Latest / TMI / Election 2024: TMI LIVE FROM DETROIT
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: I'm Tamika d Mallory and it.
- 0:01Speaker 2: Shit Boy my son in general.
- 0:03Speaker 1: We are your host of TMI.
- 0:05Speaker 2: Tamika and my Son's Information, Truth, Motivation and.
- 0:09Speaker 1: Inspiration, Name New Energy. What's going on? My Son Lennon?
- 0:17Speaker 2: What's going on? Tamika May How are you?
- 0:19Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm good. You know, it seems like the
- 0:22Speaker 1: last few weeks we've really been live and in the action.
- 0:27Speaker 1: TMI has been on the road. So many things happening,
- 0:31Speaker 1: you know, so many people are outside right now, folks
- 0:34Speaker 1: who are either engaged in voter engagement work or people
- 0:39Speaker 1: who are doing just the normal day to day work
- 0:42Speaker 1: organizing and communities. There's a lot that's happening. And you know,
- 0:47Speaker 1: I think, I really know that you share the sentiments
- 0:52Speaker 1: that it is good to know that our audience that
- 0:56Speaker 1: they're sticking with us through the transition of you know,
- 1:00Speaker 1: us being more outside. You know, in this time, I
- 1:05Speaker 1: guess we always are outside, but it seemed like as
- 1:10Speaker 1: we dip zag across this country and meet with more people,
- 1:16Speaker 1: it feels more logical, if you will, to really take
- 1:22Speaker 1: the voices of the people from the community rather than
- 1:27Speaker 1: having to you know, excuse me, rather than having to
- 1:32Speaker 1: you know, sort of invite folks to come to us.
- 1:35Speaker 1: We're going out to where our people are and bringing
- 1:38Speaker 1: their voices and making it one with TMI, and so
- 1:41Speaker 1: I'm excited about it. I now think I need a
- 1:44Speaker 1: microphone or some type of device connected to my phone
- 1:49Speaker 1: because I see other people doing that and I was
- 1:51Speaker 1: thinking today I need to get some type of device
- 1:54Speaker 1: so I could be like, you know, hooked up and
- 1:59Speaker 1: profect to know what my outside recordings.
- 2:03Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree. I think I think we actually have.
- 2:05Speaker 2: They gave us those little mics. I really see a
- 2:08Speaker 2: matter of fact, I have it in my house. I
- 2:10Speaker 2: just never hooked it up to my phone. But I
- 2:12Speaker 2: guess since we are traveling and doing a lot of
- 2:16Speaker 2: improm too podcasts to where you know, we're on the
- 2:19Speaker 2: moment and we're meeting with different individuals and we might
- 2:23Speaker 2: need to interview like today, you know, it was one
- 2:25Speaker 2: of those days where we should have just interviewed so
- 2:28Speaker 2: many different people. But you know, the discussion that we
- 2:31Speaker 2: had today was amazing. Shout out to everybody you know
- 2:35Speaker 2: in Detroit. We're in Detroit right now and we had
- 2:39Speaker 2: a dope panel. I don't want to mention everybody but
- 2:42Speaker 2: I don't want to mention anybody and mention and forget anybody.
- 2:47Speaker 2: So I'm just saying it was a great panel. A
- 2:50Speaker 2: lot of different names. If you can think of something,
- 2:52Speaker 2: I could probably feel. Most of the.
- 2:54Speaker 1: Men here, Yellow Paine, Yeah, uh, Freeway Killer, Mike, push
- 3:07Speaker 1: your T, push your T, Joe tak It, Edie, Joe take.
- 3:12Speaker 1: Our moderators were wayno and also Britney Pacnet and Pastor
- 3:18Speaker 1: McBride who's coming up right now as a guest for
- 3:22Speaker 1: this evening, for this show. And uh, there was some
- 3:27Speaker 1: other folk. Of course, our brother Philip Agnew.
- 3:32Speaker 2: And this a mm hmm Black Sam brother. Another I
- 3:40Speaker 2: forgot his cousin that was deal with him, so I
- 3:43Speaker 2: forgot his name. Also, I swear Visit was there. That's
- 3:51Speaker 2: my that's my guy. You know what I'm saying. It
- 3:53Speaker 2: was And it was a it was a very dope conversation,
- 3:57Speaker 2: just getting everybody's perspective and just hearing you know, where
- 4:02Speaker 2: we are in the world right now, not just polities,
- 4:05Speaker 2: but just in general. Like it was very empowering talking
- 4:09Speaker 2: about financial security, talking about entrepreneurship and how we should
- 4:15Speaker 2: be utilizing our resources and building with each other and
- 4:19Speaker 2: creating generational wealth and community wealth together. So that was
- 4:24Speaker 2: very very impactful, you know, and I think those conversations
- 4:29Speaker 2: are so much needed around this country because you get
- 4:32Speaker 2: to hear no, you know, we always hear that black
- 4:36Speaker 2: are in a monolith, and you got to see that tonight.
- 4:40Speaker 2: But it was brilliant because everyone had a way of
- 4:44Speaker 2: expressing themselves that was brilliant. But it was just different
- 4:47Speaker 2: perspectives and it was different point of views. There were
- 4:50Speaker 2: a couple of contentious moments. You know, you were involved
- 4:53Speaker 2: with one of those, but even in those moments, it
- 4:58Speaker 2: was love and respect. It was just people wanted you
- 5:00Speaker 2: to understand what their perspective was.
- 5:02Speaker 1: So why do you want to say they want me
- 5:05Speaker 1: to understand. They wanted the everybody to know.
- 5:09Speaker 2: I just said, just you. I said no, I said,
- 5:11Speaker 2: people wanted they wanted to be understood. It I was
- 5:15Speaker 2: some about us in general. I said, there was a
- 5:16Speaker 2: contentions moment that involved you because there was a pushback,
- 5:21Speaker 2: and you know, but it was still in love and
- 5:24Speaker 2: respect and everybody just wanted their position to be understood.
- 5:28Speaker 1: Yeah. No, I mean, I think, you know, first of all,
- 5:31Speaker 1: just to put this in a proper context, for those
- 5:34Speaker 1: who are listening in the discussion today. The panel that
- 5:40Speaker 1: we did, and not just a panel. We also did
- 5:42Speaker 1: a lot of community canvass and registering voters, knocking on doors,
- 5:47Speaker 1: reminding people of the upcoming election, as well as as
- 5:54Speaker 1: well as just you know, being in space with our
- 5:57Speaker 1: people and shout out to our brother Mark and being
- 6:01Speaker 1: who organized us, being who organized us all to be together.
- 6:06Speaker 1: There is a new campaign that we were a part
- 6:09Speaker 1: of launching today and that is vote or Else. You
- 6:14Speaker 1: know that every election season there are slogans that people
- 6:20Speaker 1: organized under to help make the point that it's important
- 6:25Speaker 1: for us to exercise our constitutional right to vote as
- 6:29Speaker 1: well as our ability to have our voices heard. That
- 6:36Speaker 1: people will know we are interested in these issues, we
- 6:38Speaker 1: are paying attention, we are organized, and our communities will
- 6:43Speaker 1: not be left behind or discounted and discredited and disengaged
- 6:49Speaker 1: and so voter else. I think the or else part
- 6:53Speaker 1: is so loaded. And I remember back in twenty fifteen,
- 6:58Speaker 1: I believe when we worked on Justice or Else with
- 7:02Speaker 1: the Nation of Islam and many other organizations from around
- 7:08Speaker 1: the country, Quinya Nasaha and so many that gathered for
- 7:14Speaker 1: the Justice or Else gathering where many people hundreds of
- 7:20Speaker 1: thousands of people came out to say and declare that
- 7:25Speaker 1: for us, it's justice or else. And you know, shortly
- 7:28Speaker 1: after that we developed until Freedom, which I think is
- 7:32Speaker 1: in line with that same ideology, that same mindset that
- 7:37Speaker 1: it is until freedom, that it is justice for our communities,
- 7:41Speaker 1: that it is that we vote. It's the the or
- 7:44Speaker 1: else for us is too dangerous and therefore we know
- 7:50Speaker 1: that the vulnerabilities of any community are preyed upon, and
- 7:56Speaker 1: we are going to show that we're not of just
- 7:59Speaker 1: a vulnerable people, but but we're and empowered people. And
- 8:01Speaker 1: so that's what voter els Vote or else was about today.
- 8:07Speaker 1: All of those incredible names, people who again come from
- 8:11Speaker 1: different perspectives. Every single one of us has a different
- 8:15Speaker 1: point of view. Even when we agree, we still have
- 8:18Speaker 1: a different point of view or different ways that we
- 8:21Speaker 1: see approaching our concerns or the issues we care about.
- 8:26Speaker 1: And you know, some folks are a little bit further
- 8:29Speaker 1: away from that than others. But I think it was
- 8:32Speaker 1: a very very powerful conversation.
- 8:36Speaker 2: Oh, it was definitely powerful, and it should be replicated
- 8:41Speaker 2: around this country, you know, especially in this time when
- 8:44Speaker 2: we're talking about voting and for the engagement and what
- 8:49Speaker 2: the communities want, you know, I think we should replicate
- 8:51Speaker 2: that all around this country. Go to different cities and states,
- 8:55Speaker 2: you know, get powerful voices from different cities and states
- 8:58Speaker 2: and have those conversations and let our people be able
- 9:01Speaker 2: to disseminate the information because I know it's a lot
- 9:05Speaker 2: of stuff that a lot of people just don't know,
- 9:07Speaker 2: and and we've force fed misinformation on purpose, you know,
- 9:13Speaker 2: I always hear I'm constantly hearing people from our community's
- 9:18Speaker 2: parrot you know, false information, and then when you correct them,
- 9:22Speaker 2: they believe what's on the internet. So you know, I
- 9:25Speaker 2: think it's very informative and it's just needed at this time.
- 9:30Speaker 2: So shout out to everybody who was on that panel,
- 9:33Speaker 2: and hopefully we'll continue to do it.
- 9:37Speaker 1: Yeah, I hope so too. I hope that you know
- 9:40Speaker 1: that the resources are there and that the interest is there.
- 9:46Speaker 1: I think the interest is there, but you need resources,
- 9:48Speaker 1: and people be like, well, what do you need resources for?
- 9:52Speaker 1: Why can't you just go out and show up of it?
- 9:55Speaker 1: But how do you get there? How do you get
- 9:57Speaker 1: to Detroit from New York? It costs, it's a plane
- 9:59Speaker 1: to where do you sleep? You need a hotel? There
- 10:03Speaker 1: are other people who among those who were named, they
- 10:07Speaker 1: need a place, you know, to stay and to be
- 10:12Speaker 1: transported to get to a different city. I mean, this
- 10:15Speaker 1: is it's a process. People need at least one meal
- 10:19Speaker 1: while they're in another city. There the venues have to
- 10:22Speaker 1: be paid for. We were in a Union house today,
- 10:26Speaker 1: which is a convention center. It is very, very difficult
- 10:31Speaker 1: to cover all of the expenses in a union operated facility.
- 10:38Speaker 1: I support unions and I certainly support us being in
- 10:43Speaker 1: those spaces, but it costs money, and the union every
- 10:47Speaker 1: minute over the time, it costs more money. And so
- 10:52Speaker 1: you know, we are absolutely you know, in a place
- 10:57Speaker 1: where we need to be able to have the resource.
- 11:00Speaker 1: It's necessary. And it's funny because so many people are like, oh,
- 11:02Speaker 1: you know, y'all are being paid. You paid by the
- 11:05Speaker 1: Democratic Party, you paid by this. I would love to
- 11:08Speaker 1: know where the money is because I haven't. I haven't
- 11:10Speaker 1: seen it. I don't know.
- 11:12Speaker 2: Also, man, listen, they tell me that all the time,
- 11:15Speaker 2: and I said, I wish because if they could pay
- 11:17Speaker 2: me just for telling the truth, that's free money for me.
- 11:20Speaker 2: So you know, I don't know where it is that
- 11:23Speaker 2: you know, I've been accused of it for years and
- 11:26Speaker 2: still haven't got a dime to do it. But listen,
- 11:29Speaker 2: if somebody was to pay me to tell the truth,
- 11:31Speaker 2: please contact me. Let me know how I get to
- 11:35Speaker 2: do it. Easy job I ever.
- 11:37Speaker 1: Had, oh one of the organizers for the voter Else
- 11:44Speaker 1: day of activation that happened today. Again, it wasn't just
- 11:47Speaker 1: a panel. The panel was the culmination. It was sort
- 11:50Speaker 1: of the end of a full day beginning at ten
- 11:54Speaker 1: o'clock in the morning on the street to Detroit from
- 11:56Speaker 1: the East Side and the West Side. Group of individuals,
- 12:01Speaker 1: all those that we named earlier. We're out knocking on doors,
- 12:06Speaker 1: talking to community, registering voters, engaging people, and going again
- 12:11Speaker 1: to where the people are, not expecting them to show
- 12:15Speaker 1: up at a convention center or a event space, but
- 12:20Speaker 1: really going out and taking the message that we have
- 12:24Speaker 1: out into the community. And I think it's important that
- 12:27Speaker 1: people are able to see that. They know they watch
- 12:31Speaker 1: us online and they see how we you know, they state,
- 12:36Speaker 1: they understand the positions that we take on a variety
- 12:40Speaker 1: of issues. They know that we don't all agree and
- 12:44Speaker 1: we don't all support the same things. I think it's
- 12:47Speaker 1: pretty powerful for them to see us walking through communities
- 12:51Speaker 1: together today knocking on doors and saying that listen, we
- 12:55Speaker 1: may not agree, but our communities are stronger together. And
- 12:59Speaker 1: you know, one thing that we know for sure is
- 13:02Speaker 1: that we have to be empowered and make sure that
- 13:04Speaker 1: our votes are counted. And so one of those who
- 13:09Speaker 1: was involved in the initial organizing, along with Marvin Ban
- 13:14Speaker 1: of today's efforts is our brother, dear friend and and
- 13:19Speaker 1: really our mentor in many ways past to Mike McBride
- 13:23Speaker 1: of so many he has so many titles.
- 13:26Speaker 3: I'm a Jamaican man. I'm a Jamaican man all the
- 13:30Speaker 3: way from the Bay Area. I got fired down. But
- 13:32Speaker 3: what's happening to y'all? Live free?
- 13:36Speaker 1: The Black Church pack. You know, you're involved in so
- 13:39Speaker 1: many different things, and I think Voter Else. My son
- 13:42Speaker 1: and I were speaking before you got on about how
- 13:46Speaker 1: powerful today was. You know, all of the information that
- 13:51Speaker 1: we took in, I learned things, and I also, you know,
- 13:54Speaker 1: hope that my contributions or our contributions were helpful as well.
- 13:58Speaker 1: And so those are the spaces we on to Bill
- 14:00Speaker 1: wa why don't he tell us pastor Mike, uh, you know,
- 14:04Speaker 1: how how did this come about? The voter else idea?
- 14:10Speaker 1: And all the concept and how did it, you know,
- 14:13Speaker 1: move to Detroit specifically.
- 14:15Speaker 3: Well, first of all, thank y'all for rocking with us
- 14:18Speaker 3: out on this. Couldn't have did it without you all,
- 14:20Speaker 3: and obviously my son Jamika, Angelo, Linda, the antil Freedom
- 14:26Speaker 3: family and our family for life. And so when we
- 14:29Speaker 3: all rise rise together. We ain't following yet, but it's
- 14:33Speaker 3: it's getting getting tough out here. But let me just say,
- 14:36Speaker 3: you know, voter Else was a wonderful collaboration between my
- 14:41Speaker 3: guy and Marvin Bing. I've known Marvin for non it's
- 14:45Speaker 3: going on over ten years. We met in Ferguson, actually
- 14:48Speaker 3: both us getting tear gas done on the sideline. He
- 14:51Speaker 3: worked for MS Internationals. We both started pulling grandmothers in
- 14:55Speaker 3: freet people out of the street and we've been rocking
- 14:58Speaker 3: with each other ever since. We just said, I know,
- 15:02Speaker 3: we just started talking a little bit about several months
- 15:05Speaker 3: ago about the gaps that we had seen in the
- 15:09Speaker 3: electoral conversation, in the electoral engagement, in all the ways
- 15:15Speaker 3: in which particularly black men, a culture, street organizations, people
- 15:20Speaker 3: in the hood at the neighborhood weren't involved, weren't really
- 15:24Speaker 3: kind of animated or what they were asking for nobody
- 15:28Speaker 3: was really creative in space for them to have that conversation,
- 15:32Speaker 3: and so Margaret said, man, let's call out my guy
- 15:35Speaker 3: way On. You put Wayna on the thing, and literally
- 15:38Speaker 3: or Else was Wayno's idea. Wayna was like, what would
- 15:42Speaker 3: it look like if we help people to understand that
- 15:45Speaker 3: what's at stake in this election is the or Else?
- 15:48Speaker 3: And he was like, man, I would be hot. I
- 15:49Speaker 3: don't we just call this the or Else project? And
- 15:52Speaker 3: we put voter front of it to be clear, and
- 15:54Speaker 3: it just kind of started to really emerge from there.
- 15:57Speaker 3: The first idea was to do a record. It's some
- 16:00Speaker 3: artists and we know and all they're new. I signed
- 16:03Speaker 3: a whole bunch of people who you know, got the
- 16:05Speaker 3: name in the hip hop industry being Single, Dango, Smoke,
- 16:11Speaker 3: There's all these different people, and started to put an
- 16:14Speaker 3: EP together and then from there it evolved to a
- 16:19Speaker 3: kind of town hall great debate format. Part of what
- 16:21Speaker 3: we said is because they had already been in Detroit
- 16:24Speaker 3: working with Hill Harper, let's just take that energy from
- 16:27Speaker 3: the Hill Harper campaign and build on it. And that's
- 16:29Speaker 3: what culminated today. It was a wonderful day of just
- 16:32Speaker 3: conversation of activation, of showing up in the neighborhood where
- 16:36Speaker 3: nobody else shows up. And it was amazing first and
- 16:40Speaker 3: hopefully of many efforts to activate the people who were
- 16:42Speaker 3: getting left behind and out of the conversation.
- 16:45Speaker 2: Yeah, it definitely wasn't amazing, you know, just being in
- 16:48Speaker 2: the room with a lot of my favorite artists, you know,
- 16:51Speaker 2: artists that I've looked up to, artists I've been friends
- 16:54Speaker 2: with for years, and some that I just met, you know,
- 16:58Speaker 2: and just and just hearing different perspectives. You know, also
- 17:01Speaker 2: talk about the fact that it's a whole music project, right,
- 17:05Speaker 2: the whole music project where it's going to be talking about,
- 17:09Speaker 2: you know, the things that come from our community, the
- 17:12Speaker 2: topics that are important in our community. So I'm definitely
- 17:15Speaker 2: looking forward to that. But I also want to ask you,
- 17:19Speaker 2: you know, as you go throughout these different states and
- 17:24Speaker 2: you're having conversations, you know, what do you think is
- 17:29Speaker 2: one of the most important things to black men in
- 17:33Speaker 2: this time when we're talking about election, because we're talking
- 17:35Speaker 2: about voter ass that isn't really being focused on by
- 17:39Speaker 2: either campaign.
- 17:41Speaker 3: Well, I think that too often the conversation about what
- 17:45Speaker 3: black people need, particularly black men need, is approach from
- 17:48Speaker 3: a solely definitive framework, or at least a defensive framework.
- 17:54Speaker 3: We need to stop shooting one another, we need to
- 17:57Speaker 3: stop getting killed by the police, we need to stop masking,
- 18:00Speaker 3: and we definitely need all those things. But part of
- 18:03Speaker 3: what I think came out tonight is this idea that
- 18:06Speaker 3: we have aspirations as well. We are not and should
- 18:11Speaker 3: not be defined, both inter personally, personally by our communities
- 18:17Speaker 3: or even by our political conditions, by the worst thing
- 18:20Speaker 3: that's happened to us, that's happening to us, or the
- 18:24Speaker 3: worst thing we've done. And so part of what I
- 18:27Speaker 3: think we are hearing from a lot of black men
- 18:31Speaker 3: is an economic message. They want to understand, how can
- 18:36Speaker 3: this administration to come, how can they help prepare an
- 18:41Speaker 3: economic roadmap into not just the middle class, but into
- 18:47Speaker 3: a multi generational sustainability, prosperity and self determination. And so
- 18:53Speaker 3: I think that both political parties are all political parties
- 18:57Speaker 3: for that matter, whether you're the mayor the dogcatcher, prosecutors, governors,
- 19:02Speaker 3: presidential candidates, senatorial candidates, I think people are asking more
- 19:06Speaker 3: about an economic message because keep it real, it sucks
- 19:11Speaker 3: being broke. You know, it is not a good feeling.
- 19:14Speaker 3: When you don't feel like you can sustain yourself, provide
- 19:18Speaker 3: for your family, desperation sets in, frustration sets in, and
- 19:22Speaker 3: the real talk there's nothing the society hates more than
- 19:29Speaker 3: a poor black man that they feel like they have to.
- 19:32Speaker 2: Take care of.
- 19:33Speaker 3: They'd rather kill us or put us in jail to
- 19:37Speaker 3: move us out of society. And I think brothers are
- 19:40Speaker 3: starting to say to themselves, you know what I'm saying,
- 19:42Speaker 3: I'm not just going to keep allowing my life to
- 19:44Speaker 3: be defined by my worst condition. I want a president
- 19:48Speaker 3: who has some aspirational offerings to put out in the universe,
- 19:53Speaker 3: and then we will do what we need to do
- 19:55Speaker 3: to go and achieve that and organize to secure that.
- 19:58Speaker 3: I think that's what we're hearing. Definitely, brothers don't want
- 20:02Speaker 3: to be shot dead in the street. The brothers also
- 20:04Speaker 3: want to be able to kind of make a life
- 20:07Speaker 3: of dignity and prosperity. And I think that's the message
- 20:10Speaker 3: we're hearing all across the country as we move around.
- 20:13Speaker 1: Well, let me just say that I as a black woman,
- 20:17Speaker 1: would love for us for our black men to be
- 20:22Speaker 1: in the position to be able to take care of us.
- 20:25Speaker 1: I know the ministers who are listening tonight understand what
- 20:32Speaker 1: I'm talking about. Are you with me? SISIs listen. We
- 20:37Speaker 1: want the brothers to be focused on the bag, the economics.
- 20:41Speaker 1: It's nothing wrong with that. As you said, it's not
- 20:45Speaker 1: just that. I mean, obviously we know black men don't
- 20:48Speaker 1: want to be shot and killed, abused, degraded, and all
- 20:54Speaker 1: the other things that happen to our men and to
- 20:57Speaker 1: our communities in general. I think that it is important
- 21:02Speaker 1: to note that, you know, the more economically stable we are,
- 21:07Speaker 1: the more we can continue to build, the more we
- 21:10Speaker 1: can look at police in our own communities or community
- 21:13Speaker 1: safety and what that looks like rather than just policing.
- 21:18Speaker 1: You know, we can look at funding our own organizations
- 21:22Speaker 1: that do grassroots work. We can look at mental health
- 21:25Speaker 1: support for our loved ones who are in need, taking
- 21:30Speaker 1: care of our elders, being able to look at models
- 21:33Speaker 1: like you know, one that the Black Panthers started some
- 21:36Speaker 1: time ago and that it's still happening even today, which
- 21:40Speaker 1: is to feed our people, to have services where people
- 21:43Speaker 1: can pick up groceries or a hot meal in the morning.
- 21:46Speaker 1: I mean, these are things that we want to see
- 21:49Speaker 1: happen in our community. So economic development. And why I
- 21:53Speaker 1: am so excited that so many black men are paying
- 21:57Speaker 1: attention to that issue passing my and my son is
- 22:01Speaker 1: because I understand that there are benefits that stretch beyond
- 22:06Speaker 1: just having having money in your pocket or having nice things.
- 22:10Speaker 1: That there's also a community empowerment that we're looking to
- 22:15Speaker 1: establish as a result of being able to uh, you know,
- 22:20Speaker 1: succeed and to have economic freedom. So I'm all about it.
- 22:24Speaker 1: And I also like to be showered with nice gifts
- 22:29Speaker 1: and taking out to nice dinners. So I need all
- 22:32Speaker 1: the black men around me and all my relationships to
- 22:35Speaker 1: have have the money they need. But anyway, that's meaning
- 22:38Speaker 1: out there.
- 22:41Speaker 3: I hope you know, we we take it around from
- 22:43Speaker 3: time to time. Yeah, yeah, I.
- 22:53Speaker 1: Do mean that I want when I want to and
- 22:55Speaker 1: my son, he tries to to make sure his mama
- 22:58Speaker 1: is good, but when I go to visit with him,
- 23:01Speaker 1: I want to be taken care of. I want my
- 23:03Speaker 1: father to continue to slip that little one hundred and
- 23:06Speaker 1: fifty dollars in my hand that I didn't ask for.
- 23:09Speaker 1: I want all those things because you know, I feel
- 23:13Speaker 1: that you know, I deserve it. I think that you know,
- 23:16Speaker 1: our communities are stronger when our men are stronger. I
- 23:19Speaker 1: think that, you know, there is an unfortunate narrative that
- 23:24Speaker 1: has developed somewhere along the way that we don't need
- 23:27Speaker 1: our men, and that has to be dispelled. It is
- 23:31Speaker 1: not true. I believe that our men, when our men
- 23:35Speaker 1: are strong, our communities are healthy and support. I certainly
- 23:40Speaker 1: support that. I certainly support the aspirations of black men
- 23:44Speaker 1: because I believe that for almost every black man that
- 23:49Speaker 1: I am in relationship with, again, family members, friends, they
- 23:53Speaker 1: are somewhere somehow taking care of supporting, standing next to
- 23:58Speaker 1: behind in front of a black woman and their black
- 24:02Speaker 1: children and other black community members. And so I know,
- 24:06Speaker 1: I believe that every black man that I know wants
- 24:09Speaker 1: to see me healthy, and you know, my family and
- 24:13Speaker 1: their own offspring and people around them, the extended family.
- 24:16Speaker 1: So I'm all about it. But here's what I want
- 24:19Speaker 1: to talk about on the panel. I also, I think
- 24:22Speaker 1: Brittney Pagnett asked, you know, what do I think about
- 24:27Speaker 1: this election as it relates to this whole idea of
- 24:32Speaker 1: economic empowerment? And I was talking about pastor mic and
- 24:35Speaker 1: love for you to speak to this how you know
- 24:38Speaker 1: there are many and I didn't get into it today.
- 24:41Speaker 1: But I have had, unfortunately some conflict with some of
- 24:46Speaker 1: our brothers who will say to me, you know, y'all
- 24:50Speaker 1: are talking about voting, and you know you're looking at
- 24:54Speaker 1: who's running for office, but we need to be focused
- 24:58Speaker 1: more on economic empowerment, investing and what have you. And
- 25:03Speaker 1: they say that politics is sort of a waste of time.
- 25:06Speaker 1: It's just the trick, it's just the game. It's a
- 25:08Speaker 1: waste of time. I've been saying though, that when you
- 25:12Speaker 1: listen to the key points coming out of the two
- 25:15Speaker 1: individuals running for president, you hear them literally talking about
- 25:22Speaker 1: things that will impact your ability to have successful businesses.
- 25:28Speaker 1: So when they start talking about tax cuts or just.
- 25:31Speaker 2: Life in general, well successful life in general.
- 25:35Speaker 1: Right, But when you start hearing them talking about tax
- 25:38Speaker 1: cuts and tax codes and tariffs and all of the
- 25:42Speaker 1: things that we've heard over the last several weeks, I'm
- 25:45Speaker 1: hoping that our people understand that if you want to
- 25:49Speaker 1: go out and start you know whatever, cleaner's business, or
- 25:53Speaker 1: as was said today, that we need to make sure
- 25:55Speaker 1: about killer Mike and pushing t we're talking about making
- 25:58Speaker 1: sure we start business, is that that can also support
- 26:03Speaker 1: or work in conjunction with government because of the contracts
- 26:06Speaker 1: and what have you. But if the if the tax
- 26:09Speaker 1: codes do not meet the needs of particular communities, or
- 26:15Speaker 1: if it is harmful to us, how does that impact
- 26:18Speaker 1: the businesses, the very businesses we're talking about growing past
- 26:21Speaker 1: the night.
- 26:22Speaker 3: Yeah, I think that it's really important to remember a
- 26:24Speaker 3: couple of things. Number One, we live in a capitalistic society.
- 26:28Speaker 3: And it's not just a kind of soft capitalism. It's
- 26:32Speaker 3: a hard capitalism, which just means that the economic kind
- 26:38Speaker 3: of engine of this country is extremely exploitated. It prays
- 26:45Speaker 3: on the poor, it prais on the middle class, and
- 26:50Speaker 3: it rewards the rich, the wealthy, and the elite. And
- 26:53Speaker 3: so these are the conditions in which we have two
- 26:57Speaker 3: presidential candidates in the Democratics and Republican Party. Obviously we
- 27:01Speaker 3: have Jill Stein and we have Cornell West, who are
- 27:04Speaker 3: third or fourth party candidates that likely have no path
- 27:08Speaker 3: to the presidency to get the electoral college. So we
- 27:11Speaker 3: have two primary options in an arch harsh capitalistic economy.
- 27:18Speaker 3: We have one who is a self proclaimed billionaire who
- 27:21Speaker 3: has demonstrated he is open for business to the highest bidder.
- 27:27Speaker 3: A billionaire autocratch across the world who are and is
- 27:32Speaker 3: willing to make decisions to enrich himself at the expense
- 27:36Speaker 3: of everyone in this country, literally everyone, right, And then
- 27:40Speaker 3: you have someone who is a Kamma Harris, obviously from
- 27:44Speaker 3: the Bay Area, one of the most kind of progressive
- 27:47Speaker 3: parts of the country, who comes from a very similar
- 27:50Speaker 3: background as many of us, and has figured out a
- 27:52Speaker 3: way to navigate herself to become the first black woman
- 27:56Speaker 3: to be nominated to the presidency. I think that what
- 28:00Speaker 3: we have to do is listen not only to their plans,
- 28:03Speaker 3: but also just appreciate their backgrounds and their priorities and
- 28:08Speaker 3: understand that one of these individuals is going to be
- 28:12Speaker 3: the next political leader that we have to now either
- 28:17Speaker 3: negotiate with or organize to push towards the things we
- 28:21Speaker 3: care about. Just from a simple like which one would
- 28:25Speaker 3: I rather go up against for the next four years
- 28:28Speaker 3: to extract as many games as I want. I would
- 28:31Speaker 3: rather go up against someone who I believe has similar
- 28:36Speaker 3: values as us, even within a harsh political capitalistic economy
- 28:40Speaker 3: versus are, rather than someone who has the opposite values
- 28:44Speaker 3: in US and is in build and perhaps even participating
- 28:47Speaker 3: in making this harsh economic capitalistic society even worse for US.
- 28:52Speaker 3: So I think their players are extension not just of
- 28:56Speaker 3: their values, but it's also an extension of the proximity
- 29:00Speaker 3: by which we can at least relate. And when we
- 29:04Speaker 3: build the power necessary through organizing, organizing money, organizing people,
- 29:10Speaker 3: organizing ideas, that's the way I decline building power. We
- 29:13Speaker 3: build that power. I believe that, prayerfully, the next president
- 29:16Speaker 3: of the United States will become a Harris. She will
- 29:19Speaker 3: be responsive, she will be movable. Will she give us
- 29:22Speaker 3: everything we want? The political conditions have to be so
- 29:26Speaker 3: that she is able to, or the political conditions have
- 29:30Speaker 3: to be so where she is forced to. And so
- 29:35Speaker 3: I do believe the policies around not just taxes, but
- 29:40Speaker 3: the policies around right now. And this is something I
- 29:43Speaker 3: believe that they're doing a terrible job talking about. But
- 29:46Speaker 3: right now, one of the things that Kamala Harris as
- 29:49Speaker 3: the vice president, certainly with Joe Biden as the president,
- 29:51Speaker 3: have pushed us called the Justice for the Initiatives. I
- 29:54Speaker 3: want everyone who's listening to this podcast to google the
- 29:57Speaker 3: Justice for the Initiatives. It is a initiative started by
- 30:01Speaker 3: the Biden administration related to the Infrastructure Bill, the bill
- 30:06Speaker 3: that was a part of his Build Back Better Plan,
- 30:09Speaker 3: the only part that got passed through the Congress. Over
- 30:13Speaker 3: the next five years, they have to spend four billion
- 30:17Speaker 3: dollars with a B on infrastructure, roads, building, energy, free houses,
- 30:25Speaker 3: charging stations, all kinds of things that all of us
- 30:27Speaker 3: need in our communities. And listen to this. Forty percent
- 30:31Speaker 3: of the four billion dollars that have to be spent
- 30:33Speaker 3: in the next five years must be spent in neighborhoods
- 30:38Speaker 3: where forty percent of the population are under resource and
- 30:43Speaker 3: or fort of positively spent with black businesses or directly
- 30:47Speaker 3: impacted people. This is not black business directly impacted. So
- 30:51Speaker 3: let me just say in summary, there is an economic
- 30:55Speaker 3: model of economic policy that's in place. A lot of
- 30:58Speaker 3: us don't know about it. Even I know about it
- 31:01Speaker 3: because somebody came and told me about it from our
- 31:03Speaker 3: philanthropic partners, and we've been building and trying to get
- 31:07Speaker 3: ourselves in position to spread this throughout the hood and
- 31:10Speaker 3: the neighborhood and our organizing network. All I'm saying is,
- 31:13Speaker 3: these are the opportunities that she and this administration she
- 31:16Speaker 3: will create can put in place for us. But at
- 31:19Speaker 3: the end of the day, it still will require our
- 31:21Speaker 3: self determination, our elbow, grease of hard work, all of
- 31:24Speaker 3: the stuff we talked about on the panel. We're not
- 31:26Speaker 3: waiting for someone to do something for us. We're just
- 31:29Speaker 3: asking you to make an open door, an easy pathway,
- 31:33Speaker 3: and then we'll go do it ourselves. I think Kama
- 31:35Speaker 3: Harris is willing to do that. I know for sure
- 31:37Speaker 3: Donald Trump is not. And that is why none of
- 31:40Speaker 3: us should be giving Donald Trump a serious consideration. If
- 31:44Speaker 3: we care about the future of black people, and.
- 31:48Speaker 2: You said, you said a lot that we need to
- 31:52Speaker 2: kind of unpack, you know, we definitely shouldn't. And I've
- 31:56Speaker 2: been very vocal and always saying that I would kamal
- 31:59Speaker 2: of high and you know, there's pretty much nothing that
- 32:03Speaker 2: can change that. But when I'm having these conversations, you know,
- 32:08Speaker 2: with people who are impacted in marginalized communities, with people
- 32:13Speaker 2: who just know day to day and they just don't
- 32:16Speaker 2: feel represented in the Democratic Party. We don't, especially black men,
- 32:21Speaker 2: but there are a lot of black men just don't
- 32:23Speaker 2: see this picture of what they call masculinity and I
- 32:28Speaker 2: and I would go as far to say that it's
- 32:32Speaker 2: creating some level of resentment. And I'm watching the divide,
- 32:36Speaker 2: especially online. You know, I'm watching the divide and I'm
- 32:39Speaker 2: having conversations with black men and they feel like this,
- 32:43Speaker 2: there's this conspiracy to raise us this and that, and
- 32:47Speaker 2: I would like to speak like, are you hearing that,
- 32:50Speaker 2: and what do you think that you know the party
- 32:53Speaker 2: needs to do to address that?
- 32:55Speaker 3: Well, of course I'm hearing it. I mean, I think
- 32:58Speaker 3: it's not a new conversation, right, I think that black man.
- 33:02Speaker 3: And let me say like this, not all black men
- 33:05Speaker 3: are invited to the seat to the table, or not
- 33:09Speaker 3: all black men are extended a seat at mini table.
- 33:13Speaker 2: Right.
- 33:14Speaker 3: You have to be a respectable black man most of
- 33:16Speaker 3: the time, unless you're a rapper who's super wealthy and
- 33:22Speaker 3: has lots of kind of cultural cachet to be invited
- 33:25Speaker 3: into places that are elite, right, that are our decision
- 33:29Speaker 3: making space. And so absolutely, I think that if you're
- 33:32Speaker 3: a preacher, you can get into a lot of rooms.
- 33:35Speaker 3: If you're a business person, you can get into a
- 33:36Speaker 3: lot of rooms as a black man. If you are
- 33:39Speaker 3: a wealthy black man, you need a lawyer. But if
- 33:42Speaker 3: you are someone who has a certain energy, a certain
- 33:45Speaker 3: tenure in her voice, a certain look, a certain smell,
- 33:48Speaker 3: a certain experience, and you don't have to polish that
- 33:52Speaker 3: aggression that you know what, we would say, the strength
- 33:56Speaker 3: that we had to tap into to make it through
- 33:59Speaker 3: the griminess of our daily existence. That energy is very
- 34:02Speaker 3: difficult for a lot of people to handle in a room.
- 34:06Speaker 3: And so I do think that the Democratic Party and
- 34:09Speaker 3: many spaces in the United States of America have put
- 34:12Speaker 3: so many of our men, particularly black men, in like
- 34:16Speaker 3: very toxic predatory environments, and then punish us when we
- 34:21Speaker 3: have to bring all of that energy with us into
- 34:25Speaker 3: a meeting that once we leave the meeting, we have
- 34:28Speaker 3: to go back into a very toxic predatory environment. So yes,
- 34:32Speaker 3: the Democratic Party, as well as many other institutions in
- 34:35Speaker 3: this country, including the church, pluding, our schools, including lots
- 34:39Speaker 3: of businesses, are not always able to create the conditions
- 34:44Speaker 3: where black men from a certain kind of experience, a
- 34:47Speaker 3: certain kind of texture, a certain kind of energy, are welcome.
- 34:51Speaker 3: Having said that, our job, people like you, Angelo, myself,
- 34:57Speaker 3: Phil Agne Killer, Mike, all of but Articul and the
- 35:00Speaker 3: brothers on the State, our job is to keep fighting
- 35:03Speaker 3: for our community and not throw in the town. And
- 35:05Speaker 3: I will say to all of us online who are
- 35:08Speaker 3: in a comments that's talking about while you know we
- 35:11Speaker 3: can't be involved in white we can participate. I just
- 35:14Speaker 3: want to remind you that at every era of black
- 35:17Speaker 3: people in business in this country, some white man was
- 35:20Speaker 3: trying to keep you out of a room. And every
- 35:23Speaker 3: generation of black people, particularly black men, up until now,
- 35:27Speaker 3: have fought for our people against the kind of odds.
- 35:32Speaker 3: And so we should name this contradiction. We should name
- 35:35Speaker 3: this fallacy, We should elevate it. We should push whoever
- 35:39Speaker 3: is guilty of that kind of behavior towards our people
- 35:44Speaker 3: to not only cease and desist right but to maybe
- 35:47Speaker 3: build our own tables like we did today and demonstrate
- 35:50Speaker 3: that not only is there something we can offer, but
- 35:54Speaker 3: we will cost you politically if you do not like
- 35:58Speaker 3: create a space for our voices, the totality of the
- 36:03Speaker 3: black experience to be heard. And so the Democratic Party
- 36:05Speaker 3: has a problem. The Republican Party certainly has no plan
- 36:10Speaker 3: to do this except for a very symbolic what do
- 36:13Speaker 3: you say, the kind of they know how to pray,
- 36:17Speaker 3: you know, they're how to manipulate, they know how to
- 36:20Speaker 3: kind of do performative justice. We want more to performance,
- 36:23Speaker 3: We want more to symbolism. We want concrete material conditions,
- 36:27Speaker 3: shifting policy decisions inclusion, and I think that's part of
- 36:32Speaker 3: the big work that we're trying to build with the
- 36:34Speaker 3: voter else and all the other movement work that we're collecting,
- 36:37Speaker 3: we're trying to do and this is why this conversation
- 36:40Speaker 3: is being raised, because we have to raise it no
- 36:41Speaker 3: one else with.
- 36:43Speaker 1: Absolutely well, my hat goes off to both of you brothers,
- 36:48Speaker 1: you know, because you all are courageous, you are saying
- 36:52Speaker 1: the things that need to be said. I think so
- 36:55Speaker 1: many of our people acknowledge your work, acknowledge both of
- 37:01Speaker 1: your efforts, knowing that you are come together, you know,
- 37:05Speaker 1: looking at you pastor mic who while you are extremely bold, courageous,
- 37:11Speaker 1: progressive and and when needed even confrontational, but at the
- 37:19Speaker 1: same time, there are many who do look at you
- 37:22Speaker 1: as more respectable of us, of you know, of the
- 37:26Speaker 1: many black men that you are around, uh, and the
- 37:30Speaker 1: fact that you have linked up with the Marvin Beings,
- 37:34Speaker 1: the Mysons and the Angelo Pintos and others and are
- 37:40Speaker 1: standing sort of in the middle of that, in the
- 37:43Speaker 1: midst of those types of folks, the beanie Seguels and
- 37:46Speaker 1: the whole thing. And then going back to people who
- 37:51Speaker 1: have power and proximity to power, and not just going
- 37:55Speaker 1: to get access to yourself, but to open the door
- 37:58Speaker 1: for these others to be able to share their experiences,
- 38:03Speaker 1: their knowledge, their expertise. You know, I think that it
- 38:07Speaker 1: is so important for people to understand that what we
- 38:11Speaker 1: might not have attended the top schools, you know, we
- 38:16Speaker 1: may not have been born with the silver spoon and
- 38:19Speaker 1: lived in the best communities and all of that, but
- 38:22Speaker 1: we have an expertise that is based upon the experiences
- 38:28Speaker 1: that we've gone through the people. We know the fact
- 38:32Speaker 1: that many of those who do have access and proximity
- 38:36Speaker 1: to power are folks who would never spend time in
- 38:40Speaker 1: the middle of the day walking through communities like the
- 38:44Speaker 1: ones that we were in today, where we are all comfortable.
- 38:47Speaker 1: It is comfortable for us to be this. It's not
- 38:50Speaker 1: like no one standing around worried, nervous. You know, we
- 38:54Speaker 1: were standing and having conversations, having meetings, you know, right
- 38:59Speaker 1: there in the middle of the street. You know, comfortable
- 39:02Speaker 1: in our communities. That gives us a level of expertise
- 39:05Speaker 1: and we will not be devalued. No one will tell
- 39:08Speaker 1: us that some white consultant or some person who went
- 39:13Speaker 1: to school and studied urban communities knows more than a
- 39:17Speaker 1: Mason who has who comes from the community, is still
- 39:21Speaker 1: in the community and has also suffered the unfortunate collateral
- 39:26Speaker 1: consequences of being in a community, growing up in poverty,
- 39:32Speaker 1: and dealing with all the things that you know you've
- 39:35Speaker 1: dealt with my son. So, as a Black woman, I
- 39:37Speaker 1: just want to say to both of you, kings, that
- 39:40Speaker 1: I sit back and I look at y'all and I
- 39:43Speaker 1: feel like we are in still in good hands. My
- 39:46Speaker 1: father was the first man that I knew I was
- 39:50Speaker 1: in good hands. But now that I look at the
- 39:52Speaker 1: two of you, I know that the torture has been
- 39:55Speaker 1: passed along and you all are keeping that flame going
- 39:59Speaker 1: of protecting black women, protecting our families, protecting our communities.
- 40:04Speaker 1: And I say this last thing that you know, one
- 40:09Speaker 1: of the issues that concerns me is that a lot
- 40:12Speaker 1: of black women, especially as we and not just Black
- 40:15Speaker 1: women but women in general, are really fighting for our
- 40:19Speaker 1: right to bodily autonomy, to having the right to choose.
- 40:24Speaker 1: It is important to us that we see our brothers
- 40:27Speaker 1: stand side by side and stand in solidarity with us
- 40:31Speaker 1: and not say, well, these folks over here are offering
- 40:35Speaker 1: us some type of you know, trickonometry if you will,
- 40:39Speaker 1: of a possible financial reward for voting for this guy
- 40:46Speaker 1: who I won't name, and then but agree with or
- 40:52Speaker 1: and or turn the blind eye to women and our
- 40:55Speaker 1: rights being taken away from us. At the same time,
- 41:00Speaker 1: we can't do that. We have to push to ensure
- 41:02Speaker 1: that all the things that we want to see in
- 41:05Speaker 1: our communities are done. It's going to take a law.
- 41:08Speaker 1: It's not gonna be just this particular election that will
- 41:13Speaker 1: accomplish that. Nonetheless, we're moving the ball forward. We cannot
- 41:18Speaker 1: go back. And I'm I'm definitely a supporter of Kamala Harris,
- 41:22Speaker 1: but I'm a supporter enough to say that a part
- 41:26Speaker 1: of support is also to hold people accountable and the
- 41:29Speaker 1: telling the truth. And so hopefully we can accomplish all
- 41:33Speaker 1: those things at once that I get the right and
- 41:35Speaker 1: my granddaughter gets the right to choose what she and
- 41:40Speaker 1: her doctor think is best for her care, and at
- 41:45Speaker 1: the same time have a path towards financial freedom. So
- 41:49Speaker 1: I appreciate you passing, Mike, thank you for being with
- 41:52Speaker 1: us today, and thank you so much for bringing us
- 41:54Speaker 1: all together in Detroit, Michigan. It was truly an event
- 41:59Speaker 1: and a day that must be replicated in places around
- 42:02Speaker 1: the nation.
- 42:03Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 42:04Speaker 3: Yeah, and we plan to do that. And I encourage
- 42:07Speaker 3: all of you that are listening, you know, to remember
- 42:10Speaker 3: that the power always lies with us and our ability
- 42:13Speaker 3: to organize. We were not a people that is asking
- 42:17Speaker 3: for a handout. We already worked for free. It's called slavery, right,
- 42:21Speaker 3: So we we did our free labor. Now we want
- 42:24Speaker 3: what is deserved and what we have already put in.
- 42:27Speaker 3: And I do think part of what we did today
- 42:31Speaker 3: was plant a seed in the ground that I hope
- 42:34Speaker 3: turns into a huge oak of righteousness, an oak of
- 42:37Speaker 3: justice where we can indeed keep gathering our people, which
- 42:41Speaker 3: is what black people have been doing for years. They've
- 42:43Speaker 3: been called hush Harbor's places where we can have our
- 42:46Speaker 3: own conversation on our own turns away from the gaze
- 42:49Speaker 3: of the slave master and the oppression. So you being
- 42:53Speaker 3: there to mecause obviously you've been there, my son, helping
- 42:55Speaker 3: us to keep sowing the seed. I hope that we
- 42:58Speaker 3: come to North Carolina something very similar. Let's hit the
- 43:02Speaker 3: rural side of North Carolina. I hope we do it.
- 43:04Speaker 3: In Georgia. Let's let's hit the spots where people are
- 43:07Speaker 3: not being engaged, you know, and let's keep doing it
- 43:11Speaker 3: on big scales and then let's do it on smaller skills.
- 43:13Speaker 3: My son says, I'm so powerful today you just say, hey,
- 43:16Speaker 3: you know what if we just came together like this,
- 43:19Speaker 3: five six, seven of us, even if we don't agree,
- 43:22Speaker 3: and just hash out our differences, but then leave with
- 43:25Speaker 3: the united praying and move forward. I think this is
- 43:27Speaker 3: what I hope we were able to model today. And
- 43:31Speaker 3: doing it with you guys, we always have a good time.
- 43:34Speaker 3: And not like working with people you like right to
- 43:37Speaker 3: do hard work, because the work is hard. I ain't
- 43:41Speaker 3: working nobody, I don't like. I'm just telling that right now.
- 43:43Speaker 3: Too old in times. So when you can work with
- 43:46Speaker 3: people you like and laugh and have jokes and cry
- 43:50Speaker 3: and listen to good music and you know, talk talk
- 43:53Speaker 3: talk shop, it's a blessing. I love y'all. I'm gonna
- 43:57Speaker 3: stop talking. I'm alone with the Black Preacher and I
- 43:59Speaker 3: sleep and time that It's been great.
- 44:02Speaker 1: All right.
- 44:04Speaker 2: Again, We appreciate you, man, because it is important the
- 44:08Speaker 2: work that you do on so many different fronts, you know,
- 44:12Speaker 2: being a black preacher like you said, and still taking
- 44:15Speaker 2: the time out to invest in community and build with
- 44:19Speaker 2: grassroots organizations and make sure that there's a connection between
- 44:24Speaker 2: the church and the state, right. And I love the
- 44:26Speaker 2: fact the way that you play that that position. You know,
- 44:31Speaker 2: you you bring so many different ideas and people together
- 44:35Speaker 2: and you've been doing it since I met you. So
- 44:37Speaker 2: I just want to say that we definitely appreciate you
- 44:40Speaker 2: and we need people like you, especially in these times.
- 44:43Speaker 2: So I know you tie it and we had you
- 44:47Speaker 2: up all night, way past your bedtime.
- 44:49Speaker 3: We definitely Hey, we'll do it again tomorrow night.
- 44:54Speaker 2: Right now? Safe?
- 45:00Speaker 1: Well, I think you know, today was a good day.
- 45:07Speaker 1: That was a great conversation. Love Pastor Mike so much,
- 45:11Speaker 1: you know, just a good, solid, all the way thorough individual.
- 45:17Speaker 1: Everybody that we talked to has said the same thing
- 45:20Speaker 1: so many times today. I had people say to me,
- 45:23Speaker 1: while you are blessed that Pastor Mike is your friend
- 45:31Speaker 1: and your supporter, and so it's been good. I mean,
- 45:34Speaker 1: all we can do is keep pushing, continue to do
- 45:37Speaker 1: our work, continue to do our part getting out there
- 45:41Speaker 1: in our communities. Is you know, I noticed that you
- 45:44Speaker 1: guys were having a pretty contentious conversation with a young
- 45:47Speaker 1: man today who didn't want to be registered and after
- 45:52Speaker 1: just you know a little bit of respect and building
- 45:56Speaker 1: and next thing you know, he had the clipboard and
- 45:58Speaker 1: he was registering. And now you know, with that type
- 46:01Speaker 1: of engagement, we had to go back. We've got to
- 46:04Speaker 1: knock on this door. We have to make sure that
- 46:07Speaker 1: he also has access to the voting polls and not
- 46:13Speaker 1: just registered, but that he actually goes to do his part.
- 46:16Speaker 1: So there's a lot of work to be done. I'm
- 46:19Speaker 1: here for it. I spent a week you know in
- 46:23Speaker 1: Paris and join myself and you know, living life with
- 46:27Speaker 1: my friends. But I said that when I got back,
- 46:29Speaker 1: I would get to running immediately to do this work
- 46:33Speaker 1: for the next less than fifty days. And I think
- 46:36Speaker 1: we got off to a great start today with Voter Else.
- 46:40Speaker 2: Definitely got up to a great start. Shout out to
- 46:42Speaker 2: Marven being shout out too Passive McBride for you know,
- 46:46Speaker 2: coming to the show, and just shout out to everyone
- 46:49Speaker 2: that was a part of this event. Like I said,
- 46:52Speaker 2: it was a lot of artists in which you know,
- 46:54Speaker 2: I'm fans of and friends of and some that I
- 46:57Speaker 2: just met today. But it was just one of those rules,
- 47:00Speaker 2: is one of those spaces that it was just powerful.
- 47:02Speaker 2: You know, even the off camera and the prior to
- 47:06Speaker 2: the conversation, just being in green rooms and just building
- 47:09Speaker 2: with brothers and you know, ideology and just talking about
- 47:13Speaker 2: the things that are need in our community and just
- 47:15Speaker 2: seeing us all come together. And I know, that's what
- 47:18Speaker 2: it looks like. That's what the beloved community looks like.
- 47:20Speaker 2: That's what we want America to look like. You know,
- 47:23Speaker 2: brothers in the building, inside of rooms, building with each other,
- 47:28Speaker 2: talking about how we create generational wealth, how do we
- 47:32Speaker 2: you know, create unity, How do we stay together in
- 47:34Speaker 2: these times and speak about what it is that is
- 47:38Speaker 2: directly impacting us and it's needed. So you know, once again,
- 47:43Speaker 2: I enjoyed the conversation. You know, I love what you
- 47:46Speaker 2: had to say. You know what I'm saying, Our sisters
- 47:48Speaker 2: had to say when you were talking and you and
- 47:50Speaker 2: your taker came in with very key you know, elements
- 47:55Speaker 2: into that conversation. You know, we we we're so much
- 47:58Speaker 2: better together and they know that, and the intentionally, intentionally
- 48:03Speaker 2: try to divide us. So I just want us to
- 48:06Speaker 2: be very strategic. I said that all the time. We
- 48:08Speaker 2: just have to be so much more strategic, and we
- 48:11Speaker 2: have to understand what the enemies. They've been doing the
- 48:14Speaker 2: same thing for generations. Is trying to keep us divided,
- 48:19Speaker 2: you know, and I just don't want us to fall
- 48:20Speaker 2: for that. So with no service, with no further ado,
- 48:24Speaker 2: we come to the end of another beautiful show. Shout
- 48:27Speaker 2: out to all of our followers and listeners who love us,
- 48:30Speaker 2: who make us the number one podcasts in the world.
- 48:33Speaker 2: Don't worry. We coming back full throttle with our visuals,
- 48:37Speaker 2: so I want you to be prepared for that. But
- 48:40Speaker 2: in the meantime, we want to say that we love
- 48:42Speaker 2: you and we're going to continue to be authentic. I'm
- 48:45Speaker 2: not gonna always be right, Tamika, the Mallories not gonna
- 48:48Speaker 2: always be wrong, but we will both always and I
- 48:50Speaker 2: mean always be authentic. Check out the video.
- 49:02Speaker 1: Version of t M every single Wednesday on Iwoman dot TV.
- 49:07Speaker 3: That's how