WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 031222 Ryan Coogler Detained at Bank 0:00:00.800 --> 0:00:03.440 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, 0:00:03.520 --> 0:00:04.280 Ramsy's jock. 0:00:04.640 --> 0:00:07.000 I go by the name q Ward most of the time, 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:11.360 not all of the time. Most of the time. 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:15.000 Though, talk to him. Uh, and we are back up 0:00:15.040 --> 0:00:17.239 in you one more gain, Like we always do it, 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.160 this time to talk to you about how the world 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:22.759 feels from our perspective and not just me and Q 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:27.159 but you know black people or you know people that 0:00:28.600 --> 0:00:32.839 might be considered marginalized or otherwise have been born with 0:00:32.920 --> 0:00:36.320 the striker two against them. And Uh, I'm going to 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:38.120 ask you to stick around because there's a lot to 0:00:38.159 --> 0:00:41.440 share with you today. I do have what I believe 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:45.040 to be some good news, which is rare around these parts. 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:47.159 All right, but you got to stick around Forday, you 0:00:47.159 --> 0:00:48.839 gotta stay tuned for that. But yeah, a lot in 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:57.639 store feed today, including a discussion about Ryan Koogler. If 0:00:57.640 --> 0:01:00.960 you haven't heard about it, it was reported that he 0:01:01.040 --> 0:01:04.800 went into the bank to make a withdrawal, police got involved, 0:01:05.600 --> 0:01:08.880 et cetera, and it wasn't a bank robbery, but they 0:01:08.880 --> 0:01:10.440 thought it was. And so we're going to talk about 0:01:10.440 --> 0:01:14.960 that because it's important to share just how common that is, 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:16.520 how it feels to go through that. I know I've 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.840 been in situations like that for a few times in 0:01:18.880 --> 0:01:24.880 my life, and hopefully by learning from our stories and 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:29.160 our perspective, you know, we kind of create stronger bonds 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:32.200 across racial lines and so forth. We're also going to 0:01:32.240 --> 0:01:36.760 talk about the Emmet Till Anti Lynching Act of twenty 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:40.639 twenty two this year that was passed by the House 0:01:40.880 --> 0:01:43.920 and the Senate, so next step is for it to 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:46.640 become law, and so we're really excited about that as well. 0:01:47.800 --> 0:01:50.880 And then of course we are going to talk about 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:54.720 Mary mcleodmufune a couple of times in the show today, 0:01:55.360 --> 0:01:57.760 and I employee to stick around for that as well. 0:01:58.320 --> 0:02:06.000 But first let's delve into some ebony excellence, shall we 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:09.960 shall serve? We shall so shout out to Black Enterprise 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:14.800 dot com gave us some notes on this article right here. So. 0:02:14.919 --> 0:02:17.919 As TikTok continues to face criticism for white creatives who 0:02:18.160 --> 0:02:21.920 receive more visual representation than black creatives, Instagram added a 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.240 new feature to help address this issue. On Monday, Instagram 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.799 announced a new special tag where professional accounts and influencers 0:02:28.840 --> 0:02:32.239 will receive credit for their original creations. This feature was 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:35.400 made in direct response to the black creators who feel 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:39.799 overlooked or shut out from trends that they create. NBC 0:02:39.919 --> 0:02:45.000 News reported the tag comes after black content creators boycotted 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:48.680 creating dance challenges on TikTok after noticing white creators were 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.480 receiving more recognition from the trends created by black users. 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.680 How about that. That's a real thing. If you didn't know, 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.280 Black people makeup stuff, White people do it, and then 0:02:59.480 --> 0:03:01.639 it gets popular and then white people get the credit. 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:07.639 Think Elvis, Elvis creating rock and roll, you know, you 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:09.359 know what I mean, like that sort of thing, Eminem 0:03:09.360 --> 0:03:10.960 being the best rapper or a lot. You know, that's 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:13.360 sort of I'm not talking about technical skills, but in 0:03:13.400 --> 0:03:15.840 certain circles they don't go beyond that, you know, not 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:20.520 realizing really it comes from struggle and the different people. Anyway, 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.480 Alexis Michelle, I hope I said this right. A. J. 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:30.200 I G, a data analyst, worked with Instagram engineer cam 0:03:30.280 --> 0:03:33.240 run Boyd to address these disparities on Instagram in an 0:03:33.240 --> 0:03:36.240 effort to amplify more black creators and get the influencers 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:40.720 to transition their viral content from TikTok over to Instagram. 0:03:41.000 --> 0:03:44.160 Quote black creators and addressing that inequity in the creator 0:03:44.200 --> 0:03:48.080 ecosystem in quote a central focus when developing the new feature. 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.560 I G said to use the new enhanced tags, users 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:55.880 will need to tap tap tag people when creating a post. 0:03:56.120 --> 0:03:58.960 Tech Crunch reported the next step is to add sorry. 0:03:59.040 --> 0:04:01.520 The next step is to tag on ad tag where 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:07.320 users can search and select their contributors. So basically, it's 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:11.120 just a way to ensure that credit goes where credit 0:04:11.240 --> 0:04:13.560 is due. And shout out to Instagram and shout out 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:17.320 to these two beautiful black women Alexis, Michelle I G 0:04:18.040 --> 0:04:23.240 and Cameron Boyd for making that happen. I think it's 0:04:23.279 --> 0:04:27.480 a gi a gi, a gi. Okay, very good, thank you, man. 0:04:27.520 --> 0:04:30.039 I butchered it the whole segment. I apologize with heart, 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:37.800 but a gi all. Right now, Ryan Kugler, So, Q 0:04:38.040 --> 0:04:43.480 have you heard about this story of Ryan Kugler? Unfortunately yes, okay, 0:04:43.520 --> 0:04:45.320 so you set the stage for so who is he? 0:04:45.480 --> 0:04:47.080 What happened? And we'll go from there. 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:53.840 So Ryan Kugler is a filmmaker, writer, producer. First got 0:04:53.880 --> 0:04:56.360 on my radar for directing a film called Fruit Built 0:04:56.400 --> 0:05:01.479 Station with Michael B. Jordan, but probably garnered the attention 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:03.960 of the rest of the world when he directed this 0:05:04.080 --> 0:05:08.080 small Disney movie that you know, Marvel Studios did that 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:14.400 people might have heard of, called Black Panther. Oh oh yeah, 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:19.960 that that movie is a genre changing blockbuster movie. I 0:05:20.000 --> 0:05:24.120 was being sarcastic. Uh, you know about a Marvel superhero 0:05:24.240 --> 0:05:29.080 hero from the fictional country of Wakanda on the very 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:33.280 very real continent of Africa. Right, you know, it broke 0:05:33.320 --> 0:05:37.080 all kinds of records. It was an incredible film. He's 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:39.839 actually working on a sequel now, so very well known, 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:43.240 very prominent, very wealthy black director. 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:50.520 Okay, So the story goes that he went to a bank. 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.760 I believe it was a Bank of America, Yes, sir, ye, 0:05:53.880 --> 0:05:59.200 Bank of America in Atlanta. My notes today come from CNN, 0:06:00.240 --> 0:06:03.520 And he was attempting to withdraw some cash. Looks like 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:06.680 twelve thousand dollars in cash, all right, So tell a 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:07.680 little bit more of the story. 0:06:08.360 --> 0:06:11.400 So he was, I guess, let me give you guys 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:15.360 some context here. He's withdrawing twelve thousand dollars, which, when 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:17.680 you have as much money as he has, doesn't sound 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:20.719 like a lot of money. But imagine someone on the 0:06:20.760 --> 0:06:24.320 top of a bank counter counting out twelve thousand dollars 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:26.880 and handing it to him, and everyone else in the 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:30.400 bank seeing this, right, So to be a bit yeah 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.640 in Atlanta, So to be a bit more discreet in 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.719 this time where during this pandemic and you know, during 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.000 some financial hardships that a lot of people have been 0:06:41.040 --> 0:06:43.520 through this guy walking into a bank and the bank 0:06:43.720 --> 0:06:46.960 counting out twelve thousand dollars in cash and handing it 0:06:47.000 --> 0:06:51.279 to him, to be a lot more discreet. He wrote 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:53.520 the teller a note that he wanted to do this 0:06:53.600 --> 0:06:59.320 in a way that didn't grab everyone's attention. The teller, 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:04.880 I think, got the impression, strangely that mister Kruger was 0:07:04.920 --> 0:07:12.360 writing a I'm robbing this bank note and uh called 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:12.960 nine one. 0:07:12.880 --> 0:07:19.520 One now because it is our responsibility to tell the 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:25.600 whole story, I believe I read that the teller go ahead, 0:07:25.680 --> 0:07:26.320 you jump in. 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:29.840 I was just going to point out to people this 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:32.960 wasn't like on a loose leaf piece of paper. He 0:07:33.000 --> 0:07:36.080 wrote the note on a withdrawal slip, like his account, 0:07:36.120 --> 0:07:39.440 his name, his account number, the amount that's being withdrawn, 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.560 and hey, just by the way, so I don't draw 0:07:41.600 --> 0:07:43.680 too much attention. Is there a way for us to 0:07:43.720 --> 0:07:47.040 do this discreetly, like I want to paint a clear picture, 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.240 because people might say, well, he wrote a note, of 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:51.720 course they thought it was no. He wrote this note 0:07:51.840 --> 0:07:55.080 on an official withdrawal slip with his name and his 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.080 account number on it. It wasn't just some random note 0:07:58.080 --> 0:07:59.640 on a piece of paper that he slid through the 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:01.600 bank through the bank teller's window. 0:08:02.120 --> 0:08:06.160 Okay, now I'm glad you said that too, now, because 0:08:06.400 --> 0:08:09.920 we need to tell the whole story. I remember reading 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:15.200 that the teller was a black woman and she was pregnant. 0:08:15.880 --> 0:08:17.760 Now how true that is, I don't know, but I 0:08:17.800 --> 0:08:22.040 read that on TMZO on his head. The other thing 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:24.320 is that he went in wearing a face mask and 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:28.160 he had shades on. Right. So I'm just saying that 0:08:28.200 --> 0:08:34.079 because it's important to tell all of the details. 0:08:34.200 --> 0:08:38.520 Go ahead, cute, However, everyone in America's wearing a mask 0:08:38.600 --> 0:08:41.400 right now, say it, so this won't This wouldn't look 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:43.960 as strange as it would have once upon a time. 0:08:44.320 --> 0:08:47.439 Sure, he wasn't wearing a bank robbers mask. 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:51.000 He was wearing the same mask that you had on 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:54.040 on your last flight or the last restaurant or business 0:08:54.080 --> 0:08:54.840 that you visited. 0:08:55.080 --> 0:08:58.760 That had a mask requirement, right exactly, Or if you're just. 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:01.280 Trying not to catch the cootie from people and you 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.640 got your mask on fair point, not hey give me 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:05.520 your money mask. 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:09.320 No, it definitely was not that. And of course, you know, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:11.560 there's I'm sure a good number of you that have 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.800 been able to see this and kind of you kind 0:09:14.800 --> 0:09:16.520 of know the backstory here a bit. But for those 0:09:16.559 --> 0:09:18.280 that don't, it's important for us to tell that whole 0:09:18.280 --> 0:09:22.520 story because what we wanted to do today is kind 0:09:22.520 --> 0:09:25.280 of let you know what it feels like, as we 0:09:25.320 --> 0:09:30.079 do on this show, to be in that situation. Okay, 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:34.319 so to continue, he goes in as as you mentioned, Q, 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:37.880 he's wearing a mask much like everyone else. He has 0:09:38.000 --> 0:09:42.360 glasses on, which is not a crime. People wear shades 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:43.840 all the time. I have a few pairs. I know 0:09:43.920 --> 0:09:46.640 you were. You know, if you're listening to our to 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:48.920 our show today, you probably have a few pairs of 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:54.840 shades as well. Right, he goes into his bank. He 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:59.680 fills out his deposits or withdrawal slip has an amount 0:09:59.720 --> 0:10:03.040 over ten thousand dollars, which is another point. It's fair 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.840 to mention that anything over ten thousand dollars typically will 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:11.840 trigger some sort of hey, let's let's you know, document 0:10:11.880 --> 0:10:12.760 this or otherwise. 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:16.080 I think it triggers an alert on your account. 0:10:16.640 --> 0:10:19.760 Sure, sure, right, so all these things will see it, 0:10:19.800 --> 0:10:25.240 all of those right. The thing is is that there's 0:10:25.320 --> 0:10:33.120 there's actually two things. One I hesitate to yield to 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:39.600 someone who might argue it that the same treatment would 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:43.120 have been given to a person in the same predicament 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:49.240 if that person was white, Right, I just don't see 0:10:49.280 --> 0:10:51.320 that happening in the same way where the police show up. 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:57.040 The other part of it is that I feel like 0:10:59.840 --> 0:11:07.320 it's sort of more humiliating if it happens to you 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:11.400 and you're black. Right. It's just that there's a special 0:11:11.440 --> 0:11:14.360 type of embarrassment that goes along with it, especially if 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:22.200 you're doing well for yourself. Right. Anyway, I'll jump in 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.480 here back to the CNN article. When police arrived, two 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.679 of Coogler's colleagues, who were waiting for him in a 0:11:27.720 --> 0:11:30.040 parked vehicle outside the bank, were detained and placed in 0:11:30.040 --> 0:11:32.400 the back of a police car. Coogler was placed in 0:11:32.440 --> 0:11:35.120 handcuffs while police investigated the call. He was released shortly 0:11:35.120 --> 0:11:41.280 after they verified his identity. The police report States. So 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.520 I don't know who bank it is, but I know 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:58.120 who you know whose money is in it. Q says 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:02.760 that quite a bit around here, And I think it's 0:12:02.800 --> 0:12:11.040 important to understand that these sorts of things, call them microaggressions, 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:17.959 call them just being black. You know, these sort these 0:12:17.960 --> 0:12:20.280 sorts of things very much shape our lives. These are 0:12:20.280 --> 0:12:24.920 the things that maybe in that moment, something like that 0:12:25.000 --> 0:12:28.960 happens to me. I don't demand my dignity in that 0:12:29.160 --> 0:12:32.960 moment because I'm just trying to go home. I'm embarrassed. 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:37.560 You know, everybody's looking at me like I'm a criminal. 0:12:39.280 --> 0:12:42.040 I've worked really hard, I've achieved success, I played the 0:12:42.080 --> 0:12:46.680 game the right way, and I can't shake my skin right, 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.440 not that I would want to, but it does count 0:12:50.440 --> 0:12:54.960 against you in certain situations, as you know, as you 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.679 well know, if you have more melanine in your skin, 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:02.160 it's it's not it's not it's not like it's an 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:06.480 upwardly mobile passed through through the ranks of society. You know. 0:13:07.760 --> 0:13:12.520 If anything, it's a challenge, right, So you might not 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:17.280 vuish your frustrations in that moment, but things like this, 0:13:17.360 --> 0:13:21.920 over the course of a long life, you know, something 0:13:22.000 --> 0:13:29.960 goes missing. Everyone looks at you, you know, you know, 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:35.320 you name it. Any sort of petty thing happens. Even 0:13:35.360 --> 0:13:37.480 if people aren't looking at you, feel like they're looking 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:38.079 at you. 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:43.280 Right, And then imagine Rams his colleagues are sitting in 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.400 the car and then all of a sudden they're being 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:51.800 detained and placed at handcuffs. About that, So his frustration 0:13:51.920 --> 0:13:57.080 for himself, sure, but his frustration for his people, his friends, 0:13:57.520 --> 0:14:00.360 maybe his relatives. You know, it just says college. 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:00.760 We don't know. 0:14:00.840 --> 0:14:05.920 This could be girlfriend, best friend, family member. Yeah, they're 0:14:06.000 --> 0:14:09.320 just sitting in the car. They have no idea what's happening. 0:14:10.080 --> 0:14:18.120 They're being detained and handcuffed, not for a mistaken identity, 0:14:18.200 --> 0:14:25.720 not for or for essentially nothing. Yeah, being with him 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:27.720 and looking like him. 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.040 As we call it, black and nearby? Why'd you got 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:32.880 him go by the police? I was black and nearby. 0:14:33.840 --> 0:14:37.880 You know that's a real thing. Now, I want to 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:40.880 make this breathe a little bit for you. Once upon 0:14:40.920 --> 0:14:46.840 a time, Ramses high school, Ramses, maybe I'm sixteen, something 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:50.920 like that. Where I went to school in Phoenix, Arizona. 0:14:51.760 --> 0:14:54.240 There used to be a mall called Chris Town Mall, 0:14:57.120 --> 0:15:02.640 and we would go to this mall after school sometimes 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:06.320 just to hang out, as we did back before social 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:10.000 media and before the internet took over the world and 0:15:10.040 --> 0:15:12.080 that sort of stuff, you know. So this is probably 0:15:12.080 --> 0:15:23.000 the mid to late nineties, right. I walked through from 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:27.360 the outside of the mall through a Walgreens in the mall. Right, 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:31.480 So I walked from outside into the inner ring of 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.800 the mall through not an entrance, but the Walgreens entrance. 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.640 In other words, the store had an entrance into the 0:15:38.680 --> 0:15:42.680 mall and an entrance into the store from the outside 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:44.400 of the mall. Right, So I walked into the store 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:49.200 on my way into the mall, have my backpack on, 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:53.120 of course, and you know, I'm just going to go 0:15:53.200 --> 0:15:55.360 hang out with my friends. I'm not in Walmart for 0:15:55.600 --> 0:16:01.120 or Walgreens rather for anything, just as a passway. I 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:05.880 get to the mall entrance on the on the inside 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:11.320 of the store, and they have those like security beeper 0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:14.840 post things that kind of frame the door as you 0:16:14.880 --> 0:16:17.840 walk in and out of the store. So they didn't 0:16:17.880 --> 0:16:20.920 go off when I walked in to the Walgreens, but 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:23.680 they did go off as I was walking into the mall. Right. 0:16:24.320 --> 0:16:31.560 Pepepepepepepp uh was that me, right, So you know, I'm 0:16:31.560 --> 0:16:35.360 not a big person. The person behind the desk grabs me, right, 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:38.760 and I'm with friends or whatever, and oh my god, 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.120 how embarrassing. Right, And then of course everybody's looking because 0:16:42.120 --> 0:16:43.760 those things are beeping so loud and the mall is 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:46.160 right there. You know, I'm like everybody can see into 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.800 the store me black as I am like, oh my god, 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:51.960 this is just the thing that these people need to 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:53.640 see because they're just gonna walk by and be like, 0:16:53.880 --> 0:16:56.280 see there goes another one. Oh my god. They're just 0:16:56.520 --> 0:17:00.760 they're all criminals, you know, and I'm reinforcing stereotypes. Right. 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:04.000 This is how it feels in that moment, like really, 0:17:05.400 --> 0:17:10.719 and you know me, obviously I didn't steal anything, but 0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:12.800 it looked like that, and the way they were treating 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:15.760 me looked like that. Right, grabbed me by my backpack. 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.240 I'm not going to leave anyway, and then the security 0:17:19.240 --> 0:17:22.760 guards came out and whatever. It took my backpack off 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:24.399 and they kind of held me at the desk and 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:26.439 I wasn't I wasn't leaving. I was just as curious 0:17:26.480 --> 0:17:32.919 as they were. They held my backpack over the beeper 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:37.359 thing and it went off again. So now it looks 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:41.560 like whatever I stole was in my backpack, right, So 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.840 and then it beats that second time, Bepp. Everybody's looking 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.760 like more people walking by, people pushing strollers, old people, 0:17:47.800 --> 0:17:50.679 you know. And this is in Arizona, very conservative place, 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.239 a lot of people in Arizona. This is all they 0:17:54.280 --> 0:17:57.280 need to further reinforce stereotypes that, oh my gosh, we 0:17:57.280 --> 0:17:59.119 need to move away from the city because we need 0:17:59.160 --> 0:18:00.919 to get away from these black people are you know, 0:18:01.000 --> 0:18:03.280 black people breaking the houses, or black people are criminals, 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:07.080 or black whatever. Just kind of reinforces this false narrative 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:10.080 that or this bogus narrative that exists for us. Right 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:15.360 in some cases, you know, yes, people all colors commit crimes, right, 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:21.480 but you know, I'll be fair. Black people get arrested 0:18:21.680 --> 0:18:24.320 more for crimes. It doesn't mean black people commit more crimes. 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:28.119 Black people do get arrested for more crimes because neighborhoods 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.600 are more patrolled and black people are overly policed and 0:18:30.800 --> 0:18:33.840 overly prosecuted and overly sentenced, et cetera. And it's a 0:18:33.840 --> 0:18:35.760 whole cycle. Right, We talk about this on the show 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:38.320 all the time, but far be it from me to 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.640 contribute to that narrative because I am a black man 0:18:41.720 --> 0:18:43.440 and I have to live the rest of my life, 0:18:43.480 --> 0:18:47.120 and at that time, I wanted children. So I'm like, man, 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:50.320 I gotta be a stand up guy. They're going through 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.560 my backpack now, taking all my stuff out of my 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.160 backpack and throwing it on the floor, throwing it here, 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:00.480 throwing it looking for whatever it is that I quote 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:07.040 unquote stole right being wildly disrespectful, like they got them one. 0:19:08.280 --> 0:19:10.560 And I'm like, oh man, there's nothing I can say. 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:13.159 I have to keep my composure. I'm gonna read this 0:19:13.240 --> 0:19:15.840 quote from Ryan Coogler at the end. I have to 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.959 keep my composure because I know that the moment I 0:19:19.000 --> 0:19:22.800 act up and I, you know, call them out for 0:19:22.960 --> 0:19:27.359 denying me a shred of dignity at the benefit of 0:19:27.359 --> 0:19:30.119 the doubt, you know what I mean, the moment I 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:32.320 called him out, like hey, you're getting loud to we bored. 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.359 You know, I don't need that, So I just let 0:19:35.440 --> 0:19:37.720 him go through my My homework is you know what 0:19:37.760 --> 0:19:42.440 I'm saying, like like, oh man, And then finally they 0:19:42.480 --> 0:19:47.200 take out It's like an old you remember, trapper Keepers 0:19:47.320 --> 0:19:49.359 is basically like a folder for those who don't know. 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:51.480 It's like a folder or three ring binder sort of 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:53.280 folded that you put your hold on. 0:19:53.320 --> 0:19:56.919 Wait, what's up. The trapper Keeper was definitely not just 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.960 a photo. I'm not gonna let you disrespect you're right 0:20:00.400 --> 0:20:03.280 list trapper keepers will fly. Yeah, the trapper Keeper was 0:20:03.320 --> 0:20:09.080 the truth. Rams it's painted as just the folder. The 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:12.200 trapper Keeper was next level, like it might be Gucci 0:20:12.400 --> 0:20:14.960 Findy Louis Batan, like it might as well have been 0:20:15.000 --> 0:20:16.280 that the trapper Keeper was it? 0:20:16.840 --> 0:20:21.560 Yeah, man, so so basically I don't know if it 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:23.919 was a trapper Keeper per se, but you're you're not 0:20:23.960 --> 0:20:27.720 wrong there. But it was old. You could see that 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:29.399 it was older. It had been in my backpack for 0:20:29.440 --> 0:20:32.920 probably two or three years, because you know, trapper keeper's money, 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:34.240 and you know, you don't get a lot of back 0:20:34.280 --> 0:20:37.040 to school shopping, you know, like you might think when 0:20:37.080 --> 0:20:38.760 you grow up black, you know what I mean, your 0:20:38.760 --> 0:20:41.000 stuff from last year still work. Because let's run that again. 0:20:41.119 --> 0:20:43.320 You know, you can get some new clothes, you stay 0:20:43.359 --> 0:20:45.359 ged up the first week of school. Outside of that, 0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:47.240 you don't got to buy nothing else. You ain't gonna 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:50.440 get it. So they pull it out. They pull out 0:20:50.480 --> 0:20:56.040 this folder, and the folder is clearly ancient, years of dirt, dust, grind, pencils, 0:20:56.080 --> 0:21:00.760 shavings and you know whatever all over it. They slide 0:21:00.760 --> 0:21:05.440 it through the guard post thing and it beats again. 0:21:06.240 --> 0:21:08.159 Now they open it up and they see on the 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:13.800 inside there's a square like digital like square thing that's 0:21:13.840 --> 0:21:18.600 meant to trigger those Right, So whenever whoever bought that initially, 0:21:18.840 --> 0:21:21.560 might have been my birth mother or somebody like that, 0:21:21.600 --> 0:21:23.480 whoever got that for me, maybe I got it. 0:21:23.480 --> 0:21:23.840 I don't know. 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:28.240 At the store, they never took that sticker off. And 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.520 of course I don't, you know, carry my backpack into 0:21:31.600 --> 0:21:34.000 every store I go into, so it just was there 0:21:34.000 --> 0:21:36.080 for years. I carry my backpack to school, you know, 0:21:36.119 --> 0:21:38.800 and I go home and I don't know why I 0:21:38.800 --> 0:21:41.399 didn't trip the front alarm of that store, but it 0:21:41.440 --> 0:21:43.480 did trip the one on my way into the mall. 0:21:44.000 --> 0:21:47.439 And the way they disrespected me and then subsequently had 0:21:47.480 --> 0:21:49.879 to apologize and pick up my homework off the ground, 0:21:51.320 --> 0:21:55.000 it let me know, like, dang, they really thought they 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:57.439 had me. Because now they're like having to eat all 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:00.240 those words and to eat that attitude. Right, and I 0:22:00.320 --> 0:22:06.960 watch this. This might have been maybe a year after that, 0:22:07.640 --> 0:22:09.800 maybe a year and some change after that, Right, so 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:12.440 it's still fresh in my mind. I'm probably toward the 0:22:12.480 --> 0:22:14.120 end of high school or just out of high school 0:22:14.119 --> 0:22:18.040 at this point. Right. I was at a store in 0:22:18.080 --> 0:22:21.360 the in this is still in Arizona, but this time 0:22:21.359 --> 0:22:26.919 it's in Scottsdale, right, And a woman walks out of 0:22:26.960 --> 0:22:30.480 the store and I couldn't tell you what she was 0:22:30.480 --> 0:22:34.480 carrying or whatever like that, the alarm beaps. What do 0:22:34.560 --> 0:22:38.080 they do? They say, excuse me, ma'am, we might have 0:22:38.440 --> 0:22:41.320 not removed one of your tags from your purchased items. 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:43.080 Could we get that off for you so you can 0:22:43.160 --> 0:22:45.000 enjoy your You know, we don't. We don't want you 0:22:45.040 --> 0:22:47.640 to take it home, and then you you can't cause 0:22:47.680 --> 0:22:49.320 you can't get it off when you get home. Right, 0:22:49.760 --> 0:22:52.160 You're very kind to it. Now. I know that this 0:22:52.240 --> 0:22:54.040 is one group of people at a Walgreens, and this 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:56.520 is another group of people at a fancy store. But 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:02.560 I think that there's just a benefit of the doubt 0:23:03.240 --> 0:23:09.240 ascribed to people that black people don't always get right. 0:23:09.960 --> 0:23:17.040 So I'll finish this quote here quote. This situation should 0:23:17.080 --> 0:23:20.040 never have happened. However, Bank of America worked with me 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:22.760 and addressed it. To my satisfaction, and we have moved on. 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:27.560 Coogler said in a statement to Variety, Right, that's dignity, 0:23:28.520 --> 0:23:31.880 That's okay. I'm not gonna like that. I gotta take 0:23:31.920 --> 0:23:34.199 that and eat it, you know, I gotta you know, 0:23:34.240 --> 0:23:35.760 I'm not gonna make a big deal a lot of it, 0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:38.040 because I don't need this to turn into anything. You know, 0:23:38.080 --> 0:23:41.679 I'm a lot of people don't want that fight. I 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:44.360 understand that because I'm likely just put my folder back 0:23:44.359 --> 0:23:46.680 in my backpack and just let me go. I'm already 0:23:46.680 --> 0:23:51.200 so embarrassed. Right. Unfortunately the police weren't showing up being 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:53.399 super aggressive with this guy, because then that would have 0:23:53.400 --> 0:23:56.119 been a whole other issue. I'm sure based on what 0:23:56.200 --> 0:24:02.440 I know. And then, because I need to say it, 0:24:00.359 --> 0:24:05.280 the statement from the bank is quote, we deeply regret 0:24:05.359 --> 0:24:07.399 that this incident occurred. It never should have happened, and 0:24:07.440 --> 0:24:10.480 we have apologized to mister Cooler. Bank of America said 0:24:10.480 --> 0:24:12.480 in a statement to see in it, two things that 0:24:12.560 --> 0:24:18.600 needed to be said. Now, this is not nothing. This 0:24:18.680 --> 0:24:24.240 is the sort of thing that contributes to the mountain 0:24:25.000 --> 0:24:28.400 that is carried by black people. These things we only 0:24:28.440 --> 0:24:31.879 know about this story because he's a film director. He's 0:24:31.920 --> 0:24:35.440 a famous person. This happens all the time. I told 0:24:35.440 --> 0:24:38.720