WEBVTT - Black to the Future 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.280 Malik Books has all the knowledge you want, my league, 0:00:03.320 --> 0:00:06.920 but has all the knowledge you need chat. 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.360 They have all the books that the whole wild world 0:00:09.400 --> 0:00:15.760 one of breed Malague Books. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to Malik's Bookshelf, 0:00:16.000 --> 0:00:21.720 bringing a world together with books, culture and community. Hi, 0:00:22.040 --> 0:00:26.760 my name is Malik, your host of Malik's Bookshelf. WHOA 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:29.680 you know I'm the hype Man of books. That's right, 0:00:29.880 --> 0:00:33.880 this is Malik, the hype Man of books. I'm passionate. 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:36.640 I love what I do and I do it with 0:00:36.720 --> 0:00:41.760 a passion. So I've been nicknamed the hype Man of books. 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:48.080 So hey, this particular episode is going to be Black 0:00:48.440 --> 0:00:52.080 to the Future. I was on a panel and that 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:57.360 was the title of the conversation, black to the Future. 0:00:57.680 --> 0:01:02.640 Now on this conversation took place back in Black History 0:01:02.720 --> 0:01:03.880 Month in February. 0:01:04.200 --> 0:01:06.119 But nevertheless, I. 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:11.880 Need to feature this episode, this conversation a planel. I 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:15.920 was on there with a represented from Snapchat, a couple 0:01:16.000 --> 0:01:17.360 other community. 0:01:18.640 --> 0:01:19.360 Panelists. 0:01:19.760 --> 0:01:23.160 I don't remember the names, but they're listed on this 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:29.520 particular episode in the introduction. But the community that hosted this, well, 0:01:29.600 --> 0:01:33.200 the Foundation in Los Session is the host of this 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:42.479 is called California Community Foundation calfun dot or. They're located 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:49.760 downtown Los Angeles. A prolific polantary organization. This foundation helps education, 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:56.080 helps homeless, sheltered housing, They help in social justice, all 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:57.040 kinds of things they do. 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:58.600 They got their hands in a lot of things. 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:01.920 Well anyway, but Leek, the heype man of books, was 0:02:02.000 --> 0:02:06.920 invited as a panelist and it was called Black to 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:11.640 the Future, and I had a wonderful time. I just 0:02:11.919 --> 0:02:15.640 talked about what I thought about the future of Los 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:21.919 Angeles and community and so it was a wonderful, wonderful 0:02:22.000 --> 0:02:25.919 panel and I'm on to feature that on this episode. 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:28.840 And guess what I got paid. 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:33.280 That's right, I received the honorarium to one of my 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:41.320 favorite nonprofit organizations, the Cresader Praise Scott Scholarship Fund, that 0:02:41.480 --> 0:02:46.720 promotes education and scholarship to freshmen and in the college. 0:02:47.240 --> 0:02:53.240 So I donated my honorarium to the Crusader Praise Scott 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:59.040 Scholarship Fund. Thank you, California Community Foundation c c F. 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:05.280 Thank you appreciate you considering Elik Books to be on 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:10.399 a panel with so many other activists having a conversation 0:03:10.760 --> 0:03:16.119 about Black to the Future. Hey, I got paid during 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.600 Black History Month on a few honor rivers, I received 0:03:20.480 --> 0:03:24.840 paid to hear Melik the hype Man of Bucks. Hey you, 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.519 So I'm just grateful, appreciative, and I'm just really getting 0:03:28.520 --> 0:03:30.800 paid to speak my heart and my thoughts. 0:03:31.240 --> 0:03:35.000 So thank you. I hope to do more. I'm looking 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:36.040 for more invites. 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.760 So if you want the hype Man of books, give 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:42.200 me a call three two three five one three five 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:45.080 three five eight. Now that's a direct number to get 0:03:45.400 --> 0:03:49.320 straight direct to the hype Man of books, Malik the 0:03:49.520 --> 0:03:52.680 hype Man of Books. Or you could just email me 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:58.119 at Malik at malikbooks dot com. That's right, Malik at 0:03:58.160 --> 0:04:02.400 malikbooks dot com. If you look at Malik the hype 0:04:02.480 --> 0:04:06.240 Man of Books, give me a jingle, give me an 0:04:06.240 --> 0:04:12.360 email reach out. I'm available, So enjoy this episode. Block 0:04:12.840 --> 0:04:13.920 to the Future. 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:22.240 We've invited four Afro futurists to come and speak to 0:04:22.480 --> 0:04:26.320 the future of the black community. We have Jason Cocket 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:28.080 from Staffing, So I'm gonna ask them to come on 0:04:28.240 --> 0:04:31.400 up and uh NBC it right here because I'm gonna 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:32.320 do a quick transition. 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:34.240 Malik Muhammad from Malik Books. 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:36.000 You can give them around them a ball. 0:04:37.200 --> 0:04:38.320 You haven't learned that a lot of. 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:44.400 Work work restauranting for the new Foundation. 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:55.159 And Kristen, we are moderator today, so I am happy 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:57.080 to turn it over. 0:04:56.839 --> 0:05:06.640 To christ Thank you all so much for being here. 0:05:06.760 --> 0:05:09.560 I see everybody's plates are getting empty. 0:05:09.600 --> 0:05:11.599 I'm sure everybody is enjoying the food. 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:15.159 I wanna just give it up again before the uh CCF. 0:05:15.160 --> 0:05:17.800 I believe African Diaspora k UH committee. 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:19.640 It's an amazing petram. 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:23.839 I will say, I've done a lot of things like 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:26.719 this and I haven't had uh. I haven't seen so 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.159 much thought going to just not only just the food, 0:05:29.440 --> 0:05:30.720 but the opening presentation. 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.600 We've got food, we've got music. The energy is flowing. 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:37.080 So today we're really here to have a conversation and 0:05:37.160 --> 0:05:38.360 beat in conversation. 0:05:39.200 --> 0:05:40.559 Our goal is that this is flow. 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:42.159 Is kind of like we're family at this point. 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.960 We're breaking bread, we're eating together, so I hope that 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:47.479 we can just jump into it. I will hear from 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:51.480 our esteem panelists today, so I'm excited for them to 0:05:51.560 --> 0:05:53.960 tell you all about their perspectives on Black. 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:54.839 La from where they sit. 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:56.960 And then we're gonna hear from you all, really hear 0:05:57.000 --> 0:06:00.000 from you on any questions that you have for the panel, 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:02.400 and then we will be on our way for the 0:06:02.440 --> 0:06:03.840 evening or the the rest of the day. 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:04.880 Y'all still have to work. 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:08.760 Right, I know, I I know what the food it 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:09.200 might be. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:10.920 A little hard. You don't have to like go take 0:06:10.960 --> 0:06:11.560 a walk. 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:13.279 Around, shake shake it off. 0:06:13.360 --> 0:06:16.719 But I hope everyone's feeling really nursed and full. 0:06:16.920 --> 0:06:19.360 So thank you all again. We're gonna go ahead and 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:20.159 jump into it. 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:23.560 You know, I think we want to start with just 0:06:23.600 --> 0:06:26.960 talking about what is the state of black la And 0:06:27.279 --> 0:06:31.000 when I sat with this question, you know, immediately my 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:35.320 brain wanted to go to statistics about, well, how much 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:37.479 how many folks are still black folks are still in 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.719 Los Angeles right, how have the numbers dwindled over the 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:43.600 years and over the decade at this point. How many 0:06:43.640 --> 0:06:46.360 black folks are sleeping on the streets in Los Angeles today, 0:06:46.800 --> 0:06:50.600 how many black folks are experiencing prosperity and opportunity, how 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:51.520 many black folks. 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.000 Are still living in some of our little wealthier, middle. 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:57.120 Class neighborhoods in black Los Angeles like View Park and 0:06:57.200 --> 0:06:58.000 Winter Hills. 0:06:59.000 --> 0:07:00.560 And I wanted to do all, you know, come with 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:02.400 all these statistics, but I figured. 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.400 It would be really an opportunity to share a little 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:08.160 bit about who I am and how I got here 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:10.760 and how that really helps to tell the story of 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.680 Black LA. So I'm Christine Gordon, a current principle with 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:15.840 Gloom Strategies. 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:18.200 We're a creative social impact company. 0:07:18.800 --> 0:07:21.080 But that's not really where my story starts. I am 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:26.520 a fourth generation Angelino. My family, originally my paternal side 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:28.400 of my family, came to Los Angeles in the early 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:31.320 nineteen hundreds at a time where there were black folks 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.840 starting to move to Los Angeles, but they weren't massive 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.400 in numbers, but they were massive in influence and power. 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:40.440 This is really a time period in Black LA where they. 0:07:40.320 --> 0:07:42.760 Start to put their foot down, they start to buy 0:07:42.840 --> 0:07:45.960 real estate, and we hear stories about the matriarch of Black. 0:07:45.680 --> 0:07:47.520 Los Angeles, Bibby Mason. 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.600 Right, a black woman who was able to get her 0:07:49.640 --> 0:07:51.840 freedom and to be able to buy real estate, and 0:07:51.880 --> 0:07:54.040 what we know today is downtown Los Angeles. 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:54.920 And Beverly Hills. 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.200 I was LAUSD educated and I never heard that story 0:07:58.240 --> 0:07:59.119 until I was an adult. 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.720 So that's just a another note for a different day. 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:05.520 But I say that to say that that was a really. 0:08:05.280 --> 0:08:08.480 Pivotal time in Los Angeles for black folks who were 0:08:08.680 --> 0:08:12.960 fleeing the South, fleeing really oppressive conditions, coming and seeking better, 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:16.880 seeking the Sunshine State, seeking something different, and they dared 0:08:16.880 --> 0:08:19.760 to dream, they dared to see something different than what. 0:08:19.760 --> 0:08:21.840 Was in front of them. And when they got here, 0:08:22.160 --> 0:08:24.880 they did their best to prosper. And at that time, 0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:26.640 interesting enough, because. 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.040 They were smaller in numbers, folks kind of let them 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.280 do their thing right. They weren't intimidated by that, they 0:08:31.280 --> 0:08:34.200 weren't worried. Of course, you know, racism is ever present 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:34.800 in this country. 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:36.920 It is always around the corner. 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:38.800 But they were really able to establish some. 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:42.160 Of the key institutions that still are thriving in Black 0:08:42.280 --> 0:08:42.840 la today. 0:08:44.559 --> 0:08:46.319 My family during the second. 0:08:46.040 --> 0:08:47.720 Wave of the Great Migration, so I was with my 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:52.320 great great grandparents. My great grandparents on my maternal. 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:56.000 Side came from Mississippi in the nineteen fifties, around the 0:08:56.000 --> 0:08:58.760 same time a lot of black folks were moving, fleeing the. 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.600 South, and when we know it is a great migration. 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:03.480 And when they came, one of my aunts came first. 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:06.840 She established herself and she bought this property off of 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:10.200 Central Ad and sixtieth Street, and that's important because at 0:09:10.240 --> 0:09:11.880 that time that was one of the only places in 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:12.800 the city that black. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:13.240 Folks could live. 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:13.680 Right. 0:09:14.040 --> 0:09:16.079 We had racial restrictive covenant still in. 0:09:16.080 --> 0:09:18.480 Place at that time, and so where we could be 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:20.120 and where we could move freely. 0:09:20.360 --> 0:09:22.720 Was dictated by laws and policies. 0:09:23.360 --> 0:09:27.319 And when she came, she's established herself and she bought 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:28.760 this kind of house in the front. 0:09:28.840 --> 0:09:30.240 She had this house in the back. 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:33.120 And my family established what they called the Sunshine Club. 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:35.600 And I learned this story a few years ago. The 0:09:35.640 --> 0:09:37.560 Sunshine Club was a pulled. 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:41.280 Fund that my great grandparents and their cousins and all 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.959 the members of the church put money into to send 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:46.160 money back to folks down south so. 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.280 They could come to la and establish themselves. 0:09:49.280 --> 0:09:52.800 And that was pivotal because you could come, you would come, 0:09:53.160 --> 0:09:55.040 you would stay in the back end Myrtle's house off 0:09:55.080 --> 0:09:55.680 sixtieth in. 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.000 Central, get what you. 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:58.160 Need, get the job that. 0:09:58.160 --> 0:10:00.840 You need, get on your feet, get a little money 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:02.080 in your pocket, and then. 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:04.120 Go off and be able to buy or get your 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:04.800 own apartment. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:05.160 Right. 0:10:05.640 --> 0:10:10.440 So really an effort of collective community and shared resources. 0:10:09.840 --> 0:10:12.480 Being able to help folks establish themselves. 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.599 And that story is very similar to our Latino brothers. 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:18.920 And sistrits who are also fleeing violence in places as 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:20.880 they come here to LA as well. And so I 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.240 think there's always opportunities for intersection how our stories reach 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:29.400 each other. But they did that, and what we now 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:31.120 know today is the Crenshaw. 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:31.760 District and community. 0:10:32.840 --> 0:10:36.960 My family moved, well, they're still in off of Central Avenue, 0:10:37.000 --> 0:10:39.800 but really established themselves and what is the Crenshaw District 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.480 today which is currently really considered the heart of black 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.880 Los Angeles. And that was because racial restrictive covenants were 0:10:45.880 --> 0:10:48.800 lifted and they were able to choose to list somewhere 0:10:48.800 --> 0:10:51.240 else right, And that's kind of where folks decides to populate. 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.719 I say that to say really that since then, I've 0:10:54.760 --> 0:10:57.559 grown up in that community. I went to Lulu Washington 0:10:57.640 --> 0:11:02.000 Dan's School in that community, went to Amazing Grace Conservator Conservatory, 0:11:02.040 --> 0:11:02.439 which is. 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.079 An acting school in that community. 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.000 I went to LAUSD Schools and by high school, my 0:11:07.080 --> 0:11:07.520 parents were like. 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:08.120 We're not doing that. 0:11:08.200 --> 0:11:10.600 You're going to a private Catholic school. 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:14.280 But who I am today and who I sit before 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:18.559 you today is really at the work of both my ancestors, 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:24.040 my grandparents, my parents, but more pop importantly, in political 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.520 and social environment in Black Los Angeles that nurtured. 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:29.640 And allowed Black folks to come. 0:11:29.440 --> 0:11:32.760 And fight to make a place for themselves in the city. 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:36.240 And so I don't sit here with accolades just because 0:11:36.400 --> 0:11:37.280 I'm so awesome. 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:43.960 I sit here because I have people who have cared 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:45.839 about being in the community that has nurtured me. 0:11:46.000 --> 0:11:48.880 And institutions that have been able to stand up for 0:11:49.080 --> 0:11:53.319 decades to water and nurture a generation of Angelinos who 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:56.200 now get to show up today and talk about what 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:57.040 the future. 0:11:56.720 --> 0:11:58.360 Of Black Los Angeles is going to be. 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.400 And when I think about Black Los Angeles today, to me, 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:03.560 the story feels the same. 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.080 A lot of opportunity and a lot of restrictions, a 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:11.120 lot of parting, a lot of barriers in the way. 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:16.000 And when I think about that Sunshine Club, there were 0:12:16.080 --> 0:12:19.040 still so many things that allow black folks to be 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:20.920 able to kind of lean on one another for more 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.360 assistants or social fabrics who are a lot tighter. 0:12:23.520 --> 0:12:24.640 There were institutions that. 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:29.480 Were supporting us, and now today things are only getting harder. Right, 0:12:29.880 --> 0:12:32.480 there's still a lot of opportunity to We're in Los Angeles, right, 0:12:32.480 --> 0:12:35.160 there's always a way to fit to figure it out. 0:12:35.280 --> 0:12:38.800 But when I talk to some of my friends, a 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:40.480 lot of them are moving, a lot of them are 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:45.400 going back South because it's too expensive. It's becoming so Burningsome. 0:12:45.880 --> 0:12:49.280 One of my grandaunts has moved to Las Vegas. 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:49.720 And that's great. 0:12:49.960 --> 0:12:52.240 Her rid is cheaper for her church is not there, 0:12:52.960 --> 0:12:53.880 her health care is not here. 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.240 She comes back to go to Kaiser just on a 0:12:57.280 --> 0:12:59.080 plane almost on a weekly basis. 0:12:59.200 --> 0:12:59.360 Right. 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:01.840 And so when I think about the state of Black 0:13:01.840 --> 0:13:04.280 Alley today, I housing is the first thing that I 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:06.560 think about, and not just vote for folks who are 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:08.920 currently housing struggling to be housed, but the amount of 0:13:08.960 --> 0:13:10.320 folks who are sleeping on. 0:13:10.200 --> 0:13:13.720 Our streets every night. And so I think we have 0:13:13.960 --> 0:13:14.920 a a lot of. 0:13:15.240 --> 0:13:18.720 Again opportunity though to lean on one another and be 0:13:18.800 --> 0:13:22.480 able to use our institutions, our resources, and our dollars. 0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:24.520 To strengthen and build a network for black Los Angeles. 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:26.920 But it is gonna take all of us, right, and 0:13:27.000 --> 0:13:29.920 it has and as history has shown, it has taken 0:13:29.960 --> 0:13:32.880 all of us. So with that being said, I wanna 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.760 really lean into our panelists and talk about from where 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:38.960 you sit, what is it going to take right to 0:13:39.080 --> 0:13:42.520 really ensure Black Los Angeles can continue to thrive the 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:44.880 way that it has. And Miss Tammy, I loves to 0:13:44.880 --> 0:13:48.199 start with you as we talk about you know, really 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:49.599 for philanthropy. 0:13:49.760 --> 0:13:52.840 What is the role that philanthropy plays and allowing Black 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:54.480 los Angeles to continue to blossom? 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:55.640 Thank you Christian. 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:58.880 When I think of black Los Angeles, I'm a product 0:13:58.880 --> 0:14:03.120 of Los Angeles many ways. Our family came to the fifties, 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:05.720 my mom on the second generation, my mother and father. 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:08.640 My mom is from Nashville, Tennessee, and my dad is 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:12.320 from Birmingham, Alabama. So yes, the food was dealished and 0:14:12.440 --> 0:14:14.360 I did have the hot sauce on it. 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:16.439 That's where I'm from. 0:14:16.640 --> 0:14:19.000 I went right in and made myself back home and 0:14:19.080 --> 0:14:22.280 then you have everything was very good. So what I've 0:14:22.400 --> 0:14:25.000 done over the years is really step back and take 0:14:25.040 --> 0:14:26.960 a look at how my brothers and sisters were raised 0:14:27.000 --> 0:14:30.080 in Los Angeles, and I was through community and it 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.240 was through family. Do you remember, well, some of you 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:34.000 guys are too young to know this, but if you 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:37.240 got in trouble on your way home from school, you 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.320 got in trouble by every neighbor in the neighborhood until 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:44.040 you made into your house. Because we treated the community 0:14:44.080 --> 0:14:46.960 as a village, and we were able. I went to 0:14:47.880 --> 0:14:51.120 ninety seventh Elementary s UH School in ninety seventh Street 0:14:51.160 --> 0:14:56.520 Elementary School, eighty seventh Street School, and then from there 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:58.720 we moved to Pumpton. So I've always been an Ella 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.880 County resident. Even though I work in Orange County Community Foundation, 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:04.640 I'm still a La County resident. 0:15:04.720 --> 0:15:06.800 I can't leave us, I can't go too far away. 0:15:07.560 --> 0:15:09.760 But one of the things that I think stands out 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:12.120 for me when I think about where we are in 0:15:12.840 --> 0:15:15.800 Black Los Angeles is it's gonna be a blend and 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.200 we have to be ready for it because there's so 0:15:18.240 --> 0:15:22.880 many different demographics and ethnic backgrounds here in California. 0:15:23.000 --> 0:15:26.480 Now, we can't just say that there's a Black Los. 0:15:26.280 --> 0:15:30.520 Angeles and I think of the LATINX, the Asian White, 0:15:30.560 --> 0:15:33.240 the other demographics, because we're all starting to blend into 0:15:33.280 --> 0:15:35.840 one community. But what we have to watch out for, 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.680 because I've noticed that this is a great mixed crowd. 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.600 When you're engaging and when you're working with African American people, 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:44.600 we have to remember now that the village is all 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:45.000 of us. 0:15:45.640 --> 0:15:47.240 And when you see that someone's not. 0:15:47.240 --> 0:15:50.160 Getting the same access and opportunity because now you'll see 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:54.280 it up close, because you're now in wounded communities. You 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.720 have to be ready to stand in and step up 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.120 and be allies. So what I see for Black Los 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:02.600 Angeles is not just us stepping up and continue to 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:06.360 push for equality, but I see a lot of allies 0:16:06.560 --> 0:16:11.160 that are going to be neighbors, church members, s, classmates, 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:14.000 you name it, social club. I don't know if many 0:16:14.080 --> 0:16:16.480 of you guys ever go over to uh golf. There's 0:16:16.520 --> 0:16:18.440 the new what is it sky? 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:20.520 What is it the sky? Is it the sky called 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:22.000 top God, new top Dog. 0:16:22.160 --> 0:16:24.960 Everybody's in one place, and so we have to figure 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:28.760 out how do we collectively continue to help the African 0:16:28.800 --> 0:16:30.240 American community. 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.440 Rise just to a place where we have. 0:16:32.520 --> 0:16:34.520 Same equal access opportunity. 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:37.280 And so the village to me is different to the 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:40.360 village is now all of us in this together, But 0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:42.520 we can't take the eye off of those that are 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:44.920 not given the same opportunity to access. So we're gonna 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:50.520 be a lot of allies to help us. 0:16:52.720 --> 0:16:55.400 My name is Bleek Cloud and founder and co owner 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:56.480 of Bleak Books. 0:16:57.400 --> 0:17:00.640 We should give being here to speak in to thank 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:04.000 the organization or inviten me too. 0:17:04.240 --> 0:17:04.320 This. 0:17:04.560 --> 0:17:09.800 I never saw myself doing these types of things, but I'm. 0:17:09.720 --> 0:17:12.440 Very grateful and thankful and appreciative. 0:17:13.720 --> 0:17:17.280 You know, growing up as we all at one point 0:17:17.760 --> 0:17:20.560 or with children and then we grow up to adults. 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:24.880 But I had oobia, I had speech impatterment, I had 0:17:25.280 --> 0:17:26.080 a lot of fear. 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:27.240 And what I've. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:32.080 Noticed is that in order to grow, you have to 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:34.680 challenge through those fears, whatever they might be. And that's 0:17:34.720 --> 0:17:37.960 what I've done. So that's why having this platform, they 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.080 would speaking about believe books, something I've been doing since 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:45.199 nineteen ninety. I've been serving the community with books, and 0:17:45.240 --> 0:17:49.520 I consider myself a book activist because I've impacted so 0:17:49.600 --> 0:17:54.480 many people over these decades. I've had women and men 0:17:56.720 --> 0:17:59.680 my age when I was came out of college. Now 0:17:59.760 --> 0:18:03.360 it's to you citizens. I've had children five six years 0:18:03.400 --> 0:18:06.840 old come to me as an adult now and appreciate 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:13.240 being in a place where we represented images that reflected 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:14.359 our community. 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.080 Because identity is very important. 0:18:17.280 --> 0:18:20.520 You know, we're talking about you know, Los Angeles and 0:18:19.960 --> 0:18:23.640 and and and it's important because my bookstores in Los Angeles, 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:26.720 we have several bookstores, one in the ball Else crunch 0:18:26.840 --> 0:18:30.520 Up Mall, one in of Fox Hills Mall. Now it's 0:18:30.560 --> 0:18:33.840 Westfield Coche City Wall. But I get this one question 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:34.360 all the time. 0:18:34.440 --> 0:18:36.960 They say what made you get into the book business? 0:18:37.520 --> 0:18:39.160 And I always say the same thing. 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.399 I had a degree from USC but I didn't have 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:46.639 a knowledge yourself. It is very important identity what I'm saying. 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:49.120 You have to love yourself first. 0:18:49.680 --> 0:18:51.879 You know when kids look at a picture, when you 0:18:51.920 --> 0:18:54.760 look at a picture, you first look for yourself. 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:56.800 What happens when you don't see yourself? 0:18:57.160 --> 0:19:00.600 When we talk about the future, right, and has to 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:01.680 see all of us right. 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.119 I grew up watching a lot of movies, and I 0:19:04.119 --> 0:19:04.639 didn't see a. 0:19:04.640 --> 0:19:06.880 Lot of us in those movies as a black man, 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.040 you know, I didn't see a future. I want to 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.440 start tracking went all over the universe, and I didn't 0:19:12.480 --> 0:19:14.320 see all they old black people in the universe. 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.400 I damage you can't not neither, and I lost star track. 0:19:18.520 --> 0:19:21.560 But at that time, when I was younger, I didn't 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:22.800 even think about that. 0:19:23.680 --> 0:19:27.200 But our youth is one other percent of our future, 0:19:27.800 --> 0:19:28.360 and it's. 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:32.440 Our job to impact them because we got the pastor 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:34.000 torch open to them. 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:37.760 We gotta make the new future leaders of tomorrow. 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:39.040 So I miss that. 0:19:39.119 --> 0:19:42.760 Milie books. It's to use books, and you see, books 0:19:42.840 --> 0:19:45.800 is just a part of art. Art is a. 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:49.000 Part of culture, and these are mediums that we have 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.760 to use to reach the master of the people. 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:55.960 But in the process you cannot lose your identity. 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:57.920 I was told by. 0:19:57.840 --> 0:20:01.800 A wise man like God made us in the tribes, 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:04.879