WEBVTT - DNC Shorts: LaTosha Brown

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<v Speaker 1>Native Lamb Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership

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<v Speaker 1>with Resent Choice Media. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome, Hey, fam You're about to hear a replay of

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<v Speaker 2>one of our interviews from our live stream at the

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<v Speaker 2>Democratic National Convention. If you want to listen to or

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<v Speaker 2>watch the full stream, check out the links in the

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<v Speaker 2>episode description. You can also find a full list of

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<v Speaker 2>all the guests we interviewed. Welcome home, y'all to help

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<v Speaker 2>us talk about that future and how we continue to

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<v Speaker 2>to not just honor, but to support and to build

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<v Speaker 2>infrastructure in communities of color and to the rising majority.

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<v Speaker 2>As Tivany Cross always says, is Latasha Brown matter.

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<v Speaker 3>We would love beautiful.

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<v Speaker 2>Of Native Lampid. We are thrilled to have Latasha Brown joining.

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<v Speaker 4>You hear.

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<v Speaker 1>As if you watch news, if you follow policies closely,

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<v Speaker 1>you know Latasha very well. She has an amazing voice.

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<v Speaker 1>But what I love about Latasha is you cannot tell

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<v Speaker 1>the story of America without talking about Latasha Brown and

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<v Speaker 1>the work that she does. We don't want to leave

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<v Speaker 1>out Cliff Albright as well as her partner and co

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<v Speaker 1>founder of Black Voters Matter, but Latasha you show up

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<v Speaker 1>when nobody calls.

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<v Speaker 2>That's right.

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<v Speaker 1>When Hurricane Katrina happened, nobody asked you. You just sprung

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<v Speaker 1>into action and you love everybody. But you love black

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<v Speaker 1>folks like you love yourself.

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<v Speaker 2>And it is just amazing to be the ancestors spirit.

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<v Speaker 5>Yes, yeah, but in a young that's missionary.

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<v Speaker 1>Ethereal to the spirits. She's an impact, she's our deity.

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<v Speaker 3>She's definitely yes herself and an evangelist, warrior, shaman, things

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<v Speaker 3>the things only.

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<v Speaker 5>Welcome Sys, Thank you.

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<v Speaker 4>I am at the Native Pod. I'm just happy to

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<v Speaker 4>be here in Native This is our land, this is

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<v Speaker 4>out and I feel that, I feel the spirit. I'm

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<v Speaker 4>so proud of y'all. I love each and every one

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<v Speaker 4>of you. Like every week I'm listening because I was like, listen,

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<v Speaker 4>let me get grounded, let me get right. I was like,

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<v Speaker 4>Angela gonna bring some fire and some spice on it.

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<v Speaker 4>Typically gonna like, look, well, I'm just saying, and literally,

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<v Speaker 4>my brother is always I'm gonna be the voice of

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<v Speaker 4>reason until I I.

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<v Speaker 2>Love that you are doing the people's work. And it

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<v Speaker 2>is always our honor not only to lift you up

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<v Speaker 2>and to encourage you, but anytime you call on us,

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<v Speaker 2>we want to be there with you. I'll never forget

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<v Speaker 2>and t If, I hope you don't mind me telling

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<v Speaker 2>this story. We're on the other side of you know

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<v Speaker 2>what MSNBC Digitif and we knew there was no other

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<v Speaker 2>place we should be, but in Atlanta, next to you,

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<v Speaker 2>working with you, and I remember like the people that

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<v Speaker 2>you pour into, pouring back into Tiffany talk about why

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<v Speaker 2>the work of black voters matter is so critical, especially

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<v Speaker 2>in a moment like this.

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<v Speaker 4>You know, I think that it's important for us to

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<v Speaker 4>recognize that if change is to happen, if we're going

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<v Speaker 4>to have the nation that we desire, we deserve and

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<v Speaker 4>we're going to have to create it. So we've got

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<v Speaker 4>to generate it. And the way that we generated, we're

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<v Speaker 4>gonna have to generate it. Really, it has to be strategy.

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<v Speaker 4>We need strategy, right, But it's not just been strategy

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<v Speaker 4>that's moved us forward. It's been spirit. It's been strategy

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<v Speaker 4>and the spirit, the spirit and the ancestors, the spirit

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<v Speaker 4>of resistance, the spirit of freedom, the spirit of love,

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<v Speaker 4>like loving each other when we haven't had anything else,

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<v Speaker 4>when we didn't have money, when we didn't have land,

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<v Speaker 4>when we didn't have kind of the politics. What we

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<v Speaker 4>had is we had this sense of self and the

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<v Speaker 4>love of each other that would actually take us through.

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<v Speaker 4>And so for us with Black Voters Matter, we wanted

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<v Speaker 4>to create an organization that was unapologetic about being black.

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<v Speaker 4>Right we ride around in a big bus, a fifty

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<v Speaker 4>eight foot bus and say we're in the blackest bus

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<v Speaker 4>in America. We wanted to own and affirm that and

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<v Speaker 4>not just say that we're participating in the election, because

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<v Speaker 4>we're really not in election group. We're a power building group.

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<v Speaker 4>We're real clear that all the work that we're doing

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<v Speaker 4>is really about how do we build power for black folks.

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<v Speaker 4>And when people are talking about voting, yes, voting is

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<v Speaker 4>one key, you know, and is a very very powerful tool,

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<v Speaker 4>but it's also a space of when you own your agency.

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<v Speaker 4>There's something about voting that's really about owning your agency

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<v Speaker 4>that if a decision is being made about me and mine,

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<v Speaker 4>I need to be a part of that process, right

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<v Speaker 4>that that's fundamentally you know. And also we've got to

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<v Speaker 4>have this space around when people are actually hurting and

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<v Speaker 4>harming our communities, there has to be a consequence. So

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<v Speaker 4>you can't continue to serve in the office and hurt

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<v Speaker 4>and harm us. We've got to send a message loud

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<v Speaker 4>and clear like this, this ain't going down like that, right.

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<v Speaker 4>But also to create space, create space if there's nothing

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<v Speaker 4>else for harm reduction, to reduce the harm happening to us,

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<v Speaker 4>to actually work collectively together and really move towards a vision,

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<v Speaker 4>a collective vision. So that's the work that we do

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<v Speaker 4>and that's why we do it. You know, if you

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<v Speaker 4>want to the three things, I call it three ms.

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<v Speaker 4>The three things we do is money, it's movement building,

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<v Speaker 4>and it's message. In the last seven years, we've really

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<v Speaker 4>been blessed. One of the things that we always would

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<v Speaker 4>sitting around and were like, how could we invest in

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<v Speaker 4>black communities. We've invested over forty I think as of now,

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<v Speaker 4>I think it's over forty one million dollars and black

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<v Speaker 4>leg grassroot groups in the last six years. In the

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<v Speaker 4>last six years to do power building. That's everything from reparations,

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<v Speaker 4>organizing around reparations, to organizing around police accountability, to actually

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<v Speaker 4>do an election work to referendums. At the end of

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<v Speaker 4>the day, how black communities define what power building is

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<v Speaker 4>for them. We want to be in alignment with them

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<v Speaker 4>and support them around that. In addition that we also

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<v Speaker 4>know that the message matters. That's why I'm so happy

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<v Speaker 4>you all are doing this podcast. We need black media,

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<v Speaker 4>We need places like this. I want if I had

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<v Speaker 4>all the money in the world right when I hear

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<v Speaker 4>the lottery, I promise y'all that my first investment is

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<v Speaker 4>going to be this podcast right here, right because the

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<v Speaker 4>world needs to hear your voices. I have clarity, and

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<v Speaker 4>I'm just really really grateful to be in relationship with you.

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<v Speaker 5>You know what. I just first of all, everything you

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<v Speaker 5>said cosan, love love, love, that whole investment piece at

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<v Speaker 5>the end, they're true. Yeah, yeah, But I have to

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<v Speaker 5>tell you I am in all of your mission vision

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<v Speaker 5>and the fact that you're defining yourself outside of any

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<v Speaker 5>election cycle. So often donors and media and others like

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<v Speaker 5>to put organizing in the black community and the bucket

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<v Speaker 5>of election turnout and what's happening with the black vote

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<v Speaker 5>and the da da da da da, And you're saying, no, no, no,

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<v Speaker 5>that's not the box that we're We're not in an

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<v Speaker 5>any box. And what I have to say, as a

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<v Speaker 5>person who had run for office and have gone to

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<v Speaker 5>the communities where we have felt really disempowered, really not

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<v Speaker 5>invested in, really not seen. It's groups and efforts like

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<v Speaker 5>yours who were there before the election after the election,

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<v Speaker 5>putting pieces back together and renewing in people a belief

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<v Speaker 5>a system that they're not some commodity to be traded

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<v Speaker 5>on that right, but rather we're an investment to be made.

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<v Speaker 5>We are a community that gives, we feel, we love,

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<v Speaker 5>we breathe, we have disappointments, we have ups, we have downs.

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<v Speaker 5>And what you're doing is you're helping. You're helping to

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<v Speaker 5>give that greater credibility, and hopefully what it will do

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<v Speaker 5>is recruit greater investment in our community that is there

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<v Speaker 5>outside of anybody's election cycle. Because if we do that

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<v Speaker 5>work and people start to believe that that's how change

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<v Speaker 5>gets created, that this is an element of the change

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<v Speaker 5>that we're trying to see, then I have to believe

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<v Speaker 5>that we won't need the investment of these short term

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<v Speaker 5>voter registration turn out projects why because the work will

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<v Speaker 5>be there three sixty five. And I'm just curious, before

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<v Speaker 5>we go to our other bad age over here, is

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<v Speaker 5>that how are you experiencing the donor class as it

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<v Speaker 5>relates to investing in that kind of move.

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<v Speaker 1>Largely white male donor.

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<v Speaker 4>Part of what we actually decided that when we started

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<v Speaker 4>the organization, I just want to be honest, Cliff and

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<v Speaker 4>I we always tell the story we quit our jobs

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<v Speaker 4>and we started the organizationation. We had the idea that

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<v Speaker 4>we wanted to create. The name is actually Black Voters

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<v Speaker 4>Matter Fund. We were very intentional from the beginning that

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<v Speaker 4>has organized us for multiple decades. That part of the

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<v Speaker 4>challenge we had sometimes when there was an election or

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<v Speaker 4>there wasn't There was an election happening, but if the

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<v Speaker 4>candidate did not invest in the campaign or a party,

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<v Speaker 4>there were no resources, but it mattered, It mattered who

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<v Speaker 4>was kount of commissioner, it mattered who the sheriff was,

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<v Speaker 4>but there were no resources available if the party or

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<v Speaker 4>candidate wasn't put it in there. And we were like,

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<v Speaker 4>our power should not be tied into whether a candidate

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<v Speaker 4>believes that that is important enough. We've got to find

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<v Speaker 4>a way that the candidate that we're running for, the

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<v Speaker 4>candidate that we're doing our work for, the candidate that

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<v Speaker 4>is ongoing is black power. We wanted to be very

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<v Speaker 4>intentional about being black. That's what our colors are our

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<v Speaker 4>colors ain't red, white and blue. I know that this

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<v Speaker 4>is pretty around, is pretty right, but our colors are red, black,

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<v Speaker 4>and green.

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<v Speaker 5>Right.

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<v Speaker 4>That we wanted to literally lift up and have a

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<v Speaker 4>foundation around black liberation and be unapologetic with it, so

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<v Speaker 4>that our alignment wasn't with a political party or political candidate.

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<v Speaker 4>Our alignment was really around how do we help black

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<v Speaker 4>folks as they define build power in their local communities.

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<v Speaker 4>And if we do that enough and we're connecting that enough,

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<v Speaker 4>and we get black folks just to believe in their

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<v Speaker 4>own power just that point black period. If black people

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<v Speaker 4>believe in our own power, what we have shown is

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<v Speaker 4>we will change this nation. We have everything that we

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<v Speaker 4>have stood in the space of our power, even whether

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<v Speaker 4>whether we had the majority of numbers or not, we

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<v Speaker 4>have created change. And so that's what we wanted to

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<v Speaker 4>literally build off the rich history of that, the real

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<v Speaker 4>history of struggle, a spirit, a strategy, and putting those

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<v Speaker 4>things together really to advance not just black liberation for us,

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<v Speaker 4>because I actually fundamentally to believe that all people will

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<v Speaker 4>actually benefit from black liberation if you lift up those

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<v Speaker 4>communities that are on the fringes, those communities that have

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<v Speaker 4>been marginalized. Then it has always made life better for

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<v Speaker 4>all of us. When black folks fight for housing white

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<v Speaker 4>acount of parts. Everybody benefits from housing. So that's what

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<v Speaker 4>I mentioned, is that's our dream. And we're just really

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<v Speaker 4>grateful to be in service of the ancestors. We are

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<v Speaker 4>grateful to be in service of our people. We are

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<v Speaker 4>grateful to go around and say in this space right now,

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<v Speaker 4>baby be clear, we'll be bowl beautiful and.

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<v Speaker 2>Black on the road with you. Let's have some work

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<v Speaker 2>to do, including always building black house.

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<v Speaker 1>All right, thanks for listening, you guys, Please please please

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<v Speaker 1>remember to rate, review, subscribe, and tune into our regular

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<v Speaker 1>episode on Thursdays. Welcome Home, y'all.

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<v Speaker 2>Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with

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