WEBVTT - Learn Before You Speak: Civics 101 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:00.880 I'm Tamika D. 0:00:01.000 --> 0:00:03.199 Mallory and itshit boy my son a general. 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:05.640 We are your host of TMI. 0:00:05.440 --> 0:00:10.080 Tamika and Mysan's Information, Truth, Motivation and Inspiration, New. 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:16.520 Name, New Energy. What's up, Family, it's your girl. Tamika D. 0:00:16.640 --> 0:00:18.239 Mallory and my son is. 0:00:18.160 --> 0:00:21.840 Celebrating his son's birthday today, so he is not with us. 0:00:22.079 --> 0:00:25.520 Uh and I decided that rather than skipping a week, 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:27.680 we don't have time to skip a week. We got 0:00:27.680 --> 0:00:30.280 one hundred days to an election. We are in the 0:00:30.320 --> 0:00:32.680 middle of a war for the soul, not only of 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.720 this nation, but for us, for our souls, for our 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:39.760 children's lives, for our future, and so we don't have 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:44.200 time to skip. We have to keep information on the air, 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.839 on the air waves and make sure that there is 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:50.800 a place that our people can go that we can 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:55.639 receive information, we can share information, and we also are 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:57.760 fact checking information to. 0:00:57.920 --> 0:01:01.320 Know that we are sure that we're sure that we're 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.120 sure that what we're saying is true. 0:01:04.640 --> 0:01:10.440 Even if even if what we're saying does not sit 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:15.360 well or make certain people comfortable, even if what we're 0:01:15.440 --> 0:01:20.720 saying goes against the audience, the crowd, the choir, still 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:24.880 it needs to be real and true information. And so 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:28.920 today I decided that I want to do something called 0:01:29.080 --> 0:01:32.440 Civix one oh one, and I've asked my friend to 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:36.319 join me to talk about everything that we need to 0:01:36.400 --> 0:01:40.199 know about how the government works. I hear so many 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:45.280 people and I read so many comments with misinformation, people 0:01:45.400 --> 0:01:49.960 talking about things in ways that I understand. I can 0:01:50.000 --> 0:01:53.720 hold on one hand, in one hand that they are struggling, 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.120 struggling with what's happening in the world, wanting to see 0:01:57.160 --> 0:02:00.480 a change, and I can hold on the other hand 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:05.360 that there are people who are repeating information that they 0:02:05.400 --> 0:02:10.040 have received, either from people that don't know, people who 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:13.280 don't want to know, or people who know damn well, 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:18.239 but they work very hard to misinform you. And so 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:20.720 I want to make sure over the next hundred days 0:02:20.960 --> 0:02:24.680 that we have folks on our show that can talk 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:28.720 and pinpoint and give us clear information that we all 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:31.160 need to be armed with so that we can make 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:35.800 whatever decision we choose to make in in November, that 0:02:35.880 --> 0:02:38.440 the decision is made because we know that we know, 0:02:38.800 --> 0:02:41.120 and not because we heard on a clip on a 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:45.160 podcast somewhere that says something that is not the full 0:02:45.240 --> 0:02:49.720 context of what an individual is saying, so we're all 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:54.320 about peeling back the onion having a difficult conversations. Let 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:57.800 me talk a little bit about Sonya Massey. You know 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:01.480 my heart is completely broken at as an organizer. For 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:05.200 thirty years I've been doing this work. I'm forty four. 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.639 When I was fourteen, even before fourteen, I was in 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:11.720 the movement. But at fourteen years old, I was given 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:17.520 my first responsibility and I have been since then receiving 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:19.960 whether it was fifty dollars a week just to show 0:03:20.080 --> 0:03:23.200 up at a rally on every Saturday and help with 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:28.120 the organization, all the way to me actually receiving a 0:03:28.160 --> 0:03:31.240 real salary to do real work, and of course all 0:03:31.280 --> 0:03:35.080 that you all have followed in my journey for the 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:38.400 last several years. I've been in this work a long time. 0:03:38.560 --> 0:03:42.320 And guess what, Sonia Massi She's in the top five 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:46.400 of police shootings that I have ever, ever, ever witnessed 0:03:46.680 --> 0:03:49.960 to see what happened to this woman. And to be clear, 0:03:50.280 --> 0:03:53.640 I didn't even watch the point that the actual bullet 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.760 was out of the gun and into Sonia Massy. I 0:03:56.800 --> 0:03:59.520 did not watch the actual shots, but I know what 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:03.520 took place, and I have now been able to see 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:08.240 the blown up sort of the mockups of what took 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:12.920 place in that apartment. And it is traumatizing to know 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:19.640 that this sister said I'm sorry and suffered such an incredible, incredible, incredibly. 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:21.440 Painful, painful death. 0:04:21.640 --> 0:04:25.480 And now her children are experiencing this because at seventeen 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:28.880 and fifteen years old, not having their mother in their 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:33.000 life and then finding and knowing that how she died 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.920 is so graphic. And the whole world is now watching them, 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:39.359 and the whole world is looking for them to say 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.360 and leave. And thank God for Attorney Ben Krump, who 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:46.120 is there with the family doing all that he can 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:50.479 to ensure that justice is actually served. Listen, the same 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:56.279 state of Illinois, Lakwan McDonald was shot sixteen times, many 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.039 of those shots while he was laying on the ground. 0:04:59.400 --> 0:05:04.640 The office a responsible receive sixteen counts. He was convicted 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:09.160 and he only served three years. And so when people 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:14.160 ask us, why would folks in thirty five cities as 0:05:14.360 --> 0:05:19.040 happen as happened this weekend stood together throughout the day 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:23.200 and some will continue throughout this week to call attention 0:05:23.400 --> 0:05:27.279 to the murder of Sony and Massy. Why would you 0:05:27.360 --> 0:05:30.799 do that when an officer has been arrested, the officer 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:34.040 is in jail, being held without bail. 0:05:34.400 --> 0:05:37.280 That's it. That's what we fought for. No, that's not 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:38.160 what we fought for. 0:05:38.440 --> 0:05:43.040 We did fight to ensure that the process to accountability 0:05:43.360 --> 0:05:47.279 is not five years and six years and some drawn 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.559 out time period that allows for the people to calm down, 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:54.839 the tension to come down, and then for the system 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:59.640 to say that this particular officer is not charged with 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:04.120 any wrongdoing. That's we definitely fought to change that, and 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:08.000 it is still not a process across the country that 0:06:08.200 --> 0:06:13.960 happens the same way. In this situation, the circumstances are 0:06:14.040 --> 0:06:16.920 so clear that I don't think that this particular police 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:20.479 department could do anything else. But I don't trust them. 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.320 I don't trust them at all. And so if we 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:28.320 know that this officer who killed lecran McDonald received only 0:06:28.520 --> 0:06:32.560 only served three years, then I think it should be 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:35.320 said that we have to stay on the wall for 0:06:35.600 --> 0:06:39.599 justice for our sister Sonya Massi and never go home 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:41.960 because we know that getting justice for a black woman 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:46.039 is extremely difficult. Getting justice for a black woman is 0:06:46.040 --> 0:06:48.440 probably one of the hardest things that I do on 0:06:48.480 --> 0:06:52.560 a daily basis, and that does not mean again, that 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:57.840 does not mean again that black men are receiving some 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:03.520 some some some massive number in terms of justice in 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:08.520 police shootings and other times when black men are being brutalized. 0:07:08.839 --> 0:07:11.920 Certainly it doesn't mean that. But there is a difference 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:15.080 in terms of the groundswell and how you get people 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:18.560 to stay ignited and to stay in the movement. With 0:07:18.680 --> 0:07:22.800 black women, the poll is different. It is much more difficult. 0:07:22.920 --> 0:07:25.080 It is harder to get folks to sort of fall 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.800 in line. Usually when these incidents happen, people call me. 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:33.480 Everybody's calling me, celebrities, people calling me Sonia Massy. It 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:36.280 was okay, but to be quite honest, it was not 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:41.080 at the same level. And even the energy outside we 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:43.720 had to really pump it up to let people know 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:46.360 you made it here. I know you're tired, but we 0:07:46.560 --> 0:07:49.160 still have work to do to shout and make sure 0:07:49.200 --> 0:07:51.200 our voice is a loud enough for people to hear 0:07:51.320 --> 0:07:54.280 us all over the world. That what happened to Sonia 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:59.040 Massy is an abomination, and not only should the officer 0:07:59.120 --> 0:08:02.960 who shot her be held responsible, the officer who was 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:07.040 there inside the home should be held responsible as well, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:11.880 because his job is to protect people from criminals, and 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.880 his partner was the criminal. His partner was dishonorably discharged 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:21.720 from the armed forces. His partner moved around to six 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.960 different police departments in four years. His partner had on 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:30.960 his record DUIs and other major issues. His partner is 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:35.520 charged with allegations or has received allegations of everything from 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:41.160 lying on documents official documents to unlawfully tasing a young 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:44.600 black boy. He was the criminal in that situation, and 0:08:44.679 --> 0:08:47.440 I believe that the other officer should have turned his 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:50.760 weapon on him and told him drop your weapon right now, 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:54.400 because you are the criminal inside of this home. You 0:08:54.559 --> 0:08:57.400 are the person posing threat in his home. And it 0:08:57.520 --> 0:09:01.280 is my responsibility as an officer of the law, as 0:09:01.280 --> 0:09:04.480 someone who is here and my job is to protect 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:08.280 against those people who would prey on the innocent. That 0:09:08.520 --> 0:09:12.960 it was his job at that time to protect Sonia Massy. 0:09:13.200 --> 0:09:16.040 Because he didn't do it, I feel I charged him 0:09:16.520 --> 0:09:21.559 with her murder as well. So those are things that 0:09:21.600 --> 0:09:24.719 we need to know about Sonia Massy. The fight continues. 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:26.880 There will be much more coming. There will be court 0:09:26.960 --> 0:09:30.200 dates that folks need to attend because they will absolutely 0:09:30.280 --> 0:09:32.960 say that the officer fell threatened by the pot of 0:09:33.000 --> 0:09:36.000 water and by her saying, I rebuke you in the 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:39.439 name of Jesus. And as I said at our rally 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:43.480 this weekend, when people start talking about giving immunity to 0:09:43.520 --> 0:09:44.880 police officers, we have. 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:46.240 To rebuke that. 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.360 We have to rebuke that as a community and as 0:09:49.400 --> 0:09:52.920 a larger society. So we're going in the civics one 0:09:52.920 --> 0:09:56.359 oh one. That's what today is all about. And everything 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:58.840 I just talked about, there is a way that you 0:09:58.920 --> 0:10:01.079 can apply it, whether it's be to the George Floyd 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:05.160 Justison Policing Act and other bills that are out there 0:10:05.360 --> 0:10:09.560 where people have really been intentional about figuring out how 0:10:09.600 --> 0:10:16.120 we have less policing and more community safety measures. Much happening. 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.520 Much to hear about CIVIX one oh one. We're gonna 0:10:19.559 --> 0:10:23.240 hear right now from Bishop Leah Daughtry. Now, let me 0:10:23.280 --> 0:10:26.200 tell you why this sister is so important, because yes, 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:30.600 she does work within the Democratic Party one hundred percent. 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:31.840 Y'all folks that. 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:34.319 Are tied of the Democrats are going to say, oh, 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:36.600 I don't want to hear from a woman that's in 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:40.520 the Democratic Party. But this woman's family, where she comes from, 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:44.560 her lineage, her father for sure, and her mother. They 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:50.560 are true black power freedom fighters. I've watched her father, 0:10:51.000 --> 0:10:54.600 Chris cross this nation fighting for black people, being one 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:59.560 of the most intellectual, intelligent black men. He can preach, 0:10:59.720 --> 0:11:03.000 he can speak, he can teach, and his daughter comes 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:03.320 from that. 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:06.080 And I know her, I've known her for a long time. 0:11:06.600 --> 0:11:10.079 Sometimes she has to call me and say to Mi, ka, 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:13.160 let's talk about this because I heard you, I heard 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:15.840 what you said, and I feel you. But can we 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:19.600 level set. Sometimes she'll call me and say, I'm just 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.560 as upset as you are. Let's go harder, tell me 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.120 what the people are saying. Let me get out there 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.240 with you in the streets, and let me take this 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:31.600 information back. And so today I want Bishop Leon Daughtry 0:11:31.679 --> 0:11:34.320 to come on and talk to all of you about 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:39.200 the actual process for how Bill's moved for the civic 0:11:39.280 --> 0:11:43.120 engagement that we all should be involved in, and civics 0:11:43.120 --> 0:11:45.640 one on one today is extremely important to me. 0:11:45.840 --> 0:11:46.960 It's okay if you don't know. 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:49.120 I'm sure she'll say some things that I don't know, 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:51.520 and I know that I need to refresh myself all 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.160 the time. She talks about how she goes back to 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:57.560 read the Constitution, so that she can be clear. So 0:11:57.640 --> 0:12:00.120 it's okay. They didn't teach us, they didn't want us 0:12:00.160 --> 0:12:03.319 to know, but now we're going to educate ourselves. So 0:12:03.400 --> 0:12:07.079 gather around, get your children, get mama and daddy, whoever 0:12:07.120 --> 0:12:10.040 you think needs to hear this, and especially our black 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.080 men who need to hear the process so that we 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.840 can deal with alleviating the pain and the suffering that 0:12:16.880 --> 0:12:20.280 we see happening on the ground around this nation. All right, y'all, 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:24.480 bishoply A Daughterry, she's coming up right now. So as 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:27.840 I've said, you know, Bishop Lea daughtery is a mentor, 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.160 a big sister to me and someone that I have 0:12:31.320 --> 0:12:34.600 always admired, not just for her brilliance, because we're going 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:36.480 to get into that you all will be able to 0:12:36.679 --> 0:12:40.480 see and to learn more about her brilliance, but also 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.360 because of her commitment, no matter what space she's in 0:12:44.880 --> 0:12:47.719 to bridging the gap between those who may be in 0:12:47.760 --> 0:12:51.079 the streets, those who may be inside the system. Some 0:12:51.280 --> 0:12:56.000 radical voices, some voices that are more moderate. She knows 0:12:56.040 --> 0:13:00.680 how to bring everyone together. And it's always monitoring what 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.400 is happening with the younger sisters out here, and so 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:06.960 you know, everywhere I go, I praise Bishoplyadaughtry, but I 0:13:06.960 --> 0:13:08.640 want you all to meet her so you have an 0:13:08.679 --> 0:13:12.920 opportunity to know that there are folks out here who 0:13:13.280 --> 0:13:17.280 work within the system, if you will, that do a 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:20.000 hell of a job of fighting for us every single 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.720 day and speaking true to power. And so that's where 0:13:22.720 --> 0:13:25.719 she comes from. Like her parents would disown her if 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:29.720 she was not doing that inside a government and outside. 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.480 So Bishop Leadaughtry, thank you so much. I think it's 0:13:32.480 --> 0:13:34.440 okay for me to go ahead and call you Leah 0:13:34.440 --> 0:13:36.040 for the rest of the time that we are. 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:38.800 Together, but thank you for joining TMMI. 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:41.640 Thank you so much. To mek It is good to 0:13:41.720 --> 0:13:44.280 be with you, and you know how I love you 0:13:44.320 --> 0:13:47.280 and I so appreciate the work that you do every 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.600 day on behalf of our people, and so I'm happy 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.080 to be here and support you. 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:57.120 And Any's not with us today because he is celebrating 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.280 his son's thirteenth birthday. 0:14:01.120 --> 0:14:03.439 He left the girls to talk. 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:08.320 Right, okay, tell him, I said, Hey, of course, of course. 0:14:08.440 --> 0:14:12.080 All right, So before you came on, I've already told 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:16.960 people about Karen and Herbert Dorstry, okay, and I've already 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:21.840 explained to them. You know, your upbringing, just being raised 0:14:21.840 --> 0:14:27.280 with two not just freedom fighters, but black power freedom fighters. 0:14:27.280 --> 0:14:30.560 They still today to this second. 0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:35.120 Are individuals who you will find in their elderly days 0:14:35.600 --> 0:14:37.800 in the street if you call them and ask them 0:14:37.800 --> 0:14:40.720 to show up. In fact, I needed your dad to 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:42.840 do something for me, and he was like, I ain't 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:44.760 gonna be able to make it because I'm going to 0:14:44.960 --> 0:14:48.040 a prison. I go to this one prison and he 0:14:48.160 --> 0:14:50.720 works with the young men in there. He at this point, 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:52.840 how old is Revendoortree? 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:54.240 Ninety three? 0:14:54.840 --> 0:14:57.600 Ninety three years old? And this was the other day. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:59.760 By the way, I'm not talking about something I called 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.840 him two years ago. He literally is working inside of 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:08.640 prisons today at ninety three years old. This is someone 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:12.320 who I have heard say things that I'm like, oh 0:15:12.360 --> 0:15:15.480 my god, cover my mouth. Is he supposed to say 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.520 that in front of the governor, in front of presidents, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.280 in front of mayors, in front of all types of 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:25.520 elected officials, business leaders, and otherwise, and calling us out 0:15:25.600 --> 0:15:29.880 sometimes when we in the movement needed to get straight 0:15:30.000 --> 0:15:33.960 on our comings and goings and dealings. And I think that, 0:15:34.360 --> 0:15:37.080 you know, knowing that you come from someone like that, 0:15:37.360 --> 0:15:40.480 you have your own style, but you really have not 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:45.080 departed much from the upbringing of your parents and your mama. 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:48.320 She keep everybody street. So that's that. 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.600 So talk about that, your upbringing, and then just take 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:57.920 us right into how you have gone into politics. You 0:15:58.080 --> 0:16:02.160 now have assumed the position and after your father retired 0:16:02.720 --> 0:16:06.080 as the bishop of the House of the Lord Church, 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.920 and that's a huge responsibility. So I guess it would 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:12.880 be good to figure out later on. Why would you, 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:16.720 knowing that you was in the line for succession of 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:20.840 the church and to be a bishop, want to still 0:16:21.320 --> 0:16:25.040 be in politics dealing with the crazy stuff that goes on. 0:16:25.240 --> 0:16:26.680 So tell us all about it. 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.880 So well, thank you. My parents are eighty three and 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:34.200 ninety three. They are busy. We can barely keep up 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.280 with them, but you know they trained us well. I 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.600 have two sisters and a brother, and our first our 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:45.240 family model is love God, love the people. Serve God 0:16:45.400 --> 0:16:48.400 serve the people, and so that has been part of 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.720 our heart from the beginning. Our church is an activist 0:16:52.840 --> 0:16:56.080 church and has always been so, from the time that 0:16:56.120 --> 0:17:00.360 my grandfather founded that in nineteen twenty nine. I lead 0:17:00.400 --> 0:17:02.840 the church now, but I'm not the first woman. I'm 0:17:02.880 --> 0:17:07.240 the second woman. We had a presiding bishop in the fifties, 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:12.000 who was Yeah, when people weren't ordaining women. My grandfather was, 0:17:12.160 --> 0:17:15.439 and that she was the second presiding Minister. So I 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.800 always tell people I am from the radical revolutionary side 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.199 of Brooklyn. That's where I was born and raised. We 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:28.480 called ourselves nationalist pan Africanness, and that's my identity. I'm 0:17:28.480 --> 0:17:31.359 a Christian woman, i am nationalist, I'm pan African. I 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:34.239 love my people, and even in the roles that I 0:17:34.280 --> 0:17:38.520 have been blessed to walk into, my priority is what 0:17:38.640 --> 0:17:41.159 is this going to do to my people? How to 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:44.880 this affect my people? And you know, you walk into 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:48.840 these spaces that everybody walks into the room bringing something 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:51.560 with them, bringing all of who they are. And if 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:53.720 I bring all of who I am. I am Christian, 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:57.640 I'm Pentecostal, I am black, I am a woman, I 0:17:57.680 --> 0:18:01.840 am a radical revolutiontionary. That's how I was raised and 0:18:01.880 --> 0:18:04.520 that's who I bring. But that is also my power 0:18:05.359 --> 0:18:08.959 because I bring the people with me, and I interpret 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:12.159 for the room what the people want and need, and 0:18:12.200 --> 0:18:14.639 I interpret to the people what the room is saying, 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:17.400 and so we can figure out how we can move 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:22.360 together to help the people self actualized, to realize their 0:18:22.480 --> 0:18:25.720 version of the American dream, whatever that looks like, and 0:18:25.800 --> 0:18:27.680 to get the things they need to live full and 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:31.960 abundant lives. And that includes justice, that includes a freedom, 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:36.159 that includes economic equity, that includes all the things you know, 0:18:36.600 --> 0:18:40.040 good schools and clean water and safe streets. All of 0:18:40.080 --> 0:18:43.600 those things are critically needed, particularly in our communities. And 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:47.040 so my job is to help get that done in 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:48.120 the rooms where I. 0:18:48.080 --> 0:18:51.600 Am in the rooms, what would you say set you 0:18:51.720 --> 0:18:54.639 up to get in these rooms? I mean, you're a 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:58.280 girlfriend of mine, Timmy Raspberry, who we both know, works 0:18:58.359 --> 0:19:02.119 for Mayor Adams, and she just told me that recently. 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:05.000 She was like walking through the halls of city Hall 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.000 and there was your dad, like, hey, I need to 0:19:08.040 --> 0:19:08.600 see Eric. 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:12.800 You know, no appointment, no, none of that. He's passed. 0:19:12.800 --> 0:19:13.680 He's beyond that. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:16.679 And she said Eric was not there, The mayor was 0:19:16.720 --> 0:19:20.560 not there, but when she called him, he got on 0:19:20.840 --> 0:19:24.879 over there to city Hall to figure out what your 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:28.879 father needs to discuss. That's the type of that's you, 0:19:29.200 --> 0:19:32.320 that's your dad, that's his legacy. So what would you say, 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:35.880 set you up on the road to politics? 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:39.879 You know, our church was always a political entity. So 0:19:39.920 --> 0:19:42.480 if you were running for office, or you wanted to 0:19:42.520 --> 0:19:44.320 connect with folks, you came to the House of the 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:47.479 Lord because that's just where or it was the center 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:55.400 of activism in Brooklyn. And so seeing folks coming and going, 0:19:55.920 --> 0:20:00.240 and part of our theology is about how we help 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:03.119 people to live full and abundant lines by using what 0:20:03.200 --> 0:20:06.960 we have. And so that's not simply praying. That's how 0:20:06.960 --> 0:20:11.399 do you leverage the systems that impact our community in 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:13.840 order to change those systems for good. There are people 0:20:13.880 --> 0:20:17.160 who say change the system and the heart will change, 0:20:17.160 --> 0:20:19.080 and there people say change the heart and the systems 0:20:19.119 --> 0:20:21.720 will change. We believe we call it the imperative for 0:20:21.800 --> 0:20:24.520 a duel. For us, you have to do both seek 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:26.760 to change the heart, but seek to change the system. 0:20:27.200 --> 0:20:30.480 And so we were always encouraged to be politically active 0:20:30.920 --> 0:20:33.720 to understand what was happening around us. My father made 0:20:33.760 --> 0:20:36.840 us read the New York Times when we were When 0:20:36.880 --> 0:20:38.879 we learned how to read, we didn't understand any of it. 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:41.560 But that's okay. After a while we did, that's right, 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.439 and so we knew who the elected officials are and 0:20:44.440 --> 0:20:46.640 the people in our churches. That's part of our membership 0:20:46.680 --> 0:20:49.560 process to be registered to vote and to know who 0:20:49.600 --> 0:20:53.040 your elected officials are and how they represent you. Because 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:56.720 that concerns our tax status, that concerns the water that 0:20:56.760 --> 0:21:01.840 comes into the building, that concerns our our real estate holdings, 0:21:02.080 --> 0:21:05.840 that concerns the schools that our children, our members children 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.800 go to. All of that. So we just that was 0:21:08.920 --> 0:21:13.200 one prong of how we move systems, how we get 0:21:13.240 --> 0:21:15.400 people what they need to live the lives they want 0:21:15.440 --> 0:21:18.640 to live. Was politics. So I chose to go into politics. 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:22.040 My sisters are educators, and I chose that level. 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:24.160 How many of you, how many of you are there? 0:21:24.320 --> 0:21:27.520 There are four of us, so I'm the oldest, and 0:21:27.560 --> 0:21:31.120 then my sister Sharon runs out not for profit and 0:21:31.160 --> 0:21:34.080 my sister Dawn is a retired educator. And my brother 0:21:34.400 --> 0:21:38.480 just retired. He's an educator. He's also an attorney, was 0:21:38.480 --> 0:21:41.560 a public defender, and he said, I'm getting the kids 0:21:41.600 --> 0:21:43.879 too late. By the time I see them in court, 0:21:44.280 --> 0:21:47.200 it's too late. Let me be a teacher and try 0:21:47.240 --> 0:21:51.040 to get these boys before they even enter into the 0:21:51.040 --> 0:21:58.800 criminal justice system. Intentionality, yes, yes, intentionality. So that's I 0:21:58.880 --> 0:22:02.280 chose electoral politics because that's where I thought that I 0:22:02.280 --> 0:22:04.840 could help make a difference. And it was quite by accident, 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:08.240 I ended up interning for the Brooklyn Member of Congress, 0:22:08.359 --> 0:22:11.199 Ed Pounds, who then offered me a job, and so 0:22:11.280 --> 0:22:14.800 I moved to Washington, and I hated it and I 0:22:14.880 --> 0:22:16.760 wanted to be back in Brooklyn. So he and I 0:22:16.800 --> 0:22:18.760 had an arrangement where I would go back and forth 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:21.399 quite often, and from there I went to the Democratic 0:22:21.440 --> 0:22:24.679 Party and the rest. As they say, it's history, but 0:22:24.760 --> 0:22:30.040 it's really about how you use politics as one way 0:22:30.440 --> 0:22:34.440 to impact the lives of people, how you press those levers. 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:37.440 Because so much of what we're dealing with in our 0:22:37.480 --> 0:22:42.520 communities goes through some sort of electoral process. Somebody's making 0:22:42.560 --> 0:22:46.520 the decisions. And to the extent that elected officials are 0:22:46.560 --> 0:22:50.000 making the decisions, then we need to engage them and 0:22:50.160 --> 0:22:52.919 force them and press them to do what's right for 0:22:52.960 --> 0:22:53.479 our people. 0:22:53.960 --> 0:22:56.359 Forcing and pressing. We'll talk about that in a moment. 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:59.000 But you said, and then off to the Democratic Party. 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:03.240 Can you please folks about all of the prestigious positions 0:23:03.280 --> 0:23:05.919 that you have held within the Democratic Party. 0:23:06.760 --> 0:23:09.879 Oh? Yes, I have been chief of staff at the 0:23:09.880 --> 0:23:14.560 Democratic Party, working under both Governor Terry mccauliffe and Governor 0:23:14.600 --> 0:23:19.040 Howard Dean. I have been CEO of the Democratic Convention. 0:23:19.200 --> 0:23:22.399 I'm the only person to have been CEO twice, and 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:26.080 I produced the two thousand and eight Convention, which was 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:29.399 Barack Obama's convention, and the twenty sixteen Convention, which was 0:23:29.440 --> 0:23:35.439 Hillary Clinton's convention. And presently I'm serving as chair of 0:23:35.480 --> 0:23:38.480