Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host, Ramses Jock, and I go by.
The name Qward most of the time. Sometime my mom calls me Q dirty. I'll talk to you guys about that later.
This Indeed, today is a good day. Indeed, today is a good day because we have made it through another year.
Amen.
And you know, there's a couple of times every year where we try to focus on good things. You know, admittedly the show is very heavy. There's a lot of content that we have to work through, but you know, when it's our birthday, we try to look back and positive outcomes, things that you know, we've accomplished, and when we cross over into a new year, it just seems timely for us. And so since this is our year end slash New Year episode.
I'm crazy that I love it another year.
Yes and d But we have a lot for you to stick around for us, So be sure to stay tuned because we will be talking about again some positive outcomes.
We're going to look back at the various trials that have taken place over the years that we have found at least some favorable outcomes and a lot of things that we believe maybe we've played a small part in and first in the second part of the show, we're going to kind of get a little bit more conceptual with things, you know, maybe not events specifically, but again more conceptual things, conversations we've been able to have as a show, as a country, and you know, just kind
of getting a little bit further along in our understanding of each other as brothers and sisters, things that we deem positive around here, and you know, because we don't get to do that as often, it just feels I don't know, I'm really excited to have this show and I've been looking forward to it for some time because again, you know, it's a very very heavy show to have feels necessary though absolutely cathartic if you will. There you go.
But first things first, talk to me like we always do it this time, like we.
Always do at this time.
How about some ebony excellence for you? I need it, okay, So make sure I get this right. This comes from NBC News. Shaddbris eBay. I hope I'm saying that right. He's a twenty five year old Nigerian medical student who will soon enter the Kiev Medical University in Ukraine next month. He describes himself as a self taught medical illustrator. He said that he spent at least a year learning to draw anatomy, focusing on black skin every step of the way. Quote.
I wasn't expecting to go viral. eBay and aspiring pediatric neurosurgeon said of an image that went viral in an interview, quote, I was just sticking up for what I believe in, advocating for equality and help through medical illustrations. I made a deliberate action to constantly advocate that there'll be inclusion
of black people in medical literature. If you like me, have seen the illustration making its realms on Twitter and Instagram and Facebook of a pregnant woman who is black and a fetus that she's carrying who's also black skin, then you are familiar with his work. Have we reposted that that is on our Instagram, So you can check out Civic Cipher at Civic Cipher on Instagram and see the image in question. But we wanted to shout him out because we do believe that is an example of
Ebony excellence. Of course, working for inclusion. You know those medical journals where the skin tone is always pink, and you know, it doesn't really represent human beings, right because human beings, yeah, that's one type of person, but the actual the original human beings obviously were brown skin folks. And so he's doing his best to make that space a little bit more equitable and fair. And so once again shout out to chidebray Eb the Nigerian medical student.
Now onto some outcomes that we believe to be positive this year. First things first, trials.
Talk to me, Okay, so do I need the pause because you know we talk about trials, I end up.
Is a trigger response.
Yeah, but no, you know, there's we'll call it the three out of four.
You know, obviously there's the written house trial that we really felt didn't really reflect the spirit of brotherhood and this, you know what I mean, it just felt like, if felt like an injustice to black folks.
And how he's been handled in the aftermath. Just pour salt and that.
Won't absolutely but it's not about him today, talk to me. It's about some of the things that we can look back on and say maybe that is progress. So most recently Kim Potter that admittedly we've talked about it on the show, that is a very very very unfortunate thing. I wouldn't say that we or anybody is happy that Kim Potter is going to prison for shooting Daunte Wright
when she expected to grab her taser. But I do believe that the people who would say that they're happy with the outcome would more directly associate their happy feelings with their being consequences where usually there are none.
And if anybody that's listened to our show, Ramses specifically showed a lot of grace to officer, is.
It Potter, I believe it's Pottery.
Yeah, a lot of grace, and even giving her that she made a mistake, I was not as graceful. I'll admit that. And I don't not because I don't think people are capable of mistakes or old mistakes. It's just with twenty six years on the job and being the person responsible for training the other officers, I'm sorry, you're not allowed to make that mistake.
Not you.
Well, And to echo what Ramses just said, I think the because it hasn't been celebratory. I haven't seen anybody high fiving about the result. Yeah, that's what it's more like, finally some accountability. Not finally she's going to jail her specifically that it's more like, Okay, there's some consequence for what she did. Sure not makes she roten hell. Excuse my language, but yeah, you killed someone, there should be some consequences.
You made a really great point, I believe when we did that episode where you said, if I get in my car and I drive and I cause an accident, even if it was an accident, there are consequences for that. But if you're a police officer, typically you get to hide behind qualified immunity or the blue wall of silence, or any number of things that police have kind of insulated themselves from consequences, right, And yes, absolutely I have it, said it on the show, and I'll say it again.
I do believe that what she did was a mistake, and my heart is broken for her. My heart is also broken for the mother of Dante Wright and his child has to grow up without a father, and you know, on and on and on. It's just a heartbreaking scenario all the way around. But I do recognize that in my estimation, this woman made a mistake. And another positive outcome for me is I believe that it helps me
with the argument that more training doesn't work. Better trained officers doesn't work, which is something that a lot of folks have been saying. Now we have a real world example because not only was she trained, she was the training she's the trainer r. And then what's the first thing she does make a mistake? Right, So let's really rethink this so that mistakes don't happen, not try to put a band aid on it or say well, we need better trained officers as though that's going to fix.
It, and specifically the type of mistake that kills someone. Yeah, and I think that's what Ramses really is calling for. We shouldn't have these officers in a position where their mistake means you're gone forever.
Yes, and they have to bury you in the ground and remember you. That just feels very unfair, right, But again, consequences there obviously the Derek Shavin verdict for the man who knelt on the neck of George Floyd that set off all the protests in twenty twenty him being sent tens I believe it was like twenty two and a half years sentenced or something like that. And then there was a guilty plea for the civil case as well.
So that's another trial where we really didn't expect those outcomes. Yeah, and we openly expected the opposite, right. We kind of got conditioned to think that way though, right, right, And to know that I don't want to say justice was served, because it's not up to me to decide what justice looks like, but accountability was considered enacted. Those things felt like, Okay, that is fair, you know that, you know, because otherwise if you don't even hold the officer accountable, it feels
very unfair. And allow me to remind you, you know, this show has done a lot of growing in the past year, and we've only been around for a year and four months, and you know, you know, being on in twenty five cities now around the country is that
that's like unprecedented growth for anything that I've ever seen. Right, But I will say this, in addition to the support that this type of program, this program specifically has received in this type of programming, to know that folks are looking at the phrase black lives matter now and there's some people that will never see it any different from an attack on who they are because they need it to be that, because everything is attack on who they are,
an attack on who they are. But there are people who have opened up to the idea that Black Lives Matter is not necessarily about quote unquot black on black crime, because that's a convenient excuse for you know, the right or the uneducated to throw in the face of Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter was born out of a lack of consequences when a non black person of authority, typically a police officer, takes the life of a black
person needlessly and there are no consequences. Black Lives Matter was literally born out of that. It was born off of a string of police shootings culminating in George Zimmerman taking the life of what's the boy's name, Trayvon Martin. I was almost said Martin, but Trayvon Martin, and then the hashtag took off.
Every time I think about that, it breaks my heart. Rams. Yeah, of course, like George Zimmerman stalking and murdering Trayvon Martin and there being no consequence for it. Once again, I'm not you know not, I'm not saying he deserves the electric chair or even.
A life for a life is yeah, just can can we all sit in together.
And to be a celebrity and sign autographs and all that while after that that that's like at least be sorry, Yeah, mister Zimmerman, like go home and feel bad about what you did. Not go on tour and autograph people's skittles rappers, you know, to really shove it in his family's face what you did?
You know what I mean?
Like, it's that's when it starts to feel beyond just unfair.
Man. So again, positive outcomes. You know, there's been a lot of people who haven't really been a big fan of No one was a fan of twenty twenty. But there are people who looked at twenty twenty one like it was an awful year or two. And you know, I can't deny them their experience. But there were some positive outcomes. And police accountability, we saw a couple of examples, high profile examples of that. And that's not nothing.
And obviously, and as the resident pessimist, you go, I'm just far less helpful. I think our audience knows this. I know, you know, I'm just far less hopeful. I can't even deny that there has been some progress made on.
That front, some accountability, and that again, it's not everything, but it's not nothing. I do recognize our people listening to our show that want more people that don't even look like us, who want more electric chair you know, and I get it, you know. But our job is to tell the story the way that we need to tell it, figure out how to best approach it as a people, as brothers and sisters across racial lines and
sex lines and sexual orientation lines and so forth. We're all in this together, and it every so often we like to celebrate. I do want to say these names. I haven't said them before on the show, but Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael, and William Bryan. Those are the folks who hunted a Mode Aubrey and executed him in the street. And they were also held accountable when initially they weren't. I believe it took some months for them to even have charges brought up against them.
Someone was actively working to actually keep them from from having to deal with it right in a position of power, right right exactly, a politician or a judge you know better than me.
Yeah. But the point is is that again, that's not nothing. That's something. Again, these aren't things to be happy about, because these are all sad stories. But to know that we're just not the gum on the bottom of people's on the bottom of America's shoe. We'll say it that way anymore. And that hey, listen, you can't just do this and it'd be cool. You know. That is again, it's not nothing, it is something. Moving on to other things.
June teenth, m M. June teen. So, you know, there were a lot of folks that really wanted legislation passed to protect black people, you know, in the same way that there was legislation passed to protect our Asian brothers and sisters. There are a lot of folks that wanted a lot of promises to be kept, and those things didn't happen yet. But I love that you put that yet on there. Yeah yet. But June tenth was made
into a national holiday. And so there were some folks who took exception to this, right because they're like, wait a minute, you promise just this, and you gave us Juneteenth. What we need is police reform, we need you know, we need our ideas to be heard. We need some tangible help, right, and you gave us Juneteenth. But I'm here to say June teenth is not nothing. Right, So my note here says that it was recognized as a
federal holiday as of June seventeenth, twenty twenty one. Right, so that's this year or twenty twenty one at least. And a little bit of history. It originated in Galveston, Texas and has been celebrated annually on June nineteenth in various parts of the United States since eighteen sixty five. And you know, if you don't know, Juneteenth is when the slaves in Texas found out that they were actually free, which was some time after the actual emancipation of the slaves, and so.
They were already free. Yeah, when they found out they were free. And I'll let you guys process that two hundred and some odd years no sorry, one hundred and some odd years for to be recognized as a national holiday. But that's not nothing, because forevermore, everyone has to take a moment regardless. You know, we've had a lot of conversations about CRT, but everyone's going to have to stop.
Why is the post office closed today? Why? You know what I mean, and learn a little bit of history about that. And even if you don't do a deep dive like you should, there will be some conversation about, well, this is the day that the slaves are freed and for those inquiring minds where CRT hasn't been adopted as necessary to educate and empower our youth, at least those questions might be posed by folks who might see it
as more than just another day off of school. And so June tenth as a national holiday, that's not nothing. I'm happy for that, you know, and hopefully we all are happy for them. Something else I want to talk about now, this is a little bit closer to home, I'll admit, but I say this all the time, you know, on this show. I admit this all the time. I'll stay on this show. We have been very critical of policing as it is done now in this country. That is not an attack on the people. That is an
attack on the system. And I don't even really consider it an attack. That might not even be the right word. I think of it as a critique, right because I recognize that I can't use words like attack because I'm black. And then you know, you know, it gets taken out of context. But you know, either way, the thrust is the same. But that's the only way we charge it to do better. These are where you're failing us. This
is where you need to work on doing better. You need your civil servants, You need to serve the community. We are the community, and this is what we feel, this is how These are the outcomes that we really have to deal with. This is what's left in the wake of your involvement with our lives. Right, And I don't there's no one that can say that's an unfair
thing to say, because it's not. Anybody of any walk of life would be able to say the same thing about police or anyone with any authority over their body,
their physical being. Right now, knowing that on this show we've been very critical of the way policing is done, I recognize that they're that that the police could be very upset, you know, I recognize that on you know, in the communities around the country now, you know, they get in their cars and they drive around and they might be listening to their local station, you know, community radio, hip hop station, whatever it is, and come across our program.
You know, we're on it some some unusual hours in some places, and uh, you know, those folks tend to be up. Police officers tend to be up, driving around, perhaps listening to the radio, and so they're subject to hearing our thoughts on the way police and is done. And I don't believe that we have been unfair, and if we've been wrong, we've owned it right. But I will say this one thing that I'm proud of this year is that we've had police reach out to us and offer to come up and have conversations.
And the husband that police, he.
Was a judge, judge just on the show, but in our studio with us to do a show with us, and we talked to him about defunding the police and about you know, some of the things that his wife has come under fire for. And we talked to him about his own because as a judge, you know, you're responsible for your own link in the criminal justice chain. We talked about but he's an awesome human being, an amazing person, and we had a great conversation about it. And that's really the point of the show is to
have the conversations. This is not the Chos Right show, this is not the Ramses Right show. Correct.
And also, because I don't know if you've ever said this out loud, the fund the police. We're not talking about the person who you see in the cop car, whose hand you shake when you say hello, officer. Sure, right, because you pointed out that he was an amazing person.
He is absolute.
Government has never been that. There are not good people who wear badges. They work inside of what that uniform means and what policing has meant. The history of it in this country is just flawed. Yeah, we're not speaking individually and personally to each person, and we wouldn't. We've
never said that out loud. That's in my recollection. No, no, never, And like, because I just heard you say it, I'm sure that there have been plenty of police officers that may have heard our show and rhetoric similar to ours, and they take it very personally, because how can you not. Yeah, we've never meant it that way, but there is something very wrong with the way the job is done by way too many of the people that we trust to serve and protect us.
I will add to that. So let me round this off. The officers that have listened to the show. I mean I remember coming across comments where folks talked about you and you're once upon a time desire to become an officer and actually going and applying and that whole process.
Yeah, and tried multiple times. This wasn't like a one off thing that I just did flimsley like, went through the process. You know, those of you who are officers that listen, you know what the oral board is. The oral review. This is after your test, after your physical and written exam, after you've passed background checked. This is pre academy. And I wasn't able to pass the oral board because from what I experienced, it is not a flimsy hiring process.
Right.
There are just people who somehow slip through the cracks or maybe have some relationships and don't really carry out that duty the way that I think it should be. But that was something I really really wanted to do once upon a time.
Sure, Sure, and for those officers that have reached out, they've been very fair and they've offered to come up and say that. And for those listening, that is a necessary conversation. I know a lot of people aren't going to rock with me on that one, but at some point in the future I very much want to have those conversations and have some guests folks contribute. As more black lives are executed in the streets, maybe these officers
can help us shed some light on it. So that I believe is a positive thing that we've experienced in twenty twenty one. And while we're on the subject, the thing that I did want to mention is there was a story and I'm bringing this back those officers in Ohio. They were running into that gang fight, that gang shootout, and they were very heroic, They were very brave. And what do we call them? He called them brave and we call them he called them. He credit where it's due, right, And so it.
Ran into a situation where the easiest thing ever would have been to pull out their gun and start shooting. Yeah, they ran into it, and they tried to save the crossfire and their objective was clearly to save not in lives. That was very specially molded to them to point that out.
Absolutely, And we're not patting ourselves on the back, but we're just grateful that we haven't alienated our brothers, sisters who happen to be a part of that institution and haven't found their way to what we believe would be more fair practices just yet. But we're working on it. Stick around your radio as we're coming back with more civic cipher right after this