WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 091022 2-Year Anniversary Episode (Part 2) 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:00.920 And now. 0:00:03.960 --> 0:00:06.080 Moving my mic back, you're like that. 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:11.879 We can strikes with waters from headquarters behind him and 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:13.480 the line the border. 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:15.760 If you're just tuning into Civic Cipher, I'm your houst. 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:17.079 Ramsay's job he is. 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:18.319 They call me q Ward. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.040 You are listening to so excited for. 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:20.520 Listening to you. 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:26.920 And we're two two years old, doing the show for 0:00:26.920 --> 0:00:30.560 two years, and we are celebrating that with some more 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.320 positive stories, some more positive outcomes, and there's a lot 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:35.839 more to stick around for. Of course, we were going 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:37.120 to take it all the way back to the beginning 0:00:37.159 --> 0:00:38.800 our way black history factor. We're going to be talking 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.519 about Freedom's Journal, which was the first black owned and 0:00:42.560 --> 0:00:46.120 operated newspaper in the United States. We here at Civic 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:51.760 Cipher stand on the shoulder of giants, and those. 0:00:51.600 --> 0:00:52.360 Were the first to. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.080 Uh try to create a lane for a black voice, 0:00:57.440 --> 0:00:59.920 and so we're very grateful and excited to be able 0:00:59.920 --> 0:01:02.440 to share their story as well. We're also going to 0:01:02.440 --> 0:01:04.880 be talking about again some more positive things that have 0:01:05.280 --> 0:01:10.000 happened in the media and with respect to black people 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:12.280 and I guess a general plight of black folks. 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:13.240 So a lot to stick around for. 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.840 But before we get to all that let's discuss becoming 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:22.920 a better ally Baba. So today's Baba comes to you 0:01:23.319 --> 0:01:26.880 sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly magazine and this comes by 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:33.520 a JP Morgan Chase directly from their website. So what 0:01:33.520 --> 0:01:38.640 they're doing is building existing investments and helping drive inclusive 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.760 growth growth by committing thirty billion that's billion with a 0:01:42.840 --> 0:01:46.200 B dollars by the end of twenty twenty five to 0:01:46.280 --> 0:01:51.440 advance economic growth and opportunity for Black, Hispanic and Latino communities. 0:01:53.800 --> 0:01:57.480 There's been much said about reparations, There's been much set about, 0:01:57.640 --> 0:02:01.960 you know, supporting black business. There's been much said about, 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:12.200 you know, economic equality and equitable economic landscape for all 0:02:12.240 --> 0:02:19.440 people to engage in the in this capitalistic society. And 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:21.079 some people have a little bit more in the way 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:24.480 of various entry than other folks. So when people literally 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:26.680 put their money where their mouth is, obviously we need 0:02:26.680 --> 0:02:29.440 to applaud that. So the purpose of this is to 0:02:29.520 --> 0:02:34.000 originate additional home purchase loans for Black, Hispanic and Latino households, 0:02:34.360 --> 0:02:36.919 finance and creation and preservation of affordable housing units and 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.239 underserved communities, help Black Hispanic and Latino households achieve lower 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.520 mortgage payments through refinance loans, provide additional loans to small 0:02:43.560 --> 0:02:47.560 business that's key in major majority Black, Hispanic and Latino communities. 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.800 Help people open low cost checking and savings accounts, invest 0:02:50.840 --> 0:02:54.839 capital and deposits in Black, Hispanic and Latino o MBIs 0:02:54.880 --> 0:03:00.280 and CDFI's. And here's a quote from David Murray, Global 0:03:00.280 --> 0:03:02.880 head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at JP morgan Chase 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:05.200 and co. Quote, aiming to be the bank of choice 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:08.000 for all. We are breaking down barriers to lead with diversity, 0:03:08.040 --> 0:03:10.760 equity and inclusion and drive inclusive economic. 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:12.480 Growth all over the world. 0:03:12.560 --> 0:03:15.560 So shout out to JP Morgan Chase for putting their 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.040 money where their mouth is. Speaking of which, if you 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:21.400 want to support some black causes, you can support Civic Cipher, 0:03:21.480 --> 0:03:23.880 the very one you're listening to right now. All of 0:03:23.919 --> 0:03:27.799 our apps where you can donate are at Civic Cipher. 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:29.160 If you want to become a patron, if you want 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:30.360 to send a cash app, if you want to do 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:33.880 a venmo any of that stuff. It helps the show grow, 0:03:34.440 --> 0:03:38.400 and obviously we've experienced a tremendous amount of growth. A 0:03:38.480 --> 0:03:42.920 lot of that comes from donations and support. I want 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:48.360 to take a moment to talk about our positioner. So 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:50.680 this is going to take us back a bit. Our 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:58.880 positioner is broadcasting the balance, defending the discourse. This is 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:03.000 something that you might see in our press materials if 0:04:03.000 --> 0:04:05.400 you engage to that degree, you know, here and there, 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.440 and a positioner is a term that basically in radio, 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:15.640 at least in broadcasting, it's a term that kind of 0:04:15.680 --> 0:04:20.279 positioned you in the marketplace. Basically, a short brief passage 0:04:20.360 --> 0:04:24.359 usually sounds pretty catchy, and it helps people that have 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:26.840 never heard of your show before kind of identify what 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:30.720 you're about. So my first radio station was Power ninety 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.320 two point three. Their positioner was where hip Hop Lives. Okay, 0:04:34.480 --> 0:04:38.599 you following, all right? So our positioner is broadcasting the balance, 0:04:38.839 --> 0:04:43.920 defending the discourse. And this has kind of been central 0:04:43.960 --> 0:04:50.279 to our focus since starting this show and for a 0:04:50.320 --> 0:04:54.400 long time, and I think for a long time into 0:04:54.440 --> 0:05:03.320 the future. What that means is we are broadcasting the 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:07.240 balance of our stories, of our lives. You know, we 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.840 do our best to partner with hip hop stations, but 0:05:10.880 --> 0:05:13.960 we don't refuse partnerships in radio or in any other 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:16.800 media space because we recognize the importance we get in 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:22.120 the word out. But we with hip hop stations in particular, 0:05:22.160 --> 0:05:29.240 we recognize that it very much paints a one sided 0:05:30.720 --> 0:05:33.680 or otherwise a limited view of what it means to 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:38.240 be a black person in this country, and that can 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.120 be very misleading to people who wish to be allies 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.880 to black people. That can be also misleading to black 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.520 people where they might tune in to, you know, celebrate 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:51.720 their own culture, their own music, their own dances, their 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:55.760 own fashion, their own language, you know, et cetera. And 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:58.640 we are not just I say this all the time, 0:05:58.680 --> 0:06:02.600 we are not just rap or not just singers. 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:02.800 You know. 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:06.320 That's like looking at, you know, like an Asian person 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.640 and thinking that they do karate, you know what I mean, 0:06:08.680 --> 0:06:12.200 Like it's that's one part of an exceptionally rich and 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:15.839 beautiful culture, but that's the part that you see in 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:17.040 the movies and so forth. Right. 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:18.640 So, when we approached. 0:06:20.040 --> 0:06:23.159 This show and we came up with our positioner, the 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.479 idea was that we were going to bring some balance 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.440 to those airwaves. We were going to talk about what 0:06:29.480 --> 0:06:32.120 it really means to be black, and we were going 0:06:32.160 --> 0:06:36.280 to give instruction to our allies who tune into hip 0:06:36.320 --> 0:06:40.480 hop stations who may not themselves be black, but obviously 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:44.000 are there are brothers and our sisters, and they celebrate 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:46.039 our culture. We celebrate there as we're out, you know, 0:06:46.080 --> 0:06:49.760 celebrating on different holidays, you know, single Demio Columbus Day, 0:06:50.279 --> 0:06:52.680 you know, not Columbus Day, but you know what I mean, what's. 0:06:52.560 --> 0:06:52.920 The other one? 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:55.039 I was thinking of Saint Patrick's Day, you know, things 0:06:55.080 --> 0:07:02.479 like this, and uh, you know, we just kind of 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:07.200 felt like, you know, there's an opportunity to bring some 0:07:07.560 --> 0:07:11.400 again balance to what it is that people are exposed 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:16.760 to in these spaces, you know, And I think that 0:07:18.240 --> 0:07:24.880 for today's show, while we're here, balance will mean something 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:34.080 a little different. Balance will mean positive stories because I 0:07:34.160 --> 0:07:37.640 don't want to mislead anyone and I don't want to 0:07:37.640 --> 0:07:40.239 misrepresent my people. 0:07:41.720 --> 0:07:42.280 We are not. 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:49.520 Just born to die, and we are not just born 0:07:49.600 --> 0:07:54.160 to suffer, and we are not just born to be sad. 0:07:56.480 --> 0:08:00.120 We deserve to be happy. You deserve to be happy, 0:08:01.480 --> 0:08:07.800 and I think it's important that we affirm that. And 0:08:07.920 --> 0:08:11.000 today we obviously have a tremendous opportunity. We can't divorce 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:14.320 ourselves from the reality. Obviously, this show exists to deal 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:19.040 with the real you know, there's lots of celebration of 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.760 Black culture and American culture and you know, whatever it 0:08:22.800 --> 0:08:26.480 is that your culture is, even perhaps on the station 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:30.520 that you're listening to us on. You know, but we 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:32.559 do have to deal with the real because we feel 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.760 like oftentimes we're the only ones doing that. But the 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:39.559 people that set their clock to wake up sometimes early 0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:41.920 or stay up late or listen to this show. And 0:08:42.760 --> 0:08:45.920 you know, whichever city you're in, if you're in you know, Bellingham, 0:08:45.960 --> 0:08:48.560 if you're in Portland, if you're in New Orleans, if 0:08:48.559 --> 0:08:51.520 you're in Detroit, you know, wherever you are. Shout out 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:58.200 to the motor for those of you who you know, 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:03.040 tune into this show specifically. It's important that we share 0:09:03.120 --> 0:09:06.960 positive stories. It's important that you know that you listening, 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:11.320 you fighting, you marching, you voting, you registering people to vote, 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:22.120 you participating in the democratic process, that it does create 0:09:22.160 --> 0:09:26.720 a ripple effect, and that ripple effect ultimately creates change. Again, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:30.800 we're playing the long game, and black people historically have 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:35.080 played the long game. We have we're just currently at 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.440 the front lines of a battle that's been going on 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.880 for hundreds of years. The names that we discuss on 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:42.920 our way Black History fact each week. You know, a 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:45.840 lot of those people have passed away. A lot of 0:09:45.840 --> 0:09:52.480 those stories happened before our great grandparents were born. Even so, 0:09:54.080 --> 0:09:56.320 you know, we do recognize that, you know, this is 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.200 a long game, but we also recognize that we've come 0:09:58.240 --> 0:09:58.720 a long way. 0:09:58.760 --> 0:09:59.079 And so. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:02.920 I wanted to take a moment to make sure you 0:10:03.120 --> 0:10:06.200 kind of understood that broadcasting the balance and defending the 0:10:06.240 --> 0:10:11.240 discourse our positioner for the show, not only means bringing 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:17.240 you know, balance to you know, whatever radio station you're 0:10:17.280 --> 0:10:19.640 listening to, but also that we try to have some 0:10:19.720 --> 0:10:23.360 balance here as well, so that you recognize that, you know, 0:10:24.840 --> 0:10:27.600 our efforts are not in vain. And of course, defending 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:30.720 the discourse means defending our right to have these conversations, 0:10:30.760 --> 0:10:34.559 because obviously the show was very much born out of 0:10:34.679 --> 0:10:38.280 us getting choked out from having very necessary conversations. And 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:40.120 the people that were choking us out were people that 0:10:40.160 --> 0:10:42.160 were they didn't look like us, They were using our 0:10:42.200 --> 0:10:47.280 culture to make money, and they didn't care enough to 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:49.480 let us try to save our own lives. 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:51.000 And that still hurts me. 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.040 I don't know why it's, you know, it's obviously been 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.120 a very long time, but it very much is because 0:10:56.120 --> 0:10:56.800 I knew those people. 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:57.520 You knew those people. 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.000 I mean, that's the thing, though, you spent so many 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.200 years there, and I even talked to, you know, the 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:05.400 people that work with me in the corporate space. Now 0:11:06.360 --> 0:11:10.240 about kind of fooling yourself into believing that this company 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:15.080 cares more about you than its bottom line. Right, Ultimately, 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.080 a lot of times corporate America will remind you, I mean, yeah, 0:11:18.120 --> 0:11:21.120 we like you and you're cool, right, but. 0:11:21.080 --> 0:11:24.160 We all we got you just work here. So that's 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:26.800 that's what I was thinking. But so watch this. So 0:11:27.000 --> 0:11:29.880 to your point, Q, at the time when I quit 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:34.240 my old radio station, I had worked there for twelve years. 0:11:34.960 --> 0:11:40.040 I was the most tenured employee. There was nobody that 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.040 worked there longer than me. The only person who had 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.440 been there longer was the person who owned the business. 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:55.319 Everybody had, every position had turnover prior to, you know, resigning. 0:11:55.800 --> 0:12:01.080 I was told by the general manager something that confused 0:12:01.200 --> 0:12:04.760 me later on, but at the time felt like, kind 0:12:04.760 --> 0:12:06.480 of felt like it made sense because of course I 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:07.880 had been there for a long time, and as you 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:10.400 mentioned earlier in the show, I do my best to 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:14.120 try to deliver good content in this space. You know, 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.319 I am a broadcaster. I'd leaned one hundred percent into it. 0:12:17.559 --> 0:12:20.760 This is what I know. The general manager pulled me 0:12:20.760 --> 0:12:22.760 into his office one day and he told me, he says, 0:12:23.400 --> 0:12:28.400 you know, we've never really took an inventory, if you will, 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:34.200 of what we had here at the radio station. And 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:36.840 you know, just so you know, in radio, the morning 0:12:36.880 --> 0:12:39.439 show is the big show and the afternoon show is 0:12:39.480 --> 0:12:41.719 the second big show, even though oftentimes in afternoon you 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:45.680 get more listeners. All right, I wasn't on either show. 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:47.240 I was. 0:12:47.640 --> 0:12:49.839 I forgot what timeslot I was doing. It might have 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:51.840 even just been a weekend time slot. But you know, 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:54.240 I had a presence on the website and this was 0:12:55.240 --> 0:13:00.640 the way that the station could kind of gauge engagement, engagement. 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.520 And the general manager of that radio station told me, 0:13:04.800 --> 0:13:08.560 he said that, you uh, the engagement for your page 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:17.720 on our website is twice as high as the next link, 0:13:17.760 --> 0:13:21.120 and that's for the morning show. And he says, what 0:13:21.200 --> 0:13:23.080 I want to do is kind of pick your brain 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:24.960 and get a sense of how it is that you're 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:31.160 so popular among our listener base, and try to teach 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:35.559 the other folks how to engage with our listeners. Oh way, 0:13:35.640 --> 0:13:38.800 you guys, hear this? Not hey, you're by far the 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:40.840 most popular challeent we have here. We need to build 0:13:40.880 --> 0:13:43.319 a better show around you and give you more resources. No, 0:13:44.040 --> 0:13:45.960 we want to pick your brain on how you're so 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.160 great at what you do and give that to our 0:13:48.200 --> 0:13:48.800 other people. 0:13:49.520 --> 0:13:50.800 God bless America. 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:56.640 Well so because of because of that conversation, I felt 0:13:56.679 --> 0:13:59.720 like they and and the way that it was given 0:13:59.760 --> 0:14:01.840 to me was like, Yo, you know what's going on 0:14:01.920 --> 0:14:04.800 with the people, and you know to your point earlier. 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:06.360 You know, when it came time to get out there 0:14:06.360 --> 0:14:08.719 and get busy, I wasn't, you know, sitting up on 0:14:08.760 --> 0:14:11.920 my high horse. I'm not getting out in the streets 0:14:11.920 --> 0:14:12.599 and protesting. 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:12.720 No. 0:14:12.920 --> 0:14:15.400 I got took this body that I was born into, 0:14:16.120 --> 0:14:18.800 and I took my babies and we went outside and 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:22.440 we stood in our place among the ranks, and we 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:24.440 held those signs with those names on it. 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:26.880 Breonna Taylor. There's people that should be here right now. 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.320 We weren't. We were all equal. I'll always be equal. 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:35.240 I'm not one of those people that thinks anything crazy, 0:14:35.280 --> 0:14:37.400 you know what I mean? I think I'm just a 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.000 person and this is what I do for a living. 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:40.560 You can see me at the grocery store. I'm gonna 0:14:40.560 --> 0:14:43.400 look real bummy, because I ain't got to impress nobody 0:14:43.440 --> 0:14:47.920 anymore anyway. I thought that because they knew based on 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:53.440 that conversation just two or three months prior, two or 0:14:53.440 --> 0:14:57.040 three months prior to COVID hitting, that they knew that 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.960 I was kind of tapped into what the people wanted, 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:04.560 and so asking for thirty minutes a week to be 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:11.400 able to you know, share our you know, broadcast the 0:15:11.440 --> 0:15:15.080 balance and defend the discourse. Thirty minutes a week didn't 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:17.480 feel like such a tall ask because I thought that 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:18.600 they would be all over it. 0:15:18.760 --> 0:15:22.320 Also, speak to that specific thirty minutes, So I don't 0:15:22.360 --> 0:15:24.880 want people to just think thirty minutes on o'clock and 0:15:24.960 --> 0:15:27.920 all this stuff that radio has going on. Speak to 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:30.960 them about the thirty minutes that we requested. So what 0:15:31.000 --> 0:15:34.880 we were trying to do was we wanted thirty minutes. 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:36.920 I want them to hear how easy it would have been. 0:15:36.920 --> 0:15:39.440 For them to say yes. So we wanted to get 0:15:39.480 --> 0:15:41.520 thirty minutes. I'm glad you asked a question here. We 0:15:41.560 --> 0:15:46.840 wanted thirty minutes on the radio so that we could 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.760 bring up folks to interview the people that were leading 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:52.760 the march and so forth, and just have the conversations 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:56.200 about what we wanted. We would have taken any time 0:15:56.240 --> 0:15:58.600 slot that meant that you could have put us on 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:01.320 Sunday morning at four am. It would have been fine. 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:06.080 The thing is the radio station provided a degree of 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.480 credibility to the interview and to the movement, and it 0:16:09.560 --> 0:16:14.640 kind of fortified the media position. And I thought that 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.400 could be used in a strategic way for those people 0:16:17.440 --> 0:16:19.760 on the streets. I didn't think my whole life was 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:21.960 going to go in that direction. I was thinking it 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:27.800 was the right thing to do. Now, thirty minutes in 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:34.320 a weekend overnight time slot means that your commercial inventory 0:16:34.880 --> 0:16:38.520 is worth pennies. 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:39.520 You know what I mean. 0:16:39.760 --> 0:16:44.000 Those commercials aren't worth a whole lot. Also, there is 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:52.280 the potential to do so. The FCC, the government mandates 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:58.120 that stations have some form of community service, not just radio, 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:01.000 but anything that broadcasts the signal, so TV stations if 0:17:01.000 --> 0:17:04.119 it's in this country, The Federal Communications Commission says, you 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:07.920 have to broadcast something to your community that helps the community. 0:17:07.960 --> 0:17:10.399 This is why you hear don't drink and drive commercials. 0:17:10.480 --> 0:17:13.800 This stuff right, there's no money involved with that. They 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:16.240 have to do it, Okay, So we would have taken 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:18.399 that time slide. It would have been totally fine. Wouldn't 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:20.000 have been opposed to it. You know, we felt that 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.800 this was in line with that sort of mission. So 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:27.159 you're saying we didn't. We would have taken an unpaid. 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:28.600 Oh yeah, but there was no money involved. We wouldn't 0:17:28.600 --> 0:17:29.760 even we wouldn't. 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:34.760 Even free mandated space. Sure that should have been dedicated 0:17:34.800 --> 0:17:38.080 to community service. Anyway, we would have been creating this 0:17:38.200 --> 0:17:42.200 content for them for free and a space where nobody's advertising, 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:45.119 and according to them, maybe nobody's listening. 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:46.840 I'll take it a step further. 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.440 That's interesting, because you're absolutely right, maybe nobody's even listening 0:17:50.480 --> 0:17:51.080 at that time shot. 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:52.080 But I'll take it a step further. 0:17:54.920 --> 0:18:00.639 We weren't even necessarily the ones who were going to. 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:04.600 To host this show because they could not necessarily because 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.080 even after a yes, they had a person in mind, 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:09.919 it wasn't Quentin or Ramses, right, we don't have to 0:18:09.920 --> 0:18:12.960 say who. Yeah, but this was not us trying to 0:18:13.000 --> 0:18:14.240 put ourselves on. 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.000 Yeah, we were already on good. 0:18:16.560 --> 0:18:19.520 But we would have produced and created and curated the 0:18:19.560 --> 0:18:21.600 content and everything. All they would have had to do 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.600 is turn a mic on record. It for thirty minutes 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:28.120 and then broadcast. So this is the point I'm making. 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.240 I was like, you guys can put you know, so 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.040 bear in mind that you and I, we at the time, 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:38.360 are doing rather more and we had more visible time slots, 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.760 so we would have had to had we would have 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:46.600 had to do extra work. We would have had to 0:18:46.840 --> 0:18:50.280 set up meetings, you know, create you know, the content 0:18:50.280 --> 0:18:53.200 as you as you mentioned, produce it, edit it, send 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:56.760 it to air every week, right, And they could have 0:18:57.280 --> 0:18:59.760 taken one of the interns or someone in development and 0:18:59.760 --> 0:19:02.919 put them on that show. Because remember, it's it's just necessary. 0:19:02.960 --> 0:19:05.280 It's not like I don't need that to be the man. 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:07.919 You know, I already I was on TV. I was 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:10.840 billboards and magazine covers, everything like that for many years. 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:13.280 That wasn't I wasn't going to be on Sunday morning 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:15.760 at four am and like all of a sudden, you know, 0:19:15.880 --> 0:19:17.160 hit my stride, you know what I mean. 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:19.800 So I'm glad that. 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:21.359 You asked that question, because yeah, it was a very 0:19:21.359 --> 0:19:23.360 easy thing to say yes to. I know radio well 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:27.160 enough to know how how to put together that proposal 0:19:27.200 --> 0:19:30.200 to where it wouldn't have impacted the bottom line at all. 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.640 So anyone who's ever stood in the way of this progress, 0:19:33.760 --> 0:19:35.480 hold on, I got to cut you off. You say 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:38.480 it would not have impacted the bottom line. There was 0:19:38.520 --> 0:19:42.800 no way for it to negatively impact the bottom line. 0:19:43.600 --> 0:19:46.720 We've learned in several meetings that we've had since launching 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:49.760 this show that there are a bunch of ways it 0:19:49.800 --> 0:19:53.560 could have impacted the bottom line in a positive way. Sure, yeah, yeah, 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.080 because there are a bunch of advertisers who want to 0:19:57.119 --> 0:20:00.359 be on the right side of the topics that we reach. 0:20:01.000 --> 0:20:04.800 So there was a zero percent chance there would have 0:20:04.800 --> 0:20:08.160 been a negative impact to the station. Sure to air 0:20:08.840 --> 0:20:12.160 thirty minutes a night, overnight Sunday, three o'clock in the morning, 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:18.119 four o'clock in the morning on this unrated, low advertisement 0:20:19.480 --> 0:20:24.840 necessary time slot. Sure, well, you know, the good news 0:20:24.880 --> 0:20:30.480 is that now we're on and rather you know, better 0:20:30.520 --> 0:20:34.320 time slots or all over the country, and we have 0:20:34.400 --> 0:20:37.200 a full hour a week, which again is not everything, 0:20:37.240 --> 0:20:39.920 but we'll take it. You know, everybody's got to start somewhere. Again, 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:41.800 we're playing a long game, and having been on for 0:20:41.840 --> 0:20:44.320 two years, there's a few more things that I think 0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:47.560 that it's important to share. Things that we look back 0:20:47.600 --> 0:20:49.720 on and we say, well, look, I'm happy to see that. 0:20:51.359 --> 0:20:55.720 One of the things is that, you know, there's been 0:20:55.760 --> 0:21:01.800 black Barbies for very long time. There's been historical figures 0:21:01.800 --> 0:21:04.399 that have you know, they've paid homage to with you know, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:10.640 Barbie dolls. But uh, recently Mattel introduced a new historical 0:21:10.720 --> 0:21:15.320 Barbie in honor of Madam C. J. Walker and we 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:20.000 think that that is something that is. 0:21:22.000 --> 0:21:25.480 Amazing. Obviously, again, black girl magic. 0:21:25.520 --> 0:21:29.160 We in twenty twenty, we saw in our city, we 0:21:29.200 --> 0:21:33.760 saw black women out there marching, Shout out to Tsara, 0:21:33.840 --> 0:21:38.440 shout out to Mimi. You know, we saw them out 0:21:38.560 --> 0:21:42.160 making it happen with bullhorns and they We saw these 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:44.560 people crying. We saw these people, you know, we saw 0:21:44.600 --> 0:21:49.280 the passion, and we learned the strategy and we learned 0:21:49.320 --> 0:21:53.560 what was necessary and we were able to recognize that, Okay, 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:58.159 here's we need to find a meaningful contribution, and you know, 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:01.080 we're always going to be hopeful that this contribution is 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:04.760 the right one. So black girl magic is something again 0:22:04.760 --> 0:22:07.280 that we always celebrate here. So the fact that Barbie 0:22:07.400 --> 0:22:11.119 has made Madam C. J. Walker doll recently, that's something 0:22:11.119 --> 0:22:14.080 that we feel is positive for those that followed the 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:17.200 story about the children that were ignored at the Sesame 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:22.760 Street parade. You know, we want to make sure that 0:22:22.800 --> 0:22:25.720 we call attention to the fact that I think it 0:22:25.840 --> 0:22:30.600 was at Disneyland that Jesse, the Woody's counterpart in the 0:22:30.640 --> 0:22:33.920 movie Toy Story. There was a video that came out 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:36.479 afterwards where Jesse ran over to the little black children 0:22:36.480 --> 0:22:39.040 and gave them a big hug. And to me, that 0:22:39.160 --> 0:22:43.439 looks like, Okay, these things that we're bringing attention to 0:22:43.720 --> 0:22:48.200 are resonating with people. I'll take it a step further 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:52.480 Snoop Dogg released the children's cartoon series Doggy Land with 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:54.600 kids songs and nursery rhymes and things like that. So 0:22:54.600 --> 0:22:58.560 we're seeing black faces and black characters in these spaces increased. 0:23:00.640 --> 0:23:06.480 And I want to also talk about the there's the 0:23:06.560 --> 0:23:09.359 College Board that launched the first ever AP program in 0:23:09.400 --> 0:23:16.000 African American studies. So this there's a whole article from 0:23:16.160 --> 0:23:20.760 Education Week that I can't get into the whole thing, 0:23:20.800 --> 0:23:23.480 but you know, because we've had to deal with CRT 0:23:23.720 --> 0:23:26.800 and the war on really American history, the fact that 0:23:27.320 --> 0:23:30.560 you know, the College Board launched the AP program in 0:23:30.640 --> 0:23:33.520 African American Studies, that's something that we feel is very 0:23:33.560 --> 0:23:37.359 special as well, and something that again we've accomplished in 0:23:37.359 --> 0:23:39.440 the past couple of years by having these really important 0:23:39.440 --> 0:23:44.760