WEBVTT - Civic Cipher 030522 The Increasing Suicide Rates Among Black People

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to another episode of Civic Csicher. I am your host,

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<v Speaker 1>Rams's jock.

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<v Speaker 2>I go by the name q Ward except if my

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<v Speaker 2>mom is upset and then she calls me quinn ton

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<v Speaker 2>like with the extra emphasis on the oh. And that's

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<v Speaker 2>when you know it's you know it's real.

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<v Speaker 1>You gotta listen up. Yes, sir, I ain't mad at that.

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<v Speaker 2>Well, listen up.

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<v Speaker 1>We are back opinion one more game. Uh're gonna talk

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<v Speaker 1>to you today about some really important stuff, So brace yourself.

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<v Speaker 2>Good.

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<v Speaker 1>But it's important, which means that it's also kind of heavy. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>we're gonna spend some time talking about suicide in the

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<v Speaker 1>black community. Uh, this is this is what we do.

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<v Speaker 1>And you're listening because you care or this is something

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<v Speaker 1>that might be personal.

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<v Speaker 3>These issues might be personal to you, or maybe you.

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<v Speaker 1>Care about the well being of black people, your brown people,

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<v Speaker 1>whatever it's brought you to the table on. So we

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<v Speaker 1>appreciate you locking in with us when it gets a

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<v Speaker 1>little heavy. So yeah, we're gonna spend a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>time talking about the increase in suicide rates among black people, which,

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<v Speaker 1>for those that don't know, is very much an.

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<v Speaker 3>Alarming thing here because black people aren't typically associated with

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<v Speaker 3>suicide in this way, So to have some meaningful increase

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<v Speaker 3>is definitely something that's up our out and again to talk.

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<v Speaker 1>About it, dude, we're also going to spend some time

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<v Speaker 1>talking about some of the ways that the man gets you,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the police, the good old man. Yeah, So

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<v Speaker 1>it's important for us to inform our communities so that

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<v Speaker 1>we know what we're up against and can better navigate

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<v Speaker 1>the waters that are beset on all sides with respect

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<v Speaker 1>to our paths. And so those and other things are

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<v Speaker 1>things we want you to stick around for. But you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we'd like to start off on a pot positive note

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<v Speaker 1>around here. So cue, with your permission, can we do

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<v Speaker 1>some ebony excellence?

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<v Speaker 2>Indeed we can? All right, you want to take this

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<v Speaker 2>one our ebony excellence presented to you today by Hip

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<v Speaker 2>Hop Weekly M One Time, O WI for your Mind.

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<v Speaker 1>That's a sponsor for you.

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<v Speaker 2>Jay Z and Fanatics Inc. Have joined investors including Little Baby,

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<v Speaker 2>Maverick Carter, and Meek Meal to buy throwback sports apparel

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<v Speaker 2>designer Mitchell and S for a quarter of a billion

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<v Speaker 2>CEO Michael Rubin was especially excited to purchase the Philadelphia

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<v Speaker 2>based brand, which joins his collection of local businesses, including

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<v Speaker 2>part of the NBA's Philadelphia seventy six ers.

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<v Speaker 1>Here it goes.

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<v Speaker 2>Growing up as a kid in Philadelphia, we looked at

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<v Speaker 2>Mitchelaness as a badge of pride, and I truly believe

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<v Speaker 2>this legendary brand has no limits, he said. Fanatics will

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<v Speaker 2>own seventy five percent of Micheliness, while I'm the investing group,

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<v Speaker 2>which includes family of TikTok Star. And make sure I'm

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<v Speaker 2>saying this right, Charlie the Emilio.

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<v Speaker 1>I think that's right.

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<v Speaker 2>We'll own the rest. Mitchellness is best known for designing

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<v Speaker 2>and retailing the throwback jerseys that were so popular during

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<v Speaker 2>the early two thousands. I think every person we knew

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<v Speaker 2>had one or wanted one. I still got it, yes indeed,

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<v Speaker 2>and have since made a resurgence. Most recently, the brand

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<v Speaker 2>collaborated with j Coles Streamers in Print to produce a

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<v Speaker 2>series of custom NBA throwbacks bearing the Dreamer logo in

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<v Speaker 2>place of the original team's logos. Ironically, Jay Z now

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<v Speaker 2>co owns the creator of jerseys he wants famously threw

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<v Speaker 2>under the bus and what more can I say in

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<v Speaker 2>two thousand and four and jay Z made us stop

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<v Speaker 2>wearing throwbacks and button up. I think after we.

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<v Speaker 1>Spent all that money, all of our money, I didn't

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<v Speaker 1>throw mine away. They're still in the closet, like I said.

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<v Speaker 1>But listen, that's some Ebony excellence. We are not only

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<v Speaker 1>shouting him out for investing being a black business investor,

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<v Speaker 1>but you know, procuring another piece of the culture and

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<v Speaker 1>breathing some more life into it so that it lives

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<v Speaker 1>into the future. So once again, shout out to Hip

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<v Speaker 1>Hop Weekly for that sponsorship and shout out to up

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<v Speaker 1>Rocks for the article. Now onto Heavier Things. Yes, indeed, no,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm a fan of John Mayer and he has an

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<v Speaker 1>album called Heavier Things. Just a side note, I'm stalling

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<v Speaker 1>because this is kind of a This is a heavy one,

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<v Speaker 1>so I'll get right into it. You may have followed

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<v Speaker 1>the news in recent months and learned of some high

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<v Speaker 1>profile individuals who have committed suicide. Of those individuals, a

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<v Speaker 1>good number are black people, and growing up black, suicide

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<v Speaker 1>in the black community has always been something that's very

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<v Speaker 1>rare and a suicide. Not to take anything away from

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<v Speaker 1>anybody who has ever had to deal with suicide or

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<v Speaker 1>anybody who's ever been suicidal. On this show and at

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<v Speaker 1>this roundtable, we are all human beings and we lean

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<v Speaker 1>on each other, right, But it's just more of a

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<v Speaker 1>rarity in our families and on our homes, right. This

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<v Speaker 1>is how it's been growing up. And so these high

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<v Speaker 1>profile names and these people who are so accomplished. I

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<v Speaker 1>think that well, I know now having researched this a bit,

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<v Speaker 1>that it's just a window into some of the deeper

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<v Speaker 1>goings on in the black community. Because obviously you're going

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<v Speaker 1>to hear about the suicide of In this case, we're

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<v Speaker 1>talking about Chesley Christ who is the lawyer and she

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<v Speaker 1>was Miss USA twenty nineteen, leaping from a window in

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<v Speaker 1>New York City right after posting on Instagram made this

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<v Speaker 1>day bring you rest in peace. That's a selfie.

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<v Speaker 2>That's heavy.

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<v Speaker 1>Man.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh we got.

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<v Speaker 1>We got a few to get through here. But this

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<v Speaker 1>kind of gives you an idea that if someone who

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<v Speaker 1>can put on that veneer of happiness, someone who has

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<v Speaker 1>for most people looking for the outside looking in, this

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<v Speaker 1>is a person who has. She's a beauty literally, a

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<v Speaker 1>beauty queen, a lawyer. She I think she was working

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<v Speaker 1>with entertainment tonight or doing some sort of TV show.

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<v Speaker 2>Living what appears to be a charmed life is that,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, film television, beauty pageants. She was an attorney, right, accomplished, beautiful, successful.

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<v Speaker 2>You'd never look at her life or look at her

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<v Speaker 2>and imagine that inside she was dealing with the type

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<v Speaker 2>of turmoil that would drive you to that. And you

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<v Speaker 2>talked about the rarity of suicide and in black families

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<v Speaker 2>and black homes and the black culture, And I think

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<v Speaker 2>it comes from a sort of numbness to trauma, that's

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<v Speaker 2>having been dealing with the worst for so long. That's it.

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<v Speaker 2>We never felt so low. We were already so low.

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<v Speaker 2>It was hard to get to depths below that that

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<v Speaker 2>would make you say I can't be here anymore.

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<v Speaker 1>There was no bottom to fall out of it, out

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<v Speaker 1>of I guess black reality, day to day life, because

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<v Speaker 1>you were effectively at the bottom, so being born into it,

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<v Speaker 1>I think that you know, we talk about this word

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<v Speaker 1>on this show, but we use this word a lot

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<v Speaker 1>because I do believe that it is sort of like

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<v Speaker 1>a badge of honor. But it's sort of unfortunate when

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<v Speaker 1>we have to frame real conversations around it. But resilience.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, there is a resilience to black people, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>given our history in this country and the things that

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<v Speaker 1>we deal with presently and a lot of the systemic

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<v Speaker 1>oppression and just you know, there's a lot of environments

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<v Speaker 1>where black people live for one reason or another, primarily

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<v Speaker 1>because of redlining and government tactics that you know, effectively

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<v Speaker 1>prevented the accumulation of wealth and privileged families who weren't

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<v Speaker 1>black white folks. There's a great deal of hopelessness in

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<v Speaker 1>those communities because those redline districts ended up becoming ghettos.

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<v Speaker 1>And so if we're talking about the ghetto or the hood,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a great deal of hopelessness in the other, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>and then you can associate a lot of really bad

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<v Speaker 1>things with people that live in those areas. Not to

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<v Speaker 1>say that other people don't listen, Trailer parks have their

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<v Speaker 1>same you know, have their problems and so forth. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, we've made this argument many times on the show.

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<v Speaker 1>It there's a good argument to be made about class warfare.

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<v Speaker 1>But no matter what, we live, black lives and there's

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit of difference there, and that's why we

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<v Speaker 1>have a show like this and we will defend those

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<v Speaker 1>poor people, those trailer park people because they are brothers

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<v Speaker 1>and sisters too. But we have to talk about these

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<v Speaker 1>things where they are and for what they are.

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<v Speaker 2>And you use the word hopelessness, Sure, hopelessness is what

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<v Speaker 2>typically would lead a person to say, I don't want

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<v Speaker 2>to be here anymore. Except when you're born into hopelessness,

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<v Speaker 2>there's nowhere to Yeah, there's nowhere for you to fall from.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's why I think historically has been so rare,

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<v Speaker 2>because the circumstances that most black people are born into.

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<v Speaker 2>You're already, like we said, already, you know, you're at

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<v Speaker 2>the bottom. So there's nowhere to fall from and feel

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<v Speaker 2>that sense of to feel the fall from succeeding and flying.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure that drops you into that hopelessness that leads you to,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, feeling like you can't go on anymore. Now,

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<v Speaker 2>I want to say something, neither of us Q or me,

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<v Speaker 2>neither of us are mental health professionals. In fact, we

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<v Speaker 2>rely heavily on each other for just to kind of

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<v Speaker 2>make sure that we don't succumb to the pressures of

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<v Speaker 2>putting together a program like this.

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<v Speaker 1>We have to live through each article, and we're both

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<v Speaker 1>feeling empathetic individuals with beating hearts, and so when we

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<v Speaker 1>read about a mother who's lost her son, or we

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<v Speaker 1>read about yeah, I mean, we've even seen stuff that's

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<v Speaker 1>made us son. You remember that video we saw where

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<v Speaker 1>the police officers were saving those people's lives at the

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<v Speaker 1>party and they were running and instead of just shooting ramp,

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<v Speaker 1>they were actually saving people, and we were proud of that.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, we process a lot of emotional stuff, but

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<v Speaker 1>most of it is heavy, admittedly, And we have a

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<v Speaker 1>system where we take turns like, hey, this looks like

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<v Speaker 1>it might be something we should talk about. Why don't

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<v Speaker 1>you take it I took the last one, or you

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<v Speaker 1>will send it to my way kind of with the

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<v Speaker 1>same instructions. But I don't want to pretend like we

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<v Speaker 1>know more than we do. We feel like on this

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<v Speaker 1>show we at least put it in the center of

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<v Speaker 1>the room and we deal with it. And we're going

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<v Speaker 1>to go first because we've been given the opportunity to

0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:37.600
<v Speaker 1>stop the music for a second and deal with the

0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:42.440
<v Speaker 1>human beings behind the cultures. You know that the culture

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<v Speaker 1>that you know has caused your radio station to exist

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<v Speaker 1>in your city. You know, we are a people We're

0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:53.319
<v Speaker 1>not just rappers and singers and dancers. We do rather more,

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<v Speaker 1>and we are rather more than just those things. And

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<v Speaker 1>so today we're talking about where we are as a

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<v Speaker 1>people and perhaps some of the things that have caused

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<v Speaker 1>us to feel an even greater sense of hopelessness. And

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<v Speaker 1>so I'll move on. I do want to say his name,

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<v Speaker 1>but he is the son of Regina King. Regina King

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<v Speaker 1>is a famous actress. We know who she is, even

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<v Speaker 1>if screenwriter and director. To all the aboves, she's the truth.

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<v Speaker 1>Her son's name is Ian Alexander Junior, and he took

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<v Speaker 1>his own life in January on his twenty sixth birthday.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, here's a post that I have on

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<v Speaker 1>Regina's fiftieth birthday. This was in twenty twenty one. He

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<v Speaker 1>put Happy birthday to my co So extremely proud of you,

0:12:48.360 --> 0:12:51.920
<v Speaker 1>inspired by your love, artistry and gangsta. To be able

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<v Speaker 1>to watch you take this lifetime by its neck and

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<v Speaker 1>make it yours is something I will forever be grateful for.

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<v Speaker 1>But to have you as my mother is the greatest

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<v Speaker 1>gift I could ask for. To be all that you

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<v Speaker 1>are while always having the time to be their love

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<v Speaker 1>and support me unconditionally is truly remarkable. The whole Marvel

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<v Speaker 1>universe ain't got s word on you. You're the real superhero.

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<v Speaker 1>Love you Mom, this day and every day, yo day.

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<v Speaker 1>So this is a message that Ian Alexander Junior wrote

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<v Speaker 1>to his mom on social media on her birthday in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty one, and then earlier this year he took

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<v Speaker 1>his own life. And so you know, from the outside

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<v Speaker 1>looking in, it always feels like, why would a person

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<v Speaker 1>do that? And you know, we're often left with more

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<v Speaker 1>questions and answers, you know, in the wake of someone

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<v Speaker 1>committing suicide. So I don't think that we're going to

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<v Speaker 1>we're not even trying to solve this or come up

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<v Speaker 1>with any sort of solutions. But I think that by

0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:56.600
<v Speaker 1>talking about it, maybe it encourages the conversations in your

0:13:56.679 --> 0:14:01.320
<v Speaker 1>cities and in your households and you know, car rides

0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:06.480
<v Speaker 1>and just seek someone to talk to because you know

0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:12.120
<v Speaker 1>there's this you know, we get in trouble for saying

0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.679
<v Speaker 1>for standing up for ourselves as black people, saying black

0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.800
<v Speaker 1>lives matter. You know, people say all lives. People say, well,

0:14:17.800 --> 0:14:19.400
<v Speaker 1>why don't you deal with black on black crime? You

0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:21.960
<v Speaker 1>know what I mean? And we do it just doesn't

0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:24.840
<v Speaker 1>get the same type of media coverage as when we

0:14:25.160 --> 0:14:28.920
<v Speaker 1>stand up to police oppression or government oppression or systemic oppression. Right,

0:14:30.680 --> 0:14:33.240
<v Speaker 1>and this is another example of us standing up for

0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:36.960
<v Speaker 1>black lives. We're standing up for black lives against suicide,

0:14:37.520 --> 0:14:39.680
<v Speaker 1>and this, of course will not get the same media attention.

0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:42.120
<v Speaker 1>I had to compile all these into a segment that

0:14:42.280 --> 0:14:45.560
<v Speaker 1>now exists, as these are not just individual stories. Now,

0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.239
<v Speaker 1>this is a whole message that we're using this platform

0:14:49.600 --> 0:14:51.600
<v Speaker 1>to say, hey, there's something happening here.

0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:57.800
<v Speaker 2>The interesting thing is the polarity that exists in this story. Okay, right,

0:14:57.880 --> 0:15:01.760
<v Speaker 2>The same thing that may suicide so rare in the

0:15:01.800 --> 0:15:08.160
<v Speaker 2>black community is probably why it's becoming prevalent now. Feeling

0:15:08.240 --> 0:15:10.640
<v Speaker 2>like there's no one that can relate to how you feel.

0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.120
<v Speaker 2>You don't know a lot of people that outwardly even

0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:16.960
<v Speaker 2>talk about being depressed, let alone wanting to kill themselves,

0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.360
<v Speaker 2>and not feeling like you can express that to someone

0:15:20.400 --> 0:15:24.480
<v Speaker 2>and not be looked at as quote unquote crazy or

0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:26.720
<v Speaker 2>not be judged or kind of tossed to the side

0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:30.480
<v Speaker 2>or disregarded because of your mental issues. There's that fear

0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:33.480
<v Speaker 2>because the stigma that exists around mental health in our

0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.720
<v Speaker 2>communities is a lot different than others there, it is. Right,

0:15:36.840 --> 0:15:39.040
<v Speaker 2>So when you don't feel like you can even say

0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:42.200
<v Speaker 2>out loud that you feel like you're drowning, and you

0:15:42.400 --> 0:15:45.440
<v Speaker 2>just drown by yourself, in your own head, in your

0:15:45.480 --> 0:15:50.040
<v Speaker 2>own feelings, I think it reverses the polarity on that

0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:54.880
<v Speaker 2>sense of hopelessness, right, and you may feel like I

0:15:54.920 --> 0:15:57.680
<v Speaker 2>was born in it, but the idea that I can't

0:15:57.680 --> 0:16:01.120
<v Speaker 2>get out of it too much for me.

0:16:02.600 --> 0:16:05.200
<v Speaker 1>Now, let me make sure I say this because you

0:16:05.240 --> 0:16:08.520
<v Speaker 1>know I have one more sort of higher profile name

0:16:08.640 --> 0:16:11.560
<v Speaker 1>in recent months. In fact, i'll say it right now.

0:16:11.640 --> 0:16:15.800
<v Speaker 1>Moses J. Moseley, who's famous for playing one of the

0:16:15.920 --> 0:16:21.600
<v Speaker 1>zombies in The Walking Dead, has they suspected suicide. And

0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:23.920
<v Speaker 1>he was just thirty one years old. So again a young,

0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:31.560
<v Speaker 1>younger person taking his own life. Now, I think what

0:16:31.600 --> 0:16:37.760
<v Speaker 1>you said to you was really important because these are

0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:40.440
<v Speaker 1>the names that we know, these are the sources we

0:16:40.480 --> 0:16:43.440
<v Speaker 1>can point to. But the fact is, and we'll get

0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:45.920
<v Speaker 1>there a little bit further along in the segment, but

0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:50.360
<v Speaker 1>the fact is that suicide suicide rates for black men

0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:58.960
<v Speaker 1>and women are rising. For those that know I have

0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.280
<v Speaker 1>another show, or for those who don't know. I guess

0:17:01.280 --> 0:17:07.080
<v Speaker 1>I have another show that I do for Ieart Media,

0:17:07.320 --> 0:17:13.040
<v Speaker 1>and I recently did a segment that I started for

0:17:13.200 --> 0:17:17.159
<v Speaker 1>Civic Cipher, and you know, they were able to dedicate

0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:20.200
<v Speaker 1>a lot of resources in short order for this topic

0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:21.760
<v Speaker 1>I wanted to do that really had a lot to

0:17:21.800 --> 0:17:24.159
<v Speaker 1>do with what we're talking about today, which basically was

0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:29.639
<v Speaker 1>mental health for black people. And so I got tons

0:17:29.720 --> 0:17:32.679
<v Speaker 1>of statistics. And this isn't really a statistics type of

0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:35.240
<v Speaker 1>show that you're listening to right now, So I'm not

0:17:35.280 --> 0:17:37.280
<v Speaker 1>going to bog you down with statistics in the way

0:17:37.280 --> 0:17:40.520
<v Speaker 1>that the other show is kind of built around hard numbers.

0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:44.000
<v Speaker 1>But suffice it to say that this is not a

0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:47.879
<v Speaker 1>black celebrities segment. This is not a Black wealthy people segment,

0:17:47.960 --> 0:17:52.720
<v Speaker 1>nor is it a Black youngish people youngish people segment,

0:17:52.800 --> 0:17:58.080
<v Speaker 1>you know, early thirties, late twenties. This is Black people

0:17:58.080 --> 0:18:03.160
<v Speaker 1>in general. And one of the things that I suspected,

0:18:04.200 --> 0:18:06.560
<v Speaker 1>and you know, it's hard to kind of point to

0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:11.000
<v Speaker 1>what it could be because there's so many things that

0:18:11.000 --> 0:18:14.879
<v Speaker 1>black people have been resilient about for so long that

0:18:15.000 --> 0:18:18.679
<v Speaker 1>who knows which piece of the house is crumbling, you know,

0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:20.879
<v Speaker 1>because the whole thing feels like it's been under a

0:18:20.920 --> 0:18:26.320
<v Speaker 1>lot of stress. But in the past few years, everybody

0:18:26.320 --> 0:18:29.119
<v Speaker 1>can put to the pandemic, you know. But in the

0:18:29.160 --> 0:18:31.920
<v Speaker 1>past few years, even before the pandemic, we dealt with.

0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:35.439
<v Speaker 2>You know what.

0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:44.880
<v Speaker 1>Starting in twenty twelve, we saw Trayvon Martin, and Trayvon

0:18:44.920 --> 0:18:48.400
<v Speaker 1>Martin lost his life. And you might not remember this,

0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:52.800
<v Speaker 1>but the reason that Trayvon Martin was such a big

0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:56.680
<v Speaker 1>deal is because that was like the eighteenth time that

0:18:56.880 --> 0:19:00.600
<v Speaker 1>some black child was killed by police or some other

0:19:01.119 --> 0:19:07.880
<v Speaker 1>form of law enforcement, you know. And by the time

0:19:07.920 --> 0:19:16.520
<v Speaker 1>Trayvon Martin's name, you know, made headlines, people were fed

0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:21.840
<v Speaker 1>up with it so much so that the phrase black

0:19:21.880 --> 0:19:27.639
<v Speaker 1>Lives matter was born out of that eighteenth tragedy. In

0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:33.640
<v Speaker 1>the preceding few years, and obviously, you know, black people

0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:35.600
<v Speaker 1>have been getting killed by the police since the beginning

0:19:35.640 --> 0:19:39.720
<v Speaker 1>of police in this country, so it's not a news story.

0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:43.320
<v Speaker 1>But you know, once it gets filmed, once it gets sensationalized,

0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:45.240
<v Speaker 1>you know, and there's a newer era of people that

0:19:45.280 --> 0:19:47.880
<v Speaker 1>can share things on social media. So black Lives Matter

0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:50.040
<v Speaker 1>started out as a hashtag, it caught fire, et cetera.

0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:52.520
<v Speaker 1>So this is where you see the modern movement born.

0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:56.200
<v Speaker 1>But it started before Trayvon Martin, very much so. Right,

0:19:57.480 --> 0:20:01.639
<v Speaker 1>So that's before the pandemic, right, and then since Trayvon Martin.

0:20:02.119 --> 0:20:05.120
<v Speaker 1>You listening to my voice right now, you can name

0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:09.359
<v Speaker 1>six eight people black people who've lost their lives at

0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:11.879
<v Speaker 1>the top of your head. But there's one hundreds, you

0:20:11.920 --> 0:20:13.840
<v Speaker 1>know what I mean, Like there's yeah, there you go.

0:20:14.520 --> 0:20:17.360
<v Speaker 1>Because of the nature the way that policing is done

0:20:17.400 --> 0:20:19.520
<v Speaker 1>in this country, the police have guns, and this is

0:20:19.560 --> 0:20:22.840
<v Speaker 1>a gun wielding society, and it's very different than other

0:20:22.880 --> 0:20:25.320
<v Speaker 1>places around the world where they don't have those numbers

0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:29.359
<v Speaker 1>of imprisonment, of police shootings, of school shootings, of whatever. Right.

0:20:31.960 --> 0:20:34.600
<v Speaker 1>And you know, the sad part about this is that

0:20:35.920 --> 0:20:41.639
<v Speaker 1>there always exists, no matter what, a narrative somewhere, popular

0:20:42.000 --> 0:20:46.560
<v Speaker 1>narrative somewhere that he deserved it. It was his fault.

0:20:46.720 --> 0:20:49.919
<v Speaker 1>Or they need to do they need to get dads

0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:53.080
<v Speaker 1>in the home. That's a myth, they need to do whatever.

0:20:53.880 --> 0:20:58.560
<v Speaker 1>I think the most startling thing about Trayvon Martin was

0:20:58.560 --> 0:21:01.800
<v Speaker 1>that he wasn't killed by law enforcement. Yeah, yeah, he

0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:02.560
<v Speaker 1>was killed by.

0:21:02.440 --> 0:21:08.040
<v Speaker 2>A citizen deemed himself a vigilante or a crime fighter

0:21:08.160 --> 0:21:11.399
<v Speaker 2>or crime stopper or batman or whatever he thought he

0:21:11.440 --> 0:21:17.800
<v Speaker 2>was doing walking around for pursue this kid and killed him.

0:21:17.840 --> 0:21:22.719
<v Speaker 2>So for everyone who says that all lives matter, you

0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:27.439
<v Speaker 2>can't find an example like that of anything other than

0:21:27.520 --> 0:21:33.119
<v Speaker 2>a black child. Yeah, for they be pursued by a

0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:36.680
<v Speaker 2>person talking to law enforcement, being told by law enforcement

0:21:36.840 --> 0:21:40.360
<v Speaker 2>not to pursue them, pursuing them anyway, killing them and

0:21:40.440 --> 0:21:45.200
<v Speaker 2>living the rest of his day is free, showing us

0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:50.360
<v Speaker 2>how insignificant our lives are, forcing us to not state

0:21:51.480 --> 0:21:57.879
<v Speaker 2>or declare, but almost plead like, hey, you guys, like

0:21:59.040 --> 0:22:07.440
<v Speaker 2>we matter, right, and for that to be met with, well,

0:22:07.480 --> 0:22:11.680
<v Speaker 2>you know, all lives matter, every everybody matters.

0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:15.680
<v Speaker 1>I remember Tommy Lorenz called it the Black Lives Matter

0:22:15.800 --> 0:22:22.000
<v Speaker 1>More movement, and I'm like, who said that? Anyway, this

0:22:22.040 --> 0:22:26.440
<v Speaker 1>is our reality. I do want to I want to

0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:30.720
<v Speaker 1>shout this page out. It's a it's an Instagram page,

0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:35.040
<v Speaker 1>but we follow it. It's called black Media page. And

0:22:35.080 --> 0:22:37.960
<v Speaker 1>this was kind of like the nexus of this segment.

0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:42.159
<v Speaker 1>So I have a blurb from them how scientific it

0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.560
<v Speaker 1>is or not, you know, I don't know. I believe

0:22:44.600 --> 0:22:46.600
<v Speaker 1>it to be so, but that's not what I just

0:22:46.600 --> 0:22:48.360
<v Speaker 1>want to make sure that it's stated because that's where

0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:52.800
<v Speaker 1>the idea originated. They have a post that said Blackmail's

0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:56.520
<v Speaker 1>suicides are rising faster than any other racial group. I

0:22:56.520 --> 0:22:58.280
<v Speaker 1>think I've read that somewhere else too while I was

0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:02.240
<v Speaker 1>researching this. While of suicide and anxiety have risen sharply

0:23:02.320 --> 0:23:05.480
<v Speaker 1>during the pandemic, A recent study from the journal JAMA

0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:07.959
<v Speaker 1>finds that suicide attempts have been rising at an alarming

0:23:08.040 --> 0:23:11.399
<v Speaker 1>rate long before COVID nineteen. The study found black males

0:23:11.440 --> 0:23:14.080
<v Speaker 1>had the highest increase in suicide attempts compared to any

0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:17.119
<v Speaker 1>other race in the group, increasing nearly eighty percent. The

0:23:17.160 --> 0:23:21.959
<v Speaker 1>study said young black men face financial hardship, among other stressors,

0:23:22.240 --> 0:23:26.000
<v Speaker 1>and may have untreated mental health needs. I also want

0:23:26.040 --> 0:23:35.960
<v Speaker 1>to mention the ex president and his supporters and the

0:23:36.000 --> 0:23:44.320
<v Speaker 1>tone that was reintroduced into the country and the alarming

0:23:44.520 --> 0:23:50.840
<v Speaker 1>response to what could be described as black people versus

0:23:50.840 --> 0:23:55.040
<v Speaker 1>the police. You know, because police are not losing their

0:23:55.080 --> 0:23:57.199
<v Speaker 1>lives at the same rate as black people, and they

0:23:57.240 --> 0:23:58.919
<v Speaker 1>are if they do lose their lives, there is some

0:23:58.960 --> 0:24:02.560
<v Speaker 1>accountability building into the equation for the person that takes

0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:03.760
<v Speaker 1>the police officer's.

0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:08.720
<v Speaker 2>Life, and sadly or strangely enough, some of that accountability

0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:12.320
<v Speaker 2>comes at the hands of the police in the same

0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:15.920
<v Speaker 2>way their retribution. They seek it out themselves. You know,

0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:20.000
<v Speaker 2>you're talking about violent accountability, not just being brought to justice,

0:24:20.359 --> 0:24:25.840
<v Speaker 2>but sometimes hunted down and killed like a revenge tactic

0:24:25.920 --> 0:24:26.679
<v Speaker 2>from a gang.

0:24:27.920 --> 0:24:31.840
<v Speaker 1>Well, I mean, I'm from California, so the police were

0:24:32.320 --> 0:24:36.000
<v Speaker 1>often regarded in the same way as street gangs because

0:24:36.200 --> 0:24:38.840
<v Speaker 1>oftentimes they behaved in such a way. But you know,

0:24:38.880 --> 0:24:41.640
<v Speaker 1>there's a lot of things going on in the world. Fortunately,

0:24:42.560 --> 0:24:48.439
<v Speaker 1>I think they were moving toward a more positive, you know,

0:24:50.320 --> 0:24:54.240
<v Speaker 1>state of the country. But we need to have conversations,

0:24:54.240 --> 0:24:56.200
<v Speaker 1>we need to have friends, we need to share information,

0:24:56.440 --> 0:24:58.520
<v Speaker 1>we need to seek out mental health. And this is

0:24:58.560 --> 0:25:01.040
<v Speaker 1>our contribution to making sure that none of those things

0:25:01.080 --> 0:25:07.760
<v Speaker 1>feel strange. But this is a good enough time for

0:25:07.840 --> 0:25:09.360
<v Speaker 1>us to take a pause for the cause, So stick

0:25:09.359 --> 0:25:11.639
<v Speaker 1>around with coming back on more civic cipher right after

0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:11.800
<v Speaker 1>this