John Davidson has tourettes, specifically “coprolalia,” a kind of vocal tic that causes a person to compulsively say socially inappropriate things. His condition exploded into public consciousness, first with a movie based on John Davidson’s life, and then again when John shouted the N-word at Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo at the BAFTA movie awards. 

The unfortunate incident has elicited outrage from defenders of racial justice and the disabled community alike. Many folks online are putting the blame in the wrong place (and there is a place to put it). We can hold understanding for disabilities AND acknowledge the harm this language causes the Black community. 

Our guest, Jumaane D. Williams, was the first person with tourettes to hold public office. He has served as Public Advocate since 2019, and as Council Member for the 45th District in Brooklyn beginning in 2010. He has passed more legislation than all previous Public Advocates combined. 

Join our hosts Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum, and Bakari Sellers, along with guest-host Reecie Colbert.

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

Welcome home y’all! 

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Native Land Pod is brought to you by Reasoned Choice Media.

Thank you to the Native Land Pod team: 

Angela Rye as host, executive producer, and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Andrew Gillum as host and producer, Bakari Sellers as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; LoLo 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.