Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s 53rd Annual Legislative Conference

Published Sep 16, 2024, 5:00 PM

Hosts Tiffany Cross, Angela Rye, and Andrew Gillum are live at the Congressional Black Caucus’s Annual Legislative Conference!

There was a rotating panel of esteemed guests speaking with the hosts about public policy that most affects the Black community.

We are 50 days away from the election. Welcome home y’all!

If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video: www.instagram.com/reel/C5j_oBXLIg0/

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Thank you to the Native Land Pod team: 

Angela Rye as host, executive producer and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Tiffany Cross as host and producer, Andrew Gillum as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; Loren Mychael is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks  to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media. 

Theme music created by Daniel Laurent.

Native Land Pod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Reaisent Choice Media.

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome.

Welcome, Welcome home, y'all.

This is Native Land Pod and we are joining you live from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations fifty third Annual Legislative Conference. We are here as your official pregame show for the dinner tonight, and we are thrilled to be joined by the brilliant minds of the conscience of the Congress and so many wonderful friends of ours as well as elected officials on the local state at the local and state level and organizers. We have a jam packed show and we can't wait to get into it.

I am with my co.

Hosts Welcome Home, y'all, Tiffany Cross and Andrew.

Gillocome Home, everybody, y'all.

Were trying to figure.

Out what episode it is, so if you're watching, please drop a comment and let us know what episode it is, because we literally cannot remember, So drop a comment on our YouTube.

Oh Lola, where.

Did we go?

Right?

Okay?

Birthday from Yeah exactly, So welcome to the fortieth episode of Native Lampod. I have to say I'm really excited to be here. This is somewhat of a homecoming, I think for all of us. I used to cover Congress years ago, Andrew, being a politician, especially when he was running, would come to this dinner.

But Angela, especially for you.

As you all know, Angela is the former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, So this was like your family, like the prom Nerd Ball Well, Nerd Ball is the Washington correspondent, I say, Nerd from yeah exactly.

This is a Black Nerve propromise.

But Angela, how does it feel to be back in this capacity?

Because you come, you still come every year. Have you missed the dinner?

I have never missed a Phoenix Awards dinner except when the dinner missed us, and that was during COVID COVID and then the next year, of course we were virtual that year. The next year we came back. So this is nineteenth ALC. Wow, and I I am so I think. What's cool about this, you guys that I'm super super excited about is normally the conference all week, all of the sessions are pretty open to the public, they're even live streams. But the dinner is something that has often felt more exclusive, and this year because the Foundation wanted to partner with our podcast because we are so welcoming. There are folks from outside who weren't able to go to the dinner who are coming in to watch the podcast, and we're thrilled to have you all.

So welcome Black Home Home Audience. Here.

I want to let the viewers know that the dinner this evening will be hosted by Roy Wood Junior, amazing comedian.

Ratler, absolutely and Sherry Shepard.

Evening. So as Ryan's.

Making his way to the stage, I want to let you all know he has a new show coming out on CNN. Have I got news for you? He just taped his first comedy special, which I was privileged to be there live in person to see to a sold out packs audience. So give some love to this Rattler great coming in. He and Andrew are kind of dressed like, hello, my dear.

We're so happy you're joining me.

I don't know. I don't have my bow tie.

I got the same color.

I see ye, don't put it on sooner or later?

So what what are we? First of all, Roy, how you doing? We're so happy to.

See you host.

I'm good I'm good.

I'm just happy my voice survived last week because that who was special and then prepping for seeing in and then doing all the media for that watching that way the dog who eating the doll? Yes, yes, but no, I'm I'm just happy to be you know how I get around.

Like black folks?

Yes, because I don't get it normally, like it's I'm not I'm in like the mainstream world. And then the Congressional Black Caucus. This is like, what did you say over texts like professional essence facial?

We said black prom nerve prom.

I'm going to call it political wikanda. I feel like politically, that's probably right.

I like that too.

That's probably right.

I like that too.

So do you do you change up?

How do you alter your approach when going into an environment like this with people who are typically pretty serious about themselves the world life?

I feel like, how do you prepare?

I feel like the advantage I have at a black event is that they know me, and you kind of already know. You know my brand. You know, I'm not gonna say the all the way wrong thing. But I ain't regal. I'm not gonna be regal like I would argue, though, of everything that I've done this year, hosting that June teenth concert at the White House, that was the hardest. That was the hardest event because the issue with an event like this, it's similar to June thing, like the White House Correspondence dinner. It's understood that I can say the wrong thing, You're supposed to say the wrong thing June tenth and something like this. We are revering people who are fighting against very serious issues and going hit to head against very heinous people. There are people in this room tonight who get death threats on air regular and for their work, we're going to, you.

Know, honor them.

That's right.

So the balance of joke and reverence and we must also remember racism and racism and the joke like that balance is more difficult to maintain in an all black place because black people will hold you accountable in real time if you went too far, you know, one way or the other.

So I was telling the girls yesterday about a story with a well known person we know here who was in my city, Tallahassee, And we're sitting next to each other on the podium, and the brother didn't stand for the pledge, and about eight black women after it was a black event, came up to them and they just wanted to know why. But we had a debate about whether we'd be offended about being wrecked in a place like that. But you've had experience, I'm sure, yeah, where you've heard more than what you asked for.

Yeah, and and and and at the end of the day, with black people, it's a critique, it's it's a it's still a dialogue. It ain't no battle, it's not disrespect. But it's just a matter of when you're going up at an event like this, how do you make sure that you maintain the respect and the reverence for while also doing humor. And I'm thankful tonight because I have a co.

Host, So this Sherry Shepherd, your co hosting other interesting you weren't listening and clearly, but the other interesting thing is Roy that the chair of this year's event is Congresswoman Terry Sewell, and you are a son of Alabama, so.

It is it is a.

Terry Sewell used to come on my morning show in Birmingham, and I got to give her props because she wasn't just coming on when it was time to grab votes and re election and blah blah blah. You know there's a there's a connection, and I'm going to talk about it tonight before we bring out Fantasia. But you know, we had an F five tornado that came through Alabama. Tornado came from Tuscaloosa to Birmingham, killed fifty people, and it hit one of the blackest parts of town super hard. Terry Sewell was in that thing before sunrise, before the Red Cross pulled up. Same night Fantasia was supposed to have a show, could have canceled easily. Hey, y'all had a tornado. I'll come back another time. Stay did the show? Donated every penn. So like the connections between you know, Fantasia and you know, congress Woman Seuel and myself, I'm.

Just like even to be yere with y'all.

Like I don't y'all don't understand, Like I don't go nowhere, I don't talk, I don't get around people that I don't rock with. So when I'm in a space where I feel like I don't have to look over my shoulder, I don't have to wonder if this is being recorded for some other duplicitous thing, and honestly working at CNN and Angela, I might need to talk to you about this because this has opened up a whole nother can of how the energy that people have towards me simply because of the network that it's a Saturday.

Night as jokes.

Yeah yeah, and they'd be like ha ha, hell yeah, I.

Get it, we need premiere yeah anywhere near ass.

But I do want to know if you can get oh sorry, go ahead, Andrew.

No, I said, not in the same category.

Yeah, I do want to know if you can give us a little preview of a joke you might could potentially tail on stage tonight.

I don't know.

Here's what it comes down to, And this is a conversation I had with Sherry. If Biden how soon until Biden comes in the room before he speaks is kind of the deciding factor because I don't know if anyone has been able to look the President in the eyes and go, hey, thanks, thank you for what you did, like they all did it at the convention in their own way or whatever, but just to be able to stand on the stage and look at him and just go you are better than me. Because if I put in my two months notice, I'm.

Not showing up for no more shifts.

Baby.

This is me trying to get you to let me.

This is me telling you I don't want to come and pleee fire men, So you know, to give them prop because who you know put in, they notice and then keep showing up.

Right.

That's a good point. I never thought about it.

Although Trump did say at the debate he sleep till four pm.

We snuck that in. Nobody called him.

That's the type of joke though, that you can only do if he's in the room, because if he comes back to the fact, that's the sucker move. I know Sherry is gonna, you know, have some conversation with the Divine nine in the room as well. I think she's gonna make sure they get their time. I'm not a member of the Divine nine. I did not have the grades by the time I had, no, I didn't. I didn't know they needed two five.

Boy, I don't think anybody we had we might have had the grace. But none of us are dividing. Yeah, none of us aren't that crazy. This is defind odds up here.

People always see me and they're like, hey, so Ror and I always have to tell.

People I'm.

Because they definitely make sure you don't make any of their sounds or designs on air.

I've worked with somebody who did that. I just tried to go over time.

It's a nonqua.

I want to tell you.

Roy, because we texted, but I didn't get a chance to look you in your face and tell you how hilarious you were. I was so honored and privileged to be at your taping. You taped your Hulu special right, it was so what I loved about your comedy, And I won't give anything away. You guys, please be sure to tune in. I'll let Roy tell you win and wear. But I love comedy that makes a point, but also that touches you, you know, and I felt like I was laughing, But I also felt when you talked about connection, I really felt that.

So I just want to tell you don't.

Talk anymore, like we don't interact as a society, like we get mad if people call us. Every meeting at your job is on a computer. There's no employees in the stores anymore. What I tried to make chit chat on the elevator one time. Never again. You were able to talk for three four floors in the hotel. Don't nobody want to talk.

Yeah, So I just.

That was what I really wanted to drill in on because what I noticed in watching my mom and I talk about her a little bit and a special is that you know, my mom is seventy five. She's been a higher edge and she was twenty five years old still working at a black college in Alabama to this day, I ain't gonna never quit. And I've always been trying to get my mom to quit her job, not understanding that it wasn't just about work for her. It's about maintaining connection with the community, with her people, and so seeing how she's active and you know, she's had friends that have passed and you still, like, I hate to say it, next man up, who I need a new Yeah?

Hey you y'all got a book club?

Cool, I'm here.

Yeah.

So the idea of working to make connections, that's something you have to actively do, the same as cardio every morning, the same as nutrition.

So I just wanted to talk about that a little bit.

You made that point, but you wrapped it beautifully in humor, like we were laughing, but we all kind of looked at each other after like we felt really connected. Just because I don't want to forget. I want you to tell the people win and where they can catch this special.

Oh, the Who's special will be out sometime. I think at near the end of the year. I think with the low key, I think who was waiting to see how the election goes to decide kind of yeah, because what you expect of me is political political. So you know, if we are a country in turmoil and riots, then maybe you slide to roy Wood Junior, specially down to town a little bit after the riots calm.

You have a prediction on how you think the election will go.

Yes, riots and the I'm not pro riot.

I just I don't take that part seriously. I think I don't think they're gonna show for him like they once did.

I do not think that Republicans are going to accept the results of this election. I think that Kamala has turned a corner with enough moderates and undecided voters. I think most people at this point that are still undecided. You were intentionally undecided to some degree. This idea that you ain't seen us say nothing about that, go find it. You find everything else. You found everything else in your phone, So go find go find the policy that you care about it and read up on it and make a decision. So I don't. I just do not see when Dick Cheney says that he came. Now you noticed in the video he never said Kamala vot. He just said I'm not voting for Trump. That's gonna be enough for some of them old school Republicans and maybe they stay home, and even then in that regard, it's still a vote for Kamala in my opinion. I just I don't think though at the rate of wich they're locking up jan six offenders, that we're going to have a new January. There's not going to be another storm the Capitol number one. The National Guard gonna be there at that time, and they won't put that Thaye out in your ass you come up back and stupid. But I think that I think Kamala wins. But I think that we'll have another year of Trump lawsuit nonsense in trying to decertify the election. And I think the thing that we really have to look for in this election is the voter intimidation that I hope doesn't happen in a lot of disenfranchised places. And you know, you start talking about the way they've redrawn all the districts in these battleground states. To me, that's the bigger factor in this election is whether or not people will be allowed to even go to the polls.

Yeah, it's interesting because there are are like these laws and open carry states that you know, you have like these people guarding the election, and I'm like, I wonder how it will work if a bunch of armed black folks stood out in front of a voting facility in a white neighborhood and we just here to observe and make sure things go well. I don't think that'll go to I think that's the fastest way to change laws. What I want to shout you out also, Roy, because you are a journalist by training, and you see my degree.

I don't want you to let's the hope with it. But I have a degree.

Yeah, yes, yes, and I but so it makes sense to me that you would have a show on CNN, even if it's a comedy show, because I think you bridge those two things beautifully. And I just I have always been such a fan of yours, but also just consider you a personal friend. So I'm just so proud to see you here hosting a dinner tonight and prow to see your comedy special and prow to see your new show premiere on CNN, and it just feels like it's your season.

This damn thing, this has been one of my favorite You know what's funny, I thought when I left the Daily Showing, like, yeah, I'm done with listening to no more politics. I ain't got to keep up, all right, let me go and see what and I'm talking about. Let me go download another episode, let me go on subscribe, subscribe the Native Land and Daily Showing just keeping.

M android. Forget the haters.

Man. The fact that you are bringing to a cable news network buying large comedy says so much about who you are, what your record has been, what you've demonstrated that otherwise pretty conservative network, if I say so, in my limited time I work with him, would say, you know what, there's room enough to pioneer something thing new and and so doing and taking this risk.

Let's find the best out there who can do it.

And I'm thankful for it.

And the other beautiful thing about how I got news for you is that it's it's based on a British show that's been on for thirty five years. So in the eyes of CNN, it's not a risk. It's just the office. Let's see what else in Britain we can remix and you apply it to American politics. It's a quiz show where we don't keep points and no one wins, me wins money, and we just talk about the news. It's just questions about the news. So if you like quizzes, if you like the news, you don't know that it's a simple way to learn about the week that was and infuse a couple of opinions in there.

I'm gonna get you all on it.

So you expect and we like to know who the winner.

Do you want to tell him who the latest winner was?

The latest winner?

For really, the most and thought unprovoking bet that we.

Accept was whether or not Trump would.

Take the bet and debate Kamala.

We so we we shouldn't yeah.

For a second for.

Second form for Vice President Harris and Donald Trump to meet on the debate stage at all. I said, that's never gonna happen. He'll find every excuse not to show up. And Andrew was with me and was like, no, I think it's going to happen. And then we said Ben, so Angel was one, not one, but two dinners because she said no, no, no, I met both of you all. So that doesn't mean that we go out and last night.

That just means y'all got to split another dinner. That's what we said, you guys, I'm not going.

We did all your money a black owned restaurant at a black mobmy.

Month.

He accommodated us and don't so we were happy.

Can't be running up this man bill he got a home.

I know, Jay, I'm sorry, but he lost the bets.

Going over the credit See I used the one get the bill parks.

Heay, it was me.

I was greedy. I was very greedy. Id everything on the menu because I won ordered.

What is your prep time?

Like, what are you doing up there when you leave us and go back to backstage?

Is there?

It's so much show tonight that there's not a lot of space. Sherry and I've identified two pockets where we can do maybe like two to three minutes of bits. Everything else is getting the people on the stage and get honored and keeping it moving so that people can get back to mingling. Because what we also have to remember is that for a lot of our elected officials. This is the first time where they can just come sit and kick back and just on some class reunion, what you've been up to this year type of stuff. So yeah, this is the lowest level of prep I've done this year. I can't wait. I'm this is this is how chill I am. I'm tempted to have a drink before. I absolutely will not.

Absolutely, I do want to let.

The folks know because I don't know what they can see. But behind us, it is a ball. It looks like a wakanda balls. As Angelas said, this is the what do you call it?

Wakanda?

Oh?

Political political wakanda.

It is a bevy of beautiful black people in floor length evening gowns. You know how the hair I see remember of the Congressional Black Caucus. President Biden will obviously be here tonight, Vice President Harris or President elect Harris. If we want to speaking into existence, we'll be here tonight speaking some of the members of the press pool. We've already seen them arrive early anticipating her arrival.

Secret services all around us.

So I just want to bring you guys into what we're witnessing and experiencing here tonight because It really is truly a night to make history. This will be the first time that Vice President Harris addresses this crowd as the nominee for the next President of the United States. Hosted then her sit by comedian Roy Wood Junior, co hosted with Sherry Shepherd, and it's just a night of beautiful black excellence. And I'm so thrilled to share this evening with my beautiful co host Angela. Got this dress shipped in from Wakanda. It was a three week backwater and it's beautiful. Andrew is where you by look black, but he and Roy were in the same colors with navy blue and black.

True.

What a beautiful evening to be here with you guys. Before to ask her yes.

Yes, yes, yes, how have you all been in terms of because I know for the podcasts and the prep, I imagine you have to do. It's take in all of the bad stuff and then decide what bad stuff we will talk about and what bad stuff we will not. Have you figured out a way yet to only consume what you need in terms of what you want to present to your listeners or do you still have to take in every terrible thing? And if so, what's what's your system, what's your mental health?

This is a really great opportunity to pub a podcast that we did. We did a mini pod where we actually had a battle tip and I have never gotten an argument. We got in an argument that day about whether or not we should put something out. I thought she was saying something she wasn't, but it was like, I feel like we need to listen to everything that's happening. It was about black Trump supporters, and I wanted to hear it because I thought it was I couldn't even wrap my mind around it, but it's the same thing for me. That was like the trigger of the trauma of twenty sixteen. So I was like, we have to be aware of this because I was oblivious to it in twenty sixteen. And I think they Andrew and Tiff who agreed, We're both like, we don't have to go about it this way though. So it was a whole battle. But I think what's good about the battle is there are a lot of folks who have family members who have that same conversation in that same way every time they get together, whether it was a picnic over the summer, if it's about to be Thanksgiving, dinner. Hopefully this man, well, I'm trying to be as nonpartisan as possible because it's the foundation, but in my personal capacity, I hope doesn't win. And that's, you know, kind of what we're up again. So we try to figure out every week. I think Tiffany does a good back, good job of challenging us to not sound like every other news network and making sure that we're providing information to our listeners who sometimes don't get those stories.

They're below the fold or there in the B section or.

The Z section, meaning they did not get in there, and she will go and find them and make sure that we are talking about those things.

I'm grateful for you.

Tif grankful for you guys and Andrew, but.

I did want to say this to be very honest. It has evolved a number of times, and we've only done forty episodes up to this point around show format, how do we prepare and our preparation is very different in between the three of us. And then, if I could be even more honest, our show flow right now was like what you feeling?

What you feeling feel like?

We don't really talk about it, and we every time we do a call before the show just to check in with each other, and we're constantly saying we're potting, like, don't talk about this. I want, like, I want the audience to feel like they're in the room with us. And if we have people there with us, you know, if we are too prepared, then it doesn't work. And as a journalist, obviously, I'm still reading eight nine papers every morning, so I have not figured out how to only consume.

What I need.

But I just have curiosity about a lot of things.

I enjoyed reading local news, you know, I like reading local papers and local sections.

But the problem now is that.

With with the way that local newspapers are being gobbled up by larger outlets, a lot of local stories are the same across that's right, So you might have three true local stories.

You know.

I have a friend that's a reporter for Atlanta Journal Constitution. He was talking to me how they cut down their local reporter pool. Yeah, and even lower number. And it's okay, well, now who do you have covering all of those stories? So it's just it's it's real.

It's happening everywhere.

That's why your show coming on CNN is so important because it makes shoes accessible your comedy special whenever it airs. We're excited about it. Well, thank you so and just everything that you have going on, Roy, your your previous pastors have not figured it out yet. I think they lost a gym when they lost you. But I'm just happy that your fans, and there are so many will get to experience and hear you on an ongoing basis.

Well every Saturday night, nine pm CNN, streaming next day on Max. We're talking about the news of the week and some of the hole on the way. And let me also stress lastly, the show is not just political news like it could be the debate. Yeah, but also Shannon Sharp was laying pipe on Instagram.

Lot wow, Roy, And on that note.

I'm just saying we are covering a range of topics.

Yes, yes, let me tell you, and not what you see going live on Native Lampody good luck tonight.

We're so.

I couldn't make that joke later, so he gave it.

He's like, I gotta throwing out before I go.

Let me, God, let it go.

Dignitaries, don't do that.

Roy.

Thank you right, thank you by yourself. You got proud of people waiting for you up there. Oh, my gosh, we are thrilled at this time. Thank you, Roy, We appreciate you.

We're thrilled at this time to bring up a very very special guest, our good friend, Melanie Parker, who is at Google and she is the chief diversity officer there, is joining us to talk about this very very special occasion and some of the great things they have going on to make an impact in the community at Google.

Hi God, thank you, Thanks beautiful, thank you.

How are you feeling I'm feeling great.

I'm excited about tonight, excited about all the black excellence all around us.

So it's a great night.

Yes, we're happy to have you.

I think one thing, sorry, Andrew, a question, I'll ask it quickly. A lot of people we hear a chief diversity officer all the time, but I think so many people out there don't always know exactly what a chief diversity officer does. Tell us what your role is exactly tangibly at Google.

So my role at.

Google one, I've been in my role for five years, so I know there's a meme out there five years I've been to my.

Role at Google. But what I do I look after.

Google's internal workforce, and that is to make sure that people not just feel like they belong, but feel that they can bring all of who they are in the workplace.

And that's not just you know, heart and head.

That's really about I'm looking after how we're hiring, how we're promoting, how we're providing developmental assignments. I'm looking at who's leaving and are they leaving at the same rate across communities?

Are they looking at different rates?

And then I'm looking after who's coming into Google over the next ten to fifteen years, and what programs do we need to have externally, What does our creator base look like, what does our user base we have over a billion users, what does.

That look like?

And how does that ecosystem all work together to make sure that we're meeting people just as they are where they are in that moment, and have a global team that helps.

Me do that well every day.

Melanie, speaking of some of the impact that you all are making, you all had fight the event recently. During this conference, change makers talk about how important it is to invest in support some of those folks outside. You talked about your rowle inside, but what's your impact on the outside as well?

You know, externally, our goal is to build sustainable equity, not just internally, as you said, Angela, but externally as well. So change Makers allows us to give voice, often to a community that may not have voice. What we typically find when we look at black and brown voices is that you're either hyper visible or you're invisible and in between.

That that's a whole lot of stress.

And so we want to make we want to normalize, like elevating change Makers, and we want people to know they have to feel empowered to have voice. It's when you don't have voice that we have, you know, horrible leadership that we're you know, by being silent, we're actually giving way to change that's not progressive. So that's what change Makers is really all about. So we look to curate spaces and rooms where we can bring people.

Together, Melanie, a lot of them, at least as of late, there's been quite a political attack on diversity inclusion. What it means to have diverse work for is obviously I don't mean for you to tell on your own company, but amongst your group of peers, could you just shine a light for us, let us, let us sit on the floor of y'all's couch. Conversation and share a little bit about what folks who are in that space are feeling experiencing. Are they feeling like the best approach for survivalists to step back in the work and maybe make it more I guess you'd say for everybody and not just for or directed toward a particular group of employees.

So let me start with the incredible work that you know, we have long standing at Google, you know, so we've you know, long been commuted committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, and we're leaders and we're learners, and we do both transparently. We just published our eleventh Diversity Annual Report in the spring, and in the.

Back of that, when we talk about our progress.

Which includes you know, just historic levels of bringing underrepresented communities, which are women, people with disabilities, we look across minority communities as well, but we put that in an appendix. So we have the largest publicly available DEI data set, and we use big Query to open source it, so you're you know, there's no mystery in what our numbers are. You can look at them year over year, and we put it in a very easy format because we want you not just to you know, look at where we lead, but look at where we're learning and the opportunity space.

For all of us. Can I ask you ment, Oh, sir, can I ask you?

You know, we have witnessed this massive pulling back of DEI efforts and here we are at this Congressional Black Hawkice Foundation. You look out here, you see all this cea of beautiful blackness.

But for some.

Reason our blackness is treated as inherently violent and criminal on the outside. So we got this pushed forward in twenty twenty and this severe retraction since then. How have you You've been able personally and professionally a reality because you are.

You're such a leader.

You are always a shiny example even today, like you have this glow that's her all the time.

It's not makeup, y'all, this.

Is literally her.

I want you to talk briefly about how you were able to sustain and in fact grow through that retraction.

Well, you know, I'm not surprised by some of the things that we see, because whenever we have progress, we have people who are looking at how do you get to that progress?

You know?

And so that's what we see.

How I stay focused and how I encourage others look at the data what is your data?

Say Like we're data informed. And one of the things I say is like I exist and my.

Organization exists to close gaps. And how am I going to find those gaps? I'm going to look at the data, so I'm not disheartened by looking to my left or my right. I'm really looking forward and where do I need to continue to like close those gaps, make that progress and.

Really meet people where they are.

And people really need us to continue to create safe spaces to bring them together.

Melody, I'm interrupting for two seconds.

Mama and Papa Rye that staples.

Here at the Congressional to give your ticket Legislative Commerce, and they're looking for their tickets for dinner.

So we will be remains if we did not have Papa Rye come by. Come by and get on the mic. Popa Rye. He wants you. This is what he said.

I just want you to know.

This is what my dad was going to do.

The record.

This way in front of the camera. Come this way, would you leg.

Handle's beautiful mom, Mama, Rai and Papa Rye are here your own cameras.

And you look beautiful.

You look so beautiful, gorgeous we're in the middle of an interview. You're live and we have you, so we wanted to have a cameo from Mama and Papa Rye say hi to everybody.

We can't go back.

That's right, that's right, that's right.

We're gonna want to remind everyone that this is a nonpartisan conference.

We're not going Oh.

I love it. In case anybody wanted to know why I'm so hard headed.

Thank you all so much for being here. It's a pleasure. You're gonna stay on set, okay, perfect.

And father ra we love you. We'll see you inside at the dinner.

I love it.

We had to, you know, she had to get her parents their tickets.

So we have generation of women that live in my house, but one and a half your old granddaughter to my eighty seven year old mother.

This is grandmother, welcome, This is you know, like, what are the rules? Right?

But it's funny you say that because you you know, you look gorgeous, and we have beautiful grandmothers in our community.

Of course.

But I'm always bringing up when Donald Trump said, well, I thought he was talking about Vice President Harris.

I thought she was a lot younger. Turns out she's sixty.

Like he's going to learn a whole lot about how black women show up in this country physically and literally. I want to I've been in and ask a quick policy question if I could, because something that we are well I have a personal interest in is AI, and I'm curious how Google might navigate the changing AI, particularly through the lens of diversity when it comes to black folks. And I know we've got some other guests way to buy so and I know you got to get to the dinner.

So that's a quick question before we let you go.

So really, you know, our goal here is to build sustainable equity. That's the same thing that we want to do with AI, and so you know, we want to move responsibly, and sometimes that means you don't move as fast as you're looking at that responsibly and we're looking particularly when you look at like black community and brown communities and other underrepresented groups.

We know there are two sides to a coin.

One do no harm and the other side of that is leave no community behind. So we've developed a set of AI principles. A part of those principles is ensuring you know the ethical responsibility that we have and some of the work like a lead to HBCU President's Council. And with Howard University, we have our research AI research project with them where they own all the licensing rights, and it's called Project Elevate Black Voices because our own research and external research shows that automatic speech recognition doesn't recognize all the dialect that exists.

In the black culture.

And so Howard is seeking to, you know, with their own student body and our researchers, they are getting first hand experience and how to develop the research that will support the technology recognizing.

The dialect a little bit better. We have a five million dollar grant we put at Spelman.

Doctor Gail will be at our Google table today, so come give her a shout out. But those are the types of things that we're doing on that front. And lastly, I'll say we worked with the Divine Nine, the Links Incorporated, and Dress for Success to really train one hundred thousand black women, but of course our community we've now trained over two hundred.

Thousand black women. We're still going strong.

Delta Sigma Theta has been out in front really you know, embracing and taking this technology like out to the communities that they served.

And so we're really proud of the effort.

You love it.

Thank you so much, you are so grateful to have you enjoy the dinner.

This is my favorite time of the year.

I always tell people my favorite moment is when the members walk across.

That's my favorite too.

And last night I saw representative of Jasmine Crockett and I said, I'm going to be so excited to see you and the other freshman representatives walk across that stage.

Thank you for having me, thank.

You, thank you for partnering with us. It's my twenty fourth CBC. I just thought about that.

Yeah, yeah, there ought to be some sort and next year is gonna be your twenty, so we need to do like a.

Something special for your twenty fifty.

Yeah.

Well, while we're sitting here, you are, we're waving at people. There's some folks coming by above us on either side, and then behind us there are full long lines. We just got had such a great conversation about the importance of DEI, especially when it's under attack, and this woman is standing strong fighting ensure that our voices are in our presence is represented in tech as it continues to evolve and change. We have a few more guests coming and part of what's happening.

One of them are here is here O. We have doctor.

Joining us, doctor hebram Kindy, one of my favorite people. And also Andrew is gonna get next to get to sit next.

So this is the second rattler that we've had on the program already. Nice to see doctor.

Hello this New York Times best selling offer as intellectual luminary. We are so pleased to have you a thought leader here tonight. We see Jamie Harrison up above, chair of the Democratic National Conference.

We love to see.

Jamie Harrison, Eric Alexander Alexander, and.

Congressman Kelly We see you.

You all remember Eric Alexander, Maxine Shaw on Living Singles, Some of you off because of her. She was also closing pan on the Cosby Show. So a beautiful night of luminaries. Indeed, back to you, doctor Kenny, thank you for taking the time.

To be here. I'll let the rattler kick the county.

Appreciate it, appreciate it. Welcome Doc, to see you as always. I saw you.

You had a post trying to help all of us struggle with and and and comprehend the significance of Donald Trump's and the Republican parties repeated mythology. I don't know what the hell to call it, but around the eating of of pets, I want you, if you wouldn't mind just help us sort of see that, I think in a much more grounded and concrete and really important way, because I think it's easy to make jokes and memes without assessing the impact that it may have on the greater greater community.

Well, well, I think it's it's part of a larger project to criminalize black people more broadly, but their specific target obviously we're ra Haitian immigrants yea. And in Springfield, Ohio, you have longtime black residents who are also being sort of demonized and racially profiled, you know, as a result of what they've said about those, you know, people presumably eating pets. And so I just tried to show that when you didn't mean one black group, what ultimately happens is you demean every black group. And I think it's important for us to not think, let's say, if you are not a Haitian immigrant, but you're black, to think, no, that's just them. No, ultimately it's gonna boomerang back to you.

That's real, that's real. We have that a lot in Florida, even I know you know that.

But because of the immigrant community, the expanding Caribbean, Afro Latino, Haitian community, so on and so forth, you will hear at the higher education level folks saying I'm not you know, African American, I'm not black, I'm Haitian, or I'm this, and I think black people do this. You know, American born black folks do do similarly. And I just thought your message was poignant because it started. I always felt that if they're going after Haitians, they don't know the difference largely between any one of us. It's not okay to go after Haitians, period, But certainly when you consider that this is an attack on all of us, that we all have to say something.

And do something about it.

And it's interesting because it just harkens me back to this speech that Malcolm X actually gave I believe it was in nineteen sixty two after police sort of barged into the La Mosque and ended up killing some members of the nation, and he gave this sort of funeral speech. And during that funeral speech, that's when he's well known for saying the most disrespected person in America today is the black woman. But in that speech, he also speaks to black people and says, who taught you to hate yourself? And I'm referencing that because you know, you can ask African Americans.

Well, who taught you to hate Black immigrants?

Who you can ask black immigrants who taught you to hate African Americans? And so what happens is you have different groups of black folks seeing other groups of black folks through the eyes of racist white people.

Yah.

Yeah, I think that's such a legitimate point. How have you found because the last time you were in the news, we were all ready to come to your defense. How have you found navigating this space? Because it does feel like it is such a visceral attack. You know, this kind of racial reckoning that mostly white run newsrooms introduced. What we've actually witnessed is more of a hostile backlash, a swift and hostile backlash to that.

So, in this age of how.

To be an anti racist and you, you know, contributing what you can to society and being I think all of us have been on the receiving end of such visceral attacks. How have you found navigating life personally, professionally, politically, all of it.

I mean, it's difficult, and I think for me it's it's most difficult when I see attacks that those who are obviously trying to conserve racism create and launch, and people that I love sort of repeat those ideas, sort of not knowing it my mind. I think that's when it's sort of most painful. What's ironic even about comparing this to the last question about what's going on with those Haitian immigrants, is you have this sort of viral series of sort of reports with no evidence, like there was no evidence, right, And I think for those of us who've been targeted in the media for doing something where there's no evidence because apparently, like our skin color is evidence enough, I mean, it becomes hard like can you, like, can you present some portion of evidence to substantiate this claim.

That's sort of.

More or less delegitimizing our work, our work as a scholar, our work as an elected official, I work you know, as you know, as a common and for typically black people, you don't need evidence. And I think that's what's incredibly painful for black people who are in the public life.

Yeah, you know, era, first of all, I just want to tell you thank you, because no matter what, anytime that I've caught on you, you've been there. And I wanted to start there because I think that that is an essential component and essential ingred ingredient for community. And I'd love to know in this era that we're in right now, given the quality of the work you do, the significance of the work you do, what our community can do to really come together to not only support you, to support each other in our collective advancement and liberation.

I really think we we have to, I think to support sort of my work or even others, I think we have to be more results oriented, and I think we have to be more sort of evidence based. Going back to what I was just you know, talking about, and I'm saying that to say, even in my book How to Be an Anti Racist, I ended up defining an activists as someone with a record of power and policy change. So so a person can't just say one day I'm an activist. Yeah, right, you know, what is your record? What organizations have you have you built? What institutions uh you know, have you have you created? What campaigns have you launched to you know, reduce levels of housing insecurity, you know, in your community. And I think we have to be more outcome oriented, more results oriented, because especially in a moment in which those who are trying to conserve racism are so intent focused.

Yeah, we have to be outcome focused.

And I think there's a lot of symbolism, right and even when we when it comes to the presidency, we you know, have seen the election of President Barack Obama and looking at that through the lens of policy, you know, we can judge his presidency. I think at this point we are for a lot of younger people. President Obama was the floor, not the ceiling, and so now younger people have a lot more demands of our leaders. We're beyond the role of symbolism. So I think that's so true. What is your prediction for what may happen in November and what this landscape might look like in this country, you know, because when he was elected, it was like, oh, we're post racial now, which we all kind of laughed at that ridiculous notion of that. What might we see what might await us under a president Kamala Harris.

Well, it's interesting because many people have talked about the importance obviously of this election, and you know, as an historian, let me just say I can attest to that I can't think of this election in twenty twenty four, particularly for black folks, without thinking of the election of eighteen sixty four. And this was an election between a candidate who more or less planned to end the Civil War and pretty much re enslaved black people, you know, in a candidate that presumed that he was going to continue the Civil War. I mean, it really is that stark, particularly when you look at the candidacy of Donald Trump and what he has planned, particularly for black folks, and so I don't I think it's important for us to understand those stakes, especially when you look at some of the candidates who are sort of allying with Trump internationally, when you look at what they've done when they've gotten a second term or when they've gotten a second presidency. This is this is a critical moment in the history of black life in this country and really in the history of the United States.

I just I just want to take that you're going to know that they're three rattlers.

I was just getting ready to say there are now three rattlers on the stage, and there was already a fourth one.

Roywood Junior has already left us.

Andrews gonna be completely hood and go ahead and do the selfie in the middle of the show.

They're not like us. That's so rude.

It is rude.

Anyway.

Let me just take this moment to announce and welcome our dear brother Vince Evans, who is the Congressional Black Caucus.

Executive Director, and he is looking rather dapa. Bring the mike close to that's so much better.

I waited a long time to get to this table.

Man, get out of here.

He didn't come to DNC, you know, dang well, we told this come.

This is a big week for Vince, not just because of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's annual legislative Conference, but.

Also and Ebrim.

It's perfect that you're here because the Congressional Black Caucus just released a report and a report card on diversity the inclusion efforts in the corporate space. So talk a little bit about that, Vince, and why you are so focused on that word.

It's a good question, Dee and I.

When they try to roll it back and attack d and I, they are attacking you and I, as y'all know, ten months produced a report got Corporate America more than the third of Corporate America.

To respond, first ever report of its kind.

And what we found is this diversity, echoity, inclusion is a good business imperative. That's what Corporate America says. Most of them are still committed to it. The realities they are they are getting attacked because people can't get lass through the Congress. They are going to the courts to get the bad lass pass that they want. So the CBC is doing two front here, right, defensive work, holding holding those accountable who are taking away the tools of economic opportunity. We've heard the Vice President in recent days talk about an economic opportunity that she will advance around housing, work and wages when she is elected next president of the United States. And then we're doing the offensive work, which is to make certain that we close America's.

Racial wealth gap.

So that report released this week begins to serve as a grounding, if you will, in a resource for all of those out there who say they care about these issues.

So we're gonna hold you.

Accountabiliyes, love that, and a guide post, right, I mean for those who unfortunately we live it well, you lived in a state with a governor who is taken to the university system.

Yep, I mean Abram and Counada.

He hit me first, then he came for you, you and your books and trying to pull resources that tell the true history of black the black experience in America to kids.

They don't want any of that.

I'm curious how it is that we get our political space back realigned to such a way that the floor isn't so damn low, right. I mean we're sceptterranean now when we say benchmarks against one another, even in our own you know, in the state of Florida, you're comparing folks who generally don't want us in the same building, the same space, the same room, and then others who say, if you're gonna be there, it won't be through any support the.

Illusion of inclusion.

Right, that's what it is, right, Yea.

Look, I think I was listening earlier today. I was a black sheep. The choice of yours came on the radio. You can get with this, you can get with that. Yeah, this November fifty two days. I think we got fifty two days in a wake up. You can either get with this, which is about protecting our rights not rolling them back. As y'all know, I'm preaching to the choir, but the acquired needs a tune up every now and then, right making certain that we do not allow d and I roll back, making certain that we finally get the John R.

Lewis Voting Rights Act past.

Doing all the things that we know are our north stars as black people, black people, let's say black yes in America, or you can get with this over here on that which is all the attacks, all the things you just said, all the books that are being rolled back you cannot read, or Amanda Gorman's poem in the State of Florida.

So we got a lot of work to do.

You know that.

I don't know that we haven't answer yet about how we raise the ceiling over time, but we got to win something you cannot.

You cannot govern if you do not win. As you used to say.

It's told me before he got on he had to go. Ebram squeezed us. And we love y'all. We appreciate you for being here.

Thank you, We love y'all so much.

Do you want to say a rattler something or something and while there, thank you guys so much for being here. While they're leaving. We are welcoming up Congresswoman Evat Clark. She is the incoming chair for the Congressional Black CAUCUSSE. She's been in congressional leadership a long time, Chris, and she is extraordinary.

We first met while she was on.

The Homeland Security Committee as a freshman, and watching her rise has been my greatest privilege and honor. Congress with Mclark, thank you so much for being here with us today.

I want to add that she's one of the most fashionable members Congress as well. Has always been super fly and a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated. And on a personal note of privilege, you have always been so supportive of me, so I want to thank you publicly for that.

So we love you and happy welcome.

Home, Welcome, wonderful. It's such an honor to be with you. And I do want to make a correction. I am the first vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and I'm seeking the support of my colleagues will message of the Congressional Black Caucus.

But you know you put it well, here's what I know, Here's what I know, And I want to say this to you. Of course, that race is not partisan, and also we're in the clear here. What I want to say to you to your face, Miss Clark, is as long as I worked on the hill and even after, I know how long you've served diligently, how much you love your colleagues, how much you love the culture, how much you love your constituents, how much you adore our community. And so I am confident that you will be the next share of the Congressional Black Caucus.

And I know I've seen your service, you know firsthand.

And I loved laboring with you because you made everything fun and we still worked hard, but you always kept a smile on your face.

And I'm grateful for that and for your sisterhood too.

Thank you so much, my sister, Andrew. It's such a pleasure. It's good to be with you.

I was going to tell you.

I told Congress went mixing waters when we were together at the DNC. How growing up in Florida, in Gainesville, how I didn't know my member of Congress and there was a white male at the time, and how because of her advocacy, I always felt like she was my member of Congress. You're the next member of Congress who really puts puts it in the mold of I don't have to be a New York resident in your district to know that you're out there fighting for us, and so I know our listeners feel that way. I know I personally feel that way, and I just I'm thankful for your leadership and high time that a voice like yours helms again the CBC.

I want thank you, Thank you all so very much. I appreciate it, and I love my people. At the baseline, it starts with the love of your people, and you will go, you know, through the fire, yeah, to make sure that they are safe, they are protected, they are thriving. That's real in this society.

You do that every day. I want to ask you.

You know, we're talking about this election in less partisan ways because you know, we want to protect the five o' one C three status of the Foundation absolutely, But one thing I wanted to raise is there are a lot of concerns of impacting our community specifically going into this election. And we're not talking about who to go for necessarily right now, but I think we all want to preserve democracy. There are a lot of threats at stake, and you, for a long time. Cybersecurity has been your bread and butter, you know that space. What are you more concerned about for black folks going into this election?

Cite absolutely. I'm concerned that our extreme, you know, devotion to social media puts us in a place where misinformation and disinformation can can permeate our thoughts and so oftentimes what we're seeing is not accurate, their deep fakes. You technology used to deceive, intentionally deceive people. That can be visual and it can be audio as well, And this will be the first election where this technology is that the fingertips of the average everyday American not to mention foreign advisory. And so I'm just concerned, given the tone and tenor of this particular election cycle, some would call it desperation, others would call it overly ambitious, that there will be those types of disruptions to our election. And it doesn't have to be information regarding candidates. It could be your polling side is close.

Right righte the date of the election.

And it's interesting you bring that up because it shows how powerful we are as a people in this country, first, but second as a voting block, because we are disproportionately targeted by misinformation and disinformation, I would argue perhaps second only to the Lasino community, and a lot of these outlets don't have native Spanish speakers to help dispute some of the disinformation. So we want to encourage our viewers out there share responsibly, consume information responsibly. What are some things that you would encourage people to do, like how you know, how how do they make sure that they're not consuming misinformation and disinformation?

And what role is the Congressional black costice And you take the same device provide that's the opportunity to fact check. Yes, right, So don't just receive content and not then do some a little due diligence around it, because if it doesn't sound right, it probably isn't right right. And oftentimes we know that the information we receive can be flawed and we don't want to inadvertently participate in the spread of that. And that's what generitive AI can do in the blink of an eye. So I want to encourage our folks to use that same device. When you receive something on social media to investigate, you do your own fact checking.

Yeah, have you considered, I know you've got to bounce. I'm so sorry.

Have you considered the feeling what the work becomes if you are negotiating as CBC chair with a black woman president who's overly qualified, and all the other good stuff. But I just I don't want us to sit in a moment that we're not at yet. But I would love to hear your pre thought.

I'm extraordinarily excited about, first of all, what the Biden Harris administration has already done. They've made monumental investments, and the CBC has been a major part of negotiating those investments, knowing that the need for those investments to hit our communities is paramount, and that we're turning the page. We are already turning the page. The question is will we go back, Will all of those investments be dismantled? And we say no, it won't. We say not on our watch, and just knowing that this, I want to say, sister, is a new generation. Both of us were born in the same year. I won't go into those details, but you can google it, use your Google machine. We were birth born as beneficiaries of the civil rights movement. We were not you know, the young people that march or the young people that were host We were the beneficiaries, and that meant that, you know, the world was our oyster because our ancestors truly did what needed to be doe to get to be done in order to advance our communities. We now have someone with that frame.

To move us forward.

And certainly among CBC members, we've got a intergenerational body and that is a unique blend in this century. We are, I believe, at the precipice of manifesting a whole new paradigm of a civil society. It already exists. They are those who are in denial about the existence. But as a result of what our ancestors that we probably have the most educated Black community in the generation. That's not to say that there is major work that has to be telling me because we got to raise the bar and I think that's where the fear that we are experiencing that has been weaponized against us is coming from. So stay tuned, and I just.

Want to let you know because I know you've got to get to the dinner.

But the comments on our YouTube live, everyone is commenting about your glasses and your nails.

I told y'all she the most fashionable. So thank you so much.

Much.

Continued success, you can't wait to have you back in all your capacities.

I love you.

I am so excited about the guests and I angel and I'm excited because I see some people waiting in the wing. Yes, and I'm so excited to talk to these ladies.

We have some.

Superstars that are coming up to join us right now.

Some of y'all are sadly, really narrow minded about one of these ladies' contributions to not only the discourse but to the political ecosystem. She is representing our interests all day long in committee hearing after committee hearing, and markup after markup. She is on the House floor making sure that our positions are heard, that we are represented fully. And she even gets on Twitter and breaks down what's really going on or what should be going on, because it's not going on. I'm not gonna get two partisan up in here, because, like I said, we are at the CBC Foundation and your legislative conference. But we are joined by Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and there's another superstar. They tell you they are a gift and they are dressed by Christmas.

Okay, so here we go.

This wasn't even planned, but we are joined by District Attorney Fulton County District Attorney Fannie Willis, who's also here with us tonight.

So Jason, find welcome. We are so happy to have you both. We got a town down and eightstown down.

I'm sorry, look at me, Deawn. Yeah, yes, we're excited. Lady Jasmine, it's like you might be a three timer on this show. You research.

We love having you.

Youwers love having you.

I'm at home, so here we absolutely I want to because Jasmine's been here before us. I do want to start off with Madame District Attorney Fannie Willis.

We were lock glued. We were so like such a just cheering for you.

So before I ask you anything, I just want to say thank you, yes for standing on the front lines of democracy.

I do want to let you know that I have stolen your quote.

No matter what the situation is, if I'm running late for a flight, I always say, no, you're confused.

You think I'm the one running for it.

But y'all are confused because these are people trying to make me miss my flight. Of course, I'm taking that from her when she said, you're confused, you think.

I'm on trial.

These people are on trial. I'm trying to steal an election. So thank you for your work. How he are you doing personally and professionally.

I'm excellent. I am actually at the happiest time in my life. I think people would find that surprising, but I am living my dream. There's nothing more than I want to be than the District Attorney of Fulton County, Georgia.

Fulton County is my home.

The work is important.

It is important that we have people that really represent the values of the community and understand that everyone in a community gets to be safe. So I'm happy there. I have two beautiful daughters. They're just getting to that age where their.

Brain works twenty five and.

Accuracy, an accurate statement. I've been raising these beautiful daughters, and so I know that to be true. I'm gonna be a grandmother. My personal life is good, and so I am excellent. No matter how hard they come from me, they mad because I'm.

Doing good over here.

Congratulations coming to grandmother.

Amazing.

They try to throw us off our game all the time, but try as they might, it don't work. You of all people know that Congresswoman Crockett, I love this dress that you're wearing.

Tonight, by the way, so listen, I think it's it's so great.

First of all, I love Fani for so many different reasons, but as someone who's always been more so in the public defender side of things, I can tell you that I've always appreciated a good prosecutor, right yeah, Because.

Here's the deal. Some people make mistakes.

Some people are simply, you know, dealing with circumstances of life and end up in some kind of circumstances. But having a prosecutor that sees people as just that people is really important. And as we are going through this election, all I can think about is that there is a prosecutor in the race, right But one of the things that it's really difficult to get people to do is to see and value her as someone who's literally just always stood for the people.

Because that's what Fani does.

Her job isn't to go after a certain person or a certain type of person, is to look to see if someone has broken the law, and to stand for the people of full ten County. And so I am so appreciative for all of the prosecutors that actually do their job, which is to.

Seek justice and not convictions.

And so we need to make sure that we're continually educating our community.

About what a prosecutor is supposed to look like.

It's supposed to seek out justice, and sometimes situations just aren't just. But as they are standing in the gap, they are the highest law enforcement agent in those counties, and so it is important that you have someone that does not misuse or abuse that power, but instead harnesses that power and make sure that they are standing for the community. And so I'm just excited that I get to sit next to her and we get to bring Christmas early.

I have one question for you. It's something I think about all the time. In law school.

When they came to recruit district attorneys, prosecutors will come to coircuit.

I was like, I can't do that.

That's where my people ended up going. What was the thing for you that was like, this is exactly where I need to be. What was the thing that clicked for you? So that's really interesting. If you know my history, I was actually raised by a defense attorney. My father practiced criminal defense. As a child, I was dragged at courtrooms.

By the way. You know, I told you yesterday, Yes, your daddy and my daddy could be friends.

Meet, and so I always wanted to be a defense attorney, right, I wanted to be like my father. What happened was I was actually young, married, had two young children, and I was like, let me go see about being a prosecutor. And what I have learned is and it is not that I am better than any defense attorney. It is that I am in position. And so I tell people all the time, I have probably been able to help more people charged with crimes than any individual defense attorney because I sit in the seat where we made those decisions, and.

So I'm able to have an office.

When I took my office, literally the police would facts over a statement and an indictment would be brought. I have changed the policy in my office that you're not ever able to bring an indictment until you do an investigation. And you would be surprised at the percentage of people that never get charged because we are doing what is just by them. We also started a diversion program that sometimes they did do it, but it's their first defense. They were young, it was a mistake. We can make the victim whole and we can restore them. And so I am looking at the people charged with crimes as human beings. Another thing is I take a huge part of my budget and I put it into the school system because, as I tell people often, I want to see the children that look like me and don't look like me, but have opportunity ahead of them in the classroom and not in the courtroom. And so it is so important that as people listen to your program, that they don't go in on November fifth and just vote at the top of the ballot. They need to vot and those local elections that are going to touch them, their mothers, their grandmothers, their nephews, their uncles. And I can tell you that a prosecutor is one of the things that touches too many people's lives. And you need to make sure that you have someone sitting in that seat that cares about you, involves you you, and doesn't think that you are just someone that should be thrown away based on the way you look, or who you love, or the zip code or area code.

That you live in.

I preach, preach, preach past the basket, come out of the local tradition. So I feel that while this question is directed that you, finally, I'm hoping, Jasmine, you would weigh in here, which is while you are doing great, which I'm loving you and your life professionally and personally, the Republicans in your state are pretty obsessed with you and so being are attempting to level the power of your office, which will have impact on every black next prosecutor who follows you, and so on and so forth.

And I know you've been at the epicenter, you know, taking the arrows as well.

What can we got a lot of listeners from Georgia, a lot from Atlanta and the surrounding area. What can black lawyers be doing in Georgia to not just I don't want to put it on you, but we know what's powering a lot of this movement. But what can they do to help protect you the office, the ability for folks like you who want to come next to not feel so bowed by the attacks against you that it's not a choice that they make.

What does that look like? And the reason why I pointed at you as well, Jasmine, is.

Because you're a lawyer yourself. Some may be afraid of what that thing is that they may have to do to stand in protection. And I'd love for you to speak to that.

Well, well, I will start.

I think that one thing that lawyers all over the country can do is they can let these senators because I live renfree in Republicans locally and nationally, I'm there, I got the mortgage paid up. As a result of that, I am the target many many times. But what they don't understand is I take my craft very seriously, and we dot our eyes and we cross our t's and we make sure that we operate ethically. And that is a very frightening proposition. People want to get up, they want to do good work, they want to make their money, and they want to be left alone. And so I understand people not wanting to live really excuse me the hell that I have lived where I can't live in my home but I had to pay the mortgage today anyway, or where I am threatened constantly. I understand someone not wanting to live like that, But at some point you have to make a decision what is your life for what does it mean? And for me personally, I want to make sure that it's a life of service. You know, we're only here for a very limited number of days, and the only thing that's really going to matter is how did you help other human beings, and so I think that it's worth it. And I think that us as young African Americans, although I'm in my fifties, I'm gonna still Clay.

Take that young title.

I think that it's important that we recognize all the shoulders that we stand on of black people, of white people.

Of Jewish people.

It was a movement that took us to resting, and we are living in a time where they want to take history out of our books, have us forget it and not remember all the legacy that we stand on.

And I know the legacy that.

I stand on.

I've already read the books.

Come all right, And so I plan to do the work.

And I think that lawyers need to demand that the senators that who want to attack and do things wrongly, that they know that we're not going to allow it, and that they stand next to me.

And not calur.

Come on, that's it.

Any dark you're gonna say, any party words for you a congressman, I know you guys have to go to the dinner.

I was literally gonna basically echo those sentiments. Besides like paying amensh ancestors who literally pave the way for us to have the opportunities. I do think it's important that as a village we stand together. It's kind of like the kid that goes to the playground. If you go to the playground and they think you ain't got no cousins and no sisters and brothers, then.

They will jump you.

But if they see that you have an entire coalition standing with you, then they are afraid of you. And so what we need to do is we need to lets our power. We didn't get through or to law school by ourselves. There were those that made sacrifices. Some lost their lives plenty bled and some literally just went to jail so that we could have the opportunities. So I do think that at some point in time, you have to say, what am I going to do with this privilege that has been granted upon me. And so even if you don't want to be on the front lines, because I get it, if you don't want to necessarily be the ones that takes all the bullets, make sure that you are standing there with us. Make sure that you are providing some armor, and make sure that she's not having to spend all her dag on campaign money hiring lawyers out the Wazu, and half of them may not even have her back. They just good for her so long as she keeps paying them a check. Sometimes you have to decide. My sacrifice may not be that I'm gonna run for office, but I'm gonna make the sacrifice and support those that are running for office.

And so that's what I would implore them to do.

But we have our margin orders and it's Kyle County girl. A love that that Fulham County girl. Thank you guys so much. Queen Queens. Yes, thank you for having me.

Thank you. You know what's interesting all of us, these ladies andrew all of us, we have all been attacked publicly by them.

They not like us, and they don't like us.

Well, thank God for this particular conference which has been called from Vision to Victory. We are so fortunate to be joined now by Congressman Troy Carter, who is an Annual Legislative Conference co chair. He is representing New Orleans. And we also are being joined by Congresswoman Joyce Batty, who is a CBC Foundation board member. And we also see present the extraordinary, extraordinarily brilliant.

And beautiful summer Ly, Congresswoman Summerly you.

We might as well get y'all all up, because y'all come to go line up to march across that.

Stage in just a moment.

How congresome and baby, she didn't walk, she floated, She did floated, She elegantly floated into con seats.

I want to shout out my friends Quentin and Stephanie Brown who are here also. We're gonna get them on all the members, y'all because they gotta go, They gotta go line up.

Look at you look beautiful, beautiful and handsome and handsome.

So happy to have you guys here.

So from vision to victory. We are the last day of the conference. How do you think we've done? Are we closer to the victory? And this is a non partisan question, to be very.

We're absolutely closer.

To the victory.

Get closer to the mic.

We're absolutely closer to the victory. When you look at the excitement, the energy, the commitment, people see the opportunity to save our democracy. And I think while this has been a great opportunity to come together party with a purpose. While we're having a good time, we're also talking about significant policy. We're talking about making sure that the antidote to Trump twenty twenty five is November fifth, twenty twenty four.

Vote.

I want to come to you, miss baby, and I also want to defer to my colleagues. But I wanted to start here because I heard someone say to.

Me the other day. They were like, there's a member of Congress.

She got this short PIXI cut and she had sharp and she gave us our marchant orders at Black Women's Agenda.

So I know you can tear the house now. So what you got for us, I know you got something to say.

And by the way, we would not be here at this conference without the advocacy, the fierce advocacy a Congressman Joyce.

Baty, and she does it for the people every single day.

So thank you, no, thank you all for doing this. And I certainly agree with Congressman Troy Carter. And let me just say, we are closer because we have a platform. We are closer because we have a candidate fat not partisan. When you think about we're here for or CBCFLC. We took fifty percent of little Black babies out of poverty. We put thirty five dollars cap on insulin for our seniors and others. We put sixty five billion dollars into HBCUs and I'm a HBCU SEU graduate.

And if that's not good enough, let's talk about.

Loan forgiveness one hundred and sixty seven billion dollars for some sixty four million people.

So we have a platform.

Economy is better fifteen million jobs inflation. Now, if you look at the plan of the two different visions, I certainly want to be on the sister's vision. And so I'm just saying kkk. You know what we usually think about when we hear that, Well, I'm gonna give it a DEI name on King's Day, Katanji Jackson.

Brown's gonna square in kam La Harris.

That's my kkkk ok.

Yeah, come because I got a black job, My black job twenty twenty five.

As Troy said, it's bad.

It dismantles everything that we believe in in our values. So I'm gonna call it twenty twenty four vote. I just need everybody to vote. But let's not get over excited. Let's not think the job is done, because we are a long way from it until we get to election day. So I just want everybody to take the energy and double it for the next fifty some days, and then I'll be really happy to say I love that.

Congress Woman Lee, thank you so much for joining us.

I love the margin orders we just got from Congressman Baby Joe Taka Edie who I'm sure you guys know her, one of my dearest friends. Yes, we love Joe Taka and her work around one with black women. She addressed the conference this week, and one point that she made here in DC inauguration weekend, there is no accommodation. Hotels are sold out. That is how confident people are about this election. And so I hear your caution Joe Taka's marching orders. Where if you have a hotel room books here, but you ain't registered nobody to vote, there you go, then you ain't been doing your job. So, Congressoman Lee, I'm curious what you would say to people out there who are rightfully celebratory of this moment, after what we've been through as a people and as a country.

What are your marching orders to our audience watching right now?

Yeah, so listen, I'm in Pennsylvania, So I always take excitement. I take joy that I see especially in these places right because when we gather, we bring this sort of energy. But when we go home, we forget sometimes that we're going back to people who are in these circles. Yeah right, they're not getting dressed up tonight. They haven't been able to hear all the inspiration from these panels. They haven't absorbed all the black excellence that we've been absorbing. So we got to go back to the states just like mine, to western Pennsylvania, and we actually have to talk to people who are not.

As tuned in as we are.

And that's not as easy.

And it's okay to admit that when we talk about what Solar Baby said that we have a plan, we have to take it. That's our responsibility. We have to go on doors and we have to let folks know what's that stake and what we can do to address that. We have to let people know that hope isn't something that is just a word, but we have a belief in each other and ourselves, and when we step up for ourselves, we can get those things done. But you know, that is translating all of this into some actual action. We always get folks who say they want to you know, they'll go to the rallies, and I love rallies, y'all. I do there's a lot of energy out these rallies, But the reality is is that the people who we need are not the rally We need to go and get black folks on college campuses. We got to go and get young folks who are reasonably concerned about a lot of stuff. We need to take that concern and we need to help connect them into the system. We need to plug them in, and we got to be patient with them. So I'm seeing this and I think that this is a really good foundation, but we know in these fifty something days, we got work to do.

Steel Yeah, I think that's so.

It's kind of like an analogy for the kids who show up to the guidance counselor's office because they want to go to college. Those are not the kids who are in the most need. It's the kids who are not participating. So I love that you made that point.

I think that's a poignant So I don't want to be a Donald downer, but I do want to say a lot of people elect people to public office and then they start to criticize those individuals basically saying, well, they didn't get done.

What it is that they said they would do.

I often try to remind folks, look, we came here under ball and chain had to endure, you know, four hundred years of servit to before even being legal, then having that taken away before then we're still seeing laws that are passed that bring us into our full existence. What does Kamala Harris in addition to folks going out and voting and organizing for her, what companionship does she need in order to facilitate the movement of an agenda that makes life different for people in the streets.

She needs an a Keen Jeffries to be Speaker of the House. We need to have.

A full complement of democratic senators in the majority in the US Senate. We need a patient community, a faith based community, an academia, nonprofit and business to recognize that the alternative is no democracy. The alternative is a reversal of people's rights. The alternative is a total ignoring of the Constitution and the rights that we have.

We cannot go backwards.

And so when you think about where we are, we have a vice president who was a district attorney, an attorney general, a United States Senator, and now the vice president soon to be president. Of the United States, the most consequential candidate to have ever served as vice president, and no one has had as much experience as she does bringing to the over It's ridiculous that people will suggest otherwise everyone should stand and defend and just call balls and strikes. The facts bear out Kamala Harris clearly has the requisite skill sets, temperament, and abilities what we have to do as a people. As Jesse Jackson said in nineteen eighty eight, you can't.

Helpe me in.

You have to vote for me in.

So we've got to remind people that for the next fifty one fifty two fifty three days, we got to hump. We got to just as as severally just said, we can't depend on the circles that we're in.

We're the choir preaching to the choir.

We've got to go out and the to the communities, into the barbershops, the beauty shops, into the nightclubs and the sororities and fraternities, and we've got to tell people, yes, your vote does matter, and we can't afford to think we've got this thing one so we can celebrate.

No, No, it's going to be close.

And in order to make sure that we can defend what will happen on election day. We have to make sure it is a solid victory.

You know.

I want to flag for you all.

Of course, the Congressional Black Caucus is known as the conscience of the Congress, and with the three of you all sitting here, you all have divergent politics. Your politics aren't all the way aligned. And what I love about this.

Is people get to see themselves reflected in each of you.

And as the caucus continues to grow, we see from how you vote, from the way you negotiate.

From what you say in committee, the differences.

There was one moment yesterday that I wanted to mention at the top of the show, and I forgot until now. But this conference is always a convening for people of divergent opinions and perspectives to share.

In forums, people get up and ask questions, sometimes want a debate with y'all. But there was this really harrowing moment last night.

I was walking out of the Salamander and there was a protest, and the protest was for Justin Johnson, who was killed at a McDonald's in DC, shot ten times. And I was so troubled that it was at a black hotel for our black members. And of course I was walking with Papa Rye and my.

Dad looks at me and he says, this is where they knew they could be heard.

And so I know that Justin Johnson and so many others, Breonna Taylor and mott Arbury have been at the top of you all's minds and you've legislated for them. But I just want to say thank you for facilitating the space for the protesters, for Justin Johnson, for the protesters against the Israel Hamas war, for the protesters to ensure that black lives matter. So for facilitating this space. I just want to say thank you, and I want to honor you all for being here.

Thank you so much.

Do we realize that now, I'll say this, and I think we'd all agree, we realize our diversity. Sometimes people think when you say Congressional Black Caucus that we're all.

Alike, and we are not.

And that's what we value and appreciate because that is our strength.

But it's even better when you put it all together.

That's the power is.

We can make anything happen, as we did with the infrastructure bills, or we can stop anything from happening.

As we did that, we got both parts.

That we wanted.

We wanted to make sure that the services were going to be voted on and signed, and so we did it all because of our unity and our power. Yeah, and if I could add to that, just even with what brother Carter was just talking about. When we think about what we are really needing to do right now, it is how do we invest in the coalitions of the future to see me. You know, I'm a black girl from Lamond Valley of Pittsborg outside of Pittsburgh, right, I'm a progressive and a lot of people for a long time, you know, we're told that you couldn't be black and progressive, And I actually don't always agree that we differ in so many ways. I think that sometimes our politics difference and our policies, our goals are similar. We're trying to figure out what is the best way to get there, recognizing that we're working through systems where there are no clear answers. So when we talk about how do we invite in these folks who have been disenfranchised, who maybe or are feel a little disaffected, how do we make room for them? How do we welcome them, and when they see me in the place like that, they see that that's possible. They see that you know what, even if I don't come you know, speaking the same language, I don't come with the same background, I don't come from the same socio economic status, that my blackness still qualifies.

Me to be in Congress.

That my perspective, my experiences qualifies me to have an opinion, and that opinion deserves to be represented in every hall of power. That's what this is about. And right now, when we think about what we need to do in these next forty something days, we need to figure out how do we remind and keep our democratic coalition together.

How do we remind people that even the.

Democratic coalitions of the past aren't going to be sufficient right now. What we know, what Republicans know, and what we need to know, is that that coalition of black folks, of brown folks, of young folks, of progressives, of moderates, of people who are urban and rural and suburban, coming together right now is what's going to keep us afloat, to keep democracy alive.

Well, we need to pull that together.

You need to go back and tell them when they say you can't be progressive and democrat, that they don't know our history. If you don't think Shirley Chisholm progress, if you don't think John Lewis was gray.

If you don't think Charlie Rango was and all of them.

If you don't think Maxine Waters and Jim Clive right not progressive.

So we have to make sure we keep our history.

They do that to try to pit us against us when a younger generation comes in and says progressive and black lives matter, Well, see, I'm from the generation before we was raising our fists.

And seeing black power with Jesse Jackson in the eighties.

So I just want to lose it now, and that's what I want to ask.

Lady said, I have receipts, and on type of received, y'all also have time. We have the chairwoman Terry Sewell of the Congressional Black Hawks Foundation, who's here, and Nicole Austin, Hillary who is the president, who are going to join us, and I know y'all got to get ready to go meet your president.

Thank you for letting me be.

Thank you both, Carter, Congresswoman Baby Kate Summerlee.

We are so grateful for your participation today.

I'm so excited to be joining friend Car with Stephen Quintin, and we want.

You guys to stay tuned because some amazing work with And all right, Madam President, please join this woman Terry Sewell, you all will know her.

She's leading a lot of the voting rights work because she is representing Alabama. We just shared the stage the other day, so I'm so happy to have you join us. And every time I see you you get more beautiful.

I saw we were on stage the other day.

Yeah, this beautiful, elegant dress on and tonight you both look so gorgeous.

Just want that.

Said.

I want to back just so you all know you talked about voting rights, Tiff. I think it's really important for folks to know. Too many of us met Nicole and her voting rights advocacy work, and we are so grateful for your service and then bringing that here from vision to victory this week and in so many other ways to support our wonderful members.

My CBC family, how are you all doing? Are you great? You almost made it through. This is the final act. Congressman. We wanted to make Mike absolutely well.

You know, I'm honored to chair the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, but I'm equally honored to chair the CBC's Voting Rights brain Trust.

Tiffany, thank you.

You were awesome on that.

And I think that what we talked about was strategizing, mobilizing, empowering Black voters to get to the polls in fifty days. It's really really important. So I can't thank you enough for being a participant in this. And I also just really want to thank Nicole as the president and CEO of foundation and it's amazing staff for putting on such a great conference. This is our fifty third annual legislative conference and it's at a pivotal moment in American history as we all know.

Yes, I just want to shout out your colleague, Congressman Lucy McBeth.

Just walk past so we see congress woman and thank you for your work that you leave. You know, she's a coach chair.

Yes sorry, Yes, the coldair of this year, and I would love to hear from Nicole because a lot of people come.

We might do a mini pod on this.

We talked about doing a mini pod on the best Black conferences or around the country, but a lot of people come to Washington d C this time every year, and it's definitely a lot of parties and a lot of fraternizing, but there's a lot of work that happens here. So if you can tell the viewers at home, if you come to party, that's fine, But we want.

To arm you with things with.

A purpose. And what is the purpose of this week's conference.

What are the tangible results that you want to see when people get back on their flights home to Alabama or Tallahassee or LA or Seattle, wherever they're going.

What do people take away when they leave.

First of all, thank you for having this conversation in this space.

I want to go back to our theme for this year, from Vision to Victory, amplifying Black voices.

That's what this is about.

This is ostensibly the nation's largest black public policy conference. It brings together people from everywhere. We break down barriers. It doesn't matter who you are, what your rank, file title is. We want everyone here and it is about talking about the issues that are most salient to the black community, figuring out solutions, and then taking that back out into the community.

That's what this is for.

And the parties and the receptions are all a part of it too, because that's our culture. Our culture is what sustains us while we do that work. So they are inextricably linked. So we want them to go hand in hand. But make no mistake about it. We are here to problem solve and to arm the community so that they can be empowered and strengthened.

And you know that's exactly what we did in the brain Trust people. They had to have a voting plan. You got to know where your polling station is. You need to know exactly the precinct captains all that good stuff, and you need to bring a neighbor or friend to the war with I.

Think arride with five. You got five friends, five other people.

Folks right all the time and say, well it's such and such endorsing, it's such and such, gonna get behind Kennedy that I say the if they do, great, But the truth is is that the most important contact that voter will have or potential voter is gonna be with you.

The person they know, the one that they trust, the word that is bond to them is.

Gonna be you.

And so no wait for celebrity X, Y and Z to show up. You go out and you do what you have to do.

But in spite and like is saying that I am curious, how concerned are we with our folks's ability to have their votes one to make it through, we got citizen armies that are being formed around the country that folks have to be concerned.

We also have election protection being armed.

You know.

Defence Fund.

They have an eight hundred number toll free number that you can call it you feel like your voting rights are being denied. So with every punch that they make, we have a CounterPunch. We just got to make sure that our voting population knows what that counter punch is exactly.

That's what it's about. It's about information. That's how we make sure our communities are armed. Look, I will tell you we do research at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, and we do research around voting rights. People just want to have the information because they say when they have it, they can get it out to the communities.

And I will tell you.

When people know it, and REPSOL knows this, when people feel as though their voting rights are being suppressed, that makes them even more zealous and they want to get out and do something. So as long as we give them the tools that they need they're going to get out.

Yeah, well we don't necessarare it. That's for sure.

We're here for quite a historic night.

We know that the President will be addressing this wonderful body the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations Phoenix Awards Dinner, and we'll be joined by Madame Vice President Kamala Harris.

So thank you, we will be joined. How are you breaking news?

I'm asking, Well, we don't know, and so we can pronounce it right over here exactly. But they actually have it do They have to be upstairs so they don't get in trouble secret service. So Madame President and Madame Chair, we thank you all so much for joining Native.

Lamp Us alc Fife's.

Thank you.

You don't know.

She might be watching. It might be and you can just do that way. Wait, I gotta go stay. What's up the Native lampid, Well, let me tell you who.

We definitely have to say what's up to right the second because my dear friends, our dear friends have been waiting patient for a long time to ensure that they could get up here to talk about the extraordinary work and mission of the collective Collective pack. We have Stephanie Brown, James and her lovely husband. Y'all are looking round their Dappa went to James, so thank you all so much.

Oh yeah, looking goodly, loving us.

We are thrilled that y'all are here, so talk to us about what's going on. So just so you know, this is the Foundation Daniel Legislative Conference. Andrew in particulars following no rules about a five.

Oh one C three.

So if you talk about it in your personal capacity, I think you have a pass. Can I just really quickly to sing your praises because I want the viewers to know who you are when we talk about, yes, contributing to politics, there are a lot of ways. In the same way that you don't have to run for office, there are other ways that you can support and fundraising is such a key piece of that.

The donor class is largely white and male. They get to determine who's a viable candidate and who's not. And Quentin and Steph collectively said not on our watch. Collectively, we are going to form the collective pack and empower people to help empower leaders who speak for us.

So thank you for the work that you do in that space.

And you're unapologetic about it and have had tangible success in the people that you've.

Helped get into office. So we just want to let our viewers know who you are and thank you for your well, you.

Know, we're the Mutual Admiration Society. Let me just say that, how proud we are of y'all. So this is an honor for us to be here.

We love you, girl.

Okay, So tell us what y'all got going on. Y'all got fifty one days? What are you doing? Yeah?

Cool, fifty one days.

I think maybe back in July, I was really worried about where we were in terms of the numbers. We know when the major presidential swing states, Uh, there are about three and a half million unregistered but eligible black voters.

And what's been so phenomenal about this moment?

And what how many?

About three and a.

Half million million unregistered voters eligibles as of July. As of July, so that's Pennsylvania, Ohio, Nevada, Nevada.

And there's over five million that aren't registered at all.

Wow.

But what's been interesting is over the past two and a half three weeks, we've seen almost a four hundred percent increase in new in new voter regtations kind of getting process in these states. We have a fifty eight percent increase in black voter registration since twenty twenty compared to the same time twenty twenty, over one hundred and twenty five percent increase in Black women under thirty getting registered to vote, and so there's a movement happening. So ATHEL when you say, like, what's happening, we see momentum and we're excited.

We got to turn that into actual votes and mean, so we know if you're in.

Pennsylvania on Tuesday, people have the right to go out and vote early starting this coming Tuesday, early voter starting in other states the next few weeks. And so this isn't about November. This is actually election season over the next few weeks. So people gonna get out there and are voting. They're starting on Tuesday.

This teod.

Welcome.

Then we've been together for twenty y That's what I'm saying. This is their family.

So I was like, let me make sure this is Derek Johnson, the president of the NAACPU. Also I'm joined us at the Democratic National Convention as well, but he's their family.

So I figured they were like this.

There's not crashing a party.

When they come to the house before the proposal about their marriage, we quit cooked.

Them breakfast.

That good Jackson Mississippi.

Food we're talking about.

You were talking about there's fifty one days left, Like, what are the marching orders for the people?

Don't get distracted.

Don't allow an idiot to distract you, because he's not an audience. Our audience, our young voters. Our audience are male voters, female voters. Our audience are infrequent voters who turned out in no way turned out in twelve and no one talked to them in sixteen, and in many ways no one talked to them last year. Yeah, don't get distracted and talk to infrequent voters, because that's the difference between the quality of life that we that we have earned and going to going in the directions. I don't know who behind me, you waving that so, but I'm nosy.

Congress congressome with Stacy plask.

Mister President, what this we just did?

What does protection look like for voters, particularly in black communities, who aren't sure what they're gonna confront when they go out to vote on election day or in the or in the advance what is the what is the artillery look like on our side to make sure that voters votes when cast, hopefully casts are protected.

But it's a combination of things, and it also depends on where you're voting. The reality of what it looks like in your home state of Florida may be different in where I live in Mississippi or in Georgia. So the protection may vary depend on location. If you and Hans County, Mississippi, we have a black police sheep, we have a black sheriff, and we have black folks who stand up for each other. But if you're in an isolated commuit than you want to cast your black ballot, then it may be something different. So you know, the Lawyer's Committee stood up a number some years ago that one a six number. That's important, but it varies. But at the end of the day, walk through the faith that we're gonna we're gonna win this and not through the fear of what might happen. Unfortunately, we reinforce some of the most negative stereotypes which also create a chilling effect of our people. Let's talk about what's gonna happen in the positive and make sure we have the infrastructure place wherever possible. So if something come up called the A sixty six number, if you in the Cab County, Georgia, it's a whole infrastructure there.

If you are in Michigan, it's a different infrastructure. But whatever you do, go to the polls.

At the end of the day, we will be victor victorious because it's us for us, fighting for us.

And we must do that together.

I want to get back to James Ox, to Quinton and Stueph, but I want to ask you a quick question on this, Derek, because I just want to quote the wonderful, late great Nina Simone, because every time we talk about this, I just feel like Mississippi, God damn. Because this is the most populous state with the largest number of black folks. There is no statewide representation black representation in Mississippi. The racism is written into the state's constitution. I always went when I hear people say the South is red, it's only read until it's a't. And we're seeing Georgia tangibly show that we can make a difference. Mississippi, of all places, can make a difference. But how do we disrupt and dismantle these systems of institutional racism that keep people there so oppressed.

So Mississippi is a great number of math.

We are thirty eight percent of the population, not fifty one percent of the population. And the other side of that is it takes twenty five percent of white voters to vote with us consistently with blacks. Anytime you have a majority black, something white fear goes up.

Racial block voting also is seen.

Minute end, you will have someone elected in Seattle, Washington, or San Francisco with less than five percent of the black voting population because the fear of the black community isn't as prevalent as it is in a place like Mississippi. But I will assure you in our lifetime, probably before twenty thirty, Mississippi will have more than one black state wide elected officials before twenty thirty. Be clear, the treads are there. They're running out of white people. We are a younger population at medium age thirty one, thirty one, thirty four years in Mississippi Black, forty five years old.

White.

We have more children we are looking at demographically.

Next year will be the last year where the population under eighteen is majority white. The population of the UNTEA will be majority non white. Let's look at the data, the number. That's what's going to drive an outcome if we stay focused, not get distracted and lead into our power.

And not create a dynamics where its us fighting us.

Okay, see, we crashed the party. You guys aren't done. You you crashed. You're taking Maurice Mitchell c. We have to bring more Reese on working families.

Gentlemen, working party president.

Can I mean I think we might have just maybe maybe personal breaking these it is breaking news about maybe a future governor.

Derek Johnson speaking speaking existence, We.

Would expect that coming coming from you, Q And which is least been my question for you and Steph, which is we often get feedback through the pod through our listeners who are saying, well, what can we do?

What can we do right where they are?

Uh?

If they want to impact?

Why do we have to compete against an apex to preserve a member of Congress who we like, who we support?

What are we doing? And I can't just personal testimony.

I could not have competed successfully in the race and Florida and that primary race without Quintin and Stephanie stepping up, which often put them at odds with the democratic establishment of this country. Who came for their next every time they came to have my back. So I know what the power of the collective pack he is. I'm a personal testimony to it, and so many others around the country are.

But tell folks at home, if you want.

To be on the side of being at the table of deciding who to support, of putting your money where you know it can go towards candidates who share your values and vision.

What can they do?

The best thing is that everyone can do something.

So even when you look at your local community, you probably know who your city council member is because you go to the grocery store with them, their children, They go to school with your children.

Start at home.

Support the people that you know that are running for office, who share the same values, the same vision for the future.

Give them five dollars, give them ten. That adds up.

We keep talking about two thousand and eight Barack Obama, his low dollar fundraising amounts and how it was transformative.

But guess what that is what we have Black folks have always done. We put our low coins together.

We collectively utilize the power of our resources that we have at our hands to make a change. And so I just want to make sure everyone knows that, you know, I have a wonderful hairstylist named Edith the hairla good.

Yes it does.

But Edith is in the shop, the shop that she owns registering voters. She's talking about the issues. She's making sure that her stylists are also doing the same and that's powerful.

And I know before she felt like what could I do?

Everyone can do someone because everyone has a point of influence in the people that are around us.

I love that there was a similar movement in Georgia with strippers. I don't know if you guys remember that Booties to the Pole.

Yeah, think And it was so I just.

Thought it was amazing because you're speaking to a specific demographic in Georgia, demographic cast to wide net and meeting people where they are. And I think, you know, if if nothing else, that man him forty five, Donald Trump taught us to throw out the old playbook, like we have to navigate and move in a different way, and you all are doing exactly.

Yeah.

And to the point, I just want to say one of the things, we have an organization that's a sister organization called vote to Live.

We focus on low propensity black voters. What does that mean.

That's to mean the black folks that people have left behind because maybe they didn't vote in the last election or the last of two elections.

We need everyone to vote.

The man on the street corner who you pass every day, who's asking you from we need him to vote. So part of it is as black folks, we got to reach out make sure that everyone in our community is resourced and ready to be able to participate because.

You know, when we fight, we know we win.

And I would just say tangibly, you can visit vote to live dot org again all c three, register to vote, find out what's on your ballot, find your polling site, request then absentee ballot of vote early check your status because we know purging is an issue.

Vote to live dot org.

Get all those resources there and to share that with your friends and family in perfect resource.

Hell, we love you are so much.

Quentin and Stephanie Brown, seventy Brown, James, Quentin James, We thank God for y'all.

Thank you for stopping by to see us, most sting around.

And we have state Representative Justin Jones also joining us y'all the Tennessee three. He's been doing the work since before that stand down moment on the on the Tennessee State Legislature floor.

And this shows how important the role of state legislatures, about the majority of our Republican control, and.

How important the work of Stephanie Brown James and Quenten James the Organization Collective Pack is and how patient they are, how shit they are.

We have so many people, come on, welcome brother, Look at this, y'all, come on, is that? What is that moment?

Crush vilma.

We love it. I love all these black men on set tonight.

We've had quite a few, and I think that piece is so important because you know, even watching our comments, I don't know if you all have been looking, but there are people who feel left out of the conversation, and particularly a lot.

Of black men have felt that way. So I just want to say, welcome home.

And we are so happy to have our counterparts are the people our community would not be the same. We love black men, we love having all their counterparts, and we are never trying to drive an agenda that divides us.

So we are partners in this work. So thank you all for being here. I want to come to mo.

We we we kind of had you sitting around waiting, but I want you to talk about the purpose of Working Families First. We actually were having a whole text conversation because he got uh, you know, some some unintended fire on an on a breakfast club interview that I did with Jill Stein the other day and she talked kind of trash a little bit about Working Families parts.

I want to I want you talk about what it means to actually win some elections.

Oh my, oh my, oh my, GM.

It's really good to be here with you, sis.

Brother.

It's been a while.

Yeah, see y'all's endorsement guess right, honor to endorse.

You on SIS.

Thank you so much all of y'all. I mean, man, when y'all launched, I knew I wanted to be here. So it's a true honor to actually finally be sitting here. And the Working Families Party we've been around for twenty six years. I've been at the HELM for six years, and what we've been doing, we've been building a third party infrastructure from the ground up. Because of everything that we talked about, we recognize that independent black voices aren't often welcome in political spaces, and what we believe is we have to do the hard work to build the infrastructure to resource people in order to For example, this tuesday in Delaware, right, Cam Smith in Delaware defeated the Speaker of the House, a Working Families Party, a black organizer. Working Families Party can and now she's going to be representing all of her all of the interests that we talked about on this program in Delaware.

Right.

So you talk about winning elections, Right, While folks were trading barbs online, we were doing the hard work, state by state by state in twenty states, actually winning with grassroots black candidates.

For example Tis James.

Tis James is the Attorney General of New York and was able to hold Donald Trump accountable. What a lot of people don't know is that her entrance into politics started off as a Working Families Party independent candidate.

Right.

You want to go into the South, we made black history in the city of Jonesborough, Right, So this is like local Donya Sarter's a black woman who's now the mayor of Jonesborough because of the Working Families Party infrastructure, actual boots on the ground, volunteers, labor unions, grass roots organizations doing the hard work, not just yapping about it, but actually delivering. And then in Philidelp when we talk about delivering right, we have Pastor Nicholas or Rourke who is the Minority Whip, and we have an amazing grassroots coalition, and we have Kendra Brooks who's the Minority leader of Philadelphia. And Kendra and Nicholas they're not just talking about it, they're actually governing. Elections are an opportunity to govern. Elections are not the prize. Governing is the prize. Fat So in the city of Philadelphia, black folks in North Philadelphia that Kendra and Nick represent, unlike many cities, are not facing in a fiction crisis like before. Why because the Working Families Party municipal candidates created groundbreaking protections so that planlords have to negotiate before they throw folks out. That has showed a total shift. So we're delivering for working people. We're delivering for working class black folks. This independent, grassroots, bottom up, third party approach. We don't believe in the top down every four years top down approach. Look, if that could be possible, then Ross Perrot, who was a billionaire would have delivered that top down third party approach. What we're doing is telling the truth to our people, right we tell the truth to our people. What we're saying is, look, we do not yet have the infrastructure to surface our own candidate at the top of the ticket and not pull votes in order to ensure that the right wing and Project twenty twenty five agenda happens. But what we do have is the power to influence people all the way at the top of the ticket and deliver on the grassroots.

What I appreciate about what you're saying is because we we have a mini pod on this so you guys watching it home can tune in. We talk about third party candidates and so many people they're seduced by bigger roles.

But the truth is.

Third parties do win at you know, in state legislatures, at the local level. So I want to bring justin into this conversation because a lot of the challe policies that we see reach the federal government, they bubble up from these state legislatures. You held the line, sit on the line. Shout out Memphis. I see y'all in the comments. Shout out a hometown Memphis talk to our viewers about how important the role of their state legislatures are when it comes to politics.

Definitely.

Well, it is so honored to be here with you all.

I represent the most diverse district in Nashville, District fifty two, and I'm the youngest black law making our state. And what we're trying to build is to build a real opposition party to the extremists of white nationals who've taken over our state government.

And so Tennessee is a tip of the spear.

We look at extremist policies where the state with one of the most restrictive anti abortion laws, the first state to ban books, to ban drag shows, but it won't ban the assault weapons that are terrorizing our kids in schools. We're a state where twenty percent of black people cannot vote because a fellow need iss enfranchisement. And so the spirit of Jim Crow's alive, and well we have our own governor, George Wallace is his name is Bill Lee, and the Speaker of the House, Cameron Sex and whom's suing right now because not only do they attack us, but there when they silence us, when they expelled us, and now when they silence us in committee, kick us off our committees. They're silencing the voices of our constituents because they know that the state House is a laboratory for what they're trying to nationalize. So it's a tip of the spear. And if we can stop it in the state like Tennessee, we can stop Project twenty twenty five from spreading nationally. I've been telling everyone across this nation that Project twenty twenty five is Tennessee twenty twenty four. We are already dealing with the consequences of a Project twenty twenty five agenda. We look at voter suppression, We look at the removal of qualified people from our state government, from the health department.

You know, because they're talking about diversity.

They say, we don't want to talk about diversity, equity, inclusion, because to them, that's a bad word.

We already see Project twenty twenty five.

We look at defunding public education and passing voucher scams to give coupons to wealthy people to go to private schools. We already are dealing with Project twenty twenty five, which why we're filing like hell with everything we have, and which why we were expelled because they're afraid of what we represent. We represent a new South. Southern curregatious would say the South is going to rise again.

I say, to hell with that. The South is going to rise and new.

We're building a new South that is multiracial, that is younger, and they're terrified of us because they know that if we can stop their agenda in the South, stop it from studying cross this nation.

I love it well.

Florida was probably twenty twenty five, two thousand and two, so we got it before everybody. I mean the consequences for elected officials that we saw play out and your state they have been executing on progressive attorneys who lead prosecutoral offices around the state. And so we know what you mean when you say that. I am curious, what does what does the support continue to look like?

For you as you battle?

What are systems these aren't they're individuals who helm them, but they're buying large systems that you're attempting to reconstruct or to level and build again our way.

What is the what does the support for that community look like?

Which also makes me want you to answer, what does it mean to build a working party's infrastructure on a place where it doesn't exist, and the and and and cities and towns around the country.

Well, absolutely so we we take an eye on the long haul work it is you all know, it is the day to day organizing and the work that day to day organizers do that often we don't see, right that actually builds our democracy. And what we understand is that elections happen state by state and even further county by county. And so if anybody is talking about movement building, but they're not talking about building county by county infrastructure that could support activists, could actually do leadership development, so they develop skills. Maybe they first start off canvassing and then in another cycle they're actually running a campaign, and then they become a candidate. Right then, I don't know what you're talking about, right if you're talking only at the top of the ticket and you're not recruiting candidates to run on the municipal level and then eventually on the legislative level, and then ultimately, like we saw our sister Summerly who came from governing on the legislative level in the state legislature and then moved up to Congress. And I'm proud to call Summerly a WFP endorse candidate. That type of work is how you build that infrastructure. I'll give you another example, right, Brandon Johnson. I remember Brandon Johnson when he was a educator and your union organizer, and we have the honor to support him so that he could become the Cook County, the Cook County Permission Commissioner.

Right.

It took five years of him governing on that level before he was able to build the infrastructure and build the movement so that he could become the mayor of the third largest city in America.

Right.

So we have to have that long arc view of building power and it means getting organizations, grassroots organizations, labor organizations, activists in a shared political commitment.

And have a north star, know where you're going.

Right.

It's not simply about getting people elected. Again, that's not the prize. The prize is actually being able to use governing power to deliver for our people.

Right.

And I want everybody to really consider, especially when we're looking at November, this is a binary choice the Project twenty twenty five agenda, because elections are about the future and elections are about a governing agenda. And then the alternative, the agenda that we could claim right and listen, politicians are who they are.

It's not about putting faith in any.

Politicians, even politicians that we might have an affinity for. It's about putting faith in our organization and our ability to organize once we get at the other end of an election, and that could only happen inside organization.

Thank you all so much, justin I want you to I want to close with you and we I know we have to get you out to the dinner. Why is it important for young black folks to run for state and local office?

So before I was elected, I was arrested eighteen times and I was banned from the state capitol, which is what led me to run. So the same troopers who went to court and lied on me had to hold the door and say welcome representative to your office, and at each other charge were this missed? And so it's important for us to run because, as Sana lou Hammer said, move on over, and we'll move on over you because we're moving on over.

And so we must reclaim these seats.

You know.

My first week in the legislature, State Senator Jack Johnson, the Republican majority leader was on the elevator with me, and his welcome to me was saying, Jones, I just want you to know that you're worthless and you're not supposed to be here.

And at that time I was shocked. I didn't respond to him.

But actually, in hindsight, I have appreciation for Senda Johnson because he gave me clarity that I'm not there to make friends with these people.

I'm there to make change for my district.

And that's why I show up to committee every day about business because what we're facing as serious that they are using this our state as a laboratory to test out these horrible policies that they're going to try and spread across the nation.

We're the state three seven to eight the most incorporated is zip code in the nation.

We're a state that you know, again, twenty percent of black folks cannot vote, and so it's important for us as young black people to run because we can represent a new vision what a state like Tennessee can be. The birthplace of the Klan is also the birthplace of the Nashville student movement, where young people like Diane Nash and John Lewis rose up against him Crow and it's our time again, and so you know, I have so much hope and I'm excited about this election. So we're trying to gain ten seats in our state legislature to break the Republicans supermajority so they can't expel us again, so they can't cut off our microphones again. But if they do, we always stay ready with a megaphone because we're not going to allow them the silence the voices of our constituents. Because what we're we represent moral clarity, we represent boldness, and we represent urgency in these policies when we look at the crises of our democracy, the crisis of white supremacy, the crises of our economy, and we must fight with everything we have because when history looks down on this moment, I want to say that we were on the right side.

Of history and that we stood on what we needed to for future generations.

I'm so grateful for you all. Thank you all for joining Native Lampid.

We are so so thankful, and I mean, I wish we could just let that be the benediction, but what the show has to go on, But we definitely want both of you all back, and if we got to We'll be in Tennessee right with you with a bullhorn.

And thank you so much, thank you, thank you so much. Tom cousin Angela says, come on, you know, I come on.

It's my honor, it is my highest honor. Andrew been greeting everybody on our behalf. That's a hug and a handshake from all of us. At this time, we have the great privilege and honor of being joined by our dear sister Alexis mcgil johnson, who of course is the president of Planned Parenthood America, and she's greeting these wonderful gentlemen too.

No, you're don't run.

Right, You're like, come on down, it's giving prices, right, you look beautiful.

Alexis so excited to me.

It's obviously a very busy year when it comes to repro justice, and so I know, miss Alexis mcgil johnson has been running criss crossing the country's standing on the front lines on behalf of women, but honestly, everybody is.

It's not an issue that just impacts women and impacts all of us.

So thank you for your work.

Thank you. I'm so honored to be here with family.

Thank you, thank you. Alexis, So we were just mentioning Andrew. I'm sorry, you know, I can't hardly hear you. I meant to say that a long time.

Say yeah, but maybe maybe I'll look this way too. Is that better when I do this? Is that better?

I hear you?

Fine?

Okay, well, Andrew, hopefully you can hear me, and you're not struggling a much as I'm struggling to hear you. But I was gonna say, Alexis, we've been talking about the fact that there really are fifty one days left. What what marching orders do you have for the folks at home watching for us sitting at this desk with you as we welcome our listeners and our audience home.

What should we be focused on in this final stretch.

So I want people to be focused not on polls, not on time, not on even the fifty days. I want them to be focused on every single conversation they're going to have from now until November fifth. I want them to make sure that everyone they know is registered to vote. I want them to understand that freedom is on the ballot. I want them to understand if they don't vote now, they may not get to vote again. That has to be the single most important message. Because our bodies are on the ballot, our freedoms are on the ballot, and everywhere I turn, I have to say, the energy has turned up, right, it's turned up.

In a way.

I don't know that we felt this in a minute, right in a minute.

And we've been doing this game, all four of us, right, so I've known all of you all and all your different iterations of organizing, including mine. I don't know that I felt the kind of multi generational, the multiracial, the feminist democracy build the realignment that's happening that we actually are in charge of.

And I want people to understand that.

This is our time to do that now.

It almost would have felt draconian to hear the comments around if you don't vote this time, you may never have the opportunity to again. And then you sit for a moment and realize the Republicans, in what shenanigans they've been involved in since they got power, can't lead. But since they got power, and you realize, with the Supreme Court declaring a king again, that anything is possible. And I just wonder, as you make your rounds around the states, are there particular places. I know the country's on fire, but other particular places that raise significant alarm bells as it relates to bodily autonomy, as it relates to frankly, people of color finding themselves on the margin of real health crisis personally for not being able to have access to making their own reproductive health decisions.

Well, look, absolutely, Look, we are living in a world world right now where twenty two states have put bands on our bodies, right where they have eliminated restricted access to abortion in those states. That affects forty three percent of all women. It affects more than half of all black women. So we have to be clear that that when I say our bodies are on the ballot, they're literally on the ballot across the country. And while we can look at the maps and say this is the presidential this is what you need to do for the Senate, this which you to the House, like literally all across the country, our bodies are on the ballot. But part of what I'm saying is like I think about what's happening in Florida right now, just last week or this week. I can't remember this week, Governor DeSantis. So there's a really critical ballot initiative in Florida. Florida is one of the most important states in the South for reproductive freedom. Florida has enacted a six week band before many people even know that they are pregnant, and so Floridians, to protect reproductive freedom have put a ballot in ah have on in order to protect their you know, to get a constitutional right. Governor DeSantis decided he was going to get his election police.

I didn't even know that was a division.

Yeah.

They started with black folks going to their doorstep ar wrestling them.

Yah.

Yeah, an election police to go and all of all of the good people who signed a petition finding out where they are. They're looking at their address, going up to their doors.

And knock, knock, knock.

That's right, right, that's right.

Hello Angela Ryan, did you sign that petition? Crazy?

That's right?

Right?

Like I need to talk to you and then to intimidate, like if that is not an example of voter intimidation, an example of how protecting your own body becomes a way to understand how you need to protect your own democracy.

I don't know what that is.

Yeah, yeah, anything is possible.

Yeah, exactly. I always say I don't really.

There's always polling about how many people support aborische rights, and I always say, I don't give a damn how many people support or it is up to us as an individual if you are not the person in the situation, I.

Don't want anyone weighing in on what I do with my body.

But even beyond reproductive justice and actions, it is just the health, the actual health of women, and also more importantly, the health of children. I saw this as a meme, and I don't mean to be insensitive to anything that happened, But when Donald Trump lied about babies being aborted right post birth, someone posted a school shooting and said, this is what it looks like when babies are aborted after birth.

And it's so true.

If you care so much for children, care for actual children, do something about these school shootings, and stay the F word out of my uterus. You know, that's the bottom line to all these elections. I didn't have a question.

That was my comment. I yield the Florida from the way. No, But I think that's right.

I mean, I think is like, there are all these people who are out there in the vein of like pro life as their banner, but like, no, you're really just pro birth because once we're here, right, what are you actually doing?

Are they Robb looking on the maternal health disparacy.

Maternal mentality, look at info mentality exactly exactly in the same states that a band abortion same stands as the highest maternal mortality rates, the highest infomortality rates.

So clearly, you're not doing anything to save us.

And they're also, by the way, the same states that have declined billions of dollars of healthcare under the ACA right so much, so much resource that could be going to actually saving communities. And they're like, no, we're okay, We're willing to.

Let all of you go.

I know we've got to push soon.

But I wanted to ask you, as we look prospectively toward the future beyond November fifth, assuming it goes the way we all will work and want it to. On the reproductive health agenda, do you think there is a chance we can get codification through law the con grissy US House in the US Senate that hopefully precludes this mess from happening again.

That is the whole ballgame, manager, right, It is all about getting a reproductive freedom majority. It is about ensuring that we have reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot, because when we do, we have the opportunity to get federal legislation that will restore the protections of reproductive freedom. And so there should be no world where if you live in Florida or you live in Texas, that you don't have the same rights that you do in Washington, d C. And New York, in California and Illinois. Right, And what we have right now is a buifer Kida system where if you were born in a certain zip code, you.

Are being held hostage.

You can't necessarily even travel out of state, and you may be forced into pregnancy. So many politicians at cycle are talking about things like exceptions. Right, They're saying like, oh, I support reproductive freedom, or I don't support it, but I will in these certain so circumstances.

Just look at the matters of rape and incest.

There were twenty six thousand episodes examples of rape and incests in Texas alone, forty pregnant thousand, twenty six thousand of forced pregnancies due to rape and incests sixty thousand overall, but a third actually happened in Texas.

Wow, So when you talk about free states and non free states.

Right, that's true, and so.

Does Sator Crew and A. G. Paxton.

So, like, literally, what we are fighting for is to ensure that wherever you live, you get access to the healthcare you need.

And that should just be a fundamental American right.

While we've been sitting here, a former Congressman Ed Towns just walked by.

I was just waving at you, Congressman. Good to see you.

Absolutely, I want to thank you, alexis not only for your advocacy that you fight.

You're fighting every day the fights we know about, the fights we do not. We thank you. And I also want to especially thank you for being a partner of this podcast. You are we just are. We thank God for you, and we thank God we've known you for a very long time.

We have known each other for a very long time. And I just want to say, with the moment of privilege, how proud I am of all of you all for like you know, misinformation is such a real challenge in a world where we can't control the way information is disseminated, and the way you show up every day and you break it down flawlessly and brilliantly, and and just to the point and make it plain for the people. Like That's what gives me so much joy because I know I can trust everything I'm hearing from you, because I know.

You've lived it.

It's your experience. You know it because you.

Can find it out. And you're all brilliant and what you do.

So thank you, appreciating you.

We love you.

You look amazing. Enjoy the dinner.

We're almost We're all else on our way to dinner. Somebody failed Jesus Andrews does knock somebody else, it sounded like it, but we are being joined.

So we've got a whole Brothers panel right now. We have I was gonna say congresson that's we said.

We have Garrison Hayes, who's a video correspondent for Mother Hayes. We have Chris Ray, who is the international president of five Beta Sigma. You see him dapper in that blue and he's also the president of the Divine Nine Council of Presidents. Also, I don't know why Andrew is the Welcome Committee. He can't do it on my life's so pressure. Like he can see he doesn't care. He he has no idea what I said. He wants to be the Welcome Committee, the Goodbye Committee, the Hello Committee.

I'm not listening to you committee anyway.

Last, but certainly not least, in my introductions, doctor Wes Bellamy, who is the Public policy chair for one hundred Black Men. He brings his students here to this conference every single year. I have the great honor of being an EP on his documentary more than a statue, and he's here, of course with a kin take clock bow.

I love you.

If you guys are doing better, even better than how you look, So tell us about what's going on. Man, get close to the us. Get close before Yeah, we did, you did. We were all there comedy.

Talking about and should introduce him to mister President now that he's back and he knows that we actually did our black jobs.

You have to bet and before you leave, we have to get a photo because my brother, I will be remiss. My brother is a proud member of five Beta Sigma Fraternity Incorporated, plays at Georgia Said University.

So yes, you and I have to get a photo so I can send this Listen.

First of all, thank you all so much for the opportunity to hang out with you all. Right, then following you all love what you're doing for the culture, love the information that you're sharing. I get to do my black job, which is I'm the international President of five Et Sigma. I get to serve as the president, the twentieth president of Barba Scotia College, the.

Home of Mary MacLeod Bethune.

And now I am the chairman of the Council of President.

He got a lot of jobs, a lot of black jobs.

A lot of black leading literally but just doing the good work, doing the good work. And this man right here who has you know, who has been a big inspiration. I got caught up in this whole leadership chain when I had the opportunity service mayor of Spring Lake, North Carolina a few moons ago, and I was plucked out of this whole obscurity because of Andrew Gilliam and so just really glad that he was able to put me and connect me with a group of amazing young people who have now I've been able to grow up with in the fight.

And they all still design their own outfits, so.

Everything is purposeful.

He let's be clear, Let's be clear.

I'm super excited to be here.

One man, you know, with respect to our dear brother Andrew but he's everybody's big brother, honestly, man, and the work and what you put in it is super appreciative.

Tiffany, you know how much I admire you and thank you man. I love both of y'all. But I'm gonna not gonna lie. I love Angela and anybody messing with her, I'm gonna find them.

We know.

I was clear, but we'll see.

Joe.

Yeah, y'all can't let me and Wing win.

But we really appreciate all the work and what you all do, and we're excited to talk about, you know, a lot of the collaborative work efforts that we have going on and not only getting brothers and sisters out the vote, but most importantly.

Putting off for the culture. For these last fifty some of my days, it is Yeah.

I mean, I'm really happy to be here as well. It's great to be on finally and make it happen. I mean, you guys are doing something really special in that I think black media has such a really important role right now, and so it's incredible to see your platform and the way you're using your platform is amazing. In my work, I'm covering black issues most consistently telling black stories about the way that we're utilizing our black political power. This year, I've been down in Atlanta talking to both voters and organizers on the ground, folks who are mobilizing in communities that are often left behind, and many of them are getting their information from platforms just like this one.

So it's a real honor to be here.

I love it.

Thank you for your work bringing information to people. I'm happy to have these black men at the table because we've talked about this a little earlier in the show, and that is the manisphere and the comments coming from the manisphere, And I just wonder what you all might say to our good brothers out there who might be misinformed, misdirected, miseducated about what is at sake for this election. And I hear consistently from the manisphere about this agenda to drive a wedge between us and y'all know we love you, we can't we need Not only do we love you, but we need you. You are integral to our lives in our community. So what would you say out there the men who feel like, well, we left out of the conversation and this Black women this and this Black women always owe democrats and black men vote with Trump and what about me?

What do y'all say to them? Well, always say do the voice one more time and what about me?

And appreciate it.

But nonetheless, so the one hundred black men we're a part of this twenty one city tour talking about real men vote, and to be candid, those are things in which when we go to these town halls, we hear some brothers say we feel left out. But I think what I would say to them is similar to what we say during the town halls is, brothers, we have to be one educated and informed on the issues. We know that there's a great deal of misinformation that is specifically targeted towards us. And if you look no further than the mother, the black mama that birthed you, her rights are under attacked. You're a black sister, your a black daughter, your black niece, your black cousin. You all just had alexus on their bodies and their ability to be able to do what they want to do is under attack. And candidly, what I'm often saying is currently we don't have the time to complain about what isn't happening or the wish that's being pushed between us to perceived wedge between us. What we have to do right now is what we have to do, which is be the true leaders of our communities, collaborate and work together, take care of our brothers and our sisters, and most importantly, show up. That's most important. Show up and do your job because you have an obligation to do so.

Right now. I'm sorry I would have.

Had a little snak on what you said.

One of my favorite things about you is I saw your videos on TikTok, and you are constantly educating in spaces where people will get on completely unresearched, not saying much.

Every video that I've seen from you, I've learned something.

How are you utilizing that platform to kind of combat some of the misinformation that TOIVI started about making sure you're bringing.

People in to be heard.

Yeah, I mean, I think what's so important here is that we don't get to this moment without the things that came before it. Right, Like, we have to talk about the fact that we are at this very week is the thirtieth anniversary of the nineteen ninety four crime Bill. Black men are left out of the conversation. I just mentioned being in Atlanta. Just last week, I was in Atlanta talking to some young men and both of them had felony convictions. They can't vote, and so they have been taken out of this conversation in a way intentionally systematically right, And so we have to acknowledge that that there are structures in place that have led to this kind of disillusionment that we see. And at the same time, I love the mentorship. I love the messaging that we're hearing from our brothers here about we don't have time to really get caught up in that. Right, they're using our vulnerabilities against us as men, the misogyny and sexism that we're taught from birth, the ways that we're being condition to believe that women are inferior to us. They're using that against us to leverage our vote against us. And so much of what I try to do on my platform is that re education work, the work of really taking that history, taking the issues and reframing them, hopefully adding in some more information so that people understand things differently so that we can build a better future.

And I think that's so.

I think it's so important and often overlooked in this conversation because men are being educated by folks who do not have our.

Best interest in mind.

The last thing I'll say is, unfortunately, men are taking their own lives and we have to ask ourselves why. And a lot of it has to do with the pressure that we put on ourselves, and the manisphere is a part of that.

They have blood on their hands and we have to.

Call it that and say it that way.

And this election is so important.

I think that's such a thank you for that, for stating that the way you did. Anybody can answer this. I just wonder why out of that frustration, Because when our brothers are in pain, we hold.

Your pain, we feel that pain.

We too are in pain, and I think it's in our nature to love and to nurture. I wonder why out of that does it become that we, the black women, are your.

Enemy, broken.

And you're the closest to many of us are broken, and when what you don't realize is is that we are literally moving through life broken.

And so here I am.

I have been taught at a certain age how to carry myself or what I think a man should be, how I should move in this world, and then when there are individuals that see me not operate in that space, They criticize me, they tear me up.

They it is literally death by a thousand cuts.

So by the time I get to a space where it's time for me now to take a partner, I don't. I'm not even who I'm supposed to be. Broken and so and then and then you have the individuals who say to you you don't need to get any help. You know that's you know, you don't need any any support there? You know a real man, doesn't you know? You just suck it up. You know how many times I've heard that in my life, just suck it up. And here I am now. And so you wonder why as I moved through this space that I am not able to have the true conversation with my partner. I'm not able to really know how to navigate on my job. I don't know how to navigate in other relationships. And so the only time that I find an opportunity for me to really express myself is in this informal opportunities, informal time with my brothers where I'm just kicking it and you know, you're you're saying stuff like man, she tripping right, But really, what I'm saying is it's like, man, I don't know how to communicate to her.

I don't know how to.

Move in such a way to let her know that I'm care I don't know how to say I'm vulnerable. Oh my gosh, that word very rarely comes out of our mouth. And so by because being vulnerable as a man is absolutely not a part of the lexicon of being a man.

Broken And I'll just say brokenness also has no monopoly on men. Brokenness applies across the board. And the reason why I think it's important to say it is because we're almost always it feels like we're looked at from the deficit perspective of what we're not bringing to the table, rather than what is here present that you've never seen exemplified anybody else but me, if we're being honest with each other. But I will say in y' all of y'all's comments that hit on this, that it is systematic that folks aren't waking up feeling broken. There are advertisers who put commercials on television between the most popular shows on tele that we're watching and others are watching, and never choose to take mental health as their mantle or their opportunity to say, you know what, this is in vogue, whatever the phrasing is, that communicates directly to us and a way that we can hear it. When you, when you consider black men taking on issues during this election supposedly not supportive of the black woman who's running for president, you are getting not just you United States of America, Republicans and conservatives coming at you in your inboxes, in your screen time and when you're trailing through trying to see what story you're going to read next.

But you got China and you've got Russia.

You're so powerful as an individual and as an entity that foreign nations have determined that you are the enemy and are not putting endless resources into making it true. Yes, so it isn't by accident. Is We're not stumbling into it. We're not broken and falling into it. We are targeted with significant resources to perform a certain way.

But you said something also that I think is super important when you said the closest the proximity sifany like when when you see the closest proximity to the person that you know is oftentimes the person of what you harmed.

If you're not healed, in some regard, so our sisters off.

And catch the brunt of our brokenness man, because they are the closest to us, and we feel as if that's the only place in which we can try to be invoke some kind of superiority, which again is all systematic, you know, things in which we have to be intentional with breaking down. And I'm glad that we have in the platform the opportunity to be able to discuss this. You asked a question earlier to what would we say the black men first and foremost, You're valued, you're loved, you're supported, you're needed, you're necessary. But you also have to go out and vote in this election, or at a bare minimum, encourage everyone you can to do the right thing, because if you don't do the right thing in this instance, you may not have another chance to do anything.

You're not going to have another chance.

And you know, I remember there was an argument the one time I had with my wife, and she.

Said, if you were on your job, would you talk to your supervisor your manager that way? No, you wouldn't because you're trying to protect your job. So why would you talk to me like that in our home where we are. You know, the president and CEO or where the you know, why would you do that to me here knowing that you wouldn't do that outside of this space, but you would do it in this space. And I had to check myself, you know, she had to check herself realizing that, you know, I'm not going to blow up on you here because I know that I'm going to be able to manage how I'm going to delete, delete, delete that email before I resend it, because I'm trying to protect the lifestyle that I have, So.

Why would I not try to protect the lifestyle that I got.

Now.

One of the things that we're doing with the National Penalinic Council, specifically our fraternities, is we're having deep conversations with the fraternities, the five fraternities on how we're going to make sure that we are seriously engaged in this upcoming election cycle. Now next week, we're excited that we're going to be dropping a lot of information on how the National Penelonic Council is about to be a part of this process. We're not sitting on the sidelines. We're going to make sure that we're going to be an intricate part. Every single week, there's going to be something coming out from us about making sure the folks are getting to the poll.

I love it.

On November fifth, watch us work.

This is amazing, so great. Thank you for that.

What an amazing way to close out the show with words from black men and the openness and knowledge that you've armed the home viewing audience with. But also does us as your counterparts who are cheering you on and grateful to the roles that y'all play in our lives in our commune.

We do see y'all, We do thank you.

I do want to say his name one more time, Justin Robinson, who is the young man who was shot and killed by the police here in Washington, d C. Just days ago, And we want you all to know we stand with you, we're thinking of you, and we're absolutely going to talk to the CBC about what can be done on a federal level to prevent.

These shootings to continue to happen. Thank you so much for doing it. Thank you brother.

All up again, But we can't close the show. But if you were yelling at you As a perpetual politicians, they always want us to leave Andrew.

Andrew thinks that we bully him, but really we get bullied.

Thank you so much.

I just I want to tell you, guys how much it means to me to be here with you all in this way. It is the fifty third Annual Legislative Conference. It is such a significant and historic occasion.

Uh.

This may be the very last time that President Joe Biden addresses a large audience before the election, and it may be the last time that Kamala Harris addresses this body in her role as vice president, and the next time maybe when she is president. So I'm looking forward to going to see the members, watch a walk across the stage, and just so y'all clear, that's gonna happen in about three minutes. I will leave y'all glasses right here and go see them.

Okay, do you really want to leave? What you want us all to say?

By?

I would love for us I'll say by so we can all watch. All right, Thank you guys, and this is amazing. We will catch you when we're back on next Thursday, Monday.

I didn't know.

I'm not sure, but what I will say is I would love to have a break, but maybe not gonna let we know.

We know because we recorded no.

So we'll see y'all. The next NA Native Lampid. You'll see it's Thursday. Lo Is off camera yelling at us. Thursday is the next episode. But now and then you can catch up on this episode and any others that you may have missed. We were live a few times this week, so please tune into that.

And I'm thinking, I'm sorry. I want to think the Congressional Black HAWKUS Foundation for having us here. We're so very grateful for.

You all to the iHeart team, clap it up for the camera, all of our friends.

We appreciate it.

Everybody was late. I just want you'll know.

She's always on the job.

John Shout and Laura News who aren't here, we really thank you.

Want to go.

I just want to shout out our guests who came on tonight, because there are a lot of guests who make time for networks that don't look like us, who prioritize and networks, and these guests understood that we carry an audience who are interested in what we're talking about, but who are also motivated by our guests. There are guests who you know, may cancel at the last minute, who would never do that to a white run network. So I just want to say thank you to the guests who respect and honor what we do and the platform we got, and you respect us, so we appreciate you for that.

So everyone you see on here know that they appreciate you, and we appreciate you for tuning in tonight.

You guys, we're going to head to the dinner Saturday night. Isn't that so many days? Fifty one days?

Next day?

Election and welcome home y'all.

Native Lampot, Reason Choice Media, iHeart everywhere you get your pause, all that good stuff back.

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Native Lampid is the production of iHeart Radio in partnership with Reason Choice Media. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,

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