Speaker 1: Welcome to woke a f with me Danielle Moody. A
Speaker 1: few months ago, I had the pleasure of speaking with
Speaker 1: New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley, and you can
Speaker 1: still hear that entire conversation over at patreon dot com
Speaker 1: slash woke af. But this week I had the opportunity
Speaker 1: to speak with the winner of the Democratic primary for
Speaker 1: New York City Mayor Eric Adams. He recently met with
Speaker 1: President Biden to discuss the statistical rising gun violence in
Speaker 1: America's cities. I asked him about that meeting, as well
Speaker 1: as how he plans to tackle criminal justice in New
Speaker 1: York City, which saw historic protests against police violence and
Speaker 1: misconduct last summer. The answers he gave were insightful as
Speaker 1: to how an Eric Adams administration will work in New
Speaker 1: York City and what urban mayors across the country are
Speaker 1: seeing as the big political issues of this moment, Folks.
Speaker 1: I'm very excited to welcome to wok a affadaily for
Speaker 1: the very first time newly mented Democratic nominee for New
Speaker 1: York City Mayor, Eric Adams, who is here to talk
Speaker 1: to us today about President Biden's American Rescue plan. Can
Speaker 1: you talk to us about this multibillion dollar plan to
Speaker 1: kind of defeat what the President is calling an urgent
Speaker 1: crisis with regard to gun violence, the upticking gun violence
Speaker 1: across the country. I thank you for that, And you know,
Speaker 1: the main fact of the President's acknowledgement of this crisis
Speaker 1: means so much. I spent my entire life after being
Speaker 1: arrested and beat by police officers. And during that same year,
Speaker 1: boy I lost a good friend of mine during the
Speaker 1: crack explores he was shot and killed. And about my
Speaker 1: years are going in the police department. We fought for
Speaker 1: justice and safety, and president after president we ignored of
Speaker 1: what was happening in the inner city of New York
Speaker 1: and really the inner cities across America, and you see
Speaker 1: the uptaking violence. And today we're sitting down with the
Speaker 1: President and speaking with law enforcement experts, a small group,
Speaker 1: particularly those of us of color, who understand what we
Speaker 1: need to be doing, holistically, not heavy handed policing. How
Speaker 1: do we holistically stop eating the gun crisis and the
Speaker 1: crime crisis, but also deal with the immediate crisis that's
Speaker 1: in front of us. Are you concerned? You know, we
Speaker 1: have a kind of a major Supreme Court case right
Speaker 1: that is going to be coming down that can authorize
Speaker 1: the use of guns kind of negate New York's gun
Speaker 1: laws in the same way that we saw happening in California.
Speaker 1: And as a potential incoming mayor for New York, what
Speaker 1: are you thinking about the ways in which the Supreme
Speaker 1: Court can negate our ability to keep the city safe.
Speaker 1: I am very concerned about that. And if you know,
Speaker 1: New York State is a larger part of that area.
Speaker 1: We're in New York City. It's a smaller part of
Speaker 1: New York State. It's a large city. But at the
Speaker 1: same time, outside the city area, you have some lacks
Speaker 1: gun rules where you can purchase assault rifles and other
Speaker 1: rifles and even carry. But in New York City we
Speaker 1: have some of the strictest gun rules in the entire country.
Speaker 1: It's very difficult to get a carry from it. It's
Speaker 1: very difficult to get a gun license. And so when
Speaker 1: you lack these rules, you're really jeopardizing the safety of
Speaker 1: New Yorkers. And many of these locales like Chicago, Detroit
Speaker 1: and others, we don't produce these guns. They're finding their
Speaker 1: way from the southern part of the country, and they're
Speaker 1: coming to our streets and they're taking the lives of
Speaker 1: innocent people. And so I think the Supreme Court must
Speaker 1: make the right decision and allow us to really handle
Speaker 1: who can actually obtain a gun. What do you say
Speaker 1: to folks, and I will say myself included, who say
Speaker 1: that adding more police to a beat, to particular neighborhoods
Speaker 1: that are seeing an influxing crime is not the best
Speaker 1: use of our resources, that we should be instead reallocating
Speaker 1: those funds to prevention methods, to economic development, to mental
Speaker 1: health crisis intervention. What do you say to those folks
Speaker 1: that are concerned that this American rescue plan is justin
Speaker 1: more incentive to have more cops in a time when
Speaker 1: we're seeing an escalation in police brutality. As I say,
Speaker 1: I'm not too quiet, I wrote the song. I agree,
Speaker 1: we don't have to keep our community safe with visible
Speaker 1: police presidents. But while we get there, we must stabilize
Speaker 1: this increase in violence. And while we get there, we
Speaker 1: must look at those real programs like Crisis Management Team
Speaker 1: that I sponsor is support. We must look at how
Speaker 1: do we move away from eating crime? Some too simple
Speaker 1: or simple like dyslexia screening in every school. Thirty percent
Speaker 1: of the prisoners, apporting to one report, our dyslex it
Speaker 1: In New York City, fifty five percent of our prisoners
Speaker 1: have learning disability, forty eight percent have mental health issues.
Speaker 1: And so if we become more proactive instead of reactive
Speaker 1: and feeding the crime, we can turn it around. But
Speaker 1: now as we move to the place of beating the crime,
Speaker 1: I must tell that grandmother that is afraid to allow
Speaker 1: her child to go out. I must put the right
Speaker 1: type of police ten in place, that's not abusive, that's
Speaker 1: not heavy handed, that is going to come from a
Speaker 1: community oriented concept, such as allowing the local residents, leaders,
Speaker 1: youth groups to pick their priest in commanders so their
Speaker 1: in alignment with what the community wants. So I agree
Speaker 1: we should move to the day that we can decrease
Speaker 1: the number of personnel, but we have to do it
Speaker 1: in a smart way, because public safety is not something
Speaker 1: that we can just drastically change without issuing the safety
Speaker 1: of everyday people in the communities that we are protecting.
Speaker 1: What do you think is driving this increase, not just
Speaker 1: in New York City but across the country. Is it
Speaker 1: the pandemic is it the loss of jobs? What do
Speaker 1: you think is driving this increase in gun violence and
Speaker 1: in violence in general. I believe it's a combination of things.
Speaker 1: Of course, the pandemic had a major impact on employment.
Speaker 1: I believe there's a lot of anger and a lot
Speaker 1: of feelings of being denied access to resources in our community.
Speaker 1: I believe that we're seeing the coming of age of
Speaker 1: a large number of people who they were failed by
Speaker 1: our educational system. I say this over and over. Gain
Speaker 1: If you don't educate, you're going to incross the ring.
Speaker 1: I guarantee you if you do an analysis of the
Speaker 1: gang members that are driving a lot of i'm in
Speaker 1: our city, you'll find many of them a gym, learning
Speaker 1: mental health issues, flexis and other things. And so our
Speaker 1: efficis has in our country. Always talk about Archbishop Desimon
Speaker 1: to to quote, we spend a lifetime pulling people out
Speaker 1: of the river. No one goes upstream and prevent them
Speaker 1: from falling in in the first place. We have a
Speaker 1: downstream mindset in our country and in New York City,
Speaker 1: where we just way downstream and pull people out. Those
Speaker 1: young people who age out of course to care look
Speaker 1: at their numbers they participate in criminal behavior because they
Speaker 1: didn't have to wrap around services and support. We have
Speaker 1: to go upstream as a country. And the reason we
Speaker 1: have been reluctant to do so, sister, because the people
Speaker 1: downstream that are pulling out a blackground. I know what
Speaker 1: it's like to live that life, and it's time for
Speaker 1: our leaders to be individuals lived a life that people
Speaker 1: are living. Now we can turn around crime and also
Speaker 1: turning around lives of people every day, and I'm going
Speaker 1: to make sure we do that. Can you tell us
Speaker 1: suggests to you with a few minutes that we have
Speaker 1: left some of the highlights in the American rescue plan
Speaker 1: that President Biden has rolled out and will be rolling out. Yes,
Speaker 1: I think some very significant parts wrap around services, some
Speaker 1: of youth employment. I would expand even further and talk
Speaker 1: about full internship all year round. Exposure is important looking
Speaker 1: at the crisis management models and those anti violence teams
Speaker 1: and groups on the ground, identifying hotspots or we know
Speaker 1: violence actually takes place, information sharing between atf our federal,
Speaker 1: state and city agencies. It is about moving this conversation
Speaker 1: into a holistic approach and treating violence, particularly gun violence,
Speaker 1: as a public health emergency. So we can allocate the
Speaker 1: resources to be both prevented and how do we deal
Speaker 1: with the immediate crisis that we are facing. And I
Speaker 1: think the plan is doing so. I take my hat
Speaker 1: off to the President, as I stated, I have not
Speaker 1: heard another president that has probably identified what is happening.
Speaker 1: So so we can't have a hundred shootings in Chicago
Speaker 1: over the book of July weekend. We can't see this
Speaker 1: uptake in New York City. We can't see what's happened
Speaker 1: in Atlanta. Our babies are being traumatized, and no other
Speaker 1: president stepped up and stated this is unacceptable in America.
Speaker 1: This president is doing so, and I'm going to partner
Speaker 1: with him and my local community groups to say that
Speaker 1: we can bring the level of justice the safety that
Speaker 1: we deserve. If you beat your Republican candidate, the Republican
Speaker 1: candidate and become New York City's only second black mayor,
Speaker 1: which is remarkable in and of itself and also depressing,
Speaker 1: What are the first things that you will be tackling
Speaker 1: on your desk day one? We have to deal with
Speaker 1: the violence. We just lost a thirteen year old point
Speaker 1: that was assassinated in Bronx, shot in broad daylight, weld Tenure,
Speaker 1: Justin and Rock the way. We're going to deal with
Speaker 1: the violence with game members for the last two and
Speaker 1: a half years, talking with those leaders behind closed doors
Speaker 1: and talking about the violence that they have experience, and
Speaker 1: we're going to deal with the violence. The prerequisite to
Speaker 1: prosperity is public safety and justice. But we're not safe,
Speaker 1: we're not going to be able to do anything. And
Speaker 1: then we're going to dig into our educational systems. As
Speaker 1: I stated, if we don't educate ruling costs of rate,
Speaker 1: we're going to allocate the funding for our of course
Speaker 1: to care children so they can get those wrap around
Speaker 1: services they deserve. And we're going to partner in those
Speaker 1: first one hundred days with my crisis management team man
Speaker 1: up atf SOS. They're on the ground, but they don't
Speaker 1: have to support that they deserve. And so we're going
Speaker 1: to make the city a safe place so we can
Speaker 1: start turning around this city and ending the indequalities with
Speaker 1: everything from employment to giving people the mental health support
Speaker 1: they need. So once we build the infrastructure, we can
Speaker 1: building that infrastruction to show the entire country how cities
Speaker 1: should be carrying out lifting up everyone in that city
Speaker 1: I'm looking forward to joining in New York. Well, we'll
Speaker 1: continue to watch your race and hope that you make
Speaker 1: the time to join woke F again when you are
Speaker 1: officially the newly minted mayor of New York City. Thank
Speaker 1: you very much for having me take care. That was
Speaker 1: my brief but enlightening conversation with Eric Adams, the man
Speaker 1: who will presumably be the next mayor of New York City,
Speaker 1: only the second black mayor in the city's three hundred
Speaker 1: and fifty year history. Let me know what you thought
Speaker 1: about our conversation by getting at me on social media
Speaker 1: at D two cents d E two ce nts, and
Speaker 1: you can keep up with all of my interviews throughout
Speaker 1: the week by supporting me on Patreon at patreon dot
Speaker 1: com slash WOKEF. This week, President Biden was in Philadelphia,
Speaker 1: and in Philadelphia he gave a speech on voting rights
Speaker 1: and voting suppression. Now here's the thing, Biden compared, you know,
Speaker 1: the war that Republicans have waged on our voting rights,
Speaker 1: the war that they have waged on our democracy, akin
Speaker 1: to Jim Crow, akin to the KKK, akin to all
Speaker 1: of these things, and then in the same fucking breath
Speaker 1: refers to these motherfuckers as his friends. I am just outdone,
Speaker 1: folks with this performative politics at this grave stage in
Speaker 1: our political system, in our culture right now, Republicans are
Speaker 1: not your friends. They are not interested in collaboration, they
Speaker 1: are not interested in coordination, they are not interested in
Speaker 1: the fucking constitution at this point. So referring to them
Speaker 1: as your friends, unless you are friends with members of
Speaker 1: the KKK, the White Citizens Council, of the Boogoaloo Boys,
Speaker 1: you know, whatever range of fucking white supremacist groups, then
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're talking about. Also, you know,
Speaker 1: I have to say this that one of the best
Speaker 1: tweets that I have seen thus far was from Michael Harriet,
Speaker 1: senior editor at The Route, and he said, this Biden's speech, Colin,
Speaker 1: I've just been briefed on a new problem called voter suppression.
Speaker 1: It sounds terrible. Democracy is threatened when we don't let
Speaker 1: black people vote. As the most powerful man in America,
Speaker 1: I say unequivocally, someone should really do something. Anyway, I'm out.
Speaker 1: That is basically what I feel about Biden's speech. A
Speaker 1: speech is not going to get us where we need
Speaker 1: to fucking be a speech, even if you're screaming it
Speaker 1: into a microphone and you're getting raucous applause at all
Speaker 1: the right applause lines are not going to change the
Speaker 1: fucking filibuster rules. They're not going to change what it
Speaker 1: is that Republicans are doing across the country. You appealing
Speaker 1: to their morals when they have shown over and over
Speaker 1: again that they have fucking none is not going to
Speaker 1: help us. And so here's where we find ourselves, folks.
Speaker 1: It's very fucking simple, right. The fact is that either
Speaker 1: Democrats are going to get their shit together and they
Speaker 1: are going to do everything that they can, much like
Speaker 1: the good fucking Democrats did in Texas, where fifty of
Speaker 1: them got on a fucking plane left Texas in the
Speaker 1: midst of the special session so that they were not
Speaker 1: forced to vote on a measure that they know that
Speaker 1: Abbott is going to pass to strip people of their
Speaker 1: voting rights. They got on a plane and they landed
Speaker 1: in the nation's fucking capital. That is what I call action, right.
Speaker 1: Governor Abbott in Texas is threatening to sue's threatening to
Speaker 1: throw these people in jail, because that is how willing
Speaker 1: he is to strip the people of Texas of their
Speaker 1: ability to vote, that he is going to throw his
Speaker 1: Democratic opponents in jail. What the fuck is this? Is
Speaker 1: this Cuba? Is it Russia? Is it fucking North Korea?
Speaker 1: Because it's sure as hell is not America. And the
Speaker 1: sooner that people wake up to this fact and stop
Speaker 1: referring to these fucking insurrectionist, anti democratic motherfuckers as their friends,
Speaker 1: the sooner that we can actually get action right, that
Speaker 1: we can get actionable. Because I am at the stage
Speaker 1: and I have said this on so many woke Wednesdays
Speaker 1: right until I am horse. The Joe Mansions and the
Speaker 1: Kirsten Cinemas of the world should not be walking around
Speaker 1: with dumb fucking grins on their faces thinking that they
Speaker 1: are doing something, thinking that they are doubling down on
Speaker 1: their legacy. They need to be stripped of whatever fucking
Speaker 1: power that they have, and whatever voting needs to happen
Speaker 1: needs to fucking happen now. If Democrats do nothing about
Speaker 1: voting rights, America loses. That is it. We are done.
Speaker 1: So Joe Biden can get up on the steps in
Speaker 1: Philadelphia and talk about the founding of this country and
Speaker 1: talk about its principles until he is blue in the
Speaker 1: face because these people are in bed with the Russians,
Speaker 1: they are in bed with the Trumps. They are in
Speaker 1: bed with power and greed and will do anything in
Speaker 1: order to hold onto that. They are showing us that
Speaker 1: each and every fucking day. So why we are sitting
Speaker 1: around and saying, gosh, oh golly, I wish that there
Speaker 1: was something that we can do to preserve our democracy
Speaker 1: instead of calling in whatever fucking legions of lawyers, you
Speaker 1: need to to create a war room to figure out
Speaker 1: what measures we need to take both in the legislator
Speaker 1: and in the court system and order to come back
Speaker 1: this war that the Republicans are waging. Then we are
Speaker 1: wasting precious fucking time because midterms are coming, folks, Just
Speaker 1: like in Game of Thrones when winter was coming, fucking
Speaker 1: midterms are coming. Republicans know this, and they are hoping
Speaker 1: to God that they have instilled enough voter suppression laws
Speaker 1: so that they can win back the seat of power
Speaker 1: and make sure that they obstruct until this administration is
Speaker 1: done so that they can get back into what they
Speaker 1: want to do, which is creating authoritarianism and fascism in America,
Speaker 1: whether they do it with Trump or some other fucking puppet.
Speaker 1: That is the plan. So Biden says in his speech. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to scare you. I don't
Speaker 1: want to seem like I'm ringing in alarm. But if
Speaker 1: you are not alarmed, then that is the problem. Well,
Speaker 1: my whole thing is this, sir. You are the president
Speaker 1: of the United States of America. You are the leader
Speaker 1: of the quote unquote what is left of the free
Speaker 1: fucking world. If you are not taking action other than
Speaker 1: standing at a podium and yelling into a microphone, then
Speaker 1: I don't know what the fuck you're doing. Because here's
Speaker 1: a thing. I'm a fucking podcaster, right. All I can
Speaker 1: do is yelling to a microphone and encourage people and
Speaker 1: rile people up to get them actionable. You are the
Speaker 1: goddamn president. There has to be something else that you
Speaker 1: can do other than give a speech, right, other than
Speaker 1: call a summit to the White House with people who
Speaker 1: literally walk out on your front lawn and call you
Speaker 1: a fucking liar and call you a traitor. But you're
Speaker 1: welcoming them in, miss me with the bullshit. America, our democracy,
Speaker 1: everything that we hold dear is hanging on by a thread. Right.
Speaker 1: We still have a pandemic that is raging. As doctor
Speaker 1: Jonathan Metzel told us, we are probably at the beginning
Speaker 1: of the fourth wave. And regardless of how well quote
Speaker 1: unquote blue states have done with their vaccination rollouts, we
Speaker 1: do not exist in a bubble. That is the great
Speaker 1: lesson from twenty twenty. So what the fuck is happening
Speaker 1: in the South will indeed get to blue states around
Speaker 1: the country. So, folks, if you have friends and family
Speaker 1: and colleagues that have not yet been vaccinated, ask them
Speaker 1: if they're ready to die. Ask them if they're good
Speaker 1: with how their life is at this moment, because the
Speaker 1: end will be near. The delta variant is more deadly,
Speaker 1: easily contracted than the original form. We have oceans and
Speaker 1: forests that are on fire as well as our democracy,
Speaker 1: And I am just confused right now with how Democrats
Speaker 1: are doing nothing about anything of consequence. Nothing is happening.
Speaker 1: Where the fuck is the infrastructure bill? Where the fuck
Speaker 1: is a climate change bill? Where the fuck is the
Speaker 1: John Lewis Voting Rights Act? Where are the federal judges
Speaker 1: that you need to be stacking the courts with? What
Speaker 1: the fuck have you been doing for the last seven months? Look,
Speaker 1: I am very happy with the way that the Biden
Speaker 1: Harris administration has rolled out our vaccination plan. I am
Speaker 1: thrilled about that. But I am thrilled about the fact
Speaker 1: that many Americans received a fourteen hundred dollar check. I
Speaker 1: am happy about the fact that those people with children
Speaker 1: are receiving child tax credit, right, I am happy about that.
Speaker 1: But the rest of the world. The country is on fire,
Speaker 1: literally and figuratively, and if we do nothing with regard
Speaker 1: to voting rights, we are fucked. I for one know,
Speaker 1: and this is what I will be working on next week.
Speaker 1: My passport expires in the fall. I suggest that everyone
Speaker 1: check their passport dates and make sure that their papers
Speaker 1: and everything are up to date, because Lord only knows
Speaker 1: what we are headed into. But I can tell you
Speaker 1: it ain't fucking good. It really is not. And I
Speaker 1: don't care how comforting Joe Biden is. Right now, I
Speaker 1: do not need a comforter in chief. I need a warrior.
Speaker 1: I need a commander in chief. I need somebody that
Speaker 1: is going to go to the fucking mats. I need
Speaker 1: somebody that is going to go bloody, that is going
Speaker 1: to come back with fucking teeth and hair and blood.
Speaker 1: That's what the fuck we need right now? So until
Speaker 1: Democrats get that through their thick skulls, we are at risk.
Speaker 1: And Republicans know it. That's why they are pulling this shit,
Speaker 1: because they know that they are dealing with a bunch
Speaker 1: of spineless, fucking jellyfish. And you know what, I don't
Speaker 1: even know why I use that comparison, because when you
Speaker 1: get too close to a jellyfish, those motherfuckers sting you.
Speaker 1: What did Democrats do? They welcome you to a fucking
Speaker 1: beer summit. I'm over them and I am over this.
Speaker 1: Wake the fuck up. Start calling your members, Start calling
Speaker 1: your senators, Start calling those that aren't your senators. Call Mansion,
Speaker 1: call Cinema, tell them that they need to take action.
Speaker 1: If they like their fucking jobs and they want to
Speaker 1: keep it, then do something about it. We are in trouble.
Speaker 1: We are in trouble. Where are the Senate committee hearings?
Speaker 1: Where are these people being brought in and dragged in
Speaker 1: under oath about what they knew and what they did
Speaker 1: not do? I swear to God, what are Democrats campaigning
Speaker 1: on in midterms? Because it's sure as fuck can't be.
Speaker 1: Give me more power because you don't know what the
Speaker 1: fuck to do with the power that we gave you
Speaker 1: right now and I from one am disgusted. That is
Speaker 1: it for me today on Woke af AS always, Power
Speaker 1: to the people and to all the people. Power, get
Speaker 1: woke and stay woke as fuck.