Speaker 1: What's good. Family is your girl to make a D.
Speaker 1: Mallory and it's your boy and my son in general.
Speaker 1: And we are your host, the street politicians, the place listen. Today,
Speaker 1: we have the pleasure of being at the Legacy Center
Speaker 1: also known as the Black House, which is a crowd
Speaker 1: fun sourced effort that Jay Morrison and Ernestine Johnson Morrison
Speaker 1: UH put together, raised money to open something like a
Speaker 1: wee work That's the best way that I can describe
Speaker 1: it to folks. It's obviously much more than a we
Speaker 1: work space because, um, you have so many community events
Speaker 1: and efforts that take place here in this historic location
Speaker 1: in Georgia. UM, My son and I are proud to
Speaker 1: be two major supporters of this space just and when
Speaker 1: I say major, I mean from the very beginning we
Speaker 1: have been here and have continued to try to get
Speaker 1: black folks to understand the importance of supporting facilities like this.
Speaker 1: We love the we work spaces and other coworking spaces,
Speaker 1: um that are owned by white folks. But this is
Speaker 1: a space that's owned by black people. And since I've
Speaker 1: been here today because we just happened to be in
Speaker 1: and and Selma, Alabama had to travel to Atlanta, needed
Speaker 1: to stop to do our show. Um. And since I've
Speaker 1: been here, the detail, the cleanliness, the friendliness of everyone
Speaker 1: calling one another kings and queens. I see people here
Speaker 1: working on different efforts. They have different things going on
Speaker 1: where folks are sort of renting space if you will,
Speaker 1: to come and use conference rooms and um, different meeting areas.
Speaker 1: And it really makes me feel good to know that
Speaker 1: we first of all put our money here, but also
Speaker 1: that we are just invested in making sure that the
Speaker 1: Legacy Center continues to grow. And shout out to Jay
Speaker 1: and Earnestine for keeping this space going. There's a lot
Speaker 1: of space in this building. Um. And so I know
Speaker 1: Greenlit Studios, which is Ernestine's studio. You know, she's an actress,
Speaker 1: she is a filmmaker, um and so they have a
Speaker 1: big space that where they do her work and Jay's podcast.
Speaker 1: It takes a lot to maintain this type of space.
Speaker 1: Vice it does, man, when and when you, like you said,
Speaker 1: when you look at the detail and the cleanliness and
Speaker 1: just the whole prisonna and ambiance of the place, it
Speaker 1: just gives you, like black excellence. Man. So I know
Speaker 1: it takes a lot to maintain it. Shout out to
Speaker 1: Jay and understand and everybody else, just the staff, he
Speaker 1: is just there't pretty healthful that came in here. Do
Speaker 1: you need anything came that? You know. They gave us
Speaker 1: the red carpet, And it's not just cause it's us,
Speaker 1: it's everybody. I see them treat everybody with the same
Speaker 1: level of enthusiasm and respect, and that's what you want
Speaker 1: to that's what you want to have, you know. So
Speaker 1: it's I'm definitely proud to be one of the first
Speaker 1: supporters and one of the partners with traff Life in
Speaker 1: this black House situation. So if you're in the Georgia
Speaker 1: area and you need a space, they do events, spaces,
Speaker 1: they have party they have all different types of spaces.
Speaker 1: So if you're in the Georgia area, look up the
Speaker 1: Black House, you know, um, and make sure that you
Speaker 1: try to patron you know. Yeah, that's right, listen. It
Speaker 1: is close to the airport. I don't know. We we
Speaker 1: dropped Linda at the airport this morning before coming to
Speaker 1: shoot the show. How many minutes I don't know, maybe
Speaker 1: fifteen minutes time to get from the airport to come
Speaker 1: to the Legacy Center. And again, it's clean, there's a
Speaker 1: kitchen here. So if you and you don't have to
Speaker 1: live in Georgia like we live in New York. We're
Speaker 1: headed to New York City as soon as we finished
Speaker 1: filming our show today. Um, but we were able to
Speaker 1: make a pit stop here so that we could tape
Speaker 1: our show and not lose a whole day of work
Speaker 1: just because we were traveling. So for folks who are
Speaker 1: flying in and out of Georgia, we know Georgia is
Speaker 1: a major hub. A lot of people are looking for
Speaker 1: office space. Don't be so quick to run to the
Speaker 1: spaces that are owned by people who don't look like us.
Speaker 1: Remember that the Legacy Center is here and there are
Speaker 1: events that take place here that are curated by this team. Um.
Speaker 1: And so if you're just looking for stuff to do
Speaker 1: when you're in Georgia, check the Black House out and
Speaker 1: come through. And it's on a big campus, so there's
Speaker 1: outdoor space. There is space for every type of event
Speaker 1: that you want to do. So Mike's getting into the
Speaker 1: show today. There's a lot of things happening, and um,
Speaker 1: you know a lot of concerning issues. There's always a
Speaker 1: lot of things happening. I think I say that every week,
Speaker 1: but it's just true, so I'll continue to say it
Speaker 1: in so there's not a lot of things happening. Um,
Speaker 1: this situation with Britney Grinder, I really kind of need
Speaker 1: you to explain it to me, right because first of all,
Speaker 1: I know she's a w NBA player and she's been
Speaker 1: detained in Russia. I'm trying to figure out why she's
Speaker 1: in Russia. Is that because this is a place where
Speaker 1: people go to play like overseas sports, And then I
Speaker 1: know she is she's she was detained there for something
Speaker 1: that I didn't think was marijuana. But then I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm a little confused. So help me understand. Well, UM,
Speaker 1: this based on what I what I've been reading. Um,
Speaker 1: she's definitely an NBA w NBA player. I don't know
Speaker 1: exactly what she was doing in Russia. Maybe she was
Speaker 1: there on you know, working playing in some of the
Speaker 1: games out there, but I know that they said that
Speaker 1: the customers inspection of her hand luggage they found um
Speaker 1: hash oil cannabis oil, which is considered narcotic substance there.
Speaker 1: You know, they arrested her and it happened they arrested
Speaker 1: her in February, but they didn't give that they didn't
Speaker 1: see the exact date. I was heard that it was
Speaker 1: she's been detained for the last three weeks. And we
Speaker 1: know that based on what's going on in Russia and
Speaker 1: U as being a part of those who are sanctioning
Speaker 1: against you know, the war, the Agian War in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: that this is definitely gonna be some retaliatory you know process.
Speaker 1: So it's you don't want to say that, but you
Speaker 1: know it's it's not really, it's not really a good situation.
Speaker 1: They're saying that it's gonna be hard, you know what.
Speaker 1: I'm looking at seeing them and they said it'll be
Speaker 1: very difficult to get the team basketball stuff really grinding
Speaker 1: out of Russia alone. Makers say, so, you know that's
Speaker 1: because there's no negotiation table with what's happening with Ukraine
Speaker 1: and in America using its power um on the I
Speaker 1: guess at the NATO table to try to stop the invasion.
Speaker 1: It's a lot. So this young lady black woman um
Speaker 1: uh NBA w NBA player is they're detained in Russia.
Speaker 1: We're still not sure which I'm sure once we uh
Speaker 1: post our show, we'll hear from everybody all the things.
Speaker 1: In fact, I actually reached out to our brother, her Roland,
Speaker 1: who works within the n b a UM and works
Speaker 1: with a lot of NBA players, UM and NFL players.
Speaker 1: I tried to find out more information and which he
Speaker 1: was giving me a little bit, but also connecting me
Speaker 1: with some people who are close to to Brittany Grinls. So,
Speaker 1: you know, we gotta figure this out because you know,
Speaker 1: at least the system needs to know that people in
Speaker 1: the US are you know, speaking for her, advocating for
Speaker 1: her and making sure that um, you know, she doesn't
Speaker 1: just feel like she's alone. And if she's been in
Speaker 1: if she's been detained for three weeks, that's a long time,
Speaker 1: especially for oils, which I thought was legal, but I
Speaker 1: guess it's not. Depending on which state gering, I mean,
Speaker 1: which country you're in. It's so many. It's so confusing, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it is, And you know, and they also, you know,
Speaker 1: just based on the situation, they're saying that the diplomatic
Speaker 1: negotiations and just communication is pretty much non existence between
Speaker 1: American and Russia right now. And then they're saying that, um,
Speaker 1: they're very strict on l g PT rules and laws
Speaker 1: in Russia, and she's a you know, she's a proud
Speaker 1: LGBT woman, and so these things we don't know if
Speaker 1: those rules are going to impact her case or not.
Speaker 1: But this is things that they're stating on CNN right
Speaker 1: now shouldn't have anything to do with her situation because
Speaker 1: like if you are gay by yourself, like it's not
Speaker 1: like what she there. Let's see, we have to figure
Speaker 1: out what was she doing in Russia? You know, well,
Speaker 1: this is just this is just these to reports coming
Speaker 1: from seeing N. From seeing N that I'm reading they're saying,
Speaker 1: you know, he the the representative notice, I mean noted
Speaker 1: that Russia is very strict on LGBT rules and laws,
Speaker 1: though it's not clear whether those rules and laws might
Speaker 1: impact a case. They just that was something that because
Speaker 1: she's getting exactly and they have they have thousands of
Speaker 1: people signed, you know, to to ask for her requests back,
Speaker 1: I mean her speedy returned back to the U S.
Speaker 1: So you know, my prayers are with Brittany. I notice
Speaker 1: is you know, gotta be hard to deal with. Man.
Speaker 1: You go, you're traveling and something that you didn't even
Speaker 1: know is a narcotic in another country at a time
Speaker 1: during you know, pretty much non existent communication between two
Speaker 1: different countries during times of war and you're trapped like
Speaker 1: this has to be very scary. So my friends go
Speaker 1: out to her in a family. Yeah. And the prison
Speaker 1: in Russia, I'm sure it's not the best place that
Speaker 1: you know, where you want to be. So also, you know,
Speaker 1: speaking of scares, we all have had such a traumatic
Speaker 1: UM three years now dealing with the COVID nineteen issues.
Speaker 1: Whether you believe did a hundred percent or didn't believe it,
Speaker 1: or you felt it wasn't that bad, or it was
Speaker 1: worse than we knew. And if you thought you should
Speaker 1: wear a mask, you shouldn't wear a mask. Whatever you
Speaker 1: want to say, the virus impacted all of us. Every
Speaker 1: single person. Is no one that can say that they
Speaker 1: were not impact, that their life was not somehow shifted.
Speaker 1: We always talk about the mental health challenges that we
Speaker 1: know people experience being locked away. Just so many things
Speaker 1: happened over the last three years, UM, and some folks
Speaker 1: will say you weren't locked away, but to some people
Speaker 1: it had that impact. It made you feel like you
Speaker 1: were locked away from your family. You have folks that
Speaker 1: in the last year you've watched them UM have videos
Speaker 1: where they're seeing their family members for the first time,
Speaker 1: like for the first time they're seeing their mom or
Speaker 1: somebody that is like really a grandmother, people seeing their children.
Speaker 1: So it really really was a devastating time. And of
Speaker 1: course in New York we had the strongest UH mandates ever,
Speaker 1: like anything. You couldn't go to restaurants. A lot of
Speaker 1: people took after us. Um I know l a uh
Speaker 1: they decided and well in California, certain places in California,
Speaker 1: I think it was more so l A though, that
Speaker 1: decided to follow New York's laws of having people um uh.
Speaker 1: You have to show your vaccination in order to go
Speaker 1: to a restaurant, in order to go to certain events plays,
Speaker 1: you know, just to be out in certain public environments.
Speaker 1: And of course the masked mandates were strict. May at
Speaker 1: the blasiol Our immediately outgoing mayor just has left office.
Speaker 1: He was extremely strong and strict on everything COVID related.
Speaker 1: Some of it I thought was necessary because in New
Speaker 1: York is very different and you and I have debated
Speaker 1: this back and forth, but it's different from other places
Speaker 1: that sort of open air. You're talking about a city
Speaker 1: where people live real close to one another. Everybody's touching
Speaker 1: handles and whatnot. Some of it I thought, you know
Speaker 1: you and not debated this back and forth. So some
Speaker 1: of it I thought because of the fact that the
Speaker 1: New York we live on top of one another, um,
Speaker 1: and the way that you know, people open the doors,
Speaker 1: everybody behind one another. The train system, which by the way,
Speaker 1: is a disaster. It was disaster m t A before
Speaker 1: the pandemic, but it's gotten worse because it seems that
Speaker 1: all the homeless people have moved in to the train
Speaker 1: station and they need help and services fast um. And
Speaker 1: a lot of different people who have mental health issues.
Speaker 1: So some of it I thought was necessary in terms
Speaker 1: of cleaning and all of that, but there were other
Speaker 1: things that I did not necessarily feel we should be
Speaker 1: requiring and demanding, especially people losing their jobs for not
Speaker 1: wanting to be vaccinated. That's something I've never ever supported.
Speaker 1: Now they're lifting because we have a new mayor. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure that de Blasio would have lifted these mandates
Speaker 1: at this time, but Eric Adams, our new mayor, has
Speaker 1: lifted the mandates as of us taping right now, UM,
Speaker 1: and there will be no more mass mandates in certain places.
Speaker 1: And of course, unless you're a business that wants to
Speaker 1: keep the mandate. If you want to say for your
Speaker 1: business you have to have a mask, and then also
Speaker 1: going to restaurants and things like that, you won't have
Speaker 1: to have a proof of vaccination. There are a lot
Speaker 1: of people that's kissed off about it. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: not I think for me, right, you know, I'm always
Speaker 1: for precaution, you know, and I want people to be safe.
Speaker 1: I want people to feel safe. I just never was
Speaker 1: with Mann. The word mandate, the word mandate, imposing your
Speaker 1: will upon somebody's their bodies, and things of that nature.
Speaker 1: It just never was something that was okay for me.
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone should be false into being vaccinated.
Speaker 1: I don't think anyone should be forced into wearing masks
Speaker 1: all day, you know. I think the people who feel
Speaker 1: that it makes them feel secure and safe, you should
Speaker 1: wear it, you know, and and when you should take it.
Speaker 1: I just think those things to me just it just
Speaker 1: took away civil liberties of just human beings, you know.
Speaker 1: So now, now what happens a lot of these people
Speaker 1: who who took vaccines because they wanted to be able
Speaker 1: to go to restaurants and they wanted to do all
Speaker 1: these things. You know, and they didn't. They felt pressured
Speaker 1: to even be able to live a human life. Now
Speaker 1: these people say, okay, it don't matter, no, And it's
Speaker 1: a lot of people who never took it anyway, So
Speaker 1: you you're moving around with people just a lot of
Speaker 1: these things never made sense, just like you know, the
Speaker 1: whole situation with Kyrie and him not being there to
Speaker 1: pay home games, but the visiting teams who have people
Speaker 1: who are not vaccinated because they can still play, Like,
Speaker 1: none of those things makes sense. You've got people the
Speaker 1: players have to be vaccinated and the people who come
Speaker 1: in don't have to be vaccinated. So it's just it
Speaker 1: just really to me, it's like, what do we really
Speaker 1: saying to people that did it really make sense? Is
Speaker 1: it really added up to anything? So, I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess Tom will tell I guess you have to make
Speaker 1: that decision for yourself. You gotta be able to say, Okay,
Speaker 1: does it make sense to me? And I safer? Now?
Speaker 1: Did did anything change you know in a way that
Speaker 1: we were handling it now? Or these people who haven't
Speaker 1: been vaccinated are still able to do all the things
Speaker 1: they've been doing and some of us had to get
Speaker 1: vaccinated and didn't like, you know, so I just guess
Speaker 1: we just gotta see, you know, I hope, hopefully. I
Speaker 1: want to see how this plans out because I'm a
Speaker 1: broken Nets fan. I want Kyrie to be able to
Speaker 1: play in inst so I just want to see how
Speaker 1: this affects his eligibility to be able to play. You know,
Speaker 1: hopefully they'll be able to pick up Kevin Garnett and
Speaker 1: you know, so that's one of the main things for me,
Speaker 1: is like with sports, and basketball was probably the only
Speaker 1: sport who really suffered the rest of the sports, did
Speaker 1: you know, you had Aaron Rodgers and them who weren't
Speaker 1: vaccinated or anything, and they were able to play games
Speaker 1: the whole year. But you had somebody like Kyrie who
Speaker 1: you know, took a stance and decided that for his
Speaker 1: personal you know, health and his own personal readings, based
Speaker 1: on his own studies, you know, for him, he decided
Speaker 1: he didn't want to and he was penalized and people
Speaker 1: made fun of him, and people called them all types
Speaker 1: of names. And now we were right back to where
Speaker 1: you can just do whatever you want. So it's like
Speaker 1: a lot of people experience unfair treatment, you know, based
Speaker 1: on these mandates. And in certain things. So you know,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm just interested to see how do people move
Speaker 1: forward and what is going to be the response. I
Speaker 1: don't know, you know, I mean, I agree with you,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be. It's interesting because there are people who
Speaker 1: was like, I'll never go to a restaurant in New
Speaker 1: York City. They went to Westchester, they went to New Jersey,
Speaker 1: and they are determined not to be vaccinated. So you
Speaker 1: still now have those people unvaccinated, without masks and now
Speaker 1: being able to sit right next to you in a restaurant.
Speaker 1: You won't know the difference. Then you have people who
Speaker 1: felt forcing. When I say felt force, I'm talking about
Speaker 1: people who were emotionally damaged because they had to get
Speaker 1: this vaccine. Emotionally damage like it was a lot of
Speaker 1: stress on several people, including family members and friends, people
Speaker 1: who are close to me, that we're really going through
Speaker 1: hell and making the decision about whether or not they
Speaker 1: had to take this this vaccine. And now to see
Speaker 1: that these you know, the the mandates have been lifted.
Speaker 1: I mean, I believe that they should have been lifted
Speaker 1: because here's the thing. It's all about going in the
Speaker 1: right direction, right Like people were saying before all they
Speaker 1: went from ten day quarantine to now it's down to five.
Speaker 1: And there were people who were like, why does it
Speaker 1: have to be for now all of a sudden, and
Speaker 1: it was like a big deal. And I'm thinking to myself,
Speaker 1: if you live in a society where you something bad happens,
Speaker 1: they're supposed to be measures to clean things up and
Speaker 1: get it to a place where it doesn't have to
Speaker 1: be as stringent as it was in the very, very beginning.
Speaker 1: That's the goal is to move towards things being you
Speaker 1: know better, right, And so if it went from ten
Speaker 1: to five, that means we're going in a good direction
Speaker 1: to eventually come from under all of this. So of
Speaker 1: course the mandates being lifted, it's a good thing, especially
Speaker 1: because how many of our friends and people we do
Speaker 1: business with that came. I'm just thinking about at one point, Um,
Speaker 1: I don't know, I don't even know whether she's vaccinated now,
Speaker 1: but anyway, I won't even say her name, so we
Speaker 1: won't even get her target. But someone who's very who
Speaker 1: works with us, is very close to us, came from
Speaker 1: out of town and they couldn't we couldn't go out
Speaker 1: to eat because it was freezing and raining outside, and Dave,
Speaker 1: she wanted to take us to lunch and we couldn't
Speaker 1: go out to eat because she was not vaccinated. So
Speaker 1: these things, um, you know, we we we hope will change,
Speaker 1: but how does it impact somebody who felt they had
Speaker 1: to take that needle? And it's just I don't know,
Speaker 1: Like you said, it all remains to be seen and
Speaker 1: it's all kinds of hypocritical stuff that goes on in
Speaker 1: this damn country. So hey, what's what else is new?
Speaker 1: And speaking of, you know, hypocritical stuff, I don't know
Speaker 1: many it's not. And maybe sometimes we're a little too
Speaker 1: hard or I don't know. I'm starting to feel like
Speaker 1: maybe it's me. But you know, I've been watching the
Speaker 1: news and obviously Ukraine is like really messed up, Like
Speaker 1: it's really messed up. That pulling a man a one
Speaker 1: man could just decide he's gonna go bully some people
Speaker 1: in another country. It's not right. And I see all
Speaker 1: these people being like, it's not our problem, and we
Speaker 1: this and that the third, but as we all know,
Speaker 1: it is our problem because if you're looking at them
Speaker 1: skyrocket and ask gas prices up there, you know that
Speaker 1: it is we are being impacted, and there's a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff that is being impacted based upon what's happening
Speaker 1: with Russia and Ukraine right now, and there's going to
Speaker 1: be more and we have not seen the like full
Speaker 1: extent of it. It could potentially get violent here in
Speaker 1: the US. So we're we're we're in a situation here
Speaker 1: where you can't ignore world crises. You have to know
Speaker 1: what's happening. You've got to be aware, and there have
Speaker 1: to be people within the activist community and the advocacy
Speaker 1: communities like Shaun King and others who helped to dissect
Speaker 1: what's going on every single day so that we are
Speaker 1: aware as well. It is not okay for us to
Speaker 1: just be ignorant, like we gotta know what's going on
Speaker 1: in this world, because guess what, if we were paying
Speaker 1: close to attention to what was happening with Iraq and
Speaker 1: the oil and the war and all of the stuff,
Speaker 1: perhaps we would have been much more knowledgeable when those
Speaker 1: planes hit No hit and non eleven but or in
Speaker 1: the Middle East, because that's more than just Iraq. You're
Speaker 1: talking about a whole bunch of ship that was happening
Speaker 1: at that time. Um that that I don't think a
Speaker 1: lot of us were really paying attention to. So with
Speaker 1: that being said, with this Ukraine situation, yes we need
Speaker 1: to know, but we can also feel um violated to
Speaker 1: some extent that that we as a country that is
Speaker 1: all over the place in the US, we got mad issues,
Speaker 1: like mad issues, We've got homelessness as we just talked
Speaker 1: about people being houseless, if you will, as a more
Speaker 1: respectable way of describing it, And we just talked about
Speaker 1: that people on the trains all over You've got people
Speaker 1: of poverty, You've got hungry children. I was listening this
Speaker 1: weekend to some stuff that Reverend Dr Barber was saying.
Speaker 1: He was laying out, like before COVID, all of the
Speaker 1: different crisis that existed. We're been We're in trouble, and
Speaker 1: yet our government, our president is asking Congress to give
Speaker 1: a little more than six billion dollars to him so
Speaker 1: that he can spend money on the war in and
Speaker 1: and try to help out with Ukraine. Yes, we have
Speaker 1: to protect our interests. You said that on the last show.
Speaker 1: You broke it down to me and explained it, and
Speaker 1: I was kind of like, but then you would explain it,
Speaker 1: like if we do business with people and being a
Speaker 1: major superpower in this country, we cannot just let security
Speaker 1: things happen that we're not engaged in and making sure
Speaker 1: we protect our interests. And there are Americans there in Ukraine,
Speaker 1: so I get it. I get it. But six billion
Speaker 1: dollars when we can't feed people right here in the US,
Speaker 1: I can see how that's pissing people off. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's definitely pissing people off. And it's it just
Speaker 1: goes along with just the politics and the capitalistic structure
Speaker 1: of you know, and that's that's what we feed into.
Speaker 1: Like we always figure out why we don't have money
Speaker 1: to do things in our community that affects us, that
Speaker 1: directly affects the people who are marginalized in a starving
Speaker 1: and need things. Were always trying to figure out where
Speaker 1: do we get the money from, But like Tupacs said,
Speaker 1: we've got money for war, we can't feed the poor,
Speaker 1: you know. And it's a reality we've always had. We've
Speaker 1: always found billions of dollars to give to different nations
Speaker 1: in different countries for different you know, for war and
Speaker 1: and and and and for things to help build up
Speaker 1: other countries and things that don't directly impact US, specially
Speaker 1: US in black and brown community. So it's it's it's
Speaker 1: it's understandable when people say, what, why are we find
Speaker 1: in Ukraine? Why are we're worried about that? We have
Speaker 1: to understand that because when we look at these gas prices,
Speaker 1: when we look at the effect that you know, these
Speaker 1: sanctions now, Netflix, TikTok, Spotify, Hian m Disneys suspended service
Speaker 1: to Russia. When when they look and they say, okay,
Speaker 1: we're you're doing that now, that's those are that when
Speaker 1: you really really understand that those are declarations of war.
Speaker 1: Their their banks, that their money has been trapped in
Speaker 1: and held in, you know, their their economy is plummeting.
Speaker 1: Those are acts of war. So when when you look
Speaker 1: at those things, understand that the possibility of Russia attacking
Speaker 1: America based on those things, and understanding that these are
Speaker 1: nuclear superpowers. These are not regular people who've got a
Speaker 1: couple of guns and they're gonna shoot. It's gonna be
Speaker 1: on a little No, these are nuclear superpowers. And that's
Speaker 1: why whenever there has been talking about Russia and US
Speaker 1: going to war, they understand the catastrophic nature upsetual war.
Speaker 1: They understand that nuclear powers and bombs have the the
Speaker 1: capability to wipe out whole states at one time. They
Speaker 1: have and have um nuclear the the chemicals can completely
Speaker 1: just destroy and cause cancer and all types of different
Speaker 1: illnesses within our bodies for decades and centuries. So these
Speaker 1: are things that we have to be aware of. So
Speaker 1: when people like yo, we ain't got a ton of
Speaker 1: where but no as and you know, absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Speaker 1: So when you see someone who's like Poutin, who is
Speaker 1: a dictator, who's constantly taking over land and imposing his will,
Speaker 1: what is him to stop? What's to stop him from
Speaker 1: constantly doing that? And then when you don't establish yourselves
Speaker 1: as a superpower. He already said, if you're able to
Speaker 1: control certain things, and we don't feel safe anyway in
Speaker 1: my life could be taken, why do I care? If
Speaker 1: everybody does. This is the mentality of a dictator. So
Speaker 1: you gotta look at this and we have to be
Speaker 1: very careful and acknowledge what is going on. Yes, we're
Speaker 1: dealing with a lot of things in our communities individually,
Speaker 1: as a as a collective, as black and round people,
Speaker 1: and we feel like those things should supersede. But we're
Speaker 1: talking about something that can be catastrophic to the world,
Speaker 1: that can like war between America and Russia, is something
Speaker 1: that nobody wants to see. That we've been talking about
Speaker 1: for years because we understand that these are nuclear superviowers.
Speaker 1: So we have to be very attentive. I know that
Speaker 1: we we look on our block and said, well, we
Speaker 1: ain't got none to eat, and we're trying to figure
Speaker 1: out this. We got gun violence and we're talking about
Speaker 1: police brutality and my man just got shot. Yes, those
Speaker 1: are very serious things, but this is also something that's
Speaker 1: can effect not just you, but your kids and to
Speaker 1: see if they have kids. So this is a serious situation. Well,
Speaker 1: but then my my thing is, and I agree with you,
Speaker 1: I mean I I completely agree and understand what you're saying,
Speaker 1: but I I guess and that as in fact, I'm
Speaker 1: gonna use this as my thought of the day today.
Speaker 1: Here's my thought of the day. What if Netflix and
Speaker 1: what did you say? You told me Netflix, you said something,
Speaker 1: Tobodio's who was it? Netflix, Tick Time, Botify, Disney, all
Speaker 1: these people. What if those companies felt the same way
Speaker 1: about and had the same passion for against police brutality,
Speaker 1: against racial injustice, right, not just giving a few dollars
Speaker 1: to a black organization or you know, to somebody who
Speaker 1: they feel is involved in the space, but literally saying
Speaker 1: we won't even do business with people, individuals and otherwise
Speaker 1: who are invested in in in racial injustice. And that's
Speaker 1: not hard to know. It's not hard to know, because
Speaker 1: what did they say again this weekend, what we learned
Speaker 1: while we were at the commemoration of Bloody Sunday, fifty
Speaker 1: seven years since John Lewis and others went across the
Speaker 1: bridge fighting for voting rights, and they were beaten bloody um,
Speaker 1: even women. Um, I forget the lady's name, Amelia Lord.
Speaker 1: I always say it, and now is escaped me, but
Speaker 1: I'm gonna make sure to get it. But anyway, these
Speaker 1: are people who were we were bloodied on that bridge
Speaker 1: fighting for voting rights right. And and what Reverend Barber
Speaker 1: said was that people will give corporations will give money
Speaker 1: to Bloody Sunday, but then turn around and use some
Speaker 1: of that same they're same resources to fund the Republican
Speaker 1: senators who are against everything that we were fighting for
Speaker 1: on Bloody Sunday and still today. So these these senators
Speaker 1: and others who are um and and again this is
Speaker 1: not to take anything away from Democrats, who are also problematic,
Speaker 1: but we're talking about Republicans specifically who have voted against
Speaker 1: and also have been on their own creating laws that
Speaker 1: are suppressing the votes of people there in Alabama and
Speaker 1: across the nation. These same corporations will invest in those
Speaker 1: senators and be a part of you know, don't get
Speaker 1: me started with their corporate initiatives that are unfortunately um
Speaker 1: investing in the oppression of black and brown people. And
Speaker 1: then yet say, well, we're gonna give a check over
Speaker 1: here to make sure that you know, you can do
Speaker 1: a commemorative event on bloody Sunday. That to me doesn't
Speaker 1: make sense, but I can see and I see how
Speaker 1: people feel like damn, but you will go and put
Speaker 1: sanctions on a country which, by the way, the citizens
Speaker 1: of Ukraine are overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly white, and even in wartime,
Speaker 1: how blacks are being treated, right, the blacks aren't being
Speaker 1: able to get out of the country. You know, there
Speaker 1: are a lot of black people saying they experienced all
Speaker 1: type of racism. I seeing a guy that was doing
Speaker 1: an interview and they was something he was someone fight
Speaker 1: for here, I don't even care about me. You treat
Speaker 1: me I'm black. Yet when I fight for here, you
Speaker 1: still won't treat me like I'm black. You still don't
Speaker 1: have any respect for me. So racism is a worldwide issue.
Speaker 1: It's not just a country. It's not just the United States.
Speaker 1: It's a worldwide issue, and it shows up like this.
Speaker 1: It shows up as you said, you know what, Why
Speaker 1: why they don't because they don't see It's like they said,
Speaker 1: Racism is American, is apple pie. Racism is something in America.
Speaker 1: It's it's part of the everyday culture. So they you know, sure,
Speaker 1: we wanted if we can do a little things to
Speaker 1: give you, but we don't really they don't really actually
Speaker 1: think that racism is not going to exist. They acknowledge
Speaker 1: that is there, and they want to do their part.
Speaker 1: Some people feel guilty, you know, they have white tears,
Speaker 1: and they want to give you a couple of dollars.
Speaker 1: We made a hundred billion dollars or racism, so we
Speaker 1: can give you a couple of million and say that
Speaker 1: we did our part, But we're not gonna do anything
Speaker 1: to stop racism, because if we actually stop racism, then
Speaker 1: it actually means that we have to contribute and give back,
Speaker 1: you know, the equity that that that racism has taken
Speaker 1: away for black people. Right, Who wants to be a
Speaker 1: part of that? Who wants to be a part of
Speaker 1: creative equity and equality that black people are really equal? Right?
Speaker 1: It means that I have to give up some of
Speaker 1: some of my stature, some of my possession, some of
Speaker 1: my money, some of my land, and make sure that
Speaker 1: we do right by the people who have been you know,
Speaker 1: have been ostracized in this country for years. So nobody
Speaker 1: wants to deal with that. But there of course, so
Speaker 1: when you talk about stations, they look and see other
Speaker 1: white people die and they see it's a bad thing. Oh,
Speaker 1: we could do that, we could pull it course to
Speaker 1: that because that doesn't affect our money, and we don't
Speaker 1: do anything. In Russia, we still we still got billionaires
Speaker 1: over here. That's just extra thing and we were allowed.
Speaker 1: I ain't do with that because we don't want to
Speaker 1: see that those things happen. But in America, our the
Speaker 1: most of the corporation is invested in black death because
Speaker 1: that's one of the biggest things that the jail system,
Speaker 1: us dying, the drugs, all of the things that creates
Speaker 1: the hierarchy for corporate organizations to run is the things
Speaker 1: that affect black people at the highest and destroys us
Speaker 1: at the highest rates. So they can't do that. They
Speaker 1: fighting against their own investments. M hmm. That's some powerful stuff.
Speaker 1: We should invite our next guests to come and talk
Speaker 1: about this because this is some of the stuff that
Speaker 1: we were gonna cover the day and we just sort
Speaker 1: of got into it. I want to talk about Palestine too,
Speaker 1: but we'll talk about that is hopefully with our guests.
Speaker 1: So let's bring on Reverend Mark Thompson of Make It Plain,
Speaker 1: our fighting soldier who's been battling on the ground for
Speaker 1: a law long, long, long time and and really been
Speaker 1: a mentor to so many of us. As you have
Speaker 1: been mentored by the older generation of civil rights leaders,
Speaker 1: you're now mentoring so many And UM, we just experienced
Speaker 1: Bloody Sunday together, the commemoration of Bloody Sunday. We spend
Speaker 1: it together every single year. Um. We left SOMA today
Speaker 1: it came to do our show and said we gotta
Speaker 1: have Mark Thompson to come on and give us some contexts.
Speaker 1: And you're out there on the ground to tell us
Speaker 1: what you're doing. We are marching from some of the
Speaker 1: Montgomery recreating the march that occurred forty seven years ago
Speaker 1: UH when Dr King and others, John Lewis and others
Speaker 1: Ralph B. Coretta, Scott King find me terade Willie ricks
Speaker 1: All March to support the community of Selma and the
Speaker 1: demand voting rights. On March seven. It was a Black
Speaker 1: Lives Matter March plan to avenge the death of Jimmie Jackson,
Speaker 1: who had been killed by the state troopers in Maryon,
Speaker 1: Alabama during a voting rights protest one evening. The plan
Speaker 1: was to march Jimmy Lee Jackson's coffin UH to the
Speaker 1: state capital of Montgomery to avenge his death. And ultimately
Speaker 1: the plan changed and they did not march but Jimmy
Speaker 1: but Jackson's coffin. They marched in the famous scene we
Speaker 1: all know now historically where they went across Von Pettis
Speaker 1: Bridge and were brutalized by the Alabama State Police at
Speaker 1: the behest. And on the war there's an instruction of
Speaker 1: no good racist coming to George Wallace. After that, there
Speaker 1: was a world convergence on this little town called Settlmer
Speaker 1: that we come to every year to organize and that
Speaker 1: movement brought about the voting rights to nothing else did.
Speaker 1: So we come every year. I am honored to be
Speaker 1: on the board of the Bridge crossing Julie and every
Speaker 1: year we organized this event. It is the only UH
Speaker 1: annual commemoration of the civil rights event. How I know,
Speaker 1: I talked to the golf time we march on Washington,
Speaker 1: we actually have not traditionally done the marching. So this
Speaker 1: is the only civil rights event that is commemorated every year.
Speaker 1: So we're canning to be creating this march. Every day
Speaker 1: there'll be a different organization leading us on ten miles
Speaker 1: for five days to the tip to four miles in
Speaker 1: Montgomery today you happen to I happen to join you
Speaker 1: while the Poor People's Campaign, the Rainbow Pushed Coalition UH
Speaker 1: and the Transform of Justice Coalition, Barbara on Winn's organization
Speaker 1: of leading the march on my son, you were going
Speaker 1: to ask Mark Um some of your thoughts from being
Speaker 1: there yesterday. The Vice President UH Kamala Harris was in
Speaker 1: uh Selma yesterday. That does not happen every year. Every
Speaker 1: year generally whenever there is a major election, all the
Speaker 1: elected officials show up we've we've been there when President
Speaker 1: Obama was in town. We've been there for other individuals.
Speaker 1: And I guess in two thousand and what was that
Speaker 1: whenever the last presidential election twenty I don't know, y'all,
Speaker 1: y'all tell me, but um, everybody was there, Bloomberg, brud
Speaker 1: jag Obama. But I mean this last most recent presidential election,
Speaker 1: Joe Biden, Bloomberg, everybody who could think, a lot of
Speaker 1: Elizabeth Warren, Lotty Dotty and everybody was in in Solma.
Speaker 1: So this is every every few years we have this
Speaker 1: moment when people really show up. And yesterday the Vice
Speaker 1: president Kamala Harris's day and she walked across the bridge.
Speaker 1: So my son, you go ahead, okay, So no, no,
Speaker 1: what what I what I was saying is, you know,
Speaker 1: I've been blessed to have been going to summer for
Speaker 1: the last seven or eight years. And um, it's always
Speaker 1: good to be around our brothers and sisters as we
Speaker 1: we acknowledge and understand the process and the dedication and
Speaker 1: the sacrifices that our ancestors made on that bloody Sunday day.
Speaker 1: But in my in my opinion, over the years, you know,
Speaker 1: a lot of politicians, a lot of different individuals are
Speaker 1: starting to utilize it at some level of performative thing
Speaker 1: rather than actual recommitment to what Bloody Sunday actually represented.
Speaker 1: You know, I've been getting the feeling that I'm watching
Speaker 1: a lot of some of them, I know have been
Speaker 1: fighting with us, but it's are in the seem like
Speaker 1: a lot of these politicians and certain individuals are coming
Speaker 1: because they get these photo ops, you know, and they
Speaker 1: say that I've represented Selma. You know, I just want
Speaker 1: to get your personal view. What do you do You
Speaker 1: think that at some point is getting more performative than
Speaker 1: actually people recommitting to what it is that this Bloody
Speaker 1: Sunday is supposed to represent. Well, I think that's partially true,
Speaker 1: but also think it's somewhere natural. For example, the first
Speaker 1: black president came, um, the first black woman vice president
Speaker 1: came because I think we do have for knowledge, they
Speaker 1: would not be if not for Selmer and there were
Speaker 1: no Selding, that would not have been a Barack Obama.
Speaker 1: But we're not have been a Kamala Harris. If not
Speaker 1: for Summer, we would not have the opportunity to add
Speaker 1: the first black woman's a thing for a justice um.
Speaker 1: And just parenthetically, we're talking about this more later. If
Speaker 1: there were no Sellmer that we have not, then that
Speaker 1: would not have been a really part of the Clinton need.
Speaker 1: I just want to make that clear also. Um, So
Speaker 1: to a certain extent, people feel the need to come
Speaker 1: to pay I'm a gener respect to the blood of
Speaker 1: the ship that put them in power. But you're right,
Speaker 1: that's gonna becomes performative because that's a star as you go,
Speaker 1: where is the real relief the people need? And right now,
Speaker 1: the greatest need for relief is in our voting right um.
Speaker 1: And we're at a very dangerous place because if the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party, which is the greatest benefices menepicting and continues
Speaker 1: to be the the greatest beneficially of black vote, if
Speaker 1: it cannot deliver protect our voting rights and what exactly
Speaker 1: is going on with um? And so we're not in
Speaker 1: a good place some sense when Vice President came Sunday
Speaker 1: that it did not have a lot of meaning. It
Speaker 1: was hollowed because the White House, she serves protect our vote.
Speaker 1: And so that is that's when you g get into
Speaker 1: the performative or it's not performative invested, it's just serve
Speaker 1: it's just a commemoration, it's just a reminiscence. But some
Speaker 1: were saying, where is what we leave because we are
Speaker 1: almost going back to pre nine five voter suppressive. We
Speaker 1: are almost got to say the bills that are people
Speaker 1: for are now for. It's just about all one night.
Speaker 1: So what really are we doing? And if if, if,
Speaker 1: if Shelma is not an opportunity to reinvigorate our selves,
Speaker 1: to get in these streets and get done with needs
Speaker 1: to be done done long term, then of course you
Speaker 1: also really does end up being performed. And it's also
Speaker 1: one thing I want to say. I'm no I was
Speaker 1: just gonna say that. Another thing for me that's very
Speaker 1: troubling is that every time I go to Selma, I
Speaker 1: see gentrification, but I don't don't see investment in community right.
Speaker 1: And I feel like we've been We've had this conversation
Speaker 1: for years and and and of course Hank Rolls um
Speaker 1: And and fire Rolls, who are two of the great
Speaker 1: leaders there in Sma that have continued to make sure
Speaker 1: that Bloody Sunday happens and that people never forget the
Speaker 1: history of of of Selma. But I can't help but
Speaker 1: think about how they have constantly, you know, been really
Speaker 1: advocating to all of us that there must be an
Speaker 1: investment so that the residents of Selma know that it's
Speaker 1: not just about a bridge, which still happens to be
Speaker 1: named by a racist, but that's a whole different part
Speaker 1: of the conversation, right, but that that that there would
Speaker 1: be an investment in those people's lives. And we always
Speaker 1: drive around when we're gonna come to Selma, as with
Speaker 1: any other city we go to, We drive around and
Speaker 1: we talk to the people. There's extreme poverty and desperation
Speaker 1: and gun violence and every issue that you find, and
Speaker 1: other earth and communities happening right there in Selma. Where
Speaker 1: is the investment and what is the and and what
Speaker 1: what do we need to be saying to people. I
Speaker 1: feel like we should be telling some of these presidential
Speaker 1: candidates and other people, not just candidates, because there are
Speaker 1: also funks that consider themselves to be leaders who have
Speaker 1: resources that don't do anything for some after they get
Speaker 1: their photo op on that bridge. Yeah, yeah, I agree,
Speaker 1: uh and and and sell Man is suffering economically as
Speaker 1: a matter of fact, um Selma. The level of poverty
Speaker 1: and some of the lack of jobs, the lack of
Speaker 1: opportunity is real. Um. One thing cores woman Terry Too
Speaker 1: said emphatically I heard for the first time on the
Speaker 1: bridge is that you know, what is the point in
Speaker 1: having a commemoration in the place, and we're not oppolding
Speaker 1: with the people needing that, like tell me it's for
Speaker 1: young Selma. His hand went if I murdered in recent months.
Speaker 1: And it's a little small town and yet some I'm
Speaker 1: on hand about twenty week though what I'm told I mean,
Speaker 1: so so there's there's there's nothing there. We all that's
Speaker 1: the other thing. People coming the sum to commemorate um.
Speaker 1: But then nothing is left behind. And so to the
Speaker 1: point of performave see whether we can get voting rights
Speaker 1: or not? Just all right, black voters matter, walking back,
Speaker 1: whether we can get voting rights immediately or not. On
Speaker 1: the politicians on their bridge, UH the other day can
Speaker 1: bring some type of economic opportunity to see tomorrow. They
Speaker 1: can all do that if they would, but choose to
Speaker 1: do so. And so that has to happen. And it
Speaker 1: ought to be treated as a set of space and
Speaker 1: not just once a year, but throughout the year, so
Speaker 1: that it's residents UH can find jobs in some sense
Speaker 1: of income, get off the streets, all of that. But
Speaker 1: that is that is what's in jeopardy, and that's just
Speaker 1: not what's happening, and it has to happen. But for
Speaker 1: the first time, I'll say all that I've been coming
Speaker 1: down here and organizing and sol much over twenty years,
Speaker 1: I've lost county, not quite thirty, but just over twenty. UM.
Speaker 1: This is the first time this year that I am
Speaker 1: for that type of UM commitment and that type of
Speaker 1: conversation about real economic investment and economic opportunity to city Southern.
Speaker 1: The last thing I say on that is UM because
Speaker 1: it is such a tourist location. I mean, there's some
Speaker 1: cities as we don't know, prides cities which thrive economically. UM.
Speaker 1: When it comes to tourism, you can create jobs from tourism.
Speaker 1: You can live. I mean that time y'all seen it.
Speaker 1: You can you can live some money for people and
Speaker 1: creas people. If that is the biggest industry, that could
Speaker 1: be the most lucative industry in Selmer. If there are
Speaker 1: those who would, but just do it. I have to
Speaker 1: wonder though, whether the reason is not being down because
Speaker 1: there's still some level of existence. M what's selling the
Speaker 1: stands for maybe we really don't want someone to be susceptive.
Speaker 1: Maybe we want to continue to promising a small community.
Speaker 1: And some of the people, hundreds of them whose names
Speaker 1: when we all know John leaves his name, there were
Speaker 1: people on their bridge with him who was still alive,
Speaker 1: who was still in Selmer. You all saw yesterday. And
Speaker 1: that's one of the things you all got rush DAGs
Speaker 1: speaking to the politicians. They were pushing the footsoldiers, we
Speaker 1: called them the footsoldiers, those who are actually on the
Speaker 1: bridge each other. They were pushing them out of the
Speaker 1: way to get on the pitch and getting front and
Speaker 1: be seen, you know. And and Uh, that was despicable
Speaker 1: to all of us. These are the people who were
Speaker 1: beating up um for or the sake of voting rights
Speaker 1: and beating up on that bridge in Selma. You all
Speaker 1: probably hear rib Boba's voice behind and they're getting y
Speaker 1: have a program. This is one of the stopped here.
Speaker 1: I'm want to kind of come in and give you
Speaker 1: all a minute to hear that and get a glimpse
Speaker 1: of that. Reverend Jackson Uh is also here um with us.
Speaker 1: And this is a committed group of people. Every day,
Speaker 1: this week, someone's gonna be some organizational rematching uh mash
Speaker 1: actstion networking as a day when black ters matter, all
Speaker 1: of the uh labor organizations, uh have a day. Um
Speaker 1: and uh so we're organized, we're here, we're here believing
Speaker 1: in it. So somebody you know, uh guess to meet
Speaker 1: in my science podcast. Um so I saw him. I
Speaker 1: saw him yesterday out there. I said, he's he's gonna
Speaker 1: walk as long as he can walk across that bridge.
Speaker 1: And I understand, I understand. Let barber iten. So Mark,
Speaker 1: my son, I know you were gonna jump in, but
Speaker 1: I was gonna say. I didn't think about the angle
Speaker 1: that there is possibly resentment about Selma, right, But I
Speaker 1: did think of this conspire or recy theory that I
Speaker 1: don't think it's too much of a conspiracy. I think
Speaker 1: it's more of a theory. I believe they also are
Speaker 1: waiting out the residents to leave so that they can
Speaker 1: gentrify the entire town. Hey, fire Rows and Cliff all right,
Speaker 1: look at their people, um people, look they're doing business
Speaker 1: and you and their face with the phone at the camera.
Speaker 1: But I believe they're waiting the residents out so that
Speaker 1: people can leave. So that they can buy up that
Speaker 1: land and those homes and all of use. Listen, plenty
Speaker 1: of them right, There's plenty of space around and a
Speaker 1: lot of you could you can make those buildings into, um,
Speaker 1: you know, different types of businesses. Barbara on wine, everybody did,
Speaker 1: everybody's there. Um, these are all these are all folks
Speaker 1: who have been in the fight. Just for those people
Speaker 1: who are listening or and or watching. What we're seeing
Speaker 1: right now is Reverend Thompson. Rever Mark Thompson is walking
Speaker 1: through the first stop on I don't know if it's
Speaker 1: the first stop, but one of the stops today on
Speaker 1: the march from Selma to Montgomery, which is a historic march.
Speaker 1: Folks think about the bridge crossing, but what they forget
Speaker 1: is that they weren't just crossing the bridge just for
Speaker 1: the sake of having a march over the bridge. They
Speaker 1: were walking from Selma on one side of the bridge
Speaker 1: to Montgomery, which is fifty four miles down the road.
Speaker 1: And I've actually done that march a few times. It's
Speaker 1: no joke. It's hot as heck out there. Um. The
Speaker 1: roads are long and along the way. So when they
Speaker 1: first went over that bridge, they didn't make it there
Speaker 1: were many issues they had to turn back one time.
Speaker 1: I mean there's different stories about things that happened, but
Speaker 1: once they did make that pilgrimage, if you will, from
Speaker 1: Selma to Montgomery, people died right there was there were
Speaker 1: incidents that happened along and as you walk down the
Speaker 1: fifty four mile mark, there are places that are historic
Speaker 1: locations where you will stop and learn about folks who died,
Speaker 1: people who were brutalized, and other interactions with law enforcement
Speaker 1: and white supremacists who were out there. So there's these
Speaker 1: folks who are doing this. This is not just something
Speaker 1: to do. This is a very sacred march and a
Speaker 1: pilgrimage if you will, throughout our history. But to go
Speaker 1: back to the economic point on summer, I think they're
Speaker 1: waiting people out. I think they want to clear out
Speaker 1: the town. Looks like you're gonna say something about that. No,
Speaker 1: I definitely agree. You know, when you when you look
Speaker 1: at just the level of poverty that they are allowing
Speaker 1: to happen in that town, in the space, especially right
Speaker 1: by the bridge where all of those things, like you said,
Speaker 1: those can be used as tourist place. They can be
Speaker 1: selling memorabilia from different or from different things, and everybody
Speaker 1: will come there just to see that if it was
Speaker 1: something that was highlighted in promoted properly. So when you're
Speaker 1: watch and you see that a lot of those buildings abandoned,
Speaker 1: a lot of the property has been destroyed and left
Speaker 1: to be destitute and decrepit, you you have to acknowledge
Speaker 1: that it's for reasons, you know. And I think that
Speaker 1: if you know, and I want to go back to this,
Speaker 1: you were talking about a lot of these you know,
Speaker 1: elected officials and people who come there. I don't even
Speaker 1: think that they have to invest all year, right, I
Speaker 1: think that if everyone who went there through that year, Hey,
Speaker 1: I just want to I know you all interviewed me,
Speaker 1: but I think we do well to acknowledge. Amoud alburies
Speaker 1: dad brother. That's that's show, and we need to understand
Speaker 1: he is here. This is consistent with what happened fifty
Speaker 1: seven years ago. There's no delineation between Jimmy Lee Jackson
Speaker 1: who was killed in nine and Amoud Albury, which the
Speaker 1: deal thing, and it says something despite what his family
Speaker 1: is going through, he and his family have joined us
Speaker 1: on this march and I just wanted to thank him
Speaker 1: for that and and my brother, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 1: You know, we love him man. He's a strong, strong brother. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: you're going right. We actually met him at at at
Speaker 1: the trial for the officers and not for the white man,
Speaker 1: for the white apologize for the white man. We actually
Speaker 1: met him at the trial. Same same thing, same thing,
Speaker 1: Vigilantis officers, officers of Vigilant. But we get we're gonna
Speaker 1: make sure the private context. But yeah, we didn't meet him.
Speaker 1: But I just want to say, like if people made
Speaker 1: a commitment to one day, if those politicians who want
Speaker 1: to come and get the notoriety for being a selone
Speaker 1: want to say that they love hey, Latsha, you out everybody,
Speaker 1: you know, everybody. All they're doing, they're doing their podcast
Speaker 1: podcast O we love you, Latasha, Latasha. Those are all.
Speaker 1: These are all. She asked a very specific question, where
Speaker 1: y'all at thatching. You know, we gotta we gotta get
Speaker 1: back home to these kids. I gotta get to these
Speaker 1: kids real quick. But um, like I was saying, if
Speaker 1: they wouldn't make that one investment, if each of them
Speaker 1: say you know what we're gonna We're gonna invest a
Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars to someone to do something for Somelmer
Speaker 1: this year. You know, if that happened every year, you know,
Speaker 1: the property value will grow and everything we're growing at
Speaker 1: and nobody does anything. They just come in and they
Speaker 1: say this is your story place, and we love it.
Speaker 1: And someone meant this, and someone meant that, and they
Speaker 1: raised their hand, they raised their fists, and they walk
Speaker 1: across and most of them don't even walk across the bridge.
Speaker 1: They walk halfway across, and then they take the jump
Speaker 1: into the car and they go, oh, I mean this
Speaker 1: is this is the reality. And and the foot soldiers
Speaker 1: in the back that that that's trying to make this
Speaker 1: walk every time. And then the people from the town
Speaker 1: is stopped by secret service people and all and it's like,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's something that I'm like, it's
Speaker 1: not really genuine. And I love I love what Bloody
Speaker 1: Sunday represents for us as a people, and I love
Speaker 1: that we commemorated, but I think that we have to
Speaker 1: do a lot more, and we we cannot allow, you know,
Speaker 1: these government officials or anybody celebrity, whoever it is, to
Speaker 1: come and utilize the resources and the rich history of
Speaker 1: someone without investing back in. Yeah, no, I agree, And
Speaker 1: let me say before you go, Mark, because I'm I
Speaker 1: want to shift the conversations. I'm gonna give you a
Speaker 1: last point on this. But the way in which the people,
Speaker 1: the community, it's sort of boxed out of being just
Speaker 1: even just a little bit closer where they can really
Speaker 1: see and experience what's happening. That's very disheartening to me
Speaker 1: as well. And I think it's something that has to
Speaker 1: be addressed because people were We're sending us messages on
Speaker 1: on social media saying what are they doing all the
Speaker 1: way over there? We can't really here and people are
Speaker 1: passing out. It's super hot on Sunday in Selma at
Speaker 1: three and two and three o'clock in the afternoon, and
Speaker 1: it's almost like, because people are so caught up in
Speaker 1: the celebrity of the moment, there is not enough attention
Speaker 1: being focused on the community that should be They should
Speaker 1: be the first touch point. So I think there is,
Speaker 1: and I don't know that people are doing it on purpose.
Speaker 1: I think it's just that we get we are so
Speaker 1: celebrity driven at times that we somehow we need to
Speaker 1: be reminded of the need to engage the people. So
Speaker 1: go ahead, you're gonna have a point on that. Well,
Speaker 1: I agree with all of all of you both there
Speaker 1: saying and um, we just don't know what to do anymore.
Speaker 1: To put it that simple, Sometimes the easiest explanations the
Speaker 1: simblar one. We don't really understand our power, and we
Speaker 1: don't organize in the way we organize the if you
Speaker 1: all know, a lot of times, folks, when you come
Speaker 1: to someone's also, I thought it because we some of
Speaker 1: us stay up all night in the same games hotel
Speaker 1: and talk about these things. But but I remember when
Speaker 1: everything shifted seeing sixty five and during the whole Civil
Speaker 1: rights movement, the politicians reacted to the move the movement
Speaker 1: didn't react to the politicians. Lyndon Johnson, It's quote, if
Speaker 1: you go but if you ever want to hear some
Speaker 1: real history, even get a few labs, listen to the O. B.
Speaker 1: J Table, And he says, he gets up every morning,
Speaker 1: he first, before he gets the National Security Advisor Report,
Speaker 1: the National Security Briefing, he wants to know what man
Speaker 1: Luther King and did Gregory had said about him overnight.
Speaker 1: That is what started his day. That was the influence
Speaker 1: that the movement had at that time. We advocated that,
Speaker 1: and somehow our movement came um absorbed by the Democratic Party,
Speaker 1: and not even an ideology of the Democratic Party, just
Speaker 1: this that whatever we do or whatever we want done
Speaker 1: can happen unless we get Democrats elected. That became our
Speaker 1: end rather than our needs, and it absorbed it. I
Speaker 1: was sharing uh with with a young person today. This
Speaker 1: isn't that long ago. We were the three bunch were alive.
Speaker 1: I was involved in it. Something. Some of the biggest
Speaker 1: victoris of our movement in the eighties. We blocked Robert
Speaker 1: Bork Ronald Reagan Supreme Court nominee. We can do that today.
Speaker 1: We did that eighty We over ruled Reagan on amount
Speaker 1: of the King Holiday. Reagan the most cooper republic the president.
Speaker 1: We s the memory. We beat him on the amount
Speaker 1: of the King Holiday. We also beat him with the
Speaker 1: kame of scitions against South Africa. Today we don't have
Speaker 1: their mentality. We weren't. We weren't discouraged because Reagan was
Speaker 1: a Republican. Today this is what we say, Well, we
Speaker 1: didn't do it that stuff unless we get Democrats in office.
Speaker 1: We didn't wait to get Democrats in office to the
Speaker 1: feed Ronald Reagan on those three very important regis what
Speaker 1: happened to earth. Martin is a king and all of
Speaker 1: them didn't wait for a Democrats to get an office
Speaker 1: to do what they needed to do. And when the
Speaker 1: Democrat was an office, they held that democrat accountable. So
Speaker 1: something has happened to us where we have forgotten and
Speaker 1: all these are gonna be honest with you. Some of
Speaker 1: our organizations have made it their their call, their mission
Speaker 1: to see how many times they can get invited too
Speaker 1: the White House. Not told the White House accountable, but
Speaker 1: to be in the meeting, to take pictures and do
Speaker 1: all of that they were holding up to mar each
Speaker 1: other day. Take a picture of the way. I was
Speaker 1: really like, some of y'all go to the White House
Speaker 1: once a week anyway, Why do you need to see
Speaker 1: them in Sealman too? Why not looking people in Selma,
Speaker 1: seeing the vice president Kamala had and and so you know,
Speaker 1: I don't know whether some of what is happening to
Speaker 1: and what happened in sem on bloody Sunday when Tomala
Speaker 1: Harris came there, trying to put this as diplomatically as
Speaker 1: I came without violating the confidence she confided in me.
Speaker 1: But sometimes you don't know whether she herself is being
Speaker 1: steered in a direction so that she can fail. I'll
Speaker 1: just leave that there. Uh, you know, there were just
Speaker 1: things that I observed that that that trying. Yeah, that
Speaker 1: the first black woman vice president, and what she expressed
Speaker 1: to me privately, it gives me pause to wonder, you know,
Speaker 1: what is really going on. It wasn't her decision to
Speaker 1: keep the crowd from her, whose decision wasn't being and
Speaker 1: and and if this were a white male vice president
Speaker 1: and the president was took about to be eighty years old, um,
Speaker 1: there would be a runway prepared. Everything goes through history
Speaker 1: all every incoming vice president is promoted as a successor
Speaker 1: to the incoming president. That is not happening to the
Speaker 1: first black woman vice president, the first South Asian woman,
Speaker 1: the first Jamaican American woman. She checks about six and
Speaker 1: nine boxing, but that's not happening for her. And several
Speaker 1: women came up to me, even even some white women
Speaker 1: that the president of the National Congress of Jewish Women,
Speaker 1: National Council Jewish Woman spoke to me after the march
Speaker 1: because this is something. Why is why is this a
Speaker 1: woman not being elevated in the way that the white
Speaker 1: male vice president. She stopped me on the bridge to
Speaker 1: ask me that. I said, you know, these are all
Speaker 1: questions we have to answer. So when we look at
Speaker 1: all of it, all of these things are problematic, the
Speaker 1: lack of our voting rights, the performative aspect of this
Speaker 1: mice whereby people coming and take pictures and nothing can
Speaker 1: really be done about it. What did the news media do?
Speaker 1: Um My ma Avacrrends of the Practice Powers called me
Speaker 1: last night. I wasn't even back in the hotel. Yet
Speaker 1: all of the coverage on television was more focused on
Speaker 1: the Vice president's remarks about the Ukraine. We're obsessed with
Speaker 1: the Ukraine, don't get me wrong. It's a terrible thing.
Speaker 1: We want us to end. We want that war to end.
Speaker 1: Pouting as a maniac, Trump is his marrying that. But
Speaker 1: you were yesterday for Selma and and and. While the
Speaker 1: Ukraine is being occupied by Russia, our communities are still mean, disproportionate,
Speaker 1: disproportionately occupied by the police who were still killing us,
Speaker 1: disproportionately occupied by those who were trafficking guns and drugs,
Speaker 1: your young people. So we all in the war one.
Speaker 1: War one community is suffering in the war is not
Speaker 1: greater than another. And so while we stand with the
Speaker 1: safety of the people in Ukraine and one piece to them,
Speaker 1: everybody else for the Ukraine all don't want the same
Speaker 1: for us in our own community. And I know this
Speaker 1: with Dr Francis Fritz Weilson says you along, Blessing, I
Speaker 1: was gonna say I was gonna go to Ukraine next,
Speaker 1: but I think you covered it a c That's it,
Speaker 1: that's it, because we got you crate. Ukraine is in
Speaker 1: the Bronx. You know what I'm saying that Ukraine is
Speaker 1: literally right, So you you're telling me they don't shut
Speaker 1: they don't stab a little young boy up in six
Speaker 1: years old yesterday in the Bronx. So as much as
Speaker 1: my heart bleeds for everything that's going on Ukraine, we
Speaker 1: have to acknowledge that we are at war in our
Speaker 1: own country, you know. And and like you said, you know,
Speaker 1: watching the Vice President and just seeing just there was
Speaker 1: a level there wasn't a level of energy, right, It
Speaker 1: seems it seems that is she's just dealing with a
Speaker 1: lot in herself, just understanding like you said, they're noticing,
Speaker 1: we're noticing that she's not being lifted and elevated. She's not.
Speaker 1: Her voice is not being pushed in places that it
Speaker 1: should be pushed where she has the right to talk,
Speaker 1: where you know, all the issues that are going on
Speaker 1: our community. She should be the first one speaking up.
Speaker 1: You know, blacks, Blacks got this president elected, Black's got
Speaker 1: this whole ticket elected. She should be her voice should
Speaker 1: be elevant. Black women have been the backbone of the
Speaker 1: Democratic Party for how long? Her voice should be elevated.
Speaker 1: You know what I'm saying, We're not seeing that and
Speaker 1: just watching yesterday. You know, usually I'm enthused, even though
Speaker 1: a lot of things that's going on inside of the
Speaker 1: you know, inside of this administration I'm not happy with,
Speaker 1: but usually just hearing her speak gives me a level. Okay,
Speaker 1: she sounds strong, But I didn't get that. Yes, I
Speaker 1: didn't get it, And I have to be honest, I didn't.
Speaker 1: I didn't get it. I didn't get it. You know,
Speaker 1: I mean I was, I was. I was a little concerned.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna I think we all kind of felt
Speaker 1: the same thing. And you know, people get tired and
Speaker 1: it's hot, and there it was Selma, it was Selma.
Speaker 1: It was your moment, Black Queen. It was your moment.
Speaker 1: You was in Selma, you were speaking in front of
Speaker 1: your constituents, your people in your backyard with that all
Speaker 1: these people who died in sacrifice so you can be
Speaker 1: where you are right now. You're supposed to leave that
Speaker 1: place on fire. You know it wasn't. There wasn't what happened. Well, well,
Speaker 1: I think there's a learning experience for us too, because frankly,
Speaker 1: vice presidents are supposed to be secondary to the president.
Speaker 1: But I think this is a special case. Let's all
Speaker 1: remember how she got there. This sister was not the
Speaker 1: first choice. She is the vice president because Chris Dodd,
Speaker 1: who was the former son of Chris Dodd, who was
Speaker 1: the search committee chair for the vice president. When publicans
Speaker 1: says she was too ambitious. This so that caused the reaction,
Speaker 1: a viral reaction amongst women throughout the country, not just
Speaker 1: black women at all. Women's wait a minute, you're punishing
Speaker 1: her for being too ambitious. Now, because the movement said
Speaker 1: you now have to respect her because you called ambitious,
Speaker 1: you can't dispoalify her for being ambitious. That still does
Speaker 1: not mean they don't think she's too ambitious. So okay,
Speaker 1: we'll give me a job, But we ain't gonna let
Speaker 1: you do nothing. We're gonna be seen. We're gonna make
Speaker 1: sure that you don't have is big of a crowd
Speaker 1: and someone else might have. Okay, you know, with so
Speaker 1: all of those things, I think come into plane. They
Speaker 1: didn't apologize the same humans to ambisitionals. They just said, well,
Speaker 1: we'll go ahead and give her the job. But we're
Speaker 1: we're in a perilous place because right now we know Republicans.
Speaker 1: What Republicans have done. I'm about to think about this.
Speaker 1: What Republicans have done is is moved to those two
Speaker 1: extreme big words, big words to meet that Dr King
Speaker 1: used at the Mansion Washington. He said, into position and nullification. Um,
Speaker 1: they had made that, they have modified that in law.
Speaker 1: So now the Senate literally does not function. And Martin
Speaker 1: the third calm, he said, Mark, what we gonna do?
Speaker 1: I said, well, I'm sure we have to do. Tomard.
Speaker 1: We have to ask ourselves, what would your father have
Speaker 1: done if he had not had the power to get
Speaker 1: legislation passed like he did When he was allowed the power.
Speaker 1: Dr King, he not only continued on the street, but
Speaker 1: by putting people in the streets, he got the six
Speaker 1: four vot the Ta pass, he got the six five
Speaker 1: six or se rights at pass, he got the UH
Speaker 1: sixty five voter right Zack Path in sixty eight after
Speaker 1: he died, because it was already in the in the
Speaker 1: line in the opera. He got the fair House in
Speaker 1: that pass that was passed the memory of Dr King
Speaker 1: not long after the assassination. But that was the will
Speaker 1: of the country at the time and the will of
Speaker 1: the people in power to follow that lead. That was logical.
Speaker 1: People in the streets people had demand you pads legislation.
Speaker 1: If this Senate where in existence, when he would have
Speaker 1: would have been allied and the seller buster would have
Speaker 1: been in full of fad there every years today in
Speaker 1: the forum that centivate not a talking fillibus Tom the
Speaker 1: Lords mackban we would have we would have gotten none
Speaker 1: of those pieces of legislative pass. And so the answer
Speaker 1: to our problems, if is meditating and studying and trying
Speaker 1: to understand what would Dr King have done? What do
Speaker 1: we know? Max Malcolm ms Kain to Selma. See we
Speaker 1: none of this was by accident, Malcolm kan the Selmer
Speaker 1: it already been ounced it from the nation. He was
Speaker 1: coming to Selma to join Dr king That was the plan.
Speaker 1: Malcolm could have been killed at any time, but he
Speaker 1: wasn't killed until the King to Shelma. Two weeks after
Speaker 1: he came to Solmer, met with Cretic Kings, went to
Speaker 1: visit Dr Kenyan jail. They killed Malcolm X. The agreement
Speaker 1: was that when Dr Kinge got out of jail he
Speaker 1: was in jail and Birmingham at the time, did he
Speaker 1: and Malcolm would go together together and petition United Nations
Speaker 1: under the International Declaration of Human Rights in terms of
Speaker 1: what our people were dealing with. Dr King agreed to
Speaker 1: go with Malcolm. They were going to stand together. If
Speaker 1: Malcolm and Martin had been able to come together, stand
Speaker 1: together and organize together, this whole country would have been
Speaker 1: Father Jamie mm hmm. Knowing that mob man, because that's
Speaker 1: that's that's what it is. Thank you, Mark, Thank you
Speaker 1: so much. We knew you wouldn't right want to help
Speaker 1: follow up uh to our Bloody Sunday experience. And I
Speaker 1: just want to say that even though we are challenging,
Speaker 1: we're asking questions, we're probing, we are concerned about what
Speaker 1: we saw in Selma. We are concerned about this movement
Speaker 1: in general, where we are today, we are challenging ourselves.
Speaker 1: What more can we do? I'm sure you have that conversation,
Speaker 1: you know, with yourself all the time, because that's what
Speaker 1: great leaders do. You challenge yourself and you challenge what's
Speaker 1: going on around you. But it does not take away
Speaker 1: the importance of walking across that bridge every single year,
Speaker 1: getting recommitted and getting refired up to go back to
Speaker 1: your local communities and do the work. And I know
Speaker 1: that having Latasha Brown and Cliff all Bright of Black
Speaker 1: Gold does matter, and Barbara Online of Transformative Justice Coalition,
Speaker 1: and Reverend Barbara there of the Poor People's Campaign, and
Speaker 1: Reverend Jesse Jackson and all the folks that are in
Speaker 1: the room being together in that place. Those folks are busy.
Speaker 1: You're busy. We got plenty, plenty of things to do,
Speaker 1: including the fact that people have families. As my son said,
Speaker 1: he's got to get back to his children. And yet
Speaker 1: we still take the time to be together and to
Speaker 1: show up in that space because every single day, the
Speaker 1: fighting that we do on the ground, we have to
Speaker 1: be reminded that there were people who suffered a greater
Speaker 1: sacrifice and challenge than we have um and and but
Speaker 1: we have a responsibility to keep this work going. So
Speaker 1: I just want to thank you for being you. You
Speaker 1: have you deal with everybody's stuff, not just in Selma,
Speaker 1: but in all of these situations, everything from the million
Speaker 1: Man March to the marches on Washington, to the Women's
Speaker 1: March to everything. We always can depend on Mark Thompson
Speaker 1: to be at the center and to be a great voice.
Speaker 1: And if anyone has ever if you missed it, you
Speaker 1: need to pay attention to the fact that Mark Thompson
Speaker 1: runs a program like nobody we know. Well, well, bless you,
Speaker 1: thank you for having me. Let me just say, folks,
Speaker 1: with the three of us have all under the sound
Speaker 1: of our races is also irrevocable solidarity. We all got
Speaker 1: to stick together. Our enemies are always constantly trying to
Speaker 1: divide us. What me and this sister, this brother have
Speaker 1: together is an irrevocable solidarity. We need that all with
Speaker 1: each other. We need that with all of our movements
Speaker 1: and our organizations. I come to Selma to get reenergized.
Speaker 1: Selma is our political Eastern. There was blood, there was
Speaker 1: a crucifixion. We come here. The people on their bridge
Speaker 1: were crucified the top of that bridge was our political calberry.
Speaker 1: And we can either wear crosses around our next we
Speaker 1: can wear a little Selma bridges. That's all the same thing.
Speaker 1: That's why people's blood was shared from the sins of
Speaker 1: America to change this country. So we invite people to
Speaker 1: come to sell them and get reenergized with all of
Speaker 1: us and then get back out in the streets and fight,
Speaker 1: and all of us stick together and not allow our
Speaker 1: ins to divide us, to have the unity that Dr
Speaker 1: King saught for which for which he was killed, up
Speaker 1: for which Malcolm was killed. That is our calling, that
Speaker 1: is our mission. That is what we must do as
Speaker 1: a people. How can people follow your show? And because
Speaker 1: you know you got to do your business. Your business
Speaker 1: on here to Mark, So folks on Twitter, make a
Speaker 1: plane on Instagram, minister with two teams on Facebook as well,
Speaker 1: make a plane, make it plane dot com. Just look
Speaker 1: at making plane. We are everywhere that make you plan.
Speaker 1: Love you Mark, you mad I love you all too face.
Speaker 1: Thank you Mark. Be safe All right, man, that was
Speaker 1: really really good. I mean people need to listen to
Speaker 1: what Mark said. I mean, we gotta find a way
Speaker 1: because I know we put out clips of the show
Speaker 1: but sometimes folks, don't, you know, go and really listen
Speaker 1: to the whole show and get the full context. Somehow,
Speaker 1: we need to really make sure that people get an
Speaker 1: opportunity to hear what Mark just laid out, because it
Speaker 1: was there was a lot that was in that you know,
Speaker 1: short time that we had him on with us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was a lot, man. Marca's Mark is like an encyclopedia. Man.
Speaker 1: He's he's been around, he knows the history, you know,
Speaker 1: and he's able, like he's like his show, make it plain.
Speaker 1: He's able to give it to you in context that
Speaker 1: you can actually understand. And he's been around some of
Speaker 1: the greats, and he's been in the room for the grades,
Speaker 1: and he's organized and he's done so much. So it's
Speaker 1: a blessing that we have someone that we can call
Speaker 1: a brother with that level of expertise and knowledge in
Speaker 1: this area. Man. So it's always always a pleasure just
Speaker 1: to listen to Mark give it to you like you
Speaker 1: give it to you. We learned so much. I mean
Speaker 1: the gems that he dropped on the end where he
Speaker 1: talks about selma Um, I mean talks about Alcolm x right, well,
Speaker 1: talk about where he explains how Malcolm X came to Selma.
Speaker 1: We know that Malcolm and Martin were starting to get closer.
Speaker 1: We know that they were sort of, you know, starting
Speaker 1: to put their difference is aside and realizing that they
Speaker 1: were more powerful as a unit. Uh, you know, time
Speaker 1: ran out, but I think we are now, you know,
Speaker 1: with us working with different groups and the way in
Speaker 1: which we're trying to be intentional about our own work
Speaker 1: and our own collaborations. That is a continuation of what
Speaker 1: they were attempting to do. But every time we get
Speaker 1: close to those things, and you think about the Women's
Speaker 1: March and just so many different areas where this cointel
Speaker 1: pro mindset seeps in. They know at this point to
Speaker 1: kill us brutally, although they have killed some of our
Speaker 1: foot soldiers that have been out there in places like
Speaker 1: Ferguson and other places across the nation. So it is
Speaker 1: not to say that they won't, but there are certain
Speaker 1: individuals they've decided that, you know what will We killed
Speaker 1: in the past, we created martyrs, We created a bigger moment.
Speaker 1: So instead of killing them physically, we now have this
Speaker 1: thing where we will try to destroy and discredit them
Speaker 1: um and make sure that people are not don't really
Speaker 1: trust them enough, and we keep the communities dumbed down
Speaker 1: with you know, the whatever kind of nonsense they continue
Speaker 1: to pump into our minds every day. Just in in
Speaker 1: in the spirit of that, you know, I've been trying
Speaker 1: to make my I don't get it go just a
Speaker 1: little bit left, you know, and go into certain things
Speaker 1: that's of the culture, you know, and and just talking
Speaker 1: about division, just talking about separation, just talking about how
Speaker 1: they try to devalue us and disrespect and normalize this
Speaker 1: level of disrespect and devalue on us. You know. Um,
Speaker 1: I've been you know, I'm always in the hip hop
Speaker 1: community because that's what that's where I come from. I
Speaker 1: come from hip hop, and I listened to music and
Speaker 1: and and there was a story yesterday about Jill Button,
Speaker 1: who is somebody that is cool with me. And there's
Speaker 1: they have a group called slaughter House that they emminent
Speaker 1: have signed. It was Joe Button's, it was Roy's five Nine's,
Speaker 1: um Joel Ortiz and King Crooked Eye. These are the
Speaker 1: dope lyricists, and so there's everybody. They never actually released
Speaker 1: a real album that people wanted them to release the
Speaker 1: album for some reason, the sort of House album never
Speaker 1: really did what it was supposed to do, you know,
Speaker 1: and a lot of people want one of them. Are yo.
Speaker 1: Joe Buttons had retired, roy said, you know, he had
Speaker 1: pretty much moved away from it. Everybody had moved into
Speaker 1: different areas and listening to Joe Welling and Crooked. They
Speaker 1: somehow they got a deal on the table to do
Speaker 1: a slor of House album, but the rest of them didn't.
Speaker 1: When I don't know the particulars of it needed you
Speaker 1: need to hit no there. They got a deal and um,
Speaker 1: they I think they're releasing the project coming up shortly
Speaker 1: called U the Death for the slaughter House or whatever.
Speaker 1: And so there was a debate Royce and Joe Button's
Speaker 1: is on their lives talking and Joel Ortiz came on
Speaker 1: and they started talking about their issues, you know. And
Speaker 1: these are people that you know, to the most people,
Speaker 1: they're like brothers. You know. This is they were in
Speaker 1: the group. They alway have respect for each other. They
Speaker 1: spoke up for each other. And during the conversation, you know,
Speaker 1: they were talking about the album and they were saying
Speaker 1: and Joe Bunden said, yo, I wish you the best,
Speaker 1: and then Joey c or whatever you wish it is
Speaker 1: the best, and support the album, tell people to go
Speaker 1: get the album. And and Joe said, and I quote
Speaker 1: that album can suck my dick, right. So and I'm
Speaker 1: listening to it and a lot of people say, well,
Speaker 1: he didn't tell him to do this thing. And I'm saying,
Speaker 1: when did we start normal as men? Because we I'm
Speaker 1: from right, you don't utilize that language to another man.
Speaker 1: That's just not a conversation you have like if I
Speaker 1: was in prison. In prison, you could telling the man
Speaker 1: that in the streets that was always fighting, where you
Speaker 1: might get shot for saying that to it. Man, it
Speaker 1: just in just in the conversation. You didn't want to
Speaker 1: utilize your private You didn't want to invite any man
Speaker 1: to your private parts or invite or utilize that context
Speaker 1: in a conversation where there was heated or disrespect. It
Speaker 1: was a level of disrespect that you didn't want to
Speaker 1: even talk to unless you had real issues with him. Now,
Speaker 1: these are people that I call brothers, you know. And
Speaker 1: I was gonna hit Joe privately and say something body,
Speaker 1: but it's a public thing and it's not really saying
Speaker 1: And I'm just I want to know not really about Joe,
Speaker 1: but when did this become a thing? Like I watched
Speaker 1: these young kids on the internet every day SMD you
Speaker 1: can SMD, And I'm like, how did we get so
Speaker 1: far to utilize levels of disrespect that once could have
Speaker 1: got you killed and still can get you killed or
Speaker 1: shot or harm if you say to the wrong person.
Speaker 1: When did we normalize this level of disrespect to each other?
Speaker 1: People that you that you what's had levels of good friendship?
Speaker 1: How do we go from all right, we don't we
Speaker 1: don't agree to SMD to saying things that you know
Speaker 1: is a bit because and you can tell by the
Speaker 1: reaction that Joel Teas had because he said it back
Speaker 1: to him and then he made a statement like you're
Speaker 1: gonna wish you didn't say that, And it's like, wow,
Speaker 1: how did us as brothers and people in our communities
Speaker 1: started utilizing language and in disrespect so fluently? And that's
Speaker 1: and when we talk about the death and the violence
Speaker 1: in our communities, it is because we've normalized disrespecting each other.
Speaker 1: And I just don't get how that became a thing.
Speaker 1: I just don't get how did we just get so
Speaker 1: comfortable and just disrespecting and saying the worst things that
Speaker 1: people say. Your mother, I wish your mother is like.
Speaker 1: Those are things that when I grew up, it was like, wow,
Speaker 1: you you are must trying to kill somebody when you
Speaker 1: talk about their mother or you invite them to your
Speaker 1: private parts, you know. And I just really don't get
Speaker 1: how did we allow a culture anything to to normalize disrespect,
Speaker 1: to normalize seeing the most vulgar and disrespectful things that
Speaker 1: we can in any context to each other as brothers,
Speaker 1: just as men in general, you know, And it sounds
Speaker 1: like there is more trauma. I think it sounds like
Speaker 1: there's some other stuff going on. To your point, when
Speaker 1: you say, well, um, you know, you're like, well, it
Speaker 1: seemed like they were brothers. But when people say things
Speaker 1: like that to one another, it must be something deeper
Speaker 1: going on. That's what it sounds like to me. But
Speaker 1: I would just say that from the larger context, that's
Speaker 1: just what's happening in the world, Like everything everywhere we turn,
Speaker 1: even the way that young people deal with their parents,
Speaker 1: even the way that young black men speak to their mothers.
Speaker 1: I watch it every single day, how much how it
Speaker 1: it's like it's been Um, It's like it's the value
Speaker 1: of a mother is not the same, and perhaps some
Speaker 1: of these young people might say, well, my mother doesn't
Speaker 1: act like the mothers of you know a different time.
Speaker 1: So I think we as a people, all of us,
Speaker 1: really have to start checking ourselves and realizing that even
Speaker 1: in our level of frustration, we could be angry going
Speaker 1: through different things, but there's time and place, there is
Speaker 1: ways in which things should be said, and I think
Speaker 1: we've gotten we've we maybe we're just like ticking tom bombs,
Speaker 1: where everybody is just ready to go off and do
Speaker 1: and say the worst things that we can to harm
Speaker 1: another person because we really are her and inside maybe man,
Speaker 1: just it saddens me that we've normalized this level of
Speaker 1: disrespect and is directly correlates to the level of violence
Speaker 1: in our communities, because when you normalize disrespect like that,
Speaker 1: and you can and you can say the most disrespectful
Speaker 1: and the worst things possible to just people that that
Speaker 1: you don't really have any real animosity and real anger towards.
Speaker 1: These are not your enemies. These are people that you've
Speaker 1: been in community with, people that you've been in relation with,
Speaker 1: people that you've been that you want to call family
Speaker 1: when you can utilize certain terms where you can get
Speaker 1: into argument with your brother and talking about you're gonna
Speaker 1: shoot them, or one of your family members said I'll
Speaker 1: shoot you and I kill you. It's like, how do
Speaker 1: you how do you want to harm someone that? How
Speaker 1: do you how does it get that bad? How do
Speaker 1: we get so comfortable with this level of disrespect or
Speaker 1: just willing to take you completely out of here for disagreement.
Speaker 1: And it's just like, man, we we have to do better,
Speaker 1: you know, in boyd Kind black murder, in this campaign,
Speaker 1: you know, we have to talk about those things because
Speaker 1: I've realized that those are direct correlations to what's going
Speaker 1: on in our communities. Man. So I want to I
Speaker 1: want to start the healing man, because I'm just flabbergast
Speaker 1: that I watched disagreements and arguments and they play out
Speaker 1: on the in and and and it's public right. And
Speaker 1: that's what I say all the time. When you publicize
Speaker 1: negativity and you publicize, you know, conflicts, and you say
Speaker 1: certain things to people, it's not just like you're saying
Speaker 1: it in the room with me and you and we
Speaker 1: could go out. There are people that you said this
Speaker 1: in front of them, and the male ego says I
Speaker 1: can't allow you to talk to me that way. And
Speaker 1: then they have people who are gonna edge you on
Speaker 1: and say, oh, you solved, and people see me, did
Speaker 1: people watch you this de escalate the situation and tell
Speaker 1: you that you solve? You know? But my ego is not.
Speaker 1: I don't have any problem with that because the movement
Speaker 1: in the trajectory that I'm on now, it's about, you know,
Speaker 1: de escalation, right I I don't have any ego. I
Speaker 1: don't think that because I don't want to hurt you
Speaker 1: or I don't want to fight with you makes me solve.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of people who don't bide by that.
Speaker 1: They think you're trying to de escalate something means that
Speaker 1: you're scared of you solved, and internet will you know,
Speaker 1: project that continue to to heighten that sense of ideology.
Speaker 1: So if we understand that, why would we publicly disrespect
Speaker 1: people who don't have the emotional confidence and strength to
Speaker 1: move past their ego that with this energy of violence
Speaker 1: is gonna be incentivized because now you don't disrespect this
Speaker 1: person or perceived disrespect to a level that a million
Speaker 1: people have seen, and they're gonna be deeming them and say,
Speaker 1: oh you saw you ain't do nothing bad. You let
Speaker 1: them talk to you like that, this and that, and
Speaker 1: they gotta deal with that. It's like we just we
Speaker 1: just gotta do better because you know, until we until
Speaker 1: we acknowledge the problems in the way that violence and
Speaker 1: negativity is spread in our communities, is no way that
Speaker 1: we're gonna be able to stop it. M hm. So
Speaker 1: with that said, we have another dope episode. Shout out
Speaker 1: to our brother, one of our mentors, one of our educators,
Speaker 1: Mark Thom's and make a play. Make sure you go
Speaker 1: to his show. Shout out to everybody. We didn't talk
Speaker 1: about this, but March night today is the anniversary of
Speaker 1: the passing of the late Great b I G. Biggie Smalls.
Speaker 1: He's one of my influences. Man. I never got to
Speaker 1: meet Biggie Smalls, but his music definitely inspired me into
Speaker 1: hip hop. And when he meant so much to just
Speaker 1: hip hop in general, not mainly to Brooklyn and New York,
Speaker 1: but when he meant to hip hop in general was
Speaker 1: something that has last untill now you know it's been
Speaker 1: It's been about over two decades since Biggie's passed, and
Speaker 1: he still has an impact that is unmatched. Only only
Speaker 1: person that I see with that level impact is him
Speaker 1: in Tupac. So shout out to the late Great b. I. G.
Speaker 1: And shout out to his family, his daughters, his son,
Speaker 1: his mother, everybody that he left here the WLD you
Speaker 1: in your mind field, which is my family. Little Kim,
Speaker 1: you know R I P. Today's Biggie Day. Salute you
Speaker 1: the King. Yeah and I Yes, Biggie smoke baby baby.
Speaker 1: With that said, I'm not gonna always be right to
Speaker 1: make a matter is and that can always be wrong.
Speaker 1: But we both always and I mean always be authentic,
Speaker 1: solutely peace. That's how we owned