Yeah, that's right, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am your host, Ramsey's job. Big shout out to my man q Ward, who is in Detroit today. Actually, but that's all right because he's handling business and we're still taking care of business out here. A lot of stuff has happened, obviously, we got to talk about it, you know, as we do every week, and today I have a couple of very special guests
in the building. One uh, frequent contributor. She she helps us see you know, from a different vantage point, you know, she helps she helps provide a lens you know to a lot of the yeah, yeah, that we're not able to really see. And she's kind of able to, you know, participate from time to time. So we're always happy when she she comes up and hangs out, Uh, Tessa ferols with us. How you doing good? Thank you? Okay, okay, I appreciate you coming by. And then a good friend
of mine. You know, the stars are among us now, uh, you know, and that just shows the growth that we're experiencing. That shows the necessity of these types of conversations, and uh, you know, we're always grateful I'm always especially grateful when you're in town. But uh, the one and only Elijah Banks.
Man, I appreciate you. Man. You know it's love. Anytime we sit down, there's nothing but love.
Absolutely, absolutely. So you know, I know that you come. You know we're based in Phoenix. I know that you come to Phoenix from time to time. But you know the show is broadcast, you know, pretty widely, so you know, let everybody know a little bit about your background before we get to the to the meat and potatoes.
I go by the name of Elijah Banks. You spell Banks with the X no ks. I'm a pop artist from Long Beach, California. I'm signed to radio legend Big Boy from Big Boys Neighborhood. So you know they calling me Prince of La right now. Yeah, I seen the Woman Crushed Wednesday record, the Loan record. You know what I'm saying. You just be on the lookout for me. You're gonna hear a lot more, a lot more coming out this year.
Absolutely absolutely. And as I stated, I've been fortunate enough to be able to sit down interview Elijah Banks a couple of times in twenty nineteen. Now, right, that was wow. And you know we had a chance to hang out a few times, and it just so happened to line up that he was in town, and you know, we got some stuff to talk about. And of course Tessa has been out in the streets, you know, and really helping chip away at this mountain of white supremacy along
with the rest of us, so very much. Someone who is empathetic and sympathetic to the black and brown and people's agenda. Someone who recognized if I don't I don't speak for you, but from my estimations, who recognizes that, you know, there's a necessity and in terms of rising and solidarity, and so absolutely today's episode, we want to talk about something that we didn't get to talk about because you know the way, you know, these things time out.
But you know, the attack on the US Capitol building, so you know, just straight out the blocks banks. What's your thoughts?
Crazy, insane, Like I've never seen anything like that. I really am still trying to kind of wrap my head around what they were thinking. Yeah, you know what I'm saying, Like when and where did they think that that was okay? And and the people that allowed them to do it and get away with them, what were their thoughts. I'm still trying to process everything.
Absolutely your initial reactions, I.
Mean probably that, but really fundamentally, I feel like I know that that's all just a sense of entitlement and righteousness that white people believe that they have. That they didn't need an explanation or justification or reason. It was just this is.
What we want.
We're not getting it. We've gotten what we wanted our entire lives within that system of privilege, and now we're mad about it, and so we're going to show the world we're mad. So in some ways it wasn't surprising at all and also met with continued levels of audacity.
Yeah. Absolutely, I want to say something real quick. So one thing, I mean, you know, on radio or if you're listening to the podcast, which, by the way, you can download this in all previous episodes of Civic Cipher if you visit the website Civiccipher dot com. It's available on your favorite podcasting platform. But if you're just listening to our voices and not watching this on YouTube or wherever it's broadcast, you might not be able to tell. But Tessa, the fiery speaker that she is, is in
fact white as a ghost. Casper to friendly one. So when she's talking, you know, I just want that to you know, to understand that this is the way the world looks through the eyes of a woman who has lived her whole life with whiteness at that wind at her back, and so the way she challenges it might sound a little different from the way someone who didn't have that experience growing up might challenge it. Now, my
initial reactions were that I wasn't really surprised. Now, obviously I was like concerned, you know, but it was just kind of like watching history being written. You know, it's not like anything that you know, when you see the guy dressed up in the Viking hat on the podium, you know, I'm like that checks out. You know, you see the Confederate flags waving and there, it's like, yes, you know, I kind of used to it. And you know, the boldness, the audacity, you know, on and on and
on has never really not been the norm. You know, this is really, uh something that a lot of times, you know, people will use this sort of stuff to intimidate and suppress black and brown folks, and you know, their plight toward you know, accomplishing whatever because of that entitled confidence that white folks have. Often some white folks have oftentimes because they are aware of the fact that the police work for them, look like them, represent their interests.
It emboldens, at least, in my experience, has emboldened many white folks over throughout the course of my life that I've seen to move in such a way that a normal person who really values their own safety or at least is, you know, partially aware of the fact that you know, anything could happen at any time, I would reasonably try to avoid, you know. Recently I shared an example,
and you'll be able to follow me. We Q and I had a conversation about someone named Andre Hill who was shot in his garage recently while he was working on his car. I think, or I don't even know what he's doing, because I couldn't even read into the story. But the police pulled up shot him in his garage. Right, I have a garage in my house. Right. This was
some years ago. But I was doing something to one of my trucks in the garage and one of my neighbors came out and had some sort of complaint about me working in my garage and took exception to me doing that. Now, I wasn't harming anybody, wasn't bothering, wasn't making any noise. He just didn't like my garage door open and my truck partially you know, out of out of the garage where I could get a little sunlight.
So I think I was like changing your head light bulb or something like this, something simple, But he just took exception to it and came across and proceeded to get in my face and sort of you know, I'm putting it mildly, but it was basically challenging me working on my own vehicle on my property. And you know, the boldness that it takes to do that is largely stemming. Yeah, it comes from one type of person, and usually it's toward other types of people who don't look like that.
It's like they feel like they have dominion over it. I don't like this truck partially parked in the garage, so move it because I say so. Now, I'm not sure his situation, but I don't have a mortgage on my house, you know, so I live here, This is my this is my land. Nobody's you know, kicking me off of it. I'm not sure if his circumstances. And then he starts to you know, well, I do this for a living. And you know, he said something like, I'm a lawyer, to which I responded, I pay lawyers.
You know, that doesn't impress me, you know, so you know, the only thing a lawyer can do is work for me. And you know, we have our little back and forth, our little exchange. But the one thing that I recognize this man was a lot older than me, and physically I'm in a lot better shape than he is. And so the one thing that he said to me that gave me pause, and I think that he knew that, was that he was going to call the police on me. And in that moment, you know, the optic shift entirely
because he could get punched in the mouth. But the police will come and decide whatever they want to decide. He probably will not be wrong. And it's you know, and so that relationship between these emboldened people, oftentimes white, because of the fact that that they're they feel the police works for them kind of That's why this capital
attack hasn't surprised me at all. So, you know, some of the things I've seen, some of the memes going around and you know, just pointing out the fact, you know, obviously some of them are funny, but pointing out the fact that you know, in short, that if black folks had done a fraction of this.
Even jogged past the capital too fast.
Yeah, talk about it, man. So you know, and you've you've taken place, taken part in a lot of the protests in.
La right, Yeah, for whenever I am in town. Yeah definitely.
Yeah, Yeah, I know I've seen some of that on on social media. So what's the climate, Like, what was the climate like out there when.
That was Oh man, it was it was tense. It was definitely tense. Just I like, I I one thing I did, I can't say it brought the people together. Sure, I love that part, but when it came to like the people versus the police, and it just felt a little retro like it was something that like I've seen in movies, you know what I'm saying, stuff like that. Nothing I've personally been able to experience in this lifetime that type of distension between the police and people. Yeah.
Yeah, And growing up in Long Beach, I'm sure that you have your own stories with the police.
Yeah, definitely, And it's crazy good and bad. Like I know some great cops, I know some some bad cops, you know what I'm saying, Like all the way from Long Beach to lapd Like it's it's crazy how history kind of repeats itself. Sure, how we're going through the same things that you know you or your father had to go through, you know what I'm saying, because we're different ages. Yeah, where it's constantly repeating itself.
Absolutely, So you know, the the thing is, you know, when I was I was born in Compton. When I was born it was the eight so I grew up in Compton eighties Compton, so crack was hitting hard and that sort of thing. And you know, I've said this before on the show. That has very much shaped my
view of the police. The police have never been the good guys, you know, as a whole, They've never been a yeah, in my book, the police have always been you know, not dissimilar to gangs, which in a lot sure, absolutely, And having seen police behave in a way that's not so much protecting and serving but more like bullying and terrorized, terrorizing communities and this is this has lived experience. This isn't you know, hearsay I've actually seen these things happen again,
they very much shape my view of it. When we get to the point where we're watching protests. I saw the whole thing unfold. I spent the whole day watching these Trump supporters stand outside of the United States Capitol Building, and you know, they were talking about explosive device, they were talking about everything. You know, these these people might
be armed and they're just standing there. No one is taking aggressive action, you know, against them or anything like that, which is fine, But I recognize that had they been had there been Black Lives Matter banners instead of confiscated.
Disconnect, I can see it plain, like loud and clear, like you feel me, like for sure.
Yeah, So you know the part that really again it didn't surprise me. The part that really stuck with me though, is that they they these people represent so much more of a threat. But the perceived threat, you know, they represent an actual threat, but the perceived threat when you have black skin is so much greater. It's so much
more intense. Like black people are somehow scarier unarmed black people, as we've seen over and over again, then armed white men and women in this case, and they're Trump supporters they're they're you know, described as being patriotic, and their.
Their behavior is just like malicious. You can, you know, like you could just feel the energy within them, Like look at the way they they they're trying to make their point. Look at the way that we're trying to make our point. Totally different attitudes, different energies, you know what I'm saying. So I don't understand why they weren't really as forceful, you know what I'm saying.
Yeah, I mean I think even just the point they're trying to make, like, right, well, you're saying lives matter, and they're out saying we wanted someone to win an election. Now we're mad that, you know, you're contesting otherwise, Like the even the point they're trying to.
Make is is wild.
Yeah, in comparison to how people fighting for life are being treated.
And one of the things that I have to assume is that a good number of those people believe. They have to believe that if this man has lost an election and all the news media outlets are calling the election, and then this man challenges the states to recount the ballots, and then all the states recount the ballots, and then he challenges the states at the state level or the Supreme Court and all this sort of stuff. Every single one of them gets shot down. I think everyone said,
every single one except for one. And it wouldn't have been enough to overturn even the results in that one state. And that might even have been like some fraudulent activity that benefited him or something like that. That's the only one that they found of. You know, So these people in front of this Capitol building are armed with all of that information, and you know, I would call it delusion.
It was definitely a delusion.
Yeah, but there's also has there also has to be a good number of those folks who are just there for their last hurrah if there's a way, like you know, and I would never do anything like that, but follow me for a second. If Obama could have run and won for a third term, would it not have been worth it to go and support him. I'm not saying run up in the Capitol building, but you know what
I'm saying. So I could see people saying, like, listen, let's go, let's you know, say that we we know that our guy can't do this, but let's just go stand there with him, because that's the guy we believe and that's our champion. The point that it gets from you know, patriotic and you know, standing by your candidate or his ideas or whatever. You know, a display, if you will, to embarrassing this country on the world stage is rushing and the police opening the barricades people, you
know what I'm saying. So that's the part where it's like, man, America, your privilege is showing. You know, you might want to you know, put your you know, put put your clothes on, right, you know what I'm saying, because normally this is is buttoned up a little bit. But you know, for those of us who have walked in the streets, all three of us here have and have you know, been subjected to tear gas and rubber bullets. I haven't personally been shot with the rubber bullet let. Me not put that
in there. Yeah, but you know, every you know, I've been with people who you know what I'm saying, like, and the terror still grips your heart just the same when you're running and.
Watch it just even yeah, just even watch it go down.
And then and you know, again, I live in Phoenix, Arizona. That's Washington, d C. That's perhaps one of the most protected places on Earth, and these people not only did they breach the perimid, but they went inside. Now, Tessa, I want you to talk a little bit about what you saw happen when they actually were running around inside the capital buildy.
What I saw happened by way, like.
You told me that you saw people carrying stuff and you made a comparison to like looters or something like that. Love the way you put that. See if I can do it twice.
But yeah, I think it's just you know, we watched how many people, even people that came out saying that they support Black Lives Matter, but they don't support looting or they don't support, you know, support property destruction. That was you know, like a really big rhetoric for a while, like, well, no, I support black lives, but you know, I think looting's wrong, and you know, destroying businesses like it doesn't serve the purpose.
And now we're watching both people that said that in support of Black Lives Matter and people that obviously have sat on their platform the entire time saying we don't care about black lives, we care about property. We care about you know, our our stores, our businesses, consumerism. You know, are now invading a building, taking what is you know, federal property. They're invading federal property, taking federal property, stealing
male you know, breaking apart buildings, taking the podium. It just, you know, it's just where just the hypocrisy of all of it. I guess it's just in some respects. I don't want to say amusing, as if it's like anecdotal somehow, but you can just tell none of it means anything, you know, none of it, None of it means anything
what people are trying to communicate, whatever their arguments were. Obviously, you know, I've read several things saying too like, obviously these people were never about I don't want to say these people. I think it's really important to not disassociate myself too much from people that were there, because I'm
still a product of that very same system. I think it's really important for white people not to disassociate from what we're seeing on TV for what we were witnessing, because it's really easy to be like, well, I'm not one of them. I would never do that. But the reality is is that we all benefit. We all white people benefit from that system, and it manifests the aspects of our lives that may not look as drastic as that moment did, but still as.
Very real.
And so I don't want to say them, but I lost my train, I thought altogether, but just oh, it was about the police. They were saying. You know, all of these people have again been on their pedestals saying black lives matter, yet they were, you know, antagonizing cops. A cop has died, you know, so the point is they never cared about or blue lives matter. I'm sorry, but you know they've been saying blue lives matter this whole time, and now a cop has been killed, they
were still antagonized police, you know, threatening police. They came in with chemical warfare. You know, they were saying that they had chemicals and all these things. So they didn't care about blue lives anymore than they cared about black lives. It just, you know, was an angle to further their agenda. Sure, the agenda of white supremacy and white power.
Anyways, I know that something. I'm glad you said that too, because I remember something that happened a while agough this was in two thousand and five, so you guys were still babies. I'm sorry that was a cheap shot. I had to take it though. That's all right, though, it's okay to be the og in the room. But no, this happened in two thousand and five. I remember I was working at Power ninety two in Phoenix, Arizona, and
we were watching on TV the Hurricane Katrina aftermath. There was this television program, it might have been on MTV or something like that, and they were doing fundraising to help out the victims of Hurricane Katrina. For those of you old enough to remember, you know what it is. But if you don't, Hurricane Katrina was basically a huge hurricane. We lost a major US city. Basically it was underwater and lots of people died and everyone else had to evacuate.
No homes, no nothing, everything you thought was gone. Imagine waking up and everything that you own has gone. It's swept away in the water. So and it still hasn't been rebuilt. Oh yeah, that part.
Resources still not been allocated.
So what happens is Mike Myers is an actor. He had a lot of bigger roles back then, but we knew him as like the Austin Powers guy. He was doing an interview a live taping with none other than Kanye West, and say what you will about Kanye West, Once upon a time, this man spoke the truth and he said, I'll never forget it. He said, you know, the news is reported, mind you, this is live TV.
Kanye says, the news when they see a white family go into a store and grabs supplies, they say just that this white family is or they don't say white family on the news, but they say this family is going in and trying to get supplies so that they can you know, take care of themselves because you know, blah blah blah, and they get they gave it a bit of a story background. People could empathize with the family and you know, build they could build a narrative
around those those this white family being a victim. And then Kanye says, but when it's a black family that goes in and does the same thing, the news refers to them as looters and they're doing the same exact thing. And I think that by itself speaks to how backness is treated and what black people have been saying for hundreds of years that yes, okay, we can use the same bathroom, now we can drink from the same water fountain.
But when it comes to the optics, when it comes to the moral divide, when it comes to anything, there is much more in the way of opportunity on the white side, or at the least, there is much less in the way of opportunity, fairness balance on the black side. And you know, even the words white and black, look them up. The words have been given so much condition. You know, we're all brown. You know, we all have
varying degrees of melanin, which makes us brown. But you know, the language in and of itself is it creates this disconnect from our humanity. Know that we're all here, we all, you know, are doing this together, and we all want the same things. We want our offspring to do better than we have. And then you know it's it's examples like this one where these folks get to run up in the building, largely leave with their lives. I do
want to mention that one woman was killed. I'm not sure what she was doing, but a police officer shot one woman there. But the point is that they we're making is that with that many people, we know, it would have been not even a gunfighter, would have been a slaughter.
Slaughter exactly and hundreds of arrest whoever they felt that it was they couldn't kill. They would just be like, oh yeah, got to.
Arrest you easily. And so you know, Kanye is saying that in two thousand and five, fifteen years ago. Yeah, yeah, sixteen, it was absolutely a precursor to what we saw today. Something that really That's why what I saw didn't surprise me. That's the same broadcast where Kanye said George Bush doesn't care about black people. What I thought she was, Oh no, I remember that for sure.
Yeah.
Yeah, so that but that just before he said that, he described what the media was portraying, and he was asking people to donate. And so because I got to see that in real time as it happened, I understood the context in which, you know, he said that. He's like, listen, we have to donate. These people need us, My people need us. We have to do something. The news is not helping. They're you know, they're creating a narrative that's
just not true and it's not fair. And George Bush, Yeah, and he's saying, and George Bush doesn't care about black people. So we need to do something. We we care. We MTV, we the people that play this music. We the people that love this culture and these people that created we need to do something. Low Wayne lives there, you know, like this is this is sort of what Kanye was
was talking about how to get see yeah. Yeah, But you know, then the sound the SoundBite that comes out of it is George Bush doesn't care about black people. That's the only SoundBite that people cared about. And I'm not going to pretend like it wasn't profound. Yeah, but and or that it was, you know, something that you know, you would naturally pull out of an interview like that, because that's the one that's going to get you the
most attention. But and I don't think Kanye regrets saying it, you know, or if he does.
Kanye doesn't regret saying anything.
There you go. But again, the point there is that Kanye knew in two thousand and five, and I've known my whole life. I'm born in nineteen eighty two that the world treats white folks and black folks differently, and the world much less than America. The United States. The United States really treats black folks and and white folks differently. So I'll tell another story. I was sitting down with a good friend of mine once upon a time, and we were talking about a mod Aubrey, I believe that's name.
He was jogging in his neighborhood, and the way the story goes is that he stopped in an abandoned house, had to look around, came out, kept it pushing right. And my friend, who is someone who associates with black people, he's a very kind man, he's a good person. He and I had to have a very very intense human moment because he said to me, He's like, yeah, man, he shouldn't have been in that house. Why did he
go in that house in the first place. Of course he's going to look suspicious if he's in that house and those people are defending that property even though it's not their property. Like he just he was asking for it. And I don't know that that's exactly what he said, because he might be listening, but that was kind of what he was suggesting. And my response to that was, Okay, So let's remove a mod Aubrey from the equation and
let's put Tessa into that scenario. So, now Tessa, if you can't see Tessa, she's a beautiful blonde hair, uh, blue eyed, something like that, but.
Uh eurocentric standards of.
Yeah, just a good looking woman, younger look, you know what I'm saying, attractive most people would you kind of have a look like what's a girl from the Batman movie with the Joker, the Joker's wife. That's what you look like. You look just like that girl. So that was a good thing. I hope you think that she's a good looking person too. But anyway, so yeah, let's put her into that scenario, and let's remove a odd from the scenario.
I mean, not to interrupt you, but there were white people going into that house. They said that later, right, the white were.
Coming in exactly interesting. So watch what happens now, a young white woman with blonde hair and green eyes, you know, it's jogging down the street. She sees it a house, you know, halfway built. It's interesting. She might want to see, you know, whatever she wants to see. Maybe she's thinking of buying a house on her own. Maybe you know, I had a house built before. I went and visited that house once twice a week, just to check on the progress and the daydream. What am I going to?
Where's the couch going to go? You know that sort of thing, And I would look at other people's houses was a new development, I would look at their houses too, to see what they have houses going to affect property values? Is it's a four bedroom with you know.
What I mean?
So, uh, you know, snooping around in a you know, an empty lot with some sticks in it, you know, or you know, some sort of half built structure is not unusual at least, you know, And it's certainly not something and that you should lose your life over, especially if you're if you look like Tessa. So let's play this scenario back Tessa's jogging, She goes into the house, has a look around, sees all this cool stuff, and leaves.
Makes friendly conversation with the neighbors while no one asks any questions.
Sure exactly, And because my friend had told me, he's like, you know, that guy, he could have been in there stealing stuff, He could have been doing anything, blah blah blah. And I'm like, okay, So you assuming that him being there is sinister suggests that you're associating that sinister behavior with his blackness. Because the only thing that we've changed is the fact that now this is a twenty six year old white female and all of a sudden, she's
not in there stealing. How could she be and she's not up to no good? How could she be? Right?
You know?
And what you have to come to terms within this moment is are we all human here? Or do some humans get treated better than others? Do some humans get consideration that others.
Don't valued differently?
Exactly exactly? And this is the thrust of the Black Lives Matter movement, And this is how we're able to see what we saw at the Capitol Building and not have as intense of a reaction as someone like Testamitis assume that we should, because we're kind of used to it. You know, we grew up in a world very much shaped by well, I'm black, so I can't do that.
You could do it, but I know I'm gonna stay right here, you know, you know, don't talk back to the police, don't you know, like just certain things that like my neighbor did.
It's so crazy that you said that. It even goes down to like just like, you know, I had a white best friend and he would talk back to his dad and I would look at him like, bro, you crazy, Like what are you doing? And his dad would never like like do anything about it. And it's just like, I know for a fact, I couldn't do that at my house, you know what I'm saying, I'd be put through the wall.
Yeah.
So it's like even they the comparison of something so simple. Sure, you know what I'm saying, I can as I get older, I can understand it.
So you know, you you very much can can see that. You know. Obviously, like you said, a lot of that's cultural, but that absolutely spills out onto the streets into the real world where you know, certain people move with impunity, they move with this sense of entitlement. To see that man walk out of that Capitol building with the podium, you know, for anyone to look at that and tell themselves that's not a slap in the face of the entire country of the of the United States of America,
they're kidding themselves. In my heart, they're making excuses for that, you know, because all you have to do is swap that person for a black person. Now he's he's he's you know, a twenty nine year old blackmail you know from Baltimore walking out of the the Capitol Building with the you know, then it's it's in a an attack on the.
You know what I mean, walking out that assumes he even got in. Yeah, that wouldn't have happened either.
And I don't want to take anything away from the folks that really have called it what it is, which is an attack on democracy and attack on the country, you know, especially in waving those Confederate flags, which kind.
Of scares me as well, because I feel like, like you said, usually we're as as the United States were usually buttoned up, you know what I'm saying. I feel like a lot of other countries already don't like our sense of entitlement, I guess sure. And I just feel like that showed them like, oh, we can go you know what I'm saying, even their own people can walk into their capital with listen, and for other countries to think that that's dangerous, that's super Listen.
The craziest part about it is I started watching the t TV show not too long ago called Designated Survivor Follow Me Here. So this show, you know about all the time I watched the whole time. That's how it felt like that. So in this show, basically what happens is, you know, everyone goes into the to the Capitol Building, and then someone sets off an explosion in the Capitol Building and the Secretary of how Housing and Urban Development
is listed as the designated survivor. So if the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of State, all these people end up dying, that's the They all can't be in the same building together. One person has to stay away and they deem that person a designated survivor. So when when the Capitol Building gets attacked, you know, this guy becomes the president and he's like the last person he expected to me, and all of a sudden, he's got
a country to run. So and it's another show. It's a TV show, and it's on the hills of a national tragedy. So he's got to assume power. He gets sworn in in the hallway, and all of a sudden he's the president. They're like, okay, what do we do so show? If you want to watch it, yeah, anyway, check it out. The first episode. I remember watching it and you see the Capitol Building it blows up, you know, everybody in their dies, and I remember just thinking like,
huh man, that's a great special effect. You know, it's just so unreal. It's like watching a movie like a White House Down and you know, oh my god, that that movie scared me.
They they had everything you're talking about, the actual movie, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, they had the whole white House down, and within ten minutes, I was like, oh, this ever happens, it's bad. Yeah.
But the thing is, there's something, there's a sense of oh that could never happen in real life. Yeah, these buildings are the most protected buildings in the planet. You know, this would never actually happen. And you know what we saw. We saw regular people, not even a lot of them go. They passed through a thin line of security because you know, DC didn't really deem them a threat. You know, the
Secret Service, you know, there's military there. I was just in DC and it might have been August, just didn't really see see these people as a threat. So they're at like, you know, moderate security threat, you know, and these are people, you know, gun owners for Trump. I remember seeing that flag, you know, Second Amendment rights and don't tread on me flags and you know, of course the people in camouflage and like.
They're yeah, what was the call of duty office for us?
Like that?
That makes me as if I'm outside and I'm a cop and I see you come up with camouflage, I'm just gonna assume you're packing, because why are you coming equipped for war?
Exactly exactly my point. And the thing is, have a little white skin and they won't see it that way, you know, Okay, I'd be scared, but dig this though. What happens is those people are supported often or what's infinitely worse, are also among the ranks of the police officers. So the police officer looking at the guy in camouflage gear for the hunting rifles sees a comrade, sees one of his own, and both of them look at someone like you and me and think, oh, we're the enemy.
We're the thugs. We're you know what I mean. And that's the crazy thing about it, because it's just it's the furthest thing from the truth. What we saw was thugs run into the Capitol building, they looted the building.
They you know, uh, disrespected the police. They did all these sorts of things, you know what I mean, And somehow, you know, when it's us and we're trying to make a point, we end up looking we end up getting villainized, and really what we're asking for is in all of our protests and marches and things like this, This wasn't to you know, anything that we've ever done wasn't to overturn an election because we never never disturb of trouble. But we asked for basic decency. We ask for uh,
human rights. We ask for arrest somebody before you want to kill them. Thank you, you know, giving everybody their day in court, you know what I mean. Don't execute human beings. We have a little bit more value than that. Hence Black Lives Matter. These people were upset about the election.
Result election something like I'm not saying it's the same thing, but a winning or losing you that you can compare that to a basketball game or something like that. It's just winning or losing. You guys lost and you're mad about it.
Oh and the crazy part about it is you guys lost probably like seventeen times in a row.
We watched it.
Yeah, like y'all still don't want it. But anyway, ay, right, right, real quick. If you're just tuning in to Civic Sacherami host rams this job. My guest today Tessa Ferrell and Elijah Banks all the way from LA. Once again, I appreciate both of you guys can stop on by Man especially, I know you came a long way, you looked out for you and did my little show with me. I appreciate that anytime. Of course, you know, what we're talking
about is the attack on the Capitol, you know. Uh, and then you know Trump said something he got on there before the attack on the Capitol.
Well, first off, came out the Proudboys, Uh stand by. No no, no, no no no. This was after that, you know, but I think they stood by.
They was waiting, Yeah, exactly, that's what that's, you know, exactly so, but he was tweeting something like, you know, let's get you know, ready for I forgot what it was because I don't read this guy's tweets, which he lost his Twitter account, thank god. But then after these guys show up at the Capitol and they start the preceding start where they you know, tally up the votes or whatever, and they certified Joe Biden as the next president.
When the when the House got rushed, Trump finally came out after Joe Biden said something. Trump comes out and says, hey, we know we lost or we we won this election, you know whatever, but this is not the right way to do it. And he's still like pouring gas on the fire. He's trying to like work the media angles because he's worried about his legacy, so he has to say something, but he has to hold the line too
because those people are there. Because he thinks that he was cheated out of the election, so he again says, yes, this election was stolen from us, but this is not the right way to you know whatever. And then afterwards, after everything had blown over a little bit, he puts out a two minute video saying, you know, we'll make a peaceful transition to the new administration. That the attack on the Capitol was a heinous and I condemned those
actions and blah blah. And he did his best to separate those people, like I'd say maybe like sixty seventy of them had Trump hats on the rest of them had flags, and somehow or other, he's trying to like distance himself from his actual supporters that he asked to come there and do that exact thing. And and then Juliani was said, let's have a trial by combat or something. He's really flagrant this language that he's used throughout his presidency.
Combat We had that weird. Yeah, it sounds like you want to get down.
Yeah, but twenty four hours before he was calling them lovely, thanking them for their arrival, go home safely, rest. We'll tackle this again tomorrow. And now the language is very different of peace and.
And I condemn those actions. Yeah, you know, like the rest of the long and the short of it is that, you know, we've seen this person play this game on on the scale of an entire country for four years now you've seen isn't that crazy? And it just feels like we've lived under a dark cloud. And then twenty twenty just that's when the thunder started.
It was a storm. Yeah, like yeah, the build up it was like great clouds, you know what I'm saying.
And it was just like, nah, we're going to open up the gates right there, listen, and it's it's the wildest thing. And this guy and then and then to talk about his Twitter, I think Facebook blocked him as well from using his account.
I think he's on like a couple of weeks suspensions on each of them as it sits right now.
So like, how do how do you feel to be the president and and have a social media and be like, look, you're becoming dangerous for this potform.
I think we have to shut him down. I think that's part of the reason why he decided to come out with that that that speech after the Factory, he finally acknowledged that he lost the election and that Joe Biden would be certified as the next president or would be elected as the next president because of the election had been certified. So when everybody's pulling away from him and he's the last man standing, then all of a sudden, he's got nowhere else to go. And that is like
textbook narcissism. You know, he loses him losing that election, he's got to be the winner all the time he's got he's like sick. Narcissism is definitely meant health issue, Oh absolutely absolutely. And the worst part about it is there's no cure.
If you're a narcissists, you really start believing the stuff that you put out there answer the universe.
Absolutely, and you are a narcissist. When they bury you, it doesn't go away. It's just it's like a It may as well be like cerebral palsy or something some other durable ailment. But that's why he's willing to fight that fight to the bitter end. It's a bruised ego and he doesn't want to go down. As you know, like all the presidents that we've had, none of them have said, I want to be on Mount Rushmore. Let's look into.
That, you know.
And obviously we haven't, especially in modern times. I don't think ever seen a president go this far to contest the results ever. Yeah, because as we staid earlier in the show, that the initial results came out and then the recounts, and then the state lost by so much you should have just listened.
Now. If it was close, I understand and recount, you know what I mean. But it was such a large gap.
Yeah, man, there's millions of people. And then he spun together all these well, if all six of these states changed their minds, then we're gonna win. And fraud happened in all these states together. And that's how we know, man.
And you know what like, and I didn't even know this part, but what you said earlier, you know what's embarrassing is, yeah, there was some fraud and it helped you. You still lost, Like what are you doing? Yeah?
Man? So, uh, you know, it really does feel like we're kind of getting toward the end of such a strange thing. But what will ultimately be left behind is people like those that storm that Capitol building. And what will be left with the legacy his legacy will be the divisiveness, and his legacy will be the lack of empathy and the and the complete and utter selfish selfishness.
I'm glad that they that they did what they did because now so he gets to go out with a boom and like a boom that like you can't rewrite or you can't erase that. Oh yeah, this is the behavior yeah, for a whole people on the Capitol.
Yeah, and they were his people.
And they were his people like in your uniform.
Oh listen top to bottom waving a Confederate Listen, pre anyone listening to my voice. If you don't know the history of this country. Uh, Once upon a time there was a war called the Civil War, and the Civil War was over slavery. Basically, the South wanted to keep their slaves and the North wanted to abolish slavery because slavery was making so much money. At the time, most of the wealth in the country was concentrated in the South, and now it's you know, New York places like that.
But at that time, all the wealth was down in the South. We were doing you know, cotton and sugar and whatever else we could do. So slavery was making money, and the South decided that, you know, we have the land, we have the people, we need to you know, keep this institution going. But all the lawmakers and the politicians lived up north, and so that's how we ended up with the North versus the South, basically a country at
war with itself. The South adopted a new flag because they tried to leave the United States and form the Confederate States of America. Right, this is a cliffs Notes version of it. And if I'm wrong on any of this, I know I'm not with.
You know, the way they re down is very very key.
So okay, So the Confederate States of America is something that lasted I think two to three years something like that. It wasn't a long time.
You know.
There's you know, bands that last longer than that. There's you know, I got t shirts older than that, you know. So the Confederate States of America was an actual thing, and they had a flag and it's the Confederate flag, right, and people that wield that flag are people that claim that that flag is their heritage. At the same time, those people wave the American flag because they're proud Americans,
right right. And the thing is, uh, there's you know, America fought against the United States of America, fought against the Confederate States of America. And one, so the Confederate flag is the flag of losers. That's your legacy, and you want to hold on to it by all means, you know. But know what, we see the way that you just put that listen, But on top of that that should have to make that water market to the
flag of the losers, absolutely is. And so it's the Nazi flag because you know nazis run with those guys. Just the same there are people that got beaten because their ideas are worse. They don't they don't support the best of what humanity is.
You know.
These are people that are large, Yeah, exactly. But these people claim that it's their heritage or whatever it is that they do. And obviously, for us, we see it as a symbol of slavery, of the desire for slavery to continue. We see it as a time a relic of a time when black people weren't really treated so good, and it's a symbol to embolden that group of people against black people specifically, all of those things all the time.
It's never anything else. And so to see this Confederate States of America relic in the Capitol Building of the actual United States of America, that's a former enemy that has been crushed out of existence, brought back into the to the actual capital building, as though it has somehow been anchored by the South, is asmine. That is an active treason if you ask me, you know, you know, just I mean, I.
Think in that we're operating though, as if that is really what happened in that that ever went away, you know. And so I think to say, like, how could this Confederate flag be in the Capitol Building is assuming that it ever went away and the philosophy is the ideals behind it, when really that's still very much the entirety of how our nation.
Operates, you know, and identified right, it's along these lines, you know, for a long time, folks have been saying things like, oh, you know, racism is getting better and the old the old racists are dying out, and you know, on and on, and it's just I mean, it's been hundreds of years, literally hundreds of years, and I saw that flag getting waved around inside the Capitol building.
Just because old races they pass they pass it on the energy absolutely teaching.
And then on top of that, even if they don't pass it on. There are one thing that that I will be fair about. There are groups of younger white men who find a sense of community with other young white men online. These people tend to be involuntarily celibate.
In other words, they.
Like women, but women don't like them back. These are the these are the type of people that really would have a problem with me and you banks, because you know, we represent uh uh social mobility that they don't get. We you know, we we probably have access to women in ways that they don't. You know, I'm sure that's kind of how they would look at it. I'm not one of those people, but they would look at me
and deduce that socially awkward. Oh yeah, absolutely. And they play video games and they you know, just sit back and they point their fingers at the whole world about their condition, and they wish and they don't believe in white privilege because one thing they said to itself is like, oh, I wish I had some of this white privilege, and I wish I had my million dollars when I was born, like everybody thinks I get and I wish I had, you know, And in their minds and in their worlds,
that's a real thing. They feel like the world doesn't pay attention to them, the world doesn't care about them, women don't like them, you know, and so and then they grow up very much isolated, and they only find a sense of community and these online forums and these video game forms and so forth, where they're free to vent their frustration with the world, and their frustration with
the world. At least they tell themselves the story that their frustration stems from, or the source of their rather is immigrants, black people, you know, criminals, black lives matter, basically, anything that's not you know, a viking is the source
of their you know, discomfort in life. And they feel like they should have more than what they do and have more access to whatever, and more mobility and so forth, and yet and still they're very much stuck in their room playing the same video games over and over again. And those people grow up not necessarily influenced by their parents, but influenced by each other, and they're looking for someone
to blame. And you know, that's it's really tough to blame nature because if you blame nature for your you know, inverted penis problem or whatever it is that you're dealing with. I don't mean to be funny, but whatever it is, your issue is that you know, is keeping you from becoming a little bit more mobile socially. You know, it's it's just easier to blame other people, you know, and it's easier to vent that frustration. And you know, like we've seen with you know, Proud Boys and all these
other guys. Proud Boys might be a little different, but you know we've seen them kind of get recruited into groups like Proud Boys and the Trump you know, uh, the Trump train will call it where they find a sense of okay, well, these are white folks. These these folks recognize that the world is not treating them as good as they as it could. And you know, this used to be our country and you know, life was better and the eighteen hundreds of scho or the nineteen fig whatever they think, as I say.
When when was America great? I still want to know.
I mean maybe for them any.
Yeah, for them, I really want to know for them.
For them, it's I mean, it's still pretty good. I don't don't. It's not that great for me. I can't even fix my headlight in my garage. That was crazy.
I'm not gonna lie. That was crazy.
It's a real thing.
You have. You have a lot more soken not do. Brother.
Yeah, yeah, Actually, you know that story ended up working out. You know, he and I ended up talking again later. I believe that, you know, no matter what, there should always be a little bit of forgiveness built into the narrative. Because even though my neighbor will call him a fifty six year old, bald white man who's certainly a lot more frail than I am, came across and you know,
did whatever, he's still a human being. He's endowed with consciousness from the same creator whoever created me, created him. Whatever you believe that to be, he's he's It's okay if he makes a mistake, because I'll make mistakes too, And if I leave a little bit of room for forgiveness, then you know, when the time comes, we can still talk. That doesn't mean run upon me because like I said, I am from Compton. I don't play that, you know.
But in his case, you know, we ended up talking, and you know, I let him know how I felt when he when he approached me like that, and he basically apologized, you reckon, that he was in the wrong and that it didn't make it right. But I understood that my role in that scenario was to make sure that I didn't devolve beyond a certain point. I had to kind of keep my composure because moving forward now that man is to call him an ally would be
a little too strong. But I can say that I helped him to grow up a little bit and then he won't take anger and spew it out elsewhere in the world. Now he has a little bit more like a measured response because he saw the error in his ways and I was able to forgive him. And when you do these sorts of things and you are able to say, listen, you were wrong, You're absolutely wrong, but here's the right thing to do. And if you do this,
everything's going to be okay. All is forgiven. Then you know, instead of making a permanent enemy out of someone you have the potential or create the capacity, rather to you know, maybe you've been making year leaders. Some people just they have to get a little closer to the to the source to see the light. And you know, as long as you allow for that, then you know you might make it.
Yeah, for sure, Nah man, you be speaking them for sure?
Yeah, man, absolutely, Well. I want to thank both of y'all for coming up and hanging out with me on the show today. Uh, you know, Banks, let them know what's going on with you, how to keep up with you, what's.
Next for you? Man? Everything is Elijah Banks, E, L I, J, H, B, A n X, even down the PlayStation. Man, if you want to get whooped on in two kges ill have me. I got a lot I'm working on, man, talk about it. Me and me and Twizzy got an album that we're working on. I got my album that I'm finally about to come out with. We're working on a deluxe version. I got a country album that I'm working on. Yeah do that, yeah man. So I'm all over the place. I just did a rock R and B song the
other night. So yeah, man, I'm excited for this year. I'm thankful for Quarantine because it slowed me down because I was I was running around I was on tour with Tory and all that. Yeah, Tory Lanez, and it slowed us down to the point where now I'm creating in a better space. Bro, I love it and I'm I'm enjoying what we're doing.
Perfect, perfect, Okay. Test to let them know where they can keep up with you if.
You so choose.
Oh boy, Yeah, I think it's a TESTA for realist is my Instagram handle, and that's about anything I'm on. I'm not on Twitter, I'm not on Snapchat. I'm not out here dancing.
That's good enough for Realist. That'll work a lot of a lot of potent content there as well. And of course, please be sure to keep up with the show. If you want to download this episode or any of our previous episodes, visit the website civiccipher dot com, submit all your questions show topics. Please donate the show is supported by you, and follow all the social media once again at Civic Cipher or civiccipher dot com Until next week, y'all, Peace,