WEBVTT - Positively Gam: Remembering The January 6 Capitol Attacks 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.000 We have to lay the blame fully at the feet 0:00:03.000 --> 0:00:05.760 of white supremacy, and if we allow people to have 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:09.879 this kind of tragic comparative conversation the entire time, then 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.160 no one will take responsibility, no one will be held accountable, 0:00:13.360 --> 0:00:15.160 and we'll just kind of move on as Wow, you 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.000 remember that while week in the beginning of where we 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.680 thought all the hell was over in it's it's so 0:00:20.800 --> 0:00:23.600 interesting that you that you put it that way, And 0:00:23.680 --> 0:00:26.800 thank you for sharing all of that, all of it, Brittany, 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:32.920 because I'm feeling the exact same way. What's up, everybody, 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:36.720 I'm dammy And this is Positively GAMP. Every week I 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:40.479 have raw, in depth conversation with inspirational people pushing for 0:00:40.600 --> 0:00:46.000 change on everything from aging, relationships, politics, wellness, to the 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:50.640 current issues facing the black community. This episode was recorded 0:00:51.080 --> 0:00:56.000 January eight, so some news headlines may have changed. Today 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.920 I'm going to be discussing the insurrection at the Capitol 0:00:59.440 --> 0:01:04.760 and the Georgia runoffs. Joining me on Positively GAM today 0:01:05.000 --> 0:01:09.600 is Tia Mitchell, a Washington correspondent for the Atlanta newspaper. 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:14.120 Tia was actually inside the Capitol as it was being invaded. 0:01:14.800 --> 0:01:18.200 Thank you so much, Tia. For joining me today. I 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.039 know this has been a very stressful time for you. 0:01:21.280 --> 0:01:24.000 Thank you so much. It has been, and I appreciate 0:01:24.000 --> 0:01:27.800 the opportunity to talk about it on your podcast. Yeah, mentally, 0:01:27.880 --> 0:01:30.280 how are you processing all of this? Like what a 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:33.760 way to start the new year? I don't think I 0:01:33.840 --> 0:01:38.679 really allowed myself to do too much processing because quite frankly, 0:01:38.880 --> 0:01:42.199 we still were busy trying to report the news, even 0:01:42.319 --> 0:01:45.080 you know, on Wednesday we went back to the Capitol 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:49.480 and still covered Congress, and then on Yesterday Thursday was 0:01:49.520 --> 0:01:54.800 still very busy covering the aftermath of what happened on Wednesday, 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:59.000 And so, you know, I don't you know, part of 0:01:59.040 --> 0:02:00.720 me is a little bit scared to like let it 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:04.040 all out because then in all the flood and I'll 0:02:04.040 --> 0:02:06.640 say part of one of the reasons why it's been 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:11.280 easy to kind of compartmentalize is that in real time, 0:02:12.280 --> 0:02:15.400 we really didn't know what was going on outside of 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.760 the House chamber because there are no windows. We were 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:21.239 focused on the debate on the floor, so we didn't 0:02:21.240 --> 0:02:25.000 see like the videos and the pictures that were circulating 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:29.680 on TV and cable news until after we had been evacuated. 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:32.919 So I think we didn't know what to be fearful 0:02:33.080 --> 0:02:36.799 of in the moment. Only now are we seeing it. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:40.960 Let me take you back a minute, though, because as 0:02:41.000 --> 0:02:43.520 a black woman, I want to ask you, did you 0:02:43.600 --> 0:02:48.480 have any trepidation at all for even being in d C? 0:02:48.919 --> 0:02:54.880 Knowing that this group of Trump supporters had been there 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:59.680 three weeks prior, protesting and causing a bit of havoc. 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:05.320 And I actually would compare them two the KKK because 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:11.280 they actually erected a news in the capital and they're 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:16.600 running around with Confederate flags. So some people might take 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.720 issue with that. I do not. So did you have 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:23.360 any trepidation just about even being in d C? Or 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:27.480 did you feel totally safe because you were going to 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.280 be inside of the Capitol Building? So I don't. I 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.400 did not anticipate that the Capitol Building would not be safe. 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:37.480 But I think when you're a journalist and you're going 0:03:37.520 --> 0:03:41.400 into a situation that might be dangerous, we kind of 0:03:41.480 --> 0:03:44.160 again have to put that aside because that's what our 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:48.280 job requires us to do. I cut my teeth as 0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:52.600 a young journalist covering crime in Jacksonville, Florida. So it's 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:56.000 like I've seen some things. I've been in some scary situations, 0:03:56.480 --> 0:03:58.680 and you kind of you know, being a journalist, a 0:03:58.720 --> 0:04:03.480 good journalist requires a level of boldness and you know, 0:04:03.760 --> 0:04:07.600 an ability to kind of navigate tough situations. Not that 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.360 you know it's a good thing, but unfortunately a lot 0:04:10.400 --> 0:04:13.360 of times that's what journalists are called to do. And 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.200 so I knew, you know, we knew that the protests 0:04:16.240 --> 0:04:20.600 were planned, and it was like, but I can't be 0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:23.240 fearful of that because my job is to go to 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:26.520 the capital and report what's happening. And so I'm gonna 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.800 do my job and then when other things come with that, 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:33.120 then I've got to work through that. But again, I 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:36.040 don't think, you know, part of the breakdown that members 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.880 of Congress in the law enforcement community have to deal 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.880 with now is that it's clear that they did not 0:04:42.080 --> 0:04:46.920 anticipate the level of violence and that violence entering the capital. 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.760 And you know, that'll be for those who are studying 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:53.520 it to figure out where the breakdowns were and who 0:04:53.560 --> 0:04:56.599 should have anticipated it. But you know, it really just 0:04:56.760 --> 0:04:59.680 wasn't on the radar that level of violence coming to 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:02.960 the you know, to the chambers of the House and 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:06.880 the Senate, desecrating kind of what for America is like 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:09.320 the symbol of our government. You know, the capital is 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:14.400 the symbol of our government. Right exactly where were you located? 0:05:15.080 --> 0:05:19.320 I was in the House chambers. The House was debating 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.720 Arizona's electoral college votes. They were in joint session to 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:27.400 you know, tally the electoral college votes, and it's like 0:05:27.480 --> 0:05:31.080 the final official step to Joe Biden becoming president. But 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:35.839 usually it's very ceremonial. But as we know, Republicans mainly 0:05:35.880 --> 0:05:37.840 in the House, but a few in the Senate were 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:42.640 hoping to challenge some of the state's electoral college votes, 0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.240 and so they came in a joint session successfully challenged Arizona, 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:49.560 and so then they had to separate. So the Senate 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.200 went to its chambers to debate for two hours. The 0:05:52.240 --> 0:05:54.960 House was in its chamber to debate for two hours. 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:58.840 And because I covered Georgia for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, 0:05:59.480 --> 0:06:04.520 six of our eight Republican House members were in favor 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:08.880 of that challenge. So I was paying attention to Arizona 0:06:08.960 --> 0:06:12.599 because at the time we knew Georgia would be challenged next. 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:15.359 Georgia was the next kind of on the list, and 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.200 so again I was just really focused on covering how 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:20.839 the debate was going and how it was unfolding, because 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.719 I knew my state was going to be the next 0:06:23.760 --> 0:06:27.200 one to go through that process, and so we didn't know. 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.479 The first thing I saw was that some of the 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:34.400 other buildings in the Capital complex were evacuated because they 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:37.320 said there was some type of security threat. Later we 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:40.320 found out it's because the bombs were discovered at the 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:44.080 r n C and the DNC headquarters, so they evacuated 0:06:44.120 --> 0:06:46.560 some of the buildings. But again, the House is still 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:50.479 debating like everything's normal. And then we started getting told 0:06:50.520 --> 0:06:53.719 by staff to like get everything we needed and put 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.360 it in the chamber because they were gonna lock down 0:06:56.360 --> 0:06:59.160 the chambers to make sure that no one can come 0:06:59.200 --> 0:07:02.440 in and out. But still there was no panic. Debate 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:08.000 was still ongoing. It wasn't until they stopped the proceedings 0:07:08.040 --> 0:07:11.640 and hustled out the leaders, you know, people like Stenny 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:15.080 Hoyer and I believe Nancy Pelosi. Where I sit, you 0:07:15.080 --> 0:07:17.559 can't really see Nancy Pelosi, but I'm pretty sure Nancy 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:21.920 Pelosi was escorted out Vice President Pence. So were you 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.920 on the floor. We were up. The media sits up 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:27.800 like if you can picture the House chamber and you 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.440 can picture where the speakers sit. Yeah, that's like a balcony. 0:07:30.680 --> 0:07:35.680 That's where visitors normally sit. And then above and behind 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:40.360 the speaker's chair is where media sits, so we can 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:43.360 kind of look down on everything. And at some point 0:07:43.440 --> 0:07:46.480 they stopped it, hustled the leaders out, and they started 0:07:46.520 --> 0:07:51.120 to tell us, you know, people are trying to enter 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:53.800 the capital. And again, at that point, we didn't know 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:56.200 if they meant two people or two hundred. We didn't 0:07:56.200 --> 0:07:58.640 know that there were hundreds, if not thousands of people 0:07:58.720 --> 0:08:02.280 at that point right outside the capitol. I had last 0:08:02.320 --> 0:08:06.360 looked outside around one one pm, and at that time 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.080 there was a protest of I would say several hundred people, 0:08:09.440 --> 0:08:12.280 but they were behind barricades and they were about a 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.400 hundred yards away from the capital steps. So that was 0:08:15.440 --> 0:08:18.280 the last image I saw was like of a It 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:21.600 was just a regular old protest. There was nothing violent 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:25.480 about it at the time, and they were behind barricades 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.120 in a way. So you know, when they said, oh, 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:30.440 people are trying to enter the capital, I think, in 0:08:30.560 --> 0:08:34.080 my mind, I'm thinking one or two rogue people, not 0:08:34.240 --> 0:08:37.320 the entire protest had pushed its way to the capitol. 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.240 But then the next thing is they started handing out 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:43.679 gas masks and said there were people in the rotunda. 0:08:43.880 --> 0:08:47.840 They were trying to use gas tear gas to push 0:08:47.840 --> 0:08:51.640 them away, and they gave us gas masks, and so 0:08:51.840 --> 0:08:56.640 that was clearly an escalation. And then soon after that 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.040 is when they started. At the time, I would say, 0:08:59.080 --> 0:09:02.200 there were one to two hundred members of Congress in 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:08.599 the chamber at that moment, and they started evacuating the members. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:12.080 But again, most of the members were on that ground floor, 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.480 but there were some members up in the visitor gallery 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:20.440 because they were socially distancing, you know, and so it 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.480 was harder for us on that second floor. So eventually 0:09:24.080 --> 0:09:27.200 they were trying to evacuate us. They said, nope, you 0:09:27.240 --> 0:09:30.160 gotta stay right where you are. We gotta lock these 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.880 doors again, and they said just get down, and there 0:09:33.920 --> 0:09:35.520 were I would say at that point there were about 0:09:35.520 --> 0:09:40.000 fifty people still inside the chamber, members of Congress, the media, 0:09:40.240 --> 0:09:43.600 and some of the Capitol police. And that's about when, 0:09:43.679 --> 0:09:45.920 you know, we could hear people banging on the doors, 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:49.160 but again we didn't know if that's one person running 0:09:49.160 --> 0:09:51.920 around banging on different doors, it was multiple. We didn't know. 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:54.960 We heard aloud, pop we didn't know if that was 0:09:54.960 --> 0:09:58.400 a gunshot. And then you know that picture that a 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:00.559 lot of people have seen, the members of the Capital Police. 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:03.440 They've got a piece of furniture barricading the door and 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.040 their guns are pointed as the rioters are trying to 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.679 knock down the windows to get into the chamber. We 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.560 saw that happen, you know, because those were the Capitol 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:15.640 Police officers trying to keep people from coming in the chamber, 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:18.480 knowing that there were members of Congress still in the chamber. 0:10:19.160 --> 0:10:22.600 And that lasted for about I would say a few minutes, 0:10:22.760 --> 0:10:26.000 maybe no more than ten, and then they were able 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:30.360 to get it under enough control to then finish evacuating us. 0:10:30.480 --> 0:10:33.199 And so when we left the chamber, we could see 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:36.880 where the rioters had been subdued by police who had 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:40.640 them at gunpoint, had them laying face down on the floor. 0:10:41.720 --> 0:10:45.200 But you never came in contact with any rioters yourself, 0:10:45.280 --> 0:10:48.480 not the active rioters. Now there are other journalists who did, 0:10:48.520 --> 0:10:52.200 who were covering the protests, but again because I was 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:55.600 in the chamber covering the actual proceeding, the only time 0:10:55.640 --> 0:10:58.320 I came in contact with the rioters is again when 0:10:58.320 --> 0:11:00.439 we had to kind of walk past them a little bit, 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:03.120 but they had been subdued at that point, and we 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:07.800 were with the way to a different location. But even then, 0:11:07.920 --> 0:11:11.000 you know, what we didn't know was even then there 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.240 were probably at that point hundreds of people in the Capital. 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.120 They had gone into the Senate chamber and started to 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:20.640 vandalize it and things like that, gone into other people's offices, 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.080 Speaker Pelosi's offices. All that was going on at the 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:38.320 same time. We just didn't know. So let me ask 0:11:38.320 --> 0:11:44.439 you this, because so few people were arrested during this insurgence, 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.680 and you say you walked by and there were rioters 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:51.880 who were they were down on the on the ground 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:55.280 right when you say they were subdued, Yeah, face down. 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:59.400 So about how many people was that? Would you say 0:11:59.400 --> 0:12:02.800 that that US I could see I would say four 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:06.680 or five. But there was like a corner, so you 0:12:06.720 --> 0:12:09.079 know it was it was very short hallway where I 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:11.719 could see four or five. I have no idea if 0:12:11.760 --> 0:12:14.840 there were more around the corner or not. You know, 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.680 the US Capital, for those who have never visited it, 0:12:17.800 --> 0:12:21.160 you know, it's an old building full of like corridors 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:25.920 and hallways and in columns and statues, so it's not 0:12:26.000 --> 0:12:28.880 a wide open buildings. You know, it's not the open 0:12:28.880 --> 0:12:32.720 floor plan if you will, of modern architecture. It's a 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.040 lot of hallways and corridors, right, I get that. I 0:12:36.360 --> 0:12:39.920 just find it very interesting once again that these people, 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:44.240 though they were subdued, it doesn't seem like they were 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:47.840 actually arrested, right, And that's a good point. We don't 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:52.439 know if those people were arrested. We do know that 0:12:52.760 --> 0:12:54.800 if you look at the pictures of the number of 0:12:54.840 --> 0:12:58.240 people in the capital, that the amount of people who 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:00.760 were arrested is a small fracture. And of that you 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:07.080 are absolutely correct, exactly. And I find that very very strange. 0:13:07.240 --> 0:13:11.680 But so okay, So after things got under control, you 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:14.520 are allowed to leave or did you stay because you 0:13:14.559 --> 0:13:18.480 had to? Yeah? We stayed. We stayed. Um. First of all, 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.079 I didn't want to leave in pandemonium. And at that point, 0:13:23.080 --> 0:13:26.800 when we were evacuated to a safer location, we could 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.840 watch cable news and we actually got to see what 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:33.640 it looked like outside the capitol. And we stayed there 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:36.880 for several hours, and then we were told that Congress 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.360 was making plans to go back into session. The members 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.400 of Congress were very and yet you know, the Democrats 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:45.640 are in leadership in the House, but the Republicans are 0:13:45.640 --> 0:13:48.560 in leadership in the Senate. But both parties were very 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:51.640 resolute that, like, we're not gonna let this violence deter 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:56.400 us from this constitutional duty that we have to tally 0:13:56.440 --> 0:14:00.760 the Electoral College votes. So, you know, at six pm 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:05.440 is when DC's curfew went into effect, and that gave 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:10.040 law enforcement, you know, the legal standing to disperse the crowd. 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.960 And so by around eight pm is when we went 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.840 back to the House chamber. Literally I went back to 0:14:17.920 --> 0:14:22.200 the same seat I was earlier in the day. They 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.600 picked up where they left off, and I didn't leave 0:14:25.600 --> 0:14:29.400 the capital till about one am. I really handed to you, 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:31.920 I'm not I'm not sure how I would have handled 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.840 a situation like that, but you know, as you say, 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.400 as a reporter, it's part of your job, part of 0:14:38.440 --> 0:14:43.400 your responsibility to remain calm, and I guess just follow 0:14:44.680 --> 0:14:48.760 the procedures that are being you know, follow the instructions 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:51.520 that you're receiving from the people in charge. Yeah, we 0:14:51.640 --> 0:14:54.640 and I think every journalist handles it differently. You know, 0:14:54.720 --> 0:14:58.800 for me, it was going into reporter mode. So I 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:01.360 dictated a first per us an account to a colleague. 0:15:01.440 --> 0:15:05.040 I did Facebook live and a periscope on Twitter to 0:15:05.200 --> 0:15:08.800 kind of communicate what I was seeing, and then I 0:15:08.920 --> 0:15:11.360 made sure to post on all my social media, and 0:15:11.480 --> 0:15:13.320 I made sure to call my mom, one of the 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:15.760 in the house chamber. When we were on lockdown. I 0:15:15.800 --> 0:15:18.400 called my mom because at that point I didn't know 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:20.400 how long we were gonna be in lockdown, and she 0:15:20.560 --> 0:15:24.200 is not on social media, and I knew that in 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:27.520 short order folks were gonna start reaching out to her 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.000 about me, and I didn't want her to not have 0:15:30.160 --> 0:15:32.520 heard from me and to not know what was going on. 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.760 So I did call my mom. And you know, I 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:39.400 I'm one of those people who those you know, the 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:43.640 unread text messages and unread emails bothers me. So you know, 0:15:43.720 --> 0:15:47.000 I'm responding to text messages and people, you know, checking 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.880 up on me as much as I can. But you know, 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.600 another colleague of mine told me. He he was like, 0:15:52.640 --> 0:15:54.320 I had a panic attack, and I just had to. 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.720 I had to go ahead and have my panic attack. 0:15:57.360 --> 0:16:00.720 And then he regrouped and I we were talking on 0:16:00.760 --> 0:16:03.200 our way back to go back to work. He was like, yeah, 0:16:03.240 --> 0:16:07.120 I had a panic attack earlier, you know, so and 0:16:07.160 --> 0:16:10.520 you didn't experience any of that. I think because for me, 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:14.560 I'm one of those people when when I release, I release, 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.920 it is a release. So I gotta give myself some 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.000 space to to know that my emotions may have a 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:26.200 powerful release. And you know, I just haven't I'll be honest, 0:16:26.240 --> 0:16:29.080 I haven't really given myself that space yet. You know, 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:32.600 There's been a lot going on, and and again, I 0:16:32.640 --> 0:16:35.720 think also part of it is reconciling what could have 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:39.840 happened is probably the toughest part for me. You know, 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:44.760 if those people had infiltrated the House Chamber knowing that 0:16:45.520 --> 0:16:49.200 the officers there would have been outnumbered, and if they 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:52.760 had got inside the House Chamber and realized that there 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:56.560 were members of Congress and members of the media there, 0:16:58.400 --> 0:17:02.200 it's hard to imagine some of the worst case scenarios. 0:17:03.160 --> 0:17:05.159 And I'm glad it didn't come to that. You know, 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:08.320 I'm sad for those who did die. We're at five 0:17:08.440 --> 0:17:14.360 people now dead. But there were members of Congress there 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:21.119 that were the targets of the misinformed and disinformed anger 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:28.560 that had been radicalized and and riled up even by 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:33.480 our president and so. And they also it was clear 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.080 they didn't have a plan. It was complete anarchy and chaos. 0:17:38.400 --> 0:17:43.359 So it could have been worse. It was bad, it 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:45.720 could have been worse. When they got to the Senate chamber, 0:17:45.760 --> 0:17:49.840 all the senators were gone. When they the offices, there 0:17:49.840 --> 0:17:53.080 were members in their offices. It's just lucky enough. The 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:58.040 offices it appears that Rioters entered were empty of people. 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:01.880 And that's the part that I, you know, haven't really 0:18:01.920 --> 0:18:05.040 allowed myself to get too far down the rabbit hole. 0:18:06.200 --> 0:18:08.040 And I also, you know, I'm a praying woman. I 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:11.719 prayed in the chamber, you know, before I began speaking 0:18:11.760 --> 0:18:15.240 to you, I found out that my church home in Louisville, Kentucky, 0:18:15.680 --> 0:18:20.520 even Wednesday night, during midweek Bible study, pastor Kevin Cosby 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:24.600 told you know, it's a online service and he said, 0:18:24.600 --> 0:18:27.240 we're praying for Tim Mitchell. She's locked into the Capitol 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.240 right now. And so I had an entire church family 0:18:30.280 --> 0:18:32.439 praying for me on Wednesday. And I don't take that 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:40.320 for granted either. Absolutely. What final thoughts would you would 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:44.679 you have on this situation? And what what is you know, 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:50.440 one thing you want to get off your chest, it 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:57.400 is the power of media in that mainstream media, your 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:02.960 your local newspapers, your national papers, your local TV stations, 0:19:03.000 --> 0:19:05.960 you're for the most part, your cable news like your 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:10.040 MSNBC and CNN. We have been working hard to bring 0:19:10.160 --> 0:19:16.040 accurate news, to bring people news that is not directed 0:19:16.040 --> 0:19:19.240 by someone with a political agenda or with an exta grind. 0:19:19.359 --> 0:19:23.000 But what is the actual truth? And I think what 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:28.320 happened Wednesday shows us how dangerous it is when people 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:33.360 are misinformed and disinformed and lied to. And it shows 0:19:33.680 --> 0:19:36.919 to me I just want to stress like how important 0:19:36.920 --> 0:19:39.880 it is like the media, and I know we get 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.720 a bad rap. And let me be clear, We're not perfect. 0:19:42.800 --> 0:19:46.119 I'm not perfect. But to have a news source that 0:19:46.200 --> 0:19:49.200 you can trust doesn't mean that they'll always be perfect, 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.879 but that means you can trust that they're always trying 0:19:51.920 --> 0:19:54.040 to do the right things for the right reason, and 0:19:54.080 --> 0:19:58.639 when they fall short, they'll be accountable. And I hope 0:19:58.640 --> 0:20:01.080 people are. You know, I know, I'm a journalist. It's 0:20:01.080 --> 0:20:04.280 self serving, but like those people at the Capitol have 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:09.400 been radicalized by media who has lied to them and 0:20:09.880 --> 0:20:13.520 by people who they look up to, their leaders, who 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:17.119 have lied to them. And and I'm hopeful that as 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:20.159 a nation we can start saying let's speak in truth. 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:25.200 Let's speak in accuracy. Let's speak in the real Even 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:29.200 as we now reckon with the the racial differences and 0:20:29.240 --> 0:20:34.960 how this riot was treated compared to other protests throughout 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:37.399 the year in America, We've got to deal in truth 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:43.600 about white supremacy and institutional racism. Absolutely. Absolutely. Do you 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:46.520 have any feelings or any thoughts about who you think 0:20:46.560 --> 0:20:50.640 should be or the persons that should be held accountable 0:20:50.760 --> 0:20:54.760 for this breach? I don't, you know, my journalism had 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:56.960 I'm gonna not go too far into my opinion, but 0:20:57.000 --> 0:21:01.040 I will say this, as they identify five people who 0:21:01.119 --> 0:21:07.119 were breaking the law, it would make sense to charge 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:10.720 them appropriately because that's what we've been told, and not 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:14.280 charge them for merely violating curfew, right, I mean, you 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.480 charge them for whatever laws that they've been proven to 0:21:17.600 --> 0:21:20.280 have broken, because that's how our system is supposed to work. 0:21:20.320 --> 0:21:22.720 And again it goes back to the white supremacy and 0:21:22.760 --> 0:21:26.000 institutional racism. Because the Republican Party told us over the 0:21:26.000 --> 0:21:29.480 summer they were the party of law and order. So 0:21:29.880 --> 0:21:33.000 where is that law and order now? You know? And 0:21:33.040 --> 0:21:35.960 again there's a lot of reckoning that's gonna happen with 0:21:36.080 --> 0:21:40.680 you know, the leaders, the law enforcement leaders, and who 0:21:40.840 --> 0:21:43.720 was called in to help and win and why? And 0:21:43.760 --> 0:21:49.919 again that's accountability, and that's very needed because there was Again, 0:21:49.960 --> 0:21:52.880 it could have been so much worse. And and we're 0:21:52.920 --> 0:21:56.280 looking at people who are still as of right now 0:21:56.400 --> 0:22:00.520 radicalized to not trust the Biden administration, not think Joe 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:04.640 Biden was elected with a fair election because they've been 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.680 fed lies. So where are we going to move from here? 0:22:07.960 --> 0:22:11.040 Is something that I think our government leaders are gonna 0:22:11.080 --> 0:22:14.000 have to reckon with and and I'll be you know, 0:22:14.240 --> 0:22:18.080 the journalists TIA will be watching and reporting it and 0:22:18.119 --> 0:22:22.480 bringing it to the readers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Well, 0:22:22.520 --> 0:22:25.199 thank you so much for being with us, TIA. We 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:30.199 appreciate you taking the time, and please take time for 0:22:30.280 --> 0:22:34.600 yourself to heal and released and whatever you need to 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:41.200 do to recover mentally, emotionally and spiritually from this event. 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:44.560 Thank you, Gammy, I appreciate it. Thank you so much. 0:22:44.840 --> 0:22:47.400 Keep doing the good work. We need you. Thank you. 0:22:48.040 --> 0:22:51.639 Tell the listeners where they can find you on social media, Oh, 0:22:51.640 --> 0:22:55.040 thank you. Listeners can find me on both Facebook and 0:22:55.160 --> 0:22:59.200 Twitter at TIA Reports. T I A r E p 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:03.280 O r t s. Excellent take good care to you. 0:23:04.359 --> 0:23:17.560 Thank you. Now in the second part of my conversation, 0:23:18.400 --> 0:23:22.760 welcome to positively gam Today I have with me jareded Hill, 0:23:23.320 --> 0:23:28.280 Award winning journalist, writer, host of the podcast Fanti and 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:31.760 is most notably known for breaking the TWI six Team 0:23:31.800 --> 0:23:37.800 Melania Trump, Michelle Obama r n C plagiarism story. Also 0:23:37.920 --> 0:23:43.000 with us is Sarah Riggs, AMIKO business leader and Georgia 0:23:43.080 --> 0:23:46.800 politics expert. She has been working on flipping the state 0:23:47.119 --> 0:23:53.400 blue since when she ran for Lieutenant governor alongside Stacy Abrams. 0:23:53.440 --> 0:23:58.440 After conceding in the Georgia Senate primary election, she hit 0:23:58.480 --> 0:24:01.920 the ground running and campaign for both Warnock and oasof 0:24:03.040 --> 0:24:06.760 congratulations and thank you for your hard work and flipping 0:24:06.800 --> 0:24:11.480 this the Senate. And lastly, but not least, we have 0:24:11.720 --> 0:24:16.840 Brittany Packnett Cunningham, an activists who was part of Obama's 0:24:16.960 --> 0:24:21.080 task Wars for police reform. She's a writer and host 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:27.520 of the podcast Undistracted. Thank you all for joining me today. Well, 0:24:27.560 --> 0:24:30.280 first of all, let me just start by saying Happy 0:24:30.359 --> 0:24:34.000 New Year, and what a hell of a way to start. 0:24:35.800 --> 0:24:39.920 I'm not someone that I don't consider myself politically astute, 0:24:40.000 --> 0:24:43.159 but I have been glued to the TV over the 0:24:43.240 --> 0:24:47.120 past two days watching the news, and I am just 0:24:47.359 --> 0:24:53.560 emotionally uh drained from all the footage and commentary. The 0:24:53.640 --> 0:24:56.760 Capitol hasn't been breached since the War of eighteen twelve. 0:24:57.480 --> 0:25:01.240 So to each of you, what is your initial reaction 0:25:01.320 --> 0:25:08.600 to this and just jump in. Who wants to go first? Yeah, 0:25:08.640 --> 0:25:11.400 I'm happy to start. You know, gave me. The thing 0:25:11.440 --> 0:25:15.240 that strikes me first and foremost is we told you so. 0:25:15.800 --> 0:25:18.119 You know, for those of us who knew who Donald 0:25:18.160 --> 0:25:21.320 Trump was from the day he came down that escalator 0:25:21.680 --> 0:25:27.399 and spouted xenophobic, racist nonsense to launch a presidential campaign, 0:25:28.040 --> 0:25:31.160 this is exactly what we feared. For four years. We've 0:25:31.160 --> 0:25:35.119 been ridiculed by the Republicans who did absolutely nothing but 0:25:35.320 --> 0:25:38.960 enable him during that time. We've been called snowflakes, and 0:25:39.000 --> 0:25:42.119 that's the most polite word. But the reality is we 0:25:42.240 --> 0:25:45.440 knew this moment was coming. This is exactly the kind 0:25:45.440 --> 0:25:51.000 of despotic, authoritarian, anti democracy behavior he has done and 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:54.800 made himself proud of from day one. So I think 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:56.280 the thing that comes to mind for me is we 0:25:56.359 --> 0:25:59.920 told you so. What about you, Brittany? You know I 0:26:00.119 --> 0:26:02.919 will say yeammy and First of all, thank you for 0:26:03.000 --> 0:26:06.240 having me and for having this conversation, because so many 0:26:06.280 --> 0:26:09.760 people need to be having it. The capital hasn't been 0:26:09.800 --> 0:26:14.000 breached since eighteen twelve, but white supremacy has been breaching 0:26:14.000 --> 0:26:19.680 our boundaries for generations since the founding of this country. 0:26:19.880 --> 0:26:24.120 People who have claimed shock and surprise have not been 0:26:24.119 --> 0:26:26.879 paying attention to Sarah's point. We have been telling you 0:26:26.920 --> 0:26:30.639 so not just about Donald Trump, but about how violent 0:26:30.720 --> 0:26:35.080 white supremacist patriarchy functions. It functioned that way when it 0:26:35.200 --> 0:26:38.600 stole this land from Indigenous people. It functioned that way 0:26:38.600 --> 0:26:42.520 when it enslaved Africans here in America, my ancestors. It 0:26:42.680 --> 0:26:45.720 functioned that way when it spit on Elizabeth Eckford when 0:26:45.760 --> 0:26:49.920 she was trying to integrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 0:26:50.480 --> 0:26:53.400 It functioned that way when Mike Brown was killed, when 0:26:53.400 --> 0:26:56.120 Brianna Taylor was killed, when Tamir Rice was killed, when 0:26:56.119 --> 0:26:59.080 George Floyd was killed, when Tony McDade was killed. None 0:26:59.080 --> 0:27:02.920 of this is new. All of this is deeply familiar, and, 0:27:02.960 --> 0:27:05.760 as we so often say, is as American as apple pie. 0:27:06.440 --> 0:27:09.240 And so the question that I have on this morning 0:27:09.440 --> 0:27:12.600 is why did it take so long for people to 0:27:12.840 --> 0:27:15.600 heed the warnings of those of us who were at 0:27:15.640 --> 0:27:19.439 the most risk under this presidency that did not create 0:27:19.480 --> 0:27:23.080 the problem, but most certainly campaigned on it, one on 0:27:23.200 --> 0:27:26.320 it and emboldened it. Why did it take so longer 0:27:26.440 --> 0:27:30.480 people who should have removed their approval, support for and 0:27:30.640 --> 0:27:34.959 perpetuation of this administration. Why did it take the literal 0:27:35.160 --> 0:27:39.639 insurrection of the US capital for them to finally say 0:27:39.800 --> 0:27:42.000 enough is enough and I'm no longer going to sign 0:27:42.080 --> 0:27:44.600 on to this. We have to be sure in this 0:27:44.680 --> 0:27:47.920 moment that we do not let the people who are 0:27:47.920 --> 0:27:52.240 accountable for what happened, not just Wednesday, but certainly over 0:27:52.280 --> 0:27:55.320 the last four years, that those folks are not able 0:27:55.359 --> 0:27:59.600 to just re enter polite society and re establish their 0:28:00.160 --> 0:28:04.160 reputations right. And that's elected officials, that's appointed officials, that's 0:28:04.280 --> 0:28:07.760 journalists who have humanized these folks. That's police officers who 0:28:07.960 --> 0:28:11.200 on Wednesday, we're opening up barricades and taking selfies and 0:28:11.960 --> 0:28:14.720 not only failed to prepare, but chose not to prepare 0:28:15.119 --> 0:28:17.640 for what was a clear threat. So so that's that's 0:28:17.640 --> 0:28:20.880 where I am today, hoping, we really hope people accountable. Yeah, 0:28:20.880 --> 0:28:23.959 it's it's so interesting that you that you put it 0:28:24.000 --> 0:28:26.400 that way, and thank you for sharing all of that, 0:28:26.560 --> 0:28:31.000 all of it, Brittany, because I'm feeling the exact same way, 0:28:31.240 --> 0:28:33.440 and I'm feeling like, oh so now the good wife 0:28:33.480 --> 0:28:37.960 folk feel threatened. Right now, the good white folks feel 0:28:38.120 --> 0:28:41.360 feel threatened? You know, but we've been dealing with this 0:28:41.480 --> 0:28:48.360 kind of terror and and and destruction for centuries centuries. 0:28:48.720 --> 0:28:52.120 What what is your feeling, Jarret? Well, when you when 0:28:52.120 --> 0:28:54.120 you say that, it makes me think about I was 0:28:54.200 --> 0:28:57.160 up really late last night writing because I've been really 0:28:57.200 --> 0:29:00.120 frustrated by all of this language about you know, we 0:29:00.200 --> 0:29:02.880 are better than this, this is not who we are, 0:29:02.920 --> 0:29:06.360 all of that kind of language that is incredibly frustrating 0:29:06.400 --> 0:29:08.440 to me. And every time I hear that as a journalist, 0:29:08.480 --> 0:29:11.560 there's always this conversation about objectivity and journalism and all 0:29:11.560 --> 0:29:13.959 of that kind of stuff, and I've never really believed 0:29:13.960 --> 0:29:16.920 that that was true. And when I read news newspieces 0:29:16.960 --> 0:29:19.680 that say that, it centers whiteness in a way that 0:29:19.720 --> 0:29:22.400 really really frustrates me, because if you are a black 0:29:22.480 --> 0:29:24.360 person in this country, if you are a brown person 0:29:24.400 --> 0:29:25.920 in this country, if you are a queer person in 0:29:25.960 --> 0:29:28.760 this country, if you are any marginalized group in this country, 0:29:28.800 --> 0:29:31.640 you know that, no, this is who we are, right, 0:29:31.720 --> 0:29:33.920 this is who we have been, This is who we 0:29:33.960 --> 0:29:36.959 were will probably be for the foreseeable future. And it's 0:29:36.960 --> 0:29:39.920 frustrating to continue to hear people talk about, you know, 0:29:40.080 --> 0:29:42.680 our better angels in this virtuous thing that America is 0:29:42.680 --> 0:29:46.720 supposedly supposed to be but continues time and time again 0:29:46.760 --> 0:29:48.720 to prove itself not to be. And I know that 0:29:48.760 --> 0:29:50.960 for myself when we look at Donald Trump, when we 0:29:50.960 --> 0:29:53.320 look at the way that Republicans have allowed this kind 0:29:53.320 --> 0:29:56.120 of thing to continue to happen. When Brittany says, like, 0:29:56.240 --> 0:29:58.800 you know, we are that people have to say stand 0:29:58.840 --> 0:30:00.760 up and say no more. Like I don't see enough 0:30:00.800 --> 0:30:03.000 people standing up and say no more now, right, Like 0:30:03.200 --> 0:30:05.120 we are days removed from this, We've not had a 0:30:05.160 --> 0:30:08.560 briefing from from any kind of security agency. We've not 0:30:08.640 --> 0:30:10.680 heard you know, Congress come out with you know what 0:30:10.720 --> 0:30:12.560 they're going to be doing next. We were now starting 0:30:12.600 --> 0:30:15.000 to see that there's movement for impeachment and things like that. 0:30:15.040 --> 0:30:17.360 But but what about the fact that these people got 0:30:17.400 --> 0:30:20.000 into the capital, The people in our presidential line of 0:30:20.040 --> 0:30:23.480 succession were in like great harm, right, or we're at 0:30:23.520 --> 0:30:26.840 great risk. There's so much to consider with what just happened. 0:30:26.960 --> 0:30:29.320 And if I think about like the foreign actors who 0:30:29.400 --> 0:30:31.800 might want to attack this country, or the other people 0:30:31.800 --> 0:30:34.000 who are around this country that are waiving that same 0:30:34.040 --> 0:30:37.000 Trump flag, that Confederate flag, in that American flag, as 0:30:37.040 --> 0:30:39.960 if they are all the same thing, they are now 0:30:40.000 --> 0:30:42.800 emboldened to maybe go into their own state houses or 0:30:42.880 --> 0:30:46.320 to this state house and do the same thing. Sarah, 0:30:46.400 --> 0:30:49.280 I see you shaking your your head. Did you want 0:30:49.280 --> 0:30:52.760 to add something? Yeah, I just look. I'd say to 0:30:53.040 --> 0:30:55.920 white folks out there who are listening, you need to 0:30:55.960 --> 0:30:59.640 hear this. And it's not comfortable, and it's not pleasant 0:31:00.280 --> 0:31:04.600 and candidly, that's not relevant, it's necessary. This is the 0:31:04.680 --> 0:31:07.680 kind of work. And you know, Jared, I appreciate what 0:31:07.720 --> 0:31:10.520 you're saying about the language. This is not who we are. 0:31:10.640 --> 0:31:13.600 And I know that's something actually that in recent months 0:31:13.640 --> 0:31:16.800 I've used once that I can remember, and I think 0:31:16.840 --> 0:31:19.160 what we're trying to say and what we maybe need 0:31:19.200 --> 0:31:21.400 to be more careful about in the language is this 0:31:21.440 --> 0:31:24.400 is not who we want to be. And if we don't, 0:31:24.640 --> 0:31:29.440 then we need to recognize the violent nature of white 0:31:29.480 --> 0:31:32.880 supremacy and we need to understand how deep its roots 0:31:32.920 --> 0:31:35.800 are in a nation that was built with enslaved labor 0:31:35.840 --> 0:31:39.600 on lands that were confiscated from indigenous peoples. And and 0:31:39.640 --> 0:31:43.120 that's a tough thing for folks to hear. But you know, 0:31:43.280 --> 0:31:46.520 I run a trucking company and for our drivers, you 0:31:46.600 --> 0:31:49.640 can't drive just looking in the rear view mirror. You 0:31:49.720 --> 0:31:52.040 gotta drive looking through the windshield. But you need that 0:31:52.120 --> 0:31:54.640 reference point, right. You need to know where you've been, 0:31:54.680 --> 0:31:57.360 and you need to understand any hazards that were in 0:31:57.400 --> 0:31:59.800 your way so that you can avoid them in the future. 0:32:00.240 --> 0:32:03.760 And if we continue to deny the kind of white 0:32:03.800 --> 0:32:08.000 supremacy that fueled not just the Trump presidency but the 0:32:08.360 --> 0:32:11.720 entire state of the GOP and the people who have 0:32:11.760 --> 0:32:14.360 held their nose and voted for him or turned a 0:32:14.440 --> 0:32:17.680 blind eye when he called people like journalists the enemy 0:32:17.680 --> 0:32:22.400 of the state, when he derided black athletes and called 0:32:22.440 --> 0:32:26.200 them curse words, when he called Mexicans rapist. When you 0:32:26.440 --> 0:32:30.360 ignore that, when you ignore the small lies he tells, 0:32:31.120 --> 0:32:36.080 you're not entitled to be surprised and offended and woke. 0:32:36.600 --> 0:32:40.040 Now that somebody breached the capital in his name and 0:32:40.120 --> 0:32:42.760 four people are dead, you know, work needs to be 0:32:42.800 --> 0:32:46.680 done by us, but it requires that we listen and 0:32:46.680 --> 0:32:49.600 that sometimes you're gonna have to hear things that that 0:32:49.640 --> 0:32:51.560 you didn't want to or you don't want to talk about. 0:32:52.000 --> 0:32:55.240 But it's the necessary work for progress to happen, right, 0:32:55.880 --> 0:33:01.800 And and we actually have to really re American history 0:33:02.000 --> 0:33:05.720 by telling the truth about American history because we've been 0:33:05.800 --> 0:33:10.360 lying to ourselves all of these years, and and it's 0:33:10.400 --> 0:33:12.920 time for all of that to stop as well. Now, 0:33:13.000 --> 0:33:18.800 you know, Joy Red gave a really explicitly accurate explanation, 0:33:18.960 --> 0:33:24.320 in my opinion, and why these white insurgents and writers 0:33:24.400 --> 0:33:28.240 were not afraid, and I encourage everyone to go to 0:33:28.480 --> 0:33:31.960 YouTube and just look it up and listen to it. 0:33:32.200 --> 0:33:35.560 But basically, she said, they weren't afraid because they see 0:33:35.640 --> 0:33:40.600 themselves in the police and they're not in jeopardy. So 0:33:40.720 --> 0:33:45.440 they felt comfortable taking selfies and taking pictures of themselves 0:33:45.440 --> 0:33:48.520 and in their crimes as the police were helping them 0:33:48.560 --> 0:33:52.040 down the stairs and giving them a you know, pouring 0:33:52.120 --> 0:33:56.000 water in their eyes, because they know that they were 0:33:56.120 --> 0:34:00.120 not in jeopardy because they are not us, they are 0:34:00.200 --> 0:34:04.480 not black, and we all know, and we listened to 0:34:04.560 --> 0:34:08.919 commentators over and over again all all Day yesterday talked 0:34:08.960 --> 0:34:12.920 about had they been black, they would have been brutalized, 0:34:14.000 --> 0:34:21.200 arrested or dead, and Brittany, you've had personal experience with this, 0:34:21.840 --> 0:34:25.839 so share with us, please, your experience in Ferguson. Where 0:34:25.880 --> 0:34:29.399 you you were in Ferguson marching about Michael Brown, were 0:34:29.400 --> 0:34:33.040 you not? Yes, indeed, I'm a native St. Louis and 0:34:33.120 --> 0:34:36.360 i grew up fifteen minutes from Ferguson. I've been an 0:34:36.440 --> 0:34:40.040 activist my entire life, but that was certainly a moment 0:34:40.080 --> 0:34:43.840 of international attention on our city and one of the 0:34:43.880 --> 0:34:46.160 things people really don't remember. And I talked about this 0:34:46.239 --> 0:34:49.279 on MSNBC the other night with Brian Williams. It was 0:34:49.320 --> 0:34:53.520 illegal to stand still in Ferguson because the people who 0:34:53.520 --> 0:34:56.560 were raising their voices on West Florest and Avenue were 0:34:56.640 --> 0:35:03.240 young and old and almost exclusive lee black. The police 0:35:03.440 --> 0:35:08.759 were literally creating rules in order to suppress and terrorize us, 0:35:09.280 --> 0:35:11.400 so we would be told that this was no longer 0:35:11.440 --> 0:35:15.239 a peaceful assembly and tear gas promptly thereafter. Even though 0:35:15.239 --> 0:35:17.800 we'd be standing there with cell phones and cardboard signs, 0:35:18.200 --> 0:35:21.480 we'd be pepper sprayed and mace. People would be would 0:35:21.600 --> 0:35:25.720 have guns in their faces upon getting off of a 0:35:25.840 --> 0:35:28.160 city bus right and trying to get home or go 0:35:28.200 --> 0:35:31.080 pick up their child from school. This was the kind 0:35:31.080 --> 0:35:34.319 of terror that was occurring in a residential neighborhood. And 0:35:34.400 --> 0:35:37.279 for a portion of that time, there was something that 0:35:37.320 --> 0:35:40.480 the police created called the five second rule that if 0:35:40.480 --> 0:35:43.719 we were found to be standing still for more than 0:35:43.800 --> 0:35:47.439 five seconds, we could be summarily arrested. And after that, 0:35:47.520 --> 0:35:51.960 god knows what, So we literally walked in circles. It is. 0:35:52.000 --> 0:35:55.600 It is wild because the police just knew that they 0:35:55.640 --> 0:35:58.360 had the authority to operate that went until and unless 0:35:58.400 --> 0:36:01.760 someone told them that they couldn't, And it took lawsuits 0:36:01.880 --> 0:36:05.319 and judgments and judge rulings for them to actually say 0:36:05.400 --> 0:36:10.719 this is unconstitutional. But in the meantime, we were being terrorized. Uh, 0:36:11.200 --> 0:36:13.760 you know, I've experienced that in bad Rouge, I've experienced 0:36:13.800 --> 0:36:16.680 that in Baltimore. I've experienced that all over this country. 0:36:16.880 --> 0:36:20.359 And the hypocrisy present in the police response is an 0:36:20.360 --> 0:36:23.200 important part of the conversation. But we have to make 0:36:23.239 --> 0:36:26.000 sure it's not the only part of the conversation because 0:36:26.600 --> 0:36:30.040 when it for two reasons, one, we have to lay 0:36:30.080 --> 0:36:33.400 the blame fully at the feet of white supremacy, and 0:36:33.440 --> 0:36:35.880 if we allow people to have this kind of tragic 0:36:36.000 --> 0:36:40.640 comparative conversation the entire time, then no one will take responsibility, 0:36:40.719 --> 0:36:42.960 no one will be held accountable, and we'll just kind 0:36:42.960 --> 0:36:45.279 of move on. Is wow? You remember that while week 0:36:45.360 --> 0:36:47.560 in the beginning of where we thought all the hell 0:36:47.680 --> 0:36:51.759 was over in we cannot afford to simply dismiss this 0:36:52.080 --> 0:36:54.480 this moment with it just being kind of full of 0:36:54.480 --> 0:36:57.080 hot takes. Right. The other reason why we have to 0:36:57.160 --> 0:37:00.560 not limit the conversation to that specifically around of police 0:37:01.000 --> 0:37:03.520 is that what we know to be true and what 0:37:03.560 --> 0:37:05.560 we are finding out more and more is that it 0:37:05.640 --> 0:37:09.400 is highly likely that members of the Capitol Police force 0:37:09.520 --> 0:37:12.399 that we're supposed to be holding the line did not 0:37:12.520 --> 0:37:16.960 because they were participating in the insurrection, that they helped planet, 0:37:17.120 --> 0:37:20.120 that they helped creative that they we know. For example, 0:37:20.160 --> 0:37:23.800 we've got witnesses who are saying that Capital police officers 0:37:24.080 --> 0:37:28.080 lad insurrectionists to certain members offices. We have video of 0:37:28.120 --> 0:37:31.719 police officers, like I said, taking selfies with insurrectionists. We've 0:37:31.760 --> 0:37:35.840 got reports that people were coming in dressed as insurrectionists 0:37:35.840 --> 0:37:39.200 but flashing their police badges to say I'm one of you. 0:37:39.320 --> 0:37:42.759 And you're you're just like me. Right. If you look 0:37:42.840 --> 0:37:49.080 at this last campaign season, across and police unions were 0:37:49.239 --> 0:37:55.120 tripping over themselves to endorse Donald Trump. If seventy plus 0:37:55.239 --> 0:38:00.360 million Americans voted for Donald Trump a second time, don't 0:38:00.360 --> 0:38:02.640 you think that a bunch of those people are on 0:38:02.719 --> 0:38:06.520 police forces. Don't you think that, perhaps, especially given the 0:38:06.640 --> 0:38:10.080 union response, there may be a disproportionate amount of police 0:38:10.080 --> 0:38:13.160 officers in that crowd. This is a guy who encouraged 0:38:13.200 --> 0:38:15.520 the police to rough us up, not telling them to 0:38:15.640 --> 0:38:18.319 behave more equitably and more justly. These are people who 0:38:18.520 --> 0:38:21.600 this is a guy who encourage police violence. So we 0:38:21.680 --> 0:38:24.880 have to recognize that not only um with the response, 0:38:24.920 --> 0:38:28.400 I've been very different, that the choices here were deliberate, 0:38:28.760 --> 0:38:32.760 and the Capital police deciding not to prepare or hold 0:38:32.800 --> 0:38:36.120 the line was a deliberate choice, not just because they 0:38:36.160 --> 0:38:39.080 were okay with what happened, but perhaps because some of 0:38:39.120 --> 0:38:41.560 them wanted it to happen. And that's what we have 0:38:41.680 --> 0:38:47.000 to talk about exactly exactly, Brittley. So uh, I so 0:38:47.200 --> 0:38:53.040 agree with you, Jared. Yeah. I the one of my 0:38:53.080 --> 0:38:55.959 friends text me, we've been the group hats have been 0:38:56.040 --> 0:38:58.600 very active. I'll tell you that and that we've we've 0:38:58.640 --> 0:39:00.960 seen on social media, you know, white folks that were 0:39:01.040 --> 0:39:02.920 part of it, that we're saying, like they're not supposed 0:39:02.920 --> 0:39:05.359 to treat us like that, right, like when when there 0:39:05.400 --> 0:39:07.919 was any resistance to them there. We see that there 0:39:07.920 --> 0:39:10.560 are various kinds of things on social media over the 0:39:10.600 --> 0:39:12.879 course of months where they have been preparing for this. 0:39:13.000 --> 0:39:14.960 Right So it's not even like the Capitol Police could 0:39:14.960 --> 0:39:17.320 say that they were surprised they didn't see this coming, 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:19.960 because Donald Trump himself has been talking about this from 0:39:19.960 --> 0:39:22.720 his own Twitter feed. There's very there. There are accounts 0:39:22.719 --> 0:39:24.880 from journalists that have been talking about this for months 0:39:25.040 --> 0:39:28.160 back into saying this kind of thing is going to happen. 0:39:28.200 --> 0:39:30.160 So the idea that the Capitol Police had no idea 0:39:30.200 --> 0:39:32.120 that this was gonna happen, the idea that they could 0:39:32.160 --> 0:39:34.640 not have been prepared, but also the fact that those 0:39:34.680 --> 0:39:38.400 people were in the capital for three hours it was 0:39:38.440 --> 0:39:41.080 really telling to me. Right Like, I was out working 0:39:41.080 --> 0:39:43.319 on something else and started getting text messages like what 0:39:43.360 --> 0:39:45.560 the hell is going on? By the time I got home, 0:39:45.760 --> 0:39:48.080 we were still like seeing video and photos were starting 0:39:48.120 --> 0:39:51.799 to come out. The idea that our Congress people, we're 0:39:51.920 --> 0:39:56.600 ducking and hiding and locked into their offices, their offices ransacked. 0:39:56.760 --> 0:40:01.040 We saw a representative saying that those people the insurrection 0:40:01.160 --> 0:40:03.960 is the domestic terrorists, calling them what they are, right, 0:40:04.320 --> 0:40:06.239 they were getting to places. He was like, I have 0:40:06.320 --> 0:40:08.520 a hard time finding those places, and I don't and 0:40:08.560 --> 0:40:10.720 I work here, right, and I've been here for years, 0:40:10.920 --> 0:40:12.920 So we know that there were people that were that 0:40:12.960 --> 0:40:15.239 were guiding them to the right places to go to 0:40:15.320 --> 0:40:18.800 be able to get into Nancy Pelosi's office, to walk 0:40:18.800 --> 0:40:21.880 out with the speaker's podium, to be able to ransack 0:40:21.960 --> 0:40:24.680 these offices, and who knows what they took, who knows 0:40:24.719 --> 0:40:27.000 what they found? Right, And we haven't even had a 0:40:27.000 --> 0:40:29.200 plaything to be able to talk about where they went right, 0:40:29.280 --> 0:40:32.000 to be able to know where they were inside those offices, 0:40:32.400 --> 0:40:35.720 And the fact that you know, minimal arrests have been made, 0:40:36.200 --> 0:40:39.920 and the excuses for why arrests haven't been made, and 0:40:39.920 --> 0:40:42.840 the fact that most of the charges have been merely 0:40:42.960 --> 0:40:49.560 been for violating curfew is actually it's just I'm just incensed. 0:40:50.120 --> 0:40:54.480 How do we well? Before I move on to that question, 0:40:54.520 --> 0:40:58.600 I want to ask what you're feeling is about invoking 0:40:58.640 --> 0:41:02.719 the men it I mean we should have been having 0:41:02.760 --> 0:41:06.759 that conversation, I mean a long time ago, right, Like 0:41:06.800 --> 0:41:09.960 the amendment is one of those things where it's like 0:41:10.120 --> 0:41:13.840 Donald Trump has shown us week after week after week 0:41:14.200 --> 0:41:18.120 four for four years and and and and for the 0:41:18.200 --> 0:41:20.399 year and a half prior to him being elected, right 0:41:20.480 --> 0:41:22.560 or and I use air quotes around elected because I 0:41:22.560 --> 0:41:25.239 feel a way about that too. But like, but we 0:41:25.360 --> 0:41:28.640 have seen every week a different reason for Donald Trump 0:41:28.680 --> 0:41:31.279 to have that twenty amendment invoked, or for the House 0:41:31.280 --> 0:41:33.640 and and for the full Congress to impeach him. And 0:41:33.680 --> 0:41:36.200 so when people are are talking about what we're considering 0:41:36.239 --> 0:41:39.440 the twenty five amendment, now we're considering impeaching him, we're 0:41:39.480 --> 0:41:42.160 considering resignations and all that, it's like, well, since where 0:41:42.200 --> 0:41:44.040 have you been all of this time? Right? We've see 0:41:44.080 --> 0:41:46.279 these people, these officials from the White House who are 0:41:46.320 --> 0:41:50.040 considering resignation and it's like, sweete, you got ten twelve 0:41:50.120 --> 0:41:52.080 days left. What are you talking about? Like, oh, this 0:41:52.200 --> 0:41:54.400 was the straw that broke the camel's back. Like Donald 0:41:54.400 --> 0:41:56.759 Trump has been inciting this for years. He summoned these 0:41:56.760 --> 0:41:59.160 people to d C to do this. And so when 0:41:59.160 --> 0:42:01.359 we think about the twenty with amendment, that would take 0:42:01.400 --> 0:42:03.680 some courage from Mike Pence that we have not seen. 0:42:04.080 --> 0:42:06.920 It would take some courage from the cabinet members that 0:42:07.000 --> 0:42:09.040 we have not seen. And it would take some kind 0:42:09.080 --> 0:42:11.640 of like some kind of uh, some kind of integrity 0:42:11.880 --> 0:42:14.399 from our government that we just haven't seen. We've seen 0:42:14.560 --> 0:42:19.040 Mike Pence ducking calls from Majority Leader now Chuck Schumer 0:42:19.600 --> 0:42:22.040 and the Speaker of House, Nancy Pelosi. He doesn't want 0:42:22.040 --> 0:42:23.799 to deal with this, just like he hasn't wanted to 0:42:23.800 --> 0:42:26.040 deal with it since the day he signed onto that ticket. 0:42:26.080 --> 0:42:28.080 If this is you know, a day late and a 0:42:28.120 --> 0:42:31.440 dollar short, to be sure, but it is the fastest 0:42:31.480 --> 0:42:34.360 and most efficient way to remove Donald Trump from office. 0:42:34.400 --> 0:42:36.400 You know, whatever we thought about what happened at the 0:42:36.400 --> 0:42:39.000 Capitol this week, this is still the man who controls 0:42:39.040 --> 0:42:43.160 the nuclear codes in this country, exactly, exactly. Here's the thing. 0:42:43.200 --> 0:42:46.080 I want us just to be clear on the technical piece. 0:42:46.120 --> 0:42:49.040 Because government is I used to work on Capitol Hill. 0:42:49.120 --> 0:42:52.439 Government is incredibly opaque on purpose. It's important that people 0:42:52.520 --> 0:42:55.120 understand the ins and outs of this. The twenty five 0:42:55.200 --> 0:42:59.560 Amendment requires action from the Vice President and a majority 0:42:59.680 --> 0:43:03.200 of the members of Cabinet. We've had we've had and 0:43:03.360 --> 0:43:08.560 we've had two members of cabinet, Secretary Chow and Betsy DeVos, resigned. 0:43:08.760 --> 0:43:11.560 If enough of them resigned, there will not be a 0:43:11.600 --> 0:43:15.440 majority of cabinet to invoke the twenty five Amendment. So 0:43:15.480 --> 0:43:20.080 Ayanna Pressley, the congresswoman from from Massachusetts, are are good sis. 0:43:20.360 --> 0:43:22.919 She reminded us that we have to see through these 0:43:22.960 --> 0:43:25.520 calls for the twenty fifth Amendment from people who have 0:43:25.640 --> 0:43:28.919 no intentions of invoking it, that actually, if we're going 0:43:28.960 --> 0:43:31.720 to take action, that on the technical side of things, 0:43:32.080 --> 0:43:35.360 impeachment and removal are actually the best course of action. 0:43:35.719 --> 0:43:37.960 And to Sarah's point, we have to be very very 0:43:37.960 --> 0:43:41.040 careful because so much can happen in twelve We saw 0:43:41.080 --> 0:43:43.200 what happened in three hours. A lot can happen in 0:43:43.200 --> 0:43:47.000 twelve days. Action has got to be taken. And Corey Bush, 0:43:47.120 --> 0:43:49.799 my congresswoman from my hometown of St. Louis, has said, 0:43:49.840 --> 0:43:51.760 not only do we have to go after the president, 0:43:52.160 --> 0:43:54.879 we need to get all of the Congress people who 0:43:55.040 --> 0:43:58.640 sold the idea that this was a fraud election up 0:43:58.640 --> 0:44:00.960 out of Congress too, and that those people on the 0:44:01.000 --> 0:44:03.000 Senate side and the House side need to lose their 0:44:03.080 --> 0:44:05.440 job and she's drawing up papers for that too. So 0:44:05.480 --> 0:44:08.320 those are two things that people should be paying attention 0:44:08.360 --> 0:44:11.359 to because government is confusing on purpose, and we got 0:44:11.360 --> 0:44:13.640 to see straight through to what's happening. I don't care 0:44:13.680 --> 0:44:16.560 what anyone thinks. I'm gonna say it out loud. They 0:44:16.600 --> 0:44:19.880 don't deserve the public trust, they don't deserve to hold office. 0:44:19.880 --> 0:44:22.399 They're no longer qualified. If you turned a blind eye 0:44:22.440 --> 0:44:24.480 to the kind of things we've seen Donald Trump do 0:44:24.640 --> 0:44:28.440 for years, you shouldn't be there. You don't belong and 0:44:28.480 --> 0:44:30.880 you don't have anything to add to strengthen our democracy 0:44:30.880 --> 0:44:33.120 in our union. I just really quickly, I would say 0:44:33.120 --> 0:44:35.279 one of the other important elements of this with Donald 0:44:35.320 --> 0:44:37.520 Trump being impeached, the importance of him being impeaches that 0:44:37.560 --> 0:44:39.879 he can't run for offic He can't run for president again, right, 0:44:40.080 --> 0:44:41.880 and like we know that he plans on running for 0:44:41.920 --> 0:44:44.560 president again. We know that I would expect him to 0:44:44.600 --> 0:44:46.600 counter program with the rally on on the day of 0:44:46.640 --> 0:44:50.120 the inauguration, and like the fact that that impeachment would 0:44:50.120 --> 0:44:51.839 stifle him from being able to do that, I think 0:44:51.920 --> 0:44:54.800 is a really important element of why impeachment is so important. 0:44:55.239 --> 0:44:59.960 Exactly good point now to all of this too. Will 0:45:00.040 --> 0:45:04.520 we're talking about accountability. How do we hold the new 0:45:04.560 --> 0:45:09.759 administration accountable, particularly to the black community. How do we 0:45:09.920 --> 0:45:12.960 do that? What does that mean? So it means a 0:45:13.000 --> 0:45:16.319 couple of things. One, it means being engaged in politics 0:45:16.360 --> 0:45:19.520 at every single level. Part of that is because a 0:45:19.560 --> 0:45:22.040 lot of the policies that affect us every day, that 0:45:22.120 --> 0:45:24.520 we think are being decided at the White House, are 0:45:24.560 --> 0:45:27.400 actually being decided in governor's mansions, on the floors of 0:45:27.480 --> 0:45:31.040 state legislatures, with your all your people, and your city councils, 0:45:31.080 --> 0:45:34.040 and in your mayor's offices. So it's actually really important 0:45:34.080 --> 0:45:36.520 for us to get into the weeds of this thing 0:45:36.920 --> 0:45:38.680 to make sure that the things that we want to 0:45:38.680 --> 0:45:41.160 see be true in our communities that we are pushing 0:45:41.160 --> 0:45:44.200 on at the local, state, and federal level. The second 0:45:44.200 --> 0:45:46.200 thing we need to do is to be part of 0:45:46.239 --> 0:45:50.399 an organizing community. Sarah will tell you Georgia has been 0:45:50.440 --> 0:45:53.839 blue for a long time. Georgia wasn't read, Georgia was suppressed, 0:45:54.080 --> 0:46:00.600 and it was a collective of organizers, activists, community members, volunteers, canvases, 0:46:00.840 --> 0:46:04.200 everybody playing their part to make what people thought was 0:46:04.239 --> 0:46:08.359 impossible happen. After ten years of work, right, So you 0:46:08.400 --> 0:46:11.120 have to be a part of a community of people 0:46:11.160 --> 0:46:14.879 who are working on the things that you are passionate about. 0:46:14.960 --> 0:46:16.759 It is one thing to tweat about it or to 0:46:16.840 --> 0:46:19.480 Facebook about it. Is another thing to put your money 0:46:19.480 --> 0:46:21.560 behind it, and it is another thing to get with 0:46:21.600 --> 0:46:25.120 other people who help you strategize and organize around it. 0:46:25.480 --> 0:46:27.560 That last part is so important. And you don't have 0:46:27.600 --> 0:46:29.920 to be a part of the big national organizations if 0:46:29.920 --> 0:46:33.319 you don't want their organizations right in your community that 0:46:33.360 --> 0:46:37.320 deserve your support, your funding, and your volunteerism. The last 0:46:37.360 --> 0:46:40.000 thing that I'll say is I fully believe in the 0:46:40.040 --> 0:46:44.160 concept of critical friends. I believe that real love is 0:46:44.160 --> 0:46:46.760 actually telling people the truth, and the same is true 0:46:46.800 --> 0:46:51.600 in politics. So I have developed a relationship with now, 0:46:52.200 --> 0:46:56.480 thank you, Madam Vice President Kamala Harris over over the 0:46:56.600 --> 0:47:00.120 last couple of years, the last year in particular, and 0:47:00.200 --> 0:47:06.200 she calls me we have really forward, honest, candid conversations, right, 0:47:06.280 --> 0:47:09.640 And that's what she wants. She doesn't want a boiler 0:47:09.680 --> 0:47:13.920 plate answer for what's happening in our streets regarding policing. 0:47:14.000 --> 0:47:16.399 And guess what, I'm not gonna give you one, even 0:47:16.400 --> 0:47:18.440 if that's what you wanted. The good news is that 0:47:18.480 --> 0:47:20.840 she wants the truth. We have to be willing to 0:47:20.840 --> 0:47:23.120 speak up and tell the truth. So when the bill 0:47:23.360 --> 0:47:26.520 is not reaching the kind of heights of policy that 0:47:26.560 --> 0:47:29.400 we want, we have to say so. When the action 0:47:29.480 --> 0:47:31.560 that is being taken by the White House or by 0:47:31.600 --> 0:47:34.520 Congress is not going to the places where we where 0:47:34.520 --> 0:47:36.520 we wanted to go, we have to say so. And 0:47:36.560 --> 0:47:38.960 we have to come forward with the ideas that say, 0:47:39.040 --> 0:47:41.719 instead of do this, do that. So here's what I 0:47:41.719 --> 0:47:43.880 want the cancelation of my student debt to look like. 0:47:44.239 --> 0:47:47.239 Here's what I want transformation and public safety in my 0:47:47.280 --> 0:47:49.640 community to look like. Here's what I want the Green 0:47:49.719 --> 0:47:52.600 New Deal to look like in my community. Right, we 0:47:52.719 --> 0:47:54.520 have to get clear about all of these things and 0:47:54.560 --> 0:47:57.560 continue to raise our voices as if these people work 0:47:57.640 --> 0:47:59.840 for us, because they do. I think a really important 0:47:59.880 --> 0:48:01.920 part to that is Brittany is kind of laying out 0:48:01.960 --> 0:48:04.440 all of the different ways that it looks practically applied. Right. 0:48:04.560 --> 0:48:06.200 I think so many of us get really wrapped up 0:48:06.200 --> 0:48:08.640 in voting and think that that is the avenue for 0:48:08.680 --> 0:48:11.600 democracy to be to be seen. But I think realistically, 0:48:11.600 --> 0:48:15.279 when it comes time to when when the inauguration is over, right, 0:48:15.480 --> 0:48:17.120 there is still work to be done. And I think 0:48:17.120 --> 0:48:19.160 that's so much of America, as we've seen in turn 0:48:19.200 --> 0:48:21.480 out with voting in so many other places, like so 0:48:21.560 --> 0:48:23.920 many people are way more engaged than they've ever been. 0:48:24.000 --> 0:48:25.839 My parents were never people who could tell me who 0:48:25.880 --> 0:48:28.319 the Secretary of State was and you know who the 0:48:28.320 --> 0:48:30.719 senator of that was. But now they are able to say, 0:48:30.800 --> 0:48:32.520 did you hear about what so and so just did? 0:48:32.719 --> 0:48:34.840 And I think it's important that people continue to stay 0:48:34.840 --> 0:48:37.480 engaged because this is the time that we can make 0:48:37.520 --> 0:48:39.799 the most moves. Right. We have a democratic House, a 0:48:39.840 --> 0:48:43.040 democratic Senate, and a democratic president. We can talk about 0:48:43.040 --> 0:48:45.200 the Supreme Court on another day, but like what we 0:48:45.239 --> 0:48:48.000 have so many we have so many different things that 0:48:48.040 --> 0:48:50.239 we want to get done, and we've got to make 0:48:50.239 --> 0:48:52.640 sure that we stay engaged, that we stay organized, and 0:48:52.680 --> 0:48:55.279 that because I think during the Obama era, so many 0:48:55.280 --> 0:48:58.000 people were so excited that Barack Obama got elected, and 0:48:58.040 --> 0:49:01.200 he was saying immediately right like no, no, no, this 0:49:01.280 --> 0:49:03.360 isn't over. We still have work to do, and I 0:49:03.400 --> 0:49:05.600 think people got comfortable and lazy, and that that was 0:49:05.640 --> 0:49:08.399 why so many people were so surprised by Donald Trump, 0:49:08.440 --> 0:49:10.400 and it's like, no, We've seen this rising on the 0:49:10.400 --> 0:49:13.440 other side the entire time Barack Obama was president, and 0:49:13.480 --> 0:49:15.399 so Donald Trump was not a surprise for a lot 0:49:15.400 --> 0:49:18.319 of people. So it's important that you don't just you know, 0:49:18.480 --> 0:49:20.360 vote in your election or vote in your runoff or 0:49:20.360 --> 0:49:22.680 whatever it is. You have to stay engaged to be 0:49:22.719 --> 0:49:24.840 able to make sure that we're able to affect the 0:49:24.920 --> 0:49:28.799 change that we need, because getting someone elected is not enough. Yeah, 0:49:28.920 --> 0:49:33.080 that too. I think it's really important we elevate individual stories, 0:49:33.719 --> 0:49:37.920 especially from marginalized communities, whether that is the LGBTQ community, 0:49:38.000 --> 0:49:40.760 whether it is communities of color, the black community, also 0:49:40.920 --> 0:49:44.359 rural right in places like Georgia, our rural communities are 0:49:44.440 --> 0:49:47.800 are in desperate situations both economically and in terms of 0:49:47.840 --> 0:49:51.440 access to healthcare, in terms of access to equitable education. 0:49:51.520 --> 0:49:52.960 You know, the color of your skin or the zip 0:49:52.960 --> 0:49:55.040 code where you're born may well determine the kind of 0:49:55.080 --> 0:49:57.399 access you have the opportunity for the rest of your 0:49:57.440 --> 0:50:00.279 life in some of these places. So at think the 0:50:00.280 --> 0:50:02.719 other thing we can do to keep people accountable, and 0:50:02.760 --> 0:50:05.800 we've recently started a platform to do this is is 0:50:05.880 --> 0:50:09.000 let people tell their stories. Right, millions and hundreds of 0:50:09.000 --> 0:50:12.400 millions of dollars are spent by political interest groups, parties 0:50:12.480 --> 0:50:16.080 packs to elevate the narrative that they want. But the 0:50:16.160 --> 0:50:19.200 more we can elevate the stories of how these policies 0:50:19.239 --> 0:50:22.520 and the failure or the lack of accountability for politicians 0:50:22.680 --> 0:50:26.920 impacts real people in our communities, the better impact we're 0:50:26.920 --> 0:50:29.680 going to have in terms of holding elected officials accountable, 0:50:29.760 --> 0:50:32.880 making them look at what those decisions have cost to 0:50:33.000 --> 0:50:36.520 real people in our communities. Now, Sarah, I want you 0:50:36.719 --> 0:50:42.080 to really talk about Georgia, because you know, everything that 0:50:42.200 --> 0:50:47.200 happened at the Capitol really overshadow the winds that we 0:50:47.280 --> 0:50:51.560 had for Warnock and John also in Georgia, and it's 0:50:51.640 --> 0:50:56.839 really really hugely important, and it's important for black people 0:50:56.960 --> 0:51:00.719 in particularly, not just black people, but black people in 0:51:00.760 --> 0:51:04.839 particularly that don't believe in the government that a lot 0:51:04.880 --> 0:51:07.960 of times don't believe in the vote. This was an 0:51:08.000 --> 0:51:14.839 opportunity where we really really put tent Toes down and 0:51:14.920 --> 0:51:17.839 got it done. Georgia really got it done and we 0:51:17.840 --> 0:51:22.040 were able to flip the Senate. So talk talk about 0:51:22.080 --> 0:51:26.880 the importance of that win. Absolutely, we saw a couple 0:51:26.920 --> 0:51:30.040 of things. So first of all, John Asoff made history 0:51:30.360 --> 0:51:32.719 as the first Jewish American elected to the U. S. 0:51:32.719 --> 0:51:36.600 Senate from Georgia. He's the youngest senator in forty years 0:51:36.640 --> 0:51:39.680 since Joe Biden actually entered the Senate. And you know, 0:51:39.719 --> 0:51:41.759 I heard on Twitter the other day I thought was 0:51:41.840 --> 0:51:44.680 something was funny he should name his first child Rafael, 0:51:45.239 --> 0:51:49.920 because the Reverend Raffael Moreno was a fantastic partner for 0:51:50.000 --> 0:51:52.640 him in this election. And John and Rafael are both 0:51:52.719 --> 0:51:55.799 good friends and I couldn't be more happy for their win. 0:51:55.920 --> 0:51:59.920 But the reality is that Reverend more Knox deep route, 0:52:00.160 --> 0:52:03.360 not just as the pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church and 0:52:03.400 --> 0:52:06.720 in the Black church at large, but his deep, deep 0:52:06.840 --> 0:52:10.040 roots in the social justice movement on everything from ending 0:52:10.040 --> 0:52:13.000 mass incarceration, to protecting access to the ballot box for 0:52:13.040 --> 0:52:16.440 communities of color, and to engaging with the black community 0:52:16.680 --> 0:52:20.839 on every aspect of economic opportunity and jobs in our 0:52:20.880 --> 0:52:23.680 state really brought a lot of balance to the ticket. 0:52:23.760 --> 0:52:27.200 And I think it motivated people. Let's be clear, black 0:52:27.239 --> 0:52:30.840 women organized in Georgia and lead to this happening. You know, 0:52:31.000 --> 0:52:34.440 from Stacy Abrahams to in SUFO, two writers like a 0:52:34.560 --> 0:52:37.520 Noah Chonga who have been out there sharing this message 0:52:37.600 --> 0:52:40.879 for a long time, and I think having more Knock 0:52:40.960 --> 0:52:44.360 on the ticket also energized black men. And I suspect 0:52:44.360 --> 0:52:46.839 that when we deep dive into the numbers from this win, 0:52:47.360 --> 0:52:50.480 the Black belt, that southwestern part of Georgia and the 0:52:50.600 --> 0:52:53.680 rich agricultural area across the southern half of the state, 0:52:54.120 --> 0:52:57.120 the rural places that we think of as traditionally white 0:52:57.160 --> 0:53:00.960 Republican counties, those are very diverse counties. It's just a 0:53:01.000 --> 0:53:03.640 lot of times black voters in those areas haven't had 0:53:03.640 --> 0:53:06.480 anything to show up for. And I think to his credit, 0:53:07.000 --> 0:53:10.520 you know, John ass Off really came to bat for 0:53:10.640 --> 0:53:13.560 Raphael Warnock and vice versa. There was a great piece 0:53:13.600 --> 0:53:17.160 in the Atlanta Journal Constitution this morning by Jim Galloway, 0:53:17.239 --> 0:53:19.760 who's kind of the senior writer for the last forty 0:53:19.840 --> 0:53:22.760 years of the a j C and politics, and he said, 0:53:22.960 --> 0:53:26.160 you know, where Reverend Warnock had to be very careful 0:53:26.239 --> 0:53:30.320 sometimes in avoiding stereotypes of black men running for office. 0:53:30.680 --> 0:53:33.480 John Assoff would come in and and get his back. 0:53:33.640 --> 0:53:37.640 And when the right attacked Reverend Warnock for his positions 0:53:37.680 --> 0:53:40.759 on Israel, John Assoff, as a young Jewish man with 0:53:40.800 --> 0:53:43.400 deep roots in that community came in and had his back. 0:53:43.719 --> 0:53:48.879 It was this beautiful, elegant alliance that really is reminiscent 0:53:49.000 --> 0:53:51.719 of the great partnerships of the civil rights movement in 0:53:51.719 --> 0:53:55.640 the South. So I, for one think that this, you know, 0:53:55.680 --> 0:53:59.840 this is an election where Rio entirely the flipping of Georgia, 0:53:59.840 --> 0:54:02.160 and not just in these two Senate races, but delivering 0:54:02.200 --> 0:54:06.719 sixteen Electoral College votes for commonis and Joe biden Um 0:54:06.760 --> 0:54:10.200 electing the first Black and South Asian woman to be 0:54:10.320 --> 0:54:12.960 the Vice President of the United States. We owe that 0:54:13.120 --> 0:54:15.360 a lot too, to the Black community, and also to 0:54:15.440 --> 0:54:19.320 our Latin Next communities, to our Asian American Pacific Islander communities. 0:54:19.360 --> 0:54:22.040 You know, these are voters who for too long have 0:54:22.200 --> 0:54:27.040 been marginalized and sideline, left out, left behind, And nevertheless 0:54:27.880 --> 0:54:31.560 they showed the greatest hope in this democracy of any 0:54:31.640 --> 0:54:35.120 demographic in the entire state. They showed up, They made 0:54:35.120 --> 0:54:38.440 their voice heard, they made history happen. And I think 0:54:38.440 --> 0:54:41.560 you're gonna see great things from both Warnock and ass Off. 0:54:41.640 --> 0:54:43.600 And you know, I say that as somebody who lost 0:54:43.640 --> 0:54:47.440 in the primary to John Also, right, I mean, I mean, 0:54:47.520 --> 0:54:49.120 and I meet it with all my heart. I mean 0:54:49.440 --> 0:54:52.560 nobody's twisting my arm here to give compliments. He is 0:54:52.600 --> 0:54:57.319 an idealistic, forward thinking, honest person. I think he'll do 0:54:57.360 --> 0:55:00.200 the right thing. And Reverend Morknock, we don't, you know, 0:55:00.239 --> 0:55:02.520 we don't have to guess he's been getting arrested in 0:55:02.560 --> 0:55:04.399 the capital, you know, if you want to talk about 0:55:04.400 --> 0:55:08.120 the difference in police presence between what happened on Wednesday, 0:55:08.320 --> 0:55:11.880 Reverend Warnock was arrested in the rotunda for prey with 0:55:11.920 --> 0:55:14.440 Reverend Cynthia Hale. I mean, this is this is the 0:55:14.520 --> 0:55:17.200 kind of work that he's done for decades, and I 0:55:17.280 --> 0:55:19.640 honestly couldn't be prouder to have these two minutes my 0:55:19.719 --> 0:55:23.520 U S. Senators. Yeah, well, you know, we haven't had 0:55:24.680 --> 0:55:30.640 a Democratic senator in Georgia, so I'm feeling extremely hopeful 0:55:30.800 --> 0:55:34.120 that the Democrats are in power. Just just to add 0:55:34.120 --> 0:55:36.080 on too Sarah's point really quickly, I think it's also 0:55:36.160 --> 0:55:39.279 important to recognize that we have Rufhael Warnock being the 0:55:39.280 --> 0:55:41.960 first black person that has ever been elected from a 0:55:42.000 --> 0:55:45.160 Confederate formerly Confederate state. We have John Austin that is 0:55:45.200 --> 0:55:46.960 the first Jewish Man. But we also know what it's 0:55:46.960 --> 0:55:49.080 like to be the first right or to be the 0:55:49.160 --> 0:55:51.799 only or one of the few when you're in those rooms. 0:55:51.840 --> 0:55:53.920 And I think it's important that we recognize that when 0:55:53.920 --> 0:55:56.880 those people go into those those rooms, into those committees, 0:55:57.080 --> 0:55:59.040 into all of those all of the different ways that 0:55:59.080 --> 0:56:01.120 they have to work to be able to get things 0:56:01.160 --> 0:56:03.080 done for us, the challenges that they're gonna face are 0:56:03.120 --> 0:56:04.920 going to be great, and it's going to be important 0:56:04.920 --> 0:56:06.600 that we are they're supporting them and back in them 0:56:06.640 --> 0:56:09.520 and also in their ear for the things that we need. Yeah, 0:56:09.520 --> 0:56:12.400 and we've only had eleven black senators in the history 0:56:12.400 --> 0:56:15.520 of this country. I mean, that's just impossible for someone 0:56:15.600 --> 0:56:18.640 like me to believe. And so what what we're not 0:56:18.880 --> 0:56:21.640 has done and he has, he has everything. You hope 0:56:21.680 --> 0:56:24.440 he'll be in that office. I'm confident he'll do a 0:56:24.480 --> 0:56:27.040 great amount of work. But you know, he's the twelfth 0:56:27.040 --> 0:56:29.600 in the history of the country. It's in a remarkable 0:56:29.680 --> 0:56:32.480 thing we've accomplished, and it's a shame that yet again 0:56:32.719 --> 0:56:36.960 the maga hat folks have overshadowed what should have been 0:56:37.160 --> 0:56:41.319 a real triumph of the resilience of our democracy and 0:56:41.440 --> 0:56:45.120 of the black community, especially in Georgia. Yeah, we could 0:56:45.160 --> 0:56:47.880 go on forever. I really feel like we're not done, 0:56:47.880 --> 0:56:49.560 but I know we have to wrap it up. I 0:56:49.600 --> 0:56:53.239 know Brittany has to leave one last question. One I 0:56:53.320 --> 0:56:55.240 just want to ask each of you, and we'll start 0:56:55.239 --> 0:56:58.719 with you, Brittany, what is one final thing that you 0:56:58.719 --> 0:57:02.640 want to get off your chest? Oh? Gosh, one final thing. 0:57:04.760 --> 0:57:08.279 It's it's it's to have disciplined hope. We have done 0:57:08.360 --> 0:57:11.239 hard things. We have done them many times before. We 0:57:11.320 --> 0:57:14.480 have done them during a pandemic and one of the 0:57:14.520 --> 0:57:18.160 most unprecedented elections of our time. We are capable of 0:57:18.200 --> 0:57:21.160 greatness when we decide to get together and make it happen. 0:57:21.560 --> 0:57:24.720 So as to remain committed, because as far as I'm concerned, 0:57:24.960 --> 0:57:27.520 no insurrection is still my joy and they certainly can't 0:57:27.520 --> 0:57:30.600 stop this work. Yeah, I think the thing that I'm 0:57:30.880 --> 0:57:36.600 most hopeful about going forward is this rising multi racial, 0:57:37.080 --> 0:57:41.920 multi generational coalition that can do those hard things Brittany 0:57:41.920 --> 0:57:44.560 talked about, that can put the first black senator in 0:57:44.720 --> 0:57:47.600 office from the state of Georgia that I have hoped 0:57:47.640 --> 0:57:50.720 my kids will not be dealing with pay equity and 0:57:50.760 --> 0:57:54.280 the kinds of racial justice strife we saw, especially with 0:57:54.320 --> 0:57:58.520 the amad are very shooting and in Rachiard Brooks in 0:57:58.560 --> 0:58:01.800 Atlanta as well over the summer. I think, you know, 0:58:01.920 --> 0:58:04.440 everything from making sure no one in this country is 0:58:04.480 --> 0:58:07.760 sick because they're poor or poor because they got sick, 0:58:08.200 --> 0:58:11.480 to having clean air and clean water in an environment 0:58:11.560 --> 0:58:14.439 that's treasured and valued the way it should be. All 0:58:14.440 --> 0:58:17.840 of it's possible now, Like voters did that. So every 0:58:17.840 --> 0:58:20.440 time you you think your vote doesn't matter, you know, 0:58:20.600 --> 0:58:24.680 just remember the year we took our country back. Yeah, 0:58:24.880 --> 0:58:28.640 what about you, Jarrett, I'm thinking about mental health, to 0:58:28.720 --> 0:58:30.919 be honest with you. I'm thinking about the mental health 0:58:31.080 --> 0:58:34.720 of the organizers, of the journalists, of the electives, of 0:58:34.760 --> 0:58:37.880 the staffers, of all of the people who are going 0:58:37.920 --> 0:58:41.120 to have a mountain to climb in the coming weeks, months, 0:58:41.160 --> 0:58:44.400 and years of this next administration. I serve as the 0:58:44.480 --> 0:58:47.160 vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists here 0:58:47.200 --> 0:58:50.880 in Los Angeles, and I'm always thinking about our journalists 0:58:50.880 --> 0:58:52.360 and what it is like to have to cover these 0:58:52.400 --> 0:58:54.520 stories day to day, what it is like to have 0:58:54.640 --> 0:58:57.040 to be in the field, to hear these stories, to 0:58:57.080 --> 0:58:59.160 see the things that you see every day, and how 0:58:59.200 --> 0:59:01.439 disheartening it can be, how depressing it can be, how 0:59:01.600 --> 0:59:04.640 difficult it can be on your psyche. And you know, 0:59:04.800 --> 0:59:07.960 my friends work in various different levels of the of 0:59:08.280 --> 0:59:12.720 the federal government and it is a stressful, stressful job. 0:59:13.040 --> 0:59:15.560 It is a stressful place to work. And I just 0:59:15.600 --> 0:59:18.680 wanna to to send out, you know, the thought that 0:59:18.720 --> 0:59:21.600 we should be thinking about these people and supporting them 0:59:21.600 --> 0:59:23.880 in various different ways, because it is not an easy 0:59:23.920 --> 0:59:26.280 thing to do to be the person who has to serve, 0:59:26.480 --> 0:59:29.120 who has to vote, who has to write, who has 0:59:29.160 --> 0:59:31.720 to speak, who has to stand in front, who has 0:59:31.720 --> 0:59:33.880 to stand in back, who has to do all of 0:59:33.920 --> 0:59:36.760 these different things. I think it's really really important. Thank 0:59:36.760 --> 0:59:40.440 you guys. This was This was I'm telling you. I 0:59:40.520 --> 0:59:44.760 just feel like we we just just touch just a 0:59:44.880 --> 0:59:48.880 little bit of everything that's going because there's so much, 0:59:49.040 --> 0:59:51.280 so much to talk about that we just didn't have 0:59:51.360 --> 0:59:54.439 time to do. But I certainly appreciate your time. Tell 0:59:54.480 --> 0:59:57.840 the listeners where they can find you on social media, Brittany, 0:59:57.880 --> 1:00:01.320 thanks so much for having me. You can follow me. 1:00:01.440 --> 1:00:05.000 People can follow me at miss pac Yetti on Instagram 1:00:05.000 --> 1:00:08.800 and Twitter. Yes, you can find me everywhere at Jarrett Hill. 1:00:08.880 --> 1:00:13.160 It's Jarrett with two Hours and two Teas on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Um, 1:00:13.200 --> 1:00:15.360 and the show that I host, Fantai is about the 1:00:15.400 --> 1:00:18.040 complex and complicated things that we love and have challenges 1:00:18.080 --> 1:00:20.280 around UH and we talk about all of those things. 1:00:20.320 --> 1:00:23.320 That comes out every Thursday. Fanti is available on all 1:00:23.360 --> 1:00:27.800 podcasts platforms spelled f A M T I GAM. Thanks 1:00:27.840 --> 1:00:30.280 so much for having me. Folks can follow me on 1:00:30.320 --> 1:00:33.560 Instagram or Twitter at Sarah rigs Amico. That's s A 1:00:33.760 --> 1:00:36.200 R e h R I g G s A M 1:00:36.240 --> 1:00:38.400 I c O. And I'd love for folks to take 1:00:38.440 --> 1:00:41.480 a minute and check out my new project, Rediscovering our 1:00:41.480 --> 1:00:45.680 American Dream. We are working to redefine the American Dream 1:00:45.720 --> 1:00:49.480 to be inclusive of all communities, communities of color, rural communities, 1:00:49.720 --> 1:00:53.360 poor communities, immigrant communities, people who have been traditionally left 1:00:53.360 --> 1:00:56.280 out and left behind. So we've created a platform where 1:00:56.320 --> 1:01:00.080 you can upload your story on everything from immigration to 1:01:00.200 --> 1:01:03.520 starting a small business, to why you vote or the 1:01:03.560 --> 1:01:07.080 importance of access to affordable healthcare. So folks can visit 1:01:07.080 --> 1:01:13.840 our website at www Dot our American Dreams dot org. Again, 1:01:13.880 --> 1:01:18.000 that's www dot our American Dreams dot org. So grateful 1:01:18.160 --> 1:01:21.000 and look forward to talking again soon. We'll have to 1:01:21.040 --> 1:01:23.640 do it again. Thank you so much. Thanks for having 1:01:23.680 --> 1:01:30.280 us Gamy. Absolutely, thank you, guys. So here's my takeaway 1:01:30.320 --> 1:01:35.160 from this conversation and forty five most recent speech on Twitter. 1:01:35.760 --> 1:01:39.360 Not only does he continue with his lies. Katie Currik 1:01:39.480 --> 1:01:44.880 described his final statement as the most chilling in Lindsey 1:01:44.920 --> 1:01:49.080 Graham said, if we nominate Trump, he will destroy us 1:01:49.600 --> 1:01:54.160 and we will deserve it. Well, he has and you 1:01:54.240 --> 1:01:58.360 do as you all sat by complicit as forty five 1:01:58.520 --> 1:02:03.440 ran rampant viewing, hate, fear, and destruction through our democracy. 1:02:03.720 --> 1:02:08.280 The American people have suffered literally through his sickness. He 1:02:08.400 --> 1:02:12.200 must be impeached so we will never be subjected to 1:02:12.280 --> 1:02:17.560 his reign ever. Again, thank you to my guests Tea, Jared, 1:02:17.920 --> 1:02:21.160 Sarah and Grittany. We had so much to unpack in 1:02:21.240 --> 1:02:23.680 so little time. We just may have to do this again. 1:02:24.480 --> 1:02:27.320 If you're listening on Apple Podcasts, be sure to rate 1:02:27.360 --> 1:02:31.520 and review the episode. Follow me on my Instagram at 1:02:31.560 --> 1:02:35.040 Gammy Narris to share with me your thoughts on the episode. 1:02:35.560 --> 1:02:41.560 I'm here, I'm talking, and I'm listening. As always, Stay grateful, y'all, 1:02:42.160 --> 1:02:55.720 Happy New Year. Positively. Gam is produced by Westbrook Audio 1:02:56.360 --> 1:03:02.240 Executive producers Adrian Banfield, Rrisa Ada Pinkett, Smith, Amanda Brown 1:03:02.560 --> 1:03:08.720 and Fallon jethro Co Executive producer sim Hoti, Segment producer 1:03:09.200 --> 1:03:16.720 Ash Francis, Associate producer Eric Iron, editor and mixer Calvin Bayliss. 1:03:17.400 --> 1:03:20.800 Positively gam is in partnership with Art nineteen