HUD Sec. Marcia Fudge and DNC Chair Jamie Harrison sat down with hosts Angela Rye, Tiffany Cross, and Andrew Gillum, joined by Charlamagne Tha God, during a special live broadcast on day three of the 2024 Democratic National Convention in August. Housing Secretary Fudge, who recently stepped down, talks about Kamala Harris’ progressive housing policy, while Jamie Harrison discusses the work he has done to push Black voters to the start of the primary process and why that is so important.
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Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Hey, fam You're about to hear a replay of one of our interviews from our live stream at the Democratic National Convention. If you want to listen to or watch the full stream, check out the links in the episode description. You can also find a full list of all the guests we interviewed.
Welcome home, y'all.
We've been joined by Congresswoman Marsha Fudge, is Secretary the Titles Secretary Marsha Fudge as well, who has served as the Housing and Urban Development Secretary most recently. She is also the co chair of UH Harris Walls UH for President, and as Andrew has said, he was kept saying, Madam President, I was just at the Midwestern conference for Delta Sigma Theater where I got to speak and the love that she has as a past president of Delta Si Data is beyond.
And so we are so so happy to see you and have you. How are you doing?
I am wonderful. I would say that you know, I don't do interviews. I'm doing with you because I like you.
I don't do that.
You did breakfast club before, and you did.
That's why she ran that thing back.
Doing the work, that's why you're doing interview.
I have no time for TV, but I'm so happy that you're joining us. You led the Housing an Urban Development Agency, cabinet level agency during this administration. I'm curious your thoughts because there are a lot of people who are very eager to hear specific policy points coming from Vice President Harris's campaign. She alluded to some housing policy when she did her economic rollout in North Carolina. What did you make of the specific points that she made about housing?
Because so many people in our community.
Generationally, we've had the battle redline communities. Now we're battling challenges with banking and financing. I know in Georgia that's a big issue. What did you make of her policy points and what advice might you offer when it comes to home ownership and the policy that she builds around now.
She wrote them.
On that list of her I had a little input on that.
I did have some input in it.
What we are talking about is making sure that we can have home ownership we have for so long. You said it right, whether it be redlining, whether it be the increasing rents. What we know is that housing is a crisis in this country, but it is especially a crisis in core communities and communities like ours. What are you going to hear is how we're going to address down payment assistance. What you're going to hear is how we can keep people in their homes. What you're going to hear is we have started programs. We have actually sued appraisers and they have now finally decided that they're going to change the way they appraise properties in our neighborhoods. We are looking at how we can make more people of color red it worthy by not counting double basically for student loan, bent credit card. So we are finding ways to make an easier process. But in the meantime, what we are doing is we are also making it easier for people to live in housing that we have by assisting with more resources for rent, more resources for public housing.
And the one thing that I'm really, really very.
Proud of, and she probably won't mention it, but I think that you need to know. When I first came to HUD, if you had a criminal record, you could not live in public houses.
We changed that. Yes, I the way out the door, because we have.
Secretary of Judge, like, that's something that y'all should be making billboards about.
We should, but you know, sometimes you can't tell people what you do it until it's done.
But now it's done, and so we're telling people because it brings families together. If people come out of out of incarcerated situations and they have no place to go, the rate of citivism goes up really, really hoigh. So we're trying to do away with that. But we are working very diligently, and you will see something I don't want to I don't want to preempt her speech, but you are going to see that she is serious about housing in this country, whether it's private equity people coming in and buying houses up in our community. They literally told me that they will buy a house in six minutes. They'll make a decision to come into my neighborhood and buy a house in six minutes. They put a few thousand dollars in it, They raise the rent so that the people who live there can't live there anymore. So we're dealing with those issues.
So her speech tomorrow is going to be heavy on policy because that's one of the things that you know. Listeners were calling in the breakfast club this week saying that they don't feel like they're hearing enough policy talk here at the DNC. So is she going to focus on that heavy Tomorrow?
She is going to focus on policy and she is going to address housing. Wow, not as in depth as I have, but you will know that it is a priority.
And it is a priority.
I you know.
One of the things, Misspecial, I think is so important is a black woman is running for president. You are serving as a black woman campaign co chair, and I have never known you to back away from any black issue. You are a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and there are folks who are literally questioning her blackness. This aka from Howard University, this prosecutor with the progressive record that has always fought for and on behalf of black people, black mothers in the Senate. But can you please tell the listeners who are somehow still skeptical, the viewers who are somehow still skeptical, why this is not a question for you at all, Why you're very clear about that.
Let me let me say first this she's black, and in the other one, let's start let's start that, don't go from there. When I first met Kamala Harris some years ago, the reason we met is because I was working in black communities to make sure that my people got something out of our vote. And even today, she understands I hold this campaign accountable.
That's right.
I was on a call last week and I was asking how much money have we put into our community? How many grassroots organization have we given money to?
That.
It wasn't a comfortable conversation, but it's a conversation that we needed to have, and she made clear to them. Give Marcia Funch what she wants because she knows that I am her voice for black people, because you know, I'm an apologetically.
Black I said, we do nothing now, and she is as well.
You know, she has a persona that is going to be important for all people. But do not underestimate that her blackness, ever.
Whose secondary for If a black man in Chicago walked through you right now, say tell me three tangible things that the Biden has administration did over the last you know, three and a half years, almost four years, what would you say.
Well, let me start. I can start and give you a whole lot of them.
I'm gonna start with getting us out of COVID when black people were dying disproportionately of fourteen hundred dollars checks child tax credit, where we gave children, every child in the family three hundred dollars a month for a whole year. That's then I can go to the money that we put in education, in healthcare, the fact that we have done away with student debt, and I can go on and on.
You want me to do some more answer.
I think what's so important about that? Though in Charlemae to your point, disinformation is readily available. So if people have those questions as listed, their accomplishments are listed on the Biden the White House website, and I encourage people to go and seek information yourself, share information responsibly because there's a lot of misinformation and disinformation, specifically, as you know charlemage targeted to black men. And speaking of black men, we do want to bring into the conversation.
Joe Biden nominated and confirmed more black women to the federal all of the presidents come Bob, not just he picked up a black vice president, a black Supreme Court justice.
And I can go on, but I'm gonna leave it team is l before you.
The reason why that's so important because it's not just symbolic because just a black face.
It's because there's a.
Collective lived experience that when you're sitting on that bench and you look out into the courtroom on the events and the prosecution side, and you've grown up understanding that there's an over incarceration and over prosecution and over surveillance in our community, then you just happen to take a different approach. You've seen white judges sit up there at the bench and say, if it wasn't for your father, right, I would have you in the slammer, because they have personal relationship and we don't criminalize that when they have personal relationship.
Judges that kind of humanity when they see us though, because a lot of times you see those black judges understand they don't have that kind of.
Public defenders any more, public defenders to be elevated. So often we pay an outsize attention to the Supreme Court, but the lower courts are also incredibly impactful, specifically specifically when it comes to us in a very unforgiving criminal justice system. But miss a chair, I know you've been trying to get in here so thank you for doing it nowth Carolina connection.
My partner right over there, my Auntie, my aunt secretary.
You know I executive produced Jamie's documentary in the Bubble.
In the Bubble, That's right, he did.
It's the phenomenal film. We did a panel on it this week.
Jamie.
I want to hear from you, because I know you have to go. He literally carved out a little bit of time for us. I want the people to hear from you about why this moment, how this moment feels to you, what you are expecting tonight.
We haven't even got into the jendadight.
We know we'll hear from Tim Wallas tell us all the things.
Well, one one, I want to add something on the black judges job and Kamala Harris. Over two hundred judges, fifty nine of them may have been black. Now black people and I'm doing my black man only represent about.
Thirteen percent of the populace.
Fifty nine over that's over twenty five percent of the judges he has appointed that have been plagued.
This is exactly exactly.
Trump appointed over two hundred white men the lifetime appointments on the federal bench.
That's that's exactly right. But when you think about it, he's appointed as.
The secretary said, more black women to the Pelic Court than all presidents combined. And so we got to give him credits, right, and we got to say there's still more work to do. Yes, But when you think about this administration, what they have done is that they have transformed things. They even changed the political process. Right all of my life, we have started the political process in Iowa.
New Hampshire. And ain't nothing wrong with Ivory in New Hampshire. I love him.
Good Democrats in that state, but been but not very many of us that live in those states.
But this president and this Vice president said, we got to change that.
If we keep saying that black folks make up the heart and the soul in the backbone of the Democratic Party, then why are they relegated to the back of the bus to choose the next president instead of being at the front of us. And that's why Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and yours truly at the DNC changed the schedule. We moved South Carolina to be the first the state where forty percent of enslaved people came through the port of Charleston, which exactly where many of their progeny pick cotton. Now are the first people to pick the most powerful person on the face of the earth. And then he added Georgia, and he added Michigan, and he moved up Nevada, and as a result of that, for the first time in American history, four out of the five early states were led by black women.
Now, Jamison, here's the only thing. Yes, I love that you are a foot soldier for the party and you are faithful to it. And I love that no matter what we try to do, we always hell stapfers. Sir, I'm gonna need you to take some ownership for some of your accomplishments as chair, and I want the folks to know about the work that you're doing.
It's so important, Jamie.
There's a lot of investment that you've made in our communities before.
Where you got up here.
Miss Budge was like, no, I'm asking about where the money is being spent. Even when I am friendly, we still have demands to make. So talk about some of those things and what else you're expecting from the convention, But save your voice, and we need to find you a mint tea right away.
I'm here.
I've been drinking tea all day.
Jesus.
But you know that's when you have a family reunion and everybody get together.
Everybody is happy and dancing.
And.
You, the cousin that got to speak to everybody, were drinking conyact.
Man, Please don listen.
Sometimes the tea got a little bit in it.
But listen.
I'm so proud and I'm proud to do my black job as share the DNC along with my sister in the struggle menyard More who I know is going to be here right now. Y'all we have put on and I'm not just bragging on us, but people are telling me this is the best convention that you've ever attended ever in their lives. We gabbled in and think about the history of this moment. Sixty years ago, Fanny lou Hamer testifyed at the Credentials Committee of the DNC convention and in that it was an all white delegation.
Black folks couldn't be a part of it. And you fast forward sixty.
Years and a black woman from South side of Chicago and a black round headed kid from Orangeburg, South Carolina gabbled in a convention of the Democratic Party where we are nominating a black woman to be President of the United States.
Folks.
Think about the moment, folks, and I think sometimes we get so caught up in it. We got to step back and really think about the moment that we are in and what Mignon and I. We're not just there because you know, people like to call you token head. We're not just sitting there. I'm looking at the money that we utilized. We made sure that the first contracts that we offered at this convention, we're going to black folks. The production, a lot of the production for this convention, it was a black production team for the first time in the history. What we have done in terms of diversity, equity inclusion at the DNC. I've made sure that the contracts, our largest contract on DNC goes to the black firm, our security firm. So we are making progress. Are we there yet?
Hell no? But dude, are we making progress to get there? We are.
I didn't have a Marsha Fudge and Cedric Richmond over in the campaign and Jim Cliburn over the campaign as co.
Chairs and secretary. Fudge is on it. I already on staff at the campaigner.
Tell me, oh man, I was on with Secretary Fudge and she was asking some questions.
You know, I want I want to ask you, Secretary Judge, how does this energy, you know, as a woman, different from Hillary in twenty sixteen, like the energy around the vice president.
That's very very different.
First, let me do say that I was very involved in the Hillary Clinton campaign, and I believe that because of people like Hillary Clinton and Barbara Jordan and Shirley Chisholm, that Kamala has a chance. They started kicking in that ceiling for us, and so now it's just full of cracks and we're just gonna tear it down. But it's different because she is mine. Yes, she is one of mine. The history that was history, but not like this.
I got chill sick kids. She is one of mine.
I love them, and I'm so proud to be able to work with somebody who I believe is going to bring this country together, who is going to show people that we are not just competent, we are superior in many ways. So they think because it's just because she's black. No, it's not because she's black. It's because she's the best. She's qualified, she's educated, she has worked hard. I mean, nobody gets to that place just by.
Putty in the work and.
I and I feel it every single day.
I know you are having so much to do, and so we're so so grateful.
Mss Fudge.
I am ever grateful that you made time to do an interview.
She was like, I'm doing this for y'all.
We you keep asking the tough questions and tell us where we can lean in and support you.
Administration accountable, keep holding them account.
I was getting to say that because listen, when I walk in the room, they just like Lord. But let me just say this one thing to black men in particular, I hear a lot about she was a prosecutor.
I was a prosecutor too.
But but what I don't hear is who speaks for that mother whose son or daughter is killed. What I don't hear is when George Floyd was killed, they wanted a black prosecutor. Taylor was killed, they wanted a black prosecutor. You can't have it before you. They want a diversion program, you want a black prosecutor. We do our job, but it's also us to give you a second chance. It's also black prosecutors that will say you know what. I know that you should be in jail, but I'm going to give you a break.
She's done that with the Back on Track program.
Absolutely, so you want to tell that part of the story.
Let me tell you what you have been summoned.
You have to do more interviews, Jamie staying.
With I want you, okay, can I say for like five more minutes?
Thank you?
Sectary Secondary.
Yes, he doesn't want to leave because he's with family.
You guys, Just so you know, I said they said five minutes. I didn't get thirty minutes. I didn't get to I didn't get to say this.
When Jamie was coming on because we were in the middle of a conversation. But Jamie, I just want you to know, as your sister from the Hill, I'm so very, very proud of what you've done. I know that you've caught hell in this position. He's laughing, but I'm so serious.
I cannot wait for that documentary.
And I just want you to know, Jamie, take every moment that you can't speak to appreciate all that you've accomplished, and know that without your work, brother, we would not have had a Kamala Harris at the top of this ticket. I want you to know Fanny Lou Hamer is so proud of you pursuing and carrying on her legacy.
Now.
I got goosebumps telling you this, But I want you to know there are so many young black boys and young black girls who are looking at you now and they know that even this lane is possible for them too. They may not ever want to run for office. You've done both.
You know.
I recruited you to go back and do it again. We go see what happens. But I just want you to know that I want.
To give some context to you because I want our viewers to understand what it meant to disrupt that primary schedule. For so long, the primaries were led by Iowa and New Hampshire. These are states that are ninety three and ninety four percent white, respectively.
So when you disrupt.
That cycle, by the time they went through those populations, it was really difficult for black people or any people of color to ascend beyond that. Compounded by the fact that the donor base is largely white and male. So when you empower our people in South Carolina to be the leading voice on how this country will be run at a time when the demographics are so changing, because that's what a lot of this disruption is about.
I don't think people can fully appreciate.
The size, the gigantic, and the sizeable impact that we'll have on the American body politic and the political landscape. I think that's such an important context, given that we know that there are a lot of people who are grossly uncomfortable with a black woman ascending to the highest office of the land, and they've made it known that they will not accept election results that they don't like. Do you have concerns about this November?
I always have concerns, particularly when I know the people on the other side of the aisle.
You know they're going to try to still the election, come on, then refuse to certify the results of the election.
You know that if you get to the Supreme Court, they might even overturn it.
You know that, Charlie Mane, I ain't confused.
I know and that, and that's why for the last three and a half years I've been building the biggest voter protection program in the history of the Democratic National Committee. Gotcha it is because I understand and I know. I come we come from South Carolina. We know that they like to do, all of the little high jacks and the things that you know. I remember going to the campus of Benedict College and young lawyer coming out of Georgetown and having to be there and stand with those young people because the Republican Party there sent some goons from Georgia to try to keep the kids at Benedict from voting.
So I know all of the tricks in the trades and the things.
That they like to do, and that is why we built this biggest, the largest voter protection program ever in the history of the DNC.
And that is why I know my team is saying like, you need to go, you need to go. That is why we have been working at this.
But let me just say this and then i'm a rap why this moment is important. Republican Party is a party built on the foundation of fear. We are the party built on a foundation hole.
Republican Party believes that our better days are in our past, but we know that our better days are in the future.
Let me give you all a glimpse of the future, the glimpse of the future which motivates me each and every day. January twentyth, twenty twenty five We're in Washington, d C. Is a coal and breast day.
We're at the US Capitol, a building built with.
A hands of slaves, and standing on a daist, there is a black woman, a delta in a black claiming, tell my stand on that die is. Is a black woman in a black robe, a delta now Hushman, the first black woman Justice of the Supreme Court.
Her name is Kantanji Brown Jackson. And they're in her hand.
She is holding a bible, the Bible of Frederick Douglas.
And then another black woman steps out, wearing.
White or maybe even a tan suit, and she steps up and she puts her hand on that bible. This black woman an aka, a graduate of a historically black college and university, and she puts her hand up and says, I swear to protect and defend the constitution of these United States.
Folks.
That is what we are working on here. That is what we are working for each and every day.
And it gives me.
Chills, and you're making us cry, and its chills.
To think about that. So, folks, don't sit on your damn hands. You better get it off and you better work. You better work to make this happen. That is our future. It is only our future though if.
We make it.
Jamie, can you please take Leonard off the stage.
But I want to.
Say that you guys, we have recreated on Native Lampard at Breakfast Club right now this moment of the Chair of the d n C and the Chair of the Democratic National Convention, Cholle.
Joins, has joined the day.
Jamie has to go, she's coming up to we have.
Make sure you're watching the bubble James doc and Charlomagne. I got a challenge to you, a voter registration challenge. I want to put up one hundred k to get black voters of four hundred thousand black voters in South Carolina. Wretchard, I need you to match it, Matred thousand, one hundred thousand.
I got you. Let's do it.
Got a challenge for you.
After this.
Hey, y'all, thanks for listening.
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