600 Well, not only important to the black community, but important 0:23:47.640 --> 0:23:52.960 to America and the utopia that it tells itself that 0:23:53.040 --> 0:24:00.800 it is very good, so you and that that utopia 0:24:00.960 --> 0:24:06.240 never can actually really exist unless you have equity, equality 0:24:07.119 --> 0:24:12.199 and a narrowing of the racial wealth gap. Right. So, 0:24:13.520 --> 0:24:16.840 if you understand your racial wealth gap is based primarily 0:24:17.440 --> 0:24:23.200 on slave labor and Jim Crow and financially castrating black 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:26.400 people over maybe one hundred and fifty years after slavery, 0:24:26.520 --> 0:24:32.359 is you know, abolished. Right, If you understand that that 0:24:32.560 --> 0:24:38.200 privilege is there because of that, then as a moral country, 0:24:38.240 --> 0:24:43.280 you would say to yourself, well, I need to I 0:24:43.320 --> 0:24:45.240 need to do something about that because I'm in a 0:24:45.240 --> 0:24:52.399 position of power. However, the question becomes, what do you 0:24:52.440 --> 0:25:00.919 want more, an equal utopia or your privilege? Right? So, 0:25:02.440 --> 0:25:05.640 if you want your and this is where the rever 0:25:05.720 --> 0:25:08.320 mes road, really, if you want your privilege more, it 0:25:08.359 --> 0:25:10.720 will show because there's only a couple of questions that 0:25:10.760 --> 0:25:13.560 need to be asked. And it's like, oh, okay, so 0:25:15.000 --> 0:25:18.760 you like shaking my hand, you like hugging me, and 0:25:18.800 --> 0:25:21.240