WEBVTT - INTERVIEW: Don Peebles On His Mission To Build Affirmation Tower, Black Economic Progress + More 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:02.560 Wake that answer up in the morning. 0:00:02.720 --> 0:00:07.160 The Breakfast Club, yup, Charlamagne to God, Jess Hilarious. DJ 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:08.880 Nvy is not here right now, but we have a 0:00:09.000 --> 0:00:13.760 very special guest man. He's an entrepreneur, he's an author. 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.520 He's done people, Joe, Okay, alright, all right. He does 0:00:17.560 --> 0:00:20.160 a little bit of everything. But happy to have you here, sir. 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:22.480 Great to be here, man. How are you great? I'm 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:24.160 doing great now. 0:00:24.520 --> 0:00:27.520 Mister Dawn. I don'm gon keep you. I don't know you. 0:00:27.560 --> 0:00:28.720 So who is done? People? 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:33.080 I am a real estate developer and entrepreneur. I'm from Washington, 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.840 d C. I grew up born and raised in DC 0:00:36.320 --> 0:00:39.239 and part in Detroit. Started my company when I was 0:00:39.280 --> 0:00:42.640 twenty three, and I built office buildings, and I built 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.600 hotels and condos around the country from Boston down to 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:50.239 Miami and then Los Angeles, San Francisco, in Vegas, and 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:53.280 right now I am trying to build what will be 0:00:53.320 --> 0:00:56.880 the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere called Affirmation Tower 0:00:56.960 --> 0:00:59.960 right here in New York City. Out of all these skyscrapers, 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:03.560 not one of them is built by a black developer. 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:05.959 In fact, the reason I came to New York is 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:08.280 back in two thousand and nine or so, I was 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:12.640 having drinks with Reverend Sharpton at the Havana Club and 0:01:12.720 --> 0:01:15.000 he looked out the window and he said, come over here, 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:18.640 what do you see? And I see all these tall buildings. 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:22.280 He said, well, what don't you see? And I don't know, 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:24.600 and he said, not one of them is owned by 0:01:24.760 --> 0:01:27.679 one of us, So you need to do something about it. 0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.240 So I came here, started a business here, and built 0:01:31.400 --> 0:01:35.240 some buildings here, just finished a luxury condo building downtown 0:01:35.240 --> 0:01:39.400 in Tribeca, and decided that I would build a building 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:42.840 that reflected economic empowerment for our people. And so I 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:46.840 call it Affirmation Tower. I partnered with two other black 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:50.880 developers because it needed to be black owned, so eighty 0:01:50.880 --> 0:01:55.000 percent black owned, being built by a woman led, black 0:01:55.040 --> 0:02:03.639 woman led contractor exactly, and that America promises us equal 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:06.840 access to economic opportunities. So this building is going to 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:11.560 reflect that that that the first skyscraper ought to be 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.600 the biggest and it ought to be the best. And 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.839 so we're also going to help Reverend Sharpton and those 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:21.760 who follow in the civil rights movement to have a legacy. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:25.440 We're building a civil rights museum there that Reverend Sharpton 0:02:25.639 --> 0:02:29.639 and his foundation will lead, and then we're going to 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:33.799 make it a symbol and an environment of economic opportunity 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:37.360 for people new hotels, apartments, condos, and also I'm building 0:02:37.680 --> 0:02:39.320 forty percent affordable housing there too. 0:02:40.040 --> 0:02:43.000 Yes, you know it's very important to note, and you 0:02:43.040 --> 0:02:44.400 said it already, but I just want to say it 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:46.440 in a way people will really understand. You are the 0:02:46.440 --> 0:02:51.320 most successful black real estate developer in American history, Right, 0:02:51.639 --> 0:02:52.880 that's safe to say. 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:56.720 I guess, yeah, I'm working on it every day, but 0:02:56.880 --> 0:02:58.919 I'm working on trying to make it so that there's 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.400 you know that there's it's easier, and there's so many 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:03.680 more of me, And that's really you know, if I 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:05.840 ever have a legacy, it will be I'd like it 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:08.840 to be that there's many, many, many more people like 0:03:08.919 --> 0:03:11.520 me who have had an opportunity to come out here 0:03:11.520 --> 0:03:12.320 and be successful. 0:03:12.360 --> 0:03:14.120 And you've been on Breakfast Club before, You've been on 0:03:14.120 --> 0:03:17.520 Breakfast Club with with Miss Cheryl mckisseck, so this isn't 0:03:17.600 --> 0:03:19.680 your first time. So I like when we get to 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.000 amplify people like you, simply because you know, a lot 0:03:23.000 --> 0:03:26.120 of our audience, they know how to get money one 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:29.320 way right, and a lot of times that way is 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:33.320 entertainment athletes. Now everybody want to be an influencer nowadays. 0:03:33.360 --> 0:03:35.120 So I love when we can sit down and have 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.120 conversations with people like you who've created real wealth and 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:39.480 haven't done any of those things. 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:41.360 Yeah, I mean I you know, in fact, I was 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:42.720 an athlete in high school, but. 0:03:42.680 --> 0:03:46.800 I don't believe that good enough. I don't believe that. 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.360 I'm a basketball player anymore. 0:03:50.360 --> 0:03:50.520 Though. 0:03:50.520 --> 0:03:53.040 I got to be about six fifty three when I 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.600 was twelve, and then it popped another entry. I realized 0:03:56.840 --> 0:04:00.760 also that I can never make myself into Michael Jordan, 0:04:01.080 --> 0:04:03.400 no matter how hard I worked, et cetera. But I 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:06.960 can make myself into one of the greatest business people around. 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:10.160 And that's what I tell people, young, middle aged old. 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:13.720 The thing about business and entrepreneurship is you can make 0:04:13.760 --> 0:04:17.160 yourself better every day. You get better every day you 0:04:17.200 --> 0:04:20.359 can work, and you can make yourself into a great entrepreneur. 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:22.800 And that's the beauty of this. And the real estate 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:26.640 business has an industry of low barriers. But if you 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:29.200 look at where the real estate business is, it's the 0:04:29.320 --> 0:04:32.080 major cities around the country where the money is made 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:36.080 and who has a big influence about the politics of 0:04:36.120 --> 0:04:39.520 major cities around the country US black people. So if 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:44.440 we could exercise our political power to create economic power, 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:46.680 we would change the plight of our people. And that's 0:04:46.680 --> 0:04:47.920 what I try to do in our business. 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:50.240 Who planted that seed in you early on, the seed 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.000 of entrepreneurship. 0:04:51.480 --> 0:04:54.960 My mother, you know, my mother probably, I mean, you know, 0:04:55.080 --> 0:04:56.680 used to tell me that I wasn't cut out to 0:04:56.720 --> 0:05:00.480 work for somebody else, and that I was, you know more, 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.000 you know, cut out to do something different, and that 0:05:04.600 --> 0:05:07.920 you know that people who came before me bought her 0:05:07.920 --> 0:05:10.120 hard so that I could have a shot and I'd 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:12.400 go out and take it. And she was actually then 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:14.760 when I quit college after my freshman year, she was 0:05:14.800 --> 0:05:16.960 the only person in my family who actually really had 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.400 the confidence that I would actually make something out of 0:05:19.400 --> 0:05:21.279 my life. So he dropped out as a freshman yep, 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:22.360 after my freshman year. 0:05:22.400 --> 0:05:23.680 And what was what was you major in it? 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:25.840 I was going into pre med. I was in pre med, 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.200 so I was going to be a doctor. And after 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:30.000 my first year, I changed my mind. I didn't want 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:31.400 to go into medicine because I was going into it 0:05:31.480 --> 0:05:34.680 for the wrong reason. For economic security. My mother and 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.320 I had our ups and downs, and she was in 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.120 the real estate business. So I learned entrepreneurship from her, 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:43.640 and I learned the headwinds that she faced, not just 0:05:43.680 --> 0:05:46.279 as a black person, but as a black woman. I mean, 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:49.240 the headwinds that she confronted were tremendous, and so a 0:05:49.279 --> 0:05:51.880 big part of what I wanted to do as a 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.480 business person is to create an environment so that people 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:57.000 like my mother got a fair chance and got an 0:05:57.000 --> 0:05:59.920 opportunity when you had a talented person really work hard 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.680 that I would embrace that as a business and so 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.760 I want to create that kind of environment and knock 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.240 down some of those barriers that she confronted them that 0:06:09.279 --> 0:06:11.760 my father and my grandparents didn't. So I felt I 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.159 could do that through business because I can use entrepreneurship 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.039 as a tool of transformation. I mean, we end up 0:06:18.080 --> 0:06:21.320 building Affirmation Tower. It will be a transformative project in 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.040 so many different ways. I mean, it's been recognized by 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:27.920 our architectural digest as one of the most important buildings 0:06:28.000 --> 0:06:32.520 of our generation, and in many other you know, organizations 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:35.200 and publications have recognized it because of what it stands for. 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.000 And I think that's what you know I've tried to do. 0:06:38.040 --> 0:06:40.200 I've tried to build buildings and make money, but they 0:06:40.240 --> 0:06:42.680 stand for something and they mean something. And so how 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.680 we build our buildings is much more important as to 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:49.400 what we build, because we try to build our buildings 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:53.000 where we're giving people who are super talented a chance. 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:58.320 And unfortunately that sounds very simplistic, but unfortunately in our economy, 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:03.000 in this country, everybody who deserves an opportunity doesn't get 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.400 a chance, especially when it comes to Black Americans. And 0:07:05.440 --> 0:07:08.640 that's one of the things I'm concerned about is that 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:13.400 the politics have begun to move beyond us and uh 0:07:13.440 --> 0:07:14.840 and we can't let that happen either. 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.880 What has been the biggest obstacle with affirmation time. 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.200 I think getting the Governor of New York to actually 0:07:21.240 --> 0:07:25.920 make a decision to sell us a site. We have proposed. 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:29.880 It's a second time now. We have proposed you know, 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:33.040 a price and a project a couple of years ago, 0:07:33.080 --> 0:07:35.920 and then Andrew Como had to leave office and so 0:07:36.320 --> 0:07:40.280 Hoko came in, canceled it and then reissued a request 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:43.240 for proposals. We've done that and in that process, so 0:07:43.320 --> 0:07:46.440 that's the biggest obstacle. You know, good news is is 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:49.080 that we've been able to raise the capital to do it. 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:53.000 It's a three billion dollar development and uh and so 0:07:53.880 --> 0:07:55.800 I think that, you know, it should be a no 0:07:55.920 --> 0:08:00.280 brainer in my view, because when we're very qualified team 0:08:00.480 --> 0:08:04.000 with the resources to do it, but also New York 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:08.679 ows our people, a civil rights museum ows our people 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:13.000 economic opportunity. And how great would it be for young 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.800 boys and girls and young men and women to walk 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:20.400 into a skyscraper from not just New York but all 0:08:20.440 --> 0:08:22.760 around the country when they come to New York and 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:24.760 go into that building and know it was built by 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:29.679 people like them. And that's why we call it Affirmation Tower, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:32.600 because this promise needs to be affirmed, this promise of 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:37.320 equality economically, this country needs to affirm it. And I 0:08:37.360 --> 0:08:39.840 think that, you know, Governor hoche owes her election to 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:44.880 black voters. She had a tough race against Republican and 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:47.760 we carried her over the finish line. Now time to 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:53.400 acknowledge that we have a role in New York City's economy. 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:58.560 She listens. Governor Cathy listens. Hopefully she's hearing this right now. 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:00.439 You said something interesting. You say, do you feel like 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.720 politics is moving past black people? It's found on it. 0:09:04.080 --> 0:09:08.520 Well, so if you think about this discussion about DEI 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:13.360 right now, let's rewind a moment. This country was built 0:09:14.520 --> 0:09:17.000 with two hundred and forty nine years of free labor 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:21.280 from black people. Industries that had no economic viability were 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.360 built by us. That gave America the wind in its 0:09:24.440 --> 0:09:28.720 sails to propel it to have the power economically to 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:30.840 be the greatest country in the world. Then another one 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:36.079 hundred years of extreme oppression. So finally, in late nineteen sixties, 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:43.559 Richard Nixon created an Office of Minority Businesses and Minority Contracting, 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:49.560 and there were two beneficiaries, actually three Black Americans, Native 0:09:49.559 --> 0:09:53.520 Americans which were then called American Indians, and Alaskans. That 0:09:53.760 --> 0:09:57.760 was it because the country owed them and all of 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:00.680 us a debt Native Americans because they stole the land 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.200 from us and from them and put them in you know, 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:06.880 these these reservations and just decimated their culture. They just 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:09.800 they kidnapped us, our ancestors and brought them here. So 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.800 that's should have stopped there, and the country should have 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.440 done right by us by giving us giving our young 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:20.640 people better access to education, better health care, better opportunities 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:25.800 for economic opportunities, and access to home ownership and to 0:10:25.840 --> 0:10:31.640 build wealth. And what happened is, over time this was 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.320 used as a political kind of patronage or carrot. So 0:10:36.000 --> 0:10:40.360 it included Latinos, that included Asian Americans, other people who 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.600 volunteerly came here, just like the Irish and the Italians, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.720 looking for a better life, and they got it here, 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.560 and they owe America a debt. America doesn't owe them 0:10:48.600 --> 0:10:52.720 a debt. So to place them in the same status 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:56.640 when it comes to access to opportunity as black Americans 0:10:56.679 --> 0:10:59.120 is in selling and offensive and it's hurt us. And 0:10:59.120 --> 0:11:03.839 then think about this. In the wealth disparity in this 0:11:03.880 --> 0:11:08.400 country between blacks and whites was greater in twenty eighteen 0:11:08.559 --> 0:11:10.480 than it was in nineteen sixty eight when Doctor King 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:16.440 was killed. The income disparity was greater in twenty eighteen 0:11:16.600 --> 0:11:19.680 than when Doctor King was assassinated in sixty eight. Home 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:23.079 ownership rates were higher for our people in nineteen sixty 0:11:23.080 --> 0:11:25.719 eight in twenty eighteen. And then of course all of 0:11:25.760 --> 0:11:30.520 these three statistics they're worse today. So we're not making progress. 0:11:30.920 --> 0:11:34.319 And the Democratic Party has taken us for granted. They 0:11:34.400 --> 0:11:37.080 believe that because we're black. Joe Biden sent it on 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:39.520 your program. Can't make up your mind between me and Trump? 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:40.120 You ain't black? 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:40.960 Who is he? 0:11:41.160 --> 0:11:44.839 He was determined who's black or not? You know it? 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.800 You know it's funny. I was at a performance last 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.520 night called forty four the Unofficial Story. 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:52.760 You were there. 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:56.719 I was there and I took a brother who was 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.520 actually a Charles Payn who's on Fox, and he joined me, 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:02.840 and yeah. 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:04.000 I saw him. And I didn't talk to him, but 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:05.640 I saw him like wander in the back. I didn't 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:05.880 see you that. 0:12:06.000 --> 0:12:07.959 Yeah, No, I was sitting right next. I came right 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:11.560 before the performance and took my wife and daughter. And 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:14.920 I mean, but that character of Joe Biden was right 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:18.800 on point. But the party has we've delivered. Joe Biden 0:12:19.000 --> 0:12:21.920 would be in Delaware looking at the water as a 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:25.520 private citizens for black people. You know, Jim Clyburn in 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:28.320 the South Carolina orders saved him in the Democratic primary 0:12:28.360 --> 0:12:32.160 and then we delivered the election to him, you know, 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:36.600 in the general election. And what is he doing for us? 0:12:37.000 --> 0:12:39.920 You know that to start a business you need capital. 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:43.360 Normally that comes from venture capital, private equity. Our young guys, 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:45.520 young people, young boys and girls who were coming up 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:49.319 with these tech ideas. They need venture capital, aspiring real 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:54.600 estate entrepreneurs, they need capital. There's eighty seven trillion dollars 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:58.679 currently invested in venture capital and private equity in this country. 0:12:58.760 --> 0:13:02.839 Eighty seven trillion out of that, less than one point 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:08.280 two five percent go to businesses started or run by 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:13.080 women and people of color combined. The statistic of how 0:13:13.160 --> 0:13:16.280 much money black people get us access to that is 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.560 less than a quarter of one percent. But we represent 0:13:19.600 --> 0:13:22.319 fourteen percent of this country's population. All you got to 0:13:22.320 --> 0:13:25.440 do is look at the four four hundred three black people. Okay, 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:28.439 there should be I mean we were in a meritocracy, 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.360 right then we should be looking at somewhere of about 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:36.400 you know, and what is that we'd be fifty two 0:13:36.920 --> 0:13:38.880 black people in the four to four hundred. So we 0:13:38.880 --> 0:13:42.240 don't have a meritocracy because they keep our young people 0:13:42.320 --> 0:13:46.199 illiterate when it comes to financial literacy. They don't teach 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.440 us skills in school. It's all kind of designed to 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:53.160 keep us where we are. They tell us about European history. 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.240 We got our kids have to waste their time when 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.400 listening to what happened or learning about what happened three 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:00.880 hundred years ago in Europe. And then don't tell them 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:02.440 who they are and where they came from. So I 0:14:02.440 --> 0:14:06.080 think that we got to we gotta start practicing politics 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:10.760 like Henry Kissinger practice American foreign policy. Henry Kissinger said, 0:14:10.760 --> 0:14:15.080 America has no permanent friends, no permanent enemies, just permanent interests. 0:14:15.520 --> 0:14:17.640 And that's what we have to do. And our interest 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:23.000 is economics. We cannot keep carrying this disproportionate burden of poverty. 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:26.960 And then when somebody tries to fight to change it, 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:29.960 I mean Eric Adams trying, I mean trying to keep 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:33.200 our community safe, trying to provide economic opportunity, and then 0:14:33.240 --> 0:14:35.840 gets overwhelmed with all these migrants and had the nerve 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.240 to complain about it. So he complained about it. And 0:14:38.280 --> 0:14:43.120 then what happened. The Biden administration targets him for investigation 0:14:43.680 --> 0:14:47.760 and goes and confiscates his you know, cell phone and 0:14:47.800 --> 0:14:50.280 his iPad when he comes out of an event, and 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:51.840 that that's just sending a message. 0:14:51.880 --> 0:14:54.440 Oh so you think that was directly related to him 0:14:54.440 --> 0:14:56.160 complaining about the migrant situation. 0:14:56.280 --> 0:14:59.960 Yeah, I think challenging Biden. Wow, Because Biden's candidacy is 0:15:00.120 --> 0:15:04.560 a week and so they can't afford to have anybody 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:07.520 step out against him, and I think they took their 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:10.680 shot at Eric because he was saying, wait a minute, 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:15.160 you're going to force me to take resources away from 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:17.480 people in New York who need it to take care 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.240 of these people. You won't let me put them to work, 0:15:20.920 --> 0:15:24.000 and you won't stop them from coming here, and you 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.640 won't put up any money. It's destroying our city. And 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:29.080 he spoke out about it and ask for help. And 0:15:29.120 --> 0:15:32.080 by the way, the most dependable place for Democrats is 0:15:32.080 --> 0:15:34.480 California and New York. And now they're going to mess 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:37.960 that up because he said, okay, will help me, and 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.760 they wouldn't help them. And they, in fact, their response 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:45.320 was shortly thereafter, they you know, confiscated his you know, 0:15:45.680 --> 0:15:49.359 evident his cell phone and so forth, raided his campaign 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.240 finance person's house. I mean that's I mean, you can 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:55.360 subpoena that stuff. They did that to send a message 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:55.640 to him. 0:15:55.680 --> 0:16:00.280 So you're so Biden weaponized the justice system against our 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:05.040 own Eric Adams, Jesus correct black man, who's who's leading 0:16:05.040 --> 0:16:05.440 the city. 0:16:05.480 --> 0:16:07.520 And remember he talked about running for People were talking 0:16:07.560 --> 0:16:10.120 about him running for president when he first came in, remember, 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:15.760 and so they send I mean, they they they don't 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:19.320 want anyone to get out of line. And that's I mean, 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:21.920 the reality is, think about it. I just gave you 0:16:21.920 --> 0:16:25.080 this statistic. Let me tell you another one. There's there's 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:28.800 one hundred and sixty five asset managers who managed the 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:34.520 federal government's pension system, three black firms out of one 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:39.160 hundred and sixty five three and Biden's in there now. 0:16:39.200 --> 0:16:41.080 And also he's got account for the nineteen ninety four 0:16:41.120 --> 0:16:44.680 crime bill. I mean, I mean, he just mean, I mean, 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:49.040 you talk about what wrecked havoc on our young people 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:52.120 and our people overall and led to this mass incarceration 0:16:52.240 --> 0:16:53.400 with that that built. 0:16:53.240 --> 0:16:55.160 And eighty six mandatory minimum sentence in. 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.160 Two Yes, he was right about that, right avatory. 0:16:58.200 --> 0:16:59.920 That's one thing that people forget. When he was here 0:17:00.720 --> 0:17:02.880 in the whole you Ain't Black conversation, you know, I 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:04.520 started talking to him about the ninety four crime bill 0:17:04.600 --> 0:17:06.560 and asking him did that lead to mass incarceration? And 0:17:06.600 --> 0:17:08.399 he goes, no, it was the eighty six mandatory mean, 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:10.560 I'm sentisent And I'm like, well you we're ahead of 0:17:11.040 --> 0:17:13.240 you taking a lead on that one too. Yes, So 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.960 he is absolutely one of the architects of mass incarceration. Yeah, 0:17:17.040 --> 0:17:18.199 this is what it is. And I don't know why 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.919 people get upset when we bring that truth. 0:17:20.720 --> 0:17:25.720 Up, right, It's because they're scared because the Democrats know 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.280 they can't win. By the way, here's what they're afraid of. 0:17:30.000 --> 0:17:37.520 Richard Nixon in nineteen sixty eight got twenty nine percent 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:40.359 of the black vote. I'm sorry, Richard Nixon nineteen sixty 0:17:40.400 --> 0:17:43.520 let me get it right. Nineteen sixty got twenty nine 0:17:43.560 --> 0:17:48.080 percent of the black vote against John Kennedy. Joe Biden's 0:17:48.119 --> 0:17:54.520 not John Kennedy. Now. Donald Trump got eight percent first selection, 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.600 twelve percent the next one. He's polling in the twenties. 0:17:57.920 --> 0:18:00.480 I think those numbers of people they're dismissing, I think 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:01.520 those numbers are real. 0:18:01.680 --> 0:18:05.400 I think it'll be an uptake. I can't see twenty. 0:18:05.280 --> 0:18:08.280 I just think that. I mean, I think people will 0:18:08.359 --> 0:18:11.320 less likely vote, they may not vote at all. I 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.720 think the challenge is is what kind of compelling message 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:18.439 can this man give us to vote for him? Locked 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.600 us all up? I mean, I had a step brother 0:18:21.840 --> 0:18:24.720 who spent most of his you know many I mean 0:18:24.760 --> 0:18:27.679 many years in jail because he was sick, he had 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:32.640 a drug problem, and they weren't saying, hey, he's got 0:18:32.640 --> 0:18:35.719 an illness. They locked him up and when he you know, 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.480 when he after his third or fourth time, he was 0:18:38.520 --> 0:18:40.800 in for a long time over a nothing kind of 0:18:40.880 --> 0:18:45.679 crime because he was a sick, sick man. And but people, 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:48.720 I mean, when it came to our people, it was 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:52.280 it was a crime. And now with these opioid issues 0:18:52.280 --> 0:18:55.720 and so forth, right, it's a disease, always been a disease. 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:58.639 So I just think that the Democratic Party, how do 0:18:58.720 --> 0:19:01.440 we let how do people serve in Congress? I mean 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:04.000 I chaired the Congression Black Caucus Foundation Board, and I 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:08.280 tried to get everybody to start focusing on economic reciprocity 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:11.720 like Kwasion Fume started when he was at the NAACP. 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:14.600 So the last four years of Obama's term, I chaired 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:17.480 the Congression Black Caucuss Foundation Board, which is the think 0:19:17.520 --> 0:19:19.840 tank of the African American members of Congress, and to 0:19:19.960 --> 0:19:22.639 get them to focus Let's leave some of these social 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:25.639 issues for a moment, let's focus on economics, and if 0:19:25.640 --> 0:19:28.040 we can get our people in a better place economically, 0:19:28.240 --> 0:19:32.680 then we move forward. But if you look at our system, 0:19:33.520 --> 0:19:36.240 it is funded by those who want to keep the 0:19:36.280 --> 0:19:41.720 status quo. And now you have this backlash against DEI. 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:45.000 Think about what's happening in the country. Now they're saying 0:19:45.000 --> 0:19:49.280 that diversity, equity, and inclusion is not a good thing. Now, look, 0:19:49.359 --> 0:19:51.440 I think it's too broad of a lens, and I 0:19:51.440 --> 0:19:54.840 think it should be focused on Black Americans and Native Americans, period, 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:56.840 end of the story. And that's what it should be, 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:59.880 and we shouldn't the fact that our black politicians act 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:06.720 really allowed our chance of fairness or equity or reciprocity 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:11.720 to get diluted by including everybody who happened to be 0:20:11.960 --> 0:20:17.000 you know, non white, and then many Latinos identify as 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:21.120 white anyway, So this country doesn't owe anybody a debt 0:20:21.200 --> 0:20:24.240 other than Black Americans, the Native Americans. Everybody else owes 0:20:24.280 --> 0:20:25.959 the country a debt, and they got to pay it. 0:20:26.160 --> 0:20:28.560 But the fact that they ignore it economically, it's a 0:20:28.560 --> 0:20:29.080 big problem. 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:33.520 Frankly, you know John O'Brien, who I love, you know, 0:20:33.600 --> 0:20:37.920 he says that DEI is the only way for America 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:40.680 to continue to grow. So you have to teach black 0:20:40.720 --> 0:20:43.800 people and brown people, you have to teach them financial 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:48.240 literacy because there's not enough educ what is it educated 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:52.640 college college educated white men to keep the GDP where 0:20:52.640 --> 0:20:54.480 it needed to be in the future. So you're gonna 0:20:54.520 --> 0:20:56.320 have to teach black and brown people those skill sets 0:20:56.800 --> 0:20:58.320 to thrive in this economy. 0:20:58.440 --> 0:21:00.520 I agree with John. John's a very good end of mind, 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:04.080 and I agree with him. However, I think that the 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:10.800 untapped resource in America are Black people. The most untapped 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:17.680 resource in America are black men. We are not utilized efficiently. 0:21:18.119 --> 0:21:21.440 We are not given the skill set and the tools 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:26.960 to provide for our families and to help make our 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:32.720 country better. And so that's where I don't. I do not. 0:21:33.000 --> 0:21:36.440 I no longer believe the DEI, and I never did, 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.359 frankly believe the DEI should be anything other than Black 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:43.640 Americans and Native Americans. And I think if we did that, 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:46.520 it's a case that you can present and stand in 0:21:46.640 --> 0:21:49.320 any room and say, because no one's going to argue. 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:52.560 I gave a speech in front of CEOs and executives 0:21:53.000 --> 0:21:55.480