060323 Who are we Allowing to Dictate the Rules? (Part 2)

black history is beautiful. We definitely need to talk about it, but we do our best to share this space with other marginalized groups and our Mexican American brothers and sisters. We want to make sure that we tell a little bit of a story about how they've been treated in the past as well. So stay tuned for that. I promise you'll like it. But before we get to all that, we're going to discuss Baba becoming a better ally Baba. Today's Baba is sponsored by Unknown Union, the fashion house

situated at the intersection of meaning, innovation and culture. For more info check Unknown Union dot com and today for our Baba, we're going to shout out some police departments. I know, I know if you listen to this show, I know if you feel how we feel. I know. But credit where it's due. We always said that we were going to do that. Right today, credit where it's due, baby steps, But credit where it's due. I'll read I'm

seeing in. The Cincinnati Police Department implemented a new policy limiting police chases to violent felony offenses, the latest city to restrict the risky police police tactic. The Atlanta Police Department updated its policy last summer, similarly limiting police to pursuits in cases where violence is suspected. Chicago police are forbidden from chasing for traffic or theft defenses and required to balance the police action against the risk to the public.

The policy in Valusia County, Florida, updated last January, states that apprehending a suspect is quote never more important than the safety of innocent motorists or deputies quote. Like many tactics that came into bogue in the nineteen eighties and nineteen nineties as police departments across the country led the War on drugs. Police chases have fallen out of favor among police leadership and mayors and city councils that oversee them.

So what that means is that police chases that often end up with innocent people getting hurt or killed, that end up with police getting hurt and killed in some instances, and get a danger to the public. They're starting to rethink what police chases could look like and should look like. That's not everything, but critically that's not nothing. Thank you for starting to become a better.

or their work circles, or whatever their family circles. We empower our listeners to take this content into those circles and then create the changes and create the ripple effects that we're hoping will one day wash back up onto the shore that we know of a civic cipher. Right, So again today I want to talk about Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem. So and we'll be doing some reading from the Atlanta the Atlanta Black Star. I want to shot them out because we do pull from them frequently as well.

So for those who don't know, when when President Biden was elected, okay, he had a little girl named Amanda Gorman Gorman, sorry, come up and read a poem. And the poem was very powerful if you google it, it had a viral moment and it felt very special, especially for folks who had to deal with a lot under

the previous administration. Her poem was one based on hope, was based on Obviously there's some legacy and and you know, we're looking backward and indeed looking forward and understanding where we are, what this moment means, and that a better future is possible. And you got to also imagine being in that moment after January sixth, that happened, and after you know, a very highly contested election process, and on

and on and on. Okay, Now I don't want to I don't want to make it seem like I'm a big, huge Joe Biden fan. I think that I'm a Bernie Sanders guy.

bad people? What's going on? Denying that reality? By denying the past, ensures that power will be seated in one place well into the future. This is not new. This is textbook fascism, okay, But some of our listeners may not know that because this may not be their reality. As you mentioned, people have full lives. They might listen to us once a week, and this might be all that they have. And so I choose that word because I don't want to make anyone seem like they're wrong.

I recognize that many people have been misled, and so thank you for pointing that out. But for those that agree with Q, you should that that's not the right word. Just know that I chose that word because there are some of our listeners who may not agree with what I'm about to say, and I need them to keep

listening until I've made my point. So in Florida, the interesting goings on are, if I were to stated briefly, the attacks on what has become known as critical race theory, which is in fact American history.

are to a more equitable society. And these books have been under attack. So it goes well beyond see quote unquote crt anything that is slightly progressive toward I won't even say equity. I'll say even equality.

This is behind the scenes conversation that you're going to get full access to. This is a conversation that I'm sure happens in black households and social circles across America if in fact their thoughts rise to the political arena. Okay, they're banning black authors, They're silencing black boy and anybody who has anything to do with empowering black people there

on the menu too. That's what it is. And the reason I know that is because at the end of this, you'll find that the woman who was instrumental in banning this poem didn't even read it. Okay, I'll read now again. Shout out to the Atlanta Black Star, the mother who had Amanda Gorman's inaugural poem band in a Florida school reportedly has ties to the Proud Boys Daily. Sealinas reportedly posted anti Semitic memes on social media and was an

attendance and Proud Boys rallies. Okay, So remember I said, we're going to establish who has the power, so you already know who this person is. This is a white person, a white woman who has ties to a well documented far right extremist group that is decidedly anti black, anti lgbt Q I a plus, anti immigrant, anti anybody that's

not Proud Boys, you know. Okay, where was that? Selena's protested five books at the library from the library at Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes, Florida, including Gorman's poem The Hill We Climb, as well as the ABC's of Black History, Love to Langston, Countries in the News, Cuba, and Cuban Kids. Selena's claimed in March that Love to

Langston includes references to critical race theory and indirect hate messages. Okay, and I really really really want people to think about that indirect hate messages, because if there's somebody who has studied black history, I'm not going to say I know black history better than you or you know a lot of other folks, But I definitely have done my research. I have done enough research to know a little bit about what I'm talking about, which is more than the

average person. I have degrees on my wall, which doesn't mean anything, but it does show that I have read the books. Okay, I have never ever even remotely come close to finding something I'm a black author that was hateful toward white keeper never seen it. Okay. The closest that people they try to make a big deal out

of is like slaver bolts and things like this. Right, and understanding the framework and the context of which these slabor bolts took place kind of makes sense, you know, if that's my only out, if I'm going to work my way to death, or I can die fighting for what I believe is right. You know that this country was built on that.

African American History and Culture in Washington, DC. Shout out to them all the way up to Jagged Edge's lyrics in their songs. And you know, this was what was going on at the time when I was in college. All the huge textbooks still have it right now. Doctor Camilla Westenberg was my teacher. Never came across anything that said indirect, that said that it was a hate messager, a hateful letter, okay. And for her to say that

this where's it go? Here we go love to Langston includes references to critical right theory and indirect hate messages. Lets me know that she has absolutely no idea what she's talking about. And wherever she's getting that from is someone making a huge stretch. Now, I can find lots of writings hang on real quick. I can find lots of writings from white folks about and two black people extremely hateful, prominent and elected white folks.

She says, she's not a book person. She's a mom involved in her children's education.

black woman? I'll answer for you. No, of course not. No. Ok Does this center the black perspective? Absolutely not. Does this center an anti black perspective?

a gigantic red flag. And for folks who have in recent months said to us through social media or whatever, hey, you know, Ronda Santis is you know, he's he's better than Trump. He's you know this and that and the other, whatever, whatever your opinion is on that, I need you to understand of his his rise to national prominence and what that was built on. That's built on very hateful messaging and very divisive messaging. It does not allow for a black perspective.

for the Way Black History Fact. Today's Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Underground Beach Club From the Streets to the Beach, the finest in beach where visit Underground Beach Club dot com. They we're going to be talking about the zoot Suit Riots. Now. I will warn you I pulled these from a few different sources because I wanted to make sure that I could paint this picture in a short amount of time. So forgive me if you hear a couple of things twice, but I'm gonna

do my best for you. The Zootsuit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June third through eighth and nineteen forty three in Los Angeles, California, in the United States, involving American servicemen stationed in southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the as in wartime industrial cities that suffered race related riots in the summer of nineteen forty three, along with Mobile Mobile Alabama, Beaumont, Texas, Detroit, Michigan, and

New York City. So shout out to Los Angeles in Detroit one time because me and cure in the building right. American servicemen in white Angelinos attacked in stripped children, teenagers and youths who wore zoot suits, ostensibly because they considered the outfits, which were made from large amounts of fabric, to be unpatriotic. During World War Two. Rationing of fabrics and certain foods was required at the time for the

war effort. While most of the violence was directed toward Mexican American youth, African American and Filipino American youths were also wearing who were wearing zoot suits were also attacked. The zootsuit riots were related to fears and hostilities aroused by the coverage of the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial following the killing of a young Latino man in what was

then an unincorporated commercial area near Los Angeles. The riot appeared to trigger similar attacks that year against Latinos in Chicago, San Diego, Oakland, Evansville, Philadelphia, and New York City. The defiance of zoot suitors became inspirational for Chicanos during the Chicano Movement. One of the first conflicts between sailors and zoot suitors was in August nineteen forty two near Chinatown. The sailors who trained in the Chavez Ravine went to

Chinatown on leave. A sailor and his girlfriend were walking when four zoot suitters blocked the sidewalk in front of them. The zoot suitors refused to let them pass and pushed the sailor onto the street. The young zoot suitor and the sailors stood their ground in silence until finally the sailor backed away. So again, this comes from largely from Wikipedia, but a few sources, so feel free to go and check out the rest of this. Let me tell you

what a zootsuit is in case you don't know. Zoot Suit fashion found its origin in the urban black scene during the nineteen forties. This style of clothing cultivated a sense of racial pride and significance. However, the fashion statement sued made its to the wardrobes of young Southern California Mexican Americans, battalions and Filipinos who became quintessential wares of

the zoot suit. I want to stop right here. I'm from Los Angeles, and while we say the zoot suit was borrowed from Black culture, low riding culture was borrowed from Latino culture. And I want to make sure that I say as often as I can that we have a long history of fellowship between Black people and Mexican

people that I love. Shout out to my sons, Christian and Adanaya, who are both half Mexican, and shout out to all my Mexican American brothers and sisters, because we have a long history that many of us don't know about. And most of us get along fine, but we could still do better. Your niece and nephew indeed both half black in Mexican, I see you, I Goo and Grayson too, all right. Oh, and I have other nieces and nephews

who are as well. All right. The transfer and sharing of the zoot suit fashion indicated a growing influence of African American popular culture on young Mexican Americans, Italian Americans, and Filipino Americans. Additionally, analysis of the Los Angeles zoosuit riot and journalists and politicians in the outfits connections with race relations, slang, jazz, music, and dance permitted an understanding of the politics and social significance of what is trivial

in itself popular culture and its attendance styles. The zoot suit was originally a statement about creating a new wave of music and dress, but it also held significant political meeting. The flamboyant and colorful material indicated a desire to express

oneself against the boring and somber slum lifestyle. Zoot suit provided young African American and Mexican youth the sense of individualistic identity within their cultures and society as they discovered highly charged, emotional and symbolic meeting through the movement music and dress. The zuts suit typically included bright colored fabric, long suit coats that often reached the knees, wide shoulders,

and gathered or tapered pants. The arm and ankle air areas were often much tighter than the rest of the fabric, giving the whole look a triangular shape. Do yourself a favorite. Checkout a zoot suit. They are still fly. On the night of June third, nineteen forty three, about eleven sailors got off a bus and started walking along Main Street in downtown Lacountering a group of young Mexican Americans and

zoot suits, they got into an argument. The sailors later told the LAPED that they were jumped and beaten by this gang, while the zoot suitors claimed the alter cator was startled by the sailors. The LAPD responded to the incident, including many off duty officers who identified as the Vengeance Squad. The officers went to the scene, seeking to clean up Main Street from what they viewed as the lowesome influence

of Pachuco gangs. The next day, two hundred sailors got a convoy of about twenty taxi cabs and headed for East La, the center of Mexican American settlement. The sailors spotted a group of young zoot suitors and assaulted them with clubs. They stripped the boys of the zoot suits and burned the tattered clothes in a pile. There's pictures of this. They attacked and stripped everyone they came across

who were wearing zootsuits. Media coverage of the incidents then started to spread, inducing more people to join the mayhem. As the riots subsided, the most urgent concern of official was relations with Mexico, as the economy of southern California relied on the importation of chief Mexican labor to assist

with the harvesting of California crops. After the Mexican Embassy lodged a formal protest with the state department, Governor Earl Warren of California ordered the creation of the mcgukin Committee, headed by Los Angeles visub Joseph mcgukin, to investigate and determine the cause of the riots. In nineteen forty three, the committee issued its report. Its determined racism to be a central cause of the riots, further stating that it was an aggressive practice of the media to link the

phrase zoot suit with the report of a crime. The governor appointed the Peace Officers Committee on Civil Disturbances, chaired by Robert W. Kenney Kinney, president of the National Lawyer's Guilt, to make recommendations to the police. Human relations committees were appointed, and police departments were required to train their officers to

treat all citizens equally. Mayor Fletcher Bawrun downplayed the role racial prejudice played in the riots and blamed Mexican youth gangs Of course, later scholars generally characterized the zoot Suit Riots as a polgrim against the Mexican American community. Many post war civil rights activists and authors, such as Luis Valdez, Ralph Ellison, and Richard Wright have said they were inspired by the zoot Suit Riots. Caesar Chabez and Malcolm X were both zoot suitors as young men and later became

political activists. So again the way Black History fact doing our best to talk about other issues in this country. This one highlights a very very very very small elements of the rich tapestry of what it is our Mexican American brothers and sisters of wan through in this country. But we're glad to have shared it with you today. So do some more research. There's a lot more there than we can cover here. And with that said, it's

about it for us here. So once again, like the thank you for tuning in the civic cipher, I'm your host, Ramsey's jaw.