WEBVTT - The New Confederate Strategy Is Redistricting | Angela Rye SoloPod 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.400 Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:04.720 Reason Choice Media. 0:00:05.200 --> 0:00:11.719 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. Okay, everyone, welcome home. 0:00:13.240 --> 0:00:15.760 It's getting harder to say welcome home in an environment 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:19.200 that is treating us like we are on foreign territory. 0:00:20.200 --> 0:00:25.040 Completely shocked by the rapid pace, not necessarily the rulings, 0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:28.600 but the rapid pace in which we are seeing the 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:33.000 Supreme Court undo voting rights, undo the protections of civil 0:00:33.040 --> 0:00:36.960 and human rights in this country. We just got news, 0:00:36.960 --> 0:00:41.880 of course, last night that in Wes Allen, Alabama Secretary 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:46.680 of State versus Marcus Castor, that they have agreed the 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:51.200 Supreme Court has allowed Alabama to proceed with the original 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:55.640 maps before there was a court order redrawing districts to 0:00:55.760 --> 0:00:59.640 ensure that Terry School Congress from Terry School and Shamari Figures, 0:00:59.680 --> 0:01:02.560 who is a new member of Congress serving his first term, 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.760 would both be able to have seats in Alabama, a 0:01:05.840 --> 0:01:10.199 place that has a huge black population. Well, the Supreme 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:12.840 Court just yesterday says, you know what, We're going to 0:01:12.880 --> 0:01:15.319 go back to how things were. We're going to go 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.720 back to the original maps before the court order and 0:01:18.800 --> 0:01:22.640 we are going to do that, despite the fact, despite 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.840 the fact that on Tuesday, May nineteenth, an election for 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:31.080 which ballots are already printed, that have Terry Sewle's name 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:34.120 on them, that have SCHAMAI Figure's name on them, Despite 0:01:34.120 --> 0:01:36.440 the fact that people have already early voted, Despite the 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:40.120 fact that folks who received absentee ballots, despite the fact 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:45.039 that military officials who are overseas have their ballots, have 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.040 probably already cast their ballots, have probably already mailed in 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:52.960 their ballots right have voted. What this country is doing 0:01:53.480 --> 0:01:57.560 to voting is something that is an abomination to us. 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:02.000 All our ancestors are rolling over in their graves, and yes, 0:02:02.040 --> 0:02:05.480 white folks, even yours, even yours. As you seek to 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:09.560 protect and defend democracy, as you fight for liberty and 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:15.119 justice for all, particularly in this hour, your ancestors too 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:17.400 have to be rolling over in their grapes. Unless they 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:20.680 were the Confederates, then maybe they celebrate. Maybe they're celebrating. 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.400 But speaking of the Confederates, I also want to turn 0:02:23.800 --> 0:02:28.080 our attention to Louisiana. What is important to know in 0:02:28.160 --> 0:02:32.880 this moment is that Memphis no longer has a majority 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:37.119 black district. There was one majority minority district in all 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:40.080 of Tennessee. We can get to the demographics of these states. Surely, 0:02:40.120 --> 0:02:42.600 maybe somebody on our team can pull them up. What's 0:02:42.639 --> 0:02:45.480 the black population in Tennessee? What is it in South Carolina? 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:48.280 What is it in Louisiana? What is it in Mississippi? 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:51.960 What is it in Alabama? We should know these things. 0:02:52.280 --> 0:02:56.640 But the only black district in all of Tennessee. The 0:02:56.680 --> 0:03:00.400 state legislature last week acted in a line met with 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:04.680 what the Supreme Court ruled in Louisiana versus Calais. Calais, 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:08.519 by the way, was an insurrectionist who was on Capitol 0:03:08.560 --> 0:03:12.800 Hill on January sixth. Being a terrorist has a Supreme 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.800 Court decision in his name. Now where they have decided 0:03:15.840 --> 0:03:18.160 that they would side with the Confederates, where they would 0:03:18.200 --> 0:03:21.320 side with white nationalists, where they would side with white supremacists, 0:03:21.600 --> 0:03:26.360 and strip us of our voting power, diluting our voices 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:28.440 in congressional races. 0:03:28.639 --> 0:03:29.560 So here we have it. 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:35.920 Louisiana said, hold my beer. Their election is on Saturday. Alabama, 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:40.640 as I said, is on Tuesday. But Louisiana's election is Saturday. 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:46.920 It is this coming Saturday again, just like Alabama ballots 0:03:46.960 --> 0:03:52.040 have gone out. These members of Congress, Troy Carter, Cleo Fields, 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:55.640 Cleo Fields, who fought for decades to ensure that Baton 0:03:55.760 --> 0:04:00.160 Rouge would have a black voice in Congress, hasn't in 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:00.960 there long at all. 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:02.720 Seed is now stripped. 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.680 Most likely, they have until June first in Louisiana to 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:09.680 come up with a congressional map that makes sense, long 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:16.479 after this Saturday primary, Long after these politicians who say 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:20.640 they're protected democracy and clutching their pearls at voter fraud 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:25.640 that does not freaking exist, are creating the environment for 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.920 electoral dysfunction, for voter suppression, and for people to have 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.039 to have their voices counted not once, but twice and 0:04:33.080 --> 0:04:35.680 then a third time if you count the general election. 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.400 So in Louisiana, this is what Governor Landry had to 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:42.360 say when he appeared on CBS sixty minutes. 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:43.560 Let's listen. 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:46.719 In the United States, we get equal rights, no one 0:04:46.720 --> 0:04:47.960 gets extra rights. 0:04:49.320 --> 0:04:52.520 This past Tuesday, we went to Baton Rouge and met 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:56.719 Governor Jeff Landry at the governor's mansion, a close ally 0:04:56.760 --> 0:05:03.040 of President Trump. He dominates louisianaics. The colorful conservative Cajun 0:05:03.520 --> 0:05:06.640 was the state's Attorney General before winning the top job 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:07.920 in twenty twenty three. 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:11.159 You cannot say that we are all created equal, and 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:13.479 at states must treat everyone equal on at a law 0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:17.080 and then allow a law to sort people based upon race. 0:05:18.200 --> 0:05:22.159 Following the Supreme Court decision, Governor Landry declared a state 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:27.320 of emergency and abruptly suspended Congressional House primaries right as 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:31.440 voting was starting, ordering a do over at a future date, 0:05:31.960 --> 0:05:34.480 leaving voters dazed and confused. 0:05:35.040 --> 0:05:39.039 You declared a state of emergency. What exactly is the emergency? 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:43.000 We've got? The highest court at Alliance says the map 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.120 that you have is unconstitutional, So we don't have a 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.360 map under which our voters can vote on. 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:53.359 This country has held elections during the Civil War, during 0:05:53.560 --> 0:05:56.919 two World Wars, elections still went on. 0:05:57.279 --> 0:05:59.520 We're gonna have an election, and we're actually gonna have 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:01.600 an election or election day. 0:06:01.720 --> 0:06:05.000 But voting was already happening as we sit here right now. 0:06:05.520 --> 0:06:08.440 More than forty five thousand ballots have been returned. 0:06:08.440 --> 0:06:09.920 What happens to those voters? 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:14.200 Ballots are discarded and those voters will vote again in November. 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.400 You say that like it's not a big deal. 0:06:16.320 --> 0:06:19.080 Well, it's it's not a big deal. It's not my fault. 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:21.960 If anybody has agrievance, take it to the United States 0:06:22.000 --> 0:06:23.120 Supreme Court. 0:06:23.920 --> 0:06:25.000 It's not my fault. 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:27.960 But what is your fault, Governor Landry, is the fact 0:06:27.960 --> 0:06:30.960 that you called a state of an emergency to suspend 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:33.200 an election or at least part of an election, when 0:06:33.200 --> 0:06:36.760 there is no emergency. You said they are going to 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:39.760 vote twice. They're actually not going to vote twice because 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.560 you have to have another election where they vote for 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:47.760 their representative of not choice but force. Because they're representatives 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.360 of choice are Cleo Fhiells and Troy Carter, And now 0:06:51.400 --> 0:06:55.320 one of them will be out of a seat. So 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:58.680 it actually is absolutely your fault. You do have the 0:06:58.720 --> 0:07:01.520 ability to do something. And the people of Louisiana are 0:07:01.560 --> 0:07:04.360 speaking back. They're saying, you're saying it's not your fault. Well, 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.159 we say recall. And so what has to happen now 0:07:07.240 --> 0:07:11.000 is there has to be consequences for when people exact 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:13.040 harm on the black community. 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:14.920 You are diluting votes. 0:07:15.000 --> 0:07:19.840 You are siding with white supremacists with Confederate mentality to 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:21.640 strip us of our voting power. 0:07:21.880 --> 0:07:24.640 And so I think that is what's important. Thank you all. 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.560 I'm seeing a lot of your comments. Somebody said, I 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.080 love angry Angela. I am so angry, but really it 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:33.000 is deep grief because I don't believe that we deserve 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:36.119 to go backwards in this moment. There is someone who's 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:40.840 been fighting on the Senate Government Affairs Committee in Louisiana. 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.360 He is the nephew of Congressman Troy Carter. 0:07:44.480 --> 0:07:47.640 His name is Senator Gary Carter, and I want you 0:07:47.680 --> 0:07:51.120 all to hear the very righteous protest he engaged in 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:55.280 in a committee hearing where he asked a very simple question. 0:07:55.480 --> 0:07:57.800 He said, the Secretary of State is always here for 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.000 a hearing. Where are you today, sir? Let's roll the click. 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.600 The reason why we're here today is because there's a 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:07.720 suspension of ongoing congressional elections, and so I guess before 0:08:07.760 --> 0:08:10.520 we start the agenda, I like to hear from the 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.000 Secretary of State or someone from the Secretary of State's office. 0:08:15.080 --> 0:08:17.240 Nobody is here from the Secretary of State's office. 0:08:17.600 --> 0:08:20.640 Well as chair of the committee. I have some very 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:24.000 important questions that I would like to be addressed. We 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:27.440 have an ongoing election for Congress, and at the time, 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:31.840 the Secretary of State issued a statement declaring an emergency. 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.920 I would like to know how many people have requested 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:38.280 early ballots. Do you have that information, mister chairman? How 0:08:38.320 --> 0:08:39.760 many people have requested Earlsenary? 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:41.800 I have not, But have you reached out to the 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:43.560 Secretary of State before this meeting? 0:08:43.760 --> 0:08:46.880 I can't recall a meeting of the Senate Government and 0:08:46.960 --> 0:08:50.720 Affairs Committee where someone from the Secretary of State office 0:08:51.280 --> 0:08:54.320 has not been sitting off to the side. So it 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:58.640 was my expectation that the Secretary of State would be 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:02.679 in this committee meeting to know, quite honestly, how many 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:07.559 people had voted at the time the governor suspended the election, 0:09:07.800 --> 0:09:10.920 and what happened to those ballots. Are those ballots being 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:14.520 preserved somewhere? Are those ballots being counted? Can you tell me? 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:17.439 Can you tell me, mister chairman, how many people had 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:22.880 voted at the time the governor has suspended Louisiana Louisiana's 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:24.160 congressional elections. 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:25.760 No, I cannot. 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:29.960 But there's already an ongoing election regarding congressional maps that 0:09:30.000 --> 0:09:33.040 are in place, and my simple question is what's the 0:09:33.120 --> 0:09:35.840 status of those votes that's already been cast. Are those 0:09:35.960 --> 0:09:38.080 votes are going to be counted or are they going 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:39.560 to be discarded? 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:40.520 Simple question. 0:09:41.160 --> 0:09:42.160 I can't answer that question. 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.480 My first question was about the votes that were already 0:09:45.520 --> 0:09:47.640 cast before he ensued the suspend. 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:49.000 Didn't take a recess right now? 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:53.120 Why I only as like two questions, mister chairman, as 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:57.000 I was saying before our break, I want to know 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:59.640 from the Secretary of State's office, and I demand to 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.240 know before the next meeting. Is my understanding this committee 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:03.960 is going to meet. 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.840 Well, and we can continue to play this another time. 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:10.760 Dere we can go ahead, Thank you. I'll get your attention. 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:14.040 I want people to see that clip. Will make sure 0:10:14.040 --> 0:10:17.200 that we put that up on social again. Gary Carter 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:24.400 was holding the line. He was pushing for the Secretary 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.640 of State to answer what happens to these people who've 0:10:26.640 --> 0:10:31.160 cast their ballots. It is so important that legal advocates 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:36.040 across states are paying attention to the disenfranchisement of voters. 0:10:36.160 --> 0:10:38.160 Of course, there are people like Clarence Thomas on the 0:10:38.160 --> 0:10:40.720 Supreme Court who would argue, well, they're voting on something 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:45.680 that's unconstitutional anyway. On what basis, sir, On what basis 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:49.199 there is representation, There is taxation. 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:50.319 Included in the constitution. 0:10:50.440 --> 0:10:53.640 There was nothing that allowed for you all to jerry 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:58.160 mander in a partisan way districts, and certainly certainly not 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:04.319 by disenfranchise black voters. Now you could say, Clarence, I'm 0:11:04.480 --> 0:11:09.840 trying to go back to win black people, particularly in 0:11:09.880 --> 0:11:12.520 the South. We're counted as a part of the three 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:15.600 fifths compromise for the purposes of representation and taxation. 0:11:15.840 --> 0:11:16.520 You can do that. 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.280 You can do that, but you're gonna burn in hot, 0:11:19.280 --> 0:11:22.680 fiery hell. You will burn in hot, fiery hell for that, 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:27.920 because what you're doing is disenfranchising people of your same hue. 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:30.640 Sir, What is the justification for that? 0:11:31.440 --> 0:11:35.880 The Constitution should never be something that is interpreted word 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:39.080 for word without the idea that black people would one 0:11:39.160 --> 0:11:41.640 day be liberated. Now, Clarence Thomas is what they call 0:11:42.800 --> 0:11:47.319 from constitutional law scholars a strict constructionist. That means he 0:11:47.440 --> 0:11:51.040 wants it to be interpreted word for word, letter for letter, 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:55.679 whatever the framers meant, whatever they wrote. He wants to 0:11:55.840 --> 0:11:59.760 interpret it in that very strict way. The problem is, 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.760 Clarence's ass wouldn't have been on the bench. He would 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:06.080 not have been on the bench if he interpreted it 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:09.160 word for word. So what he does is he tries 0:12:09.200 --> 0:12:12.040 to apply to us one way and he gives himself 0:12:12.200 --> 0:12:15.320 out another way. We're not here for that, but I 0:12:15.400 --> 0:12:17.880 want to I want to lean in here. We have 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:21.040 some comments coming in. One that I really really appreciate 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:25.880 is this question from Ken Lawn. I hope I say 0:12:25.920 --> 0:12:28.080 your name right, Jones, Thank you so much, he says, 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.720 Sis ANGELA worst case scenario, Where do you see things 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:35.400 in the next ten years? Kin ln I'm trying to 0:12:35.440 --> 0:12:39.559 get through the next ten days, the next ten months, 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:42.560 and what I think we really have to understand. We 0:12:42.679 --> 0:12:46.840 are rapidly approaching this country's two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:51.120 two hundred and fiftieth birthday the Declaration of Independence. The 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:55.280 anniversary they celebrate is July fourth, seventeen seventy six. Well, 0:12:56.040 --> 0:12:58.079 Frederick Douglas asked us, what to the slave is the 0:12:58.080 --> 0:13:01.400 fourth of July? We got to ask the same question, 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:07.320 what to the enslaved person's descendant is the fourth of July? 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.640 If they are denying us independence, if they are denying 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:15.320 us our ability to select representatives of our choosing, what 0:13:15.520 --> 0:13:16.640 is this holiday to us? 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:18.240 Really? What should it be? 0:13:18.920 --> 0:13:21.840 And then the question we have to ask ourselves is 0:13:21.960 --> 0:13:25.000 if this government does not seek to represent us. 0:13:25.080 --> 0:13:27.760 It is not beneficial to us. What is our place 0:13:27.800 --> 0:13:28.440 in it? Really? 0:13:28.960 --> 0:13:33.319 Sure, sure we need people inside, we need outside strategy, 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.880 but we are rapidly being pushed. 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.600 Outside, and you're seeing it so much so. 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:44.040 That our elders had to go into a hearing in 0:13:44.160 --> 0:13:49.040 the Louisiana State House and Senate to remind people that 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:52.240 it was a mere sixty one years ago where Bloody 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:55.160 Sunday happened. It was a mere sixty one years ago 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:59.240 where Lyndon B. Johnson was forced to sign the Voting 0:13:59.320 --> 0:14:02.040 Rights Act. It was not that long ago. That is 0:14:02.080 --> 0:14:06.080 my parents' lifetime, y'all. Seriously, so let's hear from some 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:08.120 of our elders. I'm going to bring up the clip 0:14:08.160 --> 0:14:10.000 from miss Leona Tate. 0:14:10.559 --> 0:14:12.560 I need you to understand what it feels like to 0:14:12.600 --> 0:14:15.760 stand here, to have walked through that mob as a child, 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:19.680 and to now watch elected officials do that same thing 0:14:19.760 --> 0:14:22.400 that the mob was trying to do, just with better 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:27.840 suits and a parliamentary procedure. I'm a Leona Tate, November fourteen. 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.240 In nineteen sixty, I, along with two other six year 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.320 old girls, walk through an angry mob to integrate mcdonadh 0:14:33.360 --> 0:14:37.160 nineteen elementary school in the Lord ninth Ward of New Orleans. 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:39.880 I was one of the McDonald three, along with Tessei 0:14:39.960 --> 0:14:43.480 Prevost Gail Etienne. We became part of history because our 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.800 parents believed that we deserved an equal education, that we 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.800 deserved dignity, and that we deserve the future without the 0:14:49.960 --> 0:14:51.040 change of segregation. 0:14:51.360 --> 0:14:53.359 I went through something no child should. 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:57.240 Go through to desegregate our state, and now sixty five 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:01.120 years later, I'm watching as law makersttempt to go backwards 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:05.760 and segregate us once again through disgraceful voting maps. Many 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:08.680 of the supporters of this action seem to think people 0:15:08.760 --> 0:15:11.920 believe them when they argue this is not about race. 0:15:12.480 --> 0:15:16.120 Let me be clear, none of us believe that race 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:21.280 and partnership are deeply tied, particularly in Louisiana in the South, 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:23.840 and I'm not going to give you all a history 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.840 lesson to explain why. So now we move backwards with 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.800 the Supreme Court decision that will go down as one 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:34.120 of the most racist rulings in our nation's history, a 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:38.840 decision that tells Black Louisiana's that they representative representation. We 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.120 earned that we watched for that we bled for can 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.000 simply be drawn away by politicians with a. 0:15:44.920 --> 0:15:50.120 Pen, can simply be taken away from by a politician 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:50.600 with the pen. 0:15:51.280 --> 0:15:53.560 This is a woman that had to endure. 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:59.800 Near death to integrate a school, and she is reminding 0:15:59.880 --> 0:16:03.960 us us of what it is like to be disenfranchised, 0:16:03.960 --> 0:16:07.440 to be excluded, to be treated as invisible, to be 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:14.360 the courageous one. We've integrated our political systems to ensure 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.840 that people who think like us and represent our best 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:21.480 interests are present. I really want us to walk this through. 0:16:21.520 --> 0:16:22.960 There are a lot of folks who are like, I 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.480 don't vote, I don't care. What is redistricting? What is 0:16:25.520 --> 0:16:27.400 jerry mandering? What are all these big words? What does 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:30.880 it mean to dilute a district? Let me tell you 0:16:30.920 --> 0:16:33.480 what it means to not have people who think like 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:40.640 you passing laws that represent your best interest. Southern University 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:45.680 Xavier Dillard, if they get any state based funding, no 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.840 longer have advocates to ensure that they even get a 0:16:48.880 --> 0:16:51.960 modicum of what they would normally get. They're definitely not 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:55.920 getting on par with other schools that are traditionally white institutions. 0:16:55.960 --> 0:16:58.800 They're not even getting the money that they are supposed 0:16:58.840 --> 0:17:04.399 to get and particularly southern from the state, they are 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:05.720 inadequately funded. 0:17:06.280 --> 0:17:07.359 What it means to not have. 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:11.280 People who think like you in higher office is you 0:17:11.320 --> 0:17:13.879 may not get the wages you deserve, You may not 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:17.800 get the additional government benefits that you deserve. When the 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:22.240 midterms come and go and they cut SNAP and Medicare 0:17:22.680 --> 0:17:25.840 and Medicaid, you don't get the healthcare or the food 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:28.639 you deserve it to have access to. And you have 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.720 no vocal champion because let me tell you something, to 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:39.159 be very clear, they went for Congress. Now the state 0:17:39.359 --> 0:17:42.439 legislators are absolutely next. 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:46.399 These people have no floor. 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:51.760 There is no floor, and we're busy fighting them on 0:17:51.920 --> 0:17:55.280 their terms and we don't even have We've not even 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:59.359 taken the moment, the time to think about what is 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:00.000 their body? 0:18:00.880 --> 0:18:02.240 How low will they go? 0:18:04.000 --> 0:18:04.200 Right? 0:18:05.720 --> 0:18:09.560 Former First Lady Obama said, when they go low, we 0:18:09.640 --> 0:18:10.520 go high. 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:13.480 Damn that we got to go meet them in the 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.480 basement to figure out where. 0:18:16.320 --> 0:18:18.359 They are and how low they will go. 0:18:18.720 --> 0:18:22.800 They hold the keys to the power of this infrastructure, 0:18:22.880 --> 0:18:27.960 this system that are hard earned tax paying dollars pay into. 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:32.520 They hold the keys. We gotta go get the keys. 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.080 There are another number of comments that I'm hopefully we 0:18:44.160 --> 0:18:47.200 can we can put up. There's one that says, don't 0:18:47.280 --> 0:18:49.600 kill me, y'all. But I have read Clarence Thomas's book 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:52.000 and I kind of understand him. The only thing is 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:54.679 he has been obviously corrupt for past ten years, but 0:18:54.800 --> 0:18:57.840 his earlier years he was a Democrat. Well he's changed 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.440 and he's gone to Hell in a hand basket. Shout 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:02.440 out to Jenny, who's also a member of the Tea Party. 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:05.440 Jenny would be his wife. Next, we want to hear 0:19:05.520 --> 0:19:10.639 from Lieutenant General Russell Honore, who was a tremendous advocate 0:19:11.320 --> 0:19:15.040 fighter on a rescue mission during Hurricane Katrina. Will forever 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:18.200 be a legend in many of our eyes. But Lieutenant 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:21.960 General Honore also went to testify before this committee last week. 0:19:22.040 --> 0:19:23.080 Let's hear what he had to say. 0:19:23.359 --> 0:19:26.560 I'm a native of picher B Parish by way of 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:31.960 Saint Charles Parish and the destra Han Plantation. I will 0:19:31.960 --> 0:19:36.080 not speak to the details of that journey, but because 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:39.719 of the public schools of Louisiana, I got educated to 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:42.240 a point in made the Southern University and spent thirty 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:46.440 seven years in United States Army defending this nation abroad. 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:51.160 In a home. What this topic brings up stairs memories 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.200 of the past, a pass where I caught a bus 0:19:54.240 --> 0:19:56.560 at six' ten in the morning to go to a 0:19:56.600 --> 0:19:59.159 school Of New, roads and there was a school of 0:19:59.240 --> 0:20:02.280 mob from a. House The Supreme court don't always get it. 0:20:02.359 --> 0:20:05.240 Right because at that time it says separate but equal 0:20:05.480 --> 0:20:08.080 was good. Enough AND i got on that bus and 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:11.480 passed that school a mile from my house to go 0:20:12.119 --> 0:20:15.400 a way through cane fields and cotton fields and make 0:20:15.440 --> 0:20:17.080 my way To New road to go to school for 0:20:17.119 --> 0:20:20.880 four years because The Supreme court said separate but. Equal 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:23.400 they don't always get it, right and they didn't get 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:27.960 it right until the issue was redressed years. Later graduated 0:20:28.000 --> 0:20:31.960 from high school in sixty. Six and The montredis will 0:20:32.000 --> 0:20:35.200 be judged by the content of our, character not the 0:20:35.200 --> 0:20:40.000 color of our. Skin and the state constantly made. Improvements 0:20:40.800 --> 0:20:42.720 AND i was proud to come back to this state 0:20:42.760 --> 0:20:47.760 in two thousand and nine to move back home to volunteer, 0:20:47.840 --> 0:20:51.200 here to be a part of a place to help 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:51.919 improve the. 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:56.280 State and, Again Russell honore has done so much For. 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:59.119 Louisiana but there he's talking about what it's like to 0:20:59.160 --> 0:21:04.120 be bus way past your house to be inconvenienced to go. 0:21:04.240 --> 0:21:06.400 Learn that was not that long. 0:21:06.440 --> 0:21:13.640 Ago he's talking about the importance of understanding that he 0:21:13.480 --> 0:21:16.520 he just graduated from high school in nineteen sixty. Six 0:21:17.240 --> 0:21:21.080 that's a year after The Voting Rights act became. Law 0:21:22.200 --> 0:21:24.240 there's another, comment why do other people think we have 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:27.400 been voting? Forever The Voting Rights act is around sixty years. 0:21:27.440 --> 0:21:30.280 Old my grandmother couldn't. VOTE i don't know why people think. 0:21:30.320 --> 0:21:33.920 THAT i think they probably believe because it was enshrined 0:21:33.960 --> 0:21:37.080 in The constitution with the Thirty. Amendment but what they 0:21:37.119 --> 0:21:40.000 don't understand is that didn't apply to, women and it 0:21:40.040 --> 0:21:42.399 didn't apply to Many southern states where they had to 0:21:42.440 --> 0:21:43.399 pass literacy. 0:21:43.440 --> 0:21:44.720 Tests they had to. 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:47.240 Answer how many bubbles were in a bar of, Soap 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:50.000 they had to count how many balls were in a. 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:54.160 Jar all of these things right here is the part 0:21:54.240 --> 0:21:56.960 so somebody else is raising we need to realize that 0:21:57.000 --> 0:21:59.359 as a, community we are grounded in someone else's, house 0:21:59.440 --> 0:22:02.359 someone else's house that we, built that we have a 0:22:02.400 --> 0:22:05.280 birthright to have access to because we built. 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:07.680 It we can get our own. 0:22:07.680 --> 0:22:10.840 Place but also, this the comment went, on but also 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:15.520 we know that this is, ours AND i think that 0:22:15.640 --> 0:22:20.920 some of what you see is this righteous indignation around 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.600 having to forego something THAT i know we, built and 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:27.120 that is a real challenge for many of. Us it's, 0:22:27.160 --> 0:22:31.320 like why should we have to do anything when you 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:36.200 aren't just accommodating. Us you're giving us what we, deserve 0:22:36.359 --> 0:22:39.080 which is, access and it hasn't even been fair. 0:22:39.119 --> 0:22:43.080 ACCESS i don't even know what this. Means we can strike. 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:43.840 That what does this? 0:22:43.880 --> 0:22:45.879 Mean you can't put this on young people trying to 0:22:45.880 --> 0:22:46.439 do something for. 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:48.280 THEMSELVES i don't. 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:51.040 Know black leadership industrial complex is a term where you 0:22:51.080 --> 0:22:53.160