Keep on riding with us as we continue to broadcast the balance and defend the discourse from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. Welcome back to Civic Cipher. I'm your host, Rams's job. He is Ramsy's job. I am q Ward. You are tuned into Civic Cipher, Yes you are. And we have the one, the only, Jevin Hodge with us who serves as the president of an NAACP branch representing nearly two million people. With his branch, he's currently leading one of the nation's most historic and influential civil rights
organizations and advancing equity, opportunity, and community empowerment. Previously served as a state representative and a former congressional candidate, and he will be having a discussion with us concerning the boycotting of the boycott of DEI And for those that missed the first part of the show, we had an interesting conversation about his role in the NACP and their role in local politics as of the Trump administration, and so for those that missed to be sure to check
that out as well. Before we move any further though, it's time to be a become a better allied Baba, and today's Baba comes to you from Center for Blackequity dot org, so I'll share from their website. They help improve equity in three areas. One economic equity allowing black LGBT people to compete effectively in the marketplace. Two social equity allowing black LGBT to achieve fair access to livelihood and education, full participation in the political and cultural life,
and self determination in meeting fundamental needs. And three health equity, allowing black LGBT people to thrive physically, behaviorally, environmentally, and spiritually. Their mission is to promote a multinational LGBTQ plus network dedicated to improving health and wellness, opportunities, economic empowerment, and equal rights while promoting individual and collective work, responsibility and
self determination. And their vision is to build a global network of LGBTQ plus individuals, allies, community based organizations, and prides dedicated to achieving equality and social justice for black LGBTQ plus communities through economic equity, health equity, and social equity. Again.
You can find out more at the Center for Blackequity dot org or you can follow them on social media at ctr for Black Equity, Black spelled Out Equity spelled out once again at CTR for Black Equity and for is the number four.
And.
We wanted to make sure that we highlighted this organization A because we haven't been able to get to them. We have a new org every week and we've never repeated since we started the show. So we're talking hundreds of do gooders around the country. But these folks in particular are addressing the concerns of a very vulnerable population, especially nowadays. So one more time, that's Center for Blackequity dot org. If you feel so inclined, please give them
your support. Okay, So here we are. Maybe there is something we can do for those of us who want to do something boycotting those who are boycotting DEI. I'm gonna share a bit and then of course we'll discuss it. But this comes from the Black Information Network. Reverend Al Sharpton is urging the public to boycott companies that are
cutting their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI programs. Sharpton said his organization and the National Action Network is calling on all Americans to boycott companies that no longer support DEI. McDonald's Meta, Walmart, John Dear, Harley Davidson, Lowe's and Ford are among the major companies that have rolled back their DII policies amid right wing pressure. I'd like to add that there are more companies that have rolled back their DEI efforts since then, So that is in no way
an exhaustive list. I'll continue reading quote why do we have DEI. We have DEI because you deny this diversity equity. You denied his inclusion. DEI was a remedy to the racial institutionalized bigotry practice in academia and in these corporations. Now, if you want to put us back in the back of the bus, we're going to do the doctor King Rosa parks on you, Sharpton said Monday to a group
of supporters gathered at Metropolitan Ame Church. Sharpton said a council will hold a ninety day study of what companies have abandoned DEI and their margins of profit. Following the study, two companies will be specifically targeted in the boycott. The reverend said he would be supporting companies that have doubled down on their DEI practices, like Costco amid the boycott. So I want to say something first here in twenty twenty when.
I was.
Out protesting like many of us, and I was interacting with a lot of people who didn't look like me. I want to be very clear. You know, we're based in Arizona. We were certainly here in twenty twenty, Q and myself and Arizona. The population in Arizona, it's not like a place like Atlanta. It's not like a place like Louisiana where there's a significant amount of black people.
In Phoenix, you know, we'd go out to a protest, a Black Lives Matter protest as they were known at the time, and there might be ten percent black people there, but there were thousands of people. So that meant that all of the other groups came out to support us, and I ended up having a lot of conversations with people that didn't look like me where we were happy.
When companies announced they were going to be paying closer attention, they were going to be promoting, they were going to be hiring, they were going to allow black voices to participate, they would be incorporating DEI policies into their employment curriculum, if you will. And to a person like me, where that is something that feels like movement, it feels like
it's not nothing. It feels like growth. To a lot of the activists that didn't look like me, they pushed back, and these are in a lot in many instances, these were white people, white women, and a lot of instances pushing back. They're just doing that because it's performative. They're just doing that because it's the order of the day. They don't really feel that way. It looks like a copy paste of the company before them. And I remember
feeling like, well, look, it's not nothing, it's something. I remember that feeling. And they were like, ramses is performative. What you want is real change. You want people that are really committed to sharing resources, people that are really committed. And they had this whole thing, and I'm like, Okay, they're new to this. You know, they're you know, they're they're they're still angry, and they don't they don't have anywhere with the anger to go. So I was naive.
Here I am four years later, four year. It wasn't five year, it wasn't a decade, it was four years. The same live we remember that you said that target Walmart, We remember that that was four years. We don't have that shorter memory. So it was particularly heartbreaking. Not only that they rolled back their dei uh and and there let me let me say it the way Q says it. They rolled back their diversity, their equity, and their inclusion.
Thank you, because that's important. They rolled that back. But it also breaks my heart to know that all those those people, those those activists that we're trying to support black people, in that moment, they were right. It was just performative. And the part that feels like a gut punch is that it's almost like, and I've said this on the Black Information Network before with Q, but it feels like, Okay, so Donald Trump's going to be in office for four years. Black people are going to be
in this country for a lot longer than that. And as we've established, our memories are not that short. Now, I know you want to say something, you so why don't you let you off the leash?
And then, Jevin, we'll get your thoughts too. When you grow accustomed to getting nothing, people can get away with doing the least to appease you. That's fair, Yeah, right, The Black Square on Instagram, all those companies, this is back when woke was a good thing. All those companies are woke. We are so used to corporations, specifically institutions,
doing nothing for us. So companies instituting something like DEI Initiatives on their company website as a splash page, spending no actual money, doing nothing to actually give back to communities, but you know, it looks good at that moment to be a company supporting black people, because the entire world for a brief moment, felt some empathy for us.
Following that.
I remember I was a national speaker for Clear, the company that you guys see at the airport, and DEI is what I was speaking on. And I refused to get on this national stage for their entire sales team and all their executives and all their market directors and regional directors and vice presidents, etc. To have a conversation about DEI If they weren't doing anything tangible. I wasn't
going to be face of your fake PR campaign. So I actually did that event because I did the research and realized that their women CEO important to say out loud, their women CEO actually cared about DEI. A large percentage of her workforce worked for that company. Because the CEO was a woman and she understood the importance of that, and they're hiring practices reflected that they cared about DEI.
You know, every level of management reflected that they cared about DEI, right, and then working on making those executive vice presidents in that c suite more diverse across the board for all companies. But starting somewhere with actual actionable steps is a big deal. A lot of major corporations just rode out some good pr Let's take some pictures with ramses and thank you. Let's have your favorite black celebrity come to our headquarters. Let's roll out a commercial.
But what schools, what communities, what initiatives, what nonprofits, what organizations actually benefited from you deciding that it's a good look to participate in DEI. So those allies that marched with us, that were in the streets with us, that showed up to those protests, they weren't being cynical. They were being realist. They were saying to us, hey, black people, you guys should not be impressed or pleased with these companies doing the absolute least with regards to actually showing
up for you. But the truth is when you starve, And I think Eddie Murphy said this most eloquently. A cracker is everything when you starving. So when we are used to companies, this country, organizations, legislators, politicians doing nothing for us, then people can show up and do the apps to the least and we will applaud it. And I think that's where we found ourselves four years ago. And for those who thought it was nonsense and didn't think it was real, they've just been proven right. I
don't think these people are cracking under pressure. I think they started those initiatives because of pressure. It would have looked crazy in that moment to be the company that didn't put the black square up. It would have looked crazy to be the company that wasn't riding with black people when the whole world was. I don't think these people are being pressured by the right. The man's been in office for a week. Some of these rollbacks started
before he was inaugurated. They were getting ahead of it. Who won't got to do that no more? Ah, I was tired of parading around here pretending. Now that we've owned the woke libs, we can stop pretending that we care. I don't think they were pressured to make any changes. I think they could just finally act and show up how they really felt.
That's a hold on brother Cue.
Yeah yeah, my brother and I was saying, and we say, it's a call and response.
Okay, we all.
We got the other one replies, but we all we need And that's really what it comes down to, especially in this moment. We have to stand up to protect our people. We have to protect our dollar, we have to protect our time, we have protect our talents, we have to protect our treasures. We have to protect our people.
And and like you just said, brother Cue, we are seeing time and time and time again that they did what was popular in the moment, Those organizations, those corporations did what was popular in the moment, but reverted back to doing exactly what it is that they wanted to do all along, and when it was popular, when it was good for profits, they did what they needed to do, and they're going to continue to do the exact same thing.
I want to highlight something though, before we get too far into this conversation, and I think Democratic Leader Hakim Jeffries for bringing this to light. D E and I Diversity, equity, inclusion are American values embedded in American society. It is who we are e ploribus, unham out of many one, diversity, the Fourteenth Amendment, equal protection under law, equity. We pledge our allegiance every single day the children in our schools
to the flag. We pledge our allegiance to the flag right that we are one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all that is inclusion. These are the values of American society. But because they want you to believe that it's not, and they're flooding the airwaves with misinformation and disinformation and fake news. We now have a society of people who believe that what is being spouted out is accurate. And this is where we come in. And this is why you all are so important.
Y'all.
Two are so incredibly important because you're speaking truth to power every single day and you're continuing to do so. Target It's up to us though, right you know. So, my challenge is to whoever that inspired listener is, no matter where you're at right now, New York City, Dallas, California, somewhere California, a great state of Arizona, exist, Georgia, South Carolina,
no matter where you are at, find a friend. Go make sure to the register to vote and get them involved, get them involved, even if that starts by subscribing to this show. But we all have to band together, you know.
I think that what I'm learning in this moment, well said both of you. I feel like, as I continue to find my way through this, this moment in my life, in this moment in our country's political history, it's conversations like these. It certainly helped me along my way. But what I'm gathering is that we are you know, your point was well made, Jevin, that we are a country
of diversity, equity, and inclusion. That those are the founding principles of this country, and it of course had to be expanded to include us.
But for.
Everyone's life time and the lifetime of up to i'd say their grandparents, that definition has included all of us, right, And so this is the country that we are now, We've grown here and this is where we are, okay. But the intersection of the values of this country with the forces of capitalism qle like this and the I guess the perhaps the the fear fear is not the word I want to use here. Perhaps the power, the power high or what the wickedness? I don't I wouldn't
know what to call it, but it's white supremacy. So there's an intersection of this country's values, or what this country's values should be, intersecting with the forces of capitalism and the forces of white supremacy. And we have to hold the line and when we are met with okay, So this current administration stands opposed to teaching black people's history.
This current administration stands opposed to initiatives that were meant to bring about equitable treatment and equitable hiring, and equitable education and equitable housing and so forth and so on of marginalized historically marginalized communities, including white women. This administration has established that it is opposed to a lot of
the progressive ideas which black people have. We've leaned on progressive movements to gain the rights that we have right now, and we are indeed leaning on progressive ideas to create equitable outcomes with respect to the criminal justice system, to environmental racism and all kinds of things. Right So, now that we're here and all the levers of government, as Q would say, are in the hands of the people that stand opposed to what looks like progress to us,
this emerges as an idea, this boycott. I'll start with you, Q, because I know you had something to say here. Do you think this can work?
I think the idea of a boycott as one of the largest consumer groups in the world and trants, but yeah, well we are the trendsetters, so that's a whole different conversation. You want to make sure you entire world for all of history.
What's cool? Yeah Walmart, Yeah, that's.
But as the largest one of the largest consumer groups in the world, even if we don't make up most of the world's wealth, we definitely make up most of the world's spinders consumers. I think the idea is fantastic and could be a very very strong lever that we could pull. However, it's the difference between could it.
Work and will it work? We got to be on the same right.
If you place us in a food desert and the least expensive way of getting food on our kids table is Walmart, it's very hard to say boycott Walmart. If you take away fast food, right, they have a special knowledge McDonald's. You can speed you can feed a family of four for twelve dollars or something crazy like that.
It's hard to boycott McDonald's when that's the only place to eat, when you can get a meal for twenty dollars for your house, and the healthier food from a place that might be riding with us is too expensive for you. There's also this issue with us in solidarity. It's become hip to be a contrarian, to push when all of us are pulling, because we're sheep and you're not.
And you want to impress us.
With your brilliance and your free, independent thought, even though all your talking points are from the MAGA playbook. So can it?
Could it? Sure? Will it different? Question? All right? Thirty seconds before we go? I know that's not a lot of time.
But discipline? Can we be disciplined? How bad do we want it? How bad do we want equity? How bad do we want to be treated equally, fairly, justly? And if we've learned anything from our four mothers and four fathers is that they were disciplined the Montgomery boycott, bus boycott.
Look it up.
If you don't know about it, we can do it, but we have to be disciplined.
I like that. I'll take it. Listen, don't be goofy. You know that this was wrong. You know for those contrarians out there to Q called out. You know that this is wrong. You know that the people that you love, your people are hurting and will continue to hurt. Don't be goofy, get on board, and we're gonna have to leave it right there. As always, I'd like to thank you for tuning into Civic Cipher once again. I've been your host. Rams' jah he is rams this Jaw, I
am q ward. Once again, Thank you guys for tuning in and allowing us to share our thoughts with you about some topics that, as you guys know, are incredibly difficult to live through an experience and you know sometimes even harder to talk about. Yeah yeah, Jevin, thank you of course for coming back on the show and sharing sharing your brilliant mind with us once again. Make sure everyone has your social media and how they can keep
up with you. Hey, I love YouTube brothers, and so just thank you so much.
Y'all. Are y'all?
Are you know? Y'all?
Y'all, y'all are my brothers forever, and but I just want you to I'm glad to share.
Y'all with the country. Let's get it. I'm glad to share y'all with your country.
You can find me at Jevin Hodge this j E v I n h O d g E on all platforms, Instagram, Facebook, x, Twitter, threads, you name it.
And you can find us at Civic Cipher on all platforms as well. And until next week, y'all, peace, stay up,