60 Years of Democracy

0:00 Welcome. I'm Eric Fleming, host of A Moment with Eric Fleming, the podcast of our time. I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast. If you like what you're hearing, then I need you to do a few things. First, I need subscribers. I'm on Patreon at patreon.com slash A Moment with Eric Fleming. Your subscription allows an independent podcaster like me the freedom to speak truth to power and to expand and improve the show. Second, leave a five-star review for the podcast on the streaming service you listen to it. That will help the podcast tremendously. Third, go to the website, momenteric.com. There you can subscribe to the podcast, leave reviews and comments, listen to past episodes, and even learn a little bit about your host.

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1:56 Hello, and welcome to another moment where Eric Fleming, I am your host, Eric Fleming. And today is special. This is a hot mic episode, first of all, so I always like to have those every now and then, just so I could have the time to just say what I want to say about certain things. But it's also special because this is my first episode being a 60-year-old. That's right. As this drops, my 60th birthday would have passed. And to be 60 years old as a black man in America is something that people should not take for granted.

2:45 But a lot of the people that I've admired in my life, I didn't get a chance to meet because they died young. Fred Hampton, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Maker Evers. Those guys didn't even get to be in their 40s. And here I am at 60. So it's a blessing. And it's a privilege and an honor. And, you know, a lot of my high school and college classmates, some have already started their 60th journey.

3:25 The rest of them are on their way. And I hope that all of them have fun, are as grateful, and that they're in good health to enjoy it. This is important. And we're also in a very unique time. And, you know, all my life I have been in the United States. I just did something on Lemonade. And, you know, I've been to 32 states in my life, including Alaska.

4:09 And, you know, most of them were business related in some way, shape or form, but a few of them, I got to be a tourist. And, you know, it's just this is a great country. Are there problems? Yes. Are there challenges? Most definitely. Are there some bad people out there? Yes. But the whole concept of this country, what we as black people have done to shape it and to move it forward, it's something to be proud of and it's something we're fighting to maintain.

4:53 And so that's something I want to continue to do. And so this episode, I'm going to get back to my old fighting ways and just riff or rant or whatever you want to call it, because I've got some things on my mind and the person who inspired me to do this is back in office. So, yeah, these first few days, the 10% of the first 100 days of this new administration has taken place. And, yeah, we got a lot to talk about. But before we do that, as always, it's time to have a moment of news with Grace G.

5:39 Music. Thanks, Eric, and happy birthday. An American Airlines passenger plane carrying 64 people and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter, manned by three soldiers, collided near Reagan National Airport with no survivors. Pete Hegseth was confirmed as U.S. Defense Secretary after a historic tie-breaking vote by Vice President J.D. Vance. Trump's immigration crackdown has led to thousands of arrests in several U.S. Cities, averaging 791 arrests daily since January 22. The U.S. avoided a trade war with Colombia after it agreed to accept deportees, averting threatened sanctions.

6:25 A federal judge blocked Trump's executive order limiting birthright citizenship, deeming it unconstitutional. Quaker groups sued to stop immigration raids in places of worship after Trump rescinded guidelines protecting these areas. A Trump administration policy pausing federal financial assistance was rescinded after a U.S. Judge temporarily halted implementation. The Trump administration plans to reduce the federal workforce by offering financial incentives for 2 million civilian workers to resign. Senate Republicans defended Trump's firing of inspectors general from multiple agencies, despite legal requirements for prior notification to Congress.

7:07 The Trump administration fired over a dozen Justice Department lawyers involved in criminal cases against him to strengthen control over the department. The U.S. Air Force will resume training with a video about the Tuskegee Airmen after ensuring compliance with Trump's DEI ban. The U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear a challenge to Mississippi's lifetime voting ban for felons. A transgender woman sued over Trump's executive order requiring her to be housed in a men's prison, citing constitutional violations And former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez was sentenced to 11 years in prison for bribery I am Grace Gee, and this has been a.

7:50 Music. All right. Thank you, Grace, for that moment of news. Hi, Eric. How are you? Happy birthday. Grace, Grace, you're here. Well, thank you for the birthday wishes. I greatly appreciate that. And I greatly appreciate you being live because I'm going to tell you something. I've had a couple of folks like saying, Eric, did you hire one of these? Are you doing the AI thing? I said, no, no, no. Grace is real. She's a real person. We've interacted and all that stuff. And so, and thank you for having me on. This is a real treat.

8:31 I really appreciate that. Well, you know, I was trying to figure out how we could make this happen. And since this is my birthday episode, even though I'm not going to be talking about a whole lot of happy things in my birthday. So I wanted to have a good moment. So I'm glad that you decided to do this. And, you know, and and I just wanted to say from the jump, I greatly appreciate your professionalism and the support that you've given, because a lot of times we as black folks, you know, we just do our thing and we we kind of let everybody be in their own space in their own orbit.

9:14 But it's very rare that you could have a professional relationship for somebody and then they're supportive of what you do. And so, you know, you know, and helping trying to raise money for me to go to Chicago last summer and just, you know, giving me advice. I mean, that's been invaluable because you've been doing this for a while. So I take that take that very seriously. So I thank you for that. Thank you. And I thank you. It's been wonderful working with you. I think it's been over a year now that I've been doing the newscast for the podcast. And it's been really wonderful. I mean, I have to say, you're amazing to work with.

9:56 There's that. And I really enjoy your podcast. And I really enjoy your passion for news and especially news that affects people of color, which is so important to have Black voices in the journalistic world. And so I thank you for your passion and your enthusiasm, because I know this is not easy. This is work. And you've dedicated so much of your time and personal resources. And that is so commendable. And I really feel that. And I'm so honored to be part of this. So tell me the truth. Now, when I first approached you with this, what was the first thought that kind of went to your mind? It was like, well, you know, I don't know. Or did you did you go into it like this should be interesting?

10:38 You mean this particular interview or working with the podcast? Working with the podcast. When we first met, I didn't know you. So I kind of just approached it as a professional thing. But I noticed that the news was really for us, by us. And for that reason, I was very into it. And as I got to know you and your mission and your purpose and your heart, I knew that this is something that I want to be a part of as long as you'll have me. Well, and just we just keep praying. And, you know, that's why I'd be trying to make these pitches for folks to subscribe and all this stuff so we can continue doing what we're doing. But as long as I'm able to, we're going to keep this going. So tell the audience a little bit about Grace G.

11:26 How long have you been doing this? And I mean, just broadcasting in general, is this something you've always wanted to do? Tell the audience a little bit about you. Well, I've been doing this for a minute, more than 20 years. I came up through the worlds of traditional broadcast news and television news, worked my way up from cable news to local news and eventually to the network level. But right now I'm basically focusing on voiceover and putting my talents out that way because I can do it from the comfort of my own home. And ever since the pandemic, I knew that I needed to live this life right now.

12:07 And my passion is to travel. And so I travel the world and do my voiceovers for this podcast and for some other clients. And I'm basically following my passion as you are. And it's been a beautiful thing so far, the transition of that. Well, it definitely shows in the way that you handled your business. And I think the listeners really appreciate, you know, how you how you bring the news, even though it's only a couple of minutes per episode. I think it's raised the quality of the show. You know, I mean, we got nominated again for another award. So, you know, it just seems like everything was, you know, just kept going on and on and stuff.

12:52 And hopefully that part of it will continue, too. So you mentioned that you travel a lot. And I understand that you're a black belt in karate. You got all this stuff going on. What was it when you decided to do just the voiceover work? Was it more of a self-care move? Was it more of a, you know, just going in a different direction with your talents? Why did you decide to do this as opposed to staying in the grind of network news? Everything you mentioned is part of it. But as you said, it's a grind.

13:33 And at that point, I had been doing it more than 20 years on a very high level as well on the network level. And as a Black woman in that space, it's not easy. It really isn't. And so I think at that point, I was experiencing a significant amount of burnout and the pandemic came along and it really brought us face to face with our mortality and to know that this life is for the living. And that's the primary reason I decided to embark on voiceover. And of course, a lot of the skills are transferable. I'm still talking on the mic and that's what I do best. That's what I went to school for. That's what all my experience is in. So I knew that I could do this. but voiceover allows me to do it remotely in my own space and in my own time.

14:18 And that is very healing for me. And of course it provides so much flexibility and to be in control of my own time and of myself, because being a voiceover artist is essentially having your own business and managing your own clients and delivering. And I like running my own business and I like showing out when I'm ready. And if I'm not, then I have that option as well. And to have that kind of agency over my own life as a Black woman in America in these times is amazing. Yeah. And, you know, we've had to go through a couple of journeys together where you needed that time. And, you know, and that's really cool that you could do that.

15:00 And of course, the quality of news broadcast goes down when I try to do it. But... Oh, no, don't say that. But, you know, but but look, we're all human and I understand that. So one of the things you kind of touched on when you were saying news for us by us, why is that important? You know, a lot of people are just like, well, the news is the news. But why do you think that our perspective is important in conveying news? Because we know us and we deliver it with that native knowledge and the sensitivity that it requires. And I saw that very clearly when I worked with the networks.

15:42 And I think on a network level, they recognize that as well because they will often put the Black reporters on the Black stories because there is a racial sensitivity there and a knowing that someone who doesn't participate in the culture simply won't have. And there's nuances and subtleties that other folks are just not going to get, you know, and also we know what's important to us. And and that and setting the agenda is critical. And that's what black journalists do. That's what you do. And that is so important. Well, you know, and I appreciate that. I'm not really a journalist. I don't think because, you know, I do interviews and all that.

16:25 But, I mean, I tell people up front that my thing is it's my show. It's my opinion. And, you know, it's like I try to base it on facts. But, you know, I don't have that rigid obligation to be non-unbiased, right? But how much of a challenge is it for you or anybody else in the profession to try to take your emotions out and just cover the story as is? And do you think that we've basically not succeeded in that over the last few years?

17:09 That's a good question. But first, I'd like to say you definitely are a journalist. You're a citizen journalist. And there are journalists who give their opinions all the time. They call them op-ed, and you do it very well. So I definitely would put you in the class of journalists for sure. But as far as the news is concerned, I'm sorry, Eric, I lost my train of thought. Tell me that last question again. So how hard is it to be unbiased? And are we, is it, is people, are journalists, as I defined it, kind of failing in that over the last few years or so? Well, as I mentioned, I think there are different types of journalists. And those who give their opinion, I think are still very valuable because as we mentioned before, the opinion that is native to Black people is so important to put out in the world and to make room for that voice.

18:02 But as a journalist myself, working for the networks, I was trained in a certain way. And it's probably the more old school kind of way because, you know, I have some experience on me. And the way I deliver news is to research the heck out of it, talk to all the players, get the sound bites and the right information and present it as factually and as neutrally as possible and let the public make their own decision. That is my style of journalist because that's the way I was raised in news. But I think in this day and age, there's room for so many voices. And as the news really niches down, as we're seeing all these podcasts and news outlets that exist purely on social media or online, we're getting more of the diverse voices out there.

18:51 And I think that is good and bad in that. Not all journalists are like us and fully vet the facts before they give their opinion. And that's something to be careful of and to know and take everything with a grain of salt. But by and large, I welcome all Black voices and all voices of color because I think they have value in the space so long as they pay attention to the facts because the facts are important. It's the foundation of what we do. Yeah. And I echo that welcome because, you know, we're not a monolithic people. So, you know, there are people to the left of me.

19:33 There are people definitely to the center and the right of me. But we all need to be heard because, you know, one of my one of my favorite people in the world was Charles Evers, Megard Evers' brother. And Charles, even though he was a big Robert F. Kennedy senior supporter, I mean, he he was there in California when when Robert got killed. And but he was a Republican up until the end when he died. And now he would support some of us that were Democrat, you know, that were black. And that's what he told me. He said, he said, Eric, I may be a Republican, but I'm a black man first.

20:16 And I think that's important for us to know that it's like, regardless of where you are in the spectrum. You got to look out for whatever you're doing should be looking out for your folks. One last thing I want to want to want to mention and kind of get your your take on it, because it kind of relates to how politicians are doing stuff now. So when I was in college, I wrote for the school newspaper. I literally did do real news reporting when I was with the two black newspapers in Jackson, Mississippi. And so after that, I got elected.

21:01 So a lot of those people, of course, were still around. So especially a lot of the black journalists, we all used to hang out. Now, you know, I'm an elected official and they're still with the press, but we all used to hang out, have drinks and all that stuff. And what that related, how that worked out was that if they needed something, I wouldn't necessarily be in the story. But if they needed some background or something like that, they would find me at the Capitol or somewhere and say, hey, Eric, so explain what exactly is this? Why is this happening? Why should people be concerned? You know, like that. It just like it's a technical advice. And the way I look at the news now, the way I look at politicians now, it's like they're using social media.

21:46 You know, it's like there was one congressperson who had like a three page job description for their communications director and like two paragraphs for the legislative director. You know what I'm saying? It's just it's just it's a different vibe now. And so what what did you what do you think about my approach as opposed to what's going on now in trying to be a politician and put your name out there? Well, I think social media is a very necessary part of any business in this day and age. You're almost weird if you don't have a social media presence as a public figure or as a business. So I feel like it's extremely necessary.

22:32 And for a large demographic of people, that is the best way to reach them. So I think for a politician to utilize social media, I think is extremely smart. And also it provides an informal way of getting to know someone. So I feel like those moments that social media can provide like a behind the scenes or just a snapshot of somebody's day as they're in transit, I think is so useful to allow the public to get to know a person or as it were, in this case, a politician. So I actually welcome the use of social media in terms of politicians and marketing, and you can't get anywhere without it in this day and age. So I think to embrace it is good.

23:17 Okay. So I'm a dinosaur, or you're saying I ain't got to get drunk no more to hang out with the press. Okay, that's fine. If I decide to get back in. But there's always space for that. I mean, that face-to-face is invaluable. And as a journalist, that's how you get your sources, both official and unofficial. So don't stop doing that. But but social media is a must, I believe. All right. Well, Grace, look, I know you've got other clients and and and all this kind of stuff. And, you know, I greatly appreciate you taking the time out. I think, you know, the listeners should appreciate the fact that you're a real human being and that, you know, that you are an incredibly talented professional person.

24:06 And I'm honored that I'm in your circle. I'm honored that I'm in your presence. And we're going to keep this going. So I appreciate you. Thank you so much for doing this. Thank you. I appreciate you, Eric, and I appreciate your support because you are like the most encouraging, positive client that I've ever had, to be honest with you. So I really appreciate your presence. If I ever need to pick me up, all I need to do is look at your text messages or emails and that'll do it. So I appreciate your spirit and your support. Thank you for having me. All right, guys. Thank you. Thank you so much, Grace. And all right, guys, it's time for my rant. So you're catching on the other side of this music.

24:48 Music. All right. So how cool was that? Y'all got to hear Grace G outside of just giving us the news. I'm so glad, Grace. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you again for doing that. I greatly appreciate that. And that's probably the best present I'm going to get for my 60th birthday. So I greatly appreciate you coming on and just, you know, kind of talking a little more than just giving the newscast and stuff.

25:28 So, guys, she is real. But those of you who doubted that, she is real. She's a sister, and she is an incredible, beautiful, enlightening human being. And it is my honor and privilege to work with her each and every podcast. All right. So let me start off my rant with a poll. So the one poll that I pay attention to that seems to be the most accurate, and I am trying to get those people on because I respect them. And, you know, there are other good pollsters out there. But as far as news outlets go, the Reuters Ipso poll is probably the most spot on out there.

26:16 And, you know, no disrespect to Samadhi Thomas, my pollster and resident, you know, and Samadhi, I need to get you back on the show, too, at some point. But, you know, the Reuters-Ipsos poll was really, really plugged in this election year, and they were really on it as far as how close this election was. You know, I think they kind of looked at it. When you look at the numbers that Harris was winning or was going to win, but not really because it was like, as far as popular vote, I think, you know, they kind of had her winning, but in the swing states, it was looking a little shaky.

27:11 And they were one of the few ones that did it without any editorialization or anything like that. They were, you know, They would interview political scientists and try to get their viewpoints as, why do you think these polls are reflecting that? So this first rant is going to be based off of a poll that they did after the first week with the new Trump administration. So let's go through that. All right. So ending requirements that government employees report gifts or investments.

27:53 Now, that was that's a story that has not really been covered on the national news. You know, everybody's been focused on the immigration raids. And, you know, we just had this recent tragedy with the plane crash. And so many beautiful people died, you know. So condolences to all their families. Howard University lost an up-and-coming law professor. You know, the U.S. figure skating team lost, you know, some up-and-coming young people. I think one of them was like 12 or 13.

28:33 And I haven't looked at all the names yet and all that stuff. These are just from the early stories. I think they just started releasing the names as I'm recording this. So, but yeah, you know, just terrible. And, you know, and then the president gets up there. Well, I'll get into that. I'll get into it. But anyway, but this, that executive order about the government employees not having to report gifts, That's that's Clarence Thomas's birthday present, I guess, whenever his birthday and all these other folks to do the griff.

29:14 So I'm surprised that story hasn't had a lot of traction, but there's only so much time to deal with all this confusion. However, Reuters, Ipso asked people about it and 77 percent of the people said they're not in favor of that at all. Right. On renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, 70 percent of the people said that's stupid. They've been out in favor of that. Hardening the January six protesters, pardoning all of them, 62 percent said they didn't appreciate that.

29:54 New tariffs or taxes imposed on imported goods from Canada. 60% of the people said they didn't like that. Ending birthright citizenship, which is unconstitutional. It was like, you know, when a judge says, uses words like blatantly and stuff like that, they're pissed off that they even had to entertain them. Just so you know, if you're planning on going to law school or. Or, you know, if you're in a court case and the judge uses terms like blatantly, he or she is not happy. Fifty-nine percent of the people said that they're not in favor of that.

30:38 Fifty-nine percent also are not in favor of ending federal efforts to hire women or racial minorities. That DEI stuff, right? 59% of Americans said they're not in favor of ending that. 56% of Americans are not in favor of withdrawing the U.S. For the Paris Climate Accords, which is, I guess, every time this joker gets in office, it's like, boom. So once he's out this time, then maybe we'll be in the Paris Accords for the remainder of time because the next Democratic president will put us back in.

31:20 But again, 56% of Americans are not in favor of that. 55% of Americans are not in favor of new tariffs or taxes on imported goods from Mexico. So you're looking at about 58% of the people are not in favor of tariffs with our two biggest trading partners. And then new tariffs or taxes on imported goods from other countries, 54% said they're not down with that. So the majority of Americans, even though he said that's what he wanted to do and he got elected, so he's trying to figure out how he's going to do it.

32:03 The majority of Americans are not in favor of that. And I think the message is getting out that people don't want to pay more money. They basically elected this guy because they said they didn't want to pay more money than what they're paying. So they're not there. And I think they're starting to get educated that if we impose tariffs, that they're going to be the ones the consumers are going to be the ones that's going to bear the brunt of the cost. So at least that message is getting out there. Here's one that kind of surprised me. Fifty two percent of Americans were opposed to delaying the ban of tick tock in the U.S. And I didn't look at the generational breakdown on that.

32:45 But it's interesting that the majority of Americans were not in favor of delaying the ban. If the ban was going to happen, the law was passed, then let it happen. If the Supreme Court or somebody else determines it's not the case, then so be it. Closing all federal government DEI offices and firing all federal employees working in DEI initiatives. It's pretty evenly divided, but 51% of Americans said they're not in favor of that. So the majority of Americans are not in favor of ending DUI, Lord have mercy, DEI, and ending federal efforts to hire women and racial minorities.

33:35 The majority of Americans polled as of this poll seem to think it's a good thing to have diversity, equity, and inclusion. Now, where he does get some support is requiring all federal employees to work from an office rather than allowing remote work. Forty nine percent of Americans felt, yeah, it's about time to go to work. Right. So. It didn't get 50 percent, but. You know, it's a plurality. It thinks it's forty nine forty sevens. So it's pretty close, right? Also, 49-47 in favor was imposing a hiring freeze on all federal government agencies.

34:23 So there is a sentiment that people think that government is maybe too big. So, you know, but again, that was 49-47. Easing restrictions on fossil fuel drilling and production. That's even more even. It was 48-47 in favor, right? Because the truth of the matter is, if you just went wild, and, you know, this is an issue that I've been dealing with since the 90s. We were in Alaska for a meeting, and, you know, there were people talking about drilling into ANWR, which is the American, what the Arctic National Institute.

35:16 Wildlife Refuge, so A-N-W-R. And, you know, we know there's oil there because Proudhon Bay, I think, is north of the refuge, I think. I had an option to either go on a cruise or go to the oil refinery. I went on the cruise, so I can really accurately tell you, but I think Proudhon Bay is north of the refuge. And, you know, so you got some drilling there. And part of the deal was that all Alaskans get a check out of that, right? Whatever money that drilling company, I think it was ARCO at the time, whatever money they made off of that, then the citizens of Alaska got a dividend.

36:06 That's the only way they allowed them to do it. And, you know, and then, of course, we had the Keystone Pipeline controversy going through Native American land, all that stuff. So, you know, the reality is if people get what they want, you will see a reduction in your gas of five cents. But the trick is you won't feel it for about three or four years because they got to drill it and they got to refine it and they got to sell it. So, you know, it's going to take time. And we're already the biggest oil-producing country in the world again. So, yeah. So most Americans are kind of like, meh, meh, not so much.

36:50 They are in favor of it, but barely. Again, 48, 47. Now, here's the one that kind of correlates with the other one about the hiring freeze. 61% of Americans do believe that the federal government needs to be downsized. So that's one thing that President Trump is going to get or has support for. Now, I don't know if they didn't ask if they felt that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were probably trustworthy enough to make that happen in an unofficial government agency.

37:30 Yeah, we're talking about government efficiency and you got two people running one group, which is basically those two guys because they've got a caucus, I guess, in the Senate of the House now or committee, whatever they want to call themselves. But it's an unofficial agency. And these these folks are not going to give you a report till the 4th of July, 2026. So, you know, but but there is a sentiment that the federal government is too big. And I've had some ideas in the past about how to go about downsizing federal government.

38:12 But I'm always kind of tepid about that because of what we just went through where. And it's very clear that Elon Musk and some other corporate folks got in Trump's head and proposed this idea to buy out two million government employees. You heard that mentioned in the news, two million. They want to say, OK, guys, we're going to you're going to go home. You're going to take early leave, early retirement, however they want to phrase it.

38:54 And by the end of September, that'll be your last check. You'll be in employment until September the 30th of this year. But you ain't got to report. You know, so basically you want to pay people not to work, even though you've passed an executive order to mandate everybody to show backup at work. But you want two million federal employees not to come to work and to get paid. And then you want to replace them with all of your folks that you've been interviewing under this project 2025 deal. So you're going to be paying two people for the same job until the end of September.

39:35 But you want to cut government, the lengths that these people will go through, the knots that they will tie themselves up in just to get what they want is frustrating and agonizing and infuriating and just hypocritical. But they will do that, right? just to continue to fight this lost cause of maintaining white supremacy in America.

40:16 And, you know, it's just sad, really. I don't know why they think they have to do that. I don't know why they continue to pursue that. When it's been shown, right, independent people Studies in the corporate world have shown that the more diverse a workplace is, the more profitable it is for that business. Let me say that again. The more diverse a workplace is, the more profitable it is for that business. And as I always stress, the United States is the only country in the world where every country that exists in the world is represented within its citizenry.

41:07 So this is the land of opportunity. This is the fertile ground to show that diversity, equity, and inclusion works. Because affirmative action was about quotas. you had 100 white employees, no black, no women, 100 white men, right? No black, no women, no Asian, no Latino, just 100% white men. So affirmative action, which started as just government and government contractors, kind of became the, you know, the practice practice.

41:52 And, you know, people are like saying, oh, well, they've taken my job. If it was your job, then you would be working it, right? So what companies did was they just started hiring folks, and they were trying to get X number. So we'll say 25% of our workforce will be minority, right? We'll be either another ethnic group or a woman, right? Some said 10, some said 15. When you had government contracts going out, it's like, OK, well, you know, we'll be the main contractor and we'll subcontract out at least 10 percent of the award that we get to do a government project, because that's what they call the money that they get awards. Right.

42:41 You know, and different state legislatures pass laws saying, well, you've got to meet at least this minimum threshold. You can more than welcome go over that. If we set it at five, there's nothing saying that you can't have six percent. Right. If you're at three percent, now we got a problem. But if you're over the five percent minimum, more power to you. We appreciate the effort. Right. And there were tax incentives tied into that and all that. So people started doing it. Right. And so people started getting opportunities to do stuff. Right. That's the equity part. That's the inclusion part. You know, they had the same rules, same contract.

43:27 And some had simple jobs, right? Like in a construction, they build in a highway, but they got to do some infrastructure work on the side. Okay, well, we'll subcontract out for this black company to do the pipes. Okay, lay the pipe down. Okay. We might get somebody else to, you know, we might pick a Latino company that sells us the asphalt. You know what I'm saying? And it was like they were just trying to meet that threshold. Even the banks were involved. That was the whole point about the Community Reinvestment Act, that if you have branches in the black community that, you know.

44:10 5% of our assets will go to making sure that black folks have loans for housing and business, primarily business. Now, they limited that to funeral homes and restaurants and liquor stores and churches. So eat well, pray about it, you know, get drunk and then die. That's basically what black people need to do. But nonetheless, there was a law that had a set aside. And so people of Donald Trump's ilk and circle don't even want that. They say they want merit.

44:53 And all merit means in dog whistle terms, which was the word I couldn't think of last week, is white folk. So when you hear the term DEI, that's the replacement for the N-word now, right? That's the new N-word. With DEI higher, flip back the country a few years, a few decades, that's an N-word higher. It's the same thing. So when they talk about merit, merit means white. If they could get away with saying an honorable hire, that's what they will do because that's what they're good at is the word salad.

45:38 Taking words that are positive and making them negative, taking negative words or neutral words and making them great because all of us are supposed to have merit, right? All people that are hired are supposed to have a certain level of merit. You want them to have a certain level of honor. You want to have a certain level of expertise. You want them to have a certain level of competency, right? It doesn't matter what the job is, whether it's being an air traffic controller or a neurosurgeon or a landscaper or a painter.

46:20 These are skill sets that people have to have. Some may require more mental and physical coordination, but they're all skill sets. No different than the athletes that we watch in our leisure time. Those are all skill sets. The people that we listen to on our records. Well, I'm dating myself on our streaming services. Right. That's a skill set. So you want people to have merit, all people. But the way that these folks want to define merit is merit means white, DEI means black or inward.

47:06 And, of course, there will be people saying, oh, that's not true. That's a lie, blah, blah, blah. Actions speak louder than words. And the machinations that you go through to create the word salads indicate that that's not a lie. That's true. Because if merit was about merit, then you wouldn't have senators asking, hey, Pete Hexhef, are you going to get rid of the black man who's the Joint Chiefs of Staff? Right? Now, he has that luxury as the new Secretary of Defense. If he wants to do that, if he said, look, I just I want the people that I'm comfortable with in that position. It's no reflection on General Brown.

47:55 That's just what I want. Couldn't really argue with that. But the fact that they were playing word silent with it and being evasive is like, yeah, he's going to let him go. And he's not mad enough to say he will. And he's not man enough to say that he's going to do it because he's a black guy. Because they said during the campaign that General Brown was a DEI hire, just like they said the vice president of the United States who literally had to get elected to the position was a DEI hire. That when she was the attorney general of California, that was a DEI hire. When she was a U.S. senator, that was a DEI hire. So the American people are into DEI. According to this poll, it sounds like they are.

48:37 So they will elect people or try to elect people on merit, on trust. I believe this person can do the job. Now, we go all the way back to my favorite slaveholder, Thomas Jefferson. And I say that sarcastically because he was a brilliant man who was a man of his time who shouldn't have owned slaves. LeLon had sex with him, but it is what it is. He was a very, very profound thinker, and he understood the precariousness of democracy, even though he was against this federal system that we have. That's on the record, too.

49:19 That if we're going to have this democracy, then the people have to be educated. And so what do people do that want to be in power and take advantage of ignorance? Then they make sure that people ain't educated. I mean, there's no way in my mind I would have thought that somebody would get 77 million votes and say that they want to get rid of the Department of Education, when the man who created the department was on his deathbed. Absolutely amazing. 77 million people voted for a man that said, I want to get rid of the department of education and didn't offer a reason why other than wokeness. And again, that's that word salad stuff like the opposite of woke is sleep.

50:05 Either you are woke, meaning that you are conscious, meaning that you are functioning during the day or you are asleep in your bed, on your couch, on the floor, wherever you sleep. And you're not functioning. You're resting. So the opposite of woke is rest. Sleep. So 77 million people voted for somebody that wants the nation to be asleep. They don't want them to be woke. They don't want them to be conscious. They don't want to be them to care. They don't want them to make an effort. That's why you got these billionaire people like Peter Thiel. And I don't even know this Curtis Yarvin dude's a billionaire, but he's kind of the guru of that thought. Right.

50:53 Saying that we don't need a democracy. Why? Because people that look like me. Have been getting elected. People that come from my community have been getting CEO positions. People that look like me are giving you the news. They've replaced Walter Cronkite. Some of y'all don't know who Walter Cronkite is. That's okay. Most of the people that listen to this podcast kind of know at least the name or remember, oh, yeah, that was the guy that used to do the news. Yeah, the most trusted man in America at one point. I don't think there's any journalist that will fit that category now, because there's so many people out here. But, I mean, CNN used to tout themselves as the most trusted news network and all that. That's fine.

51:41 But as far as sentiment goes, it's not the same as when Walter Cronkite was doing the news. Anyway, democracy doesn't work for these people because it's not white Christian males that have access to it anymore. Like when the country was actually founded 248 years ago. Only white men that had property, there was no religious attachment to it, could vote. Most of those white men were Christian of the Protestant denomination, right? They were either Calvinist or Methodist or whatever, Episcopalian, Presbyterian. Yeah.

52:26 Again, you know, the two oldest schools in America, Harvard and Yale, were theological seminaries when they started. And the leadership of America has been derived from those two schools. Harvard being liberal, Yale being conservative. So anyway, yeah, it's, you know, and that's the crazy thing. The majority of Americans don't want a country divided. Now, they want people on the other side to think their way, to come on over to their side, but they don't want the country to be divided.

53:16 There are people that already are having buyer's remorse. Basically two weeks in, just off of the executive orders. We ain't even got to the meat of governing yet, right? To see these raids that are happening. And people, even comedians, were trying to warn you about this, right? I don't want these illegal aliens in America All right, well, go pick your own strawberries. Go pick your own oranges. Go pick your own tomatoes. Grow your own tomatoes. I'm not great at it, but it's fairly simple to do for most people.

53:56 Why do we not make that correlation? Because we are trying to, the powers that be, are trying to dumb down America enough where we don't like people that don't look like us, right? It's one thing to be cultural and support your culture, whether you're Irish or Italian or Anglo-Saxon or Croatian or whatever. Just like if you're Dominican or Cuban or Puerto Rican, Colombian. If you're from Nigeria, Chad, or from, as my boy said, Detroit or Chicago or Jackson, Mississippi, right?

54:45 Everybody's got their own cultural niche, their own tribe, their own connection. Sorry to intermingle with community, but we've got to do better. And so let me put a pin on that and pick that back up on the other side. Music. All right, and so we are back. So where I left off was we got to do better.

55:33 So me and some coworkers were having a conversation, and his one brother said that we were talking about marriage, and he said, you want to be in unity instead of just harmony, right? Right. So what does that mean? That means that when you're in harmony, you coexist. Right. When you're in harmony, it's like you do stuff within your own space, within your own vibe. You don't try to impose anything on anybody else.

56:15 And, you know, you don't try to do anything to get your better half mad because you don't want to deal with conflict, right? But then there's unity. And the best analogy was like if you have a best friend, I mean a real best friend, especially guys, you know, you and your best friend are going to have an argument. You're going to have a fight. You might actually have a physical fight, you know, but at the end of the day, you're going to make up and you're going to be friends. Even if you're mad with your friend, if somebody else tries to come in and do harm to your friend, you're going to come through for.

57:03 You're going to defend your friend and you may bring some other folks with you to make sure that happens. Right. And vice versa. That's unity. Because even if we're angry with each other, even if we disagree on something, we're going to have each other's back when stuff gets hard. We're going to take care of each other. We're going to lift each other up when we need to be lifted. And we're going to push anybody that tries to do us harm away. That's unity. That's real unity. Now, what we try to do in a political society, in a nation-state, is to at least have harmony.

57:48 Right? You know, we try to give each other space. We try to coexist with other folks without infringing on their rights or making them uncomfortable. We're not comfortable, we try to accommodate people just so we can just kind of keep this thing moving. That's the bare minimum of a nation state, of a community, is harmony, right? We just coexist. That's what Booker T. Washington pushed. He said we can be diverse as the fingers in the hand, but united as a fist, right?

58:30 When the hand is open, that's harmony. Each finger functions on its own, does its own thing. Some have more function than others. Okay. You use the index finger more than your thumb. You really can't do a whole lot without the thumb. You do more with your ring finger than your pinky finger. You know what I'm saying? Again, that's why typing is a great exercise because you utilize all your fingers, but they're not all closed together. They're separate. That's diversity, right? Each finger has its own function, but it accomplishes one goal, which is to get this document typed.

59:15 Booker T. goes to unity like a fist. That fist symbolizes strength. That fist symbolizes power. That fist symbolizes resistance. That's what we've got to get to. We've got to get to the fist. That's why the symbolism of the raised fist in the African-American freedom movement, you can call it the civil rights movement, you can call it the black revolution, whatever. But the African-American resistance movement, the symbol was the fist because we had to show unity and we had to show strength to go against forces that wanted to deny us just our mere existence.

59:59 And that's where we are now. I would love to live in America. I've lived in America now 60 years, officially. Never lived anywhere else. Literally have never set foot out of the continent that we call North America. I've been to Canada, I've been to Mexico, the only two foreign countries I've ever been to. I haven't even been to Hawaii. I haven't even been to Puerto Rico. I have been on this rock, this piece of rock that we call North America, on this big rock that's spinning around in space called Earth. It's only I've been there. But, thank goodness, America is diverse.

1:00:39 So I've experienced different Latin cultures I've experienced Native American cultures I've experienced black cultures different Asian cultures right, I've experienced white cultures, to me you grew up in Chicago if you don't know any white group you're going to know the Irish folks you're going to know Polish people you're going to know the European Jews if you grew up in Chicago you're going to run into these people. Because if you grew up in Chicago, New York, you pretty much are going to run into every ethnic group that you could possibly imagine, right?

1:01:22 And most urban areas are like that. So you learn to coexist. Now, I tell stories all the time. When I grew up in Chicago, I grew up on the South Side. I didn't have to interact with white people if I didn't want to. When I went to the store, black folks were running the store. When I went to the bank, black folks were running the bank. Now, it may be a white corporation, but in my neighborhood, black folks were running it. Most of the police officers I dealt with were black. Most of the firefighters I dealt with were black. Teachers, everything. Now, I had white teachers. I had Latino teachers, right? It got more diverse when I got to high school than it was in elementary school.

1:02:06 But, you know, we've had some interaction. But it wasn't forced upon us, you know, and we weren't forced to be separate. But we could unite when the Bears did something good, when the Cubs did something good, when the White Sox did something good, when the Bulls did something good, when the Blackhawks did something good. We could unite on those things because those guys were representing the city of Chicago and the city exhibited pride and unity. behind those teams. It's the beauty of sports, right? And we like to say that politics is a game, is a sport, but we don't.

1:02:50 Like that. Kind of stay in our little tribes, even in politics, when that should be our main rallying cry as far as unity, as far as showing strength. But we got people that don't want that to happen. We got people that, in some twisted, control-free kind of way, they just want white people to be in charge. White Christian men, to be specific. If you're white and you're male, but you're Muslim, no. Now they've thrown in heterosexual and biological, whatever.

1:03:34 But if you're a white Christian male, that's pretty much the thing. So if you're a Christian male, but you're not white, then you're not part of the club. If you're white and you're Christian, but you're a female, you're not part of the club. Your rights are not to be as respected. It goes all the way back to the Dred Scott decision where Chief Justice Taney, I think his name was, Taney, Taney, whatever, said that a black man has no rights that a white man should respect. That's the mindset these people are in. So when they can just casually say, oh, well, it's a DEI hire. When you have the President of the United States. Catastrophe like the fires in California or the terrible plane crash in D.C.

1:04:22 He doesn't talk about trying to enact policies that will make that situation go away, make it safer for people. He wants to place blame. And so in both of those instances that have happened on his watch already, he has thrown out DEI, right? And we're trying to figure out why are you doing that? Why are you even mentioning DEI when it has nothing to do with planes and helicopters colliding or trees catching on fire?

1:05:04 What does race have to do with disasters? And he said, well, it's all about competency and standards. So you think if this world was all white, that a helicopter and a plane would not collide. If this world or this nation was all white, the trees wouldn't catch on fire. Is that the argument you are making to the American people? And there are people in America that are buying that. That's what you're trying to convey to me. And then you get offended when people use the term insane or insensitive or mean.

1:05:46 That's so out of touch. That's so deranged. That you think that the world would be a better place if just white Christian men ruled it. That the United States would be great again. If white Christian men ruled it. Yeah, that's not what any of us signed up for. Those of us who have taken an oath for office or taken an oath for the military or taken an oath for the police department, that's not what we signed up for. The United States Constitution doesn't say these are the rights for white Christian men and these are the rights for everybody else. It's not how that works.

1:06:31 There are some people that wanted it to work that way, and very fortunately there were smart people, smart legal scholars. Able to successfully challenge that concept and win, which goes back to what I said in the first half of the show. There are people who are saying, well, the only way we can stop that is that we got to stop democracy altogether, that we got to have an authoritarian rule. And those people are right when they say, well, you know, corporations are like that. They are authoritarian. It's like everybody's going to wear this suit. You remember the joke about IBM? Those of us old enough remember, you know, Everybody at IBM had to wear the same suit, same tie, all that kind of stuff.

1:07:16 You know, the dress codes, all that kind of thing. You know, well, you've got billionaires now who have built cultures where people can dress how they want, work from home, work at the place, whatever they want to do. As long as they do the work, right? And, you know, but that's all part of diversity, too, right? Because diversity is not just color of skin, level of melanin in skin. It's about thought. There are some people who think maybe you should only work four days a week instead of five. There are people who think, well, I just need you to come to the office two or three times a week instead of being here all week.

1:08:02 That's diversity of thought, of how to get stuff done, of how to be productive. But these folks don't want that. These folks want you on the plantation as long as we can legally have you here. We want you in our sight. Now, they're not too stupid to realize that you probably need to go home so you can buy products so these companies can exist. Go to the bank. You got to go to the grocery store. You may even have to go to the doctor. So you got to be out of the office for something.

1:08:43 And they're hoping that you can accomplish all that stuff on the two days that you have off, which is Saturday and Sunday, which is when everybody else is off. So good luck with that. The poor service industry, that's why they have to be open 24-7 almost, because that's the only time, you know, they have to accommodate all those folks that have to work and need stuff, because they would like to leave at 5 o'clock too, but since most of everybody else is leaving at 5 o'clock, they got to shop at some point, so they stay open to 9, 10, 11, some 24 hours. Not so much 24 hours now after COVID, but you get what I'm saying, right? So these folks are not, I guess, that evil.

1:09:30 They don't want to give you a day off to vote, though. Definitely don't want to do that. If there's any holiday that should exist, election day should be a holiday. Because it's supposed to be a celebration of democracy in the truest sense of the form. It's a day where the people decide who their leadership is going to be. Why do you need to work on that day? It'll be there that Wednesday. That first Wednesday in November. I promise you the work that you didn't do on Tuesday would be waiting for you. If you couldn't get it done that first Monday. Right?

1:10:10 Juneteenth, you got Martin Luther King Day. What do you mean we got that? We didn't even ask for Juneteenth. Y'all gave that to us, thinking that might stop us from protesting police brutality. We appreciate it, because that's the day we remind you that slavery existed. So we appreciate that. We appreciate you recognizing a man who was so great that he didn't even have to be president to have a holiday. We appreciate that. But, I mean, the other days of the year, you want us to all celebrate July the 4th, and then you get mad when brothers like Reverend Thompson get on his podcast and recite the Frederick Douglass speech.

1:10:55 Because Frederick was right. We weren't free on July 4th, 1776. We weren't freed. We didn't get to be free until January 1st, 1863, and then Juneteenth. Two years later, when everybody finally got the word, right? Two years later. You know, a whole war had been fought by then. Like I said on a previous podcast, you know, this is just, this is like a bad relationship. Brothers like Marcus Garvey said, well, let's leave. Let's just leave. Y'all put him in jail. Y'all found a reason to shut him down. He was one of the most influential Americans in history.

1:11:40 Company, had the largest circulating newspaper in the country, one of the biggest African-American organizations in history. And all he was trying to do was convince us to leave. He was, just get up out of here. Let's start our own nation. And y'all put him in jail right here in Atlanta, Georgia. Then Atlanta became the black Mecca. Isn't that ironic? But I digress. It's a bad a relationship. You don't want us to leave. You want to tell us everything. You don't want us to have good jobs, but you want us to pay taxes. You need us to work at certain jobs, but you don't want us to go to school to learn them. You want to cut off our money.

1:12:25 You want us to pull ourselves, buy our own bootstraps, but you don't want us to start a business even to make boots, let alone have them or afford to get them. I'm just saying. The NRA supported gun control when the Black Panthers showed up. But now the Proud Boys are here. I know we need to have guns everywhere. I mean, when you break it down like that, it's kind of hard not to see or not to feel some kind of way. So when Donald Trump gets up there and says, DEI, he was trying to blame somebody black for the fires, which is just as ludicrous as Marius Reeteller Green talking about space lasers funded by Jewish financers.

1:13:13 I guess I don't know where the Jewish part came from, but the Jewish space lasers. Remember that? And she's still getting elected. She's still getting elected. She literally introduced the bill. Came from the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America. But her people are struggling, just like everybody else, to pay bills and to buy groceries. She ain't introduced NAMM bill for that. That's the Southern coming out of me, NAMM, nada, nothing. She ain't introduced nothing to do that. Georgia's not even touching the Gulf, whatever you want to call it.

1:13:55 But we're hung up. And so as long as we're divided, as long as we're fighting each other over stuff that should be simple and make sense, Madison Avenue is trying to get you to think right because they want you to buy their clients products. But they really are trying to get you in a mindset because it's like it used to be, well, we got to have this particular couple and all this stuff. So now it's just like, hey, you, I need you to be that male. I need you to be the female. And, you know, y'all either dating and married, whatever. But we need you to both be riding this Lexus, right? It don't matter if they're black, Latino, Asian, whatever. It's just like, look, y'all two good looking folks, jump in the car.

1:14:37 That's how they do it now. Because they understand that America is diverse. The money tells them that America is diverse. And it's not the traditional leave it to beaver family. Because two men, fine, get in the car. Two women, get in the car. That's how they work now because they understand that money is green and it's coming from everywhere, not just white Christian males. But these people that now are in the position of leadership in this country don't get that. And it's like how aggravating it is for them that they have white women that are elected.

1:15:23 As much as, I mean, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Laura Loomer were fighting each other because one point Marjorie was riding in the plane with Trump and then Laura replaced her and they got into it on X. And I don't like neither one of y'all because y'all are white and Christian, but you're not male. so you'll never be higher. Phyllis Schlafly was an anomaly, but strategically, they needed to have a white woman to try to stop women from getting equal rights. You know, Byron Donalds, Christian, male, not white. So he's only going to ascend so far.

1:16:08 You're in a good spot right there. This is where we need you to be. But if he runs for president, bro, nothing. Tim Scott showed you that. Christian Mayo made him get engaged. I assume, I think he did get married to this woman. Made him do that. But he ain't quite. So he couldn't be president. And as much criticism as you say you have for the Democratic Party, at least options are being thrown out there. And they make it out of the primaries. Can we say Barack Obama and Kamala Harris? And look at the names. Who would have thought that the first black president would be named Barack Obama, that the first black vice president's first name would be Kamala?

1:16:59 You figure it'd be like Susan or Richard. That's why some white folks will call him Barack Barry, just so they could feel comfortable. So, ladies and gentlemen, I'm not a psychologist, took a psychology course, took a sociology course because it was required, but I'm not licensed in that. But I do know, being a black man in America for 60 years, that this white male Christian mindset. And the only way we can cure that is that we got to stop electing people that suffer from it.

1:17:41 I don't care if they're Democrat, Republican, white, black, Latino, Asian, male, female, LGBTQIA+, doesn't matter. If they have a mindset that only white male Christians need to run this nation, need to have a say-so, They're the only ones that exhibit merit. Then those people need to get their sickness cured and they don't need to be given positions of power. Not anymore. I have been saying ever since I started this podcast in 2019, which, by the way, welcome to the 11th season. I forgot to do that.

1:18:26 That they don't they don't need to be they don't need to be in these spots I've been saying it I've always said that this is like the last gasp of white supremacy, well bro, we're going to have to pull the plug doesn't look like it's going to die naturally so we're just going to have to cut the respirator off can't keep it going. It's not benefiting us in any way, shape, or form. It's only causing division, only causing strife, only causing grief, only causing anger, pain, and suffering.

1:19:09 The one objective that you're supposed to have in leadership, especially political leadership, is when you are given that responsibility to do no harm. But if you only believe that white Christian males, white male Christians, Christians, whatever, however you want to phrase it, should be the ones in charge, the only ones that have merit, the only ones that have honor and distinction. You can't lead anymore. You can't elect you anymore. We've got to get somebody that understands that DEI is not the N-word, that DEI is the objective, and not the DEI that they're projecting, which is didn't earn it, but diversity, equity, and inclusion.

1:19:58 We were saying equality, but no, it's time for equity now, which means if you've got to go above and beyond to create the playing field, make it happen. That the world that you live in is not one shade, deal with it. That you're going to have to gather your comfort zone to interact with other human beings, make it happen. Those are the leaders. From the last episode, I said we got to elect American leaders. America is diversity. America is equity. America is inclusion. Period. Full stop.

1:20:39 That's the whole concept. For the majority. All right, just say the whole 248 years, going on 249. We've given deferential treatment to white male Christians. I think that's long enough. I think it's time for us to pick people of merit, regardless of what they look like. I think it's time to pick people of honor, regardless of what they look like. Period. We have got to go into the voting booth from every election henceforth and pick American leaders.

1:21:24 Doesn't matter if you're a first generation American or a 10th generation American, if that's possible. I think it is. You got to pick American leaders from this point forward. You got to pick people who understand the basic concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion because that's what America is. No matter how they spin it on Newsmax or OAN or Fox News or whatever, if they didn't believe in diversity, equity, and inclusion, Harrison Faulkner wouldn't have a job. And some of them other brothers and sisters they got over there at Fox, and I don't even know who's over at OAN or Newsmax.

1:22:07 I don't watch it. But I, that they hire people who are not white male Christians. So why promote a political agenda that doesn't support diversity, equity, and conclusion? Right? It just makes sense. You could be an American leader and be liberal. You can be an American leader and be conservative. You can be an American leader and be radical. We can debate those ideas as Americans. We're in that tight fist mode where we're all trying to be unified and make this happen. We can come up with the right solution if we work together and we respect our diversity.

1:22:53 We think with a mindset of equity and we're inclusive to make sure that everybody's got to say so. We can do that. It's not hard. We've seen pockets of it, but now it's time to, as Dr. King would say, live up to our creed. And Dr. King was very eloquent in saying that, and I can't find the exact quote now, but I remember he said something that we have to understand that not everybody, and he used the term Negro because of his time, but he understood that not every black person thought the same way. And there were some black people that actually were going to work to hurt other black people.

1:23:36 Our job is not to judge. Our job is to love them anyway and keep it moving. In the National Football League, brothers play against each other. Literal blood brothers. But you're not going to stop me from trying to score that touchdown. I'm not going to let that, because you're on the other side. Well, after the battle, we'll get together. But if my objective is to get to this point, you're not going to stop me. So we have to accept that, that there's going to be some black folks that are not on our side. You ain't got to call them names. You just got to work around them. Do what you got to do.

1:24:17 Force the gatekeepers to open the gate. Just like there's women that are gatekeepers. 53% of white women prove that they're gatekeepers. Right. Here's what it is. But we as a collective have to make a commitment and focus on electing American leaders, leaders that understand that diversity, equity and inclusion is our strength. Is what makes us the most unique nation on the planet, the most blessed nation on the planet, the most powerful nation on the planet. It's not a weakness.

1:24:58 It's not a fault. It's our strength. Thank you for listening. Until next time. Music.