WEBVTT - The Choice is Yours 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:04.440 You're listening waiting on reparations, the production of I Heart Radio, 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:09.600 waiting a reparation, the reparation check it out. It's been 0:00:09.640 --> 0:00:11.560 a mess so long we forgot the meaning and cleaning 0:00:11.600 --> 0:00:13.480 and only magic and patch it up. So we dream 0:00:13.480 --> 0:00:15.000 in the genie, by which I mean that we dream 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.000 into freedom. But freedom is leading, but which I mean 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.439 between seeing people beating and bleeding on our TV's in 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:21.720 the lately on the weekly, I just want to relax 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:23.680 a bit cracker paths and watch the videos and cats 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:25.680 and ship wishing these idiots and athens where equipped with 0:00:25.760 --> 0:00:28.520 the classism. But I'm really the shitty activist because everyone 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:30.880 want to complain about the state of the system, congratulate 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:33.080 themselves on Facebook and paying attention and hop me. I 0:00:33.120 --> 0:00:35.000 know you're right for if nobody mobile lozz is a 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:38.000 noble fight. We stay in slaves for a century and 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.240 we're something. Giving the ship would fix it. Whish giving 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:42.559 the ship was the simplest Wiston Dixie. The only way 0:00:42.600 --> 0:00:44.199 I had to fix it was catching my chips in. 0:00:44.280 --> 0:00:45.960 So who hast to fix the system first? I have 0:00:46.040 --> 0:00:49.080 to fix yo. I'm blowing up enough that ship run 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.040 past kids chilling with a blood that slit fuck fascist, 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:54.240 eat them up for lunch back quick with the college 0:00:54.240 --> 0:00:56.120 for a year. Then I said funk that ship. Put 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:58.200 my hands in the street. You couldn't stand the defeat 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:00.400 that my man valid said, I could slam. Wanna be 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:02.840 We made a crew, started a clan that was deep. 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.520 Only thing you don't want with dope Sandwich is beef. 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.200 I'm pretty sure it's coming back. You just gotta wait 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:15.920 for it. I'm on another different realm of thinking. It 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:17.760 was a person on the earth of it, a helmet 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.760 and pan rom swelled to sink in. Just watch us 0:01:20.760 --> 0:01:23.200 breaking it down, taking your town like miss monsters. It 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:25.440 gets bonkers. So we slapped with a whole hand. It 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.880 spent to any beat, even rapping a slow jams you 0:01:28.080 --> 0:01:29.880 in my bro hand. How you gonna be in the 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:35.240 damn Senate? And there's a pandemic with no plan mother, yo, yeah, 0:01:36.160 --> 0:01:41.720 waiting no reparation, reparation. You know my name is Dope 0:01:41.800 --> 0:01:47.720 Knight and we are waiting on reparations. Hurry the fuck up. 0:01:48.320 --> 0:01:51.200 All right, We're back once again, another week of politics 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:54.400 and hip hop. What's going on in your world, dope knife, Oh, 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.640 I've in recent weeks. I've hit that bug where I've 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:02.040 just been working on a lot of rapidy rap raps, 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.480 so I'll have some stuff for people listen too soon. 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:07.320 But other than that, it's been hard to avoid keeping 0:02:07.400 --> 0:02:13.079 up with the election. As of when we're recording this, 0:02:13.440 --> 0:02:16.720 it's seven days away, but when you guys hear this, 0:02:16.840 --> 0:02:21.720 it should be five days before the election between Donald 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.680 Trump and Joe Biden. There's already been unprecedented early voting, 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.799 so millions and millions of people have already voted. And 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:33.200 at this point it's so close that you know, what 0:02:33.320 --> 0:02:35.960 else is there to say? How are you feeling about 0:02:35.960 --> 0:02:38.520 the whole thing? I'm good. I'm mostly looking ahead towards 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.280 November four with regards to just like organizing for whatever 0:02:42.320 --> 0:02:46.800 aftermath of the election comes, knowing that best case scenario 0:02:47.480 --> 0:02:53.200 is still massive civil unrest either way, and so um 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.799 just yeah, connecting with comrades and like Atlanta and like 0:02:57.160 --> 0:03:00.760 within like anarchists and anti fascist circles here in Athens. 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:03.400 Regarding Mike, what are we gonna do? What I mean, 0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:07.079 you know, just in all fairness, we don't know that 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.519 there's going to be civil unrest, you know, but it 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:12.519 is always good to prepare for it. I mean, best 0:03:12.600 --> 0:03:17.639 case scenario, one of them could win decisively and no 0:03:17.760 --> 0:03:25.720 one's mad, and the demoralized, demoralized people uh ransack J C. Pennies, 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:32.000 demoralized people crawl through broken plate glass windows to steal 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:40.240 jewelry off a mannequins, Like, yeah, are you just thinking 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:41.760 about this for the first time? I'm in No, of 0:03:41.880 --> 0:03:44.760 course not. But there's definitely like a Y two K 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:47.520 sort of vibe to it where I don't want to 0:03:47.640 --> 0:03:50.160 be on the record saying that the end is coming 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:52.480 and then it doesn't, you know. I mean, I'm old 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.520 enough to remember when motherfucker's thought they were going to 0:03:54.600 --> 0:03:59.520 put people in FEMA camps. That never happened. Well, we'll 0:03:59.520 --> 0:04:01.560 cross their tru Yeah, we'll cross that bridge when we 0:04:01.600 --> 0:04:04.640 get there. How are you feeling about the outcome of 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.040 the election or do you just are you completelytimistic? I mean, 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:12.240 like I feel like either way, like the fight goes on. 0:04:13.400 --> 0:04:16.440 I would prefer Joe Biden as an enemy. I would 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:18.880 prefer John ass Off as an enemy. I would prefer 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:24.640 Raphael Warnock as an enemy. And so um. The fact 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:26.600 that they are all doing well on the poles here 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:31.120 in Georgia is a point of uplift for me. So 0:04:31.320 --> 0:04:34.360 as a question, not to get too off topic, but 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:42.200 given given what the what the other side has to offer, 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:45.320 what do you would you like? Do you would you 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:47.920 consider John ass Off to be an enemy or we're 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:50.400 gonna have to fight him to fight him for? Yeah? 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:54.200 Is there no difference between an enemy and opposition? I mean, 0:04:54.240 --> 0:04:55.880 I'm gonna have to fight either of these people for 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:59.240 like basic rights to like healthcare and housing. I would 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.720 much rather right John ausuf on it then David Purdue. 0:05:03.880 --> 0:05:05.920 And but I'm not saying there's no difference between that. 0:05:06.000 --> 0:05:08.360 I would I would prefer John Auto because there is 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:10.240 a difference between these two sides. I don't see them 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:14.600 as equally one size diametrically opposed. All that I stand 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:18.840 with stand for the other I feel like just doesn't 0:05:18.960 --> 0:05:22.240 get it. So, you know, not to hate, you know, 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:24.320 I voted for both of those cats. I voted for 0:05:24.360 --> 0:05:28.520 all these cats. Last week. UM went down down to 0:05:28.640 --> 0:05:30.520 vote on the first day of early voting, and the 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:32.520 line was wrapped around the block, And so I took 0:05:32.560 --> 0:05:36.760 a time lapse video of the line, posting it online. Yeah, 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:39.920 and I was actually chastised by fellow commissioner who said, 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.000 with long lines become the story and depresses turn out 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:46.040 like it was like a disservice I had done to 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:48.359 the public to let people know that the lines along. 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:52.640 Maybe pack a snack, maybe bring a friend, maybe loads 0:05:52.760 --> 0:05:56.600 some loads some episodes of Watchman onto your phone. Well, 0:05:56.640 --> 0:05:59.640 what's the suggestion that, like people just it's better for 0:05:59.720 --> 0:06:02.320 people to show up there and be surprised by a lot. 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:05.000 They're more likely to walk away from that want of 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:06.920 people to know where they're getting into. I want folks to, 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.120 you know, bring change with the parking leader meter, get 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:11.520 time off works, and the responsibility from their calendar for 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:13.359 an hour or two if need be. There's no sense 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:15.640 in denying the facts. A ton of people are trying 0:06:15.680 --> 0:06:18.479 to vote early, perhaps because of the scaremongering around mail 0:06:18.480 --> 0:06:21.679 and ballots and tamporary with the post office has gotten 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:23.280 to people. I really think the right has won the 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.760 discourse with regards to mail and voting. Well, the right 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:31.080 definitely does propaganda way better than the left does, so 0:06:31.960 --> 0:06:34.960 you know, their messaging is just more on point, just 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:40.840 in terms of how much they drone any particular thing 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.800 that they want a message at a time, and I 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.640 want to make one thing very clear. I feel like 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:51.280 I told it like a very sin line between like, 0:06:51.520 --> 0:06:53.800 you know, I believe people should engage typically in every 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.200 way they can, while recognizing some shit is disrect For example, 0:06:57.560 --> 0:06:59.680 Thomala Harris tweeted out something like vote and you can 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:02.240 change two things. And I saw, you know, a lot 0:07:02.279 --> 0:07:04.359 of leftist sounding off in the response that she had 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:07.320 been appointed to the second highest position possible without ever 0:07:07.440 --> 0:07:10.040 having received a single ballot cast in her favor in 0:07:10.080 --> 0:07:13.080 the presidential primary. And so yes, some should have just rigged. 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:15.720 But because some should have just rigged, it's necessary for 0:07:15.840 --> 0:07:18.280 us to push at every point of weakness in the 0:07:18.400 --> 0:07:22.920 system possible, including uh, spitting in the face of voter 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:26.240 suppression by voting by any means necessary. Most of deff, 0:07:26.360 --> 0:07:29.280 I mean, if your vote didn't mean anything, they wouldn't 0:07:29.320 --> 0:07:32.800 be trying so hard to prevent you from voting. And 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:36.760 make no mistake, they there there is a side that 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:42.400 is actively trying to prevent people from voting black people, specifically, 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:47.240 so you know, you should be a middle finger in 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:51.840 their face because of that alone. Now is presidential election 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.240 tumbles towards us with daily reports of bold face voter 0:07:55.360 --> 0:07:59.760 suppression by the way of ballot purging, mail tampering, and disinformation. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:03.920 This episode, we discuss America's uneven history with its citizens 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:06.640 right to vote, as well as dive into what role, 0:08:06.760 --> 0:08:09.760 if any, hip hop has played in electoral politics. I 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:14.200 want to just like frame this idea of voting around 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:21.040 the idea of just like resisting ah voter suppression and 0:08:21.200 --> 0:08:24.720 just like really in this small way, but small but 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:30.160 powerful way, like agitating against so many forces at play 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.640 and that have been at play historically that I've tried 0:08:32.760 --> 0:08:37.640 to disenfranchise us from what through our really shitty civics 0:08:37.760 --> 0:08:40.800 education available to us in America is framed as like 0:08:40.880 --> 0:08:44.160 the highest form of participation in the government, Like oh go, 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.640 you know, you do your you do your mock collections 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.720 in your fourth grade class, and everyone puts your little 0:08:49.880 --> 0:08:52.319 you know, I remember putting my little Native vote in 0:08:52.400 --> 0:08:55.599 the ballot box, you know, and we tabulate, you know, 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.360 and like it's seen as like this is how you participate, 0:08:58.679 --> 0:09:01.679 and that like marching and all these other things like 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.800 are seen as like historical. Do you think it's Do 0:09:04.840 --> 0:09:07.439 you think it's because of the easiest form of participation, 0:09:07.640 --> 0:09:09.000 And that's the thing. That's what I'm trying. That's what 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:10.719 I like to lay out today, that it's it's not 0:09:10.920 --> 0:09:14.520 even and because it's hard, it's it's worth doing. UM 0:09:16.440 --> 0:09:18.880 I'd say it's easier to go stand in the street 0:09:18.920 --> 0:09:21.439 and yell no justice, no peace for two hours and 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.760 block traffic. I enjoyed, I personally enjoyed a great deal 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:27.640 more than going to vote. But because it's hard is 0:09:27.679 --> 0:09:30.559 why it's so valuable to do. And so let's take 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:33.319 a trip back through time, starting back in eighteen seventy, 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:37.679 when the fifteenth Amendment was ratified. UM, I can look 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:39.840 a little bit about the history of voter suppression in America. 0:09:51.520 --> 0:09:56.360 So back in the seventh decade of the eight hundreds, 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.480 states were prohibited from disenfranchising voter is on a koind 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:03.800 of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. However, it 0:10:03.920 --> 0:10:08.520 did not provide automatic writing voting rights for African Americans. UM, 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:12.880 and Congress did not enforce a fifteen Amendment immediately. UM. Tennessee, 0:10:13.040 --> 0:10:15.240 as a matter of fact, was the last state to 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:20.160 formally ratify the fifteen Amendment in guess what year, nineteen 0:10:20.400 --> 0:10:28.199 nine seven seven. I can only imagine how many obvious 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:32.559 laws were passed like recently, I know, UM Alabama didn't 0:10:32.640 --> 0:10:36.240 make interracial marriage legal until two thousand and showed, oh no, 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:41.880 our country is backwards. So by eighteen seventy twenty eight 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:45.000 states that adopted a version of these laws prohibiting convicted 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:47.760 felons the right to vote. According to the Journal of 0:10:47.800 --> 0:10:51.400 Criminal Law and Criminology, some states still enact these laws. 0:10:51.640 --> 0:10:55.120 Literacy tests were implemented to stop those who were uneducated 0:10:55.160 --> 0:10:58.400 from participating in the voting process. The tests were administered 0:10:58.440 --> 0:11:00.679 by those in charge of the voting red frustration and 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:04.000 often discriminated against African Americans. You gotta remember that African 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:06.160 Americans who took part in these tests for the descendants 0:11:06.160 --> 0:11:08.600 of slaves, who were not allowed to read or write 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.640 in supple states to antiliteracy law. So like five years 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.319 before the right like literally right before this, like it 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.680 was illegal for them to read a write. Suddenly they 0:11:16.760 --> 0:11:18.960 have the right to vote. They're like, wow, you gotta 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.719 be able to read a write. Bit So, according to 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.240 the American Civil Liberties Union, only two states Vermont, you 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.840 have everyone the uninhibited right to vote. UM Free States 0:11:29.160 --> 0:11:33.440 UM currently disenfranchised fells from voting permanently. Iowa, Kentucky, and Virginia. 0:11:33.800 --> 0:11:36.920 Poll taxes meant to prevent people of color from voting, 0:11:37.040 --> 0:11:45.000 continued into the twentieth century. Now, as of nineteen sixty four, Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, Virginia, 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:47.719 they all clung to the poll taxes. And that was 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:49.480 reported in the New York Times. And that's all the 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.520 way back in nineteen sixty four. Poll taxes were abolished 0:11:52.600 --> 0:11:56.040 in nine four with the Fourth Amendment, and literacy tests 0:11:56.040 --> 0:11:58.800 were outlawed under the Voting Rights Act of nineteen sixty five. However, 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:02.000 Florida still makes formally in cautrate to people pay off 0:12:02.000 --> 0:12:03.959 their fines before being able to vote, which some have 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.440 called a modern poll tax, which brings us to um 0:12:07.880 --> 0:12:13.040 the villain, the true villain. Like I don't know if 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.480 there's like a comic book analog for like Donald Trump 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:18.400 is the true villain? Who is Michael Bloomberg and like 0:12:18.600 --> 0:12:23.559 the Marvel cinematic universe of presidential election. Now, you might 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.360 have to give me some d C in that. Okay, 0:12:26.400 --> 0:12:28.240 gave me some of that. Well, Mike Bloomberg is kind 0:12:28.280 --> 0:12:32.200 of like Dark Knight returns Batman in a way. Yeah, yeah, 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:35.160 because you know, it's like he definitely thinks he's the 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.320 good guy. So that's that would be a big difference 0:12:38.400 --> 0:12:42.280 between him and like, uh, you know, diabolical evil genius 0:12:42.360 --> 0:12:46.599 who knows that he's diabolical and evil. Well, you know, 0:12:46.720 --> 0:12:50.439 he promised to pour millions in new billions into this 0:12:50.520 --> 0:12:53.080 president election and pretty much hasn't shown up until quite 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.800 recently to do such, raising more than sixteen million dollars 0:12:56.880 --> 0:12:59.920 to pay fines and restitution for convicted bellains in Florida's 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:04.480 they're able to to vote ahead of election um, adding 0:13:04.559 --> 0:13:06.400 to the five million dollars that was raised by the 0:13:06.440 --> 0:13:10.760 nonpartisan voting rights advocacy group Florida Rights Restoration Correalition. Just 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.200 a little bit of a clip. He has been um 0:13:13.480 --> 0:13:16.360 paying for a lot of ads for Biden, I think 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:20.360 in Florida as well, but also might be elsewhere. So 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:24.520 you know, good job for him, clap club. It just 0:13:24.640 --> 0:13:28.920 sucks that, you know, contributions like that can only come 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.599 from as far left as Mike Bloomberg. You know, I 0:13:32.720 --> 0:13:36.960 imagine there are some rich, rich people whose politics are 0:13:37.000 --> 0:13:40.960 a bit more in line with mine than Mike Bloomberg. 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:46.439 But you know, definitely the right has that sort of 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.520 shipped on lock. I mean fucking Republicans they spend money 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:52.880 on that on ship like that, you know what I'm saying. 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:58.520 Like the Republican billionaires and conservative billionaires, they fund think 0:13:58.679 --> 0:14:05.880 tanks and they on YouTube channels and failed comedians, infringe 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:10.599 professors and whatever other little sneaky ship they can do 0:14:11.440 --> 0:14:15.480 to spread their ideology and their messaging and their propaganda 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:20.880 and to actually get cold hard policy passed in their favor. So, 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:24.160 you know, good for Bloomberg got to play the game. 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.080 So Lebron James and his More Than a Vote group 0:14:27.160 --> 0:14:30.840 recently announced a partnership with the Florida Rights Restoration Coalition 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:34.480 to help Florida voters with past felony convictions. James team 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:37.960 fellow NBA players Trey Young, Skylar Diggin Smith, and other 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.080 black celebrities and athletes from the Voter Rights Organization with 0:14:41.200 --> 0:14:45.760 the goal to fight against voter suppression. And so all 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:47.440 of this to me, I mean I feel like you 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:51.440 here oftentimes like you know, vote because our our fore 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:54.560 fathers and four mothers fought for the right. And it's like, yes, 0:14:54.640 --> 0:14:57.200 that's true, but I find it I'm more much more 0:14:57.280 --> 0:14:59.680 generative framing. It's a lot easier to do things out 0:14:59.720 --> 0:15:04.480 of younger than out of respect. Um. I think that 0:15:04.640 --> 0:15:08.560 has animated a lot of the like brunch liberal organizing 0:15:08.720 --> 0:15:12.640 against Trump, the resistance over the last four years, like 0:15:12.800 --> 0:15:15.960 they were sleep. As long as it was organized, it 0:15:16.000 --> 0:15:18.840 was animated by respect for people doing good. As soon 0:15:18.920 --> 0:15:22.320 as it was animated by disdain for those doing evil, 0:15:22.440 --> 0:15:25.040 it was like boom, everyone's a member of you know, 0:15:25.400 --> 0:15:28.400 Surge and whatever. You know, Black lives matter, signs of 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:32.360 the yard. And so I just want this to anger you. 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.600 I want I want the knowledge of like the poll 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:37.920 taxes and the literacy tests and the way that the 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:41.680 poll taxes are still alive today to hold back people 0:15:41.760 --> 0:15:44.000 who are living under the new gym. Crow to piss 0:15:44.040 --> 0:15:46.960 you the fuck off and get you so fired up 0:15:47.320 --> 0:15:49.800 to stick too, middle fingers up in the air to 0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:54.040 these assholes that want to ensure that we continue to 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:58.000 have no say in our electoral process by fucking getting 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:00.640 in that fucking line in the rain, And would you 0:16:00.720 --> 0:16:03.720 went rain boots on? Bring you know, stop at Chipotle, 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:07.240 ber you or burrito, Like call up your homegirl you 0:16:07.280 --> 0:16:09.960 ain't talked to you know, how quick forty five minutes? 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:12.560 Chat it fucking just go and wait in line of 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.960 vote to say fuck you, but them to say fuck 0:16:16.040 --> 0:16:19.320 you to them. But I think something that's important, at 0:16:19.400 --> 0:16:21.320 least for me, and I don't want to be a 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.920 centrist about this, is we gotta call a spade to Spain. 0:16:26.280 --> 0:16:33.520 There is a political party that is dedicated towards voter 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:37.760 suppression right now. And for all of our complaints, it's 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.720 not the Democrats, you know what I'm saying. So it's 0:16:40.760 --> 0:16:43.080 just let's just get that out there. Is that if 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:47.160 the way that Republicans are going, if they had half 0:16:47.200 --> 0:16:51.480 a chance, they literally would be doing like literacy tests 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:53.920 and ship like that. And I just want to do 0:16:54.000 --> 0:16:56.040 a quick side note. But like when I think about 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:59.880 my work as an elected official here in Athens, I 0:17:00.000 --> 0:17:02.440 I even think about it as strengthening democracy because voter 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:05.600 suppression also takes the form of of having to pay 0:17:05.600 --> 0:17:07.720 a dollar seventy five to ride the bus, a bus 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:09.480 that only comes once an hour. It doesn't take you 0:17:09.600 --> 0:17:12.800 right to your to your destination. Voter suppression is also 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:16.280 not having paid leave from work. Voter suppression is also 0:17:16.359 --> 0:17:21.320 not having access to affordable childcare. It's not having electually 0:17:21.400 --> 0:17:23.679 not being in a holiday it's uh, not having access 0:17:23.680 --> 0:17:26.720 to affordable healthcare so that you have chronic conditions that 0:17:27.480 --> 0:17:30.480 you know, make it so that you you know, just 0:17:30.920 --> 0:17:33.280 with reguards to the built environment, you know, you gotta 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:35.639 wheel your wheelchair up to the voting booth. You might 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:37.679 decide not to go because it feels like too daunting, 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.520 And so all of these policies I'm trying to pass 0:17:40.560 --> 0:17:42.840 on the local level, it's like, yes, to improve people's lives, 0:17:43.160 --> 0:17:45.639 but also the idea that like when we lower the 0:17:45.720 --> 0:17:52.720 barriers to to access to civic spaces for folks by 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:57.040 making fair free, making public transit fair free, by like 0:17:57.200 --> 0:17:59.600 raising a way doesn't get in, mandating paid time off 0:17:59.680 --> 0:18:02.200 and make the election day holiday, and giving people access 0:18:02.240 --> 0:18:04.480 to healthcare and giving people access to sheld care where 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:08.000 people will participate, and when more people participate, that's when 0:18:08.040 --> 0:18:09.879 should actually gets better. I don't think I can do 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:11.440 a whole lot of ship, but I can do a 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.119 whole lot more ship if all these barriers are lowered 0:18:14.160 --> 0:18:15.920 and there's a lot more people getting out and voting, 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:17.720 a lot more people showing up at these town halls, 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:19.480 a lot more people come in to city hall, a 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:21.560 lot more people here canvasing and knocking on tours for 0:18:21.640 --> 0:18:26.399 initiatives that they believe in, and so like, uh, I 0:18:26.480 --> 0:18:28.400 think we need to think more broadly about what voter 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:32.560 suppression means and like what we can accomplish when we 0:18:32.800 --> 0:18:37.200 combat it everywhere. It manifests in that project, and that 0:18:37.359 --> 0:18:41.920 project isn't just oh, you know Stacey Abrams organization like 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:45.399 making sure there's pull watchers or whatever that is. That's 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:47.639 the work that goes on year round with regards to 0:18:47.680 --> 0:18:51.200 agitating for policy, Like, that's fighting voters oppression as well. 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:54.359 And that's not just about casting about it's about making 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:56.000 the lives of your neighbor is better. And that's something 0:18:56.040 --> 0:18:58.520 that's going to happen on November two. That's what's gonna 0:18:58.520 --> 0:19:02.760 happen on number four in November four, and like it's 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:05.800 gonna keep going. Life is voter suppression, you know what 0:19:05.800 --> 0:19:09.000 I mean? The whole thing is designed so that you 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:11.960 feel discouraged from voting. Now, I'm gonna have to push 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.760 back on that because I think the ultimate voter suppression 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:22.640 is being dead. Being alive is it enables voting more 0:19:22.720 --> 0:19:27.520 so than really any other condition ontologically anything short of Yeah, 0:19:27.680 --> 0:19:32.400 the thing short of of of being dead. But yeah, 0:19:32.560 --> 0:19:35.800 you know, it's just like with everything that people have 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:39.600 to worry about in their day to day it does 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:43.000 sometimes feel like, you know, the whole you know, rat 0:19:43.560 --> 0:19:46.840 rat race, chasing the cheese. It feels like everybody is 0:19:46.920 --> 0:19:50.359 in such a hustle that things like being involved in 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.399 the election process can sometimes seem as like a second 0:19:54.520 --> 0:19:57.760 or third thought, especially in these times when you have 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:00.480 I'm amazed that the voting is the way that it 0:20:00.600 --> 0:20:03.960 is when you have a pandemic and economic anxiety going on, 0:20:04.200 --> 0:20:08.159 real economic anxiety is there. There needs to be I 0:20:08.280 --> 0:20:16.280 think in America of a reconnection with like civics, you know, 0:20:16.640 --> 0:20:21.600 and just just so that the average person understands, at 0:20:21.720 --> 0:20:24.800 least in theory, how the government is supposed to work, 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.040 you know. I feel like that being more of a 0:20:29.320 --> 0:20:32.680 of a broader knowledge to people, even people who don't 0:20:32.720 --> 0:20:36.240 agree with anything that people like us have to say. 0:20:37.320 --> 0:20:41.720 I think based knowledge at a younger age of how 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:46.920 American government is supposed to operate and function kind of 0:20:47.400 --> 0:20:51.760 disqualifies a lot of trump Ism type. I feel like 0:20:51.960 --> 0:20:56.040 the knowledge of how the government functions is only useful 0:20:56.119 --> 0:20:59.239 when paired with knowledge of how to intercept it. At 0:20:59.359 --> 0:21:02.600 various points collectively to get shipped done, which is what 0:21:02.720 --> 0:21:07.320 not what we're teaching kids in schools. Um, they're seeing, 0:21:07.720 --> 0:21:09.320 you know, people marching in the streets, but they don't 0:21:09.400 --> 0:21:12.080 understand what it takes to put together a rally. They're 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:15.919 like seeing on the news, like you know, people marching 0:21:15.960 --> 0:21:20.000 on the capitol, but not understanding how those policy demands 0:21:20.560 --> 0:21:24.440 were settled upon by these organizations. And that's civics and 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:26.920 that's what we need to start teaching you so that yes, 0:21:27.040 --> 0:21:30.680 they vote because they have a very robust repertoire of 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:33.920 forms of civic engagement that they do year round. But 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.320 do you think we need to teach that in schools? 0:21:36.520 --> 0:21:38.480 And I don't mean from a moral standpoint, I just 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:44.359 mean from like do we really I mean, what type 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:46.480 of what type of protests are you going to learn 0:21:46.560 --> 0:21:49.280 in school? Like officially? Like isn't that more something that 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:53.320 you pick up like outside of the system, because that's 0:21:53.320 --> 0:21:58.280 how it has worked traditionally. But imagine if we taught 0:21:58.400 --> 0:22:02.520 like community organizing as a part of our civis education. 0:22:02.600 --> 0:22:05.320 I mean, what do you remember learning about civics in school? Oh? 0:22:05.400 --> 0:22:08.120 I went to a series of international schools as a kid, 0:22:08.240 --> 0:22:11.520 so I definitely got a bit more of a robust 0:22:13.000 --> 0:22:17.920 education about how American government and politics operated when I 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:22.920 was younger. Um, something that comes to mind that I 0:22:22.960 --> 0:22:25.200 guess kind of plays into what you're talking about. I 0:22:25.280 --> 0:22:28.280 remember in eighth grade, I think it was I had 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:35.080 a teacher who off the books gave us a or 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:37.720 I should say off the record, gave us a for 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:41.480 class textbook that year was this book called Don't Know 0:22:41.680 --> 0:22:45.040 Much about American History, and it was just kind of 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:49.720 like a debunking of all the traditional historic stories that 0:22:49.840 --> 0:22:51.680 you're told and then it gives you the you know, 0:22:51.920 --> 0:22:56.600 real hardcore truth about what happened in that particular incident. 0:22:56.680 --> 0:22:59.640 But that was like our whole textbook for history class. Yeah, 0:22:59.680 --> 0:23:03.280 I've never I've never had a civics class. Um, I've 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:04.960 only ever taken like social studies were like this is 0:23:05.000 --> 0:23:07.680 how a bill becomes a lot, but not like you know, 0:23:08.480 --> 0:23:10.800 if the Senate does this and that, you'll show up 0:23:10.800 --> 0:23:13.200