Latest / Concerned Clergy Podcast / Concerned Clergy Podcast August 26, 2026

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Concerned Clergy Podcast August 26, 2026 · Concerned Clergy Podcast

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SPEAKER_0: The following program is paid for by the Concerned Clergy.
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SPEAKER_0: The views and opinions expressed in this program
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SPEAKER_0: are those of the hosts and guests
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SPEAKER_0: and do not necessarily reflect the views of Urban One Incorporated,
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SPEAKER_0: Radio One, or any of its subsidiary companies.
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SPEAKER_0: The Concerned Clergy invites you to their weekly town hall meeting on Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM.
0:22
SPEAKER_0: So finally, after 14 days,
0:31
SPEAKER_1: the people of Gary have finally been at least having restored power.
0:38
SPEAKER_1: It's taken 14 days.
0:40
SPEAKER_1: And reports have said that what's happened in Gary has been one of
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SPEAKER_1: the longest delays in restoration of power when it comes to communities.
0:53
SPEAKER_1: As a matter of fact,
0:54
SPEAKER_1: they're saying that it ranks in the top 15 of how long it has taken for power
1:00
SPEAKER_1: to be restored in the community.
1:03
SPEAKER_1: Tonight, we're going to talk about that, and we invite you to be part of the conversation.
1:08
SPEAKER_1: You can do that by calling into the radio station.
1:11
SPEAKER_1: That number is 317-480-1310.
1:15
SPEAKER_1: Once again, 317-480-1310.
1:17
SPEAKER_1: We welcome you to the Concerned Clergy Radio Program.
1:21
SPEAKER_1: We also invite you to catch the replay.
1:24
SPEAKER_1: What's the replay?
1:25
SPEAKER_1: The replay is on tomorrow.
1:27
SPEAKER_1: That will be on the Substack for the Progressive Indiana Network.
1:31
SPEAKER_1: Our program will be replayed on tomorrow.
1:33
SPEAKER_1: If you don't catch it all tonight, you can also catch it tomorrow.
1:37
SPEAKER_1: If you want to listen once again,
1:39
SPEAKER_1: you can just go to the Substack on the Progressive Indiana Network.
1:43
SPEAKER_1: I want to say good evening to everyone.
1:45
SPEAKER_1: Good evening to our president, Pastor Greene, who's joining us on the night.
1:49
SPEAKER_1: Pastor, how are you doing tonight?
1:52
SPEAKER_2: I'm doing well, Reverend Alexander.
1:53
SPEAKER_2: Even though it's starting to rain here, I'm doing well.
1:56
SPEAKER_2: Can't complain.
1:57
SPEAKER_1: Yeah, it does look like we may have some inclement weather that's rolling
2:01
SPEAKER_1: into northern Indiana, but I think we're going to be all right.
2:06
SPEAKER_1: I don't think it's going to be anything like what we've had to experience,
2:10
SPEAKER_1: you know, over the last few weeks.
2:11
SPEAKER_1: Yeah.
2:12
SPEAKER_1: Once again, we want to invite everyone if you want to be part of the conversation.
2:16
SPEAKER_1: Feel free to call into the studio.
2:18
SPEAKER_1: The number is 317-480-1310.
2:21
SPEAKER_1: Or you can also comment on our Facebook page.
2:25
SPEAKER_1: That's the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, or excuse me, of Indiana.
2:29
SPEAKER_1: You can do that as well.
2:31
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, I'm going to ask you if you could please go ahead and open us up in prayer.
2:35
SPEAKER_2: Eternal God, our Father, we come before you once again as humble as we know how.
2:39
SPEAKER_2: Lord, we thank you for this day.
2:41
SPEAKER_2: Lord, we pray a special prayer for all those impacted by the storm,
2:45
SPEAKER_2: especially those in Northwest Indiana.
2:48
SPEAKER_2: We pray,
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SPEAKER_2: Lord God,
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SPEAKER_2: for all those families that are dealing with disruption right now,
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SPEAKER_2: some of which are just trying to figure out what their next step is going to be.
2:56
SPEAKER_2: I pray, Lord God,
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SPEAKER_2: that you'll give them wisdom,
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SPEAKER_2: give them discernment,
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SPEAKER_2: bring people into their lives,
3:01
SPEAKER_2: Lord God, that will not take advantage of them as well.
3:05
SPEAKER_2: And Father,
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SPEAKER_2: we pray for all of our leaders who are having to navigate
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SPEAKER_2: through this difficult season as well.
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SPEAKER_2: Continue to give them the strength that they need.
3:14
SPEAKER_2: Lord, we thank you for all of our listeners on tonight.
3:16
SPEAKER_2: In Jesus' name, amen.
3:19
SPEAKER_1: Amen.
3:19
SPEAKER_1: Well, we find ourselves tonight,
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SPEAKER_1: we're here in the state of Indiana,
3:23
SPEAKER_1: in which it's pretty much predominantly,
3:28
SPEAKER_1: when you look at the leadership of Indiana, it's a Republican state.
3:33
SPEAKER_1: But yet we have a portion of the state that is predominantly
3:41
SPEAKER_1: minorities.
3:42
SPEAKER_1: And it seems like they're not getting the same service, the same treatment.
3:48
SPEAKER_1: They're not getting the reaction that one would expect when you come into a time in
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SPEAKER_1: which there's been devastation, there's been storms, there's been floods.
4:00
SPEAKER_1: And you have an entire population in cities such as Gary, Indiana.
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SPEAKER_1: In which they are not able to recoup or recover because they're not getting
4:11
SPEAKER_1: the assistance that is required and necessary.
4:15
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President, I'm kind of, you know, I wish I would have known this last Wednesday.
4:22
SPEAKER_1: I wasn't aware when we came on air last Wednesday.
4:25
SPEAKER_1: I wasn't aware that Gary had not had their power restored.
4:30
SPEAKER_1: And it wasn't until today in which we can say, okay, at least from that perspective.
4:36
SPEAKER_1: They've got power restored.
4:38
SPEAKER_1: However, the people of Gary is still suffering.
4:42
SPEAKER_1: A lot of folks, you know, had medications that have gone bad.
4:47
SPEAKER_1: A lot of folks, you know, food has gone bad.
4:50
SPEAKER_1: A lot of folks had to relocate -- trees falling on their homes -- and they're trying
4:56
SPEAKER_1: to figure out where can I stay?
4:59
SPEAKER_1: We have to realize that while they may have power,
5:04
SPEAKER_1: Gary is still not out of the woods when it comes to being able to say
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SPEAKER_1: that they can recover from what just happened a few weeks ago.
5:14
SPEAKER_2: Oh, without a doubt.
5:17
SPEAKER_2: They're not going to get there overnight.
5:18
SPEAKER_2: They have a number of challenges.
5:21
SPEAKER_2: I mean, you know, there's going to be mold in these people's houses.
5:25
SPEAKER_2: I mean, we're seeing it, you know.
5:30
SPEAKER_2: The Butler area,
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SPEAKER_2: Broad Ripple area,
5:35
SPEAKER_2: Carmel -- even those people are dealing with mold and having stuff going out.
5:40
SPEAKER_2: You know you're going to have that in Gary who went without power for
5:44
SPEAKER_2: a longer period of time waiting for that water to,
5:50
SPEAKER_2: you know,
5:50
SPEAKER_2: you got to get power back on and even begin to pump it out if you had a sump pump.
5:54
SPEAKER_2: And so these things have been devastating.
5:57
SPEAKER_2: And I hate that in many instances,
6:00
SPEAKER_2: people who didn't have nowhere to go,
6:03
SPEAKER_2: they're probably going to be in a house breathing mold.
6:06
SPEAKER_2: It's going to impact them.
6:07
SPEAKER_2: I had a discussion today and learned that
6:11
SPEAKER_2: the Marion County Health Department was actually out in Marion County where
6:17
SPEAKER_2: the areas were flooded because people were getting sick.
6:20
SPEAKER_2: Because the water had been stagnant, etc.
6:23
SPEAKER_2: So all kinds of diseases was popping up.
6:26
SPEAKER_2: They actually set up,
6:28
SPEAKER_2: the Marion County Health Department showed up,
6:30
SPEAKER_2: Dr. Caine, her staff, you know, giving people shots and treating people.
6:34
SPEAKER_2: Well, you know that's a situation you definitely need to have going on up there in Gary.
6:40
SPEAKER_2: And that's a particular situation because it was far more drastic.
6:46
SPEAKER_2: They were out with electricity a lot longer.
6:48
SPEAKER_2: And so imagine what the impact is.
6:51
SPEAKER_2: And we've got a long way to go.
6:54
SPEAKER_2: And I say we because our brothers and sisters, we've got to be in this together.
6:58
SPEAKER_2: We have a very long way to go to recover.
7:02
SPEAKER_1: Mr. President,
7:03
SPEAKER_1: I certainly want to applaud yourself and some of the other leaders here
7:08
SPEAKER_1: in Indianapolis that represent the community of faith.
7:12
SPEAKER_1: Pastor Posley,
7:14
SPEAKER_1: Pastor Wayne Moore at the Olivet Missionary Baptist Church, and there's some others.
7:20
SPEAKER_1: I know we had Pastor Guthrie there at First Baptist Bridgeport.
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SPEAKER_1: He's a pastor there.
7:27
SPEAKER_1: You came together.
7:28
SPEAKER_1: You came together on Wednesday along with Pastor Reagan Robinson.
7:34
SPEAKER_1: And you shared,
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SPEAKER_1: here's where we're at when we're looking at the people of Gary and what it is
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SPEAKER_1: that they're going through, what it is that they need.
7:42
SPEAKER_1: And it was really at that point,
7:46
SPEAKER_1: I'll just be,
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SPEAKER_1: you know,
7:47
SPEAKER_1: open with myself to -- once again, I thought that they had already started to rebound.
7:55
SPEAKER_1: They had power.
7:57
SPEAKER_1: But it's when we came together for that press conference this past Saturday,
8:01
SPEAKER_1: I'm realizing, well, wait a minute.
8:03
SPEAKER_1: You still have trees all over the place.
8:05
SPEAKER_1: You have crews that have come from other counties, other states that are there to help.
8:13
SPEAKER_1: And the public utility there in Gary...
8:17
SPEAKER_1: NIPSCO was not providing any direction.
8:21
SPEAKER_1: They were not coming together, any coordination with some
8:24
SPEAKER_1: of those other power companies that were coming in town.
8:28
SPEAKER_1: And they were really not doing anything to get power restored to the people of Gary.
8:35
SPEAKER_2: Yeah, it was really sad.
8:36
SPEAKER_2: I mean, I did not know either on Wednesday.
8:39
SPEAKER_2: Obviously, we would have said something.
8:43
SPEAKER_2: You know, for me, it started on Thursday.
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SPEAKER_2: When I got a phone call.
8:47
SPEAKER_2: So all this happened and I'm going to applaud all the pastors and people
8:51
SPEAKER_2: who -- concerned citizens,
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SPEAKER_2: you know, Amy Nelson, Fair Housing, et cetera, Sister Denise.
9:01
SPEAKER_2: And a number of organizations came alongside in 24 to 48 hours.
9:07
SPEAKER_2: Dr. Posey,
9:08
SPEAKER_2: you know,
9:08
SPEAKER_2: we just said,
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SPEAKER_2: you know,
9:09
SPEAKER_2: we got to -- we were going to try to raise a few items, obviously through the church.
9:13
SPEAKER_2: To get to Gary,
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SPEAKER_2: didn't have any plans on how we're going to get to Gary or any of that type
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SPEAKER_2: of stuff.
9:18
SPEAKER_2: Bishop Posey calls me Friday morning and says,
9:22
SPEAKER_2: hey, you know, I've got this 26-foot, you know, U-Haul.
9:28
SPEAKER_2: Hey, you want a partner to do something?
9:30
SPEAKER_2: I said, well, yeah, let's just partner.
9:32
SPEAKER_2: And that's how this got started.
9:33
SPEAKER_2: So you're talking about Friday, okay, we're going to do this.
9:37
SPEAKER_2: Saturday, we need to be, you know, we said, you know, we need to let the governor know.
9:42
SPEAKER_2: Because the real issue was the state of Indiana has resources.
9:47
SPEAKER_2: They have a rainy day fund.
9:49
SPEAKER_2: They got surplus dollars.
9:51
SPEAKER_2: This stuff adds up to over $4 billion.
9:55
SPEAKER_2: So we don't necessarily have to wait on FEMA.
10:00
SPEAKER_2: He could release those dollars to help these areas that are flooding.
10:06
SPEAKER_2: If it's a rainy day fund, this is what we just had.
10:08
SPEAKER_2: It was a rainy day.
10:09
SPEAKER_2: It rained for several days there.
10:12
SPEAKER_2: Why wouldn't we commit to releasing dollars,
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SPEAKER_2: getting them the resources they need to get back
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SPEAKER_2: on their feet versus saying we're not against the federal dollar.
10:25
SPEAKER_2: We should pursue every federal dollar, but not be limited to waiting on that.
10:30
SPEAKER_2: I believe some people took off and did some things like I think Carmel and
10:34
SPEAKER_2: the things you saw there.
10:36
SPEAKER_2: I believe they said,
10:36
SPEAKER_2: hey, we're going to take off doing this, but they're going to get refunded for that.
10:40
SPEAKER_2: I mean, when the federal dollars catch up, but they didn't wait for something.
10:45
SPEAKER_2: They said, hey, we need to move and get this fixed.
10:48
SPEAKER_2: And we needed that type of, quote-unquote, leadership at the time.
10:54
SPEAKER_2: And so I applaud every person who gave,
10:57
SPEAKER_2: who contributed,
10:57
SPEAKER_2: wherever you dropped it off at,
10:59
SPEAKER_2: whether you dropped it off at Antioch or whether you dropped it off with Bridgeport
11:05
SPEAKER_2: or you dropped it off at Purpose of Life, whatever you did, he just got to Gary.
11:10
And, you know,
11:11
Sunday, Bishop -- as he said, Bishop Posey -- you know, he got that truck up there.
11:19
SPEAKER_2: I think he told me in less than two hours,
11:22
SPEAKER_2: I think at the Baptist Ministry -- I mean, this stuff was gone.
11:24
SPEAKER_2: I mean, it was out because people were waiting.
11:29
SPEAKER_2: And can you imagine?
11:30
SPEAKER_2: You've lost everything.
11:32
SPEAKER_2: You need food.
11:33
SPEAKER_2: You know,
11:33
SPEAKER_2: he talked about,
11:35
SPEAKER_2: you know, changing diapers for babies on the spot because they needed that stuff.
11:40
SPEAKER_2: That was needed.
11:44
SPEAKER_2: And sometimes you can be so blessed,
11:46
SPEAKER_2: you know,
11:47
SPEAKER_2: when you just go to your refrigerator,
11:48
SPEAKER_2: you might not like everything that's in it,
11:49
SPEAKER_2: but you got options -- to wake up one day and say, that refrigerator is empty.
11:54
SPEAKER_2: Ain't nothing there.
11:55
SPEAKER_2: It don't even work.
11:57
SPEAKER_2: Now what am I doing?
11:58
SPEAKER_2: And that's a whole different kind of feeling.
12:01
SPEAKER_2: And, you know, where am I going to get it from?
12:02
SPEAKER_2: Because the stores out there were sold out.
12:05
SPEAKER_2: Up in Gary.
12:06
SPEAKER_2: So you wouldn't -- like, well, I'll just jump in the car and drive to Walmart.
12:10
SPEAKER_2: Remember, there was no power.
12:11
SPEAKER_2: So Walmart ain't there.
12:13
SPEAKER_2: I mean, you don't have those things.
12:15
SPEAKER_2: What are you going to do?
12:18
SPEAKER_2: And so I just wanted to see leadership.
12:22
SPEAKER_2: And I still believe we have to have leadership around how do we rebuild
12:26
SPEAKER_2: the infrastructure such that this doesn't happen again.
12:29
SPEAKER_2: And I don't run from the fact that,
12:32
SPEAKER_2: you know, this was happening only to Gary in the sense of the length of time.
12:37
SPEAKER_2: That's problematic for me, given there's been other catastrophes in our country.
12:46
SPEAKER_2: This is about the longest one I've heard of.
12:48
SPEAKER_2: And then the silence of it up front was deafening, too.
12:51
SPEAKER_2: Like you said, we didn't know this last Wednesday, as we'd have been saying something.
12:55
SPEAKER_2: I mean, for me,
12:57
SPEAKER_2: because I had the same assumptions you did,
12:59
SPEAKER_2: I thought at least their power was back on.
13:01
SPEAKER_2: It was not until Thursday.
13:04
SPEAKER_2: When somebody says, hey, Pastor, you know, this ain't happening.
13:07
SPEAKER_2: Can we raise some, get some things together and take it up there?
13:12
SPEAKER_2: I'm like, well, yeah, we need to definitely do that, given what the situation is.
13:19
SPEAKER_2: So, again, I applaud everybody that participated, those who took stuff to Gary.
13:26
SPEAKER_2: If you took it on your own,
13:28
SPEAKER_2: that shows compassion for our brothers and sisters, and we need to do that.
13:32
SPEAKER_2: And let's not walk away from them because maybe they got the power on right now.
13:36
SPEAKER_2: Just because power's on.
13:37
SPEAKER_1: Exactly.
13:39
SPEAKER_1: Because that's not the end of helping them rebuild and get restoration.
13:44
SPEAKER_1: Because when we look back at it,
13:46
SPEAKER_1: it was literally the day after when we had all kind of news reports up
13:51
SPEAKER_1: in Hamilton County that they had all of these Black Hawk helicopters.
13:57
SPEAKER_1: That came in to help, you know, lift up bridges and do all kinds of stuff.
14:02
SPEAKER_1: I mean, think about that.
14:03
SPEAKER_1: And here it is in Gary,
14:05
SPEAKER_1: they can't get tree crews to come and get the trees off of people's roofs.
14:10
SPEAKER_1: They can't get the trees out the streets.
14:12
SPEAKER_1: And people got trees on their cars.
14:16
SPEAKER_1: And Gary was neglected.
14:18
SPEAKER_1: And it wasn't until,
14:19
SPEAKER_1: and I'll say this too,
14:21
SPEAKER_1: we got some callers on the line we're about to bring you on,
14:23
SPEAKER_1: but I'll even say this too.
14:25
SPEAKER_1: It wasn't even because, you know, we talk about the silence.
14:29
SPEAKER_1: There was so much silence.
14:31
SPEAKER_1: It wasn't until after the press conference on Saturday where even the governor spoke up.
14:37
SPEAKER_1: I'm like, well, where you been?
14:38
SPEAKER_1: You know,
14:39
SPEAKER_1: I haven't heard anything even from the,
14:40
SPEAKER_1: you know, from the folks there in Gary and Northwest.
14:43
SPEAKER_1: Where y'all been?
14:44
SPEAKER_1: Y'all have all these data centers that are being built.
14:48
SPEAKER_1: You got all this money coming in from all these folks.
14:52
SPEAKER_1: You've got NIPSCO that's talking about we're raising,
14:55
SPEAKER_1: you know, rates and we've got all this great stuff going on.
14:59
SPEAKER_1: But you can't simply hire some tree cutting crews.
15:04
SPEAKER_1: To get all these trees off the lines,
15:06
SPEAKER_1: you know,
15:07
SPEAKER_1: if they're overhead,
15:08
SPEAKER_1: or even to come and facilitate the organization of crews that are traveling from out
15:16
SPEAKER_1: of town to come in and assist you in getting the power restored.
15:20
SPEAKER_1: Let's go ahead and go to our callers.
15:22
SPEAKER_1: The first one we have, it is Councilor Oliver.
15:28
SPEAKER_1: How you doing?
15:29
SPEAKER_3: Yes, how you doing, sir?
15:30
SPEAKER_3: Praise the Lord.
15:31
SPEAKER_3: Tony and the Pastors.
15:33
SPEAKER_3: I have some background in what the topic is about today.
15:38
SPEAKER_3: All right.
15:41
SPEAKER_3: In 2005,
15:44
SPEAKER_3: there was a call went out across the country that our ears heard here
15:49
SPEAKER_3: in Indianapolis about Katrina and New Orleans and Houston and all that area there
15:54
SPEAKER_3: that had happened.
15:56
SPEAKER_3: And we got a trail together,
15:59
SPEAKER_3: got Reverend Covington with Friendship,
16:02
SPEAKER_3: store all the things that we could get contributed.
16:05
SPEAKER_3: We kept that over.
16:06
SPEAKER_3: Thank him for that.
16:08
SPEAKER_3: And then we made the trip to New Orleans in 2005.
16:16
SPEAKER_3: And we didn't get there because they wouldn't let us through.
16:20
SPEAKER_3: As it got further down, law enforcement wouldn't let us go.
16:24
SPEAKER_3: They said, if you go down, there's no gasoline.
16:26
SPEAKER_3: All the fuel stations are sold out, et cetera, et cetera.
16:29
SPEAKER_3: So we had to unload.
16:30
SPEAKER_3: I called the NWTP Chipper in Meridian,
16:34
SPEAKER_3: Mississippi, and they said, yes, we're out of everything here, too.
16:37
SPEAKER_3: So we managed to drive there and unload there and come back where we came back to Indianapolis.
16:44
SPEAKER_3: So we sat for that.
16:45
SPEAKER_3: A call went out that they needed workers down,
16:47
SPEAKER_3: and we wanted to help build a home back, et cetera, et cetera.
16:50
SPEAKER_3: So Vernon Brown, my role grade, right here in Indianapolis, Shawty Staples.
16:55
SPEAKER_3: We go back down there to New Orleans and help them restore those houses down there.
17:00
SPEAKER_3: Now, we went through that.
17:02
SPEAKER_3: I went through that.
17:02
SPEAKER_3: We all went through that.
17:03
SPEAKER_3: Now, I'm ready to go to Hamilton County and anywhere that they were prophesying
17:10
SPEAKER_3: that things were probably happening.
17:14
SPEAKER_3: I'm prepared to do that, as most of us were.
17:17
SPEAKER_3: And then before I could do that, I heard about Northwest Indiana.
17:26
SPEAKER_3: They mentioned, oh, Gary, no electricity.
17:29
SPEAKER_3: What?
17:30
SPEAKER_3: And I never heard it.
17:31
SPEAKER_3: So up at 46th and Meridian,
17:33
SPEAKER_3: some of us were so upset that we had not heard from our governor of the state
17:38
SPEAKER_3: of Indiana.
17:39
SPEAKER_3: He may have mentioned it, and I missed it on the news, but I never heard it at that time.
17:45
SPEAKER_3: The way that they were saying the things that you already mentioned
17:47
SPEAKER_3: about other areas in the state that needed support, and they did need that.
17:52
SPEAKER_3: Now, they did need that.
17:54
SPEAKER_3: And I was willing to go there.
17:55
SPEAKER_3: Anywhere that's needed, if I had the time and the support, and I had that.
17:59
SPEAKER_3: But then when I heard about Gary, Gary, no electricity?
18:04
SPEAKER_3: He never mentioned that.
18:05
SPEAKER_3: So then I'm back to where we started at, hearing about the cause.
18:10
SPEAKER_3: You can't wait on government.
18:11
SPEAKER_3: You can't wait on anybody.
18:13
SPEAKER_3: Hey, fellas, let's get together and go to Gary.
18:15
SPEAKER_3: Let's see if we can get on Reverend Covington,
18:18
SPEAKER_3: you, Antonio, the pastor, who can house the goods so we can caravan up to Gary.
18:24
SPEAKER_3: I know all the things that you said about news media and others focusing on
18:31
SPEAKER_3: the center part of the state.
18:32
SPEAKER_3: And it didn't mean that,
18:34
SPEAKER_3: as you mentioned, but sort of the other areas that you failed to mention.
18:37
SPEAKER_3: So we're back to where in 2025,
18:41
SPEAKER_3: back even further than that,
18:43
SPEAKER_3: we had situations that happened in Mississippi,
18:45
SPEAKER_3: Georgia,
18:46
SPEAKER_3: including in Kentucky,
18:49
SPEAKER_3: where the government did not respond,
18:51
SPEAKER_3: and the people like you and I and many others -- we did respond and tried to do all
18:55
SPEAKER_3: that we could to take food, of clothing, of books, shoes, all that we could.
19:01
SPEAKER_3: It faces this now, which you bring it up to the public.
19:05
SPEAKER_3: And I'm so happy that you're doing this.
19:08
SPEAKER_3: So the ears can hear.
19:10
SPEAKER_3: Others that we pay taxes into to do these things -- slow did not respond at all,
19:17
SPEAKER_3: really, until they just kind of mentioned it as Northwest Indiana.
19:23
SPEAKER_3: I'll be in contact with the pastor on the air,
19:27
SPEAKER_3: Covington,
19:28
SPEAKER_3: and Friendship to see where can we destinate a delivery spot of Reverend Bates over
19:34
SPEAKER_3: at his church.
19:36
SPEAKER_3: Any help we can get.
19:38
SPEAKER_3: We can call on local merchants and individuals and bring the goods there.
19:43
SPEAKER_3: We can take it up to Gary.
19:47
SPEAKER_3: Okay.
19:47
SPEAKER_3: In the first round at the Labor Day, we're going to get this done.
19:51
SPEAKER_3: Thank you so much for taking my call.
19:54
SPEAKER_1: All right.
19:54
SPEAKER_1: Well, thank you so much, Councilor Oliver.
19:56
SPEAKER_1: And what I will say is, Pastor, because we do have to go to a break.
20:00
SPEAKER_1: I mean, the church has stepped up.
20:02
SPEAKER_1: The church has certainly stepped up,
20:03
SPEAKER_1: I believe,
20:04
SPEAKER_1: you know, across,
20:05
SPEAKER_1: you know,
20:05
SPEAKER_1: here in central Indiana,
20:06
SPEAKER_1: and even those up there now are starting to say, okay,
20:10
SPEAKER_1: we are going to be the ones,
20:13
SPEAKER_1: you know,
20:13
SPEAKER_1: that's at least,
20:14
SPEAKER_1: and I want to make this very clear,
20:16
SPEAKER_1: it's only -- it's only going to be temporary relief because you need funds.
20:20
SPEAKER_1: You're going to need people to come in there that has the money,
20:24
SPEAKER_1: whether it be FEMA, whether it come from the state surplus.
20:28
SPEAKER_1: You need people that have not just funds,
20:31
SPEAKER_1: but people that can make decisions and say, we need this crew there.
20:37
SPEAKER_1: We need this cleaned up there.
20:38
SPEAKER_1: We need power turned on there.
20:40
SPEAKER_1: We need this.
20:41
SPEAKER_1: You need people that can make those decisions as well.
20:44
SPEAKER_1: Church can come in,
20:45
SPEAKER_1: and yeah,
20:46
SPEAKER_1: we can do all we can do,
20:47
SPEAKER_1: but still,
20:48
SPEAKER_1: we definitely need more of a coordinated effort,
20:54
SPEAKER_1: funding from the state,
20:56
SPEAKER_1: funding from the federal government,
20:58
SPEAKER_1: which they say has been approved now, and we need Gary restored.
21:02
SPEAKER_1: Let's go to our break.
21:04
SPEAKER_1: I want to say good evening to those that are joining us on Facebook,
21:07
SPEAKER_1: Joseph and Brother Twal,
21:11
SPEAKER_1: but when we come back,
21:13
SPEAKER_1: we've got callers on the line and we'll bring in Imhotep when we get back.
21:17
SPEAKER_1: So let's go ahead and go to our first commercial break.
21:20
SPEAKER_1: You're listening to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show on Praise AM 1310, 95.1 FM,
21:24
SPEAKER_1: Indy's Inspiration Station.
21:32
SPEAKER_1: Praise the Lord and welcome back to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show.
21:35
SPEAKER_1: I'm Reverend Tony Alexander.
21:36
SPEAKER_1: I'm joined by our President,
21:38
SPEAKER_1: Pastor David W.
21:39
SPEAKER_1: Greene Sr. and Mr.
21:40
SPEAKER_1: President,
21:41
SPEAKER_1: we have a note in our chat on today and I don't want to make a light of the note
21:48
SPEAKER_1: that we've received.
21:50
SPEAKER_1: The note says right in our chat here on Facebook page that we have an individual that
21:58
SPEAKER_1: feels like committing suicide and is feeling useless.
22:01
SPEAKER_1: And I don't want to make light of that because if someone --
22:04
SPEAKER_1: because we could have some people, as we're talking about people,
22:07
SPEAKER_1: Gary, that just feel like giving up.
22:09
SPEAKER_1: They feel like they're hopeless.
22:11
SPEAKER_1: They feel like they're faithless.
22:13
SPEAKER_1: And we want to make sure that,
22:15
SPEAKER_1: you know,
22:15
SPEAKER_1: you've got some folks that are praying with you and to this person that you have
22:22
SPEAKER_1: at least expressed this.
22:25
SPEAKER_1: I want to be clear.
22:26
SPEAKER_1: We're not going to make light of it.
22:28
SPEAKER_1: We've got your information and we will try.
22:32
SPEAKER_1: We will definitely make sure that we reach out to you,
22:34
SPEAKER_1: but we won't do it here on our airwaves,
22:37
SPEAKER_1: but we will make sure that we reach out to you.
22:41
SPEAKER_1: And prayerfully,
22:43
SPEAKER_1: prayerfully,
22:44
SPEAKER_1: you'll be able to understand that today's not the end all,
22:48
SPEAKER_1: that the Lord is still with you if you're able to even just talk to us.
22:54
SPEAKER_1: Tomorrow can be a better day.
22:56
SPEAKER_1: Once again,
22:56
SPEAKER_1: if you'd like to be part of our conversation on tonight,
22:59
SPEAKER_1: feel free to call into the radio station and that number is 317-480-1310.
23:04
SPEAKER_1: Once again, 317-480-1310.
23:07
SPEAKER_1: We have Imhotep that's on the line.
23:11
SPEAKER_1: Good evening, Imhotep.
23:12
SPEAKER_4: Good evening.
23:14
SPEAKER_4: Praise the Lord.
23:18
SPEAKER_4: Thanks for taking my call.
23:21
SPEAKER_4: You guys always are doing the right thing and calling out the people in charge,
23:26
SPEAKER_4: which is leadership.
23:28
SPEAKER_4: My youngest son, my wife, took our youngest son down to Atlanta.
23:32
SPEAKER_4: We went to the World Cup and did some visiting,
23:34
SPEAKER_4: but we made sure we went by Martin King's whole setup over there,
23:41
SPEAKER_4: the King Center's home,
23:43
SPEAKER_4: and then we sat and went through the presentation in the basement of
23:47
SPEAKER_4: the old Ebenezer.
23:49
SPEAKER_4: And I wanted him to get a feel.
23:52
SPEAKER_4: It's something hollow there.
23:53
SPEAKER_4: You can feel it when you're on those grounds.
23:57
SPEAKER_4: And I think,
23:58
SPEAKER_4: you know, Larry,
23:59
SPEAKER_4: you listen,
23:59
SPEAKER_4: I know you get confused sometimes because Larry likes to try to say King was wrong.
24:03
SPEAKER_4: No, King was not about Black people eating lunch at white folks' counters.
24:08
SPEAKER_4: That was not what it was about.
24:10
SPEAKER_4: It was about the resources that get dispersed to
24:18
SPEAKER_4: white and affluent neighborhoods, but yet marginalized neighborhoods don't.
24:24
SPEAKER_4: And that, Black people pay taxes.
24:26
SPEAKER_4: So if they cut the check, we're not begging and asking for anything free.
24:29
SPEAKER_4: We pay taxes.
24:30
SPEAKER_4: People in here pay taxes.
24:31
SPEAKER_4: I'm Gary, Indiana born and raised.
24:34
SPEAKER_4: And go off and back up there, Gary is on the rebound.
24:37
SPEAKER_4: I mean, a lot of Mike Epps is investing here,
24:39
SPEAKER_4: a lot of homes being built,
24:41
SPEAKER_4: new homes, a lot of new investment from a lot of outside investors.
24:47
SPEAKER_4: Mayor Melton has worked down here in state government.
24:51
SPEAKER_4: He knows how they are down here in state government.
24:55
SPEAKER_4: So he has sought outside investment into Gary that is away from downtown.
25:03
SPEAKER_4: And they don't like it.
25:05
SPEAKER_4: Let's just be honest.
25:06
SPEAKER_4: From Ukrainians to Chinese to Arabs to Blacks.
25:13
SPEAKER_4: I mentioned Mike, to anyone who's in the Hard Rock.
25:17
SPEAKER_4: That's the word.
25:18
SPEAKER_4: Miami Indians, if I'm correct, I think that's -- is that the Miami Indians?
25:21
SPEAKER_4: If I'm correct with that, you can correct me if I'm wrong.
25:23
SPEAKER_4: And so he is, you can see it.
25:26
SPEAKER_4: You can see it.
25:28
SPEAKER_4: You can see it from before this.
25:30
SPEAKER_4: I'm telling you, if you up there off, you can see it.
25:34
SPEAKER_4: It was a vibrancy.
25:35
SPEAKER_4: Gary's murder rate and crime rate is at a 55-year low.
25:39
SPEAKER_4: They got guys who may not have a high school diploma on the street sweeping.
25:44
SPEAKER_4: Giving them 15 bucks an hour, just sweeping, clean up.
25:47
SPEAKER_4: Sort of like what Mayor Mamdani is doing in New York.
25:50
SPEAKER_4: You know, New York's crime rate is at a 40-year low.
25:52
SPEAKER_4: Baltimore, Mayor Scott is at a 40-year low.
25:57
SPEAKER_4: Doing these democratic socialist things that nobody would want to talk about.
26:01
SPEAKER_4: Okay, but these are taxes.
26:03
SPEAKER_4: This is coming from tax money.
26:05
SPEAKER_4: We're just asking for taxes.
26:07
SPEAKER_4: We're just asking for the taxes to be allocated properly.
26:10
SPEAKER_4: And FEMA -- Braun is really derelict in this.
26:14
SPEAKER_4: Braun is really derelict.
26:15
SPEAKER_4: It happened Tuesday, August 11th.
26:19
SPEAKER_4: Had another bad rainstorm, August 12th.
26:21
SPEAKER_4: And then he was up there, what, that Friday, I think, that's August the 14th.
26:25
SPEAKER_4: He didn't turn the paperwork in until Friday?
26:27
SPEAKER_4: That's Friday the 21st?
26:28
SPEAKER_4: I mean, how do you do that?
26:31
SPEAKER_4: That's criminal.
26:32
SPEAKER_4: They have it.
26:33
SPEAKER_4: I'm leaving you with this.
26:34
SPEAKER_4: This is the problem.
26:35
SPEAKER_4: Anybody, if you're a GOP, I don't care who you are on the GOP side.
26:40
SPEAKER_4: Here's the problem with the GOP.
26:42
SPEAKER_4: They think they don't like federalism.
26:45
SPEAKER_4: They like it when they -- well, I think they like it.
26:46
SPEAKER_4: They like federalism when their buddy is getting the money for
26:49
SPEAKER_4: the pet projects, like Trump giving the guy $28 million to mess up the floating pool
26:53
SPEAKER_4: in D.C. and then this ballroom and all that crap like that.
26:56
SPEAKER_4: They like federalism.
26:57
SPEAKER_4: But to sit up here and think the state is going to be able to take care
27:02
SPEAKER_4: of these disasters when they happen,
27:04
SPEAKER_4: because the same people,
27:05
SPEAKER_4: DeSantis said it in Florida two,
27:07
SPEAKER_4: three years ago when they had all those hurricanes come through and then he needed
27:09
SPEAKER_4: the federal government.
27:10
SPEAKER_4: They said it,
27:12
SPEAKER_4: Abbott said it in Texas after Hurricane Harvey came through and then he needed
27:15
SPEAKER_4: the federal government.
27:16
SPEAKER_4: They have this preconceived notion that we don't need the federal government,
27:21
SPEAKER_4: the states, we can take ourselves.
27:23
SPEAKER_4: That is furthest from the truth.
27:25
SPEAKER_4: So it's really criminal what they're doing.
27:28
SPEAKER_4: I want to mention this, the class action lawsuit by Attorney Allen that he filed up there.
27:36
SPEAKER_4: Attorney Allen is a heavyweight.
27:38
SPEAKER_4: He's got some major lawsuits on his belt.
27:41
SPEAKER_4: And NIPSCO's going to have to show who they turned down because the word is from
27:45
SPEAKER_4: a lot of contractors,
27:46
SPEAKER_4: they came up there and NIPSCO turned them down to do work,
27:49
SPEAKER_4: to cut the truth like you were saying.
27:50
SPEAKER_4: A lot of contractors, they cut them and NIPSCO turned them down.
27:53
SPEAKER_4: So Allen has filed the lawsuit, class action.
27:55
SPEAKER_4: We'll find out.
27:56
SPEAKER_4: But man...
27:58
SPEAKER_4: This whole thing is just, this whole thing is just stinks.
28:01
SPEAKER_4: All right.
28:03
SPEAKER_1: Thank you so much.
28:04
SPEAKER_1: Let's go ahead and bring in Reverend Phillips.
28:08
SPEAKER_1: Reverend Phillips, are you there?
28:14
SPEAKER_1: Good evening.
28:14
SPEAKER_5: I'm here.
28:15
SPEAKER_1: Praise the Lord.
28:16
SPEAKER_5: Good evening.
28:17
SPEAKER_5: Hey, how you doing?
28:19
SPEAKER_5: Hey, Reverend Alexander.
28:22
SPEAKER_5: Good.
28:23
SPEAKER_5: And to Reverend Greene.
28:29
SPEAKER_5: You know,
28:30
SPEAKER_5: I got family members down there in GI,
28:35
SPEAKER_5: and I told them I'm praying for them,
28:39
SPEAKER_5: and I told them keep the faith down there and be strong with what's going on
28:49
SPEAKER_5: in their hometown.
28:52
SPEAKER_5: And I want to encourage people to...
28:58
SPEAKER_5: Don't sow in the tiles.
29:01
SPEAKER_1: Okay.
29:03
SPEAKER_5: Just be strong because you know you got a God who looks high and plus he looks low.
29:14
SPEAKER_5: And all we got to do is turn from
29:20
SPEAKER_5: them waves and then God will bless the land.
29:25
SPEAKER_5: And we do that
29:29
SPEAKER_5: the enemy, they don't never win.
29:35
SPEAKER_5: They already don't know.
29:36
SPEAKER_5: They don't never win.
29:39
SPEAKER_5: But if we just stay,
29:43
SPEAKER_5: keep our eyes, focus on God, God will bring us out of what we're going through.
29:53
SPEAKER_5: But the only thing we have to do is be together, stay together, and keep on running this race.
30:06
SPEAKER_5: At the end of the day, we're going to meet.
30:10
SPEAKER_5: We're going to see God.
30:13
SPEAKER_5: God's already going to work.
30:15
SPEAKER_5: We already know He's going to work.
30:18
SPEAKER_5: We already know He's going to bring these people to -- and in these high places,
30:30
SPEAKER_5: right back down again.
30:33
SPEAKER_5: All we got to do is keep our eyes focused on what God comes to tell us.
30:39
SPEAKER_5: And then, and I told my family down there, I'd be praying for them down there.
30:47
SPEAKER_5: I'll see the strategy.
30:50
SPEAKER_5: And we have to understand that, that, that the word is true.
31:02
SPEAKER_5: And what we got to do is trust God, believe in him, and his word.
31:10
SPEAKER_1: All right.
31:10
SPEAKER_5: And he will bring it all the way out.
31:13
SPEAKER_1: All right, Reverend Phillips.
31:14
SPEAKER_1: Well, thank you so much.
31:15
SPEAKER_1: All right.
31:17
SPEAKER_1: Thank you so much for encouraging.
31:19
SPEAKER_5: Thank you very much.
31:21
SPEAKER_1: All right.
31:22
SPEAKER_1: Keep me posted.
31:27
SPEAKER_1: All right.
31:27
SPEAKER_1: We certainly will.
31:30
SPEAKER_1: We certainly will.
31:31
SPEAKER_5: God bless you.
31:32
SPEAKER_1: God bless you.
31:35
SPEAKER_1: Pastor Greene,
31:35
SPEAKER_1: we have to go to our break,
31:37
SPEAKER_1: but folks,
31:37
SPEAKER_1: you know,
31:38
SPEAKER_1: there are a lot of folks that,
31:39
SPEAKER_1: you know, are wondering, where's God in this situation?
31:43
SPEAKER_1: And we have to allow God to minister through man,
31:46
SPEAKER_1: to minister to another man, to let them know that God is still there.
31:53
SPEAKER_1: And it's through us that hopefully they will see that we can encourage them.
32:00
SPEAKER_1: While they may not see God in their situation,
32:03
SPEAKER_1: they can still see God working in their situation through us.
32:08
SPEAKER_1: Let's go ahead and go to our break, our last break of the hour.
32:10
SPEAKER_1: If you'd like to be part of the conversation, you can call into the radio station.
32:15
SPEAKER_1: That phone number is 317-480-1310.
32:18
SPEAKER_1: Once again, 317-480-1310.
32:22
SPEAKER_1: You're listening to the Concerned Clergy Radio Show on Praise AM 1310,
32:25
SPEAKER_1: 95.1 FM, Indy's Inspiration Station.
32:38
SPEAKER_1: So here's what we're talking about tonight.
32:41
SPEAKER_1: So Gary, Indiana, Northwest Indiana has just been highlighted.
32:45
SPEAKER_1: And when you look at one of the biggest films over the summer in "Michael"
32:48
SPEAKER_1: and what you're hearing all about, the greatness that came out of Gary.
32:52
SPEAKER_1: We have the Chicago Bears that are actually,
32:55
SPEAKER_1: you know, in negotiations with moving into Northwest Indiana.
33:00
SPEAKER_1: And we also have, when you look at a bunch of the construction projects -- look at data centers.
33:07
SPEAKER_1: Northwest Indiana is one of the highlights when it comes to what's going on.
33:12
SPEAKER_1: So we know there's a lot of money flowing in Northwest Indiana.
33:16
SPEAKER_1: We realize that there's some great tradition, history in Northwest Indiana.
33:24
SPEAKER_1: Well, how come we can't take care of the people in Northwest Indiana?
33:28
SPEAKER_1: You got all that money.
33:29
SPEAKER_1: You have all this great economic development going on, but you can't take care of the people.
33:36
SPEAKER_1: The question is, do you really deserve the economic development?
33:41
SPEAKER_1: If you can't take care of the people that are there now,
33:44
SPEAKER_1: how are you going to take care of the people that you want to come?
33:47
SPEAKER_1: We want to invite you to be part of our conversation on tonight,
33:50
SPEAKER_1: the Concerned Clergy Radio Show.
33:51
SPEAKER_1: Feel free to call in at 317-480-1310.
33:54
SPEAKER_1: We've got El Amin that's on the line.
33:56
SPEAKER_1: Good evening.
33:59
SPEAKER_6: Good evening, Reverend Alexander.
34:01
SPEAKER_6: Good evening.
34:01
SPEAKER_6: All right.
34:03
SPEAKER_6: I have a different kind of take on it.
34:06
SPEAKER_1: Okay.
34:08
SPEAKER_6: Even though my wife is, you know, she's from GI.
34:11
SPEAKER_6: All right.
34:11
SPEAKER_1: Be careful what you say now.
34:12
SPEAKER_1: Be careful.
34:13
SPEAKER_6: Okay.
34:14
SPEAKER_6: Okay.
34:15
SPEAKER_6: Now, I think if you can't use your credit cards because you don't have electricity,
34:22
SPEAKER_6: you can't go to the ATM to have electricity.
34:27
SPEAKER_6: Food, everything's -- all the food is bad.
34:30
SPEAKER_6: I mean, what would happen if something like that became permanent?
34:38
SPEAKER_6: What would happen if something like that was more widespread?
34:43
SPEAKER_6: And also, is it also true that the only thing with power up there are the AI data centers?
34:54
SPEAKER_1: Keep my comments offline.
34:56
SPEAKER_1: Have a good evening, Reverend.
34:58
SPEAKER_1: Praise the Lord, and thanks for calling.
35:00
SPEAKER_1: I mean, those are, you know...
35:04
SPEAKER_1: Pastor Greene,
35:04
SPEAKER_1: he mentioned if it's permanent, two weeks can be permanent for a whole lot of folks.
35:10
SPEAKER_1: Not being able to get groceries,
35:12
SPEAKER_1: not being able to get money,
35:14
SPEAKER_1: not being able to do simple things where you need power.
35:17
SPEAKER_1: I mean, two weeks can be permanent for a whole lot of people, Pastor Greene.
35:22
SPEAKER_2: Well, the outcome is, I mean,
35:24
SPEAKER_2: you got,
35:25
SPEAKER_2: I think I kind of hear what El Amin
35:27
SPEAKER_2: is trying to say, but you got to think about healthcare, et cetera.
35:31
SPEAKER_2: And if it's not so widespread that everybody's playing that same game,
35:36
SPEAKER_2: then it's going to be detrimental to a neighborhood or to a community
35:41
SPEAKER_2: because everybody ain't playing that game.
35:44
SPEAKER_2: So other people are benefiting from technology and access, et cetera.
35:51
SPEAKER_2: And so it doesn't work if it's just you live in Gary or Northwest Indiana and
35:57
SPEAKER_2: the rest of Indiana and the rest of the country is playing by a whole different set
36:02
SPEAKER_2: of rules.
36:03
SPEAKER_2: It won't.
36:04
SPEAKER_2: That would be the detriment.
36:06
SPEAKER_2: And, you know,
36:07
SPEAKER_2: you pointed out,
36:09
SPEAKER_2: are they concerned about the people or is they concerned about gentrification?
36:13
SPEAKER_2: They don't care about the people that's there
36:15
SPEAKER_2: because they're anticipating some more people coming in, some other people leaving.
36:20
SPEAKER_2: You never know.
36:21
SPEAKER_2: Not that I believe in a conspiracy,
36:23
SPEAKER_2: but I do look at these things and say,
36:26
SPEAKER_2: that's a mighty long time,
36:28
SPEAKER_2: given that we have a track record in this country of other agencies coming in
36:35
SPEAKER_2: that went through tornadoes and hurricanes and went down 14 days
36:39
SPEAKER_2: for -- Reverend Alexander --
36:41
SPEAKER_2: because the resources came in and restored the power.
36:45
SPEAKER_2: They at least had power.
36:47
SPEAKER_2: It may not have got their community all the way back,
36:48
SPEAKER_2: but they had power because whatever was necessary happened.
36:52
SPEAKER_2: And so we have to ask,
36:54
SPEAKER_2: what happened here in Gary,
36:55
SPEAKER_2: Indiana,
36:56
SPEAKER_2: that just happens to be, again,
36:58
SPEAKER_2: I don't believe a coincidence, a predominantly Black neighborhood or community.
37:05
SPEAKER_2: That has to be concerning.
37:08
SPEAKER_2: We can't overlook that.
37:09
SPEAKER_2: We can't downplay that.
37:11
SPEAKER_2: That's just real.
37:12
SPEAKER_2: Because it's not like NIPSCO doesn't have a reputation for taking advantage of Black
37:20
SPEAKER_2: and brown neighborhoods.
37:21
SPEAKER_2: Because they do.
37:23
SPEAKER_2: That's part of their history as well.
37:25
SPEAKER_2: So when you look at all that,
37:28
SPEAKER_2: when they show you who you are, you got to believe them and say, hold it now.
37:31
SPEAKER_2: And so some of this was intentional.
37:33
SPEAKER_2: Some of this was we weren't in a rush to make sure we get this restored in Gary.
37:41
SPEAKER_2: And that ought to have some consequences to it, Reverend Alexander.
37:45
SPEAKER_2: And then the key now is we as a community,
37:50
SPEAKER_2: those that don't live in Gary, obviously the ones in Gary are going to be concerned.
37:55
SPEAKER_2: We have to be just as concerned and not assume that all because electricity came on,
38:02
SPEAKER_2: everything is well.
38:03
SPEAKER_2: Because it's not.
38:04
SPEAKER_2: Because of the damage that was done, the destruction you're talking about, for two weeks.
38:11
SPEAKER_2: That's a lot of damage.
38:12
SPEAKER_2: I mean, even the simple things of, they got to throw this stuff away.
38:17
SPEAKER_2: Who's getting it to the dump?
38:19
SPEAKER_2: How does it get there?
38:21
SPEAKER_2: Because people are having to throw away furniture and everything else.
38:25
SPEAKER_1: Everything.
38:26
SPEAKER_2: They're setting stuff out on the streets.
38:30
SPEAKER_2: How is that getting to the dump?
38:31
SPEAKER_2: Somebody got to pay for that.
38:34
SPEAKER_2: You got to have some dollars behind that.
38:38
SPEAKER_2: Just to say, let me get rid of the debris, the trash, the stuff people had to throw away.
38:44
SPEAKER_2: That takes money.
38:45
SPEAKER_2: Because you want to put it in the landfill for free.
38:48
SPEAKER_2: So that takes money.
38:50
SPEAKER_2: And who's going to own -- getting this stuff up and out of there so work can even take place.
38:56
SPEAKER_2: There's so many,
38:58
SPEAKER_2: we may call it small,
39:00
SPEAKER_2: but practical things that require money that somebody needs a solution around.
39:05
SPEAKER_1: Well, I also think when we're talking about money or even just a call out,
39:12
SPEAKER_1: I didn't hear,
39:13
SPEAKER_1: once again,
39:13
SPEAKER_1: we didn't hear anything about this until really it was almost a weekend,
39:17
SPEAKER_1: almost two weeks later.
39:19
SPEAKER_1: Well, I want to challenge,
39:20
SPEAKER_1: you know,
39:20
SPEAKER_1: all of those, you know, you reporters, you news stations, you know, you got budgets.
39:26
SPEAKER_1: Here's what I want to challenge you to do.
39:28
SPEAKER_1: Go to Broad Ripple, go to Hamilton County, go to Gary.
39:33
SPEAKER_1: Give us a comparison and a contrast for the cleanup efforts.
39:38
SPEAKER_1: Show us, okay, the trees that were down in Broad Ripple, are they still down?
39:43
SPEAKER_1: Show us,
39:44
SPEAKER_1: you know,
39:44
SPEAKER_1: when you look in Hamilton County,
39:46
SPEAKER_1: the trees, the bridges and everything, are they still down?
39:49
SPEAKER_1: And then give us a comparison and contrast to what we're seeing in Gary.
39:54
SPEAKER_1: Do some really investigative reporting,
39:58
SPEAKER_1: highlight the differences,
40:00
SPEAKER_1: show us the differences,
40:01
SPEAKER_1: and then let us hold NIPSCO accountable or whoever it is that needs
40:06
SPEAKER_1: to be accountable.
40:07
SPEAKER_1: Because I honestly, I don't want to put it all on NIPSCO.
40:11
SPEAKER_1: While I do believe they definitely hold, you know, a big portion of the blame.
40:16
SPEAKER_1: However,
40:18
SPEAKER_1: I believe they felt, well,
40:20
SPEAKER_1: we can get away with this because there's some folks that will allow us to get away
40:25
SPEAKER_1: with this.
40:25
SPEAKER_1: Matter of fact, Mr.
40:26
SPEAKER_1: President,
40:27
SPEAKER_1: one thing we do know right now as a matter of fact,
40:33
SPEAKER_1: because we're talking about FEMA funds as well could be a part of this.
40:36
SPEAKER_1: We know as a matter of fact,
40:38
SPEAKER_1: your president,
40:39
SPEAKER_1: your president will withhold disaster relief funds from cities,
40:46
SPEAKER_1: from states that did not vote for him.
40:50
SPEAKER_1: He's already done that.
40:51
SPEAKER_1: He said,
40:52
SPEAKER_1: if you voted primarily for Kamala Harris,
40:54
SPEAKER_1: he said, we're not going to give you disaster relief funds.
40:58
SPEAKER_1: Is this part of that?
41:00
SPEAKER_1: Because we know we're in a predominantly Republican state.
41:04
SPEAKER_1: Are they punishing Gary?
41:06
SPEAKER_1: What's going on?
41:07
SPEAKER_1: Is it because that they are predominantly Black?
41:10
SPEAKER_1: What's going on?
41:12
SPEAKER_1: So I don't want to just,
41:13
SPEAKER_1: you know,
41:14
SPEAKER_1: Braun is going to be able to come now and be able to be the savior and say,
41:18
SPEAKER_1: we're going to investigate NIPSCO.
41:20
SPEAKER_1: Well, I got a feeling that NIPSCO probably had some conversations with Governor Braun's office.
41:26
SPEAKER_1: And they probably,
41:26
SPEAKER_1: you know, had some conversations before he came out and spoke out against them.
41:31
SPEAKER_1: So the question is, what were those conversations?
41:35
SPEAKER_1: Because this could have been really addressed in the back room earlier.
41:41
SPEAKER_1: Say, here, we're going to give you funds.
41:42
SPEAKER_1: We're not going to wait on FEMA.
41:44
SPEAKER_1: As you've been stating, Mr. President, we ain't going to wait on FEMA.
41:48
SPEAKER_1: We're going to get you the resources you need.
41:51
SPEAKER_2: Well, that's why we have to stay engaged.
41:54
SPEAKER_2: We can't assume that Gary's getting resources.
41:58
SPEAKER_2: We can't look up and see a news report where Carmel's got helicopters and
42:03
SPEAKER_2: a whole bunch of stuff happening, that that same type of effort is going on in Gary.
42:09
SPEAKER_2: We can't assume that because I truly believe it's going to be different.
42:13
SPEAKER_2: Everything has been different thus far.
42:15
SPEAKER_2: So we would be very naive to accept that, oh, well, now it's going to be different.
42:20
SPEAKER_2: It's going to be the same and they're going to get money to Gary and it ain't going
42:25
SPEAKER_2: to work that way.
42:25
SPEAKER_2: I mean, we already know, though, it's going to be a FEMA application process.
42:31
SPEAKER_2: What does that look like when you're in Hamilton County, when you're down here?
42:38
SPEAKER_2: In the Broad Ripple area, well, you have internet access and your stuff has been restored.
42:46
SPEAKER_2: We don't know that for Gary.
42:49
SPEAKER_2: We hope that they get electricity on.
42:52
SPEAKER_2: I don't mean that network stuff came back on.
42:56
SPEAKER_2: That's a whole separate issue.
42:57
SPEAKER_2: How are they going to do all this?
42:59
SPEAKER_2: You know,
42:59
SPEAKER_2: if they make a phone call,
43:01
SPEAKER_2: they're going to probably be on the line waiting a mighty long time given
43:05
SPEAKER_2: the massiveness of this.
43:08
SPEAKER_2: So how does this work?
43:11
SPEAKER_2: And will dollars flow, as you said, to Gary, Indiana?
43:17
SPEAKER_2: When we look at what gets spent,
43:19
SPEAKER_2: and this is where all of us have to play a part,
43:22
SPEAKER_2: we got to ask those questions a month from now, two months from now, three months.
43:27
SPEAKER_2: Where did the money go and who got the money?
43:31
SPEAKER_2: And if Gary or Lake County is at the bottom, we've got to raise questions.
43:37
SPEAKER_2: We've got to say something.
43:38
SPEAKER_2: We can't walk around with a sock on our mouth.
43:40
SPEAKER_2: We can't do that because that means there are people up there literally suffering
43:45
SPEAKER_2: and dying because we won't raise the question.
43:51
SPEAKER_2: We have to raise the questions.
43:53
SPEAKER_2: We have to push.
43:54
SPEAKER_2: It has to be somewhat equitable.
43:57
SPEAKER_2: The thing you're asking for, okay, reporter, go do that because it's going to be different.
44:02
SPEAKER_2: Because in Gary, I mean,
44:03
SPEAKER_2: the part you do see from national news, I mean,
44:05
SPEAKER_2: trees are still down,
44:06
SPEAKER_2: they're still in yards,
44:07
SPEAKER_2: they're still in people's houses, and all that stuff is going on.
44:11
SPEAKER_2: I mean, especially in Marion County, man,
44:15
SPEAKER_2: they got roll-offs there,
44:16
SPEAKER_2: so people are able to put their stuff in a dumpster,
44:20
SPEAKER_2: if you will, that's going to be taken off.
44:23
SPEAKER_2: Well, they don't have that in Gary.
44:25
SPEAKER_2: You don't see that there.
44:27
SPEAKER_2: Why not?
44:28
SPEAKER_2: Because those people got to do something with this stuff.
44:31
SPEAKER_2: You don't want stuff that's sitting out on the streets.
44:35
SPEAKER_2: That's not good.
44:36
SPEAKER_2: That's not healthy.
44:36
SPEAKER_2: That's the wrong look.
44:39
SPEAKER_2: Well, then, you know, you've got to come up with a solution.
44:43
SPEAKER_2: Those are just small things that leadership has to do that we have to keep pushing
44:48
SPEAKER_2: and not make assumptions.
44:51
SPEAKER_1: And here's,
44:51
SPEAKER_1: you know,
44:52
SPEAKER_1: Pastor, why I certainly want to challenge, you know, those that are in media spaces.
44:58
SPEAKER_1: Because now we have all these influencers,
45:00
SPEAKER_1: all these people that you're trying to get likes, you're trying to get clicks.
45:04
SPEAKER_1: We have all these news organizations.
45:07
SPEAKER_1: Because some of the information that I shared earlier, it's not even coming from local news.
45:12
SPEAKER_1: It's not even coming from state news.
45:15
SPEAKER_1: Because it's here out of Des Moines, Iowa,
45:19
SPEAKER_1: in which we're told that this is one of the worst events when it comes
45:24
SPEAKER_1: to recovery efforts, you know, ever, you know, it's coming out of Des Moines, Iowa.
45:30
SPEAKER_1: How come it is we're not hearing from the people here?
45:33
SPEAKER_1: Y'all should be sounding the alarm.
45:36
SPEAKER_1: We should be sounding the alarm.
45:38
SPEAKER_1: You know,
45:39
SPEAKER_1: it's here,
45:39
SPEAKER_1: Des Moines, Iowa,
45:40
SPEAKER_1: you know,
45:41
SPEAKER_1: in which they're reporting from KCCI News that they're sharing, well, wait a minute.
45:48
SPEAKER_1: Here it is that Gary has a population of 67,000 people with a median income
45:55
SPEAKER_1: of $38,700 in median income.
45:59
SPEAKER_1: Why is it they're sharing?
46:00
SPEAKER_1: Here's the poverty level of Gary.
46:04
SPEAKER_1: Here's the makeup in which Gary is primarily African-American.
46:08
SPEAKER_1: Here he is when we look at --
46:14
SPEAKER_1: they said the outage in Gary is among the 15th longest in recent history.
46:23
SPEAKER_1: All the money that's up in Gary.
46:25
SPEAKER_1: Why is that?
46:26
SPEAKER_1: I mean, we've got so much going on.
46:28
SPEAKER_1: El Amin talked about, you know, the data centers.
46:30
SPEAKER_1: No, data centers didn't go offline.
46:33
SPEAKER_1: They kept on working.
46:35
SPEAKER_1: They kept on doing what they were doing.
46:37
SPEAKER_1: All the construction continued.
46:40
SPEAKER_1: There was no disruption because if there was, we would have heard.
46:49
SPEAKER_2: Well, yeah, I mean, that's building generators for backup.
46:54
SPEAKER_2: I mean, again, it comes down to let's not exploit poverty.
47:02
SPEAKER_2: Let's not just be like,
47:03
SPEAKER_2: okay, if you're rich, you're going to be able to survive and do all these things.
47:08
SPEAKER_2: And if you're not, you're going to have to suffer.
47:12
SPEAKER_2: I mean, it's just egregious to be in 2026 in that mold and in that mindset.
47:22
SPEAKER_2: And I mean, that's what I hate.
47:23
SPEAKER_2: I mean, I still want grandma who was living in her house that they've had for 50 years.
47:32
SPEAKER_2: Should not be breathing mold and we'll be out of here shortly because
47:39
SPEAKER_2: of just Mickey-mousing around.
47:41
SPEAKER_2: Somebody decided we don't really, we're going to be slow-rolling, fixing the power.
47:46
SPEAKER_2: That's unnecessary.
47:47
SPEAKER_2: I mean,
47:48
SPEAKER_2: because I guarantee you there are going to be health issues that could point back
47:52
SPEAKER_2: to this crisis right here.
47:55
SPEAKER_2: Absolutely.
47:56
SPEAKER_2: And, you know, people will not connect the dots.
48:01
SPEAKER_2: But I guarantee you, Reverend Alexander, there will be health-related issues.
48:06
SPEAKER_2: People will die.
48:07
SPEAKER_2: People will have even more severe health issues that cost them money
48:13
SPEAKER_2: that they can't afford as related to this crisis right here.
48:21
SPEAKER_2: Because what do you do?
48:22
SPEAKER_2: I mean, people's rent's coming.
48:26
SPEAKER_2: They miss work for two weeks.
48:27
SPEAKER_2: A lot of people have their own service job.
48:30
SPEAKER_2: What happens?
48:30
SPEAKER_2: Do they get kicked out now?
48:33
SPEAKER_2: Because they couldn't work for two weeks, 14 days?
48:36
SPEAKER_2: So then now they don't have the same amount of money to pay the rent.
48:39
SPEAKER_2: Are they going to be now evicted?
48:41
SPEAKER_1: What's going to happen?
48:42
SPEAKER_1: And who's going to fix those properties?
48:44
SPEAKER_1: Who's going to fix those properties too?
48:46
SPEAKER_1: Because a lot of them are damaged too.
48:48
SPEAKER_1: We got to go now because our engineer says we got to get out of here.
48:53
SPEAKER_1: But I want to leave you with one last thing.
48:57
SPEAKER_1: The median...
48:59
SPEAKER_1: Household income in Hamilton County, as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau, is $121,000.
49:08
SPEAKER_1: The median income from Gary is just over $38,000.
49:14
SPEAKER_1: That should tell you enough.
49:16
SPEAKER_1: We got to go.
49:17
SPEAKER_1: We thank everyone that's contributed to our program on tonight, but we'll see you on next week.
49:23
SPEAKER_1: Be blessed.