WEBVTT - For the Record - Chasing Freedom: 0:00:00.280 --> 0:00:11.680 Yeah, everybody and your boy my son in general, and 0:00:11.680 --> 0:00:14.840 I'm Tamika D. Mallory and this is a little deviation 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:17.920 for him our regular format and our regular programming, but 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:22.680 we thought it was necessary to address some online accusations 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:29.440 that followed Tamika's Grammy performance, which was excellent, phenomenal, I think, 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:31.360 you know, so we wanted to come out and address 0:00:31.440 --> 0:00:34.840 these issues. A lot of people have been asking for statements, 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:38.480 and you know, we just won't oblige. From my perspective, 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:41.640 I want to make sure that as a mother that 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:45.479 I speak directly to Miss Rice, and and also just 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.360 so that folks know I have reached out through some 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:52.960 other individuals. I don't have a direct contact for Ms Rice, 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:56.680 but I have reached out and let some other folks 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.560 know that if she wants to speak with me, I'm 0:00:59.600 --> 0:01:04.000 a veil to do so. Unfortunately, the world we live in, UM, 0:01:04.040 --> 0:01:08.319 everything hits social media uh so quickly, and it doesn't 0:01:08.360 --> 0:01:13.000 give us an opportunity all the time to have direct conversations. UM. 0:01:13.120 --> 0:01:16.360 And I've I have seen a lot of you who 0:01:16.360 --> 0:01:18.280 have been asking me to do what I always do, 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:22.360 which is to be authentic and to come to you all. UM, 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:26.319 and and talk about some of what you have heard. UM. 0:01:26.360 --> 0:01:29.640 You know, I want to just make sure that we 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:33.680 start off grounded and the fact that nothing UM we 0:01:33.800 --> 0:01:39.080 say today is an attack against UM miss Rice. UM. 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:41.759 I want to make sure that that is stated from 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:47.360 the very very beginning. Quite frankly, ms Rice is right. UM. 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:52.120 I support one hundred percent how she feels UH and 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:56.120 what she has stated in terms of her pain UM 0:01:56.160 --> 0:02:01.440 related to her son. Right. And in fact, UM, I 0:02:01.480 --> 0:02:04.120 think and I was gonna say to you, Mi set, 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:06.400 I feel like we all have failed her. You know, 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.480 I was thinking a lot about this coming here today. 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:13.080 We all have failed her UM as a nation. I 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:16.960 think that whenever a child or any person, but particularly 0:02:16.960 --> 0:02:20.600 a child is killed, UM, we should this nation should 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.200 have erupted. And the fact that UM she did not 0:02:24.280 --> 0:02:28.440 get the proper justice for her son would make anyone angry. 0:02:28.480 --> 0:02:32.840 And so I totally understand and respect the trauma and 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:37.400 pain that she feels as a mother. UM. The second 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:40.640 point is that I think for far too long, the 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:46.720 issue of divisiveness has been used in every single movement 0:02:46.880 --> 0:02:50.720 and it has actually destroyed movements. And UM, I don't 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:54.160 participate in it. If you know anything about me, and 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:56.440 you guys get to see me up close and personal. 0:02:56.560 --> 0:03:00.320 We're on lives, we go into communities, we work with 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:03.440 people directly, we're on the ground. Uh, and so you 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.280 have an opportunity to see me up close and personal. 0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:09.480 And the one thing that I try my best not 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:12.800 to do is to get caught up in the divisiveness 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.960 that I know can happen in this movement. So again, 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:20.320 if people are watching looking for some aha moment of 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:24.680 me uh speaking uh negatively about or to Miss Rice, 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:28.080 it's not gonna happen. UM. I will never ever allow 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:32.480 my organization, my team, UM and until Freedom, or myself 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:35.320 to be used as a tool in the master's box. 0:03:35.440 --> 0:03:38.160 I will never allow that. So UM, if that's what 0:03:38.200 --> 0:03:40.360 you're looking for, you might as well turn away because 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:43.760 it's not going to happen. I will, however, say that 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:49.320 I think it's important to clarify the questions around whether 0:03:49.440 --> 0:03:54.320 or not we have used Miss Rice's child, her baby 0:03:55.000 --> 0:04:00.240 UM in campaigns or in speeches or fundraising or any 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:04.800 of those types of efforts. We have not UM my speeches, 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:08.400 my son's speeches, and the work that we do it's 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:11.920 very very public. Um. You all can go back and 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.920 and look through speeches, look through my page. I encourage 0:04:14.960 --> 0:04:19.040 you to do so. UM. Other than potentially calling the 0:04:19.160 --> 0:04:22.920 role of all the people UM that that we can 0:04:23.160 --> 0:04:27.080 think about at any particular time who have been killed 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.200 by the state, I have been very very careful, have 0:04:30.360 --> 0:04:35.960 always been careful not to speak about cases or individuals 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:39.000 that I have not worked directly with the families. And 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:43.000 in particular, in this situation which Ms Rice has already said, 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.880 we've never even met UM. If we have, UM, it 0:04:46.920 --> 0:04:50.000 has been something like maybe at a conference, I may 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:53.000 have been introduced, or we may have seen each other 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:56.320 in that way, but we've never actually sat down, had 0:04:56.320 --> 0:04:59.680 a phone conversation or met in any way. And so 0:05:00.000 --> 0:05:04.000 there for I would never be so disrespectful as to 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:08.760 speak about her child or to have a campaign that 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.400 addresses her child or that uses her child's name to 0:05:12.560 --> 0:05:15.880 uplift any cause UM. And so I think that's really 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:20.720 really UM important to state UM. I you know, to 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:25.080 to that end, I guess UM. Miss Rice has said 0:05:25.120 --> 0:05:27.880 that she does not want she wants me to you know, 0:05:27.960 --> 0:05:30.800 not speak of her child UM. And while I may 0:05:30.839 --> 0:05:33.520 not have been doing it in the past, I will 0:05:33.600 --> 0:05:38.359 be very very very careful going forward to ensure that 0:05:38.480 --> 0:05:41.760 I respect her wishes. I think we both can say that, 0:05:42.000 --> 0:05:45.120 you know, we will be very careful to respect her wishes, 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.960 even if we feel that we're using all the names 0:05:49.040 --> 0:05:52.600 in order to make a bigger point, we will be very, 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:56.760 very very careful not to disrespect her wishes. Now, although 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.320 what Miss Rice has said, UM calling me out my 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:05.040 name and speaking to me, speaking about me without knowing me, 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:10.120 has absolutely hurt. It definitely hurt me. But again I 0:06:10.240 --> 0:06:14.239 understand and because of the fact that I do this work, 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.040 that we do this work from a very very very 0:06:17.160 --> 0:06:21.320 sincere and authentic place. I may not have lost the child, 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.280 but I did lose the child my child's father, and 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:29.280 it wasn't a police brutality. But I understand lost and 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.720 I also want to and I fight every single day 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:36.560 to ensure that I don't have to experience what so 0:06:36.800 --> 0:06:41.120 many mothers of young black men have experienced, and so 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:44.719 I do come from a personal perspective. Although I have 0:06:44.880 --> 0:06:48.440 not lost the child, and because I understand that pain 0:06:48.520 --> 0:06:51.919 and trauma working with families for so many years, I 0:06:51.960 --> 0:06:55.320 would like to tell miss Rice today UM that I 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:59.919 am available to be supportive if necessary. I'm here for 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:03.280 or phone calls. I'm here to have any types of 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:08.200 conversations with any family, UM that would like to reach 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:11.280 out and talk about the death of their their child 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:15.080 or some tragic situation that has happened to them. Um, 0:07:15.120 --> 0:07:19.840 We're just one small group, right. There are many organizations 0:07:19.960 --> 0:07:24.480 doing work, doing great work, but until freedom is one group, 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:28.440 we can't help every family. We wish we could, but 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.960 we don't have the resources to help every family. UM. 0:07:32.080 --> 0:07:35.840 And there certainly are our situations that have been heartbreaking 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:38.320 that have kept us up at night that we have 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:42.040 not been able to get involved with. But again, just 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:47.160 to reiterate, under no circumstances would we ever be so 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:51.640 disrespectful as to use the name of a person, child, 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.320 or otherwise that we have not met, work with, and 0:07:55.400 --> 0:07:58.560 talked with their family, and have not been directly asked 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:03.040 to uplift their's name or their family member's name while 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:05.480 we are out doing our work. UM. I don't know 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.080 if you want to have a response to because I 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.840 have some other things on. Yeah, pretty much, you know. Yes, 0:08:10.880 --> 0:08:13.680 so miss Rice lost her son. I remember it was 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:19.440 a year and I just entered into the space of activism, 0:08:19.480 --> 0:08:22.400 you know, and and I remember hitting the world hard, 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:26.240 and I was I wanted to see justice family, you know, 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:29.280 so I understand how she must feel as being his mother, 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.880 you know, so her sentiments are felt just from just 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:36.040 being a human being. You know. When I heard her sentence, 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.520 I didn't take it personal, you know. But what I 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:42.800 what I did take person who was the attacks of 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:46.800 the media, of people that I've known for years, of 0:08:46.920 --> 0:08:49.439 people that have been around us for years, of people 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.880 who had direct contact to us, who've seen the work 0:08:52.920 --> 0:08:55.960 that we've done. I did personalize those things. I never 0:08:56.200 --> 0:08:59.199 thought about miss Rice in anyway. The work that we've done, 0:08:59.720 --> 0:09:02.280 I've when I've done for the last eight years and 0:09:02.320 --> 0:09:05.200 you've done for twenty five years, has spoke spoken for itself. 0:09:05.600 --> 0:09:11.040 You know. There has been this quote unquote fake activism, 0:09:11.080 --> 0:09:14.200 you know, and I asked, what is real activism? You know, 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:17.240 if going out standing by families who have asked you 0:09:17.320 --> 0:09:20.240 to stand with them, uplifting the voices of the people 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.439 who have lost their lives, standing in communities and taking 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:25.720 guns out of hands of kids who are killing each other, 0:09:26.320 --> 0:09:29.800 you know, going in communities, starting programs and organizing in 0:09:29.840 --> 0:09:33.520 different communities to bring peace, treaties If that's not real activism, 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.440 then what is real activism? You know, when I looked 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:42.080 at the media, I was disgusted because they highlighted the 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.880 trauma and pain of a woman who lost her child, 0:09:45.360 --> 0:09:47.520 but they didn't highlight when she was telling them to 0:09:47.559 --> 0:09:50.560 get justice for her child. None of these many of 0:09:50.600 --> 0:09:53.280 them did not. They didn't post any of the post 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:55.400 when she was saying, we want justice for a child, 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:59.240 But they decided to post as she put poured pain 0:09:59.320 --> 0:10:03.600 and trauma and talked about her her opinions because we're 0:10:03.640 --> 0:10:05.920 all a tied to our opinions. Her opinion of me, 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:10.480 her opinion of you is is valid for her, but 0:10:10.600 --> 0:10:13.080 you can't. You can have your own opinions. But people 0:10:13.120 --> 0:10:15.320 don't get it. They don't get the opportunity or the 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:18.680 right to make those opinions. Facts like she said, we 0:10:18.800 --> 0:10:22.160 have never I would never, as a man of principle 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:26.280 and integrity, I would never utilize the name of anyone, 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:28.440 not just a person who's lost their life, but of 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:32.040 anyone that I didn't have any connection to, a prior 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.520 commitment from, to raise any money or to catapult myself 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:37.960 in any manner. You know, I lived my life on 0:10:38.000 --> 0:10:42.520 the level of integrity, and those things actually bothered me, 0:10:42.559 --> 0:10:44.160 you know, and they were coming from people that I 0:10:44.200 --> 0:10:47.719 actually knew, who have been attacking us for way before that, 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.160 and they utilized this moment. You know, I want to say, 0:10:50.160 --> 0:10:52.800 I want to say this about you, you know, I 0:10:52.800 --> 0:10:54.800 want to say that we were proud to see you 0:10:54.840 --> 0:10:57.760 on the Grammy stage, you know, not for the glitz 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.600 and glamor, but the fact that you were up there 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:02.840 talk in truth to power. You called out the president 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:06.720 and demanded that he gives black people equity and justice 0:11:07.160 --> 0:11:10.360 in this world. And if we don't utilize those platforms, 0:11:10.360 --> 0:11:14.000 if we don't utilize every platform, we can't keep screaming 0:11:14.040 --> 0:11:17.160 from our you know, our soapbox about what we need. 0:11:17.200 --> 0:11:19.600 We can't keep going to the same communities that are 0:11:19.640 --> 0:11:22.400 impoverished and telling them that we need something to change. 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:24.640 We have to be able to speak to eighty million 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.640 and ten million people. I'm going to advocate every time 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:33.480 I can, on every platform, that we stop police brutality, 0:11:33.480 --> 0:11:37.600 that we stop mass incarceration, that we stopped um gun 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:41.120 violence in our communities, every opportunity, and I don't care 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:44.679 what how people think about that. You know, people they 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.400 asked you to go to the Grammys because you have 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:51.360 made one of the biggest speeches of this error. They 0:11:51.400 --> 0:11:55.080 wanted somebody to deliver a message, and you have made 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:57.040 one of the biggest speeches of this err and you 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.600 do not have to apologize for that. You do not 0:11:59.720 --> 0:12:02.840 have to apologize because you have done the work for 0:12:02.920 --> 0:12:05.280 twenty five years. You have done the work, and you 0:12:05.320 --> 0:12:08.200 don't have to be sad. You shouldn't be attacked because 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.640 you have done work that has put you in a 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.680 position to be able to speak in terms of people 0:12:13.800 --> 0:12:17.599 saying that we are using the names of children or 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:21.280 that we're cloud chasing, as they say. I wanted to 0:12:21.320 --> 0:12:24.360 be clear that if anyone, especially when you talk about 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:28.040 the media, when you say, well, you know, these folks 0:12:28.040 --> 0:12:32.200 have not necessarily been there to support um miss Rice's 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:35.959 family and the ways in which they should, it's important 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.840 to also challenge the media to do real work and 0:12:39.920 --> 0:12:46.719 real because we put stories out into the world without 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:51.560 actually doing the research. If you actually talk to families 0:12:51.600 --> 0:12:55.480 that I have worked with for twenty five years and 0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:59.120 that we have been working with since my son, Linda 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:04.200 Angelo and I UM came together to form Until Freedom, 0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.360 you will not here. And I am a hundred percent 0:13:07.559 --> 0:13:11.960 sure of that that you will not hear UH sentiments 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.800 like we are cloud chasing and we use their children. 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:19.760 You will not hear that. Um. Many of those families 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:22.760 have reached out to me over the last few days 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:25.760 to check in and to to offer their support. So 0:13:25.800 --> 0:13:28.960 when you think of folks like Trayvon Martin, Um, you 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:33.080 think of Shakisha Clemens, you think of Joe Guzman and 0:13:33.160 --> 0:13:37.400 Sean bell Um, you think of Brianna Taylor. Of course 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:41.400 you think of the family of Ramarley Graham, Uh, Sandra 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:45.640 bland Um, Jordan Davis. These are individuals that I have 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:50.520 actually worked very closely with and that our organization has 0:13:50.559 --> 0:13:55.319 been supportive of, especially in the case of Brianna Taylor, 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:59.040 and of course George Floyd's family. These individuals, if you 0:13:59.120 --> 0:14:02.800 actually do your work as a journalist and you speak 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:06.959 with them to find out what or to ask them 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:10.800 about our character and our work ethic, I can promise 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:14.160 you that all of the individuals that I just name 0:14:14.400 --> 0:14:17.679 our people who will tell you that we still stay 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.560 in contact. I'm thinking about Christopher Lloyd Morgan Jr. Who 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:23.840 was a four year old child that I helped to 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:28.320 bury some years ago. We still speak to these families 0:14:28.480 --> 0:14:32.240 on a regular basis. We still are very much so 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:36.400 a part of their families, and we work together. We 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:38.760 invite them to come out and and and be a 0:14:38.800 --> 0:14:42.240 part of activities that we're doing. We work with these 0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.440 individuals and try to support them all the way through 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:50.240 and guess what, they support us as well. So it's 0:14:50.280 --> 0:14:55.120 important for people who are looking for uh ways to 0:14:55.280 --> 0:14:58.840 just jump in on the attacks that you do some real, 0:14:59.040 --> 0:15:02.160 real homework. I wrote down some points because I wanted 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.040 to make sure to keep it um, you know, really 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:10.120 tight and shut. There's several misconceptions that I think need 0:15:10.200 --> 0:15:14.720 to be stated on the record today. Number One, my 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:19.280 activism did not start with the Women's March. It did 0:15:19.280 --> 0:15:22.120 not start with the Women's March. The Women's March did 0:15:22.160 --> 0:15:28.440 not make me. The people who worked together to gather 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.800 five million people around the world we made the Women's March. 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:35.800 The Women's March did not make me. Now, it is 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.120 true that in the last five years the media has 0:15:39.200 --> 0:15:43.080 begun to pay attention to my work on a larger 0:15:43.120 --> 0:15:46.800 scale because we organized five million people. But if you 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.040 again do your research and you check your facts, you 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.720 will find that I have been an activist since I 0:15:52.760 --> 0:15:57.239 was fourteen years old, and that my parents actually started 0:15:57.280 --> 0:16:00.560 me in the movement as a young young child, very 0:16:00.680 --> 0:16:03.480 very small child, because the two of them have been 0:16:03.560 --> 0:16:07.400 activists all my life. I was born into this work. 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.760 I did not jump up one day as a hashtag 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:14.680 person who just decided to run to the movement, which 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.920 is okay, I'm not taking away anything from anyone who 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:22.000 did do that. I'm just talking about my story. Okay. 0:16:22.200 --> 0:16:25.920 I have not been a hashtag organizer. I have been 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:29.200 doing this work since I was a very very young girl, 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:33.240 and my parents again helped to get me started in 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:36.640 the work. Can say something please, you know, And she's 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.800 not a hashtag organizer. I started this work after I 0:16:39.840 --> 0:16:43.320 came home from prison after being incarcerated for seven years 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.720 for a crime I didn't commit. I decided to understand. 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:50.200 I decided to change my focus, you know, being a 0:16:50.280 --> 0:16:51.920 hip hop artist. A lot of people know me from 0:16:52.000 --> 0:16:54.240 hip hop, and there's been a lot of questions, Oh, 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.000 is this some type of skin You're just trying to 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:59.160 get some money. You know, he's a failed rapper, so 0:16:59.320 --> 0:17:03.440 now he moved into activism. Listen, rapping and hip hop 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.800 is my passion. But I realized that activism was my 0:17:06.920 --> 0:17:09.360 purpose when I sat in those sales with these young 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.040 boys that kept coming in and revolving door, and a 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.160 let of them didn't even understand why they was coming 0:17:14.160 --> 0:17:16.359 to jail after the streets had lied to them, had 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:19.280 that they've been sold dreams and thought coming to jail 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:22.159 with some type of badger honor. And they listened to me, 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.520 and O G sat me down and talked to me. 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:26.600 I realized I had a different purpose. So I came 0:17:26.640 --> 0:17:28.959 home with a different purpose. And you know, and by 0:17:28.960 --> 0:17:31.520 the grace of God, I got in tune with Tamika 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:34.080 and the likes of the Gathering for Justice in which 0:17:34.080 --> 0:17:36.080 they brought me in and wet. I started out in 0:17:36.080 --> 0:17:38.919 detention centers and I started talking to young boys and 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:42.800 telling them how to utilize music as an alternative to violence. 0:17:42.880 --> 0:17:44.919 This was a process for me. You know, so a 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:46.639 lot of people I get that you questioned that you 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:48.800 don't know you know my song from the street. You've 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:50.520 seen me in the streets. You know I was a 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.280 hip hop artist, So I don't I don't have any 0:17:53.359 --> 0:17:56.280 problem with the skepticism, but I want you to understand 0:17:56.280 --> 0:17:59.320 that for the last eight years. My record has been stellar. 0:17:59.640 --> 0:18:02.040 I've been on the front lines of this movement. I've 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.600 been taking guns out of hands. I've been side by 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:07.520 side with families. I've cried with families. I've been on 0:18:07.560 --> 0:18:10.760 the front line. I've been to jails, I've organized, and 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:13.480 I've mobilized, and I've been doing this work. So to 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:16.800 keep questioning whether it's authentic, that's something that you got 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:19.960 to deal with yourself. I would not apologize for doing 0:18:20.000 --> 0:18:23.440 work and being recognized. I would not apologize for being 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:29.240 unapologetic and standing on the front line. Absolutely, I'm you 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:31.879 shouldn't apologize. None of us should. In fact, all of 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:33.679 us should be. But the problem is people want to 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.720 see you. They want to see you unsuccessful. I've seen 0:18:36.720 --> 0:18:38.760 a video where Brothers said, Yo, you've got a dorman 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:41.720 in your building. So I'm not supposed to have a dorman. 0:18:41.760 --> 0:18:43.639 I had a domain in my building before I started 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.000 doing activism. But you want to make it seem like 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:48.760 we're taking money from somebody. People hate to see that 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.360 you have some level of success. I say all the time, 0:18:51.400 --> 0:18:54.240 I don't want donations. People who invest in our organizations 0:18:54.320 --> 0:18:56.320 or investments because they see the work that we're doing. 0:18:56.560 --> 0:18:59.119 I don't want you to think that you're pitying us 0:18:59.240 --> 0:19:02.280 or we're not grifters. This quote unquote world a grifter? 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.000 What the hell is after I'm going to point number 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.040 two because we have to wrap this up and get 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:11.560 into our regular show. Um. The And I've said it already, 0:19:11.560 --> 0:19:13.879 but I think this is very, very very important, and 0:19:13.920 --> 0:19:17.040 this is a it's a sensitive topic for a lot 0:19:17.080 --> 0:19:22.520 of people. Our organization. We say this every other week, um, 0:19:22.520 --> 0:19:25.080 but sometimes people seem to miss it. And maybe today, 0:19:25.400 --> 0:19:28.479 now that most folks are listening, they can actually hear 0:19:28.520 --> 0:19:33.720 and understand. Our organization is called Until Freedom, Until Freedom. 0:19:33.720 --> 0:19:39.200 Our organization is called Until Freedom. We are not part 0:19:39.400 --> 0:19:43.800 of the Black Lives Matter organization all we are not 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:46.919 part of the Black Lives Matter organization. We all believe 0:19:47.000 --> 0:19:50.080 that black lives matter. And you probably have heard all 0:19:50.119 --> 0:19:52.760 of us saying black lives matter. Um. I think that 0:19:52.920 --> 0:19:57.280 is a statement, a mantra that is really held from 0:19:57.440 --> 0:20:00.760 the highest part of the land, and a beautiful It's 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:04.560 beautiful that three sisters came up with such an important 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.640 way to frame our movement. But there is a such 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:12.960 thing as the Black Lives Matter organization, and we at 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:15.880 until Freedom. Are not part of it. We are not 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.359 engaged in the finances of Black Lives Matter, we are 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:24.680 not on the board, We're not a part of the administration. 0:20:25.200 --> 0:20:28.359 We are not funded by Black Lives Matter UM, we 0:20:28.440 --> 0:20:32.520 are not in any way affiliated with the business of 0:20:33.040 --> 0:20:38.560 Black Lives Matter. Now I personally know the founders UM, 0:20:38.640 --> 0:20:41.600 and I also know very well Patrice Colors, who is 0:20:41.640 --> 0:20:44.919 the current UM leader of Black Lives Matter, and I 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:48.560 love them all. So this is not about trying to 0:20:48.800 --> 0:20:53.240 separate ourselves in any way UM in a disrespectful way. 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:57.239 But it is important to have clarity about who we 0:20:57.359 --> 0:21:01.600 are and where UH and and where we operate from 0:21:01.640 --> 0:21:05.800 and what our organization does. It's very very important because 0:21:05.880 --> 0:21:10.040 once we start to gather and loop and put everyone 0:21:10.119 --> 0:21:14.560 together UM, we lose the clarity among who is actually 0:21:14.600 --> 0:21:18.000 in which positions and what folks are actually doing. The 0:21:18.080 --> 0:21:21.760 next point is that you know that I've heard this comment, 0:21:21.800 --> 0:21:25.040 and I can tell that a lot of people don't 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:30.000 necessarily understand the highway, if you will, of activism and 0:21:30.000 --> 0:21:33.600 and and of the movement right and UM and the 0:21:33.640 --> 0:21:36.520 fact that there are actual lanes that people are in, 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:42.680 things that folks specialize in. Until Freedom's job on this highway, 0:21:42.760 --> 0:21:49.400 our lane is to motivate, mobilize and educate people on issues, 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:55.320 on cases and things that's happening UM in the movement space, right, 0:21:55.400 --> 0:21:58.920 that's our job. So we create a climate by keeping 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:03.400 the streets hot, by organizing people, by training people. That 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:07.720 really allows our friends and and and associates and other 0:22:07.760 --> 0:22:10.520 people that we work with who do policy work. It 0:22:10.560 --> 0:22:13.520 gives them the fuel that they need to go get 0:22:13.640 --> 0:22:16.840 laws passed. Right, and so we've been involved in a 0:22:16.960 --> 0:22:19.520 number of those things in New York. UM. We have 0:22:19.600 --> 0:22:24.959 helped to change UM the issue of of unarmed individuals 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:28.360 being killed by police or being shot by police too. 0:22:28.520 --> 0:22:31.440 Instead of it being an issue that is handled by 0:22:31.480 --> 0:22:34.520 the same prosecutors who work with police all the time, 0:22:34.920 --> 0:22:38.000 we have been able to push for legislation that was 0:22:38.080 --> 0:22:42.320 actually passed where there is now a special prosecutor. We 0:22:42.440 --> 0:22:46.240 also have been a part of efforts to UM raise 0:22:46.480 --> 0:22:49.520 and to to secure from the City of New York 0:22:49.800 --> 0:22:53.040 forty million dollars and it's now more than forty million 0:22:53.040 --> 0:22:57.200 dollars for anti violence programs. And again that is from 0:22:57.320 --> 0:23:00.480 the mobilizing efforts. Now I'm not a politic, but I'm 0:23:00.520 --> 0:23:04.480 extremely politically savvy and so therefore you will see us 0:23:04.520 --> 0:23:07.480 at times moving in and out of spaces. But in 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:12.719 terms of our day to day work, our job is mobilization. 0:23:13.320 --> 0:23:17.000 That's what we do. We train people and we do mobilization. 0:23:17.280 --> 0:23:20.679 We also are very much so involved in getting Brianna's 0:23:20.760 --> 0:23:24.560 Law passed across the country in different cities, which is 0:23:24.600 --> 0:23:27.879 a band or no knock warrants. It's being led locally 0:23:28.040 --> 0:23:33.320 in Kentucky by Representative Attica Scott and also Katura Haran, 0:23:33.400 --> 0:23:36.679 who was an organizer on the ground until Freedom helps 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:39.679 to create an environment where the two of them and 0:23:39.800 --> 0:23:43.040 others are able to go into the halls of the 0:23:43.160 --> 0:23:47.959 legislature and get the actual policy um in place. I 0:23:48.000 --> 0:23:51.560 have seen people on my page and people who have 0:23:51.640 --> 0:23:55.000 text and called who really are concerned. They're really trying 0:23:55.000 --> 0:23:57.640 to understand one because they want the language that they 0:23:57.640 --> 0:24:01.160 can use to talk to family members, friends and others, 0:24:01.480 --> 0:24:04.359