WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 091022 2-Year Anniversary Episode (Part 1) 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.080 Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am your host, 0:00:03.160 --> 0:00:05.960 ramses job. He is Rams joh I mq ward. You 0:00:06.000 --> 0:00:07.680 are listening to Civic Ciphers. 0:00:07.720 --> 0:00:07.880 Listen. 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:12.480 Indeed, very special episode today. We don't get to say 0:00:12.520 --> 0:00:16.919 that very often. We are two years old. 0:00:16.760 --> 0:00:21.040 Today, Well I'm actually I'm I'm forty but then on okay, 0:00:21.040 --> 0:00:22.320 so October. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.200 I'm forty two. You're right, you know, let me I 0:00:24.239 --> 0:00:26.120 should probably say that, well the show. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:28.000 Okay, the show is ten years old. 0:00:28.040 --> 0:00:33.280 Now I gooes too, and then if you round up, 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:37.319 because my birthday's coming up, I'll be like forty one. 0:00:37.440 --> 0:00:38.199 Yeah, there you go. 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:41.960 Man. So today we're going to celebrate. We're going to 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.160 celebrate a lot of what has happened in the past year, 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.560 in the past two years that we've been on the air, 0:00:48.760 --> 0:00:51.600 and we'll probably do a whole lot of thanking to you, 0:00:51.640 --> 0:00:55.760 our listeners, for supporting us. You know, that's saying something 0:00:55.760 --> 0:01:01.080 to have a radio show grow this big and be 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:05.000 sustained and fortified by a listenership. You know, a basic 0:01:05.200 --> 0:01:07.400 of people that just tune in every week to listen 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:09.160 to what we got going on and what we want 0:01:09.160 --> 0:01:10.640 to talk about. And we know we deal with heavy 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.399 topics and subjects and so forth, So to have that 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:17.760 support and to just be championed by you means a 0:01:17.800 --> 0:01:20.040 lot to us. So stick around. We will be discussing 0:01:20.120 --> 0:01:24.039 again some of the more positive things that have happened 0:01:24.080 --> 0:01:28.200 as a result of you know, all of our combined efforts, 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:34.039 not just us, but yours and other great organizations. So 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:35.880 we're going to look at the progress there. We're going 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:43.000 to also spend some time discussing black media. You know, 0:01:43.360 --> 0:01:47.280 our show wouldn't exist if not for you know, the 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:50.240 starting point was the Freedom Journal, the first black owned 0:01:50.280 --> 0:01:52.360 and operated newspaper in the United States, so we're going 0:01:52.440 --> 0:01:55.080 to spend some time talking about that as well. But 0:01:56.640 --> 0:02:00.640 you know, we like to start off with some Avenue excellence, 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:05.440 So cue, how's that sound, sha we shall This week's 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:09.160 Ebony Excellence is sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly Media and 0:02:09.200 --> 0:02:11.720 the story comes by US Sports Illustrated. I think you 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:15.400 might know what's coming. We are going to celebrate some 0:02:15.400 --> 0:02:17.600 more black girl magic, like we like to do around 0:02:17.600 --> 0:02:22.280 here by talking about Serena Williams. So I will read 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:26.359 a bit. We knew it was time for the Queen 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:30.399 Goat Williams to lay down her rackets. She remains victorious 0:02:30.800 --> 0:02:33.239 in winning our hearts because she's the greatest of all time. 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.920 Twenty two major championships later, several close calls for an 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:44.280 additional title, injuries, disappointments, marriage and motherhood. It was a 0:02:44.360 --> 0:02:47.560 forty one year old body to have the final scene. 0:02:48.040 --> 0:02:50.560 Many young black girls have been watching her resilience and 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.600 competitive nature, wondering if they could one day possess the 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:56.880 heart of Serena Williams and will forever look up to her. 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:02.960 Congratulations Serena Williams and family, especially King Richard, Queen of mother, sisters, 0:03:03.000 --> 0:03:07.919 brother and of course Venus. You all made many across 0:03:07.919 --> 0:03:11.680 the world extremely proud. From Comptony England, Francis, Spain, Africa 0:03:11.720 --> 0:03:16.280 to Australia. Williams family reigns Women's Tennis Royalty Supreme. Serena, 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:18.680 please continue to hold court wherever you may be. You 0:03:18.840 --> 0:03:21.839 see you're still our queen for forever. In a day, 0:03:22.080 --> 0:03:25.640 Serena Williams definitely the greatest of our all time, yesterday, 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:29.959 today and tomorrow. For those who don't know, she has 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:36.120 retired at the end of a very celebrated career and 0:03:37.840 --> 0:03:41.960 she is the living embodiment of excellence, being committed to 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:46.880 not just your craft, but to who you are, standing 0:03:46.880 --> 0:03:49.760 firm in the middle of yourself, owning your blackness, championing 0:03:49.800 --> 0:03:55.080 your blackness in spaces where it's sometimes difficult, challenging, et cetera. 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:58.800 And if we can, we will take this moment to 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.520 salute you, Serena Williams. You are absolutely of any excellence, 0:04:03.560 --> 0:04:06.920 And if all goes well, the rest of the show 0:04:06.960 --> 0:04:08.360 is going to sound just like that. I know, I'm 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:11.840 excited because we don't often get to have sort of 0:04:11.880 --> 0:04:17.679 a celebratory tone around here. But again, turning two years 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:24.160 old is really something special. I want to remind you 0:04:25.440 --> 0:04:35.640 that this show, we didn't expect this to happen, right 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:39.000 We didn't expect to you know, this was that we 0:04:39.040 --> 0:04:41.920 didn't have like a master plan right here. I mean 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.320 that's the part of the story that I stressed the most. 0:04:45.520 --> 0:04:49.080 Yeah, because of the way things worked out, it seems 0:04:49.120 --> 0:04:52.479 like some stroke of genius that we fled radio to 0:04:52.520 --> 0:04:56.200 start our own fledging, fledgling media empire. And it's like, no, 0:04:56.680 --> 0:05:00.440 there was no plan, there was no exit strategy. You know, 0:05:00.480 --> 0:05:05.200 we stood on principal, we stood on our compass and 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.320 made the decision that we had to make just by 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:11.400 grace that things worked out and we're in a space 0:05:11.440 --> 0:05:14.679 now we're, you know, celebrating two years later. Just seems 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:18.880 really improbable because even that we started well, I mean, 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:20.680 I don't even know if we've ever told this part 0:05:20.720 --> 0:05:24.120 of the story out loud, but I sat at Ramsey's 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:28.799 dining room table and watched tears stream down his face 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:35.400 as he said goodbye to not just a career. A 0:05:35.440 --> 0:05:39.320 lot of people have jobs and careers, but media, radio 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:44.840 and broadcasting was Ramses's life. And because our people were 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:48.880 being misrepresented and for what it meant to our culture 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:53.320 that our home and radio told us no on the 0:05:53.400 --> 0:05:55.880 basis that what we were trying to do was black 0:05:57.720 --> 0:06:01.120 without hesitation, Ramsey said no. And you guys have to understand, 0:06:01.160 --> 0:06:04.159 there's a moment where it's like, yo, bro, did I 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:05.520 make the right decision here? 0:06:05.640 --> 0:06:05.919 Sure? 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.719 Yeah, And I'm like you made the only decision that 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:10.880 you could make. Thank you for that, Q, you know 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.520 what I'm saying. So that it worked out and that 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.720 all these opportunities have presented themselves. Now, if you don't 0:06:17.760 --> 0:06:19.560 know that part of the story, it just looks like 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:21.760 a struggle of genius like, man, that's dope with y'all, Dia, 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.159 how y'all went and start a civic ciphering. Told them 0:06:25.160 --> 0:06:27.080 that you know that they knew what they could. 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.080 Do, yes, like we did not know that. 0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:30.800 We had no idea. 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:33.800 And for those of you who may not know the story, 0:06:33.800 --> 0:06:35.360 we tell the story from time to temper for those 0:06:35.400 --> 0:06:38.880 who don't know. In brief, basically, Q and I are broadcasters. 0:06:38.920 --> 0:06:41.960 We have a hip hop background for DJs. We work 0:06:42.000 --> 0:06:45.920 in radio. During the protest of twenty twenty, we went 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:49.800 to our old employer and says, hey, we'd like to 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:51.800 do a show that really speaks to the issues on 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:53.719 the street. There's some people that we'd like to interview, 0:06:53.960 --> 0:07:00.600 et cetera. And after some roundabout, you know, misleading conversations, 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:02.479 they ultimately said that they didn't want to do a 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.200 black show. And this is when we decided to leave 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.600 on principle as Q mentioned, and we resigned to the 0:07:09.640 --> 0:07:11.800 city rather than to the station. We wrote the letter 0:07:11.840 --> 0:07:14.480 to the city just letting everyone know that this is 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:16.400 why we would not be heard on the radio anymore. 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:21.000 And what we were trying to do was for them. 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:22.720 We were trying to give them an hour a week 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:24.880 just to at that time it was a half hour 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:28.080 a week, so that you know, we could tell our 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.559 own stories and we could challenge what you know, Channel 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.680 twelve was reporting as a riot, which wasn't a riot 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:35.440 because again we were out on the street, you know this. 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:40.200 We felt the need for that. So, you know, to 0:07:40.560 --> 0:07:44.120 go from a moment where it's like, Okay, this chapter 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:47.040 of my life is over all of the tickets I 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:49.200 gave away, all the listeners that grew up listening to 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:52.600 me on the radio, all of the you know, I 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:56.160 tried my best the whole time I was a broadcaster 0:07:56.680 --> 0:08:00.440 for that part of my career to not let that 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:03.960 define me, to not let that become a part of 0:08:04.000 --> 0:08:12.280 my identity. Rather, but there's no escaping there's no escaping 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:15.040 that when you've done it for that long. It just 0:08:15.120 --> 0:08:17.800 because it's second nature. It's as natural as breathing. 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.200 So I've always been blown away every time you remind 0:08:21.320 --> 0:08:25.200 me because you question that, even like in the wake 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:28.920 of that decision, you're like, man, that is a part 0:08:28.960 --> 0:08:31.800 of my identity, and it blows me away that you 0:08:31.840 --> 0:08:35.560 didn't want that because you I saw the time that 0:08:35.600 --> 0:08:37.800 you committed to being good at it. So I'm like, 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:39.760 what is he talking about? Like, how are you going 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:41.440 to do this this well and it not be a 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:42.199 part of your identity? 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:43.520 Is it? 0:08:43.640 --> 0:08:45.320 Seemed? You know what I mean? 0:08:45.360 --> 0:08:49.520 Like I watched you commit more hours than anyone to 0:08:49.760 --> 0:08:50.640 being good at. 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:52.240 That, So Mamba mentality is you know what I mean? 0:08:52.480 --> 0:08:54.560 I often told you, I joke with you even to 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:56.320 this day. It's like a magician. 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.120 Watching you work in that space, so that you commit 0:08:59.200 --> 0:09:02.040 that much time being good at it while also hoping 0:09:02.080 --> 0:09:03.800 that it didn't become a part of your identity. 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:08.360 Seemed you know what it is though, q So. And 0:09:08.400 --> 0:09:14.520 this probably is indicative of I will say indicative of 0:09:14.840 --> 0:09:17.920 at least a facet of the black experience in this 0:09:17.960 --> 0:09:20.840 country at least, but I think it's also indicative of 0:09:22.720 --> 0:09:28.000 anyone's experience under capitalism, where you're in a corporate environment, 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:30.160 you know, and you are at the bottom or in 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.160 the middle, right or even at the top in some instances, 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:37.480 but certainly the bottom of the middle. So going into radio, 0:09:37.760 --> 0:09:39.560 you know, two thousand and five was when I first 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:43.840 got a chance to broadcast, and it was KKFR and Phoenix, 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:48.400 which we're on now. So shout out to DJ Complex 0:09:48.800 --> 0:09:50.880 and my man. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:51.480 Eric over there. 0:09:51.559 --> 0:09:54.040 We you know, we all go back, Yeah, we all 0:09:54.080 --> 0:10:02.600 go back. So anyway, yeah, but yeah, complex, Eric Valdez, 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.360 all these guys, they were doing power when I first 0:10:07.040 --> 0:10:10.080 got over there, you know. Five. 0:10:10.160 --> 0:10:10.520 And so. 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:17.280 When you first get into radio, you realize how volatile 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:19.520 the industry is, and there's lots of industries that are 0:10:19.600 --> 0:10:23.040 very volatile. Tomorrow's not promised in corporate America period. We 0:10:23.080 --> 0:10:25.040 all know that layoffs happen. We all know, you know 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:30.359 whatever well radio is particularly, I don't know if insidious 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:31.920 is the right word, but you get what I'm trying 0:10:31.920 --> 0:10:37.520 to say. So being the best kind of helps you 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:40.560 to fortify your position, but it in no way guarantees 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:44.080 a tomorrow fifty percent. You know, you might increase your 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:47.079 odds by fifty percent, but it's not going to guarantee anything. 0:10:48.640 --> 0:10:50.520 And so I didn't want it to become a part 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.280 of my identity because I knew that it could go 0:10:53.320 --> 0:10:55.800 away at any point in time, you know, and I 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.560 I at the same time, I doubled down so that 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.680 it would not go away, and then over time it 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:02.760 becomes a part of your identity. I say that to 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.920 say that walking away from it was obviously very emotional. 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.959 You know I've shed tears on this show before. So 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.040 if you, if you're a longtime listener, you know that 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.440 this is a very emotional place. We have to tell 0:11:15.480 --> 0:11:17.920 real stories. We deal with life, and we deal with death. 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:21.640 We deal with heavy topics here, and so I have 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:23.360 no there's no shame in me letting you know that 0:11:23.440 --> 0:11:26.880 I obviously had I lost it a couple of times, 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.600 having to walk away from how I did my family, 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.120 what might made my family really proud of me and 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:35.600 my friends and so forth, knowing that I would probably 0:11:35.640 --> 0:11:37.560 never talk on a microphone again. And I know that 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.760 you felt the same weight of that. But I know 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:41.480 you were kind of just moving with me. And I'll 0:11:41.520 --> 0:11:45.080 never ever be able to thank you enough for supporting me. 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:47.760 You know, I knew that you. I know that you 0:11:47.800 --> 0:11:50.000 would and just like I support you, You and I 0:11:50.080 --> 0:11:52.960 have been a year. There was no other version of it, though, 0:11:53.120 --> 0:11:55.680 there was no version where that decision was being made, 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:58.400 you know, in a vacuum with you by yourself like 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.319 that was. That was us decision. Sure that I'd been 0:12:02.360 --> 0:12:05.800 disappointed if you felt like you couldn't make the decision 0:12:05.800 --> 0:12:08.760 because you didn't know which direction I leaned, Yeah, yeah, 0:12:08.800 --> 0:12:11.000 but it's still important to say it out loud because 0:12:11.800 --> 0:12:14.960 you know, even though it's a given, it still represents 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:17.120 a sacrifice on your end as well. And so while 0:12:17.160 --> 0:12:19.760 you're acknowledging that, on my part, I want to make 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:22.280 sure I say that for you. But you know, to 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:27.600 go from essentially zero, well maybe not zero, but you know, 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:30.560 we had some people who had they had come to 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:36.720 know our names, but zero, no career, no no nothing, 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.560 you know, no promise of tomorrow to now having a 0:12:39.640 --> 0:12:44.240 radio show that's on from the Atlantic Ocean to the 0:12:44.320 --> 0:12:48.120 Pacific Ocean, you know, where as far north as you 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.120 know of state New York. I think we're on in 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.640 the station in a couple of stations in Vermont, you know, 0:12:53.679 --> 0:12:57.040 so as far north as in Vermont, and as you know, 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.040 obviously we're as far south as San Diego. You know, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.719 we crisscrossed the whole country. Now after two years and 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:06.520 obviously tons of support, most of which comes from our listeners, 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:11.200 is extremely humbling and we're really grateful and this is 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:17.040 a very invigorating time and our careers in our lives 0:13:17.120 --> 0:13:20.320 because now rather than asking you to listen to the 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:24.560 next commercial break and you know, giving away concert tickets 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:26.920 or you know, doing celebrity gossip or things like that. 0:13:26.960 --> 0:13:28.800 We feel like we talk about things that really matter. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.200 Granted it's heavy stuff, but again we really feel like 0:13:33.240 --> 0:13:39.320 it matters. And there's another part of this too. And 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:41.640 while we're here talking about this, I do want to 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.520 say it. I'm not one of I'm not the most 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:49.240 spiritual person in the world. That's not my way. But 0:13:50.320 --> 0:13:53.480 you know, sometimes there are things that happen that kind 0:13:53.520 --> 0:13:58.559 of make me feel like perhaps I have some favor 0:13:58.760 --> 0:14:06.240 with some sort of higher intelligence, higher power. And obviously 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:10.840 having you know u Q and having such a storied 0:14:10.880 --> 0:14:15.920 career alongside you, our producer Maggie b Noan coming to 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:19.440 the table and really helping lend that voice that we 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:23.400 really needed in terms of writing our scripts, making sure 0:14:23.440 --> 0:14:25.359 that we account for things that we might have overlooked. 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:30.960 You know, we can't articulate the pain that a mother 0:14:31.040 --> 0:14:33.640 might feel, you know, we can't. You know, there's certain 0:14:33.680 --> 0:14:37.680 things we can't do. But there's some other things that really, 0:14:38.240 --> 0:14:40.520 in hindsight, makes me feel like this was sort of. 0:14:42.880 --> 0:14:43.000 There. 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:46.160 There was some there was some perhaps intelligent design behind 0:14:46.160 --> 0:14:52.360 this path, one of which is, you know, you mentioned this. 0:14:52.360 --> 0:14:54.960 This is a really small thing, but it's not insignificant 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:58.120 to me, is that we had a treasure shove of 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.840 elements that would really help us build out the show, 0:15:02.920 --> 0:15:05.040 frame it and then sell it to radio stations. But 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:09.360 I think a more important, more foundational thing that happened 0:15:09.560 --> 0:15:13.760 was we've told the story before, so forgive me if 0:15:13.760 --> 0:15:18.080 you've heard it. But prior to us being told that 0:15:19.840 --> 0:15:23.280 our old station didn't want to do a quote black show, 0:15:24.480 --> 0:15:26.000 and it's a hip hop station, they didn't want to 0:15:26.040 --> 0:15:28.760 do a black show. Humh. Prior to being told that, 0:15:29.640 --> 0:15:33.160 two reached out to me. You know, once upon a 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:35.640 time I had not done a lot of traveling in 0:15:35.680 --> 0:15:40.479 the US, only international travel, and I had an opportunity 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:43.280 to go with Q to help them drive back a car. 0:15:43.320 --> 0:15:47.080 I think we went to go get your some fancy 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:48.720 car that Q has. I don't remember which one was. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:51.480 That was what it was. 0:15:52.880 --> 0:15:55.640 Anyway, it was in Florida, and of course we're based 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:58.760 in Phoenix, Arizona, and so he's like, hey man, you 0:15:58.800 --> 0:16:01.360 want to fly with me and drive the car back. 0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:04.160 And remember it's COVID at the time, you know, no 0:16:04.200 --> 0:16:05.920 one's outside. It's a way to get out of the 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.000 house and check off a few states, which now I've 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:10.600 obviously been off fifty states famously talked about that on 0:16:10.600 --> 0:16:12.840 the show as well, But at the time I had 0:16:12.840 --> 0:16:14.720 been to you know, four states or whatever. So this 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:16.600 was a chance for me to you know, travel through 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:20.680 the south, the southern part of the US and coming 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.920 back to the to the city, coming back to Phoenix. 0:16:24.920 --> 0:16:31.120 We were pulled over in Mississippi and we because remember 0:16:31.200 --> 0:16:33.560 at the time, you got to think George Floyd had 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:36.760 just gotten killed Breonna Taylor, you know, Ahmat Aubrey, where 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:39.560 the country is dealing with these in real time, and 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:41.760 then we get pulled over in the middle of the 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:46.200 night in the darkest back road in Mississippi on our 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:47.360 way to Louisiana. 0:16:47.480 --> 0:16:50.600 I need to add, just for those who are listening 0:16:50.640 --> 0:16:54.520 to us mentally, you know the darkest place that you 0:16:54.640 --> 0:16:56.840 thought of when he said that, Nah, it was darker. 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.560 It was way darker than it was no moonlight. There 0:16:59.640 --> 0:17:02.880 was no moon The trees were. 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:06.720 So big and so the greenery around us were so 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.680 dense that moonlight couldn't get through. 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:11.240 It was dark. 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:14.800 And then all you hear is that Mississippi accident come 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.240 from behind you, and we've told the story on the show. 0:17:17.280 --> 0:17:21.240 But anyway, this UH was an experience that Q and 0:17:21.320 --> 0:17:23.720 I both lived through. We went on I they pulled 0:17:23.760 --> 0:17:27.160 Q out of the car. Obviously the outcome were fine. 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:29.119 They did it for no reason, but they pulled Q 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:31.720 out of the car. We were pulled over for no 0:17:31.800 --> 0:17:35.800 reason really and certainly not enough reason to get taken 0:17:35.800 --> 0:17:37.600 out of the car. But I had my phone on 0:17:38.720 --> 0:17:42.480 UH Facebook and I was doing a Facebook Live and 0:17:42.520 --> 0:17:46.000 because we were bumping out cast driving through Mississippi and Alabama, 0:17:46.640 --> 0:17:49.920 you know, my battery was dead. So I'm on Facebook Live. 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.399 Everyone sees there's police behind me, and everyone knows that 0:17:53.440 --> 0:17:55.440 we've been out protesting you know this, that and the other. 0:17:55.480 --> 0:17:57.760 They don't know. They don't know that we were in Mississippi. 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.800 I have no idea where we are, and you know, 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.480 obviously if something happens, we can't upload a video. So 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.960 I got to go live. And then my phone dies, 0:18:07.119 --> 0:18:09.320 so all they see is Q walking backwards to the 0:18:09.320 --> 0:18:11.560 sound of a voice, and I'm in the car and 0:18:11.560 --> 0:18:13.360 then they come and pull me out of the car 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:15.439 and I'm like, oh God, and then my phone goes. 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:19.560 Is getting pulled out of the car the phone died. Yeah. 0:18:19.600 --> 0:18:20.720 Man, it was a scary time. 0:18:20.800 --> 0:18:23.520 So needless to say, once his phone got some battery, 0:18:23.520 --> 0:18:26.280 it might have been fifty something messages Hi Moarnette. 0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:32.080 Yeah, people were very upset, but that served as sort 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:35.760 of a foundational experience that helped us launch the show off. 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:37.600 And so I said that there were certain things that 0:18:37.680 --> 0:18:41.119 felt like divine placements in our life and you know, 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:44.639 to whatever it is that has set us on this path, 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:48.119 and maybe it's a collective consciousness. Maybe there is something 0:18:48.160 --> 0:18:50.639 greater that we don't know about that's not for me 0:18:50.680 --> 0:18:53.920 to speak on. I just want to take this moment 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:55.800 to say that I'm very grateful to be able to 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.120 share some of these things that I'm going to share 0:18:59.160 --> 0:19:02.440 with you that have taken place over the past couple 0:19:02.480 --> 0:19:05.960 of years. So, without further ado, let's talk about some 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:11.159 positive things since we've been on the air. So h 0:19:12.320 --> 0:19:19.000 One thing that is I think very very important and 0:19:19.119 --> 0:19:24.280 was very much pivotal, is that Donald Trump was voted 0:19:24.280 --> 0:19:32.359 out and he relinquished his post relatively peacefully relative I know, 0:19:32.440 --> 0:19:34.119 January sixth, but relative, I mean, he could have did 0:19:34.160 --> 0:19:34.760 a lot work. 0:19:34.720 --> 0:19:39.959 Not relinquish his post, and it was not peaceful. Well, okay, 0:19:40.040 --> 0:19:42.199 if I'm gonna do anything for y'all that can hear 0:19:42.280 --> 0:19:43.320 there was no civil war. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:46.240 That's what I'm trying to say that that okay, Okay, 0:19:46.480 --> 0:19:48.639 then you say it better than me, Go ahead say 0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:48.879 it better. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:50.720 It was not peaceful. 0:19:50.720 --> 0:19:55.400 Well either way, he's gone. How about that? And obviously 0:19:55.440 --> 0:20:00.200 for us that subscribed to the notion that black peaceeople 0:20:00.240 --> 0:20:04.600 are valuable and special and precious, and that our lives 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:12.440 are valuable and our lives have worth. Donald Trump and 0:20:12.520 --> 0:20:16.560 really his base being sort of galvanized behind you know, 0:20:16.720 --> 0:20:23.480 reclaiming America and and you know, kind of getting off 0:20:23.520 --> 0:20:29.919 these strange, bizarre ideas about them, you know, being replaced 0:20:30.000 --> 0:20:32.080 and you know, all this sort of strange stuff that 0:20:32.680 --> 0:20:35.000 puts a target on our back black people, brown people, 0:20:35.040 --> 0:20:40.000 anyone who's not white, Christian, you know, heterosexual, you know 0:20:40.080 --> 0:20:43.960 that sort of person. To have him out of office, 0:20:44.000 --> 0:20:47.200 that's obviously a huge thing. And that has happened since 0:20:47.240 --> 0:20:51.679 we've been on the air. COVID. You know, we had 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:53.440 to deal with COVID, you know, for we had a 0:20:53.480 --> 0:20:56.199 few episodes. We're still we're still dealing with it. But 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:58.840 the worst of it, you know, in terms of the numbers, 0:20:58.880 --> 0:21:01.400 the death numbers and so forth, that feels like it's 0:21:01.440 --> 0:21:04.720 largely behind us. And we had to do a couple 0:21:04.760 --> 0:21:11.080 of shows where we tried to do some convincing of 0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:14.320 black people to really get vaccinated, you know, and we 0:21:14.440 --> 0:21:16.720 had to take into account that black people's history in 0:21:16.720 --> 0:21:20.120 this country, especially insofar as it relates to the government, 0:21:20.359 --> 0:21:28.679 and the government performing you know, untested or you know, 0:21:28.760 --> 0:21:33.399 not fully fleshed out medical solutions on black populations as 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.919 a way of experimenting to kind of see what the 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:38.760 effect on a human body would be before they release 0:21:38.920 --> 0:21:43.399 or altered formulas or whatever. I'm alluding to the Tuskegee experiments, 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:47.320 which are harmful experiments that the United States government is 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:51.159 documented performing on black people, had to apologize for, and 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:53.480 they were doing it just to see what the outcomes 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:53.840 would be. 0:21:54.080 --> 0:21:55.720 Yeah, I wish we would have been a bit more 0:21:55.760 --> 0:21:58.240 well versed in that precedent though, because it was kind 0:21:58.240 --> 0:21:58.920 of the opposite. 0:21:58.960 --> 0:22:03.199 They were denied treatment and things in medicine. That was 0:22:03.400 --> 0:22:06.080 that was really what it was with the tuskie Ge experiments. 0:22:06.080 --> 0:22:12.119 But we were denying ourselves life saving vaccination as a 0:22:12.119 --> 0:22:14.080 result of its very very little information. 0:22:14.160 --> 0:22:15.359 The fears were justified. 0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:18.199 We just didn't do a lot of due diligence and 0:22:18.280 --> 0:22:20.640 a lot of misinformation was passed on to us very 0:22:20.680 --> 0:22:25.280 easily because of that. But we're here, like I said, 0:22:25.320 --> 0:22:29.040 on the other side of the peak of COVID. So 0:22:29.560 --> 0:22:32.240 that is something that I believe is very much a 0:22:32.240 --> 0:22:41.600 positive outcome. There's been a not insignificant amount of focus 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:47.000