In this episode, Angela Giampolo, the self-described "Philly Gay Lawyer", discusses the challenges of her unique law practice and her Caravan of Hope. Then, Dr. Felecia Pullen, President & CEO of Let's Talk SAFETY, Inc., talks about how her journey from addiction led to her crusade for recovery in Harlem.
00:00:00 --> 00:00:05 Welcome. I'm Erik Fleming, host of A Moment with Erik Fleming, the podcast of our time.
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00:01:11 --> 00:01:18 The following program is hosted by the NVG Podcast Network. The NVG Podcast Network.
00:01:20 --> 00:01:55 Music.
00:01:56 --> 00:02:01 Hello, and welcome to Another Moment with Erik Fleming. I am your host, Erik Fleming.
00:02:01 --> 00:02:10 And today, we are very, very blessed because I have two guests that are coming on,
00:02:11 --> 00:02:21 two ladies who have dedicated their lives to going home and making an impact in their home.
00:02:22 --> 00:02:29 And, you know, one of the things that, you know, one of the things that's been
00:02:29 --> 00:02:33 stressed all the time is that, you know, in the communities that you live in,
00:02:33 --> 00:02:37 make as big of an impact as you can.
00:02:37 --> 00:02:43 Some people can do tremendous things. Some people can do small things.
00:02:44 --> 00:02:48 But anything that can be done positively to have an impact in the community
00:02:48 --> 00:02:51 will be greatly appreciated.
00:02:51 --> 00:02:59 And so it is my honor to have two women who have made that commitment to do
00:02:59 --> 00:03:03 that and to make a tremendous impact where they live.
00:03:06 --> 00:03:14 And at some point, I'm going to address people that are having a negative impact
00:03:14 --> 00:03:19 on where we live and especially the country that we live in,
00:03:20 --> 00:03:21 even the world that we live in. Right.
00:03:22 --> 00:03:27 So I'll get to that a little later after you listen to these incredible women.
00:03:28 --> 00:03:32 But before we do that, speaking about incredible women, it's time to kick off
00:03:32 --> 00:03:38 our program. And as always, we kick it off with a moment of news with Grace Cheek.
00:03:39 --> 00:03:44 Music.
00:03:45 --> 00:03:50 Thanks, Erik. The Trump administration deployed National Guard troops and U.S.
00:03:50 --> 00:03:54 Marines to address immigration protests in Los Angeles, drawing criticism from
00:03:54 --> 00:03:58 California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
00:03:58 --> 00:04:03 Over 290 people died when an Air India flight crashed into a medical college
00:04:03 --> 00:04:08 hostel shortly after takeoff from Amanabad to London, making it the deadliest
00:04:08 --> 00:04:12 aviation disaster in a decade, with at least one survivor reported.
00:04:12 --> 00:04:17 Kilmar Abrego-Garcia, a Salvadoran mistakenly deported under Trump's policies,
00:04:17 --> 00:04:22 faced smuggling charges upon return to the United States, which prompted a prosecutor's
00:04:22 --> 00:04:24 resignation from the Department of Justice.
00:04:24 --> 00:04:28 President Trump announced plans to phase out FEMA after hurricane season,
00:04:28 --> 00:04:31 shift disaster relief funding directly through the White House,
00:04:31 --> 00:04:33 and reduce federal aid to states.
00:04:33 --> 00:04:37 A federal judge blocked the Trump administration from detaining or deporting
00:04:37 --> 00:04:41 Colombian student Mahmoud Khalil under foreign policy justifications.
00:04:41 --> 00:04:47 The Supreme Court allowed DOGE access to sensitive personal data despite privacy concerns.
00:04:48 --> 00:04:54 A $2.8 billion NCAA settlement approved by a judge permits compensating student-athletes
00:04:54 --> 00:04:56 for name, image, and likeness use.
00:04:56 --> 00:05:01 The Supreme Court declined to challenge Washington, D.C.'s ban on high-capacity
00:05:01 --> 00:05:04 ammunition magazines, leaving the restriction intact.
00:05:05 --> 00:05:11 The U.S. State Department resumed Harvard student visa processing after a court blocked Trump's ban.
00:05:11 --> 00:05:18 And Sly Stone, funk pioneer and leader of Sly and the Family Stone, died at the age of 82.
00:05:18 --> 00:05:21 I am Grace Gee, and this has been a Moment of News.
00:05:23 --> 00:05:28 Music.
00:05:29 --> 00:05:32 All right. Thank you, Grace, for that Moment of News.
00:05:32 --> 00:05:37 And now it is time for my guest, Angela Giampolo.
00:05:37 --> 00:05:44 Angela Giampolo is an expert on LGBTQ plus legal issues and the founder of Giampolo
00:05:44 --> 00:05:50 Law Group, a law firm serving the LGBTQ plus community for all of their legal needs.
00:05:50 --> 00:05:55 Philly Gay Lawyer is the advocacy arm of Angela's law firm,
00:05:55 --> 00:06:03 and she actively blogs at www.lawyer.lgbt and is a legal columnist for the Legal
00:06:03 --> 00:06:07 Intelligencer and the Philadelphia Business Journal.
00:06:08 --> 00:06:10 Angela appears on a monthly newsletter.
00:06:11 --> 00:06:17 IHeartRadio show is the LGBTQ plus legal expert on a segment titled Speak Out,
00:06:17 --> 00:06:22 and she has appeared on NPR, Wall Street Journal, American News Radio,
00:06:22 --> 00:06:25 Fox News, and several serious stations.
00:06:25 --> 00:06:31 In the wake of the first Trump administration, Angela started a 501 C3 nonprofit,
00:06:31 --> 00:06:36 the Caravan of Hope, where she takes one month out of her firm every year to
00:06:36 --> 00:06:38 drive 5 miles cross-country,
00:06:38 --> 00:06:44 stopping in 14 cities to provide legal services to underprivileged and underserved
00:06:44 --> 00:06:47 LGBTQ plus folks in rural areas.
00:06:47 --> 00:06:54 In the wake of Trump 2.0, Angela co-founded LGBTQ plus Pride Planning,
00:06:54 --> 00:07:00 an online and automated service providing affordable LGBTQ plus estate planning
00:07:00 --> 00:07:02 documents to folks in all 50 states.
00:07:03 --> 00:07:08 Angela has served on many boards of local, statewide, and national nonprofit
00:07:08 --> 00:07:12 organizations, including the Philadelphia Bar Association's Board of Governors,
00:07:13 --> 00:07:16 the Victory Fund, Liberty City Democratic Club,
00:07:16 --> 00:07:19 National Adoption Center, and Philadelphia
00:07:19 --> 00:07:23 Gay and Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia, better known as Gallup.
00:07:24 --> 00:07:29 In her career thus far, Angela has been bestowed the honor of being the National
00:07:29 --> 00:07:36 LGBT Bar Association top 40 under 40 LGBT attorneys.
00:07:37 --> 00:07:41 Legal intense intelligences, most diverse attorney,
00:07:41 --> 00:07:46 Philadelphia Business Journal's woman of distinction, top 40 under 40 business
00:07:46 --> 00:07:53 people in Philadelphia, and top 25 LGBTQ owned businesses nine years running.
00:07:53 --> 00:07:57 Angela has worked in government at the Office of General Counsel in Harrisburg
00:07:57 --> 00:07:59 at the Election Law Division,
00:07:59 --> 00:08:04 as well as with the United Nations at the International Criminal Tribunal for
00:08:04 --> 00:08:10 Rwanda in prosecuting those responsible for the Rwandan genocide of 1994.
00:08:11 --> 00:08:17 Lastly, Angela is currently completing on her first book on how the LGBTQ plus
00:08:17 --> 00:08:22 community has protected themselves, their loved ones, and their rights through estate planning.
00:08:22 --> 00:08:29 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest on this Podcast.
00:08:29 --> 00:08:31 Angela Giampolo.
00:08:32 --> 00:08:41 Music.
00:08:42 --> 00:08:49 All right, Angela Giampolo. How you doing, ma'am? You doing good? I was born doing good.
00:08:51 --> 00:08:56 Well, you were the only one. Most of us was at least screaming,
00:08:57 --> 00:08:58 crying, giving the doctor some fits.
00:08:58 --> 00:09:01 But I'm glad to know that at least one person was born doing good.
00:09:01 --> 00:09:04 But I know you've been doing good as an adult, for sure.
00:09:04 --> 00:09:10 And you've been a champion that I'm honored to recognize for what you've been doing.
00:09:11 --> 00:09:16 And I'm excited that you're getting ready to talk to the listeners about all that you do.
00:09:16 --> 00:09:20 But before we get started on all that, I do a couple of icebreakers.
00:09:20 --> 00:09:25 I guess it's the old moderator in me or whatever. But the first icebreaker is
00:09:25 --> 00:09:28 a quote. So I want you to respond to this quote.
00:09:28 --> 00:09:35 Always be clear what it is that you want and then make decisions accordingly.
00:09:35 --> 00:09:36 What does that quote mean to you?
00:09:37 --> 00:09:41 Make decisions quickly, rapidly, and never change your mind.
00:09:41 --> 00:09:49 That is the definition of success. You know, be clear on what you want and then follow suit.
00:09:49 --> 00:09:56 And that, I mean, that quote is the definition of how and why I started the law firm that I did.
00:09:57 --> 00:10:00 I am not your typical lawyer, but I am very happy.
00:10:01 --> 00:10:06 Most lawyers will tell prospective law students not to go to law school because
00:10:06 --> 00:10:10 it's a miserable profession and you'll be miserable and all of the things.
00:10:10 --> 00:10:15 And I do not think so, but I knew what I wanted to do.
00:10:15 --> 00:10:18 I knew what I wanted my life to look like.
00:10:18 --> 00:10:24 And then I worked backwards from that vision and stayed the course.
00:10:25 --> 00:10:30 Even when I was afraid, even when I was alone, even, you know,
00:10:30 --> 00:10:33 when it didn't make sense. But if I knew if that was my vision,
00:10:34 --> 00:10:39 then this is the course that I have to stay in order to reach that vision.
00:10:39 --> 00:10:42 So those are my thoughts on that. Yeah.
00:10:43 --> 00:10:48 So I understand at one point you were thinking about the WNBA,
00:10:48 --> 00:10:52 but you decided that that wasn't the move, huh?
00:10:53 --> 00:10:57 So I didn't so much decide as my knees didn't agree.
00:10:58 --> 00:11:02 So I went, I played basketball overseas, Sweden, Finland, Estonia,
00:11:03 --> 00:11:06 And blew out my knees in Estonia Or my one knee,
00:11:06 --> 00:11:11 my left knee in Estonia Came back to the US, got that fixed And I had not been
00:11:11 --> 00:11:17 playing professionally long enough that I was My NCAA status was still intact
00:11:17 --> 00:11:19 And so then I played college ball,
00:11:20 --> 00:11:23 And blew out my, before the season even started.
00:11:24 --> 00:11:27 Day one of training, blew out my right knee.
00:11:28 --> 00:11:33 And at that point, my team doctor was the team doctor for Duke when Bobby Hurley
00:11:33 --> 00:11:40 was rehabilitated from a body cast back to the court in nine months.
00:11:40 --> 00:11:43 And this team doctor was like, oh, my God, he's amazing.
00:11:43 --> 00:11:48 He's able to bring someone back from a body cast back to the court in nine months.
00:11:48 --> 00:11:51 And he looked at my itty-bitty little orthoscopic knee surgery,
00:11:51 --> 00:11:52 and he was like, you're done.
00:11:53 --> 00:11:57 And I was like, what? Like, you're the guy. What do you mean?
00:11:58 --> 00:12:02 And he was like, no, you can't come back from this.
00:12:02 --> 00:12:08 He's like, your kneecap is literally too small for the groove that it sits in.
00:12:08 --> 00:12:12 Like, I can't fix that. Like, that's just literally what your kneecap looks like.
00:12:12 --> 00:12:18 And so every six to nine months, you're going to be back here with a knee surgery.
00:12:18 --> 00:12:22 This is going to keep happening. And at that time, my coach, 32 years old,
00:12:22 --> 00:12:27 beautiful to look at from the front, and then she'd turn around and walk away,
00:12:27 --> 00:12:33 and she looked like a 92-year-old cripple because she had five knee surgeries while in college.
00:12:33 --> 00:12:38 So I had no idea where I had the wisdom, because I was a 19-year-old idiot, you know what I mean?
00:12:39 --> 00:12:42 And basketball was my life. I had no idea where I had the wisdom,
00:12:42 --> 00:12:44 but I said, you know what?
00:12:44 --> 00:12:47 I'm transferring out, and I'm done with basketball.
00:12:47 --> 00:12:50 I don't want to be her. I just distinctly remember
00:12:50 --> 00:12:53 that visual of her walking away from me and at 32
00:12:53 --> 00:12:58 barely being able to walk and I said I don't want to be that and so I transferred
00:12:58 --> 00:13:02 and I ended up at LaSalle University in Philadelphia and that's all she wrote
00:13:02 --> 00:13:08 yeah well that's all she wrote in basketball but it led to this this incredible
00:13:08 --> 00:13:11 law career so yeah I mean I never knew I had a brain until that.
00:13:13 --> 00:13:17 If my knees hadn't blown out we wouldn't been talking well we might have been
00:13:17 --> 00:13:19 it You never know how the world works.
00:13:20 --> 00:13:26 So my other icebreaker is I need you to give me a number between one and 20. Seven.
00:13:27 --> 00:13:32 All right. What do you consider the best way to stay informed about politics,
00:13:32 --> 00:13:35 current events, health, etc.?
00:13:36 --> 00:13:41 So what about the seven? That was it? Yeah, that was the question.
00:13:41 --> 00:13:43 Yeah, yeah. That was it? No, no.
00:13:44 --> 00:13:47 No, there's no grand prize with this. There's no...
00:13:49 --> 00:13:52 This is behind door number seven. No, no, that's not how that works.
00:13:52 --> 00:13:54 Your prize is the question I just asked you.
00:13:55 --> 00:13:58 Gotcha. All right. So what is my way of saying current?
00:13:59 --> 00:14:05 I am very, very guarded about push notifications to me.
00:14:06 --> 00:14:11 So I have a very few select outlets,
00:14:12 --> 00:14:17 that I do choose to get push notifications that tell me what I want to know
00:14:17 --> 00:14:25 at any time when I may or may not be ready for it LGBTQ Nation, them.us, Advocate,
00:14:26 --> 00:14:33 and then other than that a couple of friends that I trust to do get push notifications
00:14:33 --> 00:14:37 from CNN, BBC, and all of the things, but I don't want to get those.
00:14:37 --> 00:14:43 But other than that, I do not proactively on a daily basis read the news or
00:14:43 --> 00:14:49 do anything about taking on current events other than very specific LGBTQ,
00:14:49 --> 00:14:51 well, and crypto, cryptocurrency.
00:14:51 --> 00:14:55 I'm huge into crypto, so there's IA Answers, which
00:14:55 --> 00:14:58 is YouTube channel James who's awesome
00:14:58 --> 00:15:02 and all things crypto I get through him and then
00:15:02 --> 00:15:06 verify in other ways but as far as the you know daily news and whether we're
00:15:06 --> 00:15:11 going to war or you know life things that are happening I get that through LGBTQ
00:15:11 --> 00:15:17 specific outlets other folks email me or text me if there's something they think
00:15:17 --> 00:15:21 I should know that's outside of that and then crypto So I get the right answers.
00:15:22 --> 00:15:27 So let me let me make a note. So when I want to have a crypto discussion,
00:15:27 --> 00:15:29 let me let me call Angela again.
00:15:29 --> 00:15:32 Get her on. I call it crypto queerency.
00:15:36 --> 00:15:39 That's good, because that actually leads into my next question.
00:15:39 --> 00:15:45 How did you get the designation of being Philadelphia's gay lawyer?
00:15:45 --> 00:15:49 And was that a designation that you sought out? Now, I know,
00:15:49 --> 00:15:53 you know, back in the day, I'm old enough to remember that it was like,
00:15:53 --> 00:15:57 if you wanted to get a good lawyer, you got to get a Philadelphia lawyer,
00:15:57 --> 00:15:58 you know what I'm saying?
00:15:58 --> 00:16:03 And then, you know, all I kept thinking about, you know, was Denzel Washington
00:16:03 --> 00:16:05 and Tom Hanks and that movie, right?
00:16:06 --> 00:16:09 And so I'm just curious, how did you...
00:16:10 --> 00:16:15 Become the lawyer for the LGBTQ community?
00:16:15 --> 00:16:19 How did, and was that something you really wanted to do?
00:16:19 --> 00:16:24 Yeah, I definitely premeditated it. I bought the domain Philly Gay Lawyer in college.
00:16:25 --> 00:16:30 Okay. Long before I was a lawyer. So I'm probably one of the few lawyers that
00:16:30 --> 00:16:32 became a lawyer to fulfill a business model.
00:16:33 --> 00:16:40 I'm Canadian originally, and living here in the U.S., I saw that there was a
00:16:40 --> 00:16:44 distinct differentiation in how the laws treat folks.
00:16:45 --> 00:16:49 And basically, there's gay law and straight law. For a minute there,
00:16:49 --> 00:16:51 we were turning the tide where there was just the law.
00:16:52 --> 00:16:57 And now it's even worse than it was 17 years ago when I started my practice.
00:16:57 --> 00:17:00 So initially, it was Philly Gay Lawyer.
00:17:00 --> 00:17:05 And that was the moniker that I went by. There was my law firm, Giampolo Law Group.
00:17:05 --> 00:17:08 And anybody and even now
00:17:08 --> 00:17:11 the tagline is we represent the lgbtq community
00:17:11 --> 00:17:14 and those who love us we represent everyone
00:17:14 --> 00:17:19 but like let's be clear and those who love us and that's on the awning outside
00:17:19 --> 00:17:24 i own the building we have a forever home for jampolo law group and on the awning
00:17:24 --> 00:17:32 outside at a very walkable busy area in philly right off of south street 500 feet from South Street,
00:17:32 --> 00:17:36 there's a big sign that says we represent the LGBTQ community and those who love us.
00:17:36 --> 00:17:40 And I have straight people who email me all day and say, we love you.
00:17:40 --> 00:17:42 And we would love for you to be my lawyer and all of the things.
00:17:43 --> 00:17:49 But 17 years ago, or even earlier than that in college, it just always made
00:17:49 --> 00:17:53 sense to me that people do business with people that they know, love, and trust.
00:17:53 --> 00:17:56 They used to say, know, like, and trust.
00:17:56 --> 00:18:00 And I feel like we're at a point, have been for several years where it needs
00:18:00 --> 00:18:03 to be no love and trust, right?
00:18:03 --> 00:18:09 And the love piece, obviously, they don't love me before they meet me, but they can go online.
00:18:09 --> 00:18:13 They can see the things that I'm doing, that I stand for, that I'm actually,
00:18:13 --> 00:18:15 I'm putting my money where my mouth is and all of the things.
00:18:16 --> 00:18:20 And that part they can feel.
00:18:21 --> 00:18:25 And without fail, when most people reach out, they mention something about having
00:18:25 --> 00:18:31 Googled me and your caravan of hope, your love of senior chihuahuas, this, that, the other.
00:18:32 --> 00:18:36 So, yeah, it was definitely a niche that I started out in.
00:18:36 --> 00:18:43 My law school professors, the two that I respected the most said, don't do it.
00:18:44 --> 00:18:51 You know, at that point, back in 2008, you represent 3% of the population.
00:18:51 --> 00:18:56 You're going to start a law firm representing 3% of the population. Why would you do that?
00:18:57 --> 00:18:59 You're going to need PB&Js the rest of your life.
00:19:00 --> 00:19:04 But we always represented more than 3%. It's just so many people weren't out.
00:19:05 --> 00:19:10 There wasn't a way to count us on the census, you know, and I was like, this is what I want to do.
00:19:10 --> 00:19:15 And so I've always been a low volume because we don't, make up,
00:19:15 --> 00:19:17 you know, 100% of the population.
00:19:17 --> 00:19:21 So I've always been a low volume, high touch law firm.
00:19:21 --> 00:19:26 And we really love what we do and how we do it and who we do it for. Yeah.
00:19:27 --> 00:19:32 Yeah. That's, that's, that's interesting that you, you had that vision and,
00:19:32 --> 00:19:38 and you, and you set out to do it as opposed to, it just kind of fell in your
00:19:38 --> 00:19:40 lap that that's all you were getting?
00:19:41 --> 00:19:44 I think because I'm the daughter of two entrepreneurs.
00:19:45 --> 00:19:50 So my dad stopped school in second grade, third grade maybe,
00:19:50 --> 00:19:54 and followed his father, you know, last name Jam Polo.
00:19:55 --> 00:19:58 So read between the lines, but they went off and did that.
00:19:59 --> 00:20:04 And, and then my mom stopped at type writing school and then they met my mom's
00:20:04 --> 00:20:09 from Quebec and then they met and they started a business.
00:20:09 --> 00:20:14 And I just grew up with entrepreneurs. And so I didn't know any other way.
00:20:14 --> 00:20:18 You know, Monopoly was my jam. And I won all the time.
00:20:18 --> 00:20:21 My poor brother never could win, even though he's older than me.
00:20:21 --> 00:20:27 And so it was just, I, without, before I even realized it, I knew that I was
00:20:27 --> 00:20:28 going to open up my own business.
00:20:28 --> 00:20:32 And so, and then the other part about me is I'm always going to be happy.
00:20:33 --> 00:20:38 You know, we, Edie Windsor, marriage equality plaintiff, never postpone joy.
00:20:39 --> 00:20:43 And, and that always rang, you know, true for me.
00:20:43 --> 00:20:48 So it's like, if I'm going to open up my own law firm, what's it going to look like?
00:20:49 --> 00:20:54 How am I going to exist in it? Who are we going to serve in order to ensure
00:20:54 --> 00:20:58 that I love what I do on a daily basis? And that was very clear.
00:20:59 --> 00:21:05 So you mentioned the Caravan of Hope. Kind of explain what that is and how did
00:21:05 --> 00:21:07 you even come up with the concept of doing that?
00:21:08 --> 00:21:13 Yeah, so the Caravan of Hope is exactly what it sounds like. It's a caravan,
00:21:13 --> 00:21:21 32-foot RV that I take cross-country once a year, and we stop in 14 cities providing
00:21:21 --> 00:21:24 pro bono legal services to LGBTQ folks,
00:21:24 --> 00:21:32 specifically in rural and underserved areas where folks don't have an easy,
00:21:32 --> 00:21:36 at least, access to someone like myself, a competent out.
00:21:37 --> 00:21:39 You know, Not that they have to be out.
00:21:39 --> 00:21:44 Some of my partners in these cities are not out, especially I won't name the
00:21:44 --> 00:21:50 cities or the states, but some of the southern ones, trans lawyers that aren't out.
00:21:51 --> 00:21:55 So the out part doesn't matter, but at least competent and LGBTQ legal issues
00:21:55 --> 00:21:58 and in rural areas, folks don't have access to those.
00:21:59 --> 00:22:04 So it was 2016, Trump 1.0, and I was super depressed.
00:22:04 --> 00:22:09 And folks in Philadelphia, HRC at that point, HRC is to this day even.
00:22:10 --> 00:22:14 Number one rated city in the country, tied eight ways with Seattle and New York
00:22:14 --> 00:22:17 and San Fran and, you know, all the things.
00:22:17 --> 00:22:21 Yet folks in Philadelphia were messaging me on Facebook and emailing me and
00:22:21 --> 00:22:23 all the things like we're afraid.
00:22:23 --> 00:22:30 So if folks in Philadelphia, HRC's number one rating, city in the country,
00:22:30 --> 00:22:33 folks are vehemently afraid.
00:22:34 --> 00:22:39 What about Fort Worth, Texas, Mississippi, Memphis, Tennessee?
00:22:39 --> 00:22:42 What about those folks? and this
00:22:42 --> 00:22:52 unidentifiable, no-face avatar never left basically the front of my brain.
00:22:53 --> 00:22:57 And while I was helping folks in Philadelphia and in New Jersey,
00:22:57 --> 00:23:02 I always had this vision of this person that I didn't know, that I'd never reached
00:23:02 --> 00:23:06 out, but that I knew existed in these rural areas.
00:23:06 --> 00:23:10 And it's like, if folks here need me, what about there?
00:23:10 --> 00:23:15 What are they feeling? How afraid are they? And so it was in between election
00:23:15 --> 00:23:18 and inauguration, literally December 31st.
00:23:18 --> 00:23:22 I always do private, solo, strategic planning.
00:23:24 --> 00:23:27 And the idea just came to me. Caravan of hope.
00:23:28 --> 00:23:34 That's what everybody needed and wanted. It was post-Obama, hope, you know.
00:23:34 --> 00:23:40 And it was just like, this is what we need. And so I take one month off out of my law firm.
00:23:40 --> 00:23:45 This year, it's going to be October, national coming out month,
00:23:45 --> 00:23:51 and drive 5 miles and visit these 14 cities and provide pro bono legal services.
00:23:52 --> 00:23:56 Yeah, that's pretty cool.
00:23:56 --> 00:23:59 It was like, that's what really caught my attention to you. It was like,
00:23:59 --> 00:24:05 okay, so this lawyer is traveling the country to provide legal services for folks.
00:24:06 --> 00:24:12 And then the timing of it, you know, that was when I was doing my ACLU work in Mississippi.
00:24:13 --> 00:24:16 Yeah, it's just, I just think that's incredible.
00:24:17 --> 00:24:23 That was one of the reasons why I was drawn to get you on because as a black
00:24:23 --> 00:24:28 person, one of the things that's been, that was really, really hard to do was
00:24:28 --> 00:24:31 to get lawyers to do civil rights work.
00:24:32 --> 00:24:36 And you would think that would be a no brainer, But it's like,
00:24:36 --> 00:24:39 you know, just like your law professors were saying, you know,
00:24:39 --> 00:24:47 you're in you're in the legal profession to make income to and and to sustain a business.
00:24:48 --> 00:24:51 And, you know, a lot of civil rights work, a lot of people that need that work,
00:24:51 --> 00:24:56 they can't pay top lawyer rates or anything like that.
00:24:56 --> 00:25:00 And you only can do so many pro bono hours.
00:25:00 --> 00:25:08 So it's just really, really tough. So I can only imagine from the LGBTQ community
00:25:08 --> 00:25:13 how desperate it is to, well, not imagine.
00:25:13 --> 00:25:18 I mean, I kind of know, but I mean, it's like, you know, it's just how desperate
00:25:18 --> 00:25:23 it is for people to, one, trust that somebody is going to do the work for them
00:25:23 --> 00:25:24 and be thorough about it.
00:25:24 --> 00:25:32 And then two, availability. So, you know, I commend you for having the courage
00:25:32 --> 00:25:33 and the vision to do that.
00:25:34 --> 00:25:40 So speaking about clients, how have you been helping your clients navigate through
00:25:40 --> 00:25:43 these early days of the Trump administration?
00:25:44 --> 00:25:47 And I guess I'll throw in another question.
00:25:47 --> 00:25:52 You're a dual citizen, so you have citizenship in Canada and here in the United States.
00:25:53 --> 00:25:57 Did you ever think at some point, yeah, I might need to cash in on this Canadian
00:25:57 --> 00:26:00 citizenship and get them out of here?
00:26:01 --> 00:26:07 I mean, I thought that in 2016, my friend, you know, if I had it. But yeah.
00:26:08 --> 00:26:15 Well, I mean, it's it's real as when I say it's real for 17 years,
00:26:15 --> 00:26:20 there's always been a, you know, what not even 17 years that I've had my law firm.
00:26:21 --> 00:26:26 But we look at what LGBTQ plus folks have been dealing with historically.
00:26:26 --> 00:26:30 Right. And we've been here before. my
00:26:30 --> 00:26:33 elder especially gay male mentors
00:26:33 --> 00:26:37 brought dead bodies to congress
00:26:37 --> 00:26:40 steps and laid them on the capitol
00:26:40 --> 00:26:43 laid dead bodies on the capitol hill
00:26:43 --> 00:26:46 steps saying you did this because you
00:26:46 --> 00:26:50 won't talk about this right so we've
00:26:50 --> 00:26:53 the pendulum has been swinging back
00:26:53 --> 00:26:56 and forth historically but eric
00:26:56 --> 00:27:00 the pendulum snapped and full-on
00:27:00 --> 00:27:03 hit us in the face like this is there's no more what if right
00:27:03 --> 00:27:07 if if we were to look at a year ago
00:27:07 --> 00:27:10 to today a year ago in all
00:27:10 --> 00:27:15 of 2024 there were 525 anti-lgbtq bills
00:27:15 --> 00:27:22 introduced in the first six months of this year 575 more in the first six months
00:27:22 --> 00:27:28 we are on pace to double that and be at 1 or definitely more than 1
00:27:28 --> 00:27:31 anti-LGBTQ bills, right?
00:27:31 --> 00:27:35 So the first question was, you know, have you been helping your clients?
00:27:35 --> 00:27:39 Second, as a Canadian, when would you cash in? You know, at the end of the day,
00:27:39 --> 00:27:46 you have to put the mask on yourself, right, as the plane goes down before you
00:27:46 --> 00:27:50 do anyone else, the oxygen mask. And...
00:27:50 --> 00:27:55 And I am not a conspiracy theorist by any way, shape, or form,
00:27:55 --> 00:27:57 but I do believe there are lists.
00:27:57 --> 00:28:04 I have a nonprofit. I have a 501c3 where I put myself, I registered with the
00:28:04 --> 00:28:08 IRS as having an LGBTQ-focused, right?
00:28:08 --> 00:28:14 And then you have Doge, who just took, however, 27 million IRS social securities.
00:28:14 --> 00:28:17 Like, I know they're compiling lists. I know I'm on a list.
00:28:18 --> 00:28:23 And so if at some point I have to leave, I will. I'll probably use my Canadian
00:28:23 --> 00:28:25 citizenship to go south.
00:28:26 --> 00:28:27 It's really cold there.
00:28:28 --> 00:28:33 So I'll probably choose somewhere else and then do exactly what we're doing now.
00:28:33 --> 00:28:40 I mean, during COVID, I moved 3 miles away to La Jolla, San Diego, and said, you know what?
00:28:40 --> 00:28:43 If we're going to die, we're going to die in the most beautiful place in this
00:28:43 --> 00:28:46 country because we had no idea what was happening. And actually,
00:28:46 --> 00:28:48 and I stopped doing any litigation.
00:28:48 --> 00:28:51 My revenue shot up 30%, but I lived 3 miles away.
00:28:52 --> 00:28:57 And that was a huge demarcation point. And my loving my law firm was for two
00:28:57 --> 00:28:58 and a half years, I didn't actually live in Philadelphia.
00:28:59 --> 00:29:02 But I got all my clients on board with doing this via Zoom.
00:29:03 --> 00:29:07 And then I would fly back every six weeks and I would do signings and things in ink.
00:29:07 --> 00:29:11 And so I'm fine. If I have to leave, it will be I have to leave.
00:29:11 --> 00:29:15 It's not I will choose to leave. Like, it'll be that it's best for everyone,
00:29:15 --> 00:29:22 meaning more so the LGBTQ community, that I actually remove myself so that I
00:29:22 --> 00:29:23 can continue to help them.
00:29:24 --> 00:29:29 That's the only time that I would leave. And then how I've been helping them
00:29:29 --> 00:29:34 from what they've said and their feedback, both on social and,
00:29:34 --> 00:29:38 you know, real life clients, is being an objective.
00:29:39 --> 00:29:50 Authentic balance of being honest when shit gets real and telling them this is really effing bad.
00:29:50 --> 00:29:53 And you know what you don't really don't worry about that that's a
00:29:53 --> 00:29:56 red herring don't you have nothing to worry
00:29:56 --> 00:29:59 about but there are certain things i see going through the news like
00:29:59 --> 00:30:03 when michigan state ref was like we're calling for the overturning of a burger
00:30:03 --> 00:30:07 fell and everyone was like oh my god like marriage is gonna be overturned tomorrow
00:30:07 --> 00:30:13 no this guy has zero power let it go he's saying what they've been saying for
00:30:13 --> 00:30:18 12 years he's just reiterating it to get on the news only the Supreme Court can do that.
00:30:18 --> 00:30:22 You are safe for right now. Do I think you're not safe two years from now?
00:30:22 --> 00:30:25 100%. I think Obergefell is being overturned. But you're not going to wake up
00:30:25 --> 00:30:28 tomorrow because this guy in Michigan said it should be.
00:30:29 --> 00:30:32 Right. And so that authentic, honest, not fear mongering,
00:30:33 --> 00:30:39 also not placating, also not monotone, but just 23 and me, you know,
00:30:39 --> 00:30:46 being taken, going bankrupt and folks like Elon Musk and others wanting to buy all the DNA data.
00:30:47 --> 00:30:51 Delete your shit. You know, like these are people who believe in eugenics,
00:30:52 --> 00:30:55 which is basically genocide before you have to do genocide.
00:30:55 --> 00:31:00 It's basically, let's just create a human race that we believe in,
00:31:00 --> 00:31:05 which means no black people, no gay people, no ADHD, no mental health unit.
00:31:06 --> 00:31:10 Like, let's just remove all genetics of anything that we think is inferior.
00:31:10 --> 00:31:17 And then that becomes the future. And with all of the information of DNA with 23andMe.
00:31:18 --> 00:31:21 So I feel like and then and then there's the work on the ground,
00:31:21 --> 00:31:25 like the actual work that I can do for people where they retain me to.
00:31:25 --> 00:31:29 Do their LGBTQ estate planning, do their confirmatory adoptions,
00:31:29 --> 00:31:32 do their name changes, do their, you know, identity marker changes.
00:31:33 --> 00:31:37 But I would say the biggest way in which I've helped is to just be a voice and
00:31:37 --> 00:31:41 a soundboard of all the noise and negativity out there.
00:31:41 --> 00:31:45 And like, I think you should listen to that and don't listen to that.
00:31:45 --> 00:31:52 And people trust that because I treat them like I would want to know that information.
00:31:52 --> 00:31:56 Right. And none of it helps me get clients or
00:31:56 --> 00:31:59 anything like that like i'm just it's once i
00:31:59 --> 00:32:02 was deathly ill can't believe that video went viral
00:32:02 --> 00:32:05 deathly ill i looked horrible it was two in the morning and i
00:32:05 --> 00:32:09 was like this is what you know and and of course they're like you know because
00:32:09 --> 00:32:13 it was important information regardless of what i looked or sounded like but
00:32:13 --> 00:32:20 it was important information and people just see that you know yeah well you're
00:32:20 --> 00:32:22 also pretty good at pronosticating.
00:32:23 --> 00:32:29 Because you basically answered two of my next questions. But I'm going to drill
00:32:29 --> 00:32:33 down on one of them because I was going to ask you about the 23 and me for real.
00:32:33 --> 00:32:40 And then I want you to explain why is estate planning such an important legal,
00:32:40 --> 00:32:44 I guess, strategy for the LGBTQ community?
00:32:45 --> 00:32:48 Estate planning has been for decades
00:32:48 --> 00:32:52 over 50 years our first impenetrable
00:32:52 --> 00:32:55 inseverable line of defense it is
00:32:55 --> 00:32:59 what we've been using to create ties between and
00:32:59 --> 00:33:03 with one another that we couldn't do legally you could be together 47 years
00:33:03 --> 00:33:07 and you don't have an estate planning this is long before marriage equality
00:33:07 --> 00:33:11 obviously you have no estate planning documents you die everything goes to the
00:33:11 --> 00:33:16 homophobic family that you're estranged from that disowned you when you were 16, right?
00:33:17 --> 00:33:22 So, and even if you had a lovely family, lovely family, all of the things,
00:33:23 --> 00:33:28 nothing could pass to someone that you were with and were committed to the same
00:33:28 --> 00:33:31 way a straight couple would get married and be together for 47 years.
00:33:31 --> 00:33:36 So we've known forever that we needed estate planning documents in order to
00:33:36 --> 00:33:38 recreate those marriages.
00:33:38 --> 00:33:43 Then marriage equality hit Now, one of the things that I always say is there
00:33:43 --> 00:33:47 are 1 state and federal privileges tied to marriage.
00:33:49 --> 00:33:55 Privileges, rights, not power. There is zero power inherent in marriage.
00:33:56 --> 00:33:59 I got passionate around this topic 20 years ago with the Terry Schiavo case.
00:34:01 --> 00:34:05 Straight married cis couple, 29 years old. Terry Schiavo ended up in a persistent
00:34:05 --> 00:34:07 vegetative state, brain aneurysm.
00:34:07 --> 00:34:09 He was not her health care power
00:34:09 --> 00:34:12 of attorney. She did not have an advanced directive or a living will.
00:34:12 --> 00:34:16 He had no more power over his wife's body than the mother did.
00:34:17 --> 00:34:19 Mom disagreed. They duked it out in litigation.
00:34:19 --> 00:34:23 He went bankrupt after eight years. She languished on life support for 15 years.
00:34:24 --> 00:34:28 We, 10 years ago, got marriage equality. and sociologically,
00:34:29 --> 00:34:32 psychologically, I feel as though we breathed in legitimacy for the first time
00:34:32 --> 00:34:40 and mistook that for power because it felt good to be seen, to be legitimized in this country.
00:34:40 --> 00:34:43 And we mistook it for power, but we've never had power.
00:34:44 --> 00:34:47 Straight people don't have power in their marriage, just like Terry Shiavo's husband.
00:34:48 --> 00:34:52 So there are fiscally advantageous, financially significant privileges tied
00:34:52 --> 00:34:56 to marriage, 1 of them, social security survivor benefits,
00:34:56 --> 00:34:58 inheritance rights, inheritance tax,
00:34:59 --> 00:35:04 probate avoidance, you know, you name it, immigration rights, bankruptcy rights.
00:35:05 --> 00:35:08 Basically, there's gay law and straight law, and it's all tied to marriage.
00:35:08 --> 00:35:11 I never thought I'd agree with Rand Paul on anything, or he, me, for that matter.
00:35:11 --> 00:35:15 But there we were on Newsmax making for bad TV because we were in complete agreement.
00:35:16 --> 00:35:19 That if they wanted marriage to remain a religious institution,
00:35:19 --> 00:35:23 they never should have tied 1 privileges to it.
00:35:23 --> 00:35:27 But if I were told right now that I was going to an island tonight and I could
00:35:27 --> 00:35:32 only take one thing with me, privilege or power, I would take power time and again.
00:35:32 --> 00:35:35 And only the estate planning documents could be that.
00:35:35 --> 00:35:39 Being someone's health care power of attorney, being able to live out their
00:35:39 --> 00:35:43 living will, their end of life wishes, being able to be their executor,
00:35:43 --> 00:35:46 being able hospital visitation authorization forms.
00:35:46 --> 00:35:51 And that's another thing, you know for 17 years i've been treating my clients
00:35:51 --> 00:35:56 as though they're unmarried even after marriage equality because even after
00:35:56 --> 00:36:01 marriage equality we're only considered married in 37 countries out of 195 that
00:36:01 --> 00:36:05 fly a flag i fly to beijing i slip fall on the great wall of china,
00:36:06 --> 00:36:10 wife and i are not married get nipped by lion and safari in tanzania it's illegal
00:36:10 --> 00:36:14 to be gay i don't want you yelling, that's my husband, right?
00:36:14 --> 00:36:17 So 37 out of 195, that is a fraction.
00:36:18 --> 00:36:22 So I've always done these documents for folks, even after marriage equality.
00:36:24 --> 00:36:28 Treating them as though they're unmarried because that is the reality globally.
00:36:28 --> 00:36:31 And that's how I protect my clients, you know, the most.
00:36:31 --> 00:36:35 So through these estate planning documents, there's nine essential estate planning
00:36:35 --> 00:36:39 documents that I recommend for my LGBTQ folks.
00:36:39 --> 00:36:43 And with that, no matter where you are in the world or what's happening with
00:36:43 --> 00:36:47 marriage equality here and Obergefell and all the things, you can consider yourself
00:36:47 --> 00:36:48 safe outside of the pendulum.
00:36:50 --> 00:36:53 Yeah. And that's just good to know, period.
00:36:53 --> 00:36:59 But I was in doing my research, I noticed you really, really emphasize that.
00:36:59 --> 00:37:02 So I wanted you to expound on that a great deal.
00:37:03 --> 00:37:08 All right. So we're going to close it out. But there's been a couple of things
00:37:08 --> 00:37:11 that, you know, have been going on.
00:37:11 --> 00:37:16 And so I wanted to get your take on it because you're not only an attorney,
00:37:16 --> 00:37:18 but you're an activist in the community.
00:37:19 --> 00:37:28 And so, let me, Riley Gaines, what's your thoughts about her and people like her?
00:37:28 --> 00:37:33 I'm going to tell you what I think about it. And then you tell me or you agree or disagree.
00:37:34 --> 00:37:36 I think she's an incredible loser.
00:37:37 --> 00:37:39 I think she is an incredible loser.
00:37:39 --> 00:37:43 I think she's the worst loser in the history of sports.
00:37:43 --> 00:37:50 I can understand if you were fighting for a gold medal and you missed it by
00:37:50 --> 00:37:55 one-tenth of a second, I can understand you being disappointed and you have
00:37:55 --> 00:37:56 a grievance and all that.
00:37:57 --> 00:38:03 But even at some point, you got to get over that. But you weren't even in the
00:38:03 --> 00:38:06 top five in this particular race that you were upset about.
00:38:07 --> 00:38:13 And it's like You just harped on this one swimmer Who was transgender But there
00:38:13 --> 00:38:15 were three other swimmers that were better than you.
00:38:16 --> 00:38:19 And it's like, what the hell?
00:38:20 --> 00:38:24 So you're not mad at them? I mean, what's the young lady, Sheba Lincoln?
00:38:25 --> 00:38:28 She was mad at Coco Gauff because she beat her one-on-one.
00:38:28 --> 00:38:32 It's like, you're not mad at these three other women? You're just picking on
00:38:32 --> 00:38:35 the one who finished in fourth place, right?
00:38:35 --> 00:38:40 I just think she's the most incredible. I think out of all the grifters,
00:38:40 --> 00:38:42 she's got to be the greatest grifter.
00:38:42 --> 00:38:46 Because it was like, you haven't won anything. And you
00:38:46 --> 00:38:55 were given this platform That's just me So before she lost If you googled her
00:38:55 --> 00:39:04 It always said A conservative political activist So I almost compared her to J.K.
00:39:04 --> 00:39:13 Rowling But it's not really a relevant comparison But I think she took the opportunity,
00:39:14 --> 00:39:20 of this loss to put herself in the spotlight of the MAGA conservatives,
00:39:21 --> 00:39:25 to then get more opportunity going that way, since she obviously knows swimming's
00:39:25 --> 00:39:26 not happening in any way, shape, or form.
00:39:27 --> 00:39:32 So she's, I agree with you, I mean, she sucks at her sport, like,
00:39:32 --> 00:39:34 awesome, way to go, you know.
00:39:35 --> 00:39:38 But, like, most people who surround themselves around Trump,
00:39:38 --> 00:39:40 in my opinion, they're all opportunists. Tunis.
00:39:41 --> 00:39:48 They all see how being within a certain degree of separation from him helps
00:39:48 --> 00:39:50 them do the thing that they've always wanted to do.
00:39:51 --> 00:39:56 So she lost and then went after the fifth as the fifth place person.
00:39:57 --> 00:40:03 Right. Like to your point, you're absolutely correct. There's zero tie to her
00:40:03 --> 00:40:05 loss and that person winning.
00:40:06 --> 00:40:10 All these people in between but she was an opportunist and
00:40:10 --> 00:40:12 went after that and is now on the
00:40:12 --> 00:40:15 spotlight and MAGA people are talking to her
00:40:15 --> 00:40:18 and she's on news circuits and doing all the
00:40:18 --> 00:40:21 things and exactly where she wanted to be I wish
00:40:21 --> 00:40:26 Simone Biles hadn't apologized yesterday you
00:40:26 --> 00:40:29 know I think her reaction was immediate and therefore
00:40:29 --> 00:40:31 authentic it was almost immediate I think
00:40:31 --> 00:40:35 it was like 46 minutes after riley's comment
00:40:35 --> 00:40:39 went live then simone biles on x you
00:40:39 --> 00:40:42 know commented but it was so soon that it was obviously authentic
00:40:42 --> 00:40:45 and then a few days later to apologize for it
00:40:45 --> 00:40:50 i don't know i don't know who's advising her but i wouldn't have done that well
00:40:50 --> 00:40:54 it's definitely it's definitely handlers it's like somebody's like hey you know
00:40:54 --> 00:40:58 simone you got this appeal you know your husband's in the nfl you you know you
00:40:58 --> 00:41:02 got you know you gotta think of wheaties we I think at night,
00:41:02 --> 00:41:02 you know what I'm saying?
00:41:03 --> 00:41:07 So, yeah, you know, you're always going to have those kind of protectionists
00:41:07 --> 00:41:10 because, of course, their income is based off her income.
00:41:10 --> 00:41:16 So, you know, that's one of those things where it's like you just have to,
00:41:16 --> 00:41:21 as Kendrick Perkins would say, stand on business and just let that ride.
00:41:22 --> 00:41:24 You know, I really hated that.
00:41:25 --> 00:41:32 You know, when I saw that she had apologized. So this girl made a reference
00:41:32 --> 00:41:37 to a trauma that happened in Simone's life. And Simone's the one who's apologizing?
00:41:37 --> 00:41:42 Apologizing, right. What are we doing? But anyway, I just wanted to get that
00:41:42 --> 00:41:44 off my chest, and I'm glad you helped me do that.
00:41:45 --> 00:41:48 But does that make sense? Does that make sense that I think she just used it
00:41:48 --> 00:41:53 as an opportunity to just further ingrain herself in the MAGA political?
00:41:54 --> 00:41:58 That's exactly what all of them do. He'll probably be Speaker of the House next week.
00:41:58 --> 00:42:04 God, I hope. Well, I might need to borrow your Canadian membership if it gets that instant.
00:42:05 --> 00:42:10 But the other thing connected with that is, what was your reaction to the decision
00:42:10 --> 00:42:13 to remove Harvey Milk's name from the Navy?
00:42:13 --> 00:42:16 Oh, mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah.
00:42:17 --> 00:42:22 Everything they did during Pride Month, I mean, you know, this month is Title
00:42:22 --> 00:42:27 IX month as they remove all, you know, purposely removing June is not Pride Month.
00:42:27 --> 00:42:33 June is Title IX month where we remove all trans athletes from colleges and whatnot.
00:42:35 --> 00:42:38 I there are two people that are
00:42:38 --> 00:42:42 no longer here that i think about a lot some
00:42:42 --> 00:42:46 daily every once in a while daily definitely weekly and that's matthew shepherd
00:42:46 --> 00:42:53 and harvey milk yeah i know this is audio but you have a got milk thing behind
00:42:53 --> 00:42:57 me right there right with this face so you don't have to say got milk because
00:42:57 --> 00:42:58 it just got Harvey, right?
00:42:59 --> 00:43:07 And so that was huge. He was dishonorably discharged for being gay at a time.
00:43:07 --> 00:43:13 And I, you know, when right now on last Friday, all trans folks were dishonorably,
00:43:13 --> 00:43:19 honorably, if they chose to leave and accept the separation and termination,
00:43:19 --> 00:43:21 separated from active forces.
00:43:22 --> 00:43:24 Just, I mean, salt in the wounds.
00:43:24 --> 00:43:31 There's no other way to say it. At a time when trans folks in particular are
00:43:31 --> 00:43:36 being actively separated from all military branches, and it's Pride Month,
00:43:37 --> 00:43:44 and to publicly do that was just like the vitriol, the meanness.
00:43:45 --> 00:43:49 It's just gross You know, it almost doesn't impact me Because it's so gross
00:43:49 --> 00:43:55 But again, I think about Just like the Caravan of Hope I think about those that are not as resilient,
00:43:56 --> 00:44:02 As I am That haven't fought the fought That it's my career This is what I signed
00:44:02 --> 00:44:04 up to do But there are folks just trying to live.
00:44:06 --> 00:44:09 This does actually impact them negatively mentally.
00:44:10 --> 00:44:16 Suicide rates have skyrocketed, you know? And so, yeah, it's just gross.
00:44:17 --> 00:44:22 Yeah. I mean, you know, and then, you know, again, you know,
00:44:22 --> 00:44:26 they wanted to take Megger Evers' name off and Harry Tubman and,
00:44:26 --> 00:44:30 you know, just anybody who, like you said. Well, that's the other thing, Erik.
00:44:31 --> 00:44:35 Like, we're talking about LGBTQ things because that's what I do.
00:44:36 --> 00:44:41 But it's like that poem, you know, they came for the trade unionists,
00:44:41 --> 00:44:44 but I'm not a trade unionist, so I didn't stand up.
00:44:44 --> 00:44:47 They came for the communists, but I'm not a communist, so I didn't stand up.
00:44:47 --> 00:44:50 They came for the Jews, but I'm not a Jew, so I didn't stand up.
00:44:50 --> 00:44:54 Then they came for me, and there was no one left to stand up.
00:44:54 --> 00:45:01 There are 270 words that they deemed to be woke and diverse that were removed
00:45:01 --> 00:45:02 from the White House website.
00:45:03 --> 00:45:07 As my friend in black as my friends i don't mean to cut you off but as my friend
00:45:07 --> 00:45:13 would say say it louder because the people in the back didn't hear that totally
00:45:13 --> 00:45:18 but i mean woman uterus pregnant.
00:45:19 --> 00:45:27 Black equity diversity we're all if you are not a white rich man cis man like
00:45:27 --> 00:45:30 you are on the chopping block.
00:45:30 --> 00:45:34 You are on the menu because you're not at the table anymore.
00:45:35 --> 00:45:39 We're all on the menu. You're on the menu. I'm on the menu. Most of the people
00:45:39 --> 00:45:40 probably are sitting on the menu.
00:45:41 --> 00:45:46 So, yeah, we, you know, folks say, like, what can I do? If nothing else,
00:45:46 --> 00:45:49 just know that everyone is an ally to someone.
00:45:50 --> 00:45:55 Even if you're a black, straight, cis guy, you're an ally to a black gay man
00:45:55 --> 00:46:00 or another black person or a white lesbian like you're an ally we are all we
00:46:00 --> 00:46:03 we are only going to get through this together.
00:46:04 --> 00:46:10 Period. End of story. That's how we we've all dealt with horrific things throughout
00:46:10 --> 00:46:12 the history of the United States of America.
00:46:13 --> 00:46:16 I don't think this ends in my lifetime. I think this is it.
00:46:16 --> 00:46:21 I think there's a demarcation point for while I'll be alive for the United States of America.
00:46:21 --> 00:46:30 But I do, you know, Martin Luther King, the arc of moral justice bends long,
00:46:31 --> 00:46:35 but ultimately, I'm bastardizing that quote, but towards justice,
00:46:36 --> 00:46:38 something like that. The arc is long.
00:46:38 --> 00:46:43 And I don't think I think in my lifetime, this will be what the United States
00:46:43 --> 00:46:45 continues to be, unfortunately.
00:46:45 --> 00:46:48 And so I'm here to help LGBTQ folks
00:46:48 --> 00:46:53 and those who love us survive it and actually try to thrive during it.
00:46:53 --> 00:46:59 So if people want to get your help, if people want to contact you and and all
00:46:59 --> 00:47:01 that, how can they how can they get in touch with you?
00:47:01 --> 00:47:06 So instagram you're gay lawyer tiktok
00:47:06 --> 00:47:09 just gay lawyer and my law
00:47:09 --> 00:47:12 firm is champola law group my website is very simple lawyer
00:47:12 --> 00:47:20 dot lgbt so it's not that com it's lawyer dot lgbt and it's like the gayest
00:47:20 --> 00:47:25 website ever and you'll find me there so you're gay lawyer on instagram Gay
00:47:25 --> 00:47:29 Lawyer on TikTok for Lawyer.LGBP. Nina.
00:47:29 --> 00:47:35 Well, Andrew Giampolo, you know, we talked for a good minute,
00:47:35 --> 00:47:42 but it seems like a disservice because I feel we can talk a long time and cover
00:47:42 --> 00:47:43 a lot of ground about a lot of things.
00:47:44 --> 00:47:48 But I am honored that you took the time today to do that. And I hope that my
00:47:48 --> 00:47:52 listeners gathered something from what you were saying.
00:47:53 --> 00:47:58 And I hope that you continue to, oh, tell people about how people can donate
00:47:58 --> 00:48:02 to the caravan because that's, that's one of your favorite.
00:48:02 --> 00:48:07 Yeah. Caravan of Hope is just caravanofope also dot LGBT. So caravanofope dot LGBT.
00:48:08 --> 00:48:11 And then you can go there and there's a donate button. All we really look for
00:48:11 --> 00:48:15 is gas money. I mean, I, I pay for the caravan.
00:48:15 --> 00:48:19 I self fund, you know, the more I raise the better, like it's an entire month out of my practice.
00:48:20 --> 00:48:23 I don't have the bandwidth or the time to raise the amount of money that I need
00:48:23 --> 00:48:28 to in order to really make it a net even. But if anyone wants to donate, it's appreciated.
00:48:29 --> 00:48:32 Yeah. So caravan.lgbt. All right.
00:48:32 --> 00:48:39 Well, Angela, again, thank you for doing what you're doing and for being not
00:48:39 --> 00:48:46 only an activist, but a sign of hope for not just the community you serve,
00:48:46 --> 00:48:48 but for the nation that you live in. So thank you again. Yeah.
00:48:50 --> 00:48:53 And Erik, thank you. You reached out back in February almost four months ago,
00:48:53 --> 00:48:55 right in the height of everything.
00:48:55 --> 00:49:00 Thank you for using your platform to spread this information, to spread the hope.
00:49:01 --> 00:49:06 Ultimately, again, we are all allies and we can all do our part.
00:49:06 --> 00:49:11 And this is your way of doing your part of spreading this out to your audience.
00:49:12 --> 00:49:17 And it's been lovely to share a moment with you, even though it's longer than normal.
00:49:18 --> 00:49:22 No, this is good. All right, guys, we're going to catch y'all on the other side.
00:49:24 --> 00:49:42 Music.
00:49:38 --> 00:49:38 We'll be right back.
00:49:41 --> 00:49:48 All right, and we are back. And so now it is time for my next guest, Dr. Felecia Pullen.
00:49:49 --> 00:49:54 Dr. Felecia Pullen is Harlem born and raised and is a leading researcher,
00:49:55 --> 00:49:58 advocate and social entrepreneur dedicated to health equity,
00:49:59 --> 00:50:01 racial justice and addiction recovery.
00:50:02 --> 00:50:06 She is the founder, president, and CEO of Let's Talk Safety,
00:50:06 --> 00:50:14 Inc., and over the last 10 years, she has overseen the operations of the Pillars and SAFE in Harlem.
00:50:14 --> 00:50:19 Both divisions of Let's Talk Safety, Inc. are New York State and federally funded
00:50:19 --> 00:50:23 programs that have provided holistic health and wellness services for nearly
00:50:23 --> 00:50:27 50 adults, teens, and youth in the community.
00:50:28 --> 00:50:33 Dr. Pullen, alongside her dedicated staff, worked to provide comprehensive support
00:50:33 --> 00:50:35 to individuals and families in New York City.
00:50:36 --> 00:50:40 Particularly those affected by systemic racism and structural oppression.
00:50:40 --> 00:50:43 Under Dr. Pullen's leadership, Let's Talk Safety, Inc.
00:50:43 --> 00:50:50 Has secured over $6.2 million in local, state, and federal funding,
00:50:50 --> 00:50:53 enabling her to offer job training, mentorship.
00:50:54 --> 00:50:59 Health care, holistic wellness, prevention programming for under-resourced adults,
00:50:59 --> 00:51:04 teens, and youth who face barriers to education, health care,
00:51:04 --> 00:51:05 employment, and stable housing.
00:51:06 --> 00:51:11 As a qualitative researcher, Dr. Pullen applies critical race theory to examine
00:51:11 --> 00:51:18 structural racism's impact on people of color, especially those in recovery and who use substances.
00:51:18 --> 00:51:23 She is known for designing innovative frameworks to drive social and health equity.
00:51:23 --> 00:51:29 She has advised policymakers, served on New York City's Municipal Drug Strategy Council,
00:51:30 --> 00:51:37 and holds key leadership roles on the 4NY Ballistic Street Wellness Solutions
00:51:37 --> 00:51:40 and Let's Talk Safety Board of Directors. Dr.
00:51:41 --> 00:51:45 Pullen is a sought-after speaker on addiction prevention, critical race theory,
00:51:46 --> 00:51:49 recovery capital, racialized drug enforcement policies,
00:51:50 --> 00:51:56 harm reduction, and financial equity for small nonprofits Her unwavering commitment to advocacy,
00:51:57 --> 00:52:02 research, and community empowerment continues to shape policies and improve
00:52:02 --> 00:52:07 lives in Harlem across New York City, nationwide, and beyond,
00:52:07 --> 00:52:11 Ladies and gentlemen, it is my distinct honor and privilege to have as a guest
00:52:11 --> 00:52:16 on this podcast, Dr. Felecia Pullen.
00:52:18 --> 00:52:28 Music.
00:52:28 --> 00:52:31 Dr. Felecia Pullen. How are you doing, sister? You doing good?
00:52:31 --> 00:52:38 I'm great, thanks. How are you, Erik? I'm doing fine. I am honored and glad
00:52:38 --> 00:52:40 that you were able to come on.
00:52:40 --> 00:52:45 I appreciate you taking the time out to talk about the work that you're doing.
00:52:45 --> 00:52:50 One of the things I like to do to kick everything off is I do some icebreakers.
00:52:50 --> 00:52:55 So my first icebreaker is a quote, and I want you to respond to that quote.
00:52:56 --> 00:53:02 In recovery, I found that my purpose was to come back to the community where I was born and raised.
00:53:02 --> 00:53:08 I want the youth to see me as an example of what is possible in the community.
00:53:08 --> 00:53:10 Talk to me about that quote.
00:53:10 --> 00:53:15 First of all, it's interesting because I didn't think that you were going to give me my own quote.
00:53:16 --> 00:53:22 But yeah, I, after 30 years in corporate America, found my purpose and understood
00:53:22 --> 00:53:27 that my purpose wasn't about a pretty pair of shoes or a nice designer bag.
00:53:27 --> 00:53:33 It was about giving back to where I was born and raised and trying to prevent
00:53:33 --> 00:53:38 young people from traveling down some roads that I definitely traveled down
00:53:38 --> 00:53:40 that helped me be who I am.
00:53:40 --> 00:53:45 But it was really important for me to live in my true purpose and not,
00:53:45 --> 00:53:51 you know, a Tiffany's box that was empty on the inside after you opened it up.
00:53:52 --> 00:53:58 Yeah. All right. So my next icebreaker is something I call 20 questions.
00:53:58 --> 00:54:02 So give me a number between 1 and 20.
00:54:02 --> 00:54:12 12. Okay. What advice do you have for recognizing fake news? Oh, why did I pick 12?
00:54:15 --> 00:54:24 So I'm a researcher, right? And I will just defer to that sense and sensibility that I have.
00:54:24 --> 00:54:28 I don't just gravitate to what resonates for me.
00:54:28 --> 00:54:33 If something resonates for me, I will also do the research and check the sources.
00:54:33 --> 00:54:38 And if something doesn't resonate for me and it doesn't make sense, I question that too.
00:54:38 --> 00:54:43 So I think that it's important to just question everything right now,
00:54:43 --> 00:54:48 especially with AI and everything that is in our ethos, right,
00:54:48 --> 00:54:52 in the atmosphere that is coming at us so quickly that the first thing that
00:54:52 --> 00:54:57 I would say is question what you're hearing and what you're exposed to and research.
00:54:58 --> 00:55:03 Yeah. You recently said, yeah, this is not the only quote I got from you.
00:55:03 --> 00:55:08 You recently said, if I want to know why I'm passionate about and committed
00:55:08 --> 00:55:12 to my work, it's because it's never about the work.
00:55:12 --> 00:55:18 I owe my community. I owe my people. I owe my elders and I owe our children.
00:55:19 --> 00:55:22 So let's discuss the work that you are so passionate about.
00:55:23 --> 00:55:27 Talk to the listeners about Let's Talk Safety and the Pillars Recovery Center.
00:55:28 --> 00:55:37 Yeah. So in 2015, 2013, I actually conceptualized Safe in Harlem.
00:55:37 --> 00:55:42 And Safe in Harlem is the prevention of the onset of use for teens and youth.
00:55:42 --> 00:55:49 And that was really born out of first my journey in addiction and then my journey in recovery.
00:55:49 --> 00:55:55 So it was very organic for me to think about, well, how do I prevent young people
00:55:55 --> 00:55:59 from, you know, crack addiction, heroin addiction,
00:55:59 --> 00:56:00 alcohol addiction, because those
00:56:00 --> 00:56:06 are the things that I was exposed to and impacted by growing up in Harlem.
00:56:06 --> 00:56:13 So there were some processes that I used in order to get to this thing that
00:56:13 --> 00:56:15 is, let's talk safety, the pillars and safe in Harlem.
00:56:16 --> 00:56:19 And that's answering my who, what, where, when, and why.
00:56:19 --> 00:56:23 And I encourage all young people when they talk about, you know,
00:56:24 --> 00:56:27 what they want to be when they grow up, it's, well, what is your who,
00:56:27 --> 00:56:30 what, where, when, and why? Who was I passionate about?
00:56:30 --> 00:56:35 I am and always passionate about Black people and people of color.
00:56:36 --> 00:56:39 The where was Harlem because I was born and raised in Harlem,
00:56:40 --> 00:56:44 and that's where a lot of my early experiences occurred.
00:56:44 --> 00:56:51 The what was addiction because of what I had journeyed through and had come to the other side of.
00:56:51 --> 00:56:55 And the when was, this needs to happen absolutely now.
00:56:56 --> 00:57:00 Because as I look at the community and the history of Harlem,
00:57:00 --> 00:57:07 the beauty of Harlem, but also the disinvestment in Harlem, I knew that there
00:57:07 --> 00:57:10 was work that I needed to do and I needed to do it there and now.
00:57:11 --> 00:57:17 Yeah. So what was your, what was your Damascus Road experience, right?
00:57:17 --> 00:57:21 What was, what was the moment that got you from.
00:57:22 --> 00:57:28 Well, your, your self-awareness that it was like, okay, I have an addiction
00:57:28 --> 00:57:32 and I need to, to recover? What was that moment like?
00:57:33 --> 00:57:40 That moment was, I am spending way too much time in my bathroom consuming drugs,
00:57:40 --> 00:57:44 and I have children on the other side of that door.
00:57:45 --> 00:57:50 And it didn't feel good. I knew that I wasn't the woman that I was supposed
00:57:50 --> 00:57:52 to be. I was not the mother I was supposed to be.
00:57:52 --> 00:57:55 I was not the wife that I was supposed to be. I was not the daughter,
00:57:56 --> 00:57:59 the sister I was supposed to be. And this is not.
00:58:00 --> 00:58:04 Was intended for me. I knew that in my soul and in my heart.
00:58:04 --> 00:58:10 But I also, it took me a long time before I got to the part where I understood
00:58:10 --> 00:58:14 that the journey led me to here and now.
00:58:14 --> 00:58:18 So there was a purpose for that journey once I got to the other side.
00:58:18 --> 00:58:25 But that Damascus road was, I am not living up to who I am and what I am supposed
00:58:25 --> 00:58:29 to be to all of these people in my inner circle.
00:58:30 --> 00:58:38 Yeah. So yet another profound quote you said was that I'm not religious, but I'm guided.
00:58:38 --> 00:58:42 Expound on that, especially as it relates to the work that you do.
00:58:43 --> 00:58:49 Oh, I am definitely guided. And I do, I call my guy God.
00:58:50 --> 00:58:55 Religious, I don't go to church, and I don't feel like I need this middle person
00:58:55 --> 00:58:58 or middle people between me and God.
00:58:59 --> 00:59:06 He, and I refer as a he, speaks to me and speaks to me loudly every day.
00:59:06 --> 00:59:10 And sometimes I'm smart enough to go, yep, I heard you. Let me go do that.
00:59:11 --> 00:59:17 Usually it's like the third time when he's screaming at me and I'm like, okay, I heard you.
00:59:17 --> 00:59:23 Now let me go do that. So, you know, often I'm still defiant and willful,
00:59:23 --> 00:59:29 but I am so guided by God. And I know that the pillars and safe in Harlem is God bled.
00:59:29 --> 00:59:33 I'm only the vessel that opens the doors and comes through and speaks to the
00:59:33 --> 00:59:38 politicians and speaks to the people and gets the young people together. I'm just a vessel.
00:59:39 --> 00:59:43 Yeah. So one of the things when I was doing my research,
00:59:43 --> 00:59:51 you were focused in on, you got a lot of headlines when you were trying to educate
00:59:51 --> 00:59:55 pregnant mothers about marijuana use.
00:59:56 --> 01:00:02 You know, a lot of states have legalized marijuana now, recreational use.
01:00:03 --> 01:00:09 And a lot of people talk about, well, you know, that people debate about whether
01:00:09 --> 01:00:11 it's a gateway drug or not.
01:00:11 --> 01:00:14 But you know and I've had people on
01:00:14 --> 01:00:20 this podcast pro and con as far as legalization but you know one of the things
01:00:20 --> 01:00:27 I think you were trying to stress was that marijuana has a similar if not a
01:00:27 --> 01:00:33 greater impact on pregnant women talk about that and why you felt that it was important,
01:00:34 --> 01:00:39 well I take that back it was like from what I understand the hospital community
01:00:39 --> 01:00:42 reached out to you to do this work.
01:00:42 --> 01:00:47 So just kind of talk about that. And I guess it's been about almost 10 years
01:00:47 --> 01:00:52 since you started doing that work and what kind of results have you been able to achieve?
01:00:53 --> 01:00:57 Wow, I didn't realize that it's been that long because I still feel very passionate
01:00:57 --> 01:01:01 about that. Really, it was an education campaign.
01:01:01 --> 01:01:08 And I am very tied to multiple sectors that help me do the work that I do.
01:01:08 --> 01:01:15 And so I never claim to be like this one-woman shop that just gets it all done.
01:01:15 --> 01:01:21 It is because of some amazing partners that I have in the community that I'm able to do the work.
01:01:21 --> 01:01:28 And yes, one of our hospitals, it's a doctor who was the chief of pediatrics
01:01:28 --> 01:01:34 and neonatology that had informed me that several mothers, and I'm going to say,
01:01:34 --> 01:01:37 and who were tested at the time of birth,
01:01:38 --> 01:01:43 the babies, the babies who were tested at the time of birth were testing positive for THC.
01:01:45 --> 01:01:51 And there was some data that was presented to me from the American Medical Association
01:01:51 --> 01:01:58 and Pediatrics Association that said that it impacted the fetal brain development.
01:02:01 --> 01:02:07 And that resonated enough for me that I knew that there was something that I should do about it.
01:02:07 --> 01:02:11 But I needed to make sure that it was from this compassionate perspective,
01:02:12 --> 01:02:17 right? Yes, marijuana is legal, and yes, it has benefits for people who use it.
01:02:18 --> 01:02:27 And our children need every opportunity that they can have from the wound to the tomb to succeed.
01:02:27 --> 01:02:34 And so I just wanted to inform moms, if you are smoking and pregnant, here is the data.
01:02:34 --> 01:02:38 This is what the data is saying that is a harm to the fetal brain development.
01:02:38 --> 01:02:43 And with no judgment, come to the pillars, take a yoga class,
01:02:43 --> 01:02:48 let us show you how to use some of these other alternative forms of that medicine,
01:02:48 --> 01:02:54 if that's why they were using it, that you can use to de-stress and to really
01:02:54 --> 01:02:57 bring a more healthy baby to full term.
01:02:57 --> 01:03:01 So that's where that came from. And I'm grateful for the partnerships that I
01:03:01 --> 01:03:06 had that brought that information to me and that we were able to just love on
01:03:06 --> 01:03:10 women who were pregnant and smoking at the time.
01:03:11 --> 01:03:17 So you mentioned yoga, and one of the things is that with Pillars is that you
01:03:17 --> 01:03:24 deliberately have a holistic approach to addressing issues about addiction and recovery.
01:03:24 --> 01:03:30 Kind of elaborate on what all that you offer with that. Yeah.
01:03:30 --> 01:03:37 So we offer, and holistic is not just the alternative forms of medicine like
01:03:37 --> 01:03:41 Reiki that we offer, acupuncture, yoga, meditation.
01:03:42 --> 01:03:49 Holistic really refers to that whole person. And so the Pillars logo is in four parts for a reason.
01:03:50 --> 01:03:54 And it talks about what we offer that is a direct benefit to self.
01:03:54 --> 01:03:58 And then to the family, we have parenting skills enhancement classes.
01:03:58 --> 01:04:02 To the community, we distribute naloxone.
01:04:02 --> 01:04:11 We also have, we host AA and NA meetings. But that last piece is about integration
01:04:11 --> 01:04:16 and reintegration into society as a whole, and that's the workforce development that we do.
01:04:16 --> 01:04:22 So we make sure that, you know, it's the individual that's coming in and also
01:04:22 --> 01:04:24 how do we help to support their family?
01:04:24 --> 01:04:30 How do we help them in community, whether they are directly impacted by addiction
01:04:30 --> 01:04:35 or a family member of or a community member that is impacted by addiction?
01:04:35 --> 01:04:39 Because we are all touched by it in some way, shape or form.
01:04:39 --> 01:04:43 And then that workforce development piece that is important to,
01:04:43 --> 01:04:49 you know, housing stability, economic stability and familial stability. Yeah.
01:04:49 --> 01:04:53 And, you know, I appreciate you defining it totally.
01:04:55 --> 01:05:03 But, you know, the approach about yoga and all that is unique to me.
01:05:03 --> 01:05:08 You know, most of the programs that I've been affiliated with or...
01:05:09 --> 01:05:14 Know, know about. It's like, you know, they make sure that you go through the steps.
01:05:14 --> 01:05:19 And, and, you know, the one that I had direct impact with, you know,
01:05:19 --> 01:05:23 was like the religious component was in there that they had to,
01:05:23 --> 01:05:26 you know, attend church while they were in rehab,
01:05:26 --> 01:05:30 you know, our church, since we were sponsoring the program.
01:05:31 --> 01:05:37 You know, so people, people kind of do that, but I I never had heard about doing
01:05:37 --> 01:05:42 things that most people, you know, just kind of do to de-stress and never really
01:05:42 --> 01:05:44 heard it apply to, you know, recovery.
01:05:44 --> 01:05:50 And so what led you to use that? Was it something in your research?
01:05:51 --> 01:05:57 Was it God talking to you? What exactly got you to say, let's try this approach,
01:05:57 --> 01:06:00 especially with people in the inner city?
01:06:00 --> 01:06:07 Yeah, it was all of those things. right? And so when I went to rehab.
01:06:07 --> 01:06:13 I had private health insurance and my private health insurance paid $50
01:06:13 --> 01:06:17 for me to do 57 days in rehab.
01:06:17 --> 01:06:22 And during that time, I was exposed to a lot of the things that I just mentioned,
01:06:22 --> 01:06:24 the acupuncture, there was a sweat lodge.
01:06:24 --> 01:06:28 I mean, I was very fortunate and privileged, right?
01:06:28 --> 01:06:33 So I have to also understand as a woman in this recovery space,
01:06:33 --> 01:06:38 but also when I was in that state of active use, I was privileged.
01:06:38 --> 01:06:43 And so I wanted to make sure that income...
01:06:43 --> 01:06:48 Not a barrier to receiving all of the things that I was exposed to and that
01:06:48 --> 01:06:51 I found to be beneficial in my journey.
01:06:51 --> 01:06:54 And so when I was doing my who, what, where, when, and why, right,
01:06:54 --> 01:06:56 what services am I going to bring to this community?
01:06:57 --> 01:07:00 It was, yep, that acupuncture was great. I de-stressed.
01:07:00 --> 01:07:08 I was able to listen to that inner voice and that spirituality that we often talk about in recovery.
01:07:08 --> 01:07:15 And I just needed to bring that back and offer that to that inner city community that,
01:07:16 --> 01:07:21 you know, and I'm really glad that you touched on the part about the inner city
01:07:21 --> 01:07:28 because there's a misnomer that, you know, we don't really take advantage of, let's say, Reiki.
01:07:28 --> 01:07:34 I think it's the name that is confusing to us because as a Black people,
01:07:34 --> 01:07:39 we have been talking about laying hands on forever, right?
01:07:39 --> 01:07:43 We want to lay hands on. And that's really what Reiki is.
01:07:43 --> 01:07:49 It is an opportunity for one person to use their energy to heal another.
01:07:50 --> 01:07:56 So none of this is really unique to our community, but some of the names may
01:07:56 --> 01:07:58 be different from what we're used to calling them.
01:07:58 --> 01:08:05 Yeah, yeah. It just reminds me of that Wire episode where Idris Elba,
01:08:05 --> 01:08:08 his character, he's been dealing drugs all this time.
01:08:08 --> 01:08:16 And then he finally decides to go to a community college and to take business.
01:08:16 --> 01:08:19 And he looks in the business and he's seeing what these folks are doing.
01:08:19 --> 01:08:23 He said, oh, we've been doing this the whole time. It just was,
01:08:24 --> 01:08:26 you know, we just called it something different.
01:08:27 --> 01:08:33 And, you know, I think that, you know, we've been exposed to a lot of things in our community.
01:08:34 --> 01:08:41 And because of our history, we've lost a connection with that.
01:08:41 --> 01:08:48 And so, you know, for you to try to bring some of those connections back,
01:08:48 --> 01:08:51 like you said, we've we've called it laying hands for years,
01:08:52 --> 01:08:54 especially in the church community.
01:08:54 --> 01:09:00 But, you know, to bring it back, you know, and people like, oh, OK, I get it.
01:09:00 --> 01:09:03 You know, they were thinking I'm sure some people probably like,
01:09:03 --> 01:09:06 yeah, I don't know if I'm going to do this Reiki stuff, Doc.
01:09:06 --> 01:09:10 Like I, that sounds a little, and then when they realized what it was,
01:09:10 --> 01:09:14 it's like, oh yeah, we've been doing this all the time.
01:09:14 --> 01:09:19 So I'm glad that you, you, you took that approach to that and,
01:09:19 --> 01:09:23 and, and explained it so people would feel comfortable doing it.
01:09:23 --> 01:09:27 What is the biggest challenge you face in doing your work?
01:09:30 --> 01:09:34 That is a huge question. Certainly financial.
01:09:36 --> 01:09:41 That's number one. That's the biggest challenge are the financial resources to do the work.
01:09:41 --> 01:09:48 And I think that part of that is me and part of that are the systems in which we operate.
01:09:49 --> 01:09:55 And so when I say part of that is me is I want to do all things that are necessary
01:09:55 --> 01:10:00 for people to thrive, not just to survive, but to thrive.
01:10:00 --> 01:10:10 So it's my desire. And the systems that I am confined within are not designed for people to thrive.
01:10:11 --> 01:10:18 So it's a conflict between what I want to do for the people and what I am able
01:10:18 --> 01:10:20 to do based on the funding.
01:10:21 --> 01:10:28 Yeah. And I, you know, whenever I'm having these conversations with people,
01:10:28 --> 01:10:30 you know, that's kind of a general theme.
01:10:31 --> 01:10:35 Well, you know, systems not designed to, you know, do this or do that.
01:10:36 --> 01:10:45 And I've never, you know, I tend to understand the results, but I never really got into that.
01:10:46 --> 01:10:52 And I, and I tell you why, the only reason why I say that is because maybe I'm altruistic about it.
01:10:52 --> 01:10:55 And of course, as you get older, you might get a little jaded,
01:10:55 --> 01:11:02 but I just feel that systems were meant to be altered.
01:11:03 --> 01:11:09 Right. And I use sports as an example. Basketball was around for a long time
01:11:09 --> 01:11:12 and, you know, it had become a professional sport.
01:11:13 --> 01:11:19 And then somebody looked at the rules and said, okay, I can't go forward without
01:11:19 --> 01:11:23 dribbling the ball, but there's nothing saying I can't go vertical.
01:11:24 --> 01:11:27 With the ball. And they invented the jump shot.
01:11:27 --> 01:11:30 They said, I'm not going to stand here and let this guy block my shot.
01:11:30 --> 01:11:32 I'm going to jump over him and shoot it, right?
01:11:33 --> 01:11:39 And it changed the game. Now, it wasn't designed that way, but somebody found
01:11:39 --> 01:11:43 a way to make it work and in essence,
01:11:44 --> 01:11:48 change the dynamics of it where people were able to succeed more.
01:11:49 --> 01:11:55 So that's just kind of my mindset said about systems. I'm not really pushing back on you.
01:11:55 --> 01:12:03 I just, you know, when I hear that, because what you're doing is breaking that
01:12:03 --> 01:12:07 cycle about what the system is restricting people to do. You understand what I'm saying?
01:12:08 --> 01:12:13 Absolutely. And I love that analogy. And if I took that analogy and applied
01:12:13 --> 01:12:15 it to the continuum of care,
01:12:16 --> 01:12:22 yes, we've gone vertically, even with the conceptualization of a recovery center,
01:12:22 --> 01:12:26 because that was not always a part of recovery.
01:12:26 --> 01:12:31 Neither was harm reduction. Neither was safe consumption sites.
01:12:31 --> 01:12:36 So there has definitely been this vertical jump shot, if you will,
01:12:36 --> 01:12:40 relative to the continuum of care across the recovery spectrum.
01:12:43 --> 01:12:50 And it is also frustrating when somebody blocks your shot, when you are trying
01:12:50 --> 01:12:56 to use the lane that you were given and say,
01:12:56 --> 01:13:00 I thank you for altering the rules.
01:13:00 --> 01:13:08 And within this framework, I am now going to expand what this means and what this can be.
01:13:08 --> 01:13:15 But you're dealing with people in the system that cannot conceptualize or be
01:13:15 --> 01:13:19 creative within those confines that you can be.
01:13:19 --> 01:13:26 And so, therefore, you are faced with a constant barrage of people blocking
01:13:26 --> 01:13:32 your shot. I have dreams for my people.
01:13:33 --> 01:13:40 And it is extremely frustrating when people cannot see the dream or do not want
01:13:40 --> 01:13:44 to fund the dream or do not want to use their power to advance the dream.
01:13:45 --> 01:13:49 So it's challenging. I understand.
01:13:50 --> 01:13:56 Excuse me. So you're a researcher by training. So do you measure success in
01:13:56 --> 01:13:59 this work quantitatively or qualitatively?
01:14:00 --> 01:14:07 Well, the researcher in me has to say both. And so quantitatively,
01:14:07 --> 01:14:10 I can tell you that per year,
01:14:10 --> 01:14:16 we serve 3 people who come through the doors of the pillars for all of those
01:14:16 --> 01:14:17 services that I've mentioned.
01:14:19 --> 01:14:23 Qualitatively I can tell you that and
01:14:23 --> 01:14:26 here is how those people have been
01:14:26 --> 01:14:32 impacted when they tell me this is home this is my safe space this is the place
01:14:32 --> 01:14:37 where I have grown from just coming in and hanging out in the computer lab where
01:14:37 --> 01:14:44 I am just engaging with that machine one-on-one but I knew I was in a safe space to,
01:14:44 --> 01:14:49 and now I have the benefits of yoga and the benefits of meditation.
01:14:50 --> 01:14:56 This is how it's impacting me. I don't use when I'm here because I have the tools that I need.
01:14:56 --> 01:15:01 That's the narratives that support the quantitative data.
01:15:01 --> 01:15:05 But by trainer, I am a qualitative researcher.
01:15:06 --> 01:15:11 I want to know the who, what, where, what, and why. I want to know far beyond...
01:15:13 --> 01:15:15 What drug are you using and how long have you been using it?
01:15:15 --> 01:15:18 I want to know who were you before you met your drug of choice.
01:15:19 --> 01:15:22 Tell me about your family. Tell me about your connection to the community.
01:15:22 --> 01:15:24 Tell me about your spirituality.
01:15:25 --> 01:15:31 Tell me about your human resources and how you feel about the community that you're in.
01:15:31 --> 01:15:38 And how does that contribute to either your recovery and or why you still use?
01:15:38 --> 01:15:44 So, yeah, it's the qualitative that drives me to do the work that I do.
01:15:45 --> 01:15:51 All right. So what more can be done in public policy to deal with addiction
01:15:51 --> 01:15:53 prevention and recovery?
01:15:54 --> 01:15:58 So I won't only go down the easy road of funding.
01:16:00 --> 01:16:05 And I think it's extremely important to make sure that people who are impacted
01:16:05 --> 01:16:08 by policy are at the table and driving policy.
01:16:08 --> 01:16:14 Far too often we're seeing that policies are designed and developed without
01:16:14 --> 01:16:23 the voices of those that, and even, you know, the well-meaning policymakers are trying to enact.
01:16:23 --> 01:16:28 So I think the biggest thing that we can do is to make sure that the voices,
01:16:29 --> 01:16:32 whatever the policy is, the voices of the people are at the table.
01:16:33 --> 01:16:44 Yeah. When I was a legislator, I was I was given a speech to the American Lung Association.
01:16:45 --> 01:16:51 And I don't know what it was that initially drew them to have me talk,
01:16:52 --> 01:16:57 but they didn't know my history. They didn't know that I grew up with childhood asthma.
01:16:59 --> 01:17:05 And, you know, I think it was it was it was a bill that I was pushing because
01:17:05 --> 01:17:11 somebody in the community made me aware that children in Mississippi that had asthma,
01:17:12 --> 01:17:17 if they had an inhaler, they had to go to the office or the school nurse,
01:17:17 --> 01:17:21 drop off their inhaler there and then go to class.
01:17:21 --> 01:17:29 So if they had an attack, right, then that school nurse would have to find their
01:17:29 --> 01:17:32 particular inhaler, get to that classroom and all that stuff.
01:17:33 --> 01:17:38 And so I was able to get legislation passed to say, I think it's all right for
01:17:38 --> 01:17:39 that kid to have the inhaler with them.
01:17:40 --> 01:17:44 Because if they need it, they need it. Because if you can't breathe,
01:17:44 --> 01:17:47 that's a game changer. That's game over. Right.
01:17:48 --> 01:17:53 And so, you know, that led me to being on the state task force and all that
01:17:53 --> 01:17:57 stuff and then hearing more stories and trying to push legislation,
01:17:57 --> 01:17:59 all that stuff. So it means a lot.
01:18:00 --> 01:18:05 And this is more to the listeners than you, but it means a lot for people that
01:18:05 --> 01:18:09 are going through something to engage with the elected officials.
01:18:11 --> 01:18:14 You know, just because these people get elected don't mean that all of a sudden
01:18:14 --> 01:18:16 their IQ just raised tremendously.
01:18:17 --> 01:18:20 Right. They're the same human being they were when they got elected.
01:18:20 --> 01:18:22 They just have an obligation now.
01:18:22 --> 01:18:28 And so part of our job is not just to vote for them, but to inform them and
01:18:28 --> 01:18:31 to guide them and say, hey, look, now that you're in this position,
01:18:31 --> 01:18:36 I need help with X, Y and Z. What can you do to make that help?
01:18:36 --> 01:18:42 So I'm glad that you you understand that and that you're you're constantly engaged
01:18:42 --> 01:18:47 with the elected officials in your community and you constantly bring people
01:18:47 --> 01:18:50 to the table that need to be heard.
01:18:50 --> 01:18:55 Because that's the ultimate thing is there's a lot of people in politics that
01:18:55 --> 01:18:59 think, you know, the sun rises and sets with them.
01:19:00 --> 01:19:03 I don't know where they got that notion when you had to do the same thing I
01:19:03 --> 01:19:06 did, knock on doors and give speeches and beg people to vote for you.
01:19:07 --> 01:19:11 So, you know, it's always good to have people in the community that reminds
01:19:11 --> 01:19:13 folks that, hey, you need to listen to people.
01:19:14 --> 01:19:18 So I'm glad that you answered it the way that you did. All right.
01:19:18 --> 01:19:24 So let's close this out. In January of 2024, you were inducted into the Online
01:19:24 --> 01:19:29 Museum of African-American Addictions, Treatment, and Recovery Hall of Fame.
01:19:30 --> 01:19:32 How did that distinction make you feel?
01:19:35 --> 01:19:41 That was probably one of my biggest honors because it was our people recognizing
01:19:41 --> 01:19:43 the work that I'm doing for our people.
01:19:44 --> 01:19:50 And, you know, I've received several commendations and recommendations,
01:19:50 --> 01:19:53 you know, at the White House, right?
01:19:54 --> 01:20:03 But that moment was pivotal for me because I don't need the recognition of those others.
01:20:03 --> 01:20:09 But to have it from my people saying, we see you, we champion you,
01:20:09 --> 01:20:12 we stand behind you, we lift you up.
01:20:13 --> 01:20:18 Is really a game changer for me because that's why I do it.
01:20:19 --> 01:20:25 Yeah. Yeah. I definitely feel the same way, you know, because in this industry
01:20:25 --> 01:20:30 that we're in now, as far as, you know, me, as far as podcasting,
01:20:30 --> 01:20:37 the, you know, the only award show I apply for is the Black Podcasters Award
01:20:37 --> 01:20:41 because, you know, and I've been fortunate to be nominated twice.
01:20:42 --> 01:20:46 And I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back, but it's to be in agreement
01:20:46 --> 01:20:51 with what you're saying is that it means a lot more when it's your people.
01:20:52 --> 01:20:56 Understand the work that you're doing they recognize that you're out there that
01:20:56 --> 01:21:05 you know it's like an NAACP image award means more than an Oscar now it doesn't relate to pay right,
01:21:06 --> 01:21:11 you get an Oscar it's like bam you're guaranteed x about a dollar is every movie
01:21:11 --> 01:21:18 you make but you know you can you can see it with the artist that it's like it it's more emotional.
01:21:20 --> 01:21:23 And to be honest is more attainable because you're
01:21:23 --> 01:21:26 doing what you want to do to help our
01:21:26 --> 01:21:30 folks and so for our community to
01:21:30 --> 01:21:33 say yeah we see what you're doing we appreciate
01:21:33 --> 01:21:38 that and and and we want you to keep going that that that's tremendous so I
01:21:38 --> 01:21:43 I was I threw that question in there because I just wanted to see not very often
01:21:43 --> 01:21:50 you know you get to hear about people doing the work and being recognized for it by our own folks.
01:21:50 --> 01:21:53 So yeah, I was glad I was able to get that in.
01:21:53 --> 01:22:00 So Dr. Felecia Pullen, let me just say it's an honor to meet you and I appreciate
01:22:00 --> 01:22:01 the work that you're doing.
01:22:02 --> 01:22:08 If people want to get more engaged in what you're doing financially,
01:22:08 --> 01:22:12 commitment, pick your brain, how can people reach out to you?
01:22:13 --> 01:22:18 Directly through the Pillars. Our website, if they wanted to donate or find
01:22:18 --> 01:22:22 where we're located, come and participate in services, call me,
01:22:23 --> 01:22:31 is www.pillarsnyc.org.
01:22:31 --> 01:22:38 And all information is there for anyone that wants to get involved or to participate.
01:22:38 --> 01:22:42 We even have virtual services, free medical appointments virtually,
01:22:43 --> 01:22:49 meditation virtually. So if they're not in New York City, they can still receive
01:22:49 --> 01:22:51 the benefits of some of what we offer.
01:22:52 --> 01:22:56 Well, Dr. Pullen, thank you for coming on the podcast. Again,
01:22:56 --> 01:23:02 it's been an honor and much continued success in your personal journey as well
01:23:02 --> 01:23:04 as the journey of the work that you're doing.
01:23:05 --> 01:23:10 Thank you. It was an honor to be here, and I appreciate the connection.
01:23:10 --> 01:23:15 And I would love to continue to converse with you, somebody who's like-minded.
01:23:15 --> 01:23:17 I appreciate you and what you do.
01:23:17 --> 01:23:22 Well, one of the rules is now that you've been a guest, you have an open invitation.
01:23:22 --> 01:23:26 Anytime you want to come on, feel free to do that.
01:23:27 --> 01:23:30 And I'll definitely be keeping you in mind about certain things.
01:23:30 --> 01:23:35 I already got something in mind, but I got to have more talks with God to make sure that happens.
01:23:36 --> 01:23:40 But again, thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. All right,
01:23:40 --> 01:23:42 guys, and we're going to catch y'all on the other side.
01:23:45 --> 01:23:55 Music.
01:23:55 --> 01:24:01 We are back. So I want to thank Angela Giampolo and Dr.
01:24:01 --> 01:24:04 Felicia Pullen for coming on the show.
01:24:05 --> 01:24:10 As I stated at the beginning, these are two incredible women who are making
01:24:10 --> 01:24:16 a tremendous impact in the communities that they live in and really nationwide
01:24:16 --> 01:24:20 by setting an example and making a difference,
01:24:20 --> 01:24:30 whether it's fighting for individual rights or providing hope and comfort to
01:24:30 --> 01:24:35 people who are trying to improve their individual lives, right?
01:24:36 --> 01:24:42 And so I just want to thank them for coming on, thank them for doing what they do.
01:24:42 --> 01:24:47 And as always, we're going to continue to highlight those folks.
01:24:48 --> 01:24:53 As part of our journey in making sure that people like that are highlighted,
01:24:53 --> 01:24:57 we are continuing our drive for 20 subscribers.
01:24:58 --> 01:25:04 You can go to patreon.com slash momentericfleming and do that. It's only $1.
01:25:04 --> 01:25:12 If you want some nice little souvenirs, you can pay a little more and you'll get that. But,
01:25:14 --> 01:25:17 know, the most important thing is just trying to build a subscriber base up.
01:25:17 --> 01:25:24 I've noticed I've been getting an increase in followers in certain social media sites. That's cool.
01:25:25 --> 01:25:30 And I've been connecting with some fellow podcasters who are doing the work
01:25:30 --> 01:25:35 in their respective communities and reaching out to folks,
01:25:36 --> 01:25:41 whether it's strictly audio or, you know, through TikTok and YouTube and all that.
01:25:41 --> 01:25:43 And I appreciate the work that they're doing.
01:25:44 --> 01:25:50 And, you know, I encourage you to, you know, listen to as many as them as you
01:25:50 --> 01:25:55 can, you know, because I'm not the only perspective out there.
01:25:55 --> 01:25:59 I'm not the only person watching this craziness that's going on.
01:25:59 --> 01:26:05 And, you know, there might be some people that might relate to other podcasters better than me.
01:26:05 --> 01:26:10 That's fine. And we're all in this mission together is to keep you informed,
01:26:10 --> 01:26:15 give you our perspective about what's happening, and hopefully enlighten you
01:26:15 --> 01:26:18 and activate you to do the right thing.
01:26:19 --> 01:26:26 As I'm recording this, there will be a lot of people activated for June the
01:26:26 --> 01:26:28 14th, which is no King's Day.
01:26:29 --> 01:26:34 It's also traditionally Flag Day. But the Army is going to celebrate.
01:26:36 --> 01:26:39 It's 250 years of service to the nation.
01:26:41 --> 01:26:45 And fortunately, unfortunately, depending on what side of the bread you butter,
01:26:46 --> 01:26:48 it's also the president's birthday.
01:26:49 --> 01:26:51 So we're going to have this big parade.
01:26:52 --> 01:26:56 You know, he's going to finally have his Bastille Day, right?
01:26:56 --> 01:27:01 He's been wanting to have it ever since he went to France and since he idolizes
01:27:01 --> 01:27:05 all these other dictators that have these military parades,
01:27:06 --> 01:27:08 he's finally going to get it off
01:27:08 --> 01:27:15 the backs of the Army doing their planned celebration in Washington, D.C.
01:27:15 --> 01:27:18 But as I stated, it's also no King's Day.
01:27:19 --> 01:27:25 And so there's going to be a lot of people out there protesting and reminding
01:27:25 --> 01:27:30 people that we didn't anoint a king or a king wasn't anointed to us.
01:27:30 --> 01:27:32 We elect our leaders.
01:27:34 --> 01:27:39 And even though he has said publicly, and I'll get into that a little more in
01:27:39 --> 01:27:45 the commentary, but he said that he doesn't see himself as a king.
01:27:45 --> 01:27:48 Well, action speaks louder than words, sir.
01:27:49 --> 01:27:56 So, you know, there's that. And so, and while he may not think that he's a king,
01:27:56 --> 01:27:58 he definitely thinks that he's an authoritarian.
01:27:59 --> 01:28:02 He hasn't denied that part. So anyway...
01:28:03 --> 01:28:10 Support the podcast. And I want to get into the commentary,
01:28:10 --> 01:28:15 but the way I want to do it is a little different because I just want to highlight
01:28:15 --> 01:28:19 how crazy stuff is, right?
01:28:19 --> 01:28:25 And we're talking about protesters. Well, in Los Angeles, people have been protesting
01:28:25 --> 01:28:29 and they haven't been protesting citywide.
01:28:29 --> 01:28:31 The city is not on fire.
01:28:31 --> 01:28:34 I repeat, the city of Los Angeles is not on fire.
01:28:35 --> 01:28:38 The city of Los Angeles, part of the city was on fire earlier this year,
01:28:38 --> 01:28:42 and the president tried to cut off the water, right?
01:28:45 --> 01:28:51 So, you know, it's like when it really was on fire, there were no National Guard troops.
01:28:51 --> 01:28:54 They were not federalized by him.
01:28:55 --> 01:28:59 There was no Marines, and if it was up to him, there'd be no water, right?
01:29:00 --> 01:29:05 And so I greatly appreciate those of y'all who listened and contributed to help
01:29:05 --> 01:29:07 those folks out during that time.
01:29:07 --> 01:29:10 And they still need help because they're still trying to rebuild.
01:29:10 --> 01:29:15 But in the meantime, you know, with all these ICE raids that have been happening,
01:29:17 --> 01:29:22 nationwide, and particularly Los Angeles, people decided that they were going to protest.
01:29:22 --> 01:29:26 And so They basically gathered downtown L.A.
01:29:26 --> 01:29:33 And decided they were going to demonstrate and show their disapproval for the
01:29:33 --> 01:29:35 policy being implemented in their city.
01:29:36 --> 01:29:40 And the president decided he was going to fertilize the National Guard.
01:29:40 --> 01:29:46 Now, if they had been tearing the city apart, if they had been equivalent to
01:29:46 --> 01:29:51 what happened after those officers were acquitted for beating Rodney King.
01:29:52 --> 01:29:54 Okay, and the police couldn't handle it?
01:29:55 --> 01:30:00 That's kind of like why that power is there. But just because people were out
01:30:00 --> 01:30:05 in the streets downtown, you know, there were a few people burning Waymos and
01:30:05 --> 01:30:10 doing graffiti stuff, which we strongly discourage.
01:30:12 --> 01:30:16 But nothing to the point that it was out of control.
01:30:16 --> 01:30:22 I mean, the Los Angeles Police Department had it pretty much contained.
01:30:23 --> 01:30:30 And, yeah, and, you know, President Trump and his minions, including Kristi
01:30:30 --> 01:30:33 Noem, decided to make a show of it, right?
01:30:33 --> 01:30:38 And got P-Hexef involved in sending Marines, right?
01:30:39 --> 01:30:44 And so you understand these people are not trained to do law enforcement,
01:30:45 --> 01:30:48 not in communities, right?
01:30:48 --> 01:30:55 You know, you have some military police, but they handle military issues.
01:30:55 --> 01:30:58 They have a whole code of military justice.
01:30:59 --> 01:31:07 So those officers fall into that realm, not like people like I used to be or
01:31:07 --> 01:31:11 others that are out in the streets or in the jails or whatever.
01:31:11 --> 01:31:15 And so, it's kind of out of their skis.
01:31:15 --> 01:31:21 So, you know, if their whole mission was just to protect federal buildings, okay.
01:31:22 --> 01:31:24 Especially where they're keeping
01:31:24 --> 01:31:29 some of the detainees that they've gathered up in these raids, okay.
01:31:29 --> 01:31:33 But to be out in the streets and trying to do riot control and all that stuff,
01:31:33 --> 01:31:35 it's an overkill. It really was.
01:31:37 --> 01:31:42 So, something evolved out of that. Really, really heinous.
01:31:43 --> 01:31:49 And it will tie into everything else that I got to say, but I want to play Secretary
01:31:49 --> 01:31:58 Noem addressing a group of people at a press conference and I'll come in after a certain point.
01:31:59 --> 01:32:02 That you all are here. My name is Kristi Noem. I'm the Department of Homeland
01:32:02 --> 01:32:05 Security Secretary for President Donald J.
01:32:05 --> 01:32:09 Trump, and I am so thankful for the men and women of law enforcement who have
01:32:09 --> 01:32:13 been working every single day to bring law and order and peace back to the citizens
01:32:13 --> 01:32:15 of Los Angeles and to the state of California.
01:32:15 --> 01:32:21 As you know, we've seen under this last week some operations that have been
01:32:21 --> 01:32:25 working to bring in criminals that have been out on our streets for far too long.
01:32:25 --> 01:32:29 Our HSI and ICE individuals have been out conducting operations with our government
01:32:29 --> 01:32:33 partners to make sure that these criminals, bad actors, murderers,
01:32:33 --> 01:32:37 rapists, pedophiles, traffickers, and drug traffickers are brought in and brought
01:32:37 --> 01:32:39 to justice finally under this administration.
01:32:39 --> 01:32:43 I do want to thank the men and women of law enforcement. They've been absolute
01:32:43 --> 01:32:47 rock stars in what they've done to protect this community and to protect this city.
01:32:47 --> 01:32:51 I want to specifically name those that are under the umbrella within our components,
01:32:51 --> 01:32:53 under the Department of Homeland Security.
01:32:53 --> 01:32:57 That has been our ICE officers who have been on the front line out there interdicting
01:32:57 --> 01:32:59 with many of these dangerous criminals.
01:32:59 --> 01:33:04 Also, HSI with their investigative skill set and tactical teams have been absolutely
01:33:04 --> 01:33:08 imperative to us in helping us make sure we're running operations and really
01:33:08 --> 01:33:09 targeting these bad actors.
01:33:10 --> 01:33:14 Our Federal Protective Services and also our Border Patrol agents have come
01:33:14 --> 01:33:19 and been partners with us in an incredible They bring a skill set that has helped
01:33:19 --> 01:33:22 us have a whole-of-government approach under the Department of Homeland Security
01:33:22 --> 01:33:24 that has never happened before.
01:33:25 --> 01:33:28 The assets that they have and the willingness to do their jobs that this president
01:33:28 --> 01:33:32 has allowed them to do has been absolutely incredible.
01:33:32 --> 01:33:36 But what you see standing behind me, too, is also other federal partners.
01:33:36 --> 01:33:40 Partners that have come to the table that are here to bring safety and security
01:33:40 --> 01:33:43 to the city of Los Angeles. I want to specifically thank the Army.
01:33:44 --> 01:33:46 I want to thank the Marines, the National Guard, our soldiers,
01:33:46 --> 01:33:51 our military men and women who have shown up here to help make sure that we have security.
01:33:51 --> 01:33:54 Not only do they protect our country around the world, but they're doing it
01:33:54 --> 01:33:59 every single day here in the United States of America, too, and doing it as
01:33:59 --> 01:34:04 service, public service to the people in this country because they took an oath to uphold the law.
01:34:04 --> 01:34:09 We also have a U.S. attorney here who has been aggressive, has been making sure
01:34:09 --> 01:34:12 that we don't pick winners and losers in this country, that the rule of law
01:34:12 --> 01:34:16 will be followed, and that people who break the law and perpetuate violence
01:34:16 --> 01:34:17 will be brought to justice.
01:34:17 --> 01:34:21 They will be prosecuted, and there will be consequences for that kind of activity.
01:34:22 --> 01:34:25 The Department of Justice is here and has a presence in our Incident Command
01:34:25 --> 01:34:30 Center, as well as the DEA, the FBI, and their investigative teams have been
01:34:30 --> 01:34:32 fantastic with their leadership.
01:34:32 --> 01:34:37 And we also have the IRS here that's helping us track how these violent protesters
01:34:37 --> 01:34:40 are funded, what NGOs out there, what unions.
01:34:40 --> 01:34:44 What other individuals may be funding these violent perpetuators that are in
01:34:44 --> 01:34:48 these protests that take people who may be wanting to come and be peaceful,
01:34:48 --> 01:34:52 but instead turn these into very violent activities that go after law enforcement
01:34:52 --> 01:34:54 that's just simply not acceptable.
01:34:54 --> 01:34:58 And I also want to thank our U.S. Marshals. They've been so great in helping
01:34:58 --> 01:34:59 us to secure facilities,
01:35:00 --> 01:35:04 but also operations and also with transportation, that as soon as someone is
01:35:04 --> 01:35:08 arrested and brought into incarceration, that they are transported out and able
01:35:08 --> 01:35:11 to face prosecution and the consequences for their crimes.
01:35:11 --> 01:35:16 I want people to know that while these officers and these agencies and our military
01:35:16 --> 01:35:22 are here doing this work and these operations, that the people across this country are so grateful.
01:35:23 --> 01:35:26 Are so grateful for the work that is being done here in Los Angeles.
01:35:27 --> 01:35:31 They are setting an example for what is happening across the country and other
01:35:31 --> 01:35:35 cities and putting together a model and a blueprint for how we can continue
01:35:35 --> 01:35:40 to work to make every single community great again and safe again for our kids
01:35:40 --> 01:35:41 and for our grandkids far into the future.
01:35:42 --> 01:35:45 I've been in many different states with all the different components that I
01:35:45 --> 01:35:48 represent over the last four or five days.
01:35:49 --> 01:35:53 And everywhere I go, people stop me and say, tell everybody who's working in
01:35:53 --> 01:35:57 Los Angeles that is working to bring safety to those city streets and to those
01:35:57 --> 01:36:00 families and protect those small business, tell them thank you.
01:36:00 --> 01:36:04 Tell them God bless you, that I hope that they are safe and they have been suffering.
01:36:05 --> 01:36:07 The people that live here under
01:36:07 --> 01:36:11 the policies of Governor Newsom and under the policies of Mayor Bass,
01:36:11 --> 01:36:14 and they recognize that it's a huge disservice to the people who have to try
01:36:14 --> 01:36:18 to raise their families here and that these agents and that these law enforcement
01:36:18 --> 01:36:22 officers are working to change that and give them an opportunity to be successful
01:36:22 --> 01:36:23 and to live the American dream.
01:36:25 --> 01:36:29 So you heard that, right? That
01:36:29 --> 01:36:33 was Christy Noem basically telling
01:36:33 --> 01:36:44 you all that this is a model of how they're going to go about targeting cities
01:36:44 --> 01:36:49 that have democratic leadership and in the very rare cases,
01:36:50 --> 01:36:55 cities and states that have democratic leadership and how they're going to go
01:36:55 --> 01:37:03 about doing what they want to do and imposing their will and basically terrorizing
01:37:03 --> 01:37:05 a segment of the population.
01:37:06 --> 01:37:12 Because I wanted to be clear, they're not just going after criminals.
01:37:13 --> 01:37:17 That's good rhetoric, and that gets people in the mindset. It's like,
01:37:17 --> 01:37:19 yeah, we need to get the criminals out.
01:37:19 --> 01:37:23 It's kind of like, yeah, you want to get criminals out.
01:37:23 --> 01:37:28 That's the whole thing. You know, you don't want criminals on the street.
01:37:28 --> 01:37:32 Doesn't matter if they were born here or somewhere else. You want them off the streets.
01:37:33 --> 01:37:42 But, you know, it's the blanket approach, right? And like anybody that fits the profile.
01:37:43 --> 01:37:45 Them. Anybody that fits the profile,
01:37:46 --> 01:37:50 stop their car. Anybody that fits the profile, detain them, right?
01:37:51 --> 01:37:56 I mean, wasn't the criteria at one point, if they had tattoos,
01:37:56 --> 01:37:59 send them to El Salvador? Isn't that what we were doing?
01:38:00 --> 01:38:07 So, you know. Now, I stopped it at a certain point because at that point,
01:38:07 --> 01:38:10 the senior senator from California walked in.
01:38:12 --> 01:38:22 And he was not technically invited to the press conference, but he was let in
01:38:22 --> 01:38:27 because people recognized he was the senior senator from the state of California.
01:38:28 --> 01:38:34 And he came in right around when she was disparaging Governor Newsom and Mayor Bass.
01:38:35 --> 01:38:44 So at that point, the senator, you know, wanted to interject and wanted to ask
01:38:44 --> 01:38:45 the secretary a question.
01:38:46 --> 01:38:54 And at that point, the same officers who let him in the building basically manhandled
01:38:54 --> 01:38:57 him and threw him out of the room, right?
01:38:58 --> 01:39:03 And, you know, I heard somebody who's not a political commentator,
01:39:03 --> 01:39:09 who is now all of a sudden trying to be one, and I guess trying to be a politician too,
01:39:10 --> 01:39:14 you know, try to disparage the senator for doing that,
01:39:15 --> 01:39:20 for showing up at the press conference and being disruptive.
01:39:21 --> 01:39:25 But this same person didn't say that when a certain U.S.
01:39:25 --> 01:39:29 Congresswoman from Georgia acted a fool at the State of the Union,
01:39:30 --> 01:39:32 right? She was disruptive.
01:39:32 --> 01:39:35 Did nobody kick her out of the Capitol building?
01:39:35 --> 01:39:42 He didn't get on his podcast and blast her for her actions, right?
01:39:42 --> 01:39:48 But this guy, he can't, you know, the rules of engagement change, right?
01:39:48 --> 01:39:51 So if you could disrupt a president of the United States of the State of the Union,
01:39:52 --> 01:39:57 surely a senator can disrupt a secretary in the president's cabinet,
01:39:57 --> 01:40:02 especially when she's saying some disparaging about his colleagues people that
01:40:02 --> 01:40:07 help govern the state that he represents right and the city that he represents,
01:40:08 --> 01:40:12 he wanted to shut that down and you know.
01:40:14 --> 01:40:21 This point, decorum be damned, right? It's pretty clear that decorum only works on one side.
01:40:23 --> 01:40:30 And they judge what is appropriate and what is not. And that's bullshit.
01:40:30 --> 01:40:32 That's not how that works.
01:40:32 --> 01:40:37 You can't have the double standard. If you're going to be an asshole to the
01:40:37 --> 01:40:41 president of the United States, then everybody's fair game.
01:40:41 --> 01:40:45 Since you didn't apologize for that, since you didn't feel that that was out
01:40:45 --> 01:40:48 of bounds, then let the chips fall where they may.
01:40:49 --> 01:40:52 As somebody that's been in politics, I don't like that.
01:40:52 --> 01:40:59 I don't like the fact that it's gotten to that point, but it is what it is, you know?
01:41:00 --> 01:41:07 I just know that had that ever happened to me, there is no way I would rest
01:41:07 --> 01:41:13 until, one, those officers that physically tackled me would no longer be in law enforcement.
01:41:13 --> 01:41:18 I promise you that would be a never-ending quest, right?
01:41:18 --> 01:41:27 And then there's no way that I wouldn't be trying to get to people that authorized
01:41:27 --> 01:41:31 that, whether it was Kristi Noem or Donald Trump. There's no way they would stay in power.
01:41:32 --> 01:41:36 There's nothing they could do. There's nothing they could say at this point
01:41:36 --> 01:41:42 outside of an apology, a sincere apology, not an apology to say face or whatever.
01:41:42 --> 01:41:47 I mean, like, bro, we we did not know that was you.
01:41:47 --> 01:41:49 That's not how we roll. It's, you know.
01:41:51 --> 01:41:55 But you're never going to get that from them because that's how they are. Right.
01:41:56 --> 01:42:01 And I've just come to realize that it's not just the United States, it's worldwide.
01:42:01 --> 01:42:08 The right wing thought process, the white right wing political apparatus in
01:42:08 --> 01:42:11 the world has literally lost their mind.
01:42:13 --> 01:42:18 And, you know, I said this on the last podcast, I think, or previous one,
01:42:18 --> 01:42:20 I'm sure it's, you know, there's no honor among thieves.
01:42:21 --> 01:42:26 So they will even disrespect each other, let alone disrespect right-minded people
01:42:26 --> 01:42:30 or people that are just trying to do the right thing or just maybe have a different
01:42:30 --> 01:42:32 viewpoint of how to do the right thing, right?
01:42:34 --> 01:42:39 Because the old saying, a broken clock tells the time right twice a day.
01:42:39 --> 01:42:44 So every now and then, these crazy people will have a good idea.
01:42:45 --> 01:42:50 And you can get some of us to get behind it now, or at least a good thought.
01:42:50 --> 01:42:56 And we might differ on the approach, but if there's a concept we agree with, we'll go with that.
01:42:57 --> 01:43:02 That's what reasonable people do, but not these folks, right?
01:43:02 --> 01:43:05 These folks is their way or the highway.
01:43:06 --> 01:43:11 And it was up to them. They blow up the highway. So you wouldn't have no option.
01:43:12 --> 01:43:19 I mean, that's just it. I mean, you know, you let Christy Noem and Pam Bundy
01:43:19 --> 01:43:23 and Carolyn Levitt and all these other folks get on there with their.
01:43:23 --> 01:43:31 And it seems like every press hit their crucifixes or crosses are getting bigger around their necks.
01:43:32 --> 01:43:38 You know, they wanted to give you the impression that Los Angeles was burning
01:43:38 --> 01:43:41 down, that people were just out in the streets terrorizing everybody.
01:43:41 --> 01:43:44 And it was just chaos and mayhem.
01:43:44 --> 01:43:47 And the LAPD was just overwhelmed.
01:43:47 --> 01:43:53 If there's any police department in the United States, I can name two others
01:43:53 --> 01:43:55 that are pretty equal, in my opinion.
01:43:56 --> 01:44:02 It's like the Los Angeles PD, they're used to dealing with riots.
01:44:02 --> 01:44:06 They have never been friendly when it comes to protesters.
01:44:07 --> 01:44:13 It's just not how they roll, right? It's never been my experience in watching what they do.
01:44:13 --> 01:44:17 You know, but they're a major city, and so they are used to,
01:44:18 --> 01:44:21 they have a population over 5 million people, so they have a police force that
01:44:21 --> 01:44:25 is geared for mass demonstrations.
01:44:25 --> 01:44:30 They have a police force that's geared toward mass unrest, if there is unrest, right?
01:44:31 --> 01:44:36 Of a violent nature. And if it got to the point where they couldn't handle it,
01:44:36 --> 01:44:41 they would be saying, hey, governor, call the president, tell him we need some help.
01:44:41 --> 01:44:45 They hadn't made that call. They had the situation under control.
01:44:47 --> 01:44:50 But Donald Trump, just like he did when he was president the first time,
01:44:51 --> 01:44:52 wanted to send a message.
01:44:53 --> 01:44:57 You remember the first time there's a park, if you've ever been to D.C.,
01:44:57 --> 01:45:00 there's a park right across the street from the White House called Lafayette
01:45:00 --> 01:45:05 Park, and And that's traditionally the public square where people protest whoever
01:45:05 --> 01:45:06 the president is, right?
01:45:06 --> 01:45:11 There's people that are basically homeless people who have become professional protesters.
01:45:12 --> 01:45:15 They sleep in the park and they got signs or whatever.
01:45:15 --> 01:45:19 But that's usually the place where people gather. Now, the park is in between
01:45:19 --> 01:45:25 the White House and this church that has been there forever and since the inception
01:45:25 --> 01:45:26 of the city, pretty much.
01:45:28 --> 01:45:32 And it's tradition that the president of the United States, the sitting president
01:45:32 --> 01:45:35 of the United States, attends at least one church service at that church.
01:45:36 --> 01:45:40 I'm trying to think who broke that tradition. Somebody seemed to have broken,
01:45:40 --> 01:45:44 I don't know, but it seems like every president has attended this church at
01:45:44 --> 01:45:46 one point in time during their term.
01:45:47 --> 01:45:51 And so Donald Trump wanted to send a message.
01:45:51 --> 01:45:57 This was in the height of the Black Lives Matter protests, George Floyd protests,
01:45:58 --> 01:46:04 And when he and Mark Milley were cool They set it up where the military cleared
01:46:04 --> 01:46:09 a path This tear gassed and moved these people out of Lafayette Park So the
01:46:09 --> 01:46:12 president could walk from the White House Stand in front of this church,
01:46:13 --> 01:46:19 Hold the Bible upside down And make it a press-up That's it He didn't have anything
01:46:19 --> 01:46:23 substantive to say He just wanted to send a message Right?
01:46:25 --> 01:46:30 And that's what this show of force in L.A. is when sending a message.
01:46:31 --> 01:46:34 Now, there have been raids in Mississippi.
01:46:35 --> 01:46:36 There's been protests in Mississippi.
01:46:37 --> 01:46:43 He hasn't sent the National Guard. He hasn't federalized the National Guard
01:46:43 --> 01:46:46 to deal with the protests there because there's a Republican governor,
01:46:46 --> 01:46:48 right, that he's cool with.
01:46:49 --> 01:46:54 In Texas, he ain't had to do it. And Abbott just unleashed the National Guard
01:46:54 --> 01:46:57 to get ready for these no King Day protests that's happening,
01:46:57 --> 01:47:04 plus the protests that are already going on in Texas, because that's Greg Abbott, right?
01:47:05 --> 01:47:10 You know, but these people in Florida, it's like you got a sheriff talking about,
01:47:10 --> 01:47:14 you know, if you spit on an officer, we're going to shoot you.
01:47:14 --> 01:47:16 You know what I'm saying? What are we doing?
01:47:16 --> 01:47:19 And that's okay to say out loud.
01:47:19 --> 01:47:27 You have basically told us what your use of force form is going to look like, right?
01:47:27 --> 01:47:31 You know, if you're standing in the way of a car, you're going to get run over.
01:47:31 --> 01:47:33 And Governor DeSantis doubled down
01:47:33 --> 01:47:42 on that, right? So when I say the right wing has lost it, I mean that.
01:47:42 --> 01:47:46 I don't know if there's any coming back to that, right?
01:47:47 --> 01:47:51 I think if there's going to be a new Republican Party, they're going to be more centrist.
01:47:52 --> 01:47:57 Because the right wing, you know, they're trying to say the alt-right.
01:47:57 --> 01:48:00 No, this is not an alternative.
01:48:00 --> 01:48:03 This is the real, this is who they are.
01:48:04 --> 01:48:08 And it's like if you just get your news from the conservative media outlets,
01:48:08 --> 01:48:12 you're thinking, you know, L.A. is about to explode, literally.
01:48:12 --> 01:48:19 And you're thinking everything is justified. And it is not. It is not anywhere close to that.
01:48:20 --> 01:48:26 It's just really, really sad. And then to see what they did to the senator now,
01:48:26 --> 01:48:29 supposedly afterwards, you
01:48:29 --> 01:48:34 know, the secretary did talk to him and tried to do a mea culpa on that.
01:48:34 --> 01:48:40 But, you know, and then and then she turned around on Fox News and said he didn't identify himself.
01:48:41 --> 01:48:46 If you've watched the news clips, you clearly if there's nothing else,
01:48:46 --> 01:48:47 you make out what he's saying.
01:48:47 --> 01:48:50 He's saying I am Senator Alex Padilla.
01:48:50 --> 01:48:55 He's saying that out loud. as they are manhandling and tackling him, right?
01:48:56 --> 01:49:03 The same people who escorted him into the room are now putting handcuffs on him.
01:49:03 --> 01:49:08 What are we doing, right? I'm just telling you, it's like, you know,
01:49:09 --> 01:49:15 there's certain things that, you know, I miss being an elected official.
01:49:15 --> 01:49:18 I miss being in politics at that level.
01:49:19 --> 01:49:26 But there is no way There is no way I would tolerate that No way You're not
01:49:26 --> 01:49:30 going to manhandle me like you did Mayor Baraka Or the congresswoman from New
01:49:30 --> 01:49:32 Jersey Who now you're indicting for manhandling,
01:49:33 --> 01:49:39 You beat her up And then you charge her Elena Harba, the lady who couldn't stop
01:49:39 --> 01:49:42 Donald Trump From getting 34 felony convictions Now she's going to try to convict
01:49:42 --> 01:49:44 a U.S. congresswoman, right?
01:49:46 --> 01:49:47 I don't know.
01:49:49 --> 01:49:53 You know, it's just, it's insane.
01:49:53 --> 01:49:58 And then on this day, right, they're having an oversight hearing.
01:49:58 --> 01:50:00 So they've invited the governor.
01:50:00 --> 01:50:06 They couldn't get Newsom because Los Angeles, right? But they excused him.
01:50:07 --> 01:50:12 But they had Tim Walz, Governor of Minnesota, former vice presidential running
01:50:12 --> 01:50:18 mate of Kamala Harris, Governor Pritzker of Illinois, and Governor Hochul of
01:50:18 --> 01:50:19 New York had them up there.
01:50:20 --> 01:50:25 And all the Republicans wanted to do was just put on the show.
01:50:25 --> 01:50:30 It's like, maybe a few of them asked some questions about immigration policy,
01:50:30 --> 01:50:33 because technically that's what that hearing was about.
01:50:33 --> 01:50:39 But you know, you got Nancy Mace, who I offered to come on the show.
01:50:39 --> 01:50:44 Her press people took the information, haven't responded.
01:50:45 --> 01:50:52 I don't know. I guess I don't have in the followers. I don't agree with her approach, so whatever.
01:50:53 --> 01:50:56 And that's been kind of the, you know, there's been a few people,
01:50:56 --> 01:50:59 and I'm grateful to the Republicans that have come on the show,
01:51:00 --> 01:51:02 the Trump supporters that have come on the show.
01:51:03 --> 01:51:06 And there's an open invitation for folks. If I invite you to come on,
01:51:06 --> 01:51:09 we're going to have a civil conversation.
01:51:09 --> 01:51:12 You may try to act a fool, but that's not going to happen.
01:51:12 --> 01:51:14 You'll be able to get your points across.
01:51:15 --> 01:51:21 And as always, I can do what I'm doing right now if I think what you're saying is crazy and just...
01:51:23 --> 01:51:26 Take my time and tell you how I feel.
01:51:27 --> 01:51:32 But I'm going to give you respect that you don't give governors of their respective
01:51:32 --> 01:51:37 states if they're not of your party, or senators even, right?
01:51:38 --> 01:51:42 But, you know, they got on there, Marjorie Taylor Greene, she was in her element too.
01:51:43 --> 01:51:47 And, you know, everybody just, you know, and this one young guy,
01:51:47 --> 01:51:52 I don't know, he was trying to score some points on Pritzker and it's like,
01:51:53 --> 01:51:55 yeah, he's not that dude.
01:51:56 --> 01:52:00 He's not that dude. And he's really not that dude because he's wealthy.
01:52:01 --> 01:52:08 He's like a lot of these Republican senators and elected officials. He's got a lot of money.
01:52:09 --> 01:52:14 So he ain't worried about anything you do to him, you know?
01:52:16 --> 01:52:25 So, you know, just crazy. And then you got the chairman of the committee trying
01:52:25 --> 01:52:27 to tell a member to just shut up.
01:52:27 --> 01:52:30 I mean, just crass stuff.
01:52:31 --> 01:52:37 And it's really a bad optic because most of the Republicans are white folks.
01:52:37 --> 01:52:41 You got, you know, Byron Donalds, who finally showed up at a committee meeting.
01:52:42 --> 01:52:49 And Luna from Florida, you know, but pretty much everybody else is white.
01:52:49 --> 01:52:54 It was some woman, it was like, are you filling the seat for your late husband?
01:52:54 --> 01:52:58 It's like, how long have you been in Congress?
01:52:58 --> 01:53:02 You're talking about Feinstein and all these other, Pelosi and all these other
01:53:02 --> 01:53:05 folks. It looks like you've been up there a long time too.
01:53:06 --> 01:53:15 You trying to go after these younger sharper-minded governors trying to put
01:53:15 --> 01:53:18 zingers on them, it was a bad look, right?
01:53:19 --> 01:53:23 That was going on. While a U.S.
01:53:23 --> 01:53:27 Senator is being tackled by law enforcement, this hearing was happening.
01:53:27 --> 01:53:33 So numerous members, and this is why Maxwell Frost was being told to shut up,
01:53:33 --> 01:53:39 because he was trying to get the chairman to commit to having Kristi Noem come
01:53:39 --> 01:53:41 before the committee, the oversight committee, right?
01:53:42 --> 01:53:47 I mean, it's just crazy. And then to top it all off, to cap our night off,
01:53:47 --> 01:53:53 Israel decided that tonight was the night, or last night was the night,
01:53:53 --> 01:54:01 as I'm recording this, that they wanted to take out Iran's nuclear program.
01:54:02 --> 01:54:07 Supposedly, according to their intelligence reports, they took out all the military
01:54:07 --> 01:54:10 leaders that were over the program, They took out the scientists.
01:54:12 --> 01:54:17 You know, took out some major targets. So we know Iran's going to respond.
01:54:18 --> 01:54:26 But the reason why I use the no honor among thieves quote is because they didn't
01:54:26 --> 01:54:28 communicate with the United States that they were going to do that.
01:54:28 --> 01:54:30 Now, they use some of our weapons.
01:54:30 --> 01:54:35 They did not communicate with the United States until it launched its attack.
01:54:36 --> 01:54:41 And the reason why we know that is because the president had sent his special
01:54:41 --> 01:54:48 envoy to Iran to try to negotiate a deal where they would set down the nuclear weapons.
01:54:50 --> 01:54:55 Which, if you follow the details, sounds very similar to what President Obama
01:54:55 --> 01:54:58 had done. But because Obama did it, Trump scrapped it.
01:54:59 --> 01:55:03 Now he was basically about to offer the same plan or close to it.
01:55:05 --> 01:55:12 And this envoy is on his way. And it would seem like that if Netanyahu and Trump
01:55:12 --> 01:55:16 were communicating, that would have been conveyed.
01:55:16 --> 01:55:19 And you probably shouldn't be shooting rockets into a country where the United
01:55:19 --> 01:55:23 States is sending their special envoy to negotiate with the government you're about to attack.
01:55:25 --> 01:55:29 And then they get on their state TV in Israel and say, okay,
01:55:29 --> 01:55:30 people, you know, just be ready.
01:55:31 --> 01:55:37 We're about to, we just did something. So get ready for missiles to start being
01:55:37 --> 01:55:38 blown up over your houses.
01:55:40 --> 01:55:45 These people have lost their minds, bro. They've lost their minds and they want
01:55:45 --> 01:55:48 power and they want power to stay away from being accountable.
01:55:49 --> 01:55:55 Usually people that are seeking power are supposed to be the models of accountability.
01:55:55 --> 01:55:59 These people are seeking power so they don't have to be accountable,
01:55:59 --> 01:56:01 especially from a criminal aspect.
01:56:01 --> 01:56:04 Donald Trump ran for president so he wouldn't go to jail.
01:56:05 --> 01:56:08 Daniyahu ran for prime minister so he wouldn't go to jail, right?
01:56:09 --> 01:56:12 And they want to stay in power so they're going to create chaos.
01:56:14 --> 01:56:19 So put it into people's mind where we need them because we're in a state of chaos, right?
01:56:19 --> 01:56:22 People want stable leadership when things are chaotic.
01:56:23 --> 01:56:27 Never mind the fact that the leadership is trying to say, hey,
01:56:27 --> 01:56:32 you need to keep me is the one who created the chaos in the first place, right?
01:56:33 --> 01:56:36 So I've just come to the conclusion that they've lost their mind.
01:56:36 --> 01:56:39 And then when you see all the talking heads like the Scott Jennings and all
01:56:39 --> 01:56:42 these guys who's another guy really cannot stand.
01:56:42 --> 01:56:49 I mean, he's even developed a persona where he just smirks, you know,
01:56:49 --> 01:56:55 like he's that bully that thinks he's also smart, right? Like whatever.
01:56:55 --> 01:57:03 And trying to justify what it is. It's like you can't justify insanity,
01:57:03 --> 01:57:06 not to the masses. You can justify it to you.
01:57:06 --> 01:57:11 You can justify it to your own kind, but you can't justify insanity to the masses.
01:57:12 --> 01:57:17 There's enough people that realize that's crazy and they're not going to go for.
01:57:18 --> 01:57:22 How that will translate in any elections in the future, I don't know.
01:57:22 --> 01:57:28 I would hope that it would translate to the point where these people are not in control.
01:57:29 --> 01:57:34 It would be my wish that they would never be the majority party ever again until
01:57:34 --> 01:57:38 that element is completely out of their,
01:57:39 --> 01:57:44 political ecosystem, which as long as they latch on to white supremacy as a
01:57:44 --> 01:57:45 clutch, that'll never happened.
01:57:45 --> 01:57:55 But I just still want to believe that the majority of Americans understand that this is foolishness.
01:57:58 --> 01:58:03 For those of us who are active and understand it's foolish is trying to get
01:58:03 --> 01:58:05 people who understand it's foolish and be active.
01:58:06 --> 01:58:10 Because a lot of people just want to close their blinds, close their eyes,
01:58:10 --> 01:58:13 cover their ears, and act like none of this is happening as long as they're
01:58:13 --> 01:58:17 able to go to work and buy their groceries, pay for their gas,
01:58:18 --> 01:58:21 kids go to school, everything's great.
01:58:21 --> 01:58:26 But eventually, it's going to get to you, no matter how much you try to ignore
01:58:26 --> 01:58:34 it. So my mission and the other podcasts I mentioned, our mission is to encourage you to be more engaged.
01:58:35 --> 01:58:42 As I've stated before, you follow DC Comics, you know about all of Batman's
01:58:42 --> 01:58:44 enemies go to Arkham Asylum.
01:58:44 --> 01:58:50 And I've made the comparison that just imagine Batman's worst nightmare that
01:58:50 --> 01:58:52 everybody at Arkham Asylum escapes.
01:58:52 --> 01:58:56 They even made a video game off of that concept, right?
01:58:57 --> 01:59:01 All of them, the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin, all of them escaped the same
01:59:01 --> 01:59:04 night. And Batman's got to get all of them back in.
01:59:04 --> 01:59:09 What's left of it, right? Because you know they had to destroy the asylum to
01:59:09 --> 01:59:11 get out. Just imagine. That's where we are now.
01:59:12 --> 01:59:14 Everybody is out of Arkham.
01:59:15 --> 01:59:22 And we have to be the people to try to corral them and get them back in, right?
01:59:22 --> 01:59:26 Get them out of the seats of power. get them back in their rightful place.
01:59:28 --> 01:59:34 And it's a daunting task, but it's got to be done because at the pace we are
01:59:34 --> 01:59:43 going now, you know, this is just the 1850s, 1860s being relived.
01:59:43 --> 01:59:51 The tensions are building to a point where the only release would be an out-and-out war.
01:59:51 --> 01:59:58 And we should have learned something from that period in history where we would not repeat that.
01:59:59 --> 02:00:06 We are. So, you know, I just, we got to deal with the craziness.
02:00:07 --> 02:00:12 But in the midst of it, we need to be figuring out a way to combat it,
02:00:12 --> 02:00:18 whether it's on the street, in the state house, in the city hall,
02:00:18 --> 02:00:20 in the White House, in the U.S. Capitol.
02:00:20 --> 02:00:22 We've got to figure out a way to combat it.
02:00:23 --> 02:00:28 And we've got to figure out a way to tell our story and convince the majority
02:00:28 --> 02:00:30 of people, We need you to be engaged.
02:00:30 --> 02:00:37 We need you to vote these people out and offer them a substantive plan to make
02:00:37 --> 02:00:39 their lives better. Right.
02:00:40 --> 02:00:43 And there's this one system I'm trying to get on. She posted something on LinkedIn
02:00:43 --> 02:00:51 and I'm trying to get her on the podcast sometime this year because what she
02:00:51 --> 02:00:57 posted to me sounds like the platform that that we need.
02:00:58 --> 02:01:04 Right. She broke it down in a way where it's like, yes, this is this is the bare bone.
02:01:05 --> 02:01:07 This is the outline for the message.
02:01:08 --> 02:01:13 These are the issues that are impacting people that need to be addressed.
02:01:13 --> 02:01:18 And we need to be unafraid to do it. If they're not afraid to cut Medicaid,
02:01:19 --> 02:01:23 if they're not afraid to cut Social Security, If they're not afraid to try to
02:01:23 --> 02:01:26 impose martial law on the citizens of this country,
02:01:26 --> 02:01:31 then we shouldn't be afraid to push for universal health care.
02:01:31 --> 02:01:34 We shouldn't be afraid to push for reparations.
02:01:34 --> 02:01:42 We shouldn't be afraid to push for universal education, amongst other things, right?
02:01:42 --> 02:01:47 We shouldn't be afraid to say what we need to say, and we need to convince the
02:01:47 --> 02:01:50 American people that it's time to go a different direction.
02:01:51 --> 02:01:54 This is going off of the rails really, really quick.
02:01:56 --> 02:02:01 I don't want it to be a situation that's bad enough when parents see their children
02:02:01 --> 02:02:03 going overseas to fight battles.
02:02:04 --> 02:02:08 I sure as hell don't want to see people watching folks fight battles in their
02:02:08 --> 02:02:11 front yard. You feel me on that?
02:02:12 --> 02:02:17 So let's get to work. Let's do what we got to do. There's going to be more crazy
02:02:17 --> 02:02:23 days like what happened on, you know, today I'm recording this.
02:02:23 --> 02:02:30 It's Friday the 13th, you know. Yesterday was Thursday the 12th and all the
02:02:30 --> 02:02:31 crazy stuff happened, right?
02:02:32 --> 02:02:37 Guys, we can do better. We don't have to accept this.
02:02:37 --> 02:02:41 We don't have to accept elected officials being brutalized.
02:02:41 --> 02:02:48 We don't have to accept crazy rhetoric being touted in the name of Jesus.
02:02:49 --> 02:02:55 It's not how this works. And we need to rise up and remind people how it's supposed to work.
02:02:55 --> 02:02:57 Set the example. but get engaged.
02:02:58 --> 02:03:01 Thank y'all for listening. Until next time.
02:03:03 --> 02:03:49 Music.
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