In this Hot Mic episode, host Erik Fleming shares his disappointment in the current state of politics and the challenges facing society today, while making a compelling case for a united Black agenda that transcends political affiliations and regional differences.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome. I'm Eric Fleming, host of A Moment with Eric Fleming, the podcast of our time.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast.
00:00:09 --> 00:00:12 If you like what you're hearing, then I need you to do a few things.
00:00:13 --> 00:00:19 First, I need subscribers. I'm on Patreon at patreon.com slash A Moment with Eric Fleming.
00:00:19 --> 00:00:24 Your subscription allows an independent podcaster like me the freedom to speak
00:00:24 --> 00:00:27 truth to power and to expand and improve the show.
00:00:28 --> 00:00:32 Second, leave a five-star review for the podcast on the streaming service you
00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 listen to it. That will help the podcast tremendously.
00:00:36 --> 00:00:41 Third, go to the website, momenteric.com. There you can subscribe to the podcast,
00:00:42 --> 00:00:47 leave reviews and comments, listen to past episodes, and even learn a little bit about your host.
00:00:47 --> 00:00:51 Lastly, don't keep this a secret like it's your own personal guilty pleasure.
00:00:52 --> 00:00:56 Tell someone else about the podcast. encourage others to listen to the podcast
00:00:56 --> 00:01:02 and share the podcast on your social media platforms because it is time to make
00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 this moment of movement.
00:01:04 --> 00:01:10 Thanks in advance for supporting the podcast of our time. I hope you enjoy this episode as well.
00:01:15 --> 00:01:19 The following program is hosted by the NBG podcast network.
00:01:20 --> 00:02:00 Music.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:05 Hello, and welcome to another moment, Eric Fleming. I am your host, Eric Fleming.
00:02:06 --> 00:02:11 So this is going to be different. This is not going to be, well,
00:02:11 --> 00:02:12 it's going to be a throwback.
00:02:12 --> 00:02:15 It's a hot mic episode. I don't have any guests.
00:02:16 --> 00:02:24 And I hope that everyone enjoyed as best they could their Thanksgiving holiday.
00:02:26 --> 00:02:33 Because I know there were some households that had some lively discussions,
00:02:33 --> 00:02:35 if not a whole bunch of them.
00:02:36 --> 00:02:41 And, you know, lively discussions around the dinner table, around family and friends is good.
00:02:42 --> 00:02:52 I think that's what makes us unique as human beings in that we all can look
00:02:52 --> 00:02:56 at something and come up with a different perspective,
00:02:58 --> 00:03:02 and based on our exposure, based on our experience,
00:03:02 --> 00:03:07 do the best we can to articulate why we do what we do or why we see what we see.
00:03:09 --> 00:03:14 And in a normal circumstance, again, that's healthy.
00:03:15 --> 00:03:20 But I don't know about where we are now.
00:03:21 --> 00:03:30 I think we have gotten to a point where the way we do politics,
00:03:31 --> 00:03:38 the way we seek to have a just society.
00:03:40 --> 00:03:45 It's not working. And I'm disappointed in that.
00:03:46 --> 00:03:51 Because somehow, someway, I always believed that we could be better.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:57 That we could debate things. And, you know,
00:03:57 --> 00:04:05 those people who skirted around the edges or flat-out cheated or flat-out lied
00:04:05 --> 00:04:11 would always be treated as outliers and extremists.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:21 And the majority of the population would try to deal with things in a much more civil and calm way.
00:04:22 --> 00:04:27 Now, I'm not naive because I've been in the political game and I know about
00:04:27 --> 00:04:30 throwing shots. I know about shots being thrown at me.
00:04:31 --> 00:04:40 I know about rumors and innuendos and, you know, character disparaging and all that kind of stuff.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 I mean, it's been around even before I was here.
00:04:45 --> 00:04:51 But it's at a different level because we have too many channels.
00:04:51 --> 00:04:58 I think, you know, a lot of people will always say that the advancement of technology
00:04:58 --> 00:05:00 is a blessing. That's true.
00:05:01 --> 00:05:10 I'm able to sit at a desk with a microphone and an iPad and I can record a podcast, right?
00:05:11 --> 00:05:17 I can put my thoughts out there. But is it too many of us putting our thoughts out there, right?
00:05:19 --> 00:05:28 And is there no way to harness those thoughts into a substantial productive movement,
00:05:30 --> 00:05:36 of progress. You know, with 8 billion people on the planet, there's going to be 8 billion thoughts.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:45 And it would seem that at any given moment, the majority of the people can agree on some basic things.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:50 But when I look at where we're at in politics right now and how people have
00:05:50 --> 00:05:58 access to do damaging things with the technology and say things without any filter.
00:05:59 --> 00:06:07 I don't think this is going to work. I'm really concerned because I'm reading
00:06:07 --> 00:06:12 on one end how elected officials in a particular state were all threatened.
00:06:14 --> 00:06:17 With harm to them and their families.
00:06:17 --> 00:06:23 And then I look on the other side, and I see that people that President-elect
00:06:23 --> 00:06:27 Trump has appointed has been threatened, even swatted.
00:06:28 --> 00:06:34 And for those who don't know what swatting is, that's when somebody calls into
00:06:34 --> 00:06:37 the police and basically says something is happening at your address,
00:06:37 --> 00:06:39 and nothing is happening at your address.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:43 And then the police show up at your house, and you have no idea why they're there.
00:06:45 --> 00:06:50 And in the past, there's been some tragic consequences. Now that law enforcement
00:06:50 --> 00:06:55 is being trained in that, it's less and less likely to happen.
00:06:56 --> 00:07:01 But the threat is always there when you do it. That's why people still do it
00:07:01 --> 00:07:03 to folks they don't like.
00:07:04 --> 00:07:09 And I've had guests come on this show and talk about political violence and
00:07:09 --> 00:07:13 the fact The fact that there was any percentage of Americans,
00:07:13 --> 00:07:21 let alone over 10%, that felt that violence was a feasible way to solve a political conflict.
00:07:23 --> 00:07:31 Now, either that group is very, very loud or might be bigger than what we even imagine.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:37 But I always said that the most violent act in politics is apathy.
00:07:38 --> 00:07:41 When you just don't participate at all.
00:07:42 --> 00:07:47 When you just say nothing because of the frustration you see,
00:07:47 --> 00:07:53 because of the lack of professionalism or decorum or whatever turns you off.
00:07:54 --> 00:07:58 You just don't participate at all. And in everything that you do,
00:07:58 --> 00:08:02 politics has something to do with that.
00:08:03 --> 00:08:06 You say, well, you know, stuff happens in my house. Well, if you're having a
00:08:06 --> 00:08:11 discussion about utility bills, there's politics involved in that.
00:08:12 --> 00:08:17 If you're having a discussion about food or deciding what food you're going
00:08:17 --> 00:08:20 to get, the money that you use is regulated by the government.
00:08:21 --> 00:08:26 The food that you choose to buy is regulated by the government in one way,
00:08:26 --> 00:08:29 shape, or form. How it's even transported.
00:08:30 --> 00:08:36 Who can even qualify as a grocery store? All these things, every nuance of your
00:08:36 --> 00:08:41 life is impacted by politics. So I want you to be engaged in that.
00:08:43 --> 00:08:50 So that one form of violence, apathy, just can't happen, especially if you are
00:08:50 --> 00:08:52 black or African-American.
00:08:53 --> 00:08:58 Really don't have that luxury. You do it. A good number of you do it.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:04 Some of you think that not voting is a form of a protest, a boycott, if you will.
00:09:05 --> 00:09:11 More, if you're going to do that, I'm more in favor of black folks putting up
00:09:11 --> 00:09:14 a candidate and all the black folks vote for that candidate.
00:09:14 --> 00:09:23 That sends a message more so than not voting at all, because voting is putting stake in the game.
00:09:23 --> 00:09:27 And if you don't have any stake in the game, you can't win, right?
00:09:28 --> 00:09:32 So I'll never be a proponent of apathy.
00:09:33 --> 00:09:41 But what I also am not a proponent of is violent rhetoric and violent actions.
00:09:42 --> 00:09:48 You know, at some point in time, we got to stop rewarding people where their
00:09:48 --> 00:09:52 best skill set in politics is playing the dozens.
00:09:53 --> 00:09:57 Oh, did you hear what I said about so-and-so? Oh, yeah, they ain't got no comeback
00:09:57 --> 00:10:01 for that and all that stuff. That's juvenile and childish.
00:10:02 --> 00:10:09 And again, it's entertaining because, like I said before, all of us stop and
00:10:09 --> 00:10:12 look at a car wreck when we should just keep on driving.
00:10:13 --> 00:10:17 And if it comes across our feed, it's like, oh, wow, I can't believe this person
00:10:17 --> 00:10:24 said that. I mean, it comes across on our news as if that is a news story.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:29 And there are some people who have propelled themselves into the national spotlight
00:10:29 --> 00:10:35 because of a great comeback or a great skill set for the dozens.
00:10:36 --> 00:10:43 But of all those people, what legislation have they introduced and passed that
00:10:43 --> 00:10:46 makes your life and my life better? Right? Right.
00:10:47 --> 00:10:53 I think people verbally should defend themselves.
00:10:55 --> 00:11:03 It warrants it, but I just think we miss out on something with all of this hate.
00:11:04 --> 00:11:09 And it's nice to have commercials and saying time out and all this kind of stuff,
00:11:09 --> 00:11:14 but it's time to restrain yourself.
00:11:14 --> 00:11:20 It's time for people to take it down a notch.
00:11:21 --> 00:11:27 What would threatening an elected official or an appointed official do for you
00:11:27 --> 00:11:31 other than bring that back?
00:11:31 --> 00:11:37 Dr. King talked about nonviolence as a strategy, but it was a logical concept.
00:11:39 --> 00:11:45 If you go after an opponent without violence, that that opponent doesn't have
00:11:45 --> 00:11:50 the luxury to be violent towards you, because if they do, then public opinion
00:11:50 --> 00:11:51 will go against them automatically.
00:11:52 --> 00:11:58 But if you come at them with violence and they respond to violence or they come
00:11:58 --> 00:12:03 at you with violence and you respond with violence, then it's like may the best side win.
00:12:04 --> 00:12:10 And we as black people don't really have the luxury of doing that.
00:12:11 --> 00:12:15 We make up anywhere from 12 to 14 percent of the population.
00:12:15 --> 00:12:17 Let's be generous and say 14.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:24 That's not enough. Even if all of us was on one accord, that's not enough.
00:12:25 --> 00:12:31 And all my friends and stuff who say we should have our own nation and do our
00:12:31 --> 00:12:34 own thing. I'm not opposed to that.
00:12:34 --> 00:12:43 But when somebody tells me where there is a black owned company that makes tanks,
00:12:43 --> 00:12:49 where there is a black owned company that makes jet planes, where there is a
00:12:49 --> 00:12:51 black owned company that makes guns.
00:12:52 --> 00:13:00 Heck, where there's a black owned company that makes cars, right, and build ships.
00:13:00 --> 00:13:04 Because as a nation, you're going to have to do that.
00:13:06 --> 00:13:14 Have enough black landowners that have oil and mineral rights so we can produce petroleum?
00:13:15 --> 00:13:19 Do we own a power company but we can generate our own electricity?
00:13:20 --> 00:13:25 Now there's a whole continent of folks that look like us that are doing that.
00:13:26 --> 00:13:31 But there's a movement within our own country where there's some black folks
00:13:31 --> 00:13:32 that don't want to associate with them.
00:13:33 --> 00:13:38 So what are you going to do? Who is your ally going to be?
00:13:38 --> 00:13:46 The historical precedent precedent of what I'm talking about is in 1804.
00:13:47 --> 00:13:52 The slaves in Haiti, and I think it was called St.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:56 Dominique then, but they revolted against the French and won.
00:13:57 --> 00:14:04 Drove the French out. And no nation would recognize them. The United States
00:14:04 --> 00:14:09 definitely didn't want to do it because they didn't want slave rebellions happening here.
00:14:10 --> 00:14:18 It got so bad that somehow, some way, it was deemed appropriate that the Haitians
00:14:18 --> 00:14:22 had to pay France for kicking the French out.
00:14:23 --> 00:14:28 And economically, they've never recovered to this day.
00:14:29 --> 00:14:32 Because, of course, they took out loans with the World Bank and all that stuff,
00:14:32 --> 00:14:35 and they got to pay that back, right?
00:14:37 --> 00:14:43 So, but again, that was in 1804 when all of this technology of weaponry was not there.
00:14:44 --> 00:14:50 Now, you try to do that without the equivalent of what you would need, right?
00:14:52 --> 00:14:57 What country in NATO, what country in the United Nations is going to give you
00:14:57 --> 00:15:01 money to do what we're doing for Ukraine?
00:15:02 --> 00:15:08 I mean, because if you think you can do that peacefully, that's not happening.
00:15:08 --> 00:15:13 The reason why we have southern Sudan is because there's been a civil war there for years.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:19 And as part of a concession, they agreed to let these folks create their own country.
00:15:21 --> 00:15:27 It sounds good It'll get you a lot of clicks on social media It'll get you a lot of,
00:15:29 --> 00:15:31 Followers On YouTube.
00:15:33 --> 00:15:40 Make you some money. But if you don't really have a plan, you just have a concept of a plan.
00:15:41 --> 00:15:43 It's a waste of time.
00:15:44 --> 00:15:53 What has to happen is that black people need to agree to an agenda.
00:15:54 --> 00:15:56 What do we really want?
00:15:57 --> 00:16:03 What can we do on our own? And what do we need assistance from the government for.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:08 And we need to make up our minds relatively quickly.
00:16:09 --> 00:16:17 And when I say quick, I'm not talking about tomorrow. But we need to have a 20-year plan.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 We need to start building an idea.
00:16:22 --> 00:16:28 Because we've been in this country since 1619. And we really have only been
00:16:28 --> 00:16:34 full participants since the 1960s.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:39 We have always been part of the discussion in politics. We have contributed
00:16:39 --> 00:16:46 way more than anybody else as far as building this nation up.
00:16:47 --> 00:16:51 It's not saying that other ethnic groups didn't do anything.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:56 But literally, we built this nation.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:03 And, I mean, just all the great inventions that they give credit to white people
00:17:03 --> 00:17:04 for, black people refine them.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:10 Brilliant black people. The very place where the seat of government is,
00:17:10 --> 00:17:17 a French man designed it, but a black man finished the project.
00:17:20 --> 00:17:25 So, we've made a hell of an investment, literally with blood, sweat, and tears.
00:17:26 --> 00:17:32 So we have a right to demand certain things. But I think we've got to get to a point where.
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 To create and maintain certain things.
00:17:39 --> 00:17:43 Some of them have already been created. They need to be protected,
00:17:43 --> 00:17:47 like our historically black colleges and universities, right?
00:17:48 --> 00:17:58 We have networks of black chamber of commerces that at some point it might be good to unite.
00:17:59 --> 00:18:07 We have organizations that are new and old, that fight for the rights of black
00:18:07 --> 00:18:11 people, that create opportunities for black people to develop business,
00:18:12 --> 00:18:18 and that demands equity in the justice system. We have those organizations.
00:18:19 --> 00:18:24 I'm not talking about the organizations that are allies. I'm talking about within our own culture.
00:18:25 --> 00:18:34 We even have a network of fraternities and sororities where we can utilize to
00:18:34 --> 00:18:36 uplift and fight for things, right?
00:18:37 --> 00:18:41 And we saw a lot of that come into play in the election.
00:18:42 --> 00:18:50 But now, instead of focusing that energy on one person to achieve a historical goal,
00:18:50 --> 00:18:59 Now it's time for us to carve a foundational, solid niche in this country we
00:18:59 --> 00:19:02 call the United States of America, where...
00:19:05 --> 00:19:12 Loyalty doesn't have to depend on one party or the other, are issues who command
00:19:12 --> 00:19:15 the respect of both parties, right?
00:19:16 --> 00:19:20 And, you know, this is somebody that has been a lifelong Democrat,
00:19:20 --> 00:19:28 somebody that cut his teeth and has always been loyal to the Democratic Party.
00:19:28 --> 00:19:36 But what I remind people, and having been exposed to people on both sides of the aisle,
00:19:37 --> 00:19:45 you know, like Henry Kirksey and Charles Evers, my main priority is to help black folk.
00:19:46 --> 00:19:54 And what I learned being a legislator is that there are some times that the
00:19:54 --> 00:19:56 best interests of black folks are aided by Republicans.
00:19:57 --> 00:20:02 And sometimes the best interests of black folks are aided by Democrats.
00:20:03 --> 00:20:08 And a steadfast rule has always been no permanent friends, just permanent interest.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:13 And I think this election, if it taught us black people anything,
00:20:13 --> 00:20:19 is that we need to stop being friends and work on our interests.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:26 Because I don't even know if we really know what our interests are.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 And if we do have an agreement on
00:20:29 --> 00:20:33 our interests, then we need to have some consensus of how to achieve it.
00:20:34 --> 00:20:38 And what does success look like?
00:20:39 --> 00:20:42 I guess we'll talk a little bit more about that on the other side.
00:20:43 --> 00:21:03 Music.
00:21:03 --> 00:21:14 So we're back. So one issue that seems to be, and I've talked about it before,
00:21:14 --> 00:21:25 but I'm really, really irritated with people who claim to be in our best interest.
00:21:27 --> 00:21:33 And all they seem to be really good at is trolling other black folks.
00:21:36 --> 00:21:42 Or folks that are African immigrants. And, you know, I've heard some of these
00:21:42 --> 00:21:46 people say, well, you know, I'm for mass deportation.
00:21:47 --> 00:21:55 So they want to see white folks round up Africans and send them back to Africa.
00:21:56 --> 00:21:59 And we're not that free, right?
00:22:00 --> 00:22:09 We're not that free to be that discriminatory and hostile to somebody that looks like us.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:14 Now, I get it. Their culture is different. I get it. There's some African trolls out there.
00:22:15 --> 00:22:24 But and then you're the whole basis of that is not that they're taking a job
00:22:24 --> 00:22:28 from a black man, a woman that was born here.
00:22:28 --> 00:22:34 But that you're afraid they're going to get a check or reparations.
00:22:35 --> 00:22:38 I just think that that is wasteful energy.
00:22:39 --> 00:22:43 One, because if they actually did, if the U.S.
00:22:43 --> 00:22:49 Government actually did decide to pay us for the work that we did.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:56 I think they would have a system to try to weed out as many people as they could
00:22:56 --> 00:23:00 because they're the ones who are going to pay it, and they don't want to pay
00:23:00 --> 00:23:02 every blackface that they see.
00:23:03 --> 00:23:07 So they're going to do the weeding out for you. You don't have to engage in that exercise.
00:23:09 --> 00:23:15 What you have to hope for is that they don't weed you out despite how many generations
00:23:15 --> 00:23:20 your family has been on this part of the earth called the United States.
00:23:21 --> 00:23:26 So you don't have to do their work for them. They're going to weed people out.
00:23:27 --> 00:23:32 They're going to limit what they pay if they did do a check.
00:23:33 --> 00:23:37 But I don't think that's going to be the answer.
00:23:38 --> 00:23:44 I don't think I want a one-time check from the government that they can tax,
00:23:44 --> 00:23:49 and get anywhere from 15% to 36% of it back.
00:23:50 --> 00:23:57 You know, I think there are some other avenues that we can look at it.
00:23:57 --> 00:24:03 And I think if you study the commission's report from the state of California,
00:24:03 --> 00:24:05 what they were recommending, right?
00:24:05 --> 00:24:10 Now, they did ask for some money, too, but the main thing was they were trying
00:24:10 --> 00:24:16 to show up institutional stuff, land, right?
00:24:19 --> 00:24:24 Education, money for entrepreneurship, those kind of things,
00:24:25 --> 00:24:29 especially housing, which would have fallen to land.
00:24:29 --> 00:24:37 But our main issue in this nation is for all the work we put in,
00:24:37 --> 00:24:43 we haven't built enough wealth to show what our investment is.
00:24:43 --> 00:24:51 Some of that is our individual faults because we don't understand the nuances of finance or whatever.
00:24:51 --> 00:24:56 We didn't understand the value of credit until it was too late.
00:24:57 --> 00:25:02 You know, we're some of the biggest consumers on the planet,
00:25:02 --> 00:25:05 so we buy things instead of investing in things.
00:25:06 --> 00:25:09 Those are individual traits that either we can
00:25:09 --> 00:25:16 learn how to work around or learn how to shut it down all together just all
00:25:16 --> 00:25:23 depends on the level of discipline you're willing to take in and not an expert
00:25:23 --> 00:25:27 on that by any stretch of imagination but.
00:25:31 --> 00:25:33 One of the things I was trying to
00:25:33 --> 00:25:39 do when I was elected, I wanted it to be mandatory that every black child.
00:25:40 --> 00:25:45 Now, the way I worded the legislation, there were some white kids and Latino
00:25:45 --> 00:25:48 kids and Asian kids that were going to benefit from it.
00:25:48 --> 00:25:52 But when you looked at the numbers and you saw the overwhelming majority of
00:25:52 --> 00:25:55 the kids in the public school system, especially in Mississippi,
00:25:55 --> 00:25:58 were black kids. This was a tool they needed.
00:25:59 --> 00:26:05 Teach them entrepreneurship. Teach them financial literacy. Make it a requirement for them to graduate.
00:26:06 --> 00:26:12 So even if they choose not to go to college, if they had a skill set and they
00:26:12 --> 00:26:15 wanted to make some money doing that, they would know the basics.
00:26:16 --> 00:26:21 And then they would know how to manage their money. They would know how to build their credit.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:31 And the more black people that own houses, own property, that builds wealth in the community.
00:26:31 --> 00:26:40 Now, because 26% of Americans think that reparations is okay,
00:26:40 --> 00:26:46 then it's not popular to use the term reparations.
00:26:46 --> 00:26:51 So that's why when you see elected officials talking about housing and education
00:26:51 --> 00:26:57 and all that stuff, they're doing it because if you actually said this is reparations.
00:26:58 --> 00:26:59 White folks would be upset.
00:27:00 --> 00:27:04 But yet this whole election was about reparations for them.
00:27:07 --> 00:27:15 Some of us bought into it from other sectors of society, other people of color.
00:27:15 --> 00:27:21 But every election from this point forward is an act of reparations for them.
00:27:21 --> 00:27:24 They want to maintain where they are.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:31 They want to rebuild their dominance for whatever reason.
00:27:31 --> 00:27:37 Because even the white folks are divided on why they should be supreme. Right?
00:27:38 --> 00:27:43 And I know that's not a popular statement to say, but it is what it is.
00:27:43 --> 00:27:47 I mean, just look at the dynamics that have happened after the election and
00:27:47 --> 00:27:49 the rhetoric that is being used.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:56 Those that supported Donald Trump are saying it's a mandate.
00:27:56 --> 00:28:00 He barely got 50% of the population to go with him.
00:28:00 --> 00:28:09 They're saying there's a mandate for discriminating against people and deporting
00:28:09 --> 00:28:17 people and shaping the government where the president has all the power and
00:28:17 --> 00:28:19 everybody just falls in line.
00:28:19 --> 00:28:22 Now, folks don't like to use the word fascism.
00:28:23 --> 00:28:28 They don't like to use the word authoritarianism. Okay. So let's just break it down.
00:28:29 --> 00:28:31 You want the president.
00:28:32 --> 00:28:35 And somebody used the term, and I can't remember exactly what it was,
00:28:35 --> 00:28:37 but you want the president to have all the power.
00:28:38 --> 00:28:44 And you feel that would legitimize the position more and that everybody else
00:28:44 --> 00:28:47 is supposed to just fall in line and agree with the president.
00:28:49 --> 00:28:56 That's not how we were set up. Our whole purpose, which is why I say this is
00:28:56 --> 00:29:02 the division between white people, is that there were some white people that did not want that.
00:29:02 --> 00:29:04 They wanted to do their own thing.
00:29:05 --> 00:29:13 And they didn't want to answer to a monarch or a president with authoritative,
00:29:14 --> 00:29:15 total authoritative power.
00:29:15 --> 00:29:18 They didn't want that. They didn't want a king.
00:29:19 --> 00:29:24 They wanted to govern themselves accordingly. I mean, one state was even founded,
00:29:24 --> 00:29:27 for the most part, to be a religious colony.
00:29:28 --> 00:29:34 One kind of colony was set up to be a prison colony because they wanted to do their own thing.
00:29:35 --> 00:29:40 And so a revolution was fought, and the folks that didn't want the king won.
00:29:41 --> 00:29:46 When the Civil War was fought, it was because some folks wanted to keep slavery
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 going. Other folks had decided enough is enough.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 We want to get some of that labor, and we'll be willing to pay them. But...
00:29:56 --> 00:30:03 So they literally fought each other. And so now the path we are going and the
00:30:03 --> 00:30:12 way the rhetoric is being exposed is that that looks like the solution for where we are now.
00:30:13 --> 00:30:19 And I and other like-minded people trying to convince you not to go down that road.
00:30:20 --> 00:30:28 And especially Black people. So we, somehow, someway, have to try to come together.
00:30:30 --> 00:30:36 Now, I know people say it's hard because you've got some people who feel that
00:30:36 --> 00:30:41 they need to have their proximity to whiteness so they can maintain their lifestyle.
00:30:42 --> 00:30:47 And I've always made the argument that my proximity to whiteness is based on my blackness.
00:30:48 --> 00:30:52 I was able to do what I wanted to do and achieve what I was able to achieve
00:30:52 --> 00:30:56 in politics because I stayed true to my people and myself.
00:30:57 --> 00:31:02 Yeah, I've learned some things from their culture, classical music,
00:31:02 --> 00:31:05 or as my friend would say, European classical music, right?
00:31:06 --> 00:31:08 I speak English fairly well.
00:31:09 --> 00:31:17 You know, I listen to music other than hip-hop or R&B, right?
00:31:17 --> 00:31:21 I watch movies that are not strictly black oriented.
00:31:21 --> 00:31:27 I mean, I've been a part of the culture, but I understood my history and I understood my community.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:30 I understood who I truly am.
00:31:31 --> 00:31:37 Because I was unapologetic about that, I was able to sit at the table with folks
00:31:37 --> 00:31:42 that did not look like me or maybe didn't even want me to succeed.
00:31:42 --> 00:31:47 And was able to articulate what was needed at the time.
00:31:49 --> 00:31:56 And I would argue that there are hundreds of, if not thousands of black people
00:31:56 --> 00:32:03 like me that did that, that are in political positions or in positions in government, right?
00:32:04 --> 00:32:09 Or community leaders or non-profit leaders, religious leaders.
00:32:09 --> 00:32:11 I think there's a number of us that understand that.
00:32:13 --> 00:32:16 So if we line up with the Republican Party, we're not coons.
00:32:16 --> 00:32:19 If we line up with the Democratic Party, we're not chills.
00:32:20 --> 00:32:30 We're free thinkers who embrace a political party that we think helps us get to where we need to go.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:35 The problem is now is that those of us who are Republican and those of us who
00:32:35 --> 00:32:37 are Democrat don't talk to each other anymore.
00:32:38 --> 00:32:44 We've assimilated on the red side or the blue side and forgot about the black
00:32:44 --> 00:32:47 side because that's the reason.
00:32:50 --> 00:32:54 While we engage in the political process. It's about us.
00:32:55 --> 00:32:59 I don't want to see any black man or black woman harassed by the police.
00:33:00 --> 00:33:04 And this is somebody that has been in law enforcement. I don't want that.
00:33:05 --> 00:33:09 Nor do I want somebody from Haiti or from Ghana to be harassed by the police either.
00:33:10 --> 00:33:15 Because my socialization is that we are all African.
00:33:16 --> 00:33:20 Some of us were born here. Some of was born somewhere else, whether it's in
00:33:20 --> 00:33:25 the Caribbean, whether it was in Latin America, whether it was in Africa,
00:33:25 --> 00:33:26 whether it was in Europe.
00:33:27 --> 00:33:28 We all have that connection.
00:33:29 --> 00:33:33 And there are all things that we can bring to the table if we unite.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:43 But if we continue down the road of tribalism, then, excuse me,
00:33:43 --> 00:33:49 whatever dream somebody has about an African or a black nation, it's not going to work.
00:33:50 --> 00:33:52 There has to be a guiding principle.
00:33:54 --> 00:34:04 So if we don't have that shared value, if we don't have shared interests,
00:34:05 --> 00:34:11 then it's going to be hard for us to get to a point that we need to get to.
00:34:11 --> 00:34:16 It's going to be hard for us to progress and move forward.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:26 And even those people who say, well, you know, I'm progressive or I'm ultra-conservative
00:34:26 --> 00:34:27 and I just don't, whatever.
00:34:28 --> 00:34:32 All those terms are terms that other ethnic groups deal with,
00:34:32 --> 00:34:37 other races deal with, however classification you want.
00:34:37 --> 00:34:44 A group of people of a similar culture, they all deal with that because now
00:34:44 --> 00:34:45 everybody is like-minded.
00:34:46 --> 00:34:53 But again, the whole purpose of having debate and discussion is to reach solutions,
00:34:54 --> 00:34:59 is to build a foundation, and then the next generation comes in and improves
00:34:59 --> 00:35:01 on that, and so on and so on.
00:35:01 --> 00:35:08 That's how you perpetuate a race of people, not creating laws to make people have babies.
00:35:09 --> 00:35:19 That's not how that works. It's about building on foundational ideas and improving
00:35:19 --> 00:35:22 them to make sure that society continues to function.
00:35:23 --> 00:35:26 And we act like we don't understand that.
00:35:26 --> 00:35:32 And maybe we don't, because the way education is set up now is that we just
00:35:32 --> 00:35:40 want people to be smart enough to go to work, that industrial revolutionary type mindset.
00:35:40 --> 00:35:48 Instead of teaching people how to tap into their brains and to be creative and to.
00:35:50 --> 00:35:58 That's our fundamental problem with education. And that we don't understand how government works.
00:35:59 --> 00:36:06 We treat government like black college alumni treat their colleges.
00:36:08 --> 00:36:14 Here's what I mean. So, or how black Christians treat the church.
00:36:15 --> 00:36:16 Again, here's what I mean.
00:36:17 --> 00:36:22 When we're young, we want to do any and everything. We want to fulfill our careers.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:23 We want to start a family.
00:36:23 --> 00:36:26 We want to do this. We want to do that. We want to travel, all this stuff.
00:36:26 --> 00:36:30 And then when we get old, oh, yeah, well, if I got some money,
00:36:30 --> 00:36:34 yeah, I'll give to alumni. I might actually get involved in the Alumni Association.
00:36:34 --> 00:36:38 Oh, yeah, well, I'm getting closer to my time. I might need to build,
00:36:38 --> 00:36:41 reestablish my relationship with the Lord, right?
00:36:41 --> 00:36:44 That's how people function.
00:36:44 --> 00:36:52 But the reality is, is that you need to be engaged if you're an alum of HBCU, basically from day one.
00:36:52 --> 00:37:01 That's why at my school, Jackson State, your first year of dues are waived.
00:37:01 --> 00:37:05 So the minute you graduate, you can participate in the alumni association.
00:37:05 --> 00:37:08 Then the next year, you have to pay your dues.
00:37:09 --> 00:37:16 All right. That's why churches started incorporating huge Sundays back in the
00:37:16 --> 00:37:21 70s so that young people can be engaged in the day-to-day activities of their church.
00:37:23 --> 00:37:26 And they don't have to wait till they get gray hair to become an usher or become
00:37:26 --> 00:37:30 part of ladies auxiliary. Right?
00:37:31 --> 00:37:32 The deacon board.
00:37:33 --> 00:37:39 We need people engaged in their best years, not in their later years.
00:37:41 --> 00:37:48 We need wisdom from older people, but we need the activism and the energy of younger people.
00:37:48 --> 00:37:50 It has to be a total collective.
00:37:51 --> 00:37:56 Now, personalities are willing to clash because of age differences,
00:37:56 --> 00:37:57 because of experiences.
00:37:58 --> 00:38:01 But it doesn't mean a clash has to mean a permanent division.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:11 A lot of people, God, well, the point I was trying to make before I go off on
00:38:11 --> 00:38:15 that tangent was, you know, you need to understand government now.
00:38:16 --> 00:38:19 I don't care if you're in elementary school. I don't care if you're in high
00:38:19 --> 00:38:21 school, college, whatever.
00:38:21 --> 00:38:24 You need to understand government now.
00:38:25 --> 00:38:29 When I used to go and talk to young people in high schools, I used to remind
00:38:29 --> 00:38:35 them. And then middle schools, they weren't taxpayers yet in the traditional sense, right?
00:38:35 --> 00:38:41 They weren't paying an income tax necessarily or especially middle school or,
00:38:41 --> 00:38:45 you know, they weren't paying property taxes, but they were buying candy and chips.
00:38:46 --> 00:38:47 So they were paying a sales tax.
00:38:48 --> 00:38:53 And I had to explain, you are taxpayers right now. You just can't vote yet.
00:38:54 --> 00:39:01 But you're paying taxes. If you've got a job, they're taking out Social Security from your check.
00:39:02 --> 00:39:05 They're taking out Medicaid from your check, but you're not able to vote you.
00:39:07 --> 00:39:15 So you need to understand. So when you are 18, and for those men that have to
00:39:15 --> 00:39:22 fill out that form so you can get your financial aid, selective service, right, you need to know.
00:39:23 --> 00:39:26 You need to know why you're filling out the Selective Service Form.
00:39:26 --> 00:39:31 You need to know what government agency handles the financial aid form.
00:39:32 --> 00:39:34 You need to know about government.
00:39:35 --> 00:39:39 Because when you are 18, you can vote for these people.
00:39:40 --> 00:39:44 In some cases, in some positions, you could actually run yourself.
00:39:45 --> 00:39:51 So you need to understand. You need to be educated about this government because
00:39:51 --> 00:39:54 this government controls each and everything that we do.
00:39:58 --> 00:40:04 We agree to set it up. We don't deal with the day-to-day, but we vote for the people.
00:40:04 --> 00:40:11 We trust people to handle the day-to-day business so we can live our lives.
00:40:11 --> 00:40:17 But if we show as though they're not handling the business, then we can vote them out.
00:40:18 --> 00:40:21 Or if we want to go in a different direction, we can vote them out.
00:40:23 --> 00:40:28 That's, you've got to learn that. There's one other point I wanted to make before I close up.
00:40:28 --> 00:40:34 It's that what I'm talking about is not a new idea as far as us getting together.
00:40:35 --> 00:40:40 You know, when I was in college, I wrote this piece for the school newspaper
00:40:40 --> 00:40:43 saying that we needed to have a black convention.
00:40:45 --> 00:40:48 And the president of the university called me into his office.
00:40:49 --> 00:40:55 And, you know, Mike, he said, I want to talk to you about your editorial. Okay.
00:40:56 --> 00:41:01 So he wasn't calling me up to criticize me about it.
00:41:01 --> 00:41:05 He was calling me up to give me an education about it.
00:41:06 --> 00:41:12 He was the one who told me about the black convention in Gary and how all these
00:41:12 --> 00:41:18 different factions from the black community came and their objective was to
00:41:18 --> 00:41:22 create this agenda and all this stuff, and then it ended.
00:41:25 --> 00:41:29 Kind of came out of that, but it was more cultural. Like, I'm black and I'm
00:41:29 --> 00:41:35 proud and the fuck is beautiful and, you know, some lingo we use.
00:41:36 --> 00:41:38 It didn't achieve what it wanted to achieve.
00:41:39 --> 00:41:43 And then I remember Tavis Smiley.
00:41:44 --> 00:41:50 And Tavis Smiley used to have these state of black America forms.
00:41:51 --> 00:41:58 And he would have any and everybody. He had Farrakhan, he had Cornel West, he had Thomas Sowell.
00:41:58 --> 00:42:01 He had all these different leaders of black thought.
00:42:02 --> 00:42:06 Any given moment, as many as he could have on one stage at one time,
00:42:06 --> 00:42:09 and then he would do something else and get other leaders.
00:42:09 --> 00:42:14 Pretty much around in the same vein, progressive, conservative, moderates, whatever.
00:42:16 --> 00:42:20 And nothing happened with that. But the efforts were there.
00:42:20 --> 00:42:25 But even before then, and I had the privilege of interviewing the lady Dr.
00:42:25 --> 00:42:31 Foreman, who talked about these colored conventions that were taking place during
00:42:31 --> 00:42:37 Reconstruction and how in different cities and different communities around the country,
00:42:37 --> 00:42:42 these black leaders would come together and talk about the issues of the day
00:42:42 --> 00:42:44 and what the black agendas should be.
00:42:44 --> 00:42:49 And it was a big event for that town, especially the black community of that town, right?
00:42:50 --> 00:42:54 And then, of course, after Reconstruction ended, that ended.
00:42:54 --> 00:42:58 Although there were some remnants of it, you know, some people tried to keep it going.
00:42:58 --> 00:43:04 And the last really successful, quote-unquote, colored convention was Denier
00:43:04 --> 00:43:10 Revoltment, which led to the NAACP being formed.
00:43:10 --> 00:43:17 But that was only with some white buy-in, how the NAACP got in there. Nonetheless.
00:43:18 --> 00:43:22 So what I'm saying is not something that we haven't tried before.
00:43:23 --> 00:43:32 What I am asking is that if we do this, we stay committed to it.
00:43:33 --> 00:43:35 And we build something from that.
00:43:36 --> 00:43:40 Something so that the next generation and the generation after that and the
00:43:40 --> 00:43:43 generation after that can build upon.
00:43:44 --> 00:43:48 I don't want us just to convene. I want us to commit. Mmh.
00:43:50 --> 00:43:56 Because the threat of violence, which I initially started talking about, is real.
00:43:57 --> 00:44:05 And if we don't close our ranks in our community, and when I say our community,
00:44:05 --> 00:44:07 I'm talking about a pan-African community.
00:44:07 --> 00:44:12 I'm not just talking about black or African-Americans. I'm talking about all
00:44:12 --> 00:44:16 of us dark-skinned folk. Don't matter if you speak Portuguese,
00:44:16 --> 00:44:21 Latin, you know, not Latin, French, Spanish.
00:44:22 --> 00:44:26 If you're here in the United States, you're living here in the United States,
00:44:27 --> 00:44:29 there needs to be a coming together.
00:44:30 --> 00:44:36 Because all of us are going to be impacted by this administration and the administration
00:44:36 --> 00:44:38 after that and the administration after that.
00:44:39 --> 00:44:41 If there is still a democracy.
00:44:42 --> 00:44:45 Obviously, y'all didn't care about that, so we'll just roll the dice and see
00:44:45 --> 00:44:48 what happens after January 20th, 2025.
00:44:50 --> 00:44:55 But before the threat manifests into something where we're going to have to
00:44:55 --> 00:44:59 pick sides and pick up guns or whatever.
00:45:00 --> 00:45:05 Maybe if we coalesce, maybe if we get together, we can avert that.
00:45:06 --> 00:45:10 Because if it gets down to that, we're going to be to blame.
00:45:11 --> 00:45:14 See, I don't think I even finished my thought about the white supremacy because,
00:45:14 --> 00:45:19 you know, on the one side, I talked about the conservative arguments on the liberal arguments.
00:45:19 --> 00:45:24 They're saying, well, we focus too much on, quote unquote, woke issues,
00:45:25 --> 00:45:30 which I think is the dumbest thing ever, because it's like, if you're not woke, you sleep.
00:45:31 --> 00:45:34 And I don't want America sleepwalking anymore.
00:45:35 --> 00:45:44 Right. But there's a threat out there of a violent division of this nation, whether that,
00:45:45 --> 00:45:52 I don't know. I don't want it to happen. But what I do want is before that manifests,
00:45:52 --> 00:45:57 before that blossoms, we need to come together.
00:45:58 --> 00:46:04 If your agenda is to keep us divided and you're black, I'm not talking to you.
00:46:04 --> 00:46:06 I'm talking to the rest of us.
00:46:07 --> 00:46:14 I don't care who gets a reparations check. I don't care who gets a particular job.
00:46:15 --> 00:46:21 What I do care about is building wealth, because if we build wealth,
00:46:22 --> 00:46:26 we dictate who gets what check. We dictate who gets what job.
00:46:27 --> 00:46:29 We dictate politics.
00:46:31 --> 00:46:34 Fifty five percent of the black vote lives in one part of the country.
00:46:34 --> 00:46:38 The rest is scattered through urban centers.
00:46:40 --> 00:46:46 So there's a power base and there's a geographical place where that power base can make an impact.
00:46:47 --> 00:46:57 And that place is desperately needed because that place is probably the poorest
00:46:57 --> 00:46:59 place in this nation of wealth.
00:47:00 --> 00:47:03 If there's some folks in Kansas and Idaho and Montana saying,
00:47:03 --> 00:47:09 oh, I'm struggling and I'm a farmer and all that, your issue is credit because
00:47:09 --> 00:47:13 you are providing a good and a service and you're getting paid for that.
00:47:14 --> 00:47:20 Sometimes the government pays you because for some reason you couldn't sell that product.
00:47:21 --> 00:47:24 I mean, I'm talking about y'all. I'm talking about that reason,
00:47:24 --> 00:47:26 the country where poverty is poverty.
00:47:26 --> 00:47:29 It's not about credit. It's about wealth. It's about money.
00:47:30 --> 00:47:35 And even if you have one or two jewels in that desert of poverty,
00:47:36 --> 00:47:38 it doesn't eliminate the rest of the folks who are broke.
00:47:39 --> 00:47:44 Atlanta is the classic example. Oh, yeah, no way. Atlanta is the black mecca
00:47:44 --> 00:47:45 and blah, blah, this, that, and the other.
00:47:45 --> 00:47:52 The biggest wealth gap between black folks, those that have and those that have not, is in Atlanta.
00:47:53 --> 00:47:55 If it's the black mecca, there shouldn't be a gap.
00:47:57 --> 00:48:06 So we need to stop the trolling, stop playing the dozens, stop the it talking,
00:48:07 --> 00:48:11 and get together and get down to business. Bottom line.
00:48:12 --> 00:48:15 Thank you all for listening. Until next time.
00:48:22 --> 00:49:03 Music.
Related Episodes
A Thoughtful Conversation Featuring Shalonda Spencer
In this episode, political commentator and policy analyst Shalonda Spencer offers her thoughtful insight on the 2024 election and what direction the Democratic Party, as well as the Nation, needs to go.
Whistleblowing, Writing & Activism Featuring Danielle Spencer
In this episode, Danielle Spencer, Federal whistleblower, author, and activist, talks about her journey and her new purpose.
A Georgia Perspective Featuring Jessica Weinstein and Dr. Tammy Greer
In this last episode of 2024, Jessica Weinstein, LCSW/Psychotherapist and Democratic Party activist, and Dr. Tammy Greer, Director of the BIS Social Entrepreneurship Program at Georgia State University, offer their perspectives on why Georgia performed better than any other swing state in the 2024 e...