WEBVTT - The Southern State Democrats Are IGNORING But Could Actually WIN 0:00:03.480 --> 0:00:08.520 And joining me now is Justice Gibbs. He is the 0:00:08.680 --> 0:00:11.840 legislature down in Mississippi, born and raised, a lifelong resident 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:15.920 of Jackson, Mississippi, and part of our continuing series to 0:00:16.320 --> 0:00:21.160 elevate new voices, and Justice Gibbs joins me now, Justice, 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:21.560 nice to me. 0:00:21.680 --> 0:00:24.239 Too great to be here, man, great to be here, 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:28.520 and so glad that you're allowing Mississippi to let his 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:30.560 voice be heard. Well. 0:00:30.640 --> 0:00:33.159 Good look. One of my favorite bosses ever is a 0:00:33.159 --> 0:00:35.360 man named Mandy Lack, and he's been the guy who 0:00:35.400 --> 0:00:38.800 up with Mississippi today. I think he lives in Jackson 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.320 these days, so you may have seen him or come 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.559 across him every now and then. And he has an 0:00:44.560 --> 0:00:47.760 interesting story of what got his ancestors to Mississippi. It's 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:54.000 an unusual one. Jewish immigrants who end up making clothes 0:00:54.000 --> 0:00:56.000 for the Confederacy. They didn't know any of They were 0:00:56.040 --> 0:00:58.720 just immigrants and it was a job. They had no idea, 0:00:59.200 --> 0:01:01.360 you know, it was one of the things. And it's something. 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:03.200 The more he learned about that, it just made him 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:06.080 want to invest more and spend more time there. So, 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:08.520 but Justice, give me your origin story, give us the 0:01:09.840 --> 0:01:12.319 how did you get into politics? Why what what was 0:01:12.319 --> 0:01:15.319 the motivation? What was the everybody was this one reason, 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.039 like I'm getting in I want to solve this problem, 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.039 I want to do this. What was that for you? 0:01:20.280 --> 0:01:22.080 Yeah? It was kind of most how fascinated for me. 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.040 I first say that I grew up in a family 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:27.280 of public servants. My father, I was a circuit judge 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:30.120 when I was born. My mother served in the legislature 0:01:30.280 --> 0:01:33.199 for about six years prior to running for a circuit 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:36.760 judge herself. So, you know, a lot of the kitchen 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:40.480 table conversations that we had always sort of you know, 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.040 revolved around politics or policy or what was going on 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.279 in our city and our state and in our country. Uh. 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.520 And you know, growing up, you know, going to our 0:01:50.600 --> 0:01:54.440 high school, serving in the student councils, something that was 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.840 a really natural knack for me. But when I came 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.919 home at the graduating from Howard University, attending law school, 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:05.200 I noticed something very interesting, which was, you know, this 0:02:05.320 --> 0:02:09.120 sort of criticism that is directed to young people about 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:13.040 you know, not exercising their rights to vote, not you know, 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.880 helping either political party, you know, with their margins. And 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:19.520 what I really recognize is that there is just such 0:02:19.639 --> 0:02:24.720 an empty void with young leadership on all levels, city, county, state, 0:02:25.600 --> 0:02:29.600 and I want it to be a part of changing that. So, 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.800 at age twenty seven, decided to run for an open 0:02:32.840 --> 0:02:36.040 seat in my area and that's really how I got involved. 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.000 You know, it's interesting. I feel like there's quite a 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:44.160 few in people in your generation in Mississippi who've decided 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.520 to quote not wait their turn right and try to 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.880 beat go challenge the establishment a little bit, particularly on 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.240 the Democratic side, because I think there's been some what 0:02:53.320 --> 0:02:55.560 have you guys been doing right? You know, we're still 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:58.639 in the same place, you know, haven't made the progress 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:01.440 that I think people they should be made. There was 0:03:02.360 --> 0:03:04.320 a new mayor of Jackson not that long ago and 0:03:04.360 --> 0:03:07.880 sort of the same mindset. So I do feel as 0:03:07.960 --> 0:03:10.480 if whether you're whether we call you older gen Z 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.080 or younger millennial, where do you feel like you fall 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:13.520 in that? 0:03:14.560 --> 0:03:19.320 A younger millennial? But there's also a great bucket of 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:22.920 young gen Z folks who are interested in politics in 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.080 Mississippi as well. It's just that we need to find 0:03:25.120 --> 0:03:29.600 space for them to serve in elected office. I think 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:36.840 that there is an umptem amount of leadership development courses 0:03:36.920 --> 0:03:40.040 and leadership cohorts you know. I mean there's so many 0:03:40.080 --> 0:03:41.920 that you can't even name them. But you know, once 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:45.120 they are prepared, we shouldn't send them to the next cohort. Weh' 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:47.000 just the elected office. We should put them in a 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.120 position of making these decisions that are going to be 0:03:50.160 --> 0:03:53.120 solidified when we are raising our families. You know, and 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:54.840 I agree with you. I think that that it is, 0:03:55.760 --> 0:03:58.520 you know, we can't treat our elected offices as property. 0:03:58.560 --> 0:04:00.880 You know, I think that it's okay to pass the 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:04.480 baton or to say that, you know, your expertise can 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.200 be used outside of the electric faction. 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.440 So, you know, it's been interesting, you know, particularly with 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.720 you know, one of these these generational arguments have actually 0:04:13.720 --> 0:04:18.320 been sometimes sharpest among African American communities where you've had 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.479 somebody who was a long time hero maybe stay in 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:23.440 office a little bit too long because you know, they 0:04:23.480 --> 0:04:26.360 broke the barrier right they got there, and there is 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:30.360 so I under I weirdly understand the sense of entitlement. Hey, 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:33.480 I broke down this barrier. You know, I made this happen. 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:36.000 The reason this is possible is because of what I did. 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:40.800 What do you say to that older generation that feels 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:43.159 as if Hey, wait a minute. I did all this 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:46.880 hard work I took, you know, I took literal beatings 0:04:47.160 --> 0:04:50.840 in order to break through these barriers. But some of 0:04:50.880 --> 0:04:52.120 them aren't ready to pass the baton. 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:55.159 What do you say to that, Well, the first part 0:04:55.200 --> 0:04:58.240 of your inquiry was the word I. You know, I 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.360 did this, I did that, I took the So if 0:05:01.400 --> 0:05:03.920 I did this, then I'm entitled to this. When it's 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.240 never really supposed to be about the eye. It's supposed 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:08.240 to be about the community. It's supposed to be about 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.159 the progress. And if it's about the eye, well I 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.840 also did that. I mean, as a young person at 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:17.160 age twenty seven, I remember knocking on doors and people 0:05:17.160 --> 0:05:19.880 thought I was selling cookies, you know, and I'm like, no, 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:23.159 here's my pushcard. I'm running for elected office just because 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.800 of the mindset of my community. And it's not to 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:29.440 criticize them, but it's just what you have known about 0:05:29.560 --> 0:05:32.159 who should serve an elected office, what they're supposed to 0:05:32.200 --> 0:05:34.520 look like, what are the tackles, you know, the twenty 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.480 years of experience, the thirty years of experience, without the 0:05:37.560 --> 0:05:40.000 question being what have you done within that twenty or 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.200 that thirty years. So when a young person comes to 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:45.279 your door, you know, you don't expect them to run 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:48.240 for elected office. So my point is, you know, I 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.800 could also have that entitled attitude of saying, you know, 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:54.240 I broke down a barrier because there's not I'm the 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:58.800 youngest Democrat stay elected official in Mississippi. But instead I'm 0:05:58.839 --> 0:06:01.440 also focused on that next generation. How do we find 0:06:01.480 --> 0:06:04.520 space for them to serve. But if we start to 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:10.919 look at it as a holistic mission of changing this 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:15.440 state without it being you know, I've been here for 0:06:15.480 --> 0:06:17.760 so long and you know, and you should, you know, 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:20.480 pay homage to me. There's many ways that we can 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:24.280 pay homage. And it's not just you know, continuing to 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.600 support the person you know and elected office. Now there 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.160 are also some great stuff. But I think that we 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:32.320 have to create that space. 0:06:34.040 --> 0:06:40.080 So Mississippi is one of these states where it looks 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:44.120 like a deep red state, but when you look at 0:06:44.240 --> 0:06:47.280 the potential of what it is, when you look at 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:50.680 the what I would say, the unregistered population or the 0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:55.799 unengaged population, this should be a fifty to fifty state. 0:06:56.680 --> 0:06:59.360 This should be a state to put it in and 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:05.799 where that should have African American senators plural. There should 0:07:05.800 --> 0:07:11.120 be a state that has as a bastion of political 0:07:11.120 --> 0:07:16.240 power for African Americans, and it hasn't been. What do 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:20.560 you see today, What have been some of the mistakes 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:24.840 of the past that you hope to fix just tactically. 0:07:24.920 --> 0:07:28.400 I mean, look, there's this is bigger than just tactics. 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:30.720 But I just look at the last thirty years and think, 0:07:30.880 --> 0:07:37.280 just better tactics would make this state a more competitive politically. 0:07:37.600 --> 0:07:39.880 But I think those that feel underserved would feel as 0:07:39.920 --> 0:07:41.520 if they had some political power. 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.880 Yeah, yeah, you know, I'll tell you. I remember the 0:07:46.960 --> 0:07:50.120 twenty nineteen gluminatorial race with Jim Hood and Tay Reeves, 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.800 a race that was decided by forty five thousand votes. 0:07:54.240 --> 0:07:57.120 And then four years later, we have a race for 0:07:57.240 --> 0:08:01.360 Governor Patwey, Brandon Pressley and Tate Reeves that was decided 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:05.040 I think between twenty four thousand votes. You know, that's 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:07.240 a two to three point race. And I don't think 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:10.680 that the country and the folks who are in leadership 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.120 positions country why to understanding that Mississippi can be the 0:08:14.120 --> 0:08:19.560 epicenter of changing the American South, of actually becoming not 0:08:19.600 --> 0:08:21.720 only a purple state but a blue state one day. 0:08:21.800 --> 0:08:25.920 I mean, we are seeing statistically based going in the 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:30.400 right direction because we are investing in candidates who are 0:08:31.120 --> 0:08:33.680 meeting people where they are explaining to people in rural 0:08:33.720 --> 0:08:36.760 areas who have to drive five to ten miles and 0:08:36.800 --> 0:08:39.720 even further just to go to an emergency room or hospital, 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:43.600 why policies that they've been voting on are optuse to 0:08:43.600 --> 0:08:46.640 their way of life, the quality of their way of life. 0:08:46.760 --> 0:08:48.960 I think that what we have to start doing is 0:08:49.200 --> 0:08:54.920 we really need to bring the alarm on the donor 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.160 base of national politics and all of the money that 0:08:58.200 --> 0:09:00.920 we pour into these national races, and there seems to 0:09:00.960 --> 0:09:05.360 not be that seems to not be an eye on 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:09.200 states like Mississippi because it's on the ground. Man, we 0:09:09.240 --> 0:09:11.640 are a resilient party. It's the fact that we don't 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:13.720 have the tools and the resources that we need to 0:09:13.720 --> 0:09:15.160 do what it is that we need to do. 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:17.800 And a little bit of money if we want to 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.719 put this in our in terms of ROI, I think 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:23.360 the return on investment you take five if you have 0:09:23.400 --> 0:09:26.400 five million dollars to spend, it's going to get lost 0:09:26.440 --> 0:09:29.640 in Georgia. Five million dollars, No offense to Georgia. It 0:09:29.720 --> 0:09:31.680 just is what it is. A very expensive state. Now 0:09:32.040 --> 0:09:36.719 five million dollars in voter registration efforts in Mississippi in 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:40.040 an off year that could lead to three to five 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:42.520 new Democrats in the state legislature. 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:47.040 Absolutely, absolutely, and also just on the judicial front. I mean, 0:09:47.120 --> 0:09:50.600 we just had a redistricting case that was decided by 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.520 a federal court to redraw our maps because of extreme 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.800 jerry mendering, which you know, of course found to violate 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:59.400 Section two of the voting Rights at So I think 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:02.440 we look look at we brush the surface and we say, well, 0:10:02.480 --> 0:10:07.760 Mississippi has a supermajority Republican controlled legislature, they have a 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:12.120 Republican governor, all state wide offices are Republican. Well we're not, 0:10:12.920 --> 0:10:16.080 you know, getting deeper down into understanding the reasons as 0:10:16.080 --> 0:10:20.080 to why it's it looks like that when the citizens themselves, 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:24.520 the constituency, a lot of people have struggled, would whether 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:27.800 I go with the group think and go with with 0:10:27.800 --> 0:10:29.920 with the sority of who looks like me and the 0:10:29.960 --> 0:10:32.160 culture in which I've grown up, or do I go 0:10:32.240 --> 0:10:36.120 with what makes realistic sense for my children, for my grandchildren. 0:10:36.640 --> 0:10:39.720 I think we really can be the epicenter of that change. 0:10:40.520 --> 0:10:43.880 I mean, let's just put it in little starker race terms, 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:51.360 is the bigger problem unengaged African American voters or moderate 0:10:51.400 --> 0:10:54.680 white voters who can't who aren't ready to leave the 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.720 Republican Party Like you know, if you were to say 0:10:57.120 --> 0:10:59.760 in the state wide race, what should be the priority? 0:11:00.480 --> 0:11:04.880 Is it registering the less engaged and getting more engagement 0:11:05.440 --> 0:11:08.400 and just because the numbers are there, or is it 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.880 better persuasion campaign for that? Because right now, you tell 0:11:11.920 --> 0:11:13.959 me if I'm wrong, I think Brandon Presley got nineteen 0:11:13.960 --> 0:11:17.079 to twenty percent of the white folk. Does that sound right? 0:11:17.720 --> 0:11:18.560 And I think you are. 0:11:19.200 --> 0:11:20.960 Yeah, I think the numbers have got to be closer 0:11:21.000 --> 0:11:24.240 to high twenties, you know, somewhere between twenty and thirty 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:28.720 two to win. So what do you see? And I 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:30.360 obviously maybe the answer is a little bit of both. 0:11:30.360 --> 0:11:32.920 But if you were to put more effort into one 0:11:33.040 --> 0:11:34.200 or the other, where would you put it? 0:11:35.000 --> 0:11:37.600 Yeah, and you're right, it is both. I know that 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:40.680 that's a basic answer, but you really have to do 0:11:40.720 --> 0:11:43.439 both at the same exact time. I'd say that Presley 0:11:43.480 --> 0:11:46.760 has been focusing on his rule coalition, which is very 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.880 important for the Democratic Party to invest them, and that's 0:11:49.920 --> 0:11:51.679 going into the rural areas. You know, when you look 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:54.360 at the maps on the presidential election night and they're 0:11:54.440 --> 0:11:56.760 adding up all of the counties and it's just, you know, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:11:59.400 one hundred votes here, a couple hundred votes here. But 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:01.800 in the grand scheme of things, that is how you're 0:12:01.800 --> 0:12:06.080 able to be an epicenter of like Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, you know, 0:12:06.280 --> 0:12:10.600 or Detroit, Michigan. So I think that what we should 0:12:10.640 --> 0:12:12.760 do is is make sure that there are folks in 0:12:12.760 --> 0:12:16.080 the party that feel included and feel inclusive to be 0:12:16.120 --> 0:12:18.520 able to do what is their strong set, which may 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:21.880 be you know, breaking it down to the rule of voters, 0:12:21.920 --> 0:12:25.120 but also doing the work of making sure that we 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:29.480 find ways of getting unengaged African Americans out to vote 0:12:29.800 --> 0:12:33.480 at every election. I noticed in my community when I 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:37.040 was running for office, there are folks that are are 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:39.959 blue collar, white collar folks who don't vote. They don't 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.280 vote the process. They just I mean, I mean, what 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:44.720 do you go to do that's different, you know, And 0:12:44.760 --> 0:12:47.840 that's why I decided to try to focus my first 0:12:47.880 --> 0:12:52.040 two years in the legislature on actually bringing about visual change, 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:55.319 visual reality for people to say, oh, that's why it's 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.520 so important to elect people in this specific. 0:12:58.360 --> 0:13:00.800 I mean an example of that is that what is something? 0:13:00.800 --> 0:13:03.600 When you say visual change, I think like a mayor. 0:13:03.760 --> 0:13:06.480 I would think like making sure to restreet light has 0:13:06.520 --> 0:13:08.640 afe working light bulb, right, Like that would be a 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:11.240 visual change. What's something? Because it's a little harder from 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.840 a state legency in the when you're in the political minority. 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:18.760 Yeah, very hard, very hard. And so with ways and 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.680 means and appropriations, of course, you know, we do have 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:25.080 an ability of sending state dollars to our communities for 0:13:25.200 --> 0:13:29.600 various projects. And it goes back to the discriminatory nature 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.320 of our legislature in a way in which it was 0:13:31.400 --> 0:13:37.120 crafted in eighteen nineteen, meaning that Democratic majority districts or 0:13:37.640 --> 0:13:41.200 African American majority districts don't usually proceed. They're just doing 0:13:41.200 --> 0:13:44.960 state of appropriations. But I've been able to start the 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:50.400 first state sponsored solar surveillance camera program that is giving 0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:52.920 a lot of my residents the ability to feel more 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.840 comfortable and safe in their communities. It's attached to the 0:13:55.880 --> 0:13:59.400 County Sheriff's office and the real time command Crime Center 0:13:59.720 --> 0:14:04.520 of the able to repay streets, repave roads because we 0:14:04.760 --> 0:14:08.640 know that city and Jackson has had of course, invest 0:14:08.679 --> 0:14:11.959 in a lot of other, you know, issues that we 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.160 have had. But if we can get all of our 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.440 elected officials to work together to try to help the 0:14:17.480 --> 0:14:21.320 city and whatever it is, we're improving the quality of 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:23.960 life of residents. And that is also how you get 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:26.080 people to show back up to the polls. If they 0:14:26.120 --> 0:14:28.480 can point to something in their communion and say, well, 0:14:28.520 --> 0:14:30.160 you know what he said he was going to work 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.840 on this, and he did it. Then this is my 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:36.480 state representative matters, right. 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:40.920 You know, let's talk about Jackson. I used to say 0:14:41.080 --> 0:14:43.880 when I was sitting in the doing meet the press, 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.040 meet the present. Now, I spent a lot of time 0:14:46.080 --> 0:14:49.040 on the Jackson water crisis. I thought this should be 0:14:49.080 --> 0:14:51.440 more of a national story. I think when one of 0:14:51.840 --> 0:14:57.680 America's fifty state capitals does not have reliable drinking water, 0:14:58.360 --> 0:15:03.160 this should be this should be the focus of somebody 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:08.320 in federal government, the singular focus. And I found and 0:15:08.400 --> 0:15:12.040 it hasn't mattered whether it was Republican administration or Democratic administration. 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:15.440 You get the lip service, but there doesn't seem to 0:15:15.440 --> 0:15:19.000 be this what are we doing? Just figure out how 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:22.040 to fix this problem. Stop trying to figure out whose 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.160 fault it is, and I felt as if there was 0:15:24.240 --> 0:15:26.400 a lot of effort being put in well a bad 0:15:26.480 --> 0:15:29.000 contract that the mayor did, or a bad thing that 0:15:29.040 --> 0:15:32.000 the government, and everybody was pointing fingers and nobody was 0:15:32.000 --> 0:15:34.960 getting their clean drinking water. Give me an update on 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:37.840 the situation and how much of this is just caught 0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:43.480 up in just old fashioned political you know, finger pointing. 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:47.160 Yeah, yeah, Well, we're of course under a Feroe receiver 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:50.640 shit now. And you know, we have a gentleman named 0:15:50.640 --> 0:15:53.080 Ted Hitefen who has been brought to the city of 0:15:53.160 --> 0:15:58.840 Jackson to try to revitalize the city's war system. There 0:15:58.840 --> 0:16:01.160 have been, of course, those who satisfied. There have been 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:03.560 a lot of businesses in Jackson has threatened to leave 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.520 because of the situation that are back on their feet 0:16:06.520 --> 0:16:11.400 with consistent, reliable drinking water and water that's just being 0:16:11.520 --> 0:16:14.520 you know, sent to their businesses on a consistent basis. 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:17.840 But you know, we also still have our struggles. We 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:23.000 still have our struggles with the federal receivership understanding the 0:16:23.040 --> 0:16:26.560 differences between the sections of the city and what some 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:29.320 areas of the City of Jackson has struggled with versus 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:30.320 what others have struggled with. 0:16:30.360 --> 0:16:32.680 You is it somebody with at least a knowledge of 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:35.760 Jackson in charge of the receivership or is it just 0:16:35.840 --> 0:16:37.000 some outsider. 0:16:36.880 --> 0:16:40.000 Well, the judge, I mean, we're talking about the federal 0:16:40.080 --> 0:16:42.440 judge who does live and frequent in Jackson, So that 0:16:42.560 --> 0:16:45.960 does give us a leg up. Somebody doesn't understand, right, 0:16:46.240 --> 0:16:49.840 you know, the history Jackson, and of course it is 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:54.320 really his authority that is given to NFN. In relation 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:57.280 to how they actually revive the system, I will say 0:16:57.320 --> 0:17:00.320 that there have been improvements made, but again we can't 0:17:00.320 --> 0:17:02.760 get caught up. And I think you talked about how 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:04.439 people are caught up in where to blame the thing, 0:17:04.760 --> 0:17:06.679 where to point the finger and who the place blame on. 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:09.920 But we also can't also figure out who to blame 0:17:09.960 --> 0:17:11.960 in terms of where the contracts go. You know, we 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.480 kind of get into this conundrum sometimes when we do 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:18.440 have power, the power now goes to, well who else 0:17:18.480 --> 0:17:20.960 do you get power to? Right? Like, where do I 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:22.720 have money? And I didn't want you to send the 0:17:22.720 --> 0:17:25.000 money so that company. It should have went to this company. 0:17:25.040 --> 0:17:27.199 And now we're losing sight on what it is that 0:17:27.240 --> 0:17:28.400 we're supposed to be improving. 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.200 The main thing should be the main thing, which is yeah, 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:34.280 clean drinking water, that's the main thing. Let's not take 0:17:34.320 --> 0:17:34.919 our eye off of it. 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.879 That's right. Yeah, And some people want that. They just 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.679 want effectiveness. They don't care how you do it. Just 0:17:40.680 --> 0:17:43.159 don't break the law, do it the correct way, and 0:17:43.240 --> 0:17:45.520 get it as consistent and reliable as possible. 0:17:53.920 --> 0:17:56.000 What are you attribute it to. You've lived in Jackson 0:17:56.000 --> 0:17:59.040 your whole life, and so what it may mean is 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:02.080 this been sort of a norm you've understood. Yeah, this 0:18:02.200 --> 0:18:08.040 is how it works sometimes. What you talk about growing 0:18:08.119 --> 0:18:12.679 up with politics around the table, How did something like 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:15.520 this happen? And why is? Why is the state leadership 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:16.679 so laise fair about it? 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:21.080 Yeah? Yeah, you know again, I can't say that there's 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.160 one person that you placed blamed to, but I think 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.479 that there's been a variety of factors. I think that 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:31.760 you can blame on flight people leaving Jackson, our tax 0:18:31.840 --> 0:18:33.960 based decreasing, But I also think that you can blame 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.840 it on previous administrations and their lack of sounding the 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:40.000 alarm at the appropriate time. But I also think that 0:18:40.040 --> 0:18:41.879 you can blame it on the states leadership and the 0:18:41.920 --> 0:18:44.959 state not coming in and giving the city adequate resourcesests 0:18:45.160 --> 0:18:48.159 of what it actually needs. But that also goes to 0:18:48.560 --> 0:18:53.320 the breakdown between democratic administrations and Republican administrations. So growing 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:55.520 up at the table, you know, the stories that my 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.560 parents would tell me and my sister was in relation 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.399 to how Democrats and Republican work together. A lot of 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:02.560 the times, you know. 0:19:02.640 --> 0:19:06.320 Back in the eighties and nineties, they did, because Mississippi did, 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:11.800 by the way, regularly. Shoot, it was all Democrats until 0:19:11.960 --> 0:19:14.919 you know, until in somewhere in the nineties that the 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:19.159 Republicans broke through. So it wasn't an unusual you know, 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:21.680 late eighties in the Senate and then in governor's races. 0:19:21.760 --> 0:19:25.479 So you had this I think because both parties had 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:29.360 a shot at winning the governorship, the relationship to Jackson 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:31.120 was better for both parties. 0:19:31.160 --> 0:19:34.520 Right, yeah, yeah. But but I will say that that 0:19:34.600 --> 0:19:39.760 I have seen the state leadership because of the culture 0:19:39.880 --> 0:19:42.960 and political culture of the city of Jackson within the 0:19:43.000 --> 0:19:46.480 past eight years, say I'm going to hault any type 0:19:46.520 --> 0:19:50.080 of assistance to the city, and we are now getting 0:19:50.080 --> 0:19:53.159 away from that. We have new leadership. We have a 0:19:53.280 --> 0:19:56.399 much more inclusive city government and that sees all areas 0:19:56.400 --> 0:19:59.639 of Jackson as being important and included in the future 0:19:59.640 --> 0:20:03.600 of jack And also though we had a new leadership 0:20:03.760 --> 0:20:06.639 in the legislature which has started things like the Capital 0:20:06.720 --> 0:20:11.000 Revitalization Committee focused on creating legislation and policy to help 0:20:11.040 --> 0:20:14.680 the capital city. You cannot have a successful state without 0:20:14.680 --> 0:20:18.200 a successful capital city. And Jackson is going through metic city. 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:20.880 So you know, it's almost like get out of your 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.760 you know, put your big pants on and just staying that, yes, 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:27.639 you are going to have to work with democratic leadership 0:20:27.720 --> 0:20:29.680 in the city of Jackson. You know it's going to 0:20:29.720 --> 0:20:30.320 help the state. 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:33.320 This is a this is a virus that's going through 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:36.840 our political system, which is and you're seeing it a 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:39.760 lot more on the right, which is we're only going 0:20:39.840 --> 0:20:41.880 to govern for our supporters, and if you didn't vote 0:20:41.880 --> 0:20:44.159 for me, you're not going to get in your. 0:20:44.080 --> 0:20:45.199 Like no, no, no, no no. 0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:48.359 It just means we've let you make the decisions. But 0:20:48.400 --> 0:20:52.640 there's a spaceline assumption that you're going to keep services 0:20:53.960 --> 0:20:58.080 where they're at or improve them, not decrease services because 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.320 they didn't give you political support. I mean, I got 0:21:01.320 --> 0:21:04.080 the sense that Republicans and state government felt like there 0:21:04.160 --> 0:21:07.359 was no political price to pay to punish Jackson and 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.679 that and I think twenty years ago that wasn't the case. 0:21:11.280 --> 0:21:13.960 Yeah, yeah, I agree with you. I agree with you, 0:21:14.080 --> 0:21:17.439 and not listening to the people on the ground, the 0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:20.639 people who've lived in Jackson for decades. Those are the 0:21:20.640 --> 0:21:22.600 folks who you go to, you know, in order to 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:25.199 understand the dynamics of the city or what it is 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:27.879 that the city needs. What are they asking for. I 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:30.119 can tell you the countless amount of years that the 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:32.680 City of Jackson has asked for appropriations for our state 0:21:32.760 --> 0:21:35.920 government and it's fallen on deaf ears. Now, I think 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.280 that there's blame that you can place on both parties, 0:21:38.320 --> 0:21:39.760 But at the end of the day, there are people 0:21:39.840 --> 0:21:44.680 behind these offices, these elected offices. They're folks who were struggling, 0:21:45.400 --> 0:21:48.320