WEBVTT - Keep Fighting 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.600 You were listening and waiting on reparations for production of 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:15.680 I Heart Radio. Um ye, it's waiting a reparations. Yeah yeah, 0:00:16.400 --> 0:00:20.320 hey hey now this is the store, y'all. Abaja Knife 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:22.680 came up with the new lifestyle walking out of the 0:00:22.720 --> 0:00:25.280 store with a few white owls like sir, sub dude, 0:00:25.280 --> 0:00:27.560 and then you wipe out. All started at a six 0:00:27.600 --> 0:00:30.400 when I came to hate this makeshift matrix talking about 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:32.840 fake ship, interested in words, and I started to play 0:00:32.880 --> 0:00:34.760 with took it from the journal and not to the 0:00:34.840 --> 0:00:37.600 pavement bill it proof, you know, hurting the get by 0:00:37.600 --> 0:00:40.440 myself because Mariah maternity leave and I turned it hot, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.720 make it to a certain degree, eat wrappings like I'm 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:48.800 eating up a burger with cheese. Dope. He was going on, 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:51.959 this is dope, Knife, and you are listening to waiting 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:57.200 on reparations. Man, it feels weird. I was like, I 0:00:57.240 --> 0:01:01.080 wanted to stop for a second and let Mariah say 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:03.840 and lingua franca, and then we would say that you 0:01:03.880 --> 0:01:07.240 know how it goes. But today I am by myself. 0:01:07.280 --> 0:01:11.240 At least for this beginning of the episode, Mariah is 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:16.600 on her leave. The baby hasn't come yet, but we're 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:20.520 waiting but she's officially on her brake, so it is 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:23.840 just going to be me rapping on this one and 0:01:23.920 --> 0:01:26.200 opening it up for you. Got another banger of the 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:29.240 episode coming up is gonna be an interview that Mariah 0:01:29.280 --> 0:01:33.560 did with Robin Wesley Wiliba, who is a Democratic socialist 0:01:33.640 --> 0:01:37.160 that's running for Minneapolis City Council. They're gonna be talking 0:01:37.200 --> 0:01:39.520 about their journey to get into this point of running 0:01:39.520 --> 0:01:43.039 for office. Police brutality, right, control. A bunch of cool 0:01:43.040 --> 0:01:46.280 ship coming up. Um, But let's see what do I wanna? 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:49.000 What I want to talk about with you guys today 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:55.560 before we get there. Oh New York rapperk that's k A. 0:01:56.080 --> 0:01:59.520 If you guys haven't heard of him from Brownsville. I've 0:01:59.520 --> 0:02:02.040 been a huge fan of his for at least eight 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:05.600 years now, and he put out a couple of albums 0:02:05.640 --> 0:02:07.680 that I really dug. But he just put out a 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:13.600 new joint called The Martyrs Reward that, oh my, totally critical. 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:18.280 Many in invest coutive test either put a belt or 0:02:18.280 --> 0:02:20.960 a bullet. That's how I was taught things. So on 0:02:21.000 --> 0:02:23.280 every summer of wonder why I won the old s friends. 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:28.600 I mean, we don't usually you know, outright like recommend 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:32.240 stuff on this show more or less just say what 0:02:32.280 --> 0:02:34.800 we think is dope, you know, pertaining on the topic 0:02:34.840 --> 0:02:37.960 that we're talking about music. But this album I have 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:41.760 to I gotta give it up, and I gotta use 0:02:41.880 --> 0:02:44.880 my little bit of a platform to pick up this album, 0:02:44.960 --> 0:02:49.480 The Martyrs Reward by k If you are in the 0:02:49.560 --> 0:02:55.960 mood for some like lyrical, thoughtful hip hop, you know, 0:02:55.960 --> 0:02:57.640 I mean to be honest with you, This Ship is 0:02:57.680 --> 0:03:02.480 like it's like the hip hop equivalent of reading a novel, 0:03:03.320 --> 0:03:07.000 is how I would describe cos music in this album 0:03:07.040 --> 0:03:10.040 in particular, It's like the way he uses pros and 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:14.480 stuff is just it's nuts, but highly recommended. That's what 0:03:14.520 --> 0:03:16.920 I'm listening to. I've had that Ship on repeat, so 0:03:17.000 --> 0:03:21.960 you need to check that. Shut up? What else is interesting? Oh? Um? 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:28.040 Candy Candice Owens, the right wing conservative pundit. Apparently she's 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:33.880 being sued by a fellow black right winger for twenty 0:03:33.919 --> 0:03:51.000 million dollars for saying that there's strip club madam. So 0:03:51.120 --> 0:03:53.839 that's that story. Um. You know what, let's not even 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.920 waste any more time. We're gonna be right back with 0:03:57.040 --> 0:04:06.600 that interview for you right after the this week, I 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:10.120 have the distinct honor of being joined by Robin Wants 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:13.800 and Wallaba, a Democratic Socialist running to be minneapolis first 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:17.800 Black Socialist councilperson to represent word two. She is a 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:21.600 Chicago native, a community activists, a labor organizer, and from 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:25.080 Wakata and all around with the person. Robin, thank you 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:28.320 so much for joining us today. How are you? What's good? Yes, 0:04:28.720 --> 0:04:32.400 say so much for having me, Mariah, Like, I'm so 0:04:32.480 --> 0:04:36.120 glad to be able to also support like powerful black 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:38.760 fans who are doing great things like yourself, so like 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.599 Queen's Unite. I'm so excited to be here. Just talk 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.160 about this, I would say, like history making campaign that 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:50.039 we're running over here in Minneapolis. Yeah. So you you know, 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:52.120 I've looked at your platform ex sensively. There's a lot 0:04:52.160 --> 0:04:56.599 of exciting stuff on it. But for you what uh actually, 0:04:56.600 --> 0:04:58.200 don't let me take it. Let me take a step back. 0:04:58.200 --> 0:05:01.080 I'm so excited talking about six and you calls yes, 0:05:01.360 --> 0:05:04.240 let's go. But let's learn about who you are as 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:09.040 a person, because I'm sure your experiences working to uh 0:05:09.200 --> 0:05:13.039 radically transform our you know, the presidential complex, working with 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.440 the education, because these backgrounds very much informed the policies 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:17.960 that we're gonna talk about it a little bit. So 0:05:18.000 --> 0:05:19.479 tell us a little bit how you got here, so 0:05:19.520 --> 0:05:22.600 you can from Chicago, you're in Minneapolis. Now, what led 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:26.680 you to, uh, this moment of running for Minneapolisity Council. Yeah, 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.720 I would definitely say, you know, coming from Chicago and 0:05:29.800 --> 0:05:32.520 actually coming to Minneapolis thinking like this is gonna be 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:37.799 you know, my liberal refuge from my life is alright 0:05:37.839 --> 0:05:39.360 over in Chicago. So I was like, I'm pretty sure 0:05:39.360 --> 0:05:40.800 I'm gonna give me a good job because that's how 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:45.040 Minneapolis this market. You know, my housing is gonna be 0:05:45.120 --> 0:05:47.760 for the low. We're just gonna live our best lives. 0:05:47.880 --> 0:05:51.560 And then literally within a year of being here, um, 0:05:51.839 --> 0:05:57.080 Jamark Clark was murdered by Minneapolis police um. Um. And 0:05:57.160 --> 0:05:59.280 for me it was like whoa, okay, so the same 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.359 stuff that is happening in my hometown and literally everywhere 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:06.720 else that's that happens here. Um. And what really moved 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:09.760 me to like start joining joining like some of the 0:06:09.800 --> 0:06:13.880 frontline struggles was really our own BLM chapter that really 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:17.520 like came into fruition um in the midst of um 0:06:17.600 --> 0:06:20.680 that high profile murder of Jamaar Um. I mean, these 0:06:20.720 --> 0:06:24.159 folks we're talking about black working class folks literally holding space, 0:06:24.240 --> 0:06:28.120 occupying the fourth pre seat police station. UM, you know, 0:06:28.240 --> 0:06:31.240 literally seeing the things that it's become norm now, like 0:06:31.279 --> 0:06:35.200 with withstanding like tear gas and Robert bullets, like just 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.080 all out attacks from not only the police themselves, were 0:06:38.120 --> 0:06:41.520 just simply saying, you can't kill us, UM, and nor 0:06:41.600 --> 0:06:44.720 will you continue to just act violence on us and 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.080 just you know, continue to live your lives while we 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.440 carry on the suffer and the trauma from those experiences. 0:06:50.600 --> 0:06:53.240 They not only got attacked from that, but they also 0:06:53.320 --> 0:06:56.680 got attacked from the different practic establishment. Like every progressive 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.640 of all the colors, UM came out was like, no 0:07:00.080 --> 0:07:01.840 need to stop doing this. This is not the way 0:07:01.839 --> 0:07:04.440 in which we get changed, which is completely false. And 0:07:04.480 --> 0:07:05.960 I think for me it was like a wake up 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.720 call in that moment. I immediately like joined the front 0:07:08.760 --> 0:07:11.200 lines with black working class people and trying to get 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:13.800 justice for the Mark Clark and that segue to me 0:07:13.880 --> 0:07:16.960 joining our workers right struggle. UM that was also happening 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:19.920 at the same time, which was leading a fifteen minimum 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.160 wage fight, and I already know like coming from South 0:07:22.160 --> 0:07:28.200 Side Chicago, heavily police communities are also historically digested communities, 0:07:28.240 --> 0:07:30.200 and those are the areas where we do not have, 0:07:30.640 --> 0:07:33.800 you know, investments and quality jobs or livable wage shops. 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:36.160 So for me, it's like it's a no brainer, Like 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.480 we need to make sure working class people have more 0:07:38.520 --> 0:07:41.160 money in their pockets than any effort that is trying 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.200 to transfer you know, power, I mean not power, but 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:47.720 wealth from the hands of like the minority one percent 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.480 and back into the pockets of working class people like 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:54.600 I'm down for UM. So immediately joining those efforts and 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:58.840 then seeing the democratic establishment once again go every like, 0:07:59.320 --> 0:08:03.280 go through every tactic in blockage that they could throw 0:08:03.400 --> 0:08:06.320 at us to make sure that not only your communities 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.120 remain over police, but we are also not going to 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:13.920 provide you with the solutions like more wages, um to 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:16.720 make your life better in this city. We want you 0:08:16.840 --> 0:08:19.040 to continue to suffer. And I think the seeds were 0:08:19.040 --> 0:08:21.760 planted for me at that time where we gotta start 0:08:21.760 --> 0:08:24.520 building our own independent political power in the city or 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:27.720 folks are going to continuously get killed. And unfortunately Jamark 0:08:27.760 --> 0:08:30.920 Clark was not the last UM. And unfortunately Jamark I 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.120 mean even George Floyd after last year, he was not 0:08:33.240 --> 0:08:35.880 the last. We've continued to have these and people are 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.240 still struggling. Joblessness rates are still going up. We have 0:08:39.679 --> 0:08:43.560 growing ten encampments across the city. We have a serious 0:08:43.679 --> 0:08:47.560 or PR crisis that's also interwoven into all these other 0:08:47.600 --> 0:08:50.160 crisis is that we're experiencing. And it's very clear we 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:53.240 need new leadership, and not only new leadership, but people 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.600 will understand that the system we're up again is racial 0:08:56.640 --> 0:09:00.240 capitalism that once working class people to struggle, that wants 0:09:00.280 --> 0:09:03.840 black people to just be bearers of state violence and 0:09:03.880 --> 0:09:05.920 not say nothing and go to work and be happy 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:08.120 that you've got a job that pays you pennies. And 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.800 it's just like, no, we're done with that. We've done 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:13.360 with that. Yeah. So you've touched on so many different 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:16.199 issues and the way to the intersect from police brutality 0:09:16.320 --> 0:09:19.840 to homelessness, the opioid crisis, economic justice. So what would 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.960 you say is the number one priority for you when 0:09:23.559 --> 0:09:25.640 you get in office? What is your election? First of all? 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:29.360 November second? Okay, yeah, we don't have much time, we 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:33.480 know we don't. So when you get in there, you 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:35.600 get to you with the election November, you get sworn 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:38.400 in what like January and something like that. Ye so yeah, 0:09:38.520 --> 0:09:41.199 So Robinson there January first, what's going down on the 0:09:41.200 --> 0:09:45.000 city council. First thing first, the biggest thing is public safety. UM. 0:09:45.040 --> 0:09:47.720 That is the fight of this race, and it's a 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:51.079 fight on both sides of We have candidates and the 0:09:51.200 --> 0:09:55.640 mayor UM and corporate driven lobbying forces that are literally 0:09:56.200 --> 0:10:01.200 UM launching a forceful campaign that says we need to 0:10:01.240 --> 0:10:03.360 support the police more than ever. We need to be 0:10:03.480 --> 0:10:06.439 making sure that we're fully funding the departments. Are literally 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:10.960 retaliating against the demands of last year's you know historic 0:10:11.040 --> 0:10:13.800 global uprising UM that took place in the wake of 0:10:13.840 --> 0:10:17.040 George Floyd's murder. And we have candidates like myself who 0:10:17.080 --> 0:10:20.920 are running on you know, continuing that movement that we 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.959 experience where it's like, no, we need to not continue 0:10:24.000 --> 0:10:30.360 in continuing, you know, this investment into institutions that kill us, 0:10:30.400 --> 0:10:33.080 that does not abide in our collective well being. We 0:10:33.160 --> 0:10:36.560 need to start investing and in housing because housing its 0:10:36.600 --> 0:10:39.200 public safety. We need to be investing into public schools 0:10:39.200 --> 0:10:42.600 because public schools and education is public safety. We need 0:10:42.640 --> 0:10:45.640 to make sure we're UM really bringing about a green 0:10:45.720 --> 0:10:49.600 New deal because clean air, clean water, that is public safety, 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:52.600 and those are all the things that working class people need, 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.400 and that's the things that we want to emphasize when 0:10:55.440 --> 0:10:59.679 we're elected. Like public safety is not isolated to policing. 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:03.439 We need to be making mass social investments through attacks 0:11:03.480 --> 0:11:08.559 on the rich to fund the actual solutions to prevent preventives, 0:11:08.600 --> 0:11:11.520 you know, solutions that makes our community safe, that allows 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:14.960 working class people to have a quality of life. And 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:16.400 one of the ways in which we're gonna do that 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:18.920 is one of the big things that's happening in Minneapolis 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:21.280 in this election where working class people will likely have 0:11:21.320 --> 0:11:24.600 a vote on. It's passing Yes for Many Apolis, which 0:11:24.640 --> 0:11:28.520 is one of the campaigns that came out of you know, 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.920 last year's movement to really digest from the police and 0:11:31.960 --> 0:11:36.160 move those resources towards others, you know, UM departments and 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:40.200 services that keeps our community safe. UM. So that will 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.520 be voted on on the November two and if that passes, 0:11:43.920 --> 0:11:48.160 then I, alone with my colleagues will have the very 0:11:48.440 --> 0:11:52.079 serious tasks of fighting for ordinance that makes sure that 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.880 department does not just propagate the status quo policing that 0:11:55.960 --> 0:11:58.200 we know does not work and that continues to harm 0:11:58.240 --> 0:12:01.439 black people and brown people, import folks and if folks 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:04.240 want to check out what our vision is for public safety, 0:12:04.280 --> 0:12:05.840 we have a lot more thoughts of that, like make 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:08.440 sure we're fully funding three on one, we're expanding an 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:12.199 unarmed workforce. We were demilitarizing this department so people can't 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:15.560 shoot people with tear gas. That why why, you know, 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:20.600 like like why it's not that serious re um and 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:25.480 making sure that we're also having a democratic oversight structure 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:28.360 over this new department. So we just released our own 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.120 comprehensive public safety plan that we plan to fight for 0:12:31.200 --> 0:12:35.320 regardless of what happens with Yes for Minneapolis UM when 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:37.920 we're elected, like that first hundred days of like this 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:40.400 is how we make sure we have a public safety 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:46.600 system that doesn't you know, support apartheid structure of our 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.360 city where black people get policed and killed and rich 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:54.280 people get safety and and and wellness calls when Rome 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:57.160 people look like they're they're in their neighborhood, Like no, 0:12:57.559 --> 0:13:01.640 we're ending that. I feel that. Yeah, I mean, like 0:13:01.800 --> 0:13:05.160 public safety encompasses so much it can be hard to 0:13:05.160 --> 0:13:07.800 like pull the threads out with regards to a concrete 0:13:07.800 --> 0:13:09.600 starting point because you have to have you have to 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:12.199 deal with it comprehensively. And so to say, oh, we're 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:14.640 just gonna like focus on the housing. Oh, we're just 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:18.560 gonna focus on the on the environmental health and well 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:21.080 being of our communities, etcetera. It's like no, it's like 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:23.680 it is everything together. Yeah, so yeah, I feel that. 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.679 I feel that. Um I I'd love to hear more 0:13:26.720 --> 0:13:30.640 about this, uh, this wealth tax that you're interested in implementing. 0:13:30.960 --> 0:13:33.080 So tell us a little bit about how that would 0:13:33.120 --> 0:13:36.000 work and what you and what you want to accomplish 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.400 with it, like what you wanna get done when when 0:13:38.440 --> 0:13:41.840 that comes to fruition, Yes, I mean when it comes 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.000 to public safety, like when we're talking about like making 0:13:44.000 --> 0:13:47.960 me soul, like mass social investments, we know it's going 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:52.480 to take revenue, and of course, like the revenue is there. 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.800 What we're heard or told time and time again is that, no, 0:13:55.920 --> 0:13:59.880 we can't prioritize high housing, we can't prioritize public housing. 0:13:59.880 --> 0:14:04.520 We can't prioritize like actually hiring unarmed public safety workers 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:06.400 because we ain't got the money. No, you got the money. 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.840 You just want to use that to direct more subsidies 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:13.880 to corporate developers who are displacing working class residents and 0:14:13.920 --> 0:14:16.480 renters from their communities. You want to continue to give 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:20.400 TIFFs to target which is out here still in uh 0:14:20.440 --> 0:14:23.800 their workers wages every single day. Like, no, we got 0:14:23.800 --> 0:14:27.040 the money. You just rather like subsidize corporate in in 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:31.080 profit driven um businesses in our cities. That's where you 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:32.760 want to direct that money towards. And we're like, no, 0:14:32.840 --> 0:14:34.840 you need to run those coins back. And the way 0:14:34.840 --> 0:14:37.920 that we know that's got to happen is through either taxation, 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:40.800 which we know there is some state pre preemptions on it, 0:14:41.400 --> 0:14:45.440 but yes, but fees. And this is the thing with 0:14:45.600 --> 0:14:49.040 like being a public servant, you need to be creative. 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.240 Like I mean even right now brick control, which is 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:54.840 also going to be voted on too, and which we're supporting. 0:14:55.160 --> 0:14:58.120 They told us four four years ago you can't do 0:14:58.160 --> 0:15:00.760 breck control. The state preempt that. And it's like, guess 0:15:00.840 --> 0:15:02.720 what we could do a charter amendment. That's how we 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:05.840 also got the fifteen minimum wage that we um successfully 0:15:05.840 --> 0:15:08.520 fall for in twenty seventeen. We are the same arguments, 0:15:08.560 --> 0:15:10.840 you can't do this, the state prevents this big big 0:15:10.880 --> 0:15:13.680 business of this is illegal. It's like the price, the price. 0:15:13.800 --> 0:15:17.320 Let's search through our toolkit of things to do to 0:15:17.400 --> 0:15:20.600 make change happen, like and we could get this done. 0:15:21.000 --> 0:15:23.760 So one of the things that we can do to 0:15:23.880 --> 0:15:27.640 start to UM, you know, fight back against our extract 0:15:27.680 --> 0:15:31.840 of economy. It's a leverished fees on these corporate interests. 0:15:31.880 --> 0:15:35.080 We're talking about passing airbnb tax. Like where I mentioned earlier, 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:37.440 we have ten encampments that are growing by the day. 0:15:37.880 --> 0:15:41.960 It absolutely makes no sense why we have luxury like 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:46.160 apartments in our communities that are sitting vacant because the 0:15:46.280 --> 0:15:50.280 landlords wants to lease it out as an airbnb. No, no, 0:15:50.440 --> 0:15:52.800 you need to be you need to be penalized for that, 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:55.640 like somebody needs to be in the apartment. And if 0:15:55.680 --> 0:15:57.360 you're not gonna make that happen, trust me, you're not 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.080 about to make no profit off of basically support and 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:03.040 a housing crisis in our city. UM. We can leverage 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:08.080 fees on businesses like what Seattle did. M Seattle got 0:16:08.080 --> 0:16:11.960 creative and said, let's do um a head tax for 0:16:12.040 --> 0:16:15.800 all the employees of Amazon because that's the big you 0:16:15.800 --> 0:16:19.440 know business over there, and we can use that revenue 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.920 to create city owned social housing. And that was gonna 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.000 bring in two hundred forty million dollars every year, we 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:29.640 can look at doing the same thing. Target is one 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:33.760 of the largest and most respected, you know corporations UM 0:16:33.840 --> 0:16:36.400 in our city, and as I also mentioned, are often 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:39.600 one of the biggest corporates of wage thefts. Let's start 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:43.880 leveraging taxes on them, like they don't often pay property taxes. 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.760 We need to say no, you need to start doing that. 0:16:45.880 --> 0:16:48.520 So there's a number of tools that we can use. 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:53.960 Mansion taxes, why are we selling mansions at a housing crisis? Like, no, 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.440 you need to run run that money back and and 0:16:57.480 --> 0:17:00.880 then we can use that revenue to actually support like 0:17:01.080 --> 0:17:05.720 funding our collective needs, our social infrastructures. So there's a 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.600 number of ways in which we can look at just 0:17:07.680 --> 0:17:11.840 through fees um or levies of how we can start 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:18.040 to um reverse the effects of trickle down economics. Because 0:17:18.080 --> 0:17:20.119 none of that money trickles down to our communities. We 0:17:20.200 --> 0:17:22.720 need to start actually taking hold of that wealth and 0:17:22.760 --> 0:17:25.320 redirecting them back into the pockets of working class people. 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:29.000 We will be back with Robbin right after the jump. 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:36.560 I think um I mean a lot of what a 0:17:36.640 --> 0:17:39.480 lot of the funds that could be generated through levies 0:17:39.520 --> 0:17:42.080 and visa as you're describing could be put into you know, 0:17:42.119 --> 0:17:44.320 like social housing and things like that. But one of 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.879 the interests interested me about your platform is in the 0:17:47.920 --> 0:17:50.600 discussion of housing, and touched on the cities and the 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:53.840 airbnbas and stuff. Um, what seemed to me to be 0:17:53.840 --> 0:17:57.359 like an inclusionary zoning policy of like new developments and 0:17:57.359 --> 0:17:59.680 a certain amount of affordable housing. And then I wondered 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:01.560 if you talk to us a little bit more about 0:18:01.600 --> 0:18:04.399 your vision, if any, for working with private developers to 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.520 ensure that with regards to housing in particular, you know, 0:18:07.520 --> 0:18:10.360 we're actually getting housing for the people, So I think 0:18:10.359 --> 0:18:12.399 we're sure. The first step is we need to pass 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:15.200 a strong rent control policy, like the fact right now 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:20.679 Minneapolis passed plan that authorized the creation of hundreds let 0:18:20.720 --> 0:18:24.360 me not saying hundreds thousands of new um um housing 0:18:24.520 --> 0:18:29.960 units under multi like apartment complexes that again are largely 0:18:30.040 --> 0:18:33.760 cost burden housing, meaning whoever moved in there, likely orty 0:18:34.160 --> 0:18:36.640 of your annual income is going to go towards rent 0:18:36.680 --> 0:18:39.280 alone in that unit. UM. So we need to be 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:43.200 um placed in a cap on those rents right now 0:18:43.240 --> 0:18:45.920 to make sure, you know, folks are not having to 0:18:46.000 --> 0:18:49.800 choose between I don't know cooking, buying groceries, or rent 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:53.280 so we're supporting rent control UM. One of the other 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:55.520 measures that we're talking about is the city has the 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:58.840 ability to buy back some of those units and put 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:02.760 those in a land us, put those in our public 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:07.080 housing portfolio UM, like start getting those back off of 0:19:07.119 --> 0:19:11.000 the private markets UM. And also another big thing that 0:19:11.000 --> 0:19:16.240 we're talking about doing is UM. Right now, the rent 0:19:16.400 --> 0:19:20.760 of our housing UM or the market right housing is 0:19:20.800 --> 0:19:25.000 determined through an average median income, and that average median 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:28.399 income right now is based off of like eight of 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:32.879 the average income for the metro residents, like metro wide. 0:19:33.040 --> 0:19:36.520 It's not looking at Minneapolis specific, and that's largely why 0:19:36.880 --> 0:19:40.479 they will say a one bedroom apartment UM at you know, 0:19:40.800 --> 0:19:44.360 fift hundred dollars. That's totally reasonable. It's not we need 0:19:44.400 --> 0:19:48.520 to be reducing that. It's it's the acronym is a 0:19:48.800 --> 0:19:52.159 m I. We're talking about reducing that to thirty percent 0:19:52.359 --> 0:19:56.919 or at minimum fifty percent of Minneapolis average income I 0:19:56.960 --> 0:19:59.480 mean media and income, because then we can see those 0:19:59.480 --> 0:20:02.359 rents gonna back down to like, okay, eleven hundred for 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.159 one bad room, nine hundred for one bamp room. Like 0:20:05.240 --> 0:20:09.040 it's not giving this uh why threshold, which is largely 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:13.040 profits for the corporate developers who are building this housing 0:20:13.080 --> 0:20:16.400 and overseeing it. UM. So we're talking about reigning back 0:20:16.440 --> 0:20:19.080 in the A m I. But again you got a 0:20:19.080 --> 0:20:24.000 couple that with UM uh rent control. We also again 0:20:24.040 --> 0:20:27.639 need to be buying back units, getting those units that 0:20:27.640 --> 0:20:30.280 are now being used for air and b and bs. 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:32.920 We need to be putting those into city on land 0:20:32.960 --> 0:20:37.639 trust UM, adding those to our public housing portfolio because 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:40.520 we've privatized so much of it so far, and then 0:20:40.760 --> 0:20:43.920 using that revenue again through taxing UM some of these 0:20:43.920 --> 0:20:47.880 corporate developers in the Ridge to actually start constructing our 0:20:47.960 --> 0:20:52.080 own city owned housing UM. Where again that basis we 0:20:52.119 --> 0:20:54.920 could say a m I like if we want to 0:20:55.000 --> 0:20:58.680 charge five hundred dollars for a studio or eight hundred 0:20:58.720 --> 0:21:00.320 dollars for a one bath room, we can do that 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:04.679 because the city owned mm hmm. That's the future that 0:21:04.720 --> 0:21:08.200 I'm invested in because clearly the private the private market 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:11.120 will never meet that needs. It's clearly it's not doing 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.320 it now. People are literally living in tents year round. 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:16.520 And I don't know if you've ever been to Minneapolis 0:21:16.560 --> 0:21:20.240 or your listeners, I have ye show I put a 0:21:20.280 --> 0:21:23.800 show somewhere in the Minneapolis many years ago. Was it 0:21:23.920 --> 0:21:31.639 during the winter. I'm from the South, baby, No, it's gold. 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:35.280 It's going to him, y'all keep that it's cold. People 0:21:35.359 --> 0:21:38.280 are literally living outside in the tundra in a tent 0:21:38.880 --> 0:21:42.040 and we literally have units just sitting empty. That's a problem. 0:21:42.080 --> 0:21:44.920 We need to need to be like running that back 0:21:44.960 --> 0:21:50.600 into city owned and democratically owned, um croopertives their land trust. 0:21:50.680 --> 0:21:53.840 Like no, it cannot. We cannot keep relying on to 0:21:53.920 --> 0:21:57.879 private housing market because it's spelling us. Yeah. Period, period. 0:21:58.680 --> 0:22:00.800 So by the time we got lot, like what is 0:22:00.840 --> 0:22:04.320 your coalition, your government coalition look like ideally because you 0:22:04.320 --> 0:22:06.760 know you have I saw this, I got in I 0:22:06.840 --> 0:22:09.680 got in the thousand nighteen. I was the only person 0:22:09.720 --> 0:22:12.440 of color and twenty years younger than everybody else only 0:22:12.800 --> 0:22:17.360 only socialist, abolitionist an average, and like it was like, oh, 0:22:17.480 --> 0:22:19.919 I gotta good ship done now or try to with 0:22:20.000 --> 0:22:22.960 these like oh that's white people that like are like 0:22:23.119 --> 0:22:25.359 do will not even make eye contact with me. And 0:22:25.440 --> 0:22:27.960 so I've always very curious when I interview candidates or 0:22:28.000 --> 0:22:30.719 talking to candidas, you know, de several different municipalities, like 0:22:30.800 --> 0:22:33.400 what you for what you what your ideal government coalition 0:22:33.400 --> 0:22:36.560 looks like, what it's looking to probably shake out like, 0:22:36.640 --> 0:22:38.640 and how that's going to impact the way you move 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:41.800 within the space of of of city council. Yeah, we're 0:22:41.840 --> 0:22:44.119 super excited about this because we are team was just 0:22:44.160 --> 0:22:46.840 talking about this. We're about to release our community our 0:22:46.840 --> 0:22:50.520 community Commitment Plan. But how we're going to do that 0:22:50.600 --> 0:22:54.119 A built um a co governance structure with working class 0:22:54.119 --> 0:22:56.439 people you know, driving it. And one of the biggest 0:22:56.440 --> 0:22:58.959 things that we're saying, like to hold the core of it, 0:22:59.440 --> 0:23:02.280