Speaker 1: Podcasting on location at Onyx Art Gallery in Phoenix, Arizona.
Speaker 1: I'd like to welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher,
Speaker 1: where our mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding.
Speaker 1: I am your host, Rams's Jah and c Ward and
Speaker 1: I had the opportunity to sit down with the man
Speaker 1: known as Tony West, who is an attorney, former government official,
Speaker 1: and the senior Vice president and chief Legal Officer of UBER.
Speaker 1: Before Uber, he was Associate Attorney General of the United
Speaker 1: States under President Obama and General Council of PEPSI Code.
Speaker 1: He previously served as the Assistant Attorney General of the
Speaker 1: Civil Division, the largest litigating division in the Department of Justice,
Speaker 1: and perhaps notably nowadays, he is Kamala Harris's brother in law.
Speaker 1: You're going to love what he has to say about
Speaker 1: the forthcoming Harris administration. So sit back, relax, and enjoy
Speaker 1: this episode of Civic Cipher.
Speaker 2: So here with my brother Tony West in Arizona as
Speaker 2: we try to get our collective to get out and
Speaker 2: be very very involved with this selection. Vote early, show
Speaker 2: about the ballot and take someone with you. We got
Speaker 2: to have a conversation last week with former Attorney General
Speaker 2: Eric Holder and we were talking about access to the
Speaker 2: ballot and the way that we've kind of seen a
Speaker 2: weaponization of trying to deter us from exercising in one
Speaker 2: of our most fundamental rights. Can you give us some
Speaker 2: insight into how you're seeing that play out and some
Speaker 2: things that we can do to protect ourselves in that space.
Speaker 3: Well, it's good to be with you, Quentin. There's no
Speaker 3: question that we've seen over the course of the last
Speaker 3: few years, but particularly this year, concerted efforts to make
Speaker 3: it more difficult for folks to vote, to access the
Speaker 3: ballot box, and as you well know, the right to
Speaker 3: vote unlocks all others, and so if people can attack
Speaker 3: that right, then it becomes very difficult to defend and
Speaker 3: protect other rights.
Speaker 2: You.
Speaker 3: So what we've been trying to do is make sure
Speaker 3: that we're pushing back on those efforts and reminding people
Speaker 3: of the important right that they have to vote, and
Speaker 3: that includes educating people about where they can vote, how
Speaker 3: they can participate in early voting, how they can participate
Speaker 3: in mail in voting.
Speaker 1: So one of the things that we've been talking about,
Speaker 1: particularly on the Black Information Network, we've been dealing with
Speaker 1: some pushback from younger voters more often than not in
Speaker 1: terms of supporting another Democratic administration when a lot of
Speaker 1: folks feel that they've been overlooked or they've succumbed to
Speaker 1: the messaging on the right. I'm sure you well know
Speaker 1: some of the talking points that come from this relatively
Speaker 1: small base voters, but important based voters, and it's important
Speaker 1: that they become educated speak to some of the issues
Speaker 1: that you've encountered. People that might be has a in
Speaker 1: terms of which way to cast their vote, or have
Speaker 1: decided to vote in a way that historically is inconsistent
Speaker 1: with what we would have imagined if they would vote.
Speaker 3: Well, I really appreciate that question, you know. I think
Speaker 3: it starts with understanding that Vice President Harris is actually
Speaker 3: put forward a comprehensive opportunity economy agenda that is inclusive,
Speaker 3: that has space in place for everyone that looks to
Speaker 3: invest in expanding the middle class to make sure that
Speaker 3: people simply you know, aren't getting by, but that they're
Speaker 3: getting ahead. A plan that says, listen, we can grow
Speaker 3: our economy by making sure we're including everyone's talents in
Speaker 3: the mix. She's talked a lot about the importance of
Speaker 3: building intergenerational wealth about bringing down prices, every day prices
Speaker 3: by making sure we're focused on excessive price gouging. She's
Speaker 3: talked about the importance of affordable housing and the importance
Speaker 3: of expanding affordable housing because that still is one of
Speaker 3: the big problems that we face in this country, where
Speaker 3: you know, cost housing is way way too high. So
Speaker 3: she wants to work with industry to increase the supply
Speaker 3: three million new units in her first term. And she's
Speaker 3: talked really importantly about investing in and supporting small businesses
Speaker 3: because when you look at our economy, the job engine
Speaker 3: in our economy is not the big, big corporations, it's
Speaker 3: the small businesses. Small businesses are what create jobs for
Speaker 3: our economy. They also create wealth in our communities, and
Speaker 3: so she wants to make sure she is supporting the
Speaker 3: creation of small business with expanding the small business Creation
Speaker 3: tax credit for five thousand dollars to fifty thousand dollars,
Speaker 3: because the average cost of starting a new small business
Speaker 3: in this country is forty thousand dollars. She wants to
Speaker 3: make sure that she's making it easier for entrepreneurs and
Speaker 3: founders to access capital. And one of the things she's
Speaker 3: particularly focused on are black small businesses because we have
Speaker 3: so many entrepreneurs in our community. So she's the only
Speaker 3: presidential candidate in my memory who's ever come out with
Speaker 3: a comprehensive opportunity agenda for black men speaking to the
Speaker 3: unique challenges that black men face. So, whether it's talking
Speaker 3: about more access to capital when it comes to starting
Speaker 3: a small business in the form of forgivable loans, or
Speaker 3: you're talking about a national health initiative that says we
Speaker 3: need to invest in more research on diseases like prostate cancer,
Speaker 3: like sickle cell, like diabetes, these are diseases that disproportionately
Speaker 3: affect our community, or whether you're talking about, hey, look,
Speaker 3: we need to make sure that we're investing in job
Speaker 3: training and apprentice programs in two year colleges because a
Speaker 3: four year college degree is great. We want to make
Speaker 3: sure we certainly encourage folks to do that, but it's
Speaker 3: not the only way people ought to be able to
Speaker 3: access economic security and a solid middle class opportunity. And
Speaker 3: so she's talked about all of these issues, but I'll
Speaker 3: tell you one of the things that is incredibly important
Speaker 3: is her position on capping the price of insulin at
Speaker 3: thirty five dollars a month for seniors. She wants to
Speaker 3: expand that to everybody. And the reason that's so significant is, again,
Speaker 3: you know, diabetes is something that disproportionately affects our communities.
Speaker 3: But she recognizes that the single biggest driver for indebtedness
Speaker 3: and bankruptcy for so many families is medical debt. And
Speaker 3: so she's talked about the importance of canceling medical debt.
Speaker 3: She's talked about the importance of making sure medical debt
Speaker 3: can't be held against you on your credit rating. So
Speaker 3: because you know that affects so many other things, and
Speaker 3: so she's she's got policy out there that's speaking directly
Speaker 3: to our community and things that we feel in our
Speaker 3: everyday lives.
Speaker 2: So you touched on this a little bit. And before
Speaker 2: we let you go, I just want some final messaging
Speaker 2: with regards to either actual or imagined erosion amongst black
Speaker 2: male voters. If there was a message that you wanted
Speaker 2: to leave black men with in particular leading to this
Speaker 2: election and during this early voting cycle, what would that
Speaker 2: singular message be.
Speaker 3: I think the singular message is that Vice President Kamala
Speaker 3: Harris sees black men in all of the complexity and
Speaker 3: beauty and challenge that exists in this country. She there's
Speaker 3: a reason why she is put together an opportunity agenda
Speaker 3: that is aimed specifically at the unique needs and challenges
Speaker 3: that black men face. You know, there's a reason why
Speaker 3: she believes that we can have an opportunity economy that
Speaker 3: includes black men in that vision. She knows that black
Speaker 3: men are a key, key part of America's story, and
Speaker 3: as importantly, she knows that black men are an essential
Speaker 3: part to our successful future as a country. And so
Speaker 3: she has an economic agenda, she has policy that speaks
Speaker 3: to that reality.
Speaker 1: Another thing that's come up on both of our shows
Speaker 1: is with respect to black men and younger black people. Again,
Speaker 1: her history as a prosecutor, and there are some people
Speaker 1: in our community who are still waiting for the George
Speaker 1: Floyd Justice and Policing Act. Some people are waiting for
Speaker 1: what they fill her unfulfilled promises. And you know, these
Speaker 1: are the sorts of people that we talk to all
Speaker 1: the time. We come from this group of people, speak
Speaker 1: to some of the concerns that this base may have
Speaker 1: about Kamala Harris's past and what a presidency under Kamala
Speaker 1: Harris might look like. For them.
Speaker 3: I'm so glad you asked about that. And by the way,
Speaker 3: she was one of the most vocal supporters of the
Speaker 3: George Floyd Justice and Policing Act, and she has championed
Speaker 3: those police reform issues her entire career. But let me
Speaker 3: let me back up and just give you a little
Speaker 3: bit of context on the family. Her mother, my mother
Speaker 3: in law. She was a civil rights activist in the
Speaker 3: nineteen sixties. Mother Harris, who I called her, you know,
Speaker 3: marched in civil rights marches in Berkeley, California, Andy in Oakland, California,
Speaker 3: which was a hotbed of activism during the civil rights movement.
Speaker 3: My wife, my Kamala's younger sister, Maya, my wife, became
Speaker 3: a civil rights advocate and a civil rights lawyer. And
Speaker 3: a lot of people will look at that and say, yeah,
Speaker 3: that makes sense. Civil rights mother, civil rights activist. As
Speaker 3: a daughter, Kamala became a prosecutor. And sometimes people are like, well, wait,
Speaker 3: how did that happen? And you have to understand that
Speaker 3: her becoming a prosecutor was very much fueled by her
Speaker 3: civil rights values. You see, what Kamala understood early on
Speaker 3: is that when young people come in contact with that
Speaker 3: criminal justice system. And she saw this a lot growing
Speaker 3: up in Oakland. When folks come into contact with that
Speaker 3: system and they're in court for the first time, the
Speaker 3: most consequential person in that room is not the judge,
Speaker 3: and it's not the criminal defense attorney. It's the prosecutor.
Speaker 3: Because the prosecutor decides how or whether that person will
Speaker 3: be charged with the crime, and that charging decision in
Speaker 3: and of itself can completely change someone's life. And so
Speaker 3: she wanted to make sure that someone with that much
Speaker 3: power had the perspective of having grown up in a
Speaker 3: community with lots of often young men, young black men,
Speaker 3: experiencing the criminal justice system in a very negative way,
Speaker 3: and so she wanted to make sure that perspective was
Speaker 3: at the table. And that's why, you know, as district attorney,
Speaker 3: you saw that play out in the way that she
Speaker 3: was district attorney. So, for instance, you know, we talk
Speaker 3: about re entry and diversion programs a lot now they're
Speaker 3: kind of commonplace. Well, the very first one was created
Speaker 3: by District Attorney Kamala Harrison San Francisco. The very first
Speaker 3: re entry and diversion program, she called it Back on Track,
Speaker 3: and what it was was, Hey, look, if you were
Speaker 3: arrested for a nonviolent crime, we were going to try
Speaker 3: to figure out a way to divertue from the criminal
Speaker 3: justice system entirely. But if you were incarcerated, we were
Speaker 3: going to make sure that you were getting educational resources,
Speaker 3: you were getting job training resources while you were incarcerated,
Speaker 3: and when you came out, because eighty five ninety percent
Speaker 3: of these folks will come out and be returning citizens
Speaker 3: to their community. There was job training, there was a
Speaker 3: job they're waiting for you, so that you could have
Speaker 3: something to come back to. And that was really important
Speaker 3: because in California and in San Francisco, the recidivism rate
Speaker 3: was over fifty percent, and when she put in place
Speaker 3: this program, that recidivism rate dropped to below ten because
Speaker 3: now people had not only a second chance, but they
Speaker 3: had something meaningful in their lives. That was because for her,
Speaker 3: and she has had a progressive policy agenda both as
Speaker 3: district attorney and as California Attorney General that she has
Speaker 3: practiced throughout her career. You know, a lot of people
Speaker 3: don't realize that California was the first state to come
Speaker 3: up with body camps. That's because of her support. You know,
Speaker 3: when it came to police reform. You know that those
Speaker 3: big issues were because she was a leading vocal voice
Speaker 3: on a limited qualified immun unity and making sure that
Speaker 3: we held police officers accountable for what they did in
Speaker 3: the way that they carried out their duties. And so
Speaker 3: in Kamala Harris, you have the original progressive prosecutor with
Speaker 3: a very progressive record.
Speaker 2: A lot of us had a very prominent emotional response
Speaker 2: to the misinformation that was put out to her when
Speaker 2: she was running for president, and a lot of us
Speaker 2: have had to very loudly and very publicly apologize for
Speaker 2: not doing our research properly, not vetting the information that
Speaker 2: we got, and now, you know, trying our best to
Speaker 2: make sure that we educate people as a collective one
Speaker 2: what her real record was as a prosecutor.
Speaker 1: So thank you for that, and I want to make
Speaker 1: sure that it stated that you know, we've sat on
Speaker 1: this show in the past that you know, in re
Speaker 1: examining this this second run for the president by Kamala Harris, initially,
Speaker 1: there was no way for her to change the systems
Speaker 1: that she may have taken issue with unless she infiltrated
Speaker 1: those systems in a manner of speaking, and created the
Speaker 1: change from the inside. And so this is something that
Speaker 1: until today we've only been able to speculate. And so
Speaker 1: you adding this to our narrative on this show, not
Speaker 1: only does it validate the episode where we did suggest
Speaker 1: that that was likely her agenda after dial Hugley came
Speaker 1: out and he had to make his statement, but also
Speaker 1: everything that we've done since then, because again, our show
Speaker 1: was born out of an activist element. A lot of
Speaker 1: our early listeners and strongest supporters are people who are
Speaker 1: cut from that cloth, and us having to digest a
Speaker 1: presidency where the critical examination of the way policing has
Speaker 1: done is in this country feels like it potentially could
Speaker 1: be performative until as I mentioned, we take a closer look,
Speaker 1: and so we appreciate you providing not only the clarity
Speaker 1: but the credibility to our theories that goes a long
Speaker 1: way on both of our shows, to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: So I want to say thank you for that as well.
Speaker 2: Former Associate Attorney General and his new title Vice President,
Speaker 2: Harris's brother in law, our brother Tony West. Thank you
Speaker 2: for your time and thank you for making some time
Speaker 2: for us.
Speaker 3: Thank you, Quinnon. But I've had that title for twenty
Speaker 3: six years, so I think I've had that title before
Speaker 3: I had most others.
Speaker 2: So he's been working in this position for a long time.
Speaker 2: Truly an expert.
Speaker 1: In his field.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much, man, God bless you.