1 00:00:11,119 --> 00:00:15,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to PM Mood, the no Talking Points, no Bullshit 2 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: podcast that takes you behind the curtain, off the red carpet, 3 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,720 Speaker 1: and to the front lines of progress with change makers 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: and innovators that are doing the work to shift our 5 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: culture and expand our social impact. Y'all, I am so 6 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 1: excited to bring you this incredible interview that I got 7 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 1: to do pre quarantine with legendary journalists Ed Gordon, author 8 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,920 Speaker 1: of the new book Conversations in Black on Power, politics 9 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:45,199 Speaker 1: and leadership. Thank you so much, Thank you for joining me. 10 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: I have been very excited to speak with you for 11 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:55,040 Speaker 1: more for a few reasons. One because my background is 12 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:58,360 Speaker 1: in politics. I did not go to school for communications, 13 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,639 Speaker 1: but I got into communication is kind of because of activism. 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: And I think that as I have been going through 15 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: your career thirty plus years, working literally at every network 16 00:01:11,160 --> 00:01:16,040 Speaker 1: in every place, from b ET, CBS, NBC, you know 17 00:01:16,120 --> 00:01:18,560 Speaker 1: the question that you open up your book with is 18 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:21,080 Speaker 1: a question that I want to open up our conversation with, 19 00:01:21,560 --> 00:01:24,280 Speaker 1: which is throughout the course of your career you have 20 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: seen so much. You have spoken to presidents, activists, leaders, 21 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,960 Speaker 1: members of Congress, and here we are in twenty twenty 22 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: and the question that it still permeates is what is 23 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:41,679 Speaker 1: going on? Well, I think that's always a question, right, 24 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: what's going on? It's a fair question for any generation, 25 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: but I think for African Americans in particular, because we 26 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:53,680 Speaker 1: were brought in quotes here to this country. The sense 27 00:01:53,720 --> 00:01:57,040 Speaker 1: of us not having control and needing to ask what's 28 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: going on? Not in the general sense of hey, what's 29 00:01:59,760 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: happening and what's going on? But what is going on? 30 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:05,400 Speaker 1: Because we don't control It has always been a question 31 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:09,080 Speaker 1: that we've had to grapple with because often we don't 32 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:11,640 Speaker 1: have control. We can't say, oh, well, this is going 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:15,360 Speaker 1: on or that's going on. Somebody else controls our what's 34 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,720 Speaker 1: going on? And so when I open up the book 35 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: and I talk about Marvin Gay asking that question musically 36 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: so many years ago and having the idea of some 37 00:02:27,520 --> 00:02:32,720 Speaker 1: of those same issues, same ills being so prevalent today. 38 00:02:32,760 --> 00:02:35,760 Speaker 1: You know, we say, oh, he was such a master. 39 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: He was, he was all of that, But it was 40 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,160 Speaker 1: less about Marvin being able to see into the future 41 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,200 Speaker 1: as it is just we've not changed in this country 42 00:02:45,320 --> 00:02:48,919 Speaker 1: enough that it hasn't made some of those ills outdated 43 00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 1: for us. And that's the real sense of what's problematic 44 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:54,840 Speaker 1: to me. Do you find that that is a sense 45 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:59,799 Speaker 1: sometimes of hopelessness that black folks have, because when we 46 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: look right at our history, when we look at the 47 00:03:03,600 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: progress that we've made, I mean, you can go back 48 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,360 Speaker 1: and you can stay. Well, we were brought here in bondage, 49 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:13,720 Speaker 1: and we were able to see a black president. So 50 00:03:13,760 --> 00:03:17,760 Speaker 1: we want to be able to celebrate the paths that 51 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,560 Speaker 1: we have fought and the places that we've gone. But 52 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: it doesn't look like a lot has changed from that though, 53 00:03:24,639 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: right So a lot has changed, a lot has changed quickly. 54 00:03:28,160 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: I think sometimes we forget that the change of a nation, 55 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: those cogs move very slowly. We've been able to accelerate 56 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: it very quickly. I think our sense of hopelessness as 57 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,720 Speaker 1: a black people is very fleeting. I think there are 58 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: times that we feel this isn't changing, It's always going 59 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:51,640 Speaker 1: to be the same. The white man keeps us down. 60 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: But that's very fleeting, which is why we've been able 61 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: to survive and thrive, many of us, some of us 62 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,200 Speaker 1: because we are wrong people. For as downtrodden as they 63 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:08,520 Speaker 1: try to portray us, for as sometimes as overwhelming as 64 00:04:08,600 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: our conditions have been in this nation. I see us 65 00:04:12,160 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 1: as a strong people, as a people that I won't 66 00:04:15,880 --> 00:04:18,640 Speaker 1: say no other people could have done this. I'm sure 67 00:04:18,760 --> 00:04:21,160 Speaker 1: Jews would say that they lived through the Holocaust, and 68 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,599 Speaker 1: they did and all. But when you look at the 69 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: sheer issues that we have dealt with were the number 70 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,760 Speaker 1: of years that we have dealt with, we are very 71 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: strong people. Some of what we continue to trip over 72 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:38,360 Speaker 1: is self inflicted. And what I hope in terms of 73 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:41,080 Speaker 1: this book is that we start to look at new narratives, 74 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 1: have different conversations, look at the things that brought us 75 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: here that may now be obsolete and we need to 76 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,120 Speaker 1: put them aside. I'm not talking about people. I'm talking 77 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:53,960 Speaker 1: about issues, because I think that we are in need 78 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:56,440 Speaker 1: in some respects of new narratives. But there are other 79 00:04:56,480 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: things that served us well. And I don't mean just 80 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: the moo men in marches, And I'm talking about how 81 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 1: we treat each other and what we've done, and this 82 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,919 Speaker 1: sense of black people really feeling like a family at times. 83 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 1: I think that's lessened in the sixties. I was born 84 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixties, so I don't know about the sixties, 85 00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:18,120 Speaker 1: but I know about the seventies and the eighties, and 86 00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 1: there was this sense I think a lot more of 87 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:23,599 Speaker 1: even though now we say hey sister, hey brother, that 88 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:26,279 Speaker 1: sense is not the same as it was in the seventies. 89 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: There was a real sense of sisterhood, brotherhood amongst our community. 90 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:33,480 Speaker 1: There was a real sense of if you lived down 91 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:37,279 Speaker 1: the street, that you are my child too. You know, 92 00:05:37,680 --> 00:05:41,080 Speaker 1: I think that has waned a little bit, certainly, just 93 00:05:41,279 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: proximity Black people back then we all had to I 94 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: remember one of I grew up in Detroit. One of 95 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,280 Speaker 1: the star Detroit Lions, Charlie Sanders, who was a tight end, 96 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:53,479 Speaker 1: literally lived three blocks away. He was an All Pro 97 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:57,800 Speaker 1: football player. Today he would live, he would live somewhere 98 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 1: communities I wouldn't be able to. As we did walk 99 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: up to his door, three twelve year olds knock on 100 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: his door. His wife answers, and we said, can we 101 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,120 Speaker 1: see Charlie, And then Charlie invite us in back to 102 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: his den, show us his footballs, show us his trophies. 103 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,479 Speaker 1: That meant a lot to us. He wasn't this multi 104 00:06:19,520 --> 00:06:22,880 Speaker 1: millionaire who lives somewhere else. Even though people and kids 105 00:06:22,920 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: aspire to be Lebron James or whomever today, Steph Curry 106 00:06:27,920 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: or whomever you can't touch them in the same way 107 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: that we were able to. So I think there's some 108 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:35,479 Speaker 1: things that we need to think about getting back to. 109 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:38,840 Speaker 1: And doesn't mean that a multibillionaire and millionaire's gonna move 110 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: back to your community, but this sense of being able 111 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,040 Speaker 1: to touch them more often than we do well when 112 00:06:44,120 --> 00:06:47,000 Speaker 1: in that sense, you know, I think about Nipsey Hustle, 113 00:06:47,240 --> 00:06:50,920 Speaker 1: and I think about someone who actually was living in 114 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: his community right and was very active and trying to 115 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,960 Speaker 1: build in his community, and then he was murdered in 116 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:00,559 Speaker 1: his community. And we talk about that in the book, 117 00:07:00,560 --> 00:07:03,279 Speaker 1: and some will say, some will argue that he shouldn't 118 00:07:03,320 --> 00:07:06,039 Speaker 1: have been living there, that he should have maybe continue 119 00:07:06,080 --> 00:07:09,640 Speaker 1: to help, but shouldn't have been necessarily living there and 120 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: the way he lived there. So, but that's part of 121 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: the discussion, that's part of the conversation. Is that right 122 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: is that wrong? Is there no right or wrong? Is 123 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: that an individual's choice. I just want us to do 124 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:23,120 Speaker 1: two things with this book. I want us to find 125 00:07:23,160 --> 00:07:26,160 Speaker 1: new narratives. I want us to start talking, not like 126 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:29,239 Speaker 1: we've been talking, just complaining or saying the same things. 127 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: I want us to hold insightful conversations that empower us 128 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: not just leadership, but empower twenty two year old who 129 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: thinks she has no power to make change, or forty 130 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:46,960 Speaker 1: five year old who feels like I gotta continue working 131 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 1: hard my nine to five to get that next promotion. 132 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,000 Speaker 1: To know that we all have a stake in this game, 133 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:57,040 Speaker 1: and we all need to put something, some skin in 134 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:00,680 Speaker 1: the game of making all of us better, strong, or 135 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: more independent, you know, becoming more financially sound as a community. 136 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:10,280 Speaker 1: So we're not living by means of gratitude to a 137 00:08:10,360 --> 00:08:15,560 Speaker 1: corporation who funds Quite frankly, many of our organizations. These 138 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 1: are the same companies, and we talk about this in 139 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:19,920 Speaker 1: the book. These are the same companies that in some 140 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: respects cause the ills in our community. Yet they give 141 00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:26,560 Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars to a civil rights organization to 142 00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: put on their gala and their dinner, and we're cool 143 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:32,440 Speaker 1: with that. We have to start thinking about different ways 144 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:34,760 Speaker 1: to attack our issues. Why do you think that we 145 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,920 Speaker 1: haven't been so expansive in the way that we've been 146 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:39,960 Speaker 1: thinking about the issues, Because I do think that it 147 00:08:40,080 --> 00:08:42,679 Speaker 1: is important to have a space where you can vent, 148 00:08:42,960 --> 00:08:45,840 Speaker 1: right Like we are the only ones that understand what 149 00:08:45,880 --> 00:08:48,960 Speaker 1: it is like to be black in America, to have 150 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: to navigate all of these different obstacles that frankly were 151 00:08:52,760 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: created by other people for us. And so what do 152 00:08:56,440 --> 00:08:58,439 Speaker 1: you think? How do you because I know the point 153 00:08:58,480 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: of this book is to create new narratives in power, 154 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: in politics, in leadership, what do you think has been missing? 155 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:09,120 Speaker 1: So what makes it hard is that there's no right 156 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:13,240 Speaker 1: or wrong answer to that, because in some respects we 157 00:09:13,360 --> 00:09:18,280 Speaker 1: have been expansive, we have overcome I remember I talked 158 00:09:18,280 --> 00:09:21,560 Speaker 1: about it in the book Going to Chicago. I flew 159 00:09:21,559 --> 00:09:25,400 Speaker 1: to Chicago to interview Barack Obama about a month or 160 00:09:25,440 --> 00:09:27,960 Speaker 1: two weeks before he was going to announce that he 161 00:09:28,000 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: was going to run. I knew him a little bit, 162 00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:33,680 Speaker 1: we'd had some phone conversations, but didn't really know him well. 163 00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: I knew that he wouldn't announce on this show that day, 164 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:38,600 Speaker 1: but he might give me a little nugget. And I 165 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:43,000 Speaker 1: remember asking him saying, you know, a senator there whispers 166 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:45,960 Speaker 1: about you possibly running. And then he got into whatever 167 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 1: spiel he was going to give me, and I remember 168 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: as he was talking, thinking in my head, yeah whatever, man, Yeah, bro, 169 00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,200 Speaker 1: you ain't winning. You know, just don't embarrass us, do 170 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,800 Speaker 1: you think, but you're not winning. But he believed, he believed, 171 00:09:58,120 --> 00:10:01,400 Speaker 1: truly believed that he he could do this. He believed 172 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,720 Speaker 1: we figured this thing out with social media, with young people. 173 00:10:04,720 --> 00:10:09,319 Speaker 1: What's our thresholder Without that new narrative, Without that new thought, 174 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:13,720 Speaker 1: we would have never seen what we saw, which gave 175 00:10:13,840 --> 00:10:18,040 Speaker 1: my daughter who's twenty five and outlook and less baggage 176 00:10:18,080 --> 00:10:20,720 Speaker 1: than I had at twenty five when I thought I'll 177 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:23,719 Speaker 1: never see a black president. She doesn't have to grow 178 00:10:23,800 --> 00:10:26,880 Speaker 1: up with that baggage. So I think that we sometimes 179 00:10:26,920 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 1: don't give ourselves enough credit either. So the key is 180 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:33,160 Speaker 1: to just keep talking. What I'd love for us to 181 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:38,720 Speaker 1: do is maybe as organizations cobbled together for superhero fans 182 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:42,280 Speaker 1: and Avengers like Team you know of maybe some of 183 00:10:42,280 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 1: the Black Lives Matter people and NAN and NAACP and 184 00:10:46,800 --> 00:10:50,440 Speaker 1: the Urban League, and tackle one specific issue. You can 185 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:53,079 Speaker 1: have your singular issues, but and I know that one 186 00:10:53,360 --> 00:10:57,360 Speaker 1: specific whether it's education, whether it's police brutality, whether whatever 187 00:10:57,360 --> 00:10:59,559 Speaker 1: the case may be, closing the wealth. Ye find out 188 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: what's that one issue that you all can agree on 189 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,120 Speaker 1: and say, look, we're gonna and then bring the things 190 00:11:04,120 --> 00:11:07,000 Speaker 1: that you do best to the table and let's attack that, 191 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: and let's ask all of us, here's the issue that 192 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: we are going to attack, whether it's police brutality, which 193 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:16,839 Speaker 1: I thought maybe that would have been at when there 194 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,240 Speaker 1: was such a fervor with the spate of killings that 195 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 1: we saw with Treyvon and Michael Brown and Sandra Bland 196 00:11:22,400 --> 00:11:24,920 Speaker 1: and Tamir Rice, and we can go on and on 197 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,560 Speaker 1: and that, and that started to die away, as most 198 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,960 Speaker 1: causes do. And I think about, you know, the Montgomery 199 00:11:32,000 --> 00:11:34,600 Speaker 1: bus boycott and how great those people were to keep 200 00:11:34,640 --> 00:11:37,960 Speaker 1: that going for over a year and never to lose 201 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,079 Speaker 1: the idea of this is what we're fighting for, this 202 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:43,800 Speaker 1: is what we're gonna do. And surely that wasn't a nation, 203 00:11:43,880 --> 00:11:46,760 Speaker 1: but that was a community of people. And they didn't 204 00:11:46,800 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: let anybody waiver, you know. They said, no, that you're 205 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,920 Speaker 1: not getting on that bus. Dot, we'll get a car, 206 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:54,840 Speaker 1: we'll pay your cab fare, we'll you know, but you 207 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: not getting on that bus. And they didn't. And it 208 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,679 Speaker 1: not only changed Montgomery, but really change the world at 209 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: least America. That's I hope what we can do. It's 210 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:08,120 Speaker 1: not that the issues have changed so much. I think 211 00:12:08,160 --> 00:12:11,320 Speaker 1: that it's the ways in which we have those conversations 212 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,600 Speaker 1: and the fact that we don't necessarily live in community 213 00:12:14,720 --> 00:12:17,480 Speaker 1: the way that we did. You could do a Montgomery 214 00:12:17,960 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 1: bus boycott back in those times because it was a 215 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: very small community. Now we are everywhere, and it feels 216 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:33,000 Speaker 1: like our problems are everywhere. So let's take one problem 217 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,640 Speaker 1: that affects all of us, no matter where you live, 218 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,600 Speaker 1: and that is racial profiling and the possibility of being 219 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:44,640 Speaker 1: unjustly arrested or killed by law enforcement. You can be 220 00:12:44,679 --> 00:12:47,440 Speaker 1: a brother in the Bronx, or you can be a 221 00:12:47,480 --> 00:12:52,120 Speaker 1: movie star in la and you can get pulled over 222 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:56,000 Speaker 1: in the same way. You can be harassed in the 223 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,839 Speaker 1: same way. If they don't know it's Anthony Anderson or 224 00:12:58,960 --> 00:13:04,240 Speaker 1: Jamie Fox or whomever you know, and heaven forbid if 225 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:06,560 Speaker 1: they move the wrong way before they even got into 226 00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:08,480 Speaker 1: the winner, and they may not even know that it's 227 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: Anthony Anderson or Jamie Fox. You know, they might know Denzel, 228 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,079 Speaker 1: but they may not know all of us. Right, there 229 00:13:15,120 --> 00:13:19,200 Speaker 1: are issues that we could attack no matter where we live, 230 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:23,080 Speaker 1: our condition, our station in life, that we could say 231 00:13:23,120 --> 00:13:26,800 Speaker 1: this affects all of us. Or if we and this 232 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,760 Speaker 1: is not just black people, if we are of the 233 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:33,240 Speaker 1: belief that as we say our children are our future, 234 00:13:33,840 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: and we really care about kids, then why are the 235 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:42,439 Speaker 1: school systems so poor? The vast majority of black kids 236 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:46,280 Speaker 1: who go to public schools will not be prepared for 237 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,960 Speaker 1: this modern world. I live in Brooklyn, and there are 238 00:13:50,400 --> 00:13:52,640 Speaker 1: in the vicinity of where I live there must be 239 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,800 Speaker 1: at least ten public schools that are in walking distance 240 00:13:56,679 --> 00:14:00,360 Speaker 1: of my house. There are only black kids that go there, right, 241 00:14:00,920 --> 00:14:04,080 Speaker 1: And from the outside it seems fine, But I know 242 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:08,000 Speaker 1: better because I have worked in New York City public 243 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:11,800 Speaker 1: affairs system and will know the public education system and 244 00:14:11,880 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: know that they're all failing. And I say to myself, 245 00:14:14,400 --> 00:14:18,760 Speaker 1: why why? Because Brooklyn is incredibly gentrified. New York is 246 00:14:18,960 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: incredibly gentrified, and yet none of those white folks are 247 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: putting their kids in public schools. And we have to 248 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: be honest about our conversations. We don't sometimes like to 249 00:14:29,800 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: tell our truths out loud in public. I have argued 250 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:39,400 Speaker 1: with many a public school teacher who tries to defend 251 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:44,040 Speaker 1: often not necessarily their particular school, but the system as 252 00:14:44,080 --> 00:14:46,880 Speaker 1: a whole. And then they will say to me, well, 253 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: you're a public school graduate, And I say to them, 254 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:52,840 Speaker 1: a proud one but the system I grew up in 255 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:57,040 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy seventy one, seventy two through my graduation 256 00:14:57,120 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: in high school nineteen seventy eight is not the same 257 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:04,160 Speaker 1: school system that a kid in Detroit would have to 258 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 1: deal with today. So please don't tout me as a 259 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:11,200 Speaker 1: college or a high school graduate who went through the 260 00:15:11,240 --> 00:15:14,520 Speaker 1: public school system who did well and assume that that 261 00:15:14,680 --> 00:15:18,880 Speaker 1: system could turn me out today. Yeah, that's incredibly important. 262 00:15:18,920 --> 00:15:24,120 Speaker 1: Somebody who does have a very singular focus is Stacy Abrams. 263 00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:30,720 Speaker 1: Stacy Abrams, having been robbed of the governorship in Georgia, 264 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:36,080 Speaker 1: is very focused on voter suppression. Is very focused on 265 00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:43,600 Speaker 1: creating a machine to enlist and inspire and engage Black people, 266 00:15:43,920 --> 00:15:49,320 Speaker 1: Latin X people, women, young people in activating their right 267 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,400 Speaker 1: to vote. That has always been a huge issue in 268 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,360 Speaker 1: the community. And we see what happens allah Donald Trump 269 00:15:57,640 --> 00:16:02,240 Speaker 1: when people decide to opt out of the system. Could 270 00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: that be something could be? It could be. I mean, 271 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:06,720 Speaker 1: you know, you look at Andrew Gillum and others who 272 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:09,920 Speaker 1: have also thrown their hat in the ring to make 273 00:16:09,920 --> 00:16:14,400 Speaker 1: sure that they design organizations and watchdog groups to try 274 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:17,640 Speaker 1: to suppress the voter suppression. So you have to ask 275 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,760 Speaker 1: yourself if the NAACP, if Urban League, if now maybe 276 00:16:21,800 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: not Urban League because of their stance in terms of 277 00:16:24,480 --> 00:16:28,760 Speaker 1: the organization they are, But whomever we want to dictate 278 00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:31,720 Speaker 1: as those who would be on that front lines, maybe 279 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:33,800 Speaker 1: that would be one of those things that certainly if 280 00:16:33,800 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: you did that as a collective versus all of these 281 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,960 Speaker 1: little silos, it would be stronger. But I think we'll 282 00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:43,520 Speaker 1: find out the medal of black people for this election 283 00:16:44,160 --> 00:16:47,880 Speaker 1: if you don't realize now that sitting out got you 284 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:52,440 Speaker 1: not only Donald Trump. But I tell people it's not 285 00:16:52,600 --> 00:16:55,040 Speaker 1: about Donald Trump. He'll either be gone in four or 286 00:16:55,080 --> 00:16:57,960 Speaker 1: eight years. It's about all of these judges he's appointed, 287 00:16:58,720 --> 00:17:04,040 Speaker 1: who have lifetime appointments, who will deal with your children 288 00:17:04,760 --> 00:17:08,359 Speaker 1: and make life harder for your children. So I think 289 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,040 Speaker 1: we have to start to say, hey, we cannot sit out, 290 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,480 Speaker 1: and you can't allow, even if you don't love the candidate, 291 00:17:15,760 --> 00:17:20,280 Speaker 1: this to happen again. Because Hillary Clinton ran a poor campaign, 292 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:22,520 Speaker 1: she did not speak to black people in the way 293 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: she should. I would deal with her campaign once a 294 00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:28,880 Speaker 1: month saying look, I got to a point where I said, 295 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,000 Speaker 1: if you're not going to sit with me, sit with 296 00:17:31,119 --> 00:17:35,920 Speaker 1: Roland sit with you know, anybody, anybody, anybody, just talk 297 00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 1: to black folks in a way that you're not It's 298 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:40,720 Speaker 1: not enough to go with Beyonce and Jay Z on 299 00:17:40,840 --> 00:17:43,520 Speaker 1: stage and take a selfie with Lebron James and assume 300 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,639 Speaker 1: that that's enough. It's not enough, So poor campaign, notwithstanding 301 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:50,920 Speaker 1: what we have to do. What we have to do 302 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,000 Speaker 1: is say to whomever we give our vote to, we're 303 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:56,439 Speaker 1: gonna give it to you, but when you get in office, 304 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:00,200 Speaker 1: you will no longer take us for granted. Often an 305 00:18:00,280 --> 00:18:06,000 Speaker 1: uneducated voter believes that their power stops at election day, right. 306 00:18:06,160 --> 00:18:08,920 Speaker 1: The reality is your power should start the day after 307 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:11,479 Speaker 1: election day. You should be able to walk in you know, 308 00:18:11,800 --> 00:18:14,679 Speaker 1: quid pro quo has become famous through Donald Trump, right, 309 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:17,399 Speaker 1: But that's what politics has always been about. Okay, I 310 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:20,239 Speaker 1: gave you my vote. Now this is my expectation and 311 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,399 Speaker 1: not to be afraid to go in there and demand it. 312 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:26,480 Speaker 1: And that comes not only from individuals, but that should 313 00:18:26,520 --> 00:18:29,520 Speaker 1: be our leadership. And it's not enough to demand that 314 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,119 Speaker 1: just because your leader has an open door policy with 315 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: whomever as a president, that's not enough. You know, the 316 00:18:35,119 --> 00:18:37,359 Speaker 1: fact that you get to take pictures and be at 317 00:18:37,359 --> 00:18:40,119 Speaker 1: the press conferences. That's not enough. What else are we getting? 318 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:43,439 Speaker 1: I think that we've got to become more sophisticated in 319 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:45,639 Speaker 1: our politics, you know. But I also think that that 320 00:18:45,680 --> 00:18:48,920 Speaker 1: goes back to the failings of our public education system 321 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:52,400 Speaker 1: and the failings of civics in general. By background, I'm 322 00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: an educator, was an early childhood educator, believed very much 323 00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:59,199 Speaker 1: in building up the education and creating global citizens that 324 00:18:59,240 --> 00:19:02,120 Speaker 1: will take off on the world. And I think that 325 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,000 Speaker 1: what is always frustrating to me and what I try 326 00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 1: and advocate in terms of the responsibility of your citizenship. 327 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:11,879 Speaker 1: Imagine having your daughter you didn't drop her off in 328 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:14,679 Speaker 1: kindergarten and pick her up in twelfth grade at graduation, 329 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:22,359 Speaker 1: but having no parent teacher conference, having no engagement whatsoever, 330 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,960 Speaker 1: and not following up and asking her who her friends were, 331 00:19:25,119 --> 00:19:27,560 Speaker 1: who she's hanging out with, engaging with her teachers, and 332 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:30,640 Speaker 1: understanding what her interests are and how she's changing over 333 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 1: that time. It's the same way that folks don't engage 334 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,439 Speaker 1: with their elected officials once. That's just it. There's nothing 335 00:19:37,560 --> 00:19:40,919 Speaker 1: in this book that is so earth shattering that we 336 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:45,359 Speaker 1: uncovered something new. The answers are there. We have to 337 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: just believe that those answers work. And what's interesting is 338 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,080 Speaker 1: we have to stop chastising those of us that don't 339 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:56,520 Speaker 1: agree that it should be left instead of right. The 340 00:19:56,600 --> 00:20:00,399 Speaker 1: reason that I try to have this broad selection of people, 341 00:20:00,960 --> 00:20:03,000 Speaker 1: you know, I mean literally the first name on the 342 00:20:03,040 --> 00:20:05,840 Speaker 1: front cover is Maxine Waters, and the last name before 343 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,560 Speaker 1: we get to and many more's t I completely different, 344 00:20:10,000 --> 00:20:13,520 Speaker 1: and we run the gamut in between. What we need 345 00:20:13,560 --> 00:20:17,120 Speaker 1: to do is find commonalities in common ground and say, look, 346 00:20:17,280 --> 00:20:21,240 Speaker 1: I may not agree that the answers charter schools, but 347 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,120 Speaker 1: I do believe that we have a problem with our 348 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 1: community and law enforcement. So let's hold hands on that 349 00:20:27,640 --> 00:20:30,240 Speaker 1: you do charter. I'm gonna stick with public, but dog 350 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,360 Speaker 1: garn it, we're gonna work together on this. There are 351 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 1: things that we can agree. We all need to say 352 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:40,120 Speaker 1: this impacts and affects all of us, and let's move 353 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,920 Speaker 1: to that. And again, I still say a good litmus 354 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:45,960 Speaker 1: test is the twenty twenty election. It's going to be 355 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:48,520 Speaker 1: a test, all right, It's gonna be a test. Someone 356 00:20:48,560 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: said to me, forgive me, But someone said to me 357 00:20:50,520 --> 00:20:52,520 Speaker 1: the other day when we were doing an interview, but 358 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:55,119 Speaker 1: what are we gonna do if Trump wins. What do 359 00:20:55,200 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 1: we gear up with? I said, then it's too late 360 00:20:56,880 --> 00:20:59,879 Speaker 1: to gear up. Gearing up for Trump is right now 361 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,959 Speaker 1: gearing up. But Trump is making sure that you go 362 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: to the polls. And not only you know it's cliche, 363 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: but it works when you go take somebody and take 364 00:21:09,800 --> 00:21:12,080 Speaker 1: somebody else, and take somebody else. You know how you 365 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:14,160 Speaker 1: get four girlfriends and you go to the concert, Get 366 00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: those four and go to the polls. You gotta have 367 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: five dudes to run a pickup game. Get them five 368 00:21:19,280 --> 00:21:22,560 Speaker 1: dudes and let's go to the polls. It's real. There 369 00:21:22,560 --> 00:21:26,600 Speaker 1: are solutions here for some of these problems. So Trump 370 00:21:26,680 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: doesn't have to get a second term, and if he does, 371 00:21:30,040 --> 00:21:33,119 Speaker 1: and if he does, shame on us. We have the numbers. 372 00:21:33,160 --> 00:21:35,800 Speaker 1: Democrats always have the number. You always have the numbers, 373 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,800 Speaker 1: which is why voter suppression is real. We have the numbers, 374 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:42,119 Speaker 1: which I don't think the suppression will be the same 375 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:45,000 Speaker 1: though this time I don't. I really don't. I do 376 00:21:45,119 --> 00:21:47,800 Speaker 1: think that. Let me say this, if we're smart again, 377 00:21:48,359 --> 00:21:51,320 Speaker 1: people like Stacy and you know, the eyes will be 378 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:55,120 Speaker 1: much keener than they were the last time. Doesn't mean 379 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,920 Speaker 1: that it can't happen. It doesn't mean that the right. 380 00:21:59,119 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: I'm not suggested, but I am suggesting too. If you 381 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: turn out. I mean, just look at the percentage of 382 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,920 Speaker 1: people who are registered but don't vote. It's hard to 383 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:14,359 Speaker 1: suppress huge numbers, that's what I can It's hard to 384 00:22:14,400 --> 00:22:18,040 Speaker 1: do that if you keep those numbers low, which is 385 00:22:18,080 --> 00:22:21,320 Speaker 1: why the Russians and the Bots were you know, they're 386 00:22:21,359 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: against black people because they said, if we can keep 387 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:26,200 Speaker 1: them away, then we've got a better chance. So we 388 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: have to again be an educated voter and know and 389 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:37,000 Speaker 1: understand that this is perhaps arguably the most important election 390 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,240 Speaker 1: of your lifetime save maybe you can argue on the 391 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: other side Obama's was, but it's important, and it's even 392 00:22:42,680 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: more important for our children. And so my take is 393 00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: we've got to turn out. We've got to turn out 394 00:22:47,880 --> 00:22:51,720 Speaker 1: in so many numbers. It's almost like watching the NBA. 395 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:55,119 Speaker 1: Though it can happen, it's hard to lose a thirty 396 00:22:55,119 --> 00:22:57,640 Speaker 1: point lead. You can get down and they can come 397 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,240 Speaker 1: back twenty eight, but they couldn't get that last get 398 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: to tie it up, or two to win it, even 399 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:04,840 Speaker 1: though they chipped away and got it down to twenty 400 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:07,199 Speaker 1: eight points. So it will be hard if you have 401 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:12,480 Speaker 1: record turnout to suppress that boat where it'll make a difference. Right, 402 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:17,200 Speaker 1: you can't lie about people wrapped around poles waiting for hours. 403 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: You can, but that's true. Right, he did lie about 404 00:23:21,359 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: pictures of his inauguration. What is the thing that you 405 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,640 Speaker 1: most want folks to take away from your book Conversations 406 00:23:30,680 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: in Black? What do you want people, young people, older 407 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: people to walk away with that you have power, that 408 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:42,160 Speaker 1: you are not just on the sidelines, and that you 409 00:23:42,240 --> 00:23:46,200 Speaker 1: have to accept what is coming your way. You cannot 410 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: change everything. There's some things that you cannot control. But 411 00:23:51,080 --> 00:23:54,959 Speaker 1: a mentor of mine was a great Johnny Cochrane. And 412 00:23:55,040 --> 00:23:59,480 Speaker 1: I remember Johnny telling me one day through the oj 413 00:23:59,680 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: f ASCO every time something crazy would happen, I was 414 00:24:03,920 --> 00:24:07,680 Speaker 1: in his office with him, and he said to me, 415 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,400 Speaker 1: and the only thing you have control of in a 416 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: crisis is your reaction during it. And I want people 417 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,040 Speaker 1: to understand, no matter what is happening, you have control 418 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: of you. And if you can figure out your way 419 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:36,080 Speaker 1: to at least stabilize yourself or mitigate some of the 420 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:41,560 Speaker 1: the falling debris that's going to hit you, you're gonna 421 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: survive it better. And so but you have to know 422 00:24:45,480 --> 00:24:48,560 Speaker 1: that I can dodge it, I can pick up this garbage, 423 00:24:48,600 --> 00:24:51,399 Speaker 1: can top and cover my head. Whatever the case may be, 424 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:55,679 Speaker 1: whatever metaphor you want to use, raining you get an umbrella, 425 00:24:55,800 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: whatever it is. You have the power to help shape 426 00:24:59,720 --> 00:25:01,760 Speaker 1: your life. If you know when people say you control 427 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: your own destiny, you can't control destiny, and it's true 428 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:09,680 Speaker 1: form of what destiny means. But you can control some 429 00:25:09,760 --> 00:25:12,800 Speaker 1: things that come across your desk. And we have to 430 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:16,920 Speaker 1: start believing that we have more controled in our lives 431 00:25:16,960 --> 00:25:20,160 Speaker 1: and our condition as a people here in this country 432 00:25:20,400 --> 00:25:25,199 Speaker 1: than we've believed of late brilliant Ed Gordon. Thank you 433 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 1: so much for joining PM mood. The book is Conversations 434 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: in Black on power, politics and leadership. Pick it up 435 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: by it as a gift, Get it for everyone. We 436 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,080 Speaker 1: have a lot of work to do and it's incredibly inspiring. 437 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,640 Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you for having me. If you want 438 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:44,560 Speaker 1: to hear more from me, check out my live daily 439 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: political talk show, Woke, a f daily at DNR Studios. 440 00:25:48,760 --> 00:25:53,959 Speaker 1: You can subscribe now at www dot DNR studios dot com. 441 00:25:54,000 --> 00:25:54,800 Speaker 1: Slash Woke