Speaker 1: Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast
Speaker 1: the balance and defend the discourse from these hip hop
Speaker 1: weekly studios. Once again, I'm your host, Rams's jah who
Speaker 1: is jah am q Ward? And today, if you don't know,
Speaker 1: we are still kind of recapping the many ways in
Speaker 1: which doctor Martin Luther King Junior has been whitewashed and
Speaker 1: his legacy has been co opted to support all kinds
Speaker 1: of crazy narratives and crazy campaigns and pieces of legislature
Speaker 1: and so forth. A piece of legislation I mean to
Speaker 1: say that doctor King would not stand for. And so
Speaker 1: it's up to us and people like us to continue
Speaker 1: to cement in the minds of you our listeners exactly
Speaker 1: what doctor King stood for and to ensure that those
Speaker 1: folks really do believe that doctor King was a good man,
Speaker 1: know a little bit more about him. And so today's show,
Speaker 1: of course, is dedicated to making sure that that is
Speaker 1: a dablished. But before we continue, let's discuss Baba becoming
Speaker 1: a better allied Baba and Today's Baba sponsored by Friends
Speaker 1: of the Movement. You can sign up for the free
Speaker 1: voter wallet from fotmglobal dot com to sport black businesses
Speaker 1: and allied businesses as well as make an impact with
Speaker 1: your spending. Again, that's Fotmglobal dot com. And for today's BABA,
Speaker 1: we want you to consider donating to the Kingcenter dot org.
Speaker 1: So I'll share a bit about the King Center. Established
Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty eight by Missus Kreta Scott King, the
Speaker 1: Martin Luther King Junior Center for Nonviolent Social Change aka
Speaker 1: the King Center has been a global destination, resource center,
Speaker 1: and community institution for over a quarter century. The King
Speaker 1: Center is a five oh one c three and nearly
Speaker 1: a million people each year make the pilgrimage to the
Speaker 1: national Historic site to learn, be inspired, and pay their
Speaker 1: respects to doctor King's legacy. Again, we'd like you to
Speaker 1: make a donation, so you can do so at Civil
Speaker 1: Rights Museum dot org and you can make a donation
Speaker 1: at the Kingcenter dot org. And the Civil Rights Museum
Speaker 1: dot org is the National Civil Rights Museum. It's located
Speaker 1: in Memphis, Tennessee. It's headed up by doctor russ Wiggington,
Speaker 1: and that kind of encapsulates the last few moments of
Speaker 1: doctor King's life because the museum is on the grounds
Speaker 1: of the Lorrain Motel where doctor King was assassinated, and
Speaker 1: so they discuss really what he stood for, the direction
Speaker 1: in which he was moving, and they've turned that museum
Speaker 1: building and a building across the street and some other
Speaker 1: The campus has expanded since first being initiated. But there's
Speaker 1: a lot to learn about doctor King's legacy and really
Speaker 1: the whole movement for social justice and civil rights, and
Speaker 1: again you can check them out at Civil Rights Museum
Speaker 1: dot org. And don't forget about the King Center, which
Speaker 1: is the Kingcenter dot org. So I think that in
Speaker 1: order to honor the legacy of doctor King, I wanted
Speaker 1: to take some time to review some of the things
Speaker 1: that MLK said and just kind of let them diffuse
Speaker 1: into the community so that folks know that this wasn't
Speaker 1: just a non violent, peaceful protester. This was a man
Speaker 1: who was a great thinker and someone that was able
Speaker 1: to touch on many things that still affect the black
Speaker 1: community today. But unfortunately he was assassinated before he got
Speaker 1: to the point where he was able to really get
Speaker 1: that off and show folks that a lot of the
Speaker 1: ideas that we're dealing with right now are not new.
Speaker 1: In fact, some of them were very much pronounced during
Speaker 1: the time of doctor King, some even reflected in some
Speaker 1: of his words, and so again I thought that was
Speaker 1: important because a lot of times folks will say to
Speaker 1: you know, people on the streets that are protesting, or
Speaker 1: people that you know have a very charged way of
Speaker 1: describing their black folks on the other side, you know,
Speaker 1: whatever their opposition is, a lot of times folks like
Speaker 1: to point to doctor King and say, well, doctor King
Speaker 1: was nonviolent, and therefore.
Speaker 2: You know, I think they mistake that for him being a.
Speaker 1: Passivist, exactly exactly, And again I thought that it was
Speaker 1: necessary for us to have this conversation. One of the
Speaker 1: things that has been touted more recently is his statement
Speaker 1: that a riot is the language of the unheard, and
Speaker 1: I think that that's a profound statement. And a lot
Speaker 1: of folks who don't know this, but some of the
Speaker 1: protests that doctor King took pardon or organized, they had
Speaker 1: some folks in there that would act up. And when
Speaker 1: those folks acted up, you know, that gave the authorities
Speaker 1: and police and so forth license to get in there
Speaker 1: and use the water hoses and the dogs and all that.
Speaker 3: Sort of stuff.
Speaker 1: If you see this old footage, I don't want you
Speaker 1: to think that a water hose is going up against
Speaker 1: the water holes like that is easy. You know, it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: he got sprayed with some water his wedd He's fine. No,
Speaker 1: those things hurt anyway.
Speaker 2: Law enforcement also didn't always wait for sure those people
Speaker 2: to act up and give them license. They showed up
Speaker 2: a lot of times ready to ready for that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we've seen that and would.
Speaker 2: Create that excuse even if it didn't exist.
Speaker 1: And we've seen that in more recent protests too, and
Speaker 1: Etcide examples. But you know, Google's there if you want
Speaker 1: to look at that. But in the past there were
Speaker 1: some people that would act up, and folks don't That
Speaker 1: part hasn't translated. I think a lot of people have
Speaker 1: this idea that everything Doctor King took.
Speaker 3: Part of was super peaceful.
Speaker 1: Everybody showed up, they prayed, and then they went home.
Speaker 1: But this statement that he made that a riot is
Speaker 1: the language of the unheard is profound because not only
Speaker 1: does it reflect that during his time there were riots
Speaker 1: and there was you know, people that were lashing out
Speaker 1: in a physical manner to challenge authority, the status quo, etc.
Speaker 1: But it also reflects the hopelessness that a lot of
Speaker 1: people experience. You have to think that.
Speaker 3: Before people take to the streets, they've already had to
Speaker 3: live through whatever it is that they've lived through, and
Speaker 3: it's likely that they've also gone through all of the
Speaker 3: proper channels to try to suggest some.
Speaker 1: Sort of alternative or you know, air out their grievances
Speaker 1: or get someone to remedy an issue that they're dealing with.
Speaker 1: And then after living through it and after going through
Speaker 1: the proper channels, you know, these things sometimes can take years.
Speaker 1: Oftentimes they do. Then they take to the streets to protest,
Speaker 1: to show that there are many of us, and we
Speaker 1: are going to protest, and we're going to stand in solidarity,
Speaker 1: and we are going to challenge. We're going to show
Speaker 1: that we are all committed to this cause. And then
Speaker 1: if that happens, and it happens again and again and again,
Speaker 1: and there's no progress, there's no forward progress. And absolutely
Speaker 1: there can be a lot of hopelessness in a group
Speaker 1: like that. You know, when you get out there and
Speaker 1: you listen to someone talking someone again, you know, in
Speaker 1: the in the more recent protest that I've taken part in,
Speaker 1: I've heard, of course, mothers that had to bury their
Speaker 1: children at you know, the hands of injustice one way
Speaker 1: or another, and that sadness in that that hopelessness is
Speaker 1: something that permeates, It translates to the crowd. Because we're
Speaker 1: all human beings. We have we have the capacity, if
Speaker 1: we're healthy mentally, to empathize with each other. This is
Speaker 1: what kind of helps us survive as a species. And
Speaker 1: so that hopelessness and that feeling that no one's listening
Speaker 1: is something that is not new. I think that that
Speaker 1: statement by doctor King that you know, a riot is
Speaker 1: the language of the unheard. I think it really has
Speaker 1: manifested itself in my life and I've seen examples of
Speaker 1: that in my immediate surroundings, where you know, I think
Speaker 1: that it's just worth mentioning. So that's one thing that
Speaker 1: doctor King said that doesn't get brought up enough, even
Speaker 1: though it's been brought up recently, it doesn't get brought
Speaker 1: up enough because again people, I think there's this idea
Speaker 1: that all black people need to be like doctor King
Speaker 1: and then all their problems will go away. You know.
Speaker 1: And obviously, if you're listening to my voice, maybe this
Speaker 1: is not a sentiment that you know, maybe you're not
Speaker 1: that short sighted, but there may be people in your
Speaker 1: life and your immediate family that think that black people's
Speaker 1: problems are just their own problems, and admittedly some problems
Speaker 1: are black folks to deal with.
Speaker 2: Stop acting black ramses and you'll be.
Speaker 1: Fine, do you understand? And then the example, unfortunately, is
Speaker 1: that if you act like doctor King or some black
Speaker 1: person that reflects their worldview, that somehow things will be
Speaker 1: better for you. And it's just it's very unfair and
Speaker 1: very shortsighted. And so again this conversation is necessary another
Speaker 1: such statement, and I want to get your thoughts on
Speaker 1: this que however difficult it is to hear, however shocking
Speaker 1: it is to hear, We've got to face the fact
Speaker 1: that America is a racist country. That was said by
Speaker 1: doctor Martin Luther King Jr.
Speaker 2: What do you think I think that when you use
Speaker 2: Martin Luther King Jr. As the reference or even the
Speaker 2: vehicle for that statement. As long as I can look
Speaker 2: at that statement as having been made fifty years ago
Speaker 2: as a person, as a member of the group that
Speaker 2: benefits most from racism, it's always easier to look at
Speaker 2: it as a really really difficult blemish on our countries,
Speaker 2: beautiful on our countries, otherwise beautiful resume, but as a
Speaker 2: blemish from yesteryear. Man, they're very I won't say very.
Speaker 2: People tend to be more comfortable and can reconcile easier
Speaker 2: when they speak about racism as something that used to
Speaker 2: be a problem in America. Right, racism from the past, sure, contemporary.
Speaker 2: Now you're pushing it. You might even be tripping. It
Speaker 2: might even be your imagination, right if you just and
Speaker 2: then there's a laundry list of things that they say. Comply,
Speaker 2: act right, be respectful, be polite, don't do anything wrong,
Speaker 2: you'll be fine. In our country's lack of ability to
Speaker 2: properly reconcile, straightforwardly apologize and straightforwardly try to correct its
Speaker 2: original sin is why it has no chance of going
Speaker 2: away at any point. If you think about apartheid in
Speaker 2: South Africa, South Africa had to say, man, we was tripping. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and of course not in those words, right, But South
Speaker 2: Africa had to face itself and say, these are all
Speaker 2: the things that we did wrong to you, to you,
Speaker 2: to you, and then South Africa as a country could
Speaker 2: self heal and self repair. But they couldn't deny what
Speaker 2: was going on and think that there was going to
Speaker 2: be any progress made. Our biggest issue is that denying
Speaker 2: the original sin, and even those that accept it pretending
Speaker 2: like it's something that happened to our great grandparents and
Speaker 2: not something that still happens to our children.
Speaker 3: Watch this.
Speaker 1: So I was reading an article the other day about
Speaker 1: a woman named Ruby Bridges. Ruby Bridges was the little
Speaker 1: girl that had to be escorted to school by the
Speaker 1: National Guard, then the National Guard of the Secret Service when.
Speaker 2: They segregated her school desegregatoro.
Speaker 1: Now Ruby Bridges is alive and well, still breathing air
Speaker 1: on this planet. She's in her seventies.
Speaker 2: No, that had to be one hundred years ago.
Speaker 3: Right now she is a live and well.
Speaker 1: So again to your point that you know America, you know,
Speaker 1: doctor King says it is a racist country, and you
Speaker 1: know we're still dealing with that. Again, I think that
Speaker 1: the fact that there are people like Ruby Bridges. I
Speaker 1: mentioned doctor Camilla Westenberg earlier. She came on the show
Speaker 1: before and she told a story. I'll never forget it.
Speaker 1: I listened in real time on the air as she
Speaker 1: told me this story. She said that when she was
Speaker 1: a little girl, she could not drink from water fountains,
Speaker 1: she could not use the bathroom, certain restaurants she could
Speaker 1: not go into and it was normal. She said, she
Speaker 1: could not try on hats, God forbid, shoes to see
Speaker 1: if they fit. And the kicker, she's still alive. I
Speaker 1: love her with all my heart. Talked her on the
Speaker 1: phone two three times a week.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it gets it's personal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And this is what she said, And this is
Speaker 1: something that's perhaps the most personal thing of all. She
Speaker 1: said when her and her family would go on road.
Speaker 4: Trips, they had to carry like a like a bucket
Speaker 4: with them in the car so that if they had
Speaker 4: to use the bathroom, they would have some degree of
Speaker 4: dignity because they were not allowed to use bathrooms like that.
Speaker 1: And that's just the way it was. And so there
Speaker 1: are people alive right now that have experienced that. So
Speaker 1: for people to and then for people to look back
Speaker 1: and say it was a racist country. So even if
Speaker 1: you wanted to say Ruby Bridges, doctor Westerberg, those folks
Speaker 1: that are in their seventies, that it's from a different
Speaker 1: time nowadays, and this year, you know, you know that's
Speaker 1: a thing of the past. You know, we're very much
Speaker 1: dealing with it. Obviously this year we've had to deal
Speaker 1: with multiple murders, shootings from the police. You know, we've
Speaker 1: had to come to terms with again, come to terms
Speaker 1: with the statistics, because numbers don't lie, you know, no
Speaker 1: matter how many how many people try to fudge the
Speaker 1: numbers on Fox News or tell a different story with
Speaker 1: the numbers. If you take things you know for what
Speaker 1: they are, and you do your own research and just
Speaker 1: look at them and draw your own conclusions, you end
Speaker 1: up with facts.
Speaker 2: Facts that.
Speaker 1: Black people are three times as likely to be incarcerated
Speaker 1: for drug offenses as white folks. White folks as a percentage,
Speaker 1: are use drugs at a higher rate across the board,
Speaker 1: with the exception of crack cocaine, and that is marginal.
Speaker 1: So overwhelmingly white folks as a percentage, obviously as a
Speaker 1: number because they're more of the population, but as a
Speaker 1: percentage even use drugs more frequently. So how is it
Speaker 1: the case that black people end up incarcerated at three
Speaker 1: times a rate? And then we'll take it a step further.
Speaker 1: The sentences given to black people are so much heavier,
Speaker 1: so much more frequently. And that's just drugs, the war
Speaker 1: on drugs everything else.
Speaker 2: Is the really crazy part about the data is that
Speaker 2: this information comes from our government. Yeah, we're not creating this.
Speaker 2: We're not going around talking to our friends and polling
Speaker 2: for our own statistics. The US Department of Justice will
Speaker 2: give you these numbers. Google is free and will say
Speaker 2: out loud that it's disproportionate, except it doesn't change. Right.
Speaker 1: And now we're getting to the point that we're making
Speaker 1: with this statement that this is a racist country. There
Speaker 1: are systemic you know, I know that that's a trigger
Speaker 1: word for a lot of folks that don't really sympathize
Speaker 1: with black folks's plight, you know, a lot, and sometimes
Speaker 1: folks don't even know, you know, it's it's very easy.
Speaker 2: And that's the part that has begun to really really
Speaker 2: poke at my spirit. Had I had the opportunity to
Speaker 2: take you to Bibb County, Macon, Georgia, USA, where Reverend
Speaker 2: Estella Seacrest, my mother was born and raised Georgia, and
Speaker 2: we got to see this because people think Georgia is Atlanta.
Speaker 2: There's Atlanta, yeah, and then there's a massive state that's
Speaker 2: nothing like Atlanta. Atlanta's my mother's from Macon, She's not
Speaker 2: from Atlanta, yeh. And the Southern experience for someone born
Speaker 2: in the nineteen forties, And then you think about my grandmother.
Speaker 2: It's a much different experience than ours, and and and
Speaker 2: it was much more on its face, flagrant, violent, blatant racism.
Speaker 2: Through our lifetime, it's been a bit more passive. The
Speaker 2: idea of racism has been a bit more under the
Speaker 2: table instead of slapping you in your face. Now, in
Speaker 2: recent times, it's gotten horrible, and the statistics will bear
Speaker 2: this out. During this last few years, for very very
Speaker 2: obvious reasons, hate crimes and overt racism have escalated to
Speaker 2: their highest numbers since the nineties. But you know, you
Speaker 2: speak about our people not seeing it and being so
Speaker 2: disconnected from it, that's a lot. You know, you talk
Speaker 2: about voting in the election and just all the things
Speaker 2: that we're dealing with, voter suppression, right, because my mother's
Speaker 2: eighteen pre nineteen sixty five, So the experience of people
Speaker 2: that look like us just deciding they're going to have
Speaker 2: something to do with deciding who's going to run this
Speaker 2: country was a lot different when she became of age
Speaker 2: to vote than it was for me. So a lot
Speaker 2: of these things, no matter how hard they try to deny,
Speaker 2: I are making themselves a parent in front of everyone,
Speaker 2: and people either have to choose to see it or
Speaker 2: choose not to or decide not to rather they see
Speaker 2: it willful. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, So you know, if you're just tuning in to
Speaker 1: Civic SCCER once again, I'm the host. Rams is joh
Speaker 1: My name is ke Ward. Yes, indeed, and today's show
Speaker 1: we're talking about doctor Martin Luther King because we feel like,
Speaker 1: or I certainly felt like he's largely misrepresented, and not
Speaker 1: that that's bad, it's just there's more depth. He's not
Speaker 1: misrepresent represented, that's the right word, definitely, because there's a
Speaker 1: lot more to him than just you know, we shall overcome.
Speaker 1: Doctor King was a was a thinker, a brilliant man,
Speaker 1: of course, but doctor King, a lot of folks look
Speaker 1: at him like he was a patriot and if all
Speaker 1: black folks do what doctor King did, everything will be fine,
Speaker 1: and you know, every body is going to get along
Speaker 1: in harmony. But doctor King was very critical of this
Speaker 1: country and the direction that it was going in. And
Speaker 1: I think that it was his being critical that ultimately
Speaker 1: led to a lot of the changes, but then led
Speaker 1: to his ultimate assassination. You know, obviously, if you play
Speaker 1: the middle, you know you're not going to upset anyone,
Speaker 1: but you know, towards the end of his life again
Speaker 1: he got a little bit more. He doubled down on
Speaker 1: a couple of things, and you know, started to take
Speaker 1: on new initiatives that would really empower black communities a
Speaker 1: little bit further. And the conspiracy theory theories start at
Speaker 1: that point. You know, a lot of black folks can
Speaker 1: kind of see it, because that's just kind.
Speaker 3: Of the world for us.
Speaker 1: But you know, I don't want to get lost in
Speaker 1: that rabbit hole for now. The episode is to kind
Speaker 1: of revisit some of the things that he said so
Speaker 1: that we can add some depth to this to this man,
Speaker 1: and so that folks can understand and that a lot
Speaker 1: of what it is that black folks have been championing
Speaker 1: or campaigning in you know, this past year, in recent years,
Speaker 1: a lot of those things are nothing new. In fact,
Speaker 1: some of them are reflected in some of doctor King's language.
Speaker 1: One such statement is large segments of white society are
Speaker 1: more concerned with tranquility and the status quo than justice
Speaker 1: and humanity. And I personally in it now in my
Speaker 1: life is you know, doctor King was dead and gone
Speaker 1: before I was even born. I still agree with that statement.
Speaker 1: You know, the status quo. As long as everything looks
Speaker 1: like it looks now, we're fine. We don't need to engage.
Speaker 1: What are they mad at? You know that they had
Speaker 1: a black president? You know, all these things, And it's
Speaker 1: a mechanism that a lot of white folks and just
Speaker 1: people that maybe don't live around a lot of mixture,
Speaker 1: racial mixture, that kind of you know, have put up
Speaker 1: their walls and determined that the world looks the way
Speaker 1: it looks, and they wanted to keep looking that way.
Speaker 1: They can insulate themselves from this, and they can take
Speaker 1: the responsibility out of their lap and try to place
Speaker 1: it back into the laps of other folks. And you know,
Speaker 1: one thing that I know is that if there's something
Speaker 1: that needs to be done, you know, black folks for
Speaker 1: the most part, will get it done.
Speaker 2: You know, we've seen that.
Speaker 1: You know, but again, that challenge when it comes to
Speaker 1: systemic things and to trying to move the needle on
Speaker 1: a political in a political arena, or to take on
Speaker 1: huge systems that were built to oppress you, that's a
Speaker 1: long standing fight. And so again that statement, large segments
Speaker 1: of white society are more concerned with tranquility and the
Speaker 1: status quo than justice and humanity. I think it still
Speaker 1: holds up.
Speaker 5: Well, that's going to do it for us here on
Speaker 5: Civic Cipher once again. I'm your host, Rams's.
Speaker 2: Joh he is Rams joh I mq ward. Thank you
Speaker 2: guys for tuning in with us again for another u
Speaker 2: ah man, another one of these very very difficult journeys
Speaker 2: through some very very difficult truths.
Speaker 5: Yes, indeed, but you know we're still here, We're still standing,
Speaker 5: and we're still doing it for you.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you allowing us to have these conversations and
Speaker 1: let's keep it going.
Speaker 5: So tap in with us. Hit our website civiccipher dot.
Speaker 1: Com, and uh follow us on all social media at
Speaker 1: Civic Cipher.
Speaker 5: Download this in any previous episode, Subscribe, subscribe, share, I subscribe.
Speaker 1: Comments all that donate as well, and submit any questions
Speaker 1: and or any topics that you want us to cover.
Speaker 1: We do like hearing from you, and you know, we
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Speaker 1: So participate if it makes sense, and until next week, y'all.
Speaker 2: Peace