Speaker 1: Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast
Speaker 1: the balance and defend the discourse from these hip hop
Speaker 1: weekly studios. Welcome back to Civic Cipher. I am still
Speaker 1: your host, Rams's Ja.
Speaker 2: He is Ramsy's Jah. I am still q Ward. You
Speaker 2: are hopefully still listening to the Civic Cipher.
Speaker 1: Yes, and we appreciate that we still got some more
Speaker 1: to talk about because we're here to bring you what
Speaker 1: you need. So stay tuned because we are going to
Speaker 1: be talking about Alligator Alcatraz. It is the nickname that
Speaker 1: it's been given. And the President is now again discussing
Speaker 1: deporting US citizens. And you know, these are things that
Speaker 1: you know, it's our job to learn about and make
Speaker 1: sure that you know about it, and so we're going
Speaker 1: to be doing that. And also we're going to be
Speaker 1: sharing a little bit of details from the Big Beautiful Bill.
Speaker 1: So a lot to stick around for to educate yourselves, Oakland.
Speaker 1: But before we get there, it is time to be aba.
Speaker 1: Become a better ally Baba and today's Baba. We want
Speaker 1: you to check out the Children's Defense Fund. You can
Speaker 1: find out more at Children's Defence dot org. I'm going
Speaker 1: to read this directly from their website, it says we
Speaker 1: work at the intersection of well being in racial justice
Speaker 1: for children and youth. We work alongside and amplify the
Speaker 1: power of youth and families through advocacy, community organizing, direct service,
Speaker 1: and public policy. More than fifty years, our work has
Speaker 1: expanded beyond serving children to include young people as they
Speaker 1: mature into adulthood. We're training the next generation of leaders
Speaker 1: will guide us toward a brighter future where every young
Speaker 1: person has the opportunity to thrive. Our history is rooted
Speaker 1: in the civil rights and women's movements, and we're carrying the.
Speaker 3: Fight for equity forward.
Speaker 1: Our legacy connects our work to the past. We're answering
Speaker 1: the call to respond to this moment, dismantle racist policies,
Speaker 1: and overcome systemic inequities for our nation's children and youth.
Speaker 1: Children's Defense Fund envisions and nation where marginalized children flourish.
Speaker 1: Leaders prioritize their well being, and communities will the power
Speaker 1: to ensure they thrive. Your support is the driving force
Speaker 1: behind our movement, building direct services and policy advocacy that
Speaker 1: uplift and amplify young people's voices. Join our community of
Speaker 1: change makers and be a part of the movement that's
Speaker 1: reshaping the future for generations to come. So again we
Speaker 1: want you to check out Children'sdefense dot org. These are
Speaker 1: just good people doing good work, especially at a time
Speaker 1: when doing good work is more challenging than ever. You
Speaker 1: wouldn't think that the Children's Defense Fund an organization that
Speaker 1: is trying to help out marginalized children who are at
Speaker 1: this specific intersection of certain holes in society, and you know,
Speaker 1: historical frameworks would be under attack, but they are and
Speaker 1: your support will go a long way right now, So
Speaker 1: keep it in mind, all right. So for those that
Speaker 1: don't know Q and I, we've had a lot of
Speaker 1: conversations behind the scene. This isn't just to show that
Speaker 1: we do. We kind of live in this space. Once
Speaker 1: upon a time we could kind of dip our toe
Speaker 1: into to politics, or we could dip our toe into
Speaker 1: really anything, and nowadays it's an all consuming sort of
Speaker 1: a thing. And this isn't the first time we've had
Speaker 1: the conversation about, you know, what Trump was intending to do,
Speaker 1: and to see it all happen and continue to happen.
Speaker 1: There's no really, there's really no one we can point
Speaker 1: to and say I told you so. All the people
Speaker 1: that chose to set home, all the people that I mean,
Speaker 1: there's a number of things that we could, you know,
Speaker 1: we could raise our fist and yell at a cloud
Speaker 1: all we want. But the fact is is that we're here,
Speaker 1: and we probably had more foresight than most most people.
Speaker 1: And yet and still this is I'll speak for both
Speaker 1: of us. I'm sure you'd agree these are still developments
Speaker 1: that are deeply unsettling, despite us kind of knowing that
Speaker 1: they were coming.
Speaker 3: So I'll start us off.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna share a bit from the Black Information Network,
Speaker 1: just giving a little bit of insight into some of
Speaker 1: the more recent developments with respect to Donald Trump. Trump
Speaker 1: floats deporting US citizens again. President Donald Trump has again
Speaker 1: floated the idea of deporting US citizens who commit crimes.
Speaker 1: On Tuesday, July first, Trump was touring a migrant detention
Speaker 1: center in the Florida, Evergrades when he again claimed that
Speaker 1: there are many US citizens who immigrated to this country
Speaker 1: and are committing serious crimes. The president suggested that his
Speaker 1: next job might be to support to deport these people. Quote,
Speaker 1: they're not new to our country, They're old to our country.
Speaker 1: Many of them were born in our country. I think
Speaker 1: We ought to get them out of here too, if
Speaker 1: you want to know the truth, he said, per ABC News.
Speaker 1: He goes on to say, so maybe that will be
Speaker 1: the next job. Trump's comments come after Assistant Attorney General
Speaker 1: Brett Shoemate sent out a memo encouraging US attorneys to
Speaker 1: pursue the denaturalization process to advance the administration's policy objectives.
Speaker 1: Shoemate suggested that attorneys open cases against individuals who have
Speaker 1: engaged in torture, war crimes, human trafficking, and human rights violations.
Speaker 1: Many legal experts have said that Trump's proposal to deport
Speaker 1: US citizens who commit crimes as on constitutional, citing the
Speaker 1: Eighth Amendment prohibiting bull and unusual punishment. The president initially
Speaker 1: floated the idea earlier this year, saying he would like
Speaker 1: to send horrible criminals Toale Salvador. But we have some
Speaker 1: horrible criminals American grown born. Trump told reporters on Air
Speaker 1: Force One, noting that he is all for sending them
Speaker 1: to prisons and Salvador. His quote continues, I don't know
Speaker 1: what the law says on that. On Tuesday, Trump again
Speaker 1: acknowledged that he didn't know if it was legal to
Speaker 1: deport US citizens convicted of crimes.
Speaker 3: Quote. We'll have to find that out legally.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying if we had the legal right to
Speaker 1: do it, I would do it in a heartbeat. I
Speaker 1: don't know if we do or not. We're looking at
Speaker 1: that right now. Okay, So before I get a little
Speaker 1: too deep into these waters here, qu this is something
Speaker 1: that you brought to my attention, so you know, why
Speaker 1: not jump in and share your thoughts so far?
Speaker 2: You know, Rams, the hardest thing about weighing young on
Speaker 2: this topic is that we have to like cover it
Speaker 2: like journalists and talk about it like it's just news
Speaker 2: and pretend that it's not horrifying personally horrifying. Yeah, Like,
Speaker 2: it's because we understand the endgame, right. The conversation started
Speaker 2: with illegal criminals in this country that were eating the
Speaker 2: cats and dogs and terrorizing our communities. It then shifted
Speaker 2: to illegal criminals in general. It then shifted to illegal
Speaker 2: people undocumented taking your jobs. It then went to just
Speaker 2: immigrants in general. It then went to immigrants during their
Speaker 2: citizenship hearings. It then went to citizens that look like
Speaker 2: the immigrants we don't like.
Speaker 3: It's then moved to.
Speaker 2: Regular people impersonating law enforcement because law enforcement doesn't have
Speaker 2: to wear uniforms, doesn't have to wear badges, doesn't have
Speaker 2: to identify themselves, and can wear a mask. So regular
Speaker 2: people impersonating those same people who hate the same people
Speaker 2: that these people seem to also hate, and abducting them
Speaker 2: off the streets. It's now moved to flat out, let's
Speaker 2: just look into kicking anybody out that we don't like
Speaker 2: or that speaks up against us, or that points out
Speaker 2: all of the injustices an illegal, anti constitutional things we do,
Speaker 2: all the illegal anti American things that we do. Let's
Speaker 2: figure out a way to get them out of here too.
Speaker 2: And that people keep not seeing themselves as the potential
Speaker 2: victim to these crimes is why people seem to be
Speaker 2: keeping such a cool.
Speaker 3: Head about it.
Speaker 2: Except a long time ago, I said on one of
Speaker 2: these microphones on Tony Coles's airways, on Beyonce's Internet, that
Speaker 2: this is how you end up back at slavery, and
Speaker 2: personal friends of mine gaslit me and treated me like
Speaker 2: I was being ridiculous, But I understood once they see
Speaker 2: there's no guardrails, there's no checks and balances, and nobody's
Speaker 2: coming to save us. What would make people like this
Speaker 2: stop at whatever you thought the furthest extremity would be.
Speaker 2: So he says it so casually and understands that there's
Speaker 2: no decision he can make that'll lose him his base.
Speaker 2: And he's also discovered that not just does his base
Speaker 2: blindly support him, but everybody seems to be afraid of him,
Speaker 2: Like everyone the people who we always thought would stand
Speaker 2: up for us, and at least people who we thought
Speaker 2: wouldn't ben the need to someone like him, even if
Speaker 2: they weren't benevolent, you know, good kind people who cared
Speaker 2: about everybody else.
Speaker 3: I thought they had enough self respect for themselves.
Speaker 2: But you see men whose wives he's insulted, men who
Speaker 2: he's called all different types of names, posing and pictures
Speaker 2: him with him, with big smiles on their face, proud
Speaker 2: of themselves for the evil and disgusting things they're doing
Speaker 2: to tens of millions of people. We could talk about
Speaker 2: this topic for two hours. We just don't have that
Speaker 2: much time. But it's been a stark reality to me
Speaker 2: because I saw it coming. I didn't have to wait
Speaker 2: for him to get here to know that he would.
Speaker 1: You know, one of the things that I think it's
Speaker 1: important to share with our listeners is that we were
Speaker 1: both in Arizona during the time when SB ten seventy
Speaker 1: was the law of the land, or the purported law
Speaker 1: the land. When you know, we have the capacity to
Speaker 1: vote no on SB ten seventy. And for those that
Speaker 1: you know, want a little bit more clarity on what
Speaker 1: that is, you know, you're welcome to go back and
Speaker 1: take a look google that and see what it is.
Speaker 1: But in short, it was almost like a stop and
Speaker 1: frisk sort of a law, but for people who looked.
Speaker 3: Illegal.
Speaker 1: And you know, we both Q and myself, but those
Speaker 1: of us that all the people I knew, pushed back
Speaker 1: against that just because we saw how slippery is slope
Speaker 1: that was. You know, what does illegal look like in
Speaker 1: a land that used to be Mexico? Right The people
Speaker 1: that live here were here before the United States of
Speaker 1: America was here, and people are trying to use this
Speaker 1: SB ten seventy to I guess the premise was to
Speaker 1: find illegal immigrants and deport them. This was I couldn't
Speaker 1: tell you what year, twenty eleven, twenty twelve, somewhere back
Speaker 1: in the day, and we could see what that could
Speaker 1: turn into. And you know, because there was at the
Speaker 1: time stopping frisk in New York. Certainly black folks knew that, hey,
Speaker 1: this is that's not cool because it fundamentally changes the
Speaker 1: way life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, your relationship
Speaker 1: to those things. You know what I mean. If the
Speaker 1: police can justifiably pull you over or hem you up
Speaker 1: for vibes whatever, you know, reason that they deem appropriate
Speaker 1: in the moment, and they can do it consistently, they
Speaker 1: can do it with impunity. It makes life a lot
Speaker 1: more challenging for people who are already over overly policed,
Speaker 1: and who are already considered to be criminal and dangerous
Speaker 1: and all that sort of stuff. Right, so we push back,
Speaker 1: way back when and then Donald Trump comes along and
Speaker 1: kind of more or less introduces similar a similar framework
Speaker 1: that makes you know, life and liberty and the pursuit
Speaker 1: of happiness very challenging for people who are somehow of
Speaker 1: Latin descent perhaps and by extension, the rest of us.
Speaker 1: Right now, Q and I would both stand up and
Speaker 1: fight for our brothers and sisters, regardless of how they
Speaker 1: look or what part of the country their ancestors come from,
Speaker 1: because that's our way. But also knowing that slippery slope exists,
Speaker 1: it has a tendency to keep keep you up at
Speaker 1: night in a different way, you know what I mean,
Speaker 1: because instead of worrying about people in your community, you're
Speaker 1: worrying about your actual children who are in your home
Speaker 1: right And you know, again there's no big eyes in
Speaker 1: little US. But you know, when you're talking about people
Speaker 1: in your household, it hits different. And just this, this
Speaker 1: administration's entire approach to immigration is like they're criminal first,
Speaker 1: and they're like human maybe like twenty eighth on the list,
Speaker 1: but they're criminal first, you know, their leeches second, non
Speaker 1: taxpayers third, you know, on and on and on. And
Speaker 1: that is a fundamentally flawed view of immigrants if we're
Speaker 1: talking about data, if we're talking about immigrants and mass
Speaker 1: you know, we've shared this to stick many times over,
Speaker 1: but immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than actual
Speaker 1: US citizens are. And that is that that has not
Speaker 1: made its way into the.
Speaker 3: Trump sort of.
Speaker 1: The mentality, the MAGA mentality. You know that it's it's
Speaker 1: very like I've seen the comments I have seen. It's
Speaker 1: it's just so heartbreaking that these people it's almost like
Speaker 1: they needed something to be angry about, and this president
Speaker 1: gave them something to be angry about, and now that
Speaker 1: he sees their anger being directed in the same direction,
Speaker 1: he wants to continue to ramp things up so that
Speaker 1: he can show them some form of progress. And as
Speaker 1: long as they see their anger being taken out on
Speaker 1: a community, they're okay with it. Whether or not it
Speaker 1: has any material effect on their reality is not something
Speaker 1: that they seem to be concerned about. I'm sure in
Speaker 1: the furthest recesses of their mind, they're hoping that somehow
Speaker 1: all these people being deported is going to fundamentally change
Speaker 1: their reality and they're going to make more money and
Speaker 1: be able to dat a higher caliber partner and maybe
Speaker 1: become a movie star. I'm not sure what these people's
Speaker 1: aspirations are with respect to this, but you know, the
Speaker 1: reality of the fact is that it's a it's a
Speaker 1: waste of taxpayer money. It's it's a wasted effort. The
Speaker 1: money would be better spent in reforming the immigration system
Speaker 1: so that people can more easily come here legally, because
Speaker 1: everybody wants to do that.
Speaker 3: But you know, here we are.
Speaker 1: And the crazy thing about this is that you know,
Speaker 1: this train is moving, you know, Q, and I'm going
Speaker 1: to tap you in right here. There was some elements
Speaker 1: of the Big Beautiful Bill that you and I discussed recently.
Speaker 1: That and I think all of this stuff kind of
Speaker 1: works together. But you know, people need to know about this.
Speaker 1: And before I let you, let you go, que there
Speaker 1: are resources if you look for them. There are resources
Speaker 1: that you can use in your own communities around the
Speaker 1: country to support individuals you feel might be unfairly targeted
Speaker 1: by ICE, immigration rates, people getting abducted up the streets,
Speaker 1: you know, just please look for them. Please know that
Speaker 1: although this is a trying time for all of us,
Speaker 1: there are still resources, and there are still people who
Speaker 1: love and support you and your play and want to
Speaker 1: help out because the only way we get through this
Speaker 1: is together.
Speaker 3: Are aq the Big Beautiful Bill. You shared some stuff
Speaker 3: with me.
Speaker 1: I thought it was so potent, So help me out.
Speaker 2: Oh, you got to be more specific, because that Beautiful Bill,
Speaker 2: we don't we don't have enough time to cover it
Speaker 2: as in depth or as grossly general as that lead
Speaker 2: in was.
Speaker 3: We could. We could spend another twenty five minutes talking.
Speaker 2: About the Big Beautiful Bill and how it's taking away
Speaker 2: way you know, social security, healthcare, education for ninety nine
Speaker 2: percent of the people that voted for it, that that
Speaker 2: elected this administration and gave their support. You know, the
Speaker 2: Red States, unfortunately in this country, will be impacted by
Speaker 2: these decisions the most. You know, those who have the
Speaker 2: least will have even less than they had before.
Speaker 3: And you know, your.
Speaker 2: Teachers, your doctors, your nurses, all the people that provide
Speaker 2: care for you and your loved ones, your parents, your babies.
Speaker 2: You know, some of those jobs don't exist anymore. And
Speaker 2: the resources dedicated to those sectors of our society are
Speaker 2: being stripped away so that people who already have everything
Speaker 2: can have more.
Speaker 3: Rething like, what's more than everything? More eything? I don't
Speaker 3: even know what do you say that? You know?
Speaker 2: And we've now again you said this. This train is
Speaker 2: already moving, This avalanche has already started. It's already rolling downhill.
Speaker 2: You brought up to me, you know before, what this
Speaker 2: is leading to?
Speaker 3: Right? What are they doing now?
Speaker 2: The merch that we saw that they're treating like a
Speaker 2: theme park in Florida? Yeah, alligators immigrants, Alligator Alcatraz. They
Speaker 2: gave it a theme park name. They're selling hats and
Speaker 2: t shirts. They're smiling and celebrating at this disgusting thing.
Speaker 2: They're not even pretending to not be Nazi like anymore.
Speaker 2: Ramses like they're following the playbook to a t, from
Speaker 2: the salutes to the concentration camps, because that's what we
Speaker 2: need to call it. It's not a theme park where
Speaker 2: you go get souvenirs. And they're like making light of it,
Speaker 2: cracking jokes. You know, the President maneuvering his hands to
Speaker 2: show the type of running pattern that people need to
Speaker 2: have as they run from alligators. You have lawmakers saying
Speaker 2: that they're going to have forty five million pieces of
Speaker 2: food for these alligators. And if you have to try
Speaker 2: to figure out why that number, google the Hispanic population
Speaker 2: in the United States. The number might tie into what
Speaker 2: she said. So all of it is pretty disgusting. Man
Speaker 2: taking everything from the least of us, just out of greed,
Speaker 2: not out of need.
Speaker 3: They don't need more.
Speaker 2: And they're not even disguising these things they're doing to harmony,
Speaker 2: to harm everyone. They're not even disguising them as things
Speaker 2: designed to help everyone or anyone point zero zero zero
Speaker 2: zero two percent of Americans will benefit from the Big
Speaker 2: Beautiful Bill. But seventy seven million Americans thought that that
Speaker 2: was a way to go.
Speaker 1: You know, the thing about this that I'm gonna say
Speaker 1: this and not I have not vetted this. I don't
Speaker 1: know that it's true. But you know, media comes to
Speaker 1: us a number of ways, and you know, some information
Speaker 1: came our way about people getting transported to other countries
Speaker 1: and thrown off of the airplane into the ocean because
Speaker 1: they're in the middle of their deportation process. And you know,
Speaker 1: I pushed back and I said, hey, you know, if
Speaker 1: you can verify any of these stories, please, you know,
Speaker 1: let me know if this is something that's happening, because
Speaker 1: I need a credible source. But I really worry that
Speaker 1: it is. And the only reason I worry that it
Speaker 1: is true is because of stories like the one you
Speaker 1: just said. You know, people that are like, like the
Speaker 1: point is to make it as mean as possible.
Speaker 3: There's no cruelness, and the cruelty is the whole point.
Speaker 1: It's really sad. But again, there's ways to push back
Speaker 1: and to insulate your community, So you know, bear that
Speaker 1: in mind and educate yourself, find the resources that's going
Speaker 1: to do it for us. On today's show, once again,
Speaker 1: big shout out to our guest Amy Owen aka Pineapple
Speaker 1: Lawyer for joining us. Be sure to follow her on
Speaker 1: all social media at Pineapple Lawyer. You can find me
Speaker 1: on all social media at rams's jah I.
Speaker 2: Am q Woard on all social media as well, and
Speaker 2: you know, do favor hit the website Civic cipher dot
Speaker 2: com because.
Speaker 1: We want you to send us any questions you have,
Speaker 1: any topics she wants to cover. You can also make
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Speaker 1: on YouTube. We're growing our YouTube channel and your support
Speaker 1: means a lot over there. You can download this in
Speaker 1: any previous episode and we'll talk again next week.
Speaker 3: All right, Peace,