Unapologetically Uplifting Featuring Chasity Wells-Armstrong and Alysia Cutting

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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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The following program is hosted by the NBG Podcast Network.

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Music.

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Thank you. Thank you.

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You Hello, welcome to another moment, Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.

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So today's show is entitled Unapologetically Uplifting.

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And I think that is very, very appropriate.

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Not just for what's happening, but for the guests that I have.

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I have two sisters coming on who have basically made it their work to uplift people.

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And I am glad that they agreed to come on.

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And in light of everything that's happening, even more so.

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Because we need to be uplifted. And so after the interviews, I'll offer my thoughts.

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But I just am really glad that these two sisters came on and I hope that you

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enjoy the conversations that we've had.

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We're still trying to get subscribers. You know our goal if you're a regular listener.

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So you can go to patreon.com slash a momentwitherik Fleming to do that.

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You can go to momenterik.com and not only subscribe, but you can catch up on

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episodes and just kind of find out what this show is about. Right.

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And I would greatly appreciate that if you like the show.

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You know, you can go ahead and, you know, put in a review.

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You know, tell your friends, tell your neighbors, tell everyone.

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Because, you know, it's, shout out to the NBG Podcasting Network for giving

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me a platform or helping me continue my platform. I'll put it that way.

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But it's important for us that are independent to get to support, not just the listeners,

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but financially to do what we need to do and, you know, and make sure that independent

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voices are heard. Right.

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And so, you know, I just in this moment,

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in this time where folks are like concerned about the information that they're getting,

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it's important to have people who are not tied into mainstream media or corporate corporate media.

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However you want to call it, to be able to say what they need to say and to

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lay things out the way that they need to be laid out without censorship or anything like that.

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So do what you can, you know, continue to support the show.

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We, you know, I greatly appreciate you listening and we'll just go from there.

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So let's let's go ahead and kick this show off. And as always,

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we kick it off with a moment of news with Grace G.

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Music.

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Thanks, Erik. Right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, age 31, was fatally shot in

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the neck while speaking at a university event in Utah.

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A federal judge has temporarily blocked President Donald Trump's attempt to

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remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

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Israel launched an airstrike in Qatar targeting Hamas leaders,

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potentially harming ongoing ceasefire negotiations.

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Poland, with support from its NATO allies, shot down suspected Russian drones

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that entered its airspace.

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The Department of Homeland Security conducted their largest single-site enforcement

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operation, detaining hundreds of South Korean nationals, at a Hyundai car battery

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plant under construction in Georgia.

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The Supreme Court backed a Trump administration policy allowing agents to conduct

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immigration raids in Southern California that target people based on their race or language.

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The Missouri House of Representatives approved a new congressional map that

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is expected to give Republicans an additional House seat A federal judge in

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San Francisco ruled that the Trump administration's attempt to cancel temporary

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protected status for more than

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1 million Venezuelans and Haitians was unlawful and racially motivated.

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The Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division has collected voter roll data

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from at least 22 states, which it plans to share with Homeland Security for

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use in criminal and immigration investigations.

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A Michigan judge dismissed criminal charges against a group of residents who

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tried to present themselves as the state's legitimate electors for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.

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A Minnesota man who spent nearly three decades in prison for a murder he did

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not commit was released after the key witness in the case confessed to the crime herself.

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And two Powerball players from Missouri and Texas won a combined $1.8 billion

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jackpot, which is the second largest in U.S.

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Lottery history. I am Grace G, 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, Chasity Wells-Armstrong.

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Chasity Wells-Armstrong is a powerhouse leader, licensed social worker,

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and former mayor who brings over 25 years of experience at the intersection

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of government leadership, social justice, and transformational coaching.

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She made history as the first black mayor of Kankakee, Illinois,

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where she led bold initiatives in racial equity,

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economic revitalization, and criminal justice reform, often while navigating

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the entrenched systems of race and gender bias that continue to shape American politics today.

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Chasity's public service includes working in Congress as a constituent services

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and deputy district director for two U.S.

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Representatives, where she fought for policy solutions that center underserved communities.

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Today, she coaches women leaders and advises elected officials across the country

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through her firm, Catalyst Coaching and Transformation.

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Her mission, to help women and municipal leaders lead with confidence,

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elevate their presence, and make impactful, equitable decisions without burnout.

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Whether she's in City Hall, on Capitol Hill, or inside coaching circles,

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Chasity is known for her fierce commitment to truth, justice,

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and building the leadership bench for a more representative and inclusive democracy.

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Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest

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the Honorable Chasity Wells-Armstrong.

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Music.

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The Honorable Chasity Wells-Armstrong. How are you doing, Mayor? You doing good?

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I'm doing well. Thank you, Erik, for having me with you today.

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Well, I'm honored that you accepted the invitation.

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You know, even in this, even in the 21st century, you know, you would think

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that there wouldn't be so many pioneers out there, but there's still a few of

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us bouncing around, and you're one of those folks.

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And so, again, like I said, I'm honored to have you come on.

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So let's go ahead and get this started. What I normally like to do is a couple

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of icebreakers before we kick off the interview part.

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So the first icebreaker is a quote.

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And your quote is, Black women should not be defined by societal stereotypes

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as angry and difficult and more.

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We are loving, talented, compassionate, fun, and smart. What does that quote mean to you?

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Well, it speaks to the experience of a lot of Black women, particularly Black

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women in leadership and especially those who break barriers in leadership.

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My experience has been that women and especially Black women are pushed to shrink

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themselves, to make other people feel comfortable.

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We tend to be bold and courageous because we have to be. We are fighters by

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nature because we've had to be and continue to have to be.

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And many people are not comfortable with us taking up the space that we take up in certain places.

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Yeah. Yeah. I feel you. All right. So the next icebreaker is what we call 20 questions.

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So I need you to give me a number between 1 and 20.

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11. Okay. Where do you go to check a fact that you see, hear, or read?

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Well, usually if I'm reading something, it's coming from a source.

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So, if I read something on the internet, I would be looking for the source to

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be cited within that particular article or blog, you know, whatever it is.

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If it's a blogger or somebody, I would just, You know, Google them,

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look them up and look at their website.

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If it's a source, I'm connected to represent women, particularly they are working

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to remove barriers for women to be able to achieve elected office.

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So I would use sources like academic sources, Mayor's Innovation Project is

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another, it's a think tank.

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So usually if I'm reading an article, I would mean I would be,

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it's a credible source usually, or I'm looking for the source to be cited.

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And if I'm not familiar with the source then I would look up that source Yeah,

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well that's good to know that you've got those kind of resources outside of

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the traditional research to fall back on it,

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you know, I guess that's one advantage of being a former elected that we do

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have some think tanks we can call on every now and then Yeah,

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that's so police, cities, you know, if it's something related to violence,

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I'm connected to Cities United,

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you know, they have a coalition of, you know, work and body of work they've

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been doing for many years across the country with mayors in regard to violence.

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You know, there's certain organizations that are doing the work.

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And so I would reference those. Yeah.

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All right. So let's start this conversation off with some reflection.

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Okay. As a Black political pioneer, you experienced some incredible triumphs

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and some impactful lows.

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As a Black female mayor during the summer of 2020 and the COVID epidemic,

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you dealt with some unprecedented challenges.

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What did you learn from that and how did it make you a stronger person?

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I learned how vulnerable communities are in these situations and how much they

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are looking to their leaders to guide them through those challenging and unprecedented times.

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You know, anyone who was elected when I was in 2017 never anticipated that we

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would be dealing with a pandemic. Make.

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It was just completely unforeseen. And for me, it was really the importance

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of showing up for my community as a leader.

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I took very intentional steps to make sure I did that.

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I did short videos every day on social media.

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I brought in professionals and had chats like we're doing right now that were

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filmed from professionals in the community, whether it was from the medical

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community, mental health community,

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and our social service agencies that could provide resources to keep people

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informed about what was going on and to help guide them and try to settle the fear as much as I could.

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But people during these times are really looking for their leaders to be present,

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to show up, and to be real.

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You know, I was scared too. I was scared.

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We were losing people. You know, I was the mayor of my hometown.

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So I know a lot of those families and the deaths hit me personally and allowing

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my own vulnerability, you know, to be publicly seen,

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I think helped me connect more with my residents during that particular time as well. Yeah.

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So, you know, I'm based here in Atlanta now and, you know, Keisha Lance Bottoms was the mayor then.

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And she decided not to run for reelection after going through that.

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But now she's thinking about running for governor. But she had a lot of the same.

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Emotions because she was she was you know she grew up in Atlanta so she knew

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people who had gotten sick who had died and and all that stuff but now she like

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I said she's gonna run for governor did you get a chance to even interact with

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her and other mayors during that time or were you,

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I'm sorry I never had the opportunity to meet her of course we both were elected

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in 2017 so I knew who she was because Essence magazine had dubbed 2017 as the

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year of the black woman mayor so I was very familiar with who she was,

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but I had not personally met her.

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But it was a very trying time.

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You know, I had the vulnerability side of the community, particularly the Black

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and Brown communities, which we know were hit harder.

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But then I had backlash as well from the white men in my community who are,

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you know, most of the bars in my community are owned by white men.

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And when the governor shut the state down March 16th, I will never forget It was the day before St.

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Paddy's Day Which is a big bar day, as you know They were livid I mean,

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if they could have I felt like if they could have lynched me They would have

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done it They were extremely angry And they were attacking me As,

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you know, being a stupid Democrat And listening to this governor Because they

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were losing revenues Yeah. Yeah.

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Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That was the thing. It wasn't just them.

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It was everybody was everybody was struggling. And growing up in Chicago.

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Yeah. St. Patrick's Day. That's like a national holiday for folks.

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So that was the timing was really, really bad.

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All right. In your farewell address, as Mayor Kankakee, you said there are many

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broken people in this community.

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When people who have been conditioned not to trust their own people,

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not to value themselves and not to believe there's hope and a better way,

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they lose the opportunity to make a difference.

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In this current political climate, do you feel that is an accurate national

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assessment? And what do you think will change that?

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Yes, I do believe that many people are broken, starting from the leadership in the White House.

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Anytime you have to demean and dehumanize and put other people down because

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you feel insecure or mediocre or whatever your issue is, that's a reflection on you.

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And, you know, what I have seen with some black people is they're not comfortable

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unless the white people are in

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charge because they've been conditioned to think that they're less than.

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And we are not. And what I have seen over the years, particularly more recently,

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is that there's a group of people in this country that are very intimidated by black brilliance.

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And I don't say that to be arrogant. we've had to be resilient as a result of

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the oppression that we endure.

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It's made us creative and resourceful. It's a skill they don't have.

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Many of them don't have because they have not had that experience.

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It's an experience that I don't want us to continue to have.

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I don't want us to be in situations and in systems where we have to be resilient

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and to overcome all these barriers and challenges, but that has been our reality.

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So yes, we are very broken right now as a country.

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The trust has been eroded in our institutions, the disinformation,

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and how do we recover from that?

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And that's what I started writing about this morning, we have to really do some

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reflection and challenge things that are in front of us right now.

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You know, I started drafting my next newsletter and I'm talking about how,

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you know, Charlie Kirk's death is being,

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how it's being handled versus how when George Floyd was killed or even Melissa,

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the state rep in Minnesota, you know, the flags weren't flown half-staffed for

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her. She was a public servant.

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She devoted her life to public service.

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There's a difference in how this is being handled.

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And I will be challenging people to think back to times when you've seen,

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for example, George Floyd was killed.

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His children, nobody's talked about his children and what's going on with them.

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And they've lost a father.

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And it's handled very, very differently. And we need to look at that as Americans.

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We need to, why is that? Why are we not thinking about George Floyd's children

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or Melissa Hortman, who now has orphans?

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Her children are orphans now.

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What is that tied to?

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Why do we value certain lives over other lives in this country?

00:20:09.051 --> 00:20:12.991
That's why I don't pledge allegiance to the flag, because this country is not

00:20:12.991 --> 00:20:16.631
living up to the ideals of what it was.

00:20:16.771 --> 00:20:20.031
You know, it's supposed to be evolving into something better.

00:20:20.211 --> 00:20:23.951
And we are going backwards right now. We have went backwards. Yeah.

00:20:24.911 --> 00:20:28.351
And I think building community is the other answer to that, Erik.

00:20:28.491 --> 00:20:31.611
We have to get out of our own comfort zones. And that's something I've been

00:20:31.611 --> 00:20:33.411
talking about in my newsletter as well.

00:20:33.411 --> 00:20:38.971
Like challenge yourself to talk to somebody you normally wouldn't talk to or

00:20:38.971 --> 00:20:41.891
or just to get in different spaces and learn,

00:20:42.231 --> 00:20:46.891
you know, from other people and build community with other people because locally,

00:20:47.211 --> 00:20:50.691
you know, you're that's where we have power right now is at the local level.

00:20:51.660 --> 00:20:56.960
Yeah, and that's where the most dynamic change is going to happen at the local level.

00:20:57.260 --> 00:21:04.200
I was listening to a podcast, and it was like, you know,

00:21:04.380 --> 00:21:09.960
they're two ladies, and they get excited whenever they get a mayor to come on

00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:14.420
the show as compared to a congressperson or whatever, because it's like,

00:21:14.560 --> 00:21:19.920
you know, they understand that, you know, everything generates locally.

00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:22.580
And and they think that mayors are the

00:21:22.580 --> 00:21:26.560
greatest elected officials ever created so i'm

00:21:26.560 --> 00:21:29.460
sure you won't argue with that but yeah it's

00:21:29.460 --> 00:21:34.120
all the the the healing process has

00:21:34.120 --> 00:21:40.020
to be local and you know because once it gets to a national stage those people

00:21:40.020 --> 00:21:48.500
are dictated by the the mood of the nation So if we can if we can work within

00:21:48.500 --> 00:21:53.980
our own communities to deal with the brokenness, to deal with the healing,

00:21:54.460 --> 00:21:58.180
then it'll it'll generate on a national level.

00:21:58.340 --> 00:22:01.300
But you about to get me on a soapbox. So let me let me move on.

00:22:04.280 --> 00:22:09.740
What are your thoughts on the imminent Trump invasion of the city of Chicago?

00:22:10.600 --> 00:22:16.100
Well, you know, he's impeding on states' rights. I believe in local governance.

00:22:16.100 --> 00:22:19.100
And as a country, we all did.

00:22:19.360 --> 00:22:21.420
That's why we have local elected officials.

00:22:22.020 --> 00:22:27.660
And governors have the authority to activate the National Guard should they

00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:32.800
deem it necessary. Our governor has done that in the past. I think is extremely

00:22:32.800 --> 00:22:36.960
reckless and irresponsible to be sending troops in.

00:22:37.180 --> 00:22:41.840
He is terrorizing communities. He's a bully. He's creating confusion.

00:22:42.180 --> 00:22:45.440
You know, who do you listen to when they show up? Who's in charge?

00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:50.300
Is this local Chicago Police Department in charge or is the federal government in charge?

00:22:50.500 --> 00:22:54.140
And this is a man who has absolutely no military experience,

00:22:54.540 --> 00:22:56.260
no law enforcement background.

00:22:56.280 --> 00:22:59.360
He's completely out of order, completely out of order.

00:23:00.257 --> 00:23:07.537
And he's targeting Democratic governors, Democratic states, Black women.

00:23:07.757 --> 00:23:12.217
This is not about crime. The statistics have been shown over and over again

00:23:12.217 --> 00:23:16.017
that crime is higher in Republican states.

00:23:16.017 --> 00:23:21.657
He has pulled funding that would address the systemic issues that are tied to

00:23:21.657 --> 00:23:26.717
crime, like mental health services, like anti-poverty programs,

00:23:26.977 --> 00:23:30.157
like gun violence prevention programs, youth programming.

00:23:30.257 --> 00:23:35.897
All of those things he's pulled money away from that i am as you can tell is i'm pissed about it,

00:23:36.557 --> 00:23:42.997
it i am absolutely infuriated about it and that the this republican congress

00:23:42.997 --> 00:23:47.777
has allowed him and the supreme court to just do whatever he wants yeah and

00:23:47.777 --> 00:23:52.657
that's that's the that's the tragedy of it yeah yeah he is a danger to this

00:23:52.657 --> 00:23:55.557
this country he is an absolute danger to this country.

00:23:56.157 --> 00:24:02.577
There is no big city in the United States that is ever going to say we have zero crime.

00:24:02.877 --> 00:24:05.797
That's just not going to happen. When you have human beings,

00:24:05.977 --> 00:24:07.217
you're going to have crime.

00:24:07.417 --> 00:24:12.937
When you have a country that's been structured in a way where you have a widely

00:24:12.937 --> 00:24:16.797
wealth gap, the have and the have nots, you're going to have crime.

00:24:17.197 --> 00:24:22.877
So if you really care about crime, You have to address the issue holistically

00:24:22.877 --> 00:24:27.017
He is being punitive In his decision making.

00:24:29.583 --> 00:24:36.423
Yeah, it's like with with, you know, you brought up the point about home rule,

00:24:36.883 --> 00:24:42.203
the state's rights. It's like it would be easier for him, just like,

00:24:42.243 --> 00:24:43.783
you know, D.C., since D.C.

00:24:43.963 --> 00:24:50.023
Is a federal district, you know, that it was it was kind of expected that he

00:24:50.023 --> 00:24:55.043
would do it there. I kind of thought that he would do it there first instead of Los Angeles.

00:24:56.343 --> 00:25:00.343
But, you know, that was pride and contempt and all that stuff that he did it there.

00:25:00.443 --> 00:25:05.923
But it would be easier for him to do it in the southern states or the red states

00:25:05.923 --> 00:25:09.363
than it would in a place like Chicago and New York.

00:25:09.543 --> 00:25:14.303
Because, you know, I came from Mississippi as an elected official.

00:25:14.303 --> 00:25:18.683
And that was one of the big issues was that the cities don't have total home rule.

00:25:18.683 --> 00:25:24.143
So it's like if if if he wanted to get in with, you know, Governor Reeves in

00:25:24.143 --> 00:25:29.323
Mississippi and say, look, we want to put the troops in Jackson, it could happen.

00:25:29.583 --> 00:25:34.123
And the city of Jackson would be limited compared to, you know,

00:25:34.223 --> 00:25:39.983
say you and Kankakee or or Mayor Johnson in Chicago as far as saying,

00:25:40.163 --> 00:25:41.143
no, that's not going to you.

00:25:41.503 --> 00:25:46.263
No, there's some steps that you got to take to even make that happen.

00:25:46.423 --> 00:25:48.323
One, we got to agree that you can come.

00:25:48.683 --> 00:25:55.463
Or make a request for that. So it's real interesting, those dynamics and all that stuff.

00:25:55.683 --> 00:26:01.203
Real quick, how do you think Mayor Johnson is doing, not only dealing with that,

00:26:01.343 --> 00:26:04.943
but just dealing with the city, just being an observer and what's going on?

00:26:05.323 --> 00:26:10.523
You know, I don't follow him heavily, believe it or not.

00:26:10.903 --> 00:26:16.523
You know, I've heard different things about him. I do believe in my heart that he loves people.

00:26:16.723 --> 00:26:21.743
I do believe in my heart that he believes in equity and justice.

00:26:23.023 --> 00:26:30.423
I'm not sure if he has the most or the best support that he needs around him.

00:26:31.630 --> 00:26:37.570
But I admire and respect the way that he's standing up for his community, for his city.

00:26:37.730 --> 00:26:42.530
And I love that about our governor as well. I heard our governor actually say,

00:26:42.610 --> 00:26:46.130
if you mess with my people, if you hurt my people, you will be held accountable.

00:26:46.550 --> 00:26:50.670
I mean, I had so much pride in Governor Pritzker when he said that.

00:26:50.930 --> 00:26:55.650
To see this president putting military troops on our streets,

00:26:55.910 --> 00:26:58.110
it's just unbelievable.

00:26:58.110 --> 00:27:03.230
And I told my husband, you know, if I see people pulling up,

00:27:03.490 --> 00:27:07.490
snatching people off the street, I'm just going to have to pray to ancestors

00:27:07.490 --> 00:27:10.490
protect me because I don't have it in me to turn my head.

00:27:10.790 --> 00:27:15.970
These are people that are in unmarked cars that are not identifiable.

00:27:16.190 --> 00:27:17.410
They're covering their faces.

00:27:17.850 --> 00:27:21.410
Anybody that goes into law enforcement knows that if they're working in law

00:27:21.410 --> 00:27:24.430
enforcement, they are taking a risk every day with their life.

00:27:24.590 --> 00:27:28.690
They chose to do that. You don't have the right to show up in our communities

00:27:28.690 --> 00:27:34.030
and claim that you need to cover your face because you're worried about being harmed by us.

00:27:34.170 --> 00:27:38.150
You're supposed to be in the community to protect us, not to harm us.

00:27:38.270 --> 00:27:41.710
So I'm not going to idly stand by and watch you snatch someone.

00:27:41.930 --> 00:27:45.910
You could be a trafficker for all we know. You could be a trafficker.

00:27:47.570 --> 00:27:52.490
So it's disheartening. It's infuriating. I don't know all the issues.

00:27:52.630 --> 00:27:54.150
I've never lived in Chicago. ago.

00:27:54.330 --> 00:27:57.510
I don't know all the issues that Mayor Johnson is dealing with.

00:27:57.750 --> 00:28:00.810
I think it's a lot to take on having his back.

00:28:00.930 --> 00:28:05.050
You know, he was a commissioner before becoming the mayor. So I don't think

00:28:05.050 --> 00:28:09.370
he had a lot of experience in this, what, the third largest city in the United

00:28:09.370 --> 00:28:12.490
States. So it's a tough, tough job.

00:28:13.070 --> 00:28:18.270
And I admire the way he is standing up for his people. I do believe he He has

00:28:18.270 --> 00:28:19.790
a heart for the people. Yeah.

00:28:20.450 --> 00:28:24.090
All right. So let's get into the consultancy work that you do.

00:28:24.590 --> 00:28:31.510
Your motto is unapologetically uplifting women. Why is that important to assert? Yeah.

00:28:32.189 --> 00:28:39.069
Because women are 50% of the workforce and we are more than 50% of the U.S. population.

00:28:39.349 --> 00:28:44.809
And I believe that when women are in leadership, particularly in public policy,

00:28:45.069 --> 00:28:47.309
we do better as a society.

00:28:47.509 --> 00:28:50.309
Our communities thrive. Our families thrive.

00:28:50.669 --> 00:28:53.389
We take care of people.

00:28:53.869 --> 00:28:57.509
Not that we're perfect. Not that there's not some outliers out there.

00:28:57.509 --> 00:29:01.489
But for the most part, women usually, what I have found, women usually run for

00:29:01.489 --> 00:29:05.489
public office because they want to make a difference in their community.

00:29:05.489 --> 00:29:08.729
It's not so much as ego-driven and power-driven.

00:29:09.029 --> 00:29:13.989
And there's data that supports that women are more effective CEOs.

00:29:14.549 --> 00:29:18.649
They're more effective at problem solving, getting things done more quickly

00:29:18.649 --> 00:29:20.889
and bringing solutions to the table.

00:29:21.049 --> 00:29:24.549
They work more collaboratively. So I believe that overall,

00:29:24.769 --> 00:29:29.789
as a society, we benefit and I'm all about helping women and supporting women

00:29:29.789 --> 00:29:34.069
in those spaces so that they have the capacity to execute the vision that they

00:29:34.069 --> 00:29:37.889
have to enhance and improve their communities. Yeah.

00:29:39.689 --> 00:29:45.629
Interesting fact, the district that I used to represent, there's only been two

00:29:45.629 --> 00:29:47.629
men that have ever been elected.

00:29:48.009 --> 00:29:51.269
Me and the young man is currently in there now.

00:29:51.529 --> 00:29:56.649
And he is the son of the last representative who was assistant.

00:29:57.749 --> 00:30:05.949
So, you know, it means, you know, when people look at people for what they bring,

00:30:06.549 --> 00:30:16.569
right, it's not so much, you know, that whole old trope about the fair sex and all that kind of stuff.

00:30:16.889 --> 00:30:23.549
It's like most of my opponents have been women if I'm running for,

00:30:23.629 --> 00:30:24.789
especially at the local level.

00:30:24.789 --> 00:30:34.229
And, you know, women are just as fierce as men when it comes to competing Women are just as.

00:30:35.250 --> 00:30:40.650
Dug in the ground when they need to stand for issues, just like men.

00:30:40.990 --> 00:30:45.350
It's just different styles of how men and women go about it.

00:30:45.570 --> 00:30:49.490
And I think it's more, you know, some people say it's biological.

00:30:49.490 --> 00:30:56.310
I think it's more societal, you know, it's just how a person has been raised

00:30:56.310 --> 00:31:03.190
because you can see some men who have compassion and you could see some women who are like,

00:31:03.830 --> 00:31:06.850
no, you're fired. You're out. Get out. You know what I'm saying?

00:31:07.390 --> 00:31:12.950
You, you, it, personality types are learned. It's not necessarily biological,

00:31:12.950 --> 00:31:18.030
but, but I, I, I can't argue with the stats and you're right that, you know,

00:31:18.210 --> 00:31:24.250
women have shown incredible capabilities and I, and I really appreciate the

00:31:24.250 --> 00:31:28.710
fact that you, And there's others out there that, you know,

00:31:28.870 --> 00:31:35.010
want to make sure that women don't, I don't know what's the term I want to use,

00:31:35.510 --> 00:31:41.710
that you're out there building self-esteem and you're giving reassurance,

00:31:41.710 --> 00:31:47.170
I guess is the term I want to use, that you made this decision to be a leader.

00:31:47.650 --> 00:31:54.210
And so your job is to make sure that, you know, you're not second-guessing yourself.

00:31:54.210 --> 00:31:56.930
Am I kind of close to what you do?

00:31:57.855 --> 00:32:01.675
Well, I think nobody can give you self-esteem. It's self-esteem.

00:32:01.995 --> 00:32:05.235
So that comes from, it's internal, what you think about yourself.

00:32:05.495 --> 00:32:12.835
But my job is to support, to make sure that women are clear on their vision, their why.

00:32:13.255 --> 00:32:17.075
They're going to need to be very clear on that because they're going to be tested,

00:32:17.395 --> 00:32:20.655
tried, disrespected, harmed in many ways.

00:32:20.895 --> 00:32:26.315
We see the attacks, you know, even when VP Harris ran, I was like,

00:32:26.395 --> 00:32:27.095
okay, they're getting ready.

00:32:27.255 --> 00:32:30.675
Here we come. She's a whore. She's incompetent.

00:32:30.975 --> 00:32:34.235
They have a whole checklist, tick list of what they do to women.

00:32:34.455 --> 00:32:39.235
And so for me, it's making sure that they stay connected to their why,

00:32:39.415 --> 00:32:44.135
knowing what their values are, and having the capacity to serve.

00:32:44.275 --> 00:32:48.575
A lot of times women are in systems that are not designed to support them.

00:32:48.735 --> 00:32:51.915
So for example, I'm working with a mayor now.

00:32:52.135 --> 00:32:56.315
And even when I was mayor, I did not have, I was writing my,

00:32:56.475 --> 00:32:58.155
I was writing the social media posts.

00:32:58.275 --> 00:33:01.375
We didn't have a communications person. I was writing the press releases.

00:33:02.255 --> 00:33:06.615
You know, some mayors are doing their own schedule. If you, if you look at the

00:33:06.615 --> 00:33:10.735
role of a mayor and the fact that they are the CEO of a municipality,

00:33:11.255 --> 00:33:16.415
running a multimillion dollar municipality, no man would be expected to do that

00:33:16.415 --> 00:33:17.875
without administrative support.

00:33:18.595 --> 00:33:22.355
The men that are CEOs are not writing their own speeches.

00:33:22.535 --> 00:33:25.695
They're not scheduling their own appointments. So their ecosystem,

00:33:25.695 --> 00:33:31.775
when I talk about that in my scale framework, it's not just being connected to other women mayors.

00:33:31.915 --> 00:33:36.375
It's also looking at the systems and structures that you are working in and

00:33:36.375 --> 00:33:40.555
making sure that they are designed in a way that supports your capacity.

00:33:40.975 --> 00:33:45.595
Because you will burn out. You will be exhausted. And they thrive on that.

00:33:45.595 --> 00:33:47.575
That's what they're hoping that will happen.

00:33:47.835 --> 00:33:49.975
But as you said, we dig in.

00:33:50.835 --> 00:33:55.455
We're stubborn and determined to get things done, but there's a cost to that.

00:33:55.575 --> 00:34:01.815
And I'm trying to help women lead and govern in a way where they're not experiencing

00:34:01.815 --> 00:34:04.615
such a deep cost, if that makes sense.

00:34:04.875 --> 00:34:10.035
Yeah, yeah. So go into the scale framework in a little more detail since you

00:34:10.035 --> 00:34:15.395
mentioned that. So it's my proprietary framework that I've created.

00:34:15.655 --> 00:34:18.995
And the S stands for strengths. And that's really leaning into,

00:34:19.395 --> 00:34:23.955
it sounds common, but a lot of times if you're an entrepreneur,

00:34:24.215 --> 00:34:26.195
solopreneur, you know what that's like.

00:34:26.395 --> 00:34:29.075
You're doing every job. And it's not...

00:34:30.155 --> 00:34:34.255
To the best use of your capacity. You could be more effective if you were focused

00:34:34.255 --> 00:34:36.995
on what your lane of brilliance is.

00:34:37.135 --> 00:34:41.335
And so really working in your strengths and identifying where those support

00:34:41.335 --> 00:34:46.855
pieces are and how, if it's a mayor, for example, who needs to be on your team, right?

00:34:47.775 --> 00:34:51.935
The C is confidence and cognitive reframing.

00:34:52.075 --> 00:34:57.315
So as women, like you said, we've been conditioned in society that we are to

00:34:57.315 --> 00:35:01.455
be in certain roles and to have certain tasks,

00:35:01.595 --> 00:35:07.355
you know, in the family and in the workplace and really reframing all those

00:35:07.355 --> 00:35:08.875
messages that we've gotten.

00:35:09.255 --> 00:35:13.955
I was told, you know, you need to wait your turn to run. I was in the primary.

00:35:14.315 --> 00:35:16.175
There were four of us. You can't win.

00:35:16.795 --> 00:35:20.275
My motto was nobody will outwork me. And they didn't.

00:35:20.575 --> 00:35:24.515
That was my motto. But if I had internalized and listened to that message,

00:35:24.515 --> 00:35:27.455
I might have been discouraged to not run.

00:35:27.735 --> 00:35:34.475
So reframe, cognitive reframing. A is aligned values and boundary negotiation.

00:35:34.935 --> 00:35:39.635
I need to be clear on what I value and then set boundaries around that.

00:35:40.135 --> 00:35:45.055
The L is leadership longevity. Again, talking about being able to protect your

00:35:45.055 --> 00:35:48.555
own energy and capacity so that you can lead for the long term.

00:35:48.795 --> 00:35:52.375
If you're a great leader, we don't want you burned out in your four-year term,

00:35:52.575 --> 00:35:54.735
Erik. We want you to come back, you know.

00:35:54.935 --> 00:35:58.435
And then the E, again, it's that ecosystem that I referred to earlier.

00:35:58.435 --> 00:36:03.775
Not just the people around you, your peer network, but the systems that you're working in.

00:36:04.475 --> 00:36:09.375
Yeah. So let's dive into the L a little bit. You once described your work as

00:36:09.375 --> 00:36:11.695
mayor as emotional and difficult.

00:36:12.135 --> 00:36:16.855
What was your guiding force to sustain, preserve, and to protect?

00:36:17.875 --> 00:36:24.335
I have always been a weightlifter. I like to lift.

00:36:25.348 --> 00:36:30.828
I was very unhealthy as mayor. I've lost, you know, quite a bit of weight and

00:36:30.828 --> 00:36:33.128
gotten much healthier since I've come out of that.

00:36:33.308 --> 00:36:36.708
It was a lot of just not being able to sleep.

00:36:36.928 --> 00:36:42.008
Gun violence was prevalent in my community. At any time there was a shot fired,

00:36:42.008 --> 00:36:45.508
I was literally blamed for that. What's the mayor doing? Where's the mayor?

00:36:45.828 --> 00:36:50.128
You know, even though I'm the one that brought this gun violence prevention

00:36:50.128 --> 00:36:53.728
plan and initiative to Kankakee that they're now still executing.

00:36:53.728 --> 00:36:56.228
I partnered with Cities United to do that.

00:36:56.508 --> 00:37:00.308
But for me, what helped was having, you know, when you're in that type of a

00:37:00.308 --> 00:37:03.228
role, you have a very small circle of people that you can trust.

00:37:03.648 --> 00:37:08.268
For me, it was having a network with the women mayors. I'm still on the steering

00:37:08.268 --> 00:37:11.988
committee for the Mayor's Innovation Project. And there's a women mayors network

00:37:11.988 --> 00:37:15.068
that's connected there. And it's mayors from all over the country.

00:37:15.248 --> 00:37:18.708
And we support each other. We talk with each other. we are able to vent,

00:37:19.508 --> 00:37:23.908
we're able to, you know, share the good times and the bad.

00:37:24.168 --> 00:37:26.448
So having a network is important.

00:37:26.988 --> 00:37:30.228
Doing things to protect your health, like taking care of yourself.

00:37:30.408 --> 00:37:35.668
And it's hard, it's very challenging to do that because you're on 24-7.

00:37:35.668 --> 00:37:37.468
As you know, you've been an elected official.

00:37:37.648 --> 00:37:40.468
People expect you to, you know, pick up, show up.

00:37:40.708 --> 00:37:46.228
And so that's challenging, but weightlifting and working out has always been

00:37:46.228 --> 00:37:47.628
very therapeutic for me.

00:37:47.768 --> 00:37:50.188
For me, it's not even about vanity.

00:37:50.588 --> 00:37:53.948
It's about my, like mentally, I need to work out.

00:37:54.848 --> 00:38:00.328
I need to walk. I need to lift. So that's been helpful. I'm also a journaler. I'm a writer.

00:38:00.908 --> 00:38:03.788
And so that helps me as well.

00:38:03.888 --> 00:38:07.108
And I'm not a religious person, but I am a spiritual person.

00:38:07.108 --> 00:38:12.948
So I have my quiet time and nature to connect and talk to the universe.

00:38:14.248 --> 00:38:17.068
And, you know, that helps me as well.

00:38:17.448 --> 00:38:25.888
Yeah, yeah, it's golf and doing this podcast is my therapy.

00:38:26.228 --> 00:38:31.148
You know, I didn't have the ability to do a podcast, so I used to do a lot of

00:38:31.148 --> 00:38:35.308
writing too when I was elected.

00:38:35.308 --> 00:38:39.508
But but the golf, just being able to hit that little white ball as hard as you

00:38:39.508 --> 00:38:43.348
can sometimes, you know, it takes the whole burden off.

00:38:44.268 --> 00:38:49.568
I'll tell you this. I I had 14 members on the city council in a town of twenty

00:38:49.568 --> 00:38:51.568
six thousand, which is absolutely ridiculous.

00:38:52.428 --> 00:38:56.428
And the team that I assembled, my department heads.

00:38:57.261 --> 00:39:01.521
I love them like family. When I think about them, I've never served in the military.

00:39:01.781 --> 00:39:03.821
I have a lot of people in my family that was military.

00:39:04.681 --> 00:39:09.901
And I don't mean this to be insulting if there's any military people listening, including my dad.

00:39:10.281 --> 00:39:16.981
But for me, I view the team that I've worked with in Kankakee as the closest thing.

00:39:17.281 --> 00:39:22.341
For me, I feel like it must be the closest thing that military people feel when

00:39:22.341 --> 00:39:28.141
they've been in wars together. because it literally was a war for four years.

00:39:28.361 --> 00:39:32.561
Like every, they were coming at us every day and they were attacking staff.

00:39:32.761 --> 00:39:37.081
Like staff had not been accustomed to that, but they were even being used as

00:39:37.081 --> 00:39:41.081
pawns just because they were on my team and they were supporting the vision

00:39:41.081 --> 00:39:42.861
of what I was doing in the community.

00:39:43.001 --> 00:39:45.341
So I'm forever grateful to them.

00:39:45.561 --> 00:39:50.941
And since we connected, the city council on September 2nd unanimously approved

00:39:50.941 --> 00:39:58.241
a proclamation to name a street after me. And that street ceremony is this Saturday on September 13th.

00:39:58.421 --> 00:40:03.241
But I attribute a lot of what I was able to get done to the team that I that

00:40:03.241 --> 00:40:05.461
I had around me. And I love them dearly.

00:40:05.841 --> 00:40:09.981
Well, congratulations on that. And I understand that's the street that you grew up on.

00:40:10.561 --> 00:40:15.661
I grew up in the neighborhood Hobby Heights. Hobby Avenue has a whole story

00:40:15.661 --> 00:40:18.021
because it's been the it's in the black war.

00:40:18.521 --> 00:40:23.841
It's flooded for over 60 years in the eight and nine hundred blocks. It had been neglected.

00:40:24.041 --> 00:40:28.441
When I became mayor, that project was on the list for funding.

00:40:28.681 --> 00:40:31.681
The mayors in the region voted to defund it.

00:40:31.841 --> 00:40:36.581
I fought with my city engineer and stood up to them and made them put the money

00:40:36.581 --> 00:40:40.121
back in. So that's why this is like such a big deal in the community.

00:40:40.321 --> 00:40:45.261
They didn't think this would ever happen because it's been neglected for years.

00:40:45.641 --> 00:40:50.061
And I told them Kankakee has a Frank Lloyd Wright home, too.

00:40:50.781 --> 00:40:56.321
It has a historic neighborhood designated Riverview historic district that would

00:40:56.321 --> 00:41:01.961
have never been tolerated for 60 years. in historic Riverview for a street to

00:41:01.961 --> 00:41:04.781
be flooding to the point where people can't even use the street.

00:41:05.241 --> 00:41:08.241
So this is like a, this is a big deal for our community.

00:41:08.801 --> 00:41:14.901
Yeah. Yeah. I had a, somebody served in student government with a Jackson state.

00:41:15.361 --> 00:41:18.061
She was, she was a native of Kankakee.

00:41:18.661 --> 00:41:23.161
And, uh, you know, growing up in Chicago, it was kind of like Kankakee,

00:41:23.341 --> 00:41:24.981
you know, is any of us down there?

00:41:25.121 --> 00:41:27.421
And then of course, when I met her and a few other folks, I said,

00:41:27.521 --> 00:41:29.761
Oh, we got some black Okay, cool.

00:41:30.181 --> 00:41:36.561
So I'm glad that you stayed home and did what you did to help improve the community there.

00:41:37.727 --> 00:41:41.447
What is your best? Let's close this out with this question. What is your best

00:41:41.447 --> 00:41:46.687
advice for anyone seeking public office in this moment that we are in?

00:41:47.507 --> 00:41:53.667
One is they need to be clear on their values because they're going to be tested

00:41:53.667 --> 00:41:54.707
and they're going to have to.

00:41:55.907 --> 00:42:01.327
You have an obligation as a leader to stand up for the people that you're representing.

00:42:02.167 --> 00:42:09.787
And in that role, you need to be very clear that you're ready to do that because you will be tested.

00:42:10.087 --> 00:42:14.207
So, you know, I really encourage people to be clear on their values,

00:42:14.207 --> 00:42:18.947
to build their ecosystem because you can't do this alone, you know,

00:42:19.647 --> 00:42:25.387
to get aligned with someone that can help guide them through what this is going to be like.

00:42:25.487 --> 00:42:30.227
And I'm not talking about campaign managers. I'm talking about the personal

00:42:30.227 --> 00:42:35.767
impact of what it means to be a public leader. Your whole life will change.

00:42:36.227 --> 00:42:38.567
It completely changes, as you know.

00:42:39.867 --> 00:42:43.367
Protecting their health, their mental health.

00:42:43.747 --> 00:42:49.267
You know, people can say anything about you on social media when you're an elected

00:42:49.267 --> 00:42:51.667
official. You have no recourse.

00:42:51.907 --> 00:42:56.127
You can't sue them for slander or libel. And they know that.

00:42:56.127 --> 00:42:59.607
And they will say the most horrific things about you.

00:43:00.147 --> 00:43:04.467
So being able to put some systems in place to protect your health,

00:43:04.827 --> 00:43:06.867
mental health and physical health.

00:43:07.207 --> 00:43:12.787
And this is not a time for entering for spotlight and performance.

00:43:13.287 --> 00:43:18.287
We need real leaders. We need real leaders that are going to stand up and fight

00:43:18.287 --> 00:43:22.127
for people, for their communities and for our country.

00:43:22.407 --> 00:43:24.527
Yeah, amen. Amen to that.

00:43:25.583 --> 00:43:29.723
One thing I always tell people, you know, I'm a little older,

00:43:29.723 --> 00:43:32.443
so it's like social media was not that big a deal.

00:43:32.763 --> 00:43:35.543
It was just really getting started when I was elected.

00:43:36.043 --> 00:43:41.103
But you could see how the Internet and the anonymous emails was playing a part.

00:43:41.543 --> 00:43:46.263
But I tell people all the time, it's like once you decide to run for office,

00:43:46.543 --> 00:43:48.543
you don't have friends anymore.

00:43:49.083 --> 00:43:51.823
And people look at me kind of crazy. And I tell him, I said,

00:43:51.883 --> 00:43:59.423
look, those people are your either your constituents or, you know, voters or whatever.

00:43:59.703 --> 00:44:06.883
And if you can convince them as a voter that you need to be elected to the position, then that's fine.

00:44:07.023 --> 00:44:11.443
And after the election or whatever, then whatever relationship had, you can go back to that.

00:44:11.563 --> 00:44:15.383
But, you know, I learned that lesson from Tip O'Neill. I don't know if you ever

00:44:15.383 --> 00:44:19.563
read that book when he talked about the first time he ran for the state assembly

00:44:19.563 --> 00:44:21.523
in Massachusetts, he lost.

00:44:22.663 --> 00:44:27.083
And he asked his he went to his neighbor and his neighbor said,

00:44:27.283 --> 00:44:30.663
well, he went to the neighbor and said, man, that was a tough election.

00:44:30.783 --> 00:44:33.783
We lost. He said, no, the guy voted for what?

00:44:34.203 --> 00:44:37.843
And he was like, you didn't vote for me. He said you didn't ask me. Right.

00:44:38.583 --> 00:44:44.323
And, you know, because Tip thought I'm going to win this block because I know all these I live there.

00:44:44.903 --> 00:44:47.863
And, you know, so that's why I remind people all the time.

00:44:48.683 --> 00:44:55.083
You don't have friends when you run. You have supporters and you need to and

00:44:55.083 --> 00:44:59.623
you need to cultivate the supporters and build that base so you have more supporters

00:44:59.623 --> 00:45:02.943
and you get 50 plus one and all that. But anyway, yeah.

00:45:03.203 --> 00:45:12.043
So, but look, how can people get in touch with you to to take advantage of your

00:45:12.043 --> 00:45:14.323
expertise, your consultancy and all that?

00:45:14.923 --> 00:45:18.623
And even if they just want to pick your brain about stuff, even if they don't

00:45:18.623 --> 00:45:20.663
want to go through the classes that you do and all that.

00:45:21.183 --> 00:45:23.583
Well, I'm not in the pick the brain business.

00:45:27.003 --> 00:45:32.543
I will do a consultation with anyone, a 30-minute consultation,

00:45:32.543 --> 00:45:37.723
but I'm not in the pick-your-brain business. I am the first Black mayor elected in my city's history.

00:45:38.003 --> 00:45:43.743
I have worked for two members of Congress. I am a bachelor's and master's level

00:45:43.743 --> 00:45:45.243
educated social worker.

00:45:45.343 --> 00:45:49.443
So you are talking to a person with expertise and lived experience.

00:45:49.443 --> 00:45:53.923
And I have packaged that to earn a living.

00:45:54.263 --> 00:45:59.023
I am done with public service and I still volunteer in my ways,

00:45:59.123 --> 00:46:02.343
but this is my business, which is Catalyst Coaching and Transformation.

00:46:02.703 --> 00:46:10.403
My website is chastitywells.com and it's C-H-A-S-I-T-Y, one T,

00:46:10.623 --> 00:46:13.363
I am not a belt, chastitywells.com.

00:46:13.683 --> 00:46:17.463
I have two offers. I work with people on a retainer.

00:46:18.318 --> 00:46:22.778
It's a three-month commitment, and they have individual access to me.

00:46:23.238 --> 00:46:28.218
And then the other ways that I work with people is through, I call it a municipal

00:46:28.218 --> 00:46:29.758
transformation package.

00:46:29.798 --> 00:46:33.558
And I go in and I work with municipal teams and train teams.

00:46:33.998 --> 00:46:39.038
So those are the two ways. I have a free newsletter called The Leadership Catalyst.

00:46:39.178 --> 00:46:41.918
You can subscribe on my website to that as well.

00:46:42.198 --> 00:46:46.818
There's a couple free resources also on my website. In the newsletter,

00:46:47.058 --> 00:46:51.118
I also provide a free downloadable resource in every newsletter.

00:46:51.498 --> 00:46:58.218
So I provide, I do my share, making sure that people are getting access to good

00:46:58.218 --> 00:46:59.798
information and resources.

00:47:00.178 --> 00:47:02.678
But I am not in the pick your brain business.

00:47:03.278 --> 00:47:05.698
Amen, sister. I feel you.

00:47:06.618 --> 00:47:10.818
My dad used to tell me all the time, he said, son, you can't just keep helping

00:47:10.818 --> 00:47:12.258
people out and get into your heart.

00:47:12.398 --> 00:47:16.778
You know too much. They got to give you some money. You got to package that

00:47:16.778 --> 00:47:19.318
and make a living. Yes, ma'am.

00:47:19.798 --> 00:47:25.478
But I do have ways, you know, free resources as well. So there's a balance.

00:47:26.018 --> 00:47:30.318
Well, Chasity Wells-Armstrong, the Honorable Chasity Wells-Armstrong,

00:47:30.618 --> 00:47:37.338
I greatly appreciate you coming on the podcast and sharing your thoughts and talking about things.

00:47:37.538 --> 00:47:43.098
And I wish you much continued success in your business. And I greatly appreciate

00:47:43.098 --> 00:47:46.538
when you did offer yourself to public service.

00:47:46.978 --> 00:47:52.758
A lot of people don't understand the commitment and the sacrifice that you have to do.

00:47:52.958 --> 00:47:57.018
A lot of people think it's all about ego and hubris. But if your heart's in

00:47:57.018 --> 00:47:58.098
the right place, it's not.

00:47:58.278 --> 00:48:02.438
And you definitely are one of those people whose heart is in the right place.

00:48:02.798 --> 00:48:06.618
So I thank you for your public service. And I thank you for coming on the show.

00:48:07.098 --> 00:48:10.298
Thank you, Erik. You take care and let's keep in touch. Yes,

00:48:10.398 --> 00:48:12.858
ma'am. All right, guys, and we're going to catch y'all on the other side.

00:48:13.520 --> 00:48:31.920
Music.

00:48:32.182 --> 00:48:38.422
All right, and we are back. And so now it is time for my next guest, Alysia Cutting.

00:48:38.902 --> 00:48:45.142
Known throughout New England for her voice and programming on WEIB 106.3 Smooth

00:48:45.142 --> 00:48:51.782
FM Radio, Alysia has received multiple awards for artistry, volunteerism, and community service.

00:48:52.162 --> 00:48:57.742
A lover of the art, she is a singer, dancer, actress, international model,

00:48:58.222 --> 00:49:01.702
poet, inspirational speaker, and voiceover artist.

00:49:02.182 --> 00:49:06.162
Her genuine love of people, authentic personality, comedic timing,

00:49:06.442 --> 00:49:09.642
and expressive smile light up every space she enters.

00:49:10.102 --> 00:49:15.522
A native of Greater Springfield, Massachusetts, Alysia is an engineering graduate

00:49:15.522 --> 00:49:21.342
of Tuskegee University and a former engineer, math and science educator, magazine editor,

00:49:21.962 --> 00:49:26.262
vice president of membership and marketing for the YMCA of Greater Springfield,

00:49:26.682 --> 00:49:31.142
and director of marketing for Wallingford Family YMCA.

00:49:31.142 --> 00:49:37.122
She is Camp Director for the Historic Black American Residential Summer Camp, Camp Atwater.

00:49:37.122 --> 00:49:43.702
She served as Rural Health Equity Director for SOW EGA Rising,

00:49:44.202 --> 00:49:48.702
advocating at the state and national level on medical debt.

00:49:49.362 --> 00:49:53.362
Medicaid and closing the coverage gap, the maternal health crisis,

00:49:53.762 --> 00:49:59.322
holistic wellness, access to nutritious foods, children's dental care and other

00:49:59.322 --> 00:50:01.962
issues affecting rural and marginalized communities.

00:50:03.213 --> 00:50:08.153
Alysia is a Frank Hatchet trained dancer of multiple genres who continues to

00:50:08.153 --> 00:50:12.533
perform and lead dance workshops focused on the Afro diaspora.

00:50:12.753 --> 00:50:18.693
As a runway model, she has walked in fashion weeks, including New York, L.A., Miami and Paris.

00:50:18.933 --> 00:50:24.033
She's been on TV, in films, in stage plays throughout Massachusetts,

00:50:24.293 --> 00:50:29.033
Connecticut and Georgia, including Little Shop of Horrors, the Vagina Monologues,

00:50:29.233 --> 00:50:33.033
Chicago, the 9-11 inspired play Children in the Playground.

00:50:33.213 --> 00:50:36.853
A Boston production of Harlem Renaissance with a gospel flavor,

00:50:37.233 --> 00:50:41.893
multiple tours of four-color girls who have considered suicide when the rainbow

00:50:41.893 --> 00:50:49.013
is enough, and a virtual production inspired by the life of the artist Jean-Michel Basquat.

00:50:50.633 --> 00:50:53.933
That was part of the 2020 Hollywood Fringe Festival.

00:50:54.373 --> 00:50:58.813
In addition to radio, her media endeavors include producing and hosting Media

00:50:58.813 --> 00:51:01.293
Mama TV, an all-women talk show.

00:51:02.033 --> 00:51:06.633
She previously hosted a cable TV show, provided video announcements at a church,

00:51:06.793 --> 00:51:11.193
and created a cable show to highlight YMCA programs called Why the Why.

00:51:11.573 --> 00:51:16.653
She is a freelance editor, a social media content creator for several organizations,

00:51:16.953 --> 00:51:21.713
and handles the public relations and marketing for the Gospel Group Provision of Albany, Georgia.

00:51:22.053 --> 00:51:26.253
She is a sought-after guest speaker, panelist, minister, and emcee who regularly

00:51:26.253 --> 00:51:29.373
speaks at churches, schools, and youth organizations.

00:51:30.113 --> 00:51:34.853
Alysia will release her book, Check One Box, Reflections on Race,

00:51:35.033 --> 00:51:36.633
Ethnicity, and Color in 2025.

00:51:37.353 --> 00:51:41.713
Alysia is a proud mom of four, a grandma of two, and a member of Alpha Kappa

00:51:41.713 --> 00:51:44.273
Alpha Sorority Incorporated.

00:51:44.613 --> 00:51:48.813
Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest

00:51:48.813 --> 00:51:51.993
on this podcast, Alysia Cutting.

00:51:53.680 --> 00:52:03.280
Music.

00:52:02.593 --> 00:52:06.393
All right, Alysia Cutting. How you doing, ma'am? You doing good?

00:52:07.193 --> 00:52:12.093
I'm doing pretty well. Thankful for a brand new day. Never seen it before, so I'm good.

00:52:12.533 --> 00:52:16.973
Yeah, same here. Same here. Well, I'm thankful that you're here on the podcast as well.

00:52:17.293 --> 00:52:23.573
I really, really am honored to have somebody that has been out in the media

00:52:23.573 --> 00:52:29.473
sphere for a long time, But you're kind of a renaissance woman because you do a lot of stuff.

00:52:30.433 --> 00:52:36.053
And I'm always attracted to people like that because especially if they're doing

00:52:36.053 --> 00:52:39.273
stuff in the community, too, that's that's really, really positive.

00:52:39.553 --> 00:52:45.413
So normally how I start these off, I do like a couple of icebreakers. Right.

00:52:45.833 --> 00:52:49.373
So the first icebreaker is I want you to respond to a quote.

00:52:50.520 --> 00:52:56.700
And the quote is, always do good things from a pure place, not for people's accolades.

00:52:57.040 --> 00:53:01.200
People will misrepresent your motives, but God knows your heart.

00:53:01.440 --> 00:53:02.720
What does that quote mean to you?

00:53:03.140 --> 00:53:06.680
I feel like I wrote that, like literally.

00:53:07.200 --> 00:53:13.100
No, I completely co-signed that. Ultimately, I don't personally believe in putting

00:53:13.100 --> 00:53:16.660
anyone on a pedestal because we never know what people's true motivations are.

00:53:17.240 --> 00:53:22.120
And I know that for me in my life, whether there's an accolade or not,

00:53:22.420 --> 00:53:24.760
whether it's even seen or not, I don't care.

00:53:25.000 --> 00:53:28.520
You just got to do the right thing for the right reasons and just know that

00:53:28.520 --> 00:53:32.780
you're putting more positive vibes into the world than negative.

00:53:33.260 --> 00:53:37.420
So, yeah, I feel like I wrote that quote. I believe in that, truly.

00:53:37.800 --> 00:53:44.060
You actually did. so yeah that's that's you'd

00:53:44.060 --> 00:53:48.760
be surprised how many people don't you'd be surprised many people don't recognize

00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:53.020
their own work a lot of times when i give a quote back to somebody they don't

00:53:53.020 --> 00:53:57.780
realize they're the ones who said it you know and you know sometimes i you know

00:53:57.780 --> 00:54:01.560
i'll use quotes from other people but i try to find something that the guests

00:54:01.560 --> 00:54:02.720
would have said or written,

00:54:03.280 --> 00:54:07.180
and a lot of people don't even recognize their own work that's that's that's

00:54:07.180 --> 00:54:10.080
kind of cool but But you recognize it, so that was good. Got me for real.

00:54:10.360 --> 00:54:13.600
Like that's, yeah. Well, apparently that is something that I would say because

00:54:13.600 --> 00:54:15.420
apparently I did. So yeah.

00:54:16.978 --> 00:54:21.198
And the other thing, too, is, you know, I was I was an elected official for

00:54:21.198 --> 00:54:24.198
a while and there are a lot of times.

00:54:24.958 --> 00:54:28.078
Oh, yes, ma'am. Twenty some odd years ago now.

00:54:28.258 --> 00:54:33.178
So I long away from what's going on now. But one of the things people use I

00:54:33.178 --> 00:54:35.018
used to introduce a lot of bills.

00:54:35.598 --> 00:54:40.558
And so sometimes somebody else will introduce similar legislation and get it passed.

00:54:41.278 --> 00:54:44.518
And, you know, some of my colleagues were like, well, didn't you introduce that

00:54:44.518 --> 00:54:49.278
bill? Why did they take his bill instead of yours? I said, does it matter?

00:54:49.698 --> 00:54:54.678
If I introduced a bill and this person introduced the same bill and that bill

00:54:54.678 --> 00:54:59.698
got passed, then that means that my idea is going forward, right?

00:55:00.078 --> 00:55:04.398
Because if I thought it was going to help my people, obviously that person felt

00:55:04.398 --> 00:55:07.718
it was going to do the same thing. It doesn't really matter at that point.

00:55:08.018 --> 00:55:12.218
Now, we did have a provision where it's like, yo, stick my name on the,

00:55:12.318 --> 00:55:14.418
you know, as a co-sponsor, you know, stuff like that.

00:55:15.318 --> 00:55:20.158
Yeah. Yeah. But I mean, right. And then sometimes they would even ask,

00:55:20.298 --> 00:55:22.798
you know, folks would say, well, look, I got it passed.

00:55:23.218 --> 00:55:25.598
We're going to add you as a co-sponsor because you're going to do St.

00:55:25.658 --> 00:55:31.818
Bill. But the gist is, it's not about who gets the credit. It's about what work gets done.

00:55:32.318 --> 00:55:37.878
So I greatly appreciated that quote. All right. Now, the next icebreaker is. Okay.

00:55:38.138 --> 00:55:41.258
Let me get ready. Okay. It's called 20 Questions.

00:55:41.898 --> 00:55:46.818
Okay. And what I need you to do is give me a number between 1 and 20.

00:55:47.798 --> 00:55:55.198
Okay. Okay. I like the number 7, but my birthday is on the 15th of October. I'm going to say 15.

00:55:55.638 --> 00:55:58.538
All right. Well, happy birthday in advance for that.

00:55:58.778 --> 00:56:03.718
Well, thank you. And your question is, when you think about the challenges our

00:56:03.718 --> 00:56:06.078
country faces, what gives you hope?

00:56:06.078 --> 00:56:09.058
What gives me hope is that there

00:56:09.058 --> 00:56:16.298
are a lot of younger adults and young people that have a lot of passion and

00:56:16.298 --> 00:56:24.198
tremendous ideas that if we as a generation help them to curate their ideas

00:56:24.198 --> 00:56:26.158
and help them to manifest things,

00:56:26.438 --> 00:56:33.298
then we're going to be able to have some kind of sustainability as a culture, as a life. is life.

00:56:33.478 --> 00:56:38.938
So the fact that we do have young people that are trying to do positive things

00:56:38.938 --> 00:56:43.798
in the community, they just need a help and they just need some guidance. So that gives me hope.

00:56:44.458 --> 00:56:50.898
Okay. You describe yourself as a low maintenance woman of complex sentences and pure intentions.

00:56:51.898 --> 00:56:57.398
Expound on that if you would. Yeah, sure thing. So I just kind of.

00:56:58.578 --> 00:57:04.178
People know, those who know me, know me, know that I am pretty chill and laid back.

00:57:04.518 --> 00:57:08.458
I, because of how my life has flowed, I've kind of had to be very flexible,

00:57:08.458 --> 00:57:12.578
be very spontaneous in many ways.

00:57:12.578 --> 00:57:19.978
So for me, I just don't put a lot of energy into like attaining things.

00:57:20.558 --> 00:57:25.578
It's more of anything about attaining experiences and being a helper alongside

00:57:25.578 --> 00:57:27.078
of other people who are doing things.

00:57:27.698 --> 00:57:31.998
So yeah, you're not really going to find me in the malls doing a lot of stuff.

00:57:32.158 --> 00:57:36.098
I don't really, nothing personal for anyone who does prefer things that are

00:57:36.098 --> 00:57:38.958
of a quote unquote status symbol, but that's just not me.

00:57:39.358 --> 00:57:45.898
So for the low maintenance part, I just, I get up each day and I'm grateful

00:57:45.898 --> 00:57:49.918
and just kind of try to go with whatever the flow is for that day.

00:57:51.158 --> 00:57:52.818
Complex sentences, I'm a yapper.

00:57:54.138 --> 00:58:01.178
And I like words. I love words. I have been trying for most of my life to scale

00:58:01.178 --> 00:58:05.138
back on some of the words to be more, less long-winded.

00:58:05.238 --> 00:58:09.658
But I do like complex sentences. And I do, when I'm writing,

00:58:10.518 --> 00:58:15.578
enjoy putting and crafting things together for the written word.

00:58:15.858 --> 00:58:19.278
And what was the last heart? Go with the flow, like low maintenance,

00:58:19.738 --> 00:58:22.558
complex sentences, and... Pure intentions.

00:58:23.178 --> 00:58:28.298
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Listen. Ultimately, I really believe everything boils down to motivations.

00:58:28.938 --> 00:58:35.078
And if your motivations are in the right place, then that for me makes a big

00:58:35.078 --> 00:58:38.578
difference. I am not intentionally trying to cause harm.

00:58:38.958 --> 00:58:43.158
Now, have I ever possibly, but my intentions are not to cause harm.

00:58:43.518 --> 00:58:50.098
And so my motivations are pure. If I'm not having pure intentions, I just won't do it.

00:58:51.241 --> 00:58:55.581
Simple. Okay. And speaking of, you mentioned words.

00:58:55.741 --> 00:59:01.101
When I say the phrases words have power and speak truth to power,

00:59:01.141 --> 00:59:07.061
what comes to mind and how do you feel that you have contributed to the fulfillment of those phrases?

00:59:07.681 --> 00:59:12.921
Words have power. I try, and I realize over the course of my life that even

00:59:12.921 --> 00:59:18.381
as a child, I try to choose my words wisely because you cannot take them back.

00:59:19.021 --> 00:59:25.121
So words do have power. Like I said, you never intentionally want to try to

00:59:25.121 --> 00:59:26.941
cause harm with your words.

00:59:27.161 --> 00:59:31.661
So you have to learn how to choose them wisely and use a lot of discernment.

00:59:31.781 --> 00:59:32.981
So yeah, words have power.

00:59:33.781 --> 00:59:37.241
Words have power. Like I said, words have power to inspire.

00:59:37.581 --> 00:59:42.141
Words have power to destroy someone's soul. Words have power to uplift.

00:59:42.881 --> 00:59:46.601
Words have power to tear down. I mean, we look at marketing, we look at media.

00:59:46.601 --> 00:59:52.061
Words in commercials and scripts, they're chosen very, very specifically to

00:59:52.061 --> 00:59:57.921
elicit very specific emotions on a visceral level. So all words have power.

00:59:58.081 --> 01:00:04.441
And we just as a society need to be very careful and conscientious about how we use our words.

01:00:04.641 --> 01:00:07.841
Words, you know, look, when we're old enough to remember sticks and stones,

01:00:08.061 --> 01:00:10.561
I break my bones, words never hurt me. Yeah, that's a lie.

01:00:11.101 --> 01:00:13.681
Words can destroy people. And so words have power.

01:00:15.141 --> 01:00:20.761
And using our words to try to uplift in community, that's something that I try

01:00:20.761 --> 01:00:23.121
to do. Now, full story here.

01:00:23.761 --> 01:00:28.341
As a young person, I remember in elementary school, I had a speech impediment.

01:00:28.661 --> 01:00:32.301
I was in the third grade, and I remember saying the wabbit on the woof.

01:00:32.461 --> 01:00:35.741
So the speech impediment thing, I had a stutter.

01:00:35.981 --> 01:00:41.501
I still sometimes do. And I was very shy, but I felt like even with all of those

01:00:41.501 --> 01:00:47.001
things, that there was an opportunity to do and speak differently.

01:00:47.478 --> 01:00:50.638
Inspire, to try to use your words for the good.

01:00:50.838 --> 01:00:55.458
So I've done that. I try to do that. I've done advocacy work in health-related

01:00:55.458 --> 01:01:00.838
areas and speaking inspirationally, especially to our young people.

01:01:01.098 --> 01:01:05.898
And whenever I have a platform, I do try my best to make sure that I'm using

01:01:05.898 --> 01:01:11.538
my words for good and to inspire for positive change versus negative. Yeah.

01:01:12.558 --> 01:01:19.758
Go ahead. No, I'm saying it's a lot. And I recognize that.

01:01:20.478 --> 01:01:23.818
Listen, I love music, all forms, all genres.

01:01:24.258 --> 01:01:28.858
And, you know, I grew up, I am hip hop years old, I'll say that.

01:01:28.998 --> 01:01:34.758
And so I've even musically observed how words have always had power to motivate,

01:01:35.098 --> 01:01:37.718
to inspire, or to do the opposite. it.

01:01:38.158 --> 01:01:43.998
So every single word that's spoken has power, it carries energy, it carries weight to it.

01:01:44.458 --> 01:01:49.818
And that is on a personal level, how we speak to ourselves, your bodies,

01:01:49.978 --> 01:01:54.158
you, we are listening to our own mouths. And when we speak negatively over our

01:01:54.158 --> 01:01:58.258
own selves and situations, that impacts us, I believe.

01:01:58.458 --> 01:02:03.278
When we're speaking negatively or positively to others, I believe that that does do things.

01:02:03.538 --> 01:02:09.058
And when we use our platforms to whatever that messaging is,

01:02:09.278 --> 01:02:12.278
it is going to carry weight. It is going to adhere.

01:02:12.598 --> 01:02:18.838
Someone will hear words and it will speak to them on a level that will cause

01:02:18.838 --> 01:02:21.518
them to act. And we see that every day.

01:02:21.818 --> 01:02:25.378
We see that literally every day. Yeah.

01:02:26.566 --> 01:02:30.766
All right. For over a decade, you have been working on a project called Check One Box.

01:02:31.066 --> 01:02:35.826
Explain to the listeners what that project is and how impactful it has been.

01:02:36.646 --> 01:02:42.046
Okay. So I am, among other things, I do spoken word.

01:02:42.246 --> 01:02:47.586
And one particular piece that I wrote years ago was called Check One Box.

01:02:47.786 --> 01:02:54.386
And in that piece, I talked about people's experiences who might be The box

01:02:54.386 --> 01:02:59.866
that they might check on the ethnicity or the race box might not be what people think they are.

01:03:00.166 --> 01:03:05.186
Or they might have been mischaracterized by one ethnicity versus another.

01:03:05.426 --> 01:03:06.426
People might assume that they

01:03:06.426 --> 01:03:09.006
speak a language that they don't because of their physical appearance.

01:03:09.446 --> 01:03:14.446
So when I wrote this piece and performed it, everywhere that I went,

01:03:14.686 --> 01:03:20.826
people would say, wow, those stories, I really could relate to what you said.

01:03:20.826 --> 01:03:25.346
Now, their stories might not have been the same everywhere that I went,

01:03:25.406 --> 01:03:29.346
but different people of different backgrounds could all relate to the basic

01:03:29.346 --> 01:03:33.366
being told, well, what are you?

01:03:33.506 --> 01:03:36.866
Or asked, what are you? Or told, no, you're not this, you have to be this.

01:03:38.046 --> 01:03:42.666
And I went about interviewing people, asking them, hey, listen,

01:03:42.966 --> 01:03:45.066
have you ever been asked, what are you?

01:03:45.326 --> 01:03:48.966
Have you ever had to decide which box to check on a form?

01:03:49.706 --> 01:03:53.806
And everybody who I would speak to would have very, very interesting stories.

01:03:54.006 --> 01:03:55.226
Some of them were very tragic.

01:03:55.606 --> 01:03:58.226
Some are very sad, very painful, very hurtful.

01:03:58.666 --> 01:04:01.586
Some of them were very inspirational. Some of them were very funny.

01:04:01.586 --> 01:04:07.626
And so I began to just compile people's stories and put them into,

01:04:07.986 --> 01:04:11.286
which I'm just about done with, putting them into book form.

01:04:11.586 --> 01:04:18.846
And it's just been a really interesting journey talking to people whose stories

01:04:18.846 --> 01:04:24.666
and how they self-identify versus how society identifies them is really telling.

01:04:24.666 --> 01:04:25.686
It's really interesting.

01:04:27.543 --> 01:04:35.123
Yeah, like you've got a Facebook page and, you know, some other things you're doing with that.

01:04:35.243 --> 01:04:41.503
So are you still getting people responding through social media as far as your

01:04:41.503 --> 01:04:42.883
interviews and all that kind of stuff?

01:04:43.363 --> 01:04:46.003
I had to put a pause on it to get caught up.

01:04:47.763 --> 01:04:52.543
I will have to do a second part as soon as I finish publishing the first one.

01:04:52.543 --> 01:04:54.683
I'm already going to have to do a second part.

01:04:55.023 --> 01:05:00.683
Because even as we look at demographic information across just our country alone,

01:05:00.923 --> 01:05:06.663
the number of people who identify as either quote-unquote mixed or mixed quote-unquote

01:05:06.663 --> 01:05:10.083
race or anything is really increasing.

01:05:10.343 --> 01:05:14.283
So I have literally had to kind of stop asking people and just kind of get caught

01:05:14.283 --> 01:05:18.563
up with the stories that I had. So I know that when I put it back out there,

01:05:18.563 --> 01:05:20.703
I'm going to get flooded again.

01:05:20.983 --> 01:05:27.603
But again, the stories are there. They really are there. Yeah, that's cool.

01:05:28.083 --> 01:05:34.403
All right. So as someone who has lived, who has had a lived experience in STEM

01:05:34.403 --> 01:05:39.603
education, what are your concerns with the current administration regarding education,

01:05:39.763 --> 01:05:43.623
especially as it relates to black women? Oh my goodness, I could.

01:05:43.823 --> 01:05:50.163
Let me first start on the non-STEM related portion because I believe that history is important.

01:05:50.523 --> 01:05:54.323
And as a proud graduate of Tuskegee University,

01:05:55.123 --> 01:06:02.563
to see the erasure being that the history of the Tuskegee Airmen is being removed

01:06:02.563 --> 01:06:06.283
from the training in our military is tragic.

01:06:07.536 --> 01:06:13.556
That number one, as a Black woman, we have historically been underrepresented.

01:06:14.216 --> 01:06:18.776
And that underrepresentation is something that is very difficult.

01:06:19.116 --> 01:06:25.976
So I believe that as a Black woman, we have to make sure that we are seen and

01:06:25.976 --> 01:06:30.836
that we are uplifted, particularly when it comes down to STEM,

01:06:31.056 --> 01:06:33.956
you know, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

01:06:34.436 --> 01:06:36.976
And I'm going to throw an A in there, too, for some people who,

01:06:36.996 --> 01:06:39.796
you know, call it STEAM with the arts in there for the A.

01:06:40.236 --> 01:06:43.396
But yeah, this administration, seriously, it is tragic.

01:06:44.296 --> 01:06:55.316
It's foul. And I do know that when we take the focus off of sciences and how

01:06:55.316 --> 01:06:57.876
women are represented and how Black women are represented,

01:06:58.596 --> 01:07:03.516
it's, I'm almost at a, I believe it or not, I'm almost at a loss for words here

01:07:03.516 --> 01:07:09.796
because I'm just trying to process the amount of erasure, the amount of disenfranchisement,

01:07:10.176 --> 01:07:20.456
the amount of vitriol that is going towards Black women and particularly in

01:07:20.456 --> 01:07:25.796
STEM and funding being removed and the focus being taken off.

01:07:25.796 --> 01:07:29.436
So this administration, it saddens me.

01:07:31.136 --> 01:07:35.156
It just saddens me. So I do feel like we need to be making sure that we're doing

01:07:35.156 --> 01:07:40.096
much more holding feet to fire and speaking truth to power and doing what we

01:07:40.096 --> 01:07:43.316
can do in our communities to make sure we are investing in us.

01:07:43.876 --> 01:07:51.396
But yeah, it's a lot. And it's still a lot for me to process.

01:07:52.196 --> 01:07:56.536
Yeah. Yeah. I total, total agreement with that.

01:07:56.776 --> 01:08:01.756
I just felt, you know, I said, well, let me throw this question and I'm coming

01:08:01.756 --> 01:08:02.696
at you at different angles.

01:08:02.956 --> 01:08:07.636
But again, you've got your hands on a lot of things and you've had an incredible

01:08:07.636 --> 01:08:11.616
life journey experience. And I even have learned something just in the brief

01:08:11.616 --> 01:08:12.496
time we've been talking.

01:08:13.096 --> 01:08:17.996
Talk to me about your current activism based on the premise that zip code shouldn't

01:08:17.996 --> 01:08:20.016
determine health outcomes.

01:08:20.016 --> 01:08:31.276
Absolutely. So I am currently between Southwest Georgia and being an aid to

01:08:31.276 --> 01:08:34.596
my aging disabled parents in Massachusetts.

01:08:34.596 --> 01:08:41.956
And so I, in my Georgia context doing health advocacy, understand that rural

01:08:41.956 --> 01:08:47.056
areas definitely are suffering.

01:08:47.436 --> 01:08:53.276
Rural areas are suffering because of hospital closures. Rural areas are specifically...

01:08:55.059 --> 01:09:00.999
Okay, how can I say this? Health outcomes, okay? When we intentionally pour

01:09:00.999 --> 01:09:06.079
money into certain areas versus other areas, we know that those areas that are

01:09:06.079 --> 01:09:09.879
not funded, which are zip code, often zip code dependent,

01:09:10.819 --> 01:09:12.459
are disenfranchised.

01:09:12.659 --> 01:09:16.179
The health outcomes of the diabetes, of the high blood pressure,

01:09:16.399 --> 01:09:22.739
of the strokes, of the maternal mortality is significantly impacted by zip codes.

01:09:22.939 --> 01:09:27.959
It is significantly impacted because we know that sometimes those zip codes

01:09:27.959 --> 01:09:33.879
are predominantly, the residents are predominantly Black, Black American, okay?

01:09:34.279 --> 01:09:41.439
And what Georgia is having, is struggling with is making sure that the health

01:09:41.439 --> 01:09:43.519
outcomes are equitable across the state.

01:09:43.519 --> 01:09:48.919
So I was working with an organization really trying to put some money behind

01:09:48.919 --> 01:09:53.359
and put some activity behind and put some advocacy work behind,

01:09:53.819 --> 01:09:56.879
shedding the light that this cannot go on.

01:09:56.999 --> 01:10:04.739
The environmental racism, the lack of attention given towards maternal health

01:10:04.739 --> 01:10:09.579
outcomes, particularly among Black women in the South, is like, it's tragic.

01:10:09.579 --> 01:10:14.719
Again, I hate to keep saying that word, but I literally don't know any other word to say.

01:10:15.872 --> 01:10:19.052
It should not be like that. So one of

01:10:19.052 --> 01:10:25.512
the things that I had done was going to the statehouse and participating in

01:10:25.512 --> 01:10:31.052
advocacy days to make sure that people who are eligible for Medicaid were being

01:10:31.052 --> 01:10:37.692
covered and not being X'd out of the process by way of not getting information.

01:10:38.252 --> 01:10:43.152
And I say that because we can, in many areas, assume that, oh,

01:10:43.252 --> 01:10:47.732
well, of course, people can just go online, They can just go to their offices for medical services.

01:10:47.932 --> 01:10:49.812
In rural areas, it's not that easy.

01:10:50.632 --> 01:10:53.872
Some areas don't have adequate cable.

01:10:54.772 --> 01:10:58.272
I'm sorry, not cable, internet providers. Internet service is not reliable.

01:10:58.512 --> 01:11:01.412
Trying to get from one area to get to the doctor's office.

01:11:01.672 --> 01:11:06.992
If I'm having to travel 35 miles to make it to an appointment because hospitals

01:11:06.992 --> 01:11:12.292
are closing, my zip code is making a difference in my health outcomes.

01:11:12.292 --> 01:11:16.992
I also did go to, this was a little bit during the Biden-Harris administration,

01:11:17.152 --> 01:11:23.192
a little bit back during the Biden-Harris administration, and went to speak

01:11:23.192 --> 01:11:24.832
to the Health and Human Services.

01:11:25.052 --> 01:11:27.272
There was a panel talking about

01:11:27.272 --> 01:11:31.772
medical debt and how medical debt is impacting people's lives as well.

01:11:31.772 --> 01:11:37.052
So I was sharing stories about some of the people in some of those zip codes

01:11:37.052 --> 01:11:38.972
who were having medical debt,

01:11:39.192 --> 01:11:45.692
not really getting clear and concise billing information and predatory debt

01:11:45.692 --> 01:11:49.592
cards about medical bills, just all of these different things that were going

01:11:49.592 --> 01:11:53.392
on and presented information and stories.

01:11:53.392 --> 01:11:58.832
And as a result, the Biden administration at the time decided to take medical

01:11:58.832 --> 01:12:00.292
debt off of credit reports.

01:12:00.612 --> 01:12:02.852
Now, I can't say where that is right now.

01:12:03.312 --> 01:12:06.852
New administration, new changes. But ultimately.

01:12:07.512 --> 01:12:13.592
Yes, your health outcomes should not be dependent upon whether you are in a

01:12:13.592 --> 01:12:18.512
predominantly black, predominantly poor, or predominantly rural environment.

01:12:18.512 --> 01:12:26.112
The same way that environmental racism as far as how where different things

01:12:26.112 --> 01:12:29.352
that cause pollutants or what is it?

01:12:29.412 --> 01:12:32.712
Where is this? I think it's in Landover, Maryland, where they're putting deciding

01:12:32.712 --> 01:12:36.712
whether or not they're going to put a new, forgive me, I don't remember what

01:12:36.712 --> 01:12:38.952
the word is, like an AI factor.

01:12:39.632 --> 01:12:45.392
Oh, I forgot the word is, but these things generate pollutants and how they're

01:12:45.392 --> 01:12:51.472
chosen to be placed in certain zip codes in certain areas is the same underlying,

01:12:51.712 --> 01:12:56.892
you know, health brings the health concerns like we saw still in Flint.

01:12:57.869 --> 01:13:00.329
These things make a difference and they should not be. That's not equitable.

01:13:00.509 --> 01:13:04.129
That is not what we should be doing. This is not what should be allowed.

01:13:04.769 --> 01:13:12.769
Yeah. So, yeah, I don't know what the technical term is, but I say the AI power plants.

01:13:13.229 --> 01:13:15.249
Thank you. Yeah, sure.

01:13:16.629 --> 01:13:21.969
And a lot of people still are coming to grips with the fact that what AI is

01:13:21.969 --> 01:13:23.869
like power driven, it's like, yes,

01:13:24.169 --> 01:13:28.629
I mean, you know, they got the power to computers and all the servers to do

01:13:28.629 --> 01:13:33.349
all these computations and, you know, write for us and everything else.

01:13:33.349 --> 01:13:36.269
But but i'm glad you're focused on that

01:13:36.269 --> 01:13:39.149
because you know i'm a

01:13:39.149 --> 01:13:43.529
city boy I grew up in Chicago I lived most of my life in Jackson Mississippi

01:13:43.529 --> 01:13:49.709
and now I'm here in Atlanta but my roots are like in places like Madison Georgia

01:13:49.709 --> 01:13:58.609
and Nutbush Nutbush Tennessee and Marks Mississippi right okay so It's like, you know,

01:13:58.789 --> 01:14:03.209
all of us, especially in the Black experience, should really have a concern.

01:14:03.209 --> 01:14:05.329
It's a challenge for us in the urban areas.

01:14:05.949 --> 01:14:10.729
But, you know, our cousins and our relatives are, a lot of them are in these

01:14:10.729 --> 01:14:12.569
rural areas, especially in the South.

01:14:13.349 --> 01:14:18.649
And we should really be advocates to make sure that, you know,

01:14:18.709 --> 01:14:20.969
in the urban areas, we talk about food deserts.

01:14:21.089 --> 01:14:24.109
But, you know, in the rural areas, we're talking about health deserts.

01:14:24.109 --> 01:14:27.489
And there are two businesses as well, actually.

01:14:27.709 --> 01:14:35.369
So all of it is, it's a holistic experience that is not, it's just, it's a lot. Yeah.

01:14:35.949 --> 01:14:40.249
Well, I'm glad that you're focusing in on that. And, you know,

01:14:40.349 --> 01:14:46.329
it's like more people need to be aware of those situations and be active in them.

01:14:47.549 --> 01:14:52.069
Last couple of questions, I want to tap into your other hat,

01:14:52.249 --> 01:14:53.709
which is that you're a minister.

01:14:54.289 --> 01:14:59.789
Yeah. And so I asked this of a previous guest, but since you are a minister,

01:14:59.789 --> 01:15:01.549
I'm going to ask you this question, too.

01:15:02.029 --> 01:15:07.089
When all is said and done, which concept will have suffered the most damage

01:15:07.089 --> 01:15:11.209
in America, democracy or organized religion?

01:15:12.229 --> 01:15:14.509
Oh, wow. OK, let me think.

01:15:16.026 --> 01:15:17.006
It's interesting.

01:15:19.566 --> 01:15:25.166
Democracy versus organized religion, which would have caused society to suffer the most?

01:15:25.326 --> 01:15:27.806
No, which one is going to have the most damage?

01:15:28.306 --> 01:15:31.426
The most damage. Yeah, which is going to be damaged the most?

01:15:32.406 --> 01:15:36.366
Oh, okay. Well, let me see.

01:15:36.926 --> 01:15:40.846
While you're thinking about it, let me give you my opinion. Okay, yes.

01:15:40.966 --> 01:15:44.806
I think organized religion is going to be the most damaged. I,

01:15:44.806 --> 01:15:49.886
you know, I am a liberal or leftist center or whatever label you,

01:15:49.946 --> 01:15:52.186
I'm a Democrat, whatever label you want to put on me.

01:15:52.586 --> 01:15:55.306
I don't like labels. Just float, whatever, dude.

01:15:55.546 --> 01:16:02.606
Yeah. And it's like, you know, a lot of people on my side, you know,

01:16:02.826 --> 01:16:06.866
kind of some of the more popular podcasts and all this stuff, they talk about,

01:16:07.206 --> 01:16:10.926
you know, they're atheists and, you know, they don't go to church.

01:16:10.926 --> 01:16:15.646
They don't conform to, you know, organized religion and all that kind of stuff.

01:16:15.826 --> 01:16:19.526
And so and there's a lot of people, especially in the black community,

01:16:19.746 --> 01:16:22.946
especially younger generations who look at the Christian church,

01:16:22.966 --> 01:16:24.946
especially as it's being betrayed now.

01:16:25.706 --> 01:16:30.426
And or even, you know, Islam or Judaism. Right.

01:16:30.566 --> 01:16:35.606
And they're looking at it like these religions suck. It's like all they do is kill people.

01:16:36.006 --> 01:16:38.306
They, you know, they're racist and da da da da.

01:16:39.186 --> 01:16:44.726
And, you know, so those who want to have a relationship with God,

01:16:45.006 --> 01:16:48.746
just say, well, I just have a relationship. I'm not going to any church.

01:16:48.746 --> 01:16:50.126
I'm just going to have a relationship.

01:16:50.366 --> 01:16:55.566
Whereas other people like it can be a God that allows all this stuff to happen.

01:16:55.866 --> 01:17:02.266
So I think American democracy is more resilient, even though we're going through

01:17:02.266 --> 01:17:03.806
some real challenges right now.

01:17:04.126 --> 01:17:07.966
I think it's more resilient than organized religion.

01:17:08.486 --> 01:17:11.326
Now, I've thrown my opinion out there. What do you think?

01:17:13.020 --> 01:17:17.940
Thing. So democracy is always that thing that will, in my opinion,

01:17:18.820 --> 01:17:22.860
stand if, and this is an if-then statement,

01:17:23.800 --> 01:17:30.040
democracy can stand if those that not only know better are challenging themselves

01:17:30.040 --> 01:17:34.380
to do better, meaning that it is easy for all of us,

01:17:34.740 --> 01:17:38.900
present company included, to be outraged by what we're reading,

01:17:39.320 --> 01:17:43.700
hearing, seeing, being spoon-fed by algorithms and bots, all of the above,

01:17:43.940 --> 01:17:51.160
and be so moved to click a button, an angry face emoji, and call that we've done our part.

01:17:51.760 --> 01:17:57.920
Activism and democracy will only sustain itself if we move beyond our keyboard

01:17:57.920 --> 01:18:00.940
activism, and I say that kind of just because we're commenting,

01:18:01.260 --> 01:18:05.580
we're doing things, saying things online and sharing post, if we move beyond

01:18:05.580 --> 01:18:08.880
that to actually making transformational change versus just.

01:18:09.600 --> 01:18:11.320
Hey, I'm clicking buttons over here.

01:18:11.640 --> 01:18:15.420
Now, that democracy can sustain itself if we move beyond that.

01:18:15.520 --> 01:18:20.920
And if we don't, and if we don't challenge things and push back and make real

01:18:20.920 --> 01:18:29.740
transformational change on a local, state, national level, democracy can't fall. But that's on us.

01:18:30.140 --> 01:18:36.160
Now, on the organized religion side, there has always been a place for the structure,

01:18:36.160 --> 01:18:40.180
I believe, of the organization of a faith.

01:18:40.380 --> 01:18:42.380
And again, words do matter.

01:18:42.660 --> 01:18:48.420
So I personally, this is Alicia, I personally don't like using like religion,

01:18:48.560 --> 01:18:51.060
religion, that particular word a lot.

01:18:51.280 --> 01:18:56.820
I personally, it's more of my faith and collecting,

01:18:57.540 --> 01:19:02.400
the collective experience of others who share that faith and are inspired by

01:19:02.400 --> 01:19:06.600
each other and we come together to uplift each other and to be able to,

01:19:06.660 --> 01:19:12.320
you know, use that collaborative experience to help push ourselves into the.

01:19:13.326 --> 01:19:18.246
Into moving day by day and kind of staying in the battle, that has its place.

01:19:18.426 --> 01:19:23.466
The Black church, and I use that in quotes, the Black church has had its place.

01:19:23.686 --> 01:19:29.326
It birthed, it gave the space to birth movements. It gave the space to organize.

01:19:29.326 --> 01:19:34.006
It gave the space to do so many of the things that we now look as the part of history.

01:19:34.206 --> 01:19:36.506
Oh, wow, that was transformational change.

01:19:37.126 --> 01:19:41.186
But anything that, I'm looking at Jesus now.

01:19:41.726 --> 01:19:45.766
Anything that Jesus did when it came to those that were the quote-unquote religious

01:19:45.766 --> 01:19:53.166
of his day, he looked at them and said, are you placing that religion over the actual people?

01:19:53.666 --> 01:19:56.126
Now, when you have a group of

01:19:56.126 --> 01:20:02.666
believers, an organizational structure that instead of caring for people,

01:20:03.186 --> 01:20:07.306
upholds systems, and I'm saying unfortunately, increasingly,

01:20:07.666 --> 01:20:13.006
some of our quote-unquote Black churches are aligning with the empire versus

01:20:13.006 --> 01:20:18.746
being transformational about what we need to be doing for the care of people.

01:20:19.246 --> 01:20:25.946
So kind of in summary, yeah, the organized religion thing, as far as I'm concerned,

01:20:26.146 --> 01:20:27.786
some of that stuff just needs to go.

01:20:27.946 --> 01:20:35.506
Some of that stuff needs to go because it has placed more emphasis on holding

01:20:35.506 --> 01:20:43.286
positions and seeking an alignment to power versus we have real people,

01:20:43.706 --> 01:20:49.006
real life, who are dealing with real life issues that we collectively are not

01:20:49.006 --> 01:20:51.106
being the, quote, hands and feet of Christ.

01:20:51.266 --> 01:20:54.546
We are not doing what needs to be done to care for the sick.

01:20:54.666 --> 01:21:00.486
We are not doing what needs to be done to advocate for people who are perceived as.

01:21:01.677 --> 01:21:05.817
Disenfranchised or who are disenfranchised. We are not using our voice,

01:21:05.957 --> 01:21:07.297
our platform and our dollars.

01:21:07.417 --> 01:21:13.017
And I'm saying collectively, collectively as organizations to pour into our

01:21:13.017 --> 01:21:15.397
children to bring the next generation up.

01:21:15.657 --> 01:21:22.197
So if organized religion means seeking alignment to power, to money,

01:21:22.697 --> 01:21:27.157
to being, you know, seen in a certain kind of way to getting my title on,

01:21:27.157 --> 01:21:29.077
then yeah, that part can fall.

01:21:29.477 --> 01:21:33.697
That part can fall. Because I'm looking at what Jesus did when he was speaking

01:21:33.697 --> 01:21:35.957
to the religious leaders of his day.

01:21:36.457 --> 01:21:40.737
He's like, you would rather, and he called them out. So you would rather,

01:21:40.957 --> 01:21:43.077
you know, uphold this, that, or whatever.

01:21:43.837 --> 01:21:47.117
Versus caring for the sick, caring for those that are needing,

01:21:47.417 --> 01:21:51.417
caring for those who are not able to care for themselves or who are not,

01:21:51.577 --> 01:21:53.857
you're not giving voice to the voiceless.

01:21:54.277 --> 01:21:59.397
And when the quote unquote church does that, That part of organized religion can go bye-bye.

01:21:59.537 --> 01:22:04.077
I can't speak to other faiths because those are not things that I was raised

01:22:04.077 --> 01:22:07.437
in or that my faith aligns with.

01:22:07.637 --> 01:22:12.717
However, I'm sure that other faiths and other religions would be the same.

01:22:12.717 --> 01:22:17.797
Hey, if you're too busy trying to get yourself taken care of and trying to uphold

01:22:17.797 --> 01:22:24.077
structures and institutions that are not serving people and people are walking away, not made whole,

01:22:24.577 --> 01:22:30.917
not feeling inspired, not being able to live life and life more abundantly,

01:22:31.477 --> 01:22:35.037
hey, then it needs to go bye-bye. All right.

01:22:35.737 --> 01:22:41.317
Years ago, Andrew Young gave a sermon deriving from the book of Isaiah,

01:22:41.437 --> 01:22:47.537
the 58th chapter, verses 9 through 12, on repairing the breach to recreate community.

01:22:48.097 --> 01:22:52.637
What do you think it will take to repair the breach in this nation?

01:22:53.971 --> 01:22:59.611
Well, I am definitely a person who believes that if it looks like a snake,

01:22:59.811 --> 01:23:04.091
walks like, no, if it looks like a rose, smells like a rose,

01:23:04.591 --> 01:23:07.731
acts like a rose, has the characteristics of a rose, it's a rose.

01:23:08.191 --> 01:23:12.411
If it looks like a possum, I know this is a weird example, I'm going somewhere with this.

01:23:12.591 --> 01:23:16.711
If it looks like a possum, an opossum, walks like it, does like,

01:23:16.831 --> 01:23:20.331
acts like it, and has all the characteristics of it, then that's what that thing is.

01:23:20.851 --> 01:23:24.571
So I will say that there is always, from my religious standpoint,

01:23:24.871 --> 01:23:29.031
there has always been the element of evil in the world and those that do evil

01:23:29.031 --> 01:23:31.891
and those that will do selfish things.

01:23:32.111 --> 01:23:36.511
The love of money is the root of all things of evil. So follow the money and

01:23:36.511 --> 01:23:39.751
you'll see evil manifested in this world through people, through actions,

01:23:39.911 --> 01:23:42.551
through policies, through systems all the time.

01:23:42.931 --> 01:23:47.531
What, in my opinion, it's gonna take is for those of us that know better to do better.

01:23:48.351 --> 01:23:54.651
Now, if people know that we have ills in our community, I'm going to say specifically,

01:23:54.871 --> 01:23:58.831
I'll say in the Black American community, we know that we, it's really easy

01:23:58.831 --> 01:24:02.391
to say what these kids today are doing, these kids today, these kids today.

01:24:02.711 --> 01:24:05.611
We talk about what the youth are doing, what they're not doing,

01:24:05.691 --> 01:24:08.531
and how things were better when we were older, when we were younger.

01:24:09.091 --> 01:24:15.891
So if we collectively, as an example, are not investing in talking to,

01:24:16.351 --> 01:24:22.251
cultivating, mentoring, solving the problems, and listening to our youth.

01:24:23.355 --> 01:24:28.455
We are the problem. So while we cannot, I cannot go and necessarily make policy

01:24:28.455 --> 01:24:36.135
change at the national level, but I can definitely be a part of programs that are here locally for me.

01:24:36.515 --> 01:24:41.115
I can make sure that I am inspiring other people to take action and not make excuses.

01:24:41.635 --> 01:24:48.575
So to help create and bridge the gap in our communities is to me my first and foremost concern.

01:24:49.115 --> 01:24:54.895
I'm concerned about what we are not doing and how we are not reinvesting in

01:24:54.895 --> 01:24:58.035
our own communities in real ways.

01:24:58.535 --> 01:25:02.515
Now, those of us that, okay, here's an example.

01:25:03.075 --> 01:25:06.795
During the civil rights movement, let's say the Montgomery bus boycott,

01:25:07.035 --> 01:25:09.355
everybody wasn't an MLK.

01:25:09.775 --> 01:25:13.015
Everybody was not a person who was on a platform speaking.

01:25:13.495 --> 01:25:20.215
There were people in the community who made sure that we coordinated transportation.

01:25:20.935 --> 01:25:23.195
We don't know who they were. You might not know who they were.

01:25:23.255 --> 01:25:27.555
They never got the accolades. There were people who made sure that everybody got fed.

01:25:28.075 --> 01:25:33.455
People had to make sure that kids were taken care of, that the logistics were handled.

01:25:33.915 --> 01:25:37.875
Not everybody was on a platform as that quote quote-unquote, that leader.

01:25:38.175 --> 01:25:44.015
But I believe that when we all walk in our spheres of influence,

01:25:44.375 --> 01:25:49.075
when we all walk in our realm and do what we have the capacity,

01:25:49.315 --> 01:25:53.955
what we have the power to do, collectively and organize as such,

01:25:54.435 --> 01:25:56.755
then we will begin to see change in our community.

01:25:57.395 --> 01:26:03.995
Now, national level, if all of us in our individual southern states,

01:26:04.235 --> 01:26:08.975
northern states, that's Chicago's and everywhere else's are taking that model

01:26:08.975 --> 01:26:14.155
of what assets and skills do you have, you bring that to the table to organize.

01:26:14.415 --> 01:26:18.175
What assets, skills, and resources do you have, you bring that to the table.

01:26:18.315 --> 01:26:23.155
Let's stop making excuses, waiting for the magical, mysterious leader to appear

01:26:23.155 --> 01:26:27.635
where we're not taking our own leadership skills and doing what needs to be done.

01:26:28.515 --> 01:26:33.935
So to me, that's where I want that community repair to happen.

01:26:34.215 --> 01:26:39.555
I can't even think about on a global or a national level until I see what we're doing locally.

01:26:40.882 --> 01:26:48.302
And if we do that, then we will see that change happen and manifest because we are all empowered.

01:26:48.762 --> 01:26:53.982
Instead of waiting, waiting, waiting, we are empowered to use our resources,

01:26:54.202 --> 01:26:58.642
skills, talents, and abilities to make that change happen and make that sacrifice.

01:26:59.342 --> 01:27:02.362
That's going to be what's going to ultimately, in my opinion,

01:27:02.902 --> 01:27:05.482
to kind of make that bridge happen.

01:27:05.482 --> 01:27:11.822
Because I can't expect for those that are dead set against my existence,

01:27:11.822 --> 01:27:18.682
I will never expect those that want people who are marginalized and disenfranchised,

01:27:18.842 --> 01:27:23.502
if they want them gone, I'm not going to go and try to cozy it with them because

01:27:23.502 --> 01:27:24.742
that's not what I'm going to do.

01:27:24.902 --> 01:27:30.202
I'm going to make sure that we, those that know better, are doing better and

01:27:30.202 --> 01:27:36.402
that ultimately those changes will come. Well, you know, two things.

01:27:36.542 --> 01:27:40.602
I remember Hubert Humphrey, when he was running for president,

01:27:40.602 --> 01:27:44.602
he talked about transforming America one neighborhood at a time.

01:27:44.882 --> 01:27:49.962
One neighborhood. And then I think about the Apostle Paul, I forget which letter

01:27:49.962 --> 01:27:55.482
it was, where he enumerated that God gives us all gifts.

01:27:56.402 --> 01:28:02.242
And, you know, not everybody can be everything or there are some people who

01:28:02.242 --> 01:28:08.082
want to preach that should be a scribe, you know, and all that kind of stuff. Right.

01:28:09.546 --> 01:28:16.166
So, you know, I totally agree with the factor that we've got to be local,

01:28:16.166 --> 01:28:19.606
you know, in doing the work.

01:28:21.186 --> 01:28:23.906
And everybody has a part to play in it.

01:28:24.006 --> 01:28:27.586
And there are some people that are like, well, you know, I can't do nothing

01:28:27.586 --> 01:28:30.846
because I'm not elected or I can't do anything because I ain't got no money.

01:28:31.026 --> 01:28:37.746
You know what I'm saying? But it's like if people follow your example and use

01:28:37.746 --> 01:28:43.086
the talents that you have to contribute whichever way you can,

01:28:43.306 --> 01:28:45.166
then we'll be a better place.

01:28:45.406 --> 01:28:52.186
So Alysia Cutting, let me just say, you know, you are a living example of somebody

01:28:52.186 --> 01:28:55.606
using their gifts to contribute.

01:28:56.186 --> 01:29:00.566
And you have been very fortunate that you're multi-talented.

01:29:01.326 --> 01:29:07.966
But you're also very fortunate that you have been obedient to your spirit and

01:29:07.966 --> 01:29:14.646
that you have gone forward to overcome things to continue to help other people

01:29:14.646 --> 01:29:16.526
overcome their challenges, right?

01:29:16.866 --> 01:29:20.346
So I just want to publicly thank you for doing that.

01:29:20.806 --> 01:29:23.866
And I want to thank you for coming on the podcast.

01:29:24.426 --> 01:29:30.606
If people want to get in touch with you, how can they do that? Sure thing.

01:29:30.826 --> 01:29:36.546
And first and foremost, let me thank you for the opportunity to be a part of

01:29:36.546 --> 01:29:38.626
your platform, which I fully respect.

01:29:38.626 --> 01:29:43.606
And I thank you that you are walking in your gifting and being able to continue

01:29:43.606 --> 01:29:44.986
doing what you're doing,

01:29:45.246 --> 01:29:51.126
whether it has been in elected official capacity or now with media capacity,

01:29:51.126 --> 01:29:56.266
because you are amplifying voices and doing exactly that thing that I was talking about.

01:29:56.266 --> 01:30:01.186
So I thank you for that And I thank you for your kind words And I just gotta say it's,

01:30:02.120 --> 01:30:05.780
by God's grace. We just kind of get up every day and try to do the best thing that we can.

01:30:06.360 --> 01:30:10.800
So if anyone wanted to get in touch with me, I do have several platforms.

01:30:11.620 --> 01:30:13.500
Instagram, it is.

01:30:17.800 --> 01:30:22.540
ALCmedia4u. It's also the same thing on TikTok, ALCmedia4u.

01:30:22.920 --> 01:30:28.360
I am on Facebook, Alysia Cutting, A-L-Y-S-I-A Cutting

01:30:28.360 --> 01:30:31.280
C-U-T-T-I-N-G And I'm not very

01:30:31.280 --> 01:30:34.140
active right now on X But it is Alysia

01:30:34.140 --> 01:30:36.920
Cutting When I actually have occasionally been

01:30:36.920 --> 01:30:40.540
over there Oh yeah And also my I'll

01:30:40.540 --> 01:30:50.380
give my email as well It is A-L-C-Media I-N-C At gmail.com Okay Well Alysia

01:30:50.380 --> 01:30:58.720
Thank you again For doing this And I look forward to having you back on because that's a rule.

01:31:00.000 --> 01:31:05.300
Once you've been on the show, you have an open invitation. So when I have to

01:31:05.300 --> 01:31:07.880
explain that to people, it's like, I don't have to.

01:31:08.020 --> 01:31:14.000
If you say, Erik, hey, I need to talk about something, we'll get you on. That's how that works.

01:31:14.140 --> 01:31:18.380
And, of course, you know, I'll reach out to you, too, if need be.

01:31:18.520 --> 01:31:22.220
But I just wanted to make sure that you understood that you had an open invitation

01:31:22.220 --> 01:31:25.600
to come back. And again, I thank you for doing what you're doing.

01:31:26.100 --> 01:31:29.120
Well, I thank you for doing what you're doing as well. And all the people's

01:31:29.120 --> 01:31:33.980
lives who you are impacting positively for the good as well. Thank you.

01:31:34.500 --> 01:31:37.300
All right, guys. Thank you. And we're going to catch y'all on the other side.

01:31:37.360 --> 01:31:47.920
Music.

01:31:49.084 --> 01:31:54.664
All right, and we are back. So I want to thank Chasity Wells-Armstrong and

01:31:54.664 --> 01:31:56.984
Alysia Cutting for coming on to the show.

01:31:57.464 --> 01:32:06.004
Two dynamic women who are really, really doing their part to uplift people.

01:32:08.304 --> 01:32:12.744
And they have, you know, they caught my attention.

01:32:13.324 --> 01:32:17.504
And I hope now that they catch some more people's attention.

01:32:18.044 --> 01:32:21.484
And, you know, a lot of times I tell these folks, you know, y'all are a lot

01:32:21.484 --> 01:32:25.224
more famous than I am when I ask you to come on the show, but,

01:32:25.324 --> 01:32:30.324
you know, it doesn't hurt for more people to be exposed to folks that are,

01:32:30.504 --> 01:32:32.384
as I always say, doing the work.

01:32:33.264 --> 01:32:40.924
So I greatly appreciate the Honorable Chasity Wells-Armstrong and the Reverend

01:32:40.924 --> 01:32:48.204
Alysia Cutting for coming on and sharing their thoughts and their viewpoints.

01:32:49.944 --> 01:32:52.844
So we've come down to this.

01:32:54.204 --> 01:33:04.464
By the time this airs, we will know who murdered Charlie Kirk.

01:33:04.464 --> 01:33:15.524
He will be in custody, and we will maybe understand the motivation behind why he did what he did.

01:33:16.304 --> 01:33:21.924
So personally, as somebody who's always been fascinated with history,

01:33:22.964 --> 01:33:27.304
you know, this is a historical moment in this country.

01:33:27.304 --> 01:33:33.184
And it doesn't matter what side of the argument you are on.

01:33:33.724 --> 01:33:37.504
This is a bookmark to where we are.

01:33:38.744 --> 01:33:46.404
I mentioned the thing about history is because I was one of the many people,

01:33:47.304 --> 01:33:53.884
thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who saw the video uncut.

01:33:54.544 --> 01:33:59.564
And at the time that I saw it, they were still saying he was in the hospital

01:33:59.564 --> 01:34:01.684
and he was in critical condition and all that.

01:34:02.364 --> 01:34:09.524
When I saw it, I knew that he was gone because he was hit in the same spot that Dr.

01:34:09.644 --> 01:34:13.024
King was shot in 1968.

01:34:14.184 --> 01:34:26.264
And just the fact that he was killed in front of his wife and children,

01:34:26.744 --> 01:34:36.624
the image of Malcolm X being murdered in front of Betty Shabazz and his children just came to my mind.

01:34:38.111 --> 01:34:48.351
You know, I think about Meg Evers and, you know, and I'm saying this not as

01:34:48.351 --> 01:34:53.031
a comparison as to people like, you know, Fred Hampton.

01:34:53.531 --> 01:35:00.771
The comparison is, is that America is and always has been politically violent.

01:35:01.331 --> 01:35:04.231
We have had four presidents assassinated.

01:35:05.091 --> 01:35:11.051
We've had multiple attempts on presidents, including the sitting president.

01:35:12.271 --> 01:35:18.051
So political violence, as much as we abhor it, as much as we denounce it,

01:35:18.511 --> 01:35:27.131
as much as we say that it's not acceptable, it exists.

01:35:27.951 --> 01:35:34.851
Just literally months ago, we had a former Speaker of the House in the state

01:35:34.851 --> 01:35:43.711
of Minnesota open her door and she was gunned down along with her husband and even her dog,

01:35:44.171 --> 01:35:45.891
their dog, right?

01:35:46.311 --> 01:35:53.171
And this was after the same guy had shot a state senator and his wife,

01:35:53.811 --> 01:35:57.111
right? literally just a couple of months ago.

01:35:58.031 --> 01:36:08.191
So for those of us who say that political violence is not what America is about are not being genuine.

01:36:08.731 --> 01:36:15.931
It has unfortunately been a part of our history for years, generations.

01:36:17.191 --> 01:36:21.151
And no matter how much security you create.

01:36:23.068 --> 01:36:31.548
So how you try to manage and control environments, things happen.

01:36:32.328 --> 01:36:37.768
I mean, Malcolm was at the Audubon Ballroom, his organization's headquarters.

01:36:38.848 --> 01:36:43.548
Medgar Evers was at his house. Melissa Hortman was at her house.

01:36:44.148 --> 01:36:51.028
Dr. King was at a hotel. Well, Charlie Kirk was on the first stop of his tour

01:36:51.028 --> 01:36:56.428
at a conservative university, right?

01:36:57.088 --> 01:37:01.808
So no matter how much you control it, the violence is going to come.

01:37:02.488 --> 01:37:08.748
What has to happen in the United States of America is that we as a collective

01:37:08.748 --> 01:37:14.328
body have to match our verbal disdain.

01:37:15.108 --> 01:37:22.908
We can say that we are not a violent nation. We can say that we're not politically violent.

01:37:23.448 --> 01:37:27.968
But the evidence shows that we totally are.

01:37:29.168 --> 01:37:33.448
And there are so many things and so many thoughts.

01:37:34.728 --> 01:37:43.308
You know, as a human being, we deal with death because it is the ultimate destination for all of us.

01:37:44.488 --> 01:37:51.448
Ecclesiastes says that it is actually the evil that we all have to encounter.

01:37:51.708 --> 01:37:54.268
Doesn't matter what station of life we're in.

01:37:54.868 --> 01:38:01.288
Doesn't matter our level of faith. We're all going to reach that moment.

01:38:01.888 --> 01:38:12.848
So when we witness a horrific death, our natural reaction is to be in shock. Now.

01:38:14.418 --> 01:38:18.638
Once we get our collective thoughts together and realize who was the person

01:38:18.638 --> 01:38:26.538
or what had happened, you know, we started looking at the totality of the circumstances,

01:38:26.858 --> 01:38:29.358
right? Was this an act of war?

01:38:30.058 --> 01:38:35.038
You know, was this person instigating violence?

01:38:35.258 --> 01:38:38.718
You know, all those kind of things. You know, were they part of a gang?

01:38:38.718 --> 01:38:42.018
You know, all these different things, when we see violent acts happen,

01:38:42.238 --> 01:38:46.598
we start after we get through the initial shock of seeing the violent act and

01:38:46.598 --> 01:38:49.738
we start a process of reasoning.

01:38:51.038 --> 01:38:57.818
So one of the things I wanted to make clear was that regardless of our reasoning,

01:38:57.818 --> 01:39:06.198
we do have to come to the basic understanding that nobody deserves to die in

01:39:06.198 --> 01:39:12.058
a violent fashion, no matter what side of the political debate that person is on.

01:39:12.378 --> 01:39:14.358
Nobody deserves to die.

01:39:15.298 --> 01:39:19.458
Now, people can make the argument about reaping what you sow.

01:39:19.898 --> 01:39:23.498
As somebody who is a Christian, I get that, right?

01:39:23.958 --> 01:39:29.778
If you engage in what they call stochastic terrorism, right?

01:39:30.538 --> 01:39:38.318
Even if you didn't harm, which means that you are not going out and personally harming people.

01:39:38.318 --> 01:39:47.358
But what you are saying is invoking people to do violent things directly or indirectly, right?

01:39:48.058 --> 01:39:51.298
Because those folks will write a manifesto or whatever and say,

01:39:51.458 --> 01:39:54.358
well, I was listening to so-and-so and that's why I did it.

01:39:54.838 --> 01:40:01.278
And that person may not know the assailant from Adam's house cat.

01:40:01.278 --> 01:40:11.098
That's what we call stochastic terrorism, when words are used to incite violence.

01:40:11.098 --> 01:40:21.318
And you will not get any argument from me that Charlie Kirk was guilty of that.

01:40:22.098 --> 01:40:31.898
He has said incredibly divisive, derisive, invidious things about people that look like me.

01:40:32.618 --> 01:40:41.118
So just like the folks who were descendants of or natives of people that were

01:40:41.118 --> 01:40:47.578
part of the British Empire that didn't mourn when the Queen of England recently died.

01:40:48.418 --> 01:40:56.838
I do not hold in any judgment or any way, you know, feel any kind of way if

01:40:56.838 --> 01:41:00.698
people that are black say, well, we're not going to mourn this guy.

01:41:00.698 --> 01:41:03.198
And nobody is asking you to. I'm not mourning him.

01:41:03.798 --> 01:41:06.158
What I am doing is acknowledging the fact,

01:41:07.837 --> 01:41:12.937
Silence is not the answer, although history will tell us in the United States

01:41:12.937 --> 01:41:16.497
that there are a number of people that do think it is.

01:41:18.377 --> 01:41:22.657
And there are some folks that are saying, well, I'm glad that he is gone.

01:41:23.597 --> 01:41:29.037
So think back to when Malcolm and Medgar and Martin were killed,

01:41:29.037 --> 01:41:35.397
how the racist people felt that they were glad that they were gone.

01:41:35.397 --> 01:41:41.477
And our response to them was, but the dream didn't die with them,

01:41:41.497 --> 01:41:44.537
and we're going to continue to fight on.

01:41:45.237 --> 01:41:49.557
Well, what do you think is going to happen now that Charlie Kirk is no longer with us?

01:41:49.937 --> 01:41:53.257
Do you think Turning Point USA is about to just disappear?

01:41:53.817 --> 01:41:56.837
Do you think the conservative movement is about to retreat?

01:41:57.917 --> 01:42:04.237
No. They're going to fight on and still spew whatever they're going to spew

01:42:04.237 --> 01:42:07.477
and say whatever they're going to say, right?

01:42:07.657 --> 01:42:13.817
They're going to continue to act. If not anything, they might feel more emboldened to do it, right?

01:42:14.717 --> 01:42:20.837
Which is, again, the reason why I say violence is not the answer.

01:42:21.577 --> 01:42:27.977
Dr. King said that violence only begets violence, right? that the only way that

01:42:27.977 --> 01:42:33.437
you can end darkness is by using light.

01:42:34.197 --> 01:42:41.957
We can't kill our way out of this situation. We can't physically go to war.

01:42:42.697 --> 01:42:49.817
We may, but if war was the answer, then we wouldn't have the United Daughters

01:42:49.817 --> 01:42:54.057
of the Confederacy putting statues everywhere in the country,

01:42:54.437 --> 01:42:57.817
highlighting the folks that lost the war, right?

01:42:58.697 --> 01:43:02.137
Violence does not solve our problems.

01:43:02.937 --> 01:43:07.697
President Obama said, rather than pointing fingers or assigning blame,

01:43:07.857 --> 01:43:11.917
he said, let's use this occasion to expand our moral imaginations,

01:43:12.337 --> 01:43:17.217
to listen to each other more carefully, to sharpen our instincts for empathy

01:43:17.217 --> 01:43:21.457
and remind ourselves of all the ways that our hopes and dreams are bound together.

01:43:22.297 --> 01:43:27.317
Then after he said that, Donald Trump became the next president of the United States.

01:43:28.317 --> 01:43:37.317
So it is hard for us in the United States of America to live up to the idea of America.

01:43:38.237 --> 01:43:45.237
People are saying, well, Mr. Kirk was just exercising his free speech and he

01:43:45.237 --> 01:43:49.937
got killed for that, or he was exercising his faith, and he got killed for that.

01:43:50.477 --> 01:43:59.237
I would say that somebody who did not agree with him went to the extreme measure

01:43:59.237 --> 01:44:04.477
of trying to silence his voice, and individually they did.

01:44:06.388 --> 01:44:12.308
The problem with that is that his supporters are going to get louder.

01:44:12.948 --> 01:44:19.568
And that's no different than when they murdered Medgar, Malcolm, and Martin.

01:44:20.188 --> 01:44:26.728
Our voices got louder. When George Floyd was murdered in front of the whole

01:44:26.728 --> 01:44:33.488
world in a span of nine minutes, we got loud and we took to the streets.

01:44:34.428 --> 01:44:37.948
See, it doesn't matter what side of the coin you're on.

01:44:39.748 --> 01:44:44.168
Violence toward the other side doesn't stop the other side.

01:44:44.768 --> 01:44:47.968
They may be in grief. They may be in shock.

01:44:48.768 --> 01:44:55.748
But they're going to come back. The way that you defeat ideas in this nation is with better ideas.

01:44:56.508 --> 01:45:05.168
The way that you gain political power in the United States is to obtain it through

01:45:05.168 --> 01:45:09.928
voting, through organizing, through mobilizing, through educating.

01:45:10.708 --> 01:45:17.148
You cannot, you cannot win it at the barrel of a gun.

01:45:17.548 --> 01:45:21.128
You cannot win it with a blade of a knife.

01:45:21.128 --> 01:45:28.408
If we are tired of what is being said, if we are tired of what is being legislated,

01:45:28.428 --> 01:45:34.748
if we are tired of what is being pressed down upon us,

01:45:35.268 --> 01:45:40.428
then we have tools to fight back. We have our voice.

01:45:40.628 --> 01:45:43.708
We have our brains. We have our bodies.

01:45:44.428 --> 01:45:49.488
And our bodies, when I say that, not as targets,

01:45:49.928 --> 01:45:55.608
but our bodies as far as being able to mobilize and go to the places of power

01:45:55.608 --> 01:46:02.188
and make our voices and our ideas heard, whether they're at the state capitol

01:46:02.188 --> 01:46:04.568
or at the polling booth, right?

01:46:05.068 --> 01:46:09.488
We have platforms. I have a podcast. You can have a podcast.

01:46:09.608 --> 01:46:11.408
Whatever. We have newspapers.

01:46:12.248 --> 01:46:18.468
That's what Frederick Douglass and them did. They had newspapers, right? The black press.

01:46:19.268 --> 01:46:20.608
We have tools.

01:46:21.868 --> 01:46:30.468
And despite how skewed the Supreme Court may come out or it's trying to come out,

01:46:31.008 --> 01:46:37.828
you still have a court system because Brown versus the Board of Education wasn't a football game.

01:46:37.828 --> 01:46:40.068
It was a court case, right?

01:46:40.688 --> 01:46:47.128
We won battles in courts. We have been able to slow things down because of courts.

01:46:47.288 --> 01:46:51.228
We've been able to slow things down by electing people in state legislatures.

01:46:52.028 --> 01:46:54.188
We've been able to elect people in Congress.

01:46:56.207 --> 01:47:01.827
Don't get things particularly passed, we slow bad stuff down, if not defeat it.

01:47:02.567 --> 01:47:12.767
I think it's unfair for us to condemn how people respond to what they saw on

01:47:12.767 --> 01:47:14.887
the internet or what they saw in the news.

01:47:15.947 --> 01:47:22.407
I think part of our problem is that we don't understand that there may be a story behind that.

01:47:22.987 --> 01:47:29.347
I look at things like this as like really an opportunity to learn about people.

01:47:29.987 --> 01:47:36.587
Because there are people I went to high school with who are on both sides of this particular issue.

01:47:37.247 --> 01:47:41.247
When I say issue, I'm talking about the death of Charlie Kirk,

01:47:41.947 --> 01:47:43.887
which is fascinating to me.

01:47:44.607 --> 01:47:50.527
I don't hold them in any different regard because they're basically the person

01:47:50.527 --> 01:47:51.487
I went to high school with.

01:47:51.627 --> 01:47:54.087
I know them. There are people I went to college with.

01:47:54.907 --> 01:48:00.187
There's people I've served in the legislature with and just all different people I work with now.

01:48:01.087 --> 01:48:06.307
Everybody has their own way of processing what just happened.

01:48:07.227 --> 01:48:15.047
And there's no right way to do that other than what makes you feel comfortable moving forward.

01:48:16.047 --> 01:48:22.207
I was telling somebody, I think on Instagram, that I remember when George Wallace got shot.

01:48:23.787 --> 01:48:27.127
And I'm old enough to remember George Wallace.

01:48:27.787 --> 01:48:34.027
I'm old enough to remember when he got shot. I was young, but I remember he

01:48:34.027 --> 01:48:36.547
was in a group of people shaking hands.

01:48:36.687 --> 01:48:38.767
He was running for president of the United States, and some dude,

01:48:39.007 --> 01:48:41.987
I think his name was Bremer or something like that, I can't remember,

01:48:42.387 --> 01:48:46.107
just walked up to him and shot him. He was paralyzed for the rest of his life.

01:48:46.867 --> 01:48:50.507
Well, a lot of people don't know. That while he was in the hospital,

01:48:50.787 --> 01:48:53.847
a young lady who was running for president of the United States at the time,

01:48:54.327 --> 01:48:57.467
went to go visit him. Her name was Shirley Chisholm.

01:48:58.187 --> 01:49:05.167
And at that moment, Ms. Chisholm took it upon herself to remind Mr.

01:49:05.347 --> 01:49:09.747
Wallace that he was a man of faith and God was talking to him and said that

01:49:09.747 --> 01:49:12.107
it's time for you to change your ways.

01:49:12.967 --> 01:49:16.907
Now, Charlie Kirk's not going to get that opportunity. That's it.

01:49:19.019 --> 01:49:22.479
Redemption point with his organization, but I doubt it.

01:49:23.099 --> 01:49:28.539
And so George Wallace lived the rest of his life trying to fix,

01:49:28.699 --> 01:49:32.919
at least politically, the damage that he did when he was able-bodied,

01:49:34.579 --> 01:49:38.059
right? Some of us have those moments.

01:49:38.759 --> 01:49:45.639
Greg Abbott, terrible accident at work, was able to get on his feet because

01:49:45.639 --> 01:49:48.859
he was able to be compensated for the damage that had happened to him.

01:49:49.639 --> 01:49:54.439
Now that he's the governor of a state, he wants to take away that same opportunity

01:49:54.439 --> 01:49:57.519
to other people. He wants to end workers' comp in his state.

01:49:57.959 --> 01:50:02.879
So some people don't get the message, regardless of who visits them and who

01:50:02.879 --> 01:50:05.299
talks to them, even if it's God.

01:50:06.319 --> 01:50:14.159
So, you know, my opinion is no different than anybody else's as far as its value. It's my opinion.

01:50:15.499 --> 01:50:22.979
And one of the things that I've always tried to live by is that I do not wish

01:50:22.979 --> 01:50:27.199
harm on people I disagree with,

01:50:27.339 --> 01:50:30.579
even if they want to do harm towards me.

01:50:31.159 --> 01:50:40.579
I have been trained mentally and even physically to protect myself from harm, but I do not wish it.

01:50:41.319 --> 01:50:47.519
See, the most powerful weapon we have on this planet is our tongue.

01:50:47.899 --> 01:50:53.839
Those of us of the Christian faith understand that because it's taught to us. It's in the Bible.

01:50:54.399 --> 01:51:02.459
So when we condemn people, when we wish harm upon people, that's powerful.

01:51:02.919 --> 01:51:08.699
When we condemn ourselves or wish harm upon ourselves, that's powerful.

01:51:09.479 --> 01:51:21.839
So you'll never hear me say things like, he deserved that, or I wish that would happen to him.

01:51:22.399 --> 01:51:25.899
But I'm not going to attend the funeral.

01:51:26.299 --> 01:51:30.599
I'm not going to cry or mourn.

01:51:31.119 --> 01:51:43.239
But it is my place to acknowledge and to go deeper than the incident and deal with the total problem.

01:51:44.219 --> 01:51:51.899
And the total problem is that we live in a violent political system.

01:51:52.359 --> 01:51:59.259
And in order for democracy to go forward for another 250 years,

01:51:59.259 --> 01:52:01.019
as we know it in this country,

01:52:02.079 --> 01:52:07.419
stochastic terrorism, Violent rhetoric, all that stuff has to end.

01:52:09.648 --> 01:52:13.308
More guns than we have people, needs to be revisited.

01:52:14.168 --> 01:52:18.888
Now, we have a privilege with cars, but we don't have more cars than we have people.

01:52:19.448 --> 01:52:22.428
And we got all these interstates and highways and all that stuff.

01:52:23.448 --> 01:52:29.288
And people can die in a car wreck or get hit by a car, but we don't have more

01:52:29.288 --> 01:52:36.288
cars than people, but we have more guns than we have people. We need to revisit that.

01:52:37.188 --> 01:52:43.048
However rational people can come to that conclusion, doesn't bother me that

01:52:43.048 --> 01:52:50.348
there will be organizations lobbying for guns and organizations lobbying against guns.

01:52:50.848 --> 01:53:01.408
Those people who are given the chance to leadership need to intelligently revisit where we are.

01:53:01.408 --> 01:53:10.108
We need to figure out a way to convince people to do what we want or take a

01:53:10.108 --> 01:53:20.368
position that we want without leaving the door open for violence to be part of the options.

01:53:21.168 --> 01:53:26.808
You know, we ought to be in the business of trying to protect one another.

01:53:27.528 --> 01:53:32.608
It doesn't matter if it's a political operative or a young lady sitting on a

01:53:32.608 --> 01:53:37.908
subway who basically showed up in the United States to get away from a war.

01:53:39.028 --> 01:53:44.628
Our main objective should be to serve and protect.

01:53:45.608 --> 01:53:50.408
It's nice to have it painted on a police car, but that needs to be instilled in our hearts.

01:53:50.548 --> 01:53:55.048
And you don't have to be a law enforcement officer to have that mindset.

01:53:55.048 --> 01:54:05.168
If you want to make an argument about a court decision, let's not question the IQ of the judge.

01:54:05.988 --> 01:54:13.328
Let's deal with the decision and let's see, can we appeal that, right?

01:54:13.948 --> 01:54:19.208
You don't like legislation that's being brought before you. Let's try to amend it.

01:54:19.708 --> 01:54:24.608
If you can't amend it, vote against it. And if it, you know,

01:54:24.748 --> 01:54:28.768
convinced the governor to veto it, the governor signs it or the president signs it.

01:54:30.875 --> 01:54:36.155
To challenge it in court. Then the ultimate next step is to get those people

01:54:36.155 --> 01:54:39.915
out of office through the process.

01:54:40.595 --> 01:54:46.035
We can't kill each other to achieve progress. You just can't.

01:54:46.815 --> 01:54:53.795
Dr. King quoted someone as saying, we can learn to live as brothers or we can all perish as fools.

01:54:54.655 --> 01:55:00.635
I don't want to see America perish. Despite its history, despite all the challenges

01:55:00.635 --> 01:55:04.115
that many of us in the Black community have had to go through.

01:55:04.715 --> 01:55:08.395
I personally do not want to see America perish.

01:55:08.935 --> 01:55:18.215
I want to see an America that my children or my child and any future grandkids

01:55:18.215 --> 01:55:23.255
or anybody else's kids and nieces, nephews, whatever,

01:55:24.135 --> 01:55:28.895
future generations, I want to see the America that I had the privilege of living

01:55:28.895 --> 01:55:34.615
in still exist, even better than it was when I was alive.

01:55:35.455 --> 01:55:39.955
I don't want to see America perish. I want to see it get better.

01:55:41.295 --> 01:55:49.135
Ironically, 24 years ago, this nation had a moment when it felt like it was

01:55:49.135 --> 01:55:51.815
being attacked and we came together.

01:55:52.215 --> 01:55:55.855
It was a moment, but in my lifetime, I saw it.

01:55:55.915 --> 01:56:00.415
Just like I saw a black man become president. I saw the United States of America

01:56:00.415 --> 01:56:04.495
unite, say we will not go quiet.

01:56:05.255 --> 01:56:06.675
We will not surrender.

01:56:07.635 --> 01:56:10.615
We have the right to exist and we are going to do so.

01:56:11.515 --> 01:56:15.695
And then everybody went off in their separate corners like we usually do.

01:56:15.835 --> 01:56:22.635
But for just once, I really want to see us galvanized.

01:56:23.075 --> 01:56:27.435
Doesn't mean we have to be homogenous in thought. But I don't know.

01:56:28.292 --> 01:56:35.652
Homogenous in concept. I do want us to understand that America is for all of us that are here,

01:56:36.232 --> 01:56:41.172
and that all of us are given the opportunity to do the best that we can do,

01:56:41.212 --> 01:56:49.532
to be able to live and live abundantly, to be able to go about our lives without fear and despair.

01:56:50.592 --> 01:56:54.652
And although you can't totally eradicate some of those things.

01:56:54.672 --> 01:56:58.852
You can minimize them to the point where you can deal with it.

01:56:59.372 --> 01:57:03.172
It shouldn't be our everyday existence, right?

01:57:04.392 --> 01:57:09.192
So that's where I am on this deal.

01:57:09.832 --> 01:57:14.332
You know, when I got frustrated and angry, I started a podcast.

01:57:14.932 --> 01:57:18.352
I didn't pick up a gun, picked up a microphone.

01:57:19.532 --> 01:57:27.632
I need us in America to be that resourceful and stop being violent rhetorically

01:57:27.632 --> 01:57:31.992
or physically to get our point across. Thank y'all.

01:57:32.240 --> 01:58:21.614
Music.