WEBVTT - Breaking Down the State of the Union Address 0:00:05.240 --> 0:00:07.240 What's that family is your girl to make a d 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:12.400 mallory and it's your boy, and we are your host 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:17.680 of street politicians the place with the streets and politics. Me. Well, 0:00:17.920 --> 0:00:21.919 today we are going to be talking about the state 0:00:21.960 --> 0:00:24.640 of the Union, addressing you know, we have two guests 0:00:24.640 --> 0:00:26.280 that's coming on, so we don't get to do all 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.440 of our usual chit chatting, even though I was gonna 0:00:29.680 --> 0:00:32.639 give you a little bit of my thoughts on some 0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.479 of the things you say on social media. But you know, 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.680 I'll give you that next week. But for this week, 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:41.360 because our guests are already here, I think we gotta 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:46.519 we gotta bring them on. I wanted a chat sise you. 0:00:46.560 --> 0:00:49.800 I was just gonna bring up something that I thought. 0:00:50.479 --> 0:00:53.519 But anyway, we're gonna have our guests to come on 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:55.280 and let's talk about the state. And we watched it 0:00:55.400 --> 0:00:58.800 yesterday and I figured that it would be best to 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:02.280 uh have some other folks come and give us a 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:09.520 balanced approach to our opinions of what President Biden said. Uh, 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:11.640 you know, I thought, you know, overall, there were some 0:01:11.720 --> 0:01:14.240 good things in the speech, but there's still a fundamental 0:01:14.280 --> 0:01:17.319 issue with policing. And you know, I'm pretty sure all 0:01:17.360 --> 0:01:20.600 of us agree on that, So let's bring the guests 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:29.240 in and get this show started. So friends, you know, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:32.120 we all how many of us have them friends, We 0:01:32.160 --> 0:01:37.560 have many our street politicians family. Uh. These two individuals though, 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:43.000 these are like friend friend friends. These our brothers. We 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:46.839 we we talk and debating, um, you know, and deal 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:50.440 with issues all the time. And I thought, after watching 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.160 as I just said, you know, after watching the State 0:01:53.200 --> 0:01:56.360 of the Union last evening, that you know, it helps 0:01:56.720 --> 0:02:00.080 have other people so we can talk about different respect this, 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:04.600 you know, and there's there there's you know, I can't 0:02:04.640 --> 0:02:07.280 sit here and say that I thought the whole thing 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.840 was just awful. No, I can't say that. You know, 0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:12.480 I thought there was some really really good points, but 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.400 as we just said, there's some fundamental issues still that 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.360 need to be addressed, and I'm not sure how we 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:22.720 get there. So I figured these two know how we 0:02:22.760 --> 0:02:25.400 get there. So let's let's just introduce him real quick. 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:27.280 And again, I mean, most people who knows, if you've 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.920 been following us, you know them. But Reverend Stephen Green, 0:02:30.360 --> 0:02:32.680 he is really he doesn't probably want to admit that 0:02:32.720 --> 0:02:35.480 he's one of my mentees, but he kind of kind 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.320 of me and Linda Uh. He's the past of St. 0:02:38.400 --> 0:02:42.639 Luke aam E Church in Harlem, Okay in Harlem, and 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.880 also the founder of Faith for Black Lives, which is 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.280 a major partner of Until Freedom. We do a lot 0:02:49.320 --> 0:02:51.560 of work together, so thank you for being on here. 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:54.000 Our good friend. It's a running joke that most of 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:56.160 our guests to our friends. People might not like that, 0:02:56.200 --> 0:02:57.800 but we got a lot of friends doing a lot 0:02:57.880 --> 0:03:00.640 of incredible things. And our other friends and then brother 0:03:01.200 --> 0:03:06.560 we just traveled with to Tyree Nichols service, Um funeral service. 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:08.679 I hate to even say that, and just have been, 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.280 you know, spending a lot of time with lately is 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:15.400 a former assembly member from New York State, Michael Blake. 0:03:16.120 --> 0:03:18.040 But he is so much more than that. He just 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:23.720 got a letter from President Obama. Appreciate celebrating there. When 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:27.000 the first caucus was in Iowa. Before that, people did 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:29.960 not think a black man named Obama could win and 0:03:30.000 --> 0:03:33.560 become president. And because Blake went to Iowa to live 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.160 with folks, I always say he's a white people whisperer 0:03:36.240 --> 0:03:39.000 because he went to Iowa to live among the white people. 0:03:39.040 --> 0:03:43.720 And somehow or another Obama one that President Obama won 0:03:43.840 --> 0:03:46.600 that Caucus, which started him on the trajectory to it's 0:03:46.600 --> 0:03:49.960 becoming the first black president of the United States. And 0:03:50.040 --> 0:03:54.080 now Blake is CEO of Atlas Strategy Group, which has 0:03:54.120 --> 0:03:57.120 been strategized in my life. Lord help us all. So 0:03:57.800 --> 0:04:02.080 thank you for being on Michael Blake and rapping Stephen Green. Hey, 0:04:02.320 --> 0:04:06.320 good to see you up though. Was good. So my brothers, 0:04:06.600 --> 0:04:08.080 you know how much I love you, and I know 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.800 I know y'all got some definitely have some thoughts. I 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:14.280 want you to both give what was your overall opinion 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:20.120 of the State of the Union. So sure, I um, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:22.960 I like you all. I watched the State of the 0:04:23.040 --> 0:04:25.920 Union and I was, you know, every year I am 0:04:26.720 --> 0:04:30.680 just drawn into the pageantry of the American Empire. Is 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:34.280 sort of like routine of having the president once a 0:04:34.360 --> 0:04:38.080 year to deliver a State of the Union address to 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:46.120 the UH Congress, and UH President Biden walked in, you know, strong, 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:49.320 like he had eating his wheaties like camp David was 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:53.400 good to him this past weekend, and he delivered, I think, 0:04:53.480 --> 0:04:56.040 for about an hour and a half, a very powerful 0:04:56.040 --> 0:05:00.520 address sort of acknowledging where this nation is has come 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:03.960 over this past year, recognizing that you know, how we have, 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.440 um you know, moving past in November election and really 0:05:07.520 --> 0:05:11.080 charting a pathway forward. Um I was. I was. I 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:16.040 was excited to hear how he articulated a vision of 0:05:16.400 --> 0:05:20.039 ideas that we would have probably never heard talked about 0:05:20.080 --> 0:05:21.680 from the President of United States of America, as the 0:05:21.760 --> 0:05:25.960 churches to UH expanding education to pre k too early 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:29.440 to two years of community college, and like having that 0:05:29.520 --> 0:05:32.159 fund and talking about insulent being that thirty five dollars 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:35.200 of being captured thirty five dollars, talking about how we're 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.640 gonna rebuild this nation as relates to infrastructure, so all 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:41.599 these things which which are to his credit as as 0:05:41.640 --> 0:05:43.920 a as a negotiator in chief, if you will, And 0:05:44.000 --> 0:05:46.760 someone who has served thirty years in the Senate, someone 0:05:46.760 --> 0:05:50.320 who's been in Washington for decades and eons, he knows 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:53.359 how to maneuver Washington, even to the point where when 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:56.800 he was being heckled and being chastised by the GOP 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.680 for talking about not cutting Medicare or Social Security, he 0:06:00.800 --> 0:06:03.320 backed them into a corner and tell them, so, okay, back, well, 0:06:03.320 --> 0:06:05.039 then you I know you all are not gonna do 0:06:05.120 --> 0:06:07.880 that then, So you know, I thought he was masterful. 0:06:07.920 --> 0:06:11.440 He was skillful UH and his approach, his methodology and 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:14.680 starting with the economy and then moving to UH the 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:17.800 social issues, if you will, was his strategy. But I 0:06:17.800 --> 0:06:20.159 think that's always been that strategy as it relates to 0:06:20.320 --> 0:06:23.080 like starting with the economy and working their way through society. 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.240 But I would have started with social issues because I 0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:27.440 think what's most important right now is the fact that 0:06:27.480 --> 0:06:31.120 this nation is so socially divided that we find ourselves 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.000 in this sort of chasm. And so I would have 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.119 started with Tyree Nichols. The fact that he made Tyree 0:06:35.200 --> 0:06:37.760 nichols mother and father sit through an hour and a 0:06:37.839 --> 0:06:40.919 half of him going back and forth Republicans until he 0:06:40.960 --> 0:06:43.320 decided to talk about that every black child should be 0:06:43.360 --> 0:06:46.080 able to return home like his children, and the talk. 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:48.080 I think it should have been at the forefront of 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.080 his conversation because that would have signaled to the nation 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.680 how important it was. Although I'm grateful he brought it 0:06:54.720 --> 0:06:57.400 into the conversation, I'm glad it was there, But I 0:06:57.440 --> 0:06:59.880 was waiting until I was looking at the clock, like, Okay, 0:06:59.880 --> 0:07:02.320 so when is he gonna talk about the reason why 0:07:02.360 --> 0:07:05.080 we're here? You know, the reason why this nation is 0:07:05.120 --> 0:07:09.120 still grappling with this original sin of racistem and how 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:12.480 we move beyond that. So overall, I give him a 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.120 great grade for effort. I give him and his administration 0:07:16.320 --> 0:07:19.440 a a a high regard for what they have done. 0:07:19.480 --> 0:07:22.560 The most significant legislation has been passed in Congress. He's 0:07:22.600 --> 0:07:24.080 done more in two years and some people have done 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:25.840 in two terms. So I do want to give him 0:07:25.840 --> 0:07:28.680 credit for that, but also recognizing that there are some 0:07:28.760 --> 0:07:30.760 gaps and there are some holes that I hope that 0:07:30.800 --> 0:07:32.720 we will be able to get begin to hold him 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.520 accountable and hold others accountable as well. First, I just 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.000 want to show on and and give y'all the roles 0:07:38.120 --> 0:07:40.600 y'all deserve, So to Tamaka and Mice for creating the 0:07:40.640 --> 0:07:43.800 space for us to have a space. So let's let's 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.960 just start there. Uh. And obviously, anytime I'm around Reverend Green, 0:07:48.000 --> 0:07:50.880 your heart feels good because he's doing the work. Uh 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:52.960 and showing the ministry goes beyond just what happens on 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.480 a Sunday. Uh. You know, I look, I can't. I 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.080 want to give quick context, like I was a part 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:02.480 of a team that had to State of the Unions 0:08:02.720 --> 0:08:04.640 when we're President Obama. And then of course you know, 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:06.440 we had the joint speech, because the first time a 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:08.480 president does the address, it's not a state of you 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:13.520 and in that manner. H And I've said this a 0:08:13.560 --> 0:08:15.440 lot over the last few months. I think it is 0:08:15.480 --> 0:08:20.240 hard to argue a president that has been more effective 0:08:20.880 --> 0:08:24.880 in their first two years then Joe Biden, arguably than 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:26.960 any president in the history of this country. I think 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.320 you could really make that argument when you look at 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:35.920 what he's done in the face of blatant racism, foolishness, 0:08:36.679 --> 0:08:39.720 obstruction is in every level, all the things that he said. 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:41.320 He's like, I'm gonna knock this out, and he did. 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:44.640 Then when you look at the speech to your question, mins, 0:08:46.200 --> 0:08:49.040 I can't remember a president ever talking about the talk 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:50.880 in a state of the ar And it would have 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.200 been easy for us to have that under President Obama. 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.680 But when you have let's call it as an older 0:08:56.720 --> 0:08:58.880 white man getting up there saying like, let's this is 0:08:58.880 --> 0:09:01.880 what's going down in these commune munties, it sends a 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:04.199 message and to say, not only are we gotta go 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:07.000 further than the George Foy Policing Act, but how do 0:09:07.040 --> 0:09:08.800 you have is Sheila Jackson Lee is now talking about 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.640 the Amendment around how do you protect and provide the 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:15.480 actual care to someone needs, but holding people accountable. But 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:17.560 I think look and and all of us do a 0:09:17.559 --> 0:09:24.800 lot of speeches. Here itself, the mastery of negotiating and 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:30.640 calling out foolishness in real time can't be ignored. A 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:37.679 sitting president fact checked opposition about Social Security and medicare 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:41.800 in real time on the most important speech you give 0:09:42.040 --> 0:09:46.120 in politics. This is effectively your super Bowl, right, It's 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.280 an hour where the country is watching. You called them 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:51.959 to the carpet, and now you got the video there. 0:09:52.360 --> 0:09:54.600 And I always think it's important for fact checks when 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:57.080 you have cats like Senator Mike Lee, who was like 0:09:57.120 --> 0:09:59.679 shaking his head and saying, no, this is ridiculous. Again 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:02.280 check the tapes. These are the same cats that we're 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.640 going back literally saying we need to get rid of 0:10:04.640 --> 0:10:06.240 social Security, we need to get rid of make all 0:10:06.280 --> 0:10:09.280 these things in this dynamics. So I think factually it 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.680 was an incredible speech. I think that there was obviously 0:10:11.720 --> 0:10:13.760 there's always room for growth, you know. I think we 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:16.319 gotta start leaning in to how do you put more 0:10:16.320 --> 0:10:19.320 pressure on the cities and states to start implementing parts 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.520 of the George Floyd Policing Act. As we're waiting for Congress, 0:10:23.120 --> 0:10:25.880 I think we've got to lean in more around how 0:10:25.880 --> 0:10:27.960 do you go further and closing the racial wealth gap 0:10:28.679 --> 0:10:31.440 and being real practical about that. Now, yes, unemployment is 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.719 a historic rates, but we still got black folks that 0:10:34.720 --> 0:10:37.319 are heard it right, Uh, And how do we lean 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.480 in there? And I think the third piece is how 0:10:40.480 --> 0:10:43.880 do we start giving guidance and education about what's coming 0:10:43.920 --> 0:10:46.760 around education? Uh? And that was an area where I 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:49.800 didn't think there was enough that occurred. June for the 0:10:49.840 --> 0:10:53.120 Supreme Court could be one of the darkest months in 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:54.880 the history of this country because I think a lot 0:10:54.920 --> 0:10:56.920 of people are anticipating in the forevunit of action and 0:10:57.000 --> 0:10:59.320 student loans are gonna go down. And I thought there 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:01.439 was an opportunit monity for the President to really lean 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.439 in about how he wants to see not just Congress, 0:11:04.440 --> 0:11:06.920 but his administration go go all in. So I think 0:11:06.920 --> 0:11:09.960 tying it all together to making Mice it was an 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.720 incredible speech, but I think more important to me was 0:11:13.760 --> 0:11:15.920 the mastery of the moment. Right. You know, Steve and 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:21.640 I do we preach a lot, right and exceptional preacher 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.080 can read the room and a sitting president who people 0:11:25.080 --> 0:11:29.160 will say is too old, not agile, can't flex literally, 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.800 was able to fact check his opponents in real time. 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:34.880 M So before I go, I wouldn't, I just want 0:11:34.920 --> 0:11:37.200 to say one more thing. First of all, I will 0:11:37.280 --> 0:11:40.400 say that this was probably one of the strongest speeches 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:43.199 that I've seen by it. I've that I've seen him 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:46.599 in his his presidency and just just speaking, you know 0:11:46.600 --> 0:11:49.360 what I'm saying. Um, But what I want to know is, 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.959 there's so many of our people who are jaded. All right, 0:11:53.000 --> 0:11:55.920 they thought it's another speech. Somebody cares about that, damn 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.679 he owe everybody talking. What do you think is gonna 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:04.160 tell to reinvigorate just the common folks in our community, 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.880 especially our young folks, who just don't believe anything that 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.480 comes out of anybody's mouth, especially because there's this there's 0:12:11.559 --> 0:12:15.720 this real strategy to discredit this the Democratic Party overall, 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:18.520 you know, and a lot of people point at Joe 0:12:18.559 --> 0:12:21.440 Biden's past and they pointed all these things. What do 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:25.040 you think it's gonna take to reinvigorate our youth and 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:28.880 our people to really have faith in this being more 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:32.240 than just words practical wins on the block that get 0:12:32.280 --> 0:12:36.480 message better, right, And I was step back, I'll just 0:12:36.520 --> 0:12:38.040 say this piece and then go to see right, like 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.160 the state of the unit, the framing and just even 0:12:41.200 --> 0:12:44.640 the name of it is him laying out how are 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.640 we doing as a country? Period? Like that's really the 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.440 frame of it. But I think in terms of the 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:52.040 success of this, we just got to get better of 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:55.600 of making it plain. Here's what's here are winds that 0:12:55.679 --> 0:12:59.000 happened to you and for you on the block and 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.360 being very direct around messaging around that. And we equally 0:13:03.440 --> 0:13:07.160 have to call out what this person is doing that 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:11.080 is hurting you right now, not some theoretical taxes down 0:13:11.080 --> 0:13:16.280 the line x percentages. This person is hurting you right now, period, 0:13:16.679 --> 0:13:19.040 point blank. This is why you got to vote them 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:20.960 out and or this person is helping you right now. 0:13:21.040 --> 0:13:22.760 This is why we got to protect them. But obviously 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:24.800 we're green has more. No, I want to echo that 0:13:24.880 --> 0:13:27.480 same sentiment. I mean, it's taking what happens in Washington 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:29.520 and putting it in Washington heights. Right. It's just like 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:32.160 taking the message as it relates to the child tax 0:13:32.200 --> 0:13:34.199 current and said you remember when you had that three 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:37.000 dollars per child, right, and that is no longer, and 0:13:37.040 --> 0:13:40.280 when people felt that, you know, in their bank accounts, 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.160 when they felt that that impact of that policy and 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:46.160 in their in their own local experiences and their own 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:49.120 personal experience, I think we see in effect and bringing 0:13:49.120 --> 0:13:51.040 the message. And I think that's what this administration has 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.319 focused on for the next two years, especially with a 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.880 divided Congress. It's getting out of Washington, like taking it 0:13:56.960 --> 0:14:00.280 to the streets, engaging in conversations they should be holding 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:04.199 community town halls and and in states that they know 0:14:04.800 --> 0:14:08.200 that are in play in four and talking about the 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:11.080 Supreme Court not only will it be around affirmative action 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.760 and around UH student loans, but also as relates to 0:14:13.800 --> 0:14:19.360 the state legislators being able to decide around the electoral 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:21.680 college or or around UM you know, as relates to 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:27.280 determinating the votes for presidential election. So, like the democracy piece, 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:30.000 he mentioned a little bit about that as relates towards 0:14:30.040 --> 0:14:32.840 his end of his messages relates to January six, did 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:34.480 not talk about how the fact that we have that 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:36.720 Marrit Garland, who sitting right in front of him, has 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:39.880 failed to hold those who are responsible for organizing the 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:43.240 attack on our democracy accountable. And I think that is 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:45.760 where like there needs to be some emphasis, like we're 0:14:45.800 --> 0:14:49.520 gonna have to apply some people pressure to the places 0:14:49.560 --> 0:14:52.760 where that the president, you know, gave grace in ways 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:55.520 that we as as citizens of this country cannot afford 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.480 to give grace because of the reality of what is 0:14:58.720 --> 0:15:01.440 still taking place to cur an insurrection that is still 0:15:01.480 --> 0:15:04.160 taking place with Margie Taylor Green was whether George Santels 0:15:04.200 --> 0:15:06.160 of New York it was in the middle of the 0:15:06.200 --> 0:15:10.200 a shaking hands with people and has ethics investigations occurring 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.840 right now, like we got our democracy is at state 0:15:13.120 --> 0:15:16.480 and but for black folks, democracy has been a translucent 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:18.520 word has been it's it's been trying. We've been trying 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.240 to figure out for four hundred years what that word 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.640 democracy really means, right, Like what does it mean? I 0:15:23.640 --> 0:15:25.440 guess I'll say for the last two hundred and fifty years, 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:28.920 because American democracy started around seventeen seventy six, one with 0:15:28.960 --> 0:15:31.560 alleged but one would even suggested start in eighteen sixty three, 0:15:31.640 --> 0:15:33.800 you know what I mean, or eighteen sixty five, So 0:15:33.840 --> 0:15:36.760 we're still trying to figure out what the hell democracy means, 0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:41.080 you know, and some some would just someone would suggest 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:45.000 that we've never realized democracy, um, and that they're still 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.840 very very long way to go. Let me be the 0:15:47.880 --> 0:15:50.600 one to push us here, right, and you know, and 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.160 and again I just I want to be clear because 0:15:53.320 --> 0:15:56.760 one of the challenges that some people have with me 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.480 is that they want me to be just like super 0:15:59.600 --> 0:16:02.080 radical will just throw the baby out with the bath water. 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:06.320 It was terrible, He's horrible and every tyree Nichols just happened. 0:16:06.680 --> 0:16:10.760 And so therefore damn everything they say. Right. And some 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:12.640 days I wake up like that, and I have to 0:16:12.680 --> 0:16:16.240 call certain people like you, Blake and others. Sometimes Stephen 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:20.000 don't help me. He gets well be together saying hell 0:16:20.120 --> 0:16:23.760 with everything you know, um. And but you know, we 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:26.680 we've been able to. I have matured in my understanding 0:16:26.800 --> 0:16:31.880 of what not even just politics, of what um a 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:38.120 president has to negotiate, right. It is a big job, right, 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.720 And when you're in certain spaces, in certain rooms. And 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:43.640 this is the thing that I found out, not not 0:16:43.720 --> 0:16:46.240 so much that I found out, but that I came 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:53.880 to understand better recently. How we are always at we 0:16:53.960 --> 0:16:57.040 are always at state. Wait, we are always in danger. 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:02.480 Excuse me of losing local c eats when there are 0:17:02.520 --> 0:17:08.920 different things happening federally that impact congressional members and others. So, 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:12.639 for instance, the President starts talking about George boy Justice 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.800 and police and Act, and then you have local senator 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:20.199 or local congressional member who lives in some town that 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:23.760 starts having issues because if you if you support that, 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.800 then you're not with your police department, your fire department, 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:30.040 and your unions or whatever, and it starts to create issues. 0:17:30.080 --> 0:17:34.160 So you're trying to constantly negotiate as the president all 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:38.360 of these different things. Most people don't know, nor do 0:17:38.440 --> 0:17:41.439 they care. What they want to see is how do 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.600 you stop Tyree Nichols from being shot? And or it's 0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:48.760 not shot, beat to death, right and all the other cases. 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.679 That's what they that's what they're interested in. They're not interested. 0:17:51.800 --> 0:17:55.639 It's like you and me telling our parents, well, and 0:17:55.680 --> 0:17:57.720 I know both of your mama's so y'all and y'all 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:01.320 know mine, trying to explain the reasons why you failed. 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:04.320 It's not it just don't. It doesn't work, you know, 0:18:04.320 --> 0:18:09.040 because I already know Mama Hillary Michael Blake can't explain 0:18:09.440 --> 0:18:13.480 to her. Well, then I was trying to sleep and then, 0:18:13.640 --> 0:18:16.000 you know, but then while I was sleeping, there was 0:18:16.040 --> 0:18:18.600 some loud music, and then this happened, and I tried 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:20.680 to get the music off, and then I couldn't get 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:22.399 back to sleep, and I drunk the tea. I drunk 0:18:22.400 --> 0:18:24.439 the wrong tea and this tea had the caffeine, and 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:27.480 so it kept me up later. Like I get your story, 0:18:27.720 --> 0:18:31.120 I hear you. But the bottom line is Tyree Nichols 0:18:31.160 --> 0:18:35.120 is still dead and he is not alone. The camera 0:18:35.200 --> 0:18:39.440 footage is the only thing that allows us to see 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.479 what happened to him and understand it clearly. But there's 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:47.239 Ray Ray and Pooky and t T and Kesha and 0:18:47.359 --> 0:18:50.760 others who are in hospital rooms right now that have 0:18:50.840 --> 0:18:54.040 been beating the same way. And a Vice President Harris 0:18:54.080 --> 0:18:57.400 will never be at their funeral, their bedside or any 0:18:57.480 --> 0:18:59.679 of that, and people are trying to understand it. So 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.320 I'm put that out there and then we're gonna talk 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.960 about this piece. What I appreciated was that he used 0:19:06.960 --> 0:19:10.760 the word accountability. You said that. I think earlier, Michael, 0:19:11.119 --> 0:19:14.120 he used the word accountability. I think that is a 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.879 point that has to be drilled down on every time 0:19:17.920 --> 0:19:21.040 we hear from the president on this issue, and even 0:19:21.080 --> 0:19:24.000 at times when they're just bringing it up accountability, because 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.760 that's all we've been talking about. We have been talking 0:19:26.760 --> 0:19:30.800 about hating police. We haven't been talking about abolition, although 0:19:30.880 --> 0:19:32.920 some of us do believe that one day we could 0:19:32.960 --> 0:19:35.480 get to a space where we don't need policing as 0:19:35.520 --> 0:19:39.120 it currently stands, and we do need true public safety 0:19:39.200 --> 0:19:42.199 that includes the people, right we all we we but 0:19:42.240 --> 0:19:45.400 we're not talking about that right now. We're talking about swift, 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:51.200 strong accountability in these instances. So he did say that, 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.000 but he said one thing that I am tired of hearing, 0:19:55.240 --> 0:19:58.040 and I think this It is a and this is 0:19:58.080 --> 0:20:00.240 what I want you guys to lean in on. This 0:20:00.320 --> 0:20:04.280 is a in my judgment, it has almost become a 0:20:04.320 --> 0:20:08.480 trope for black folks to hear you say we need 0:20:08.520 --> 0:20:13.240 better training. Training. To me, sounds like what you're saying 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:15.639 is this is the route that we're gonna use to 0:20:15.720 --> 0:20:19.360 give more money to police. How this is my question. 0:20:19.720 --> 0:20:22.760 I want both of you out of answer this. How 0:20:22.800 --> 0:20:26.359 can you fund the police? And I said all of 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:29.679 that stuff, I went through negotiation and all of that 0:20:29.800 --> 0:20:32.639 so people will know that we're not ignorant, we understand, 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:39.000 but how do you fund the police? The CBC most 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:42.959 of them voted to get more funding to police just 0:20:43.000 --> 0:20:46.520 a few months ago. They do not have the proper 0:20:46.880 --> 0:20:51.919 accountability measures in the new bills, so money is going 0:20:52.200 --> 0:20:56.520 with sometimes the same policies in place. And then stand 0:20:56.600 --> 0:20:59.560 up and say, we've got to end the issue of 0:20:59.640 --> 0:21:03.680 police seeing of of of corrupt policing and abusive policing 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:06.720 and the violation of civil rights. How do people reconcile that. 0:21:06.720 --> 0:21:10.000 I'm gonna ask you, Blake, you go first, tell me 0:21:10.040 --> 0:21:12.879 what you what are you telling Miss Laura who's asking 0:21:12.920 --> 0:21:16.359 this question in Alabama somewhere where her where her chief 0:21:16.880 --> 0:21:22.439 police chief is literally engaged in like sexual misconduct and 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:29.040 they know about it and nobody's doing anything. So today, uh, 0:21:29.480 --> 0:21:31.960 being the day after State of the Union, my my 0:21:32.080 --> 0:21:37.600 afternoon was spent. I do a weekly conversation called Cairos Conversations, 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:43.199 and the speaker was Pam Walker, the mother of Jalen Walker, 0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:49.720 who has been known acron Ohio uh more than sixty 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.639 shots out more than but forty six. We actually hit 0:21:53.720 --> 0:21:58.680 him right itself. Right, So in that manner um, the 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:00.879 and and and I'm going to answer your question, I 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:02.840 want to give this quick context here, right, so you 0:22:02.920 --> 0:22:06.800 have that dynamic to the other families who were there yesterday, 0:22:06.960 --> 0:22:09.159 um as she sat in the box and the meetings 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:11.040