Hey, hey, Hey, we're back. We're black. We're but b bu bu bu bu bu bu bu bu brown ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition, ambition. I'm excited because today in the stew we have some extra Brown in the studio. Today we have the one the only civil rights lawyer, Obama White House alum education leader, running to fight for the village that raise him. He currently represents over one point one million neighbors on the Montgomery County Council. Will Yemmi Jowanda, It's just real to me.
So if you remember a few weeks back, depending when you're listening to this, I did a wealth walk in Maryland. It was awesome. It was like, you know, I want to say, over eighty or so people came for the physical walk and then over one hundred like stayed for the talk part. At the end. It was with Will. It was amazing, you know, Will, just we we know in our community health is a huge component, but also
wealth as well. So we combined the two and it was just we walked at this really where was that park?
Will?
What was that park? Will called?
That was Wheaton Regional.
So we walked to this beautiful park called Wheaton regional, and then afterwards we talked about not just money but money as related to like what will specialties, which we'll get into today. And so that was just so awesome and I wanted to have Will back on. He also is an author of this awesome book called My Seven Black Fathers Right or Lessons.
You got it?
No, you got it, you got it right the first time.
Yeah, so you might have seen it in target. I know I have many a times. But also obviously oh yes, brand I see if you watch the YouTube channel, you could see it right. And so Will is awesome. I've known him, his amazing wife Michelle. Is it three or four girls?
You have? Now?
We have three girls and a boy?
Three girls and a boy, right in that order, in that order. They kept trying for a boy. That's what it's giving. And so Will was just an awesome, awesome, awesome resource. And I can't wait for you guys to hear from him. So welcome to the studio, Will.
Well, it's great to be here, and thank you, and that was such an amazing walk and thanks for having me on the show.
So well, tell us currently like what do you what do you currently do for a living now? But then like, what kind of have you done that has brought you to this place, because I want people to get a context a like who you are as we start to talk about money.
Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah.
So I'm on the Montgomery County Council. I'm a council member at large, which all that means is just a fancy way of saying I represent. I'm elected county wide, and as you mentioned in the lead end, I represent one point one million residents in Montgomery County. There's six million people in Maryland, and I represent one point one million of them. I'm in my second term. I chair the Education and Culture Committee, which oversees our school system
and our community college and arts and culture programming. And as I know, you know, I'm also running for the United States Senate, so to represent all six million people in the US Senate. So that's what I'm doing now. I'm also a lawyer. I do some I'm a civil rights lawyer, but I'm full time as a council member of public servant on the Montgomery County Council, which is the community I grew up in and where Michelle and I are raising our kids.
Question about your wife, Michelle, Who's awesome by the way, is Michelle an attorney as well?
She is.
You know, the kids don't even realize what they got. They got two black lawyers in the house, and you follow well on social media. Their family is just so beautiful, like Michelle is beautiful, their girls are beautiful, and his son is beautiful. It's just like you know when people like say, back to the day, that's a good black family.
You know.
Well, I'll tell you one time I saw did Gregory God.
Rest his soul?
Right when I was working in the Obama White House, and I think we had two kids at the time, and our two girls, and he grabbed me and he said, he looked me dead in the eyes, and he said, you keep having those beautiful black babies. Yes, And I said, yes, sir, And then I went and we went and had two more.
So we got to do our part.
Yes, I love that. So one of the things that came up during the Wealth Walk that I just thought was this comes up a lot, is that sometimes especially we as black and brown people, we feel like we don't we can't play a role in like what happens to us externally. You know that, like, yes, I can do my budget at home and I can save, but as far as like what happens federally, what happens in my state, what even happens in my county is kind
of out of my hands other than voting. Right, But is that really true that like there's nothing that we can do. We just have we're just we just have to suffer as a result of whatever choices are made by the powers that be.
Yeah, that's a that's a great, great question and a great point. I mean, no, the answer, or the short answer is no, it's not true. And let me tell you why voting is certainly important.
Right.
People fought and die for that right. There's a reason that there's people still attacking it and trying to take it away from whole groups of people, whether they be returning citizens who had been in jail or prison, or whether it's come you know, modern day literacy tests where you have to make all these hoops where people have to jump through and moving their polling stations. All that stuff is still happening today. So the vote is important,
but there's so much more than that. It's actually being engaged with who you vote for, right, you know, going to the council hearing.
Right, I often tell people.
My county council, we have a seven billion dollar budget, and that money comes from you, It comes from the people that pay taxes, right, either property taxes or sales tax or income tax. And so you should absolutely and we should absolutely be engaged and directing that money. And then we set the rules of the of the road too. We also do all the laws. Right, how fast you go on the road? Right, you know you care about your kids not getting hit, go fight for a lower
speed limit. That's what we decide that too. And then you talk about land use, maybe the biggest of all of them. Where are things built, how are they built, who is allowed to build, who gets money to help them build? You know, if you talk about wealth, you know, certainly owning property is kind of a bedrock principle. I know of that, and so so the state, local, and federal government are involved in all of that. The squeaky
wheel really does get the oil. And so we have to show up, We have to be at present, We have to hold people accountable who we elect and advocate for things that are going to improve our community. So I just think absolutely it matters, and you have a right to do it, and not just a right to engage with elected officials. You have responsibility and it's directly connected to the health and wealth of yourselves but also your entire community.
So let's do like a walk through. Because people ask me this all the time. So you know, I got the law, aid, well, I didn't get it, but I helped to introduce a one four to one four the budget needs to leve absolutely in the state of New Jersey, making financial education mandatory for middle school students because New Jersey already has a law for high school students. So I'm not gonna lie. It was thankfully thankful to I'm thankful to my assembly Woman Angelovie McKnight, who came to
me and said, let's do something together. But I think the vast majority, even me, I was not really clear on the process. I had to like literally, I think I watched The Schoolhouse Rock. I'm just a sitting So I think a lot of people don't realize that, like, wait, you can get like help to get a law passed.
Can you walk us through the literal? Like, Okay, you have an idea and you think that maybe there's no financial education in your in your state and your what like, So what's the process of creating of change through legislation. So what would somebody do?
Yes, the great question. I actually created a nonprofit to help people in low income communities do just that.
Like we called our Voices Matter.
And what we did is we went to the sixth lowest income census tracks in Montgomery County where I represent, and we had a community town hall and we said, hey, what are issues and we had incentives, you know, we had like so this is kind of like step one of the process.
You got to get together.
Either with yourself or community members and talk about what you want to see change.
Right.
You have to have an idea of what you're trying to accomplish, right, And it could be something like I want to change the law for financial literacy like you did. Or it could be I want the door at my middle school. I want the security door fixed so it's not hanging open. That was one issue we helped some
community members with. So it could be anything. So identify those needs and within your community, and that it could be an individual because the individuals you know, but it could be I think it's stronger if you can get with the group that you know on that. Then you want to do the research on who is who are the decision makers?
Right?
Who are the people that decide that issue. So depending on what it is, it could be a local estate or a federal issue, or it could be all three. And in the case of a school, you know, a school door, it's going to probably be the local school board, right, So we we identified with that group. So so what you do is you identify the issue, you know, gather with.
People who care about it.
Then look at the research who the decision makers are. So those are your council people, your city council, your state. You know you should already you should just automatically know if you go into any you know, vote dot org and to type in your zip code your address, it'll tell you who your elected officials are, so you know at every level, right, so at federal, state, and local level, Okay, and then reach out to all of them and just you know, write a letter or show up or look
better yet or do all three of these things. Write them a letter, write them an email, then show up to a public hearing. A lot of these, like we have people that come they can you know, testify for three minutes on a topic. They come and they and they say why they're here and what they hope to see. That's the first step in the process. Bring it to the attention of the elected officials.
Okay, okay, so that's great. So that's why that's the first step.
There's more steps, but no, I like that, so then.
So then okay, so let's just say so that happens. Angela came to me and was like, hey, Tiffany, I wanted to do something. I guess she was on the Education committee, so I didn't have to do any writing. I just kind of gave to your point from my space of expertise, this is what should be appropriate for
middle school students. Then Angela went to her team and started to craft, like what a bill, So you don't have to do that as the you know, as the like you I'm saying, like that you listening, yes, you know. So then you know the you know, you find your elected official and they you tell them kind of the components of the bill, of the proposed bill, and they will craft something together and oftentimes they'll bring it back to you where I'm thinking. Because Angela brought it back up.
She was like, do you mean like this, And I was just like yes, like yes, that because for me, it was important as a former teacher. Well I'm still a teacher, but like a former school teacher, that it did and I wanted I wanted a law or a bill that didn't put undue stress on the teacher. And so there was language in there that shared that was like integration into the day versus like you have to stop and say money time, you know, and like teach,
So I knew that language is important. So she might not have known that because she was not a school teacher. And so so it Angela came to me said, here's the language of this proposed bill. Then I remember something distinctly about she had to get like some stakeholders on board, so she got like a group of superintendents.
Is that part of it too, Yeah, yeah, So you bring up a really good point. So, yes, your job is not to necessarily draft the language, obviously if that's your skill set. You know, there are people that come to us, you know, that have language and they're like, we want this to be drafted. But most people that just have something they want to see happen. And so then we take and work with our lawyers and our legislative councils and within our offices and we.
Draft the legislation.
But the part that you're talking about next is really critical,
the stakeholder engagement, right, you know, getting people behind. That's why I said if you start out with a group at the beginning, because that you've already created one of your first stakeholder groups, right, and if it can be you know, the parents and the Teachers Association, the Teachers' Union and there, the more work you can do throughout the beginning and throughout the process to get others to agree that, hey, we need to do this, that are
not the electeds, right, that is what ultimately will move the electeds to do it. But if you have a broad coalition and so you know, you often heard the term there's no new.
Ideas under the sun. Right.
There's a lot of ideas that have been proposed and are out there, But who can build the coalition of
people that can create the energy behind. You know, when doctor Martin Luther King was pushing for the Voting Rights Act in nineteen sixty five, there's famous conversations and it's multiple this has happened multiple times throughout our history where he's talking to the president and they're like, we need to do x y Z and and the response back was from the president to doctor King and others was
will go make me do it? You know, so you have to have the stakeholders in the community asking for it. So that's where the organizing part happens. And the good thing about that is when you do that, you improve the legislation, You improve the policy because you get feedback.
Just like you said that, she took it to you and you're like, well, it has to be integration, so we don't want to The teachers are going to tell you this, the superintendents won't say you that, the community member will say that, and then through that process you get a better product that will also because ultimately you want something that will have buy in, right, because there's been a lot of laws that have been written that if they don't have buy in, they're not going to
be implemented well, and people aren't going to believe in. I mean, you're never going to totally avoid that. But the more work you do on the front end and through the process to get other people's input that are impacted, the better the end product will be and your building momentum for passage.
And that was that's exactly what happened to your point that I think it was like they initially wrote it and the teachers pushed back and said, ugh, we already have too much in the educational day. And I said, you know what, They're absolutely right. I totally forgot Angela. I think that integration is better because I already have to do story time. But imagine, like I just pick one book a week that's a money book. So I'm not creating a whole new segment. It's like I'm already
reading anyway. I'm already doing art projects. Maybe one of those art projects is a piggy bank made out of a shoe box, you know, And so so okay, no, okay, So I love that part. It's like, okay, so you get your buying and there will is half Nigerian, but you know we're gonna claim all you. And so this is Africa, there's a half. There's an African proverb that says, right, if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, you go with others, and so
that illustrates that point. So then so we so we got that buy in with the community. And then I remember her saying something like, now it has to go to committee. So what is that?
So the bills introduced, like you said, a bill, a bill, just a bill, you know, like schoolhouse. Right, the bill is introduced by a council member or assembly person, whatever the vehicle the level of level of government is, or a congress person or center, and then it goes to Normally, what happens is there's a public hearing at the local level,
and that's what we have. So two weeks after we introduced the bill, and this is common for a lot of local and state legislation, there's a there's a hearing
on it, and it goes to committee. And in this case, if we're talking about this, it would be probably an education committee, and and I chair that committee for my counsel, So go to it would go to us and then we would review it, right, and we would have we would call witnesses and have people there like the school, the school system, maybe some of the teachers, the advocates, people who have advocated on this bill, uh, and then try to start working through the legislation and maybe there's
amendments offered and you know, like well let's change this language to this or let's do it this way, and and so it could be one or two committee sessions or more, depending on how complicated the issue is. Then it would be voted out of committee and so it would hopefully receive a you know, positive vote. In our case, we have three person committees because we have an eleven member council, so you have to have two people agree to move it forward. So say it comes out, then
it goes to the full body. So in our case, eleven member council it could be. Or if it's the full you know, state legislature of New Jersey or whatever, it would go to hundreds of people. But then it's it's reported at a committee favorably or unfavorably, and then it's voted on by the full council and then.
It would be passed. Uh, it would.
And now if it's a state legislature, it has to go through the House.
And she was telling me, yeah, so tell us about that. I remember she was like, it had to go to the House and then it had to have the Senate. So what does that look like?
So yeah, So every at the state and federal level, you have you have an executive. At every level of government, you have an executive, a legislative and the judicial. The executive signs the laws and implements them. The legislative passes the laws and it in most and then the judicial reviews and says what's constitutional, you know, kind of reviews the laws to see if they're in line with the Constitution.
And that the legislative branch, which we're talking about now, in at the state and federal level, it's comprised the two houses, usually a House and a Senate. And and so you have the House of Representatives. At the federal you have the US Senate. At the state level you have some people call it assembly, some people call it delegates, but there's a House and then there's a Senate. At the local level, at the county or municipal level, often
there's one body that's everything. So there's eleven council members, we have committees, but the body of the whole.
There's no Senate.
It's just if the council passes it, they send it to the mayor or the county executive and they sign
it or be to it okay. And so at the state level you have a House and Senate, and in those cases you have to get it through one chamber, and then the bill goes over to the other chamber of the Senate in this past, and then it goes to the executive, which would be either the president at the federal level, the governor at the state level, or the mayor or count executive at the local level, and they would sign it and then it becomes law.
Well, even just to I hope y'all getting like, I mean, it's the whole history lesson or whatever. You're welcome. Oh my goodness, honestly, Will, I am learning so much. I feel like I'm back in history class. But give us a moment. We need to pay some bills, and we'll be right back, black and brown and we're back. Wow. Will, this is so fascinated to keep going. So I remember distinctly.
Now I'm like, things are coming to me. I remember that one of the things that the assembly woman did is that she because she is a Democrat, I think she found somebody across the aisle, so like a Republican to co sponsor the bill. I believe, yes, and so like, because to your point, like, if we can get more people to say we're on board, you have less likely to have this kind of pushback.
Exactly. It's something we need more of in the Congress right now. You know that I want to do when I get to the Senate is work across the aisle on things that you can work across the isle on, right, Like, you're not going to agree on everything, like I always tell people all the time, Michelle, my beautiful, amazing wife, we don't agree on everything. So and we've decided to
be life partners. So of course we're not going to agree with everyone we're working with on everything, but you can get to a place where you're ring on the majority of it and the intent of the legislation. And so that's part of that process.
When you're working on.
You know, building your stakeholders and building your support, you want those folks to also reach out to other members of the legislative body to tell them why, you know, because it's just like in like influencing, if I tell you, if I'm trying to convince you, that has some effect. But if other people from who have a different interest in me come to try.
To convince you, that's going to have a different impact. So but a lot of times.
That even before you introduce the bill, like like you're assembly woman did she was like, well, let's give it a better chance if we can make it bipartisan or or get more co sponsors. The more people you have. You know, if I'm going to introduce a bill on my council there's eleven members, it needs six votes to pass.
If I can get.
Six co sponsors on it at the beginning, that means it's going to pass. So so so it's it's kind of a also, you know, trying to get do that work on the front end.
This is great and so so just so you can so in the beginning, my the bill that you know I helped to work on, it was for elementary and middle school. It did all of that, you know, It went to committee and went to the House, went to send it. Then it got to at the time Governor Christie's desk. He said he would sign it. He did not, and it was his last year in office, so it was literally it got on his desk right before he
was leaving office. He did not sign it. And at least in the state of New Jersey, it unsigned bill is basically vetoed like it's just you know, it's gone. So we brought it back to the table and this time there was this new pushback where they didn't want the elementary school component, so went all the way through. They were like, take off this elementary school part. I
said fine, She said fine. And then it got to Governor Phil Murphy Murphy's desk and at the time he was out, So Sheila Oliver, who is our what is that called? What do you call when you're like, it's almost like governor and second governor. No, I'm like second governor. So the tech the governor.
So it was off.
So it's awesome because we got to like what was great about it? Since it was middle school, they picked them middle school in Newark called the Barack Obama Middle School, which I love, and right the kids got to see watch her sign a bill into law, which was really awesome, and I got to be there. Of course, my mom always like, you know, as a Nigerian, she was like, hey, my daughter has made me. I was like she was actually mad, will because you'll know this about Nigerians that
like that. They wouldn't let her talk on stage. I'm like, Mammy, why would? I was like, Sylvia, honestly, just sit down. So that was an amazing people. So but one so knowing that and you know you are wanting to make this shift from local government to state government. You said something that was really powerful because I don't live in Maryland, and I remember being like, well, not why should I care, but why should I care if you're the senator or
who our senator was? But then you told me something that was really powerful. Do you want to share if you remember, like, why does it matter who if I live in New Jersey, who the senator in Maryland is.
Well, there are only one hundred senators, right, so that there's two from each state of the fifty states. We need to get DC two senators. They should be a state. But that's a separate issue. And so, but we vote on the US Senate votes on things that affect the whole country. You know, you know, your your freedom to have your own reproductive health care right, you're the tax rate you pay, the funding for education that comes from the federal government. You know, any I think imagine any
of those laws. So all one hundred Senators, no matter what state they're from, are voting for those things. They're voting to confirm Supreme Court justices in all the judges that decide what rights we have. So that's why it
certainly it should matter for the voters of Maryland. But it should matter for everybody because the control of the Senate, who's in there, what their priorities are, what they're doing in the House, is the same way it affects those five hundred thirty five people four hundred and thirty five in the House and one hundred in the Senate, along with the President, are deciding things for the whole country
off you know, three hundred million plus of us. And so that's why this should have mattered to everybody that was really powerful.
I had not thought about that, because you're right, we are currently seeing now, you know, some of our laws being stripped right in front of us in ways that we could have never imagined. And it's as a result of who currently is in the Senate. And of course I think people just think, like as laws are both for president, that's what matters most. But you know, you shared something during the Wealth Walk that like where you can really flex your most political power is your local government.
Absolutely, and not only can you flex the most power there, because like I said, we just ran through that process. Right, you get some people in a room, you show up, there's a force multiplier when people show up that don't normally show up because people are like, oh, what's going on here? Like they're used to hearing the people that always show up, the lobbyists and the people that are
always the squeaky wheels. But you get ten or fifteen people to show up from a black of brown community talking about an issue that have never been there before.
And people are going to be like, huh, what's going on?
And that's the power of democracy. And not only that, will take the example of the law you passed. When you pass when you're successful and you change and pass a local law, that is what we at the federal level are often looking for as examples and models to
use for federal legislation. So when I worked in the White House for President Obama, when I worked in the Senate for Senator Obama and Shared Brown who Center from Ohio and Nancy Pelosi, which were my jobs on the hill, we were always looking for that local story or local idea that had an impact. It was a unique or innovative way to address a problem that's impacting others in the country. So not only are you helping your own community, you're potentially serving as a model to help others across
the country. So that's why it's just really a force multiplier.
No, I love that will like you know, you and I have to like privately discussed like my concerns with the appraisal process and surprise. I remember, I was surprised when I saw the current you know, administration and our current president, President Biden talk about like acknowledging the appraisal process. There there is unfortunately racism like just woven all through and I experienced myself personally the home that I live in now you know, it was a praise for about
forty thousand dollars under. At first I wasn't sure, and then the New York Times to the story where I was included, they did their own independent appraisal a few weeks after the appraisal that I got that I felt was low, and sure enough they found it was about
forty thousand dollars under. But what was really kind of terrifying was that it wasn't a matter of well, potato potato, this is my The way my home was appraised was intentionally under appraise because there are there are codes that's assigned to your home and my home although my husband and I at the time we had us moved in, not even six months there was literally still stickers on the window, every doorknob was new, every hinge because we
renovated it, gutted this like one hundred year old place. And they even exclaimed it, how beautiful a renovation that they assume someone else did when they were here, and they they what they put in our appraisal paperwork that our home was a wear and tear home, like that was the code, so not a yes. So that's not accidental when you say wow, because there's a code for
a fully renovated, sure new or broken down. And they purposely gave us an appraisal a code that did not match the home to their own admission, and then they used that code to then use comparables comps right that were broken down homes, wear and tear homes, And so it left our home undervalued, and at the time I did not know what to do. Spoke with Angela and she said, you know, let's let's see if this is a law of a bill that we can introduce and
get a law passed. So I'm sharing that because sixty four percent of wealth in the United States is really based on home ownership, and unfortunately, black and brown people, especially black people, we under indexed in home ownership. But then also the value of our homes. On average, a black home is undervalued at about forty thousand dollars, which I think is it is it the Bookings Brookings, what does that report?
Brookings Brookings?
And I think it costs a black community like well over a billion dollars.
Right, oh, absolutely, And we actually have a case. It was also in the New York Times, I think last month maybe there was like an extreme case of this where a family had when they put it had the appraisal black family, it appraised for four hundred and four hundred and seventy two thousand, and then when a white they were like, there's no way because we bought it for four fifty and we put a new water heater, and we did all this stuff. We did all the
you know, and the comps and everything. But then when a white when they came and got and praised and thought it was a white home, it appraised for seven hundred fifty thousand dollars, so like almost a three hundred thousand dollars gap. And because they didn't get their present,
they wanted their refinance, their loan was denied. They're trying to refinance and and so it's just the that's an extreme example, but yeah, the average of forty thousand, that is a direct you talk about the racial wealth gap, I mean, that's it's a huge.
Issue, yes, And so this is when we're talking. One of the reasons why I wanted Will to come on here kind of explain how do you actually get lost pass from the local, state and federal level is because that getting something like that passed on the local level, and I'm so glad that you share that. Will that like at the state level, this is what you've seen
they look for. So getting a law pass on like a local level for this or at a state level can potentially have you know, the federal government looking to say, hey, what can we put in place to make this like absolutely illegal? And then there are there are punishments in place if you if you engage in this, and that would from radically affect the value of black homes, which
would dramatically affect like this racial wealth gap. And what does that statistic will by twenty fifty if we continue the black community continues in the same vein that we have financially, that would be officially bankrupt isn't that the same?
Yes, that's correct, that's correct.
And you know, some states are worse than others, but there's like a thirteen to one white black racial wealth gap. Our state is about eight to one, but still, you know, still significant. And yeah, no, and and so much of it, as you said, is tied up into you know, to home ownership, but also the cost of everything, right, like you know when and you know the volatility. You know, I just passed a rent stabilization bill in my county and we have you know, one point one million people
forty percent just about our renters. So you're talking about over four hundred thousand people, and a lot of people
are renting now. And obviously we want to encourage passways to home ownership, but we also don't want people to go broke while they're trying to live because the stability of a home, whether it's rental or owned, is so important for so many other health indicators, you know, school mobility, you know, you know your your overall health, uh, your ability to get to a job, you know, transportation, and you know, so we capped the increase at three percent
plus inflation, which in a normal year is somewhere inflation is normally one two percent, but we capped it at six percent, so it can't go any higher than six percent. And one of the reasons we did that is because you were seeing people get these increases of ten, twenty, thirty, forty fifty percent and there's no protection. And when you have forty percent of your population written that type of volativity, and I don't have to tell you disproportionately they're black and brown, of course.
So you know.
So it's just those type of protections are just so important.
So what do you hope Like, I mean, Mandy is currently quote unquote not here, although she's listening. Heym Andrew grew because of childcare, Like I know that, you know that is you. You you have, you know, four beautiful children of your own. Like what are some things that you could see yourself in the Senate but also just locally, like what are options for like making childcare more affordable?
I know, Mandy said, what really saved her is that recently universal preschool was brought to Like Newark has that, like the Abbot program. I don't know if they still have Abbot, but they have preschool that's for twenty four year olds. You don't have to pay because my sister had two kids I remember in daycare twenty two hundred
dollars a month. I'm like, yep, how does one afford that? So, yeah, what are some things that you know, what are some solutions that you've thought of or maybe passed that you can share with us?
Yeah, So, well, one, this is one where there needs to be things happening at both the local, state and federal level, because ultimately we need a federal childcare program that makes care for three and four year olds you know, free and gives money to states you know, and like District of Columbia they have it free for all four year olds. Now Maryland we don't have that. We have subsidies, and it's a patchwork across the country.
We need.
This is where we need federal intervention because you know, like you said, you know, the average for a four year old in our in Maryland, if you take the whole state, is about eleven just under eleven thousand a year, right, but if it's an infant, you know, it goes up
to over almost sixteen thousand. And in some parts of our state, like the more you know, Montgomery County where I live, it can be twenty thousand a year, which, like you said, is like you know, for one child, for one child, and so obviously most people can't pay that, so we have to dramatically increase the amount of subsidies
that we give and create federal programs. The other thing we can do in the interim, and that I've done at the local level, is we created a guaranteed income pilot where we give eight hundred dollars a month to three hundred low income families, and they use it. A lot of them use it for childcare or they're housing
because we just squeeze people too much. We've squeezed them on housing costs, we've squeezed them on childcare, we've squeezed them on healthcare, cost of higher education, and so when you just add all that up, it's just there's no room. There's no room, and you have to relieve that pressure. So, you know, I think ideally you set up a government system at the state and or federal level that provides that care, because it's not only good for those families,
it's good for the country. Most of ninety percent of brain development happens before you're five years old. My children, you're you know, children that have access to pre K and early childhood education when they start kindergarten, they have millions more words than kids that have not had any formal care, and that starts that opportunity achievement gap from day one, and so it's just not even smart for us as an economy.
So it's there's so.
Many reasons to do it. It's going to cost money though, there's no way around it. But you've seen states and some jurisdictions say we're going to do it, and it's just we have to keep building that movement because the price is are just continuing to rise, and at the same time, we don't pay the workers well. Right, So you have this thing where that's why it needs a federal government intervention because childcare workers are some of the lowest paid artists workers, and so you have this thing
where it costs crazy money. But there are also the people that are involved are paid so little, so that just is begging for a governmental solution because the market is not handling it.
Yes, okay, yes, no, you're right, because I remember distinctly back then that like each child, we were getting paid nine thousand dollars per child. But it wasn't reflected. I was like, but the why am I still buying all the scissors and the tape in the right.
And those are kids that aren't like babies, right, those were like you know, own kids.
I taught preschool three and four, and I still came out of pocket tremendously in order to support my kids. So I have a question. This is a little like a side but I've been hearing more and more and more, you know, my my Senator Corey Booker, and I think it's it's Ayana Presley. Yes, I can't Where's where is she?
She's in the Boston area, like Massachusetts.
So I have seen her talk. So Boston is crazy. So their racial wealth gap is the average black family their net worth is eight dollars eight and then the average white family in Boston two hundred thousand. That is criminal.
So anyway, I've seen both of them, like I guess they've they've partnered together to really try to address some of this via reparations, like having like that baby bond and so like can you maybe just share like what's like you know what, like what's the buzz on, like what what reparations and like how likely do you think something like that is possible.
That's a great question. And actually I'm getting ready. I'm actually drafting a baby bond bill right now.
There's two.
Connecticut has one.
As the first.
They were the first state last year to develop one. There are some other jurisdictions that like cities that have them, and we would be actually the first county in the country to have one. But I think that is a form, like a really viable form of reparations because you can target it. The other thing is the Supreme Court with knocking down the affirmative action cases. This current Supreme Court, which we also need to change, and I have a plan on that too. We need some ethics reform. I
think we need to look at expanding the court. The country has grown, we've expanded it in the past. We have to get out of you know, you had most a vast majority of this court now was appointed by a twice and twice impeached, criminally charged president. So so
let's it's just it's not in a good place. But baby bonds are a really effective way because they can be targeted to medicaid, like in the one in Connecticut is targeted targeted to medicaid recipients which are disproportionately black and brown, and that allows you know that I think at the end it get to about their initial investment is like twenty five thirty five hundred dollars will grow to somewhere between sixteen and twenty five thousand when the
child turns eighteen, which could be used to go to school, could be used for a house down payment, could be
used for a lot of different things. But the larger recreations talk, I think is one that we continue we need to have because if you've done any sort of racial equity training or know any history of this country, wealth was system that systematically denied to black families and other groups, but primarily and always there were other types of discrimination against Asian Americans and white immigrants at some point and other people, but the one constant Black people
were always excluded. You know, when you talk about redlining, like where people were given loans to buy homes. There were communities where Jewish folks were excluded and other types of white immigrants are excluded, but that eventually changed, but always one hundred percent Black folks were excluded.
And so yeah to this.
Day, and so you were talking about the appraisals, you still have the legacy in that and effect. So I think my personal view on reparations is that you got
to study it. There are some places. I have a good friend who's a local elected official in Evanston, Illinois, the sister they were the first municipality, so Emiston, Illinois was the first municipality to pass a local reparations where they actually gave checks or you know, did the analysis and figured out how to give money to descendants of enslaved people in Evanston. So California just had a big
study and a report that came out. There's a bill that Corey Booker and others like you said, Anna Pressley had to try to do a similar type of commission to look at the issue. I personally think there's a lot of ways to attack the racial wealth gap.
Baby bonds are one.
Guaranteed income is another, child investments in childcare and education or another. But there also is an argument for a direct investment into communities, into individuals that have been historically excluded from government.
You know, if you think.
About the GI Bill, the Homestead Act, you know, policies that gave certain veterans, certain white people, not black people land for free.
Or houses for free, or education for free.
You can't have and that's not that long agough, so are these policies. So I think we absolutely need that conversation, but we need to put it in the context of history. That's why we're being told by Defantus and others right now that slavery benefited us at of course it didn't, and all these other crazy things, because they know if you tell the real history that you can't come to any other conclusion of that. You have to do something about it to correct it.
So well, my last question to you is, so you're running for Senate, So when does that When does that election come up?
It's May fourteenth, twenty twenty four is the primary election, and then November, the same time as the president. In Maryland, we vote in May for the primary and then Novembers the general next year. It's about nine and a half months.
So what can people do if they hear this and they're like, oh my gosh, I'm in California. Oh my gosh, I'm I'm in Ohio. But I like wease talk about I want to support you know, like I have a cousin that lives in Maryland. So certain that can make a phone call. But how can people connect with you and support you, you know, on this run if they feel aligned with your mission.
Yes, they can go to will Juando dot com, w I L L J A w A N d O dot com and they can sign up to donate there, they can sign up to volunteer. They can see you know what I'm about, read about me, and I'm just at will Jowando on all social media. And like we talked about earlier, there's one hundred US senators in this country that vote on everything that affects everybody here. So and there's not a lot of people that look and
have like me or have my experience. So I think we need more of that in the Senate.
Ye, I think so too. Thank you so much, Will, You're so awesome and honestly thank you're always being a good friend, but also for being truly a servant leader. You don't see too many servant leaders. I mean, like I said, you did that Wealth walk with us. They loved it. You're here back again, and you know, you've really committed your life to be in service to all people, but especially you know, carving out a space for black and brown people to make sure we get seen, heard and looked after.
So we thank you, thank you, and thank you for doing the same thing. TIF Love you much, Love you too.