WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 112820 ft. Ramses Ja and Q. Ward 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:03.720 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'man host, Ramsey's Josh. 0:00:03.720 --> 0:00:05.840 They called me q Ward and that just so happens 0:00:05.840 --> 0:00:09.920 to be my name everything in the world. Man, I've 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:11.879 been wanting to do the show for a while. A 0:00:11.920 --> 0:00:17.320 lot of folks don't know as much about the black 0:00:17.360 --> 0:00:20.520 experience as they would like to a lot of folks 0:00:20.640 --> 0:00:23.599 don't know as much about black leadership as they would 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:27.360 like to. You know, they get a concentrated shot every 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.120 year of the same information over and over again in 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:35.160 February about MLK, A little bit of Frederick Douglas. 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.040 A little bit of Rosa Parks. I think that's kind 0:00:38.040 --> 0:00:38.239 of it. 0:00:38.360 --> 0:00:39.599 Yeah, that's that's that's pretty much. 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:41.600 They don't even throw brother Malcolm in there. Yeah. 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.280 Yeah, because and I'm glad you said that. And I 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:48.440 think that that has to do with the fact that 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:58.240 there is a I believe a what's the word fear 0:00:58.320 --> 0:01:02.360 is not the right word, But Malcolm X is a 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:06.760 little bit more difficult for some folks to digest than 0:01:07.000 --> 0:01:10.600 is Martin Luther King doctor correct. And the reason is 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:21.679 because he had a more militant mindset, a more aggressive approach, 0:01:22.720 --> 0:01:28.440 and he was very much by any means necessary. In fact, 0:01:28.840 --> 0:01:31.800 Malcolm X is known for that that. 0:01:31.840 --> 0:01:34.640 Statement made a lot of people uncomfortable. 0:01:34.160 --> 0:01:41.479 Exactly very good. Whereas Doctor King was he had a softer, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.720 gentler approach, and it made it a little bit easier 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:49.280 for folks to process that they didn't have to deal 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:52.040 with it and also deal with their own fears and 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:54.960 insecurities at the same time. They could just say, well, 0:01:55.840 --> 0:01:59.440 instead of dealing with Malcolm X, we'll just deal with 0:01:59.480 --> 0:02:03.080 Doctor King because he seems like he's going to cause 0:02:03.160 --> 0:02:05.480 less trouble. You know, there's going to be less interference 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.880 with what it is that is sort of the established 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:14.119 status quo. And you know, I've read about that that 0:02:15.080 --> 0:02:19.880 Malcolm X was necessary for Doctor King to advance the 0:02:20.000 --> 0:02:24.600 civil rights agenda, and so you know, obviously they're both 0:02:24.639 --> 0:02:30.079 heroes necessary in what way necessary, so that there was 0:02:30.120 --> 0:02:34.320 an alternative, a worse alternative to dealing with Doctor King, 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:37.359 Like you can negotiate with Doctor King through doctor Doctor 0:02:37.440 --> 0:02:42.240 King and and reach you know, black folks and and 0:02:42.440 --> 0:02:47.679 understand the black community's grievances, and that would be preferable 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:53.400 than doing so through Malcolm X. Because Malcolm X was 0:02:53.520 --> 0:03:00.960 very much again a more militant mind and had the 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:06.320 ear of the people, Black people especially, And when you're 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:09.799 dealing with folks who are of the same faith, read 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:13.200 from the same text, you know, Doctor King, it's kind 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:16.200 of like the devil, you know. Whereas with Malcolm X, 0:03:16.520 --> 0:03:20.800 and you know, these are religious folks following Malcolm X's leadership, 0:03:21.120 --> 0:03:22.880 that's sort of like the devil, you don't because it's 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:26.040 historically a lot of positions of power been held by 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:28.240 Christian folks in this country. So Doctor King just kind 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.480 of felt safer. But the reason that I wanted to 0:03:32.480 --> 0:03:38.800 do this episode is because I think that, and forgive 0:03:38.840 --> 0:03:44.080 the expression, I think that history has very much whitewashed 0:03:44.840 --> 0:03:48.760 a lot of what Doctor King actually stood for. That's 0:03:48.800 --> 0:03:52.080 A and then B some of the things that Doctor 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:57.160 King did say. I believe that as his time in 0:03:57.200 --> 0:03:59.760 the spotlight and it's his time as a leader kind 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:05.880 of grew, he was able to learn more, gain more perspective, 0:04:06.560 --> 0:04:09.600 and toward the end of his life was able to 0:04:10.280 --> 0:04:13.360 decide that there were other factors that we're having in 0:04:14.520 --> 0:04:18.960 an adverse effect on the black community, sort of an 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:23.200 invisible ripple effect that was affecting the black community. He 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:29.119 began to really oppose the war. He began to really 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:35.880 uh kind of go after like economic the economics part 0:04:35.920 --> 0:04:39.400 of the equation as opposed to like, you know, can 0:04:39.440 --> 0:04:41.640 we sit down and share a meal at the same 0:04:41.720 --> 0:04:43.760 lunch counter, Can we use the same bathrooms, the same 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.279 water fountain. It became to it got to the point 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:50.760 where it's like, Okay, we need some economic equity. We 0:04:50.839 --> 0:04:58.640 need some we need an equitable a position, something where 0:04:58.640 --> 0:05:01.640 we can really advance our own and be self determined 0:05:01.640 --> 0:05:07.200 and not be reliant upon you know, this country in 0:05:07.279 --> 0:05:09.200 the way that we've been made to rely on this 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:15.000 country for you know, everything and so forth. So I 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.640 think that in order to honor the legacy of doctor 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:23.600 King and I know that you know, we're going to 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:27.680 celebrate that coming soon. And also real quick, while I'm here, 0:05:27.680 --> 0:05:29.560 I want to give a shout out to doctor Kimilla Westenberg. 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:34.600 She is at present still organizing the MLKAU celebration this year. 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.080 It's virtual and we will have all that information up 0:05:37.080 --> 0:05:39.120 on the website civicside for dot com. We'd love for 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.279 you to take part in that. It's a very insightful 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:44.920 and informative event that takes place every year. But also 0:05:44.960 --> 0:05:47.080 I wanted to take some time to review some of 0:05:47.080 --> 0:05:50.640 the things that MLK said and just kind of let 0:05:50.680 --> 0:05:53.800 them diffuse into the community so that folks know that 0:05:55.000 --> 0:06:00.880 this wasn't just a non violent, peaceful, you know, protester. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:02.840 This was a man who was a great thinker and 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:06.279 someone that was able to touch on many things that 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:08.960 still affect the black community today. But unfortunately he was 0:06:09.320 --> 0:06:12.320 assassinated before he got to the point where he was 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.000 able to really get that off and show folks that 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:17.200 a lot of the ideas that we're dealing with right 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:19.840 now are not new. In fact, some of them were 0:06:19.960 --> 0:06:22.720 very much pronounced during the time of doctor King, some 0:06:22.800 --> 0:06:27.880 even reflected in some of his words. And so again 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:29.760 I thought that was important because a lot of times 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:33.120 folks will say to, you know, people on the streets 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:36.280 that are protesting, or people that you know, have a 0:06:36.400 --> 0:06:44.039 very charged way of describing their reality. Black folks, you know, 0:06:44.279 --> 0:06:46.920 on the other side, you know, whatever their opposition is. 0:06:46.960 --> 0:06:48.640 A lot of times folks like to point to doctor 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:52.799 King and say, well, doctor King was nonviolent, and therefore, 0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:54.120 you know. 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:57.200 I think they mistake that for him being a passivist 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:58.560 exactly exactly. 0:06:58.600 --> 0:07:00.440 And again I thought that it was necessity sary for 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:05.320 us to have this conversation. One of the things that 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:13.960 has been touted more recently is his statement that a 0:07:14.120 --> 0:07:18.000 riot is the language of the unheard. And I think 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.840 that that's a profound statement and a lot of folks 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.920 who don't know this, But some of the protests that 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:32.240 Doctor King to pardon or organized, they had some folks 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:34.920 in there that would act up. And when those folks 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:39.520 acted up, you know, that gave the authorities and police 0:07:39.560 --> 0:07:42.120 and so forth license to get in there and use 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:44.720 the water hoses and the dogs and all that sort 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:46.880 of stuff. If you see this old footage, I don't 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:49.680 want you to think that a water hose is going 0:07:49.760 --> 0:07:51.960 up against a water hose like that is easy. You know, 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:53.360 it's like, oh, he got spray with some water, he's 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:56.800 wedd He's fine. No, those things hurt anyway. 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:01.760 Law enforcement also didn't always wait for sure those people 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:04.280 to act up and give them license. They showed up 0:08:04.280 --> 0:08:06.960 a lot of times ready to ready for that. Yeah, 0:08:07.000 --> 0:08:08.560 and we've seen that and would. 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.360 Create that excuse even if it didn't exist. 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.680 And we've seen that in more recent protests too, and 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.160 e Cancide examples. But you know, Google's there if you 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.320 want to look at that. I remember one example that 0:08:20.360 --> 0:08:23.480 comes to mind is the police officer that broke out 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:27.440 the windows in the AutoZone And I forget what city 0:08:27.480 --> 0:08:29.760 it is, but if you look up police officer breaks 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:33.400 windows at AutoZone, you'll be able to see the officer 0:08:34.000 --> 0:08:36.880 doing that to instigate the riot. And so that, yeah, 0:08:36.880 --> 0:08:42.160 you're absolutely right, that's something that's happened as well. But yeah, 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:44.760 in the uh, in the past, there were some people 0:08:44.800 --> 0:08:49.760 that would you know, act up and uh, you know, 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.839 folks don't that that part hasn't translated. I think a 0:08:54.880 --> 0:08:57.000 lot of people have this idea that everything Doctor King 0:08:57.040 --> 0:09:00.360 took part of was super peaceful. Everybody showed up, they prayed, 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:07.120 and then they went home. But this statement that he 0:09:07.240 --> 0:09:11.600 made that a riot is the language of the unheard 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:17.880 is profound because not only does it reflect that during 0:09:17.920 --> 0:09:20.400 his time there were riots and there was you know, 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:24.920 people that were lashing out in a physical manner to 0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:31.240 challenge authority, the status quo, etc. But it also reflects 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.640 the hopelessness that a lot of people experience. You have 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:38.080 to think that before people take to the streets, they've 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:42.440 already had to live through whatever it is that they've 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.600 lived through, and it's likely that they've also gone through 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:50.680 all of the proper channels to try to suggest some 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.319 sort of alternative or you know, air out their grievances 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:56.839 or get someone to remedy an issue that they're dealing with. 0:09:57.320 --> 0:09:59.839 And then after living through it and after going through 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:02.840 the proper channels, you know, these things sometimes can take years. 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:07.160 Oftentimes they do. Then they take to the streets to protest, 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:09.120 to show that there are many of us, and we 0:10:09.160 --> 0:10:11.960 are going to protest, and we're going to stand in solidarity, 0:10:11.960 --> 0:10:14.320 and we are going to challenge. We're going to show 0:10:14.600 --> 0:10:17.880 that we are all committed to this cause. And then 0:10:18.160 --> 0:10:21.160 if that happens, and it happens again and again and again, 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:24.439 and there's no progress, there's no forward, you know, progression. 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.679 You know, absolutely there can be a lot of hopelessness 0:10:28.720 --> 0:10:30.280 in a group like that. You know, when you get 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.600 out there and you listen to someone talking someone again, 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:35.960 you know, in the in the more recent protest that 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.440 I've taken part in, I've heard, of course, mothers that 0:10:41.880 --> 0:10:45.800 had to bury their children at you know, the hands 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:52.520 of injustice one way or another. And that sadness and 0:10:52.600 --> 0:10:55.640 that that hopelessness is something that permeates. It translates to 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.040 the crowd. Because we're all human beings. We have we 0:10:58.120 --> 0:11:01.120 have the capacity, if we're healthy mental, to empathize with 0:11:01.160 --> 0:11:03.880 each other. This is what kind of helps us survive 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:11.800 as a species. And so that that hopelessness and that 0:11:11.840 --> 0:11:17.200 feeling that no one's listening is something that is not new. 0:11:18.600 --> 0:11:23.960 I recall having gone to Scottsdale during one of the 0:11:23.960 --> 0:11:28.600 protests that was out here that immediately turned into eluding. 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:31.760 Admittedly you know I have you know, and it was 0:11:31.800 --> 0:11:34.079 all children. There are all kids at the at the 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:38.520 Scottsdale Fashion Square. And again there's articles about what I'm 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:40.560 talking about now too, if you care to look them up. 0:11:40.559 --> 0:11:42.240 Scotts Stale Fashion Square is the name of the mall. 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:44.839 I was there that day. I just happened to be 0:11:44.920 --> 0:11:48.640 driving by to check on my son who lived across 0:11:48.640 --> 0:11:51.000 the street from the mall, just make sure everything was okay, 0:11:51.240 --> 0:11:53.520 see if you needed to come back with me. And 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:57.080 I saw so many police and then I saw kids, 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.040 and you know, I know what kids look like. They 0:11:59.080 --> 0:12:00.960 don't dress the same, they don't walk the same, they 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:04.240 don't look the same as you know, your normal black 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:07.520 block dressed you know protesters that were in downtown Phoenix. 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:13.720 These were kids, and to me at thirty eight years old, 0:12:15.440 --> 0:12:18.280 that's a very scary thing to see police and children 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:21.000 because the police don't see children the way I do, 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.080 especially if they're children of color. You know, they see threats. 0:12:26.440 --> 0:12:29.559 I was going to suggest that not only do they 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.000 not see them the way you do, they don't see 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:35.400 them as children. Yeah, they just see them as threats, 0:12:35.480 --> 0:12:37.960 especially when they look like us exactly. 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:44.680 And make no mistake, there was probably we'll say maybe 0:12:44.800 --> 0:12:49.560 thirty forty percent of them were children of color, maybe 0:12:49.640 --> 0:12:52.160 ten percent of them were black. You know, this is 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.319 this is in Scottsdale, Arizona. There's not a lot of 0:12:55.280 --> 0:12:59.720 melanated folks out there, majority white children. Based on what 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:04.880 I say saw with these eyes, but I still recognize 0:13:04.920 --> 0:13:09.160 that those two don't mix, and so I offered. As 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:12.440 I was driving, I saw some folks that were walking 0:13:12.480 --> 0:13:14.960 away from the mall, and I'm like, hey, you know, 0:13:15.040 --> 0:13:17.400 I'm thinking in my brain, there's police around that corner. 0:13:18.000 --> 0:13:20.120 And if they see you walking and you're carrying whatever 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:22.520 you're carrying, they're gonna think that you got it from 0:13:22.520 --> 0:13:24.160 the mall, whether you did or you didn't. That is 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:26.599 not up to me. I see a human being. I 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:28.640 see a child that still has to grow up, you know. 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.400 And when I say child seventeen is a child to me, 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:32.599 nineteen is a child to me. 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.679 You know, it's definitely not a child to them. 0:13:36.600 --> 0:13:41.319 Right, you understand. But I'm like, hey, if you guys 0:13:41.360 --> 0:13:43.640 need a ride to your car, I can help you out. 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:45.000 You can hop in, I'll take you wherever you want 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:46.679 to go. I just don't want you walking past these 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.760 people because you know, I don't know what they're prepared 0:13:49.800 --> 0:13:51.800 to do, and they're just around the corner waiting. I 0:13:52.000 --> 0:13:54.320 just came from there, and it ended up being the 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.120 case that I was able to help quite a few 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:57.880 of them get to where they were going as they 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:02.520 were walking. And I remember listening to one conversation in 0:14:02.559 --> 0:14:10.520 the backseat of the truck where one of the kids says, yeah, 0:14:10.600 --> 0:14:15.880 maybe now they'll listen to us, right now that we've 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.320 we've dealt with them on an economic level. You know, 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:22.280 they don't. They don't really listen when we're saying that 0:14:22.320 --> 0:14:24.240 we're afraid of the police. They don't listen when we're 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:26.440 you know, they obviously the person didn't go into detail 0:14:26.520 --> 0:14:28.840 like this. But what I gathered from that statement was that, 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.600 you know, every conversation that they had had to that 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:35.800 point had fallen on deaf ears, you know, as a group. 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:38.840 He was not speaking for himself because he said, now 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.800 they'll listen to us. And I thought to myself that, 0:14:42.200 --> 0:14:46.200 you know, you know, maybe you're right again. I'm not 0:14:46.280 --> 0:14:48.320 the judge, I'm not the police. I'm not I'm a 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.840 human being recognized that there are human beings that if 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:52.840 they turned the corner they might get their head split shot. 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:57.240 Who knows. But I again back to my point, I 0:14:57.280 --> 0:15:02.200 think that that statement by doctor King that you know, 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:07.080 a riot is you know, the language of the unheard. 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.200 I think it really has manifested itself in my life, 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:14.040 and I've seen examples of that in my immediate surroundings, 0:15:14.040 --> 0:15:17.600 where you know, I think that it's just worth mentioning. 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:24.720 So that's one thing that doctor King said that doesn't 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:27.200 get brought up enough, even though it's been brought up recently, 0:15:27.200 --> 0:15:30.040 it doesn't get brought up enough because again, people, I 0:15:30.080 --> 0:15:34.880 think there's this idea that all black people need to 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.160 be like doctor King and then all their problems will 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.840 go away, you know, and Obviously, if you're listening to 0:15:39.840 --> 0:15:42.600 my voice, maybe this is not a sentiment that you know. 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:46.520 Maybe you're not that shortsighted. But there may be people 0:15:46.560 --> 0:15:48.680 in your in your life and your immediate family that 0:15:48.760 --> 0:15:52.920 think that black people's problems are just their own problems, 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:56.200 and admittedly some problems are black folks to deal with. 0:15:56.280 --> 0:15:59.600 Stop acting black ramses and you'll be fine, do you understand? 0:16:00.240 --> 0:16:02.960 And then the example, unfortunately, is that if you act 0:16:03.000 --> 0:16:08.120 like doctor King or some black person that reflects their worldview, 0:16:09.040 --> 0:16:13.080 that somehow things will be better for you. And it's 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.120 just it's very unfair and very shortsighted. And so again 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:22.840 this conversation is necessary another such statement, and I want 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:29.760 to get your thoughts on this Q. However difficult it 0:16:29.800 --> 0:16:34.080 is to hear, however shocking it is to hear. We've 0:16:34.120 --> 0:16:37.400 got to face the fact that America is a racist country. 0:16:39.280 --> 0:16:43.240 I was said by doctor Martin Luther King Jr. 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:49.080 What do you think I think that when you use 0:16:49.280 --> 0:16:52.520 Martin Luther King Jr. As the reference or even the 0:16:52.640 --> 0:16:55.600 vehicle for that statement. As long as I can look 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.920 at that statement as having been made fifty years ago 0:17:01.400 --> 0:17:05.000 as a person, as a member of the group that 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:10.000 benefits most from racism. It's always easier to look at 0:17:10.040 --> 0:17:16.000 it as a really, really difficult blemish on our countries, 0:17:16.040 --> 0:17:20.919 beautiful on our countries, otherwise beautiful resume, but as a 0:17:20.960 --> 0:17:27.159 blemish from yesteryear. Then they're very I won't say very. 0:17:27.640 --> 0:17:32.400 People tend to be more comfortable and can reconcile easier 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:35.680 when they speak about racism as something that used to 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:44.520 be a problem in America. Racism from the past, sure, contemporary. 0:17:45.080 --> 0:17:48.600 Now you're pushing it. You might even be tripping. It 0:17:48.680 --> 0:17:54.159 might even be your imagination, right if you just and 0:17:54.160 --> 0:17:57.360 then there's a laundry list of things that they say. Comply, 0:17:58.560 --> 0:18:02.320 act right, be respect, will be polite, don't do anything wrong, 0:18:02.680 --> 0:18:08.119 you'll be fine. In our country's lack of ability to 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:16.760 properly reconcile, straightforwardly apologize and straightforwardly tried to correct its 0:18:16.800 --> 0:18:20.560 original sin is why it has no chance of going 0:18:20.560 --> 0:18:21.399 away at any point. 0:18:22.000 --> 0:18:25.959 If you think about apartheid in South Africa, South Africa 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:30.000 had to say, man, we was tripping, and of course 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:32.639 not in those words, right, but South Africa had to 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:37.040 face itself and say, these are all the things that 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.880 we did wrong to you, to you, to you. 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:44.240 And then South Africa as a country could self heal 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:48.360 and self repair, but they couldn't deny what was going 0:18:48.400 --> 0:18:49.760 on and think that there was going to be any 0:18:49.800 --> 0:18:58.640 progress made. Our biggest issue is that denying the original sin, 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:04.560 and even those that accept it pretending like it's something 0:19:04.600 --> 0:19:08.399 that happened to our great grandparents and not something that 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:10.000 still happens to our children. 0:19:10.840 --> 0:19:15.000 Watch this. So I was reading an article the other 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:21.280 day about a woman named Ruby Bridges, and I think 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.359 I got the name right. But Ruby Bridges was the 0:19:25.440 --> 0:19:31.920 little girl that had to be escorted to school by 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:36.399 the National Guard, then the National Guard of the Secret Service, and. 0:19:36.440 --> 0:19:39.480 They segregated her school desegregators school. 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:46.640 Now Ruby Bridges is alive and well, still breathing air 0:19:46.720 --> 0:19:48.680 on this planet. She's in her seventies. 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:50.920 No, that had to be one hundred years ago. 0:19:51.000 --> 0:19:54.600 Right now she is a live and well, it's probably 0:19:54.640 --> 0:19:59.080 gonna have Thanksgiving, you know, or Christmas or whatever comes next. 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:05.800 So again to your point that you know America, you know, 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:09.600 doctor King says it is a racist country, and you 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:14.679 know we're still dealing with that. Again, I think that 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:17.680 the fact that there are people like Ruby Bridges, I 0:20:17.760 --> 0:20:20.240 mentioned doctor Camilla Westenberg earlier, she came on the show 0:20:20.280 --> 0:20:23.520 before and she told a story. I'll never forget it. 0:20:23.720 --> 0:20:26.119 I listened in real time on the air as she 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:29.040 told me the story. She said that when she was 0:20:29.080 --> 0:20:32.800 a little girl, she could not drink from water fountains, 0:20:32.840 --> 0:20:35.359 she could not use the bathroom, certain restaurants she could 0:20:35.359 --> 0:20:39.119 not go into, and it was normal. She said, she 0:20:39.160 --> 0:20:41.960 could not try on hats, God forbid, shoes to see 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:47.920 if they fit. And the kicker, she's still alive. I 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:49.720 love her with all my heart. Talked her on the 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:51.120 phone two or three times a week. 0:20:51.320 --> 0:20:54.119 Yeah, I mean it gets personal. 0:20:54.440 --> 0:20:56.800 Yeah, And this is what she said, And this is 0:20:56.840 --> 0:21:00.359 something that's perhaps the most personal thing of all. She said, 0:21:01.840 --> 0:21:04.120 when her and her family would go on road trips, 0:21:04.960 --> 0:21:08.280 they had to carry like a like a bucket with 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.080 them in the car so that if they had to 0:21:12.160 --> 0:21:14.880 use the bathroom, they would have some degree of dignity 0:21:16.119 --> 0:21:19.840 because they were not allowed to use bathrooms like that. 0:21:20.000 --> 0:21:22.600 And that's just the way it was. And so there 0:21:22.600 --> 0:21:26.000 are people alive right now that have experienced that. So 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:28.640 for people to and then for people to look back 0:21:28.680 --> 0:21:32.439 and say it was a racist country. So even if 0:21:32.440 --> 0:21:35.159 you wanted to say, Ruby Bridges, doctor Westerberg, those folks 0:21:35.200 --> 0:21:37.760 that are in their seventies, that it's from a different 0:21:37.800 --> 0:21:42.880 time nowadays, in this year, you know, you know that's 0:21:42.960 --> 0:21:49.200 a thing of the past. You know, we're very much 0:21:49.280 --> 0:21:52.760 dealing with it. Obviously this year we've had to deal 0:21:52.840 --> 0:22:03.120 with multiple murders, shootings from the police. You know, we've 0:22:03.119 --> 0:22:06.080 had to come to terms with again, come to terms 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:10.600 with the statistics, because numbers don't lie, you know, no 0:22:10.600 --> 0:22:13.000 matter how many how many people try to fudge the 0:22:13.080 --> 0:22:16.000 numbers on Fox News or tell a different story with 0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:19.119 the numbers. If you take things you know for what 0:22:19.160 --> 0:22:20.680 they are, and you do your own research and just 0:22:20.720 --> 0:22:23.440 look at them and draw your own conclusions, you end 0:22:23.520 --> 0:22:30.040 up with facts. Facts that you know. Uh, black people 0:22:30.080 --> 0:22:34.040 are three times as likely to be incarcerated for drug 0:22:34.080 --> 0:22:40.920 offenses as white folks. White folks as a percentage are 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.520 use drugs at a higher rate across the board, with 0:22:44.560 --> 0:22:49.000 the exception of crack cocaine, and that is marginal. So 0:22:49.200 --> 0:22:53.600 overwhelmingly white folks as a percentage, obviously as a number 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:55.840 because they're more of the population, but as a percentage 0:22:56.200 --> 0:22:59.040 even use drugs more frequently. So how is it the 0:22:59.080 --> 0:23:02.240 case that black people end up incarcerated at three times 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:03.800 a rate. And then we'll take it a step further. 0:23:05.640 --> 0:23:10.120 The sentences given to black people are so much heavier, 0:23:11.160 --> 0:23:15.640 so much more frequently. And that's just drugs, the war 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:17.160 on drugs. Everything else. 0:23:17.240 --> 0:23:21.399 Is The really crazy part about the data is that 0:23:21.440 --> 0:23:24.000 this information comes from our government. 0:23:24.160 --> 0:23:26.560 Yeah, we're not creating this. 0:23:26.800 --> 0:23:30.080 We're not going around talking to our friends and polling 0:23:30.119 --> 0:23:33.920 for our own statistics. The US Department of Justice will 0:23:33.960 --> 0:23:36.680 give you these numbers. Google is free and will say 0:23:36.720 --> 0:23:43.920 out loud that it's disproportionate, except it doesn't change, right. 0:23:43.960 --> 0:23:45.879 And now we're getting to the point that we're making 0:23:45.920 --> 0:23:49.479 with this statement that this is a racist country. There 0:23:49.840 --> 0:23:54.680 there are systemic you know, I know that that's a 0:23:54.720 --> 0:23:56.560 trigger word for a lot of folks that don't really 0:23:56.720 --> 0:24:01.280 sympathize with black folks's plight. You know, a lot of 0:24:01.359 --> 0:24:03.240 and sometimes black folks don't even know, you know, it's 0:24:03.240 --> 0:24:06.760 it's very easy. And that's the part that has begun 0:24:08.000 --> 0:24:12.320 to really really poke at my spirit. I had I 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:19.000 had the opportunity to take you to Bibb County, making Georgia, USA, 0:24:20.040 --> 0:24:23.200 where Reverend Estella Seacrest. 0:24:24.440 --> 0:24:27.440 My mother was born and raised. 0:24:29.240 --> 0:24:33.120 Georgia, and we got to see this because people think 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:38.640 Georgia is Atlanta. There's Atlanta, yeah, and then there's a 0:24:38.680 --> 0:24:43.760 massive state that's nothing like Atlanta. Atlanta's my mother's from Macon, 0:24:43.840 --> 0:24:44.880 she's not from Atlanta. 0:24:45.000 --> 0:24:45.160 Yeah. 0:24:45.680 --> 0:24:49.720 And the Southern experience for someone born in the nineteen forties, 0:24:50.760 --> 0:24:54.480 and then you think about my grandmother, it's a much 0:24:54.480 --> 0:24:57.359 different experience than ours. And and and it was much 0:24:57.400 --> 0:25:05.400 more on its face, flagrant, violent, blatant racism. Through our lifetime, 0:25:05.440 --> 0:25:12.160 it's been a bit more passive. The idea of racism 0:25:12.160 --> 0:25:15.000 has been a bit more under the table instead of 0:25:15.040 --> 0:25:16.960 slapping you in your face. Now, in recent times, it's 0:25:16.960 --> 0:25:20.960 gotten horrible, and the statistics will bear this out. You know, 0:25:21.480 --> 0:25:24.800 during this last few years, for very very obvious reasons, 0:25:24.840 --> 0:25:29.240 hate crimes and overt racism have escalated to their highest 0:25:29.320 --> 0:25:31.040