WEBVTT - Politics and Fashion 0:00:04.000 --> 0:00:06.320 What's going on, y'all. It's your boy, my son, and 0:00:06.320 --> 0:00:08.960 this is Street Politicians, the place with the streets in 0:00:09.039 --> 0:00:12.680 politics meet and I'm Tamika D. Mallory and welcome to 0:00:12.720 --> 0:00:16.640 another episode. It'll be packed as always, there's a bunch 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:20.520 to talk about. What's going on, mice like lots happening 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.560 at a long weekend. Man, I want to shout out 0:00:22.600 --> 0:00:25.400 to My Brother's Keeper. I did an event with such 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:31.480 brilliant young men and I was inspired, motivated, um um. 0:00:31.560 --> 0:00:35.400 It was in Albany, Albany, my Brother's Keeper Foundation. They 0:00:35.440 --> 0:00:39.479 take young educated boys, black and brown boys, and they 0:00:39.720 --> 0:00:42.479 you know, they joined this organization in which they take 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:44.639 them on trips and they educated them. They give them 0:00:44.920 --> 0:00:48.000 leadership classes and you know, and they have to maintain 0:00:48.000 --> 0:00:50.480 a certain g p A. So it was just dope 0:00:50.520 --> 0:00:52.720 to see young brothers like that. That's what's up. That 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:57.520 was during the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus up in Albany, 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.000 New York this weekend. A lot of great stuff happened 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:03.920 up there. So this week we wanna talk about fashion week. 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.640 You know, fashion week is probably something we wouldn't really 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:09.720 be discussing on this show, except there were more claims 0:01:09.720 --> 0:01:14.840 of racism within the fashion industry. A model, you know, 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:17.880 a model has said that she was asked to wear 0:01:17.959 --> 0:01:20.839 some things that she didn't like and didn't feel we're appropriate. 0:01:20.920 --> 0:01:26.360 So we'll talk about that. Bloomberg has entered the race, um, 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:32.480 and he's coming fools. No, yeah, but that's not no, 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:40.800 we're not going to do that. Mini, just absolutely outrage. 0:01:41.760 --> 0:01:45.680 But anyway, no, seriously, we should not be named calling um. 0:01:45.959 --> 0:01:50.080 But anyway, he's he's in the race now. And there's 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.800 been a lot this weekend on this Bloomberg thing, and 0:01:52.840 --> 0:01:55.800 I want to definitely unpack it all you want to 0:01:55.880 --> 0:02:01.840 unpack the Bloomberg. There is then a day on Mississippi 0:02:01.960 --> 0:02:05.960 the Parchment prison situation. Uh, there have been more deaths 0:02:06.200 --> 0:02:10.040 in fact to this weekend, the total that the state 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.760 has been has sort of agreed to, if you will. 0:02:13.800 --> 0:02:15.359 And reason why I say that it is because there's 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:17.639 a different number coming from the streets. The streets say 0:02:17.720 --> 0:02:21.680 more people have died, but the state has released about 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:25.760 nineteen people who have died under their care. And this 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:28.000 has been over the last like two or three months, 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:30.679 so it's really a crisis. Um. And then of course, 0:02:30.680 --> 0:02:33.160 you know, I give my update on the coronavirus, because 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:36.200 I watched the coronavirus like I'm watching a storm. I'm 0:02:36.200 --> 0:02:41.959 watching it every single day. Uh, eighteen thousand, Lord, excuse me, 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:46.760 let me get that right. Eighteen hundred people have died, 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:50.280 and that does not diminish in all the number, because 0:02:50.320 --> 0:02:53.840 eighteen hundred, eighteen thousand whatever. It is a virus that 0:02:54.040 --> 0:02:58.080 is going thripping through UM any particular country and and 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.720 now spreading into other places. Is is dangerous, and it's 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:03.680 something that we have to be vigilant about and pay 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:08.480 attention to. UM. You know, as I was watching MSNBC 0:03:08.880 --> 0:03:13.919 this morning, they were talking about the flu, regular influenza flu, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:17.480 and how many more people have died this year from 0:03:17.560 --> 0:03:20.320 the flu than the coronavirus. So when you put it 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:23.600 in perspective, what they've said is that most people who 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:27.520 get the coronavirus, they just have regular symptoms, like they 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:29.480 have a cold, and so long as they don't have 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.960 other health challenges, you know, elderly or very very young, 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.080 you should be okay. So it's not a cause for 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:39.839 us to panic and be super concerned. But I never 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:44.920 believe anything that anything that spreads this fast, uh, can 0:03:44.920 --> 0:03:48.800 be quite dangerous, just to reiterate that when you put 0:03:48.840 --> 0:03:52.400 it in perspective in terms of the regular influenza flu 0:03:52.560 --> 0:03:55.200 that all of us are subjected to every day as 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:57.400 we travel about, go to work, go to school, your 0:03:57.440 --> 0:03:59.840 kids go to school, and all of that. Actually, pe 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.120 for are dying more from the flu than they are 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:07.560 from this. However, this particular virus has come forward in 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:10.520 a shorter period of time and it's you know, and 0:04:10.520 --> 0:04:14.240 and the numbers are pretty high, so you know, be vigilant, 0:04:14.400 --> 0:04:17.000 because I'm certainly being vigilant. Oh and guess what they 0:04:17.040 --> 0:04:20.680 said on MSNBC today as the number one thing that 0:04:20.760 --> 0:04:27.640 any individual should do is to wash their hands. How 0:04:27.680 --> 0:04:30.800 did you know? Because I'm on the guys around me 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:34.719 all the time about just washing their hands. That's it, 0:04:35.040 --> 0:04:37.840 just washing hands. But it brings me to my thought 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.160 of the day. My thought of the day is around 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.679 a comment on an Instagram post, so I talked about 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:48.520 parchment prison. I posted that another man died over the weekend, 0:04:48.760 --> 0:04:51.000 and a young woman wrote to me in the comments 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:54.080 I thought jay Z was handling this. And I sat 0:04:54.160 --> 0:04:57.039 and really pondered on that, like, Wow, I thought that 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:01.680 jay Z is handling the jail people to keep dying 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:05.240 in the prison. So she thought jay Z was handling 0:05:05.279 --> 0:05:08.800 it because she's seen yeah I And I responded to 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:14.400 her and said, one man cannot help or cannot solve 0:05:14.839 --> 0:05:19.719 four hundred plus years of oppression, and she wrote back 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:24.240 to me, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm talking about Parchment prison, 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:28.520 Like what are you talking about? And it just totally 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.520 went over her head. And then I felt bad because 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:36.400 I realized that one I did not invest enough in 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:40.000 that conversation. I probably should have had more dialogue with her, 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:41.720 because I think I lost after that because she never 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.440 came back. But the only thing is so many of 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.479 our people. I looked at her profile and she's and 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:49.440 you know what, today, since I did look at her profile, 0:05:49.440 --> 0:05:52.679 I'm gonna go DM this sister and fix my error. 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:57.280 And the teacher and an educator and carr in and 0:05:57.320 --> 0:06:02.560 not out um. But I thought about how so many 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:06.160 of our younger people. I really think that there is 0:06:06.200 --> 0:06:10.000 an elevator to justice and an elevator to success in general, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.719 and there is none. Like you have to take the staircase. 0:06:13.800 --> 0:06:17.040 It's the long hard way. And everything that we're talking 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:22.160 about today, from the Fashion Week piece to presidential politics 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:27.200 to Parchment Prison. It's a process. It's a process. There 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.839 are steps to move forward for us to just always 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:33.600 diminish any level of growth and evolution that we make 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:36.919 in progress that we make. We we we we shortend ourselves. 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:39.200 We don't give ourselves an opportunity to grow. We don't 0:06:39.360 --> 0:06:42.800 we look for the microwave answer to everything, and that's 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.320 not really I think social media has kind of created 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.839 that where people want to see something go from start 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:52.839 to completion quickly. But I also understand it, which is 0:06:52.839 --> 0:06:54.680 why I want to go back to that young system 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.880 and have a conversation with her. I also understand that 0:06:58.200 --> 0:07:02.120 people kind of feel like this so much bullshit happening 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:04.560 in the world that it's like, yeah, show me to 0:07:04.640 --> 0:07:07.680 nitty gritty, like get me quickly to what what's the 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:13.040 plan here? Right, because folks don't necessarily feel invested or 0:07:13.560 --> 0:07:17.240 confident about what Jay's doing with the NFL, what you 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.680 and I may be doing in Parchment Prison, what they're 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:24.239 just not and they don't feel like they're the comfort 0:07:24.280 --> 0:07:27.080 of their living room has gotten any better. And I 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:29.960 get that. It's like people are looking for the tangibles. 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:34.040 So if people are still dying in Parchment prison, Then 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:36.640 what the hell are we all excited about when these 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:41.000 moments come where we do have uh, where we we 0:07:41.000 --> 0:07:44.920 we tout success. So for instance, on the updates, right, 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.160 the first thing that happened was Unit twenty nine is 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:52.920 closing down now by the way, keeping it all in perspective, 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:55.320 and I want to make sure that I write down 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:57.960 so we go back to your point about the P 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.200 S A s and what what they've done, um one 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:05.760 jay Z. But to keep it all in perspective as 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:07.600 it relates to you. In the twenty nine it was 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.760 never supposed to be open in the first place. It 0:08:10.800 --> 0:08:15.560 was not. It was actually a condemned building where prisoners 0:08:15.600 --> 0:08:18.960 were moved because things were happening in the unit that 0:08:19.000 --> 0:08:20.760 they were in and they were trying to get control. 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:23.120 I believe that they were in more of like a 0:08:23.720 --> 0:08:26.720 um like a dormant, a dorm when you call it 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:31.360 a dorm status, dormitory status, right, yeah, a dormitory status. 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.360 It was more communal, and because of a couple of 0:08:34.440 --> 0:08:38.439 incidents that took place, they moved people to an older 0:08:38.559 --> 0:08:41.880 jail that was more secure. So they say, because there 0:08:41.880 --> 0:08:44.839 were more cells and what have you, UM and so 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:49.840 they and so that building was already condemned, hadn't been 0:08:49.840 --> 0:08:52.920 open in many, many years. Someone says, at least a decade, 0:08:52.960 --> 0:08:55.000 that's what I heard, that it had not been open. 0:08:55.320 --> 0:08:57.640 And so the fact that they put prisoners in that 0:08:57.720 --> 0:09:02.640 building in the first place was asolutely wrong, crazy outstand 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.240 it just out just ridiculous. All the words you want 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:11.200 to think of to describe wrong, and a crime should 0:09:11.280 --> 0:09:13.839 never They should never have moved prisoners there. So when 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.160 they come out and say we're closing down you and 0:09:17.640 --> 0:09:21.600 it's incremental, it's like, you know, it's incremental, It's like, okay, 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.600 but the reality is, actually it was supposed to be 0:09:24.640 --> 0:09:27.440 closed and it really wasn't and y'all just used it 0:09:27.480 --> 0:09:29.960 for the time being because you didn't have any will 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:31.760 to put it. So it's kind of like a little 0:09:31.800 --> 0:09:34.199 bit of fools go. It's it's a little bit of fools. 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:38.080 But the reality situation is is something that wasn't happening 0:09:38.080 --> 0:09:40.600 the day before, right, So that's what we have to 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:43.720 be able to explain the nuance in all of this. 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:47.000 To our we don't feel like, you know, it's having 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.080 a conversation with my brother David Banner, like we have 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.000 real conversations. He'll call me and just check on me 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:55.800 from time to time, and he was like, a people 0:09:55.840 --> 0:09:59.360 are jaded, like we need a win, he said, they 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.720 want to see wins, like we have to give them 0:10:01.760 --> 0:10:05.160 something as tangible. We have to we have to make 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:06.959 the goal. We have to set a goal, and we 0:10:07.000 --> 0:10:09.160 gotta win that goal and say, look, we got the 0:10:09.200 --> 0:10:12.080 goal that we said, right, because they want to fight 0:10:12.120 --> 0:10:13.720 and they know that we need justice, and they know 0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.520 they wanted quality and equity and all of those things, 0:10:16.559 --> 0:10:19.000 but they haven't seen a real win. They don't even 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:20.920 know where the wind looks like. And we're not presenting 0:10:20.960 --> 0:10:23.720 it like, look, we want this. So I think I 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:27.480 think that's them, and I think also it's you know. 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:29.360 And then and then if you don't feel like you're 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:32.080 winning the larger fight, then you just gotta win in 0:10:32.120 --> 0:10:34.079 your little box. So it's like I go to work, 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:36.920 I take care of my kids. We're not havn't you know. 0:10:36.920 --> 0:10:39.440 We're not trying to cause any problems. We don't want 0:10:39.440 --> 0:10:42.400 any problems. We're doing the best we could do right 0:10:42.440 --> 0:10:46.079 here and this little this little area. And so since 0:10:46.080 --> 0:10:50.040 we can't win the larger battle, let's just focus on 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.440 our our home and our you know, our little four 0:10:53.520 --> 0:10:56.760 square miles around us. So on the Parchment piece, the 0:10:56.880 --> 0:11:01.319 other update is that because of the lawsuits that jay 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:05.000 Z filed, they now are able to go into the 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.839 prison with inspectors, so people who are able to look 0:11:08.880 --> 0:11:13.640 into the sewage system. That's another it's incremental. They're going 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:16.000 in to be able to look at the jail and 0:11:16.040 --> 0:11:18.840 be able to assess what the prison and assess what 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.560 is happening there, what the conditions are, and how the 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:25.120 prisoners are living. That's important because you need that for 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.320 your lawsuit. You also need that so you're able to 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:31.720 continue to have conversations with the local government to talk 0:11:31.760 --> 0:11:34.440 about why things need to happen now, not waiting for 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:37.560 a lawsuit that's in ten years and five years, but 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:40.560 right now there has to be steps taken to deal 0:11:40.679 --> 0:11:44.000 with the humane the humanity of those people who are 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:47.280 locked up inside of Parchment prison. Um and so you 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:50.400 know that that also was another big step. But again 0:11:50.800 --> 0:11:55.280 someone wrote on my Instagram page there was a report 0:11:55.360 --> 0:11:58.040 that was like three hundred pages that came out five 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.440 or six years ago that basically condemned the prison. So 0:12:01.520 --> 0:12:04.280 why are we here now? And I think that why, 0:12:04.360 --> 0:12:06.120 you know, like, why now all of a sudden are 0:12:06.120 --> 0:12:08.120 we talking about a new report. It seems like it's 0:12:08.160 --> 0:12:10.760 just basically a merry go round, go round and round. 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:15.640 But the thing that folks have to understand is that opportunity, timing, 0:12:15.960 --> 0:12:19.960 and and and and and and circumstances all have to 0:12:20.000 --> 0:12:22.760 sort of meet, right, So you could have a report 0:12:22.840 --> 0:12:26.800 out from five years ago, but then five years ago 0:12:26.880 --> 0:12:29.920 they may not have been as much movement on the ground, 0:12:30.320 --> 0:12:32.640 you know, they may not have been as much energy 0:12:32.920 --> 0:12:37.320 where people are out there calling for justice around this 0:12:37.440 --> 0:12:41.880 issue or or bringing attention to the outrage. And then, unfortunately, 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.320 which is what I wrote in my post yesterday, when 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:49.400 you're fighting, you're in a major fight against this system. 0:12:49.520 --> 0:12:53.680 People get hurt, people even die. And in this moment, 0:12:53.880 --> 0:12:56.920 the components that are coming together is that you have 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:01.200 someone like Jay Z and Rock Nation Team Rock that's 0:13:01.240 --> 0:13:06.000 out there suing the Department of the well not Department 0:13:06.000 --> 0:13:09.680 of Justice, but they're suing the Department of Corrections, suing 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:12.520 the state on behalf of these prisoners. Then at the 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.920 same time you also have us, all of us out 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:19.360 there bringing attention to the local fight where Ms. Sharon 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:24.240 and Lukia Mamamba and Leah Campbell and Danielle Holmes Um 0:13:24.440 --> 0:13:29.000 the Poor People's Campaign, the Mississippi Prison Coalition, they're out there, 0:13:29.200 --> 0:13:31.760 so that you have those two things coming together and 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:34.800 then unfortunately you have loss of light, so you have 0:13:35.080 --> 0:13:38.440 more attention on the situation and therefore you may be 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:45.199 able to move uh towards exactly. And that's what. Oh yeah, 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:46.720 I just want to march and rally, and I'm trying 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.120 to march and I try to explain to him it's 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:54.000 about bringing awareness. It's about bringing awareness and also unifying 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:56.319 people with like minds. The people that you know are 0:13:56.320 --> 0:13:58.400 gonna be by the side to see how many people 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:02.240 actually share a frustration from one subject. When when the 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.920 government officials see that and when we put that on 0:14:04.960 --> 0:14:07.120 the news, it makes them say, Okay, we don't need 0:14:07.559 --> 0:14:10.319 some type of uprising from our people because the people 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.280 are not happy. So if we don't deal with their 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:15.840 issues and talk about what they they're angry about, then 0:14:15.840 --> 0:14:17.679 we're gonna have a problem. So when people cant, oh, 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:20.920 I don't know about launching, No, it's definitely necessary. Like 0:14:20.960 --> 0:14:24.160 you said, you know, these things bring awaitness and because 0:14:24.280 --> 0:14:27.520 it's highlighted because Jay Z is talking about it because 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:30.720 you know, um, the people are dying and we're able 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.840 to put this on national news because those things that 0:14:33.920 --> 0:14:36.440 happen is it moves the need of a lot faster 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:41.000 than situations that are happening in other towns of other states. 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:46.600 Who where we putting together departments. It happens and this 0:14:47.040 --> 0:14:51.040 this right here, Unfortunately, the life, the lives that have 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:54.480 been lost in this situation, it is probably gonna pay 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.600 the way so other lives don't have to be there's 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.480 a sacrifice. And unfortunately, just like years ago in the 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.440 Attica it's when those brothers low state life because they 0:15:02.520 --> 0:15:05.720 was being treated in humane, you know, and the change 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:09.160 the New York justice system, correction system, a lot of 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:11.880 things that they weren't able to get, you know, visits 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.480 and packages and things of that nature. They fought and 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:17.000 died for those things. So we look at a different, 0:15:17.160 --> 0:15:20.840 different time in a new moment to recreate what justice 0:15:20.840 --> 0:15:24.000 looks like with prison reform looks like, and even imagine 0:15:24.040 --> 0:15:26.160 someplace where that is in prison. But in the process 0:15:26.240 --> 0:15:29.200 there's going to be reforming real Yeah, you know, I 0:15:29.240 --> 0:15:33.320 got a call from a woman, um the other day 0:15:33.320 --> 0:15:37.320 and our our co founders, Linda Sarsoo and Angelo Pene 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:40.640 attorney Angelo Pinto. But with me and I just happened 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:42.440 to put the call on speaker phone. Didn't even know 0:15:42.480 --> 0:15:44.600 who was calling. In fact, it was a nine oh 0:15:44.600 --> 0:15:47.960 one number that I get calls from often, but I 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:50.080 don't answer because I don't know who it is. But 0:15:50.120 --> 0:15:52.320 this day I answered the phone. I put the lady 0:15:52.360 --> 0:15:56.320 on speaker phone, and she says to me, Hi, uh. 0:15:56.360 --> 0:15:59.640 You know. She was an older countrywoman and she said 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.520 that she was trying to get someone to check on 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:06.240 her son and Parchment that he told her he didn't 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.240 even have clean water, that the water is brown, and 0:16:09.360 --> 0:16:11.840 she's trying to get on the visiting list, but no 0:16:11.880 --> 0:16:14.720 one will answer the phone for her. She's worried about 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:17.400 her son, doesn't know what's going on. And then she said, 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:20.440 and do you know why he's in there? And I said, 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:23.480 I said, well, what happened to him? Man? She said, 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:28.080 he supposedly, you know whatever, So less than a hundred 0:16:28.160 --> 0:16:32.000 dollars worth of drugs to an undercover cop. And do 0:16:32.080 --> 0:16:38.120 you know how much time they gave him? Sixty years? 0:16:38.160 --> 0:16:41.440 Because that's how the justice system, the injustice system plays. 0:16:41.920 --> 0:16:46.560 You know, I know so many individuals who have lesser crimes, 0:16:46.560 --> 0:16:49.160 who have done non violent crimes and a servant life 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:52.400 in prison, who have life in prison. So I've seen 0:16:53.360 --> 0:16:58.320 you know, the most drastic and you know, inhumane sentences, 0:16:58.440 --> 0:17:01.840 sentences for situations that most of are done out of 0:17:01.880 --> 0:17:05.800 poverty and confusion. You know, these are poverty is crimped 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:07.720 and itself. That's something we say all the time. And 0:17:07.800 --> 0:17:11.240 you know, and the system should be on traal for 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:15.560 for making us living poverty to continuously live in poverty, 0:17:15.560 --> 0:17:19.720 from not providing opportunities in space to where people able 0:17:19.800 --> 0:17:22.320 to live above poverty. So you know, when you when 0:17:22.359 --> 0:17:26.200 you criminalize, over criminalize, you know, people who commit crimes 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:30.200 out of poverty stricken conditions. It's just it makes no sense. 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:32.040 And that's what we're seeing in parture and that's what 0:17:32.200 --> 0:17:36.160 we most of those jails are, especially in those racist towns, 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:42.480 because the laws are designed to completely cripple and the 0:17:42.640 --> 0:17:46.080 track black black and brown men. But you know, it's 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:48.679 like who what men and women? You know, do you 0:17:48.720 --> 0:17:51.200 put the cart before the horse? What they say, the 0:17:51.359 --> 0:17:54.399 chicken all the egg, Because on one hand, you know, 0:17:54.560 --> 0:17:58.439 I want to say, regardless of of the poverty, no 0:17:58.480 --> 0:18:00.480 matter where it is that I come from, what it 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:04.600 is that I've been through, Choosing to knock a old 0:18:04.680 --> 0:18:09.399 lady over the head, or shoot a cop, or you 0:18:09.400 --> 0:18:12.359 know the different things we know of sell drugs and 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:14.880 all of that should never be an option for us. 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:17.320 And there are so many people who were able to 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:22.280 navigate poverty, navigate all of these things. But there's a 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.920 way more people than weren't. So you're talking about the exception, 0:18:26.000 --> 0:18:27.920 not the rule. And I have that conversation with people 0:18:27.920 --> 0:18:30.840 all the time, not making it an excuse, but there's 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:33.040 a reason. You know, if you look, if you look 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:37.040 at trajectory, if you look at the real statistics, ninety 0:18:37.119 --> 0:18:40.280 more ninety plus people don't get out of those conditions. 0:18:40.640 --> 0:18:43.400 You know, the amount of people that actually overcome those 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:46.880 situations and pull itself abody own bootstraps, it's very low. 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.199 And we look at them and we celebrate them, like 0:18:49.200 --> 0:18:52.160 when we celebrate the rich black people, and we look 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.800 at it. We aspired to do that, and you know, 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:57.160 and a lot of times people say, look, you can 0:18:57.200 --> 0:18:59.240 do this, and you can do this. Everybody doesn't have 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:02.320 those opportunity means. A lot of these people is what 0:19:02.320 --> 0:19:05.280 what it takes to be successful in wealthy in America. 0:19:05.400 --> 0:19:08.440 There's a culmination of things. There has to be skilled, 0:19:08.600 --> 0:19:11.200 there has to be dedication, there has to be luck, 0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:14.600 you know, and then it has to be some lessons. 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:17.400 All these things got to happen at the exact same time. 0:19:17.760 --> 0:19:22.040 For those things that happense, opportunity is most important. If 0:19:22.080 --> 0:19:26.200 you look at most of our successful blacks in our culture, 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:29.560 they were seconds away from losing their freedom or their life. 0:19:29.640 --> 0:19:32.560 A lot of people have aspirations to have the skill 0:19:32.680 --> 0:19:35.199 and even have the wanting to do things with the 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:39.200 opportunity just han't caught up to, you know, their urge. 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.240 So that's what we're looking forward to, actually see some 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:47.200 opportunities to present them. Well, yeah, opportunities. Well, a woman 0:19:47.520 --> 0:19:51.280 had much opportunity. She has been a model for fashion 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.280 Week for a long time. I think she said many 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.560 years she's been doing fashion Week, but she never experienced 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.640 something like what happened to her, uh this particular year 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:05.760 fashion week. She says she was asked to wear um 0:20:05.920 --> 0:20:11.520 some airrings that were like big red lips. And when 0:20:11.520 --> 0:20:13.359 you say big red lips, you have to think about 0:20:13.480 --> 0:20:16.920 what black face looks like and understand the red lips 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:22.200 was a huge part of the black face representation. UM. 0:20:22.320 --> 0:20:25.000 And then the other thing was some other accessories that 0:20:25.040 --> 0:20:27.439 were monkeys, and they asked her the way that's a 0:20:27.480 --> 0:20:31.239 black woman to wear this during a show and she 0:20:31.320 --> 0:20:35.440 said no, she refused to wear it, UM and she said, 0:20:35.480 --> 0:20:37.560 you know it was It was a very difficult moment 0:20:37.600 --> 0:20:41.640 for her, probably the worst that she's ever experienced while 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:44.560 doing these shows. But they went on even though they 0:20:44.600 --> 0:20:47.320 did not make her wear them, well, they could not 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.480 make her wear them, uh, and the issue was dropped. 0:20:51.040 --> 0:20:54.679 They still allowed other people to wear them. So you 0:20:54.800 --> 0:20:57.320 still see pictures in the New York Times, the Daily 0:20:57.400 --> 0:21:03.080 News of other models wearing these very very hurtful and 0:21:03.280 --> 0:21:06.919 racist symbols. But you know, she didn't participate in it. 0:21:07.320 --> 0:21:10.840 Are we surprised, No, it's not about being surprised. And 0:21:10.880 --> 0:21:15.840 another thing that I remember that she said that one 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.600 of the people told her and the story that it's 0:21:19.600 --> 0:21:22.760 okay to be uncomfortable for I bet you a white 0:21:22.800 --> 0:21:25.080 person like just just to sit there, just think about that. 0:21:25.119 --> 0:21:28.200 I'm telling you that something is making me uncomfortable that 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:30.600 I don't want to wear it because it's going to 0:21:30.600 --> 0:21:32.400 get something that I feel and they look, don't worry 0:21:32.400 --> 0:21:35.919 about it. Just be It's okay to be uncomfortable seconds 0:21:36.720 --> 0:21:40.560 somebody's moral compass. You know, that's an insult to their 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:44.320 racial you know, heritage, and you tell them just be 0:21:44.400 --> 0:21:48.560 uncomfortable for seconds, but okay, continue, No, no, you you continue. 0:21:48.800 --> 0:21:51.640 I mean, it's just it's just people tell us that 0:21:51.760 --> 0:21:54.840 all the time. I just want to say for the 0:21:55.040 --> 0:21:58.959 sister that I I really appreciate the fact that her 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:03.720 career be ruined because now she's a troublemaker. She's too 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:07.760 difficult to deal with as a black woman, she's too aggressive, 0:22:08.200 --> 0:22:13.520 and I'm sure all the stereotypes are being thrown around 0:22:13.720 --> 0:22:17.159 in the industry to describe her for making this taking 0:22:17.160 --> 0:22:21.920 this stance. But we as black women, let me speak 0:22:22.000 --> 0:22:26.119 as a black woman, are so proud that she stood 0:22:26.200 --> 0:22:28.879 up and said no. And sometimes that's what it takes 0:22:29.000 --> 0:22:33.080 is to just say no, I won't do it. So yeah, 0:22:33.240 --> 0:22:36.320 just say no. And I mean that, like, don't allow 0:22:36.400 --> 0:22:39.080 people to make you feel uncomfortable for a few moments. 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:41.720 But at least she knew there was something to feel 0:22:41.760 --> 0:22:45.000 uncomfortable about. Because I'm so I'm sure some people slap 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:47.720 them ear rings right on and put those stories on 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:50.399 them with like bring it on. They don't have a 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:53.359 clue because they don't know their history. And obviously she's 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:57.800 been exposed and knows what these symbols mean. So lots 0:22:57.800 --> 0:23:00.800