WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 091121 Q Ward & Ramses Ja Anniversary Episode 0:00:00.760 --> 0:00:03.200 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:04.680 ramses Jah. 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:09.320 So his name is ramses Jah. My name is Quentin 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:14.480 Ward Quinn with an oh, but everybody calls me Q 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:16.120 because that's just way easier to say. 0:00:17.000 --> 0:00:18.840 You gotta teachhim, man, you gotta you gotta teach them. 0:00:18.840 --> 0:00:22.160 That's what we're here to teach. You can look it up. 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:28.200 The manual, Well Webster Good News Today. 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:30.080 Year. 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.880 Listen to me. We made it a year. 0:00:34.200 --> 0:00:34.400 Year. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:37.960 That don't sound that's significant to everybody else as it is. 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:40.400 That's but we've been in these streets, we've been outside, 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.159 and we we we real pro us in real anti 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:49.880 the bs, and that's dangerous in today's climate. So I'm 0:00:49.920 --> 0:00:51.200 glad we made it to a year. 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:51.400 Man. 0:00:51.479 --> 0:00:52.239 Happy birthday. 0:00:52.400 --> 0:00:55.640 Happy birthday to us to us here on Civic Cipher. 0:00:56.120 --> 0:00:59.040 And before we go any further, I gotta say thank 0:00:59.080 --> 0:01:01.280 you to everybody that's ordered us. Of course our day ones, 0:01:01.320 --> 0:01:03.680 but even if you're just getting onto the show today. 0:01:03.680 --> 0:01:06.080 We appreciate you because we know why you're here. 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.040 But yeah, it's an anniversary and what we're gonna do 0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:15.720 is talk about some of the good things that have 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:16.160 happened in. 0:01:16.200 --> 0:01:18.360 The past year, we're switching to yours. 0:01:18.480 --> 0:01:20.360 Yeah, normally the show is like real heavy with a 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:22.399 lot of you know, just heavy stuff. 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:22.640 You know. 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.360 It's obviously we have a lot of traumas that we 0:01:25.400 --> 0:01:28.560 have to deal with, past traumas, generational traumas, and of 0:01:28.560 --> 0:01:31.880 course present day traumas as black people that we share with, 0:01:32.040 --> 0:01:37.600 you know, our other marginalized brothers and sisters. But after 0:01:37.640 --> 0:01:42.320 a year of trying to have conversations on the radio 0:01:42.360 --> 0:01:44.760 about the state of things, I thought it would be 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.120 special and and swirl and que of course, thought it 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:50.200 would be special that we share some of the positive 0:01:50.240 --> 0:01:55.160 things that have happened. And so let's start off where 0:01:55.160 --> 0:02:00.000 we normally start off. But let's discuss some ebony. Excellent, 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:01.600 and I know you got some special queue. 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:06.400 So I'm gonna read this because I wanted to be accurate. 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.160 But before I start reading, shout out to the Cab County. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:12.960 That's actually where I am right now, for those that 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.400 don't know, I am down in the at l A 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:20.480 N T A g A. That's where I stay and 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:25.680 in the Cab County in a city called Stone Crest, Georgia. 0:02:26.800 --> 0:02:32.080 They are developing the new Black Wall Street market I 0:02:32.240 --> 0:02:34.919 just read that. I knew I was going to read it. 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.720 We prepped for the show, and I still got goosebumps 0:02:38.720 --> 0:02:42.160 when I read it this time, especially in it because man, 0:02:42.200 --> 0:02:46.760 that's incredible, and I want to read this quote. We 0:02:46.960 --> 0:02:50.600 know right now was the time to begin moving forward 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.799 on mister Allen's vision to create a new Black Wall Street, 0:02:54.480 --> 0:02:58.800 not only market, but an international village that has numbers 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:02.280 of young African American businesses that are growing and being developed. 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:07.000 New Black Wall Street Market spokesperson Matthew Hampton said, So, 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:09.320 we are in the middle of doing a multi year 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.080 billion dollar development in the city of Stonecrest right down 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:18.680 here in Decab County, Georgia. For those of you that 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:24.080 are familiar with Black Wall Street in Tosa, Oklahoma and 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:29.960 the very very tragic happenings down there, this is the 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:31.840 type of thing you should get excited about. And the 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.120 fact that it's happening here, I think is ideal. It's 0:03:35.160 --> 0:03:39.480 happening in a place where the black agenda is very 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:44.160 very out, very very forward, very very loud. It's not covert, 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.640 it's very overt. People are very very proud and very 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:53.640 very in this area. It's very very concentrated. So this 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.160 is the perfect place for something like that to start 0:03:56.200 --> 0:03:59.720 and develop. And you know, we might need to do 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:03.000 some excite for activities down here, just to shine some 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:04.560 light on what they got going rams. 0:04:04.960 --> 0:04:08.000 Listen, Well, that's Abny excellence if I ever heard it. 0:04:09.120 --> 0:04:14.960 Shout out to Leicester Alan, Leicester, Leicester Allan. I'm not 0:04:15.000 --> 0:04:17.279 sure how to pronounce his name, but he is black. 0:04:17.960 --> 0:04:25.760 He's definitely an elder statesman, but he is black. And 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:31.080 so the Black Wall Street, at least from appearances, appears 0:04:31.120 --> 0:04:34.039 to be in good hands and guided by someone who 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.479 has a vested interest in the success of it. And 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:39.159 so we're really excited about that. So that's our Ebny 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:44.120 excellence on our birthday as a radio show. While I 0:04:44.120 --> 0:04:45.800 got the time too, Before we move on to the 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.640 next topic, I want to make sure that I give 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:52.320 a shout out to all the programmers around the country 0:04:52.360 --> 0:04:55.919 who have believed in this show. You know, some of 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.680 you are listening to our voices on hip hop stations, 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:04.000 some of you're listening to our voices on talk radio 0:05:04.000 --> 0:05:08.480 stations or whatever stations it is, even alternative stations. And 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:12.360 you know, we're two young black men having long form 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:16.480 conversations about what it means to have a black life 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.799 in this country and the things that we have to endure. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:21.480 And we do our best to share this space with 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:23.919 our brothers and sisters who were born with a strike 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:31.040 against them, be they LGBTQ, Asian, Hispanic, Native, so forth, 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:35.800 so on. But this is obviously a decidedly black space 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:39.680 and for us to have had a year being able 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:43.000 to have these long form conversations as a result of 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.120 the decisions of the programmers behind the radio stations that 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:49.360 you're listening to our voices on, we just want to 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:50.920 make sure that we say thank you to those people 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.400 who made those decisions to put us in position to 0:05:53.480 --> 0:05:56.200 be able to empower the communities that you live in. 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.440 And you know, as you mentioned, he's in Atlanta, I'm 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:04.440 in Phoenix at the moment. And the show obviously has 0:06:04.480 --> 0:06:08.120 grown since our first since our first episode, you know, 0:06:08.120 --> 0:06:09.880 and now we're on both coasts. We're all in the 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.440 middle and certainly very excited about the year to come. 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:17.640 With that said, onward and upward, let's talk about some 0:06:17.720 --> 0:06:21.719 more positive things that have happened in the past year. 0:06:25.800 --> 0:06:32.640 I think the most notable for black people, specifically, you know, 0:06:32.680 --> 0:06:37.359 if twenty twenty had to have a name associated with 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.520 it given by black people, there's a number of names 0:06:40.520 --> 0:06:42.200 we could choose from, not the least of which is 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.600 Kobe Bryant. You know, we had to revisit, you know, 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:47.640 stuff with Nipsey. We had a lot of things that 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.760 we had to process in twenty twenty. But George Floyd, 0:06:52.320 --> 0:07:00.840 I believe, will be top of that mountain right and 0:07:00.880 --> 0:07:05.919 everyone took to the streets demanding justice. And as we 0:07:06.080 --> 0:07:09.800 learn time and again as black people, there is no justice. 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:12.280 There's no way to make sense of a senseless death, 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:20.560 especially an agonizing like a horrible death where someone is 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.360 crushed to death over the course of nearly nine minutes 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.560 and it's on video with people telling the officer to stop. 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.040 We all had to watch that. We all had to 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:36.040 imagine our brothers, We all had to imagine our sons. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:38.280 We all had to imagine our cousins and relatives and 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:41.840 friends and people that we love. We all as humans, 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:44.160 not just as black people, but humans. Because I'm sure 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:45.960 if you're listening to this show, if you can hear 0:07:45.960 --> 0:07:48.600 my voice, if you can hear a Q's voice, you 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:51.240 know someone that you can imagine in the place of 0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:54.360 George Floyd, regardless of what they did in the past, 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:56.560 regardless of where they're going, they don't deserve to be 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:58.240 crushed out in the middle of the street like that. 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.960 Everyone deserves a chance to say their peace, at least 0:08:00.960 --> 0:08:03.440 according to the laws in this country. You should be 0:08:03.520 --> 0:08:05.480 able to appear in court in front of a judge 0:08:05.680 --> 0:08:07.600 and say your peace, and then the judge is the 0:08:07.600 --> 0:08:10.480 person that we've appointed to decide your guilt or end incense, 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:14.240 and you know, whatever punishment, if any, should be handed down. 0:08:14.440 --> 0:08:16.640 You should not be crushed to death on the street. 0:08:16.680 --> 0:08:18.080 You should not be shot in the back. You should 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.760 not be shot period before you've had your day in court, 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:27.920 unless you present a real viable threat to someone. And 0:08:28.000 --> 0:08:31.880 even then there are ways of dealing with it as 0:08:31.880 --> 0:08:36.079 we see time and again when the suspect or the 0:08:36.120 --> 0:08:39.600 alleged you know, gunman or whatever is a non black person. 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:44.320 With that said, a little bit of positivity that we 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:47.880 got and this was kind of connected to last year, 0:08:47.920 --> 0:08:51.000 but you know, in our year that we've been on 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.320 the air, we've been able to have an episode where 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.400 we talked about the Derek Chavin verdict and Derek Chauvin, 0:08:57.480 --> 0:09:00.480 of course, is the officer responsible for take the life 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:05.040 of George Floyd. He was sentenced to twenty two and 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:13.520 a half years, and that was something now we all. 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:15.640 The reason why I want to say is because there's 0:09:15.640 --> 0:09:17.199 a lot of people that will listening to my voice, 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.439 A lot of black people, of course, will listen to 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:25.800 this and think that wasn't justice. You know, he deserved more. 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:28.280 He took a life. You know, if he had been 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:30.559 black and killed a white person, then this would be 0:09:30.679 --> 0:09:33.040 very different. He'd have been life in prison, sixty years, 0:09:33.040 --> 0:09:36.360 death penalty, whatever, right. And I understand that. I'm not 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:38.600 trying to take that away from it. I recognize that 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.320 the world is not fair. But I also remember what 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:45.240 it felt like going into that trial, all of us 0:09:45.280 --> 0:09:48.360 thinking this man is going to walk because he's a 0:09:48.360 --> 0:09:51.959 police officer, because that's what happens. I remember people planning 0:09:52.000 --> 0:09:55.680 to protest, people planning to riot. That were I don't 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.520 know any people that were planning to rite. Let me 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.240 say this, right, but people were worried that people we're 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:03.320 planning to riot if the verdict wasn't a guilty verdict. 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:09.640 And I remember that time, and while this verdict isn't 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:21.600 what some people wanted. It does document and it firmly 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.600 entrenches in the timeline of this country that the powers 0:10:25.640 --> 0:10:30.800 that be decided that this action was wrong, which doesn't 0:10:30.840 --> 0:10:34.240 often happen. In most cases, there was not even charges 0:10:34.240 --> 0:10:38.680 brought for it. So the guilty verdict says that the 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:40.880 powers that be says, yes, this is in fact wrong. 0:10:42.400 --> 0:10:46.480 And the punishment, while it might not have been what 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.160 some of us wanted, as extreme and is harsh, you know, 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.080 and I tend to agree with that, it could have 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:54.800 been a much more fairer punishment. He took a life 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:58.560 that should cost a life, you know, so a life sentence. 0:10:58.559 --> 0:10:59.960 You know, I don't believe in the death penalty, but 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:04.520 that's a personal thing. I can see that side of 0:11:04.559 --> 0:11:07.080 the argument. But this twenty two and a half years 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:15.760 does something significant, and it's that not only do the 0:11:16.200 --> 0:11:19.200 powers that beat the judges the country has to come 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:20.800 to terms with the fact that this was wrong, but 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.720 also that this officer would be punished, and even if 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:25.840 he's not punished the way we wanted, what it does 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.800 is it sends a message to other police officers and 0:11:30.840 --> 0:11:34.440 you know, precincts and you know, whatever, everyone who was 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:37.120 thinking that, you know, this guy was black and he 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:39.320 was trying to pass a twenty dollars bill that was fake, 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:42.760 and he was a criminal four years prior, and blah 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:44.880 blah blah, and he didn't he shouldn't be a hero. 0:11:45.440 --> 0:11:49.720 All those people had had to swallow those words, because 0:11:49.760 --> 0:11:52.440 in that moment, it wasn't about George Floyd as much 0:11:52.440 --> 0:11:56.440 as it was about did this man, Derek Shehlman do 0:11:57.200 --> 0:12:00.840 the right thing or the wrong thing? And if he 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.400 did the wrong thing, will he be punished for it? 0:12:03.720 --> 0:12:05.840 And the answer, as we now know, is that he 0:12:06.040 --> 0:12:09.600 A did the wrong thing and b was punished for it. Again, 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:12.920 don't blow me up on social media. I recognize that 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.679 that punishment might not have been as severe as one 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:19.000 as some people wanted, but he was punished for it. 0:12:19.480 --> 0:12:24.160 And the ripple effect of that, I believe is a 0:12:24.280 --> 0:12:28.880 net positive for the plight of black and brown people 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:32.560 in this country, people who have often been the victims 0:12:32.600 --> 0:12:37.439 of police brutality, the victims of systemic oppression and white supremacy, 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:43.120 and have never even had a chance at justice. You 0:12:43.280 --> 0:12:45.360 just have to take what these people do to you 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.400 and eat it. And that's the story going all the 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:49.640 way back to the beginning of this country. If you 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.120 were born with a little bit more melanin than our 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:57.040 Caucasian brothers and sisters, and so I call that a positive. 0:12:57.720 --> 0:13:01.000 And on our one year anniversary, if I'm looking back 0:13:01.000 --> 0:13:04.120 and I'm seeing the positive things that have happened in 0:13:04.160 --> 0:13:06.720 the year since we've been on the air, I definitely 0:13:07.120 --> 0:13:10.480 count that among them. Now, I might be alone because 0:13:10.480 --> 0:13:12.400 I haven't got your thoughts on it yet, Q, but 0:13:13.200 --> 0:13:14.679 I would love to hear what you think. 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:23.640 So as you said, of course, there are of course 0:13:25.160 --> 0:13:31.280 a harsher sentence. But like you said, man, going into this, 0:13:31.320 --> 0:13:33.160 I think a lot of us expected for there to 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:37.840 be nothing. In most cases, as Ramses has echoed, as 0:13:37.880 --> 0:13:41.000 we've talked about many times on this show, charges are 0:13:41.040 --> 0:13:46.120 not even brought against people in these situations. So him 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:50.280 having to go to trial, being found guilty and there 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:54.640 being some sort of accountability is a massive step forward. 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:55.240 Right. 0:13:55.280 --> 0:13:57.920 Of course, we would have felt there were more just 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:05.920 and more fair punishments, but there are cases where something 0:14:06.280 --> 0:14:11.079 is better than nothing, and twenty two years is not nothing. Right, 0:14:11.120 --> 0:14:14.319 We've seen someone going to a person's house and murder 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:16.280 them and get a I think less than ten years. 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:25.280 So this case being as loud and as publicly scrutinized 0:14:25.320 --> 0:14:29.560 as it was definitely helped us get at least some 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:35.840 semblance of justice. And you know, the idea of celebrating 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:41.080 a person going to prison might seem kind of wrong, 0:14:42.320 --> 0:14:45.600 except our history in this country has shown, you know, 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:49.400 as an entire movement started on the basis of Black 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:53.480 lives matter, right, the idea that we just deserve to 0:14:53.560 --> 0:14:58.840 exist and shouldn't be snuffed out without consequence is proof 0:14:58.920 --> 0:15:02.560 positive that we've been shown the contrary by this country 0:15:02.560 --> 0:15:06.160 for a very long time. So there was kind of 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:13.400 a clinching of the fist, celebratory feel of him first 0:15:13.520 --> 0:15:18.600 being found guilty and there at least being some significant sentence. Right, 0:15:18.640 --> 0:15:21.720 twenty two years is not nothing. It's not life, and 0:15:21.760 --> 0:15:24.520 it's not fifty or sixty years, but it's not nothing. 0:15:25.240 --> 0:15:31.800 And most of the significant parts of this man's life 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:35.280 will be spent in prison, even if it's not the 0:15:35.320 --> 0:15:40.120 rest of his life. It's our one year anniversary, so 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.080 I'm trying to keep it as positive as possible. 0:15:42.280 --> 0:15:44.520 That's what I was gonna say. I appreciate that you 0:15:44.560 --> 0:15:46.640 normally you don't even be in this direction, man, good 0:15:46.640 --> 0:15:47.000 for you. 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.040 I'm trying my best, man. You know, there's, of course, 0:15:51.080 --> 0:15:54.200 there are spaces in my brain where it's like, okay, 0:15:55.040 --> 0:16:00.200 just like Barack Obama became the two term president, so 0:16:00.280 --> 0:16:02.600 America had to get us back with what happened next. 0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:04.280 We all know what happened next. He's like, Okay, you 0:16:04.280 --> 0:16:06.800 guys got that. Now, this is how we really feel. 0:16:09.120 --> 0:16:12.400 The me too movement started years ago, and a lot 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:16.840 of despicable people had to be held accountable for their actions. 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:20.320 But here come legislation all over the country with the 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:24.360 most strict and insane anti abortion laws that we've ever 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:26.480 heard of. So like, yeah, y'all got that, but here 0:16:26.520 --> 0:16:29.560 we come with ours. So the powers that be always 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:35.680 find a way to kind of remind us who's in charge. 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.720 So I'm not going to go full me and find 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:43.560 some negative to talk about. But I'm always reserved because 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:47.080 you know, as I remind us, far too often, I 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.960 have not been allowed to be in the space of 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:52.440 hope and optimism. As my brother. 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.640 Ramses, well, one more thing, you know, based on the 0:16:56.640 --> 0:17:02.240 browning of America, based on the census that we've recently done, 0:17:02.480 --> 0:17:06.400 my assumption is that the population will continue to reflect 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.480 a more liberal philosophy and of voting, and you know, 0:17:14.359 --> 0:17:19.919 this won't be a majority white country forever, and hopefully 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:22.920 we will learn how to be better brothers and sisters 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:24.960 once that happens, you know what I mean. And so 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:29.399 that's something that I'm optimistic about, is just the population shift, 0:17:29.440 --> 0:17:32.960 if nothing else. Long term, the shift in population should 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:36.040 bring about a shift in ideas and ideals. And so 0:17:36.359 --> 0:17:38.399 I want to make sure I say that now another 0:17:38.480 --> 0:17:44.520 thing that I think was positive, now that I'm saying 0:17:44.520 --> 0:17:46.640 these things out loud, they are kind of sad stories, 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:52.280 but they have endings that weren't sad as sad, and 0:17:52.359 --> 0:17:54.040 so that's really the right way I should say it, 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:57.000 because this is certainly not a positive story. This is 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:01.040 one time when I actually cried. Maybe I am a crier, 0:18:01.800 --> 0:18:15.200 but this next name, I saw the video of he 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:18.200 was a kid. I saw the video of him, I 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.080 saw the light in his eyes, I saw his smile, 0:18:21.960 --> 0:18:24.640 and then I read the story about what happened to him, 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:29.199 and then I read the transcript as he said the 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:36.719 last words that he'd ever say, and it was heartbreaking. 0:18:37.640 --> 0:18:41.280 You know, I have a little brother who's kind of 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:45.280 a quiet guy. If you look at him, he might 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:47.520 look scary to you. You know, he keeps to himself. 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:49.280 He does just how he is. He's that way. He's 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.240 quiet with me. I love him with my whole heart. 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:54.760 He loves me, but we don't talk a lot, but 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:57.119 he enjoys being in my presence. I'm his big brother, 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.440 you know what I mean. So some people loved it differently, 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.680 and I could see some similarities when I saw this. 0:19:03.680 --> 0:19:09.040 This young man, his name is Elijah McClain. This sounds sad, 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:11.919 but it has a not as sad ending, and I 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:13.679 really wanted to make sure that I talked about this 0:19:14.000 --> 0:19:17.000 on our one year anniversary. So I want to read 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.680 this for those who are not as familiar with Elijah 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:21.959 as they are with George Floyd. 0:19:22.160 --> 0:19:22.240 So. 0:19:23.960 --> 0:19:27.439 He was born February twenty fifth, nineteen ninety six, and 0:19:27.840 --> 0:19:32.720 his last day was August thirtieth, twenty nineteen. He made 0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:37.639 it twenty three years. He was a massage therapist from Aurora, Colorado, 0:19:38.400 --> 0:19:42.320 and he died six days after a violent police accounter 0:19:44.119 --> 0:19:47.840 on August twenty fourth, twenty nineteen. Three Aurora police officers 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:51.119 confronted McLain after responding to a call by an Aurora 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:54.080 Citizen about an unarmed person wearing a ski mask that 0:19:54.160 --> 0:19:58.480 looked quote sketchy end quote. The three police officers who 0:19:58.480 --> 0:20:01.800 were involved in the incident, Nathan Woodyard. Why am I 0:20:01.840 --> 0:20:06.600 reading these people's names. I'm gonna just skip that. They said 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:13.520 that there was a struggle with McClain and McLain was 0:20:13.560 --> 0:20:16.000 forcibly held to the ground with his hands cut behind 0:20:16.040 --> 0:20:21.320 his back, after which paramedics there's and then named a 0:20:21.359 --> 0:20:23.400 couple of paramedics here. I don't think that their names 0:20:23.440 --> 0:20:28.520 deserve to be mentioned. They had ministered some sort of 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:34.280 sedative to McLain while he was on the ground. He 0:20:34.359 --> 0:20:37.400 went into I believe it's cardiac arrests, and then three 0:20:37.480 --> 0:20:40.160 days after arriving at the hospital, he was declared brain dead. 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:47.359 He was removed from life support on August thirtieth. His 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:49.879 autopsy was inconclusive and the cause of death was listed 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:53.159 as undetermined by the coroner. The police officers met with 0:20:53.160 --> 0:20:55.400 the coroner before the announcement that the cause of death 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:58.080 could not be determined, and police investigators were also in 0:20:58.119 --> 0:21:03.639 present during the autopsy. Now, I want to stop there 0:21:03.680 --> 0:21:11.399 before I say this next part. The transcript that you 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:16.399 can read from this interaction, because you know it's recorded, 0:21:16.440 --> 0:21:21.040 they have the police cameras or whatever. He's saying. He's 0:21:21.080 --> 0:21:25.720 saying to the officers, calmly saying, I'm different. I remember 0:21:25.760 --> 0:21:27.920 him saying that I'm just different. You know, there's nothing 0:21:27.960 --> 0:21:31.680 to be worried about. He's saying like we're we're friends, 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:33.639 or we're like I love you, or something like that. 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:36.200 He was saying to the officers. There was no struggle, 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:43.280 no adversarial tone in his in the language he was using, right, 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:48.199 And if you see the videos of him, you'll you 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:52.280 can see immediately that, oh, this is definitely that this type, 0:21:52.359 --> 0:21:54.560 that's the type of person that he is or was, 0:21:55.000 --> 0:21:57.639 because he's not alive anymore. He didn't get to finish 0:21:57.640 --> 0:22:04.640 growing up. And in Colorado it's cold, you know, and 0:22:04.720 --> 0:22:07.520 I believe he had a condition, some sort of medical condition. 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:11.200 Might have been anemia, sickle cell or something. I don't 0:22:11.240 --> 0:22:12.879 hold me to it, but you know, this is a 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:14.760 while back when this happened, when I read about all this. 0:22:14.840 --> 0:22:17.800 But he had the face mask on and the ski 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:22.800 mask on to keep warm, and of course you know 0:22:23.359 --> 0:22:27.639 that can look very threatening to whoever this Aurora citizen is. 0:22:28.240 --> 0:22:31.080 And if the Aurora citizen alerts the police. Then the 0:22:31.119 --> 0:22:35.160 police move under the assumption that the person is quote sketchy, 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:39.320 and then they govern themselves accordingly. And you could make 0:22:39.320 --> 0:22:42.280 a case that officers' jobs are difficult and they have 0:22:42.359 --> 0:22:45.080 to go in, you know, under the assumption that there's 0:22:45.119 --> 0:22:47.160 a bad guy out there, because if they don't, then 0:22:47.160 --> 0:22:49.240 they could be in. You know, you can make that case. 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:52.239 But once you read the transcripts, once the officers are 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:55.720 interacting with him, and once you see that they are 0:22:55.920 --> 0:23:00.160 overreacting very much to this person who was just walking 0:23:00.200 --> 0:23:04.119 down the street and then ultimately he lost his life 0:23:04.240 --> 0:23:08.480 because of their actions, and those are the paramedics, then 0:23:08.520 --> 0:23:13.840 this next line, this next bar becomes again not good news. 0:23:13.880 --> 0:23:15.920 It's not a happy ending, but it is an ending 0:23:15.960 --> 0:23:18.359 that is not as sad as the ones we're accustomed to, 0:23:18.520 --> 0:23:22.680 So allow me to continue. In September twenty twenty one, 0:23:23.200 --> 0:23:28.520 the three police officers and two paramedics were charged through 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:32.879 a Colorado grand jury and they were also they were 0:23:32.960 --> 0:23:39.280 charged with the death of Elijah McLain. Long story short, 0:23:39.400 --> 0:23:44.919 So for charges to even be brought to these people 0:23:45.880 --> 0:23:53.480 is almost unheard of when the victim is black and 0:23:54.720 --> 0:23:57.760 you know, there's this narrative that exists in this country. 0:23:59.119 --> 0:24:01.439 I don't know, oh how fair it is. I'm not 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:05.200 saying it's unfair, but that the narrative is that our 0:24:05.280 --> 0:24:10.960 first responders are heroes. And when I think of heroes, 0:24:11.000 --> 0:24:13.560 I think of like Superman. You know, I'm not knocking anybody, 0:24:13.600 --> 0:24:14.640 you know what I mean, But I think of those 0:24:14.680 --> 0:24:16.800 types of people, and they don't get paid. Superman never 0:24:16.840 --> 0:24:20.080 got paid to save anyone's life, you know. But if 0:24:20.119 --> 0:24:22.840 you get paid to do something before, you're a hero. 0:24:22.960 --> 0:24:25.879 It's a job. If you do something heroic while in 0:24:25.960 --> 0:24:29.120 that job, then maybe we can have that conversation. I'm 0:24:29.160 --> 0:24:30.919 actually willing to have that conversation with you if you 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:35.679 go above and beyond that call of duty. But I 0:24:35.720 --> 0:24:44.679 think the term hero really can serve to elevate a 0:24:44.760 --> 0:24:48.720 person from doing their job to like an almost godlike status. 0:24:49.920 --> 0:24:55.840 And I don't know if it's deserved all the time. 0:24:56.440 --> 0:24:58.800 I don't know that it's fair all the time. Obviously, 0:24:58.920 --> 0:25:01.480 there's instance is like the one we're talking about, where 0:25:01.560 --> 0:25:04.520