1 00:00:11,880 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Greetings and welcome to woke f with me Danielle Moody. 2 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:17,680 Speaker 1: Over a year ago, at the start of the coronavirus outbreak, 3 00:00:17,720 --> 00:00:20,400 Speaker 1: there were many who were saying that COVID nineteen could 4 00:00:20,480 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 1: be a great equalizer in theory, it is an unknown 5 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: disease that could infect anyone, and our approach to confronting 6 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:31,640 Speaker 1: this virus could transcend the inequities in our society. Now, however, 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: after that long troubled year, we can see that that 8 00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: was not the case. COVID nineteen was actually further exposing 9 00:00:39,800 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: the deep inequality we are living through on a daily basis. 10 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:45,040 Speaker 1: This week on woke f Daily, I was proud to 11 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:48,000 Speaker 1: be joined by several professionals who were able to connect 12 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 1: the dots between race and public health, not just our 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:54,200 Speaker 1: medical health, but our overall well being as a society 14 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: and folks, we're not doing that. Great to hear these 15 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 1: full conversations. As always, check out woke Daily on Patreon 16 00:01:01,320 --> 00:01:04,160 Speaker 1: at patreon dot com, slash will gay app. For just 17 00:01:04,280 --> 00:01:07,119 Speaker 1: five dollars, you can hear hundreds of shows, with five 18 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,880 Speaker 1: brand new podcasts going up every single week. For now, 19 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:14,040 Speaker 1: let's jump into my conversation with the doctor Tarika Barrett, 20 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,800 Speaker 1: CEO of Girls Who Code, an organization dedicated to closing 21 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:20,720 Speaker 1: the wide gender gap in the tech industry. She's talking 22 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: about the coronavirus pandemic and how it has made the 23 00:01:23,520 --> 00:01:26,319 Speaker 1: gender and racial gap in tech more obvious than it 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:31,080 Speaker 1: has ever been. COVID has really laid bare the inequities 25 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,080 Speaker 1: that so many of our girls and our women, especially 26 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:37,039 Speaker 1: our girls and women of color, are facing, both in 27 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,200 Speaker 1: school and in the workplace. You know, as a lifelong 28 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,720 Speaker 1: educator and equity advocate, and as someone who's helped lead 29 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:47,120 Speaker 1: Girls who Code now for the past five years. As 30 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:50,960 Speaker 1: challenging as this past year has been with the layers 31 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:54,600 Speaker 1: of inequity, I also feel energized to build on this 32 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:59,240 Speaker 1: incredible foundation that Rushma has laid to close this widening 33 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:02,080 Speaker 1: gender gap in tech. You know, as you pointed out, 34 00:02:02,120 --> 00:02:05,840 Speaker 1: a space that is typically you know, white, male dominated, 35 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: and we have worked so hard over close to nine 36 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: years now to build this incredible movement of girls and 37 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,920 Speaker 1: women who now see a path forward in tech. And 38 00:02:16,120 --> 00:02:19,240 Speaker 1: as CEO stepping into this seat, it is my job 39 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: to harness that movement and really expand and extend the 40 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,240 Speaker 1: pipeline so that more girls and women, especially girls and 41 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,799 Speaker 1: women of color, have opportunity. And you know, it means 42 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:32,959 Speaker 1: tangible things like tripling the number of after school clubs 43 00:02:32,960 --> 00:02:35,440 Speaker 1: that we launch over the next few years. It also 44 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: means launching workforce development programs and mentorship programs so that 45 00:02:40,040 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: our young women know that we're going to support them 46 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: as they move into the workforce. We know that as 47 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: bad as things are now, tech is still going to 48 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: be central to the job markets recovery, and we can't 49 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,239 Speaker 1: have our girls and women, especially our girls and women 50 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: of color, being left out when these opportunities present. So 51 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: this moment is dire, it is urgent, and as I 52 00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:05,040 Speaker 1: step into this seat, I want to make sure that 53 00:03:05,120 --> 00:03:07,680 Speaker 1: are most marginalized girls, the ones who've dropped out of 54 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:11,360 Speaker 1: remote learning opportunities, that we are paying attention to them 55 00:03:11,720 --> 00:03:14,800 Speaker 1: and supporting them, you know, in our work moving forward. 56 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: You know, let's talk about that for a minute, the 57 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:22,080 Speaker 1: fact that young girls are dropping out of learning. You know, 58 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:28,279 Speaker 1: UNICEF estimates that we're looking at roughly twenty million secondary 59 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:33,679 Speaker 1: school age girls around the glow around twenty million dropping 60 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:37,960 Speaker 1: out of school because of the pandemic. We hear reports 61 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,440 Speaker 1: in the United States with at least two million women 62 00:03:42,000 --> 00:03:46,960 Speaker 1: dropping out of the workforce because of the pandemic. Why 63 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: do you think that this is affecting girls and women 64 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: more so than it is any other demographic And what 65 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:59,880 Speaker 1: is Girls who Code doing in order to stemmy the 66 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:04,080 Speaker 1: to stop it from happening, or at least bring attention 67 00:04:04,120 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: to the fact that it is happening. Yeah, Danielle, I'm 68 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: so grateful for that question. You know, if we think 69 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:13,720 Speaker 1: about it, our girls and young women are the caregivers. 70 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,280 Speaker 1: They're the ones who are often turned to in families 71 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:20,560 Speaker 1: to support, to take care of siblings, to take care 72 00:04:20,600 --> 00:04:24,599 Speaker 1: of parents. It's also connected to the culture shift that 73 00:04:24,680 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: Girls who Code has been so committed to changing. We 74 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: know that when you think about a computer program or 75 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: a coder, you don't think of a girl. They're often 76 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: not encouraged by parents, by peers, by teachers. Our education 77 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: system doesn't it's not set up to funnel them into 78 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,280 Speaker 1: these opportunities. So in this moment, I find that our 79 00:04:43,320 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: girls and young women are the burden bearers. They're the 80 00:04:45,720 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: ones who are spoking in and doing all of this work. 81 00:04:48,880 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: And we know what's happening to young women with children 82 00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: they've had to step out of the workforce to support families. 83 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,240 Speaker 1: AT Girls who Code, the way that we think about 84 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:00,680 Speaker 1: this urgent issue is to me make sure that all 85 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: the programming that we design and that we've launched contemplates 86 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: the needs and challenges that our girls are facing. So, 87 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: for example, we would run typically a seven week summer 88 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: immersion program. We shifted that with COVID to a two 89 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:18,400 Speaker 1: week program. We surveyed our girls. We checked on what 90 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: they needed. Were they taking care of loved ones, did 91 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,640 Speaker 1: they have to do, you know, get earned money on 92 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 1: the side, Did they have a computer? Did they have 93 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:31,160 Speaker 1: access to internet? We have to make sure that we 94 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: are asking our girls what they need, but that we 95 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: are also planting seeds of hope and remembering that as 96 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,159 Speaker 1: much as we're talking about learning loss in one breath 97 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:44,240 Speaker 1: and disengagement and marginalization, we know that our girls are 98 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: going to be the key to what gets transformed in 99 00:05:47,040 --> 00:05:50,160 Speaker 1: this world. You know, passionate, ambitious and diverse young women 100 00:05:50,320 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 1: are going to change our workforce. So we have to 101 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,440 Speaker 1: continue to invest in them, and so AT Girls who Code, 102 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:58,840 Speaker 1: our programming is very much designed to support them in 103 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,440 Speaker 1: spite of the bird that they're facing in this moment 104 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,320 Speaker 1: with COVID. You know, we oftentimes you don't deal with 105 00:06:05,400 --> 00:06:08,680 Speaker 1: things until we're in crisis, and the reality is, you know, 106 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: I was just speaking with New York City MARYL candidate 107 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,480 Speaker 1: Maya Wiley, and in our conversation talking about New York 108 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:18,839 Speaker 1: City Public Schools, who you and I both worked for 109 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,360 Speaker 1: at one time, the largest school district in the country, 110 00:06:22,480 --> 00:06:25,679 Speaker 1: I said to her, you know, we knew years ago 111 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,880 Speaker 1: that these communities didn't have broadband. We knew years ago 112 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,760 Speaker 1: that they didn't have the access to technology, let alone 113 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:37,200 Speaker 1: the devices that we're going to set them up for 114 00:06:37,279 --> 00:06:40,240 Speaker 1: where we are now with remote learning, But we did nothing. 115 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:45,040 Speaker 1: You know, we continue to create pandemic on top of crises, 116 00:06:45,320 --> 00:06:47,480 Speaker 1: on top of pandemic on top of crisis, as if 117 00:06:47,520 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: we're layering some type of lasagna, and the reality is 118 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,839 Speaker 1: that we have the tools right and the awareness to 119 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:57,360 Speaker 1: fix it. Why don't we tackle these things on the 120 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: front end. You think at such a question you had 121 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:06,360 Speaker 1: me when you said a lasagna nothing to do with Danielle. 122 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:08,960 Speaker 1: I mean, that is an important question, but I would 123 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: say that very often. You know, inequity is complex, and 124 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,679 Speaker 1: you know, people deal with what's in front of them. 125 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,880 Speaker 1: When you think about this digital divide that you've said 126 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: has been here forever. That is true. We've always known it, 127 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: but we decide to pay attention to other the gaps 128 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,600 Speaker 1: in schools or other things. And now we're recognizing, like, oh, 129 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: we wonder why our black and brown kids were never 130 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:35,240 Speaker 1: succeeding in school when they would go home and they 131 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:38,880 Speaker 1: couldn't Google search up the answer to their homework, just 132 00:07:38,960 --> 00:07:42,640 Speaker 1: like these kids who had access to high speed internet. 133 00:07:42,680 --> 00:07:45,640 Speaker 1: So it's really laid bare the inequities in a really 134 00:07:45,640 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: stark way. I'm hopeful though that the steps that are 135 00:07:49,280 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: being taken now to level the playing field. I think 136 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,280 Speaker 1: it's something like over a third of you know, black 137 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:58,840 Speaker 1: and Latino students don't have access to computers, you know, 138 00:07:58,880 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 1: and high speed internet, and we know that twelve million 139 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,360 Speaker 1: students don't have access to high speed internet overall. This 140 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: is the moment to not only sort of bridge that gap, 141 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,040 Speaker 1: but go a step further. We have to take the 142 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:15,960 Speaker 1: learnings that are positive in this moment around blended learning 143 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 1: and digital learning and the ways in which some kids 144 00:08:18,240 --> 00:08:21,960 Speaker 1: have been given some different kinds of engagement and opportunity, 145 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,840 Speaker 1: and we have to build on that and do even more. 146 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:27,920 Speaker 1: I wish I knew why folks didn't act on some 147 00:08:27,960 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: of these things. But let's be honest. Racism is real inequity, 148 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 1: and very often it becomes a hierarchy of needs, and 149 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,960 Speaker 1: it's a messed up hierarchy. It shouldn't be you know this. 150 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:42,280 Speaker 1: Instead of that, I would say access to high speed 151 00:08:42,320 --> 00:08:46,040 Speaker 1: internet is a human right. You cannot succeed in society 152 00:08:46,040 --> 00:08:48,520 Speaker 1: without it, and so I'm hopeful that it's a complete 153 00:08:48,520 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: paradigm shift that we're looking at moving forward. It's true 154 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 1: that we've been facing multiple social pandemic so long before 155 00:08:56,760 --> 00:08:59,640 Speaker 1: we were hit by COVID nineteen. The lack of internet 156 00:08:59,640 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: and access has been an issue facing millions of people 157 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,120 Speaker 1: of color across the country for years. We have no 158 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:09,840 Speaker 1: choice but to address and remedy these issues, especially as 159 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: we expect more people to transition to a lifestyle of 160 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,760 Speaker 1: working from home. Another pandemic we've been facing for decades 161 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: is the vulnerability of healthcare to all Americans. After a 162 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: year of living through an unprecedented public health crisis, we 163 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 1: are still fighting to make sure everyone can get the 164 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,959 Speaker 1: care that they need. Doctor Abdul Lsayed wrote the book 165 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,920 Speaker 1: on Medicare for All. Literally, it's entitled Medicare for All, 166 00:09:33,040 --> 00:09:35,679 Speaker 1: a Citizen's Guide. So he joined me to break down 167 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:39,319 Speaker 1: the systemic forces that are blocking healthcare progress in this country. 168 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 1: Let's talk about why polling shows most Americans are for 169 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:50,400 Speaker 1: Medicare for all, and yet the people that we put 170 00:09:50,840 --> 00:09:55,000 Speaker 1: in control of our Congress are not. Where's the disconnect here? Well, 171 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: the industry spends a tremendous amount of money making sure 172 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,960 Speaker 1: that that's the case. Last year alone, the health insurance 173 00:10:01,960 --> 00:10:04,880 Speaker 1: industry spent one hundred and fifty two million dollars lobbying 174 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: across eight hundred and forty five lobbyists. That's nearly two 175 00:10:08,640 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: lobbyists per member of Congress. To make sure that that 176 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,640 Speaker 1: disconnect exists. They spent one hundred and twenty million dollars 177 00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:19,440 Speaker 1: in addition to one hundred and fifty two electioneering, so 178 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:23,559 Speaker 1: giving money through their pack to politicians. And then that 179 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: doesn't include all of the money that they spend disinforming 180 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:29,880 Speaker 1: the public on the airwaves, which has reframed this issue 181 00:10:30,360 --> 00:10:34,000 Speaker 1: rather than being about providing every single person a good, 182 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:37,400 Speaker 1: a tangible good, real insurance that doesn't come with the 183 00:10:37,400 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: same kind of out of pocket costs that doesn't leave 184 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,040 Speaker 1: them when they turn twenty six, or get married or 185 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:43,640 Speaker 1: get divorced, or get a job or lose a job. Rather, 186 00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: they're framing this about the loss of quote unquote choice 187 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 1: or the fact that it's going to cost. You know, 188 00:10:49,320 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: they say more than more than we can afford, despite 189 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 1: the fact that we spend eighteen percent of all the 190 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,920 Speaker 1: money in our economy on healthcare in the current system, 191 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: So you know, there's a lot of money being spent 192 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,120 Speaker 1: to shape public opinion and in particular, to shape the 193 00:11:02,120 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: opinions of politicians. You know what's funny is that when 194 00:11:05,280 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: we talk about the fact that Republicans continued battle against 195 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,200 Speaker 1: Medicare for all, is this idea that it is a 196 00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,720 Speaker 1: loss of choice, right, that Americans deserve freedom, and yet 197 00:11:19,280 --> 00:11:22,760 Speaker 1: millions of Americans are tied to jobs they hate and 198 00:11:23,080 --> 00:11:25,839 Speaker 1: don't want to be in because of the fact that 199 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,880 Speaker 1: there is no other opportunity and no other actual choice 200 00:11:30,240 --> 00:11:32,760 Speaker 1: for them to have in order for them to get healthcare. 201 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:37,280 Speaker 1: I know many people that are locked into jobs because 202 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,280 Speaker 1: what is the alternative? And so I think that it's 203 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:44,400 Speaker 1: really interesting to me that it's consistently the mantra of 204 00:11:44,440 --> 00:11:46,840 Speaker 1: the right to talk about choice and to talk about 205 00:11:46,840 --> 00:11:50,840 Speaker 1: freedom while robbing the American people of both. That's right, Daniel, 206 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 1: I'll tell you this. You know, when you think about 207 00:11:52,720 --> 00:11:57,040 Speaker 1: what a choice is, it is the ability to, regardless 208 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:00,640 Speaker 1: of your circumstances, be able to select what you would 209 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:02,400 Speaker 1: like to do, when you would like to do it, 210 00:12:02,559 --> 00:12:04,640 Speaker 1: how you'd like to do it. And you know, the 211 00:12:04,720 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: choice that they tell us that we should be so 212 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:10,040 Speaker 1: excited to have is about the choice between different corporate 213 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:15,199 Speaker 1: bureaucracies that charge some difference in an allocation of money 214 00:12:15,280 --> 00:12:19,000 Speaker 1: that always has them finishing up on top, right, based 215 00:12:19,040 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 1: on where you work and what your employer has told you, 216 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:25,320 Speaker 1: your choice is. So, you know, we get our insurance 217 00:12:25,360 --> 00:12:28,719 Speaker 1: through my wife, who's a psychiatrist at the university here, 218 00:12:28,760 --> 00:12:32,439 Speaker 1: and she gets to choose quote unquote between a few 219 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,480 Speaker 1: different corporations who charge a few different rates, some in 220 00:12:36,559 --> 00:12:38,959 Speaker 1: quote unquote premium, and premium is which you pay every 221 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:42,280 Speaker 1: two weeks or every month, some in quote unquote deductible, 222 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:45,959 Speaker 1: another opaque term, which is the paywall that exists before 223 00:12:45,960 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: you actually get the healthcare you already paid for in 224 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,439 Speaker 1: your premium, and then some amount of copay or coinsurance, 225 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:53,480 Speaker 1: which is what you pay to get, you know, basic 226 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:56,720 Speaker 1: care at the point of care. And I mean, honestly, 227 00:12:56,920 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: I'm a physician who wrote a whole book on the 228 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,280 Speaker 1: healthcare system. My wife is a physician, and every time 229 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: we have to make this quote unquote choice, we got 230 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,320 Speaker 1: to pull out a whole actuarial table to figure out 231 00:13:06,360 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: how likely it is that me at thirty six, her 232 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,360 Speaker 1: at thirty four are gonna get really sick, our daughter 233 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:12,520 Speaker 1: at three is gonna get sick, or that she's gonna 234 00:13:12,520 --> 00:13:14,839 Speaker 1: have a baby, which is probably the highest cost thing 235 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:17,880 Speaker 1: that happens conditional on us staying healthy. So all of 236 00:13:17,920 --> 00:13:19,600 Speaker 1: that is to say that that's no choice at all. 237 00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:23,880 Speaker 1: It's a completely opaque and is conditioned by an employer 238 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,360 Speaker 1: in the first place, and is dressed up in all 239 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: of this language that's really really hard to penetrate. The 240 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:30,760 Speaker 1: choice that I want is what doctor I see, what 241 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: hospital wh I go to? And that choice right the 242 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:37,400 Speaker 1: number one gatekeeper on that choice is the insurance industry 243 00:13:37,400 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: itself telling you who you can see. And you know why, 244 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:42,959 Speaker 1: because they've negotiated a bunch of sweetheart deals with various 245 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:47,960 Speaker 1: providers that they have reimbursement relationships with and so they 246 00:13:48,000 --> 00:13:51,199 Speaker 1: want you to stay within that network of providers with 247 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: whom they've negotiated sweetheart deals. So if you dare stray 248 00:13:54,120 --> 00:13:57,480 Speaker 1: outside of the sweetheart deal that that insurance corporation is negotiated, 249 00:13:57,960 --> 00:14:00,160 Speaker 1: then you're going to feel the financial penalty of that, 250 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,160 Speaker 1: so that their CEO can continue to make tens of 251 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:03,760 Speaker 1: millions of dollars a year, denying you the care you 252 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,680 Speaker 1: already paid for. You know, I don't want to lose 253 00:14:07,520 --> 00:14:11,240 Speaker 1: part of the reality here. So one is just the 254 00:14:11,240 --> 00:14:15,080 Speaker 1: corporate greed, right, and you unpack that often when you 255 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,120 Speaker 1: come on wok F. The other piece of it is racism. Right. 256 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:23,080 Speaker 1: We know that the countries that in fact do pay 257 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:28,080 Speaker 1: for their citizens healthcare are more or less homogeneous, right, 258 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:31,840 Speaker 1: Like we know that everybody looks alike. So there are 259 00:14:31,840 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: countries that have universal basic income, fine, because everybody looks 260 00:14:36,320 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: the same, praise the same, what have you. We can't 261 00:14:39,720 --> 00:14:43,600 Speaker 1: decouple race from this, and so how do we have 262 00:14:44,560 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: what is a very real conversation about the two evils 263 00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:53,640 Speaker 1: that are driving the most disparities in this country, which 264 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:58,280 Speaker 1: is capitalism, right, this extractive principle of capitalism and the 265 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: idea that everything is built on a pyramid, which means 266 00:15:01,520 --> 00:15:03,760 Speaker 1: that the only way that the pyramid survives is if 267 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: people are on the bottom right. And then racism, which 268 00:15:08,040 --> 00:15:12,240 Speaker 1: has created this stereotype and this ideology that has prefaced 269 00:15:12,240 --> 00:15:15,080 Speaker 1: on the fact that people of color are less deserving 270 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: right of other people, and so white folks will go 271 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,200 Speaker 1: ahead and cut their nose to spite their face as 272 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: healthcare is presented to them. No, no, no, we don't 273 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:25,680 Speaker 1: want it because we don't want the people down the 274 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:28,720 Speaker 1: street to have it. So how do how do we 275 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:33,440 Speaker 1: reconcile these things? How do we have this conversation while 276 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:37,960 Speaker 1: advocating for what is necessary in order to make America 277 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: well and not just well enough that you're addicted to 278 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,200 Speaker 1: pharmaceuticals and what have you. But actually, well, yeah, thank 279 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,120 Speaker 1: you for saying that, Danielle. Look, I actually got a 280 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:50,320 Speaker 1: piece coming out about the biggest obstacles in the way 281 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: of medicare for all on Racism is definitely one of them. 282 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: In what I thought it was a fantastic book, Heather 283 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: McGee really dissects the way that racism has been leveraged 284 00:15:59,280 --> 00:16:01,840 Speaker 1: against the well being of all of us because of 285 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 1: this zeroum kind of thinking. But I honestly think the 286 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: way that we do it is to call it out right, 287 00:16:07,760 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: because what happens is that you've got really powerful people 288 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:15,160 Speaker 1: in these corporations that recognize that the best single way 289 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:18,320 Speaker 1: to deny people access to a set of services that 290 00:16:18,360 --> 00:16:21,360 Speaker 1: they need and deserve is to divide them such that 291 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,760 Speaker 1: they cannot build the power to actually be able to 292 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,200 Speaker 1: engage that. And even worse is that you turn one 293 00:16:26,280 --> 00:16:30,680 Speaker 1: group of them so inextricably against another that rather than 294 00:16:30,800 --> 00:16:33,640 Speaker 1: fight to actually beget a set of public goods that 295 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:37,160 Speaker 1: benefits everyone, they will fight to actually deny it. And 296 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:40,640 Speaker 1: that is the circumstance that we have at this point. 297 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:41,920 Speaker 1: And you know, I hate to say it, but I 298 00:16:41,960 --> 00:16:44,160 Speaker 1: feel like the Republican Party and so much of the 299 00:16:44,200 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: base has hit this sort of peak white identity politics 300 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:50,360 Speaker 1: where now ideology has fully decoupled from the conversation. There 301 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:54,480 Speaker 1: is no Republican policy ideology anymore. You know, we were 302 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: debating a one point nine trillion dollars COVID relief package 303 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: and Republicans were in the corner talking about doctor Seusan, 304 00:17:01,520 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: mister potato head, come on, And so you know, we're 305 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:06,200 Speaker 1: at this moment now where they don't even have to 306 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: talk about policy ideology anymore, because at this point it 307 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:12,120 Speaker 1: has just become about this sort of white idnated politics 308 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: and the weaponization of that in our public space. And 309 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,119 Speaker 1: so you know, we've got to call it out. And 310 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:19,360 Speaker 1: I think what I've found. You know, I can't paid 311 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: for governor in Michigan, and I had a lot of 312 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 1: conversations with folks who don't see this the world the 313 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: same way that I do. And you know, I was 314 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:29,400 Speaker 1: campaigning as the former health commissioner for the country's largest 315 00:17:29,880 --> 00:17:33,480 Speaker 1: majority black and poorest city in the country in Detroit. 316 00:17:33,600 --> 00:17:35,760 Speaker 1: And you know when I when I sit down with folks, 317 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:37,720 Speaker 1: i'd say, look, you know, I get it. My name 318 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:39,640 Speaker 1: is Abdurrahman. Right, if you say the whole thing, it's 319 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:42,600 Speaker 1: abdual to you, and you're not primed to agree with me. 320 00:17:42,640 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 1: But I'm just going to say a couple of things, 321 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: and I want you to nod your head. If this 322 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:49,119 Speaker 1: is your experience. You pay a tremendous amount of money 323 00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,520 Speaker 1: in health insurance. You don't know where that goes. And 324 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: if you or a loved one gets sick, what's going 325 00:17:53,720 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: to happen is they're going to send you an additional 326 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:58,359 Speaker 1: bill on top of what you already paid, which is 327 00:17:58,400 --> 00:18:00,880 Speaker 1: going to send your financial circumstances in a tail spin. 328 00:18:00,960 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: All that money you were saving, whether it was to 329 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,200 Speaker 1: send your kid to college or to take them on 330 00:18:06,240 --> 00:18:09,320 Speaker 1: a nice little vacation, that's gone because someone had the 331 00:18:09,359 --> 00:18:12,840 Speaker 1: audacity to get sick. And that's if you're insured. And 332 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 1: if you're not insured, right, what you're seeing is that 333 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,440 Speaker 1: you've got to reapply and reapply to get on Medicaid, 334 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,080 Speaker 1: and they're trying to cut and cut and cut those services. 335 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:23,680 Speaker 1: And if you're in rural Michigan right, your experience is 336 00:18:23,720 --> 00:18:25,640 Speaker 1: that even if you have healthcare, you're driving an hour 337 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:29,240 Speaker 1: to two hours because the closest hospital shut down a 338 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:31,280 Speaker 1: couple of years ago because it couldn't make ends meet, 339 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:33,880 Speaker 1: because too many folks in your community are either uninsured 340 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:35,960 Speaker 1: or on Medicaid, and so the reimbursements are too low. 341 00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 1: And you got folks. By the end of everybody's nodding 342 00:18:37,960 --> 00:18:40,439 Speaker 1: their head, and I said, listen, that is the same story. 343 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:43,520 Speaker 1: Whether we are here in rural Michigan or we are 344 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,439 Speaker 1: in Detroit. It is the same exact story. And the 345 00:18:46,480 --> 00:18:48,640 Speaker 1: fact is is that none of you all have heard 346 00:18:48,640 --> 00:18:50,920 Speaker 1: one another tell the story, because you all have been 347 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:53,960 Speaker 1: too busy, right, We've been too busy being told right 348 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,560 Speaker 1: that the reason you don't have is because they have. Well, 349 00:18:56,560 --> 00:18:58,560 Speaker 1: I'll tell you what they don't have and you don't have. 350 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:01,480 Speaker 1: And the only way that we take this on is 351 00:19:01,520 --> 00:19:03,760 Speaker 1: that we all come together and decide that all of 352 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:06,200 Speaker 1: us ought to have. And the system that is keeping 353 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,440 Speaker 1: us from having right is making tens of millions of dollars. 354 00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: Seventy percent of the market share in health insurance in 355 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,160 Speaker 1: Michigan is Blue Cross Blue Shield in Michigan. And guess 356 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: what their CEO made nineteen million bucks last year. They 357 00:19:16,880 --> 00:19:19,520 Speaker 1: were the most profitable that they've ever been in the 358 00:19:19,560 --> 00:19:22,000 Speaker 1: midst of a pandemic. That's all fifteen million people kicked 359 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: off of their health insurance. This system is fundamentally broken. 360 00:19:25,520 --> 00:19:28,919 Speaker 1: It has become fundamentally a tool of extraction, and it 361 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:36,159 Speaker 1: doesn't serve the purpose that it's supposed to serve. White 362 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,840 Speaker 1: identity politics. That is what is behind the minority rule, 363 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:42,960 Speaker 1: emotional apartheid government we have in this country. Right now, 364 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:45,879 Speaker 1: I got mine, but you can't have yours. We cannot 365 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:48,600 Speaker 1: afford to continue down that path, and it's crusaders like 366 00:19:48,680 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: doctor Terka Barrett and doctor Abdullah L. Sayed, who are 367 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:53,960 Speaker 1: putting in the work to alter our course for a 368 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,840 Speaker 1: better tomorrow. There are so many more amazing guests on 369 00:19:56,840 --> 00:20:00,840 Speaker 1: wokef Daily this week, like doctor Kyless, Story Out, Emily's List, 370 00:20:00,920 --> 00:20:04,000 Speaker 1: President Stephanie Shriach, and doctor Yaba blay So. To hear 371 00:20:04,040 --> 00:20:06,359 Speaker 1: from them and my bevy of woke a F guests 372 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:09,680 Speaker 1: and contributors, head over to patreon dot com slash woke 373 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: AF and subscribe. You can't put a price on the 374 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,080 Speaker 1: value of getting woke, but five dollars is pretty low. 375 00:20:15,160 --> 00:20:18,360 Speaker 1: And as always, share, Share, Share this podcast with your 376 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: family and friends. Spread the word of wokeness with the 377 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,200 Speaker 1: people you love. Power to the people and to all 378 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,359 Speaker 1: the people. Power, Get woke and stay woke as fuck.