Hope & Safety Featuring Angela Giampolo and Dr. Felecia Pullen

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

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make this moment a movement.

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Thanks in advance for supporting the podcast of our time. I hope you enjoy this episode as well.

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The following program is hosted by the NVG Podcast Network. The NVG Podcast Network.

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Music.

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Hello, and welcome to Another Moment with Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.

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And today, we are very, very blessed because I have two guests that are coming on,

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two ladies who have dedicated their lives to going home and making an impact in their home.

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And, you know, one of the things that, you know, one of the things that's been

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stressed all the time is that, you know, in the communities that you live in,

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make as big of an impact as you can.

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Some people can do tremendous things. Some people can do small things.

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But anything that can be done positively to have an impact in the community

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will be greatly appreciated.

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And so it is my honor to have two women who have made that commitment to do

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that and to make a tremendous impact where they live.

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And at some point, I'm going to address people that are having a negative impact

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on where we live and especially the country that we live in,

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even the world that we live in. Right.

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So I'll get to that a little later after you listen to these incredible women.

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But before we do that, speaking about incredible women, it's time to kick off

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our program. And as always, we kick it off with a moment of news with Grace Cheek.

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Music.

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Thanks, Erik. The Trump administration deployed National Guard troops and U.S.

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Marines to address immigration protests in Los Angeles, drawing criticism from

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California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

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Over 290 people died when an Air India flight crashed into a medical college

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hostel shortly after takeoff from Amanabad to London, making it the deadliest

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aviation disaster in a decade, with at least one survivor reported.

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Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, a Salvadoran mistakenly deported under Trump's policies,

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faced smuggling charges upon return to the United States, which prompted a prosecutor's

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resignation from the Department of Justice.

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President Trump announced plans to phase out FEMA after hurricane season,

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shift disaster relief funding directly through the White House,

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and reduce federal aid to states.

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A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from detaining or deporting

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Colombian student Mahmoud Khalil under foreign policy justifications.

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The Supreme Court allowed DOGE access to sensitive personal data despite privacy concerns.

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A $2.8 billion NCAA settlement approved by a judge permits compensating student-athletes

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for name, image, and likeness use.

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The Supreme Court declined to challenge Washington, D.C.'s ban on high-capacity

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ammunition magazines, leaving the restriction intact.

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The U.S. State Department resumed Harvard student visa processing after a court blocked Trump's ban.

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And Sly Stone, funk pioneer and leader of Sly and the Family Stone, died at the age of 82.

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I am Grace Gee, and this has been a Moment of News.

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Music.

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All right. Thank you, Grace, for that Moment of News.

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And now it is time for my guest, Angela Giampolo.

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Angela Giampolo is an expert on LGBTQ plus legal issues and the founder of Giampolo

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Law Group, a law firm serving the LGBTQ plus community for all of their legal needs.

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Philly Gay Lawyer is the advocacy arm of Angela's law firm,

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and she actively blogs at www.lawyer.lgbt and is a legal columnist for the Legal

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Intelligencer and the Philadelphia Business Journal.

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Angela appears on a monthly newsletter.

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IHeartRadio show is the LGBTQ plus legal expert on a segment titled Speak Out,

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and she has appeared on NPR, Wall Street Journal, American News Radio,

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Fox News, and several serious stations.

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In the wake of the first Trump administration, Angela started a 501 C3 nonprofit,

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the Caravan of Hope, where she takes one month out of her firm every year to

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drive 5,000 miles cross-country,

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stopping in 14 cities to provide legal services to underprivileged and underserved

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LGBTQ plus folks in rural areas.

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In the wake of Trump 2.0, Angela co-founded LGBTQ plus Pride Planning,

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an online and automated service providing affordable LGBTQ plus estate planning

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documents to folks in all 50 states.

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Angela has served on many boards of local, statewide, and national nonprofit

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organizations, including the Philadelphia Bar Association's Board of Governors,

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the Victory Fund, Liberty City Democratic Club,

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National Adoption Center, and Philadelphia

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Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia, better known as Gallup.

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In her career thus far, Angela has been bestowed the honor of being the National

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LGBT Bar Association top 40 under 40 LGBT attorneys.

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Legal intense intelligences, most diverse attorney,

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Philadelphia Business Journal's woman of distinction, top 40 under 40 business

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people in Philadelphia, and top 25 LGBTQ owned businesses nine years running.

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Angela has worked in government at the Office of General Counsel in Harrisburg

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at the Election Law Division,

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as well as with the United Nations at the International Criminal Tribunal for

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Rwanda in prosecuting those responsible for the Rwandan genocide of 1994.

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Lastly, Angela is currently completing on her first book on how the LGBTQ plus

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community has protected themselves, their loved ones, and their rights through estate planning.

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Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest on this Podcast.

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Angela Giampolo.

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Music.

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All right, Angela Giampolo. How you doing, ma'am? You doing good? I was born doing good.

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Well, you were the only one. Most of us was at least screaming,

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crying, giving the doctor some fits.

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But I'm glad to know that at least one person was born doing good.

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But I know you've been doing good as an adult, for sure.

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And you've been a champion that I'm honored to recognize for what you've been doing.

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And I'm excited that you're getting ready to talk to the listeners about all that you do.

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But before we get started on all that, I do a couple of icebreakers.

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I guess it's the old moderator in me or whatever. But the first icebreaker is

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a quote. So I want you to respond to this quote.

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Always be clear what it is that you want and then make decisions accordingly.

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What does that quote mean to you?

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Make decisions quickly, rapidly, and never change your mind.

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That is the definition of success. You know, be clear on what you want and then follow suit.

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And that, I mean, that quote is the definition of how and why I started the law firm that I did.

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I am not your typical lawyer, but I am very happy.

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Most lawyers will tell prospective law students not to go to law school because

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it's a miserable profession and you'll be miserable and all of the things.

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And I do not think so, but I knew what I wanted to do.

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I knew what I wanted my life to look like.

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And then I worked backwards from that vision and stayed the course.

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Even when I was afraid, even when I was alone, even, you know,

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when it didn't make sense. But if I knew if that was my vision,

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then this is the course that I have to stay in order to reach that vision.

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So those are my thoughts on that. Yeah.

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So I understand at one point you were thinking about the WNBA,

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but you decided that that wasn't the move, huh?

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So I didn't so much decide as my knees didn't agree.

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So I went, I played basketball overseas, Sweden, Finland, Estonia,

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And blew out my knees in Estonia Or my one knee,

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my left knee in Estonia Came back to the US, got that fixed And I had not been

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playing professionally long enough that I was My NCAA status was still intact

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And so then I played college ball,

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And blew out my, before the season even started.

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Day one of training, blew out my right knee.

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And at that point, my team doctor was the team doctor for Duke when Bobby Hurley

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was rehabilitated from a body cast back to the court in nine months.

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And this team doctor was like, oh, my God, he's amazing.

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He's able to bring someone back from a body cast back to the court in nine months.

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And he looked at my itty-bitty little orthoscopic knee surgery,

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and he was like, you're done.

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And I was like, what? Like, you're the guy. What do you mean?

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And he was like, no, you can't come back from this.

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He's like, your kneecap is literally too small for the groove that it sits in.

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Like, I can't fix that. Like, that's just literally what your kneecap looks like.

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And so every six to nine months, you're going to be back here with a knee surgery.

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This is going to keep happening. And at that time, my coach, 32 years old,

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beautiful to look at from the front, and then she'd turn around and walk away,

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and she looked like a 92-year-old cripple because she had five knee surgeries while in college.

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So I had no idea where I had the wisdom, because I was a 19-year-old idiot, you know what I mean?

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And basketball was my life. I had no idea where I had the wisdom,

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but I said, you know what?

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I'm transferring out, and I'm done with basketball.

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I don't want to be her. I just distinctly remember

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that visual of her walking away from me and at 32

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barely being able to walk and I said I don't want to be that and so I transferred

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and I ended up at LaSalle University in Philadelphia and that's all she wrote

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yeah well that's all she wrote in basketball but it led to this this incredible

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law career so yeah I mean I never knew I had a brain until that.

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If my knees hadn't blown out we wouldn't been talking well we might have been

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it You never know how the world works.

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So my other icebreaker is I need you to give me a number between one and 20. Seven.

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All right. What do you consider the best way to stay informed about politics,

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current events, health, etc.?

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So what about the seven? That was it? Yeah, that was the question.

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Yeah, yeah. That was it? No, no.

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No, there's no grand prize with this. There's no...

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This is behind door number seven. No, no, that's not how that works.

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Your prize is the question I just asked you.

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Gotcha. All right. So what is my way of saying current?

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I am very, very guarded about push notifications to me.

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So I have a very few select outlets,

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that I do choose to get push notifications that tell me what I want to know

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at any time when I may or may not be ready for it LGBTQ Nation, them.us, Advocate,

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and then other than that a couple of friends that I trust to do get push notifications

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from CNN, BBC, and all of the things, but I don't want to get those.

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But other than that, I do not proactively on a daily basis read the news or

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do anything about taking on current events other than very specific LGBTQ,

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well, and crypto, cryptocurrency.

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I'm huge into crypto, so there's IA Answers, which

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is YouTube channel James who's awesome

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and all things crypto I get through him and then

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verify in other ways but as far as the you know daily news and whether we're

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going to war or you know life things that are happening I get that through LGBTQ

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specific outlets other folks email me or text me if there's something they think

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I should know that's outside of that and then crypto So I get the right answers.

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So let me let me make a note. So when I want to have a crypto discussion,

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let me let me call Angela again.

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Get her on. I call it crypto queerency.

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That's good, because that actually leads into my next question.

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How did you get the designation of being Philadelphia's gay lawyer?

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And was that a designation that you sought out? Now, I know,

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you know, back in the day, I'm old enough to remember that it was like,

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if you wanted to get a good lawyer, you got to get a Philadelphia lawyer,

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you know what I'm saying?

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And then, you know, all I kept thinking about, you know, was Denzel Washington

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and Tom Hanks and that movie, right?

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And so I'm just curious, how did you...

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Become the lawyer for the LGBTQ community?

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How did, and was that something you really wanted to do?

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Yeah, I definitely premeditated it. I bought the domain Philly Gay Lawyer in college.

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Okay. Long before I was a lawyer. So I'm probably one of the few lawyers that

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became a lawyer to fulfill a business model.

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I'm Canadian originally, and living here in the U.S., I saw that there was a

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distinct differentiation in how the laws treat folks.

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And basically, there's gay law and straight law. For a minute there,

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we were turning the tide where there was just the law.

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And now it's even worse than it was 17 years ago when I started my practice.

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So initially, it was Philly Gay Lawyer.

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And that was the moniker that I went by. There was my law firm, Giampolo Law Group.

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And anybody and even now

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the tagline is we represent the lgbtq community

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and those who love us we represent everyone

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but like let's be clear and those who love us and that's on the awning outside

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i own the building we have a forever home for jampolo law group and on the awning

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outside at a very walkable busy area in philly right off of south street 500 feet from South Street,

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there's a big sign that says we represent the LGBTQ community and those who love us.

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And I have straight people who email me all day and say, we love you.

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And we would love for you to be my lawyer and all of the things.

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But 17 years ago, or even earlier than that in college, it just always made

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sense to me that people do business with people that they know, love, and trust.

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They used to say, know, like, and trust.

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And I feel like we're at a point, have been for several years where it needs

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to be no love and trust, right?

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And the love piece, obviously, they don't love me before they meet me, but they can go online.

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They can see the things that I'm doing, that I stand for, that I'm actually,

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I'm putting my money where my mouth is and all of the things.

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And that part they can feel.

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And without fail, when most people reach out, they mention something about having

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Googled me and your caravan of hope, your love of senior chihuahuas, this, that, the other.

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So, yeah, it was definitely a niche that I started out in.

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My law school professors, the two that I respected the most said, don't do it.

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You know, at that point, back in 2008, you represent 3% of the population.

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You're going to start a law firm representing 3% of the population. Why would you do that?

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You're going to need PB&Js the rest of your life.

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But we always represented more than 3%. It's just so many people weren't out.

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There wasn't a way to count us on the census, you know, and I was like, this is what I want to do.

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And so I've always been a low volume because we don't, make up,

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you know, 100% of the population.

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So I've always been a low volume, high touch law firm.

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And we really love what we do and how we do it and who we do it for. Yeah.

00:19:27.244 --> 00:19:32.644
Yeah. That's, that's, that's interesting that you, you had that vision and,

00:19:32.744 --> 00:19:38.724
and you, and you set out to do it as opposed to, it just kind of fell in your

00:19:38.724 --> 00:19:40.824
lap that that's all you were getting?

00:19:41.484 --> 00:19:44.784
I think because I'm the daughter of two entrepreneurs.

00:19:45.444 --> 00:19:50.084
So my dad stopped school in second grade, third grade maybe,

00:19:50.324 --> 00:19:54.824
and followed his father, you know, last name Jam Polo.

00:19:55.004 --> 00:19:58.924
So read between the lines, but they went off and did that.

00:19:59.084 --> 00:20:04.224
And, and then my mom stopped at type writing school and then they met my mom's

00:20:04.224 --> 00:20:09.024
from Quebec and then they met and they started a business.

00:20:09.304 --> 00:20:14.364
And I just grew up with entrepreneurs. And so I didn't know any other way.

00:20:14.704 --> 00:20:18.064
You know, Monopoly was my jam. And I won all the time.

00:20:18.224 --> 00:20:21.044
My poor brother never could win, even though he's older than me.

00:20:21.164 --> 00:20:27.044
And so it was just, I, without, before I even realized it, I knew that I was

00:20:27.044 --> 00:20:28.164
going to open up my own business.

00:20:28.724 --> 00:20:32.724
And so, and then the other part about me is I'm always going to be happy.

00:20:33.284 --> 00:20:38.264
You know, we, Edie Windsor, marriage equality plaintiff, never postpone joy.

00:20:39.324 --> 00:20:43.024
And, and that always rang, you know, true for me.

00:20:43.244 --> 00:20:48.824
So it's like, if I'm going to open up my own law firm, what's it going to look like?

00:20:49.264 --> 00:20:54.504
How am I going to exist in it? Who are we going to serve in order to ensure

00:20:54.504 --> 00:20:58.924
that I love what I do on a daily basis? And that was very clear.

00:20:59.444 --> 00:21:05.284
So you mentioned the Caravan of Hope. Kind of explain what that is and how did

00:21:05.284 --> 00:21:07.764
you even come up with the concept of doing that?

00:21:08.701 --> 00:21:13.521
Yeah, so the Caravan of Hope is exactly what it sounds like. It's a caravan,

00:21:13.681 --> 00:21:21.681
32-foot RV that I take cross-country once a year, and we stop in 14 cities providing

00:21:21.681 --> 00:21:24.581
pro bono legal services to LGBTQ folks,

00:21:24.761 --> 00:21:32.761
specifically in rural and underserved areas where folks don't have an easy,

00:21:32.761 --> 00:21:36.861
at least, access to someone like myself, a competent out.

00:21:37.521 --> 00:21:39.041
You know, Not that they have to be out.

00:21:39.241 --> 00:21:44.221
Some of my partners in these cities are not out, especially I won't name the

00:21:44.221 --> 00:21:50.841
cities or the states, but some of the southern ones, trans lawyers that aren't out.

00:21:51.041 --> 00:21:55.581
So the out part doesn't matter, but at least competent and LGBTQ legal issues

00:21:55.581 --> 00:21:58.421
and in rural areas, folks don't have access to those.

00:21:59.021 --> 00:22:04.381
So it was 2016, Trump 1.0, and I was super depressed.

00:22:04.761 --> 00:22:09.901
And folks in Philadelphia, HRC at that point, HRC is to this day even.

00:22:10.501 --> 00:22:14.921
Number one rated city in the country, tied eight ways with Seattle and New York

00:22:14.921 --> 00:22:17.501
and San Fran and, you know, all the things.

00:22:17.501 --> 00:22:21.641
Yet folks in Philadelphia were messaging me on Facebook and emailing me and

00:22:21.641 --> 00:22:23.921
all the things like we're afraid.

00:22:23.921 --> 00:22:30.061
So if folks in Philadelphia, HRC's number one rating, city in the country,

00:22:30.661 --> 00:22:33.641
folks are vehemently afraid.

00:22:34.121 --> 00:22:39.081
What about Fort Worth, Texas, Mississippi, Memphis, Tennessee?

00:22:39.481 --> 00:22:42.981
What about those folks? and this

00:22:42.981 --> 00:22:52.601
unidentifiable, no-face avatar never left basically the front of my brain.

00:22:53.161 --> 00:22:57.241
And while I was helping folks in Philadelphia and in New Jersey,

00:22:57.241 --> 00:23:02.341
I always had this vision of this person that I didn't know, that I'd never reached

00:23:02.341 --> 00:23:06.281
out, but that I knew existed in these rural areas.

00:23:06.781 --> 00:23:10.001
And it's like, if folks here need me, what about there?

00:23:10.681 --> 00:23:15.701
What are they feeling? How afraid are they? And so it was in between election

00:23:15.701 --> 00:23:18.261
and inauguration, literally December 31st.

00:23:18.381 --> 00:23:22.761
I always do private, solo, strategic planning.

00:23:24.281 --> 00:23:27.721
And the idea just came to me. Caravan of hope.

00:23:28.281 --> 00:23:34.061
That's what everybody needed and wanted. It was post-Obama, hope, you know.

00:23:34.241 --> 00:23:40.741
And it was just like, this is what we need. And so I take one month off out of my law firm.

00:23:40.881 --> 00:23:45.041
This year, it's going to be October, national coming out month,

00:23:45.381 --> 00:23:51.641
and drive 5,000 miles and visit these 14 cities and provide pro bono legal services.

00:23:52.581 --> 00:23:56.081
Yeah, that's pretty cool.

00:23:56.341 --> 00:23:59.201
It was like, that's what really caught my attention to you. It was like,

00:23:59.961 --> 00:24:05.581
okay, so this lawyer is traveling the country to provide legal services for folks.

00:24:06.541 --> 00:24:12.121
And then the timing of it, you know, that was when I was doing my ACLU work in Mississippi.

00:24:13.221 --> 00:24:16.921
Yeah, it's just, I just think that's incredible.

00:24:17.221 --> 00:24:23.181
That was one of the reasons why I was drawn to get you on because as a black

00:24:23.181 --> 00:24:28.121
person, one of the things that's been, that was really, really hard to do was

00:24:28.121 --> 00:24:31.721
to get lawyers to do civil rights work.

00:24:32.661 --> 00:24:36.181
And you would think that would be a no brainer, But it's like,

00:24:36.401 --> 00:24:39.861
you know, just like your law professors were saying, you know,

00:24:39.941 --> 00:24:47.541
you're in you're in the legal profession to make income to and and to sustain a business.

00:24:48.101 --> 00:24:51.821
And, you know, a lot of civil rights work, a lot of people that need that work,

00:24:51.841 --> 00:24:56.401
they can't pay top lawyer rates or anything like that.

00:24:56.601 --> 00:25:00.321
And you only can do so many pro bono hours.

00:25:00.601 --> 00:25:08.241
So it's just really, really tough. So I can only imagine from the LGBTQ community

00:25:08.241 --> 00:25:13.281
how desperate it is to, well, not imagine.

00:25:13.401 --> 00:25:18.301
I mean, I kind of know, but I mean, it's like, you know, it's just how desperate

00:25:18.301 --> 00:25:23.381
it is for people to, one, trust that somebody is going to do the work for them

00:25:23.381 --> 00:25:24.341
and be thorough about it.

00:25:24.481 --> 00:25:32.301
And then two, availability. So, you know, I commend you for having the courage

00:25:32.301 --> 00:25:33.881
and the vision to do that.

00:25:34.281 --> 00:25:40.861
So speaking about clients, how have you been helping your clients navigate through

00:25:40.861 --> 00:25:43.841
these early days of the Trump administration?

00:25:44.361 --> 00:25:47.301
And I guess I'll throw in another question.

00:25:47.441 --> 00:25:52.661
You're a dual citizen, so you have citizenship in Canada and here in the United States.

00:25:53.421 --> 00:25:57.881
Did you ever think at some point, yeah, I might need to cash in on this Canadian

00:25:57.881 --> 00:26:00.681
citizenship and get them out of here?

00:26:01.941 --> 00:26:07.641
I mean, I thought that in 2016, my friend, you know, if I had it. But yeah.

00:26:08.729 --> 00:26:15.649
Well, I mean, it's it's real as when I say it's real for 17 years,

00:26:15.789 --> 00:26:20.829
there's always been a, you know, what not even 17 years that I've had my law firm.

00:26:21.069 --> 00:26:26.229
But we look at what LGBTQ plus folks have been dealing with historically.

00:26:26.749 --> 00:26:30.509
Right. And we've been here before. my

00:26:30.509 --> 00:26:33.749
elder especially gay male mentors

00:26:33.749 --> 00:26:37.669
brought dead bodies to congress

00:26:37.669 --> 00:26:40.709
steps and laid them on the capitol

00:26:40.709 --> 00:26:43.629
laid dead bodies on the capitol hill

00:26:43.629 --> 00:26:46.489
steps saying you did this because you

00:26:46.489 --> 00:26:50.449
won't talk about this right so we've

00:26:50.449 --> 00:26:53.749
the pendulum has been swinging back

00:26:53.749 --> 00:26:56.729
and forth historically but eric

00:26:56.729 --> 00:27:00.429
the pendulum snapped and full-on

00:27:00.429 --> 00:27:03.969
hit us in the face like this is there's no more what if right

00:27:03.969 --> 00:27:07.029
if if we were to look at a year ago

00:27:07.029 --> 00:27:10.709
to today a year ago in all

00:27:10.709 --> 00:27:15.949
of 2024 there were 525 anti-lgbtq bills

00:27:15.949 --> 00:27:22.509
introduced in the first six months of this year 575 more in the first six months

00:27:22.509 --> 00:27:28.569
we are on pace to double that and be at 1,200 or definitely more than 1,000

00:27:28.569 --> 00:27:31.069
anti-LGBTQ bills, right?

00:27:31.389 --> 00:27:35.249
So the first question was, you know, have you been helping your clients?

00:27:35.629 --> 00:27:39.669
Second, as a Canadian, when would you cash in? You know, at the end of the day,

00:27:39.809 --> 00:27:46.089
you have to put the mask on yourself, right, as the plane goes down before you

00:27:46.089 --> 00:27:50.049
do anyone else, the oxygen mask. And...

00:27:50.481 --> 00:27:55.021
And I am not a conspiracy theorist by any way, shape, or form,

00:27:55.081 --> 00:27:57.141
but I do believe there are lists.

00:27:57.841 --> 00:28:04.381
I have a nonprofit. I have a 501c3 where I put myself, I registered with the

00:28:04.381 --> 00:28:08.421
IRS as having an LGBTQ-focused, right?

00:28:08.581 --> 00:28:14.421
And then you have Doge, who just took, however, 27 million IRS social securities.

00:28:14.601 --> 00:28:17.201
Like, I know they're compiling lists. I know I'm on a list.

00:28:18.681 --> 00:28:23.721
And so if at some point I have to leave, I will. I'll probably use my Canadian

00:28:23.721 --> 00:28:25.141
citizenship to go south.

00:28:26.121 --> 00:28:27.321
It's really cold there.

00:28:28.641 --> 00:28:33.421
So I'll probably choose somewhere else and then do exactly what we're doing now.

00:28:33.561 --> 00:28:40.301
I mean, during COVID, I moved 3,000 miles away to La Jolla, San Diego, and said, you know what?

00:28:40.321 --> 00:28:43.441
If we're going to die, we're going to die in the most beautiful place in this

00:28:43.441 --> 00:28:46.241
country because we had no idea what was happening. And actually,

00:28:46.581 --> 00:28:48.401
and I stopped doing any litigation.

00:28:48.421 --> 00:28:51.901
My revenue shot up 30%, but I lived 3,000 miles away.

00:28:52.521 --> 00:28:57.021
And that was a huge demarcation point. And my loving my law firm was for two

00:28:57.021 --> 00:28:58.981
and a half years, I didn't actually live in Philadelphia.

00:28:59.541 --> 00:29:02.901
But I got all my clients on board with doing this via Zoom.

00:29:03.501 --> 00:29:07.701
And then I would fly back every six weeks and I would do signings and things in ink.

00:29:07.801 --> 00:29:11.661
And so I'm fine. If I have to leave, it will be I have to leave.

00:29:11.761 --> 00:29:15.441
It's not I will choose to leave. Like, it'll be that it's best for everyone,

00:29:15.841 --> 00:29:22.261
meaning more so the LGBTQ community, that I actually remove myself so that I

00:29:22.261 --> 00:29:23.541
can continue to help them.

00:29:24.281 --> 00:29:29.181
That's the only time that I would leave. And then how I've been helping them

00:29:29.181 --> 00:29:34.161
from what they've said and their feedback, both on social and,

00:29:34.161 --> 00:29:38.741
you know, real life clients, is being an objective.

00:29:39.561 --> 00:29:50.021
Authentic balance of being honest when shit gets real and telling them this is really effing bad.

00:29:50.461 --> 00:29:53.541
And you know what you don't really don't worry about that that's a

00:29:53.541 --> 00:29:56.341
red herring don't you have nothing to worry

00:29:56.341 --> 00:29:59.601
about but there are certain things i see going through the news like

00:29:59.601 --> 00:30:03.961
when michigan state ref was like we're calling for the overturning of a burger

00:30:03.961 --> 00:30:07.461
fell and everyone was like oh my god like marriage is gonna be overturned tomorrow

00:30:07.461 --> 00:30:13.621
no this guy has zero power let it go he's saying what they've been saying for

00:30:13.621 --> 00:30:18.721
12 years he's just reiterating it to get on the news only the Supreme Court can do that.

00:30:18.801 --> 00:30:22.081
You are safe for right now. Do I think you're not safe two years from now?

00:30:22.441 --> 00:30:25.461
100%. I think Obergefell is being overturned. But you're not going to wake up

00:30:25.461 --> 00:30:28.121
tomorrow because this guy in Michigan said it should be.

00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:32.819
Right. And so that authentic, honest, not fear mongering,

00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:39.499
also not placating, also not monotone, but just 23 and me, you know,

00:30:39.639 --> 00:30:46.459
being taken, going bankrupt and folks like Elon Musk and others wanting to buy all the DNA data.

00:30:47.179 --> 00:30:51.979
Delete your shit. You know, like these are people who believe in eugenics,

00:30:52.199 --> 00:30:55.799
which is basically genocide before you have to do genocide.

00:30:55.799 --> 00:31:00.159
It's basically, let's just create a human race that we believe in,

00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:05.899
which means no black people, no gay people, no ADHD, no mental health unit.

00:31:06.159 --> 00:31:10.279
Like, let's just remove all genetics of anything that we think is inferior.

00:31:10.839 --> 00:31:17.259
And then that becomes the future. And with all of the information of DNA with 23andMe.

00:31:18.339 --> 00:31:21.619
So I feel like and then and then there's the work on the ground,

00:31:21.639 --> 00:31:25.559
like the actual work that I can do for people where they retain me to.

00:31:25.799 --> 00:31:29.139
Do their LGBTQ estate planning, do their confirmatory adoptions,

00:31:29.299 --> 00:31:32.899
do their name changes, do their, you know, identity marker changes.

00:31:33.459 --> 00:31:37.939
But I would say the biggest way in which I've helped is to just be a voice and

00:31:37.939 --> 00:31:41.799
a soundboard of all the noise and negativity out there.

00:31:41.919 --> 00:31:45.319
And like, I think you should listen to that and don't listen to that.

00:31:45.679 --> 00:31:52.619
And people trust that because I treat them like I would want to know that information.

00:31:52.999 --> 00:31:56.299
Right. And none of it helps me get clients or

00:31:56.299 --> 00:31:59.279
anything like that like i'm just it's once i

00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:02.039
was deathly ill can't believe that video went viral

00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:05.339
deathly ill i looked horrible it was two in the morning and i

00:32:05.339 --> 00:32:09.539
was like this is what you know and and of course they're like you know because

00:32:09.539 --> 00:32:13.219
it was important information regardless of what i looked or sounded like but

00:32:13.219 --> 00:32:20.299
it was important information and people just see that you know yeah well you're

00:32:20.299 --> 00:32:22.619
also pretty good at pronosticating.

00:32:23.835 --> 00:32:29.255
Because you basically answered two of my next questions. But I'm going to drill

00:32:29.255 --> 00:32:33.415
down on one of them because I was going to ask you about the 23 and me for real.

00:32:33.595 --> 00:32:40.435
And then I want you to explain why is estate planning such an important legal,

00:32:40.435 --> 00:32:44.375
I guess, strategy for the LGBTQ community?

00:32:45.035 --> 00:32:48.555
Estate planning has been for decades

00:32:48.555 --> 00:32:52.775
over 50 years our first impenetrable

00:32:52.775 --> 00:32:55.835
inseverable line of defense it is

00:32:55.835 --> 00:32:59.395
what we've been using to create ties between and

00:32:59.395 --> 00:33:03.575
with one another that we couldn't do legally you could be together 47 years

00:33:03.575 --> 00:33:07.135
and you don't have an estate planning this is long before marriage equality

00:33:07.135 --> 00:33:11.855
obviously you have no estate planning documents you die everything goes to the

00:33:11.855 --> 00:33:16.795
homophobic family that you're estranged from that disowned you when you were 16, right?

00:33:17.075 --> 00:33:22.275
So, and even if you had a lovely family, lovely family, all of the things,

00:33:23.135 --> 00:33:28.155
nothing could pass to someone that you were with and were committed to the same

00:33:28.155 --> 00:33:31.155
way a straight couple would get married and be together for 47 years.

00:33:31.275 --> 00:33:36.575
So we've known forever that we needed estate planning documents in order to

00:33:36.575 --> 00:33:38.135
recreate those marriages.

00:33:38.435 --> 00:33:43.075
Then marriage equality hit Now, one of the things that I always say is there

00:33:43.075 --> 00:33:47.855
are 1,138 state and federal privileges tied to marriage.

00:33:49.415 --> 00:33:55.775
Privileges, rights, not power. There is zero power inherent in marriage.

00:33:56.055 --> 00:33:59.955
I got passionate around this topic 20 years ago with the Terry Schiavo case.

00:34:01.069 --> 00:34:05.789
Straight married cis couple, 29 years old. Terry Schiavo ended up in a persistent

00:34:05.789 --> 00:34:07.489
vegetative state, brain aneurysm.

00:34:07.829 --> 00:34:09.589
He was not her health care power

00:34:09.589 --> 00:34:12.409
of attorney. She did not have an advanced directive or a living will.

00:34:12.589 --> 00:34:16.869
He had no more power over his wife's body than the mother did.

00:34:17.109 --> 00:34:19.409
Mom disagreed. They duked it out in litigation.

00:34:19.769 --> 00:34:23.749
He went bankrupt after eight years. She languished on life support for 15 years.

00:34:24.509 --> 00:34:28.749
We, 10 years ago, got marriage equality. and sociologically,

00:34:29.069 --> 00:34:32.969
psychologically, I feel as though we breathed in legitimacy for the first time

00:34:32.969 --> 00:34:40.829
and mistook that for power because it felt good to be seen, to be legitimized in this country.

00:34:40.929 --> 00:34:43.729
And we mistook it for power, but we've never had power.

00:34:44.109 --> 00:34:47.289
Straight people don't have power in their marriage, just like Terry Shiavo's husband.

00:34:48.169 --> 00:34:52.569
So there are fiscally advantageous, financially significant privileges tied

00:34:52.569 --> 00:34:56.549
to marriage, 1,138 of them, social security survivor benefits,

00:34:56.549 --> 00:34:58.909
inheritance rights, inheritance tax,

00:34:59.529 --> 00:35:04.989
probate avoidance, you know, you name it, immigration rights, bankruptcy rights.

00:35:05.609 --> 00:35:08.229
Basically, there's gay law and straight law, and it's all tied to marriage.

00:35:08.349 --> 00:35:11.889
I never thought I'd agree with Rand Paul on anything, or he, me, for that matter.

00:35:11.969 --> 00:35:15.389
But there we were on Newsmax making for bad TV because we were in complete agreement.

00:35:16.349 --> 00:35:19.289
That if they wanted marriage to remain a religious institution,

00:35:19.289 --> 00:35:23.189
they never should have tied 1,138 privileges to it.

00:35:23.529 --> 00:35:27.289
But if I were told right now that I was going to an island tonight and I could

00:35:27.289 --> 00:35:32.389
only take one thing with me, privilege or power, I would take power time and again.

00:35:32.569 --> 00:35:35.369
And only the estate planning documents could be that.

00:35:35.889 --> 00:35:39.129
Being someone's health care power of attorney, being able to live out their

00:35:39.129 --> 00:35:43.109
living will, their end of life wishes, being able to be their executor,

00:35:43.189 --> 00:35:46.289
being able hospital visitation authorization forms.

00:35:46.429 --> 00:35:51.149
And that's another thing, you know for 17 years i've been treating my clients

00:35:51.149 --> 00:35:56.189
as though they're unmarried even after marriage equality because even after

00:35:56.189 --> 00:36:01.169
marriage equality we're only considered married in 37 countries out of 195 that

00:36:01.169 --> 00:36:05.509
fly a flag i fly to beijing i slip fall on the great wall of china,

00:36:06.089 --> 00:36:10.709
wife and i are not married get nipped by lion and safari in tanzania it's illegal

00:36:10.709 --> 00:36:14.029
to be gay i don't want you yelling, that's my husband, right?

00:36:14.369 --> 00:36:17.909
So 37 out of 195, that is a fraction.

00:36:18.409 --> 00:36:22.929
So I've always done these documents for folks, even after marriage equality.

00:36:24.049 --> 00:36:28.109
Treating them as though they're unmarried because that is the reality globally.

00:36:28.369 --> 00:36:31.569
And that's how I protect my clients, you know, the most.

00:36:31.689 --> 00:36:35.569
So through these estate planning documents, there's nine essential estate planning

00:36:35.569 --> 00:36:39.209
documents that I recommend for my LGBTQ folks.

00:36:39.409 --> 00:36:43.449
And with that, no matter where you are in the world or what's happening with

00:36:43.449 --> 00:36:47.109
marriage equality here and Obergefell and all the things, you can consider yourself

00:36:47.109 --> 00:36:48.789
safe outside of the pendulum.

00:36:50.194 --> 00:36:53.454
Yeah. And that's just good to know, period.

00:36:53.834 --> 00:36:59.074
But I was in doing my research, I noticed you really, really emphasize that.

00:36:59.234 --> 00:37:02.694
So I wanted you to expound on that a great deal.

00:37:03.054 --> 00:37:08.574
All right. So we're going to close it out. But there's been a couple of things

00:37:08.574 --> 00:37:11.754
that, you know, have been going on.

00:37:11.754 --> 00:37:16.294
And so I wanted to get your take on it because you're not only an attorney,

00:37:16.294 --> 00:37:18.314
but you're an activist in the community.

00:37:19.214 --> 00:37:28.114
And so, let me, Riley Gaines, what's your thoughts about her and people like her?

00:37:28.434 --> 00:37:33.974
I'm going to tell you what I think about it. And then you tell me or you agree or disagree.

00:37:34.374 --> 00:37:36.854
I think she's an incredible loser.

00:37:37.254 --> 00:37:39.274
I think she is an incredible loser.

00:37:39.974 --> 00:37:43.074
I think she's the worst loser in the history of sports.

00:37:43.574 --> 00:37:50.674
I can understand if you were fighting for a gold medal and you missed it by

00:37:50.674 --> 00:37:55.574
one-tenth of a second, I can understand you being disappointed and you have

00:37:55.574 --> 00:37:56.774
a grievance and all that.

00:37:57.354 --> 00:38:03.354
But even at some point, you got to get over that. But you weren't even in the

00:38:03.354 --> 00:38:06.714
top five in this particular race that you were upset about.

00:38:07.254 --> 00:38:13.434
And it's like You just harped on this one swimmer Who was transgender But there

00:38:13.434 --> 00:38:15.354
were three other swimmers that were better than you.

00:38:16.445 --> 00:38:19.625
And it's like, what the hell?

00:38:20.005 --> 00:38:24.865
So you're not mad at them? I mean, what's the young lady, Sheba Lincoln?

00:38:25.065 --> 00:38:28.345
She was mad at Coco Gauff because she beat her one-on-one.

00:38:28.605 --> 00:38:32.565
It's like, you're not mad at these three other women? You're just picking on

00:38:32.565 --> 00:38:35.505
the one who finished in fourth place, right?

00:38:35.765 --> 00:38:40.185
I just think she's the most incredible. I think out of all the grifters,

00:38:40.365 --> 00:38:42.245
she's got to be the greatest grifter.

00:38:42.645 --> 00:38:46.465
Because it was like, you haven't won anything. And you

00:38:46.465 --> 00:38:55.545
were given this platform That's just me So before she lost If you googled her

00:38:55.545 --> 00:39:04.325
It always said A conservative political activist So I almost compared her to J.K.

00:39:04.425 --> 00:39:13.425
Rowling But it's not really a relevant comparison But I think she took the opportunity,

00:39:14.145 --> 00:39:20.685
of this loss to put herself in the spotlight of the MAGA conservatives,

00:39:21.425 --> 00:39:25.365
to then get more opportunity going that way, since she obviously knows swimming's

00:39:25.365 --> 00:39:26.985
not happening in any way, shape, or form.

00:39:27.745 --> 00:39:32.325
So she's, I agree with you, I mean, she sucks at her sport, like,

00:39:32.485 --> 00:39:34.265
awesome, way to go, you know.

00:39:35.245 --> 00:39:38.445
But, like, most people who surround themselves around Trump,

00:39:38.465 --> 00:39:40.905
in my opinion, they're all opportunists. Tunis.

00:39:41.205 --> 00:39:48.565
They all see how being within a certain degree of separation from him helps

00:39:48.565 --> 00:39:50.825
them do the thing that they've always wanted to do.

00:39:51.345 --> 00:39:56.945
So she lost and then went after the fifth as the fifth place person.

00:39:57.305 --> 00:40:03.285
Right. Like to your point, you're absolutely correct. There's zero tie to her

00:40:03.285 --> 00:40:05.205
loss and that person winning.

00:40:06.579 --> 00:40:10.119
All these people in between but she was an opportunist and

00:40:10.119 --> 00:40:12.799
went after that and is now on the

00:40:12.799 --> 00:40:15.539
spotlight and MAGA people are talking to her

00:40:15.539 --> 00:40:18.279
and she's on news circuits and doing all the

00:40:18.279 --> 00:40:21.619
things and exactly where she wanted to be I wish

00:40:21.619 --> 00:40:26.079
Simone Biles hadn't apologized yesterday you

00:40:26.079 --> 00:40:29.179
know I think her reaction was immediate and therefore

00:40:29.179 --> 00:40:31.739
authentic it was almost immediate I think

00:40:31.739 --> 00:40:35.339
it was like 46 minutes after riley's comment

00:40:35.339 --> 00:40:39.139
went live then simone biles on x you

00:40:39.139 --> 00:40:42.779
know commented but it was so soon that it was obviously authentic

00:40:42.779 --> 00:40:45.619
and then a few days later to apologize for it

00:40:45.619 --> 00:40:50.359
i don't know i don't know who's advising her but i wouldn't have done that well

00:40:50.359 --> 00:40:54.099
it's definitely it's definitely handlers it's like somebody's like hey you know

00:40:54.099 --> 00:40:58.299
simone you got this appeal you know your husband's in the nfl you you know you

00:40:58.299 --> 00:41:02.039
got you know you gotta think of wheaties we I think at night,

00:41:02.139 --> 00:41:02.819
you know what I'm saying?

00:41:03.499 --> 00:41:07.339
So, yeah, you know, you're always going to have those kind of protectionists

00:41:07.339 --> 00:41:10.219
because, of course, their income is based off her income.

00:41:10.459 --> 00:41:16.239
So, you know, that's one of those things where it's like you just have to,

00:41:16.559 --> 00:41:21.999
as Kendrick Perkins would say, stand on business and just let that ride.

00:41:22.039 --> 00:41:24.999
You know, I really hated that.

00:41:25.879 --> 00:41:32.379
You know, when I saw that she had apologized. So this girl made a reference

00:41:32.379 --> 00:41:37.039
to a trauma that happened in Simone's life. And Simone's the one who's apologizing?

00:41:37.619 --> 00:41:42.719
Apologizing, right. What are we doing? But anyway, I just wanted to get that

00:41:42.719 --> 00:41:44.539
off my chest, and I'm glad you helped me do that.

00:41:45.039 --> 00:41:48.339
But does that make sense? Does that make sense that I think she just used it

00:41:48.339 --> 00:41:53.499
as an opportunity to just further ingrain herself in the MAGA political?

00:41:54.079 --> 00:41:58.319
That's exactly what all of them do. He'll probably be Speaker of the House next week.

00:41:58.859 --> 00:42:04.539
God, I hope. Well, I might need to borrow your Canadian membership if it gets that instant.

00:42:05.299 --> 00:42:10.979
But the other thing connected with that is, what was your reaction to the decision

00:42:10.979 --> 00:42:13.579
to remove Harvey Milk's name from the Navy?

00:42:13.779 --> 00:42:16.439
Oh, mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.

00:42:17.508 --> 00:42:22.068
Everything they did during Pride Month, I mean, you know, this month is Title

00:42:22.068 --> 00:42:27.548
IX month as they remove all, you know, purposely removing June is not Pride Month.

00:42:27.748 --> 00:42:33.488
June is Title IX month where we remove all trans athletes from colleges and whatnot.

00:42:35.148 --> 00:42:38.848
I there are two people that are

00:42:38.848 --> 00:42:42.688
no longer here that i think about a lot some

00:42:42.688 --> 00:42:46.468
daily every once in a while daily definitely weekly and that's matthew shepherd

00:42:46.468 --> 00:42:53.288
and harvey milk yeah i know this is audio but you have a got milk thing behind

00:42:53.288 --> 00:42:57.388
me right there right with this face so you don't have to say got milk because

00:42:57.388 --> 00:42:58.888
it just got Harvey, right?

00:42:59.248 --> 00:43:07.108
And so that was huge. He was dishonorably discharged for being gay at a time.

00:43:07.468 --> 00:43:13.228
And I, you know, when right now on last Friday, all trans folks were dishonorably,

00:43:13.488 --> 00:43:19.048
honorably, if they chose to leave and accept the separation and termination,

00:43:19.048 --> 00:43:21.288
separated from active forces.

00:43:22.228 --> 00:43:24.768
Just, I mean, salt in the wounds.

00:43:24.868 --> 00:43:31.108
There's no other way to say it. At a time when trans folks in particular are

00:43:31.108 --> 00:43:36.728
being actively separated from all military branches, and it's Pride Month,

00:43:37.248 --> 00:43:44.728
and to publicly do that was just like the vitriol, the meanness.

00:43:45.328 --> 00:43:49.908
It's just gross You know, it almost doesn't impact me Because it's so gross

00:43:49.908 --> 00:43:55.508
But again, I think about Just like the Caravan of Hope I think about those that are not as resilient,

00:43:56.188 --> 00:44:02.068
As I am That haven't fought the fought That it's my career This is what I signed

00:44:02.068 --> 00:44:04.948
up to do But there are folks just trying to live.

00:44:06.273 --> 00:44:09.793
This does actually impact them negatively mentally.

00:44:10.633 --> 00:44:16.813
Suicide rates have skyrocketed, you know? And so, yeah, it's just gross.

00:44:17.413 --> 00:44:22.153
Yeah. I mean, you know, and then, you know, again, you know,

00:44:22.213 --> 00:44:26.113
they wanted to take Megger Evers' name off and Harry Tubman and,

00:44:26.433 --> 00:44:30.853
you know, just anybody who, like you said. Well, that's the other thing, Erik.

00:44:31.093 --> 00:44:35.073
Like, we're talking about LGBTQ things because that's what I do.

00:44:36.233 --> 00:44:41.413
But it's like that poem, you know, they came for the trade unionists,

00:44:41.633 --> 00:44:44.193
but I'm not a trade unionist, so I didn't stand up.

00:44:44.613 --> 00:44:47.693
They came for the communists, but I'm not a communist, so I didn't stand up.

00:44:47.893 --> 00:44:50.433
They came for the Jews, but I'm not a Jew, so I didn't stand up.

00:44:50.833 --> 00:44:54.013
Then they came for me, and there was no one left to stand up.

00:44:54.413 --> 00:45:01.433
There are 270 words that they deemed to be woke and diverse that were removed

00:45:01.433 --> 00:45:02.633
from the White House website.

00:45:03.133 --> 00:45:07.093
As my friend in black as my friends i don't mean to cut you off but as my friend

00:45:07.093 --> 00:45:13.573
would say say it louder because the people in the back didn't hear that totally

00:45:13.573 --> 00:45:18.153
but i mean woman uterus pregnant.

00:45:19.473 --> 00:45:27.873
Black equity diversity we're all if you are not a white rich man cis man like

00:45:27.873 --> 00:45:30.373
you are on the chopping block.

00:45:30.553 --> 00:45:34.433
You are on the menu because you're not at the table anymore.

00:45:35.193 --> 00:45:39.073
We're all on the menu. You're on the menu. I'm on the menu. Most of the people

00:45:39.073 --> 00:45:40.333
probably are sitting on the menu.

00:45:41.993 --> 00:45:46.493
So, yeah, we, you know, folks say, like, what can I do? If nothing else,

00:45:46.613 --> 00:45:49.833
just know that everyone is an ally to someone.

00:45:50.433 --> 00:45:55.093
Even if you're a black, straight, cis guy, you're an ally to a black gay man

00:45:55.093 --> 00:46:00.313
or another black person or a white lesbian like you're an ally we are all we

00:46:00.313 --> 00:46:03.133
we are only going to get through this together.

00:46:04.491 --> 00:46:10.771
Period. End of story. That's how we we've all dealt with horrific things throughout

00:46:10.771 --> 00:46:12.931
the history of the United States of America.

00:46:13.491 --> 00:46:16.851
I don't think this ends in my lifetime. I think this is it.

00:46:16.931 --> 00:46:21.831
I think there's a demarcation point for while I'll be alive for the United States of America.

00:46:21.831 --> 00:46:30.851
But I do, you know, Martin Luther King, the arc of moral justice bends long,

00:46:31.431 --> 00:46:35.651
but ultimately, I'm bastardizing that quote, but towards justice,

00:46:36.051 --> 00:46:38.051
something like that. The arc is long.

00:46:38.771 --> 00:46:43.631
And I don't think I think in my lifetime, this will be what the United States

00:46:43.631 --> 00:46:45.511
continues to be, unfortunately.

00:46:45.871 --> 00:46:48.331
And so I'm here to help LGBTQ folks

00:46:48.331 --> 00:46:53.511
and those who love us survive it and actually try to thrive during it.

00:46:53.831 --> 00:46:59.471
So if people want to get your help, if people want to contact you and and all

00:46:59.471 --> 00:47:01.991
that, how can they how can they get in touch with you?

00:47:01.991 --> 00:47:06.011
So instagram you're gay lawyer tiktok

00:47:06.011 --> 00:47:09.031
just gay lawyer and my law

00:47:09.031 --> 00:47:12.331
firm is champola law group my website is very simple lawyer

00:47:12.331 --> 00:47:20.131
dot lgbt so it's not that com it's lawyer dot lgbt and it's like the gayest

00:47:20.131 --> 00:47:25.911
website ever and you'll find me there so you're gay lawyer on instagram Gay

00:47:25.911 --> 00:47:29.411
Lawyer on TikTok for Lawyer.LGBP. Nina.

00:47:29.951 --> 00:47:35.331
Well, Andrew Giampolo, you know, we talked for a good minute,

00:47:35.551 --> 00:47:42.071
but it seems like a disservice because I feel we can talk a long time and cover

00:47:42.071 --> 00:47:43.871
a lot of ground about a lot of things.

00:47:44.071 --> 00:47:48.451
But I am honored that you took the time today to do that. And I hope that my

00:47:48.451 --> 00:47:52.371
listeners gathered something from what you were saying.

00:47:53.779 --> 00:47:58.839
And I hope that you continue to, oh, tell people about how people can donate

00:47:58.839 --> 00:48:02.019
to the caravan because that's, that's one of your favorite.

00:48:02.799 --> 00:48:07.719
Yeah. Caravan of Hope is just caravanofope also dot LGBT. So caravanofope dot LGBT.

00:48:08.399 --> 00:48:11.919
And then you can go there and there's a donate button. All we really look for

00:48:11.919 --> 00:48:15.079
is gas money. I mean, I, I pay for the caravan.

00:48:15.339 --> 00:48:19.779
I self fund, you know, the more I raise the better, like it's an entire month out of my practice.

00:48:20.319 --> 00:48:23.639
I don't have the bandwidth or the time to raise the amount of money that I need

00:48:23.639 --> 00:48:28.299
to in order to really make it a net even. But if anyone wants to donate, it's appreciated.

00:48:29.159 --> 00:48:32.699
Yeah. So caravan.lgbt. All right.

00:48:32.839 --> 00:48:39.679
Well, Angela, again, thank you for doing what you're doing and for being not

00:48:39.679 --> 00:48:46.119
only an activist, but a sign of hope for not just the community you serve,

00:48:46.159 --> 00:48:48.939
but for the nation that you live in. So thank you again. Yeah.

00:48:50.199 --> 00:48:53.599
And Erik, thank you. You reached out back in February almost four months ago,

00:48:53.939 --> 00:48:55.359
right in the height of everything.

00:48:55.799 --> 00:49:00.999
Thank you for using your platform to spread this information, to spread the hope.

00:49:01.559 --> 00:49:06.219
Ultimately, again, we are all allies and we can all do our part.

00:49:06.219 --> 00:49:11.979
And this is your way of doing your part of spreading this out to your audience.

00:49:12.939 --> 00:49:17.379
And it's been lovely to share a moment with you, even though it's longer than normal.

00:49:18.479 --> 00:49:22.399
No, this is good. All right, guys, we're going to catch y'all on the other side.

00:49:24.400 --> 00:49:42.480
Music.

00:49:38.599 --> 00:49:38.679
We'll be right back.

00:49:41.999 --> 00:49:48.779
All right, and we are back. And so now it is time for my next guest, Dr. Felecia Pullen.

00:49:49.259 --> 00:49:54.879
Dr. Felecia Pullen is Harlem born and raised and is a leading researcher,

00:49:55.179 --> 00:49:58.999
advocate and social entrepreneur dedicated to health equity,

00:49:59.279 --> 00:50:01.699
racial justice and addiction recovery.

00:50:02.499 --> 00:50:06.519
She is the founder, president, and CEO of Let's Talk Safety,

00:50:06.739 --> 00:50:14.179
Inc., and over the last 10 years, she has overseen the operations of the Pillars and SAFE in Harlem.

00:50:14.719 --> 00:50:19.199
Both divisions of Let's Talk Safety, Inc. are New York State and federally funded

00:50:19.199 --> 00:50:23.839
programs that have provided holistic health and wellness services for nearly

00:50:23.839 --> 00:50:27.479
50,000 adults, teens, and youth in the community.

00:50:28.179 --> 00:50:33.199
Dr. Pullen, alongside her dedicated staff, worked to provide comprehensive support

00:50:33.199 --> 00:50:35.459
to individuals and families in New York City.

00:50:36.558 --> 00:50:40.578
Particularly those affected by systemic racism and structural oppression.

00:50:40.858 --> 00:50:43.838
Under Dr. Pullen's leadership, Let's Talk Safety, Inc.

00:50:43.898 --> 00:50:50.138
Has secured over $6.2 million in local, state, and federal funding,

00:50:50.438 --> 00:50:53.598
enabling her to offer job training, mentorship.

00:50:54.318 --> 00:50:59.418
Health care, holistic wellness, prevention programming for under-resourced adults,

00:50:59.898 --> 00:51:04.018
teens, and youth who face barriers to education, health care,

00:51:04.298 --> 00:51:05.998
employment, and stable housing.

00:51:06.558 --> 00:51:11.678
As a qualitative researcher, Dr. Pullen applies critical race theory to examine

00:51:11.678 --> 00:51:18.058
structural racism's impact on people of color, especially those in recovery and who use substances.

00:51:18.418 --> 00:51:23.718
She is known for designing innovative frameworks to drive social and health equity.

00:51:23.718 --> 00:51:29.918
She has advised policymakers, served on New York City's Municipal Drug Strategy Council,

00:51:30.138 --> 00:51:37.418
and holds key leadership roles on the 4NY Ballistic Street Wellness Solutions

00:51:37.418 --> 00:51:40.998
and Let's Talk Safety Board of Directors. Dr.

00:51:41.118 --> 00:51:45.938
Pullen is a sought-after speaker on addiction prevention, critical race theory,

00:51:46.478 --> 00:51:49.938
recovery capital, racialized drug enforcement policies,

00:51:50.558 --> 00:51:56.778
harm reduction, and financial equity for small nonprofits Her unwavering commitment to advocacy,

00:51:57.178 --> 00:52:02.058
research, and community empowerment continues to shape policies and improve

00:52:02.058 --> 00:52:07.118
lives in Harlem across New York City, nationwide, and beyond,

00:52:07.838 --> 00:52:11.938
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest

00:52:11.938 --> 00:52:16.178
on this podcast, Dr. Felecia Pullen.

00:52:18.480 --> 00:52:28.080
Music.

00:52:28.140 --> 00:52:31.280
Dr. Felecia Pullen. How are you doing, sister? You doing good?

00:52:31.960 --> 00:52:38.320
I'm great, thanks. How are you, Erik? I'm doing fine. I am honored and glad

00:52:38.320 --> 00:52:40.180
that you were able to come on.

00:52:40.620 --> 00:52:45.360
I appreciate you taking the time out to talk about the work that you're doing.

00:52:45.920 --> 00:52:50.040
One of the things I like to do to kick everything off is I do some icebreakers.

00:52:50.820 --> 00:52:55.820
So my first icebreaker is a quote, and I want you to respond to that quote.

00:52:56.400 --> 00:53:02.460
In recovery, I found that my purpose was to come back to the community where I was born and raised.

00:53:02.960 --> 00:53:08.460
I want the youth to see me as an example of what is possible in the community.

00:53:08.960 --> 00:53:10.200
Talk to me about that quote.

00:53:10.980 --> 00:53:15.460
First of all, it's interesting because I didn't think that you were going to give me my own quote.

00:53:16.680 --> 00:53:22.860
But yeah, I, after 30 years in corporate America, found my purpose and understood

00:53:22.860 --> 00:53:27.720
that my purpose wasn't about a pretty pair of shoes or a nice designer bag.

00:53:27.720 --> 00:53:33.360
It was about giving back to where I was born and raised and trying to prevent

00:53:33.360 --> 00:53:38.540
young people from traveling down some roads that I definitely traveled down

00:53:38.540 --> 00:53:40.420
that helped me be who I am.

00:53:40.420 --> 00:53:45.840
But it was really important for me to live in my true purpose and not,

00:53:45.840 --> 00:53:51.600
you know, a Tiffany's box that was empty on the inside after you opened it up.

00:53:52.480 --> 00:53:58.000
Yeah. All right. So my next icebreaker is something I call 20 questions.

00:53:58.360 --> 00:54:02.000
So give me a number between 1 and 20.

00:54:02.780 --> 00:54:12.420
12. Okay. What advice do you have for recognizing fake news? Oh, why did I pick 12?

00:54:15.900 --> 00:54:24.220
So I'm a researcher, right? And I will just defer to that sense and sensibility that I have.

00:54:24.360 --> 00:54:28.600
I don't just gravitate to what resonates for me.

00:54:28.820 --> 00:54:33.620
If something resonates for me, I will also do the research and check the sources.

00:54:33.620 --> 00:54:38.540
And if something doesn't resonate for me and it doesn't make sense, I question that too.

00:54:38.740 --> 00:54:43.080
So I think that it's important to just question everything right now,

00:54:43.240 --> 00:54:48.340
especially with AI and everything that is in our ethos, right,

00:54:48.400 --> 00:54:52.900
in the atmosphere that is coming at us so quickly that the first thing that

00:54:52.900 --> 00:54:57.520
I would say is question what you're hearing and what you're exposed to and research.

00:54:58.120 --> 00:55:03.220
Yeah. You recently said, yeah, this is not the only quote I got from you.

00:55:03.620 --> 00:55:08.760
You recently said, if I want to know why I'm passionate about and committed

00:55:08.760 --> 00:55:12.660
to my work, it's because it's never about the work.

00:55:12.840 --> 00:55:18.700
I owe my community. I owe my people. I owe my elders and I owe our children.

00:55:19.180 --> 00:55:22.980
So let's discuss the work that you are so passionate about.

00:55:23.140 --> 00:55:27.460
Talk to the listeners about Let's Talk Safety and the Pillars Recovery Center.

00:55:28.456 --> 00:55:37.156
Yeah. So in 2015, 2013, I actually conceptualized Safe in Harlem.

00:55:37.516 --> 00:55:42.096
And Safe in Harlem is the prevention of the onset of use for teens and youth.

00:55:42.376 --> 00:55:49.316
And that was really born out of first my journey in addiction and then my journey in recovery.

00:55:49.636 --> 00:55:55.436
So it was very organic for me to think about, well, how do I prevent young people

00:55:55.436 --> 00:55:59.056
from, you know, crack addiction, heroin addiction,

00:55:59.336 --> 00:56:00.656
alcohol addiction, because those

00:56:00.656 --> 00:56:06.336
are the things that I was exposed to and impacted by growing up in Harlem.

00:56:06.556 --> 00:56:13.356
So there were some processes that I used in order to get to this thing that

00:56:13.356 --> 00:56:15.856
is, let's talk safety, the pillars and safe in Harlem.

00:56:16.136 --> 00:56:19.376
And that's answering my who, what, where, when, and why.

00:56:19.856 --> 00:56:23.896
And I encourage all young people when they talk about, you know,

00:56:24.016 --> 00:56:27.556
what they want to be when they grow up, it's, well, what is your who,

00:56:27.716 --> 00:56:30.436
what, where, when, and why? Who was I passionate about?

00:56:30.656 --> 00:56:35.996
I am and always passionate about Black people and people of color.

00:56:36.336 --> 00:56:39.936
The where was Harlem because I was born and raised in Harlem,

00:56:40.136 --> 00:56:44.496
and that's where a lot of my early experiences occurred.

00:56:44.816 --> 00:56:51.356
The what was addiction because of what I had journeyed through and had come to the other side of.

00:56:51.936 --> 00:56:55.956
And the when was, this needs to happen absolutely now.

00:56:56.136 --> 00:57:00.676
Because as I look at the community and the history of Harlem,

00:57:00.936 --> 00:57:07.476
the beauty of Harlem, but also the disinvestment in Harlem, I knew that there

00:57:07.476 --> 00:57:10.776
was work that I needed to do and I needed to do it there and now.

00:57:11.596 --> 00:57:17.356
Yeah. So what was your, what was your Damascus Road experience, right?

00:57:17.416 --> 00:57:21.536
What was, what was the moment that got you from.

00:57:22.576 --> 00:57:28.476
Well, your, your self-awareness that it was like, okay, I have an addiction

00:57:28.476 --> 00:57:32.796
and I need to, to recover? What was that moment like?

00:57:33.476 --> 00:57:40.956
That moment was, I am spending way too much time in my bathroom consuming drugs,

00:57:40.956 --> 00:57:44.656
and I have children on the other side of that door.

00:57:45.516 --> 00:57:50.436
And it didn't feel good. I knew that I wasn't the woman that I was supposed

00:57:50.436 --> 00:57:52.776
to be. I was not the mother I was supposed to be.

00:57:52.916 --> 00:57:55.896
I was not the wife that I was supposed to be. I was not the daughter,

00:57:56.036 --> 00:57:59.256
the sister I was supposed to be. And this is not.

00:58:00.414 --> 00:58:04.274
Was intended for me. I knew that in my soul and in my heart.

00:58:04.434 --> 00:58:10.334
But I also, it took me a long time before I got to the part where I understood

00:58:10.334 --> 00:58:14.054
that the journey led me to here and now.

00:58:14.234 --> 00:58:18.634
So there was a purpose for that journey once I got to the other side.

00:58:18.834 --> 00:58:25.674
But that Damascus road was, I am not living up to who I am and what I am supposed

00:58:25.674 --> 00:58:29.654
to be to all of these people in my inner circle.

00:58:30.414 --> 00:58:38.434
Yeah. So yet another profound quote you said was that I'm not religious, but I'm guided.

00:58:38.954 --> 00:58:42.354
Expound on that, especially as it relates to the work that you do.

00:58:43.114 --> 00:58:49.954
Oh, I am definitely guided. And I do, I call my guy God.

00:58:50.474 --> 00:58:55.754
Religious, I don't go to church, and I don't feel like I need this middle person

00:58:55.754 --> 00:58:58.614
or middle people between me and God.

00:58:59.334 --> 00:59:06.514
He, and I refer as a he, speaks to me and speaks to me loudly every day.

00:59:06.874 --> 00:59:10.554
And sometimes I'm smart enough to go, yep, I heard you. Let me go do that.

00:59:11.594 --> 00:59:17.654
Usually it's like the third time when he's screaming at me and I'm like, okay, I heard you.

00:59:17.814 --> 00:59:23.254
Now let me go do that. So, you know, often I'm still defiant and willful,

00:59:23.254 --> 00:59:29.294
but I am so guided by God. And I know that the pillars and safe in Harlem is God bled.

00:59:29.434 --> 00:59:33.994
I'm only the vessel that opens the doors and comes through and speaks to the

00:59:33.994 --> 00:59:38.574
politicians and speaks to the people and gets the young people together. I'm just a vessel.

00:59:39.374 --> 00:59:43.274
Yeah. So one of the things when I was doing my research,

00:59:43.594 --> 00:59:51.614
you were focused in on, you got a lot of headlines when you were trying to educate

00:59:51.614 --> 00:59:55.474
pregnant mothers about marijuana use.

00:59:56.194 --> 01:00:02.814
You know, a lot of states have legalized marijuana now, recreational use.

01:00:03.414 --> 01:00:09.934
And a lot of people talk about, well, you know, that people debate about whether

01:00:09.934 --> 01:00:11.234
it's a gateway drug or not.

01:00:11.234 --> 01:00:14.074
But you know and I've had people on

01:00:14.074 --> 01:00:20.634
this podcast pro and con as far as legalization but you know one of the things

01:00:20.634 --> 01:00:27.634
I think you were trying to stress was that marijuana has a similar if not a

01:00:27.634 --> 01:00:33.394
greater impact on pregnant women talk about that and why you felt that it was important,

01:00:34.014 --> 01:00:39.014
well I take that back it was like from what I understand the hospital community

01:00:39.014 --> 01:00:42.834
reached out to you to do this work.

01:00:42.954 --> 01:00:47.874
So just kind of talk about that. And I guess it's been about almost 10 years

01:00:47.874 --> 01:00:52.074
since you started doing that work and what kind of results have you been able to achieve?

01:00:53.348 --> 01:00:57.968
Wow, I didn't realize that it's been that long because I still feel very passionate

01:00:57.968 --> 01:01:01.108
about that. Really, it was an education campaign.

01:01:01.568 --> 01:01:08.188
And I am very tied to multiple sectors that help me do the work that I do.

01:01:08.528 --> 01:01:15.168
And so I never claim to be like this one-woman shop that just gets it all done.

01:01:15.228 --> 01:01:21.288
It is because of some amazing partners that I have in the community that I'm able to do the work.

01:01:21.288 --> 01:01:28.068
And yes, one of our hospitals, it's a doctor who was the chief of pediatrics

01:01:28.068 --> 01:01:34.008
and neonatology that had informed me that several mothers, and I'm going to say,

01:01:34.068 --> 01:01:37.868
and who were tested at the time of birth,

01:01:38.028 --> 01:01:43.968
the babies, the babies who were tested at the time of birth were testing positive for THC.

01:01:45.228 --> 01:01:51.368
And there was some data that was presented to me from the American Medical Association

01:01:51.368 --> 01:01:58.528
and Pediatrics Association that said that it impacted the fetal brain development.

01:02:01.268 --> 01:02:07.748
And that resonated enough for me that I knew that there was something that I should do about it.

01:02:07.848 --> 01:02:11.468
But I needed to make sure that it was from this compassionate perspective,

01:02:12.128 --> 01:02:17.588
right? Yes, marijuana is legal, and yes, it has benefits for people who use it.

01:02:18.408 --> 01:02:27.188
And our children need every opportunity that they can have from the wound to the tomb to succeed.

01:02:27.608 --> 01:02:34.288
And so I just wanted to inform moms, if you are smoking and pregnant, here is the data.

01:02:34.488 --> 01:02:38.468
This is what the data is saying that is a harm to the fetal brain development.

01:02:38.468 --> 01:02:43.568
And with no judgment, come to the pillars, take a yoga class,

01:02:43.928 --> 01:02:48.948
let us show you how to use some of these other alternative forms of that medicine,

01:02:48.948 --> 01:02:54.328
if that's why they were using it, that you can use to de-stress and to really

01:02:54.328 --> 01:02:57.908
bring a more healthy baby to full term.

01:02:57.908 --> 01:03:01.908
So that's where that came from. And I'm grateful for the partnerships that I

01:03:01.908 --> 01:03:06.828
had that brought that information to me and that we were able to just love on

01:03:06.828 --> 01:03:10.028
women who were pregnant and smoking at the time.

01:03:11.064 --> 01:03:17.704
So you mentioned yoga, and one of the things is that with Pillars is that you

01:03:17.704 --> 01:03:24.424
deliberately have a holistic approach to addressing issues about addiction and recovery.

01:03:24.584 --> 01:03:30.044
Kind of elaborate on what all that you offer with that. Yeah.

01:03:30.384 --> 01:03:37.664
So we offer, and holistic is not just the alternative forms of medicine like

01:03:37.664 --> 01:03:41.344
Reiki that we offer, acupuncture, yoga, meditation.

01:03:42.164 --> 01:03:49.784
Holistic really refers to that whole person. And so the Pillars logo is in four parts for a reason.

01:03:50.024 --> 01:03:54.624
And it talks about what we offer that is a direct benefit to self.

01:03:54.704 --> 01:03:58.784
And then to the family, we have parenting skills enhancement classes.

01:03:58.844 --> 01:04:02.584
To the community, we distribute naloxone.

01:04:02.724 --> 01:04:11.004
We also have, we host AA and NA meetings. But that last piece is about integration

01:04:11.004 --> 01:04:16.684
and reintegration into society as a whole, and that's the workforce development that we do.

01:04:16.824 --> 01:04:22.604
So we make sure that, you know, it's the individual that's coming in and also

01:04:22.604 --> 01:04:24.724
how do we help to support their family?

01:04:24.724 --> 01:04:30.304
How do we help them in community, whether they are directly impacted by addiction

01:04:30.304 --> 01:04:35.524
or a family member of or a community member that is impacted by addiction?

01:04:35.524 --> 01:04:39.404
Because we are all touched by it in some way, shape or form.

01:04:39.544 --> 01:04:43.544
And then that workforce development piece that is important to,

01:04:43.544 --> 01:04:49.524
you know, housing stability, economic stability and familial stability. Yeah.

01:04:49.804 --> 01:04:53.824
And, you know, I appreciate you defining it totally.

01:04:55.244 --> 01:05:03.204
But, you know, the approach about yoga and all that is unique to me.

01:05:03.424 --> 01:05:08.684
You know, most of the programs that I've been affiliated with or...

01:05:09.156 --> 01:05:14.096
Know, know about. It's like, you know, they make sure that you go through the steps.

01:05:14.356 --> 01:05:19.276
And, and, you know, the one that I had direct impact with, you know,

01:05:19.356 --> 01:05:23.336
was like the religious component was in there that they had to,

01:05:23.576 --> 01:05:26.216
you know, attend church while they were in rehab,

01:05:26.996 --> 01:05:30.936
you know, our church, since we were sponsoring the program.

01:05:31.576 --> 01:05:37.116
You know, so people, people kind of do that, but I I never had heard about doing

01:05:37.116 --> 01:05:42.076
things that most people, you know, just kind of do to de-stress and never really

01:05:42.076 --> 01:05:44.576
heard it apply to, you know, recovery.

01:05:44.576 --> 01:05:50.876
And so what led you to use that? Was it something in your research?

01:05:51.176 --> 01:05:57.056
Was it God talking to you? What exactly got you to say, let's try this approach,

01:05:57.236 --> 01:06:00.316
especially with people in the inner city?

01:06:00.896 --> 01:06:07.476
Yeah, it was all of those things. right? And so when I went to rehab.

01:06:07.856 --> 01:06:13.936
I had private health insurance and my private health insurance paid $50,000

01:06:13.936 --> 01:06:17.036
for me to do 57 days in rehab.

01:06:17.356 --> 01:06:22.256
And during that time, I was exposed to a lot of the things that I just mentioned,

01:06:22.536 --> 01:06:24.536
the acupuncture, there was a sweat lodge.

01:06:24.656 --> 01:06:28.416
I mean, I was very fortunate and privileged, right?

01:06:28.596 --> 01:06:33.216
So I have to also understand as a woman in this recovery space,

01:06:33.216 --> 01:06:38.196
but also when I was in that state of active use, I was privileged.

01:06:38.496 --> 01:06:43.476
And so I wanted to make sure that income...

01:06:43.824 --> 01:06:48.944
Not a barrier to receiving all of the things that I was exposed to and that

01:06:48.944 --> 01:06:51.544
I found to be beneficial in my journey.

01:06:51.804 --> 01:06:54.624
And so when I was doing my who, what, where, when, and why, right,

01:06:54.704 --> 01:06:56.884
what services am I going to bring to this community?

01:06:57.144 --> 01:07:00.784
It was, yep, that acupuncture was great. I de-stressed.

01:07:00.964 --> 01:07:08.464
I was able to listen to that inner voice and that spirituality that we often talk about in recovery.

01:07:08.464 --> 01:07:15.884
And I just needed to bring that back and offer that to that inner city community that,

01:07:16.124 --> 01:07:21.084
you know, and I'm really glad that you touched on the part about the inner city

01:07:21.084 --> 01:07:28.184
because there's a misnomer that, you know, we don't really take advantage of, let's say, Reiki.

01:07:28.184 --> 01:07:34.024
I think it's the name that is confusing to us because as a Black people,

01:07:34.284 --> 01:07:39.044
we have been talking about laying hands on forever, right?

01:07:39.624 --> 01:07:43.004
We want to lay hands on. And that's really what Reiki is.

01:07:43.184 --> 01:07:49.244
It is an opportunity for one person to use their energy to heal another.

01:07:50.064 --> 01:07:56.044
So none of this is really unique to our community, but some of the names may

01:07:56.044 --> 01:07:58.324
be different from what we're used to calling them.

01:07:58.984 --> 01:08:05.284
Yeah, yeah. It just reminds me of that Wire episode where Idris Elba,

01:08:05.404 --> 01:08:08.764
his character, he's been dealing drugs all this time.

01:08:08.964 --> 01:08:16.224
And then he finally decides to go to a community college and to take business.

01:08:16.224 --> 01:08:19.564
And he looks in the business and he's seeing what these folks are doing.

01:08:19.684 --> 01:08:23.824
He said, oh, we've been doing this the whole time. It just was,

01:08:24.064 --> 01:08:26.284
you know, we just called it something different.

01:08:27.024 --> 01:08:33.544
And, you know, I think that, you know, we've been exposed to a lot of things in our community.

01:08:34.284 --> 01:08:41.264
And because of our history, we've lost a connection with that.

01:08:41.264 --> 01:08:48.664
And so, you know, for you to try to bring some of those connections back,

01:08:48.804 --> 01:08:51.744
like you said, we've we've called it laying hands for years,

01:08:52.024 --> 01:08:54.104
especially in the church community.

01:08:54.304 --> 01:09:00.164
But, you know, to bring it back, you know, and people like, oh, OK, I get it.

01:09:00.304 --> 01:09:03.224
You know, they were thinking I'm sure some people probably like,

01:09:03.404 --> 01:09:06.104
yeah, I don't know if I'm going to do this Reiki stuff, Doc.

01:09:06.104 --> 01:09:10.644
Like I, that sounds a little, and then when they realized what it was,

01:09:10.684 --> 01:09:14.524
it's like, oh yeah, we've been doing this all the time.

01:09:14.524 --> 01:09:19.004
So I'm glad that you, you, you took that approach to that and,

01:09:19.004 --> 01:09:23.104
and, and explained it so people would feel comfortable doing it.

01:09:23.684 --> 01:09:27.504
What is the biggest challenge you face in doing your work?

01:09:30.064 --> 01:09:34.284
That is a huge question. Certainly financial.

01:09:36.124 --> 01:09:41.444
That's number one. That's the biggest challenge are the financial resources to do the work.

01:09:41.584 --> 01:09:48.844
And I think that part of that is me and part of that are the systems in which we operate.

01:09:49.144 --> 01:09:55.644
And so when I say part of that is me is I want to do all things that are necessary

01:09:55.644 --> 01:10:00.244
for people to thrive, not just to survive, but to thrive.

01:10:00.564 --> 01:10:10.444
So it's my desire. And the systems that I am confined within are not designed for people to thrive.

01:10:11.624 --> 01:10:18.064
So it's a conflict between what I want to do for the people and what I am able

01:10:18.064 --> 01:10:20.424
to do based on the funding.

01:10:21.544 --> 01:10:28.264
Yeah. And I, you know, whenever I'm having these conversations with people,

01:10:28.784 --> 01:10:30.904
you know, that's kind of a general theme.

01:10:31.144 --> 01:10:35.804
Well, you know, systems not designed to, you know, do this or do that.

01:10:36.484 --> 01:10:45.984
And I've never, you know, I tend to understand the results, but I never really got into that.

01:10:46.144 --> 01:10:52.224
And I, and I tell you why, the only reason why I say that is because maybe I'm altruistic about it.

01:10:52.744 --> 01:10:55.884
And of course, as you get older, you might get a little jaded,

01:10:55.884 --> 01:11:02.324
but I just feel that systems were meant to be altered.

01:11:03.024 --> 01:11:09.544
Right. And I use sports as an example. Basketball was around for a long time

01:11:09.544 --> 01:11:12.984
and, you know, it had become a professional sport.

01:11:13.284 --> 01:11:19.584
And then somebody looked at the rules and said, okay, I can't go forward without

01:11:19.584 --> 01:11:23.064
dribbling the ball, but there's nothing saying I can't go vertical.

01:11:24.244 --> 01:11:27.704
With the ball. And they invented the jump shot.

01:11:27.904 --> 01:11:30.844
They said, I'm not going to stand here and let this guy block my shot.

01:11:30.984 --> 01:11:32.724
I'm going to jump over him and shoot it, right?

01:11:33.064 --> 01:11:39.764
And it changed the game. Now, it wasn't designed that way, but somebody found

01:11:39.764 --> 01:11:43.264
a way to make it work and in essence,

01:11:44.084 --> 01:11:48.604
change the dynamics of it where people were able to succeed more.

01:11:49.084 --> 01:11:55.044
So that's just kind of my mindset said about systems. I'm not really pushing back on you.

01:11:55.184 --> 01:12:03.484
I just, you know, when I hear that, because what you're doing is breaking that

01:12:03.484 --> 01:12:07.924
cycle about what the system is restricting people to do. You understand what I'm saying?

01:12:08.744 --> 01:12:13.664
Absolutely. And I love that analogy. And if I took that analogy and applied

01:12:13.664 --> 01:12:15.424
it to the continuum of care,

01:12:16.224 --> 01:12:22.704
yes, we've gone vertically, even with the conceptualization of a recovery center,

01:12:22.704 --> 01:12:26.204
because that was not always a part of recovery.

01:12:26.564 --> 01:12:31.084
Neither was harm reduction. Neither was safe consumption sites.

01:12:31.324 --> 01:12:36.524
So there has definitely been this vertical jump shot, if you will,

01:12:36.884 --> 01:12:40.984
relative to the continuum of care across the recovery spectrum.

01:12:43.384 --> 01:12:50.944
And it is also frustrating when somebody blocks your shot, when you are trying

01:12:50.944 --> 01:12:56.564
to use the lane that you were given and say,

01:12:56.764 --> 01:13:00.864
I thank you for altering the rules.

01:13:00.864 --> 01:13:08.864
And within this framework, I am now going to expand what this means and what this can be.

01:13:08.924 --> 01:13:15.664
But you're dealing with people in the system that cannot conceptualize or be

01:13:15.664 --> 01:13:19.644
creative within those confines that you can be.

01:13:19.804 --> 01:13:26.564
And so, therefore, you are faced with a constant barrage of people blocking

01:13:26.564 --> 01:13:32.344
your shot. I have dreams for my people.

01:13:33.590 --> 01:13:40.590
And it is extremely frustrating when people cannot see the dream or do not want

01:13:40.590 --> 01:13:44.910
to fund the dream or do not want to use their power to advance the dream.

01:13:45.190 --> 01:13:49.710
So it's challenging. I understand.

01:13:50.370 --> 01:13:56.210
Excuse me. So you're a researcher by training. So do you measure success in

01:13:56.210 --> 01:13:59.590
this work quantitatively or qualitatively?

01:14:00.450 --> 01:14:07.370
Well, the researcher in me has to say both. And so quantitatively,

01:14:07.370 --> 01:14:10.770
I can tell you that per year,

01:14:10.950 --> 01:14:16.150
we serve 3,000 people who come through the doors of the pillars for all of those

01:14:16.150 --> 01:14:17.790
services that I've mentioned.

01:14:19.410 --> 01:14:23.210
Qualitatively I can tell you that and

01:14:23.210 --> 01:14:26.250
here is how those people have been

01:14:26.250 --> 01:14:32.070
impacted when they tell me this is home this is my safe space this is the place

01:14:32.070 --> 01:14:37.570
where I have grown from just coming in and hanging out in the computer lab where

01:14:37.570 --> 01:14:44.110
I am just engaging with that machine one-on-one but I knew I was in a safe space to,

01:14:44.310 --> 01:14:49.750
and now I have the benefits of yoga and the benefits of meditation.

01:14:50.370 --> 01:14:56.510
This is how it's impacting me. I don't use when I'm here because I have the tools that I need.

01:14:56.630 --> 01:15:01.550
That's the narratives that support the quantitative data.

01:15:01.750 --> 01:15:05.630
But by trainer, I am a qualitative researcher.

01:15:06.250 --> 01:15:11.690
I want to know the who, what, where, what, and why. I want to know far beyond...

01:15:13.100 --> 01:15:15.640
What drug are you using and how long have you been using it?

01:15:15.720 --> 01:15:18.700
I want to know who were you before you met your drug of choice.

01:15:19.120 --> 01:15:22.780
Tell me about your family. Tell me about your connection to the community.

01:15:22.980 --> 01:15:24.520
Tell me about your spirituality.

01:15:25.340 --> 01:15:31.620
Tell me about your human resources and how you feel about the community that you're in.

01:15:31.940 --> 01:15:38.620
And how does that contribute to either your recovery and or why you still use?

01:15:38.620 --> 01:15:44.660
So, yeah, it's the qualitative that drives me to do the work that I do.

01:15:45.860 --> 01:15:51.920
All right. So what more can be done in public policy to deal with addiction

01:15:51.920 --> 01:15:53.920
prevention and recovery?

01:15:54.800 --> 01:15:58.760
So I won't only go down the easy road of funding.

01:16:00.300 --> 01:16:05.520
And I think it's extremely important to make sure that people who are impacted

01:16:05.520 --> 01:16:08.080
by policy are at the table and driving policy.

01:16:08.860 --> 01:16:14.000
Far too often we're seeing that policies are designed and developed without

01:16:14.000 --> 01:16:23.680
the voices of those that, and even, you know, the well-meaning policymakers are trying to enact.

01:16:23.980 --> 01:16:28.860
So I think the biggest thing that we can do is to make sure that the voices,

01:16:29.200 --> 01:16:32.740
whatever the policy is, the voices of the people are at the table.

01:16:33.600 --> 01:16:44.380
Yeah. When I was a legislator, I was I was given a speech to the American Lung Association.

01:16:45.780 --> 01:16:51.860
And I don't know what it was that initially drew them to have me talk,

01:16:52.020 --> 01:16:57.980
but they didn't know my history. They didn't know that I grew up with childhood asthma.

01:16:59.060 --> 01:17:05.060
And, you know, I think it was it was it was a bill that I was pushing because

01:17:05.060 --> 01:17:11.900
somebody in the community made me aware that children in Mississippi that had asthma,

01:17:12.120 --> 01:17:17.680
if they had an inhaler, they had to go to the office or the school nurse,

01:17:17.920 --> 01:17:21.360
drop off their inhaler there and then go to class.

01:17:21.960 --> 01:17:29.000
So if they had an attack, right, then that school nurse would have to find their

01:17:29.000 --> 01:17:32.940
particular inhaler, get to that classroom and all that stuff.

01:17:33.280 --> 01:17:38.180
And so I was able to get legislation passed to say, I think it's all right for

01:17:38.180 --> 01:17:39.820
that kid to have the inhaler with them.

01:17:40.160 --> 01:17:44.000
Because if they need it, they need it. Because if you can't breathe,

01:17:44.500 --> 01:17:47.720
that's a game changer. That's game over. Right.

01:17:48.260 --> 01:17:53.540
And so, you know, that led me to being on the state task force and all that

01:17:53.540 --> 01:17:57.040
stuff and then hearing more stories and trying to push legislation,

01:17:57.180 --> 01:17:59.840
all that stuff. So it means a lot.

01:18:00.180 --> 01:18:05.180
And this is more to the listeners than you, but it means a lot for people that

01:18:05.180 --> 01:18:09.860
are going through something to engage with the elected officials.

01:18:11.111 --> 01:18:14.631
You know, just because these people get elected don't mean that all of a sudden

01:18:14.631 --> 01:18:16.931
their IQ just raised tremendously.

01:18:17.411 --> 01:18:20.411
Right. They're the same human being they were when they got elected.

01:18:20.571 --> 01:18:22.311
They just have an obligation now.

01:18:22.551 --> 01:18:28.411
And so part of our job is not just to vote for them, but to inform them and

01:18:28.411 --> 01:18:31.971
to guide them and say, hey, look, now that you're in this position,

01:18:31.971 --> 01:18:36.491
I need help with X, Y and Z. What can you do to make that help?

01:18:36.671 --> 01:18:42.631
So I'm glad that you you understand that and that you're you're constantly engaged

01:18:42.631 --> 01:18:47.771
with the elected officials in your community and you constantly bring people

01:18:47.771 --> 01:18:50.811
to the table that need to be heard.

01:18:50.811 --> 01:18:55.691
Because that's the ultimate thing is there's a lot of people in politics that

01:18:55.691 --> 01:18:59.931
think, you know, the sun rises and sets with them.

01:19:00.071 --> 01:19:03.511
I don't know where they got that notion when you had to do the same thing I

01:19:03.511 --> 01:19:06.971
did, knock on doors and give speeches and beg people to vote for you.

01:19:07.731 --> 01:19:11.211
So, you know, it's always good to have people in the community that reminds

01:19:11.211 --> 01:19:13.751
folks that, hey, you need to listen to people.

01:19:14.991 --> 01:19:18.411
So I'm glad that you answered it the way that you did. All right.

01:19:18.491 --> 01:19:24.671
So let's close this out. In January of 2024, you were inducted into the Online

01:19:24.671 --> 01:19:29.751
Museum of African-American Addictions, Treatment, and Recovery Hall of Fame.

01:19:30.011 --> 01:19:32.551
How did that distinction make you feel?

01:19:35.431 --> 01:19:41.531
That was probably one of my biggest honors because it was our people recognizing

01:19:41.531 --> 01:19:43.711
the work that I'm doing for our people.

01:19:44.571 --> 01:19:50.891
And, you know, I've received several commendations and recommendations,

01:19:50.891 --> 01:19:53.311
you know, at the White House, right?

01:19:54.091 --> 01:20:03.631
But that moment was pivotal for me because I don't need the recognition of those others.

01:20:03.651 --> 01:20:09.431
But to have it from my people saying, we see you, we champion you,

01:20:09.731 --> 01:20:12.591
we stand behind you, we lift you up.

01:20:13.651 --> 01:20:18.791
Is really a game changer for me because that's why I do it.

01:20:19.631 --> 01:20:25.731
Yeah. Yeah. I definitely feel the same way, you know, because in this industry

01:20:25.731 --> 01:20:30.031
that we're in now, as far as, you know, me, as far as podcasting,

01:20:30.871 --> 01:20:37.891
the, you know, the only award show I apply for is the Black Podcasters Award

01:20:37.891 --> 01:20:41.991
because, you know, and I've been fortunate to be nominated twice.

01:20:42.631 --> 01:20:46.831
And I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back, but it's to be in agreement

01:20:46.831 --> 01:20:51.371
with what you're saying is that it means a lot more when it's your people.

01:20:52.414 --> 01:20:56.294
Understand the work that you're doing they recognize that you're out there that

01:20:56.294 --> 01:21:05.714
you know it's like an NAACP image award means more than an Oscar now it doesn't relate to pay right,

01:21:06.674 --> 01:21:11.174
you get an Oscar it's like bam you're guaranteed x about a dollar is every movie

01:21:11.174 --> 01:21:18.954
you make but you know you can you can see it with the artist that it's like it it's more emotional.

01:21:20.034 --> 01:21:23.634
And to be honest is more attainable because you're

01:21:23.634 --> 01:21:26.814
doing what you want to do to help our

01:21:26.814 --> 01:21:30.054
folks and so for our community to

01:21:30.054 --> 01:21:33.114
say yeah we see what you're doing we appreciate

01:21:33.114 --> 01:21:38.334
that and and and we want you to keep going that that that's tremendous so I

01:21:38.334 --> 01:21:43.914
I was I threw that question in there because I just wanted to see not very often

01:21:43.914 --> 01:21:50.414
you know you get to hear about people doing the work and being recognized for it by our own folks.

01:21:50.654 --> 01:21:53.354
So yeah, I was glad I was able to get that in.

01:21:53.734 --> 01:22:00.714
So Dr. Felecia Pullen, let me just say it's an honor to meet you and I appreciate

01:22:00.714 --> 01:22:01.714
the work that you're doing.

01:22:02.154 --> 01:22:08.134
If people want to get more engaged in what you're doing financially,

01:22:08.134 --> 01:22:12.834
commitment, pick your brain, how can people reach out to you?

01:22:13.734 --> 01:22:18.974
Directly through the Pillars. Our website, if they wanted to donate or find

01:22:18.974 --> 01:22:22.574
where we're located, come and participate in services, call me,

01:22:23.074 --> 01:22:31.514
is www.pillarsnyc.org.

01:22:31.674 --> 01:22:38.434
And all information is there for anyone that wants to get involved or to participate.

01:22:38.434 --> 01:22:42.574
We even have virtual services, free medical appointments virtually,

01:22:43.374 --> 01:22:49.654
meditation virtually. So if they're not in New York City, they can still receive

01:22:49.654 --> 01:22:51.694
the benefits of some of what we offer.

01:22:52.774 --> 01:22:56.114
Well, Dr. Pullen, thank you for coming on the podcast. Again,

01:22:56.354 --> 01:23:02.374
it's been an honor and much continued success in your personal journey as well

01:23:02.374 --> 01:23:04.874
as the journey of the work that you're doing.

01:23:05.294 --> 01:23:10.354
Thank you. It was an honor to be here, and I appreciate the connection.

01:23:10.354 --> 01:23:15.354
And I would love to continue to converse with you, somebody who's like-minded.

01:23:15.354 --> 01:23:17.294
I appreciate you and what you do.

01:23:17.854 --> 01:23:22.754
Well, one of the rules is now that you've been a guest, you have an open invitation.

01:23:22.934 --> 01:23:26.714
Anytime you want to come on, feel free to do that.

01:23:27.054 --> 01:23:30.574
And I'll definitely be keeping you in mind about certain things.

01:23:30.714 --> 01:23:35.714
I already got something in mind, but I got to have more talks with God to make sure that happens.

01:23:36.754 --> 01:23:40.834
But again, thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. All right,

01:23:40.914 --> 01:23:42.734
guys, and we're going to catch y'all on the other side.

01:23:45.040 --> 01:23:55.440
Music.

01:23:55.808 --> 01:24:01.488
We are back. So I want to thank Angela Giampolo and Dr.

01:24:01.728 --> 01:24:04.788
Felicia Pullen for coming on the show.

01:24:05.488 --> 01:24:10.208
As I stated at the beginning, these are two incredible women who are making

01:24:10.208 --> 01:24:16.488
a tremendous impact in the communities that they live in and really nationwide

01:24:16.488 --> 01:24:20.788
by setting an example and making a difference,

01:24:20.788 --> 01:24:30.988
whether it's fighting for individual rights or providing hope and comfort to

01:24:30.988 --> 01:24:35.528
people who are trying to improve their individual lives, right?

01:24:36.608 --> 01:24:42.128
And so I just want to thank them for coming on, thank them for doing what they do.

01:24:42.808 --> 01:24:47.668
And as always, we're going to continue to highlight those folks.

01:24:48.388 --> 01:24:53.308
As part of our journey in making sure that people like that are highlighted,

01:24:53.648 --> 01:24:57.928
we are continuing our drive for 20,000 subscribers.

01:24:58.408 --> 01:25:04.328
You can go to patreon.com slash momentericfleming and do that. It's only $1.

01:25:04.788 --> 01:25:12.988
If you want some nice little souvenirs, you can pay a little more and you'll get that. But,

01:25:14.110 --> 01:25:17.550
know, the most important thing is just trying to build a subscriber base up.

01:25:17.930 --> 01:25:24.190
I've noticed I've been getting an increase in followers in certain social media sites. That's cool.

01:25:25.330 --> 01:25:30.990
And I've been connecting with some fellow podcasters who are doing the work

01:25:30.990 --> 01:25:35.870
in their respective communities and reaching out to folks,

01:25:36.030 --> 01:25:41.570
whether it's strictly audio or, you know, through TikTok and YouTube and all that.

01:25:41.930 --> 01:25:43.910
And I appreciate the work that they're doing.

01:25:44.730 --> 01:25:50.590
And, you know, I encourage you to, you know, listen to as many as them as you

01:25:50.590 --> 01:25:55.050
can, you know, because I'm not the only perspective out there.

01:25:55.170 --> 01:25:59.570
I'm not the only person watching this craziness that's going on.

01:25:59.990 --> 01:26:05.330
And, you know, there might be some people that might relate to other podcasters better than me.

01:26:05.890 --> 01:26:10.350
That's fine. And we're all in this mission together is to keep you informed,

01:26:10.670 --> 01:26:15.990
give you our perspective about what's happening, and hopefully enlighten you

01:26:15.990 --> 01:26:18.750
and activate you to do the right thing.

01:26:19.630 --> 01:26:26.990
As I'm recording this, there will be a lot of people activated for June the

01:26:26.990 --> 01:26:28.790
14th, which is no King's Day.

01:26:29.930 --> 01:26:34.890
It's also traditionally Flag Day. But the Army is going to celebrate.

01:26:36.430 --> 01:26:39.630
It's 250 years of service to the nation.

01:26:41.110 --> 01:26:45.630
And fortunately, unfortunately, depending on what side of the bread you butter,

01:26:46.310 --> 01:26:48.530
it's also the president's birthday.

01:26:49.190 --> 01:26:51.410
So we're going to have this big parade.

01:26:52.310 --> 01:26:56.230
You know, he's going to finally have his Bastille Day, right?

01:26:56.350 --> 01:27:01.430
He's been wanting to have it ever since he went to France and since he idolizes

01:27:01.430 --> 01:27:05.610
all these other dictators that have these military parades,

01:27:06.370 --> 01:27:08.950
he's finally going to get it off

01:27:08.950 --> 01:27:15.290
the backs of the Army doing their planned celebration in Washington, D.C.

01:27:15.530 --> 01:27:18.790
But as I stated, it's also no King's Day.

01:27:19.150 --> 01:27:25.790
And so there's going to be a lot of people out there protesting and reminding

01:27:25.790 --> 01:27:30.670
people that we didn't anoint a king or a king wasn't anointed to us.

01:27:30.890 --> 01:27:32.850
We elect our leaders.

01:27:34.830 --> 01:27:39.410
And even though he has said publicly, and I'll get into that a little more in

01:27:39.410 --> 01:27:45.010
the commentary, but he said that he doesn't see himself as a king.

01:27:45.530 --> 01:27:48.030
Well, action speaks louder than words, sir.

01:27:49.590 --> 01:27:56.750
So, you know, there's that. And so, and while he may not think that he's a king,

01:27:56.950 --> 01:27:58.970
he definitely thinks that he's an authoritarian.

01:27:59.690 --> 01:28:02.550
He hasn't denied that part. So anyway...

01:28:03.947 --> 01:28:10.427
Support the podcast. And I want to get into the commentary,

01:28:10.427 --> 01:28:15.927
but the way I want to do it is a little different because I just want to highlight

01:28:15.927 --> 01:28:19.587
how crazy stuff is, right?

01:28:19.987 --> 01:28:25.267
And we're talking about protesters. Well, in Los Angeles, people have been protesting

01:28:25.267 --> 01:28:29.367
and they haven't been protesting citywide.

01:28:29.607 --> 01:28:31.187
The city is not on fire.

01:28:31.747 --> 01:28:34.887
I repeat, the city of Los Angeles is not on fire.

01:28:35.147 --> 01:28:38.807
The city of Los Angeles, part of the city was on fire earlier this year,

01:28:38.827 --> 01:28:42.687
and the president tried to cut off the water, right?

01:28:45.687 --> 01:28:51.367
So, you know, it's like when it really was on fire, there were no National Guard troops.

01:28:51.507 --> 01:28:54.887
They were not federalized by him.

01:28:55.027 --> 01:28:59.567
There was no Marines, and if it was up to him, there'd be no water, right?

01:29:00.207 --> 01:29:05.627
And so I greatly appreciate those of y'all who listened and contributed to help

01:29:05.627 --> 01:29:07.227
those folks out during that time.

01:29:07.547 --> 01:29:10.247
And they still need help because they're still trying to rebuild.

01:29:10.807 --> 01:29:15.727
But in the meantime, you know, with all these ICE raids that have been happening,

01:29:17.167 --> 01:29:22.827
nationwide, and particularly Los Angeles, people decided that they were going to protest.

01:29:22.847 --> 01:29:26.487
And so They basically gathered downtown L.A.

01:29:26.627 --> 01:29:33.787
And decided they were going to demonstrate and show their disapproval for the

01:29:33.787 --> 01:29:35.647
policy being implemented in their city.

01:29:36.367 --> 01:29:40.227
And the president decided he was going to fertilize the National Guard.

01:29:40.467 --> 01:29:46.567
Now, if they had been tearing the city apart, if they had been equivalent to

01:29:46.567 --> 01:29:51.247
what happened after those officers were acquitted for beating Rodney King.

01:29:52.067 --> 01:29:54.567
Okay, and the police couldn't handle it?

01:29:55.746 --> 01:30:00.866
That's kind of like why that power is there. But just because people were out

01:30:00.866 --> 01:30:05.966
in the streets downtown, you know, there were a few people burning Waymos and

01:30:05.966 --> 01:30:10.626
doing graffiti stuff, which we strongly discourage.

01:30:12.106 --> 01:30:16.326
But nothing to the point that it was out of control.

01:30:16.826 --> 01:30:22.046
I mean, the Los Angeles Police Department had it pretty much contained.

01:30:23.466 --> 01:30:30.106
And, yeah, and, you know, President Trump and his minions, including Kristi

01:30:30.106 --> 01:30:33.686
Noem, decided to make a show of it, right?

01:30:33.786 --> 01:30:38.846
And got P-Hexef involved in sending Marines, right?

01:30:39.206 --> 01:30:44.826
And so you understand these people are not trained to do law enforcement,

01:30:45.126 --> 01:30:48.446
not in communities, right?

01:30:48.446 --> 01:30:55.466
You know, you have some military police, but they handle military issues.

01:30:55.806 --> 01:30:58.906
They have a whole code of military justice.

01:30:59.166 --> 01:31:07.066
So those officers fall into that realm, not like people like I used to be or

01:31:07.066 --> 01:31:11.046
others that are out in the streets or in the jails or whatever.

01:31:11.706 --> 01:31:15.366
And so, it's kind of out of their skis.

01:31:15.546 --> 01:31:21.466
So, you know, if their whole mission was just to protect federal buildings, okay.

01:31:22.546 --> 01:31:24.986
Especially where they're keeping

01:31:24.986 --> 01:31:29.266
some of the detainees that they've gathered up in these raids, okay.

01:31:29.486 --> 01:31:33.066
But to be out in the streets and trying to do riot control and all that stuff,

01:31:33.226 --> 01:31:35.646
it's an overkill. It really was.

01:31:37.746 --> 01:31:42.706
So, something evolved out of that. Really, really heinous.

01:31:43.186 --> 01:31:49.586
And it will tie into everything else that I got to say, but I want to play Secretary

01:31:49.586 --> 01:31:58.026
Noem addressing a group of people at a press conference and I'll come in after a certain point.

01:31:59.374 --> 01:32:02.894
That you all are here. My name is Kristi Noem. I'm the Department of Homeland

01:32:02.894 --> 01:32:05.654
Security Secretary for President Donald J.

01:32:05.794 --> 01:32:09.914
Trump, and I am so thankful for the men and women of law enforcement who have

01:32:09.914 --> 01:32:13.574
been working every single day to bring law and order and peace back to the citizens

01:32:13.574 --> 01:32:15.674
of Los Angeles and to the state of California.

01:32:15.954 --> 01:32:21.074
As you know, we've seen under this last week some operations that have been

01:32:21.074 --> 01:32:25.074
working to bring in criminals that have been out on our streets for far too long.

01:32:25.254 --> 01:32:29.734
Our HSI and ICE individuals have been out conducting operations with our government

01:32:29.734 --> 01:32:33.114
partners to make sure that these criminals, bad actors, murderers,

01:32:33.194 --> 01:32:37.734
rapists, pedophiles, traffickers, and drug traffickers are brought in and brought

01:32:37.734 --> 01:32:39.734
to justice finally under this administration.

01:32:39.994 --> 01:32:43.094
I do want to thank the men and women of law enforcement. They've been absolute

01:32:43.094 --> 01:32:47.114
rock stars in what they've done to protect this community and to protect this city.

01:32:47.254 --> 01:32:51.794
I want to specifically name those that are under the umbrella within our components,

01:32:51.794 --> 01:32:53.734
under the Department of Homeland Security.

01:32:53.994 --> 01:32:57.774
That has been our ICE officers who have been on the front line out there interdicting

01:32:57.774 --> 01:32:59.274
with many of these dangerous criminals.

01:32:59.494 --> 01:33:04.354
Also, HSI with their investigative skill set and tactical teams have been absolutely

01:33:04.354 --> 01:33:08.514
imperative to us in helping us make sure we're running operations and really

01:33:08.514 --> 01:33:09.894
targeting these bad actors.

01:33:10.134 --> 01:33:14.814
Our Federal Protective Services and also our Border Patrol agents have come

01:33:14.814 --> 01:33:19.254
and been partners with us in an incredible They bring a skill set that has helped

01:33:19.254 --> 01:33:22.954
us have a whole-of-government approach under the Department of Homeland Security

01:33:22.954 --> 01:33:24.734
that has never happened before.

01:33:25.054 --> 01:33:28.994
The assets that they have and the willingness to do their jobs that this president

01:33:28.994 --> 01:33:32.014
has allowed them to do has been absolutely incredible.

01:33:32.214 --> 01:33:36.074
But what you see standing behind me, too, is also other federal partners.

01:33:36.823 --> 01:33:40.003
Partners that have come to the table that are here to bring safety and security

01:33:40.003 --> 01:33:43.903
to the city of Los Angeles. I want to specifically thank the Army.

01:33:44.183 --> 01:33:46.803
I want to thank the Marines, the National Guard, our soldiers,

01:33:46.983 --> 01:33:51.303
our military men and women who have shown up here to help make sure that we have security.

01:33:51.583 --> 01:33:54.803
Not only do they protect our country around the world, but they're doing it

01:33:54.803 --> 01:33:59.643
every single day here in the United States of America, too, and doing it as

01:33:59.643 --> 01:34:04.483
service, public service to the people in this country because they took an oath to uphold the law.

01:34:04.663 --> 01:34:09.843
We also have a U.S. attorney here who has been aggressive, has been making sure

01:34:09.843 --> 01:34:12.783
that we don't pick winners and losers in this country, that the rule of law

01:34:12.783 --> 01:34:16.323
will be followed, and that people who break the law and perpetuate violence

01:34:16.323 --> 01:34:17.683
will be brought to justice.

01:34:17.843 --> 01:34:21.963
They will be prosecuted, and there will be consequences for that kind of activity.

01:34:22.103 --> 01:34:25.943
The Department of Justice is here and has a presence in our Incident Command

01:34:25.943 --> 01:34:30.503
Center, as well as the DEA, the FBI, and their investigative teams have been

01:34:30.503 --> 01:34:32.463
fantastic with their leadership.

01:34:32.603 --> 01:34:37.023
And we also have the IRS here that's helping us track how these violent protesters

01:34:37.023 --> 01:34:40.163
are funded, what NGOs out there, what unions.

01:34:40.463 --> 01:34:44.763
What other individuals may be funding these violent perpetuators that are in

01:34:44.763 --> 01:34:48.583
these protests that take people who may be wanting to come and be peaceful,

01:34:48.583 --> 01:34:52.503
but instead turn these into very violent activities that go after law enforcement

01:34:52.503 --> 01:34:54.263
that's just simply not acceptable.

01:34:54.483 --> 01:34:58.623
And I also want to thank our U.S. Marshals. They've been so great in helping

01:34:58.623 --> 01:34:59.903
us to secure facilities,

01:35:00.123 --> 01:35:04.123
but also operations and also with transportation, that as soon as someone is

01:35:04.123 --> 01:35:08.983
arrested and brought into incarceration, that they are transported out and able

01:35:08.983 --> 01:35:11.703
to face prosecution and the consequences for their crimes.

01:35:11.943 --> 01:35:16.503
I want people to know that while these officers and these agencies and our military

01:35:16.503 --> 01:35:22.963
are here doing this work and these operations, that the people across this country are so grateful.

01:35:23.987 --> 01:35:26.947
Are so grateful for the work that is being done here in Los Angeles.

01:35:27.127 --> 01:35:31.167
They are setting an example for what is happening across the country and other

01:35:31.167 --> 01:35:35.907
cities and putting together a model and a blueprint for how we can continue

01:35:35.907 --> 01:35:40.007
to work to make every single community great again and safe again for our kids

01:35:40.007 --> 01:35:41.907
and for our grandkids far into the future.

01:35:42.227 --> 01:35:45.967
I've been in many different states with all the different components that I

01:35:45.967 --> 01:35:48.887
represent over the last four or five days.

01:35:49.187 --> 01:35:53.567
And everywhere I go, people stop me and say, tell everybody who's working in

01:35:53.567 --> 01:35:57.967
Los Angeles that is working to bring safety to those city streets and to those

01:35:57.967 --> 01:36:00.707
families and protect those small business, tell them thank you.

01:36:00.867 --> 01:36:04.967
Tell them God bless you, that I hope that they are safe and they have been suffering.

01:36:05.027 --> 01:36:07.027
The people that live here under

01:36:07.027 --> 01:36:11.027
the policies of Governor Newsom and under the policies of Mayor Bass,

01:36:11.167 --> 01:36:14.687
and they recognize that it's a huge disservice to the people who have to try

01:36:14.687 --> 01:36:18.287
to raise their families here and that these agents and that these law enforcement

01:36:18.287 --> 01:36:22.267
officers are working to change that and give them an opportunity to be successful

01:36:22.267 --> 01:36:23.707
and to live the American dream.

01:36:25.087 --> 01:36:29.207
So you heard that, right? That

01:36:29.207 --> 01:36:33.987
was Christy Noem basically telling

01:36:33.987 --> 01:36:44.267
you all that this is a model of how they're going to go about targeting cities

01:36:44.267 --> 01:36:49.687
that have democratic leadership and in the very rare cases,

01:36:50.047 --> 01:36:55.447
cities and states that have democratic leadership and how they're going to go

01:36:55.447 --> 01:37:03.467
about doing what they want to do and imposing their will and basically terrorizing

01:37:03.467 --> 01:37:05.527
a segment of the population.

01:37:06.687 --> 01:37:12.647
Because I wanted to be clear, they're not just going after criminals.

01:37:13.407 --> 01:37:17.727
That's good rhetoric, and that gets people in the mindset. It's like,

01:37:17.847 --> 01:37:19.327
yeah, we need to get the criminals out.

01:37:19.967 --> 01:37:23.247
It's kind of like, yeah, you want to get criminals out.

01:37:23.787 --> 01:37:28.147
That's the whole thing. You know, you don't want criminals on the street.

01:37:28.307 --> 01:37:32.327
Doesn't matter if they were born here or somewhere else. You want them off the streets.

01:37:33.747 --> 01:37:42.007
But, you know, it's the blanket approach, right? And like anybody that fits the profile.

01:37:43.512 --> 01:37:45.992
Them. Anybody that fits the profile,

01:37:46.152 --> 01:37:50.852
stop their car. Anybody that fits the profile, detain them, right?

01:37:51.412 --> 01:37:56.012
I mean, wasn't the criteria at one point, if they had tattoos,

01:37:56.372 --> 01:37:59.032
send them to El Salvador? Isn't that what we were doing?

01:38:00.092 --> 01:38:07.112
So, you know. Now, I stopped it at a certain point because at that point,

01:38:07.432 --> 01:38:10.552
the senior senator from California walked in.

01:38:12.752 --> 01:38:22.492
And he was not technically invited to the press conference, but he was let in

01:38:22.492 --> 01:38:27.712
because people recognized he was the senior senator from the state of California.

01:38:28.572 --> 01:38:34.652
And he came in right around when she was disparaging Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass.

01:38:35.792 --> 01:38:44.092
So at that point, the senator, you know, wanted to interject and wanted to ask

01:38:44.092 --> 01:38:45.432
the secretary a question.

01:38:46.852 --> 01:38:54.632
And at that point, the same officers who let him in the building basically manhandled

01:38:54.632 --> 01:38:57.772
him and threw him out of the room, right?

01:38:58.612 --> 01:39:03.052
And, you know, I heard somebody who's not a political commentator,

01:39:03.192 --> 01:39:09.032
who is now all of a sudden trying to be one, and I guess trying to be a politician too,

01:39:10.072 --> 01:39:14.272
you know, try to disparage the senator for doing that,

01:39:15.412 --> 01:39:20.492
for showing up at the press conference and being disruptive.

01:39:21.032 --> 01:39:25.472
But this same person didn't say that when a certain U.S.

01:39:25.612 --> 01:39:29.692
Congresswoman from Georgia acted a fool at the State of the Union,

01:39:30.212 --> 01:39:32.292
right? She was disruptive.

01:39:32.672 --> 01:39:35.052
Did nobody kick her out of the Capitol building?

01:39:35.852 --> 01:39:42.352
He didn't get on his podcast and blast her for her actions, right?

01:39:42.792 --> 01:39:48.672
But this guy, he can't, you know, the rules of engagement change, right?

01:39:48.772 --> 01:39:51.832
So if you could disrupt a president of the United States of the State of the Union,

01:39:52.612 --> 01:39:57.572
surely a senator can disrupt a secretary in the president's cabinet,

01:39:57.572 --> 01:40:02.172
especially when she's saying some disparaging about his colleagues people that

01:40:02.172 --> 01:40:07.492
help govern the state that he represents right and the city that he represents,

01:40:08.332 --> 01:40:12.952
he wanted to shut that down and you know.

01:40:14.436 --> 01:40:21.876
This point, decorum be damned, right? It's pretty clear that decorum only works on one side.

01:40:23.856 --> 01:40:30.356
And they judge what is appropriate and what is not. And that's bullshit.

01:40:30.676 --> 01:40:32.116
That's not how that works.

01:40:32.676 --> 01:40:37.696
You can't have the double standard. If you're going to be an asshole to the

01:40:37.696 --> 01:40:41.016
president of the United States, then everybody's fair game.

01:40:41.656 --> 01:40:45.376
Since you didn't apologize for that, since you didn't feel that that was out

01:40:45.376 --> 01:40:48.776
of bounds, then let the chips fall where they may.

01:40:49.616 --> 01:40:52.836
As somebody that's been in politics, I don't like that.

01:40:52.896 --> 01:40:59.336
I don't like the fact that it's gotten to that point, but it is what it is, you know?

01:41:00.036 --> 01:41:07.416
I just know that had that ever happened to me, there is no way I would rest

01:41:07.416 --> 01:41:13.656
until, one, those officers that physically tackled me would no longer be in law enforcement.

01:41:13.736 --> 01:41:18.176
I promise you that would be a never-ending quest, right?

01:41:18.536 --> 01:41:27.176
And then there's no way that I wouldn't be trying to get to people that authorized

01:41:27.176 --> 01:41:31.836
that, whether it was Kristi Noem or Donald Trump. There's no way they would stay in power.

01:41:32.416 --> 01:41:36.036
There's nothing they could do. There's nothing they could say at this point

01:41:36.036 --> 01:41:42.296
outside of an apology, a sincere apology, not an apology to say face or whatever.

01:41:42.296 --> 01:41:47.496
I mean, like, bro, we we did not know that was you.

01:41:47.736 --> 01:41:49.996
That's not how we roll. It's, you know.

01:41:51.453 --> 01:41:55.993
But you're never going to get that from them because that's how they are. Right.

01:41:56.673 --> 01:42:01.693
And I've just come to realize that it's not just the United States, it's worldwide.

01:42:01.893 --> 01:42:08.913
The right wing thought process, the white right wing political apparatus in

01:42:08.913 --> 01:42:11.753
the world has literally lost their mind.

01:42:13.973 --> 01:42:18.393
And, you know, I said this on the last podcast, I think, or previous one,

01:42:18.513 --> 01:42:20.993
I'm sure it's, you know, there's no honor among thieves.

01:42:21.173 --> 01:42:26.113
So they will even disrespect each other, let alone disrespect right-minded people

01:42:26.113 --> 01:42:30.213
or people that are just trying to do the right thing or just maybe have a different

01:42:30.213 --> 01:42:32.573
viewpoint of how to do the right thing, right?

01:42:34.093 --> 01:42:39.353
Because the old saying, a broken clock tells the time right twice a day.

01:42:39.873 --> 01:42:44.333
So every now and then, these crazy people will have a good idea.

01:42:45.013 --> 01:42:50.833
And you can get some of us to get behind it now, or at least a good thought.

01:42:50.973 --> 01:42:56.953
And we might differ on the approach, but if there's a concept we agree with, we'll go with that.

01:42:57.453 --> 01:43:02.213
That's what reasonable people do, but not these folks, right?

01:43:02.573 --> 01:43:05.233
These folks is their way or the highway.

01:43:06.193 --> 01:43:11.333
And it was up to them. They blow up the highway. So you wouldn't have no option.

01:43:12.973 --> 01:43:19.213
I mean, that's just it. I mean, you know, you let Christy Noem and Pam Bundy

01:43:19.213 --> 01:43:23.933
and Carolyn Levitt and all these other folks get on there with their.

01:43:23.933 --> 01:43:31.533
And it seems like every press hit their crucifixes or crosses are getting bigger around their necks.

01:43:32.333 --> 01:43:38.253
You know, they wanted to give you the impression that Los Angeles was burning

01:43:38.253 --> 01:43:41.653
down, that people were just out in the streets terrorizing everybody.

01:43:41.653 --> 01:43:44.633
And it was just chaos and mayhem.

01:43:44.833 --> 01:43:47.173
And the LAPD was just overwhelmed.

01:43:47.993 --> 01:43:53.013
If there's any police department in the United States, I can name two others

01:43:53.013 --> 01:43:55.493
that are pretty equal, in my opinion.

01:43:56.053 --> 01:44:02.433
It's like the Los Angeles PD, they're used to dealing with riots.

01:44:02.633 --> 01:44:06.573
They have never been friendly when it comes to protesters.

01:44:07.313 --> 01:44:13.253
It's just not how they roll, right? It's never been my experience in watching what they do.

01:44:13.253 --> 01:44:17.893
You know, but they're a major city, and so they are used to,

01:44:18.093 --> 01:44:21.933
they have a population over 5 million people, so they have a police force that

01:44:21.933 --> 01:44:25.033
is geared for mass demonstrations.

01:44:25.073 --> 01:44:30.073
They have a police force that's geared toward mass unrest, if there is unrest, right?

01:44:31.829 --> 01:44:36.669
Of a violent nature. And if it got to the point where they couldn't handle it,

01:44:36.889 --> 01:44:41.409
they would be saying, hey, governor, call the president, tell him we need some help.

01:44:41.929 --> 01:44:45.849
They hadn't made that call. They had the situation under control.

01:44:47.029 --> 01:44:50.829
But Donald Trump, just like he did when he was president the first time,

01:44:51.569 --> 01:44:52.769
wanted to send a message.

01:44:53.349 --> 01:44:57.349
You remember the first time there's a park, if you've ever been to D.C.,

01:44:57.349 --> 01:45:00.049
there's a park right across the street from the White House called Lafayette

01:45:00.049 --> 01:45:05.029
Park, and And that's traditionally the public square where people protest whoever

01:45:05.029 --> 01:45:06.629
the president is, right?

01:45:06.989 --> 01:45:11.749
There's people that are basically homeless people who have become professional protesters.

01:45:12.289 --> 01:45:15.289
They sleep in the park and they got signs or whatever.

01:45:15.689 --> 01:45:19.949
But that's usually the place where people gather. Now, the park is in between

01:45:19.949 --> 01:45:25.909
the White House and this church that has been there forever and since the inception

01:45:25.909 --> 01:45:26.809
of the city, pretty much.

01:45:28.449 --> 01:45:32.309
And it's tradition that the president of the United States, the sitting president

01:45:32.309 --> 01:45:35.769
of the United States, attends at least one church service at that church.

01:45:36.389 --> 01:45:40.669
I'm trying to think who broke that tradition. Somebody seemed to have broken,

01:45:40.709 --> 01:45:44.949
I don't know, but it seems like every president has attended this church at

01:45:44.949 --> 01:45:46.609
one point in time during their term.

01:45:47.649 --> 01:45:51.069
And so Donald Trump wanted to send a message.

01:45:51.069 --> 01:45:57.209
This was in the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, George Floyd protests,

01:45:58.169 --> 01:46:04.409
And when he and Mark Milley were cool They set it up where the military cleared

01:46:04.409 --> 01:46:09.329
a path This tear gassed and moved these people out of Lafayette Park So the

01:46:09.329 --> 01:46:12.849
president could walk from the White House Stand in front of this church,

01:46:13.409 --> 01:46:19.609
Hold the Bible upside down And make it a press-up That's it He didn't have anything

01:46:19.609 --> 01:46:23.809
substantive to say He just wanted to send a message Right?

01:46:25.365 --> 01:46:30.645
And that's what this show of force in L.A. is when sending a message.

01:46:31.045 --> 01:46:34.225
Now, there have been raids in Mississippi.

01:46:35.105 --> 01:46:36.805
There's been protests in Mississippi.

01:46:37.885 --> 01:46:43.005
He hasn't sent the National Guard. He hasn't federalized the National Guard

01:46:43.005 --> 01:46:46.245
to deal with the protests there because there's a Republican governor,

01:46:46.845 --> 01:46:48.985
right, that he's cool with.

01:46:49.605 --> 01:46:54.745
In Texas, he ain't had to do it. And Abbott just unleashed the National Guard

01:46:54.745 --> 01:46:57.805
to get ready for these no King Day protests that's happening,

01:46:57.985 --> 01:47:04.225
plus the protests that are already going on in Texas, because that's Greg Abbott, right?

01:47:05.205 --> 01:47:10.205
You know, but these people in Florida, it's like you got a sheriff talking about,

01:47:10.385 --> 01:47:14.305
you know, if you spit on an officer, we're going to shoot you.

01:47:14.465 --> 01:47:16.465
You know what I'm saying? What are we doing?

01:47:16.905 --> 01:47:19.085
And that's okay to say out loud.

01:47:19.805 --> 01:47:27.405
You have basically told us what your use of force form is going to look like, right?

01:47:27.965 --> 01:47:31.065
You know, if you're standing in the way of a car, you're going to get run over.

01:47:31.945 --> 01:47:33.985
And Governor DeSantis doubled down

01:47:33.985 --> 01:47:42.085
on that, right? So when I say the right wing has lost it, I mean that.

01:47:42.685 --> 01:47:46.265
I don't know if there's any coming back to that, right?

01:47:47.105 --> 01:47:51.125
I think if there's going to be a new Republican Party, they're going to be more centrist.

01:47:52.903 --> 01:47:57.703
Because the right wing, you know, they're trying to say the alt-right.

01:47:57.843 --> 01:48:00.183
No, this is not an alternative.

01:48:00.683 --> 01:48:03.243
This is the real, this is who they are.

01:48:04.003 --> 01:48:08.143
And it's like if you just get your news from the conservative media outlets,

01:48:08.263 --> 01:48:12.023
you're thinking, you know, L.A. is about to explode, literally.

01:48:12.863 --> 01:48:19.963
And you're thinking everything is justified. And it is not. It is not anywhere close to that.

01:48:20.783 --> 01:48:26.403
It's just really, really sad. And then to see what they did to the senator now,

01:48:26.723 --> 01:48:29.683
supposedly afterwards, you

01:48:29.683 --> 01:48:34.663
know, the secretary did talk to him and tried to do a mea culpa on that.

01:48:34.843 --> 01:48:40.583
But, you know, and then and then she turned around on Fox News and said he didn't identify himself.

01:48:41.143 --> 01:48:46.103
If you've watched the news clips, you clearly if there's nothing else,

01:48:46.123 --> 01:48:47.423
you make out what he's saying.

01:48:47.643 --> 01:48:50.183
He's saying I am Senator Alex Padilla.

01:48:50.583 --> 01:48:55.683
He's saying that out loud. as they are manhandling and tackling him, right?

01:48:56.183 --> 01:49:03.363
The same people who escorted him into the room are now putting handcuffs on him.

01:49:03.843 --> 01:49:08.863
What are we doing, right? I'm just telling you, it's like, you know,

01:49:09.843 --> 01:49:15.923
there's certain things that, you know, I miss being an elected official.

01:49:15.923 --> 01:49:18.583
I miss being in politics at that level.

01:49:19.783 --> 01:49:26.783
But there is no way There is no way I would tolerate that No way You're not

01:49:26.783 --> 01:49:30.563
going to manhandle me like you did Mayor Baraka Or the congresswoman from New

01:49:30.563 --> 01:49:32.803
Jersey Who now you're indicting for manhandling,

01:49:33.363 --> 01:49:39.103
You beat her up And then you charge her Elena Harba, the lady who couldn't stop

01:49:39.103 --> 01:49:42.663
Donald Trump From getting 34 felony convictions Now she's going to try to convict

01:49:42.663 --> 01:49:44.123
a U.S. congresswoman, right?

01:49:46.763 --> 01:49:47.603
I don't know.

01:49:49.177 --> 01:49:53.117
You know, it's just, it's insane.

01:49:53.717 --> 01:49:58.537
And then on this day, right, they're having an oversight hearing.

01:49:58.717 --> 01:50:00.277
So they've invited the governor.

01:50:00.577 --> 01:50:06.977
They couldn't get Newsom because Los Angeles, right? But they excused him.

01:50:07.877 --> 01:50:12.997
But they had Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, former vice presidential running

01:50:12.997 --> 01:50:18.077
mate of Kamala Harris, Governor Pritzker of Illinois, and Governor Hochul of

01:50:18.077 --> 01:50:19.757
New York had them up there.

01:50:20.577 --> 01:50:25.037
And all the Republicans wanted to do was just put on the show.

01:50:25.517 --> 01:50:30.357
It's like, maybe a few of them asked some questions about immigration policy,

01:50:30.437 --> 01:50:33.097
because technically that's what that hearing was about.

01:50:33.837 --> 01:50:39.297
But you know, you got Nancy Mace, who I offered to come on the show.

01:50:39.677 --> 01:50:44.957
Her press people took the information, haven't responded.

01:50:45.777 --> 01:50:52.537
I don't know. I guess I don't have in the followers. I don't agree with her approach, so whatever.

01:50:53.057 --> 01:50:56.037
And that's been kind of the, you know, there's been a few people,

01:50:56.057 --> 01:50:59.677
and I'm grateful to the Republicans that have come on the show,

01:51:00.457 --> 01:51:02.377
the Trump supporters that have come on the show.

01:51:03.117 --> 01:51:06.497
And there's an open invitation for folks. If I invite you to come on,

01:51:06.957 --> 01:51:09.017
we're going to have a civil conversation.

01:51:09.357 --> 01:51:12.137
You may try to act a fool, but that's not going to happen.

01:51:12.817 --> 01:51:14.417
You'll be able to get your points across.

01:51:15.377 --> 01:51:21.957
And as always, I can do what I'm doing right now if I think what you're saying is crazy and just...

01:51:23.574 --> 01:51:26.754
Take my time and tell you how I feel.

01:51:27.034 --> 01:51:32.914
But I'm going to give you respect that you don't give governors of their respective

01:51:32.914 --> 01:51:37.894
states if they're not of your party, or senators even, right?

01:51:38.714 --> 01:51:42.974
But, you know, they got on there, Marjorie Taylor Greene, she was in her element too.

01:51:43.294 --> 01:51:47.014
And, you know, everybody just, you know, and this one young guy,

01:51:47.294 --> 01:51:52.394
I don't know, he was trying to score some points on Pritzker and it's like,

01:51:53.114 --> 01:51:55.474
yeah, he's not that dude.

01:51:56.374 --> 01:52:00.894
He's not that dude. And he's really not that dude because he's wealthy.

01:52:01.994 --> 01:52:08.774
He's like a lot of these Republican senators and elected officials. He's got a lot of money.

01:52:09.974 --> 01:52:14.834
So he ain't worried about anything you do to him, you know?

01:52:16.114 --> 01:52:25.434
So, you know, just crazy. And then you got the chairman of the committee trying

01:52:25.434 --> 01:52:27.754
to tell a member to just shut up.

01:52:27.914 --> 01:52:30.894
I mean, just crass stuff.

01:52:31.654 --> 01:52:37.294
And it's really a bad optic because most of the Republicans are white folks.

01:52:37.694 --> 01:52:41.414
You got, you know, Byron Donalds, who finally showed up at a committee meeting.

01:52:42.894 --> 01:52:49.334
And Luna from Florida, you know, but pretty much everybody else is white.

01:52:49.434 --> 01:52:54.874
It was some woman, it was like, are you filling the seat for your late husband?

01:52:54.874 --> 01:52:58.094
It's like, how long have you been in Congress?

01:52:58.754 --> 01:53:02.614
You're talking about Feinstein and all these other, Pelosi and all these other

01:53:02.614 --> 01:53:05.774
folks. It looks like you've been up there a long time too.

01:53:06.634 --> 01:53:15.634
You trying to go after these younger sharper-minded governors trying to put

01:53:15.634 --> 01:53:18.194
zingers on them, it was a bad look, right?

01:53:19.811 --> 01:53:23.371
That was going on. While a U.S.

01:53:23.711 --> 01:53:27.331
Senator is being tackled by law enforcement, this hearing was happening.

01:53:27.631 --> 01:53:33.851
So numerous members, and this is why Maxwell Frost was being told to shut up,

01:53:33.951 --> 01:53:39.351
because he was trying to get the chairman to commit to having Kristi Noem come

01:53:39.351 --> 01:53:41.751
before the committee, the oversight committee, right?

01:53:42.471 --> 01:53:47.471
I mean, it's just crazy. And then to top it all off, to cap our night off,

01:53:47.911 --> 01:53:53.031
Israel decided that tonight was the night, or last night was the night,

01:53:53.091 --> 01:54:01.131
as I'm recording this, that they wanted to take out Iran's nuclear program.

01:54:02.391 --> 01:54:07.271
Supposedly, according to their intelligence reports, they took out all the military

01:54:07.271 --> 01:54:10.371
leaders that were over the program, They took out the scientists.

01:54:12.691 --> 01:54:17.891
You know, took out some major targets. So we know Iran's going to respond.

01:54:18.911 --> 01:54:26.011
But the reason why I use the no honor among thieves quote is because they didn't

01:54:26.011 --> 01:54:28.091
communicate with the United States that they were going to do that.

01:54:28.431 --> 01:54:30.151
Now, they use some of our weapons.

01:54:30.791 --> 01:54:35.311
They did not communicate with the United States until it launched its attack.

01:54:36.991 --> 01:54:41.951
And the reason why we know that is because the president had sent his special

01:54:41.951 --> 01:54:48.571
envoy to Iran to try to negotiate a deal where they would set down the nuclear weapons.

01:54:50.571 --> 01:54:55.451
Which, if you follow the details, sounds very similar to what President Obama

01:54:55.451 --> 01:54:58.151
had done. But because Obama did it, Trump scrapped it.

01:54:59.391 --> 01:55:03.331
Now he was basically about to offer the same plan or close to it.

01:55:05.311 --> 01:55:12.771
And this envoy is on his way. And it would seem like that if Netanyahu and Trump

01:55:12.771 --> 01:55:16.031
were communicating, that would have been conveyed.

01:55:16.031 --> 01:55:19.771
And you probably shouldn't be shooting rockets into a country where the United

01:55:19.771 --> 01:55:23.891
States is sending their special envoy to negotiate with the government you're about to attack.

01:55:25.798 --> 01:55:29.058
And then they get on their state TV in Israel and say, okay,

01:55:29.218 --> 01:55:30.898
people, you know, just be ready.

01:55:31.158 --> 01:55:37.458
We're about to, we just did something. So get ready for missiles to start being

01:55:37.458 --> 01:55:38.758
blown up over your houses.

01:55:40.458 --> 01:55:45.238
These people have lost their minds, bro. They've lost their minds and they want

01:55:45.238 --> 01:55:48.198
power and they want power to stay away from being accountable.

01:55:49.078 --> 01:55:55.878
Usually people that are seeking power are supposed to be the models of accountability.

01:55:55.978 --> 01:55:59.158
These people are seeking power so they don't have to be accountable,

01:55:59.438 --> 01:56:01.158
especially from a criminal aspect.

01:56:01.838 --> 01:56:04.078
Donald Trump ran for president so he wouldn't go to jail.

01:56:05.538 --> 01:56:08.998
Daniyahu ran for prime minister so he wouldn't go to jail, right?

01:56:09.738 --> 01:56:12.618
And they want to stay in power so they're going to create chaos.

01:56:14.278 --> 01:56:19.478
So put it into people's mind where we need them because we're in a state of chaos, right?

01:56:19.638 --> 01:56:22.638
People want stable leadership when things are chaotic.

01:56:23.578 --> 01:56:27.778
Never mind the fact that the leadership is trying to say, hey,

01:56:27.858 --> 01:56:32.038
you need to keep me is the one who created the chaos in the first place, right?

01:56:33.798 --> 01:56:36.558
So I've just come to the conclusion that they've lost their mind.

01:56:36.678 --> 01:56:39.518
And then when you see all the talking heads like the Scott Jennings and all

01:56:39.518 --> 01:56:42.158
these guys who's another guy really cannot stand.

01:56:42.498 --> 01:56:49.018
I mean, he's even developed a persona where he just smirks, you know,

01:56:49.498 --> 01:56:55.138
like he's that bully that thinks he's also smart, right? Like whatever.

01:56:55.798 --> 01:57:03.198
And trying to justify what it is. It's like you can't justify insanity,

01:57:03.198 --> 01:57:06.078
not to the masses. You can justify it to you.

01:57:06.418 --> 01:57:11.418
You can justify it to your own kind, but you can't justify insanity to the masses.

01:57:12.398 --> 01:57:17.878
There's enough people that realize that's crazy and they're not going to go for.

01:57:18.518 --> 01:57:22.598
How that will translate in any elections in the future, I don't know.

01:57:22.998 --> 01:57:28.618
I would hope that it would translate to the point where these people are not in control.

01:57:29.438 --> 01:57:34.958
It would be my wish that they would never be the majority party ever again until

01:57:34.958 --> 01:57:38.238
that element is completely out of their,

01:57:39.258 --> 01:57:44.158
political ecosystem, which as long as they latch on to white supremacy as a

01:57:44.158 --> 01:57:45.458
clutch, that'll never happened.

01:57:45.998 --> 01:57:55.838
But I just still want to believe that the majority of Americans understand that this is foolishness.

01:57:58.080 --> 01:58:03.120
For those of us who are active and understand it's foolish is trying to get

01:58:03.120 --> 01:58:05.280
people who understand it's foolish and be active.

01:58:06.280 --> 01:58:10.160
Because a lot of people just want to close their blinds, close their eyes,

01:58:10.300 --> 01:58:13.720
cover their ears, and act like none of this is happening as long as they're

01:58:13.720 --> 01:58:17.460
able to go to work and buy their groceries, pay for their gas,

01:58:18.400 --> 01:58:21.000
kids go to school, everything's great.

01:58:21.900 --> 01:58:26.520
But eventually, it's going to get to you, no matter how much you try to ignore

01:58:26.520 --> 01:58:34.720
it. So my mission and the other podcasts I mentioned, our mission is to encourage you to be more engaged.

01:58:35.520 --> 01:58:42.840
As I've stated before, you follow DC Comics, you know about all of Batman's

01:58:42.840 --> 01:58:44.300
enemies go to Arkham Asylum.

01:58:44.640 --> 01:58:50.080
And I've made the comparison that just imagine Batman's worst nightmare that

01:58:50.080 --> 01:58:52.460
everybody at Arkham Asylum escapes.

01:58:52.800 --> 01:58:56.240
They even made a video game off of that concept, right?

01:58:57.060 --> 01:59:01.140
All of them, the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, all of them escaped the same

01:59:01.140 --> 01:59:04.080
night. And Batman's got to get all of them back in.

01:59:04.820 --> 01:59:09.000
What's left of it, right? Because you know they had to destroy the asylum to

01:59:09.000 --> 01:59:11.840
get out. Just imagine. That's where we are now.

01:59:12.860 --> 01:59:14.140
Everybody is out of Arkham.

01:59:15.200 --> 01:59:22.140
And we have to be the people to try to corral them and get them back in, right?

01:59:22.600 --> 01:59:26.720
Get them out of the seats of power. get them back in their rightful place.

01:59:28.400 --> 01:59:34.920
And it's a daunting task, but it's got to be done because at the pace we are

01:59:34.920 --> 01:59:43.280
going now, you know, this is just the 1850s, 1860s being relived.

01:59:43.580 --> 01:59:51.000
The tensions are building to a point where the only release would be an out-and-out war.

01:59:51.560 --> 01:59:58.140
And we should have learned something from that period in history where we would not repeat that.

01:59:59.863 --> 02:00:06.043
We are. So, you know, I just, we got to deal with the craziness.

02:00:07.063 --> 02:00:12.583
But in the midst of it, we need to be figuring out a way to combat it,

02:00:12.783 --> 02:00:18.023
whether it's on the street, in the state house, in the city hall,

02:00:18.223 --> 02:00:20.143
in the White House, in the U.S. Capitol.

02:00:20.283 --> 02:00:22.703
We've got to figure out a way to combat it.

02:00:23.563 --> 02:00:28.043
And we've got to figure out a way to tell our story and convince the majority

02:00:28.043 --> 02:00:30.403
of people, We need you to be engaged.

02:00:30.803 --> 02:00:37.643
We need you to vote these people out and offer them a substantive plan to make

02:00:37.643 --> 02:00:39.463
their lives better. Right.

02:00:40.063 --> 02:00:43.743
And there's this one system I'm trying to get on. She posted something on LinkedIn

02:00:43.743 --> 02:00:51.923
and I'm trying to get her on the podcast sometime this year because what she

02:00:51.923 --> 02:00:57.863
posted to me sounds like the platform that that we need.

02:00:58.583 --> 02:01:04.883
Right. She broke it down in a way where it's like, yes, this is this is the bare bone.

02:01:05.003 --> 02:01:07.703
This is the outline for the message.

02:01:08.443 --> 02:01:13.183
These are the issues that are impacting people that need to be addressed.

02:01:13.863 --> 02:01:18.803
And we need to be unafraid to do it. If they're not afraid to cut Medicaid,

02:01:19.163 --> 02:01:23.483
if they're not afraid to cut Social Security, If they're not afraid to try to

02:01:23.483 --> 02:01:26.363
impose martial law on the citizens of this country,

02:01:26.863 --> 02:01:31.703
then we shouldn't be afraid to push for universal health care.

02:01:31.843 --> 02:01:34.183
We shouldn't be afraid to push for reparations.

02:01:34.943 --> 02:01:42.223
We shouldn't be afraid to push for universal education, amongst other things, right?

02:01:42.803 --> 02:01:47.203
We shouldn't be afraid to say what we need to say, and we need to convince the

02:01:47.203 --> 02:01:50.763
American people that it's time to go a different direction.

02:01:51.183 --> 02:01:54.383
This is going off of the rails really, really quick.

02:01:56.200 --> 02:02:01.040
I don't want it to be a situation that's bad enough when parents see their children

02:02:01.040 --> 02:02:03.100
going overseas to fight battles.

02:02:04.500 --> 02:02:08.720
I sure as hell don't want to see people watching folks fight battles in their

02:02:08.720 --> 02:02:11.100
front yard. You feel me on that?

02:02:12.280 --> 02:02:17.200
So let's get to work. Let's do what we got to do. There's going to be more crazy

02:02:17.200 --> 02:02:23.660
days like what happened on, you know, today I'm recording this.

02:02:23.860 --> 02:02:30.280
It's Friday the 13th, you know. Yesterday was Thursday the 12th and all the

02:02:30.280 --> 02:02:31.880
crazy stuff happened, right?

02:02:32.960 --> 02:02:37.120
Guys, we can do better. We don't have to accept this.

02:02:37.540 --> 02:02:41.480
We don't have to accept elected officials being brutalized.

02:02:41.660 --> 02:02:48.320
We don't have to accept crazy rhetoric being touted in the name of Jesus.

02:02:49.080 --> 02:02:55.260
It's not how this works. And we need to rise up and remind people how it's supposed to work.

02:02:55.400 --> 02:02:57.860
Set the example. but get engaged.

02:02:58.620 --> 02:03:01.260
Thank y'all for listening. Until next time.

02:03:03.280 --> 02:03:49.670
Music.