WEBVTT - This is Why We Don't Trust the Government 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:03.600 Native Lampard is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with 0:00:03.760 --> 0:00:08.240 Reason Choice Media. 0:00:09.440 --> 0:00:13.000 Welcome home, y'all, Welcome to another episode, Episode one and three, 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:17.479 only three that really count, but whatever, I am Bakari sellers, 0:00:17.600 --> 0:00:21.240 I'm your kind of host. With these three amazing people, 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:23.400 we have Andrew Gillim, We're switching it up a little bit. 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:26.280 We're gonna introduce the Fellas first, yes, yes, and then 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:30.120 we have Angela Rye and we have the amazing immaculates 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.479 across and so I just want to say, welcome home. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:34.800 I never remind me of your question. You just triggered me. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:35.760 Yeah, I know, I know. 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:36.560 You guys say that. 0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:39.440 One of the viewer was like, and I got a 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:41.800 question of you, and miss Cross, I got a question. 0:00:43.560 --> 0:00:45.920 So we're gonna start with what's on your heart and mind? 0:00:45.960 --> 0:00:47.240 What's some of the things you want to talk about. 0:00:47.240 --> 0:00:47.920 I don't want to start with you. 0:00:48.040 --> 0:00:49.920 It's so much in the space one we should acknowledge. 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:54.400 We're here in Texas. Deal yes, very much like Florida 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:56.760 for me. But what's on my heart mind is this 0:00:57.480 --> 0:01:00.520 shutdown which is now showing up up for a lot 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.920 of our government workers. It's the first week so the 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.880 second week that they haven't gotten a check and so 0:01:06.080 --> 0:01:08.080 thus you know, stuff is getting desperate. We should talk 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:08.600 about them. 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:11.520 Yeah, Angel, Yes, I agree, and the pass forward. What 0:01:11.640 --> 0:01:14.040 can our community do because we've always had to rely 0:01:14.120 --> 0:01:15.880 on each other when we couldn't rely on the government. 0:01:16.760 --> 0:01:19.039 I think on that, apparently you can't rely on good 0:01:19.080 --> 0:01:23.160 information these days. So I want to talk about NAACP's endorsement, 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:28.480 alleged endorsement of Abigail Spamberger, which never happened, but we'll 0:01:28.520 --> 0:01:29.000 get into that. 0:01:29.240 --> 0:01:34.160 Yeah, as always, I want to I want to get 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:37.240 into this viewer question. We have a viewer question about 0:01:37.280 --> 0:01:40.880 going into uncomfortable spaces having uncomfortable conversations, and I always 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:42.720 like to hear from our viewers, so definitely want to 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:43.440 be sure we get to that. 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:45.760 And I wanted to talk about the verses between cash 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:48.000 money and no limit. I don't know if y'all saw. 0:01:47.840 --> 0:01:50.919 That, but we should because I didn't even know versus 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:51.640 was still happening. 0:01:51.920 --> 0:01:53.960 I can't believe y'all missed that. But that's been good. 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.480 Huh, Okay, we'll talk about it. 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:56.760 Yeah. 0:01:57.400 --> 0:01:59.920 But also also on a more serious note, something that 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.800 we all care about, which is justice, and accountability. It's 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.040 not justice. You have to be very very clear with 0:02:05.120 --> 0:02:09.120 your language. Justice is Sonya Massey being here with her family. 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.720 But accountability is the fact that the officer was found 0:02:11.720 --> 0:02:15.600 guilty this week of second degree murder of Sonia Massey. 0:02:15.680 --> 0:02:18.760 So may may your memory be a blessing and may 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:20.840 she now be able to rest in peace. 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:22.720 Can you just remind the audience what. 0:02:23.919 --> 0:02:26.600 I mean, Sonia Massy is first of all, the problem 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:28.560 that I have is, I guess, like a lot of you, 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:31.680 all the litany of names of unarmed African Americans who 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.200 were gunned down at the hands of state violence. But 0:02:35.240 --> 0:02:37.840 Sonya Massey, if you recall as someone who actually called 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:41.000 nine one one to her home and the officer came in, 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.800 and you've seen the image in her it looks like 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:46.760 her din or living area, and you can see the 0:02:46.840 --> 0:02:50.399 kitchen in the back, and didn't take long for him 0:02:50.440 --> 0:02:54.520 to murder her, execute her, kill her in our own home. 0:02:54.880 --> 0:02:56.120 Didn't she say God bless you? 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.520 Yes, she did say God bless you. And so I 0:02:58.680 --> 0:03:01.920 just you know I and you know we're in Houston, 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.400 We're in Texas. Shout out to Benjamin Crump and others 0:03:04.400 --> 0:03:06.840 who you know carry that torch and do great work 0:03:07.080 --> 0:03:08.880 in that space. But I wanted to make sure we 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:12.080 gave some breath because we get a lot of tragedy 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.200 in our communities and very rarely does that tragedy lead 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.240 to anything other than more tragedy. Yeah, but at least 0:03:18.280 --> 0:03:20.679 we can get people that there is if you stay 0:03:20.760 --> 0:03:23.840 in the fight, then you can get some sense of accountability. 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:26.000 And regardless of how they sully the name of it, 0:03:26.040 --> 0:03:29.840 the point here is black lives still matter, Black lives 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:31.760 must matter, black lives do matter. 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:34.480 But on the same note of black lives matter, you 0:03:34.520 --> 0:03:36.440 also wanted to we were talking about on the way 0:03:36.440 --> 0:03:38.200 over here that you wanted to make a point because 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:41.000 a lot of our people in the Caribbean are. 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.440 Facing Hurricane Melissa. So I know that you wanted to. 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:45.640 Just yeah, I get into it. 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:48.280 Yeah, well I think we're into it. We are definitely 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:51.360 into it. I was just gonna say, you know, on 0:03:51.440 --> 0:03:58.160 this point, as natural disasters ravage not just our communities 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:02.760 but also brothers and sisters in the Caribbean, and we're 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:05.400 facing FEMA cuts along with all of the other cuts 0:04:05.400 --> 0:04:08.520 with this government shut down, I just think that we 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:10.200 need to be paying attention to how we meet the 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:14.200 needs of our brothers and sisters throughout the diaspora, certainly 0:04:14.240 --> 0:04:17.919 in Jamaica, certainly in Haiti, certainly in Cuba. And I 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.120 think we definitely don't know the full impact of everything 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.240 that's happened just yet, but we need to be paying 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:29.200 attention to that, donating where we can, if y'all can provide, can, goods, services, water, 0:04:29.360 --> 0:04:31.159 whatever we can do to make sure that we meet 0:04:31.160 --> 0:04:33.039 those needs. I think we need to all be leaning 0:04:33.040 --> 0:04:33.520 in right now. 0:04:34.000 --> 0:04:36.240 Let's start from here, Andrew, let's delve into that. I mean, 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.000 we're talking about the government shutdown. I don't know what 0:04:38.080 --> 0:04:40.360 they were on the government shut down? Yeah, what we 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:43.159 It seems like a blur, and people watching I don't 0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:46.240 really think they care what they were on. It's whether 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:47.839 or not needs and services and met. So what are 0:04:47.839 --> 0:04:48.840 your initial thoughts? 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:53.039 I mean, just to say the desperation, I'm not. You know, 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.080 it's crazy to see people who are on the everyday 0:04:56.080 --> 0:05:00.240 experience middle class, however hard they're holding onto it, but 0:05:00.440 --> 0:05:02.400 get up every day doing what they can to make 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:04.840 away for themselves and for their families, and not from 0:05:04.880 --> 0:05:08.440 a sense of struggling necessarily, but really a sense of empowerment. 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:11.240 These are jobs, careers that they aim for, they got them, 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:16.200 and to one day be secured in that position, bringing 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:19.479 home your regular income, doing the things that you are 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:23.680 regularly obligated to do, rent, mortgage, food, so on and 0:05:23.680 --> 0:05:27.120 so forth, and maybe even leisure in life. So now 0:05:27.160 --> 0:05:30.960 find yourself standing in a food bank line has to 0:05:31.000 --> 0:05:33.359 be more than a blow to just your stomach, right, 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:37.159 I mean, there is so many questions of how do 0:05:37.200 --> 0:05:39.200 I get here? How did we get here? How did 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:41.680 the government go from being an institution that's supposed to 0:05:41.760 --> 0:05:44.240 exist to uplift and to support us and to have 0:05:44.320 --> 0:05:47.840 our back should we ever find ourselves falling through the net. 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.040 It is the catch safe. But what happens when that 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:53.800 government comes right the problem? It becomes the crisis it 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:57.960 is self invented. And then the president doesn't care enough 0:05:57.960 --> 0:06:01.080 to see it resolved, to back from Asia, maybe not 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.240 have gone, maybe to deal with his own government which 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:07.880 is shuttered. His own government. Employees across the range of 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:09.960 the federal government, the largest employer in the in the 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:13.280 United States, not having the basic needs that they need 0:06:13.320 --> 0:06:16.080 to survive. And the fact that we have a Republican 0:06:16.080 --> 0:06:18.719 president or Republican majority in the US and Republican Speaker 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.560 of the House, and the Republicans collectively controlling the whole 0:06:22.560 --> 0:06:25.440 of government. It's a shame that they can't keep it open. 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:27.960 I mean, I was thinking about even more than that. 0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.599 You know, these maga talking points of America first, and 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:34.359 we just spent forty billion dollars bailing out Argentina. And 0:06:34.440 --> 0:06:38.159 even when people talk about snap benefits and EBT. I 0:06:38.200 --> 0:06:40.880 had a friend of mine who just texted me two 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.400 days ago. I was talking to Ellen about it, and 0:06:44.520 --> 0:06:46.520 you know, he was like, can you help me with Thanksgiving? 0:06:46.680 --> 0:06:49.080 Because you know we're not our EBT is not going 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.200 to be starting the first It's just not going to 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.040 be the same. So, you know, I've been thinking about this, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:56.600 like that's where I'm from. You know, Denmark, South Carolina 0:06:56.720 --> 0:07:00.800 is a poor rural community, Bamberg, poor rural community. So 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:02.960 how do I stand in the gap a community that 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.200 poured into me so much. So I'm like calling on 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:07.120 the phone. I'm talking to Charlemagne because he does like 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:08.920 three or four of them, Like how do we make 0:07:08.920 --> 0:07:11.679 sure that we do these? So I got my partners 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:14.640 were going out scraping up turkeys, and other things just 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:16.720 to stand in the gap. So that's kind of the 0:07:16.760 --> 0:07:19.000 tangible thing you're doing to make sure that you have 0:07:19.160 --> 0:07:21.320 the cans of And I don't even know if everybody 0:07:21.400 --> 0:07:24.560 who's who's watching this fully grasp it. I think many do, 0:07:24.760 --> 0:07:27.280 but not everybody. But you have like the cans of 0:07:27.320 --> 0:07:29.120 cranberry sauce, and you go and get a couple of 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:31.400 sweet potatoes, and you get you know, maybe one of 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:33.400 those five or six pounds, and you just hand out 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:35.840 as as many as you can so that people can 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:39.400 have that fellowship that is Thanksgiving because we're here now, 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.200 but coming up, you know, in a couple of days, 0:07:42.960 --> 0:07:45.640 those those cards aren't aren't going to be refilled. 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.720 There there are some places where they're already not like 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.040 out of commission. There's no snap. And for those of 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.920 you at home, food stamps are also what we're talking about. 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:56.720 I think that because we're saying EBT and SNAP and 0:07:57.040 --> 0:07:59.160 we all do it interchangeably. If you have the car, 0:07:59.280 --> 0:08:02.280 you know as EBT, right. But I think there are 0:08:02.400 --> 0:08:05.239 a few things. One is there's a woman I saw 0:08:05.600 --> 0:08:09.000 online talking about she's already skipping meals so that she 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.200 and her significant other can eat together at night. The 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:15.280 other thing that I think is really important for us 0:08:15.280 --> 0:08:19.480 to understand is normally people are providing food around the 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:23.080 holidays in particular, but there are people hungry right now. 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:25.480 And this is not a shot to what you're saying 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:27.920 at all. It's important too, but like, how do we 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:32.320 make sure that we okay, that we answer the call, 0:08:33.640 --> 0:08:36.440 literally answer the call, no matter where it's ringing, and 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:38.880 hope you'll get to it quickly. Because at the end 0:08:38.920 --> 0:08:42.080 of the day, we are all we have. There is 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.960 no reason why we can't meet the needs, especially when 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:49.120 so many of us have an abundance. I will tell 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:52.240 you just this one point. This is actually shameful. I 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.560 throw away so much food. I order a lot of food. 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:57.120 Y'all know, Like we sit down and we eat, and 0:08:57.120 --> 0:08:59.720 we want to try all the things. Maybe now the 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:01.720 call is maybe we don't try that one thing. We 0:09:01.800 --> 0:09:04.839 order an extra entree and ask somebody nearby if they 0:09:04.880 --> 0:09:05.960 need it, if they want it. 0:09:06.320 --> 0:09:08.959 Well, I'll just tell you I have someone in my 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:12.160 immediate family. As we've talked about, who gets food stamps, 0:09:12.200 --> 0:09:14.800 and even the amount that people get is not a 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.439 robust amount, and there are so many restrictions on how 0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:19.760 you can spend the money now. Thankfully, in my family, 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.160 you know, I can subsidize the needs of my immediate 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.880 family member who gets this benefit. But we're definitely looking 0:09:25.960 --> 0:09:29.280 at a reassessment of my finances and a reassessment of hers, 0:09:29.360 --> 0:09:32.760 because what I've tried to say is when this benefit 0:09:33.080 --> 0:09:35.040 goes away, we should not make the assumption that it 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:39.400 will return. And so even though SNAP benefits are from 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:42.400 the federal government, they are administered by the states, and 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.120 so states have the option to tap into emergency funding 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.400 to keep this going. But the thing is if they 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:51.240 tap into that, that will take away from something else. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:53.400 And I think the danger is a lot of people, 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:55.920 when you're hungry, you don't care, and we're looking at 0:09:55.920 --> 0:09:59.040 people I'm in such a place of privilege that I 0:09:59.040 --> 0:10:03.600 can subsidize my family. But there is actually a lot 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:07.120 of sound from people in these food lines to your point, 0:10:07.880 --> 0:10:11.200 who definitely need the help, Like this woman here. 0:10:11.160 --> 0:10:12.479 They were the subsidizers. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:14.240 That's all. 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.080 We didn't hurt anybody. 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:16.920 We don't deserve this. 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:19.360 What does. 0:10:20.720 --> 0:10:21.800 This distribution mean? 0:10:23.920 --> 0:10:26.640 I mean, if it means to me, it means the 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.560 world to me what they're doing, because sometimes you for 0:10:29.760 --> 0:10:33.080 you feel forgotten. You go to work to help people. 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:35.800 That's our job to help people. That's all the week 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:38.600 we go in every single day. 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:40.520 This is day twenty eight. 0:10:41.559 --> 0:10:44.520 The last paycheck we got was for seven days through 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:45.479 the end of September. 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:51.959 That's it. So we've been there every single day. 0:10:52.040 --> 0:10:54.760 We've been there every day. 0:10:55.200 --> 0:10:56.400 Who's thinking of us. 0:10:56.480 --> 0:10:58.680 We didn't hurt anybody, I promise you. 0:10:58.760 --> 0:10:59.880 We give our best. 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.440 We have good people that go to work every single 0:11:02.520 --> 0:11:02.880 day to. 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:08.000 Give them back. I'm sorry one that was some kind 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:11.240 of heart wrenching, kind of emotional sound that we've been 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.880 talking about. I wanted to make three policy points. The 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:16.600 first thing that people need to know is that there 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.319 is enough emergency reserve fund for the government to keep 0:11:20.760 --> 0:11:22.720 this open for another two to three weeks. 0:11:22.760 --> 0:11:24.400 It's enough money to open it, period. 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:28.080 But I'm just saying like, they have the reserve fund 0:11:27.880 --> 0:11:29.960 for two to three weeks. Now, that's not a long time. 0:11:30.000 --> 0:11:33.760 But we're talking about people literally going hungry. So if 0:11:33.760 --> 0:11:35.920 anybody wants to say, oh, if Democrats open up the 0:11:35.960 --> 0:11:38.920 government today, then they're not. No, no, no. Donald Trump has 0:11:38.960 --> 0:11:41.559 made a conscious decision and sometimes cruelty is the point. 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:46.120 Number Two, there is something that you can do. I mean, 0:11:47.559 --> 0:11:50.560 democratic governors can sue, and thirty of them have or 0:11:50.559 --> 0:11:53.880 excuse me, attorney generals have sue. Twenty of them have 0:11:53.880 --> 0:11:56.360 have suit the United States Department of Agriculture where these 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:58.680 funds come from. So if you're in a state, I'm like, 0:11:58.760 --> 0:12:02.199 I'm on Alan Wilson's ass Republican. He wants Donald Trump's endorsement. 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:06.240 So he's not moving. However, like, we have tens of 0:12:06.240 --> 0:12:09.360 thousands of people in South Carolina that are going hungry 0:12:09.559 --> 0:12:12.320 simply because you want Donald Trump's endorsement, and so you 0:12:12.400 --> 0:12:14.960 need to file suit to the USDA and do your 0:12:15.040 --> 0:12:17.679 job to represent South Carolina first. And the last thing is, 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:22.160 which is somewhat policy, somewhat humanity is fundamentally there is 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:24.719 this belief and I see it on I see it 0:12:24.760 --> 0:12:27.040 amongst Republican elected officials. I see it on X, I 0:12:27.040 --> 0:12:29.160 see it on Instagram. You know, why don't people get 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:33.880 a job? That's so crazy, But it just discounts the 0:12:33.880 --> 0:12:36.680 fact that we have a working poor in this country, 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:39.280 and that a lot of they say, oh, all these immigrants, sorry, 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:40.800 but what about Okay, No. 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:43.080 You can't get it if you do not have a job. 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:46.080 In most states, you can't even pull down the benefit. 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:46.440 Without the work. 0:12:46.880 --> 0:12:48.240 The work requirement is the point. 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:51.679 Most of the different Most of the people are white, the. 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:52.520 Majority of recipients. 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:56.200 Yes, yes, so I'm just like this. The racial undertones 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.679 and the xenophobia that comes along with this debate is 0:12:59.760 --> 0:13:01.480 something that has been rubbing me the wrong way. 0:13:01.559 --> 0:13:04.440 But the other thing that I think we have to 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:08.560 take stock of is going back to this discretionary fund. 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:14.480 They have the ability to fund snap benefits for three weeks, 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.920 as you said, and then in those three weeks, guess 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.480 what happens The continuing resolution that they would have passed 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.200 that would have been very harmful would be up anyway. 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.280 The next CR is November twenty first, so they can 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:29.400 fund it literally through the next CR to hopefully get 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.880 people through at least their Thanksgiving groceries. Maybe it's because, 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:35.280 as you to your points, if it's still not enough money, 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:37.480 most of the folks have to get some type of 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.640 subsidy and certainly are working more than one job. So 0:13:40.720 --> 0:13:42.880 I think this is the point. And I guess my 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:47.000 plea to all of us would be, while we know 0:13:47.080 --> 0:13:50.000 we should be able to rely on our government for support, 0:13:50.120 --> 0:13:53.880 policy is supposed to be people first. If we cannot, 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:57.360 we still have each other. And I was saying on 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:00.800 the Afrotech stage earlier, because that is why we are 0:14:00.800 --> 0:14:04.200 in Houston, that I think it's so important for us 0:14:04.240 --> 0:14:07.440 to understand how reliable we are as human beings. My 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.920 algorithm has shifted because I posted enough of the folks 0:14:10.920 --> 0:14:14.360 who've been filling in the gap around snap the you know, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.080 the free lunch for government workers, even for the folks 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:19.560 who've been furloughed or laid off, free lunch for governmentkers. 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.240 Come get a meal, you can get fried fish, shrip whatever. 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.560 And then also coming to get groceries from farmers, the 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:27.880 farmers that have said come and take whatever you want, 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.160 this is yours. I am so encouraged by that because 0:14:31.160 --> 0:14:34.600 it tells me that the humanity is not gone, like 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.160 our empathy is not gone. 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.880 I value that, Angela. The resilience of people. Yeah, is 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:45.240 like the hero story in this But it angers me 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:48.320 to no degree that in the wealthiest nation and the 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:52.160 history of the world that we're talking about people having 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:57.200 to rely on their local pastor's generosity or their local 0:14:57.440 --> 0:15:01.280 neighbor's charity in order to pull down on what are 0:15:01.560 --> 0:15:02.760 basic human needs. 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:05.800 Speaking of pastors, I want to roll this clip from 0:15:05.880 --> 0:15:10.800 Jamal Brian and Carrie Brian where they showed their humanity 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.320 and sacrifice in offering to the church. 0:15:13.600 --> 0:15:16.200 To do this with you, give God some praise for 0:15:16.240 --> 0:15:21.280 our first lady An. I've been in an earnest prayer 0:15:21.440 --> 0:15:27.280 and Friday, the Holy Spirit arrested me and it really 0:15:27.480 --> 0:15:27.960 shook me. 0:15:28.840 --> 0:15:32.840 But I got peace knowing that I was hearing the voice. 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:33.560 Of the Holy Spirit. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:39.400 Since March, three hundred thousand black women have lost their jobs. 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:44.360 Knowing that this is the highest unemployment rate for black 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:50.720 people in over fifteen years, Knowing that government workers and 0:15:50.760 --> 0:15:55.440 government contractors have been furloughed and have not received a check, 0:15:56.080 --> 0:16:01.040 even while senators and congress people are receiving theirs, Knowing 0:16:01.120 --> 0:16:05.840 that forty three million people are not receiving food benefits. 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:08.320 The Holy Spirit arrested me in prayer. 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.040 I was on a plane headed to Chicago, and the 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.200 Lord dropped in my spirit, and I want you to 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.560 hear the heart of your pastor that I didn't feel, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:20.840 in good conscience, or in good faith, or in good 0:16:20.840 --> 0:16:24.720 faith that it would be appropriate today for me to 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:29.080 do an over and above offern I didn't feel like 0:16:29.200 --> 0:16:32.040 it would be right to ask people to march down 0:16:32.120 --> 0:16:36.280 with five thousand, two thousand, three thousand and one thousand. 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:38.960 When people don't know how they're gonna pay their rent, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.360 they don't know how they're gonna take care of their kids, 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:43.920 don't know how it is that they're gonna eat. Y'all 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:49.080 ain't saying nothing to me. I know that this ain't popular. 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:51.640 I know this ain't gonna go viral. They always talk 0:16:51.680 --> 0:16:55.320 about the negative stuff churches do. But I felt like 0:16:55.360 --> 0:16:57.680 we had a higher responsibility. 0:16:58.160 --> 0:17:00.880 I love the fact that we can still find social 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:04.760 justice and empathy and compassion in church houses, and I 0:17:04.800 --> 0:17:06.520 think we definitely saw which I think one of. 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:10.239 The challenges though, because we're talking about snap benefits, there 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:11.879 are some things that even though we can rely on 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.120 each other, to feed each other has been a tradition, 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:16.920 and certainly we can look back to civil rights leaders, 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:19.680 particularly the Black Panther Party, who was able to meet 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:21.719 the need of the people. But then there is just 0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:25.280 an infrastructure of government that services us. And when we 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.400 think about of the people, by the people, for the people, 0:17:27.440 --> 0:17:29.119 what does it look like when it includes us? And 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:32.720 right now we're seeing in air traffic controllers TSA staff. 0:17:32.800 --> 0:17:34.760 We all travel a lot, and so walking through those 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.919 lines knowing that those TSA workers are showing up not 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:41.359 getting paid, a lot of military force is not getting paid. 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.800 But also the number of black women who lived in 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.800 service to this country, to our community who have been 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.520 laid off from the federal government has a ripple effect 0:17:50.680 --> 0:17:53.679 across multiple states. And so they're cutting their nose off 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.240 despite their face because social Security checks all the things 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:58.439 that need to be processed where black women stood in 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:01.440 the gap and did those things. Eventually, that is going 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.520 to hit white America and more specifically is going to 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.359 hit Maga America, and they are going to feel the 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:09.840 impact of this. And I fear that they are not 0:18:10.000 --> 0:18:13.440 curious enough to connect the dots. That they are armchair 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.040 Fox News watchers who will continue to regurgitate the same 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:21.880 right wing talking points that are demonstrably false and willfully ignorant. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:24.240 I you know, I have two minds, and this may 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:27.920 be controversial, but in some ways I wish that they 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:32.320 weren't able to bail out individual pieces of Americans. Yes, 0:18:32.480 --> 0:18:35.640 during this time, I agree, because when you are big 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:39.440 and bad enough to accept the consequence of shutting down 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:43.280 the federal government everyday. Americans need to know what that means. 0:18:43.960 --> 0:18:48.199 And if this week we can pay a soldiers, and 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:51.920 then next week we can pay you know, the farmer folks, 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:54.720 and then the next week ices you know, buckle back up, 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:56.760 and then the next week that they do something else. 0:18:56.880 --> 0:18:59.360 This is an unsustainable system. At some point the dime 0:18:59.720 --> 0:19:02.600 stops coming. And where we are, by the way, just 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:07.960 so that we're all abundantly clear paying What this shutdown 0:19:08.000 --> 0:19:11.960 is about is the government ran out of money to 0:19:12.160 --> 0:19:16.159 pay the bills that it has already incurred. Correct, this 0:19:16.240 --> 0:19:18.800 is not about future spending of the government. This is 0:19:18.840 --> 0:19:21.840 not about obligations that are ten years down the line. 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:25.480 This is the US government. Our elected officials have spent 0:19:25.600 --> 0:19:29.119 more money than they've taken in and so because they 0:19:29.160 --> 0:19:32.439 don't have what it takes to demonstrate leadership, they've just 0:19:32.480 --> 0:19:36.040 decided they would stop collecting, stop spending. Not stop collecting, 0:19:36.240 --> 0:19:41.240 stop spending until the opportunity moment is right politically. But 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:45.879 what I've never understood about the debt ceiling is that 0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:48.960 it never seems to be explained as clearly as possible, 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.119 is that this is you going out to eat a 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:53.680 red lobster or wherever your favorite place is and then 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:56.480 walking out on the bill nothing else. 0:19:57.040 --> 0:20:03.560 This is also about appropriating funds to authorization measures, so 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:05.720