Speaker 1: Native lamp Pod is the production of iHeart Radio in
Speaker 1: partnership with Reason Choice Media.
Speaker 2: Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.
Speaker 3: Welcome, Welcome home.
Speaker 1: You guys, this is episode eighty eighty. Like Grady, if
Speaker 1: you know about Atlanta, you know what I mean. We
Speaker 1: are your hosts. Welcome to Native Lampod. I'm Tiffany Cross
Speaker 1: here with Angela Rye and Andrew Gillam. What's up you guys?
Speaker 4: Can we talk.
Speaker 3: Because he let me show you week Welcome home, y'all.
Speaker 5: This was.
Speaker 4: Yo, show up, up, up, tip say something else.
Speaker 1: Let me show you Andrew and we're thrilled to be
Speaker 1: here with you guys, because.
Speaker 6: More exciting.
Speaker 3: Every week.
Speaker 1: This is why when we're not we love being together,
Speaker 1: but when we're not in the same place, it gets
Speaker 1: a little challenging. So anyway, welcome home. We got a
Speaker 1: lot to get into today. I'm really excited that we
Speaker 1: have a guest joining us, Mayor Keith ha Lance Bottoms,
Speaker 1: the former mayor of Atlanta who kicked off her gubernatorial
Speaker 1: bid in Georgia this week. We'll be joining us shortly,
Speaker 1: but we have other stuff to get into too, So
Speaker 1: do you guys have other topics? You want to talk
Speaker 1: about or are you going to save it off for
Speaker 1: the mayor.
Speaker 6: I would not mind talking about the hell Andrew's been
Speaker 6: through a FAM You, and that's something we can also
Speaker 6: talk to the mayor about as a FAM You rattler ourself. Yes,
Speaker 6: do you hear half right now?
Speaker 1: He doesn't your audience, you can see what we're talking about.
Speaker 6: Section wait until like this latter half of my sentences.
Speaker 4: It did sound like the end of the sentence.
Speaker 6: You know what? Actually, you know what? Tip I got
Speaker 6: to get him right now, keep saying amen. I also
Speaker 6: want to talk about everything that's been going on at
Speaker 6: FAM You because it is just been Oh now you
Speaker 6: want to be quiet, because.
Speaker 1: I am curious to hear the not be complicit. Okay,
Speaker 1: he does it all the time. I am curious to
Speaker 1: hear the mayor's response from that. As you all know,
Speaker 1: she is an alum of FAM You and this week,
Speaker 1: Andrew you did your solo pot on everything happening at
Speaker 1: FAM You, and we've also talked about it on the episode.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I'm eager to hear it. So let's get
Speaker 3: into it.
Speaker 6: Well. As the honorary rattler, I am I just want
Speaker 6: you all to know. I'm also wearing fear of God
Speaker 6: today in the spirit of solidarity, as y'all know. Jerry
Speaker 6: Lorenzo also University.
Speaker 4: Yes, it is not a coincidence that so many of
Speaker 4: the people that with whom we know, and even the listeners. No,
Speaker 4: Noah Rattler, because fam you is the number one producer
Speaker 4: look beach you laureate degree holders. Yeah, it's the single
Speaker 4: largest single campus HBCU. So it's right that we should,
Speaker 4: you know, have a role in producing.
Speaker 6: Instead of paying homage. Today we're paying homage.
Speaker 4: Y'all.
Speaker 6: Don't get it. Listen to the last show. What you
Speaker 6: said if I get flowed out?
Speaker 4: Yeah, I said that you had us flute out of
Speaker 4: Detroit or wherever it is you are. You know we
Speaker 4: have problem.
Speaker 6: Well, I wanted you guys to get fluid out to
Speaker 6: everywhere the State of the People tour would be. I
Speaker 6: wanted you to get flood out to Atlanta, to Richmond.
Speaker 1: You brought that up, Angela, because we will be in Jackson, Mississippi.
Speaker 1: So if you have not signed up for staying the
Speaker 1: Tour of the People there, I think the people of
Speaker 1: the tour of the thing.
Speaker 6: Did you know what I said when he came a
Speaker 6: greet us. He was like, I just want to greet everybody.
Speaker 6: It's the state of the people. State the people said,
Speaker 6: sitting very very Are y'all not going in Los Angeles
Speaker 6: where we land on it?
Speaker 1: Well, we'll talk about that after we're still there are
Speaker 1: some off camera folks who I think we're still time
Speaker 1: to get that together. But I want to say really
Speaker 1: quickly a topic that I wanted to get into you guys,
Speaker 1: so you all know I read all your comments, So
Speaker 1: please make sure that you're subscribed to our channel, that
Speaker 1: you're liking it, that you're sharing it, that you're telling people,
Speaker 1: because it really does feel like you all are community
Speaker 1: with us, and so I read all of the things
Speaker 1: that you guys say, mostly on YouTube. I read Instagram too,
Speaker 1: but it really it feels like we're in conversation, in
Speaker 1: constant conversation, and I'm always very interested in how people
Speaker 1: receive the show. And I love hearing your thoughts because
Speaker 1: people weigh in on all of our topics. And I
Speaker 1: have some thoughts which we'll talk about after the mayor,
Speaker 1: but a lot of comments last week's show about being
Speaker 1: in solidarity with communities of color, and so I wanted
Speaker 1: to touch base about that. Do you guys want to
Speaker 1: do that quickly now or do you want to do
Speaker 1: it after the mayor.
Speaker 6: I think the Mayor's joined us.
Speaker 1: Oh, perfect, okay, So after we have Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms,
Speaker 1: we are going to pick up on some of these topics.
Speaker 1: But right now we're going to bring in the mayor
Speaker 1: to join us. All right, appearing like that like magic
Speaker 1: on screen, Madam Mayor. Soon to be we'll see maybe
Speaker 1: a governor Keisha Lance bonding. So very excited to have
Speaker 1: you join us today. Congratulations on the announced come.
Speaker 3: Oh, it's so good to see all of you all all.
Speaker 6: Thank you.
Speaker 1: And you know, people always always always think I will
Speaker 1: call you Madam Mayor, but I know her, so I'm
Speaker 1: saying Keisha. They always say I think we look alike,
Speaker 1: and somebody I was telling her all the time.
Speaker 4: Very beautiful.
Speaker 3: Well, thank you, Andrews.
Speaker 1: But we were in Miami together, Angela, the mayor, and
Speaker 1: I and I sat at breakfast with a woman who
Speaker 1: I thought she knew who I was, and I realized
Speaker 1: at the end that she thought she was having breakfast
Speaker 1: with Mayor Lance Bottoms. Yes, yes, and I'm like, had
Speaker 1: I known that I would have taken full advantage.
Speaker 6: Oh my God, was like, oh, well, you know you
Speaker 6: could send me a donation. Let me get these wire restructions.
Speaker 3: Let me give my cash just so you know, tiffaniye,
Speaker 3: we're getting breaks next week.
Speaker 1: So okay, okay, Tiffany. I want so bad for America
Speaker 1: to finally have a governor who has breads because this
Speaker 1: natural hair is not for the faint of heart and
Speaker 1: not that you are humidity.
Speaker 3: No, no, no no. And I just told somebody today,
Speaker 3: I said what I do know. I said, people will
Speaker 3: talk about my hair before they talk about the governor's race.
Speaker 3: Called out here and looking crazy.
Speaker 6: And I'm gonna tell you right now. I'm gonna be
Speaker 6: the first one in your text messages because I'll be like,
Speaker 6: now what happened? Because I can't have you out here
Speaker 6: in Keisha, I can't have you out here. I'll be like,
Speaker 6: what we got all what we do. I'll be the
Speaker 6: first one. I'll tell you when it's flight, I'm tell
Speaker 6: you like, oh, let's go to tomorrow real quick.
Speaker 4: This past week were weird, bros.
Speaker 6: Because my joke was funny.
Speaker 5: I knew she found it was funny, and we were
Speaker 5: when we were in Miami, my line sister Denise, not
Speaker 5: Denise Hendricks Landa, my former e p A.
Speaker 3: And know I'm talking about Denise.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 3: It was like, your hair is making me so mad
Speaker 3: because the natural hair was doing all this and the
Speaker 3: other people's hair was doing all this and the other
Speaker 3: people's hair and get out of this situation.
Speaker 1: Well, shout out to Denise hendricks Yes, all right, rattler
Speaker 1: for another rattler.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
Speaker 1: Keisha's lion sister was my former executive producer, so shout
Speaker 1: out to her. But very happy to have you and
Speaker 1: congrats on the announcement. I'm sure my co hosts have
Speaker 1: many many questions for you.
Speaker 6: Can I ask before we get into the announcement, Yes,
Speaker 6: Andrew and we've been watching Andrew and our good brother
Speaker 6: Vince Evans been running ragged on this family stuff. Mayor Keisha,
Speaker 6: I gotta ask you, I know, take a deep breath,
Speaker 6: because I got to ask you, what do you think
Speaker 6: is going to take for the trustees, the newly appointed
Speaker 6: and the ones who have been on the board for
Speaker 6: some time, the alums, the students. The students been in
Speaker 6: the hallways singing Ald Negro spiritual since they've been like,
Speaker 6: help us overcome. What do you think is the path forward?
Speaker 6: Given where we are right now with Fam You.
Speaker 3: Fam You is in a really interesting spot, to say
Speaker 3: the least, because it is a state institution, so part
Speaker 3: of what sets family apart. There's so many things that
Speaker 3: set us apart. But when you are a state supported HBCU,
Speaker 3: you are literally at the mercy of the state. And
Speaker 3: I know my brother Andrew understands that. So it is
Speaker 3: my hope that she'll surprise us all that she won't
Speaker 3: be all the things that we are expecting someone sent
Speaker 3: to dismantle Fam You as we know it. I don't
Speaker 3: know her personally. I think at this point the best
Speaker 3: we can do is try and work with her as
Speaker 3: best we can. You know, we're working under some very
Speaker 3: difficult circumstances. I had a conversation with someone earlier today.
Speaker 3: I have an doubt scholarship in the journalism program. I'm going,
Speaker 3: what do I do with the money that I've donated
Speaker 3: to the university. What do I do with the money
Speaker 3: that I am planning on donating to the university. I
Speaker 3: think none of us know. I mean, this is uncharted
Speaker 3: territory for us at fam you, but unfortunately, I think
Speaker 3: it's probably in the indication of what's to come for
Speaker 3: our HBCUs across the country. Any HBCUs, especially that are
Speaker 3: controlled by the state Republican led at states.
Speaker 4: Well, yeah, well the mayor is right that we as
Speaker 4: a state institution do fund ourselves, you know, oddly at
Speaker 4: the mercy of the power structure that the However, traditionally
Speaker 4: governors have not really come for vent. When when we
Speaker 4: end up in the mouth of the governor or in
Speaker 4: the mouths of state legislative leaders, it's usually in preparation
Speaker 4: of them taking something from us. When we don't hear
Speaker 4: from them, that's a good day, it's a good year,
Speaker 4: it's a good time. Even though we're not funded the
Speaker 4: way we should be funded, we're not supported by the
Speaker 4: state and the way that we should be, but we
Speaker 4: punch above our weight. I do know Marva. I have
Speaker 4: worked with her before on some broad band issues previously,
Speaker 4: and if she were pursuing something in that range, I
Speaker 4: think it'd be wholly supportable. The issue is is that
Speaker 4: when you don't have a candidate with the experience that
Speaker 4: the board advertised and wanting for a president, then you
Speaker 4: have to measure them, so you don't have a record
Speaker 4: of their academic you know, sort of management and what
Speaker 4: they've done. You sort of have to take what cues
Speaker 4: you can from the people who are around them, who
Speaker 4: they are appointed by, who they have been in alignment with.
Speaker 4: And unfortunately a candidate who has been appointed by Rick Scott,
Speaker 4: former governor of Florida, and now you a senator who
Speaker 4: has been reported appointed repeatedly by Ronda Santis to boards,
Speaker 4: who sat as the chair of the State Board of Education,
Speaker 4: the K through twelve system when it started to ban books,
Speaker 4: ban history, and redesign what black history is so basically
Speaker 4: center white folks as the heroes and heroines. I don't
Speaker 4: know what cues to take. I don't know what the
Speaker 4: master plan is all lie and she may not know
Speaker 4: what the master plan is. What I do know is
Speaker 4: when the call comes in from the person who puts
Speaker 4: you there, you take it. And the second thing is
Speaker 4: is you largely do what it is that they asked
Speaker 4: you to do. And for somebody like Trump decantist Rick Scott,
Speaker 4: they ain't never have nothing good coming for us, and
Speaker 4: I don't anticipate they'll have anything good coming from for
Speaker 4: us in the future, and so I would just say,
Speaker 4: the fight's not over. We're going to continue to figure
Speaker 4: out how we make this happen. And it's not just
Speaker 4: about family. You fam you guess is the fight right now.
Speaker 4: But the reason they came after the biggest, the largest,
Speaker 4: and the highest producing university of vacculaureat masterial degree holder
Speaker 4: and doctoral degree holders is because that you can take
Speaker 4: us out, then they consume then that they could take
Speaker 4: anybody else out right, the Santis punch, Walt Disney World
Speaker 4: when he first got into office, the biggest thing sitting
Speaker 4: in the state. Right, So I take my cues from
Speaker 4: those folks. But I know you are here, Keisha, as
Speaker 4: a gubernatorial candidate now, which I can't tell you. I'm
Speaker 4: over the moon, excited as a rattler, as someone who
Speaker 4: has known you and watched your journey, including your service
Speaker 4: as mayor of Atlanta. This is I think the future
Speaker 4: is bright, and I do think the time is now.
Speaker 4: My question would be if I could journey to take
Speaker 4: the first one would be having watched Stacey Abrams make
Speaker 4: the run for governor not once, no, but twice a
Speaker 4: lot of times. The pooh bahs of the party you
Speaker 4: know what I mean by that. The folks, you know,
Speaker 4: behind the scenes, raising the money and telling folks what's
Speaker 4: viable and what isn't viable. Largely when they take a risk,
Speaker 4: which they considered a risk, right getting behind a black
Speaker 4: woman nominee. They usually try us once and if it
Speaker 4: don't work out, they draw the conclusion that is it
Speaker 4: isn't it isn't a viable or possible thing to make happen.
Speaker 4: Of course, we know that to be false because they
Speaker 4: run and lose all the time, yet they keep running
Speaker 4: the same play. So my question would be is have
Speaker 4: you learned lessons or what lessons do you think have
Speaker 4: been instrumental as you look at that race and now
Speaker 4: build a campaign of your own that you think might
Speaker 4: be instructed to the way in which you might run
Speaker 4: this race.
Speaker 3: So you know, Andrew, you've been on the ballot a
Speaker 3: lot of times and even running for governors. I know
Speaker 3: you and I are going to have an offline conversation
Speaker 3: about that. But you look at every race, and every
Speaker 3: race is also a new race. So you look at
Speaker 3: the numbers. You look at see where turnout was high,
Speaker 3: where turnout was low. You look at demographic ships, where
Speaker 3: are the Democrats where the Republicans, and then you build
Speaker 3: from there. You take the good, you keep it, you
Speaker 3: take the not so good, and you move on from it.
Speaker 3: So we've got an ever changing voter role in Georgia.
Speaker 3: You all know the Secretary of State has purged hundreds
Speaker 3: of thousands of people from the voter role recently. Sometimes
Speaker 3: you do need to clean up voter rolls, but when
Speaker 3: you do these wholesale purges a half million.
Speaker 4: You're right, half million, Yeah.
Speaker 3: You get real suspicious. So this is gonna be a
Speaker 3: new role, a new race for us. But that being said,
Speaker 3: we're gonna cover it the way that we know it
Speaker 3: has to be done. We're gonna knock on doors, We're
Speaker 3: gonna go in church basements, we're gonna visit the little
Speaker 3: league softball field. We're gonna call people, we're gonna post
Speaker 3: on social media. We're gonna do all the things that
Speaker 3: we know you have to do. And part of it
Speaker 3: is old fashion campaign and you go into communities and
Speaker 3: you hear directly from people. I remember when I ran
Speaker 3: from mayor, I paid for this great pole that Cornell
Speaker 3: Belcher did for me, and it was spot on in
Speaker 3: so many issues. But when my phone. Bankers were calling people.
Speaker 3: They said, people are talking about potholes and libraries. I
Speaker 3: can't show up anywhere in my data, but it was
Speaker 3: what people were talking about when we got them on
Speaker 3: the phone. So share that to say, you come up
Speaker 3: with your issues. I'll come up with my issues that
Speaker 3: I'm gonna focus. No, we'll talk more about that. And
Speaker 3: then I got to go into communities and hear directly
Speaker 3: from people about what they care about. We'll see if
Speaker 3: they ALIGNE.
Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad you brought up our communities, Madam Mayor,
Speaker 1: because as you know, I grew up in Georgia, and
Speaker 1: I think there is this misunderstanding about Georgia. Sometimes people
Speaker 1: think Atlanta is Georgia, But there are a lot of
Speaker 1: communities outside of Atlanta, and the racial demographics in Georgia
Speaker 1: are shifting rapidly. As you well know, the population right
Speaker 1: now is still fifty almost fifty three percent white. Black
Speaker 1: folks make up almost thirty two percent of the population.
Speaker 1: In Fulton, Decab and Cobb Cobb County, where I grew up,
Speaker 1: black voters account for around six hundred thousand voters. But
Speaker 1: then I think about all the people in the rural
Speaker 1: parts of Georgia, and there's likely twice that amount. I'm
Speaker 1: doing a lot of writing, so I'm spending a lot
Speaker 1: of time in rural Georgia. I'm in rural Georgia about
Speaker 1: once a month. At this point, I wonder why the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party does not tap into those voters. Oftentimes, when
Speaker 1: people say rural, they think of rural white folks. But
Speaker 1: the truth is there are black, Latino Indigenous Api people
Speaker 1: in rural Georgia. So I'm thinking about areas like Augusta Warner, Robbins, Marshallville,
Speaker 1: make in Savannah. Right now, most of the according to
Speaker 1: people I've spoken to on the ground, spent time with,
Speaker 1: most of the GOLTV efforts to get out the vote
Speaker 1: efforts are coming from the NAACP down there, which speaks
Speaker 1: mostly to older people.
Speaker 3: So younger black rural people feel completely untapped. What is
Speaker 3: your plan to reach those voters? And you know, Tiffany,
Speaker 3: that's exactly what we've heard over the last few election cycles.
Speaker 3: Nobody's talking to me. Nobody cares about what I think,
Speaker 3: So why should I care about going out to vote
Speaker 3: for you? What difference does it make? And it's important
Speaker 3: to remember Atlanta is only roughly six hundred thousand people
Speaker 3: in population metro area just over six million. We're barely
Speaker 3: hitting half the state. So there are a lot of
Speaker 3: people who don't live in urban centered areas that you're right,
Speaker 3: they live in other corners of the state. And again
Speaker 3: it goes back to tapping into people. When you're talking
Speaker 3: about expansion of medicaid. In Georgia, we always talk about
Speaker 3: we want to be LSU and we want to be
Speaker 3: Alabama in football. But yet Louisiana and Alabama have expanded medicaid,
Speaker 3: we still got three hundred thousand people who are not covered.
Speaker 3: Nine rural hospitals have closed because we've not expanded medicaid.
Speaker 3: Those are the issues that you talk to in these
Speaker 3: rural talk about in these rural communities, and you're talking
Speaker 3: about counties that don't have pediatricians, that don't have OBGYN.
Speaker 3: That makes a difference. We're not just talking about our farmers.
Speaker 3: We're talking about people who own small businesses. We've got
Speaker 3: forty five percent of the people in the state employed
Speaker 3: by small businesses. When you're talking about terras, when you're
Speaker 3: talking about the six hundred thousand people from the Port
Speaker 3: of Savannah and Port of Bronswick who had businesses directly
Speaker 3: related to the ports. They're being impacted by chairs. And
Speaker 3: then a lot of these other issues, whether it's my
Speaker 3: plan to eliminate income taxes or teachers, that impacts communities
Speaker 3: across the state. It transcends party lines. You're talking about
Speaker 3: corporate landlords. People can't afford to buy houses, they can't
Speaker 3: get anybody on the phone to talk about of repair
Speaker 3: in their home from these corporate landlords that nobody's ever
Speaker 3: seen before. Those things transcend communities. When you're talking about
Speaker 3: our support of small businesses, so so many of these
Speaker 3: issues aren't just urban issues. We all want the same things.
Speaker 3: We want our communities to be safe, we want to
Speaker 3: have access to healthcare, we want to be able to
Speaker 3: put food on the table. All these things transcend community.
Speaker 6: You know, one of the things I just thought about
Speaker 6: Keisha when you mentioned teachers, there's one that I was
Speaker 6: trying to literally find. Her name is Kimberly. We did
Speaker 6: end up finding her. You've been on wind with black
Speaker 6: women calls with us, and you know how that community is.
Speaker 6: We met this black woman who teaches young and shapes
Speaker 6: young minds every day in Georgia. She came to the
Speaker 6: first day of the State of the People Power to her. You,
Speaker 6: of course were there on the second day when we
Speaker 6: met her, she talked about essentially having to put on
Speaker 6: a mask for her students during the day and when
Speaker 6: she leaves at night, her home is her car. And
Speaker 6: so to hear what you were just saying about relief
Speaker 6: of income text, I just think about all the other
Speaker 6: forms of relief our teachers need. And I always say,
Speaker 6: like I can name every single one of my teachers
Speaker 6: from the first grade on. I can, so they are
Speaker 6: so mission critical. What other relief are you thinking of
Speaker 6: when it comes to those folks who are shaping young minds?
Speaker 6: Again their top of mind, because I want to do
Speaker 6: everything to make sure this is that has a place
Speaker 6: to lay her head at night, not her car, you know.
Speaker 3: And what's interesting about that, Angela. When I was mayor,
Speaker 3: one of the cornerstones of our administration was improving affordable
Speaker 3: housing stock in the city of Atlanta. And I remember
Speaker 3: needing to go over to state capital to talk to
Speaker 3: the Republicans about my priorities thinking and not gonna care
Speaker 3: about affordable housing because that kept thinking that's just an
Speaker 3: Atlanta issue. And even in talking to CEOs, I'm like,
Speaker 3: what do they care about affordable housing? And I remember
Speaker 3: having a conversation with someone who I didn't expect with care,
Speaker 3: And you know why they cared because their teacher, their
Speaker 3: child's teacher, was having to drive two hours from or
Speaker 3: two hours in traffic or have it worked out to
Speaker 3: be because they couldn't afford to live in the city
Speaker 3: of Atlanta. The legislators cared because they had to come
Speaker 3: into Atlanta and rent places, or their kids were working
Speaker 3: in Atlanta. So I say all that to say, these
Speaker 3: issues touch all of us. So we have a teacher
Speaker 3: shortage in Georgia of about fifty two hundred I think
Speaker 3: were the last numbers that I saw, So we know
Speaker 3: eliminating those income taxes will help them immensely. But also
Speaker 3: again going back to this affordable housing piece workforce housing.
Speaker 3: I remember Ambassador Young telling me many years ago, stop
Speaker 3: saying affordable housing makes people think about the projects. That
Speaker 3: doesn't invoke good thoughts. Talk about workforce housing. These are
Speaker 3: houses that we're talking about for our teachers, for our nurses,
Speaker 3: for the person who picks up your the person who
Speaker 3: delivers your mail. We just got to push for policies
Speaker 3: that make it easier for people to exist. And so
Speaker 3: here go ahead.
Speaker 6: No, just a follow up on this housing piece. According
Speaker 6: to an Axios piece, it says that Atlanta is ranking
Speaker 6: fourth in terms of gentrification eliminating majority black areas, and
Speaker 6: so I want to know how you'll combat that. And
Speaker 6: now taking that full that's that full expectation and that
Speaker 6: intentionality around affordable housing throughout the state of Georgia, starting
Speaker 6: with you know your hometown and where you served as mayor.
Speaker 6: That is a hard stat and it's super sensitive to
Speaker 6: me because I'm from Seattle and our black population has
Speaker 6: been reduced to half in Seattle.
Speaker 3: You know, I would tell people all of the time,
Speaker 3: don't sell your house in Atlanta. One of the big
Speaker 3: challenges we have in Atlanta, and my family was even
Speaker 3: faced with this. Your grandparents leave a house, somebody in
Speaker 3: the family lives in the house. Nobody has a will.
Speaker 3: We don't think about, We don't always give the attention
Speaker 3: we need to things like that. So then you get
Speaker 3: these clouded titles. The roof starts to cave in. Who's
Speaker 3: going to pay for the roof? You can't access the
Speaker 3: grants and all the things available because you don't have
Speaker 3: title to the house. So that's something specifically that the
Speaker 3: state can help with helping people clean up titles, helping
Speaker 3: make it making it easier for people to access resources
Speaker 3: to help them maintain these family homes. But what I
Speaker 3: did when I was mayor, I created an affordable Housing
Speaker 3: Trust Fund. I actually started it when I was on
Speaker 3: City Council. I introduced this legislation when we were doing
Speaker 3: all the things related to Mercedes Bend Stadium and we
Speaker 3: started seeing the community flip. This community that my family
Speaker 3: ca from the cotton fields of Crofitville, Georgia, landed on
Speaker 3: the west side. We created this affordable Housing Trust Fund
Speaker 3: that was for a very small portion of the city,
Speaker 3: helping the people pay their property of taxes, because that's
Speaker 3: the offshoot of gentrification. Sometimes you want the communities revitalized,
Speaker 3: but you want the people who have stuck with the
Speaker 3: community to be able to afford to stay and enjoy
Speaker 3: the benefits of the revitalization. When I was mayor and
Speaker 3: we negotiated the transaction to for what we call the
Speaker 3: Goat now Centennial Yards right there in downtown Atlanta, I
Speaker 3: expanded that Affordable Housing Trust Fund. We put part of
Speaker 3: the money that we got from that transaction into the
Speaker 3: Affordable Housing Trust Fund so that we could expand that
Speaker 3: city wide. So when your property taxes go up, as
Speaker 3: it has on my grandparents' house that my mother now owns,
Speaker 3: you can now have enough access to this Affordable Housing
Speaker 3: Trust Fund to help you offset those property taxes. And
Speaker 3: then just lastly, we're just going to be thoughtful about
Speaker 3: how we are preserving our communities. We can't stop redevelopment.
Speaker 3: It's a free market. People can come in, they can
Speaker 3: build within the zoning parameters what they want to build.
Speaker 3: But it also means we are saying, when you come
Speaker 3: into our communities, these are the things that we are
Speaker 3: asking for you. We need to set aside for workforce housing.
Speaker 3: We need to make sure that you're contributing to our
Speaker 3: Affordable Housing Trust Fund to help people be able to
Speaker 3: pay their property taxes. And it's also good for business
Speaker 3: because you want to come in as a good neighbor
Speaker 3: and you want people to be able to you want
Speaker 3: a variety of people in our communities. It makes our
Speaker 3: communities better. So it's a very tough issue that's being
Speaker 3: faced by cities across America. But it's also very frustrating
Speaker 3: because so many people have stuck with cities when cities
Speaker 3: didn't stick with them. And it's something that you have
Speaker 3: to be intentional about. And as governor you can have
Speaker 3: either an even larger impact because you can push through
Speaker 3: policies through the state that doesn't make it one off.
Speaker 3: Whether it's just in Atlanta, it can be in policies
Speaker 3: where they be in Monroe and Madison, Valdosta, or wherever
Speaker 3: it is across the state.
Speaker 1: Madameyor I want to ask you about what I would
Speaker 1: consider it to be the biggest economic theft in Georgia,
Speaker 1: and that is essentially the defunding of HBCUs there. And
Speaker 1: I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. There was
Speaker 1: a lawsuit, a sixty seven pages lawsuit that alleged the
Speaker 1: Board of Regents there were diverting resources away from hbc
Speaker 1: is like Fort Valley giving that money to UGA. In
Speaker 1: this lawsuit, it was uncovered that nineteen members of the
Speaker 1: Board of Regents went to UGA Fort Valley students talk
Speaker 1: about how their campus looks. And I ask about this
Speaker 1: because given what is happening with FAM you and given
Speaker 1: the importance of our HBCUs right now, the lawsuit eventually
Speaker 1: went away, but the problems did not. So I'm just curious,
Speaker 1: as governor, how you would address the funding of ever
Speaker 1: so important HBCUs that exists in Georgia.
Speaker 3: Well, and I'll give the example of fam You in
Speaker 3: the FSU. It's not Georgia, but you think FAMU has
Speaker 3: a beautiful campus right up until you go over to
Speaker 3: see FSU and you realize how short Fam YOU has
Speaker 3: been cut and multiply that in Georgia. So again, the
Speaker 3: governor controls a lot. The governor makes those meant to
Speaker 3: the Board of Regents. So if you want people, Brian
Speaker 3: Kemp went to the University of Georgia, So if you
Speaker 3: want representation, you got to make sure the representation is
Speaker 3: representative of the state. Making sure that our HBCUs are
Speaker 3: represented at the Board of Regions, making sure the funding
Speaker 3: is fairly allocated, making sure that our HBCUs aren't a
Speaker 3: second thought when we're allocating resources, that we aren't pouring
Speaker 3: it all into just certain schools, that we are being fair,
Speaker 3: and it also means that we're making sure that these
Speaker 3: schools can be destination places, so that all of the
Speaker 3: top programs aren't just at one university, but they are
Speaker 3: equally allocated at our HBCUs. I remember a professor at
Speaker 3: FAM YOU and I wish I could remember his name.
Speaker 3: He would tell the story about many decades ago, FAM
Speaker 3: you used to have a law school. Now we have
Speaker 3: a law school now, but it was after the first
Speaker 3: law school was taken away from FAMU, and the story that.
Speaker 4: And given to FSU and given the FSU.
Speaker 3: The story he would tell was that one day, the
Speaker 3: way they knew the law school was being taken away,
Speaker 3: they came and started taking the boats out of the library.
Speaker 3: That's how they knew the law schools being taken away.
Speaker 3: That's not just the story of FAM You and FSU,
Speaker 3: that's the story of HBCUs across Georgia. Make sure that
Speaker 3: we are putting programs at our HBCUs that make them
Speaker 3: destination institutions, and then we are attracting and recruiting great
Speaker 3: people to lead our HBCUs. It can't just always be
Speaker 3: about fundraising. That's important, but it's also got to be
Speaker 3: about academics and making sure that our students are equipped
Speaker 3: for success. Again, the power of the pen from the
Speaker 3: Governor's office, it's so important.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 3: Unfortunately the mayor has to run.
Speaker 1: I'm told you tell us because Andrews respect Andrew will
Speaker 1: ask her do you have time for more question?
Speaker 3: Because I'm being told that you have to run. I
Speaker 3: do have time for another question.
Speaker 4: My encouragement, Mayor, I want you is that what you
Speaker 4: are saying the issues that you were hitting, that title issue,
Speaker 4: which is just such a processing thing, you might think.
Speaker 4: But my family who were enslaved in Georgia and Clientsville, Georgia,
Speaker 4: just outside of Valdosta, lost our family's property, my great
Speaker 4: grandfather because of this whole title issue, and the banks
Speaker 4: were ready to steep in, take it, sell it to
Speaker 4: the developers, and it's gone down the road in a
Speaker 4: whole host of history and service and sacrifice is lost
Speaker 4: for a group of people. But everything that you have
Speaker 4: mentioned today, you haven't talked about Donald Trump once. And
Speaker 4: I think it's important that the people of Georgia know
Speaker 4: that as governor, you're the number one priority. You're waking
Speaker 4: up and going to bed every night thinking about them.
Speaker 4: The wallet, kitchen table and pocketbook issues. That's all you
Speaker 4: have talked about given the time that we have had
Speaker 4: here today. And that's the stuff that people aren't saying
Speaker 4: in polls because it's just so baked into their everyday experience.
Speaker 4: It's just par for the course. So they're not complaining,
Speaker 4: but it is a big complain for a lot of people.
Speaker 4: And my support of you and love of you not
Speaker 4: only as a mayor but as a candidate for governor
Speaker 4: is further now steeped in. What I know about mayors
Speaker 4: is that they keep it close to the people. Is
Speaker 4: that you'll take that same energy of your closeness and
Speaker 4: advocacy for the everyday folks in Georgia, regardless of party affiliation,
Speaker 4: who they voted for, didn't vote for, or if they
Speaker 4: voted at all, that you know the heart in their
Speaker 4: mind because it's been your lived experience too. And I
Speaker 4: can't think of a higher recommender for a person for
Speaker 4: public office, the one who has not just talked to
Speaker 4: talk about walk the walk. So I wish you the
Speaker 4: very very best, I think on all of our behalf
Speaker 4: as you as you as you climb this mountain, and
Speaker 4: and and I know that your pathway will will will
Speaker 4: hopefully one I know, be successful. But to ease it
Speaker 4: for all the rest of us, at every level of
Speaker 4: government wherever it is that we choose to serve.
Speaker 3: Thank you. I really appreciate that you are my brother.
Speaker 3: You all are my sisters. I love you. I thank
Speaker 3: you all for always fighting the good fight on behalf
Speaker 3: of all of us, and keeping all of us honest
Speaker 3: and holding us accountable to the reasons that that we
Speaker 3: are here and the work that we are called to do.
Speaker 3: So I appreciate you all. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Go get them, get the Bottoms a former member of
Speaker 1: Atlanta City Council, former mayor, former judge, former appointees in
Speaker 1: the Buying administration, lots of titles. We will stay tuned
Speaker 1: to see if Governor Keisha at Lance Bottoms will be next.
Speaker 1: Is America ready for a black governor? Is about damn
Speaker 1: time we need governor? Black woman governor?
Speaker 6: For joining us, we are gonna book TIFFs Braid's appointment
Speaker 6: right after this so that y'all can really keep rocking
Speaker 6: a little.
Speaker 3: I love it one B thirty Okay, that's.
Speaker 6: What I love it.
Speaker 1: Thank you, see you on the campaign trail. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much for joining us.
Speaker 7: Thank you, lord, y'all know I'll know what, yes, I thought, Okay,
Speaker 7: all right, I love it Keep it real, mate, keep
Speaker 7: it real.
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, I really enjoyed the conversation with
Speaker 1: her because I feel like all of our questions are
Speaker 1: things that she will likely not be asked and other outlets.
Speaker 3: I did a lot of reading this morning.
Speaker 1: This morning, looking at you know, The Times, the Post,
Speaker 1: even the a JC. I talked to reporters even before
Speaker 1: we got on air, and just some of the things
Speaker 1: that they were concerned about in highlighting just really we
Speaker 1: didn't speak to our community, and it just shows the
Speaker 1: disconnect sometimes between media and the people.
Speaker 4: It's also intentional tiff to keep her from being able
Speaker 4: to get to the stuff that she was talking about today,
Speaker 4: because what she was saying today is exactly what can
Speaker 4: move people from their couches and get them to the post.
Speaker 4: I already have a sense of how she is going
Speaker 4: to respond to a fourth grader as president throwing a
Speaker 4: temper tantrum. Right, I've seen her handle people like that.
Speaker 4: But what You're Gonna do for me is going to
Speaker 4: be the first in the last question that voters were asked,
Speaker 4: what are you gonna do for me?
Speaker 6: What I really appreciated about this is it felt we
Speaker 6: felt really economics focused, and I know that we hit
Speaker 6: on those issues every now and then I know we
Speaker 6: plan to get to tariffs at some point really soon too,
Speaker 6: and the impacts on our communities. But I got to
Speaker 6: tell you, like the exposure that I've had recently to
Speaker 6: I can't even call them kitchen table issues because the
Speaker 6: people I've been encountering don't have kitchen table conversations because
Speaker 6: some don't have kitchen tables, you know what I mean. Like,
Speaker 6: so the sensitivity around, like even seeing her reaction to
Speaker 6: kimberly situation in Atlanta, like her eyes closed and you
Speaker 6: can see like the pain. Like, I just think it
Speaker 6: matters to have people who aren't just from our community
Speaker 6: but have stayed in tune with our community representing us.
Speaker 6: Whether they're in corporations or labor union leadership or in government,
Speaker 6: it matters. And I am grateful that she has has
Speaker 6: a demonstrative, demonstrated record of caring about these issues and
Speaker 6: working to address them.
Speaker 4: So he gives a damn about the people.
Speaker 1: Now some understanding for how funding allocation works at the
Speaker 1: state level, you know, I think about ray Lewis, who
Speaker 1: we had on, you know, saying politicians don't do anything,
Speaker 1: and it really is just a lack of understanding. There's
Speaker 1: a disconnect between civics, civic engagement leaders and who they
Speaker 1: choose to talk to media and who they choose to cover.
Speaker 1: And you know, you can feel that way, like maybe
Speaker 1: my mayor doesn't care about me, but you don't know
Speaker 1: that the Republican governor is the person who's allocating the
Speaker 1: federal funding to the mostly white neighborhoods, and that's why
Speaker 1: the black neighborhood doesn't have access to clean drinking water.
Speaker 1: So connecting those dots, I think is really important. So
Speaker 1: I'm very happy that we have as a guest.
Speaker 4: But Tiffany, to your point just now, it is also
Speaker 4: a call up for the electeds and the policymakers, who
Speaker 4: they know every day they are doing what they can
Speaker 4: for communities to not And it's easy to happen, because
Speaker 4: it's happened to me repeatedly, to not just be in
Speaker 4: the office doing the world, but communicating back to the
Speaker 4: people exactly what you're doing on their behalf. That way,
Speaker 4: even if they never get to see the fruit of
Speaker 4: the labor, that they know somebody's laboring, and they literally know.
Speaker 6: Who you are, like they know who you are because
Speaker 6: they've met you, they've had encounters with you, I don't
Speaker 6: think it's a lack of understanding at all.
Speaker 1: I think it's a lack of connection. You know, I
Speaker 1: like it is a lack of understanding. There are plenty
Speaker 1: of people out there who do not know that the
Speaker 1: governor is the person allocating the funding. Like I said,
Speaker 1: I grew up in the Bible, but I've spent a
Speaker 1: lot of time down south. I can assure you it
Speaker 1: is a lack of understanding with a lot of people.
Speaker 1: But you can't blame this is a conversation I've been
Speaker 1: having a lot. You cannot blame voters. People always tell
Speaker 1: me that. Sometimes I disagree with that, or people say,
Speaker 1: you can't blame the community. So it's I don't think,
Speaker 1: you know, it's always necessarily about blame, but challenging folks
Speaker 1: who maybe understand the inner workings of how things are
Speaker 1: working in the community, right.
Speaker 6: And I don't think that it's just a lack of understanding.
Speaker 6: I know I've met plenty of people on the road
Speaker 6: that understand exactly how government works, but they ain't seen
Speaker 6: their elected official in months or ever. I think that's
Speaker 6: just a disconnect. So I'm not saying that. Nope, everybody
Speaker 6: understands I'm also not willing to say that nobody understands.
Speaker 1: I think that I don't think anybody was making those
Speaker 1: general terms.
Speaker 6: But yeah, I think a lot of people don't understand.
Speaker 6: But there are a lot of people who are left
Speaker 6: in the dark and treated like they don't matter by
Speaker 6: their elected officials.
Speaker 4: Testimony you wanted.
Speaker 6: To share, Okay, No, I was gonna say. The one
Speaker 6: good thing that I think happened from last week when
Speaker 6: we talked, since Tip brought up Ray lewis uh, he
Speaker 6: actually did have the opportunity to connect with Randall Woodfind Randall,
Speaker 6: who is the mayor of Birmingham, reached out to Ray
Speaker 6: and they've had a conversation. So since then, Ray has
Speaker 6: been in contact with an elected official who seems to
Speaker 6: care very deeply about his situation. Tips. So maybe we're
Speaker 6: gonna change the narrative one story at a time. We'll see.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, but to your point, Andrew, I think
Speaker 1: that is the responsibility of mayors, you know, like we
Speaker 1: all have a role to play. But it can't just
Speaker 1: be like Nail lamp. I don't have the reats to
Speaker 1: talk to every innern city community.
Speaker 4: You know, Yes, but it's a lesson but I would
Speaker 4: suggest would I would say, I think the onus has
Speaker 4: to be on both sides, right, because it can be
Speaker 4: I ain't seen my mayor. He don't never come to
Speaker 4: my house and knock on the door, or to my
Speaker 4: church or hang out on my neighborhood block. And the
Speaker 4: assumption or rather the experience that you've not seen the
Speaker 4: mayor there does not equal that the mayor isn't working
Speaker 4: on your behalf because sometimes Randa wood Fin don't need
Speaker 4: to walk the block to be educated on what's happening
Speaker 4: on the block. Why because he came off that block
Speaker 4: or he came through this experience, is understanding of what
Speaker 4: it is that is happening and is in the halls
Speaker 4: of power boxing like nobody's business, trying to make it
Speaker 4: our priority and bring the resources back home. But that
Speaker 4: isn't enough either. The mayor then has to make sure
Speaker 4: that that cycle is being closed by keeping people informed
Speaker 4: about what you're doing. I used to see it all
Speaker 4: the time during Biden's administration, was they were doing a
Speaker 4: lot early on particularly that advantage and with the benefit
Speaker 4: of so many people, but not talking about it. He
Speaker 4: was in the you know, he's in the bowels of
Speaker 4: this stuff, but him not talking about it didn't mean
Speaker 4: that it wasn't happening. It was happening, and his failure
Speaker 4: was a failure to communicate what was happening.
Speaker 1: In my opinion, Yeah, I agree. Look, I feel like
Speaker 1: we are at the breakdown of society right now. So
Speaker 1: I agree. I think every single system out there is failing.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if I've ever mentioned before to
Speaker 1: you guys that I think the media is failing media.
Speaker 4: I also think the system and the places where it
Speaker 4: does fail might be intentionally doing so. It is a
Speaker 4: lot of times not in the interest of people in
Speaker 4: power to have people checking and watching and listening to
Speaker 4: everything that they are doing. And so what do they do.
Speaker 4: They office gate, They make it plain, They put up
Speaker 4: these uh you know, white out glasses. You can't suit
Speaker 4: through the rooms anymore, Right, you don't get a record
Speaker 4: of what is happening because they don't want you to know.
Speaker 4: They're usually in there doing something they shouldn't be doing
Speaker 4: in the first place. So to the extent that there
Speaker 4: seems to be a disconnect in some cases, it is
Speaker 4: a very intentional one.
Speaker 1: All right, that's a wrap. Takisha Lance Bottoms but on
Speaker 1: the other side of this break, I want to talk
Speaker 1: about y'all in some of your comments you made about
Speaker 1: the show last week.
Speaker 3: Let's get into that. We'll see you on our side
Speaker 3: of the break. Okay.
Speaker 1: I wanted to bring something up about our last show,
Speaker 1: and I have to tell you guys, Yes to the
Speaker 1: listeners out there and the people who tuned into our audience.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I really appreciate the ongoing conversation we have,
Speaker 1: even if it's frustration, you know, even if it's like
Speaker 1: tifty your drive me crazy with filling the blank, you know,
Speaker 1: I still appreciate that because it does feel like when
Speaker 1: I'm with my people, I just feel at home. I
Speaker 1: feel relaxed. Even if y'all mad at me, is like,
Speaker 1: at least I know the space that you're coming from.
Speaker 1: And so I have to say I was really disheartened
Speaker 1: at a lot of the comments from last week's show,
Speaker 1: with people expressing frustration with encouraging them to be in
Speaker 1: solidarity with people of color, other people of color, and
Speaker 1: you know, people continue to say things like this what
Speaker 1: they voted for, this is what they got, And I'm
Speaker 1: worried about black people and all the things.
Speaker 6: I thought you was mad at us, you mad at
Speaker 6: the comments. That's a lot.
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm not mad, but just disappointed.
Speaker 1: You know, it's just because I can't deny you said this. Actually, Angel,
Speaker 1: I don't remember what we were talking about, but I
Speaker 1: was disagreeing with someone's thoughts about maybe you were the show,
Speaker 1: and you were like, but that's their feeling, Like, that's
Speaker 1: how they feel. And so I'm trying not to be
Speaker 1: mad to take, you know, a page from your playbook
Speaker 1: and say, well, that's how they feel. But I do
Speaker 1: think it is a part of a narrative that feeds
Speaker 1: that feeling. And so I just wanted to take thirty
Speaker 1: seconds and just clarify a few things, the first most
Speaker 1: important thing being that every single community of color voted
Speaker 1: by majority for Kamala Harris.
Speaker 3: The media has.
Speaker 6: Said one more time, say it one more time, just in.
Speaker 1: Case, in single community of color voted for Kamala Harris.
Speaker 1: The media has an intentional narrative to try to pretend
Speaker 1: that Donald Trump built this multi coalition of voters and
Speaker 1: he did not White people and white people alone put
Speaker 1: that man in office. And we should not ever be
Speaker 1: confused about that. I want to give the numbers. Fifty
Speaker 1: seven percent of indigenous voters Native Americans voted for Kamala Harris.
Speaker 1: In the Aapi community that's the fastest growing demographic in
Speaker 1: this country, sixty one percent voted for Kamala Harris, of
Speaker 1: which she is a member through her there. Even in
Speaker 1: Latino voters, and this is an important one, a majority
Speaker 1: of Latino voters voted for Kamala Harris. An important note
Speaker 1: here undocumented migrants are not voters, so they did not vote.
Speaker 1: When you say that's what they voted for, no, they
Speaker 1: did not. That makes up the bulk of people in
Speaker 1: these deportations, They did not vote. Sixty two percent of
Speaker 1: Latino voters. She won this group by a twenty five
Speaker 1: point margin. Now we get into Latino men, people say, oh, well, Latino.
Speaker 6: Men voted for her.
Speaker 1: Even Latino men voted by majority for Kamala Harris. No,
Speaker 1: Trump did make gains among Latino men. We have to
Speaker 1: consider in that community. There's I think over eighty countries
Speaker 1: of origin in the Latino community, but Trump did get
Speaker 1: significant gains there. The Arab community, everyone's like, well, how
Speaker 1: that protest vote work out for them?
Speaker 3: Trump?
Speaker 1: They not vote for Trump. Kamala Harrison. Donald Trump split
Speaker 1: that community almost evenly, twenty and twenty one percent, respectively.
Speaker 1: They voted overwhelmingly for Jill Stein. Now we can talk
Speaker 1: about how frustrating that is. We can get mad about
Speaker 1: that Jill Stein. Well, Jill Stein is a liar and
Speaker 1: she's a manipulator. But I'm gonna tell you if I'm
Speaker 1: seeing this shit go down in Gaza with my people,
Speaker 1: and you're asking me to vote for somebody who's only
Speaker 1: willing to call for a temporary ceasefire, and I'm seeing
Speaker 1: them bomb hospitals, schools, kill children, tens of thousands buying
Speaker 1: of starvation, and the person that everybody saying, no, you
Speaker 1: have to vote for her is only willing to say
Speaker 1: I will call for a temporary ceasefire. She was willing
Speaker 1: to go further than Biden, but at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, she was sticking with the Biden administration's policy
Speaker 1: on Gaza. If you got a bunch of black anybody really,
Speaker 1: But if you got a bunch of black people dying
Speaker 1: like that and you're telling me vote for this person,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do it. So I just think sense
Speaker 1: of our humanity, we have to understand that Jill Stein
Speaker 1: ran on Gaza. She had a Muslim running mate. She's
Speaker 1: also a liar. She's also an accused advocate of the Kremlin.
Speaker 1: She was seen on Russian television sitting at a table
Speaker 1: with Putin. This was all intentional. She was working hand
Speaker 1: in hand with won't call him what they say, a
Speaker 1: war criminal. She did eventually come out and call him
Speaker 1: a war criminal, only because she was called out. But
Speaker 1: but yeah, initially she wouldn't. But she was literally paying
Speaker 1: when of Donald Trump's personal lawyers, Republicans were eagerly fighting
Speaker 1: for her to get on the ballot in States, she was,
Speaker 1: you know, an op. And it's the same way that
Speaker 1: they were able to peel off a tiny, a useful tool.
Speaker 1: It was the same way they were able to peel
Speaker 1: off a slither, a slither of black men. But again,
Speaker 1: the narrative is, oh, Trump got all these black men
Speaker 1: to vote for him. No, he increased his gains with
Speaker 1: black men, but he did not. Black men voted overwhelming
Speaker 1: for Kamala Harris. So I just think if we can
Speaker 1: start there, but let's just put all that aside for
Speaker 1: a moment. I just wonder, can we tap into our humanity,
Speaker 1: you know, and give a fuck about what people are
Speaker 1: going through. And that's the part that's kind of heartbreaking
Speaker 1: to me that so many people were like, who cares?
Speaker 1: But there was I wasn't telling you this is Angela.
Speaker 1: There was a fair criticism of me, I thought, and
Speaker 1: they were saying, well, tiffany one. They felt like I
Speaker 1: was finger wagging, like shame on you for not caring,
Speaker 1: and a part of me does feel that wing but sorry.
Speaker 3: But I do feel like we care.
Speaker 1: But also they were like, what are the specifics? Like
Speaker 1: what are you asking us to do? And the truth is,
Speaker 1: I don't know what that is because right now I
Speaker 1: am in a space of trying to gather my own beliefs.
Speaker 1: I'm not in a space to uphold the system right now.
Speaker 1: I'm in a space of what does protecting community look like?
Speaker 1: And I have thoughts on that, But I want to
Speaker 1: ask you, guys, have you seen anything? Is there any
Speaker 1: tangible work right now that has stopped something disadministration is
Speaker 1: doing because I've not seen it. Are not going to hold.
Speaker 1: I've seen some things with the court. I don't think
Speaker 1: they're going to hold, but I want the audience that point.
Speaker 4: But to this point, they have and including protests right
Speaker 4: when they started to let's go back to the McCain flip,
Speaker 4: when he went down to the floor in thumbs down. Right,
Speaker 4: That was after as a result of overwhelming shows of
Speaker 4: outrage by the American people saying you about to kick
Speaker 4: me off my healthcare. It is no longer any theoretical fight. No, no, no.
Speaker 4: But I went back that far just to come forward,
Speaker 4: which is to say, this administration has announced departures from
Speaker 4: the status quo at veterans affairs with cuts. They come
Speaker 4: forward frankly with scrubbing websites of certain information, and after
Speaker 4: certain outcries have had to put it back. They've attempted
Speaker 4: to shutter departments that judges have for their hand on,
Speaker 4: and they've had the reverse course or bring it to
Speaker 4: a complete and total holt. Now, yes, the administration is
Speaker 4: flouting the law in some of these instances, but yes,
Speaker 4: also in some of these instances, and many of them,
Speaker 4: these judges are holding accountable those lawyers that are in
Speaker 4: their court rooms who have an obligation under the law
Speaker 4: as officers of the court to one speak truth, but
Speaker 4: also to follow the mandates of the court or suffer
Speaker 4: thy consequences. They may be able to put Donald Trump
Speaker 4: behind bars, but they can put Pam Bondi behind bars
Speaker 4: anything or in the federal system. I'm just saying there
Speaker 4: are consequences for flouting the law and flouting the jurisdiction
Speaker 4: of the judges in the courts. But also I get
Speaker 4: why everyone doesn't know the stories in which we've been successful.
Speaker 4: They don't want us to think that there is a
Speaker 4: way to beating them, so they're not elevating the stories
Speaker 4: in which they've been beat They've been clapped back, beaten
Speaker 4: contained quite a bit. It hasn't had it hasn't so
Speaker 4: far been able to stop them from what they're doing wholesale.
Speaker 4: But we've paused them, and the courts have stopped them
Speaker 4: in their track on many of those on many of
Speaker 4: those efforts. I just think we what we cannot do
Speaker 4: is make the road for them easy. When you lie
Speaker 4: down and you say what they're gonna do, what they're
Speaker 4: gonna do, Well, guess what, We've got enough evidence that
Speaker 4: they've changed course, or been forced to change course, or
Speaker 4: have completely retreated in some instances. And that's really how
Speaker 4: I feel you all about this budget that the Republicans.
Speaker 4: I'm not changing topic. I just want to pile on here.
Speaker 1: You want to talk about the budget, so we can
Speaker 1: talk about it here or we can get into it
Speaker 1: on the minipid, because I do want to.
Speaker 4: Simply say, seventeen and a half million people they are
Speaker 4: right now trying to cut off from having access to
Speaker 4: health care. And for those individuals that they're cutting off
Speaker 4: from having access to health care, they're also in this
Speaker 4: legislation closing the door to them being able to go
Speaker 4: on the exchange which came through Obamacare and purchased their
Speaker 4: own insurance there. So if you are not awake to
Speaker 4: the threats that are coming for our seniors and those
Speaker 4: individuals who are benefit who are beneficiaries of Medicaid, which
Speaker 4: by the way, seniors also benefit from Medicaid as well
Speaker 4: as Medicare, but Medicaid as well, especially those in poverty.
Speaker 4: And then let me tell you just to draw the
Speaker 4: line complete those of us who have insurance, when that's
Speaker 4: seventeen and a half so million people are removed. If
Speaker 4: they have their way, and they still access health care,
Speaker 4: except this time not through prevention and ongoing maintenance, but
Speaker 4: through the emergency room. Those costs get passed on by
Speaker 4: the insurers directly to us. The reason our prices will
Speaker 4: go up, the reason our premiums what we have to
Speaker 4: pay before they kick in, will increase, is because they
Speaker 4: are now going to have to make space to get
Speaker 4: back the money for the services that they're now being
Speaker 4: forced to provide through emergency rooms and emergency room visits.
Speaker 4: They've got to extract that cost somewhere, and where did
Speaker 4: they go. Those of us who have insurance will pay
Speaker 4: more to pay for those that they just kicked off
Speaker 4: of insurance. So nobody's getting away here.
Speaker 1: But you're just so I'm clear, you're saying the thing
Speaker 1: that has stopped the Trump administration.
Speaker 3: Are the courts.
Speaker 4: The courts have to stopped.
Speaker 1: Something, and protests. When you say protests, you mean like
Speaker 1: literally people in the streets, on the streets, their members
Speaker 1: and some pages on the website, well.
Speaker 4: Not just website, I don't mean just website. They've also
Speaker 4: so if they intended to cut staff at veterans Affairs,
Speaker 4: as one other example, right, bringing your level of service
Speaker 4: to a screeching halt, right, you won't get callbacks. You
Speaker 4: can get scheduled for six months, and your issue is
Speaker 4: urgent and right now, but nobody can see to it
Speaker 4: because there's nobody there to see to it. What did
Speaker 4: they do? They backtrack on it when they there were
Speaker 4: certain museums, certain government buildings, the Department of Peace, they
Speaker 4: tried to go in wholesale shut down just yes. This
Speaker 4: week the judge said, you don't have jurisdiction over that.
Speaker 4: You don't even own the building. The building doesn't even
Speaker 4: belonged to the federal government. Get out of there. Well
Speaker 4: they have to do. What do they have to do.
Speaker 4: They had to get out of there, and they were
Speaker 4: they were accused of trespassing because the workers shut them
Speaker 4: down and said, no, you can't. You cannot break into
Speaker 4: this building.
Speaker 1: I think that people are asking, what are we asking
Speaker 1: them to do?
Speaker 4: Protests if it's happening protests. I'm just giving one example
Speaker 4: that people have disqualified the effect and the impact of
Speaker 4: good old fashioned raising your voice, making calls and showing
Speaker 4: up and telling your story.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, and like, let them get
Speaker 1: out there and protest, like you know, I'm not thank you.
Speaker 4: They're coming up my street, down my driveway trying to
Speaker 4: take my stuff. I ain't wait, No nobody is in me.
Speaker 4: I'm going out there.
Speaker 3: For the same same stop trying to get in.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 6: I have a few things. One is I think is
Speaker 6: I really would love for us to stop saying that
Speaker 6: black people overall are not protesting. It's just nice.
Speaker 3: I agree.
Speaker 6: I just I like, let's just start there. Like, I'm
Speaker 6: not protesting in that way. I'm focused on making sure
Speaker 6: that we're all connected and we know how to survive collectively.
Speaker 6: But there are black people who are actively protesting at
Speaker 6: all of these major activations, So let's start there. The
Speaker 6: second thing I want to say is there are some courts,
Speaker 6: even some judges, to the risk of being threatened of arrest,
Speaker 6: who are showing up to in their required duty as
Speaker 6: a as an official branch of government, to challenge and
Speaker 6: to take on and to hold accountable this administration. And
Speaker 6: I don't want to be little that including surprise, surprise,
Speaker 6: Clarence Thomas Dahuchi actually showed up as saying some good
Speaker 6: other day at court. So I want to just be
Speaker 6: clear about the fact that there are some people that
Speaker 6: are saying, you know, enough is enough, John Roberts, who
Speaker 6: they're challenging. And then I also want to knowledge that
Speaker 6: there are members of Congress and a mayor that we
Speaker 6: had on just last week, who are showing up in
Speaker 6: their official capacities, just doing business as normal, just engaging
Speaker 6: in their oversight responsibilities, just ensuring that you know, uh,
Speaker 6: when you have a a migrant facility, the one that's
Speaker 6: in Newark where Lamonica mc iver is now being threatened
Speaker 6: with an assault charge for showing up. But I'm saying
Speaker 6: I think that it could very well get thrown out. Right,
Speaker 6: I'm clear about the fact it is a.
Speaker 4: Which should update Rasparakas was it is a false charge.
Speaker 6: I'm talking about Lamonica mc ivor right now.
Speaker 4: No, no, no, I was just.
Speaker 6: From all right, So on Lamonica mc ivor, a false
Speaker 6: charge that she is now facing where she will have
Speaker 6: to have an attorney, she will have to raise funds
Speaker 6: to fight this charge merely in her oversight capacity after
Speaker 6: she was allegedly violent with officers where there's no documentation
Speaker 6: or proof of this. She gets the charge or she
Speaker 6: gets the tour for the very thing that she showed
Speaker 6: up to do with other members of Congress, which is
Speaker 6: in their full oversight responsibility. What they really don't want
Speaker 6: you to know is the migrants in that facility, going
Speaker 6: full circle to Tip's point, are not just brown people.
Speaker 6: They are black and brown people. So y'all can try
Speaker 6: to make it in us versus them as much as
Speaker 6: you want to, you're gonna miss out on what it
Speaker 6: means to protect us. If they are willing to lock
Speaker 6: up the mayor of Newark, if they are willing to
Speaker 6: press charges against a sitting member of Congress, it ain't
Speaker 6: no black or brown body that is safe in this country.
Speaker 6: And we will do better if we all come together.
Speaker 6: And that is the point from last week. That is
Speaker 6: the point from this week. I don't know how many
Speaker 6: black examples y'all need, but if you don't start paying
Speaker 6: attention to it, I'm telling you you're not safe. These
Speaker 6: people took oath and are being charged and arrested because
Speaker 6: they're doing their duties of the oath they took. That
Speaker 6: is what's at stake. And if you don't understand what
Speaker 6: time it is, I don't know. Maybe we need to
Speaker 6: get large fishburn to come on the handle up boom
Speaker 6: people and their arresting lawmakers. It's like, what does that
Speaker 6: mean for the everyday person? And those are some of
Speaker 6: the comments, right, Yeah, I'm agreeing with you, but those
Speaker 6: are some of the comments too that people were saying, like,
Speaker 6: if we go out there and protests, we on the
Speaker 6: front lines. But I think it's an important point that
Speaker 6: you made about this narrative that like, no black people
Speaker 6: are doing anything. I definitely don't want to echo that
Speaker 6: because that's not true. But this was a lot of
Speaker 6: the comments like, no, y'all want my nerves. I give
Speaker 6: people space because in their mind, their rest is their protests,
Speaker 6: but it's not stopping anything, you know. And I because
Speaker 6: this this pissed me off too. You guys, there's a
Speaker 6: difference between rest as self care. Rest is certainly a
Speaker 6: form of self care. But if you are watching your
Speaker 6: full neighbors sink, starve, be unhoused, not be able to
Speaker 6: pay bills, your rest is selfish and somebody needs to
Speaker 6: tell you that. I don't know what that is. I
Speaker 6: ain't been raised around those black folks like that, and
Speaker 6: I don't want y'all nowhere near me. So sleep your
Speaker 6: ass off, but stay away from me, because I don't
Speaker 6: know what time y'all are on. I'm not about to
Speaker 6: watch all these people suffer who look like me to
Speaker 6: take a goddamn nap, like I'm just not doing that.
Speaker 6: So y'all some other stuff. I don't like that at
Speaker 6: all in this I think that's real selfish if I could.
Speaker 4: In the spirit of accountability. Yes, after the election, you
Speaker 4: all sounded a lot like the voices that we heard.
Speaker 4: Let me finish making my point, okay, because I think
Speaker 4: we can't talk at folks as if we hadn't been
Speaker 4: there ourselves and you all, both of the three of us.
Speaker 4: I was never there, but we're basic. But the rest
Speaker 4: of them, I'm concerned about mystery and the people who
Speaker 4: I love. That's where you were, but I know you are.
Speaker 4: But let me just make room for the possibility that
Speaker 4: we all need our own time and space for growth
Speaker 4: to grow in like their phases of of of I'm
Speaker 4: just trying to survive. Thank you, I need you mostly
Speaker 4: just survive. But but just like their phases of grief,
Speaker 4: folks have to come to the place that's true, where
Speaker 4: it is now more clear to me the thing that
Speaker 4: I've got to do in order to survive. And I'm
Speaker 4: not I'm not even I'm not even suggesting that you
Speaker 4: take actions to the benefit of your neighbor. What I'm
Speaker 4: suggesting is you take I think where people have to
Speaker 4: get to. Sometimes the problem has to travel not just
Speaker 4: down our street, but up our walkway, down the driveway,
Speaker 4: into the garage or under the covered patio or whatever
Speaker 4: that is before we understand what the stakes are. Because
Speaker 4: other than that, the stakes we're dealing with are I
Speaker 4: got to keep a roof over my head, food on
Speaker 4: the table, my kids fed and dressed, and keep my
Speaker 4: job so I can get income and repeat this, you know,
Speaker 4: this cycle next month. So I just think we think.
Speaker 4: I think I understand the sentiment, even if it isn't
Speaker 4: one that I share for myself. But I think the
Speaker 4: best thing we can do is hope that folks can
Speaker 4: recover much quicker than we have been recovered.
Speaker 1: I think people are fully real I don't think people
Speaker 1: are completely engaged. I don't think people fully realize that
Speaker 1: we are about to go through some bad times.
Speaker 4: That's well, the bad times have already started, and for
Speaker 4: most people, they think they've been in it already for
Speaker 4: a long time. But the truth is, if it has
Speaker 4: been that way before, let's just multiply it. And I
Speaker 4: don't mean that to be sensational. I simply mean it is.
Speaker 4: The fact of the matter is is these folks are
Speaker 4: coming for everything that's it. You can see it in
Speaker 4: their movements, you can hear it and what they say.
Speaker 4: And we could keep being entrapped by this idea that
Speaker 4: he says one things, but he really doesn't mean it, y'all.
Speaker 4: He said it, he meant it. They're taking action on it,
Speaker 4: and they're going to figure out hella hogh water one
Speaker 4: way or another, how to get there. Take for instance,
Speaker 4: he wants to go after it. We talked about what
Speaker 4: is it the place where you give money for Democrats
Speaker 4: Act Blue? Right, Well, guess what in this legislation that
Speaker 4: the Republicans are considering right now. They want to make
Speaker 4: it a unilateral decision that the president can determine who
Speaker 4: is a nonprofit and who is not. The president can
Speaker 4: determine that if you're an organization that renders service to
Speaker 4: people who are immigrants in this country, that you are
Speaker 4: a seditionist, that you are a traitor to the country,
Speaker 4: and you should be treated as a terrorist sympathizing organization.
Speaker 4: And without any rule of law and designation will allow
Speaker 4: the administration to do with us. No, this is all connected.
Speaker 4: We are indivisible in this thing. No fight here yesterday.
Speaker 6: No, but wait a minute, because you said some of it.
Speaker 6: I just want to be accountable. Just one second, just
Speaker 6: one It's not even a production timeout, it's just a
Speaker 6: a time out. Okay. I receive what you're saying about
Speaker 6: people having to arrive in their own time. What I
Speaker 6: think is not fair to everybody, But I'm my own.
Speaker 6: My stuff is. I'm feeling the pressure and the fierce
Speaker 6: urgency of now, and I am terrified that in our rest,
Speaker 6: whoever's resting among us, we're going to miss the moment.
Speaker 6: And I don't want people who I love and care
Speaker 6: about in my community, in the culture to be left
Speaker 6: behind because they thought they had more time than they
Speaker 6: do to that right, like like do Like people are
Speaker 6: feeling like already helpless. So while we're losing people on
Speaker 6: rest that are fully capable, fully gifted, fully talented, fully resourced,
Speaker 6: and we can't tap into them because they are on
Speaker 6: a boycott right now, like keep boycott and target, but
Speaker 6: show up us.
Speaker 4: We can't browbeat them back out to the streets. We
Speaker 4: have to come.
Speaker 1: It's like when you have to come to their own
Speaker 1: right when you felt that way. If somebody on November
Speaker 1: ninth was like Angel, like what are you doing? Like
Speaker 1: you we we I think we have to get out
Speaker 1: of the habit of centering ourselves, which is the hardest
Speaker 1: thing because it's like, because I care about this thing today,
Speaker 1: everybody else should care about this thing.
Speaker 3: Every you're going to come to the right.
Speaker 1: I think we're both We're all saying that, all three
Speaker 1: person are saying we are in this path of destruction together.
Speaker 1: It takes together. And what will it take to get
Speaker 1: people motivated? What our audience is asking is, okay, fine,
Speaker 1: you want me to stop resting. What specifically are you
Speaker 1: asking me to do? And how specifically will that stop
Speaker 1: this shit show that we're seeing? And I think that's
Speaker 1: a legitimate question. Let me just say is what I
Speaker 1: just have one idea, okay, because I've been thinking about
Speaker 1: it that I don't act in haste and so and
Speaker 1: I don't thrive in chaos. Right now, it's so it's
Speaker 1: like chaos, and so sometimes for me, when it's chaos,
Speaker 1: I have to take a step back and just observe,
Speaker 1: you know, just read, write, talk to folks, not not
Speaker 1: necessarily in an organized way, but like just talk to
Speaker 1: people on my terms, my time, Like let me figure
Speaker 1: out what the fuck is going on. And that's what
Speaker 1: I feel like I've been in that space for probably
Speaker 1: three months now, and I have come up with an
Speaker 1: idea that's not all the way thought through, and I
Speaker 1: think a part of it is a reverse migration, which
Speaker 1: is why I want to have Charles Blow on the show.
Speaker 1: But I think what would happen if we build our
Speaker 1: own little Wakandan communities in the rural south and reshape
Speaker 1: the political map of America. We don't have to talk
Speaker 1: about it now, but I like what you're saying.
Speaker 6: I think what's frustrating is because even for the three
Speaker 6: of us, we've not been in conversation. That is part
Speaker 6: of what's happening on the tour, the reason we have
Speaker 6: the Acre Boys on the tour. I'm serious, I know
Speaker 6: everything goes back to the tour.
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, No, it's not that I got something to
Speaker 1: say about it. We're go ahead.
Speaker 6: I definitely want to hear. But we have like even
Speaker 6: the stuff that Cliff and Latasha and them are working on,
Speaker 6: same thing, like trying to create co op communities and
Speaker 6: farming communities to ensure that our folks have food and
Speaker 6: resource in case that's cut off in the stores. I
Speaker 6: think even with the Acre Boys, where they like they
Speaker 6: put up a post yesterday on where black folks can
Speaker 6: buy land for reasonable costs in the South. That is
Speaker 6: absolutely a part of it and has to be a
Speaker 6: part of it. I'd love to have that conversation.
Speaker 1: But I think I think why I laugh a little
Speaker 1: is because I think the tour has been awesome for
Speaker 1: people who have curiosity about like what it's like in
Speaker 1: these communities and what's happening and what where the work is.
Speaker 1: That work is happening independent of the tour a lot
Speaker 1: of places as Yeah, So I'm just saying, like, I'm
Speaker 1: not doing this in isolation. This is also from you know, work, reading,
Speaker 1: my upbringing, family, you know, different things that I do. Andrew,
Speaker 1: I know you know in Florida you do, and we'll
Speaker 1: all be together in Jackson, you know. You and I've
Speaker 1: talked about the work I did in Jackson some years ago,
Speaker 1: which is why I wanted to do that stop on
Speaker 1: the tour.
Speaker 3: But I also I.
Speaker 1: Don't I don't know the tangible results of that either,
Speaker 1: and so I guess I'm just looking at what can
Speaker 1: I do selfishly. I'm looking at what can I do
Speaker 1: for safety.
Speaker 6: For me and my family?
Speaker 3: Immediately?
Speaker 1: Oh, he can we talk about your thing yet, I'm
Speaker 1: not gonna say it if we can't. I'm also concerned.
Speaker 6: About your ready to talk about Yeah, I'm concerned about
Speaker 6: my safety too. I'll be ready to talk about it
Speaker 6: next week.
Speaker 1: Okay, next week because we are if I could, well,
Speaker 1: you know what, can I callow us right there? This
Speaker 1: conversation is so robust? Can we pick this up on
Speaker 1: the Mini pid. Y'all got to tune in tomorrow. Okay
Speaker 1: for all the folks who are listening right now, we're
Speaker 1: going to wrap up, but we're going to keep the
Speaker 1: conversation going, so please be sure to tune in to
Speaker 1: the Mini pod where we will finish this conversation because
Speaker 1: we have a lot of things to say. Do y'all
Speaker 1: want to do a CTA real quick or you always want
Speaker 1: to go straight to minsictas.
Speaker 4: I just want to folks to know or FAM you
Speaker 4: the battle is not over. There's another vote that must
Speaker 4: take place. FAM you has not been wholesale taken over
Speaker 4: by anything. Why because they are not fam you. We
Speaker 4: are the institution. Somebody asked case. She said, do I
Speaker 4: keep my money? Do I save it? What do I
Speaker 4: put it? Guess what? That's our university. It ain't theirs,
Speaker 4: and I don't care who the NAMN president is. I
Speaker 4: do care, but on the real fam you doesn't belong
Speaker 4: to any one individual that you can't drive me out
Speaker 4: of my house. I'm driving your ass out of my house.
Speaker 4: You're not going to drive me off. My campus is homecoming.
Speaker 4: It's my homecoming. You're not welcome. You're not going to
Speaker 4: keep me from giving money to scholarship my cousins and
Speaker 4: them who are coming up after me, because it's my money.
Speaker 4: Those are my cousins and it's my campus. So stay involved.
Speaker 4: If you want to know more, keep keep keep. We
Speaker 4: got a town hall meeting tomorrow night. I think we
Speaker 4: put the alert out last night. And although these something
Speaker 4: like seventeen hundred people of RSVP, this sweet, that's right,
Speaker 4: it'll be out. You're right, Thank you, Tiff. That's my CTA.
Speaker 3: Do you having GTA.
Speaker 6: Yes, connect with people in your communities, y'all. I'm not
Speaker 6: meaning to say that you can only get this work
Speaker 6: on the tour. I'm just saying there are a lot
Speaker 6: of people who are connecting across cities, across states, across
Speaker 6: the country who are been doing similar work. And it
Speaker 6: has been remarkable to watch people who've been doing similar things,
Speaker 6: have similar ideologies finally be fully resourced and supported with
Speaker 6: folks who are thinking like them all over the country.
Speaker 6: So check us out at State of THEPPL dot com.
Speaker 1: Come through and we'll be in Jackson together and shout
Speaker 1: out to all the folks who are working hard on
Speaker 1: statements of people tour and follows them on Instagram. Okay,
Speaker 1: please tune in, you guys, cause we'ren'n keep this conversation going. Also,
Speaker 1: please be sure that you like and subscribe and share
Speaker 1: and tell your friends about us. You know, new episodes
Speaker 1: drop every Thursday and Friday, so you can hear this
Speaker 1: next part of the conversation on Friday. And you can
Speaker 1: check out solo pods with Angela and Andrew on Mondays
Speaker 1: and Tuesdays. And please be sure to check out our
Speaker 1: girl Jamil Hill on Politics and Off the Cup the
Speaker 1: other shows on Reason Choice Media. There are five hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty days until midterm elections.
Speaker 4: Welcome home, y'all, work from home, Welcome home.
Speaker 2: The last morning see thank you for joining the natives.
Speaker 2: Attention to what the info and all of the latest
Speaker 2: Roy Gilliam Cross connected to the statements that you leave
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Speaker 2: for your choice is clear, so grateful to execute role.
Speaker 2: Thank you for serve, defendit, protective bank you in this case,
Speaker 2: and we'll welcome home to all.
Speaker 4: Of the natives. We thank you.
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