WEBVTT - 012024 Some Quotes from Dr. King, Himself (Part 2)

0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:02.880
<v Speaker 1>Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast

0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:06.440
<v Speaker 1>the balance and defend the discourse from these hip hop

0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.600
<v Speaker 1>weekly studios. Once again, I'm your host, Rams's jah who

0:00:09.760 --> 0:00:14.080
<v Speaker 1>is jah am q Ward? And today, if you don't know,

0:00:14.160 --> 0:00:17.840
<v Speaker 1>we are still kind of recapping the many ways in

0:00:17.880 --> 0:00:21.000
<v Speaker 1>which doctor Martin Luther King Junior has been whitewashed and

0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:25.040
<v Speaker 1>his legacy has been co opted to support all kinds

0:00:25.079 --> 0:00:32.680
<v Speaker 1>of crazy narratives and crazy campaigns and pieces of legislature

0:00:32.720 --> 0:00:35.199
<v Speaker 1>and so forth. A piece of legislation I mean to

0:00:35.200 --> 0:00:40.080
<v Speaker 1>say that doctor King would not stand for. And so

0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.320
<v Speaker 1>it's up to us and people like us to continue

0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:46.840
<v Speaker 1>to cement in the minds of you our listeners exactly

0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:50.160
<v Speaker 1>what doctor King stood for and to ensure that those

0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.800
<v Speaker 1>folks really do believe that doctor King was a good man,

0:00:52.920 --> 0:00:55.520
<v Speaker 1>know a little bit more about him. And so today's show,

0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:59.600
<v Speaker 1>of course, is dedicated to making sure that that is

0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:03.520
<v Speaker 1>a dablished. But before we continue, let's discuss Baba becoming

0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.000
<v Speaker 1>a better allied Baba and Today's Baba sponsored by Friends

0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:07.920
<v Speaker 1>of the Movement. You can sign up for the free

0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:11.479
<v Speaker 1>voter wallet from fotmglobal dot com to sport black businesses

0:01:11.480 --> 0:01:14.200
<v Speaker 1>and allied businesses as well as make an impact with

0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:18.800
<v Speaker 1>your spending. Again, that's Fotmglobal dot com. And for today's BABA,

0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.640
<v Speaker 1>we want you to consider donating to the Kingcenter dot org.

0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:25.440
<v Speaker 1>So I'll share a bit about the King Center. Established

0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.800
<v Speaker 1>in nineteen sixty eight by Missus Kreta Scott King, the

0:01:28.880 --> 0:01:32.480
<v Speaker 1>Martin Luther King Junior Center for Nonviolent Social Change aka

0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:36.120
<v Speaker 1>the King Center has been a global destination, resource center,

0:01:36.200 --> 0:01:39.679
<v Speaker 1>and community institution for over a quarter century. The King

0:01:39.760 --> 0:01:43.240
<v Speaker 1>Center is a five oh one c three and nearly

0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:45.840
<v Speaker 1>a million people each year make the pilgrimage to the

0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.240
<v Speaker 1>national Historic site to learn, be inspired, and pay their

0:01:49.240 --> 0:01:53.320
<v Speaker 1>respects to doctor King's legacy. Again, we'd like you to

0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.800
<v Speaker 1>make a donation, so you can do so at Civil

0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:02.560
<v Speaker 1>Rights Museum dot org and you can make a donation

0:02:02.920 --> 0:02:06.520
<v Speaker 1>at the Kingcenter dot org. And the Civil Rights Museum

0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:11.160
<v Speaker 1>dot org is the National Civil Rights Museum. It's located

0:02:11.160 --> 0:02:14.160
<v Speaker 1>in Memphis, Tennessee. It's headed up by doctor russ Wiggington,

0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.600
<v Speaker 1>and that kind of encapsulates the last few moments of

0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:22.160
<v Speaker 1>doctor King's life because the museum is on the grounds

0:02:22.160 --> 0:02:25.760
<v Speaker 1>of the Lorrain Motel where doctor King was assassinated, and

0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:30.240
<v Speaker 1>so they discuss really what he stood for, the direction

0:02:30.320 --> 0:02:32.720
<v Speaker 1>in which he was moving, and they've turned that museum

0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:35.280
<v Speaker 1>building and a building across the street and some other

0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:41.000
<v Speaker 1>The campus has expanded since first being initiated. But there's

0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.760
<v Speaker 1>a lot to learn about doctor King's legacy and really

0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:49.880
<v Speaker 1>the whole movement for social justice and civil rights, and

0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.120
<v Speaker 1>again you can check them out at Civil Rights Museum

0:02:52.120 --> 0:02:54.799
<v Speaker 1>dot org. And don't forget about the King Center, which

0:02:54.840 --> 0:03:03.920
<v Speaker 1>is the Kingcenter dot org. So I think that in

0:03:04.040 --> 0:03:08.079
<v Speaker 1>order to honor the legacy of doctor King, I wanted

0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.119
<v Speaker 1>to take some time to review some of the things

0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:14.160
<v Speaker 1>that MLK said and just kind of let them diffuse

0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.360
<v Speaker 1>into the community so that folks know that this wasn't

0:03:19.240 --> 0:03:23.000
<v Speaker 1>just a non violent, peaceful protester. This was a man

0:03:23.040 --> 0:03:25.120
<v Speaker 1>who was a great thinker and someone that was able

0:03:25.160 --> 0:03:28.560
<v Speaker 1>to touch on many things that still affect the black

0:03:28.560 --> 0:03:32.520
<v Speaker 1>community today. But unfortunately he was assassinated before he got

0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:34.480
<v Speaker 1>to the point where he was able to really get

0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.120
<v Speaker 1>that off and show folks that a lot of the

0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.600
<v Speaker 1>ideas that we're dealing with right now are not new.

0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.760
<v Speaker 1>In fact, some of them were very much pronounced during

0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:45.160
<v Speaker 1>the time of doctor King, some even reflected in some

0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:48.360
<v Speaker 1>of his words, and so again I thought that was

0:03:48.360 --> 0:03:50.600
<v Speaker 1>important because a lot of times folks will say to

0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:54.080
<v Speaker 1>you know, people on the streets that are protesting, or

0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.440
<v Speaker 1>people that you know have a very charged way of

0:03:59.080 --> 0:04:03.080
<v Speaker 1>describing their black folks on the other side, you know,

0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.200
<v Speaker 1>whatever their opposition is, a lot of times folks like

0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.080
<v Speaker 1>to point to doctor King and say, well, doctor King

0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.560
<v Speaker 1>was nonviolent, and therefore.

0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:14.040
<v Speaker 2>You know, I think they mistake that for him being a.

0:04:14.000 --> 0:04:16.960
<v Speaker 1>Passivist, exactly exactly, And again I thought that it was

0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:20.640
<v Speaker 1>necessary for us to have this conversation. One of the

0:04:20.680 --> 0:04:26.279
<v Speaker 1>things that has been touted more recently is his statement

0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:31.000
<v Speaker 1>that a riot is the language of the unheard, and

0:04:31.040 --> 0:04:34.040
<v Speaker 1>I think that that's a profound statement. And a lot

0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:37.040
<v Speaker 1>of folks who don't know this, but some of the

0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:43.159
<v Speaker 1>protests that doctor King took pardon or organized, they had

0:04:43.200 --> 0:04:45.920
<v Speaker 1>some folks in there that would act up. And when

0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:50.160
<v Speaker 1>those folks acted up, you know, that gave the authorities

0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:52.280
<v Speaker 1>and police and so forth license to get in there

0:04:52.320 --> 0:04:55.400
<v Speaker 1>and use the water hoses and the dogs and all that.

0:04:55.400 --> 0:04:55.880
<v Speaker 3>Sort of stuff.

0:04:55.920 --> 0:04:58.000
<v Speaker 1>If you see this old footage, I don't want you

0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.960
<v Speaker 1>to think that a water hose is going up against

0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:03.200
<v Speaker 1>the water holes like that is easy. You know, it's like, oh,

0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:04.800
<v Speaker 1>he got sprayed with some water his wedd He's fine. No,

0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:06.279
<v Speaker 1>those things hurt anyway.

0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:10.320
<v Speaker 2>Law enforcement also didn't always wait for sure those people

0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.839
<v Speaker 2>to act up and give them license. They showed up

0:05:12.880 --> 0:05:14.960
<v Speaker 2>a lot of times ready to ready for that.

0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and we've seen that and would.

0:05:16.920 --> 0:05:19.040
<v Speaker 2>Create that excuse even if it didn't exist.

0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:23.279
<v Speaker 1>And we've seen that in more recent protests too, and

0:05:23.360 --> 0:05:26.000
<v Speaker 1>Etcide examples. But you know, Google's there if you want

0:05:26.000 --> 0:05:30.360
<v Speaker 1>to look at that. But in the past there were

0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:34.360
<v Speaker 1>some people that would act up, and folks don't That

0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:37.039
<v Speaker 1>part hasn't translated. I think a lot of people have

0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:38.920
<v Speaker 1>this idea that everything Doctor King took.

0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:40.279
<v Speaker 3>Part of was super peaceful.

0:05:40.600 --> 0:05:42.760
<v Speaker 1>Everybody showed up, they prayed, and then they went home.

0:05:43.160 --> 0:05:47.359
<v Speaker 1>But this statement that he made that a riot is

0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:53.040
<v Speaker 1>the language of the unheard is profound because not only

0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.040
<v Speaker 1>does it reflect that during his time there were riots

0:05:56.400 --> 0:05:59.680
<v Speaker 1>and there was you know, people that were lashing out

0:06:00.000 --> 0:06:04.520
<v Speaker 1>in a physical manner to challenge authority, the status quo, etc.

0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.960
<v Speaker 1>But it also reflects the hopelessness that a lot of

0:06:09.000 --> 0:06:11.360
<v Speaker 1>people experience. You have to think that.

0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:15.880
<v Speaker 3>Before people take to the streets, they've already had to

0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.600
<v Speaker 3>live through whatever it is that they've lived through, and

0:06:19.680 --> 0:06:22.919
<v Speaker 3>it's likely that they've also gone through all of the

0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:26.719
<v Speaker 3>proper channels to try to suggest some.

0:06:26.560 --> 0:06:29.160
<v Speaker 1>Sort of alternative or you know, air out their grievances

0:06:29.279 --> 0:06:32.640
<v Speaker 1>or get someone to remedy an issue that they're dealing with.

0:06:33.160 --> 0:06:35.800
<v Speaker 1>And then after living through it and after going through

0:06:35.800 --> 0:06:38.680
<v Speaker 1>the proper channels, you know, these things sometimes can take years.

0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:42.960
<v Speaker 1>Oftentimes they do. Then they take to the streets to protest,

0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:44.919
<v Speaker 1>to show that there are many of us, and we

0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.760
<v Speaker 1>are going to protest, and we're going to stand in solidarity,

0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:50.200
<v Speaker 1>and we are going to challenge. We're going to show

0:06:50.440 --> 0:06:53.720
<v Speaker 1>that we are all committed to this cause. And then

0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.000
<v Speaker 1>if that happens, and it happens again and again and again,

0:06:57.040 --> 0:07:01.960
<v Speaker 1>and there's no progress, there's no forward progress. And absolutely

0:07:02.000 --> 0:07:04.159
<v Speaker 1>there can be a lot of hopelessness in a group

0:07:04.240 --> 0:07:05.640
<v Speaker 1>like that. You know, when you get out there and

0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:09.240
<v Speaker 1>you listen to someone talking someone again, you know, in

0:07:09.279 --> 0:07:12.520
<v Speaker 1>the in the more recent protest that I've taken part in,

0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:16.880
<v Speaker 1>I've heard, of course, mothers that had to bury their

0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:22.600
<v Speaker 1>children at you know, the hands of injustice one way

0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:26.160
<v Speaker 1>or another, and that sadness in that that hopelessness is

0:07:26.200 --> 0:07:28.920
<v Speaker 1>something that permeates, It translates to the crowd. Because we're

0:07:28.960 --> 0:07:31.440
<v Speaker 1>all human beings. We have we have the capacity, if

0:07:31.440 --> 0:07:34.360
<v Speaker 1>we're healthy mentally, to empathize with each other. This is

0:07:34.360 --> 0:07:37.160
<v Speaker 1>what kind of helps us survive as a species. And

0:07:37.240 --> 0:07:41.720
<v Speaker 1>so that hopelessness and that feeling that no one's listening

0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:47.600
<v Speaker 1>is something that is not new. I think that that

0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:50.840
<v Speaker 1>statement by doctor King that you know, a riot is

0:07:51.280 --> 0:07:53.960
<v Speaker 1>the language of the unheard. I think it really has

0:07:54.080 --> 0:07:56.640
<v Speaker 1>manifested itself in my life and I've seen examples of

0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.880
<v Speaker 1>that in my immediate surroundings, where you know, I think

0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:04.400
<v Speaker 1>that it's just worth mentioning. So that's one thing that

0:08:04.440 --> 0:08:08.120
<v Speaker 1>doctor King said that doesn't get brought up enough, even

0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.120
<v Speaker 1>though it's been brought up recently, it doesn't get brought

0:08:10.160 --> 0:08:13.760
<v Speaker 1>up enough because again people, I think there's this idea

0:08:13.840 --> 0:08:17.800
<v Speaker 1>that all black people need to be like doctor King

0:08:17.920 --> 0:08:20.120
<v Speaker 1>and then all their problems will go away. You know.

0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.680
<v Speaker 1>And obviously, if you're listening to my voice, maybe this

0:08:22.760 --> 0:08:25.200
<v Speaker 1>is not a sentiment that you know, maybe you're not

0:08:25.280 --> 0:08:28.360
<v Speaker 1>that short sighted, but there may be people in your

0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:31.960
<v Speaker 1>life and your immediate family that think that black people's

0:08:32.000 --> 0:08:35.680
<v Speaker 1>problems are just their own problems, and admittedly some problems

0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:37.360
<v Speaker 1>are black folks to deal with.

0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:39.600
<v Speaker 2>Stop acting black ramses and you'll be.

0:08:39.640 --> 0:08:43.360
<v Speaker 1>Fine, do you understand? And then the example, unfortunately, is

0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.800
<v Speaker 1>that if you act like doctor King or some black

0:08:46.800 --> 0:08:52.640
<v Speaker 1>person that reflects their worldview, that somehow things will be

0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:55.640
<v Speaker 1>better for you. And it's just it's very unfair and

0:08:55.760 --> 0:09:01.040
<v Speaker 1>very shortsighted. And so again this conversation is necessary another

0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:02.840
<v Speaker 1>such statement, and I want to get your thoughts on

0:09:02.880 --> 0:09:07.840
<v Speaker 1>this que however difficult it is to hear, however shocking

0:09:08.000 --> 0:09:10.800
<v Speaker 1>it is to hear, We've got to face the fact

0:09:10.840 --> 0:09:14.640
<v Speaker 1>that America is a racist country. That was said by

0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:16.440
<v Speaker 1>doctor Martin Luther King Jr.

0:09:17.440 --> 0:09:21.520
<v Speaker 2>What do you think I think that when you use

0:09:21.720 --> 0:09:24.959
<v Speaker 2>Martin Luther King Jr. As the reference or even the

0:09:25.040 --> 0:09:28.040
<v Speaker 2>vehicle for that statement. As long as I can look

0:09:28.080 --> 0:09:31.600
<v Speaker 2>at that statement as having been made fifty years ago

0:09:32.720 --> 0:09:35.720
<v Speaker 2>as a person, as a member of the group that

0:09:35.800 --> 0:09:40.679
<v Speaker 2>benefits most from racism, it's always easier to look at

0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:46.720
<v Speaker 2>it as a really really difficult blemish on our countries,

0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:51.640
<v Speaker 2>beautiful on our countries, otherwise beautiful resume, but as a

0:09:51.679 --> 0:09:57.199
<v Speaker 2>blemish from yesteryear. Man, they're very I won't say very.

0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:02.360
<v Speaker 2>People tend to be more comfortable and can reconcile easier

0:10:02.360 --> 0:10:05.680
<v Speaker 2>when they speak about racism as something that used to

0:10:05.679 --> 0:10:13.199
<v Speaker 2>be a problem in America. Right, racism from the past, sure, contemporary.

0:10:13.800 --> 0:10:16.920
<v Speaker 2>Now you're pushing it. You might even be tripping. It

0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:21.520
<v Speaker 2>might even be your imagination, right if you just and

0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:24.720
<v Speaker 2>then there's a laundry list of things that they say. Comply,

0:10:25.960 --> 0:10:29.720
<v Speaker 2>act right, be respectful, be polite, don't do anything wrong,

0:10:30.040 --> 0:10:33.120
<v Speaker 2>you'll be fine. In our country's lack of ability to

0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:41.160
<v Speaker 2>properly reconcile, straightforwardly apologize and straightforwardly try to correct its

0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:44.960
<v Speaker 2>original sin is why it has no chance of going

0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:47.840
<v Speaker 2>away at any point. If you think about apartheid in

0:10:47.880 --> 0:10:52.640
<v Speaker 2>South Africa, South Africa had to say, man, we was tripping. Yeah,

0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:55.040
<v Speaker 2>and of course not in those words, right, But South

0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:59.000
<v Speaker 2>Africa had to face itself and say, these are all

0:10:59.040 --> 0:11:02.240
<v Speaker 2>the things that we did wrong to you, to you,

0:11:02.440 --> 0:11:05.760
<v Speaker 2>to you, and then South Africa as a country could

0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:10.160
<v Speaker 2>self heal and self repair. But they couldn't deny what

0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:11.640
<v Speaker 2>was going on and think that there was going to

0:11:11.640 --> 0:11:18.680
<v Speaker 2>be any progress made. Our biggest issue is that denying

0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:23.640
<v Speaker 2>the original sin, and even those that accept it pretending

0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.960
<v Speaker 2>like it's something that happened to our great grandparents and

0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.280
<v Speaker 2>not something that still happens to our children.

0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:31.640
<v Speaker 3>Watch this.

0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:35.439
<v Speaker 1>So I was reading an article the other day about

0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:41.600
<v Speaker 1>a woman named Ruby Bridges. Ruby Bridges was the little

0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:48.640
<v Speaker 1>girl that had to be escorted to school by the

0:11:48.760 --> 0:11:52.400
<v Speaker 1>National Guard, then the National Guard of the Secret Service when.

0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.200
<v Speaker 2>They segregated her school desegregatoro.

0:11:56.200 --> 0:12:01.480
<v Speaker 1>Now Ruby Bridges is alive and well, still breathing air

0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:03.480
<v Speaker 1>on this planet. She's in her seventies.

0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:05.760
<v Speaker 2>No, that had to be one hundred years ago.

0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:08.439
<v Speaker 3>Right now she is a live and well.

0:12:09.840 --> 0:12:14.400
<v Speaker 1>So again to your point that you know America, you know,

0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:18.200
<v Speaker 1>doctor King says it is a racist country, and you

0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:22.160
<v Speaker 1>know we're still dealing with that. Again, I think that

0:12:23.120 --> 0:12:25.199
<v Speaker 1>the fact that there are people like Ruby Bridges. I

0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:27.720
<v Speaker 1>mentioned doctor Camilla Westenberg earlier. She came on the show

0:12:27.760 --> 0:12:31.040
<v Speaker 1>before and she told a story. I'll never forget it.

0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.600
<v Speaker 1>I listened in real time on the air as she

0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:36.520
<v Speaker 1>told me this story. She said that when she was

0:12:36.559 --> 0:12:40.280
<v Speaker 1>a little girl, she could not drink from water fountains,

0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.840
<v Speaker 1>she could not use the bathroom, certain restaurants she could

0:12:42.840 --> 0:12:46.600
<v Speaker 1>not go into and it was normal. She said, she

0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.440
<v Speaker 1>could not try on hats, God forbid, shoes to see

0:12:49.440 --> 0:12:55.440
<v Speaker 1>if they fit. And the kicker, she's still alive. I

0:12:55.480 --> 0:12:57.160
<v Speaker 1>love her with all my heart. Talked her on the

0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:58.600
<v Speaker 1>phone two three times a week.

0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean it gets it's personal.

0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:04.280
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And this is what she said, And this is

0:13:04.320 --> 0:13:07.360
<v Speaker 1>something that's perhaps the most personal thing of all. She

0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:11.400
<v Speaker 1>said when her and her family would go on road.

0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:15.559
<v Speaker 4>Trips, they had to carry like a like a bucket

0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.480
<v Speaker 4>with them in the car so that if they had

0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:21.840
<v Speaker 4>to use the bathroom, they would have some degree of

0:13:21.880 --> 0:13:27.320
<v Speaker 4>dignity because they were not allowed to use bathrooms like that.

0:13:27.480 --> 0:13:30.079
<v Speaker 1>And that's just the way it was. And so there

0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.520
<v Speaker 1>are people alive right now that have experienced that. So

0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:36.120
<v Speaker 1>for people to and then for people to look back

0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:39.920
<v Speaker 1>and say it was a racist country. So even if

0:13:39.920 --> 0:13:42.640
<v Speaker 1>you wanted to say Ruby Bridges, doctor Westerberg, those folks

0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:45.240
<v Speaker 1>that are in their seventies, that it's from a different

0:13:45.280 --> 0:13:50.360
<v Speaker 1>time nowadays, and this year, you know, you know that's

0:13:50.440 --> 0:13:54.120
<v Speaker 1>a thing of the past. You know, we're very much

0:13:54.200 --> 0:13:57.680
<v Speaker 1>dealing with it. Obviously this year we've had to deal

0:13:57.720 --> 0:14:07.080
<v Speaker 1>with multiple murders, shootings from the police. You know, we've

0:14:07.080 --> 0:14:10.040
<v Speaker 1>had to come to terms with again, come to terms

0:14:10.040 --> 0:14:14.559
<v Speaker 1>with the statistics, because numbers don't lie, you know, no

0:14:14.559 --> 0:14:16.960
<v Speaker 1>matter how many how many people try to fudge the

0:14:17.000 --> 0:14:19.960
<v Speaker 1>numbers on Fox News or tell a different story with

0:14:20.040 --> 0:14:23.080
<v Speaker 1>the numbers. If you take things you know for what

0:14:23.120 --> 0:14:24.680
<v Speaker 1>they are, and you do your own research and just

0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.400
<v Speaker 1>look at them and draw your own conclusions, you end

0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.080
<v Speaker 1>up with facts.

0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:29.960
<v Speaker 2>Facts that.

0:14:31.480 --> 0:14:35.200
<v Speaker 1>Black people are three times as likely to be incarcerated

0:14:35.480 --> 0:14:42.240
<v Speaker 1>for drug offenses as white folks. White folks as a percentage,

0:14:42.720 --> 0:14:46.360
<v Speaker 1>are use drugs at a higher rate across the board,

0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:50.160
<v Speaker 1>with the exception of crack cocaine, and that is marginal.

0:14:50.920 --> 0:14:55.320
<v Speaker 1>So overwhelmingly white folks as a percentage, obviously as a

0:14:55.400 --> 0:14:57.120
<v Speaker 1>number because they're more of the population, but as a

0:14:57.160 --> 0:15:00.920
<v Speaker 1>percentage even use drugs more frequently. So how is it

0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:04.000
<v Speaker 1>the case that black people end up incarcerated at three

0:15:04.040 --> 0:15:05.800
<v Speaker 1>times a rate? And then we'll take it a step further.

0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:12.080
<v Speaker 1>The sentences given to black people are so much heavier,

0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:17.640
<v Speaker 1>so much more frequently. And that's just drugs, the war

0:15:17.680 --> 0:15:19.160
<v Speaker 1>on drugs everything else.

0:15:19.240 --> 0:15:22.600
<v Speaker 2>Is the really crazy part about the data is that

0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:27.760
<v Speaker 2>this information comes from our government. Yeah, we're not creating this.

0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.280
<v Speaker 2>We're not going around talking to our friends and polling

0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.120
<v Speaker 2>for our own statistics. The US Department of Justice will

0:15:35.160 --> 0:15:37.880
<v Speaker 2>give you these numbers. Google is free and will say

0:15:37.920 --> 0:15:45.120
<v Speaker 2>out loud that it's disproportionate, except it doesn't change. Right.

0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.080
<v Speaker 1>And now we're getting to the point that we're making

0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:49.880
<v Speaker 1>with this statement that this is a racist country. There

0:15:49.920 --> 0:15:53.040
<v Speaker 1>are systemic you know, I know that that's a trigger

0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.480
<v Speaker 1>word for a lot of folks that don't really sympathize

0:15:56.560 --> 0:15:59.920
<v Speaker 1>with black folks's plight, you know, a lot, and sometimes

0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:01.840
<v Speaker 1>folks don't even know, you know, it's it's very easy.

0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:07.040
<v Speaker 2>And that's the part that has begun to really really

0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:12.720
<v Speaker 2>poke at my spirit. Had I had the opportunity to

0:16:12.800 --> 0:16:19.960
<v Speaker 2>take you to Bibb County, Macon, Georgia, USA, where Reverend

0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:28.160
<v Speaker 2>Estella Seacrest, my mother was born and raised Georgia, and

0:16:28.440 --> 0:16:32.320
<v Speaker 2>we got to see this because people think Georgia is Atlanta.

0:16:33.160 --> 0:16:36.560
<v Speaker 2>There's Atlanta, yeah, and then there's a massive state that's

0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:40.760
<v Speaker 2>nothing like Atlanta. Atlanta's my mother's from Macon, She's not

0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:45.040
<v Speaker 2>from Atlanta, yeh. And the Southern experience for someone born

0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:48.720
<v Speaker 2>in the nineteen forties, And then you think about my grandmother.

0:16:50.480 --> 0:16:53.280
<v Speaker 2>It's a much different experience than ours, and and and

0:16:53.320 --> 0:16:58.880
<v Speaker 2>it was much more on its face, flagrant, violent, blatant racism.

0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:07.600
<v Speaker 2>Through our lifetime, it's been a bit more passive. The

0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:10.720
<v Speaker 2>idea of racism has been a bit more under the

0:17:10.800 --> 0:17:12.720
<v Speaker 2>table instead of slapping you in your face. Now, in

0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.120
<v Speaker 2>recent times, it's gotten horrible, and the statistics will bear

0:17:16.160 --> 0:17:19.800
<v Speaker 2>this out. During this last few years, for very very

0:17:19.840 --> 0:17:24.320
<v Speaker 2>obvious reasons, hate crimes and overt racism have escalated to

0:17:24.440 --> 0:17:28.879
<v Speaker 2>their highest numbers since the nineties. But you know, you

0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.000
<v Speaker 2>speak about our people not seeing it and being so

0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:35.560
<v Speaker 2>disconnected from it, that's a lot. You know, you talk

0:17:35.560 --> 0:17:37.600
<v Speaker 2>about voting in the election and just all the things

0:17:37.640 --> 0:17:41.480
<v Speaker 2>that we're dealing with, voter suppression, right, because my mother's

0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:45.560
<v Speaker 2>eighteen pre nineteen sixty five, So the experience of people

0:17:45.600 --> 0:17:47.560
<v Speaker 2>that look like us just deciding they're going to have

0:17:47.640 --> 0:17:50.679
<v Speaker 2>something to do with deciding who's going to run this

0:17:50.720 --> 0:17:53.399
<v Speaker 2>country was a lot different when she became of age

0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:57.560
<v Speaker 2>to vote than it was for me. So a lot

0:17:57.560 --> 0:18:00.000
<v Speaker 2>of these things, no matter how hard they try to deny,

0:18:00.080 --> 0:18:05.560
<v Speaker 2>I are making themselves a parent in front of everyone,

0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:08.600
<v Speaker 2>and people either have to choose to see it or

0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.240
<v Speaker 2>choose not to or decide not to rather they see

0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:13.880
<v Speaker 2>it willful. Yeah.

0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:17.320
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, So you know, if you're just tuning in to

0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:19.560
<v Speaker 1>Civic SCCER once again, I'm the host. Rams is joh

0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.040
<v Speaker 1>My name is ke Ward. Yes, indeed, and today's show

0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:29.800
<v Speaker 1>we're talking about doctor Martin Luther King because we feel like,

0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:34.399
<v Speaker 1>or I certainly felt like he's largely misrepresented, and not

0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.800
<v Speaker 1>that that's bad, it's just there's more depth. He's not

0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:42.000
<v Speaker 1>misrepresent represented, that's the right word, definitely, because there's a

0:18:42.000 --> 0:18:45.680
<v Speaker 1>lot more to him than just you know, we shall overcome.

0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:49.720
<v Speaker 1>Doctor King was a was a thinker, a brilliant man,

0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:53.720
<v Speaker 1>of course, but doctor King, a lot of folks look

0:18:53.720 --> 0:18:55.359
<v Speaker 1>at him like he was a patriot and if all

0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:59.439
<v Speaker 1>black folks do what doctor King did, everything will be fine,

0:18:59.440 --> 0:19:01.160
<v Speaker 1>and you know, every body is going to get along

0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:06.240
<v Speaker 1>in harmony. But doctor King was very critical of this

0:19:06.400 --> 0:19:11.640
<v Speaker 1>country and the direction that it was going in. And

0:19:11.840 --> 0:19:16.840
<v Speaker 1>I think that it was his being critical that ultimately

0:19:17.280 --> 0:19:21.160
<v Speaker 1>led to a lot of the changes, but then led

0:19:21.200 --> 0:19:26.520
<v Speaker 1>to his ultimate assassination. You know, obviously, if you play

0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.320
<v Speaker 1>the middle, you know you're not going to upset anyone,

0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:30.640
<v Speaker 1>but you know, towards the end of his life again

0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:32.679
<v Speaker 1>he got a little bit more. He doubled down on

0:19:32.720 --> 0:19:34.720
<v Speaker 1>a couple of things, and you know, started to take

0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:38.959
<v Speaker 1>on new initiatives that would really empower black communities a

0:19:38.960 --> 0:19:44.000
<v Speaker 1>little bit further. And the conspiracy theory theories start at

0:19:44.000 --> 0:19:45.879
<v Speaker 1>that point. You know, a lot of black folks can

0:19:45.960 --> 0:19:48.040
<v Speaker 1>kind of see it, because that's just kind.

0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:48.680
<v Speaker 3>Of the world for us.

0:19:48.680 --> 0:19:50.639
<v Speaker 1>But you know, I don't want to get lost in

0:19:50.680 --> 0:19:53.600
<v Speaker 1>that rabbit hole for now. The episode is to kind

0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:55.800
<v Speaker 1>of revisit some of the things that he said so

0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.160
<v Speaker 1>that we can add some depth to this to this man,

0:19:58.600 --> 0:20:00.640
<v Speaker 1>and so that folks can understand and that a lot

0:20:00.680 --> 0:20:04.840
<v Speaker 1>of what it is that black folks have been championing

0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:09.119
<v Speaker 1>or campaigning in you know, this past year, in recent years,

0:20:09.680 --> 0:20:11.400
<v Speaker 1>a lot of those things are nothing new. In fact,

0:20:11.440 --> 0:20:14.280
<v Speaker 1>some of them are reflected in some of doctor King's language.

0:20:14.880 --> 0:20:21.400
<v Speaker 1>One such statement is large segments of white society are

0:20:21.440 --> 0:20:26.719
<v Speaker 1>more concerned with tranquility and the status quo than justice

0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:36.240
<v Speaker 1>and humanity. And I personally in it now in my

0:20:36.320 --> 0:20:39.040
<v Speaker 1>life is you know, doctor King was dead and gone

0:20:39.119 --> 0:20:42.520
<v Speaker 1>before I was even born. I still agree with that statement.

0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:46.120
<v Speaker 1>You know, the status quo. As long as everything looks

0:20:46.160 --> 0:20:49.920
<v Speaker 1>like it looks now, we're fine. We don't need to engage.

0:20:49.920 --> 0:20:51.600
<v Speaker 1>What are they mad at? You know that they had

0:20:51.600 --> 0:20:55.440
<v Speaker 1>a black president? You know, all these things, And it's

0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:59.159
<v Speaker 1>a mechanism that a lot of white folks and just

0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:03.240
<v Speaker 1>people that maybe don't live around a lot of mixture,

0:21:03.880 --> 0:21:07.879
<v Speaker 1>racial mixture, that kind of you know, have put up

0:21:07.880 --> 0:21:10.400
<v Speaker 1>their walls and determined that the world looks the way

0:21:10.400 --> 0:21:13.520
<v Speaker 1>it looks, and they wanted to keep looking that way.

0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:19.800
<v Speaker 1>They can insulate themselves from this, and they can take

0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:24.520
<v Speaker 1>the responsibility out of their lap and try to place

0:21:24.560 --> 0:21:28.040
<v Speaker 1>it back into the laps of other folks. And you know,

0:21:28.080 --> 0:21:30.679
<v Speaker 1>one thing that I know is that if there's something

0:21:30.680 --> 0:21:33.760
<v Speaker 1>that needs to be done, you know, black folks for

0:21:33.800 --> 0:21:34.880
<v Speaker 1>the most part, will get it done.

0:21:35.000 --> 0:21:35.800
<v Speaker 2>You know, we've seen that.

0:21:36.160 --> 0:21:41.199
<v Speaker 1>You know, but again, that challenge when it comes to

0:21:41.280 --> 0:21:43.800
<v Speaker 1>systemic things and to trying to move the needle on

0:21:43.840 --> 0:21:47.040
<v Speaker 1>a political in a political arena, or to take on

0:21:47.160 --> 0:21:50.320
<v Speaker 1>huge systems that were built to oppress you, that's a

0:21:50.400 --> 0:21:53.639
<v Speaker 1>long standing fight. And so again that statement, large segments

0:21:53.680 --> 0:21:56.600
<v Speaker 1>of white society are more concerned with tranquility and the

0:21:56.600 --> 0:22:01.040
<v Speaker 1>status quo than justice and humanity. I think it still

0:22:01.080 --> 0:22:01.560
<v Speaker 1>holds up.

0:22:02.440 --> 0:22:03.720
<v Speaker 5>Well, that's going to do it for us here on

0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:06.160
<v Speaker 5>Civic Cipher once again. I'm your host, Rams's.

0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:09.199
<v Speaker 2>Joh he is Rams joh I mq ward. Thank you

0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.080
<v Speaker 2>guys for tuning in with us again for another u

0:22:13.920 --> 0:22:17.200
<v Speaker 2>ah man, another one of these very very difficult journeys

0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.640
<v Speaker 2>through some very very difficult truths.

0:22:19.720 --> 0:22:22.200
<v Speaker 5>Yes, indeed, but you know we're still here, We're still standing,

0:22:22.240 --> 0:22:23.320
<v Speaker 5>and we're still doing it for you.

0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:23.879
<v Speaker 4>Uh.

0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:26.760
<v Speaker 1>We appreciate you allowing us to have these conversations and

0:22:26.880 --> 0:22:27.600
<v Speaker 1>let's keep it going.

0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:30.720
<v Speaker 5>So tap in with us. Hit our website civiccipher dot.

0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:34.720
<v Speaker 1>Com, and uh follow us on all social media at

0:22:34.760 --> 0:22:35.439
<v Speaker 1>Civic Cipher.

0:22:35.520 --> 0:22:40.680
<v Speaker 5>Download this in any previous episode, Subscribe, subscribe, share, I subscribe.

0:22:40.080 --> 0:22:45.840
<v Speaker 1>Comments all that donate as well, and submit any questions

0:22:45.840 --> 0:22:47.600
<v Speaker 1>and or any topics that you want us to cover.

0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:50.720
<v Speaker 1>We do like hearing from you, and you know, we

0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:53.760
<v Speaker 1>like having a conversation, not just us talking and you listening.

0:22:53.840 --> 0:22:57.520
<v Speaker 1>So participate if it makes sense, and until next week, y'all.

0:22:57.800 --> 0:22:58.119
<v Speaker 2>Peace