A Call for Black Unity and Political Engagement

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Welcome. I'm Eric Fleming, host of A Moment with Eric Fleming, the podcast of our time.

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The following program is hosted by the NBG podcast network.

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Music.

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Hello, and welcome to another moment, Eric Fleming. I am your host, Eric Fleming.

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So this is going to be different. This is not going to be, well,

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it's going to be a throwback.

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It's a hot mic episode. I don't have any guests.

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And I hope that everyone enjoyed as best they could their Thanksgiving holiday.

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Because I know there were some households that had some lively discussions,

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if not a whole bunch of them.

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And, you know, lively discussions around the dinner table, around family and friends is good.

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I think that's what makes us unique as human beings in that we all can look

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at something and come up with a different perspective,

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and based on our exposure, based on our experience,

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do the best we can to articulate why we do what we do or why we see what we see.

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And in a normal circumstance, again, that's healthy.

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But I don't know about where we are now.

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I think we have gotten to a point where the way we do politics,

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the way we seek to have a just society.

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It's not working. And I'm disappointed in that.

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Because somehow, someway, I always believed that we could be better.

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That we could debate things. And, you know,

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those people who skirted around the edges or flat-out cheated or flat-out lied

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would always be treated as outliers and extremists.

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And the majority of the population would try to deal with things in a much more civil and calm way.

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Now, I'm not naive because I've been in the political game and I know about

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throwing shots. I know about shots being thrown at me.

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I know about rumors and innuendos and, you know, character disparaging and all that kind of stuff.

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I mean, it's been around even before I was here.

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But it's at a different level because we have too many channels.

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I think, you know, a lot of people will always say that the advancement of technology

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is a blessing. That's true.

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I'm able to sit at a desk with a microphone and an iPad and I can record a podcast, right?

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I can put my thoughts out there. But is it too many of us putting our thoughts out there, right?

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And is there no way to harness those thoughts into a substantial productive movement,

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of progress. You know, with 8 billion people on the planet, there's going to be 8 billion thoughts.

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And it would seem that at any given moment, the majority of the people can agree on some basic things.

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But when I look at where we're at in politics right now and how people have

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access to do damaging things with the technology and say things without any filter.

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I don't think this is going to work. I'm really concerned because I'm reading

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on one end how elected officials in a particular state were all threatened.

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With harm to them and their families.

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And then I look on the other side, and I see that people that President-elect

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Trump has appointed has been threatened, even swatted.

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And for those who don't know what swatting is, that's when somebody calls into

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the police and basically says something is happening at your address,

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and nothing is happening at your address.

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And then the police show up at your house, and you have no idea why they're there.

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And in the past, there's been some tragic consequences. Now that law enforcement

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is being trained in that, it's less and less likely to happen.

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But the threat is always there when you do it. That's why people still do it

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to folks they don't like.

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And I've had guests come on this show and talk about political violence and

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the fact The fact that there was any percentage of Americans,

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let alone over 10%, that felt that violence was a feasible way to solve a political conflict.

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Now, either that group is very, very loud or might be bigger than what we even imagine.

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But I always said that the most violent act in politics is apathy.

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When you just don't participate at all.

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When you just say nothing because of the frustration you see,

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because of the lack of professionalism or decorum or whatever turns you off.

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You just don't participate at all. And in everything that you do,

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politics has something to do with that.

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You say, well, you know, stuff happens in my house. Well, if you're having a

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discussion about utility bills, there's politics involved in that.

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If you're having a discussion about food or deciding what food you're going

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to get, the money that you use is regulated by the government.

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The food that you choose to buy is regulated by the government in one way,

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shape, or form. How it's even transported.

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Who can even qualify as a grocery store? All these things, every nuance of your

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life is impacted by politics. So I want you to be engaged in that.

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So that one form of violence, apathy, just can't happen, especially if you are

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black or African-American.

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Really don't have that luxury. You do it. A good number of you do it.

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Some of you think that not voting is a form of a protest, a boycott, if you will.

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More, if you're going to do that, I'm more in favor of black folks putting up

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a candidate and all the black folks vote for that candidate.

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That sends a message more so than not voting at all, because voting is putting stake in the game.

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And if you don't have any stake in the game, you can't win, right?

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So I'll never be a proponent of apathy.

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But what I also am not a proponent of is violent rhetoric and violent actions.

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You know, at some point in time, we got to stop rewarding people where their

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best skill set in politics is playing the dozens.

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Oh, did you hear what I said about so-and-so? Oh, yeah, they ain't got no comeback

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for that and all that stuff. That's juvenile and childish.

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And again, it's entertaining because, like I said before, all of us stop and

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look at a car wreck when we should just keep on driving.

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And if it comes across our feed, it's like, oh, wow, I can't believe this person

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said that. I mean, it comes across on our news as if that is a news story.

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And there are some people who have propelled themselves into the national spotlight

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because of a great comeback or a great skill set for the dozens.

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But of all those people, what legislation have they introduced and passed that

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makes your life and my life better? Right? Right.

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I think people verbally should defend themselves.

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It warrants it, but I just think we miss out on something with all of this hate.

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And it's nice to have commercials and saying time out and all this kind of stuff,

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but it's time to restrain yourself.

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It's time for people to take it down a notch.

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What would threatening an elected official or an appointed official do for you

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other than bring that back?

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Dr. King talked about nonviolence as a strategy, but it was a logical concept.

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If you go after an opponent without violence, that that opponent doesn't have

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the luxury to be violent towards you, because if they do, then public opinion

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will go against them automatically.

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But if you come at them with violence and they respond to violence or they come

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at you with violence and you respond with violence, then it's like may the best side win.

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And we as black people don't really have the luxury of doing that.

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We make up anywhere from 12 to 14 percent of the population.

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Let's be generous and say 14.

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That's not enough. Even if all of us was on one accord, that's not enough.

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And all my friends and stuff who say we should have our own nation and do our

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own thing. I'm not opposed to that.

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But when somebody tells me where there is a black owned company that makes tanks,

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where there is a black owned company that makes jet planes, where there is a

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black owned company that makes guns.

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Heck, where there's a black owned company that makes cars, right, and build ships.

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Because as a nation, you're going to have to do that.

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Have enough black landowners that have oil and mineral rights so we can produce petroleum?

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Do we own a power company but we can generate our own electricity?

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Now there's a whole continent of folks that look like us that are doing that.

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But there's a movement within our own country where there's some black folks

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that don't want to associate with them.

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So what are you going to do? Who is your ally going to be?

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The historical precedent precedent of what I'm talking about is in 1804.

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The slaves in Haiti, and I think it was called St.

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Dominique then, but they revolted against the French and won.

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Drove the French out. And no nation would recognize them. The United States

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definitely didn't want to do it because they didn't want slave rebellions happening here.

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It got so bad that somehow, some way, it was deemed appropriate that the Haitians

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had to pay France for kicking the French out.

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And economically, they've never recovered to this day.

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Because, of course, they took out loans with the World Bank and all that stuff,

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and they got to pay that back, right?

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So, but again, that was in 1804 when all of this technology of weaponry was not there.

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Now, you try to do that without the equivalent of what you would need, right?

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What country in NATO, what country in the United Nations is going to give you

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money to do what we're doing for Ukraine?

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I mean, because if you think you can do that peacefully, that's not happening.

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The reason why we have southern Sudan is because there's been a civil war there for years.

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And as part of a concession, they agreed to let these folks create their own country.

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It sounds good It'll get you a lot of clicks on social media It'll get you a lot of,

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Followers On YouTube.

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Make you some money. But if you don't really have a plan, you just have a concept of a plan.

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It's a waste of time.

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What has to happen is that black people need to agree to an agenda.

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What do we really want?

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What can we do on our own? And what do we need assistance from the government for.

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And we need to make up our minds relatively quickly.

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And when I say quick, I'm not talking about tomorrow. But we need to have a 20-year plan.

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We need to start building an idea.

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Because we've been in this country since 1619. And we really have only been

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full participants since the 1960s.

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We have always been part of the discussion in politics. We have contributed

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way more than anybody else as far as building this nation up.

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It's not saying that other ethnic groups didn't do anything.

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But literally, we built this nation.

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And, I mean, just all the great inventions that they give credit to white people

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for, black people refine them.

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Brilliant black people. The very place where the seat of government is,

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a French man designed it, but a black man finished the project.

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So, we've made a hell of an investment, literally with blood, sweat, and tears.

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So we have a right to demand certain things. But I think we've got to get to a point where.

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To create and maintain certain things.

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Some of them have already been created. They need to be protected,

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like our historically black colleges and universities, right?

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We have networks of black chamber of commerces that at some point it might be good to unite.

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We have organizations that are new and old, that fight for the rights of black

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people, that create opportunities for black people to develop business,

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and that demands equity in the justice system. We have those organizations.

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I'm not talking about the organizations that are allies. I'm talking about within our own culture.

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We even have a network of fraternities and sororities where we can utilize to

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uplift and fight for things, right?

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And we saw a lot of that come into play in the election.

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But now, instead of focusing that energy on one person to achieve a historical goal,

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Now it's time for us to carve a foundational, solid niche in this country we

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call the United States of America, where...

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Loyalty doesn't have to depend on one party or the other, are issues who command

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the respect of both parties, right?

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And, you know, this is somebody that has been a lifelong Democrat,

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somebody that cut his teeth and has always been loyal to the Democratic Party.

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But what I remind people, and having been exposed to people on both sides of the aisle,

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you know, like Henry Kirksey and Charles Evers, my main priority is to help black folk.

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And what I learned being a legislator is that there are some times that the

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best interests of black folks are aided by Republicans.

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And sometimes the best interests of black folks are aided by Democrats.

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And a steadfast rule has always been no permanent friends, just permanent interest.

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And I think this election, if it taught us black people anything,

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is that we need to stop being friends and work on our interests.

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Because I don't even know if we really know what our interests are.

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And if we do have an agreement on

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our interests, then we need to have some consensus of how to achieve it.

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And what does success look like?

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I guess we'll talk a little bit more about that on the other side.

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Music.

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So we're back. So one issue that seems to be, and I've talked about it before,

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but I'm really, really irritated with people who claim to be in our best interest.

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And all they seem to be really good at is trolling other black folks.

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Or folks that are African immigrants. And, you know, I've heard some of these

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people say, well, you know, I'm for mass deportation.

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So they want to see white folks round up Africans and send them back to Africa.

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And we're not that free, right?

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We're not that free to be that discriminatory and hostile to somebody that looks like us.

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Now, I get it. Their culture is different. I get it. There's some African trolls out there.

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But and then you're the whole basis of that is not that they're taking a job

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from a black man, a woman that was born here.

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But that you're afraid they're going to get a check or reparations.

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I just think that that is wasteful energy.

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One, because if they actually did, if the U.S.

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Government actually did decide to pay us for the work that we did.

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I think they would have a system to try to weed out as many people as they could

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because they're the ones who are going to pay it, and they don't want to pay

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every blackface that they see.

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So they're going to do the weeding out for you. You don't have to engage in that exercise.

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What you have to hope for is that they don't weed you out despite how many generations

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your family has been on this part of the earth called the United States.

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So you don't have to do their work for them. They're going to weed people out.

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They're going to limit what they pay if they did do a check.

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But I don't think that's going to be the answer.

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I don't think I want a one-time check from the government that they can tax,

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and get anywhere from 15% to 36% of it back.

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You know, I think there are some other avenues that we can look at it.

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And I think if you study the commission's report from the state of California,

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what they were recommending, right?

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Now, they did ask for some money, too, but the main thing was they were trying

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to show up institutional stuff, land, right?

00:24:19.277 --> 00:24:24.557
Education, money for entrepreneurship, those kind of things,

00:24:25.377 --> 00:24:29.177
especially housing, which would have fallen to land.

00:24:29.397 --> 00:24:37.437
But our main issue in this nation is for all the work we put in,

00:24:37.737 --> 00:24:43.457
we haven't built enough wealth to show what our investment is.

00:24:43.997 --> 00:24:51.557
Some of that is our individual faults because we don't understand the nuances of finance or whatever.

00:24:51.957 --> 00:24:56.397
We didn't understand the value of credit until it was too late.

00:24:57.957 --> 00:25:02.177
You know, we're some of the biggest consumers on the planet,

00:25:02.177 --> 00:25:05.837
so we buy things instead of investing in things.

00:25:06.597 --> 00:25:09.737
Those are individual traits that either we can

00:25:09.737 --> 00:25:16.117
learn how to work around or learn how to shut it down all together just all

00:25:16.117 --> 00:25:23.357
depends on the level of discipline you're willing to take in and not an expert

00:25:23.357 --> 00:25:27.837
on that by any stretch of imagination but.

00:25:31.081 --> 00:25:33.041
One of the things I was trying to

00:25:33.041 --> 00:25:39.921
do when I was elected, I wanted it to be mandatory that every black child.

00:25:40.421 --> 00:25:45.441
Now, the way I worded the legislation, there were some white kids and Latino

00:25:45.441 --> 00:25:48.081
kids and Asian kids that were going to benefit from it.

00:25:48.741 --> 00:25:52.901
But when you looked at the numbers and you saw the overwhelming majority of

00:25:52.901 --> 00:25:55.581
the kids in the public school system, especially in Mississippi,

00:25:55.721 --> 00:25:58.561
were black kids. This was a tool they needed.

00:25:59.301 --> 00:26:05.541
Teach them entrepreneurship. Teach them financial literacy. Make it a requirement for them to graduate.

00:26:06.381 --> 00:26:12.041
So even if they choose not to go to college, if they had a skill set and they

00:26:12.041 --> 00:26:15.261
wanted to make some money doing that, they would know the basics.

00:26:16.001 --> 00:26:21.101
And then they would know how to manage their money. They would know how to build their credit.

00:26:21.101 --> 00:26:31.141
And the more black people that own houses, own property, that builds wealth in the community.

00:26:31.901 --> 00:26:40.001
Now, because 26% of Americans think that reparations is okay,

00:26:40.781 --> 00:26:46.041
then it's not popular to use the term reparations.

00:26:46.721 --> 00:26:51.781
So that's why when you see elected officials talking about housing and education

00:26:51.781 --> 00:26:57.861
and all that stuff, they're doing it because if you actually said this is reparations.

00:26:58.781 --> 00:26:59.921
White folks would be upset.

00:27:00.801 --> 00:27:04.501
But yet this whole election was about reparations for them.

00:27:07.838 --> 00:27:15.178
Some of us bought into it from other sectors of society, other people of color.

00:27:15.958 --> 00:27:21.838
But every election from this point forward is an act of reparations for them.

00:27:21.978 --> 00:27:24.938
They want to maintain where they are.

00:27:25.138 --> 00:27:31.058
They want to rebuild their dominance for whatever reason.

00:27:31.638 --> 00:27:37.318
Because even the white folks are divided on why they should be supreme. Right?

00:27:38.598 --> 00:27:43.158
And I know that's not a popular statement to say, but it is what it is.

00:27:43.278 --> 00:27:47.138
I mean, just look at the dynamics that have happened after the election and

00:27:47.138 --> 00:27:49.558
the rhetoric that is being used.

00:27:50.978 --> 00:27:56.178
Those that supported Donald Trump are saying it's a mandate.

00:27:56.758 --> 00:28:00.098
He barely got 50% of the population to go with him.

00:28:00.098 --> 00:28:09.618
They're saying there's a mandate for discriminating against people and deporting

00:28:09.618 --> 00:28:17.498
people and shaping the government where the president has all the power and

00:28:17.498 --> 00:28:19.038
everybody just falls in line.

00:28:19.538 --> 00:28:22.238
Now, folks don't like to use the word fascism.

00:28:23.058 --> 00:28:28.958
They don't like to use the word authoritarianism. Okay. So let's just break it down.

00:28:29.778 --> 00:28:31.198
You want the president.

00:28:32.398 --> 00:28:35.278
And somebody used the term, and I can't remember exactly what it was,

00:28:35.358 --> 00:28:37.998
but you want the president to have all the power.

00:28:38.978 --> 00:28:44.818
And you feel that would legitimize the position more and that everybody else

00:28:44.818 --> 00:28:47.978
is supposed to just fall in line and agree with the president.

00:28:49.918 --> 00:28:56.258
That's not how we were set up. Our whole purpose, which is why I say this is

00:28:56.258 --> 00:29:02.138
the division between white people, is that there were some white people that did not want that.

00:29:02.658 --> 00:29:04.798
They wanted to do their own thing.

00:29:05.438 --> 00:29:13.738
And they didn't want to answer to a monarch or a president with authoritative,

00:29:14.078 --> 00:29:15.618
total authoritative power.

00:29:15.798 --> 00:29:18.158
They didn't want that. They didn't want a king.

00:29:19.198 --> 00:29:24.558
They wanted to govern themselves accordingly. I mean, one state was even founded,

00:29:24.798 --> 00:29:27.618
for the most part, to be a religious colony.

00:29:28.338 --> 00:29:34.498
One kind of colony was set up to be a prison colony because they wanted to do their own thing.

00:29:35.558 --> 00:29:40.578
And so a revolution was fought, and the folks that didn't want the king won.

00:29:41.538 --> 00:29:46.938
When the Civil War was fought, it was because some folks wanted to keep slavery

00:29:46.938 --> 00:29:50.198
going. Other folks had decided enough is enough.

00:29:50.358 --> 00:29:53.878
We want to get some of that labor, and we'll be willing to pay them. But...

00:29:56.917 --> 00:30:03.917
So they literally fought each other. And so now the path we are going and the

00:30:03.917 --> 00:30:12.837
way the rhetoric is being exposed is that that looks like the solution for where we are now.

00:30:13.417 --> 00:30:19.477
And I and other like-minded people trying to convince you not to go down that road.

00:30:20.157 --> 00:30:28.797
And especially Black people. So we, somehow, someway, have to try to come together.

00:30:30.497 --> 00:30:36.897
Now, I know people say it's hard because you've got some people who feel that

00:30:36.897 --> 00:30:41.717
they need to have their proximity to whiteness so they can maintain their lifestyle.

00:30:42.237 --> 00:30:47.517
And I've always made the argument that my proximity to whiteness is based on my blackness.

00:30:48.217 --> 00:30:52.637
I was able to do what I wanted to do and achieve what I was able to achieve

00:30:52.637 --> 00:30:56.897
in politics because I stayed true to my people and myself.

00:30:57.917 --> 00:31:02.037
Yeah, I've learned some things from their culture, classical music,

00:31:02.037 --> 00:31:05.357
or as my friend would say, European classical music, right?

00:31:06.017 --> 00:31:08.217
I speak English fairly well.

00:31:09.817 --> 00:31:17.277
You know, I listen to music other than hip-hop or R&B, right?

00:31:17.517 --> 00:31:21.017
I watch movies that are not strictly black oriented.

00:31:21.577 --> 00:31:27.437
I mean, I've been a part of the culture, but I understood my history and I understood my community.

00:31:27.677 --> 00:31:30.417
I understood who I truly am.

00:31:31.837 --> 00:31:37.337
Because I was unapologetic about that, I was able to sit at the table with folks

00:31:37.337 --> 00:31:42.137
that did not look like me or maybe didn't even want me to succeed.

00:31:42.857 --> 00:31:47.797
And was able to articulate what was needed at the time.

00:31:49.237 --> 00:31:56.117
And I would argue that there are hundreds of, if not thousands of black people

00:31:56.117 --> 00:32:03.917
like me that did that, that are in political positions or in positions in government, right?

00:32:04.317 --> 00:32:09.037
Or community leaders or non-profit leaders, religious leaders.

00:32:09.477 --> 00:32:11.777
I think there's a number of us that understand that.

00:32:13.057 --> 00:32:16.817
So if we line up with the Republican Party, we're not coons.

00:32:16.997 --> 00:32:19.297
If we line up with the Democratic Party, we're not chills.

00:32:20.077 --> 00:32:30.377
We're free thinkers who embrace a political party that we think helps us get to where we need to go.

00:32:30.937 --> 00:32:35.677
The problem is now is that those of us who are Republican and those of us who

00:32:35.677 --> 00:32:37.657
are Democrat don't talk to each other anymore.

00:32:38.837 --> 00:32:44.857
We've assimilated on the red side or the blue side and forgot about the black

00:32:44.857 --> 00:32:47.597
side because that's the reason.

00:32:50.077 --> 00:32:54.477
While we engage in the political process. It's about us.

00:32:55.317 --> 00:32:59.577
I don't want to see any black man or black woman harassed by the police.

00:33:00.017 --> 00:33:04.217
And this is somebody that has been in law enforcement. I don't want that.

00:33:05.237 --> 00:33:09.577
Nor do I want somebody from Haiti or from Ghana to be harassed by the police either.

00:33:10.637 --> 00:33:15.377
Because my socialization is that we are all African.

00:33:16.157 --> 00:33:20.417
Some of us were born here. Some of was born somewhere else, whether it's in

00:33:20.417 --> 00:33:25.517
the Caribbean, whether it was in Latin America, whether it was in Africa,

00:33:25.697 --> 00:33:26.457
whether it was in Europe.

00:33:27.277 --> 00:33:28.997
We all have that connection.

00:33:29.937 --> 00:33:33.717
And there are all things that we can bring to the table if we unite.

00:33:34.817 --> 00:33:43.437
But if we continue down the road of tribalism, then, excuse me,

00:33:43.537 --> 00:33:49.497
whatever dream somebody has about an African or a black nation, it's not going to work.

00:33:50.537 --> 00:33:52.457
There has to be a guiding principle.

00:33:54.217 --> 00:34:04.677
So if we don't have that shared value, if we don't have shared interests,

00:34:05.517 --> 00:34:11.277
then it's going to be hard for us to get to a point that we need to get to.

00:34:11.277 --> 00:34:16.577
It's going to be hard for us to progress and move forward.

00:34:17.637 --> 00:34:26.137
And even those people who say, well, you know, I'm progressive or I'm ultra-conservative

00:34:26.137 --> 00:34:27.577
and I just don't, whatever.

00:34:28.557 --> 00:34:32.697
All those terms are terms that other ethnic groups deal with,

00:34:32.917 --> 00:34:37.737
other races deal with, however classification you want.

00:34:37.737 --> 00:34:44.357
A group of people of a similar culture, they all deal with that because now

00:34:44.357 --> 00:34:45.657
everybody is like-minded.

00:34:46.617 --> 00:34:53.257
But again, the whole purpose of having debate and discussion is to reach solutions,

00:34:54.117 --> 00:34:59.597
is to build a foundation, and then the next generation comes in and improves

00:34:59.597 --> 00:35:01.597
on that, and so on and so on.

00:35:01.597 --> 00:35:08.697
That's how you perpetuate a race of people, not creating laws to make people have babies.

00:35:09.657 --> 00:35:19.357
That's not how that works. It's about building on foundational ideas and improving

00:35:19.357 --> 00:35:22.437
them to make sure that society continues to function.

00:35:23.117 --> 00:35:26.437
And we act like we don't understand that.

00:35:26.437 --> 00:35:32.117
And maybe we don't, because the way education is set up now is that we just

00:35:32.117 --> 00:35:40.097
want people to be smart enough to go to work, that industrial revolutionary type mindset.

00:35:40.937 --> 00:35:48.957
Instead of teaching people how to tap into their brains and to be creative and to.

00:35:50.925 --> 00:35:58.005
That's our fundamental problem with education. And that we don't understand how government works.

00:35:59.645 --> 00:36:06.885
We treat government like black college alumni treat their colleges.

00:36:08.185 --> 00:36:14.865
Here's what I mean. So, or how black Christians treat the church.

00:36:15.285 --> 00:36:16.705
Again, here's what I mean.

00:36:17.325 --> 00:36:22.665
When we're young, we want to do any and everything. We want to fulfill our careers.

00:36:22.805 --> 00:36:23.685
We want to start a family.

00:36:23.865 --> 00:36:26.745
We want to do this. We want to do that. We want to travel, all this stuff.

00:36:26.965 --> 00:36:30.605
And then when we get old, oh, yeah, well, if I got some money,

00:36:30.745 --> 00:36:34.145
yeah, I'll give to alumni. I might actually get involved in the Alumni Association.

00:36:34.345 --> 00:36:38.565
Oh, yeah, well, I'm getting closer to my time. I might need to build,

00:36:38.885 --> 00:36:41.265
reestablish my relationship with the Lord, right?

00:36:41.525 --> 00:36:44.265
That's how people function.

00:36:44.905 --> 00:36:52.585
But the reality is, is that you need to be engaged if you're an alum of HBCU, basically from day one.

00:36:52.725 --> 00:37:01.245
That's why at my school, Jackson State, your first year of dues are waived.

00:37:01.945 --> 00:37:05.925
So the minute you graduate, you can participate in the alumni association.

00:37:05.925 --> 00:37:08.825
Then the next year, you have to pay your dues.

00:37:09.745 --> 00:37:16.165
All right. That's why churches started incorporating huge Sundays back in the

00:37:16.165 --> 00:37:21.885
70s so that young people can be engaged in the day-to-day activities of their church.

00:37:23.165 --> 00:37:26.985
And they don't have to wait till they get gray hair to become an usher or become

00:37:26.985 --> 00:37:30.185
part of ladies auxiliary. Right?

00:37:31.225 --> 00:37:32.345
The deacon board.

00:37:33.485 --> 00:37:39.385
We need people engaged in their best years, not in their later years.

00:37:41.125 --> 00:37:48.365
We need wisdom from older people, but we need the activism and the energy of younger people.

00:37:48.865 --> 00:37:50.625
It has to be a total collective.

00:37:51.625 --> 00:37:56.105
Now, personalities are willing to clash because of age differences,

00:37:56.105 --> 00:37:57.365
because of experiences.

00:37:58.265 --> 00:38:01.465
But it doesn't mean a clash has to mean a permanent division.

00:38:04.832 --> 00:38:11.332
A lot of people, God, well, the point I was trying to make before I go off on

00:38:11.332 --> 00:38:15.412
that tangent was, you know, you need to understand government now.

00:38:16.212 --> 00:38:19.392
I don't care if you're in elementary school. I don't care if you're in high

00:38:19.392 --> 00:38:21.252
school, college, whatever.

00:38:21.472 --> 00:38:24.792
You need to understand government now.

00:38:25.712 --> 00:38:29.652
When I used to go and talk to young people in high schools, I used to remind

00:38:29.652 --> 00:38:35.612
them. And then middle schools, they weren't taxpayers yet in the traditional sense, right?

00:38:35.672 --> 00:38:41.192
They weren't paying an income tax necessarily or especially middle school or,

00:38:41.512 --> 00:38:45.712
you know, they weren't paying property taxes, but they were buying candy and chips.

00:38:46.132 --> 00:38:47.952
So they were paying a sales tax.

00:38:48.712 --> 00:38:53.812
And I had to explain, you are taxpayers right now. You just can't vote yet.

00:38:54.892 --> 00:39:01.452
But you're paying taxes. If you've got a job, they're taking out Social Security from your check.

00:39:02.512 --> 00:39:05.972
They're taking out Medicaid from your check, but you're not able to vote you.

00:39:07.512 --> 00:39:15.112
So you need to understand. So when you are 18, and for those men that have to

00:39:15.112 --> 00:39:22.452
fill out that form so you can get your financial aid, selective service, right, you need to know.

00:39:23.192 --> 00:39:26.832
You need to know why you're filling out the Selective Service Form.

00:39:26.952 --> 00:39:31.532
You need to know what government agency handles the financial aid form.

00:39:32.312 --> 00:39:34.712
You need to know about government.

00:39:35.752 --> 00:39:39.732
Because when you are 18, you can vote for these people.

00:39:40.252 --> 00:39:44.432
In some cases, in some positions, you could actually run yourself.

00:39:45.392 --> 00:39:51.152
So you need to understand. You need to be educated about this government because

00:39:51.152 --> 00:39:54.752
this government controls each and everything that we do.

00:39:58.352 --> 00:40:04.092
We agree to set it up. We don't deal with the day-to-day, but we vote for the people.

00:40:04.392 --> 00:40:11.172
We trust people to handle the day-to-day business so we can live our lives.

00:40:11.892 --> 00:40:17.112
But if we show as though they're not handling the business, then we can vote them out.

00:40:18.152 --> 00:40:21.772
Or if we want to go in a different direction, we can vote them out.

00:40:23.152 --> 00:40:28.232
That's, you've got to learn that. There's one other point I wanted to make before I close up.

00:40:28.752 --> 00:40:34.792
It's that what I'm talking about is not a new idea as far as us getting together.

00:40:35.852 --> 00:40:40.892
You know, when I was in college, I wrote this piece for the school newspaper

00:40:40.892 --> 00:40:43.812
saying that we needed to have a black convention.

00:40:45.512 --> 00:40:48.352
And the president of the university called me into his office.

00:40:49.672 --> 00:40:55.292
And, you know, Mike, he said, I want to talk to you about your editorial. Okay.

00:40:56.272 --> 00:41:01.712
So he wasn't calling me up to criticize me about it.

00:41:01.832 --> 00:41:05.232
He was calling me up to give me an education about it.

00:41:06.212 --> 00:41:12.772
He was the one who told me about the black convention in Gary and how all these

00:41:12.772 --> 00:41:18.272
different factions from the black community came and their objective was to

00:41:18.272 --> 00:41:22.172
create this agenda and all this stuff, and then it ended.

00:41:25.141 --> 00:41:29.881
Kind of came out of that, but it was more cultural. Like, I'm black and I'm

00:41:29.881 --> 00:41:35.821
proud and the fuck is beautiful and, you know, some lingo we use.

00:41:36.221 --> 00:41:38.641
It didn't achieve what it wanted to achieve.

00:41:39.481 --> 00:41:43.501
And then I remember Tavis Smiley.

00:41:44.581 --> 00:41:50.941
And Tavis Smiley used to have these state of black America forms.

00:41:51.441 --> 00:41:58.421
And he would have any and everybody. He had Farrakhan, he had Cornel West, he had Thomas Sowell.

00:41:58.481 --> 00:42:01.621
He had all these different leaders of black thought.

00:42:02.421 --> 00:42:06.461
Any given moment, as many as he could have on one stage at one time,

00:42:06.501 --> 00:42:09.081
and then he would do something else and get other leaders.

00:42:09.661 --> 00:42:14.021
Pretty much around in the same vein, progressive, conservative, moderates, whatever.

00:42:16.361 --> 00:42:20.401
And nothing happened with that. But the efforts were there.

00:42:20.501 --> 00:42:25.501
But even before then, and I had the privilege of interviewing the lady Dr.

00:42:25.641 --> 00:42:31.301
Foreman, who talked about these colored conventions that were taking place during

00:42:31.301 --> 00:42:37.061
Reconstruction and how in different cities and different communities around the country,

00:42:37.241 --> 00:42:42.181
these black leaders would come together and talk about the issues of the day

00:42:42.181 --> 00:42:44.641
and what the black agendas should be.

00:42:44.741 --> 00:42:49.901
And it was a big event for that town, especially the black community of that town, right?

00:42:50.661 --> 00:42:54.281
And then, of course, after Reconstruction ended, that ended.

00:42:54.841 --> 00:42:58.841
Although there were some remnants of it, you know, some people tried to keep it going.

00:42:58.841 --> 00:43:04.701
And the last really successful, quote-unquote, colored convention was Denier

00:43:04.701 --> 00:43:10.161
Revoltment, which led to the NAACP being formed.

00:43:10.341 --> 00:43:17.461
But that was only with some white buy-in, how the NAACP got in there. Nonetheless.

00:43:18.561 --> 00:43:22.861
So what I'm saying is not something that we haven't tried before.

00:43:23.721 --> 00:43:32.401
What I am asking is that if we do this, we stay committed to it.

00:43:33.021 --> 00:43:35.901
And we build something from that.

00:43:36.961 --> 00:43:40.921
Something so that the next generation and the generation after that and the

00:43:40.921 --> 00:43:43.541
generation after that can build upon.

00:43:44.321 --> 00:43:48.941
I don't want us just to convene. I want us to commit. Mmh.

00:43:50.123 --> 00:43:56.743
Because the threat of violence, which I initially started talking about, is real.

00:43:57.923 --> 00:44:05.703
And if we don't close our ranks in our community, and when I say our community,

00:44:05.703 --> 00:44:07.623
I'm talking about a pan-African community.

00:44:07.763 --> 00:44:12.863
I'm not just talking about black or African-Americans. I'm talking about all

00:44:12.863 --> 00:44:16.423
of us dark-skinned folk. Don't matter if you speak Portuguese,

00:44:16.783 --> 00:44:21.203
Latin, you know, not Latin, French, Spanish.

00:44:22.143 --> 00:44:26.843
If you're here in the United States, you're living here in the United States,

00:44:27.143 --> 00:44:29.203
there needs to be a coming together.

00:44:30.843 --> 00:44:36.343
Because all of us are going to be impacted by this administration and the administration

00:44:36.343 --> 00:44:38.523
after that and the administration after that.

00:44:39.303 --> 00:44:41.103
If there is still a democracy.

00:44:42.063 --> 00:44:45.683
Obviously, y'all didn't care about that, so we'll just roll the dice and see

00:44:45.683 --> 00:44:48.223
what happens after January 20th, 2025.

00:44:50.363 --> 00:44:55.483
But before the threat manifests into something where we're going to have to

00:44:55.483 --> 00:44:59.503
pick sides and pick up guns or whatever.

00:45:00.663 --> 00:45:05.403
Maybe if we coalesce, maybe if we get together, we can avert that.

00:45:06.303 --> 00:45:10.063
Because if it gets down to that, we're going to be to blame.

00:45:11.223 --> 00:45:14.483
See, I don't think I even finished my thought about the white supremacy because,

00:45:14.583 --> 00:45:19.643
you know, on the one side, I talked about the conservative arguments on the liberal arguments.

00:45:19.823 --> 00:45:24.863
They're saying, well, we focus too much on, quote unquote, woke issues,

00:45:25.143 --> 00:45:30.663
which I think is the dumbest thing ever, because it's like, if you're not woke, you sleep.

00:45:31.463 --> 00:45:34.723
And I don't want America sleepwalking anymore.

00:45:35.623 --> 00:45:44.123
Right. But there's a threat out there of a violent division of this nation, whether that,

00:45:45.190 --> 00:45:52.230
I don't know. I don't want it to happen. But what I do want is before that manifests,

00:45:52.490 --> 00:45:57.850
before that blossoms, we need to come together.

00:45:58.070 --> 00:46:04.250
If your agenda is to keep us divided and you're black, I'm not talking to you.

00:46:04.990 --> 00:46:06.770
I'm talking to the rest of us.

00:46:07.530 --> 00:46:14.930
I don't care who gets a reparations check. I don't care who gets a particular job.

00:46:15.690 --> 00:46:21.970
What I do care about is building wealth, because if we build wealth,

00:46:22.190 --> 00:46:26.950
we dictate who gets what check. We dictate who gets what job.

00:46:27.690 --> 00:46:29.970
We dictate politics.

00:46:31.350 --> 00:46:34.890
Fifty five percent of the black vote lives in one part of the country.

00:46:34.890 --> 00:46:38.410
The rest is scattered through urban centers.

00:46:40.230 --> 00:46:46.590
So there's a power base and there's a geographical place where that power base can make an impact.

00:46:47.070 --> 00:46:57.130
And that place is desperately needed because that place is probably the poorest

00:46:57.130 --> 00:46:59.510
place in this nation of wealth.

00:47:00.230 --> 00:47:03.490
If there's some folks in Kansas and Idaho and Montana saying,

00:47:03.650 --> 00:47:09.290
oh, I'm struggling and I'm a farmer and all that, your issue is credit because

00:47:09.290 --> 00:47:13.210
you are providing a good and a service and you're getting paid for that.

00:47:14.470 --> 00:47:20.310
Sometimes the government pays you because for some reason you couldn't sell that product.

00:47:21.630 --> 00:47:24.250
I mean, I'm talking about y'all. I'm talking about that reason,

00:47:24.350 --> 00:47:26.010
the country where poverty is poverty.

00:47:26.710 --> 00:47:29.890
It's not about credit. It's about wealth. It's about money.

00:47:30.770 --> 00:47:35.590
And even if you have one or two jewels in that desert of poverty,

00:47:36.110 --> 00:47:38.590
it doesn't eliminate the rest of the folks who are broke.

00:47:39.870 --> 00:47:44.210
Atlanta is the classic example. Oh, yeah, no way. Atlanta is the black mecca

00:47:44.210 --> 00:47:45.330
and blah, blah, this, that, and the other.

00:47:45.490 --> 00:47:52.470
The biggest wealth gap between black folks, those that have and those that have not, is in Atlanta.

00:47:53.390 --> 00:47:55.770
If it's the black mecca, there shouldn't be a gap.

00:47:57.410 --> 00:48:06.610
So we need to stop the trolling, stop playing the dozens, stop the it talking,

00:48:07.010 --> 00:48:11.750
and get together and get down to business. Bottom line.

00:48:12.470 --> 00:48:15.290
Thank you all for listening. Until next time.

00:48:22.000 --> 00:49:03.320
Music.