WEBVTT - Where Are The Dems? Rep. Pressley Responds 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:03.360 Native Lampod is a production of iHeart Radio in partnership 0:00:03.400 --> 0:00:05.040 with Reason Choice Media. 0:00:05.160 --> 0:00:08.320 Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome. 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.559 Welcome home, y'all, this is Native Lampod. I am Angela 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:16.520 Raie with Tiffany Cross and Andrew Gillham. We are joined today. 0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:24.639 You done, He's already so much with your delayed ass intro. 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:28.560 We are joined today by one of our good friends, 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:35.599 our dear sister, Congresswoman Ayana Presley, who represents Massachusetts seventh District. 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.640 And she is on the move, y'all. She's getting things done, y'all. 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:41.040 Talk about where are our fighters. She is in these 0:00:41.040 --> 0:00:43.839 streets making sure that we are represented, that our interests 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.600 are heard, that they're known, and that we don't silently 0:00:46.640 --> 0:00:49.760 disappear into the dark. So she is just coming from 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:51.480 a protest, which we will hear about. 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:51.920 On the friend. 0:00:52.159 --> 0:00:55.640 Oh, she's on the way, on the way into the protest. 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.200 All right, Well, let's hear about this protest from her 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.120 while I'm getting fact checked, and tell us where you 0:01:01.160 --> 0:01:03.360 are headed and the importance of this moment. 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:04.360 Yeah. 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:05.920 First, I just want to say that it's good to 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:10.160 be home, good to be with you, and I just 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.720 want to say this community in this moment is not 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:16.679 a nice to have, it is a must have. So 0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:19.120 as we revisit that question from King, where do we 0:01:19.160 --> 0:01:22.960 go from here? You know, in a moment of chaos, cruelty, 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.119 and corruption, where do we go from here? 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.480 Chaos or community? We have to continue to choose. 0:01:28.200 --> 0:01:33.600 Community and solidarity because this wholesale harm is coming for everybody. 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:36.959 So right now I'm on my way to a protest 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:41.200 that one of our federal buildings in solidarity with federal workers. 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.200 And let me just say this, as someone who was 0:01:43.240 --> 0:01:44.960 an aide for sixteen. 0:01:44.520 --> 0:01:47.360 Years, I get so tired of. 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:51.880 People not seeing the humanity of our federal workforce. 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:53.960 And thinking that this is just you. 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:57.400 Know, hacks living on the government dole. 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:00.000 These are people that could have been serving and taking. 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:03.560 Their talent many other places, but with the intention they 0:02:03.680 --> 0:02:05.520 arrived at the office every day to make sure that 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:07.040 someone was on the other end of the line to 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:09.400 pick up the phone when you were in christ and 0:02:09.520 --> 0:02:11.920 you needed a lifeline and you needed an advocate. These 0:02:12.000 --> 0:02:19.080 are dedicated, compassionate, brilliant individuals who deserve more than to 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:22.800 receive a pink slip or a threatening email. 0:02:22.520 --> 0:02:30.519 From a doge bro or from some rich, entitled, greedy, grubby. 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:33.960 Hand millionaire who's taken a wrecking ball to the infrastructure of. 0:02:33.880 --> 0:02:34.800 Our federal government. 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:39.040 And now so many federal workers don't know how they'll 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:40.480 provide for their own families. 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:41.360 But I'm gonna tell you what. 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:43.880 I've spent a lot of time with these workers, and 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.720 their primary concern is not even how they will provide 0:02:47.720 --> 0:02:48.320 with their families. 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:49.919 It's not even their livelihood. 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:54.519 It is how would their unfinished work impact the people 0:02:54.600 --> 0:02:55.880 the communities. 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:55.960 That they serve. 0:02:56.960 --> 0:02:59.520 What does this mean for their grant that someone is 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.960 now now advancing, What does the mean for that veteran 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.360 with the BA you know? What does this mean for 0:03:06.440 --> 0:03:12.040 someone who's headstock portal, you know, is closed. So I'm 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:16.080 on my way in solidarity because every day, at this 0:03:16.160 --> 0:03:20.560 inflection point, where cruelty, cares and corruption. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:25.160 Are daily intake our daily food, I'm gonna choose. 0:03:24.919 --> 0:03:28.440 Community that's real, that's real. Do you think that it's 0:03:28.480 --> 0:03:32.360 ironic that you get this guy head and doze a 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:36.320 made up organization that ain't really legit yet as an organization, 0:03:36.680 --> 0:03:40.120 an agency of the government, The wealthiest man in the 0:03:40.200 --> 0:03:45.280 damn world happens to be telling us about wasted federal 0:03:45.520 --> 0:03:48.720 money taxpayer dollars while he's on the take that this 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.840 man is criticizing the appropriations of you all well at 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:57.320 the same time putting money in his pocket from the 0:03:57.480 --> 0:04:02.120 very source that he's criticized. What's the irony in that? 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:04.320 And how do we drive that further home? Or do 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:05.680 you or do you even think it matters? 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:09.720 Okay, let me just say this. As I think about 0:04:09.760 --> 0:04:12.400 how to move forward, I always take a look back. 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:15.040 So there's three things that are guiding me in this moment. 0:04:15.360 --> 0:04:17.520 One the blueprint. 0:04:17.000 --> 0:04:19.080 Laid out to us in the early chapters of the 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.039 civil rights movement, which we're still very much in. Doctor 0:04:22.080 --> 0:04:24.479 King said, our most powerful weapon is organizing. 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:27.919 So we have to organize organized organized. Now, Listen, that 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:28.600 is hard to. 0:04:28.560 --> 0:04:31.800 Do when their strategy is to flood the home is 0:04:31.839 --> 0:04:35.240 shocked in awe, and it's to overwhelm. 0:04:34.640 --> 0:04:39.919 Us to such an extent that we just start being reactive. 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:45.600 And sometimes in being reactive, we're not being strategic. 0:04:46.400 --> 0:04:48.960 So I keep looking back to those early chapters and 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:50.440 studying movements. 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:53.320 Like what did they do? What do resistance look like? 0:04:53.440 --> 0:04:55.680 And again, there's three things that I think we always 0:04:55.760 --> 0:04:58.839 need imagination, strategy, and stamina. 0:04:58.960 --> 0:05:02.120 I've learned that from the movements. The second thing, you're 0:05:02.120 --> 0:05:02.760 going to look at the. 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.800 Pandemic, because there's the closest analogue. 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:09.080 That I have to this moment is full sale harm. 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:13.680 And what did we do? We stood up infrastructure, rapid response, 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:15.400 mutual aim. 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:17.120 Those are some of the things that I'm working on 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.000 actively right now to build so mutually. 0:05:21.320 --> 0:05:25.839 What's the second thing? And then the third thing, Doctor. 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:27.880 King, you know, tells us that we have to study 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.440 the words of the oppressed to inform our strategy. 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:32.800 So I'm paying. 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:36.600 Close attention to every executive action and the words of 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:41.640 this authoritarium and fascist regime and Donald Trump and Elon Musk. 0:05:42.640 --> 0:05:45.560 So doctor King says, we need to dramatize the evil, 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:49.000 Andrew and so that is why sometimes we go out 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:50.400 and we do these interviews and people. 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:52.480 Are like, you know, dang, Like all she did was 0:05:52.560 --> 0:05:54.880 just tell us everything is wrong. Well, I have to 0:05:54.960 --> 0:05:57.599 dramatize the evil. I have to tell you, and we 0:05:57.680 --> 0:06:00.000 have to make them wear it. And let me just 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:02.320 say this, anyone that is. 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:07.200 Not being actively disrupted and agitating and doing the work 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:14.120 of litigation legislation, agitation, mobilization is being complicit in this 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:18.600 wholesale harm. And although this harm is coming for everybody, 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.159 it is anti blackness of steroids. 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:23.200 So I'm paying. 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:31.000 Attention to who isn't saying anything, because everyone, what are 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:38.200 you talking about? 0:06:38.760 --> 0:06:43.520 I think, to Tip's point last week, if somebody needs 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:46.000 to be held accountable, they need to be held accountable. 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.479 We cannot hold people accountable who we can't name. I 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:51.159 don't think that that's a trap. I think that's the truth. 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.520 Do you care to drop a name because we got some. 0:07:00.320 --> 0:07:00.800 Bit abond? 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:01.440 Well? 0:07:01.920 --> 0:07:06.640 Can I just say this, congresswoman, I you know I 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:09.760 if you, if I ever had to cover you for something, 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.720 I would have to recuse myself because I just love you. 0:07:14.320 --> 0:07:17.360 And I want people, the American people watching this to 0:07:17.440 --> 0:07:23.120 know that who they see on the floor of Congress, 0:07:23.320 --> 0:07:26.080 who they see on this podcast, and who we are 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:29.640 privileged to see privately just with you, is consistently the 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:34.040 same person living in service to liberation, a true public 0:07:34.120 --> 0:07:39.640 servant with a personal testimony, your story. And I think 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:44.120 there's a lot of complacency right now. I think there's 0:07:44.120 --> 0:07:47.400 a lot of apathy when it comes to government, and 0:07:47.480 --> 0:07:51.160 you still have that ability to give people goosebumps when 0:07:51.200 --> 0:07:54.720 you speak, to speak with righteous indignation and anger. 0:07:55.120 --> 0:07:55.880 And I know I. 0:07:55.800 --> 0:07:58.760 Share all your videos, and so I just want to 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.720 take a moment to say thank you you for your work, 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:05.000 and that we are watching and paying attention and we 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:08.600 want to amplify you in whatever way. And I just 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:14.200 I cannot be an impartial or unbiased person ever with 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:17.160 you because you are my Aquarius sister. Happy belated birthday 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:21.880 to you, and I just appreciate you and love you 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:24.160 so much, and I want everybody to feel that way 0:08:24.200 --> 0:08:26.600 about you. So I just I don't even have a question. 0:08:26.720 --> 0:08:30.679 I just want to tell you that diddo diddo last week. 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:33.160 Last week, the CBC was my family, though, I just 0:08:33.200 --> 0:08:34.079 want to point that out. 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:39.040 This is her family, your family. I love, I love 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:48.240 she did not pick up no because I love Ayana Pressley. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:52.160 The CBC as a body, respectfully, is not my family. 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.680 Ayana Pressley is my sister. Who I will do it. 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.600 I'll fight somebody over les, somebody love. It will be 0:08:57.800 --> 0:09:01.040 the CBC. Let MTG start acting fool on Capitol Hill. 0:09:01.120 --> 0:09:08.559 Neg see the Jarius bringers there. Real Yeah, I'm not 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:10.160 a lawyer, Angela, get me out. 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:11.920 I don't know if I get you out with this, 0:09:12.000 --> 0:09:13.400 DJ and Bonnie Is. 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:17.400 I love the levity of this for a moment, and 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.560 I thank you for those kind words since I receive 0:09:19.640 --> 0:09:22.600 them and I spend them back to all of you. 0:09:22.320 --> 0:09:24.720 The what you all are doing in this moment is 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:28.800 so essential because people are hungry for accurate information. 0:09:29.800 --> 0:09:31.880 And look, you all have your opinions. 0:09:31.440 --> 0:09:33.800 To the editorialize, but you also just bring the straight 0:09:33.880 --> 0:09:37.280 facts and you are trusted voices right now at a 0:09:37.320 --> 0:09:42.160 time of just mass diss and misinformation or no information. 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:43.439 And I take so. 0:09:43.400 --> 0:09:47.199 Many of my cues from you. You know, honestly, this 0:09:47.280 --> 0:09:49.640 is the season for calling a thing a thing. And 0:09:49.679 --> 0:09:51.400 when I think about the fact, and this is what 0:09:51.440 --> 0:09:53.839 democrats need to do. You don't talk people out of 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:55.000 their experience. 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:56.160 You don't. 0:09:56.760 --> 0:09:59.960 You don't counter their lived experience with slide decks. 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:06.080 You just listen and call a thing a thing. And 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:08.840 that's how you build trust. When I ran for Congress 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:10.880 for the first time, Can y'all believe it's almost seven 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:14.280 years ago? What I ran for Congress the first time. 0:10:14.880 --> 0:10:16.880 I can't tell you how many consultants told me. If 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:19.080 you get asked in an interview if Donald Trump should 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:20.440 be impeached for your. 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:21.880 Opinion is a racist pivot? 0:10:23.000 --> 0:10:28.400 What that's why you'd be surprised, But we're saying that's 0:10:28.440 --> 0:10:32.000 how we don't have trust. There's a deficit of trust 0:10:32.360 --> 0:10:34.360 because you have to call a. 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.880 Thing a thing, and that's what you won't do. 0:10:51.920 --> 0:10:54.240 You definitely can't lead if you're afraid of your shadow. 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.120 And it seems to me that a lot of people 0:10:56.160 --> 0:10:58.040 up there afraid of their shadow and what will come 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:00.360 up and creep behind them on the next race, and 0:11:00.400 --> 0:11:04.640 therefore they're muted because they're in fear of themselves, stepping 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:06.960 over themselves, saying the wrong thing and being held accountable. 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:08.839 You speak the truth, The truth is the truth is 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:12.199 the truth all the time. You can defend it otherwise, 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:14.520 you know, to hell with you, because I'm not fighting 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:15.480 for people who don't fight. 0:11:15.800 --> 0:11:18.760 Absolutely, and as our sibling in the movement, Brittany Pac. 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:22.600 Mc cunningham says, swapping scared power is in power at 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:26.200 all And we although we worked our hearts out to 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:27.360 change this outcome. 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:29.760 Yo, what if listen. 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.000 To black women was an actual practice and just not 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:35.600 a statement T shirt? Wow, we can't be in the canary, 0:11:35.720 --> 0:11:38.360 in the coal mines on these things. I did not 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.280 None of us wanted this to come to pass, right. 0:11:40.320 --> 0:11:43.920 We did everything to stop it from happening. The one 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:46.000 of the reasons I believe we're in this position is 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:48.640 because when Democrats have the power, we don't use it. 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:53.199 And Donald Trump and Eli Musk, they are transparent. They 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.200 want the power, they want to amass the power, they 0:11:56.240 --> 0:11:57.560 want to wield the power. 0:11:57.720 --> 0:12:01.800 They will abuse the power. I've been so. 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:04.439 Busy proving that we're the adults. 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.520 In the room, so we forgot to prove that we're 0:12:06.559 --> 0:12:10.000 the fighters in the room the moment. 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.200 What do you think the fight looks like? And I 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:15.040 actually have a two parter because the whole reason you 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.040 wanted to come always tell about reparations. We're gonna get 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.360 the reparations too. But I want to make sure that 0:12:19.440 --> 0:12:22.600 I asked this for those at home who feel like 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:25.319 they're not seeing a fight in the Democratic Party, who 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.840 feel like they're seeing people who just have kind of 0:12:27.920 --> 0:12:30.439 rolled over and accepted what is, who are frustrated that 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:33.000 Ken Martin just yesterday or by the time this year 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:36.680 is a few days ago, dropped a memo that is 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:40.800 four pages long, single space talking about what is next 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.319 for the Democratic Party, and some of it is frankly 0:12:43.400 --> 0:12:46.600 tone death. So when you look at party leadership, when 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:48.920 you look at the caucus, when you look at the 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:53.240 obligation of the Tricaucus, the Democratic Caucus, the Congressional Black Caucus, 0:12:53.240 --> 0:12:56.040 the Progressive Caucus, where do you see the fight and 0:12:56.080 --> 0:12:58.360 what is the role of the people in this fight? 0:12:59.600 --> 0:13:01.400 Okay, first, let me just say this, just for the 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:05.160 purposes of narrative shaping, Democrats did fight. We fought like 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:07.120 hell to try to stop this from happening. So I 0:13:07.160 --> 0:13:10.640 want to start there, Okay, to do everything possible so 0:13:10.640 --> 0:13:13.000 that Donald Trump will not be elected. The second thing is, 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:18.600 you know, Tim, I think I think the challenge that 0:13:18.640 --> 0:13:21.440 we're having is a It's not a messaging problem because 0:13:21.480 --> 0:13:23.400 I hear a lot of my colleagues in the fight 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:25.839 and saying the right things or things that I align on. 0:13:26.240 --> 0:13:29.920 We have a density and saturation problem that we have 0:13:30.120 --> 0:13:33.040 not overcome. We're trying to learn the lesson in real 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:38.040 time that people's news and information is so bifurcated across 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:44.920 so many platforms, and we're behind, so things don't feel coordinated, 0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:49.560 they don't feel amplified because we're not reaching saturation, we're 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:50.680 not reaching density. 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:53.599 And look, we're diverse caucus. 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:56.200 But this is not the time for people to be like, 0:13:58.360 --> 0:13:59.959 I'm gonna vote my district. 0:14:00.679 --> 0:14:03.640 I'm gonna say the thing that works best for my district. 0:14:04.160 --> 0:14:07.240 We need to be of one accord. Now. Where I 0:14:07.280 --> 0:14:07.840 know we're. 0:14:07.640 --> 0:14:11.239 All aligned on is the fight, and that is litigation. 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:15.200 Some members will be on amicust briefs. You know, the 0:14:15.280 --> 0:14:17.600 courts have been able to be a stopgap to slow 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.080 roll some of this because it's just straight lawlessness. It 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:24.840 is an unprecedented power graph. But what does an unpressed 0:14:24.880 --> 0:14:31.080 and the power graph demand of us? Unprecedented clarity, unprecedented conviction, 0:14:32.160 --> 0:14:40.040 unprecedented leadership, unprecedented organizing, unprecedented mobilizing, and unprecedented joy y'all 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:42.920 because when they're coming for every civil right and human 0:14:43.040 --> 0:14:46.600 right and gain, we cannot give them there too. So 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:49.400 that's why I said, I'm gonna choose community every single time. 0:14:49.640 --> 0:14:54.600 But the fight is litigation, it's legislation, it's agitation, it's mobilization. 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.120 But just like with the presidential raise. 0:14:57.200 --> 0:14:59.760 We have the better policies, but we did not have 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:02.240 the cohesive message that breaks through. 0:15:03.200 --> 0:15:05.040 And that's why I'm saying that, like, we really have 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:08.200 to challenge ourselves to just call a thing a thing. 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:13.040 This is not the time for nuance because the harm 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:16.840 that is coming is blunt as hell, and we have 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:19.440 to be just as blunt in how we take it on. 0:15:20.160 --> 0:15:20.560 That's real. 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:23.760 Yeah, that's real. So with that one of the places 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:28.040 where we know, historically our folks have always felt unseen, unheard, 0:15:28.120 --> 0:15:31.480 unrepresented by this government. Even if we have those one officer, 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.160 two officer, now sixty plus offs of folks who represent 0:15:34.200 --> 0:15:37.080 our interests, what we know is that this country has 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:39.800 never properly served us. And one thing that you've done 0:15:39.920 --> 0:15:43.000 is taken on the legacy of Congressman John Conyers and 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:46.920 Congresswoman Chila Jackson Lee and introducing HR forty, which is 0:15:47.000 --> 0:15:49.440 of course, our reparations bill. So I'd love for you 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:53.080 to talk briefly, Congresswoman, about why you decided to take 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:55.640 up that mantle and what you're hoping to see happen 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:58.640 in this very divided congress. 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:04.000 Okay, two says one, just to give you the background, 0:16:04.080 --> 0:16:05.920 and I thank you for making sure there's no rature 0:16:05.960 --> 0:16:08.000 of black history and saying that this was taken up 0:16:08.280 --> 0:16:11.440 thirty plus years ago by John Conyers, then by Sheila 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:16.560 Jackson Lee, who is now both of whom are ancestors. 0:16:16.800 --> 0:16:19.320 Sheila Jackson Lee's daughter, Erica Lee Carter. 0:16:19.360 --> 0:16:22.880 Who finished out her term, so former congresswoman I asked 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:24.920 me to meet with her and said, after a lot 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:30.240 of prayer and reflection, conversation with her staff, former staff 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.960 of Congress Ischeila Jackson Lee's and even her own family, 0:16:33.400 --> 0:16:36.320 asked if I would take this on, wow. 0:16:36.080 --> 0:16:43.360 And sorry, we love you. 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:46.480 And thank you for taking it on. 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:53.119 So one, I'm emotional because that she had the confidence 0:16:53.120 --> 0:16:56.600 to entrust me with this, and secondly, I was thinking 0:16:56.640 --> 0:17:00.840 of Congress Ischela Jackson Lee, who are was texting with 0:17:00.920 --> 0:17:06.120 in the final days of her time here, and her 0:17:06.200 --> 0:17:08.720 last message to me was we must keep fighting for 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:11.080 our priorities and never give up. 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:14.880 And her daughter came to stand with me. 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:20.240 Through a snowstorm on the day that we reintroduced HR 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.119 forty and I said, you know, thank you for coming. 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.000 I know this is emotional, this heart for so many reasons. 0:17:26.000 --> 0:17:31.719 That she said justice is never convenient, and that has 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:35.399 stayed with me because when we reintroduced this people, you 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:38.040 know some people were like, is she like adults? You know, 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:43.119 she's she's been a legislator, she's been an aid reparation. 0:17:42.960 --> 0:17:45.160 In this moment, Why would you do such a thing. 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:50.800 Well, again, this is a moment of anti blackness on steroids. 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.080 They've had different proxies for it. 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:58.159 With critical race theory, black lives matter, diversity, equity and inclusion, 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:03.080 and diversity with an inclusion you know, means the dismantling and. 0:18:03.080 --> 0:18:05.440 Defunding of that to harm a lot of people. But again, 0:18:05.480 --> 0:18:08.600 it's anti blackness on steroids. So what is the antidote 0:18:08.640 --> 0:18:12.680 to anti blackness? Pro blackness? So this is this is. 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.800 Not the time to moderate our aspirations. 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:18.800 I'm not gonna shrink in the pursuit of our north star. 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:23.600 This is exactly the time, you know. So you this 0:18:23.640 --> 0:18:23.960 is an. 0:18:23.960 --> 0:18:29.040 Educated, you know, you know, very conscious listener, you know 0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:30.320 viewership that you all have. 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:31.560 So folks don't need me to. 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:36.760 Talk about Jim pro and redlining and Orangeburg and Tulsa. 0:18:37.480 --> 0:18:40.239 But you know, the point is we are still very 0:18:40.320 --> 0:18:45.000 much digging out from the vestiges of slavery, legislated harm, 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.199 not just things that happen organically in the ether. You know, 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:52.840 people forget that this is legislative precise harm. So that 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:58.320 is why we need rape conscious prescriptive responses because the 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.400 harm that was dealt was precise. 0:19:00.119 --> 0:19:03.399 And very race conscious, and it was legislated. 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:06.240 So if we can legislate hard and harm, we should 0:19:06.240 --> 0:19:10.639 be able to legislate justice and to legislate healing. We 0:19:10.680 --> 0:19:13.760 have a team shrillion the racial wealth gap in this 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:19.000 country that was created, so we have to undo the harm, 0:19:19.080 --> 0:19:22.320 do the reparative work that we did for indigenous people, 0:19:22.480 --> 0:19:24.679 for Japanese Americans who were. 0:19:24.560 --> 0:19:26.359 In a tournament, camps. 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:28.840 And the important thing to note in this moment is 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:33.080 that there is huge momentum around reparations. There are so 0:19:33.160 --> 0:19:35.879 many municipalities throughout the country, including the City of. 0:19:35.880 --> 0:19:38.960 Boston, and have reparations to task forces. 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.200 There are so many municipalities that are now actively doing 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:46.280 the work of redress and reparations is not just about 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:46.800 a check. 0:19:47.240 --> 0:19:50.080 So let me just quickly explain HR forty. 0:19:50.200 --> 0:19:53.680 It is to It is an eighteen month process, so it. 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:55.639 Does have a finite end. Okay. 0:19:56.200 --> 0:19:59.160 There are people that are appointed to this federal commission 0:19:59.160 --> 0:20:02.840 that we want to ASTABT published fifteen members in total 0:20:03.600 --> 0:20:06.359 to examine and study the. 0:20:06.240 --> 0:20:12.360 Impacts of slavery to today, and then to offer up 0:20:12.720 --> 0:20:20.760 reparations proposals across all areas, so healthcare, housing, social, economic. 0:20:22.000 --> 0:20:23.919 So I know people will say, well, you know, what 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:24.680 do we need to study? 0:20:24.680 --> 0:20:28.920 You know we already we already know this, but no. 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:33.760 It's worth examination and study. We have more morementum than 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:34.520 ever before. 0:20:34.640 --> 0:20:37.639 In the last Congress, there were one hundred over one 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:40.000 hundred and twenty cosponsors for HR forty. 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:42.240 That's the most that we've that we've ever had. 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:44.840 I'm at about eighty right now, and I want to 0:20:44.840 --> 0:20:49.120 make sure that we exceed that original number to get 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:52.199 this to the floor for a vote. So I'm not 0:20:52.240 --> 0:20:55.040 in denial about the sobering landscape, but I think it 0:20:55.080 --> 0:20:58.200 is important while we are doing the work of blunting 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:01.520 these harms and mitigating harms, that we have to be 0:21:02.240 --> 0:21:06.600 proactively still advancing something. So I'm not just gonna take 0:21:06.680 --> 0:21:09.240 my lawmaking pain home because people are like, oh, it's 0:21:09.240 --> 0:21:12.320 gonna be hard, it could be impossible. 0:21:12.000 --> 0:21:14.640 Because I don't want to. I don't want to dis rock. 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.399 The momentum on the issue of reparation. 0:21:27.320 --> 0:21:29.400 You said a lot there, Congress women, but I tell 0:21:29.440 --> 0:21:33.560 you that what will live for me is the reality 0:21:33.600 --> 0:21:36.159 that when they are coming for us, we don't shrink 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.119 from that fight. We put a fight right back at them, 0:21:39.119 --> 0:21:40.560 and it's not going to be on their terms. It 0:21:40.600 --> 0:21:43.760 will be a fight determined by what is on our terms. 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:45.600 I know you've got a balance, but I am very 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:47.880 curious to pass this question on to you. That came 0:21:47.920 --> 0:21:50.840 to us from listeners, and quite frankly continuously comes to 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:55.240 us from listeners. And it's in this space of whether 0:21:55.320 --> 0:21:58.879 or not there are ways in which this Congress or 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:02.199 we as a peace people black folks can find common 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:05.720 cause with certain pieces of the Trump agenda. And I'm 0:22:05.760 --> 0:22:11.440 just curious to know how it is you measure where 0:22:11.480 --> 0:22:15.800 common cause might exist when such a foundational question around 0:22:15.880 --> 0:22:22.120