Civic Cipher 070321 Q. Ward & Ramses Ja

Ebony excellence to get into here real soon. But a couple of bigger things that we wanted to talk about that we weren't able to get to last week. A story about a Trump's reporter who shot into a car full of black teens back and in December at an

Iowa rally. You know we're gonna we got some follow up information about his sentencing that many of us will find troubling, and you know that we really need to examine, and we also want to spend more time talking about a show from in the three weeks ago where we originally talked about critical race theory and how it was banned in Florida, while some new laws have been passed in Texas, and we want to examine that and just kind of reintroduce the topic because I get the impression

that we're going to have to deal with this around the country, and so we have a lot in store for today's episode. But before we get to the heavy stuff, I definitely want to take some time to shout out all of the black women athletes for our Ebony X Simmons segment.

Simone Manuel, who came back from an injury to ultimately make the Olympic team. I'm kind of condensing it, but an excellent achievement. Alison Felix became a mother, uh and was late dropped by Nike, only to come back to make her fifth Olympic appearance.

fastest woman in the world. Well, listen, she made the Olympic team. And this is a little sad, but it was one week after burying her mom. So a lot of triumph in those stories, and of course all black girl magic and of course ebony excellence, which we love to celebrate on the show here, So big shout out to all of our Olympians and I get the feeling we're going to do well. But moving on to the

issue at hands. So, you know, I remember reading about this story about the shooting at the Trump rally, you know,

and these guys are all Second Amendment self defense. And if they if they can, you know, tell themselves a story, no matter how far fetched, if they can connect a couple of dots and say they were threatened or you know, anything like that, then they'll use it as an excuse to engage physically and you know, violently, yeah, exactly, and the law and they almost know that the law will be on their side, you know, because the police often look like them or subscribe to similar philosophies. They tend

to be right leaning, you know. Obviously, police tend to support candidates who tend to in turn support police and those oftentimes tend to be right leaning candidates. And fiscal decisions, sure, among other decisions. But you know, sure we'll start there. I think there's a fundamentally yeah, yeah, there's a fundamental difference in philosophy and value of human life, different types

of human life, I think. But sure, fiscal decisions. But you know, the way this this scenario plays out oftentimes is is a story that we're well versed with, and this one is no exception. So I actually caught wind of this story. Not sure if you you two did a swirl or cue, but you know, we didn't, you know, as as it goes, we didn't get a chance to talk about it on the air, perhaps because no one died,

you know. Unfortunately the reality of the situation is that our priorities have to be where there's a loss of life and there's you know, a huge rallying momentum behind, you know, seeking some sort of justification or justification not the right word. What am I looking for? Accountability for that?

a car full of black teenagers. You know, someone got shot and the person was Ultimately the shooter was charged for attempted murder, right, and you would think end of story, Great, that's that should be the way that goes. But ended up getting a very uh what was described as generous plea deal. And so that's what we need to look at today. So let me let me, let me, let me, let me get into details with the story because I

have some notes here. So on December sixth, uh Michael McKinney of Saint Charles, Iowa was at a rally at state Capitol hosted by Women for America first a pro Trump group when a group of Trump supporters clashed with a group of four teenage girls, all under the age sixteen, who began following the group in a vehicle. Now that underage women underage girls rather were black. According to the driver's mother, Danielle Gross, the teens and the Trump supporters

argued about politics. Gross said the demonstrators hurled racial slurs at the teens. I wasn't there, so I don't know how true that is. But Trump rally black kids there, I'd imagine it's believable. After rally goer surrounded the vehicle carrying the teens, the driver put the car in reverse and struck a truck, although it's not clear whether she hit the truck intentionally. In other words, it sounds like they were trying to escape because they were surrounded by

folks who were all right. McKinney, who wasn't involved in the altercation that led to the shooting, according to court documents, walked toward the vehicle, pulled a gun from his waistband, and shot into the car from fifteen feet away. In other words, this person was not it was not his property that was damaged. He was not these girls are trying to escape and so forth, and this is the

way the story went. One of the girls that had been arguing with Rout through the sunroof of the vehicle was struck in the leg, and the driver sped off to take her to a hospital. McKinney was wearing body armor and had two loaded magazines in his pants, along with another firearm with Trump decals on his vehicle. He tried to hide evidence by putting the shellcasing in the back of his car only and only confessed after others

identified him. So he went there with a gun and a bulletproof vest and his you know, Merica gear, perhaps anticipating some funk, found some across for something or to start some found some across the field, and inserted himself into the middle of that situation and then shot some people who were trying to leave. Authorities downplayed the racial context of the shooting, and initial police reports contained no

record of race or mention of Trump. Right. Initial police reports, as we know, tend to be often incomplete or inaccurate, and or oftentimes it's both. Yeah, yeah, I think that's

a fair thing. Oftentimes it is both, you know, certainly with the stories that come an hour away, and when you view the world through a black lens, it really feels like that you're not going to get a fair shake when you're interacting with policing or representation with respect to the government, and those things really do inform your movements in your day to day activities. And so I just want to make sure that I said that the right way. I don't I don't want to be unfair.

I don't want to be unkind. I know that they're law enforcement officers to listen. I know that there are laws support people that support law enforcement that listen. But this is a real show, and we have to have real conversations, and so let's deal with the real all right. So Bob Brecky Junior, the owner of the truck the driver struck, told the Associated Press he was glad McKinney fired at the teens quote. I felt relieved, he said his vehicle was scratched during the chaos. Now, I do

want to mention something here. This article comes from the Atlanta Black Star. We get a lot of our news from the Atlanta Black Star and other sources around the internet. This article may have been written in such a way to where it really favors our general view of the world. That's not to say it's inaccurate, but things like the

driver's truck was scratched. That could mean that the driver's truck was actually scratched or it could have been damaged, and we don't know that because it was written this way. So I want to be I want to mention that these are not my words and this isn't coming from.

watched the video. I didn't you know as we do. We take turns. So what happened is I refer to them as children, and you corrected me and said, you know, I don't want this to be you know, I don't want this story to get out there the wrong way and us to be accused of, you know, misrepresenting what really happened. They were teenagers, and I says, okay, that's fair to me a teenager as a child.

why I'm trying to be critical. Those who also read the Atlanta Black Star know that they exist to kind of provide a glimpse into issues and stories that mainstream media just doesn't it completely ignores. But these are black stories, and these are real stories and valid stories, and we need to know about these things, so I'll finish her.

Michael McKinney faces up to ten years in prison for each of the two charges, including intimidation with a dangerous weapon and Wilfrid injury after one of the girls, age fifteen, was injured when he fired his weapon. McKinney's expected to be sentenced August ninth. Before taking a plea deal, he was scheduled to go on trial June twenty first, and argue that he fired his weapon in self defense as the girl's vehicle backed into a pickup truck driven by

another Trump supporter. And that's a tough case to make self defense when they're driving into another truck. They're backing into another truck, you know, trying to escape. So but the Army veteran who'd express support for the Proud Boys and back the Blue movement admitted Wednesday that he'd intentionally fired into the vehicle, causing the documents to fear serious injury from my action and acknowledge that one of the

girls was seriously injured as a result. Under the plea deal, the state will dismiss four charges, including attempted murder and woke seek enhancements that would have required McKinney to serve five years on each count before being eligible for parole. One prosecutor described the deal as generous. Go ahead.

about that. You know, he's like these guys out here shooting people. He's a crazy person with a bulletproof vest, you know what I mean. He doesn't need to be out on the streets with his vigilante sort of actions. We live in a society where there's order and there's you know, systems in place to that already disadvantages people.

Before walking through the house, took off his shoes. He was wearing his temple garb to go in and meditate. Black man walked in the house that happened to be owned by some non black folks. They called the police and stayed on the phone with the police until the police showed up and executed the man, even though he had apologized, walked out of the house, attempted to explain himself to the police, even while to nine one one operators,

and just resulted in his death. And so we do understand that and let's be clear, if you walk into my house by a mistake, you deserve to be arrested. You know, you can figure out the whys and all that stuff later, but me, my lady, and my children are probably all terrified if a stranger walks in the house, So we're probably calling the cops. And if they arrest you for that mistake, that's not my fault, that's yours. I also understand you don't deserve to die because of

that mistake. Sure well, I would argue that the moment when in that story, Not to rehash last week's episode, but in that story, the man once he realized his mistake, Oh, this is a private residence. This is not the temple I was looking for that I had been to last week with my wife. But it's next door. I thought this was it. I'm sorry here, let me leave, and very clearly made a mistake. I apologized to Yeah, at

that point, it's no longer a threat. I'm leaving. I'm going back to the outside the door on the patio to put my shoes on. And you know, there's nothing here. And the woman described the man to the nine one one operator, saying that he had no weapon, he was not acting aggressively and so forth. And then later in the police report the police said that the woman was

fearful and that described the man as acting aggressively. Anyway, I do want to talk about something that really speaks to this story about Michael McKinney, where with his lighter sentencing. So I don't know the exact quote, but I remember watching a Ted talk with Brian Stevenson. For those who don't know, I don't know the name of the movie, but Brian Stevenson has a movie and that the main

character is played by Michael B. Johnson, Michael B. Jordan. Sorry, Jesus, there's a Johnson here on the page in front of me, Michael B. Jordan. So I have to find the name of the movie. But he's a real life person who's still alive and still he has an organization called the Equal Justice Initiative. So Brian Stevenson in this Ted talk he says something that I thought was very profound and

it stayed with me for many years. He says, I think it's something along the lines of often times it's race, not culpability, that shapes outcomes in the criminal justice system, and that the criminal justice system, as it is, treat you much better if you are white and guilty than if you are black and innocent. And similarly, it treats you much better if you're rich and guilty and if

you're poor and innocent. Right, So, for our purposes here, you know, we're gonna you know, this is something that I believe, this example at least runs along the color lines. And so I want to lean into that.

her up on IMDb. Jamara Taylor, one of my brothers is a lawyer, you know, and on and on. That list goes on and on. So and we're all doing I believe good things, you know, We're all proud of all of us. Right. My oldest brother, Sean was a millionaire when he was like a teenager. He was like nineteen when he made his first million dollars back in the nineties when it was still tough. So I have a brother named Bibbie. That's not his real name. His

name is Johnny Young, but I call him for big brother. Anyway. Once upon a time, Bibby got himself a new Escalade and his now wife and him were always driving around in his car. And if you know anything about California, there is a real issue with car jackings, or at least there was at that time. So he carried a gun with him in the car. He's got someone to protect and got to protect himself too. That's just how it is out there. One night, some folks started messing

with his girlfriend who's now his wife. It's all on video too. These guys are just doing too much touching, doing whatever, and Bib can't go up and deal with a bunch of guys like this long story short ends up grabbing his gun, shooting in the air. Guys run away. My brother went to prison for twelve years for attempted murder, even though that was on video, shouting straight in the air as warning shots, and everyone ran away. And that's the criminal justice system that I know to be true.

I lost twelve years with my older brother. He's out now and he's thriving. But this story, I think speaks to a culture that's commonplace in this country, where again, the outcomes in this arena tend to treat you much better if you're white and guilty than if you're black and innocent. And it's unfortunate, but we do need to discuss it, because our votes shape the shape systems like this. Our phone calls to our representatives shape things like this.

Our voting on ballots for judges shape things like this. Do a little bit of research, make the changes you want to see in your community, and hopefully we will create a better space for all of us. That's at least my belief. And now watching my mic back like.

become a better ally. And so today's BABA comes in the form of I want to say this right, James Tallarico. He's a state senator from Texas, and we do have this video up on our Facebook page. Now I want you to watch this video. But if you don't get around to watching the video, that's okay.

limits the teachings of doctor King? Do you know that this means that we can't educate about you know, our native populations and so forth and so on, and just rips into it and it's one of those masterful moments where you see someone come out of their own body. It's beautiful. But when you know, when you know that he's a white man and everyone that he talks about was a non white person, what you see is a human being advocating for human beings. It was very special

to watch. We want to give him his kudos and I want go ahead.

So the headline is Texas Governor Greg Abbott signs into law critical race theory bill limiting teaching of current events related to race.

race theory. So what it is is it is a view of history that fundamentally where we come from and our and our approach to race in the past has a direct correlation to how we relate to each other on a racial level today, where we stand relative to each other, and why there's such huge disparities in health and economic uh resources and representation in the criminal justice system and so forth, and so on, various points of you know, livelihood and life in society the hiring goes,

and so forth, where you're able to live and so forth. Critical race theory kind of puts everything on the same table and says this has to do with this, and that has to do with that, and this started way back when and so forth, and so as you can imagine, the right has a vested interest in killing this before it's able to really take on a life of its own.

Because it's a recent term. We've been taught about the different races for many years, but once it has coalesced into okay, we need to make sure that this curriculum is in schools. And once it becomes a buzzword, then now you know your Fox News and you know you're very right, very much right wing. Right leaning individuals have

a term that they can try to pick apart. And the way that they do that, in the way that they say it, and you know, as we talked about a couple episodes ago, is they'll say that, you know, by teaching children this, we're teaching them that they come from a racist lineage. That of course, but they think that that's bad for I'm going to say it plainly, they think that that's bad for white children. Right, so I want to make sure that I say what they

say so or what they what they hear. They feel like their children will grow up with low self esteem, they will feel like they'll grow up guilty and not feel like they deserve, you know, and anything they work for won't rightfully be theirs. And there's all these sorts of weird arguments that are really based loosely on I wouldn't even call it logic. It's just emotional an emotional disconnect. They want to feel good and this makes them feel bad,

and they're worried it'll make their children feel bad. Plus they worry that this type of education will indoctrinate their children to become liberals, that is, and they'll say that plainly. That's the biggest fear. Yeah, they'll say it plainly, you know, because obviously we know, and you know, those who are informed know that the more educated you are, the higher your tendency is to be liberal when it comes time

to vote. That's just the way it goes. You know, if you're really into church and Jesus and belief and dogma and faith and that sort of stuff, your tendency is to especially if you're white, your tendency is to have more conservative views of the world. Because not because the Republican Party is the Party of Jesus Christ, it's in fact the opposite of that, but the position themselves as such, you know, the abortion laws. That wasn't even a part of the Republican platform forty years ago. Fifty

years ago they added it, was it. Yeah, they added it to their platforms so that they could further appeal to evangelicals. Marketing scheme, and we know that. But those, you know, people with faith, they tend to believe and then double down on their belief when presented with facts to the cond it means nothing to them, because belief is what's driving the ship. And when folks are educated and they take the time to learn new knowledge, not believe stuff. But listen, I want to be informed. I

want to know the truth. Those people when they find the light, the real actual light, or rather, let me call it the truth, because Jesus is the light, you know. But when they find the truth, their tendency is to become very liberal with their beliefs, and the tendency is to be more loving and more of a human being,

and so forth and so again. A place like Texas, a place like Florida where at least the folks in power, because Florida, I guess you can make a case of Florida's a swing state, but the folks in power in Florida are definitely right leaning folks, you know, they just got to stranglehold on that. In Texas is the same way.

you know, why do you keep voting Republican? You're you're on welfare, you you know, you know you use these resources, you you rely on a big government. You know this and that. And the third why do you continue to vote for Republican against their own interest? Is this literally

is your reality today and you're voting Republican. And he said, while it could work for me, you know like that, and it's kind of like that same mentality where folks think, well, capitalism is awesome because when I get rich, I'm going to be all the way on and it'll it'll insulate me from ever having to be poor. Again, not fully understanding the capitalism only does that for ultra rich people, because you can be rich and lose all your money. Happens all the time. You can win a lottery, people

lose their money all the time. Even if you think you have the capacity to plan, you know, out your future and you get financial advisors and so forth. Let another pandemic come, let another recession come. There's people that jump off a building when that stuff happens. But the ultra rich are still very much that capitalism so very well. Yeah, absolutely even more so. But you know, I think you

mentioned it earlier. There's a marketing that goes along with very much republican ideology, and you know with capitalism as well, while we're on the subject, that is very easy for certain types of people to buy into. And then the further you indoctrinate them from the opposition, then the less

you have to worry about them. Ultimately seeing that quote unquote light on the other side, you know, as long as Republicans view Democrats as the enemies drinking baby blood in the bottom of a pizza shop or whatever weird stuff that they were talking about last year.

Critical race theory was a fairly obscure discipline, mostly confined to university level academics until last summer, when a filmmaker introduced the concept to the right wing Zeitgeis through high profile interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson in which

he assailed diversity training initiatives in government. It became a useful umbrella term for conservatives so that it could apply to a variety of socio cultural ideas they take issue with, in Texas, where the idea of the dangers of critical race theory clearly seemed to have gained traction among conservatives.

The new law further states that schools cannot teach quote an individuals should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex. Other restriction states that schools cannot quote require an understanding of the sixteen nineteen Project, a project published in the New York Times magazine investigating the history of slavery and race relations in the United States. Before I

read any further, I want to talk about that. So you see the language right here, an individual should cannot teach anything that an individual should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of the individual's race or sex. So on paper, that includes black people, right. So that's how right wing media sells it to white folks, so that it doesn't sound like, hey, look, this is how we protect your kids from becoming liberals.

They say, no, we're going to protect all children from feeling guilty about their race. This protects black people too, when the truth is education is how we avoid repeating the mistakes of the past, you know, and for us to know where we come from. That informs us as to why we are where we are and helps us plan where we go from here. And it's very simple.

But you understand that if you change a couple of these things around, and you know, sell it to a white voter base, a white conservative voter base, that they'll help you get this across the finish line. And a lot of them, even though they know better. The language allows them to insulate themselves from the reality. They can say, oh, yes, I am doing a good thing. This shit I'm not racist.

He was a very educated man, brilliant man. I was proud to be my father's son. I saw the reception that he got in the rooms that he went, and I remember that from a young age. You used to carry me on stages, on podiums with them. I used to be able to sit in the pulpit with them. Later I found out that we descended from slaves. Later I found out that the Church of God in Christ was founded in Tennessee by folks who at one point in time were slaves. You know what I mean, this

is my great grandfather and so forth. You know, I come from a church background. So that becomes something you're not so proud of right now. Maybe shame is too strong of a word, but imagine if you're listening to us and you're not a black person, imagine finding out that you come from slaves, you know. And then I'm already young. I mean Compton, California at this time. So the world around me shows me that the white folks on TV live comfortable lives. There's no gunshots on TV.

There's no dead bodies where they put blankets on them in the streets, And where I live, where there's black and brown people, it's very much like that. And there's graffiti, and there's loose dogs and all these sorts of things. And that couple of the fact that, yeah, you come from slaves doesn't really make you feel very proud. But I would argue that it is very necessary to come to terms with that, because if you know that, then

you know, oh, this is not my fault. I wasn't born bad anymore than a white child who's on the opposite end of that is born good. You have to work on becoming the person that you want to be, and you have to work on shaping the society that

you want to see. And I would argue that if you're working on shaping a fair society for everyone, and you're working on establishing brotherhood and sisterhood with your fellow man and with the planet, I mean, that's a bit beyond the scope of what we do with the show. But you know, you know me personally, both of you do that. Now we're really having the conversation that we need to have as conscious beings, all endowed with consciousness from the same creator, whatever you believe that to be.

And now you're really living your true purpose. And again, these folks have managed to remove themselves and the narratives so far away from what it actually is and then coax their base in that same direction.

as progress, maybe we can have more progress. So what other things would I like to change? What other rigid realities exist right now that perhaps we can break out of. We're not born to die, we're not born to struggle, we're not born to do these things, So how can I change my reality? And so, yes, confronting the past really helps you deal with the present, and I believe also helps you, you know, when dealing with the future. So you know, it's a little bit more about critical

race theory. But you know, if you're listening to our voice. And you know this comes up around your way wherever it is that you are. Again, there's elected officials. They represent your beliefs. They're supposed to. You can write letters, they're supposed to. If you have children, or if you know children, or even if you are a child, or if you once were a child. You can make a phone call, you can write a letter. You can do

It's a very relatively small thing. And again, help create the world you want to see, because these folks are certainly trying to create the world they want to see. And there's more of us than there are of them.

thought colonization could resolve the issue of slavery. Now, if you're unfamiliar with what that means, the African state founded by the American Colonization Society in eighteen twenty one is what is known as Liberia. And so Lincoln thought the best idea to solve America's problem was to literally send all African Americans to Liberia.

for both therefore to be separated. His support of colonization provoked great anger among black leaders and abolitionists who argued that African Americans were as much natives of the country as white people and thus deserved the same rights. Lincoln never again publicly mentioned colonization, and a mention of it in an earlier draft was deleted by the time the final proclamation was issued in January the next year.

What we're trying to do is tell the truth, right, And I want to be fair because I know it to be true that there are black people and have been in the past who share that idea and that sentiment that you know, black folks would be better off moving back to Africa where the society is not or at least perhaps at that time was not built around,

you know, the subjugation of black people. And so I do maintain that a lot of perhaps what Lincoln was dealing with at this time was just a function of a man dealing with a political career, a political agenda and that time. But the reason why we need to debunk these myths is because he's often celebrated in ways that are inconsistent with the truth, and history is whitewashed. And you know, we have to deal with the overwhelming amount of whitewashing that has taken place in history and

deal with the facts at least on this show. My baff for cutting you off's row, what's the next one? No, you're good.

were looking better for the Union. So they didn't look like they were. It was a last gasp of a nation on the brink of defeat. So he waited.

But I remember when I first was exploring some of the myths about a Lincoln was that originally his plan wasn't necessarily to free the slaves, and a part of his original terms with the Confederacy was that they would get to keep slavery if some other concessions were made, and then when they said no, then he enacted an early emancipation, which was what you just talked about, squirrel, where some of the slaves from the Confederacy defected to the Union army and fought against them. And that was

a battle strategy on his part. So the way that it was originally told to me was that Lincoln was using abolitionists slaves and the what's the word I'm looking for? He usually using the who's manipulating his way through this through the Civil War. Now, I'd have to get that in front of me, but I need to say that that's where I come from. So when i'm so, you know what I'm looking at when I'm looking at this or rather listening to it, and yeah, absolutely it sounds

like you know exactly what I learned. What's the source of this?

don't say whitewashing is like a racial way. That's the term as far as I as far as I know, you.

and all previous episodes. Keep yourselves informed. You know, we do this every week because we feel it's necessary to exist alongside other programming that you're hearing on this radio station. On the website, you can also submit questions and topics that you want us to discuss. Anything going on where you live or that you might know about that. We don't anything we got wrong even you know, we're not above you know, learning lessons ourselves. You can also make

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