Host Erik Fleming brings together three guests making change in culture and community: Keldamuzik, an artist and entrepreneur using her Tamz Berets to raise awareness and support for cancer patients; Dr. Donna J. Nicol, author of a biography about trustee Dr. Claudia Hampton and the fight to save affirmative action; and Dontaye Carter, a mayoral candidate focused on affordable housing, community centers and inclusive growth.
The episode explores how artists, educators and local leaders navigate politics, power and respectability to build community resources and protect access to opportunity.
Listeners will hear personal stories, practical solutions and calls to civic engagement aimed at strengthening neighborhoods and expanding access to education, healthcare and economic stability.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:06 Welcome. I'm Erik Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time.
00:00:06 --> 00:00:08 I want to personally thank you for listening to the podcast.
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00:00:32 --> 00:00:35 listen to it. That will help the podcast tremendously.
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00:01:02 --> 00:01:04 make this moment a 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.
00:01:12 --> 00:01:17 The following program is hosted by the NBG Podcast Network.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:56 Music.
00:01:21 --> 00:01:25 Thank you. Thank you.
00:01:53 --> 00:02:00 Thank you. Hello, and welcome to another moment with Erik Fleming.
00:02:00 --> 00:02:02 I am your host, Erik Fleming.
00:02:03 --> 00:02:06 So today, I've got three guests.
00:02:07 --> 00:02:14 One is an artist who has a special project I wanted to highlight today.
00:02:15 --> 00:02:20 That she uses her business to help people in certain causes.
00:02:21 --> 00:02:26 I have an educator who has written this incredible book about another educator
00:02:26 --> 00:02:29 and the struggles and the triumphs she had.
00:02:29 --> 00:02:39 Then I have a young man who wants to be mayor of a city in Georgia that I have some ties to.
00:02:40 --> 00:02:45 And so I was very, very happy that I got all three of them.
00:02:45 --> 00:02:50 So, yes, y'all, it's going to be a long show. But look, I hope y'all appreciate
00:02:50 --> 00:02:56 the fact that I'm getting these people in and we're engaging in these incredible
00:02:56 --> 00:03:03 conversations and that you understand that there are people out here that are
00:03:03 --> 00:03:04 really trying to make the difference.
00:03:04 --> 00:03:11 In this world where we're seeing that idiocracy is being rewarded as being normal,
00:03:12 --> 00:03:17 where mediocrity is being treated as greatness, it's good to hear and listen
00:03:17 --> 00:03:22 to people who are really, really doing the work, who are really,
00:03:22 --> 00:03:24 really trying to do something positive.
00:03:25 --> 00:03:31 And, you know, so I appreciate y'all's indulgence in listening to these conversations.
00:03:31 --> 00:03:32 I appreciate y'all's support.
00:03:33 --> 00:03:37 And we're just, we're going to keep it going. As always, you know,
00:03:37 --> 00:03:41 we're still, that magical number of 20 subscribers, we're still trying to
00:03:41 --> 00:03:46 get y'all to do that here on Patreon.
00:03:47 --> 00:03:50 And, but you know, it's like, I know the word is spreading.
00:03:51 --> 00:03:55 I get emails. I get people that are requesting to be on the show.
00:03:55 --> 00:04:00 I get people who are saying, we appreciate you interviewing this person and
00:04:00 --> 00:04:02 all this stuff. So I know y'all listening.
00:04:03 --> 00:04:07 But the subscriptions will help a lot because there's some things,
00:04:07 --> 00:04:10 and I've told you before, there's some things I want to do.
00:04:10 --> 00:04:13 I'm very fortunate to have Grace.
00:04:13 --> 00:04:17 But there's some more things I want to add to that because I want this to be
00:04:17 --> 00:04:19 as comprehensive as possible.
00:04:19 --> 00:04:25 We're saying this is the podcast of our time, and it's awesome to get people
00:04:25 --> 00:04:27 in our time that's really doing some good things.
00:04:28 --> 00:04:32 But as always, we want to do some more. And the main reason I want to do more
00:04:32 --> 00:04:34 is for you all, the listeners.
00:04:35 --> 00:04:40 So, you know, whatever you can, you know, it's only a dollar subscription.
00:04:40 --> 00:04:43 Whatever you can do, I greatly appreciate it.
00:04:43 --> 00:04:49 But I do appreciate the fact that you are listening and that you put up not
00:04:49 --> 00:04:55 only with the time, but even my commentary at the end, which, yeah, I will have one.
00:04:56 --> 00:05:01 Because something happened that I know that if it happened to me,
00:05:01 --> 00:05:07 I don't know if I would have been as classy about it. I'm just being honest.
00:05:07 --> 00:05:11 And it really, really sends a message. There's actually a couple of things that happened.
00:05:12 --> 00:05:16 I'll lightly touch on the other one, but it still bothered me.
00:05:16 --> 00:05:17 So I want to say something.
00:05:17 --> 00:05:20 But nonetheless, this is a good show.
00:05:20 --> 00:05:25 So let's go ahead and kick it off. And as always, we kick it off with a moment of news with Grace G.
00:05:26 --> 00:05:31 Music.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:36 Thanks, Erik. Judicial intervention forced the U.S.
00:05:36 --> 00:05:40 Justice Department to scale back President Trump's attempted takeover of the Washington, D.C.
00:05:41 --> 00:05:45 Police force, allowing the city's police chief to remain in command.
00:05:45 --> 00:05:49 During a White House summit, President Trump pledged that the United States
00:05:49 --> 00:05:53 would help guarantee Ukraine security in any deal to end its war with Russia.
00:05:53 --> 00:05:57 A federal judge in Miami siding with environmental groups ordered a halt to
00:05:57 --> 00:06:01 new construction and the removal of equipment at a migrant detention center
00:06:01 --> 00:06:03 in the Florida Everglades.
00:06:03 --> 00:06:07 A New York appeals court threw out a half-billion-dollar penalty against Donald
00:06:07 --> 00:06:11 Trump while upholding the fraud case against him. The U.S.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:15 Department of Justice is halting all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza
00:06:15 --> 00:06:18 to conduct a full and thorough review of applicants.
00:06:18 --> 00:06:23 The Texas legislature approved new congressional maps after Democratic lawmakers
00:06:23 --> 00:06:25 in Texas returned to the state.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:27 The California Assembly passed
00:06:27 --> 00:06:31 legislation to have a redistricting referendum on the November ballot.
00:06:31 --> 00:06:35 President Trump is urging the first black female Federal Reserve governor,
00:06:35 --> 00:06:39 Lisa Cook, to resign based on allegations about mortgages she holds.
00:06:40 --> 00:06:46 Hamas agreed to a proposed 60-day ceasefire with Israel that includes a prisoner exchange.
00:06:46 --> 00:06:50 President Trump has pledged to issue an executive order to end the use of mail-in
00:06:50 --> 00:06:54 ballots and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
00:06:55 --> 00:07:00 The U.S. has announced criminal charges against Haitian gang leader Jimmy Cherizier
00:07:00 --> 00:07:04 and a North Carolina man for conspiring to violate sanctions and raise funds
00:07:04 --> 00:07:06 for Cherizier's gang activities.
00:07:07 --> 00:07:13 Elon Musk has decided to halt plans for a new political party to focus on his companies.
00:07:13 --> 00:07:17 And the measles outbreak in West Texas has officially ended,
00:07:17 --> 00:07:21 with the state now focusing on vaccination campaigns to prevent future cases.
00:07:22 --> 00:07:27 I am Grace G, and this has been a Moment of News. .
00:07:27 --> 00:07:32 Music.
00:07:32 --> 00:07:35 All right. Thank you, Grace, for that moment of news.
00:07:35 --> 00:07:40 And it's time now time for my guest, Keldamuzik.
00:07:41 --> 00:07:46 Keldamuzik is a multifaceted hip hop artist, actress and entrepreneur known
00:07:46 --> 00:07:51 for her powerful lyricism and dynamic presence in the entertainment industry.
00:07:51 --> 00:07:56 With a deep passion for storytelling, she seamlessly blends her music with her
00:07:56 --> 00:08:01 background in acting, creating an authentic and unique voice within the hip-hop scene.
00:08:01 --> 00:08:07 Beyond music, Keldamuzik has also made waves as the host of the popular talk
00:08:07 --> 00:08:13 show Diva Talk Tonight, where she showcased her charisma and ability to connect
00:08:13 --> 00:08:15 with a diverse range of personalities.
00:08:15 --> 00:08:20 Her entrepreneurial spirit shines through with the launch of Tam's Berets,
00:08:20 --> 00:08:23 a fashion brand that reflects her creative vision and style.
00:08:24 --> 00:08:30 Drawing influences from a variety of genres, Keldamuzik's music captures deep
00:08:30 --> 00:08:33 emotional resonance while pushing the boundaries of hip hop.
00:08:33 --> 00:08:37 Whether on stage, in front of the camera, or through her business ventures,
00:08:37 --> 00:08:43 she continues to inspire and connect with fans worldwide, constantly evolving
00:08:43 --> 00:08:45 in every aspect of her career.
00:08:46 --> 00:08:50 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest
00:08:50 --> 00:08:53 on this podcast, Keldamuzik.
00:08:54 --> 00:09:04 Music.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:08 All right. Keldamuzik. How are you doing, sister? You doing good?
00:09:09 --> 00:09:13 Good. I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. Well, I'm really,
00:09:13 --> 00:09:15 really honored to have you come on.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:22 And just so you know, you're not the first musician or musical artist to come on the show.
00:09:22 --> 00:09:28 So, but, you know, there's a couple of things that you're doing that kind of
00:09:28 --> 00:09:34 got my attention and I wanted to highlight that and just just talk a little bit about you.
00:09:34 --> 00:09:37 And, you know, we'll throw a little politics in there. You know,
00:09:38 --> 00:09:41 nothing too heavy. Don't want to get your fan base upset with you.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:42 You know what I'm saying?
00:09:43 --> 00:09:48 Yeah, it's all good. All right. So normally I start off with a couple of icebreakers,
00:09:49 --> 00:09:52 and the first icebreaker is usually a quote.
00:09:52 --> 00:09:55 So this is a quote I want you to respond to.
00:09:55 --> 00:10:00 There is no limit to what you can achieve with the right mindset.
00:10:00 --> 00:10:08 There's no limit of what you can achieve with the right mindset. Yes, ma'am. Yes.
00:10:09 --> 00:10:15 So what is your response to that quote? Oh, my response is, I agree.
00:10:17 --> 00:10:22 You know, it takes a lot of thought, it takes a thought process,
00:10:22 --> 00:10:25 and that's what creates the mindset.
00:10:26 --> 00:10:31 That's what's going to determine how far you go in your career.
00:10:31 --> 00:10:36 And whatever career it is that you chose, it's all about the way you go about
00:10:36 --> 00:10:45 doing it, and it's your mindset that is the reason why you move that way or go in that direction.
00:10:46 --> 00:10:49 So, you know, there are a lot of people out there who are career driven.
00:10:49 --> 00:10:52 There are people who are driven about a lot of things.
00:10:53 --> 00:11:00 But it just really takes persistency, consistency, and drive.
00:11:02 --> 00:11:06 Yeah. All right. So now the next icebreaker is called 20 questions.
00:11:07 --> 00:11:12 So what I need you to do is give me a number between 1 and 20.
00:11:13 --> 00:11:18 Okay. So this is your question. What is the one thing you hope the new administration
00:11:18 --> 00:11:22 will do or not do during their term?
00:11:22 --> 00:11:26 I'm going to have to say reparations. Give us reparations.
00:11:27 --> 00:11:31 Okay. You want to elaborate on that or you're going to leave it like that?
00:11:31 --> 00:11:35 I'm going to leave it like that. Okay. All right. That's cool.
00:11:36 --> 00:11:40 All right. When did you realize your passion for music? And then when did you
00:11:40 --> 00:11:44 realize that you wanted to be immersed in the business of entertainment?
00:11:45 --> 00:11:50 Yeah, my passion for music started when I was around 16 or so.
00:11:50 --> 00:11:52 Started writing, started working with producers.
00:11:53 --> 00:12:01 And when I got older, I turned 21, is when I actually relocated from San Jose to Oakland.
00:12:01 --> 00:12:07 Signed with an independent label called Squad Music Group. Actually recorded an album.
00:12:07 --> 00:12:14 Released the album. You know, did the whole street slash guerrilla marketing thing.
00:12:14 --> 00:12:19 Passing out flyers and CDs and promo CDs everywhere, at schools,
00:12:19 --> 00:12:23 universities, anywhere where I could reach my demographic.
00:12:24 --> 00:12:30 And gosh, the way things have changed right now with technology, music is going with it.
00:12:30 --> 00:12:36 So that means as artists, we have to go with it and find different ways to keep
00:12:36 --> 00:12:41 our music relevant, to keep people in tune to everything that we do.
00:12:43 --> 00:12:46 So yeah it's just really a passion of
00:12:46 --> 00:12:48 mine yeah so i see i thought
00:12:48 --> 00:12:51 you were from oakland originally so you were from san jose
00:12:51 --> 00:12:55 and then you you moved to oakland correct yes
00:12:55 --> 00:13:03 okay all right san jose home of the cow palace i think that's in frisco is it
00:13:03 --> 00:13:08 frisco well i know the shark does the san jose sharks play there or they used
00:13:08 --> 00:13:13 to they used to play there yes san jose sharks yes Yeah, yeah. Okay, that's cool.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:19 See, something else to write down. All right, so what has been the toughest
00:13:19 --> 00:13:23 thing to overcome being an artist slash businesswoman?
00:13:23 --> 00:13:27 I would say the toughest thing...
00:13:30 --> 00:13:37 I would say your appearance. So it's like if you're dressed down.
00:13:39 --> 00:13:43 Then you're not appealing to the other males in the industry,
00:13:43 --> 00:13:48 which means you don't really want to pursue your career in front of the camera.
00:13:48 --> 00:13:51 You want to do, you know, work behind the camera.
00:13:51 --> 00:13:56 But if you're dressed, you know, it's somewhat sexy, then it's like,
00:13:56 --> 00:13:58 oh, okay, you want to be the next so-and-so.
00:13:58 --> 00:14:03 You know what I mean? And now we're going to have you look like that to the extreme.
00:14:04 --> 00:14:07 So it's all about your appearance, unfortunately. You know, it's like,
00:14:07 --> 00:14:09 why can't I just dress like Billie Eilish?
00:14:09 --> 00:14:13 Where I don't give a damn and I can still make sexy music.
00:14:14 --> 00:14:18 You know, I go, well, you know, why can't I be Aaliyah?
00:14:18 --> 00:14:24 Right? Or why can't I be someone like the brat who still dresses like a tomboy,
00:14:24 --> 00:14:26 still makes music for the ladies?
00:14:27 --> 00:14:30 You know what I'm saying? And then if we want to, you know, go fast forward,
00:14:30 --> 00:14:35 you have artists like, you know, Meg Thee Stallion and Glorilla, you know what I mean?
00:14:35 --> 00:14:40 They used to make fun of Glorilla for being too skinny and, you know,
00:14:41 --> 00:14:46 not really looking the part per se, when it doesn't matter.
00:14:47 --> 00:14:49 You know, her music speaks for herself. She's a gorgeous girl,
00:14:50 --> 00:14:56 you know? So it really is tough because they wouldn't run this across men, right?
00:14:56 --> 00:15:02 Any rap artist, male rap artist, male singer could kind of do whatever they
00:15:02 --> 00:15:03 want. And there's no judgment.
00:15:04 --> 00:15:09 Yeah, you know, in my, you know, Jodeci is what comes to mind with me.
00:15:09 --> 00:15:13 And, you know, KC and JoJo, I love them as far as musicians.
00:15:13 --> 00:15:17 But they didn't get that job because of their looks.
00:15:17 --> 00:15:20 I just, you know, they can come at me if they want to.
00:15:20 --> 00:15:25 But they know the truth. You know what I'm saying? But they could sing and they
00:15:25 --> 00:15:28 were very talented. And so they got their break.
00:15:28 --> 00:15:30 And so I understand what you're saying.
00:15:31 --> 00:15:35 So where does that pressure come from? Does it come from producers?
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 Does it come from the record labels?
00:15:40 --> 00:15:44 Who exerts that pressure to say, okay, well, you need to dress this way.
00:15:45 --> 00:15:50 Because I literally heard somebody and, you know, I used to have a side host.
00:15:50 --> 00:15:54 I used to Uber a lot here in Atlanta and I picked up a lady who was a record
00:15:54 --> 00:16:00 producer and she was telling me the story about this guy who he was a rap artist.
00:16:01 --> 00:16:04 He, she didn't tell me his name, but he, he had an Instagram account.
00:16:04 --> 00:16:07 And so he's got a children, a child that has special needs.
00:16:08 --> 00:16:13 And so his child had a major achievement and he put that out there on his Instagram page.
00:16:14 --> 00:16:17 And she, and a couple of other execs said, take that down.
00:16:18 --> 00:16:21 Cause that's going to mess up your image. First of all, folks don't even know
00:16:21 --> 00:16:24 that you married with kids based on what we've put out there.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:29 And then, and then now you turn around and say you, you know,
00:16:29 --> 00:16:31 you're a proud dad and your child's got special needs and all.
00:16:32 --> 00:16:34 He said that takes away from your image.
00:16:34 --> 00:16:38 And she, and then she was kind of, I guess she was kind of like confessing,
00:16:38 --> 00:16:39 like maybe I shouldn't have done that.
00:16:39 --> 00:16:43 Or, but it's like, if he wants to make money, that's what he has to do.
00:16:44 --> 00:16:45 So where does, where does that
00:16:45 --> 00:16:48 pressure come from? what you were talking about, about the appearance.
00:16:48 --> 00:16:54 It comes from just the higher-ups, you know, the people who are handling your
00:16:54 --> 00:16:59 social media marketing, your management, your PR person, you know,
00:16:59 --> 00:17:01 even friends and family.
00:17:01 --> 00:17:05 They just want to see you in a different light. They want to see you in the
00:17:05 --> 00:17:09 rock star life and not the everyday person wearing, you know,
00:17:09 --> 00:17:14 normal sweatpants and sweatshorts and a hat or whatever.
00:17:14 --> 00:17:18 You know, we want to see you look like You are
00:17:18 --> 00:17:22 a star And you know some of the examples Are
00:17:22 --> 00:17:25 you know when you watch America's Got Talent Or American Idol Like
00:17:25 --> 00:17:28 how people kind of already come in there ready As if
00:17:28 --> 00:17:31 they've been doing this So that's the
00:17:31 --> 00:17:34 kind of Pressure I get you know you need to Look the part
00:17:34 --> 00:17:38 and I'm like What is looking the part And they're
00:17:38 --> 00:17:41 like looking the part Is looking different from everyone else
00:17:41 --> 00:17:50 Standing out and Being special And I'm like huh Okay So I've always had issues
00:17:50 --> 00:17:55 With my appearance Because I did grow up As a tomboy You know what I mean So
00:17:55 --> 00:18:00 I've always like Hated wearing dresses And skirts And.
00:18:01 --> 00:18:05 Should I have flat feet? So it's hard to wear heels, but I got to wear them anyway.
00:18:05 --> 00:18:10 You know, when I dress up, though, I impress.
00:18:11 --> 00:18:15 I clean up really good, I should say. Yeah, I understand.
00:18:15 --> 00:18:19 Yeah, I'm not going to argue with you about that. But, you know,
00:18:19 --> 00:18:21 and you also mentioned Billie Eilish.
00:18:23 --> 00:18:29 And why do you think that she can get away with her appearance as opposed to,
00:18:29 --> 00:18:31 say, you or other artists?
00:18:31 --> 00:18:36 Particularly because of her demographics and the music that she sings and the
00:18:36 --> 00:18:41 way that she's marketed and promoted to her fan base.
00:18:41 --> 00:18:48 You know, it is all about her music when you listen to her. It's not about anything.
00:18:48 --> 00:18:55 It's not about her personality or certain lingo that she uses or whatever.
00:18:55 --> 00:18:58 It really is about her music.
00:18:58 --> 00:19:01 And yeah, that's pretty much it.
00:19:01 --> 00:19:05 Whereas, you know, with hip hop, with R&B, there's definitely a standard,
00:19:05 --> 00:19:09 you know, and each time somebody comes out,
00:19:09 --> 00:19:17 it's just like, you know, who has the biggest ass, who has the best fillers,
00:19:17 --> 00:19:18 who, you know what I mean?
00:19:18 --> 00:19:23 It's like competition in that way and not music competition when it should be.
00:19:23 --> 00:19:30 Yeah, I got you. Is there a correlation or connection with the arts and politics?
00:19:30 --> 00:19:35 And if so, how do you express it?
00:19:35 --> 00:19:38 Arts and politics Well, I definitely think that,
00:19:39 --> 00:19:42 Artists need to use their platforms to a certain
00:19:42 --> 00:19:49 extent To voice their opinions on politics And anything else that's important
00:19:49 --> 00:19:55 to discuss At the same time I think that we all have to realize that we do have
00:19:55 --> 00:20:01 a job to do And we don't want to overdo it To where we're stepping over our boundaries And,
00:20:02 --> 00:20:05 you know, it's no better than someone working 9 to 5 Right.
00:20:05 --> 00:20:08 You have, you know, a bunch of people working nine to five daily,
00:20:09 --> 00:20:11 two people sitting next to each other at a desk.
00:20:11 --> 00:20:18 One is, you know, one believes in this politician, the other one doesn't,
00:20:18 --> 00:20:19 whatever, sparks up a conversation.
00:20:20 --> 00:20:26 And then it turns to an argument. Right. And it turns to the point where either, you know.
00:20:27 --> 00:20:29 Verbally, a fight is going to break out, or even physically,
00:20:30 --> 00:20:33 or just, you know, it's going to be reported to HR somehow.
00:20:33 --> 00:20:39 So almost with artists, we don't want to overstep our boundaries too much because
00:20:39 --> 00:20:41 we do want to keep our fans.
00:20:41 --> 00:20:46 We don't want you to forget that just because I voted or liked for this person,
00:20:46 --> 00:20:51 it changes my music. It changes my image. It changes how you see me, right?
00:20:51 --> 00:20:54 I don't want your perception to change of me.
00:20:54 --> 00:20:59 And so for me, that's why I never talk about politics, religion,
00:20:59 --> 00:21:05 or anything that's really sensitive and touchy, because I don't want people
00:21:05 --> 00:21:13 to lose track of who I am as an artist and as a person that you look up to or
00:21:13 --> 00:21:15 that you see yourself equal to.
00:21:16 --> 00:21:19 Yeah but you you said that you you you
00:21:19 --> 00:21:23 think that artists should use their platform though if
00:21:23 --> 00:21:26 if need be my question following up
00:21:26 --> 00:21:32 would be if you do decide to do that i'll use lebron james as an example lebron
00:21:32 --> 00:21:39 got out there when you know right after um michael brown got killed and eric
00:21:39 --> 00:21:43 garner and him and derrick rose were wearing i can't breathe t-shirts.
00:21:43 --> 00:21:48 And one of the political commentators got on and said, shut up and dribble, right?
00:21:49 --> 00:21:53 How would you, how would you, how would you feel if, you know,
00:21:53 --> 00:21:56 you decided to take a stand on something and then they just said,
00:21:57 --> 00:21:58 just go back to the studio?
00:21:58 --> 00:22:01 How would you, how would you respond to that?
00:22:01 --> 00:22:07 Right, yeah. No, I would be offended. At the same time, I would expect it,
00:22:07 --> 00:22:11 because if I am going to put my political views out there to the masses,
00:22:11 --> 00:22:14 then you kind of have to expect everything that comes with it.
00:22:14 --> 00:22:18 So my thing is It's
00:22:18 --> 00:22:21 okay to be vocal But for me specifically
00:22:21 --> 00:22:24 I'd rather be vocal through
00:22:24 --> 00:22:31 the music And talk about what I want to say Rather than stand on a podium And
00:22:31 --> 00:22:37 verbally say out of my mouth How I feel because The world is not balanced Everyone's
00:22:37 --> 00:22:39 unbalanced And little by little
00:22:39 --> 00:22:44 We all try to change the world With our perspective on you know, politics.
00:22:45 --> 00:22:49 Health care, community, schools, education, all that stuff.
00:22:49 --> 00:22:53 But there's only one person who has that power, and that's the person who's
00:22:53 --> 00:22:55 running the system right now.
00:22:55 --> 00:23:01 And, you know, it's unfair because it doesn't include everybody,
00:23:01 --> 00:23:05 but then it's fair because you just kind of just have to roll with it,
00:23:05 --> 00:23:08 no matter who's in office that is, you know, not just the person who's in office.
00:23:09 --> 00:23:12 Now I'm just saying whoever is in office is going to make those decisions.
00:23:13 --> 00:23:16 And it's kind of like, what are we going to do at this point?
00:23:16 --> 00:23:20 You know what I mean? There's nothing we can do. We can do things that,
00:23:20 --> 00:23:25 you know, within ourselves, families, small communities, which is always great.
00:23:25 --> 00:23:31 But at the end of the day, our voice only matters to us and to people who listen to us.
00:23:32 --> 00:23:35 Yeah. But, you know, it all depends on how big
00:23:35 --> 00:23:38 your circle of us is right yeah yeah
00:23:38 --> 00:23:43 you know because taylor swift is you know taking the mantle a certain way beyonce
00:23:43 --> 00:23:47 is taking the mantle a certain way bruce springsteen but then there's a whole
00:23:47 --> 00:23:50 lot of artists who are just kind of like yeah i don't want that pushback and
00:23:50 --> 00:23:57 so i'm just gonna keep you know keep doing what i'm doing right yeah but you know so i understand,
00:23:58 --> 00:24:05 If you were given the opportunity to serve in government, what social issue would you tackle first?
00:24:06 --> 00:24:11 Ah, what social issue would I tackle first?
00:24:11 --> 00:24:22 It would have to be lack of activities for kids at school and lack of extracurriculum
00:24:22 --> 00:24:25 classes, after-school programs.
00:24:25 --> 00:24:33 I think those were really needed for kids because they do want to look forward
00:24:33 --> 00:24:39 to doing something after school that's going to help them elevate, elevate their grades,
00:24:39 --> 00:24:41 elevate their mindset,
00:24:42 --> 00:24:45 and, you know, have like a change of scenery.
00:24:45 --> 00:24:53 So, you know, that goes from playing sports, taking an art class, a theater,
00:24:53 --> 00:24:59 just something that really doesn't pertain to just sitting at a desk all day
00:24:59 --> 00:25:01 and looking at the projector or the teacher.
00:25:01 --> 00:25:04 I would definitely tackle those issues.
00:25:04 --> 00:25:07 I would definitely tackle on,
00:25:07 --> 00:25:12 you know, issues when it comes to how black people are treated in America.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:18 You know, just because you see a black person and, you know,
00:25:18 --> 00:25:23 right away, you know, you feel some type of way about them. you prejudge them.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:27 You know, you see a black man with a hoodie on and, you know,
00:25:27 --> 00:25:30 you have all these suspicions about him.
00:25:30 --> 00:25:36 Or you see a black girl and you think she's this loud, obnoxious,
00:25:36 --> 00:25:42 you know, chick with baby daddies and she's going to steal out of Walmart or whatever.
00:25:42 --> 00:25:49 I think we need to stop prejudging. We need to understand and judge every individual
00:25:49 --> 00:25:53 as we meet and speak to them and not because of their appearance.
00:25:54 --> 00:25:59 So I would tackle issues like that, racism, obviously.
00:26:00 --> 00:26:03 And then for the youth, making sure
00:26:03 --> 00:26:08 that they have everything they need when it comes to education and just their
00:26:08 --> 00:26:15 upbringing to give them the best upbringing in life so that they said they've
00:26:15 --> 00:26:20 experienced playing one sport in life even if they, you know,
00:26:20 --> 00:26:23 don't intend to do anything with it.
00:26:23 --> 00:26:27 Or, you know, they took a painting class or, you know, there was a theater class.
00:26:27 --> 00:26:33 Just something that complements what they're learning in school now.
00:26:33 --> 00:26:38 Yeah. Now, did you have a program when you were growing up that kind of got
00:26:38 --> 00:26:42 you interested in music or tapped into something?
00:26:43 --> 00:26:47 Yeah, in middle school, it was pretty cool because one of my teachers,
00:26:47 --> 00:26:49 she was like my advisement teacher.
00:26:50 --> 00:26:54 And so she offered the class and after school program for theater.
00:26:54 --> 00:27:00 And so I remember I joined that. And even though it was just a few of us, it was pretty fun.
00:27:01 --> 00:27:05 And then another lady came into our school and she was scouting for students
00:27:05 --> 00:27:07 who wanted to become puppeteers.
00:27:07 --> 00:27:12 And so we, you know, every Tuesday we would get to leave, you know,
00:27:12 --> 00:27:17 third period or whatever and travel to an elementary school and put on a puppet
00:27:17 --> 00:27:22 show and earn credits for that and, you know, get fed good lunch and,
00:27:22 --> 00:27:25 you know, miss all the boring classes.
00:27:25 --> 00:27:28 So, yeah, stuff like that I think is cool. Yeah.
00:27:29 --> 00:27:34 And, you know, there's been a lot of talk in the news about the crime rates
00:27:34 --> 00:27:39 in cities, but a lot of the black mayors have taken that attitude,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:41 that approach you're talking about,
00:27:41 --> 00:27:44 especially Mayor Scott in Baltimore.
00:27:44 --> 00:27:50 More, he has done a lot to try to create more programs.
00:27:50 --> 00:27:53 Mayor Johnson in Chicago, you know, I can go on.
00:27:53 --> 00:27:58 It's like, you know, it's like people that live in the community understand
00:27:58 --> 00:28:01 what the community, or from the community, understand what the community needs.
00:28:02 --> 00:28:08 And, you know, so that's why I just, I wanted to ask you that question.
00:28:09 --> 00:28:14 So I've got a couple of more. The Kennedy Center Honors is one of the highest
00:28:14 --> 00:28:17 honors for lifetime achievement in American arts.
00:28:17 --> 00:28:22 And I'll make my blessing to you that one day that you'll be able to wear one
00:28:22 --> 00:28:26 of them medallions or whatever that they give the folks at the Kennedy Center.
00:28:27 --> 00:28:34 How do you feel about the current president just basically taking over the center?
00:28:34 --> 00:28:37 Because what he's done, no other president has ever done that.
00:28:37 --> 00:28:41 They've, you know, they participate, they'll show up at the event and,
00:28:41 --> 00:28:45 you know, sit in the box and clap for whoever's getting the award,
00:28:45 --> 00:28:49 but they've never had, we've never had a president that just said, okay,
00:28:49 --> 00:28:53 you know, I'm going to be the chairman of the board and I might even rename
00:28:53 --> 00:28:55 it, rename it after me, you know.
00:28:56 --> 00:29:00 As an artist, how do you feel about that intrusion?
00:29:00 --> 00:29:09 I feel like when anyone has the power to have an opinion or have some control
00:29:09 --> 00:29:13 over anything, it's just what they're going to do.
00:29:13 --> 00:29:18 And our job is to make sure it doesn't affect us in a negative way.
00:29:18 --> 00:29:22 You know, it's just like on a smaller level.
00:29:23 --> 00:29:26 You know, whether you're at work or school and they change the principal or
00:29:26 --> 00:29:32 the supervisor and these people come in and start mandating everything and,
00:29:33 --> 00:29:39 you know, just changing everything, like everything to where it's not to your liking.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:42 And now you have to adapt to that.
00:29:43 --> 00:29:46 But it's just kind of like, what are you going to do at this point?
00:29:46 --> 00:29:50 You know what I mean? That's why it is very important to create social groups
00:29:50 --> 00:29:55 and nonprofit organizations to help each other out, whether it's financially,
00:29:56 --> 00:30:01 whether it's, you know, you're going through a mental crisis, whether it's, you know,
00:30:01 --> 00:30:07 lowering the cost of education for children, or whether it's trying to obtain
00:30:07 --> 00:30:11 free medical care or discounted medical care.
00:30:11 --> 00:30:17 Just anything that is not, you know, when someone new steps in the place,
00:30:18 --> 00:30:23 we need to make sure that we are okay and that it doesn't affect us somehow.
00:30:24 --> 00:30:27 Yeah. Yeah. I understand the navigation. Yeah.
00:30:27 --> 00:30:32 You gotta, you just gotta, you know, make your way around whatever obstacles
00:30:32 --> 00:30:37 are there and just always, always compare our journey in America is to being
00:30:37 --> 00:30:40 the track person that runs the hurdles, Right.
00:30:40 --> 00:30:44 You know that the hurdles are there. You got to get over those hurdles to get
00:30:44 --> 00:30:48 to the finish line. So you just do what you got to do. You just cross those hurdles.
00:30:49 --> 00:30:55 Yeah. So I understand that. But speaking about nonprofits and causes and all
00:30:55 --> 00:31:02 that, talk to the listeners about TAMZ and its collaboration with the nonprofit Hair to Stay.
00:31:03 --> 00:31:08 Yeah, yeah. So Tamz, they are berets. I have 10 different colors.
00:31:08 --> 00:31:10 Discovered Tamz during the pandemic.
00:31:11 --> 00:31:16 Because of Tamz, I've been producing and hosting fashion shows as well as performing at them.
00:31:17 --> 00:31:21 And what's really cool is I bring on my customers to walk for me.
00:31:21 --> 00:31:26 Customers, fans, friends, family, strangers off the street.
00:31:27 --> 00:31:32 I'm not looking for traditional models. I have the non-traditional models.
00:31:33 --> 00:31:34 And that's what's bringing and
00:31:34 --> 00:31:40 creating this community now of beautiful people, men and women, whoever,
00:31:40 --> 00:31:49 because it's about expressing yourself through a hat and not an outfit that
00:31:49 --> 00:31:52 you wouldn't wear every day outside.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:56 Whereas with the hat, you would, because the hat can make up the rest of the outfit.
00:31:56 --> 00:32:01 You could plan or create your outfit based on the beret.
00:32:01 --> 00:32:08 And so, excuse me, so we've partnered with organizations, hair loss organizations,
00:32:08 --> 00:32:11 that have helped spread awareness about the berets.
00:32:11 --> 00:32:14 So for one, we did an event with Boldly Me.
00:32:14 --> 00:32:20 They were an alopecia organization, and they had their annual fundraiser,
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 and they had me come talk about it.
00:32:22 --> 00:32:26 The owner or the founder and I talked about the berets and our collaboration,
00:32:26 --> 00:32:29 and I donated Berets to their organization.
00:32:30 --> 00:32:34 Now, with the partnership that I have with Hair2Stay,
00:32:34 --> 00:32:38 what they do, they're a non-profit that
00:32:38 --> 00:32:48 raises funds for an expensive cooling system device or cooling item that made
00:32:48 --> 00:32:54 for cancer patients to stimulate their hair to grow back. And so...
00:32:55 --> 00:33:01 The idea with our partnership with the Berets is that I have a page on their website.
00:33:01 --> 00:33:07 And for those who are in the process of growing their hair back,
00:33:07 --> 00:33:13 you know, or if they are still bald, purchase a beret.
00:33:14 --> 00:33:20 And that will, you know what I mean, enhance your looks. It's not to eliminate
00:33:20 --> 00:33:25 anything because you look great. But it's just to enhance and to give you more confidence.
00:33:26 --> 00:33:30 And some of those proceeds go to Heritage Day and then the other proceeds go to TAMS.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:34 So with that being said, we have an event coming up October 4th.
00:33:34 --> 00:33:39 It's their annual fundraiser where it's a take a walk fundraiser.
00:33:39 --> 00:33:44 So what we do is we walk all around Chrissy Beach in San Francisco,
00:33:44 --> 00:33:56 and we're walking to raise funds about the cooling stipulant that's made for patients with cancer.
00:33:56 --> 00:34:00 We're trying to raise awareness, to raise money, to pay for that for cancer
00:34:00 --> 00:34:04 patients that can't afford the cooling stimulant, that is.
00:34:04 --> 00:34:07 Yeah yeah what i was and that's
00:34:07 --> 00:34:10 and that's one of the main reasons i wanted you
00:34:10 --> 00:34:13 to come on to talk about this because you know
00:34:13 --> 00:34:17 i i know that politics is
00:34:17 --> 00:34:22 a delicate subject for people to talk about but what what i always try to do
00:34:22 --> 00:34:26 with my show is to show that people are doing the work and they're not elected
00:34:26 --> 00:34:29 to anything they're not even running for anything but they're doing the work
00:34:29 --> 00:34:35 and just the whole concept of you getting average ordinary people to,
00:34:36 --> 00:34:39 participate in, in your fashion shows.
00:34:39 --> 00:34:45 That builds self-esteem, that builds character, that builds community.
00:34:45 --> 00:34:52 And I wish that some people in politics understood that concept, right?
00:34:52 --> 00:34:56 Because it's like if you can build community, if you can build self-esteem,
00:34:56 --> 00:34:58 you can build trust, right?
00:34:58 --> 00:35:03 Then you can get some things done. You will have some partners in the community
00:35:03 --> 00:35:07 to make sure because everybody has bought in. And that's and that's the reason
00:35:07 --> 00:35:12 why your business has been successful is because you've got a buy in. Right.
00:35:13 --> 00:35:18 Right. And so that's, you know, people may not think it's it's,
00:35:18 --> 00:35:21 you know, politics, you know, but but it is.
00:35:21 --> 00:35:27 And I just and I'm really, really glad that you came on to kind of talk about,
00:35:27 --> 00:35:30 you know, what you're doing and to talk about, you know, what you've been doing
00:35:30 --> 00:35:33 as far as how you got to this point, because it's important.
00:35:34 --> 00:35:37 It's important for people to understand stories of, you know,
00:35:37 --> 00:35:41 you don't have if you're in a situation, you don't have to be in a situation.
00:35:41 --> 00:35:47 If you get exposed to something, because that's a political issue as far as
00:35:47 --> 00:35:52 providing the arts for schools, providing those after school programs, right?
00:35:53 --> 00:35:59 All that stuff is in. And so when you can show somebody that has taken advantage
00:35:59 --> 00:36:05 of those activities or opportunities and has put themselves in a position to
00:36:05 --> 00:36:09 turn around and help others and to be successful in the community,
00:36:09 --> 00:36:10 financially and otherwise,
00:36:10 --> 00:36:14 that's really should be the ultimate goal of politics.
00:36:14 --> 00:36:17 So, Keldamuzik, I don't know
00:36:17 --> 00:36:20 how to tell you this, girl, but you're as political as anybody else. Yeah.
00:36:22 --> 00:36:25 Thank you. All right.
00:36:25 --> 00:36:31 So if people want to, you know, get your, your, you know, touch into your music,
00:36:31 --> 00:36:36 touch into TAMZ, touch into anything that you're doing, how can they do that?
00:36:36 --> 00:36:40 Yeah, they can visit my website, keldamuzik.com.
00:36:41 --> 00:36:49 K-E-L-D-A-M-U-Z-I-K.com. You'll find my music on there, music videos,
00:36:50 --> 00:36:53 my latest films, the TV show I have with the Hodges,
00:36:54 --> 00:36:59 my talk show to Diva Talk Tonight on Tubi, my upcoming events.
00:37:00 --> 00:37:03 There's just so much on my website. So enjoy.
00:37:03 --> 00:37:06 Well, ladies and gentlemen, she's not lying.
00:37:07 --> 00:37:12 Kelda's doing a lot of stuff. And I'm just glad that she took the time out to
00:37:12 --> 00:37:16 talk to little old me on this podcast. So Keldamuzik, again, it's been an honor.
00:37:17 --> 00:37:23 One rule that we have is that once you've been on, you have an open invitation to come on.
00:37:23 --> 00:37:27 So if something is kind of like, Brother Erik, I need to talk about something,
00:37:27 --> 00:37:30 just come on the show. We'll talk about it. We'll get it out there.
00:37:31 --> 00:37:36 Okay. Yeah, will do. All right. Thank you, Kelda, as always,
00:37:36 --> 00:37:40 for being you and for coming on.
00:37:41 --> 00:37:45 All right. Thank you, Erik. All right, guys, we're going to catch y'all on the other side.
00:37:46 --> 00:38:04 Music.
00:38:04 --> 00:38:10 All right, and we are back. And so now it's time for my next guest, Donna J.
00:38:11 --> 00:38:16 Nicol. Dr. Donna J. Nicol is the Associate Dean of Personnel and Curriculum
00:38:16 --> 00:38:21 and Professor of History in the College of Liberal Arts at California State
00:38:21 --> 00:38:22 University, Long Beach.
00:38:22 --> 00:38:27 She is the author of Black Woman on Board, Claudia Hampton, the California State
00:38:27 --> 00:38:30 University and the Fight to Save Affirmative Action.
00:38:31 --> 00:38:37 A biography of Dr. Claudia Hampton, the first black woman trustee in the California
00:38:37 --> 00:38:39 State University system.
00:38:40 --> 00:38:46 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest on this podcast, Dr.
00:38:47 --> 00:38:48 Donna J. Nicol.
00:38:49 --> 00:38:59 Music.
00:38:59 --> 00:39:06 All right. Dr. Donna J. Nicol. How are you doing, ma'am? You doing good? I'm doing good.
00:39:07 --> 00:39:14 Well, that's a good thing. It's kind of hard nowadays, but school's about to
00:39:14 --> 00:39:16 start for you if it hasn't already started.
00:39:17 --> 00:39:23 It starts on Monday. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you like teaching and I love teachers.
00:39:23 --> 00:39:25 I love professors and all that.
00:39:25 --> 00:39:31 So, you know, I'm sure this is kind of a good thing, new minds to play with
00:39:31 --> 00:39:33 and all that kind of stuff. Well,
00:39:33 --> 00:39:36 you know, I made the transition to administration to, was it last year?
00:39:37 --> 00:39:44 So I spent 20 years as a faculty member, but now I am associate dean in charge
00:39:44 --> 00:39:46 of supporting the faculty.
00:39:46 --> 00:39:52 So I do personnel matters and all the curriculum for the College of Liberal
00:39:52 --> 00:39:54 Arts. Okay, so you're a handholder now.
00:39:55 --> 00:40:01 I'm a handholder, yes. Sometimes I'm a disciplinarian, which is weird sometimes,
00:40:01 --> 00:40:02 but sometimes you got to do it.
00:40:02 --> 00:40:08 But I'm responsible primarily for recruiting, hiring, evaluating faculty.
00:40:09 --> 00:40:12 Okay, well, congratulations on that. That sounds like that's going to be a lot of fun.
00:40:13 --> 00:40:18 All right, so normally I'd like to start off with a couple of icebreakers.
00:40:18 --> 00:40:22 The first icebreaker I throw at the guest is a quote.
00:40:22 --> 00:40:26 And I just want to get your response to this quote. We live in a world which
00:40:26 --> 00:40:29 respects power above all things.
00:40:30 --> 00:40:33 Power intelligently directed can lead to more freedom.
00:40:34 --> 00:40:39 Unwisely directed, it can be a dreadful, destructive force. What does that quote mean to you?
00:40:40 --> 00:40:43 Absolutely, there's a responsibility that comes with having power,
00:40:43 --> 00:40:52 and power can be used for the greater good if it is used with the idea of helping more people,
00:40:52 --> 00:40:58 you know, whether it's helping them with, you know, economic help or providing them with shelter.
00:40:59 --> 00:41:04 But it can also be very destructive because it is also very seductive in terms
00:41:04 --> 00:41:07 of people wanting to amass more and more power for the sake of it.
00:41:07 --> 00:41:14 And then they hoard the power or the benefits that come with having power.
00:41:14 --> 00:41:21 And so there's a real slippery slope with having too much power if you aren't
00:41:21 --> 00:41:25 keeping at the forefront using power in a responsible way.
00:41:25 --> 00:41:30 I think it was Toni Morrison that says that, you know, once you get power,
00:41:31 --> 00:41:34 you need to utilize that power to help other people, to bring people along.
00:41:35 --> 00:41:38 So there is a great deal of responsibility with it.
00:41:38 --> 00:41:44 And I think too often people just want to have power in their back pocket because
00:41:44 --> 00:41:49 they want more opportunity or more resources than everyone else,
00:41:49 --> 00:41:51 especially in a capitalist system.
00:41:51 --> 00:41:57 And, you know, the person who has the most, you know, resources or toys is the winner.
00:41:58 --> 00:42:03 Yeah. And it's funny that I'm hoping that this guest comes on next week because
00:42:03 --> 00:42:06 we're going to talk about that capitalism piece a little bit,
00:42:06 --> 00:42:10 because I've always thought that we did capitalism wrong. But that,
00:42:10 --> 00:42:11 like I said, that's another show.
00:42:11 --> 00:42:15 So the next icebreaker is 20 questions.
00:42:16 --> 00:42:20 OK, so I want you to give me a number between one and 20.
00:42:21 --> 00:42:29 Okay. What is the one thing you hope the new administration will do or not do during their term?
00:42:31 --> 00:42:35 New as in upcoming or new as in current new as
00:42:35 --> 00:42:37 in current oh my god i mean
00:42:37 --> 00:42:40 we haven't even been a year in yet i'm just saying it's still it's
00:42:40 --> 00:42:43 still new believe it or not i know it feels like we've been there for
00:42:43 --> 00:42:49 like eight nine years but it's only been a few months yeah i just wish they
00:42:49 --> 00:42:54 would oh my goodness i don't even know where to begin with that one i wish they
00:42:54 --> 00:42:58 would stop messing with you know i'm an educator so i wish they would stop messing
00:42:58 --> 00:43:01 with the department of education I wish they would let,
00:43:01 --> 00:43:06 you know, stop messing with the university, stop messing with Pell Grants for
00:43:06 --> 00:43:12 low income students, stop getting involved in things that should be more local
00:43:12 --> 00:43:15 based issues when it comes to education.
00:43:15 --> 00:43:21 So, yeah, I wish they would just stop. You know, I don't even want them to do
00:43:21 --> 00:43:23 anything at this point. I just need them to stop.
00:43:25 --> 00:43:29 I understand. Yeah. All right. Well, now I can see the disciplinarian coming
00:43:29 --> 00:43:30 out in you. Now I can see that.
00:43:31 --> 00:43:36 All right. So speaking about education, we want to talk about this book that
00:43:36 --> 00:43:39 you wrote called Black Woman on the Board.
00:43:39 --> 00:43:44 And I know that's the short title, but I usually do that. I let the author give
00:43:44 --> 00:43:45 the whole title and all that stuff.
00:43:46 --> 00:43:49 But the book is about this woman named Dr.
00:43:50 --> 00:43:56 Claudia Hampton. So I want you to tell the listeners who was Dr.
00:43:56 --> 00:44:00 Claudia Hampton and why did you feel compelled to tell her story?
00:44:01 --> 00:44:05 Yeah, so Dr. Hampton was the first Black woman trustee in the California State
00:44:05 --> 00:44:10 University system and the first woman to chair the board of trustees.
00:44:10 --> 00:44:18 It's speculated that she was probably the first Black woman trustee in the nation.
00:44:18 --> 00:44:22 But really why I wanted to highlight her is.
00:44:23 --> 00:44:29 Well, two reasons. One, we don't know a lot about trustees and what they do
00:44:29 --> 00:44:34 behind the scenes in universities and how much they influence policies and programs.
00:44:34 --> 00:44:38 So that's one part of it. But the second part, and probably the most important,
00:44:38 --> 00:44:44 is I wanted to highlight her style, her leadership style, and how she got things
00:44:44 --> 00:44:48 done in the midst of a backlash against affirmative action.
00:44:48 --> 00:44:53 And so she was really principally responsible in the California system for the
00:44:53 --> 00:44:57 implementation of affirmative action, even when everyone around her,
00:44:57 --> 00:45:02 including governors, didn't want to implement affirmative action.
00:45:02 --> 00:45:08 It had already been passed by executive order, but they slow walked the implementation.
00:45:08 --> 00:45:15 And so I really think it's important for us to look at, particularly in the post-civil rights era.
00:45:15 --> 00:45:22 There's more attention to the civil rights era and then to kind of like,
00:45:22 --> 00:45:26 we forget that there is a period of activism that's still happening.
00:45:27 --> 00:45:30 And so while everyone was kind of moving toward Black power,
00:45:30 --> 00:45:35 there's this Black woman who's having to try to negotiate with these white folks
00:45:35 --> 00:45:37 to implement affirmative action.
00:45:37 --> 00:45:42 And so, you know, it's kind of offering a counter-narrative that,
00:45:42 --> 00:45:47 one, Black people were still doing activism in the post-civil rights era,
00:45:47 --> 00:45:53 but also that there was a range of leadership approaches, and I wanted to highlight hers.
00:45:54 --> 00:45:57 So what was the time frame that she served on the Board of Trustees?
00:45:58 --> 00:46:00 From 1974 to 1994.
00:46:01 --> 00:46:05 So 20 years, she was the second longest serving trustee. Yeah.
00:46:06 --> 00:46:12 So I just wanted to get some context as far as time frame for the listeners
00:46:12 --> 00:46:15 to understand, because, you know, when people understand the time,
00:46:15 --> 00:46:18 they're like going, oh, yeah, I'm sure that was really tough then.
00:46:18 --> 00:46:20 And she was only black. Okay. Yeah.
00:46:21 --> 00:46:29 Talk about, well, before I even ask that question, what about her life could you relate to?
00:46:30 --> 00:46:36 Well, she was an educator, a K-12 educator before she joined the board of trustees.
00:46:36 --> 00:46:41 So she worked in Los Angeles Unified School District as a elementary school teacher.
00:46:41 --> 00:46:45 And then she became the director of schools and community relations,
00:46:46 --> 00:46:50 which is an office that monitored kind of the implementation.
00:46:51 --> 00:46:54 Of race-based initiatives across the school district.
00:46:55 --> 00:47:00 I was a junior high school teacher in LA Unified, so we had some parallels in
00:47:00 --> 00:47:01 terms of working in the same district.
00:47:02 --> 00:47:09 But also, I was the first Black woman to be promoted and get tenure in women's
00:47:09 --> 00:47:10 studies at Cal State Fullerton.
00:47:10 --> 00:47:15 And so that first kind of parallel, I saw some similarities because,
00:47:15 --> 00:47:17 Because, you know, people assume
00:47:17 --> 00:47:23 when you're the first, it's some kind of marker of achieving equality.
00:47:23 --> 00:47:28 But in actuality, you're still just because you might have broken one barrier,
00:47:28 --> 00:47:31 you still have to you still have so many doors you have to go through in order
00:47:31 --> 00:47:33 to, like, really make change happen.
00:47:34 --> 00:47:37 And so I saw I saw similarities there.
00:47:37 --> 00:47:41 But then we diverged in terms of our politics. Our politics were definitely
00:47:41 --> 00:47:43 different than mine. OK, I got you.
00:47:43 --> 00:47:47 All right. Well, let's talk about that a little bit. Talk about the concept
00:47:47 --> 00:47:53 of sly civility and more specifically how Dr. Hampton effectively used it.
00:47:53 --> 00:47:58 Yeah. So sly civility is a resistance strategy that was kind of coined and phrased
00:47:58 --> 00:48:01 by an Indian cultural theorist named Homi Bhabha.
00:48:01 --> 00:48:06 And he says that particularly in the context of India being colonized by the
00:48:06 --> 00:48:12 British, he said that there's three ways to approach that Indians have to approach
00:48:12 --> 00:48:14 dealing with a colonizer.
00:48:14 --> 00:48:18 One approach is to mimic the colonizer and act just like them.
00:48:18 --> 00:48:22 Another one is to become a hybrid, so they kind of take some of their culture
00:48:22 --> 00:48:26 and some of the British culture and merge the two, like they learn how to speak
00:48:26 --> 00:48:32 English like the British, dress like the British. But the third way is called sly civility.
00:48:32 --> 00:48:40 And so sly civility says that if you gain access to these institutions dominated by colonizers,
00:48:40 --> 00:48:46 what you need to do is to be civil with the colonizer because of their penchant for violence,
00:48:46 --> 00:48:52 and then learn their system and then pass the resources slyly on to your community
00:48:52 --> 00:48:57 so that more people have an opportunity to benefit from those resources.
00:48:57 --> 00:49:01 And so I use this to describe Dr.
00:49:02 --> 00:49:08 Hampton's approach because she knew she was running up against these white conservative
00:49:08 --> 00:49:13 men who, you know, didn't want her there, didn't know how she got there,
00:49:13 --> 00:49:16 to be perfectly honest. And then...
00:49:17 --> 00:49:25 In order to kind of get a seat at the table, she had to put on this face of civility for them.
00:49:25 --> 00:49:27 So she was very quiet. She was respectable.
00:49:28 --> 00:49:32 And then she realized, I have to negotiate with them.
00:49:32 --> 00:49:35 And the only way I'm going to be able to do that is for them to,
00:49:35 --> 00:49:43 I have to destabilize their, or make them not hyper-focus on me being a Black
00:49:43 --> 00:49:46 person because they were so racist.
00:49:46 --> 00:49:51 And so what she did is she played to the gender norm by cooking dinner for these white men.
00:49:52 --> 00:49:56 And that gave her a seat at the table. They became familiar with her and they
00:49:56 --> 00:49:58 started to say, well, she's our trustee.
00:49:59 --> 00:50:04 Whereas the white women who got on the board, they couldn't stand those white
00:50:04 --> 00:50:07 women because they were more feminist in their approach.
00:50:07 --> 00:50:13 And Hampton was like, no, I can't take on racism and sexism at the same time. I got to figure one.
00:50:13 --> 00:50:18 I got to, you know, play to the gender norm in order to placate their racism.
00:50:19 --> 00:50:26 Yeah. You stated that Dr. Hampton used the politics of respectability as a means to an end.
00:50:27 --> 00:50:33 Modern-day critics say that respectability politics is antithetical to African-American progress.
00:50:33 --> 00:50:39 In this current political climate, could Dr. Hampton have made similar progress,
00:50:39 --> 00:50:40 or are the critics correct?
00:50:41 --> 00:50:45 I believe she could have made similar progress. One example,
00:50:45 --> 00:50:50 at least, well, maybe not in this current administration, but in the recent
00:50:50 --> 00:50:54 past under the Biden administration, there was a Black woman who was in charge
00:50:54 --> 00:50:56 of the Office for Management and Budget.
00:50:56 --> 00:51:02 Was it Shalonda Jones? I believe was her name, but I might have her name incorrect.
00:51:02 --> 00:51:06 But she was called the Republican whisperer.
00:51:06 --> 00:51:11 And she was the person who would, anytime the government, you know,
00:51:12 --> 00:51:18 there was a government shutdown impending, she would go negotiate with Speaker
00:51:18 --> 00:51:21 Mike Johnson and the rest of the Republican contingent.
00:51:21 --> 00:51:25 And the way she did it was similar to Hampton. She was from Louisiana.
00:51:26 --> 00:51:29 And so everyone in the, you know, from Louisiana that was in Congress,
00:51:29 --> 00:51:35 she would send them gumbo and crawfish and make sure that they felt like they
00:51:35 --> 00:51:38 knew her personally so that they would be willing to negotiate with her.
00:51:38 --> 00:51:42 They didn't like the rest of the Biden administration, but they liked her.
00:51:42 --> 00:51:43 Shalonda Young, that's her name.
00:51:43 --> 00:51:48 And so there's current day examples of this.
00:51:48 --> 00:51:54 I would liken some of what Kamala Harris did as sly civility as well.
00:51:55 --> 00:52:03 That you can't always go into these spaces and just, you know,
00:52:04 --> 00:52:05 start telling people off.
00:52:05 --> 00:52:08 Like that would have been my politics is to tell them that they were wrong.
00:52:08 --> 00:52:10 I was raised in a Black radical tradition.
00:52:10 --> 00:52:17 But you realize once you get into these institutions that what you're up against,
00:52:17 --> 00:52:20 and so sometimes you have to outwit and outplay folks.
00:52:21 --> 00:52:26 And one of the ways is to build relationships with people that politically you
00:52:26 --> 00:52:27 don't see eye to eye with.
00:52:27 --> 00:52:31 But if you can, you know, break bread together, that will go a long way to help.
00:52:32 --> 00:52:38 Yeah, I can relate to that. You know, when I first got in the legislature, I was like you.
00:52:38 --> 00:52:41 I came in, I was speaking on bills.
00:52:41 --> 00:52:44 I'd only been there two days and I was speaking against the bill and people
00:52:44 --> 00:52:48 that were there because I came in during a special session in a special election.
00:52:49 --> 00:52:52 And so they had already started by the time I got in there.
00:52:52 --> 00:52:56 And it was like, bro, we don't even know what this bill is. Who is this guy
00:52:56 --> 00:52:58 coming up here? My machine didn't even work. Right.
00:52:58 --> 00:53:01 But then so I had to vote like I
00:53:01 --> 00:53:04 had to put the finger to my eye for yes and the
00:53:04 --> 00:53:08 no finger to my nose for no right but you
00:53:08 --> 00:53:13 know after I started going to these committee dinners and started hanging out
00:53:13 --> 00:53:17 with them a little bit you know then it was like yeah you know that Fleming
00:53:17 --> 00:53:20 guy's not as bad as we thought he was you know I'm saying we might even need
00:53:20 --> 00:53:25 to listen to what I was saying And there was one moment we were debating a bill
00:53:25 --> 00:53:27 and I started asking questions.
00:53:27 --> 00:53:32 And normally the speaker was kind of like, you know, he'd kind of like be doing his own thing.
00:53:32 --> 00:53:37 But this one particular day he sat there and started twirling that gavel and
00:53:37 --> 00:53:40 was leaning on the podium, listening to what I was asking.
00:53:40 --> 00:53:45 And everybody picked up on it. And that was the moment they said, OK, this guy is legit.
00:53:46 --> 00:53:50 Right. It's like he he knows what he's doing. So I I relate to that.
00:53:50 --> 00:53:54 You know, I wasn't the first black, although I was the only black on the transportation
00:53:54 --> 00:53:55 committee for four years.
00:53:56 --> 00:54:01 But it was just like that's that moment when you connect with them and whatever
00:54:01 --> 00:54:03 little subtle things you can do.
00:54:03 --> 00:54:07 And food seems like a common denominator.
00:54:07 --> 00:54:11 If you sit down with people, I'm not cooking for anybody, but if you sit down
00:54:11 --> 00:54:15 with people, all this stuff and eat with them, you kind of break that tension.
00:54:15 --> 00:54:22 So I feel that. What is the difference between radical uplift ideology and Black radicalism?
00:54:23 --> 00:54:29 So there's kind of racial uplift is Kevin Gaines' idea that you,
00:54:29 --> 00:54:35 even if you're upper class, if you want to call it middle to upper class in the Black community,
00:54:35 --> 00:54:43 that you are still going to support the community through whatever means talent,
00:54:43 --> 00:54:45 time, treasures, that sort of thing.
00:54:45 --> 00:54:47 But they tend to be...
00:54:48 --> 00:54:52 Racial uplift is still this kind of conservative approach to helping the Black community.
00:54:53 --> 00:54:59 Whereas Black radicalism is, you know, like you're going hard all,
00:54:59 --> 00:55:04 you know, like we demand respect for our humanity. We can come as we are.
00:55:04 --> 00:55:08 We shouldn't have to shrink ourselves down or wear our hair in a particular
00:55:08 --> 00:55:12 way or dress a particular way in order to make you feel comfortable.
00:55:12 --> 00:55:18 And so those are two. One is more of a pragmatic approach and the other is more
00:55:18 --> 00:55:19 of the radical approach.
00:55:20 --> 00:55:27 And so Hampton really embodied that pragmatic approach and that there needs
00:55:27 --> 00:55:29 to be a place for all of those approaches.
00:55:29 --> 00:55:33 Because you need the radical to raise the consciousness of the people,
00:55:33 --> 00:55:38 but you need the pragmatist to get things done on, you know,
00:55:38 --> 00:55:41 like the policy level or getting the funding.
00:55:41 --> 00:55:43 So it can be a broke both and
00:55:43 --> 00:55:47 but we have often you seen them as diametrically
00:55:47 --> 00:55:50 opposed to each other and I don't think they necessarily have to
00:55:50 --> 00:55:58 be All right So I guess radical uplift ideology is more like when you hear the
00:55:58 --> 00:56:03 phrase your your credit to your race kind of deal And black radicalism would
00:56:03 --> 00:56:08 be like stokely carmichael saying black power muhammad ali saying rumble black man rumble right,
00:56:09 --> 00:56:12 Yes. Okay. All right. I'm trying to make it simple for the listeners.
00:56:13 --> 00:56:21 My listeners are pretty smart, but when you can break it down to folks and they
00:56:21 --> 00:56:22 understand where you're coming from.
00:56:22 --> 00:56:27 So a quick way to understand this, Charles Hamilton came up with this kind of
00:56:27 --> 00:56:31 genealogy of Black power, and there's a continuum of Black power.
00:56:31 --> 00:56:35 And so you have on one end, you have the political bargainer,
00:56:35 --> 00:56:41 you know, the one who kind of who's on the inside, but they are comporting themselves
00:56:41 --> 00:56:43 in a way that makes white folks comfortable.
00:56:43 --> 00:56:47 But that's in order to get the resources to the community.
00:56:47 --> 00:56:51 And then on the other end is like the Stokely Carmichael's and the Panthers
00:56:51 --> 00:56:56 and so forth, who are saying this this whole system is fundamentally racist.
00:56:56 --> 00:57:00 We need to tear it down and rebuild it where it acknowledges us as human beings.
00:57:00 --> 00:57:06 So I think of all of this as black power, but there are just different degrees of black power.
00:57:06 --> 00:57:11 Yeah, and I totally agree with that assessment, Doc, because if you go to any
00:57:11 --> 00:57:18 black caucus of number in the United States, you will see those dynamics.
00:57:19 --> 00:57:24 We have one guy, I used to call him the phantom because he could be in a room
00:57:24 --> 00:57:27 with all white guys, all white people in the lounge.
00:57:28 --> 00:57:30 And, and he'll come back and tell us everything that they said.
00:57:31 --> 00:57:34 And they don't have a problem talking around him, but he just,
00:57:34 --> 00:57:38 you know, he just blends in and then he just, and he's darker to me and he'll
00:57:38 --> 00:57:41 just, it'll come out as a, Hey brother, get ready to do X, Y,
00:57:41 --> 00:57:42 and Z. You know what I'm saying?
00:57:42 --> 00:57:46 And then we had the older members, you know, that could, you know,
00:57:46 --> 00:57:49 Fleming's a little hotheaded. Let me tell you what he was trying to say.
00:57:49 --> 00:57:52 Right. And then it was me and a few others that were like raising hell all the time.
00:57:52 --> 00:57:58 So, but like you said, all together, collectively, as we effectively utilize
00:57:58 --> 00:58:00 each other's talents, that was power.
00:58:00 --> 00:58:06 And that gave us a lot of leverage to, because a lot of people don't understand
00:58:06 --> 00:58:10 based on numbers, black legislators are more effective in killing stuff than
00:58:10 --> 00:58:11 they are getting stuff passed.
00:58:12 --> 00:58:16 Because if you, if, if, if we weren't there, oh my God,
00:58:17 --> 00:58:21 I just, even we, we had this system when I was in,
00:58:22 --> 00:58:26 and this is like 20 some years ago, There was one black legislator in the state
00:58:26 --> 00:58:31 of Arizona, and she was like about 4'11", and that sister could shut down the
00:58:31 --> 00:58:35 whole Capitol building because she was she literally could say,
00:58:35 --> 00:58:39 I am speaking for all the black people in Arizona when I'd stand up or fight for something.
00:58:39 --> 00:58:45 So anyway, all right, you're bringing back all these good memories, Doc.
00:58:46 --> 00:58:50 Coretta Scott King said to abandon affirmative action is to say that there is
00:58:50 --> 00:58:52 nothing more to be done about discrimination.
00:58:52 --> 00:58:57 Yet the prevailing conservative mantra is to end affirmative action,
00:58:57 --> 00:58:58 especially in education.
00:58:58 --> 00:59:02 Are we to believe that there is nothing more that can be done about discrimination?
00:59:02 --> 00:59:05 And if not, then what can be done?
00:59:06 --> 00:59:10 Oh, there's so much that needs to be done, can be done, should be done.
00:59:10 --> 00:59:16 And to say that we don't need affirmative action is to say that white folks
00:59:16 --> 00:59:21 are done with affirmative action, like in terms of, you know,
00:59:21 --> 00:59:22 they didn't want it anyway.
00:59:22 --> 00:59:27 It was an executive order to begin with. So that already tells you it didn't
00:59:27 --> 00:59:31 even get through Congress, you know, in order for it to happen.
00:59:31 --> 00:59:35 Johnson had to do it as an executive order. And it's still in 65,
00:59:35 --> 00:59:41 and it still took until 1974 for there actually to be rules on implementation
00:59:41 --> 00:59:42 from the federal government.
00:59:42 --> 00:59:49 They had to be sued by white women, feminist groups sued the federal government.
00:59:49 --> 00:59:52 The NAACP had to join into these
00:59:52 --> 00:59:55 fights. So they didn't even want to implement it. You know, what is it?
00:59:55 --> 01:00:00 Entrance convergence. Their interests didn't converge with Black people's interests,
01:00:00 --> 01:00:04 so they didn't support affirmative action. And so there's always been,
01:00:04 --> 01:00:08 you know, a backlash against affirmative action. This is not new.
01:00:08 --> 01:00:15 It's just repackaged now as anti-DEI, you know, anti-woke, all of this type of stuff.
01:00:15 --> 01:00:19 But, you know, if they're being honest, they have hated this.
01:00:19 --> 01:00:26 They have hated this idea of leveling the playing field or making things equal since its inception.
01:00:26 --> 01:00:29 So in terms of what can be done.
01:00:30 --> 01:00:34 Well, one, if, you know, like overturned the Harvard, the Students for Fair
01:00:34 --> 01:00:40 Admissions versus Harvard case in 2023, it's based on a whole bunch of faulty logic.
01:00:40 --> 01:00:45 To begin with, Edward Blum, who brought the case, was a conservative entrepreneur.
01:00:45 --> 01:00:50 He calls himself, you know, an entrepreneur and a legal entrepreneur.
01:00:50 --> 01:00:56 And what he's going to do with that is use philanthropy, you know,
01:00:56 --> 01:01:01 like big philanthropic organizations to prop up his organization.
01:01:01 --> 01:01:06 It really wasn't even, he had only one Asian American who was willing to join
01:01:06 --> 01:01:12 that case. Most Asian Americans were like, hey, no, we want affirmative action, too.
01:01:12 --> 01:01:15 You just let this one guy speak for the rest of us.
01:01:16 --> 01:01:21 And then they narrowly focused affirmative action or their animus toward race.
01:01:22 --> 01:01:26 They did not focus it on any other protected class.
01:01:26 --> 01:01:31 So that just tells you right there it's inherently racist. But now what's happened
01:01:31 --> 01:01:38 is it's extended that the Harvard case is being used not just for admissions,
01:01:38 --> 01:01:43 it's used against race-based scholarships and other type of prep programs for students.
01:01:44 --> 01:01:50 And that's not what the law says, but people are so worried that there will
01:01:50 --> 01:01:54 be this kind of federal backlash against them if they continue to implement
01:01:54 --> 01:01:58 race-based scholarships and that sort of thing that people are going too far with it.
01:01:58 --> 01:02:05 And California can tell you what will happen, what's going to happen once the
01:02:05 --> 01:02:07 Harvard case gets fully implemented.
01:02:07 --> 01:02:14 Our Black student population cut exactly in half, you know, and it's dropping fast.
01:02:14 --> 01:02:19 And so we're trying to figure out workarounds and so forth And we've had to
01:02:19 --> 01:02:22 go to community foundations to establish scholarships for Black students in
01:02:22 --> 01:02:26 the private sector Because there's no, you know,
01:02:26 --> 01:02:31 state protection for these programs and for these scholarships So there's a
01:02:31 --> 01:02:33 whole lot that can be done,
01:02:33 --> 01:02:36 should be done Because we have not rectified,
01:02:37 --> 01:02:38 you know, brought parity.
01:02:39 --> 01:02:43 And people have to have the law in order to do the right thing.
01:02:43 --> 01:02:47 I don't think people just inherently are going to do the right thing without the law.
01:02:48 --> 01:02:53 Yeah. And, you know, I was thinking about when we had the Ayers case in Mississippi
01:02:53 --> 01:02:57 and and then Tennessee State was in a similar situation.
01:02:57 --> 01:03:03 It was like part of the settlement was the historically black colleges had the
01:03:03 --> 01:03:10 onus to get, you know, 50 percent of their student population as white.
01:03:10 --> 01:03:15 But there was no onus on University of Tennessee or Ole Miss or Mississippi
01:03:15 --> 01:03:18 State to get the black population at 50 percent. Right.
01:03:18 --> 01:03:23 Yeah. And, you know, I mean, the schools got money out the deal.
01:03:23 --> 01:03:27 It was like, OK, I guess that was an example of sliceability or whatever.
01:03:28 --> 01:03:33 But it was like we didn't they put the onus on us.
01:03:33 --> 01:03:39 And then now they turn around and saying, well, you know, should we have black kids at Harvard?
01:03:39 --> 01:03:42 Should we have black kids at the North at North University of North Carolina?
01:03:43 --> 01:03:46 Should we have them at Michigan if they can't, quote unquote,
01:03:46 --> 01:03:53 meet the standard? But what you were addressing was it didn't address the legacy part.
01:03:53 --> 01:03:58 So if my daddy wrote a check to the University of Michigan and they built a
01:03:58 --> 01:04:02 nice dorm with my last name on it, then I'm getting into that school.
01:04:02 --> 01:04:04 Right. Yeah. And they didn't.
01:04:04 --> 01:04:09 Nobody, nobody wanted to address that. It was very interesting to see Harvard
01:04:09 --> 01:04:13 kids actually debate that point. It was like a kid that actually was a legacy
01:04:13 --> 01:04:18 admission saying, so if I was black, I couldn't get in.
01:04:18 --> 01:04:22 But because my daddy made a check, I can't.
01:04:22 --> 01:04:25 Yeah. Is that fair? You know what I'm saying?
01:04:25 --> 01:04:29 So, yeah, I don't know. Is there...
01:04:31 --> 01:04:36 What is a way, you said workaround, give me an example of a workaround other
01:04:36 --> 01:04:38 than the private scholarships you're talking about.
01:04:39 --> 01:04:41 Yeah, there's a thing called holistic review.
01:04:42 --> 01:04:45 So holistic review looks at your application.
01:04:46 --> 01:04:52 So most of the time when students apply, we convert their GPA or their school
01:04:52 --> 01:04:55 competitiveness rank into this quadratic equation.
01:04:55 --> 01:04:59 And it kicks out a formula and it ranks your students.
01:05:00 --> 01:05:07 But holistic review would say we're not going to rely simply on these numeric markers of admission.
01:05:07 --> 01:05:12 We're going to use the totality of, you know, if a student,
01:05:13 --> 01:05:16 for instance, grew up in a single-parent household or they were homeless for
01:05:16 --> 01:05:22 a period of time or, you know, they had all kind of, they overcame all kind of hurdles,
01:05:22 --> 01:05:29 we would actually do a holistic review of their application and use those qualitative factors,
01:05:29 --> 01:05:31 not just the quantitative factors.
01:05:32 --> 01:05:36 And so that's what the University of California had to do because they were
01:05:36 --> 01:05:43 losing Black and Brown students at an alarming rate after affirmative action was gone in 1996.
01:05:43 --> 01:05:48 And so they had to slowly start to implement holistic review as a workaround.
01:05:49 --> 01:05:52 So they're not considering race, right?
01:05:52 --> 01:05:56 But they're considering all of these other things, income, homelessness,
01:05:57 --> 01:06:01 you know, or this student did all of this kind of volunteer work that we normally
01:06:01 --> 01:06:05 don't count toward admission, but now we're going to use that as a factor.
01:06:06 --> 01:06:11 Yeah. So did the state of California track these young people?
01:06:11 --> 01:06:15 Did they go to other states to go to college or did they just not go to school at all?
01:06:16 --> 01:06:22 A lot of them didn't go, particularly the black students. A lot of them either
01:06:22 --> 01:06:24 did not go or they went out of state.
01:06:24 --> 01:06:30 Yeah. And the other part of the problem is that, you know, and we know this.
01:06:30 --> 01:06:36 The problem is also at K-12 where the students aren't adequately prepared to
01:06:36 --> 01:06:37 get into the university.
01:06:37 --> 01:06:44 But more importantly, is that certain groups of students are not given the same
01:06:44 --> 01:06:48 kind of courses that would allow them to matriculate into the university.
01:06:49 --> 01:06:56 So Black students are grossly kind of ill-advised on what classes to take.
01:06:56 --> 01:06:59 So they'll take courses that will get them a high school diploma,
01:06:59 --> 01:07:05 but they won't count toward admission to the Cal State system or the University of California.
01:07:06 --> 01:07:13 And so we have a huge swath of black students who just would not make it into
01:07:13 --> 01:07:15 one of our state schools,
01:07:16 --> 01:07:22 whereas some of the HBCUs would bring those, you know, like bring those students
01:07:22 --> 01:07:26 in and help them, help them, you know, overcome whatever, you know,
01:07:26 --> 01:07:28 deficiency they may have.
01:07:28 --> 01:07:31 California used to have programs.
01:07:31 --> 01:07:36 We used to have a thing called the special admit program. And that would allow,
01:07:36 --> 01:07:41 if you were, say, for instance, you were missing one year of high school science,
01:07:41 --> 01:07:47 we would let you into the university and we would offer you tutoring support
01:07:47 --> 01:07:49 in order for you to catch up.
01:07:49 --> 01:07:55 Well, when affirmative action was gone, they started to chip away at the special admit program.
01:07:55 --> 01:08:00 And it was the way in which special admit is still on the books technically,
01:08:00 --> 01:08:03 but the way it's been implemented is it has targeted black students.
01:08:05 --> 01:08:12 So let's wrap this up. What do you want readers of the book to take away from
01:08:12 --> 01:08:16 it? So I really want people to take away two things.
01:08:17 --> 01:08:23 One, the power of the trustees to make policies and to thwart policies, really.
01:08:23 --> 01:08:30 They have a lot of say over what happens all the way from buildings,
01:08:31 --> 01:08:35 tenure decisions, what students get in. They set the prices for tuition.
01:08:37 --> 01:08:41 But, you know, the public is really unaware of who they are These people are
01:08:41 --> 01:08:46 not elected They are appointed by governors So they are very much political
01:08:46 --> 01:08:51 appointees And they often do the bidding of the person that appointed them Claudia
01:08:51 --> 01:08:55 Hampton was appointed by Ronald Reagan And she and Ronald Reagan did not have
01:08:55 --> 01:08:57 the same politics She was a Democrat,
01:08:57 --> 01:09:02 he was a Republican You know, he was anti-affirmative action She was pro-affirmative
01:09:02 --> 01:09:04 action She was her own person,
01:09:05 --> 01:09:09 And that leads to my second point that I want readers to understand is that
01:09:09 --> 01:09:16 there are ways in which you can be an effective leader as a Black person in
01:09:16 --> 01:09:21 these institutions and still have the community at the forefront of everything you do.
01:09:21 --> 01:09:27 Claudia Hampton not only cooked dinner for white men, she was responsible in
01:09:27 --> 01:09:35 budget crisis. She made sure that affirmative action never got underfunded or funding was taken away.
01:09:35 --> 01:09:39 And she just used the kind of power of her personality and her organizational
01:09:39 --> 01:09:43 skills in order to bring people along. People who were like,
01:09:44 --> 01:09:46 we don't like affirmative action, but we love Claudia Hampton.
01:09:46 --> 01:09:51 And she's like, fine, I'll I'll take that if that means these black kids will
01:09:51 --> 01:09:54 be able to get a college education. Yeah.
01:09:55 --> 01:09:56 Well, Dr.
01:09:57 --> 01:10:01 Donna J. Nicol, it's really been an honor to talk to you.
01:10:01 --> 01:10:07 I can tell that we just, you know, kind of scratched the surface a little bit.
01:10:07 --> 01:10:13 But since you've been a guest now, you have an open invitation to come back.
01:10:13 --> 01:10:18 And I would love to keep talking to you about education as a whole,
01:10:18 --> 01:10:24 especially higher education in the United States, because there's a lot of other
01:10:24 --> 01:10:27 issues that we can get into, not just the racial aspect of it,
01:10:28 --> 01:10:30 but even the value of a higher education at this point.
01:10:30 --> 01:10:35 So I'd love for you to come back, especially now that I know you're an administrator now.
01:10:36 --> 01:10:40 So, but, but I thank you for coming on and sharing this and where can,
01:10:40 --> 01:10:43 so where can people buy the book?
01:10:43 --> 01:10:46 How can people reach out to you? All the other stuff.
01:10:47 --> 01:10:55 So you can go directly to my website, which is www.donnajnicol.com.
01:10:55 --> 01:11:00 I actually have on the page some audio of Claudia Hampton that I was able to
01:11:00 --> 01:11:01 retrieve from the archive.
01:11:01 --> 01:11:05 So you can hear her in her own words talking about, you know,
01:11:05 --> 01:11:08 she said, well, they called me the affirmative action trustee.
01:11:08 --> 01:11:13 And so she talks about that and how she played the game of boardsmanship.
01:11:13 --> 01:11:16 That was the way she described what she did.
01:11:16 --> 01:11:20 So you can hear on the website, but you can also go under the research page
01:11:20 --> 01:11:25 and that's where you can find the direct link to purchase the book.
01:11:25 --> 01:11:29 If you go onto the press page, which is University of Rochester Press,
01:11:29 --> 01:11:32 there's a discount code on there. So you can get 35% off on the book.
01:11:32 --> 01:11:37 If you go through the press page, it's a little cheaper than what you would
01:11:37 --> 01:11:39 pay on Amazon, but I have the Amazon link too.
01:11:40 --> 01:11:46 Okay. All right. Well, again, Dr. Nicol, I appreciate you coming on and look forward.
01:11:47 --> 01:11:52 Hopefully you'll have a great school year this year and look forward to seeing
01:11:52 --> 01:11:57 whatever else you're going to write about or do in the education field.
01:11:57 --> 01:12:03 Oh, thank you again for having me. I really enjoyed the conversation and I would be happy to come back.
01:12:03 --> 01:12:06 All right, guys. And we're going to catch out on the other side.
01:12:06 --> 01:12:25 Music.
01:12:22 --> 01:12:26 We'll see you next time. All right. And we are back.
01:12:27 --> 01:12:33 And so now it's time for my next guest, Dontaye Carter, a native of Orlando, Florida.
01:12:33 --> 01:12:39 Dontaye Carter is the founder and owner of Carter Media Group and an alum of Florida A&M University.
01:12:39 --> 01:12:43 He has served as the vice chair of the school governance council at Dunwoody
01:12:43 --> 01:12:49 Springs Elementary, an executive board member of the PTO and as chair of the
01:12:49 --> 01:12:50 North Fulton Democrats.
01:12:51 --> 01:12:55 He is also the first vice president of the Atlanta NAACP and serves as the communications
01:12:55 --> 01:12:57 chair for the Georgia NAACP.
01:12:58 --> 01:13:05 In addition, he served as a board member of Cure Childhood Cancer for two years, concluding in 2024.
01:13:06 --> 01:13:13 Dontaye Carter announced his second candidacy for mayor of Sandy Springs on January the 19th, 2025.
01:13:13 --> 01:13:16 He finished second in his previous run in 2021.
01:13:17 --> 01:13:19 Dontaye lives in Sandy Springs with his wife, Dr.
01:13:20 --> 01:13:25 Karen Creed, board certified OBGYN at Northside Hospital, and their six-year-old
01:13:25 --> 01:13:29 daughter, co-author of the book, My Daddy and Me, Kyleigh.
01:13:30 --> 01:13:34 Ladies and gentlemen, it's my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest.
01:13:34 --> 01:13:37 On this podcast, Dontaye Carter.
01:13:39 --> 01:13:49 Music.
01:13:49 --> 01:13:52 All right. Dontaye Carter. How you doing, brother? You doing all good?
01:13:53 --> 01:13:58 Oh, man, I'm doing all right. How you doing over there? I'm doing better than you. I'm not running.
01:13:58 --> 01:14:03 So, you know, I appreciate you being out here in these trenches and all that.
01:14:03 --> 01:14:08 But I always tell people if I'm not running for office, I'm doing great because I've been through it.
01:14:09 --> 01:14:13 That's it. Yeah. So, look, let's go ahead and get this going.
01:14:13 --> 01:14:16 I do a couple of icebreakers, right? Right.
01:14:16 --> 01:14:19 And so the first one is a quote.
01:14:19 --> 01:14:23 And the quote is, if you want to go quickly, go alone.
01:14:24 --> 01:14:28 If you want to go far, go together. What does that quote mean to you?
01:14:29 --> 01:14:32 You know, I think it speaks to a lot of what we're trying to accomplish right
01:14:32 --> 01:14:35 now. That's bringing people together so that we can go the distance.
01:14:35 --> 01:14:41 You know, we understand that we live in a system that systemically impacts us.
01:14:41 --> 01:14:45 And so untangling this system and democracy, democracy only works for those
01:14:45 --> 01:14:48 who have the numbers, right? That's what it is.
01:14:49 --> 01:14:52 And it's most basic terms. You go out and get the numbers.
01:14:52 --> 01:14:57 You can set precedent. You can set policy. You can set the things that you want to set.
01:14:57 --> 01:15:00 And so that's what we spent the last four years doing is getting out there and
01:15:00 --> 01:15:02 bringing people together so that we can truly go the distance,
01:15:02 --> 01:15:07 not just winning this election, but also so that we can have the numbers on city council, right?
01:15:08 --> 01:15:11 It's one thing to have a mayor who can sign executive order after executive order.
01:15:11 --> 01:15:15 It's another thing to have those three votes on city council that you can have
01:15:15 --> 01:15:17 people vote on and get your agenda passed.
01:15:18 --> 01:15:21 And so to me, that's what that quote really means is bringing people together,
01:15:22 --> 01:15:25 making sure that you have people in position so that you can go the distance
01:15:25 --> 01:15:26 to reach your goal. Yeah.
01:15:27 --> 01:15:30 All right. So the next icebreaker is what I call 20 questions.
01:15:31 --> 01:15:37 So I need you to give me a number between one and 20. Three.
01:15:37 --> 01:15:42 How should we balance rights, freedoms, and responsibilities?
01:15:43 --> 01:15:46 How should we balance it or how does this nation balance it, right?
01:15:47 --> 01:15:51 How do you balance it? Yeah, that's a personal question.
01:15:52 --> 01:15:56 Well, you know, I'm a very high moral type of guy.
01:15:56 --> 01:16:02 I truly believe in treating people the way you want to be treated in its simplest form.
01:16:02 --> 01:16:08 And so for me, I'm always looking at things as how, if the shoe was on the other
01:16:08 --> 01:16:12 foot, how would I want this, whatever this is being done to me?
01:16:12 --> 01:16:14 Would I think it's fair? Would I think it's equitable?
01:16:14 --> 01:16:19 How would I want that done in terms of if there's a wrong committed against me?
01:16:19 --> 01:16:24 How would I want those things amended? And so I think it's just important for
01:16:24 --> 01:16:28 me to look at through the lens of how would I want myself, my wife,
01:16:28 --> 01:16:29 or my daughter to be treated.
01:16:29 --> 01:16:32 And those are some of the things that I really focus on when I look at,
01:16:32 --> 01:16:35 when I think about the question that you just asked. Yeah.
01:16:35 --> 01:16:39 So you've lived in Sandy Springs for nearly a decade.
01:16:40 --> 01:16:44 What is it about Sandy Springs that makes it a special place to live?
01:16:45 --> 01:16:50 You know, I think what brought me here is my wife's an OB and she's required
01:16:50 --> 01:16:53 by law to be with it, you know, 12 to 15 minutes at a hospital.
01:16:53 --> 01:16:55 And so that's what brought us here.
01:16:56 --> 01:16:59 But as I've been here, as I've gotten to know the people, you know,
01:16:59 --> 01:17:04 Sandy Springs, it's changing drastically. It's 50 percent minority.
01:17:05 --> 01:17:08 And I think what people don't realize is when you say minority,
01:17:08 --> 01:17:13 it's not just black and Hispanic. I mean, we have people here from over 100
01:17:13 --> 01:17:14 different nations, right?
01:17:15 --> 01:17:19 So we're being exposed to a lot of culture here as well.
01:17:19 --> 01:17:26 And so for me, I grew up down in Orlando, East Orlando. And it reminds me a
01:17:26 --> 01:17:30 lot of where I came from, where you have the influx of diversity.
01:17:31 --> 01:17:35 And I think for me, that's something that I've always appreciated because you're
01:17:35 --> 01:17:38 able to see humanity for what humanity truly is.
01:17:38 --> 01:17:40 To me, that's something special. Yeah.
01:17:41 --> 01:17:45 So you ran for mayor in 2021 and finished second.
01:17:46 --> 01:17:50 What will be the difference this time that will lead your campaign to victory?
01:17:50 --> 01:17:54 We built community. And that's what we've been building for the last four years.
01:17:55 --> 01:18:00 We were endorsed by one of the longest serving principals here in the area after
01:18:00 --> 01:18:02 she retired, not long after she retired.
01:18:03 --> 01:18:07 And she was honest with her endorsement. She said, I saw him run just like a
01:18:07 --> 01:18:09 lot of people saw him run.
01:18:09 --> 01:18:15 And you know, after he ran we expected him to disappear and he never disappeared
01:18:15 --> 01:18:21 he kept showing up and I think for me that's what validated me in this decision
01:18:21 --> 01:18:23 to keep going is the fact that,
01:18:24 --> 01:18:29 For having folks like that that said, you know, seeing you never give up,
01:18:29 --> 01:18:33 seeing you continue to stay engaged, seeing you step up to support the community
01:18:33 --> 01:18:37 where you saw that there were needs, it meant a lot because we know that there are a lot of needs.
01:18:38 --> 01:18:41 We know everything from affordability, child care, health care,
01:18:41 --> 01:18:42 so many things are being impacted.
01:18:43 --> 01:18:45 We had a school that closed up here. And I think that, you know,
01:18:46 --> 01:18:50 we just have to, we got to ensure that we have folks who are in this for the
01:18:50 --> 01:18:53 long haul, who are looking at the best way to protect folks,
01:18:53 --> 01:18:57 looking at the best way to ensure that the city is affordable.
01:18:57 --> 01:19:01 And I think that's just the biggest thing. I think a lot of people are making money.
01:19:01 --> 01:19:04 We've got a ton of corporations up here. We got, I believe, more corporations
01:19:04 --> 01:19:06 up here than anywhere else in America.
01:19:06 --> 01:19:11 And a majority of them are paying taxes, you know. And so we're putting a bill
01:19:11 --> 01:19:14 on a lot of these things. And I think it's time to change that. Yeah.
01:19:15 --> 01:19:20 So, you know, hearing you tell the story about the retired principal,
01:19:20 --> 01:19:25 it just reminds me, in 1986, I first ran for office.
01:19:26 --> 01:19:31 And the one thing people said is like, well, you hadn't paid your dues and you got to pay your dues.
01:19:31 --> 01:19:34 Now, I didn't get elected until 13 years later.
01:19:34 --> 01:19:39 So I'm hoping that timetable is not your timetable, especially since you're
01:19:39 --> 01:19:43 running now. But, you know, it does mean something because a lot of those people,
01:19:43 --> 01:19:47 you know, saw that I was serious about it.
01:19:48 --> 01:19:54 And, you know, when the right office came, then I was able to get in with a lot of their support.
01:19:54 --> 01:20:02 And I'm hoping that that works for you. Like I said, more quicker than later in that case.
01:20:03 --> 01:20:07 What title do you draw from the most as a campaigner? husband,
01:20:07 --> 01:20:10 father, media consultant, or community leader?
01:20:11 --> 01:20:18 I think the one that I probably draw from the most is husband and father.
01:20:18 --> 01:20:22 I think, you know, that's the epitome of what keeps me going out here.
01:20:22 --> 01:20:25 That's, you know, again, you know, and I mentioned this earlier,
01:20:25 --> 01:20:33 it's like, you know, I didn't realize what type of position we were in until
01:20:33 --> 01:20:35 I went and worked for the Fulton County DA's office.
01:20:36 --> 01:20:40 And that's why I saw how laws were applied.
01:20:40 --> 01:20:47 And it just blew my mind, you know, that laws could be applied in a certain way.
01:20:47 --> 01:20:50 If you don't have good police officers that are doing their job,
01:20:50 --> 01:20:52 that are actually investigating these cases,
01:20:53 --> 01:20:58 it turns into this run-of-the-mill where it's an arrest, it's a prosecution,
01:20:58 --> 01:21:02 it's shipping folks off, and it's not until 20, 30 years later that you realize,
01:21:02 --> 01:21:04 man, we sent the wrong person down the road.
01:21:04 --> 01:21:10 And seeing how these things happen and happen with very well-intentioned,
01:21:10 --> 01:21:13 well-meaning folks blew my mind.
01:21:14 --> 01:21:17 That's when I decided and made that decision, you know what, I got to leave.
01:21:18 --> 01:21:22 I got to work outside the system so that I can really bring context to what's happening.
01:21:22 --> 01:21:26 So I leave the DA's office. I open up my own communications firm.
01:21:26 --> 01:21:30 I ended up getting hired on by an attorney by the name of Attorney Gerald Griggs.
01:21:30 --> 01:21:34 And one of the first big cases that hits my case is him working with the families
01:21:34 --> 01:21:36 involved in the R. Kelly case.
01:21:37 --> 01:21:43 And it wasn't until I'm looking through this and I'm reading through it.
01:21:43 --> 01:21:44 At the time, it was a charge.
01:21:44 --> 01:21:47 So it's a tough place to be in.
01:21:47 --> 01:21:52 I just remember talking out loud and my wife was just quiet.
01:21:52 --> 01:21:54 And I was like, babe, are you good?
01:21:54 --> 01:21:59 And I asked her again, because it was a deafening silence.
01:21:59 --> 01:22:03 And so she said, at some point, we need our husbands, our fathers,
01:22:03 --> 01:22:07 we need the men in our lives to act like they know there's a problem.
01:22:07 --> 01:22:11 And there's a real problem going on. The fact that you're helping me to raise
01:22:11 --> 01:22:14 a black girl and you're not seeing it for what it is bothers me.
01:22:14 --> 01:22:17 She was like, you can take that case for free for all I care.
01:22:17 --> 01:22:22 And I did end up taking it for free. And it was tough when I started looking
01:22:22 --> 01:22:26 at the laws and realizing that laws that were meant to protect women aren't
01:22:26 --> 01:22:30 sufficient enough, right? So I'm bounced from there and I get a call to help
01:22:30 --> 01:22:32 out with the Ahmaud Arbery case.
01:22:32 --> 01:22:35 And I'm working with the attorneys. is there and work with families.
01:22:35 --> 01:22:37 Another case that I took without taking a dime.
01:22:38 --> 01:22:44 And I started to see that not only are women and specifically black women not
01:22:44 --> 01:22:47 protected in these spaces, but man, we're not protected either.
01:22:48 --> 01:22:53 And then I go from there to looking at the laws that are in place in Sandy Springs
01:22:53 --> 01:22:57 and seeing that we don't even have a civil rights ordinance in place, right?
01:22:57 --> 01:23:02 So now we're talking about the fact that discrimination's not defined within
01:23:02 --> 01:23:03 the city limit. So what does that impact?
01:23:04 --> 01:23:07 That impacts those who work in the city, that impacts those who live in the city.
01:23:08 --> 01:23:12 And I get so frustrated when I hear the,
01:23:13 --> 01:23:20 Those who want to criticize say, well, Fulton County has a civil rights law.
01:23:20 --> 01:23:24 And it's like, you know, but now you're saying I got to go into a courtroom
01:23:24 --> 01:23:29 to talk about what was done to me and have this jurist decide whether or not
01:23:29 --> 01:23:33 I was discriminated against because we don't have a long city in the books.
01:23:33 --> 01:23:34 That's why Atlanta has one.
01:23:34 --> 01:23:39 That's why Brookhaven has one. That's why all these cities have one because
01:23:39 --> 01:23:41 they're doing that to hold folks accountable.
01:23:41 --> 01:23:46 And so, you know, as I started to look at the laws and see that, oh, man, like,
01:23:47 --> 01:23:53 it's not only do the laws we need to have on the books be there that aren't,
01:23:53 --> 01:23:56 but we still got our case stuff on the books, you know?
01:23:57 --> 01:24:00 Like, you know, a black man can't own a dog in the state of Georgia.
01:24:00 --> 01:24:05 Like, they'll tell you, man, well, we don't enforce it, but it's like, it's still on the books.
01:24:05 --> 01:24:09 Like, if you don't enforce it, take it off. Like, take it off.
01:24:10 --> 01:24:15 Why is it still there? You know, it's very similar to even on the federal government side.
01:24:15 --> 01:24:20 Every few years, you know, there's still a vote that has to take place on whether
01:24:20 --> 01:24:22 or not we retain the right to vote.
01:24:22 --> 01:24:26 It's like you think this stuff is crazy until you really start looking at it.
01:24:26 --> 01:24:28 And it's just, it's bananas.
01:24:28 --> 01:24:33 But, you know, I think all of those things, this is why I draw for me being
01:24:33 --> 01:24:39 a husband, me being a father, because it allows me to be open and feel these
01:24:39 --> 01:24:41 things in a way that pushes me to drive change.
01:24:42 --> 01:24:46 Yeah. Yeah. That's interesting about the dog thing.
01:24:46 --> 01:24:50 I did not, I did not, you know, cause I kind of, that's one of the things I
01:24:50 --> 01:24:53 look for those little obscure laws like that.
01:24:53 --> 01:24:59 And I didn't, like you said, there's some stuff in Georgia that needs to be improved.
01:24:59 --> 01:25:03 Did not realize it was illegal for a black man to own a dog in the state. That's, that's great.
01:25:04 --> 01:25:08 I, I understand the historical significance of it though, but it's still crazy.
01:25:09 --> 01:25:12 I got four of them, man. You know, the misdemeanors are lining up.
01:25:13 --> 01:25:16 Look, we could probably do a whole show on that.
01:25:17 --> 01:25:21 You have listed four priorities that you would like to address as mayor.
01:25:21 --> 01:25:26 Fair housing for all, stopping rent hikes and price gouging to protect renters,
01:25:27 --> 01:25:31 capping property taxes, keeping homeowners secure amid rising costs,
01:25:32 --> 01:25:35 strengthening communities, building community centers that unite and empower
01:25:35 --> 01:25:42 residents, and smart growth, preventing predatory development while fostering sustainable progress.
01:25:42 --> 01:25:48 Which of these four priorities would you like to see movement on during your first 100 days?
01:25:49 --> 01:25:53 Definitely the direct center and definitely affordable housing.
01:25:54 --> 01:25:57 Like these, Sandy Springs has over 50 acres of undeveloped city-owned land.
01:25:58 --> 01:25:59 Like we already own the land.
01:25:59 --> 01:26:05 And there are developers out there whose focus is affordability.
01:26:05 --> 01:26:09 That's what they build for Not just tiny homes Not just, I mean,
01:26:09 --> 01:26:10 that are looking at Okay,
01:26:10 --> 01:26:14 how do we build this home in the most effective Most affordable way They're
01:26:14 --> 01:26:20 already doing it The problem that we have is Throughout this nation, we have mayors,
01:26:21 --> 01:26:26 Who've, I mean, even in this In the city of Sandy Springs We've.
01:26:26 --> 01:26:30 They're funding all the campaigns. There's a lot of money that I've left on
01:26:30 --> 01:26:33 the table because they don't want me focused on certain issues.
01:26:33 --> 01:26:38 And what I'm telling them is, listen, not only does this impact people I love,
01:26:39 --> 01:26:41 but at some point it's going to impact me.
01:26:41 --> 01:26:45 Like you can't keep developing and building up around us, right?
01:26:45 --> 01:26:47 And think that we're going to be able to afford to stay in our homes.
01:26:47 --> 01:26:50 I've already seen it with, you know, there was a lady four years ago that says,
01:26:50 --> 01:26:53 I don't understand why you're talking about affordable housing.
01:26:53 --> 01:26:56 And then her husband retired and she has to move out of her home because they
01:26:56 --> 01:26:57 can't afford to keep things up.
01:26:58 --> 01:27:00 And that's what I'm trying to get folks to see is, you know, Dr.
01:27:00 --> 01:27:05 King said it so eloquently, and I'm not going to say it verbatim,
01:27:05 --> 01:27:09 but I mean, essentially what happens to one side is going to happen to the other.
01:27:09 --> 01:27:13 And if we don't start looking at things through a very collective lens about
01:27:13 --> 01:27:18 how these things impact and affect us, it's going to leave us in some very tough positions.
01:27:18 --> 01:27:23 And I mean, we're watching the middle class fade away in real time.
01:27:24 --> 01:27:27 And we may not be able to see the full glimpse of it in five years,
01:27:27 --> 01:27:29 but you're going to see it in 10.
01:27:29 --> 01:27:33 It's coming and it's coming fast. And so, you know, that's why,
01:27:33 --> 01:27:40 you know, I've been working so hard and fighting so hard because I care about these things.
01:27:41 --> 01:27:47 You know, I had two parents who went and fought for this country,
01:27:47 --> 01:27:48 who served in this military.
01:27:49 --> 01:27:54 I was literally born in Frankfurt, West Germany, before the Berlin Wall came
01:27:54 --> 01:28:00 down, as not just my father, but my mother were also there on the front line standing.
01:28:00 --> 01:28:05 You know, holding up democracy, you know, and I didn't even realize until I
01:28:05 --> 01:28:08 had a conversation with my mother recently, she's already, you know,
01:28:08 --> 01:28:13 pairing her little and going through these things to make sure that if anything happens to her,
01:28:14 --> 01:28:16 that my godparents are ready and all these things.
01:28:16 --> 01:28:21 And so when I think about the sacrifices When I see her go through what she
01:28:21 --> 01:28:26 went through over there, not just as a soldier, not just as being Black,
01:28:27 --> 01:28:28 but also as being a woman, right?
01:28:29 --> 01:28:34 It's when I see her go through all that, come back here, fight to get back on
01:28:34 --> 01:28:36 her feet, go through the challenges that she faced.
01:28:37 --> 01:28:41 Us being, for a small period, homeless, like dealing with the things that we dealt with.
01:28:41 --> 01:28:46 Like there's no reason that things should have spiraled out the way that they did.
01:28:46 --> 01:28:50 And we just have to be honest, you know? So in Sandy Springs over here where
01:28:50 --> 01:28:54 the Sandy Springs UMC is selling their land and developers coming in to build
01:28:54 --> 01:28:56 on it, the city gave them $5 million,
01:28:57 --> 01:29:00 gave them 10 years to pay off that $5 million loan and told them they didn't
01:29:00 --> 01:29:04 have to pay full taxes in the meantime to assure that they get their money back.
01:29:05 --> 01:29:08 There's no guarantees that we're going to get this money back.
01:29:08 --> 01:29:12 There's no guarantees that they're going to hire any small businesses from the city of Sandy Springs.
01:29:13 --> 01:29:16 No guarantees that they're going to use minority contractors.
01:29:16 --> 01:29:19 To me, that's not a benefit to the city Right? And,
01:29:20 --> 01:29:26 The cities do lose more and more with deals like this when we could be investing
01:29:26 --> 01:29:31 in rec centers, right, where we have programs there that help grow leaders,
01:29:31 --> 01:29:35 that, you know, put job training in there, give kids places to go.
01:29:35 --> 01:29:39 I mean, we have the land to do these things. We have the opportunity to do these things.
01:29:39 --> 01:29:44 But the reality is, is we have people that it's not in their best interest for
01:29:44 --> 01:29:48 them to do it so that it won't. And I think at that point, that's when we have
01:29:48 --> 01:29:51 to realize it's time to send some folks home. And that's what I'm going to do.
01:29:52 --> 01:29:56 So let me see if I got this right. So Sandy Springs, United Message,
01:29:57 --> 01:30:02 that's the church right there on Mount Vernon, right behind City Springs, the City Springs area.
01:30:02 --> 01:30:07 Yeah. All right. And that's kind of like where the city was founded, if I'm correct.
01:30:08 --> 01:30:11 That's where they found the little well and all that stuff. And the city grew
01:30:11 --> 01:30:14 from that. So they're talking about they're getting ready to move.
01:30:15 --> 01:30:19 Yeah, they're gone. They're already in a soul gland. Okay. And the developers,
01:30:19 --> 01:30:22 they got all type of tax abated. That's what I'm saying.
01:30:23 --> 01:30:26 Our property tax in Sandy Springs, 33% in the last six years,
01:30:27 --> 01:30:29 right? So that's a bill that homeowners are footing.
01:30:30 --> 01:30:34 That's extra rent that our renters are paying. I mean, it's bananas because
01:30:34 --> 01:30:39 they just, this past week, had a whole conversation about the millage rate and what to do with it.
01:30:39 --> 01:30:43 And they said, no, we'll leave it the same, even though they're bringing in
01:30:43 --> 01:30:48 hundreds of thousands of dollars more, possibly millions, if we get to the weeds of numbers.
01:30:48 --> 01:30:53 We're in a place where if we wanted to, we could lower the millage rate, right?
01:30:53 --> 01:30:58 And still lower the millage rate, still afford excellent services with police fire, all these things.
01:30:59 --> 01:31:02 But they're taking the burden off some of our homeowners, some of our renters, right?
01:31:02 --> 01:31:07 And we don't even have anybody in there. We know they're bringing in mixed use, right?
01:31:07 --> 01:31:11 We're giving them money. Why not incentivize them to actually make these rents livable?
01:31:12 --> 01:31:15 You know, I've sat down, I've talked to our educators, I've talked to our police.
01:31:16 --> 01:31:18 You know, what's affordable is $1 a month.
01:31:19 --> 01:31:23 I mean, it's not too many places where you're going to find $1 a month.
01:31:24 --> 01:31:27 You know, they'll tell you that, well, the police don't want to live in a city
01:31:27 --> 01:31:28 where they're going to arrest people.
01:31:28 --> 01:31:32 Nah, that's not what they told me, right? They said, if it's affordable, they'll live in a city.
01:31:33 --> 01:31:36 My grandfather, he coached on the Police Athletic League when I lived up in
01:31:36 --> 01:31:39 Washington, D.C. I played on his baseball team.
01:31:39 --> 01:31:43 I mean, you create opportunities for people to serve in the community.
01:31:43 --> 01:31:47 They're going to step up and serve, but it's all dictated by who is at the top.
01:31:47 --> 01:31:51 Right now, at the top is the mayor. He's dictating the culture of the city. We got to change that.
01:31:52 --> 01:31:56 Yeah. Well, I was interested in somebody would say that about Sandy Springs.
01:31:56 --> 01:32:00 The police don't want to live where the crime is because, you know,
01:32:00 --> 01:32:05 for all intents and purposes, Sandy Springs is a safe place to live. It is not a hotbed.
01:32:05 --> 01:32:11 As a matter of fact, I get you. You and I can go over to Hammond Drive and that
01:32:11 --> 01:32:16 building is probably the hotbed of crime in Sandy Springs. It's not the, it's not widespread.
01:32:17 --> 01:32:22 And if you looked at that place, you're like going, really, this is where all the crime is happening?
01:32:22 --> 01:32:27 It's because it looks like a luxury condo. So, you know, I think that's kind
01:32:27 --> 01:32:28 of an outlandish statement.
01:32:28 --> 01:32:31 But, you know, when you're out there running, people are going to say stuff to you.
01:32:31 --> 01:32:36 So I'm glad that you were able to rebuff that a little bit.
01:32:36 --> 01:32:39 What is going to be the toughest priority to fulfill?
01:32:41 --> 01:32:47 Man, I think one of the toughest priorities is really going to be,
01:32:47 --> 01:32:50 I think it's going to be a combination of two, right? Because something's going
01:32:50 --> 01:32:52 to change on one side or the other.
01:32:52 --> 01:32:57 It's either we do something about housing, or we got to bring income up, right?
01:32:57 --> 01:33:00 What we face in Georgia are a lot of preemptive laws.
01:33:01 --> 01:33:07 They set the corporate tax at, I think, 5.7%, which is bananas.
01:33:07 --> 01:33:11 They've allowed, because other cities, you look at California,
01:33:11 --> 01:33:14 New York, Texas, they're all charging these corporations a lot more.
01:33:14 --> 01:33:20 So they're coming in here, you know, not even paying half of what they paid
01:33:20 --> 01:33:26 in other states And they've made it illegal for cities to tax the corporations, a city tax,
01:33:27 --> 01:33:30 Which, you know, if you look at New York City and you look at the cities in
01:33:30 --> 01:33:35 New Jersey They're probably charging about 11.5% tax on these corporations that are there.
01:33:36 --> 01:33:42 I say all that because we hear a lot of these folks talking about They're bringing
01:33:42 --> 01:33:46 jobs, bringing jobs, bringing jobs Are they bringing jobs or are they bringing employees?
01:33:47 --> 01:33:51 Because the majority of these corporations already have their employees.
01:33:51 --> 01:33:52 They're not hiring from within the community.
01:33:53 --> 01:33:56 So we just got to have a real conversation about these things and about what,
01:33:56 --> 01:34:00 like, if we're cutting out all these tax benefits to where we already can't
01:34:00 --> 01:34:06 charge y'all a city business tax in the same manner that other states are, right?
01:34:06 --> 01:34:10 Like, yeah, they'll pay for their business renewal license, but we're not getting
01:34:10 --> 01:34:13 that same tax fee that other cities are getting.
01:34:14 --> 01:34:16 And y'all aren't paying property taxes.
01:34:17 --> 01:34:21 What are y'all bringing to the city? And I think for me, that's where a lot
01:34:21 --> 01:34:26 of the frustration is because, you know, Sandy Springs, we're at a real crossroads.
01:34:26 --> 01:34:28 This really is a tale of two cities.
01:34:28 --> 01:34:32 You know, you get on the other side of Abernathy and it's a different city.
01:34:33 --> 01:34:36 It doesn't look like you're driving south going in the bucket.
01:34:36 --> 01:34:41 It's a different city. And we've got to have real honest conversations about that.
01:34:41 --> 01:34:44 We've got to talk about what true investment looks like. We've got to talk about
01:34:44 --> 01:34:48 why we don't have an affordable housing advisory committee.
01:34:48 --> 01:34:51 I'm in here talking to my brother's girlfriend.
01:34:52 --> 01:34:56 She works for a chamber of commerce. I won't say which one, but she works for a chamber of commerce.
01:34:56 --> 01:35:00 And the first thing they had that they did with the city was they created an
01:35:00 --> 01:35:01 affordable housing committee.
01:35:02 --> 01:35:05 We don't have these things and we don't have them because they don't care.
01:35:05 --> 01:35:09 And that's just the reality. And so I think the challenge is,
01:35:09 --> 01:35:14 I know what we can do, but it's not going to take away from the obstacles in a way.
01:35:14 --> 01:35:19 We've really got to look at these preemptive laws that are impacting cities
01:35:19 --> 01:35:22 greatly, especially nobody's talking about the tariffs coming down,
01:35:22 --> 01:35:26 what that's going to mean for city services, which is why we're seeing a lot
01:35:26 --> 01:35:27 of cities trying to what?
01:35:28 --> 01:35:32 Not lower their millage rate, but actually going up. There are a ton of cities
01:35:32 --> 01:35:35 around us and they're doing that bracing for what these tariffs,
01:35:35 --> 01:35:38 how these tariffs are going to impact the way these cities run.
01:35:38 --> 01:35:41 And so we just, we got to have a real conversation. I'm talking to state leaders.
01:35:42 --> 01:35:50 They're saying that nobody in this North Fulton region has a plan on what they're
01:35:50 --> 01:35:51 going to do going forward.
01:35:51 --> 01:35:55 I think it's, for me, that's scary when I hear folks don't have a plan because
01:35:55 --> 01:36:00 if you've been in office 20 plus years, you should have seen a lot, right?
01:36:00 --> 01:36:04 We had a huge economic crash in 2008.
01:36:05 --> 01:36:09 You've been through that. You should know where we are now and have an idea
01:36:09 --> 01:36:11 of what that looks like going forward.
01:36:11 --> 01:36:15 But there aren't any. So that is going to be the biggest challenge.
01:36:15 --> 01:36:20 You know, the reality is, is economically, all indications are we're in a recession,
01:36:20 --> 01:36:24 but nobody's saying, you know, they're throwing money, you know,
01:36:25 --> 01:36:28 trying to cover up these, you know, wounds and putting band-aids in places.
01:36:28 --> 01:36:35 But the reality is, is we just have to be honest and understand that we got a lot of people out here.
01:36:35 --> 01:36:41 They're hurting Sandy Springs Public Schools. I took heat back in January when I said this.
01:36:42 --> 01:36:48 We're looking at a homeless student population of about 30% in our public school systems.
01:36:48 --> 01:36:52 A lot of this is because of displacement caused from development.
01:36:53 --> 01:36:55 It's because rent is off the chain.
01:36:55 --> 01:37:00 And, you know, folks would rather hide it than look at how to heal this situation.
01:37:00 --> 01:37:03 I'm saying these things are going to impact us.
01:37:03 --> 01:37:07 Like if you starve people of opportunity, these things will happen.
01:37:08 --> 01:37:12 You know, we had the largest fentanyl drug bust In the history of Georgia Right
01:37:12 --> 01:37:14 here in Sandy Springs this year,
01:37:15 --> 01:37:19 I said it's because there's a disconnect between the community and the people in office.
01:37:19 --> 01:37:23 Folks said, well, you know, you're going a little overboard with that, aren't you, Dontaye?
01:37:23 --> 01:37:28 No, the reality is, is if you've got a strong relationship within your community,
01:37:28 --> 01:37:29 you understand what the needs are.
01:37:30 --> 01:37:32 You're not pushing that top of the way through the city.
01:37:32 --> 01:37:36 The reality is, and we know that based upon the numbers. Before I ran,
01:37:36 --> 01:37:40 only 7 residents in this city turned out to vote.
01:37:40 --> 01:37:43 We are a city of close to 110 people.
01:37:43 --> 01:37:48 That's a lot of people not voting And look, if we're honest I'm going to be honest,
01:37:48 --> 01:37:53 I had somebody DM me saying Man, we didn't even know Sandy Springs was a city
01:37:53 --> 01:37:57 And they said that in 2025 And they live here We didn't know we had a mayor
01:37:57 --> 01:38:02 We didn't know we had elections I know folks who were born in this city Right,
01:38:02 --> 01:38:06 in this area Because a lot of people don't even realize There's historically
01:38:06 --> 01:38:07 black parts of Sandy Springs.
01:38:08 --> 01:38:13 That were pushed out And people were pushed out of this place because they put
01:38:13 --> 01:38:14 up the king and queen building, right?
01:38:14 --> 01:38:18 But people who lived here who have never voted in this election until they saw
01:38:18 --> 01:38:22 somebody that looked like them or somebody that was close to pigment to them.
01:38:22 --> 01:38:26 And so we just got to be honest about the fact that people aren't voting and
01:38:26 --> 01:38:29 they're not voting here in this city because they don't feel seen,
01:38:29 --> 01:38:30 they don't feel heard, they don't feel valued.
01:38:30 --> 01:38:35 And that's why we got to work overtime to go out there and let them know, hey, we are here for you.
01:38:35 --> 01:38:39 And if you get out and vote, you put your trust in me, we're going to make sure
01:38:39 --> 01:38:40 that you see it reciprocated.
01:38:41 --> 01:38:44 Yeah. So you mentioned north of Abernathy.
01:38:45 --> 01:38:50 The future of North End and Sandy Springs has become an issue the last couple
01:38:50 --> 01:38:52 of years, not just this election,
01:38:52 --> 01:38:57 but I think there was a young lady running for county commissioner that I know
01:38:57 --> 01:39:00 has been real active in that part of the city.
01:39:00 --> 01:39:03 And that was one of her main drives of running.
01:39:03 --> 01:39:07 The incumbent council member has spearheaded a number of economic development
01:39:07 --> 01:39:09 initiatives in that area.
01:39:09 --> 01:39:13 However, the challenger has stated that not only is it not enough,
01:39:13 --> 01:39:15 but it needs to go in a different direction.
01:39:15 --> 01:39:18 What is your vision for the North End?
01:39:19 --> 01:39:25 My vision, honestly, is we've. So when I look at the North End,
01:39:25 --> 01:39:27 it's the same way I look at the South End, right?
01:39:27 --> 01:39:31 We need to start from a community-centered focus perspective,
01:39:31 --> 01:39:35 start building a rec center on the north side, building one on the south side,
01:39:35 --> 01:39:42 right, and building businesses around that the families here, right, could use.
01:39:42 --> 01:39:45 The problem is I've gone to these meetings.
01:39:46 --> 01:39:50 If you look at what the demographics are on this north end, those same people
01:39:50 --> 01:39:51 are at none of these meetings.
01:39:52 --> 01:39:57 And so, you know, they put a goodwill in where a covert used to be.
01:39:57 --> 01:40:02 They've created a food desk, right? So now, again, it's the mayor's job to go
01:40:02 --> 01:40:04 out and find businesses to bring into the city.
01:40:05 --> 01:40:09 You can say, well, with the chamber, you can, listen, at the end of the day,
01:40:09 --> 01:40:12 the leader of the city is the mayor.
01:40:12 --> 01:40:15 The buck stops at the mayor. It's the mayor's responsibility to say,
01:40:15 --> 01:40:18 you know, we need a rec center up here on the north end for these kids.
01:40:18 --> 01:40:21 It's not enough to run around and talk about juvenile crime.
01:40:21 --> 01:40:23 You don't have safe places for kids to go.
01:40:24 --> 01:40:28 It's, hey, man, all we got up there is the publics. Some folks ain't going to
01:40:28 --> 01:40:30 the publics. There's a little pricey in some of these other locations.
01:40:31 --> 01:40:36 How can we get a more affordable option in here? How do we look at these things? It's the mayor's job.
01:40:36 --> 01:40:42 And again, we have the budget to incentivize these folks to come in.
01:40:42 --> 01:40:47 How they use the budget is what I have issues with because I believe we can
01:40:47 --> 01:40:51 be more community focused with the things that we do.
01:40:51 --> 01:40:58 And look at bringing in companies that are going to partner with our schools
01:40:58 --> 01:41:03 for apprenticeship programs to where we know all these kids aren't going to college.
01:41:03 --> 01:41:08 So how do we incentivize them, give them opportunities to where they don't feel
01:41:08 --> 01:41:12 like they're being left out on the island? That's the scariest thing to feel
01:41:12 --> 01:41:13 is when you feel like there's no opportunity.
01:41:14 --> 01:41:16 And that's what we're dealing with.
01:41:16 --> 01:41:21 Sandy Springs' greatest threat isn't crime. It's not somebody robbing you in the street.
01:41:21 --> 01:41:26 I mean, if we're honest, if we're honest, Sandy Springs' violent crime rate
01:41:26 --> 01:41:30 will have to triple just to reach the state average. This is a safe place.
01:41:30 --> 01:41:35 Crime is not our issue. Hopelessness is. And it's the mayor's job to go out
01:41:35 --> 01:41:37 and find those opportunities for the residents. Yeah.
01:41:38 --> 01:41:44 All right. Right. So Sandy Springs historically was supposed to be a sanctuary
01:41:44 --> 01:41:46 from the urban life of Atlanta.
01:41:48 --> 01:41:52 Now it is one of the 10 largest cities in the state of Georgia.
01:41:52 --> 01:41:58 How as mayor will you be able to maintain that sanctuary feel and embrace diversity
01:41:58 --> 01:42:01 while encouraging and managing growth?
01:42:02 --> 01:42:05 Sandy Springs is going to grow. That's just what it is.
01:42:05 --> 01:42:09 I think us tap dancing, I mean, we can go into history why Sandy Springs was
01:42:09 --> 01:42:13 founded, but Atlanta has boomed.
01:42:13 --> 01:42:18 There's no metro city that's not booming right now. That's just the honest to God truth.
01:42:19 --> 01:42:22 I think what we got to look at is how do we embrace the diversity.
01:42:23 --> 01:42:28 When you look at City Green, a lot of their performances in that arena,
01:42:28 --> 01:42:29 they're still ending in the red, right?
01:42:29 --> 01:42:33 They're bringing in Attractions but
01:42:33 --> 01:42:37 these attractions Aren't doing like I'm not Saying they don't have sellout performances
01:42:37 --> 01:42:42 What I'm saying is that at the end of the year They're still red in there And
01:42:42 --> 01:42:46 what I'm saying is if you know you have A substantial black population You have
01:42:46 --> 01:42:53 a substantial Hispanic population It's time to do more To bring in these Diverse performances,
01:42:53 --> 01:42:58 comedians Like it wasn't until I brought in Shula King for a Juneteenth event
01:42:58 --> 01:43:02 that the city tried to one-up meet and invite Kevin Hart.
01:43:02 --> 01:43:04 And I'm like, y'all should have been going there.
01:43:04 --> 01:43:09 It's like, yeah, Brennan, man, we have people here who can afford to go and
01:43:09 --> 01:43:12 spend money at City Green to listen and watch Kevin Hart.
01:43:12 --> 01:43:16 They will do it. How do we embrace these diverse audiences?
01:43:16 --> 01:43:21 And I think that's part of the issue of what we've had here.
01:43:22 --> 01:43:28 Let's stop talking about what this city was because according to what they wanted,
01:43:28 --> 01:43:31 They stopped doing that 15 years ago.
01:43:31 --> 01:43:36 If you look at the original plans for what they wanted this city to be,
01:43:36 --> 01:43:39 even the older folks, the seniors who've been around a long time,
01:43:40 --> 01:43:44 say, man, you know, so-and-so stopped that 15 years ago, right?
01:43:44 --> 01:43:49 The city's already veering towards owning the fact that they are going to be
01:43:49 --> 01:43:51 a very large urban suburban city.
01:43:53 --> 01:43:56 What I'm saying is, now that we acknowledge that's what we are,
01:43:56 --> 01:43:59 let's look at how we create a
01:43:59 --> 01:44:03 sense of inclusion that brings people to the table where we can maximize.
01:44:03 --> 01:44:08 I mean, if we're honest, before I ran four years ago, a lot of folks thought
01:44:08 --> 01:44:09 they still lived in Atlanta.
01:44:10 --> 01:44:14 Oh, this is Atlanta. And it's like, no, what do you mean? I'm voting for consenting.
01:44:14 --> 01:44:18 I'm not a guy that's like, you're not voting for consenting. No, you didn't, bro.
01:44:18 --> 01:44:26 You ain't been. This house has never been in the city limits of Atlanta You are in Sandy's furnace,
01:44:26 --> 01:44:30 You're not voting for Andre, you're not voting for Kasim. These are the people
01:44:30 --> 01:44:31 that are running in your ranks,
01:44:31 --> 01:44:35 But the reason they don't know Is because the things that they're Attracted
01:44:35 --> 01:44:39 to, they feel like they have to go South to get And what I'm saying is we can
01:44:39 --> 01:44:44 build that right here And folks, when we start talking about Building culture and community, folks,
01:44:45 --> 01:44:50 Immediately want to jump to just Oh, they need to just talk about rap and hip-hop
01:44:50 --> 01:44:53 and talking about, you know, low-income housing.
01:44:53 --> 01:44:57 Listen, people want to live in a place that's affordable.
01:44:58 --> 01:45:01 You get the best groups of people in places that are affordable.
01:45:02 --> 01:45:05 What I'm focused on is how do we keep this city affordable?
01:45:06 --> 01:45:09 Yeah. All right, so let's wrap it up with this question.
01:45:10 --> 01:45:15 When Kyleigh becomes 26 years old, what do you hope that she will say about you
01:45:15 --> 01:45:20 as a dad and as a political figure? Man, whoo-wee.
01:45:23 --> 01:45:32 That's a deep one You know, I'm not sure what she'll say What I'm hoping that
01:45:32 --> 01:45:40 she sees Is a dad that's willing to fight for her And fight for every child that's at her school,
01:45:42 --> 01:45:45 A dad that was willing to make sure that she understood how this political system worked.
01:45:46 --> 01:45:53 A dad that understood that she needed, as a woman, as a woman to be, to be empowered.
01:45:54 --> 01:45:59 And I know she feels it, you know, and I know that because she was in pre-K
01:45:59 --> 01:46:01 and organized her first protest.
01:46:01 --> 01:46:05 They cut her, they cut recess short by 15 minutes.
01:46:05 --> 01:46:10 And I don't know how she knew, but she knew. And she organized her class together
01:46:10 --> 01:46:13 and said, we're not doing, we're not going to nap time.
01:46:13 --> 01:46:16 We're not doing anything until we get the rest of our recess back.
01:46:17 --> 01:46:21 Our teacher called me and said, Mr. Carter, I need you to talk to your daughter.
01:46:22 --> 01:46:25 And I said, what in the world happened? She said, we had to cut recess short.
01:46:26 --> 01:46:27 We're just running behind.
01:46:28 --> 01:46:33 And she's in, oh, about recess. And the little girl got on the phone.
01:46:33 --> 01:46:37 And she's like, well, daddy, you said if you see something, you got to say something.
01:46:37 --> 01:46:38 Master Edmonds at four years old.
01:46:39 --> 01:46:43 And so even if it's her saying that when she's 26 years old,
01:46:43 --> 01:46:48 I want her to know that she's powerful beyond measure, that children she's going
01:46:48 --> 01:46:50 to school were powerful beyond measure.
01:46:52 --> 01:46:57 And that this is, you know, her daddy fought to make sure that she had a place,
01:46:57 --> 01:47:03 not just in this country, but in this city and a place that was affordable for them to return to.
01:47:03 --> 01:47:06 You know, I got a lot of folks with kids that live in any basement.
01:47:06 --> 01:47:07 They can't find anywhere to live.
01:47:07 --> 01:47:10 And, you know, my kid decides she wants to come back and live in my basement.
01:47:10 --> 01:47:12 By all means, baby, come on home. We love to hang.
01:47:13 --> 01:47:17 But if she said, daddy, I can't find anything. I can't find anything with what
01:47:17 --> 01:47:19 I'm making. To me, that's wrong.
01:47:19 --> 01:47:27 Yeah. All right. So this is the time where you make your spiel and tell people
01:47:27 --> 01:47:31 how to get in touch with the campaign, all that stuff. So go ahead and do your thing.
01:47:32 --> 01:47:40 Listen, y'all, I'm on every platform as Dontaye Carter or Dontaye for a minute. That's Dontaye spelled.
01:47:40 --> 01:47:44 D as in dog, O as in onion, N as in Nancy, T as in tiger, A as in apple,
01:47:44 --> 01:47:45 Y as in yellow, E as in egg.
01:47:46 --> 01:47:49 Connect with me. We've got ways for you to get involved with this campaign.
01:47:50 --> 01:47:54 This campaign, this People's Senate, I've left a lot of money at the table.
01:47:54 --> 01:47:58 And I did that intentionally because I believe in people. I believe in what
01:47:58 --> 01:48:01 we could do. They could do what they did in the civil rights movement without the money.
01:48:01 --> 01:48:05 But they did what they did in the women's rights movement and the gay rights movement.
01:48:05 --> 01:48:10 Any movement that's happened in this country, they did it without the money.
01:48:10 --> 01:48:14 Maynard didn't have the money when he first ran for mayor in Atlanta.
01:48:14 --> 01:48:18 It's important for us to make sure that we are bringing people to the table
01:48:18 --> 01:48:23 so that we can make the best impact, but I can't do that without you.
01:48:23 --> 01:48:27 So I need you. So please, if you have time, tap in. All right.
01:48:27 --> 01:48:28 And so what's the website?
01:48:29 --> 01:48:34 It's www.dontayeformayor.com. And I also have dontayecarter.com as well,
01:48:34 --> 01:48:37 where you can learn a little more about me as the person, the dad. Yeah.
01:48:38 --> 01:48:45 Well, one of the things I noticed is that you can't spell Dontaye without donate, right?
01:48:47 --> 01:48:52 So, yeah, you know, y'all do what y'all can for them.
01:48:52 --> 01:48:58 Brother, I have admired you from afar since I've been around here in Georgia.
01:48:58 --> 01:49:03 And, you know, the brief time that we've been able to break bread and talk a
01:49:03 --> 01:49:07 little bit, even though we really haven't had a one-on-one, just the time that
01:49:07 --> 01:49:10 we've been able to spend, I know your heart's in the right place.
01:49:11 --> 01:49:17 And, you know, it was just the council person I was referring to when she first
01:49:17 --> 01:49:23 ran, she was like, I don't know, these people, they might not be ready for me and all this stuff.
01:49:23 --> 01:49:29 And I said, if I'd never met you and I just looked at your resume,
01:49:30 --> 01:49:33 you'll win and she did and so
01:49:33 --> 01:49:37 when when you look at resume and
01:49:37 --> 01:49:40 you know I don't have anything personal against certain people but
01:49:40 --> 01:49:44 I have a bias toward people that are good right and
01:49:44 --> 01:49:50 I want good people to get in office just to see what they could do and you know
01:49:50 --> 01:49:56 because people took a chance on me and and I and I managed to I think do some
01:49:56 --> 01:50:01 good things in the time that I was there and so So I want people to give you that opportunity, too.
01:50:01 --> 01:50:05 So I'm glad that you had time to come on. I'm glad you agreed to come on.
01:50:06 --> 01:50:11 And I hope that folks in Sandy Springs agree with my assessment and give you
01:50:11 --> 01:50:12 that opportunity to lead.
01:50:13 --> 01:50:16 I appreciate it. Thank you so much. All right. All right, guys.
01:50:16 --> 01:50:18 And we're going to go ahead and catch you all on the other side. Peace.
01:50:20 --> 01:50:30 Music.
01:50:31 --> 01:50:36 All right, and we are back. So I want to thank Keldamuzik, Dr.
01:50:37 --> 01:50:41 Donna Nicol, and Dontaye Carter for coming on the podcast.
01:50:43 --> 01:50:48 Kelda was very, very honored that I asked her to come on.
01:50:49 --> 01:50:53 And I don't think she really do why I wanted her on, but I wanted her to talk
01:50:53 --> 01:50:58 about what she's doing with her company, Tamz. Y'all please support that because
01:50:58 --> 01:51:02 she's really trying to do some good things off of that.
01:51:02 --> 01:51:08 And, you know, whether, you know, she didn't really,
01:51:08 --> 01:51:12 well, I don't say she was amused that I said you're a politician,
01:51:12 --> 01:51:18 whether you admit it or not, because, you know, she's having an impact in the
01:51:18 --> 01:51:21 community, trying to help people dealing with cancer,
01:51:21 --> 01:51:23 trying to empower people with self-esteem.
01:51:23 --> 01:51:26 You know plus she's doing her thing
01:51:26 --> 01:51:31 music wise and i think that's incredible and and
01:51:31 --> 01:51:36 you know she's she's trying to keep it black and that's hard in the entertainment
01:51:36 --> 01:51:41 industry but she's doing the best she can so you know i wanted to uplift her
01:51:41 --> 01:51:46 and let her know that somebody you know is paying attention not just to her
01:51:46 --> 01:51:51 her music which is an awesome collection if y'all go to.
01:51:51 --> 01:51:57 Apple Music, because I was about to say iTunes, but then somebody younger than me said, Mr.
01:51:57 --> 01:52:00 Fleming, don't say iTunes. It's Apple Music now.
01:52:01 --> 01:52:03 So if you go to Apple Music and,
01:52:03 --> 01:52:09 You'll see that she's been in a game for a while and her style has evolved,
01:52:09 --> 01:52:16 which is what you want anybody, any artist to to to be free enough to do that.
01:52:16 --> 01:52:23 And you'll be I think you'll be entertained by her her her style and the way
01:52:23 --> 01:52:25 that she she goes about her thing.
01:52:26 --> 01:52:31 Dr. Donna Nicole, I mean, Nicol. Yeah, we only scratched the surface.
01:52:34 --> 01:52:42 She's put a lot of time into this book and Black Woman on the Board.
01:52:42 --> 01:52:47 And I really want y'all to go, it's been out for a while, but I really want
01:52:47 --> 01:52:54 y'all to read that because it highlights what we have to do, right?
01:52:54 --> 01:52:59 When we're the Black person in the room, what would you do, right?
01:52:59 --> 01:53:05 And so Donna talks about what this sister did in order to fight for children,
01:53:06 --> 01:53:07 black children in California.
01:53:08 --> 01:53:12 And, you know, and Donna is, Dr. Donna is very, very modest.
01:53:13 --> 01:53:17 And, you know, but she, she's that same kind of person. As a matter of fact,
01:53:17 --> 01:53:23 she might be more like me as far as a firebrand kind and dealing with it.
01:53:23 --> 01:53:28 But she's got the same heart that she wants to help our folks.
01:53:28 --> 01:53:33 And she's got some projects coming down the road that'll, you know,
01:53:34 --> 01:53:37 highlight that even more. And then Dontaye Carter.
01:53:37 --> 01:53:40 So Dontaye is a young brother who...
01:53:41 --> 01:53:46 I would love to see the be the mayor of Sandy Springs and not just be,
01:53:46 --> 01:53:49 you know, for the black thing or the Democrat thing or whatever,
01:53:50 --> 01:53:54 because I just I want American leaders.
01:53:54 --> 01:53:58 Remember, that's what I've been preaching. I want people who give a damn about us.
01:53:59 --> 01:54:04 I want people to understand the day to day grind of working for a living.
01:54:04 --> 01:54:13 And, you know, yeah, he's doing okay compared to other black folks,
01:54:13 --> 01:54:18 but he's still a dad. He's still a husband.
01:54:18 --> 01:54:24 He's still a community person. He's still trying to, he really wants to do this
01:54:24 --> 01:54:27 for the right reasons. He's not trying to get money out of this.
01:54:28 --> 01:54:32 He's not trying to, you know, get his friends money out of this.
01:54:33 --> 01:54:39 Some of the people that he's had to tell, thanks but no thanks, you know.
01:54:39 --> 01:54:42 In politics, you've got to have those conversations.
01:54:42 --> 01:54:48 You know, there's a show coming on with Denzel that Spike Lee put together, and that's the theme.
01:54:48 --> 01:54:53 It's like all money ain't good money, right? But, you know, and you want to
01:54:53 --> 01:54:58 do things the right way, especially when it comes to working for the people.
01:54:58 --> 01:55:02 And Dontaye has been working for folks. He hasn't been elected before,
01:55:02 --> 01:55:06 but that doesn't limit you. And that's the thing we highlight.
01:55:06 --> 01:55:09 We highlight people that are not necessarily elected.
01:55:10 --> 01:55:14 You know, some might aspire to be elected, you know, and there are some that
01:55:14 --> 01:55:16 have come on that have been elected or are currently elected.
01:55:16 --> 01:55:22 But the reality is that this show is a reminder that there are people who are
01:55:22 --> 01:55:26 not elected that are doing the work, that are less.
01:55:27 --> 01:55:33 So, you know, since I'm not bound by any rules or regulations or anything like
01:55:33 --> 01:55:35 that, you know, I want to see this brother win.
01:55:37 --> 01:55:42 And, you know, we had talked about him coming on the podcast.
01:55:42 --> 01:55:46 And so I'm glad that he was able to carve out some time in the campaign to do that.
01:55:47 --> 01:55:53 And if you live in Sandy Springs, support his brother because he he's going to do you proud.
01:55:53 --> 01:55:55 He will literally be only the third human being.
01:55:56 --> 01:55:59 You know, people talk about it'll be the first black. He'll be literally the
01:55:59 --> 01:56:03 third human being to be the mayor of Sandy Springs.
01:56:04 --> 01:56:11 So let's give this brother a chance. Let's let's let's let's move into the the
01:56:11 --> 01:56:14 end of the 2020s and the 2030s with with new leadership.
01:56:15 --> 01:56:17 Right. All right, so now...
01:56:18 --> 01:56:22 Of things on my mind. Let me read you this story that kind of bothered me,
01:56:23 --> 01:56:24 and I took it from Reuters.
01:56:25 --> 01:56:30 It says, a Maine police officer who was arrested by Immigration Customs and
01:56:30 --> 01:56:35 Customs Enforcement, which we know as ICE, has agreed to voluntarily leave the country.
01:56:36 --> 01:56:41 John Luke Evans, a reserve officer with the Old Orchard Beach Police Department
01:56:41 --> 01:56:47 and a Jamaican national, was taken into custody by ICE on July 25th.
01:56:47 --> 01:56:53 The agency alleged that Evans overstayed his visa and unlawfully attempted to purchase a firearm.
01:56:54 --> 01:56:57 ICE confirmed that a judge granted Evans voluntary departure,
01:56:57 --> 01:57:01 which allows him to leave the country at his own expense rather than face deportation.
01:57:02 --> 01:57:08 Old Orchard Beast Police Chief Elise Shard previously said federal officials
01:57:08 --> 01:57:12 had informed the department that he was legally authorized to work in the U.S.
01:57:13 --> 01:57:16 The department received verification that he was eligible for employment through
01:57:16 --> 01:57:19 the E-Verify program before he was hired, Chard said.
01:57:20 --> 01:57:25 However, Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security Tricia McLaughlin criticized
01:57:25 --> 01:57:31 the town's quote unquote reckless reliance on E-Verify, an online tool used
01:57:31 --> 01:57:33 to confirm work eligibility for employees.
01:57:34 --> 01:57:39 Chard said in a statement that the town will continue to use the online system
01:57:39 --> 01:57:43 amid its commitment to meeting all state and federal laws regarding employment.
01:57:44 --> 01:57:49 So the assistant secretary of Homeland Security just pissed off a police chief in Maine.
01:57:51 --> 01:57:56 Right. Because she's losing an officer. and then, you know, you want to criticize
01:57:56 --> 01:58:04 her for using the system that y'all have for us to do this kind of work, right?
01:58:07 --> 01:58:11 So, you know, the tragedy is, is here's this young brother, Mr.
01:58:11 --> 01:58:15 Evans, who, you know, he just wanted to do the right thing.
01:58:15 --> 01:58:17 He got into law enforcement.
01:58:17 --> 01:58:21 You know, if he thought he was an illegal person,
01:58:21 --> 01:58:26 he want to put on a gun and a badge and be even more of a target?
01:58:27 --> 01:58:32 I mean, they told him he could work. So, you know, he didn't have anybody over
01:58:32 --> 01:58:35 his shoulder, dotting his I's and crossing his T's.
01:58:35 --> 01:58:37 Once they said he was eligible to work, he went to work.
01:58:38 --> 01:58:44 And apparently he was a good officer because the police chief basically said,
01:58:44 --> 01:58:48 hey, look, we did what we were supposed to do to hire and we hired them,
01:58:49 --> 01:58:53 you know, and we're going to use that same system until you come up with something
01:58:53 --> 01:58:55 better. We're going to use that same system.
01:58:55 --> 01:59:01 So, you know, you can get off your high horse, you know, you can say reckless reliance.
01:59:01 --> 01:59:07 What, what, what hit, you know, what reckless reliance is supporting Donald
01:59:07 --> 01:59:10 Trump and believing that he's going to be a president that gives a damn about
01:59:10 --> 01:59:11 you, me, and anybody else.
01:59:11 --> 01:59:14 That's reckless reliance, right?
01:59:15 --> 01:59:22 That's the reckless faith that you thought that this guy was going to be different
01:59:22 --> 01:59:25 than he was the first time he served. That's reckless.
01:59:25 --> 01:59:32 For a police chief to hire a good person to be on their police department, that's not reckless.
01:59:32 --> 01:59:35 That's them following the law, right?
01:59:36 --> 01:59:39 Crossing their T's and dotting their eyes, right?
01:59:40 --> 01:59:46 So I'm glad that a judge was able to get to Brother Evans and allow him to leave
01:59:46 --> 01:59:54 on his own instead of being sent to Alligator Alcatraz or Gina or wherever they
01:59:54 --> 01:59:57 were going to send him in detention, you know,
01:59:58 --> 02:00:01 and he's just going to go back to Jamaica.
02:00:01 --> 02:00:08 So that's a good person that the United States has lost because folks at a convention
02:00:08 --> 02:00:12 in Milwaukee all had signs saying mass deportation now, right?
02:00:13 --> 02:00:19 That's that's the result of that. Right. You just want to kick everybody out that ain't you.
02:00:20 --> 02:00:24 These are the things that are going to happen. And not just police officers,
02:00:24 --> 02:00:28 but the folks that will repair your house when the storms come.
02:00:29 --> 02:00:32 And FEMA is not writing these checks anymore. Right.
02:00:33 --> 02:00:41 The people that feed you. Now, I'm not going to go as far as my shero,
02:00:41 --> 02:00:46 Jennifer Welch, and ban you from going to any restaurants that have an ethnic
02:00:46 --> 02:00:49 theme to them, which, by the way,
02:00:50 --> 02:00:53 she might have got Cracker Barrel in trouble because, you know,
02:00:53 --> 02:00:57 they put the spotlight on Cracker Barrel, and then they found out they changed
02:00:57 --> 02:01:01 the logo, and now these folks are mad about the logo being changed.
02:01:03 --> 02:01:09 That's the reckless stuff this misplaced anger I mean Kentucky Fried Chicken
02:01:09 --> 02:01:14 stop using the bucket y'all didn't have a protest about that the colonel's well
02:01:14 --> 02:01:16 I guess the colonel's still on the logo,
02:01:17 --> 02:01:20 but initially I don't think he just went to KFC,
02:01:21 --> 02:01:25 you know there wasn't no mass protest about that of course wasn't no internet
02:01:25 --> 02:01:32 like it is now when he did it but still you know I want to I want to say that
02:01:32 --> 02:01:34 Cracker Barrel is woke because they changed the logo?
02:01:35 --> 02:01:37 Really? What are we doing?
02:01:39 --> 02:01:42 You're not mad about your Medicaid being cut off. You're not mad about your
02:01:42 --> 02:01:46 Social Security being cut off, but you're mad about Cracker Barrel changing the logo.
02:01:47 --> 02:01:55 Anyway, so that's the issue with, you know, we're losing a good brother.
02:01:56 --> 02:02:00 You know, I don't know him. You know what I'm saying? If I drove through Maine,
02:02:00 --> 02:02:02 he'd probably be the first one to write me a speeding ticket. I don't know.
02:02:03 --> 02:02:09 He'd be doing his job if I was speeding, which I probably would have been.
02:02:09 --> 02:02:16 But nonetheless, you know, from what I gather, the chief wouldn't stick her
02:02:16 --> 02:02:22 neck out if he was nobody important or nobody special.
02:02:23 --> 02:02:31 Yeah, I'm just saying. Anyway, that was just one of the things I wanted to talk
02:02:31 --> 02:02:37 about because the other one, do I even want to address it because I'm going
02:02:37 --> 02:02:38 to get emotional about it.
02:02:39 --> 02:02:43 Well, you know, if you've been listening to the show, at least for the last
02:02:43 --> 02:02:48 two or three episodes, you know that I don't have a high regard for Greg Abbott
02:02:48 --> 02:02:51 and those Republicans in Texas.
02:02:52 --> 02:02:58 But it reached a new low. When the Democrats decided, OK, we've made our point.
02:02:58 --> 02:03:02 We know we can't stay away from the state forever. Although there is one sister
02:03:02 --> 02:03:05 that's like, I don't know if she's ever coming back.
02:03:07 --> 02:03:10 She might. she might finish her term in another state.
02:03:12 --> 02:03:16 But the majority of Democrats came back enough for them to have a quorum,
02:03:16 --> 02:03:23 and they did go ahead, as you heard in the news, and passed that god-awful gerrymandered
02:03:23 --> 02:03:25 congressional district,
02:03:26 --> 02:03:28 which will be challenged in
02:03:28 --> 02:03:32 court, you know, because that's what the California folks are going to do.
02:03:32 --> 02:03:36 It's like Kevin McCarthy has come from the dead, and now that California is
02:03:36 --> 02:03:39 like, okay, well, Texas, you did their thing, you know, we're going to do art.
02:03:40 --> 02:03:45 And so now there's going to be a referendum in November. And so Kevin McCarthy
02:03:45 --> 02:03:48 has jumped out and said, oh, we're going to raise money to stop it.
02:03:48 --> 02:03:56 It's like, bro, you, you might want to see this thing pass because the Republican
02:03:56 --> 02:04:01 party that you're trying to protect are the ones that kicked you out of office.
02:04:01 --> 02:04:06 They kicked you out of the Speaker's chair, they kicked you out of the party
02:04:06 --> 02:04:08 you didn't even run anymore.
02:04:08 --> 02:04:10 But now you want to stand on principle.
02:04:11 --> 02:04:18 You know, and I get it, but then I don't because it's like, there's no going back for you.
02:04:18 --> 02:04:24 If you raise this money and you stop to, you convince the people in California
02:04:24 --> 02:04:30 not to counter the folks in Texas with redrawing the lines, you're not going
02:04:30 --> 02:04:32 to be any good graces with these people.
02:04:33 --> 02:04:37 Donald Trump has loyalty to no one. He'll say thank you for your attention to
02:04:37 --> 02:04:41 this matter on Truth Social and keep it pushing. That's all you're getting.
02:04:42 --> 02:04:46 You know, you got to go to Mar-a-Lago. You got to be the Speaker of the House for a minute.
02:04:47 --> 02:04:50 I'd say let him ride this out. Good luck to you.
02:04:51 --> 02:04:56 You know, I tried to do my part. You didn't appreciate it. It's time to go.
02:04:57 --> 02:05:00 Nonetheless, it is what it is in California. But I want to get back to Texas.
02:05:02 --> 02:05:09 So when the Democrats came back, the Republicans had something waiting for them
02:05:09 --> 02:05:12 other than the stupid bill.
02:05:12 --> 02:05:20 They had set it up where if you wanted to leave the Capitol building,
02:05:20 --> 02:05:28 that you would have to sign this permission slip and agree that a law enforcement
02:05:28 --> 02:05:33 officer would basically escort you to and from the Capitol building.
02:05:35 --> 02:05:39 Sure that you, if you left, that make sure you came back, right,
02:05:39 --> 02:05:40 for the next day's session.
02:05:41 --> 02:05:46 So, of course, there was a sister who said, her name is Nicole Collier.
02:05:46 --> 02:05:49 She said, oh, hell no, I'm not doing that.
02:05:50 --> 02:05:57 So, they literally locked this sister in the building because she would not sign that slip.
02:05:57 --> 02:06:01 She would not sign off on somebody. She's a grown woman.
02:06:02 --> 02:06:05 If they all agreed, they were out of the state.
02:06:06 --> 02:06:09 They were not in Texas. They came back.
02:06:09 --> 02:06:14 If they came back, then they were ready to get this over with and move on with their lives.
02:06:14 --> 02:06:16 Get ready for the next battle that's coming.
02:06:17 --> 02:06:21 But you wanted these people to sign a slip.
02:06:22 --> 02:06:26 And, you know, and some people are just like, whatever, man, and keep it pushing.
02:06:26 --> 02:06:29 I'm not mad at them. Some people were calling them sellouts and all that.
02:06:29 --> 02:06:32 I said, if they were sellouts, they wouldn't have left in the first place.
02:06:33 --> 02:06:34 Because there were some Democrats that stayed.
02:06:35 --> 02:06:40 I'm just saying. They made sure it was not enough for them to sneak a quorum
02:06:40 --> 02:06:42 in, but there were some that stayed.
02:06:45 --> 02:06:49 And these people came back. They already like, bro, we just going to have to
02:06:49 --> 02:06:52 act a fool on the floor, say what we got to say.
02:06:52 --> 02:06:54 They're going to vote for this crap, keep it moving.
02:06:55 --> 02:06:58 So they had to sign a slip. It's like, look, whatever, brother.
02:06:59 --> 02:07:01 Do I need to ride in car with you. You're going to follow me.
02:07:01 --> 02:07:04 What are we doing? Because I'm going to the house. And then I'm going to be
02:07:04 --> 02:07:06 back here to deal with this bullshit tomorrow.
02:07:07 --> 02:07:08 Right? Okay.
02:07:10 --> 02:07:13 But for those people who's like, no, I'm not signing that.
02:07:13 --> 02:07:18 There's no way you would have thought, okay, well, we're going to lock you in the building.
02:07:19 --> 02:07:23 The largest state capital in the United States, building-wise.
02:07:23 --> 02:07:26 It was one of the largest buildings in America at one time.
02:07:27 --> 02:07:30 You could fit the Mississippi State Capitol inside.
02:07:32 --> 02:07:35 Texas state capitol. You probably fit the state of Georgia capitol in there,
02:07:35 --> 02:07:38 probably at the same time. That's how big this building is.
02:07:39 --> 02:07:44 You're going to lock somebody in there because they didn't sign a slip?
02:07:45 --> 02:07:50 No. And I told people, and people think sometimes I'd be hyperbolic when I say
02:07:50 --> 02:07:51 these things, but I know me.
02:07:52 --> 02:07:55 I know what kind of person, especially when I was a legislator,
02:07:55 --> 02:07:57 I know what kind of person I was.
02:07:58 --> 02:08:03 And I've meddled a lot as I've gotten older and away from that, But not that much.
02:08:03 --> 02:08:07 And definitely, I haven't lost my recollection of how I felt.
02:08:08 --> 02:08:12 I wish we had a situation like that in Mississippi, and they told me that Eric
02:08:12 --> 02:08:14 Fleming couldn't leave the building.
02:08:14 --> 02:08:19 Whereas one time in my life, I actually had the keys to the building, right?
02:08:20 --> 02:08:22 But you're going to tell me I can't leave the building?
02:08:23 --> 02:08:28 It's like, if you want me to have a police escort, this is what's about to happen.
02:08:29 --> 02:08:30 We about to get into a fight.
02:08:31 --> 02:08:37 If I have to assault somebody, if I have to, you know, the assault is the more
02:08:37 --> 02:08:39 intelligent word for what I really want to do.
02:08:40 --> 02:08:44 You know, the Speaker of House and I would be maybe brawling.
02:08:44 --> 02:08:48 And then you can have a police escort me to the county facility.
02:08:49 --> 02:08:52 And, you know, I'll have all the law enforcement watching me at that point.
02:08:52 --> 02:08:56 You know, you ain't got to worry about where I am because I'm going to be at the jail.
02:08:57 --> 02:09:02 Now, I can't ask Nicole Collier, who seems like a very, very classy lady. She's an attorney.
02:09:03 --> 02:09:06 You know, it doesn't look like she would punch anybody.
02:09:07 --> 02:09:12 Can't ask her to do that. But I know if that was me, you wouldn't have to worry about the police.
02:09:12 --> 02:09:17 You'd probably have several law enforcement officers on me because I'd be at the jail.
02:09:18 --> 02:09:21 I would not be locked in that Capitol building. If you're going to lock me up,
02:09:21 --> 02:09:24 lock me up in a place where you're supposed to lock people up. That'd be a jail.
02:09:25 --> 02:09:27 You're not going to lock me up in the place that I work.
02:09:28 --> 02:09:32 You know, we literally pass laws, federal laws against that.
02:09:32 --> 02:09:35 Just on a simple base that that's a fire hazard.
02:09:36 --> 02:09:42 You lock the employees into the job so they can't leave, so you can get these products out.
02:09:42 --> 02:09:44 They pass laws against that.
02:09:45 --> 02:09:50 Now, never mind laws as far as Texas Republicans go. The only laws they care
02:09:50 --> 02:09:52 about is the ones that they vote for.
02:09:54 --> 02:09:59 Other laws that say you can't do that, they either take you to court or just ignore you, right?
02:10:01 --> 02:10:07 But to try to lock a human being up, an elected official, you're going to lock them up at that job.
02:10:08 --> 02:10:10 Oh, it's better that you picked the right one.
02:10:11 --> 02:10:14 She kind of picked herself because she says she wasn't going to sign it.
02:10:14 --> 02:10:20 But, you know, there's no way, there's no way that you would have had me locked
02:10:20 --> 02:10:23 up in the Capitol building on High Street. There's no way.
02:10:24 --> 02:10:28 Now, like I said, either I'd been on Pascagoula Street at the city jail or I'd
02:10:28 --> 02:10:34 been down in Raymond at the county jail, but I wasn't going to be locked up in a Capitol building.
02:10:34 --> 02:10:38 And just like you gave me a ride to go down there, you're going to give me a
02:10:38 --> 02:10:41 ride because there's a law saying I really can't be detained.
02:10:42 --> 02:10:47 In Mississippi, there's a law that says I can't be detained because we're in session.
02:10:48 --> 02:10:52 So that means you're going to have to escort me back to finish my job.
02:10:52 --> 02:10:55 And then if the charges are not dropped, then, you know, you got to take me
02:10:55 --> 02:10:58 back to the jail. That's how that would work for me.
02:10:59 --> 02:11:04 But what it should tell people, the seriousness of it is, is what it should tell people is that,
02:11:05 --> 02:11:14 if we do not use every means necessary to stop these people through the courts,
02:11:15 --> 02:11:18 through laws, through counter-accidents like what California is doing,
02:11:18 --> 02:11:21 if we don't do what we need to do.
02:11:23 --> 02:11:25 Then there's only going to be one option.
02:11:26 --> 02:11:30 And I really am too old to be trying to shoot people. I'm really too old to
02:11:30 --> 02:11:33 be getting shot at, right?
02:11:34 --> 02:11:37 And people are like, oh, well, you shouldn't say that, bruh.
02:11:38 --> 02:11:42 If you don't do what needs to be done, if you don't get off of your butt and
02:11:42 --> 02:11:48 vote these people out, all of them out, then that's what's going to happen.
02:11:48 --> 02:11:54 If you don't want your children, if you don't want your household being in siege,
02:11:54 --> 02:11:59 if you don't want your children being in harm's way, you need to vote these people out.
02:11:59 --> 02:12:03 They've got to go. They have shown their hand.
02:12:03 --> 02:12:09 They are willing to lock people in buildings to get legislation passed they want.
02:12:09 --> 02:12:14 You have a president of the States who's saying, we don't want voting machines anymore.
02:12:14 --> 02:12:19 We don't want mail-in ballots, which by the way, if you are a military person,
02:12:19 --> 02:12:22 active duty overseas, and the president of the United States,
02:12:22 --> 02:12:24 your commander in chief says, I don't want you to vote anymore.
02:12:25 --> 02:12:30 Please find a way to vote that person out and anybody that supports him on that.
02:12:30 --> 02:12:35 Because the only way you can vote if you're deployed overseas is by mail.
02:12:36 --> 02:12:39 So he's basically telling you, I don't want you to vote anymore.
02:12:39 --> 02:12:41 And you're defending our nation overseas.
02:12:43 --> 02:12:49 Way they can vote is by mail. Voting by mail is cheating. No.
02:12:50 --> 02:12:54 The reality is, and some people have said it on other shows,
02:12:54 --> 02:12:58 that they tried to cheat in 2020 and he still lost.
02:12:59 --> 02:13:03 So he just figured, well, since we tried to cheat, then they must have cheated.
02:13:03 --> 02:13:10 No, you underestimated how many people were going to show up to get you out of the office, right?
02:13:11 --> 02:13:16 Because basically a million people died under your watch because you didn't
02:13:16 --> 02:13:21 take a threat seriously, and it wrecked everything, right?
02:13:22 --> 02:13:24 And we are still recovering from that.
02:13:25 --> 02:13:30 And maybe it was that fog that allowed you to get back in there, just barely.
02:13:31 --> 02:13:34 You know, people talk about Kamala Harris losing. It's like,
02:13:34 --> 02:13:39 bro, it wasn't like he beat the brakes off of her vote-wise.
02:13:40 --> 02:13:45 You know, the electoral count was is lopsided, but if Elon Musk keep talking,
02:13:46 --> 02:13:47 we're going to find out how that happened.
02:13:50 --> 02:13:54 Because he's kind of doing the thing where he's kind of doing the confessional day by day.
02:13:54 --> 02:13:58 Just keep a hot mic near him. He's going to tell it, right?
02:13:58 --> 02:14:04 But we're not saying throw out the election because of that, that we certified it.
02:14:05 --> 02:14:09 Even if we had our suspicions, all right, you got us this time,
02:14:09 --> 02:14:10 we'll get you four years from now.
02:14:11 --> 02:14:16 And obviously, they've looked at some kind of polling, internal polling,
02:14:16 --> 02:14:22 and realized we're about to get destroyed or else they wouldn't be doing this kind of stuff.
02:14:22 --> 02:14:27 Redistricting in between the 10 years? Really?
02:14:28 --> 02:14:31 It's gotten to that point that you've got to change districts?
02:14:32 --> 02:14:38 And then you're so blatant with it, you're not even trying to come up with a creative lie.
02:14:38 --> 02:14:44 See, the creative lie was you put somebody over the elections division of,
02:14:45 --> 02:14:49 Department of Justice who basically had her story together and say,
02:14:49 --> 02:14:54 well, we asked Texas to review their maps because there were some concerns.
02:14:56 --> 02:15:00 Had to lie teed up for you. But in your arrogance, because as the Speaker of
02:15:00 --> 02:15:05 the House in Texas says, we have the numbers, we can do whatever we want to do.
02:15:06 --> 02:15:08 So you did that, right?
02:15:09 --> 02:15:15 And somehow you thought that every American was going to be cool with that.
02:15:16 --> 02:15:20 And there's a state to your West that's bigger than yours.
02:15:21 --> 02:15:23 That's it. Hell no, that's not going to happen.
02:15:24 --> 02:15:27 Now what? Oh, now you got J.D.
02:15:27 --> 02:15:32 Vance running to Indiana and Ohio and Missouri. Oh, yeah.
02:15:33 --> 02:15:37 Yes, sir, Mr. President, Mr. Vice President, we'll gerrymander our states too,
02:15:37 --> 02:15:40 because we've got to keep the Republicans in power.
02:15:41 --> 02:15:46 What I would love to see happen is that they do all this machination,
02:15:46 --> 02:15:50 they rearrange all these districts and then you, the American people,
02:15:50 --> 02:15:53 show up and vote for the Democrat anyway.
02:15:54 --> 02:16:01 That's what I would love to see. I would love to see 535 Democrats in the United States Congress.
02:16:01 --> 02:16:04 That's not going to happen, right?
02:16:05 --> 02:16:11 That's wishful thinking. But wouldn't it be nice that you did all this evil
02:16:11 --> 02:16:16 stuff to manipulate and try to change the dynamics of the election and not allow
02:16:16 --> 02:16:20 people to vote or get the representation they deserve.
02:16:20 --> 02:16:24 You know, I had a black representative. Now I got this white one that doesn't
02:16:24 --> 02:16:28 like black people in the middle of the game. What are we doing?
02:16:29 --> 02:16:37 Right? And so I would love that their comeuppance would be that in those districts
02:16:37 --> 02:16:38 that they drew and said, Oh,
02:16:38 --> 02:16:45 yeah, but we're going to have 30 Republicans out of the 38 in Texas and then
02:16:45 --> 02:16:50 turn right around and you've got nothing. That would be beautiful.
02:16:50 --> 02:16:58 But there are some people, because of their reckless reliance to this MAGA philosophy,
02:16:59 --> 02:17:04 well, Donald Trump says it's good and I'm for it.
02:17:06 --> 02:17:09 So we're still going to have some gullible folks, right?
02:17:10 --> 02:17:16 We're still going to have some people who can't see the forest for the trees, but,
02:17:16 --> 02:17:21 can see the trees. They seem to be focused on the grass, right?
02:17:22 --> 02:17:26 So you're still going to have Republicans get in there, but it would just be
02:17:26 --> 02:17:32 amazing that they did all this mass in action, all this stuff to skew it and
02:17:32 --> 02:17:34 just, oh, we got to have this thing.
02:17:34 --> 02:17:37 And oh, yeah, they're going to pass, you know, they get in and then the next
02:17:37 --> 02:17:40 thing you know, they're going to pass some, try to force some kind of constitutional
02:17:40 --> 02:17:44 amendment to allow Donald Trump to stay in for another term,
02:17:45 --> 02:17:48 or they're going to declare martial law, whatever they're going to do, right?
02:17:49 --> 02:17:55 What you need to understand is that these people are telling you to your face,
02:17:55 --> 02:18:01 they will do anything, anything, anything to stay in power.
02:18:01 --> 02:18:06 You basically have a guy who wants to be like a dictator.
02:18:06 --> 02:18:10 He's expressed it. He wrote it off as a joke.
02:18:10 --> 02:18:14 You shouldn't have. Those of us that we're trying to tell you,
02:18:14 --> 02:18:17 this is real, this is really, really happening.
02:18:17 --> 02:18:24 Oh, well, you know, he's just an old man just spouting off of the mouth. No, he's delusional.
02:18:24 --> 02:18:31 He's got mental issues. He might be on the verge of dementia, but he's still an SOB.
02:18:31 --> 02:18:38 He's still evil. And what functional part he still has left and the people that
02:18:38 --> 02:18:43 he has around him have made the determination that he's going to be the last
02:18:43 --> 02:18:45 president the United States is going to have.
02:18:45 --> 02:18:48 And there are some of you who are down with that.
02:18:49 --> 02:18:54 What I am hoping is that the overwhelming majority, people that have never voted
02:18:54 --> 02:19:00 before, I hope that they decide this is the time, that it's like, no, this cannot happen.
02:19:00 --> 02:19:04 This is real. This is not a drill. This is really, really happening.
02:19:04 --> 02:19:05 And we need to shut this down.
02:19:06 --> 02:19:09 That would be beautiful, right?
02:19:10 --> 02:19:13 It'd be beautiful that some of these people that are trying to lock folks up
02:19:13 --> 02:19:18 in Capitol buildings get locked up in real prisons and get disbarred.
02:19:18 --> 02:19:24 That would be what they say, the French kiss on all that, right?
02:19:24 --> 02:19:28 Because there's got to be some repercussions for all of this.
02:19:28 --> 02:19:35 In order for the Constitution to be the viable document, Because James Madison
02:19:35 --> 02:19:39 kind of warned folks, not every person is going to be George Washington.
02:19:39 --> 02:19:44 Not everybody is going to be an honorable person as far as the presidency is concerned, right?
02:19:44 --> 02:19:49 You know, not everybody is going to yield power graciously.
02:19:51 --> 02:19:54 But they didn't think they needed to put those mechanisms in there.
02:19:54 --> 02:20:02 So we've been rocking and rolling for, you know, 200 some years as far as the Constitution goes.
02:20:05 --> 02:20:08 And, you know, seemed like we were going to be okay.
02:20:10 --> 02:20:14 This dude shows up and the people that have propped him up because the most
02:20:14 --> 02:20:17 dangerous person in America is Steve Miller. Y'all know that, right?
02:20:17 --> 02:20:22 Second most dangerous person is Steve Bannon. And I'm sure there's a third Steve
02:20:22 --> 02:20:24 in there somewhere doing something diabolical. Right.
02:20:25 --> 02:20:29 Wouldn't be amazing is that over the next 20 years, nobody names their children
02:20:29 --> 02:20:36 Steve based on the actions of those two individuals. That'd be crazy.
02:20:36 --> 02:20:42 You know, it'd be like Steve would be like Adolf. You can't name yourself in
02:20:42 --> 02:20:44 the United States that, right?
02:20:44 --> 02:20:49 Nonetheless, you know, those people are the ones pulling the string.
02:20:50 --> 02:20:54 And they're getting bold enough now where they're starting to show up in places
02:20:54 --> 02:21:02 where only cabinet secretaries or the vice president or ambassadors to show up, right?
02:21:02 --> 02:21:06 He's staff, kind of, sort of. but he's got like a special title.
02:21:07 --> 02:21:08 He's not the chief of staff.
02:21:09 --> 02:21:12 But he's the brains man. Susan Wilkes is not running anything. He is.
02:21:13 --> 02:21:17 And of course, somebody say, oh, that's sexist to say that she's not doing,
02:21:17 --> 02:21:19 bro, don't become a feminist now.
02:21:21 --> 02:21:24 We're just dealing with facts. Stephen Miller is running the show, not Susan.
02:21:24 --> 02:21:28 Susan was running the show. It'd be just like Kelly and all the other chiefs
02:21:28 --> 02:21:32 of staffs before that actually had a conscience and said, yeah,
02:21:32 --> 02:21:33 no, Mr. President, you can't do that.
02:21:34 --> 02:21:37 There's nobody in that White House that says no to him.
02:21:38 --> 02:21:43 That's why now the White House is starting to turn into some kind of golden palace.
02:21:44 --> 02:21:49 What are we doing right now? How are we even allowing this to happen?
02:21:50 --> 02:21:53 We're just going about our daily. We need to have a plan.
02:21:54 --> 02:22:00 We need to have, you know, like they encourage us to have an evac plan,
02:22:00 --> 02:22:04 whether you're at your job or whether you're, you know, at the home.
02:22:04 --> 02:22:06 You need to have a plan to escape.
02:22:07 --> 02:22:10 We need to have a plan to vote.
02:22:10 --> 02:22:13 No matter what kind of restrictions they try to put on, no matter what they
02:22:13 --> 02:22:18 try to take away, no matter how many precincts they try to close, we have a plan to vote.
02:22:18 --> 02:22:22 And we need to execute that plan when it's time.
02:22:23 --> 02:22:27 Because we've got to get good people in and we've got to get these corrupt,
02:22:27 --> 02:22:30 evil, gullible people out. They've got to go.
02:22:31 --> 02:22:37 We want those people in the shadows like Stephen Miller and Steve Bannon to be anathemas.
02:22:38 --> 02:22:41 We want them to be like boogeymen.
02:22:42 --> 02:22:47 They can only be in our nightmares. They can't be part of the American dream.
02:22:50 --> 02:22:56 We've got to get back to taking care of people and giving damn about people.
02:22:57 --> 02:23:02 Get the corruption out. If you get the corruption out, you'll dissuade a lot
02:23:02 --> 02:23:04 of these people from even getting in.
02:23:05 --> 02:23:10 So that's our assignment. You know, we got a young brother who believed in the
02:23:10 --> 02:23:11 American dream. He's got to go.
02:23:12 --> 02:23:18 We got a sister that's fighting for the American dream. She gets locked up in
02:23:18 --> 02:23:20 the Capitol building. Her freedom's taken away.
02:23:21 --> 02:23:28 And we got all these people, the president and the Steves, and just wrecking havoc.
02:23:29 --> 02:23:36 Greg Abbott, just wrecking havoc on our democracy, wreaking havoc on our nation.
02:23:36 --> 02:23:44 And it's more than just democracy at stake. This might be the most expensive Thanksgiving ever.
02:23:45 --> 02:23:53 Not just traveling, food. If we don't get this in check, we got a guy who's
02:23:53 --> 02:23:57 obsessed with trying to do anything that a black man did.
02:23:58 --> 02:24:02 I won a Nobel Peace Prize. I stopped all these wars.
02:24:03 --> 02:24:09 Dude, that's your job. That's your job. It's not about winning a prize. Do your job.
02:24:09 --> 02:24:14 I want this participation trophy. No, that's not how that works. Do your job.
02:24:15 --> 02:24:19 Take care of the American people. Make sure the world is not in total chaos.
02:24:20 --> 02:24:24 That there's no threat of a World War III. Can you do that without?
02:24:25 --> 02:24:28 Well, no, he can't. I'm not going to waste my time with this.
02:24:30 --> 02:24:35 So it's on us to get these people out, every one of them. I don't care if they're your friend.
02:24:35 --> 02:24:39 I don't care if they're your buddy at Backgammon or Pickleball. They got to go.
02:24:40 --> 02:24:44 All of them have to go. All of them have to go. I don't care if they hung out
02:24:44 --> 02:24:45 with you at the homecoming.
02:24:45 --> 02:24:49 You know, you were classmates with them in high school. They all have to go.
02:24:49 --> 02:24:51 They all have to go. They got to go.
02:24:52 --> 02:24:55 There's no political redemption for them.
02:24:55 --> 02:25:02 If they are going to these lengths, they can't come back to the fold.
02:25:02 --> 02:25:08 They have to be taken out of the process altogether because we can't trust them.
02:25:08 --> 02:25:10 They've proven that they're not worthy of our trust.
02:25:11 --> 02:25:14 They have to go. And speaking about going, I need to go too.
02:25:14 --> 02:25:18 I didn't plan to talk this long, but I knew I was going to get caught up in
02:25:18 --> 02:25:22 this because we've got work to do, ladies and gentlemen. We've got work to do.
02:25:23 --> 02:25:26 So thank you all for listening. Until next time.
02:25:27 --> 02:26:14 Music.