Speaker 1: My Leak books has how the knowledge you want, Lee,
Speaker 1: but has how the knowledge you need? League Books, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they have all the books. Said the whole wild world
Speaker 1: want to read my leg books. Welcome, Welcome, Welcome to
Speaker 1: Malik's book Bringing a World Together with Books, Culture and Community. Hi,
Speaker 1: my name is Malik, your host of Malik's Bookshelf. I
Speaker 1: want to take time out thank everyone who consistently every
Speaker 1: week tune in to Malik's Bookshelf. I just really appreciate
Speaker 1: you know you're listening to me. I never thought I
Speaker 1: would have a podcast talk every week about a subject matter,
Speaker 1: reading a review on a book, or talking about something
Speaker 1: going on in the community. Well, hey, I appreciate you
Speaker 1: tuning in every week to listen to what I have
Speaker 1: to say. And what I got to say on this
Speaker 1: episode is I'm talking about community, and lately I've been
Speaker 1: really focused on that, blisting in a few book reviews.
Speaker 1: But let me tell you something. We got a big
Speaker 1: election coming up and it's the call the mid term election,
Speaker 1: and that's the news every single day turning and channel,
Speaker 1: you know, and they're talking about this upcoming they're talking
Speaker 1: about that, what's that stake and what's important and that
Speaker 1: a major paradigm shift can happen if this party getting
Speaker 1: in or if this party loses or whatever. But I'm
Speaker 1: gonna give you my take on this upcoming election. And
Speaker 1: let me say this. You know, this episode is called
Speaker 1: Voting for the Lesser of the Two Evils, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna go into detail about the perspective in the black
Speaker 1: community and how we look at election. And they were
Speaker 1: a lot of people openly admit this, but some secretly
Speaker 1: won't just tell you this. But I'm gonna give you
Speaker 1: some inside about how black people vote. Also on this episode,
Speaker 1: I'm releasing the Latino power graph scandal that happened out
Speaker 1: here in Los Angeles, where some city council members got
Speaker 1: together in a boardroom and was discussing some foul and
Speaker 1: slanderous and unthinkable words about black people and how to
Speaker 1: power graphic city council seat from a prominent black city
Speaker 1: council member. They were scheming, plotting, conniving, and trying to
Speaker 1: tie to take control of that seat. And I was
Speaker 1: able to interview Tina Santy, a k A. Slossing Girl
Speaker 1: and get the inside scoop of the outrage that was
Speaker 1: taking place in Los Angeles. So enjoy this upcoming episode,
Speaker 1: voting for the lesser of two evil. A big, big
Speaker 1: outrage has just taken place, where a big scandal where
Speaker 1: someone had to leave an absence because of some information
Speaker 1: that was leaked to the public on the audio tape
Speaker 1: where they was plotting and planning two subvert of a
Speaker 1: council seat and do a power graph and certain statements
Speaker 1: was made. But I got first hand knowledge someone that
Speaker 1: was down at the city council me when it was
Speaker 1: demanding some resonations. While I got slast and girl Tina
Speaker 1: sample on the phone and she's gonna give us the
Speaker 1: inside scope of this big scandal that just took place.
Speaker 1: Talk to me, slast and girl talked to us about
Speaker 1: the outrage and what all the people that was upset
Speaker 1: about this audio tape that was lead give us some
Speaker 1: first hand knowledge about this old scandal. Yeah, the League,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for um, you know, centering my voice.
Speaker 1: I really do appreciate that. I think that's very important,
Speaker 1: um you know, to center black voices and journalists. So
Speaker 1: thank you so much. Um Yea. As mentioned, news broke
Speaker 1: of of Elite Audio and revolving involving three of l
Speaker 1: a city council members UM. Those council members being Luri Martinez,
Speaker 1: Gil Sadio and Kevin de ViOn UM. They were on tape,
Speaker 1: and the tape calots some very um just offensive remarks
Speaker 1: and language UM about the constituents that these council members
Speaker 1: served UM specifically though they were speaking about redistrict redistricting
Speaker 1: in Los Angeles and just you know, the tape just
Speaker 1: showed how um, you know, people are perceived through the
Speaker 1: lens of you know, race and identity, especially even in politics.
Speaker 1: You know, when we all should just be looked at
Speaker 1: as people, as human beings. UM. And so this this
Speaker 1: audio was captured at the headquarters of the l A
Speaker 1: County Federation of Labor. Um. Ron Herrera was the president
Speaker 1: at the time. He has since resigned from his role
Speaker 1: as president of the federation. UM. These three council members
Speaker 1: went to go speak with Mr Herrera at the Labor
Speaker 1: Federation headquarters to discuss redistricting. UM. The federation had released
Speaker 1: an internal memo UM following the audio leak saying that
Speaker 1: their premises had been bugged illegally. So it appears that
Speaker 1: somebody had planted and recording some kind of recording device
Speaker 1: and the premises at the Federation headquarters. And that's how
Speaker 1: the three council members plus the president were caught on
Speaker 1: on this audio. And um, since it was released, it
Speaker 1: just created a huge, uh, just firestorm all the way
Speaker 1: up here. People upset, Hey, people, people are upset, you know.
Speaker 1: But I also want people to take a moment and
Speaker 1: you know, think to themselves that, hey, I wasn't caught
Speaker 1: on this audio. But you know, um, how do I
Speaker 1: treat you know, black and non uh and and other
Speaker 1: people of color in my everyday life? You know, So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say that, you know, um, I'm understating that
Speaker 1: all of the outrage um isn't valid or real. I
Speaker 1: just know that as a black woman that has been
Speaker 1: forced to grow up marginalized in Los Angeles inner city,
Speaker 1: the audio comes as no surprise. We can look around
Speaker 1: and see through the policies and the lip conditions of
Speaker 1: black people in Los Angeles, how people feel. You know
Speaker 1: that the type of thinking is embedded, woven into various
Speaker 1: institutions in Los Angeles, you know, Neuri Martinez, gil Cdeo,
Speaker 1: Kevin de Leone. They're not the only gatekeepers or power
Speaker 1: brokers and institutions in Los Angeles, you know, and um,
Speaker 1: I think that this is a time for a lot
Speaker 1: of people to be having a person of reckoning with themselves,
Speaker 1: you know, about the way in which they hinder access
Speaker 1: and equity for black people, Indigenous Latino folks, or non
Speaker 1: white people in general. Well, I know, I know that
Speaker 1: some of the words that there was a fense of
Speaker 1: my understanding. Uh, they was calling a black child monkey
Speaker 1: something to that effect, right or uh comparing him bouncing
Speaker 1: around in comparison saying uh, uh you know something to
Speaker 1: those you know, and then and then wanted the plot
Speaker 1: and plan to take a councilman's seat and what to
Speaker 1: do with that seat, trying to stare it away from
Speaker 1: you know, black people in the silence our voice, Um,
Speaker 1: I didn't hear specifically about the seat per se, but
Speaker 1: just in general, it was like Mark really Thomas had
Speaker 1: a redistrict, Mark really Thomas c how should we address that,
Speaker 1: you know, to try to make this that seat more
Speaker 1: controlling seat for for their interest. I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: it was similar to something like that, and that's where
Speaker 1: they talk about the power grab. The power grab is,
Speaker 1: you know, how trying to strategize by undermining you know,
Speaker 1: another district to try to subvert the voice of the
Speaker 1: people live in that district by putting somebody else in
Speaker 1: power that speak to their interests and so forth. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so definitely. UM. You know, a lot of black folks
Speaker 1: UM showed up to city hall UM to voice their
Speaker 1: UM concern I know specifically UM the U. There are
Speaker 1: various black people, but people that stood out specifically was
Speaker 1: the Young Black Democratic Club and the president UM speaking
Speaker 1: to the city Council and asking them when speaking specifically
Speaker 1: on the Latino leaders and their UM you know, actions
Speaker 1: or thoughts to try and undermine Black political power you
Speaker 1: know in Los Angeles, right, you know, we're already being
Speaker 1: pushed out of this city and an alarming rates due
Speaker 1: to the you know, the cost of living, the gentrification
Speaker 1: and the lack of equity, you know, and so UM
Speaker 1: to hear things like that about trying to undermine us
Speaker 1: in the political process, it's it's very disheartening. But it's
Speaker 1: not surprising. No, it's not surprising because it's the failure
Speaker 1: of our leadership because this thing had been deteriorating for
Speaker 1: quite some time. It didn't happen overnight. But we should
Speaker 1: not be surprised and I don't think you was. We
Speaker 1: should not be surprised when another group of people um
Speaker 1: one power and at any means that any costs. We
Speaker 1: shouldn't be surprised. We upset and we are outraged, but
Speaker 1: we need something lasting and sustainable because this, you know,
Speaker 1: it's just like we're talking generational wealth. We're talking about
Speaker 1: you know, because that's what this gentification is tied to,
Speaker 1: you know, lack of generational wealth. We're not passing on
Speaker 1: nothing and ask somebody else coming over here and scooping
Speaker 1: it all up because they got the equity, the money,
Speaker 1: the resources. And then we got political people in political
Speaker 1: positions that are not able to sustain you know, that leadership,
Speaker 1: and then other people now in leadership having a majority,
Speaker 1: want to subvert it. Locked us out right. This is
Speaker 1: a vicious cycle. Is I mean, any solutions, any anything
Speaker 1: that you can say that offers some type of insight
Speaker 1: to solutions to what we should be doing and focusing
Speaker 1: on right now the address this. UM well, you know,
Speaker 1: for me personally, UM, I had somebody in media. I
Speaker 1: I feel like I have a level of responsibility in
Speaker 1: terms of um, you know, like not fueling racial tensions
Speaker 1: and promoting messages of you know unity. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: as somebody to grew up in South central UM, you know,
Speaker 1: I grew up in close proximity to the Latino community.
Speaker 1: You know. UM, these were our friends, UM, our neighbors,
Speaker 1: you know. UM. I even had a foster mother who
Speaker 1: was a Latino woman. You know who. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: memories are very fine in my mind. So, you know,
Speaker 1: going to college and being secluded in you know, white
Speaker 1: towns where you know, students of color, of black Latino
Speaker 1: we had to lean on each other for support. You know.
Speaker 1: I have those kinds of experiences and those are at
Speaker 1: the forefront of my mind always. But coming back to
Speaker 1: Los Angeles after college has been very interesting space to
Speaker 1: be in, especially as somebody that focuses on UM, social
Speaker 1: justice issues and equity for black people. I'm seeing that
Speaker 1: folks that weren't able to educate themselves. Uh. In more
Speaker 1: broader context, a lot of UM POC folks just perpetuate,
Speaker 1: you know, like white supremacy. Right. So it's like within
Speaker 1: that if you see a large portion of you know,
Speaker 1: people that you would like to align with, but you
Speaker 1: feel that they don't have the necessary understanding. Uh. You know,
Speaker 1: for a collaboration. You feel like that you're UM, You're
Speaker 1: you're dropping the ball for your own people. Right. Okay,
Speaker 1: to be more clear, we just heard our Latino folks
Speaker 1: UM Council members on the recording focused on their community
Speaker 1: and what they could do to, you know, UM, increase
Speaker 1: their political power. But when Black people focus just on
Speaker 1: our communities, just on our advancement, just on our equity,
Speaker 1: we're always UM made to feel bad about this, you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying. So I think that the for me,
Speaker 1: I have you know, to UM things that I feel
Speaker 1: like we should be focused on for moving forward and
Speaker 1: and healing, but also making sure that we're moving in
Speaker 1: the right direction. I think that we do need to
Speaker 1: be working on our coalition efforts and making sure that
Speaker 1: you know, black and brown relations are you know lesson learned?
Speaker 1: This is listen, you hit it on the nail. Listen,
Speaker 1: this is a lesson learned. We either we must focus
Speaker 1: on our agenda unapologetically and not care about what other
Speaker 1: people coaches think, because everybody, everybody is worried about their
Speaker 1: own and we want to sit up here and and
Speaker 1: and and include everybody and then lose and lose our power.
Speaker 1: We need to assert ourselves and we need to be
Speaker 1: unapologetically for our agenda because this is the kind of
Speaker 1: things that are gonna happen, and you're gonna lead a
Speaker 1: door open for these kind of things these groups. Listen,
Speaker 1: when you call you said white SUPREMETI what is that
Speaker 1: about white agenda? White pro white? All right, we need
Speaker 1: our agenda to assert that and not be afraid to
Speaker 1: be unapologetically about Listen as each group. Democracy works in
Speaker 1: some sense, but it don't work. And if you have
Speaker 1: a family, ain't no democracy in that family. The reality
Speaker 1: is that you know, you you are the ruler of
Speaker 1: that house, and you gotta make decisions and you want
Speaker 1: the best what takes place in that house. And that's
Speaker 1: the kind of you know, attitude we need to have
Speaker 1: as a community as black people. What I'm saying that
Speaker 1: don't mean you're stepping on no other culture, other races.
Speaker 1: It's just you trying to make sure the people that
Speaker 1: you're you know, love and cherish and want to see rise,
Speaker 1: rise up and be successful, so you know, and we
Speaker 1: gotta stop that. But yeah, if we include everybody, we're
Speaker 1: not gonna have you ain't gonna have no This is
Speaker 1: what was revealed that we need to learn from. We
Speaker 1: listen and and we can get mad and pout and
Speaker 1: shout for another culture trying to what elevate themselves. No,
Speaker 1: you might not like it. You might not like it,
Speaker 1: but the reality is they are of self interest. At
Speaker 1: what point are we gonna be about our self interests
Speaker 1: so that we can make sure gentrification don't happen? And
Speaker 1: if you the redish drinking happens, where it silence your voice,
Speaker 1: where the where the lack of resources, in the in
Speaker 1: the in the in the in the in the planning
Speaker 1: that takes place in our communities where you're not there
Speaker 1: to do nothing about it. They just popped up my
Speaker 1: house the other day, of pop the sign in my yard.
Speaker 1: I ain't even ever say so, you know what I'm
Speaker 1: say because we the city, the city of Inglewood about
Speaker 1: you know, you gotta have this permit, don't you know?
Speaker 1: Don't park here certain time unless you got this permit.
Speaker 1: No stadium parking, you know, the so far stadium. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying, you know, I can't get a say so,
Speaker 1: you're just showing one, damn popping in. Don't decide walk
Speaker 1: without no notice and a split lot when you could
Speaker 1: have put it in the middle, but you're gonna put
Speaker 1: it right by the driveway. I'm like, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm just saying that, ain't I mean, that's off topic,
Speaker 1: but it's just, you know, things happening you don't have,
Speaker 1: don't say so and not and not. You feel powerless,
Speaker 1: That's all I'm trying to say. You feel marginalized, you
Speaker 1: feel targeted, even though you might have good intentions. But man,
Speaker 1: you didn't give me no notice, You ain't give me
Speaker 1: no heads up, you ain't give me a say so
Speaker 1: so anyway. But hey, Dave, I want to thank you
Speaker 1: Tana for dropping the first hand knowledge he was down there.
Speaker 1: You saw the outrage of the people. And this ain't
Speaker 1: just here. It's happening all over this country, and we
Speaker 1: need to do something about it. We need to. We
Speaker 1: need to We need to elevate our voice and have
Speaker 1: an agenda and willing to stand firm and unapologetically about it,
Speaker 1: because you know, that's just you know, we have to
Speaker 1: assert ourselves and this anger, this outrage is in the
Speaker 1: community needs to have a direction that has lasting effect
Speaker 1: in that temporary That's all I had to say, So
Speaker 1: thank you. We need to support yes, absolutely, because that's
Speaker 1: how we assert our viewpoints and our power through the media.
Speaker 1: All of this firestorm happens through the me you know
Speaker 1: what I'm saying, And anything that happens moving forward is
Speaker 1: going to you know, UM, the media is going to
Speaker 1: be the one that pushes that or shapes that or
Speaker 1: shares that, you know. And so if we don't have
Speaker 1: black media that have our interests and speak directly to
Speaker 1: our issues, then we're never going to be really have
Speaker 1: um our power be asserted. We might have the power,
Speaker 1: but in terms of like asserting it, a lot of
Speaker 1: it is is media. A lot of that is media.
Speaker 1: The media is powerful. Powerful. Support black media from the
Speaker 1: community that's not exploiting issues for their own interests. You know. UM,
Speaker 1: we're for rooting in the community and we want to
Speaker 1: see the community move forward that you know, we're able
Speaker 1: we can do to support that. Yeah, tell us tell
Speaker 1: us how they can um support Sauson Girl media. Yes. So, UM,
Speaker 1: we have a platform called the Voice of Black Los
Speaker 1: Angeles and UM that is a newer platform we just
Speaker 1: lost I just launched the website to that. UM, this
Speaker 1: is the platform that will be in more of a
Speaker 1: collaborative effort between black Los Angeles. UM. I still have
Speaker 1: my platform SOLS and grew you to listen to my
Speaker 1: podcast on Apple UM or Spotify, UM or interview people
Speaker 1: we talked about about history, race, culture, and check me
Speaker 1: out at UM the Voice of Black l a dot com.
Speaker 1: If anybody UM, any black writers or journalists looking for opportunities,
Speaker 1: please contact us UM It's the platform for you. So yes,
Speaker 1: wonderful one. Thank you, Thank you were appreciate that you're
Speaker 1: letting the streets know on leach bookshelf bringing a world
Speaker 1: together with books, culture and community. Thank you, Tina. The
Speaker 1: word on the street is there's a lot of steak
Speaker 1: with this upcoming election, and I'm just gonna give my
Speaker 1: take on and I don't really dab into politics, but
Speaker 1: because we lose on both sides, that's how that's that's
Speaker 1: how I see it. You know, I'm not I'm not.
Speaker 1: I don't think the saving gracios politics. I'm not against
Speaker 1: people voting. UM. I think you should pay attention attention
Speaker 1: to your local propositions and you know, policies that are
Speaker 1: coming up locally. I think you should pay attention and
Speaker 1: play closely to those issues because they directly affect you,
Speaker 1: and it's you know, you win one day in the
Speaker 1: next election, they're trying to lose on you know, it's
Speaker 1: just this whole thing where you have to be focused on.
Speaker 1: I mean, life is hard enough as it is, and
Speaker 1: every single day, every single month, every single you know year,
Speaker 1: you have to focus on these politicians, these elections and
Speaker 1: you have to. I just don't you can vouch for
Speaker 1: their character and then you know truthfulness and what they
Speaker 1: stand for. It's insane. It's life is already difficult. That's
Speaker 1: why a lot of my people, I believe to an
Speaker 1: album and they vote based upon what's emotional, not what's
Speaker 1: best for their interests, because black people are just trying
Speaker 1: to survive and live, you know. So this whole election,
Speaker 1: when black people go to the poll, I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: this is the majority of them vote for what we
Speaker 1: call the lesser of the two evils. That's how they
Speaker 1: see it. I'm only voting for the lesser of the
Speaker 1: two evil because I don't think no good, no real
Speaker 1: change is gonna happen because of a politician being in office.
Speaker 1: Ain't no good it's gonna happen. We had Obama as
Speaker 1: the forty fourth president of the United States, and he
Speaker 1: was black, and there are a lot of black and
Speaker 1: he listen, I think that him winning was a great achievement,
Speaker 1: and I voted for him. I think it was a
Speaker 1: great achievement. Um, the fact that the black man won
Speaker 1: the White House. And I think that and I like
Speaker 1: to use that when I'm talking to youth and kids
Speaker 1: and shot at the myth of impossibility because most black
Speaker 1: people we didn't think he was gonna win. We hoped
Speaker 1: he won, you know, but he won, and we was
Speaker 1: excited about that. But um, he didn't do anything specifically
Speaker 1: for black people. What I'm saying. He did things in
Speaker 1: general for um, the United States, and he'd done things
Speaker 1: for other specific groups, but he didn't do much directly
Speaker 1: say hey, I'm gonna do this specifically for black people,
Speaker 1: like affirmative action, see how to specifically target you know,
Speaker 1: disenfranchised people. He didn't do anything directly. Now I'm not
Speaker 1: you know, I'm knocking him, But what I'm saying is,
Speaker 1: you know, when white politicians and presidents getting office, they
Speaker 1: have no problems nor ever doing things that directly benefit
Speaker 1: white America. And let's just keep it one hunted. You
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, and I'm I can't fault I
Speaker 1: cannot fault white people for doing something to promote and
Speaker 1: enrich their communities because they're looking out for themselves. Now,
Speaker 1: if that's if that's bad for a group of people
Speaker 1: to look out for themselves, then it's excuse me. But
Speaker 1: as black people, if you have children, you would look
Speaker 1: out for your children. You would want the best for
Speaker 1: your children. That don't mean stepping on other people, but
Speaker 1: it's looking out for your kids, and it's looking making
Speaker 1: sure that they win. They're not trying to put down
Speaker 1: another group of kids or anything, but you're gonna look
Speaker 1: out for your own. Come on now. So anyway, when
Speaker 1: these politicians get in the office, and that's why I
Speaker 1: think black people should just be straight up independent. You should.
Speaker 1: We shouldn't be no party because we strengthen us being
Speaker 1: united and being you know, in a party that allows
Speaker 1: us to have flexibility and allow us to you know,
Speaker 1: use our voice in a way to get something done.
Speaker 1: Why we simply majority go just vote Democrat and then
Speaker 1: a small missentity go vote or blacks go vote Republican.
Speaker 1: I don't I don't understand that, and I don't think
Speaker 1: that's a good political strategy. And I think that the
Speaker 1: majority of black people when they do vote, they vote
Speaker 1: for the lesser of the two evils. That's how I
Speaker 1: hear it all the time. They're denied, but I hear
Speaker 1: it all the time because most black people don't really
Speaker 1: think anything gonna happen when the politician get elected. When
Speaker 1: when black people went out and voted for buying anything,
Speaker 1: nothing was gonna really happen to benefit of us. But hey,
Speaker 1: when you with with with with with the with the
Speaker 1: back vote, voting the majority for biting, You's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Look what you got. You got a recession, you got
Speaker 1: the inflationhip, you got the highest food pricess, oh my god,
Speaker 1: the highest gas prices. You have a president that um
Speaker 1: appears to have some cognitive issues. Let's just we keep
Speaker 1: it real. I mean, he's an old he's an elder.
Speaker 1: When you get older, sometimes these things happen. You get
Speaker 1: human's okay, he got it. But what what what I'm
Speaker 1: saying is he is um. Things are a lot harder
Speaker 1: today as a result of I'll vote to help put
Speaker 1: biting in in the White House. And when people when
Speaker 1: black people went and voted two years ago, they was
Speaker 1: voting for the lesson too. They think Bidens you was
Speaker 1: the lesser the two evil over Trunk. That's why they
Speaker 1: you know, that's what it is. And then they changed
Speaker 1: the day just because um different politicians are running for office,
Speaker 1: and they're gonna change two years from now. When black
Speaker 1: people go vote, they're gonna go vote for the lesser
Speaker 1: of the two evils. That's just the way it is. Listen,
Speaker 1: you asked a forty fifty million Black people just overnight,
Speaker 1: just you know, erase the oppression, the discrimination, the racism,
Speaker 1: and all the hardships that are afflicted on the majority
Speaker 1: of the Black community, the police brutality, the social injustice,
Speaker 1: and all the ailments that plague Black America and America
Speaker 1: in general. You asking for them just oh oh, I'm
Speaker 1: just gonna overnight forget about all that. Could I speak
Speaker 1: real most all these things that we suffer from fast
Speaker 1: food um restaurants on every corner. Yeah, you know, then
Speaker 1: we got you know, marijuana shops on every corner. As
Speaker 1: though you know this recreational drug, marijuana weed. You know
Speaker 1: it's gonna bring nothing but progress in our communit. Let's
Speaker 1: keep it real. Drugs and devastated ourument, whether it be well, cocaine, crack, heroin,
Speaker 1: all of this is nothing but devastated the black community.
Speaker 1: And then we got weed shops on every corner. How
Speaker 1: did they get their politicians? You know, how did all
Speaker 1: these fans food restaurants is killing everybody getting high blood
Speaker 1: pressure diabetes? How do they get there? Once again? Politicians?
Speaker 1: See all the you talk complaining about what's going on
Speaker 1: in schools and the lack of resources. How they get
Speaker 1: like that? Politicians? Why the money go in this direction
Speaker 1: and don't go over in this direction where this community
Speaker 1: is underserved. Politicians, there ain't no great white hope, and
Speaker 1: there ain't no political hope. It ain't gonna come from
Speaker 1: We're not gonna change our reality until we come together
Speaker 1: and do for self and change our reality is our responsibility.
Speaker 1: We gotta stop this hand act with the hands out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can get some of them crumbs that you know
Speaker 1: that are available because you qualify, But real change is
Speaker 1: not gonna come from the crumbs. Real change donna come
Speaker 1: when forty million black people pull their money together and
Speaker 1: work together collectively and make no excuses for their failures.
Speaker 1: I guarantee change is gonna come then and then now
Speaker 1: your vote is more powerful because you're voting as a
Speaker 1: block and you make gonna force these politicians to what
Speaker 1: to do what you need to be done to get
Speaker 1: things done in the way that can benefit That's how
Speaker 1: the game is played, and we ain't playing it correctly
Speaker 1: because we we're trying to vote for just one party,
Speaker 1: as if this one party hasn't been devastating over the
Speaker 1: many decades and years. Most of these cities are ran
Speaker 1: you know, I'm keeping it one well. Cit these cities
Speaker 1: are ran by you know, politicians, whether they Democratic, and
Speaker 1: I believe they're a majority in some Republicans. And all
Speaker 1: the problems is plaguing these cities, not not if a
Speaker 1: problem happened in your house, those in the authority are
Speaker 1: you know, with a problem resides he They don't take
Speaker 1: responsibility for their favors their favors. And I'm saying that
Speaker 1: we need to vote independent, and we need to put
Speaker 1: money behind our vote because when we do vote, we're
Speaker 1: gonna vote for the lesser of the two evils, which
Speaker 1: is not saying much. And most people views about the
Speaker 1: political world is the fact that it's world of corruption,
Speaker 1: It's a world paid for play. It's a world where
Speaker 1: deals are made the only benefit the rich in the elite.
Speaker 1: So it's the less of the two evils, and that's
Speaker 1: not saying much. And you still have another option, just
Speaker 1: don't vote. That's still a political strategy that many people
Speaker 1: you know us as a strategy and of staying you
Speaker 1: don't have to vote if you don't like the choices.
Speaker 1: But when people do vote, they are voting. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm talking both specific black people. They vote for the
Speaker 1: less of the two evils. But we need to stop
Speaker 1: really doing that because you ain't getting really nothing for
Speaker 1: your vote, but more help. Thanks for listening to Eli's
Speaker 1: Bookshelf where topics on the Shelf, our books, culture and communities.
Speaker 1: Be sure to subscribe and leave a review. Check out
Speaker 1: my Instagram at Malik Books. See you next time.