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Speaker 1: Hey, hey, Hey, we're back. We're black. We're but b

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Speaker 1: bu bu bu bu bu bu bu bu brown ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition.

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Speaker 1: I'm excited because today in the stew we have some

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Speaker 1: extra Brown in the studio. Today we have the one

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Speaker 1: the only civil rights lawyer, Obama White House alum education leader,

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Speaker 1: running to fight for the village that raise him. He

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Speaker 1: currently represents over one point one million neighbors on the

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Speaker 1: Montgomery County Council. Will Yemmi Jowanda, It's just real to me.

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Speaker 1: So if you remember a few weeks back, depending when

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Speaker 1: you're listening to this, I did a wealth walk in Maryland.

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Speaker 1: It was awesome. It was like, you know, I want

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Speaker 1: to say, over eighty or so people came for the

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Speaker 1: physical walk and then over one hundred like stayed for

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Speaker 1: the talk part. At the end. It was with Will.

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Speaker 1: It was amazing, you know, Will, just we we know

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Speaker 1: in our community health is a huge component, but also

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Speaker 1: wealth as well. So we combined the two and it

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Speaker 1: was just we walked at this really where was that park?

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Speaker 2: Will?

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Speaker 1: What was that park? Will called?

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Speaker 3: That was Wheaton Regional.

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Speaker 1: So we walked to this beautiful park called Wheaton regional,

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Speaker 1: and then afterwards we talked about not just money but

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Speaker 1: money as related to like what will specialties, which we'll

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Speaker 1: get into today. And so that was just so awesome

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Speaker 1: and I wanted to have Will back on. He also

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Speaker 1: is an author of this awesome book called My Seven

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Speaker 1: Black Fathers Right or Lessons.

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Speaker 2: You got it?

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Speaker 3: No, you got it, you got it right the first time.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, so you might have seen it in target. I

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Speaker 1: know I have many a times. But also obviously oh yes,

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Speaker 1: brand I see if you watch the YouTube channel, you

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Speaker 1: could see it right. And so Will is awesome. I've

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Speaker 1: known him, his amazing wife Michelle. Is it three or

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Speaker 1: four girls?

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Speaker 2: You have? Now?

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Speaker 3: We have three girls and a boy?

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Speaker 1: Three girls and a boy, right in that order, in

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Speaker 1: that order. They kept trying for a boy. That's what

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Speaker 1: it's giving. And so Will was just an awesome, awesome,

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Speaker 1: awesome resource. And I can't wait for you guys to

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Speaker 1: hear from him. So welcome to the studio, Will.

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Speaker 3: Well, it's great to be here, and thank you, and

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Speaker 3: that was such an amazing walk and thanks for having

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Speaker 3: me on the show.

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Speaker 1: So well, tell us currently like what do you what

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Speaker 1: do you currently do for a living now? But then like,

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Speaker 1: what kind of have you done that has brought you

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Speaker 1: to this place, because I want people to get a

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Speaker 1: context a like who you are as we start to

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Speaker 1: talk about money.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah.

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Speaker 3: So I'm on the Montgomery County Council. I'm a council

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Speaker 3: member at large, which all that means is just a

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Speaker 3: fancy way of saying I represent. I'm elected county wide,

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Speaker 3: and as you mentioned in the lead end, I represent

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Speaker 3: one point one million residents in Montgomery County. There's six

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Speaker 3: million people in Maryland, and I represent one point one

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Speaker 3: million of them. I'm in my second term. I chair

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Speaker 3: the Education and Culture Committee, which oversees our school system

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Speaker 3: and our community college and arts and culture programming. And

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Speaker 3: as I know, you know, I'm also running for the

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Speaker 3: United States Senate, so to represent all six million people

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Speaker 3: in the US Senate. So that's what I'm doing now.

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Speaker 3: I'm also a lawyer. I do some I'm a civil

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Speaker 3: rights lawyer, but I'm full time as a council member

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Speaker 3: of public servant on the Montgomery County Council, which is

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Speaker 3: the community I grew up in and where Michelle and

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Speaker 3: I are raising our kids.

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Speaker 1: Question about your wife, Michelle, Who's awesome by the way,

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Speaker 1: is Michelle an attorney as well?

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Speaker 2: She is.

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Speaker 1: You know, the kids don't even realize what they got.

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Speaker 1: They got two black lawyers in the house, and you

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Speaker 1: follow well on social media. Their family is just so beautiful,

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Speaker 1: like Michelle is beautiful, their girls are beautiful, and his

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Speaker 1: son is beautiful. It's just like you know when people

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Speaker 1: like say, back to the day, that's a good black family.

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Speaker 2: You know.

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Speaker 3: Well, I'll tell you one time I saw did Gregory God.

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Speaker 2: Rest his soul?

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Speaker 3: Right when I was working in the Obama White House,

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Speaker 3: and I think we had two kids at the time,

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Speaker 3: and our two girls, and he grabbed me and he said,

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Speaker 3: he looked me dead in the eyes, and he said,

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Speaker 3: you keep having those beautiful black babies. Yes, And I said, yes, sir,

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Speaker 3: And then I went and we went and had two more.

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Speaker 2: So we got to do our part.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I love that. So one of the things that

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Speaker 1: came up during the Wealth Walk that I just thought

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Speaker 1: was this comes up a lot, is that sometimes especially

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Speaker 1: we as black and brown people, we feel like we

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Speaker 1: don't we can't play a role in like what happens

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Speaker 1: to us externally. You know that, like, yes, I can

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Speaker 1: do my budget at home and I can save, but

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Speaker 1: as far as like what happens federally, what happens in

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Speaker 1: my state, what even happens in my county is kind

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Speaker 1: of out of my hands other than voting. Right, But

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Speaker 1: is that really true that like there's nothing that we

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Speaker 1: can do. We just have we're just we just have

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Speaker 1: to suffer as a result of whatever choices are made

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Speaker 1: by the powers that be.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, that's a that's a great, great question and a

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Speaker 3: great point. I mean, no, the answer, or the short

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Speaker 3: answer is no, it's not true. And let me tell

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Speaker 3: you why voting is certainly important.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 3: People fought and die for that right. There's a reason

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Speaker 3: that there's people still attacking it and trying to take

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Speaker 3: it away from whole groups of people, whether they be

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Speaker 3: returning citizens who had been in jail or prison, or

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Speaker 3: whether it's come you know, modern day literacy tests where

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Speaker 3: you have to make all these hoops where people have

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Speaker 3: to jump through and moving their polling stations. All that

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Speaker 3: stuff is still happening today. So the vote is important,

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Speaker 3: but there's so much more than that. It's actually being

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Speaker 3: engaged with who you vote for, right, you know, going

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Speaker 3: to the council hearing.

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Speaker 2: Right, I often tell people.

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Speaker 3: My county council, we have a seven billion dollar budget,

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Speaker 3: and that money comes from you, It comes from the

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Speaker 3: people that pay taxes, right, either property taxes or sales

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Speaker 3: tax or income tax. And so you should absolutely and

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Speaker 3: we should absolutely be engaged and directing that money. And

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Speaker 3: then we set the rules of the of the road too.

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Speaker 3: We also do all the laws. Right, how fast you

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Speaker 3: go on the road? Right, you know you care about

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Speaker 3: your kids not getting hit, go fight for a lower

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Speaker 3: speed limit. That's what we decide that too. And then

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Speaker 3: you talk about land use, maybe the biggest of all

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Speaker 3: of them. Where are things built, how are they built,

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Speaker 3: who is allowed to build, who gets money to help

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Speaker 3: them build? You know, if you talk about wealth, you know,

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Speaker 3: certainly owning property is kind of a bedrock principle. I

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Speaker 3: know of that, and so so the state, local, and

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Speaker 3: federal government are involved in all of that. The squeaky

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Speaker 3: wheel really does get the oil. And so we have

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Speaker 3: to show up, We have to be at present, We

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Speaker 3: have to hold people accountable who we elect and advocate

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Speaker 3: for things that are going to improve our community. So

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Speaker 3: I just think absolutely it matters, and you have a

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Speaker 3: right to do it, and not just a right to

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Speaker 3: engage with elected officials. You have responsibility and it's directly

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Speaker 3: connected to the health and wealth of yourselves but also

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Speaker 3: your entire community.

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Speaker 1: So let's do like a walk through. Because people ask

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Speaker 1: me this all the time. So you know, I got

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Speaker 1: the law, aid, well, I didn't get it, but I

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Speaker 1: helped to introduce a one four to one four the

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Speaker 1: budget needs to leve absolutely in the state of New Jersey,

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Speaker 1: making financial education mandatory for middle school students because New

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Speaker 1: Jersey already has a law for high school students. So

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Speaker 1: I'm not gonna lie. It was thankfully thankful to I'm

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Speaker 1: thankful to my assembly Woman Angelovie McKnight, who came to

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Speaker 1: me and said, let's do something together. But I think

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Speaker 1: the vast majority, even me, I was not really clear

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Speaker 1: on the process. I had to like literally, I think

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Speaker 1: I watched The Schoolhouse Rock. I'm just a sitting So

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Speaker 1: I think a lot of people don't realize that, like, wait,

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Speaker 1: you can get like help to get a law passed.

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Speaker 1: Can you walk us through the literal? Like, Okay, you

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Speaker 1: have an idea and you think that maybe there's no

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Speaker 1: financial education in your in your state and your what like,

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Speaker 1: So what's the process of creating of change through legislation.

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Speaker 1: So what would somebody do?

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Speaker 3: Yes, the great question. I actually created a nonprofit to

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Speaker 3: help people in low income communities do just that.

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Speaker 2: Like we called our Voices Matter.

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Speaker 3: And what we did is we went to the sixth

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Speaker 3: lowest income census tracks in Montgomery County where I represent,

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Speaker 3: and we had a community town hall and we said, hey,

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Speaker 3: what are issues and we had incentives, you know, we

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Speaker 3: had like so this is kind of like step one

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Speaker 3: of the process.

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Speaker 2: You got to get together.

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Speaker 3: Either with yourself or community members and talk about what

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Speaker 3: you want to see change.

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Speaker 2: Right.

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Speaker 3: You have to have an idea of what you're trying

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Speaker 3: to accomplish, right, And it could be something like I

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Speaker 3: want to change the law for financial literacy like you did.

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Speaker 3: Or it could be I want the door at my

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Speaker 3: middle school. I want the security door fixed so it's

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Speaker 3: not hanging open. That was one issue we helped some

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Speaker 3: community members with. So it could be anything. So identify

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Speaker 3: those needs and within your community, and that it could

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Speaker 3: be an individual because the individuals you know, but it

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Speaker 3: could be I think it's stronger if you can get

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Speaker 3: with the group that you know on that. Then you

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Speaker 3: want to do the research on who is who are

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Speaker 3: the decision makers?

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Speaker 2: Right?

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Speaker 3: Who are the people that decide that issue. So depending

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Speaker 3: on what it is, it could be a local estate

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Speaker 3: or a federal issue, or it could be all three.

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Speaker 3: And in the case of a school, you know, a

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Speaker 3: school door, it's going to probably be the local school board, right,

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Speaker 3: So we we identified with that group. So so what

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Speaker 3: you do is you identify the issue, you know, gather with.

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Speaker 2: People who care about it.

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Speaker 3: Then look at the research who the decision makers are.

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Speaker 3: So those are your council people, your city council, your state.

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Speaker 3: You know you should already you should just automatically know

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Speaker 3: if you go into any you know, vote dot org

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Speaker 3: and to type in your zip code your address, it'll

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Speaker 3: tell you who your elected officials are, so you know

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Speaker 3: at every level, right, so at federal, state, and local level, Okay,

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Speaker 3: and then reach out to all of them and just

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Speaker 3: you know, write a letter or show up or look

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Speaker 3: better yet or do all three of these things. Write

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Speaker 3: them a letter, write them an email, then show up

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Speaker 3: to a public hearing. A lot of these, like we

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Speaker 3: have people that come they can you know, testify for

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Speaker 3: three minutes on a topic. They come and they and

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Speaker 3: they say why they're here and what they hope to see.

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Speaker 3: That's the first step in the process. Bring it to

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Speaker 3: the attention of the elected officials.

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Speaker 1: Okay, okay, so that's great. So that's why that's the

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Speaker 1: first step.

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Speaker 2: There's more steps, but no, I like that, so then.

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Speaker 1: So then okay, so let's just say so that happens.

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Speaker 1: Angela came to me and was like, hey, Tiffany, I

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Speaker 1: wanted to do something. I guess she was on the

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Speaker 1: Education committee, so I didn't have to do any writing.

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Speaker 1: I just kind of gave to your point from my

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Speaker 1: space of expertise, this is what should be appropriate for

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Speaker 1: middle school students. Then Angela went to her team and

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Speaker 1: started to craft, like what a bill, So you don't

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Speaker 1: have to do that as the you know, as the

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Speaker 1: like you I'm saying, like that you listening, yes, you know.

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Speaker 1: So then you know the you know, you find your

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Speaker 1: elected official and they you tell them kind of the

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Speaker 1: components of the bill, of the proposed bill, and they

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Speaker 1: will craft something together and oftentimes they'll bring it back

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Speaker 1: to you where I'm thinking. Because Angela brought it back up.

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Speaker 1: She was like, do you mean like this, And I

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Speaker 1: was just like yes, like yes, that because for me,

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Speaker 1: it was important as a former teacher. Well I'm still

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Speaker 1: a teacher, but like a former school teacher, that it

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Speaker 1: did and I wanted I wanted a law or a

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Speaker 1: bill that didn't put undue stress on the teacher. And

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Speaker 1: so there was language in there that shared that was

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Speaker 1: like integration into the day versus like you have to

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Speaker 1: stop and say money time, you know, and like teach,

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Speaker 1: So I knew that language is important. So she might

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Speaker 1: not have known that because she was not a school teacher.

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Speaker 1: And so so it Angela came to me said, here's

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Speaker 1: the language of this proposed bill. Then I remember something

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Speaker 1: distinctly about she had to get like some stakeholders on board,

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Speaker 1: so she got like a group of superintendents.

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Speaker 3: Is that part of it too, Yeah, yeah, So you

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Speaker 3: bring up a really good point. So, yes, your job

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Speaker 3: is not to necessarily draft the language, obviously if that's

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Speaker 3: your skill set. You know, there are people that come

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Speaker 3: to us, you know, that have language and they're like,

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Speaker 3: we want this to be drafted. But most people that

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Speaker 3: just have something they want to see happen. And so

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Speaker 3: then we take and work with our lawyers and our

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Speaker 3: legislative councils and within our offices and we.

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Speaker 2: Draft the legislation.

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Speaker 3: But the part that you're talking about next is really critical,

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Speaker 3: the stakeholder engagement, right, you know, getting people behind. That's

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Speaker 3: why I said if you start out with a group

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Speaker 3: at the beginning, because that you've already created one of

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Speaker 3: your first stakeholder groups, right, and if it can be

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Speaker 3: you know, the parents and the Teachers Association, the Teachers'

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Speaker 3: Union and there, the more work you can do throughout

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Speaker 3: the beginning and throughout the process to get others to

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Speaker 3: agree that, hey, we need to do this, that are

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Speaker 3: not the electeds, right, that is what ultimately will move

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Speaker 3: the electeds to do it. But if you have a

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Speaker 3: broad coalition and so you know, you often heard the

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Speaker 3: term there's no new.

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Speaker 2: Ideas under the sun. Right.

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Speaker 3: There's a lot of ideas that have been proposed and

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Speaker 3: are out there, But who can build the coalition of

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Speaker 3: people that can create the energy behind. You know, when

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Speaker 3: doctor Martin Luther King was pushing for the Voting Rights

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Speaker 3: Act in nineteen sixty five, there's famous conversations and it's

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Speaker 3: multiple this has happened multiple times throughout our history where

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Speaker 3: he's talking to the president and they're like, we need

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Speaker 3: to do x y Z and and the response back

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Speaker 3: was from the president to doctor King and others was

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Speaker 3: will go make me do it? You know, so you

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Speaker 3: have to have the stakeholders in the community asking for it.

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Speaker 3: So that's where the organizing part happens. And the good

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Speaker 3: thing about that is when you do that, you improve

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Speaker 3: the legislation, You improve the policy because you get feedback.

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Speaker 3: Just like you said that, she took it to you

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Speaker 3: and you're like, well, it has to be integration, so

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Speaker 3: we don't want to The teachers are going to tell

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Speaker 3: you this, the superintendents won't say you that, the community

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Speaker 3: member will say that, and then through that process you

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Speaker 3: get a better product that will also because ultimately you

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Speaker 3: want something that will have buy in, right, because there's

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Speaker 3: been a lot of laws that have been written that

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Speaker 3: if they don't have buy in, they're not going to

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Speaker 3: be implemented well, and people aren't going to believe in.

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Speaker 3: I mean, you're never going to totally avoid that. But

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Speaker 3: the more work you do on the front end and

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Speaker 3: through the process to get other people's input that are impacted,

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Speaker 3: the better the end product will be and your building

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Speaker 3: momentum for passage.

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Speaker 1: And that was that's exactly what happened to your point

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Speaker 1: that I think it was like they initially wrote it

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Speaker 1: and the teachers pushed back and said, ugh, we already

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Speaker 1: have too much in the educational day. And I said,

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Speaker 1: you know what, They're absolutely right. I totally forgot Angela.

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Speaker 1: I think that integration is better because I already have

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Speaker 1: to do story time. But imagine, like I just pick

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Speaker 1: one book a week that's a money book. So I'm

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Speaker 1: not creating a whole new segment. It's like I'm already

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Speaker 1: reading anyway. I'm already doing art projects. Maybe one of

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Speaker 1: those art projects is a piggy bank made out of

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Speaker 1: a shoe box, you know, And so so okay, no, okay,

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Speaker 1: So I love that part. It's like, okay, so you

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Speaker 1: get your buying and there will is half Nigerian, but

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Speaker 1: you know we're gonna claim all you. And so this

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Speaker 1: is Africa, there's a half. There's an African proverb that says, right,

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Speaker 1: if you want to go fast, go alone. If you

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Speaker 1: want to go far, you go with others, and so

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Speaker 1: that illustrates that point. So then so we so we

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Speaker 1: got that buy in with the community. And then I

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Speaker 1: remember her saying something like, now it has to go

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Speaker 1: to committee. So what is that?

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Speaker 3: So the bills introduced, like you said, a bill, a bill,

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Speaker 3: just a bill, you know, like schoolhouse. Right, the bill

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Speaker 3: is introduced by a council member or assembly person, whatever

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Speaker 3: the vehicle the level of level of government is, or

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Speaker 3: a congress person or center, and then it goes to Normally,

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Speaker 3: what happens is there's a public hearing at the local level,

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Speaker 3: and that's what we have. So two weeks after we

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Speaker 3: introduced the bill, and this is common for a lot

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Speaker 3: of local and state legislation, there's a there's a hearing

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Speaker 3: on it, and it goes to committee. And in this case,

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Speaker 3: if we're talking about this, it would be probably an

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Speaker 3: education committee, and and I chair that committee for my counsel,

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Speaker 3: So go to it would go to us and then

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Speaker 3: we would review it, right, and we would have we

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Speaker 3: would call witnesses and have people there like the school,

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Speaker 3: the school system, maybe some of the teachers, the advocates,

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Speaker 3: people who have advocated on this bill, uh, and then

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Speaker 3: try to start working through the legislation and maybe there's

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Speaker 3: amendments offered and you know, like well let's change this

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Speaker 3: language to this or let's do it this way, and

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Speaker 3: and so it could be one or two committee sessions

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Speaker 3: or more, depending on how complicated the issue is. Then

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Speaker 3: it would be voted out of committee and so it

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Speaker 3: would hopefully receive a you know, positive vote. In our case,

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Speaker 3: we have three person committees because we have an eleven

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Speaker 3: member council, so you have to have two people agree

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Speaker 3: to move it forward. So say it comes out, then

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Speaker 3: it goes to the full body. So in our case,

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Speaker 3: eleven member council it could be. Or if it's the

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Speaker 3: full you know, state legislature of New Jersey or whatever,

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Speaker 3: it would go to hundreds of people. But then it's

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Speaker 3: it's reported at a committee favorably or unfavorably, and then

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Speaker 3: it's voted on by the full council and then.

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Speaker 2: It would be passed. Uh, it would.

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Speaker 3: And now if it's a state legislature, it has to

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Speaker 3: go through the House.

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Speaker 1: And she was telling me, yeah, so tell us about that.

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Speaker 1: I remember she was like, it had to go to

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Speaker 1: the House and then it had to have the Senate.

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Speaker 1: So what does that look like?

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Speaker 3: So yeah, So every at the state and federal level,

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Speaker 3: you have you have an executive. At every level of government,

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Speaker 3: you have an executive, a legislative and the judicial. The

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Speaker 3: executive signs the laws and implements them. The legislative passes

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Speaker 3: the laws and it in most and then the judicial

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Speaker 3: reviews and says what's constitutional, you know, kind of reviews

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Speaker 3: the laws to see if they're in line with the Constitution.

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Speaker 3: And that the legislative branch, which we're talking about now,

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Speaker 3: in at the state and federal level, it's comprised the

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Speaker 3: two houses, usually a House and a Senate. And and

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Speaker 3: so you have the House of Representatives. At the federal

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Speaker 3: you have the US Senate. At the state level you

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Speaker 3: have some people call it assembly, some people call it delegates,

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Speaker 3: but there's a House and then there's a Senate. At

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Speaker 3: the local level, at the county or municipal level, often

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Speaker 3: there's one body that's everything. So there's eleven council members,

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Speaker 3: we have committees, but the body of the whole.

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Speaker 2: There's no Senate.

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Speaker 3: It's just if the council passes it, they send it

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Speaker 3: to the mayor or the county executive and they sign

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Speaker 3: it or be to it okay. And so at the

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Speaker 3: state level you have a House and Senate, and in

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Speaker 3: those cases you have to get it through one chamber,

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Speaker 3: and then the bill goes over to the other chamber

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Speaker 3: of the Senate in this past, and then it goes

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Speaker 3: to the executive, which would be either the president at

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Speaker 3: the federal level, the governor at the state level, or

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Speaker 3: the mayor or count executive at the local level, and

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Speaker 3: they would sign it and then it becomes law.

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Speaker 1: Well, even just to I hope y'all getting like, I mean,

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Speaker 1: it's the whole history lesson or whatever. You're welcome. Oh

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Speaker 1: my goodness, honestly, Will, I am learning so much. I

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Speaker 1: feel like I'm back in history class. But give us

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Speaker 1: a moment. We need to pay some bills, and we'll

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Speaker 1: be right back, black and brown and we're back. Wow. Will,

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Speaker 1: this is so fascinated to keep going. So I remember distinctly.

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Speaker 1: Now I'm like, things are coming to me. I remember

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Speaker 1: that one of the things that the assembly woman did

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Speaker 1: is that she because she is a Democrat, I think

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Speaker 1: she found somebody across the aisle, so like a Republican

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Speaker 1: to co sponsor the bill. I believe, yes, and so like,

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Speaker 1: because to your point, like, if we can get more

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Speaker 1: people to say we're on board, you have less likely

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Speaker 1: to have this kind of pushback.

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Speaker 3: Exactly. It's something we need more of in the Congress

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Speaker 3: right now. You know that I want to do when

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Speaker 3: I get to the Senate is work across the aisle

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Speaker 3: on things that you can work across the isle on, right, Like,

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Speaker 3: you're not going to agree on everything, like I always

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Speaker 3: tell people all the time, Michelle, my beautiful, amazing wife,

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Speaker 3: we don't agree on everything. So and we've decided to

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Speaker 3: be life partners. So of course we're not going to

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Speaker 3: agree with everyone we're working with on everything, but you

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Speaker 3: can get to a place where you're ring on the

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Speaker 3: majority of it and the intent of the legislation. And

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Speaker 3: so that's part of that process.

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Speaker 2: When you're working on.

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Speaker 3: You know, building your stakeholders and building your support, you

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Speaker 3: want those folks to also reach out to other members

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Speaker 3: of the legislative body to tell them why, you know,

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Speaker 3: because it's just like in like influencing, if I tell you,

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Speaker 3: if I'm trying to convince you, that has some effect.

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Speaker 3: But if other people from who have a different interest

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Speaker 3: in me come to try.

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Speaker 2: To convince you, that's going to have a different impact.

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Speaker 2: So but a lot of times.

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Speaker 3: That even before you introduce the bill, like like you're

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Speaker 3: assembly woman did she was like, well, let's give it

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Speaker 3: a better chance if we can make it bipartisan or

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Speaker 3: or get more co sponsors. The more people you have.

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Speaker 3: You know, if I'm going to introduce a bill on

438
00:20:46,080 --> 00:20:49,240
Speaker 3: my council there's eleven members, it needs six votes to pass.

439
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:50,200
Speaker 2: If I can get.

440
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:52,360
Speaker 3: Six co sponsors on it at the beginning, that means

441
00:20:52,400 --> 00:20:55,600
Speaker 3: it's going to pass. So so so it's it's kind

442
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:58,480
Speaker 3: of a also, you know, trying to get do that

443
00:20:58,560 --> 00:20:59,399
Speaker 3: work on the front end.

444
00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:01,960
Speaker 1: This is great and so so just so you can

445
00:21:02,560 --> 00:21:04,520
Speaker 1: so in the beginning, my the bill that you know

446
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:06,240
Speaker 1: I helped to work on, it was for elementary and

447
00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:09,240
Speaker 1: middle school. It did all of that, you know, It

448
00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:11,679
Speaker 1: went to committee and went to the House, went to

449
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:13,399
Speaker 1: send it. Then it got to at the time Governor

450
00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:16,000
Speaker 1: Christie's desk. He said he would sign it. He did not,

451
00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:18,199
Speaker 1: and it was his last year in office, so it

452
00:21:18,240 --> 00:21:20,240
Speaker 1: was literally it got on his desk right before he

453
00:21:20,280 --> 00:21:23,119
Speaker 1: was leaving office. He did not sign it. And at

454
00:21:23,200 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 1: least in the state of New Jersey, it unsigned bill

455
00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:27,960
Speaker 1: is basically vetoed like it's just you know, it's gone.

456
00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,000
Speaker 1: So we brought it back to the table and this

457
00:21:31,160 --> 00:21:33,439
Speaker 1: time there was this new pushback where they didn't want

458
00:21:33,480 --> 00:21:35,880
Speaker 1: the elementary school component, so went all the way through.

459
00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:37,639
Speaker 1: They were like, take off this elementary school part. I

460
00:21:37,640 --> 00:21:40,399
Speaker 1: said fine, She said fine. And then it got to

461
00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,960
Speaker 1: Governor Phil Murphy Murphy's desk and at the time he

462
00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,680
Speaker 1: was out, So Sheila Oliver, who is our what is

463
00:21:48,720 --> 00:21:51,119
Speaker 1: that called? What do you call when you're like, it's

464
00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:57,879
Speaker 1: almost like governor and second governor. No, I'm like second governor.

465
00:21:58,040 --> 00:21:59,040
Speaker 1: So the tech the governor.

466
00:21:59,240 --> 00:21:59,840
Speaker 2: So it was off.

467
00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:03,720
Speaker 1: So it's awesome because we got to like what was

468
00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,400
Speaker 1: great about it? Since it was middle school, they picked

469
00:22:05,400 --> 00:22:08,119
Speaker 1: them middle school in Newark called the Barack Obama Middle School,

470
00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,040
Speaker 1: which I love, and right the kids got to see

471
00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:14,399
Speaker 1: watch her sign a bill into law, which was really awesome,

472
00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:16,159
Speaker 1: and I got to be there. Of course, my mom

473
00:22:16,200 --> 00:22:18,400
Speaker 1: always like, you know, as a Nigerian, she was like, hey,

474
00:22:18,840 --> 00:22:21,879
Speaker 1: my daughter has made me. I was like she was

475
00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,159
Speaker 1: actually mad, will because you'll know this about Nigerians that

476
00:22:25,400 --> 00:22:27,560
Speaker 1: like that. They wouldn't let her talk on stage. I'm like, Mammy,

477
00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,880
Speaker 1: why would? I was like, Sylvia, honestly, just sit down.

478
00:22:32,280 --> 00:22:38,239
Speaker 1: So that was an amazing people. So but one so

479
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:42,000
Speaker 1: knowing that and you know you are wanting to make

480
00:22:42,040 --> 00:22:45,520
Speaker 1: this shift from local government to state government. You said

481
00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,000
Speaker 1: something that was really powerful because I don't live in Maryland,

482
00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:50,359
Speaker 1: and I remember being like, well, not why should I care,

483
00:22:50,440 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 1: but why should I care if you're the senator or

484
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:54,240
Speaker 1: who our senator was? But then you told me something

485
00:22:54,240 --> 00:22:55,560
Speaker 1: that was really powerful. Do you want to share if

486
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:59,040
Speaker 1: you remember, like, why does it matter who if I

487
00:22:59,080 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 1: live in New Jersey, who the senator in Maryland is.

488
00:23:02,520 --> 00:23:05,320
Speaker 3: Well, there are only one hundred senators, right, so that

489
00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:08,080
Speaker 3: there's two from each state of the fifty states. We

490
00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,200
Speaker 3: need to get DC two senators. They should be a state.

491
00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,120
Speaker 3: But that's a separate issue. And so, but we vote

492
00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,520
Speaker 3: on the US Senate votes on things that affect the

493
00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:19,280
Speaker 3: whole country. You know, you know, your your freedom to

494
00:23:21,119 --> 00:23:24,879
Speaker 3: have your own reproductive health care right, you're the tax

495
00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,439
Speaker 3: rate you pay, the funding for education that comes from

496
00:23:28,480 --> 00:23:32,000
Speaker 3: the federal government. You know, any I think imagine any

497
00:23:32,040 --> 00:23:35,600
Speaker 3: of those laws. So all one hundred Senators, no matter

498
00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:38,160
Speaker 3: what state they're from, are voting for those things. They're

499
00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 3: voting to confirm Supreme Court justices in all the judges

500
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:45,439
Speaker 3: that decide what rights we have. So that's why it

501
00:23:46,240 --> 00:23:50,080
Speaker 3: certainly it should matter for the voters of Maryland. But

502
00:23:50,119 --> 00:23:53,399
Speaker 3: it should matter for everybody because the control of the Senate,

503
00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,160
Speaker 3: who's in there, what their priorities are, what they're doing

504
00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,440
Speaker 3: in the House, is the same way it affects those

505
00:23:59,480 --> 00:24:01,560
Speaker 3: five hundred thirty five people four hundred and thirty five

506
00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:04,119
Speaker 3: in the House and one hundred in the Senate, along

507
00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,640
Speaker 3: with the President, are deciding things for the whole country

508
00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:09,959
Speaker 3: off you know, three hundred million plus of us. And

509
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:12,280
Speaker 3: so that's why this should have mattered to everybody that

510
00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:13,040
Speaker 3: was really powerful.

511
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:14,760
Speaker 1: I had not thought about that, because you're right, we

512
00:24:14,800 --> 00:24:17,480
Speaker 1: are currently seeing now, you know, some of our laws

513
00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:19,800
Speaker 1: being stripped right in front of us in ways that

514
00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:22,080
Speaker 1: we could have never imagined. And it's as a result

515
00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:26,040
Speaker 1: of who currently is in the Senate. And of course

516
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:27,920
Speaker 1: I think people just think, like as laws are both

517
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,760
Speaker 1: for president, that's what matters most. But you know, you

518
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,560
Speaker 1: shared something during the Wealth Walk that like where you

519
00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:37,280
Speaker 1: can really flex your most political power is your local government.

520
00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:42,520
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and not only can you flex the most power there,

521
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:44,439
Speaker 3: because like I said, we just ran through that process. Right,

522
00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:46,960
Speaker 3: you get some people in a room, you show up,

523
00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,240
Speaker 3: there's a force multiplier when people show up that don't

524
00:24:51,240 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 3: normally show up because people are like, oh, what's going

525
00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:56,159
Speaker 3: on here? Like they're used to hearing the people that

526
00:24:56,200 --> 00:24:58,000
Speaker 3: always show up, the lobbyists and the people that are

527
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,800
Speaker 3: always the squeaky wheels. But you get ten or fifteen

528
00:25:00,840 --> 00:25:03,600
Speaker 3: people to show up from a black of brown community

529
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:07,000
Speaker 3: talking about an issue that have never been there before.

530
00:25:06,760 --> 00:25:09,400
Speaker 2: And people are going to be like, huh, what's going on?

531
00:25:09,920 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 3: And that's the power of democracy. And not only that,

532
00:25:14,560 --> 00:25:16,880
Speaker 3: will take the example of the law you passed. When

533
00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 3: you pass when you're successful and you change and pass

534
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:22,440
Speaker 3: a local law, that is what we at the federal

535
00:25:22,520 --> 00:25:25,960
Speaker 3: level are often looking for as examples and models to

536
00:25:26,119 --> 00:25:28,840
Speaker 3: use for federal legislation. So when I worked in the

537
00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,720
Speaker 3: White House for President Obama, when I worked in the

538
00:25:30,760 --> 00:25:33,280
Speaker 3: Senate for Senator Obama and Shared Brown who Center from

539
00:25:33,320 --> 00:25:35,680
Speaker 3: Ohio and Nancy Pelosi, which were my jobs on the hill,

540
00:25:36,040 --> 00:25:39,359
Speaker 3: we were always looking for that local story or local

541
00:25:39,440 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 3: idea that had an impact. It was a unique or

542
00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:48,320
Speaker 3: innovative way to address a problem that's impacting others in

543
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:51,160
Speaker 3: the country. So not only are you helping your own community,

544
00:25:51,400 --> 00:25:54,840
Speaker 3: you're potentially serving as a model to help others across

545
00:25:54,880 --> 00:25:57,520
Speaker 3: the country. So that's why it's just really a force multiplier.

546
00:25:57,640 --> 00:25:59,600
Speaker 1: No, I love that will like you know, you and

547
00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,520
Speaker 1: I have to like privately discussed like my concerns with

548
00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:06,320
Speaker 1: the appraisal process and surprise. I remember, I was surprised

549
00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:08,639
Speaker 1: when I saw the current you know, administration and our

550
00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:14,480
Speaker 1: current president, President Biden talk about like acknowledging the appraisal process.

551
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:19,120
Speaker 1: There there is unfortunately racism like just woven all through

552
00:26:19,200 --> 00:26:21,720
Speaker 1: and I experienced myself personally the home that I live

553
00:26:21,760 --> 00:26:24,240
Speaker 1: in now you know, it was a praise for about

554
00:26:24,240 --> 00:26:26,760
Speaker 1: forty thousand dollars under. At first I wasn't sure, and

555
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:28,399
Speaker 1: then the New York Times to the story where I

556
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:32,159
Speaker 1: was included, they did their own independent appraisal a few

557
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:34,760
Speaker 1: weeks after the appraisal that I got that I felt

558
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: was low, and sure enough they found it was about

559
00:26:37,000 --> 00:26:41,119
Speaker 1: forty thousand dollars under. But what was really kind of

560
00:26:41,720 --> 00:26:45,720
Speaker 1: terrifying was that it wasn't a matter of well, potato potato,

561
00:26:45,840 --> 00:26:49,080
Speaker 1: this is my The way my home was appraised was

562
00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:53,840
Speaker 1: intentionally under appraise because there are there are codes that's

563
00:26:53,840 --> 00:26:57,560
Speaker 1: assigned to your home and my home although my husband

564
00:26:58,000 --> 00:27:00,920
Speaker 1: and I at the time we had us moved in,

565
00:27:00,960 --> 00:27:03,080
Speaker 1: not even six months there was literally still stickers on

566
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: the window, every doorknob was new, every hinge because we

567
00:27:06,400 --> 00:27:08,960
Speaker 1: renovated it, gutted this like one hundred year old place.

568
00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,800
Speaker 1: And they even exclaimed it, how beautiful a renovation that

569
00:27:11,840 --> 00:27:15,760
Speaker 1: they assume someone else did when they were here, and

570
00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:19,959
Speaker 1: they they what they put in our appraisal paperwork that

571
00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:21,960
Speaker 1: our home was a wear and tear home, like that

572
00:27:22,080 --> 00:27:26,000
Speaker 1: was the code, so not a yes. So that's not

573
00:27:26,080 --> 00:27:28,280
Speaker 1: accidental when you say wow, because there's a code for

574
00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,240
Speaker 1: a fully renovated, sure new or broken down. And they

575
00:27:32,240 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 1: purposely gave us an appraisal a code that did not

576
00:27:35,400 --> 00:27:38,920
Speaker 1: match the home to their own admission, and then they

577
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:43,320
Speaker 1: used that code to then use comparables comps right that

578
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:46,320
Speaker 1: were broken down homes, wear and tear homes, And so

579
00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:48,879
Speaker 1: it left our home undervalued, and at the time I

580
00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:51,960
Speaker 1: did not know what to do. Spoke with Angela and

581
00:27:52,000 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: she said, you know, let's let's see if this is

582
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,439
Speaker 1: a law of a bill that we can introduce and

583
00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:02,600
Speaker 1: get a law passed. So I'm sharing that because sixty

584
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:06,879
Speaker 1: four percent of wealth in the United States is really

585
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 1: based on home ownership, and unfortunately, black and brown people,

586
00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:14,520
Speaker 1: especially black people, we under indexed in home ownership. But

587
00:28:14,560 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: then also the value of our homes. On average, a

588
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,080
Speaker 1: black home is undervalued at about forty thousand dollars, which

589
00:28:20,119 --> 00:28:21,840
Speaker 1: I think is it is it the Bookings Brookings, what

590
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:22,320
Speaker 1: does that report?

591
00:28:22,400 --> 00:28:23,160
Speaker 3: Brookings Brookings?

592
00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 1: And I think it costs a black community like well

593
00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:27,080
Speaker 1: over a billion dollars.

594
00:28:26,840 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 3: Right, oh, absolutely, And we actually have a case. It

595
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:31,840
Speaker 3: was also in the New York Times, I think last

596
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,919
Speaker 3: month maybe there was like an extreme case of this

597
00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:39,120
Speaker 3: where a family had when they put it had the

598
00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 3: appraisal black family, it appraised for four hundred and four

599
00:28:42,760 --> 00:28:46,480
Speaker 3: hundred and seventy two thousand, and then when a white

600
00:28:46,640 --> 00:28:48,480
Speaker 3: they were like, there's no way because we bought it

601
00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:50,440
Speaker 3: for four fifty and we put a new water heater,

602
00:28:50,480 --> 00:28:51,800
Speaker 3: and we did all this stuff. We did all the

603
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 3: you know, and the comps and everything. But then when

604
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,080
Speaker 3: a white when they came and got and praised and

605
00:28:58,080 --> 00:29:00,560
Speaker 3: thought it was a white home, it appraised for seven

606
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,800
Speaker 3: hundred fifty thousand dollars, so like almost a three hundred

607
00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:08,480
Speaker 3: thousand dollars gap. And because they didn't get their present,

608
00:29:08,560 --> 00:29:11,000
Speaker 3: they wanted their refinance, their loan was denied. They're trying

609
00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:15,120
Speaker 3: to refinance and and so it's just the that's an

610
00:29:15,120 --> 00:29:18,400
Speaker 3: extreme example, but yeah, the average of forty thousand, that

611
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,920
Speaker 3: is a direct you talk about the racial wealth gap,

612
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:22,560
Speaker 3: I mean, that's it's a huge.

613
00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,320
Speaker 1: Issue, yes, And so this is when we're talking. One

614
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:26,640
Speaker 1: of the reasons why I wanted Will to come on

615
00:29:26,680 --> 00:29:29,120
Speaker 1: here kind of explain how do you actually get lost

616
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:32,880
Speaker 1: pass from the local, state and federal level is because

617
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,480
Speaker 1: that getting something like that passed on the local level,

618
00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:37,880
Speaker 1: and I'm so glad that you share that. Will that

619
00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,360
Speaker 1: like at the state level, this is what you've seen

620
00:29:40,440 --> 00:29:42,520
Speaker 1: they look for. So getting a law pass on like

621
00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:45,320
Speaker 1: a local level for this or at a state level

622
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:50,080
Speaker 1: can potentially have you know, the federal government looking to say, hey,

623
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:52,520
Speaker 1: what can we put in place to make this like

624
00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 1: absolutely illegal? And then there are there are punishments in

625
00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 1: place if you if you engage in this, and that

626
00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:03,160
Speaker 1: would from radically affect the value of black homes, which

627
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 1: would dramatically affect like this racial wealth gap. And what

628
00:30:06,800 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 1: does that statistic will by twenty fifty if we continue

629
00:30:09,760 --> 00:30:12,560
Speaker 1: the black community continues in the same vein that we

630
00:30:12,600 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 1: have financially, that would be officially bankrupt isn't that the same?

631
00:30:15,400 --> 00:30:17,160
Speaker 2: Yes, that's correct, that's correct.

632
00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,520
Speaker 3: And you know, some states are worse than others, but

633
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,360
Speaker 3: there's like a thirteen to one white black racial wealth gap.

634
00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:27,760
Speaker 3: Our state is about eight to one, but still, you know,

635
00:30:27,840 --> 00:30:31,320
Speaker 3: still significant. And yeah, no, and and so much of it,

636
00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:33,600
Speaker 3: as you said, is tied up into you know, to

637
00:30:33,680 --> 00:30:36,360
Speaker 3: home ownership, but also the cost of everything, right, like

638
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,320
Speaker 3: you know when and you know the volatility. You know,

639
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:42,560
Speaker 3: I just passed a rent stabilization bill in my county

640
00:30:43,040 --> 00:30:45,680
Speaker 3: and we have you know, one point one million people

641
00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,560
Speaker 3: forty percent just about our renters. So you're talking about

642
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:50,840
Speaker 3: over four hundred thousand people, and a lot of people

643
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:53,800
Speaker 3: are renting now. And obviously we want to encourage passways

644
00:30:53,840 --> 00:30:55,720
Speaker 3: to home ownership, but we also don't want people to

645
00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,440
Speaker 3: go broke while they're trying to live because the stability

646
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 3: of a home, whether it's rental or owned, is so

647
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:05,640
Speaker 3: important for so many other health indicators, you know, school mobility,

648
00:31:06,480 --> 00:31:09,560
Speaker 3: you know, you know your your overall health, uh, your

649
00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,640
Speaker 3: ability to get to a job, you know, transportation, and

650
00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:16,360
Speaker 3: you know, so we capped the increase at three percent

651
00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:20,040
Speaker 3: plus inflation, which in a normal year is somewhere inflation

652
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:22,520
Speaker 3: is normally one two percent, but we capped it at

653
00:31:22,560 --> 00:31:24,720
Speaker 3: six percent, so it can't go any higher than six percent.

654
00:31:25,080 --> 00:31:27,480
Speaker 3: And one of the reasons we did that is because

655
00:31:27,480 --> 00:31:31,480
Speaker 3: you were seeing people get these increases of ten, twenty, thirty,

656
00:31:31,560 --> 00:31:33,960
Speaker 3: forty fifty percent and there's no protection. And when you

657
00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:37,840
Speaker 3: have forty percent of your population written that type of volativity,

658
00:31:37,840 --> 00:31:39,800
Speaker 3: and I don't have to tell you disproportionately they're black

659
00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:40,960
Speaker 3: and brown, of course.

660
00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:41,640
Speaker 2: So you know.

661
00:31:41,720 --> 00:31:44,680
Speaker 3: So it's just those type of protections are just so important.

662
00:31:44,920 --> 00:31:47,360
Speaker 1: So what do you hope Like, I mean, Mandy is

663
00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,560
Speaker 1: currently quote unquote not here, although she's listening. Heym Andrew

664
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:56,680
Speaker 1: grew because of childcare, Like I know that, you know

665
00:31:56,800 --> 00:31:59,520
Speaker 1: that is you. You you have, you know, four beautiful

666
00:31:59,560 --> 00:32:03,000
Speaker 1: children of your own. Like what are some things that

667
00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 1: you could see yourself in the Senate but also just locally,

668
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,760
Speaker 1: like what are options for like making childcare more affordable?

669
00:32:08,760 --> 00:32:10,960
Speaker 1: I know, Mandy said, what really saved her is that

670
00:32:11,280 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: recently universal preschool was brought to Like Newark has that,

671
00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:16,560
Speaker 1: like the Abbot program. I don't know if they still

672
00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:18,840
Speaker 1: have Abbot, but they have preschool that's for twenty four

673
00:32:18,920 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 1: year olds. You don't have to pay because my sister

674
00:32:20,440 --> 00:32:24,400
Speaker 1: had two kids I remember in daycare twenty two hundred

675
00:32:24,440 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 1: dollars a month. I'm like, yep, how does one afford that? So, yeah,

676
00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:30,840
Speaker 1: what are some things that you know, what are some

677
00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:33,480
Speaker 1: solutions that you've thought of or maybe passed that you

678
00:32:33,520 --> 00:32:34,440
Speaker 1: can share with us?

679
00:32:34,600 --> 00:32:39,000
Speaker 3: Yeah, So, well, one, this is one where there needs

680
00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,040
Speaker 3: to be things happening at both the local, state and

681
00:32:41,120 --> 00:32:45,080
Speaker 3: federal level, because ultimately we need a federal childcare program

682
00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:49,560
Speaker 3: that makes care for three and four year olds you know,

683
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,240
Speaker 3: free and gives money to states you know, and like

684
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:55,360
Speaker 3: District of Columbia they have it free for all four

685
00:32:55,440 --> 00:32:58,720
Speaker 3: year olds. Now Maryland we don't have that. We have subsidies,

686
00:32:59,720 --> 00:33:02,440
Speaker 3: and it's a patchwork across the country.

687
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:03,000
Speaker 2: We need.

688
00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 3: This is where we need federal intervention because you know,

689
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:07,480
Speaker 3: like you said, you know, the average for a four

690
00:33:07,560 --> 00:33:10,400
Speaker 3: year old in our in Maryland, if you take the

691
00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:13,720
Speaker 3: whole state, is about eleven just under eleven thousand a year, right,

692
00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:15,800
Speaker 3: but if it's an infant, you know, it goes up

693
00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 3: to over almost sixteen thousand. And in some parts of

694
00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,000
Speaker 3: our state, like the more you know, Montgomery County where

695
00:33:21,000 --> 00:33:23,160
Speaker 3: I live, it can be twenty thousand a year, which,

696
00:33:23,240 --> 00:33:25,760
Speaker 3: like you said, is like you know, for one child,

697
00:33:25,960 --> 00:33:28,920
Speaker 3: for one child, and so obviously most people can't pay that,

698
00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,520
Speaker 3: so we have to dramatically increase the amount of subsidies

699
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:38,680
Speaker 3: that we give and create federal programs. The other thing

700
00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:40,360
Speaker 3: we can do in the interim, and that I've done

701
00:33:40,360 --> 00:33:43,640
Speaker 3: at the local level, is we created a guaranteed income

702
00:33:43,720 --> 00:33:46,680
Speaker 3: pilot where we give eight hundred dollars a month to

703
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,800
Speaker 3: three hundred low income families, and they use it. A

704
00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,320
Speaker 3: lot of them use it for childcare or they're housing

705
00:33:52,760 --> 00:33:55,160
Speaker 3: because we just squeeze people too much. We've squeezed them

706
00:33:55,160 --> 00:33:58,240
Speaker 3: on housing costs, we've squeezed them on childcare, we've squeezed

707
00:33:58,280 --> 00:34:02,080
Speaker 3: them on healthcare, cost of higher education, and so when

708
00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,080
Speaker 3: you just add all that up, it's just there's no room.

709
00:34:05,320 --> 00:34:07,760
Speaker 3: There's no room, and you have to relieve that pressure. So,

710
00:34:09,120 --> 00:34:12,480
Speaker 3: you know, I think ideally you set up a government

711
00:34:12,640 --> 00:34:17,000
Speaker 3: system at the state and or federal level that provides

712
00:34:17,040 --> 00:34:20,440
Speaker 3: that care, because it's not only good for those families,

713
00:34:20,520 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 3: it's good for the country. Most of ninety percent of

714
00:34:23,239 --> 00:34:26,960
Speaker 3: brain development happens before you're five years old. My children,

715
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:29,839
Speaker 3: you're you know, children that have access to pre K

716
00:34:30,480 --> 00:34:34,200
Speaker 3: and early childhood education when they start kindergarten, they have

717
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:37,120
Speaker 3: millions more words than kids that have not had any

718
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:41,319
Speaker 3: formal care, and that starts that opportunity achievement gap from

719
00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,280
Speaker 3: day one, and so it's just not even smart for

720
00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:46,560
Speaker 3: us as an economy.

721
00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:48,200
Speaker 2: So it's there's so.

722
00:34:48,080 --> 00:34:50,759
Speaker 3: Many reasons to do it. It's going to cost money though,

723
00:34:50,800 --> 00:34:53,640
Speaker 3: there's no way around it. But you've seen states and

724
00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:57,719
Speaker 3: some jurisdictions say we're going to do it, and it's

725
00:34:57,760 --> 00:34:59,719
Speaker 3: just we have to keep building that movement because the

726
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:02,480
Speaker 3: price is are just continuing to rise, and at the

727
00:35:02,520 --> 00:35:05,320
Speaker 3: same time, we don't pay the workers well. Right, So

728
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:07,200
Speaker 3: you have this thing where that's why it needs a

729
00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:11,200
Speaker 3: federal government intervention because childcare workers are some of the

730
00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,640
Speaker 3: lowest paid artists workers, and so you have this thing

731
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:18,120
Speaker 3: where it costs crazy money. But there are also the

732
00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:20,279
Speaker 3: people that are involved are paid so little, so that

733
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,000
Speaker 3: just is begging for a governmental solution because the market

734
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:25,120
Speaker 3: is not handling it.

735
00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:31,240
Speaker 1: Yes, okay, yes, no, you're right, because I remember distinctly

736
00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:34,160
Speaker 1: back then that like each child, we were getting paid

737
00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:37,640
Speaker 1: nine thousand dollars per child. But it wasn't reflected. I

738
00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:39,480
Speaker 1: was like, but the why am I still buying all

739
00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,319
Speaker 1: the scissors and the tape in the right.

740
00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:44,920
Speaker 3: And those are kids that aren't like babies, right, those

741
00:35:44,960 --> 00:35:46,160
Speaker 3: were like you know, own kids.

742
00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:48,560
Speaker 1: I taught preschool three and four, and I still came

743
00:35:48,560 --> 00:35:52,040
Speaker 1: out of pocket tremendously in order to support my kids.

744
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,040
Speaker 1: So I have a question. This is a little like

745
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:56,799
Speaker 1: a side but I've been hearing more and more and more,

746
00:35:56,880 --> 00:36:01,120
Speaker 1: you know, my my Senator Corey Booker, and I think

747
00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:06,240
Speaker 1: it's it's Ayana Presley. Yes, I can't Where's where is she?

748
00:36:06,239 --> 00:36:11,640
Speaker 3: She's in the Boston area, like Massachusetts.

749
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:12,120
Speaker 1: So I have seen her talk. So Boston is crazy.

750
00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,520
Speaker 1: So their racial wealth gap is the average black family

751
00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:19,360
Speaker 1: their net worth is eight dollars eight and then the

752
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:24,080
Speaker 1: average white family in Boston two hundred thousand. That is criminal.

753
00:36:24,560 --> 00:36:26,520
Speaker 1: So anyway, I've seen both of them, like I guess

754
00:36:26,560 --> 00:36:30,120
Speaker 1: they've they've partnered together to really try to address some

755
00:36:30,160 --> 00:36:33,480
Speaker 1: of this via reparations, like having like that baby bond

756
00:36:33,560 --> 00:36:35,840
Speaker 1: and so like can you maybe just share like what's

757
00:36:35,920 --> 00:36:38,680
Speaker 1: like you know what, like what's the buzz on, like

758
00:36:38,719 --> 00:36:41,040
Speaker 1: what what reparations and like how likely do you think

759
00:36:41,080 --> 00:36:43,080
Speaker 1: something like that is possible.

760
00:36:43,760 --> 00:36:46,000
Speaker 3: That's a great question. And actually I'm getting ready. I'm

761
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:48,040
Speaker 3: actually drafting a baby bond bill right now.

762
00:36:48,480 --> 00:36:48,919
Speaker 2: There's two.

763
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:50,280
Speaker 3: Connecticut has one.

764
00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:52,439
Speaker 2: As the first.

765
00:36:52,560 --> 00:36:55,200
Speaker 3: They were the first state last year to develop one.

766
00:36:56,040 --> 00:37:00,840
Speaker 3: There are some other jurisdictions that like cities that have them,

767
00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:02,840
Speaker 3: and we would be actually the first county in the

768
00:37:02,840 --> 00:37:06,400
Speaker 3: country to have one. But I think that is a form,

769
00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:09,640
Speaker 3: like a really viable form of reparations because you can

770
00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:12,040
Speaker 3: target it. The other thing is the Supreme Court with

771
00:37:12,239 --> 00:37:15,600
Speaker 3: knocking down the affirmative action cases. This current Supreme Court,

772
00:37:15,600 --> 00:37:17,719
Speaker 3: which we also need to change, and I have a

773
00:37:17,760 --> 00:37:20,120
Speaker 3: plan on that too. We need some ethics reform. I

774
00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,719
Speaker 3: think we need to look at expanding the court. The

775
00:37:22,760 --> 00:37:25,200
Speaker 3: country has grown, we've expanded it in the past. We

776
00:37:25,320 --> 00:37:27,279
Speaker 3: have to get out of you know, you had most

777
00:37:27,719 --> 00:37:30,480
Speaker 3: a vast majority of this court now was appointed by

778
00:37:30,560 --> 00:37:35,759
Speaker 3: a twice and twice impeached, criminally charged president. So so

779
00:37:35,880 --> 00:37:38,640
Speaker 3: let's it's just it's not in a good place. But

780
00:37:39,840 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 3: baby bonds are a really effective way because they can

781
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:47,560
Speaker 3: be targeted to medicaid, like in the one in Connecticut

782
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:51,399
Speaker 3: is targeted targeted to medicaid recipients which are disproportionately black

783
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:55,600
Speaker 3: and brown, and that allows you know that I think

784
00:37:55,760 --> 00:37:58,040
Speaker 3: at the end it get to about their initial investment

785
00:37:58,080 --> 00:38:00,840
Speaker 3: is like twenty five thirty five hundred dollars will grow

786
00:38:00,880 --> 00:38:03,759
Speaker 3: to somewhere between sixteen and twenty five thousand when the

787
00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,280
Speaker 3: child turns eighteen, which could be used to go to school,

788
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,960
Speaker 3: could be used for a house down payment, could be

789
00:38:09,040 --> 00:38:12,480
Speaker 3: used for a lot of different things. But the larger

790
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:16,520
Speaker 3: recreations talk, I think is one that we continue we

791
00:38:16,600 --> 00:38:19,759
Speaker 3: need to have because if you've done any sort of

792
00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:22,520
Speaker 3: racial equity training or know any history of this country,

793
00:38:23,360 --> 00:38:28,680
Speaker 3: wealth was system that systematically denied to black families and

794
00:38:28,760 --> 00:38:32,440
Speaker 3: other groups, but primarily and always there were other types

795
00:38:32,440 --> 00:38:35,440
Speaker 3: of discrimination against Asian Americans and white immigrants at some

796
00:38:35,520 --> 00:38:39,919
Speaker 3: point and other people, but the one constant Black people

797
00:38:39,960 --> 00:38:43,240
Speaker 3: were always excluded. You know, when you talk about redlining,

798
00:38:43,320 --> 00:38:46,239
Speaker 3: like where people were given loans to buy homes. There

799
00:38:46,239 --> 00:38:49,080
Speaker 3: were communities where Jewish folks were excluded and other types

800
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:52,080
Speaker 3: of white immigrants are excluded, but that eventually changed, but

801
00:38:52,320 --> 00:38:54,840
Speaker 3: always one hundred percent Black folks were excluded.

802
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:56,600
Speaker 2: And so yeah to this.

803
00:38:56,640 --> 00:38:58,759
Speaker 3: Day, and so you were talking about the appraisals, you

804
00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,279
Speaker 3: still have the legacy in that and effect. So I

805
00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:05,040
Speaker 3: think my personal view on reparations is that you got

806
00:39:05,040 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 3: to study it. There are some places. I have a

807
00:39:07,960 --> 00:39:10,880
Speaker 3: good friend who's a local elected official in Evanston, Illinois,

808
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:15,960
Speaker 3: the sister they were the first municipality, so Emiston, Illinois

809
00:39:16,000 --> 00:39:19,719
Speaker 3: was the first municipality to pass a local reparations where

810
00:39:19,760 --> 00:39:24,600
Speaker 3: they actually gave checks or you know, did the analysis

811
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:28,120
Speaker 3: and figured out how to give money to descendants of

812
00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:33,160
Speaker 3: enslaved people in Evanston. So California just had a big

813
00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:36,080
Speaker 3: study and a report that came out. There's a bill

814
00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,800
Speaker 3: that Corey Booker and others like you said, Anna Pressley

815
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:42,040
Speaker 3: had to try to do a similar type of commission

816
00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,520
Speaker 3: to look at the issue. I personally think there's a

817
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:47,480
Speaker 3: lot of ways to attack the racial wealth gap.

818
00:39:47,800 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 2: Baby bonds are one.

819
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,320
Speaker 3: Guaranteed income is another, child investments in childcare and education

820
00:39:52,480 --> 00:39:56,160
Speaker 3: or another. But there also is an argument for a

821
00:39:56,400 --> 00:40:01,200
Speaker 3: direct investment into communities, into individuals that have been historically

822
00:40:02,600 --> 00:40:04,400
Speaker 3: excluded from government.

823
00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:05,399
Speaker 2: You know, if you think.

824
00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:08,799
Speaker 3: About the GI Bill, the Homestead Act, you know, policies

825
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:15,440
Speaker 3: that gave certain veterans, certain white people, not black people

826
00:40:15,640 --> 00:40:16,759
Speaker 3: land for free.

827
00:40:17,000 --> 00:40:19,440
Speaker 2: Or houses for free, or education for free.

828
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,239
Speaker 3: You can't have and that's not that long agough, so

829
00:40:22,320 --> 00:40:25,719
Speaker 3: are these policies. So I think we absolutely need that conversation,

830
00:40:26,280 --> 00:40:28,200
Speaker 3: but we need to put it in the context of history.

831
00:40:28,239 --> 00:40:31,839
Speaker 3: That's why we're being told by Defantus and others right

832
00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:35,800
Speaker 3: now that slavery benefited us at of course it didn't,

833
00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:38,319
Speaker 3: and all these other crazy things, because they know if

834
00:40:38,360 --> 00:40:41,239
Speaker 3: you tell the real history that you can't come to

835
00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:43,680
Speaker 3: any other conclusion of that. You have to do something

836
00:40:43,719 --> 00:40:44,680
Speaker 3: about it to correct it.

837
00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,560
Speaker 1: So well, my last question to you is, so you're

838
00:40:48,640 --> 00:40:50,840
Speaker 1: running for Senate, So when does that When does that

839
00:40:50,880 --> 00:40:51,640
Speaker 1: election come up?

840
00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:56,080
Speaker 3: It's May fourteenth, twenty twenty four is the primary election,

841
00:40:56,239 --> 00:40:59,440
Speaker 3: and then November, the same time as the president. In Maryland,

842
00:40:59,440 --> 00:41:01,880
Speaker 3: we vote in May for the primary and then Novembers

843
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:04,040
Speaker 3: the general next year. It's about nine and a half months.

844
00:41:04,239 --> 00:41:05,960
Speaker 1: So what can people do if they hear this and

845
00:41:05,960 --> 00:41:08,160
Speaker 1: they're like, oh my gosh, I'm in California. Oh my gosh,

846
00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:12,000
Speaker 1: I'm I'm in Ohio. But I like wease talk about

847
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:14,239
Speaker 1: I want to support you know, like I have a

848
00:41:14,239 --> 00:41:15,960
Speaker 1: cousin that lives in Maryland. So certain that can make

849
00:41:16,000 --> 00:41:18,680
Speaker 1: a phone call. But how can people connect with you

850
00:41:18,920 --> 00:41:21,839
Speaker 1: and support you, you know, on this run if they

851
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:23,960
Speaker 1: feel aligned with your mission.

852
00:41:24,960 --> 00:41:28,520
Speaker 3: Yes, they can go to will Juando dot com, w

853
00:41:28,680 --> 00:41:30,640
Speaker 3: I L L J A w A N d O

854
00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:33,719
Speaker 3: dot com and they can sign up to donate there,

855
00:41:33,920 --> 00:41:36,840
Speaker 3: they can sign up to volunteer. They can see you

856
00:41:36,880 --> 00:41:39,520
Speaker 3: know what I'm about, read about me, and I'm just

857
00:41:39,600 --> 00:41:43,040
Speaker 3: at will Jowando on all social media. And like we

858
00:41:43,080 --> 00:41:45,719
Speaker 3: talked about earlier, there's one hundred US senators in this

859
00:41:45,760 --> 00:41:48,319
Speaker 3: country that vote on everything that affects everybody here. So

860
00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:52,040
Speaker 3: and there's not a lot of people that look and

861
00:41:52,080 --> 00:41:54,279
Speaker 3: have like me or have my experience. So I think

862
00:41:54,320 --> 00:41:55,800
Speaker 3: we need more of that in the Senate.

863
00:41:56,040 --> 00:41:58,160
Speaker 1: Ye, I think so too. Thank you so much, Will,

864
00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:00,719
Speaker 1: You're so awesome and honestly thank you're always being a

865
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:03,520
Speaker 1: good friend, but also for being truly a servant leader.

866
00:42:03,560 --> 00:42:05,520
Speaker 1: You don't see too many servant leaders. I mean, like

867
00:42:05,560 --> 00:42:07,239
Speaker 1: I said, you did that Wealth walk with us. They

868
00:42:07,320 --> 00:42:10,239
Speaker 1: loved it. You're here back again, and you know, you've

869
00:42:10,239 --> 00:42:12,840
Speaker 1: really committed your life to be in service to all people,

870
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:15,439
Speaker 1: but especially you know, carving out a space for black

871
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Speaker 1: and brown people to make sure we get seen, heard

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Speaker 1: and looked after.

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Speaker 3: So we thank you, thank you, and thank you for

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Speaker 3: doing the same thing. TIF Love you much, Love you too.