WEBVTT - A Political Conversation with Black Men 0:00:01.040 --> 0:00:03.480 Recently, Q and. 0:00:03.360 --> 0:00:12.719 I sat down to have a very important conversation conversations 0:00:12.760 --> 0:00:18.720 called courageous conversations, and we had this conversation in a 0:00:18.800 --> 0:00:27.680 room full of black men ahead of the election. Now 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:34.280 we've discussed on this show that you know, black men 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:39.280 were in the news for a number of reasons because 0:00:39.320 --> 0:00:43.600 of their support of Donald Trump or their lack of 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:51.720 support for Kamala Harris or whatever. And we finally were 0:00:51.760 --> 0:00:59.480 able to sit down and have it out with a 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:02.800 room full of black men from all different political backgrounds, 0:01:03.920 --> 0:01:09.160 and we got some perspective on how some people felt. 0:01:10.040 --> 0:01:15.480 We got some information in terms of where some black 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:21.000 men get their information from and whether or not it's vetted, 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:23.720 if it comes from far right sources or online. 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:24.199 Sources or whatever. 0:01:24.840 --> 0:01:28.000 And then we got some, you know, just some opinions, 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.640 and you know, some of the opinions were very similar 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:36.039 to ours, and some of the opinions were very different 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:41.640 from ours. And all of this was okay because we 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:45.679 needed a starting point so that we could continue to 0:01:45.800 --> 0:01:51.440 grow as individual men, but we also could grow our 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:57.160 cohesion as a group of individuals who have more or 0:01:57.240 --> 0:02:04.920 less similar experiences in this country. So we look at 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.440 that event like it was a positive experience. Indeed, we 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:11.040 want to do more of them. And one of the 0:02:11.080 --> 0:02:14.480 things that we didn't get to do was answer all 0:02:14.520 --> 0:02:21.240 of the questions that were submitted for us to answer 0:02:21.320 --> 0:02:25.160 as best we could, and so we were given a 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:28.760 handful of questions after the fact, and we thought that 0:02:28.800 --> 0:02:32.480 we would make this episode addressing some of those questions. 0:02:32.480 --> 0:02:34.160 Some of them we kind of touched on while we 0:02:34.160 --> 0:02:38.200 were there, so we'll, you know, be sure to include 0:02:38.200 --> 0:02:42.480 some of that here and hopefully bring you into the 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:45.040 conversation that we were able to have on the ground 0:02:45.520 --> 0:02:55.679 during Courageous Conversations. So I'm ramses joh. 0:02:54.200 --> 0:02:59.280 And I am q Ward and glad that we're getting 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:01.840 a chance to have the conversation because the last thing 0:03:01.880 --> 0:03:05.760 we wanted to do when organizing Courageous Conversations was to 0:03:05.800 --> 0:03:09.040 have a bunch of people leave feeling unhurt, when the 0:03:09.160 --> 0:03:13.440 entire reason that we cultivated that space was that sole 0:03:13.480 --> 0:03:17.240 people in a very non hostile way could have their 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:19.680 voices heard. So I'm glad we're getting a chance to 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:20.440 sit down and do this. 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:27.799 Yeah. Yeah, our first question, we're not going to say 0:03:27.800 --> 0:03:30.560 the names of the people who submitted the questions, just 0:03:30.600 --> 0:03:35.840 because the nature of the Courageous Conversations event was very private. 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.040 There was no media coverage. It was just us and 0:03:39.080 --> 0:03:42.080 some black men and getting some perspective. But the first 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:47.240 question asks us, are we voting based on skin tone 0:03:47.360 --> 0:03:48.840 or actual tangibles that. 0:03:48.760 --> 0:03:49.560 Can be produced? 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:53.920 And we hold the politicians accountable? And what's our plan 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:55.080 to hold them accountable? 0:03:56.720 --> 0:04:00.840 Great question. I think it's a fantastic question, and I 0:04:00.880 --> 0:04:03.960 want to because we're not sitting face to face with 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:07.600 the person, I want to try to translate what I 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:11.000 think they mean. And then all we can do is 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:15.640 give insight how we view this and answer according to 0:04:16.920 --> 0:04:20.240 how we feel. So it's not the gospel, according to 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:25.560 Civic Cipher, it's just our position on the question are 0:04:25.600 --> 0:04:27.840 we voting based on skin tone? That I think is 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:32.840 a fair question to ask. I think an important thing 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:36.159 to point out is that for the history of the 0:04:36.279 --> 0:04:39.960 United States, black people have had to deal with being 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:48.599 under the thumb or under the boot of the oppressor. 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.120 We've been manipulated, we've been taken advantage of, we've been 0:04:53.160 --> 0:04:56.160 taken for granted. We've been made to feel we don't matter, 0:04:56.200 --> 0:04:59.320 we've been forgotten about, we've been the list goes on 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:04.560 and on, and one thing we don't like is being 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.640 put in a position where we feel like we're being 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:12.720 pandered to, where we're being used, where people are kind 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:17.080 of using blackness as a token that they can just 0:05:17.200 --> 0:05:20.920 cash in in a lot of cases simply by being black. 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:25.039 So I understand why that challenge is presented. The thing 0:05:25.080 --> 0:05:27.520 that often troubles me in cases like this one, or 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:34.760 in this case specifically, as that our vote in this 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:40.599 particular election, this is not a vacuum. It's not just 0:05:41.480 --> 0:05:45.560 are we voting for this candidate. It is, as we've 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:51.400 echoed on the show multiple times, a zero sum, binary decision. 0:05:51.480 --> 0:05:54.440 At this point, there are two candidates and one of 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:59.760 them will be president, whether we participate or not, whether 0:05:59.800 --> 0:06:04.719 we disqualify one candidate because they're black or not. And 0:06:04.839 --> 0:06:08.320 there is one person in this race who has been 0:06:08.400 --> 0:06:12.560 president before. As much as people try to make it 0:06:12.600 --> 0:06:15.200 seem as if Vice President Harris is the president now, 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:19.559 she's not former President Trump. However, we got four years 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:22.839 of that, and I've heard people say they don't know 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:26.640 enough about Vice President Harris's policies. Will get to that shortly, 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:30.560 but we know a lot about former President Trump's policies. 0:06:31.520 --> 0:06:34.080 I know a lot of people saying, we don't know 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:37.680 enough about Vice President Harris as a candidate or as 0:06:37.720 --> 0:06:41.000 a person, but we know a lot about former President Trump. 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.520 So is this a vote for her simply because of 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:48.960 her skin tone or I'm guessing because she's black? No, 0:06:49.080 --> 0:06:52.000 but I'm black, and I know what this experience in 0:06:52.040 --> 0:06:54.040 this country will be like for me if the other 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:58.520 candidate becomes president, and that colors. Forgive my use of 0:06:58.560 --> 0:07:00.480 that term, but that color is the way I see 0:07:01.240 --> 0:07:11.040 the decision making process in this election. As far as accountability, 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:15.560 the way that we most actively hold our elected officials 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:20.680 accountable in this case is by first exercising our vote. 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:23.920 And I know that sounds counter intuitive, right. If I've 0:07:23.960 --> 0:07:25.920 already voted from they already got what they want. It 0:07:25.960 --> 0:07:29.640 will again we have to talk about the two candidates 0:07:29.640 --> 0:07:33.440 that are present. With one of these candidates, Ramses and 0:07:33.480 --> 0:07:35.920 I can turn on our microphones and disagree with her 0:07:36.840 --> 0:07:39.760 all the time. We can point out her flaws and 0:07:39.760 --> 0:07:43.960 her mistakes. We can even incorrectly point out her flaws 0:07:43.960 --> 0:07:45.920 and mistakes and then learn more and then come back 0:07:45.920 --> 0:07:47.800 and have to apologize to her. Have we done that? 0:07:49.160 --> 0:07:52.160 We can continue to exercise our right. The next time 0:07:52.360 --> 0:07:54.760 the calendar says it should be time to vote again, 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:58.720 we get to vote again. We can start organizing and 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.720 having conversations as a collective community now so that we 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:05.080 can flex not just our vote, but our money and 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:08.840 our voices collectively as a community to hold our elected 0:08:08.880 --> 0:08:13.520 officials accountable. We will not wait until the next time. 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:17.240 The election is now right in front of us to 0:08:17.400 --> 0:08:21.240 start talking about accountability. Right. A lot of things that 0:08:21.280 --> 0:08:24.520 we wait until election time to discuss and to try 0:08:24.520 --> 0:08:27.680 to exercise, we don't realize that at that point it's 0:08:27.720 --> 0:08:32.680 too late, right. So, I know it seems backwards. You 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.319 know that you would take the test and then learn 0:08:34.360 --> 0:08:38.280 the lesson, But in this case, that's how it works. 0:08:38.840 --> 0:08:41.120 You vote so that you can vote again. You vote 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:43.240 so that you can disagree. You vote so that you 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:45.600 can organize an attempt to hold accountable. One of these 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:49.720 candidates plans to make all of the above illegal. He 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:52.960 has already started to refer to me because maybe you 0:08:53.080 --> 0:08:55.800 agree with him, but he's already started to refer to 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:57.760 me and those of us that don't agree with him 0:08:58.000 --> 0:09:01.880 as the enemy with from within who he can weaponize police, 0:09:02.200 --> 0:09:05.880 and military against. He's already pointed out people who are 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.440 political enemies of his who he plans to seek out 0:09:08.760 --> 0:09:11.840 revenge on. He's already talked about, or not even just 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:16.480 talked about, but helped push and encourage allies of his 0:09:16.640 --> 0:09:19.800 to get rid of reproductive freedoms for our mothers, our sisters, 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.880 our daughters, our wives. He's already shown us that he 0:09:23.960 --> 0:09:26.040 wants to be a dictator. His word is not mine. 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:28.640 He's already said to his followers, to his people, to 0:09:28.679 --> 0:09:31.480 his congregation, that you'll no longer have to vote because 0:09:31.480 --> 0:09:33.719 we're going to fix it. So he said a lot 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:35.880 about the type of man and the type of president 0:09:35.920 --> 0:09:39.280 that he wants to be. We know about how he 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:41.880 views women in general, the things he thinks he's allowed 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.319 to do that to them, just because we've heard him 0:09:44.360 --> 0:09:46.520 say that he's going to do things that are not 0:09:46.559 --> 0:09:48.679 popular with women, and that he does not care about 0:09:48.679 --> 0:09:51.839 that either. So we know a lot about who we're 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:54.800 voting for and what we're up against. And I think 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:57.040 those are things that we should consider from both parties 0:09:57.040 --> 0:10:00.319 before we decide to just simply disqualified one candidate while 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:03.040 holding her to levels of scrutiny that the other couldn't 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.920 stand up to for five minutes, we've now drug her 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.120 through for months. I hate to take up all of 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:13.520 the oxygen on this question, but it's a talking point 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.280 that we've seen before where people are deciding we're not 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:18.360 going to vote for her just because she's black. And 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:21.240 that's fair, but when you see what she's up against, 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:25.240 this should not for those of us you know, who 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:30.360 share that skin tone be a hard decision because it's 0:10:30.360 --> 0:10:34.960 not because she's black. It's the if. We're talking about policies, 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:37.400 and again there's more questions about that, so I don't 0:10:37.440 --> 0:10:40.080 want to speak too much on the policy part because 0:10:40.200 --> 0:10:44.960 there's more coming up. But look at the other candidate. 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.040 Find me a single redeeming quality, and I would love 0:10:48.080 --> 0:10:50.800 to continue this conversation with regard to skin tone. 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:59.160 I think that was well stated. Next question, let me 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:03.960 find this one. Okay, policies, you have the foresight, What 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.400 are the policies and issues of either candidate that actually 0:11:07.440 --> 0:11:10.439 serves us and is in our best interest? Is our 0:11:10.440 --> 0:11:15.320 best interest individualized or as a collective? Okay, I'll try 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:20.640 to take this one first off, for a person that 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:26.239 sincerely wants to know what it is that these individual 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:30.920 candidates policies are. That is something that you don't need 0:11:31.080 --> 0:11:36.600 us to articulate for you. That is something that's very googleable. 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.640 You can you know, you can find that out on 0:11:38.679 --> 0:11:42.600 your own. But we have had a chance to become 0:11:42.640 --> 0:11:48.800 familiar with Project twenty twenty five. And even though Donald 0:11:48.840 --> 0:11:51.920 Trump has attempted to distance himself from Project twenty twenty five, 0:11:51.960 --> 0:11:55.600 which we know better, some of us do some of 0:11:55.679 --> 0:12:01.360 us know better. Yeah, but he's he also has it's 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.600 called Agenda forty seven. So if you are the sort 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:08.680 of person that still believes Donald Trump, you can look 0:12:08.720 --> 0:12:11.360 at what he has up as Agenda forty seven and 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:13.120 a lot of it is stuff that you would find 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:18.120 in Project twenty twenty five as well. Kamala Harris has 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:24.480 it's referred to as an opportunity economy. This is basically 0:12:24.520 --> 0:12:25.199 her strategy. 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.360 It's just one of her strategies. By the way, right 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.560 you go to Kamala Harris dot com. She has a 0:12:29.679 --> 0:12:32.440 chapter by chapter breakdown in the execy policy that she 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:37.280 plans to put into legislation and law exactly. So, like 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.880 Rama said, if you really want that information, you can 0:12:40.520 --> 0:12:41.960 very easily go search it out. 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:47.200 Yeah, they made it very simple and in terms of 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:55.760 the policies of Kamala Harris, how she wants to ensure 0:12:55.800 --> 0:13:02.880 that black men have money to start businesses, understands the 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.200 inequalities that black people face, and so far as housing 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:11.080 is concerned, you know, one of the things that you 0:13:11.120 --> 0:13:15.600 know she takes about for is the cost cap on insulin, 0:13:16.520 --> 0:13:21.000 which is something that has disproportionately affected you know, black 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:25.400 households over the years. And then you know the other 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:30.440 forward thinking, more progressive things that she has identified that 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:34.040 will benefit black men. Not exclusively, of course, it doesn't 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:38.200 work that way, but these are areas where it will 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:46.199 make more of an impact for Black Americans than maybe 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:50.200 some historical legislation has. It's kind of like she reverse 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.920 engineered it. She looked at the areas that impact us 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:57.559 most and then developed policy to speak to those areas, 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:03.040 and then they ultimately translate into more prosperity in black 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:05.439 and brown communities. But it's, of course it's not exclusively. 0:14:05.600 --> 0:14:08.640 This is America, the United States of America. So so anyway, 0:14:08.720 --> 0:14:10.800 the short of it is that all of those are there, 0:14:10.840 --> 0:14:13.360 and they're well documented, and you know, you're welcome to 0:14:13.440 --> 0:14:17.199 check all of those things out. Another thing I want 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:23.720 to add right here is that historically Black people have 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:34.080 voted for more progressive, more liberal policies and candidates because 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:38.720 they have tended to serve us well, you know, the 0:14:40.320 --> 0:14:42.080 You can look at the Civil rights movement, you could 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.720 look at affirmative action, you could look at the SNAP 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:49.440 program and assistance you know, for for families that are 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:50.840 enduring you know, poverty. 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:52.000 You can look at. 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:57.840 Anti discriminatory legislation that's being passed, that's been passed historically. 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:05.520 That stuff has has historically come from the more progressive 0:15:05.920 --> 0:15:11.120 facet of this country. I'm saying Democrats. And so when 0:15:11.160 --> 0:15:13.440 you look at it long term and you look at 0:15:13.480 --> 0:15:17.600 what has been done for Black people historically, granted it 0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:20.520 might not be everything, it might not be everything that 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:22.520 you want in this moment. Progress is slow on the 0:15:22.520 --> 0:15:29.160 scale of a country. But for folks that feel like 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:31.400 we're just throwing our vote away every time, I feel 0:15:31.400 --> 0:15:34.920 like we have a lot of evidence to the contrary. 0:15:35.080 --> 0:15:38.400 We can look back and see the progress. And if 0:15:38.400 --> 0:15:43.000 you feel like you're throwing your vote away for your 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:48.360 own self or for your own lifetime, then you're ignoring 0:15:48.360 --> 0:15:51.320 the fact that you might have kids or grandkids or 0:15:51.760 --> 0:15:54.320 nephews and nieces or grand nephews and nieces that we'll 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.960 have to inherit this world, and your vote could shape 0:15:56.960 --> 0:16:00.120 their lives, because indeed, people that live before me, her 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:04.640 votes shape the life that I'm living right now. And so, yes, 0:16:04.840 --> 0:16:09.640 progress can be very slow. But you know, for folks 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:12.720 that feel like, you know, we're throwing our votes away 0:16:12.760 --> 0:16:17.040 because we're voting for Democrats again, you know, I I 0:16:18.200 --> 0:16:21.840 challenge that. I challenge that narrative, you know, And I'm 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:25.520 not telling you to vote any certain type of way 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:30.640 in this moment. Other moments I would I what I 0:16:30.720 --> 0:16:32.960 rather would say in this moment is that to not 0:16:33.120 --> 0:16:36.000 vote is like there's only one way to engage in 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:40.160 a democracy, and for you to not engage, it's that's 0:16:40.200 --> 0:16:42.680 not how democracy works. No one looks at the person 0:16:42.720 --> 0:16:44.960 that didn't vote and says, oh my gosh, we should 0:16:44.960 --> 0:16:45.960 be doing more to get his. 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:46.920 Vote or her vote. 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:50.640 Rather, they look at the people who voted and how 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:54.960 they voted, and then they shape policy according to that. 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.280 So and for anyone that says, you know that they 0:16:58.320 --> 0:17:00.800 don't want to vote, or you know, voting a certain ways, 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.680 throwing your vote away, I would push back against that. 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:05.359 But you just planted a seat in my head that 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:09.440 I had not articulated prior. The reason why it has 0:17:09.480 --> 0:17:18.280 become so popular to be so conspicuously and vehemently racist 0:17:19.920 --> 0:17:23.680 is because a certain candidate noticed that's a good way 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:27.840 to be elected. A lot of people voted to support 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:31.400 that rhetoric, so he's tripled down on it. And you 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:33.600 just said that right now, and it kind of sparked 0:17:33.600 --> 0:17:37.080 a thought like, Wow, that's why they're candidates all over 0:17:37.119 --> 0:17:41.240 the country now marching to that same tomb because they 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.600 saw people come out in numbers and vote that waste, 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.399 so they voted according to that, not contrary to it. 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:51.040 So that's a really brilliant point that you made. No 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.679 one says to the people who aren't participating, let me 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.800 do more for you. It's never worked that way. But 0:17:56.920 --> 0:17:59.600 you saying that right now just made that very clear 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:00.359 in my head. Thanks. 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:02.720 I have something that I think is going to spark 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:04.520 a thought in your head too, because the second part 0:18:04.560 --> 0:18:10.919 of this question is is our best interest individualized or 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:17.439 as a collective? And I think that I want you 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:20.000 to take the last, you know, the last word on 0:18:20.040 --> 0:18:20.480 this one. 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:21.040 But I think that. 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:26.000 It's all about your own personal philosophy. 0:18:27.960 --> 0:18:28.720 I say that. 0:18:30.200 --> 0:18:34.040 If you're asking the question of black people in general, 0:18:34.680 --> 0:18:39.679 if our best interest is individualized or collective, then the 0:18:39.720 --> 0:18:42.320 answer is in the question. It's collective. You're talking to 0:18:42.440 --> 0:18:45.240 black people. We have collective interests that we need to 0:18:45.280 --> 0:18:48.160 address before we can deal with individual interests. 0:18:48.320 --> 0:18:53.400 Right. But there are some people who really feel like. 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:57.280 You got the same twenty four hours in your day 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.800 as I got in mind, I get off my couch, 0:19:00.880 --> 0:19:02.639 I get out there a hustle one, I get to it, 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:04.879 and I got some to show for myself. Don't come 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:08.800 knocking on my door with a handout when you ain't 0:19:08.840 --> 0:19:10.480 did the work that I did with the same twenty 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:11.080 four hours. 0:19:11.160 --> 0:19:11.360 Right. 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:15.920 There are people who feel that way, and I think 0:19:15.960 --> 0:19:18.560 that that is a personality type. In fact, there's evidence 0:19:18.600 --> 0:19:20.480 to show that that's a personality type. 0:19:20.680 --> 0:19:20.920 Right. 0:19:23.160 --> 0:19:25.240 And then there's people and I've said this before on 0:19:25.280 --> 0:19:28.280 the show, and you know Q's gonna be familiar with 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.600 this story, but there's people like me who recognize that 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:37.560 everybody works hard, not just that one person. Most everybody 0:19:37.560 --> 0:19:39.719 works hard. Everybody gets up off the couch and they 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:41.480 go to work and whatever, and they no matter what 0:19:41.480 --> 0:19:43.440 they do, they can't seem to get ahead or even 0:19:43.440 --> 0:19:46.840 get a fair shot. So it's not hard work. Some 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.840 people feel like they studied harder in school. No, everybody 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.399 is in school to learn, you know, for the most part, 0:19:53.560 --> 0:19:56.760 you know everybody. There's people that think that everybody has 0:19:56.880 --> 0:19:59.840 the same access to the same material. Okay, cool, what 0:20:00.359 --> 0:20:01.760 There's a lot of people that feel that. And then 0:20:01.760 --> 0:20:05.200 there's people like me who I got the worst story 0:20:05.880 --> 0:20:09.240 that you could have. I came from the worst city 0:20:10.000 --> 0:20:13.400 at the worst time and the worst circumstances, with both 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:18.320 parents on dope, rats and roaches in the food. 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:18.320 Of my house. 0:20:20.600 --> 0:20:23.240 People coming after my parents, people coming after you know 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:26.200 what I'm saying. People dying on a sidewalk in front 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:30.240 of my house. People I knew dead, a human body, 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:32.880 a human form laying twisted on the sidewalk in an 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:37.000 unnatural shape. Saw it as a little kid. That's where 0:20:37.000 --> 0:20:39.679 I come from, and right now I speak on this 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:44.879 microphone to the whole United States of America. I worked hard, Sure, 0:20:45.040 --> 0:20:47.920 I'm smart, Sure, but I don't work harder than other people. 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:51.600 I am not smarter than other people. I got lucky, 0:20:51.840 --> 0:20:56.240 that's it. So for me, I feel like if I 0:20:56.280 --> 0:20:59.560 look at things like it should be individual like, I 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.000 work hard and I got what I need, So that's 0:21:02.000 --> 0:21:04.200 sawing me. The rest of y'all figure it out. I'll 0:21:04.200 --> 0:21:07.439 be bogused if I thought about things like that. I'm 0:21:07.440 --> 0:21:09.520 not saying other people are bogus. I'm saying my personality 0:21:09.560 --> 0:21:12.440 isn't that way. I recognize that I'm lucky. I recognize 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.439 that I'm you might use the word blessed, whatever, And 0:21:15.480 --> 0:21:20.440 I do my best to share opportunities and share platforms, 0:21:20.480 --> 0:21:24.000 and share time and space and energy and bandwidth so 0:21:24.080 --> 0:21:26.320 that other people could have access to it too. That's 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:28.600 how I feel. I feel that way about black people. 0:21:28.920 --> 0:21:30.680 I'm black, so I feel that way about black people. 0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:32.480 I feel that way about gay people. I feel that 0:21:32.480 --> 0:21:34.560 way about marginalized people, feel that way about women. I 0:21:34.560 --> 0:21:36.159 feel like anybody is born with a little bit of 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:39.160 a strike against you. Sometimes that looks like white men too, 0:21:40.000 --> 0:21:41.920 you know what I'm saying. But I'm here to impart 0:21:42.280 --> 0:21:44.800 love and bring some equity and some balance to the universe. 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.800 So you know, you decide what's right for you. But 0:21:47.880 --> 0:21:52.080 Q has he has a philosophy that I think sums 0:21:52.119 --> 0:21:54.920 it up a little bit better. You don't have to 0:21:54.960 --> 0:21:56.159 lean into that right now because I know we got 0:21:56.200 --> 0:21:57.680 more questions, but I do want you to get the 0:21:57.720 --> 0:21:59.679 last word because that's that part of the question reminded 0:21:59.680 --> 0:21:59.960 me of you. 0:22:00.080 --> 0:22:02.080 Yeah, I don't know that I have a philosophy that 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:03.800 leans into a better I think the way that you 0:22:03.920 --> 0:22:07.600 articulated that was masterful, and wish more people thought the 0:22:07.600 --> 0:22:12.040 way that you did in a collective sense of I 0:22:12.040 --> 0:22:15.760 don't have everything I have because I'm better than you, God, 0:22:15.920 --> 0:22:22.280 the universe, luck, some teacher, some mentor helped me. And 0:22:22.640 --> 0:22:24.919 who am I to not pay that forward to the 0:22:24.960 --> 0:22:28.800 next person who They've done this masterful thing of pitting 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:31.520 us against one another with that mindset right that the 0:22:31.560 --> 0:22:33.840 other person that doesn't have it's because they're lazy, so 0:22:33.880 --> 0:22:36.680 why would you help them? And once that seat is planted, 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:39.760 it just grows. And it's an unfortunate truth because I 0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:42.480 think all of our nature should be to want to 0:22:42.480 --> 0:22:45.639 help one another, to share, to want there to be 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:49.439 a collective. But it's tough, man. It's tough to be 0:22:49.520 --> 0:22:55.040 black in this country period. That's a whole thought. But 0:22:55.119 --> 0:22:59.399 when you have to consider the fact that we are diverse, 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:05.200 because not all black comes from West Africa, some from 0:23:05.200 --> 0:23:08.560 the West Indies, some from South America, some from places 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:10.760 all over the world, and you make it to this 0:23:10.880 --> 0:23:16.280 country and you're just squeezed into black And I hear 0:23:16.320 --> 0:23:20.080 black people often very proudly declare that we are not 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:23.439 a monolith. And we have to declare that because there 0:23:23.440 --> 0:23:26.320 are those who want to squeeze us into this box 0:23:26.359 --> 0:23:30.520 and make us stay there. But in not being a monolith, 0:23:30.560 --> 0:23:34.000 there is some vulnerability there. Right. We often do not 0:23:34.160 --> 0:23:38.399 come to the table with a collective push. We often 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:42.240 don't come to the table asking for a collective outcome 0:23:42.400 --> 0:23:47.440 or demanding a collective outcome. And in this masterful ability 0:23:47.520 --> 0:23:50.560 for the oppressors to divide us, and by us, I 0:23:50.600 --> 0:23:56.199 don't just mean black people, black people, immigrants, women, poor people. Collectively, 0:23:56.240 --> 0:23:58.560 we will be far greater than those that oppress us. 0:23:58.560 --> 0:24:03.800 But they've made it less clear to us that we 0:24:03.840 --> 0:24:08.960 should be united on so many things. And I'm going 0:24:09.000 --> 0:24:10.879 to take this into our next question because there's some 0:24:10.920 --> 0:24:20.800 similar language as black men. What are our non negotiables 0:24:21.600 --> 0:24:24.719 and what are issues other than criminal justice reform that 0:24:24.760 --> 0:24:29.879 we should vote on together locally and nationally. And I 0:24:29.960 --> 0:24:32.960 brought this into this same question, because that together parts 0:24:32.960 --> 0:24:36.920 spoke to that collective criminal justice reform is a very 0:24:37.040 --> 0:24:42.200 very loud one because we watch how that ended heps 0:24:42.280 --> 0:24:45.120 Us on the news, We watch our bodies laid out 0:24:45.160 --> 0:24:48.480 and our mothers mourning and crying, and our funerals, and 0:24:49.640 --> 0:24:54.960 so that is a big one. And ultimately, Ramsey, that's 0:24:54.960 --> 0:24:58.480