Hip Hop Activist Roqy Tyraid on Protesting a Hostile Regime

so we're gonna hold it down here in studio. Live on deck with me is the one and only Jacob Rayford aka Rocky Tirade, the hip hop activist and community organizer extraordinaire. Today we're going to be discussing ways communities and individuals can organize and respond to political hostilities as well as local grievances. So welcome back to the show. It's good to have you, bank you, Yeah, thank you, thank you for having me back of course, of course, man,

So stick around. We're going to be discussing we've had a number of like police shootings of on our black men or whether or not they're arm posing no threat, you know whatever. The kid, I gotta be mindful that it's not illegal to have a gun. But we're gonna we picked one story to talk about it just because we've been covering so much in the political space and

a lot of like boycotts, things like this. We we can't overlook kind of what's happening on the ground and what the community's response to that could be, should be, what it looks like now given the current political climate, So we appreciate you taking the time out to come and discuss that with us. For those that are able to the second part of today's program, we're going to

be discussing Trump's address to Congress. Yeah, yeah, yeah, so yeah, maybe yeah, you know, delusion may well maybe we want we want to jump ahead, We want to jump at any event. That and so much more to stick around for on today's episode of Civic c Apper. But before we go any further, as always, it's time to share some Ebony excellence, and today's Ebny Excellence comes from ABC eight wriic dot com. This one goes back to November

of twenty twenty four of last year. It took us some time to get and we have a lot of these to get to, but we couldn't overlook this. Doctor Hadiya Nicole Green has been selected as a Distinguished twenty twenty four Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award honoree. This prestigious recognition is a testament to doctor Green's exceptional dedication and service to her signific and her significant impact on countless lives

nationally and internationally. Doctor Green is a STEM pioneer, leader, humanitarian, and entrepreneur who is ushering in the next generation of cancer treatments, cancer charities, and affordable healthcare. She is one of the nation's leading medical physicists and one of the first African American women to earn a PhD in physics. She developed a localized cancer treatment that eliminates tumors in mice after one ten minute treatment without observable side effects.

To fundraise for human clinical trials and ensure affordability, Doctor Green founded a five oh one C three nonprofit organization or a Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation. If you want to learn more, that is or Lee dot org. The article continues. Doctor had Nicole Greene's nomination and selection for the Esteemed Award result from her exemplary commitment to service,

exceeding the stringent criteria set for this prestigious honor. Her proven track record of impactful contributions and commendable deeds have solidified her reputation as a true leader in her field and a source of inspiration to her peers. The President's Lifetime Achievement Award, which includes a lifetime pen, a golden medallion, and a letter signed by President Biden, was presented to

doctor Green during a special ceremony. The event brought together outstanding citizens from Fulton County and neighboring areas to celebrate her honor and all of their exceptional achievements. So again, big shout out to doctor Green fighting cancer. Uh as only as only a black woman could. All right, So, Jacob Brayford, that is uh, you know, we won't pretend that we don't know each other. Rocky. Yeah, and do me a favor for folks that that may not know

about your your activism. You know, give a little bit of background just so people know who we're talking to today. Yeah.

Jacob Brayford. But I got started. You know, I've been doing this for like the past decade or so a little bit over a decade since you know, the days of the occupy movement and things of that nature, and then showing up is like, you know, someone who is just a concerned citizen pertaining to things that were going on at that time, whether it was the mishandling of our law enforcement agencies or the criminal justice system, uh, the the harming of black men at the hands of

law enforcement officers. But showing up in terms of like speaking up and being a part of a collective that spoke truth to power. It was something I've been doing for the past decade. But what really brought me into this space I was in twenty twenty during the demonstrations, the nationwide demonstrations surrounding George Floyd and overall again the mishandling of our law enforcement agencies, particularly in regard to

black men. So it was one of the individuals who helped form the organization in Phoenix, Arizona called the Rising Project, and we let sustained demonstrations centered around that and then you know, just really intersectional allyship for about about five months or so, And it was one of those moments that inspired me to continue my work in that particular field. The next year was centered around pushing for an advocacy

program a centered around victimist non violent dispatches. You know, we come from hip hop, so we called it the Neighborhood Organized Crisis Assistance Program or no CAP, but we're talking about behavioral health, substance abuse, the in house community, anything that's a victimists and non violent dispatch in general.

We advocated for a program within the City of Phoenix centered around that, and of course the tenants were eventually adopted into a similar shell program and then the development continues, but fell into the ACLU here in Arizona and nationally as a board member vice president here in Arizona, but also working within you know, the local political space as a co chair of the Black Engagement Committee former COOPADEMS, which is really the primited like county Democratic County in

the United States is one of the largest counties, largest in population, and of course in a swing state such as Arizona that does hold a considerable amount of weight. And then also you know, just utilizing my ability to operate in this space and connect people to move specific you know policies, advocate for policies, push for elections that are centered around you know, things that we value as progressive folks, and then of course working in the Arizona

Democratic Party as the political directors. So I mean, it's just a long laundry list of random things, but all of that ties to me being a hip hop artist like it, you know, the ability to communicate things that I'm passionate about and then connect people together.

We often would would lean on you for your expertise because while we're very good at making radio programming, we are not necessarily community organizers in the same way we're not necessarily were well, this this is very community d really well to be fairer r, you know, in terms

of getting folks out on the streets and marching. That's sort of thing I've always found myself in the march, not kind of organizing the march right, And so you know, there's a lot of people around the country who I feel are really wanting to explore new ways of pushing back against what many folks feel as a hostile, you know, administration. And so again, your expertise and insight into matters like

this will certainly help those folks around the country. So absolutely, Again, the story that we chose is Q's fingerprints are on the episode, just so you know he's He's just at a funeral. But we picked this story. It's from the Black Information Network, and I'll share it with you. Video footage has been released of a fatal police shooting that left a sixteen year old black teen dead as he

was fleeing from another shooting, per NBC San Diego. On Friday, February twenty first authorities released video footage of the January shooting involving San Diego Police Department officer Daniel Gold and the teenager. Surveillance video showed the teen walking toward a group of miners when suddenly one of the kids opened fire. The sixteen year old boy ran for his life after the other child fired at least two shots at him.

Gold was responding to an unrelated call in that area when he encountered the teen at the Santa Fe depot. The officer shot him at close range. The boy tried to run away before he collapsed. Officers performed CPR on him, after which he was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Following the teen's collapse, officers said they found a gun concealed under his clothes. However, there are no signs that the teen ever fired the gun or

was holding it when Gold fatally shot him. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office has launched an investigation into the officer's use of force. Following the probe, the District Attorney's office will decide whether to pursue charges against Gold. Another sixteen year old has been arrested in connection to the initial shooting that occurred prior to the victim's fatal encounter with police. So again, and I want to I want

to remind folks that we picked one story. There are tons of these stories and we just haven't been able to get to them. We have an hour show, you know, but this one, it it felt like we needed to to talk about this one. And with again with this current administration, with you know, the president very pro police, with his right hand person hinting that George Floyd should receive a presidential pardon. It kind of gives exactly exactly did I say that wrong?

you know, should be important. But you know, the language the connotation behind that is the lack of accountability, you know, turning weaponizing community resources that are supposed to again as we recognize them to be like serve or as they should be serve and protect our community and that is all community members. And when it is there is an overhanded or heavy handed, disproportionately you know, aggressive response to urban communities and within that black people specifically, and within

that black men specifically, that is a problem. So, you know, and I know that there's other things taking place in in this in in this current environment, this this current point in time, but we can't shy away from things that have continued to exist and will exist within the background while we talk about other economic issues and stuff like that, which is the mishandling of our community resources, and that would be our first responder system and within

that the police department and within specific communities such as San Diego, and then what we have experienced with different DJ investigations and things of that nature within different communities, Phoenix being one of them. You know, But we need to address alternative to police responses. I think that is

the overarching I guess unifying centralized conversation. How do we create a non violent response to dispatches that are not warranted in violence if something has already occurred, you know, that should not like showing up with you know, guns drawn or ready to further escalate a situation. Is it's a point at that in that particular point in time

because the transgres transgression has already passed. But you know, looking at that, I see it's no different than what we experienced, would say, Anthony Conna or mistaken identity situations like James Garcia or again a you know, unnecessarily violent response that's such a you know, Alton Sterling, you know, uh, Brianna, you know, going back and forth, Sean Bell, I mean, we can we can con see exactly.

I think that that is something that if an officer carries insurance, you know, their premiums go higher if they are prone to misconduct, and then they become uninsurable at a point if they you know, step over the line

if they're an habitual line stepper, so to speak. Another thing that you know, I've learned just kind of traveling around the world is that you know, here in this country, police carry their guns on their person, and they're trained to respond to fear, and therefore they when they show up, they're looking for the thing to be afraid of. And if in other countries, they'll keep their guns in the trunk of the car, and if it necessary, then they

go and get the trunk. And I think that things like this can certainly impact the disproportionate amount of executions of young black men that we see in this country at the hands of police. And one more thing I do want to say, because I do know that in

this article the young man was carrying a gun. But for folks with a modicum of empathy that may not agree with the premise of this show, I need you to imagine that, and I don't know this to be factual in this story, but imagine that this young man lives in an environment where it's very tense and it's a scary place. There's a lot of economic inequality, there's a lot of systemic things that have resulted in you know, certain environments just not being doing as well as others, right,

and walking to school is scary. You know, people will steal your shoes and you know people will try to jump you or people whatever. Right, And so you know, at sixteen years old, whereas most people are playing basketball, you know, just being sixteen, you resort to carrying a gun. And as it turns out in his case, there are people out there who do want to hurt you. It's another sixteen year old, but you know, this is the environment that this child lived in. And as we've seen,

the police are also trying to get you. And we you know Exhibits an artist that we kind of grew up with, and he has a song where in the hook he says, I'd rather be caught with it than caught without one, referring to a gun. And so I say this to suggest to people that may not agree with the premise of the show that it is this child was born into a set of circumstances and an

environment that was hostile towards him. And this was a move that he perhaps made, and he didn't show the gun to the officer, none of that, so he lost his life. Neither.

in twenty twenty. It wasn't just toilet paper that people were buying. They were buying ways to protect their family. And when you know, we could talk about the social economic issues and all the nuance that ties into that, which would result in someone living in a state of feeling that they need to preserve their you know, their you know, their body bodily integrity, or protect protect their protect themselves. We can look at it from that stance, and we can also say that no one was harmed

in that particular situation. There was no threat, There was no reason to draw and kill a human being, a child.

So it's it's always a looking at that. It's like the common denominator is, you know, this kind of ethnocentric prejudice that you know, uh, you know, black folks, black men in particularly particular, have experienced for hundreds of years, and you know, we need to be in a space to be able to speak about that and how we can address it in substantive ways, one of which is addressing the lack of accountability in this particular space and that his you know historically mind you, and how we

can as a community come together recognize that, you know, if we do not push for a level of accountability, a system of accountability and allow you know, these individuals who engage in illegal or you know, practices and things of that nature to be held legally responsible, we are

going to continue to perpetuate this issue. And right now as we go into further like strenuous times and emotionally trying times with this current administration, and how that just trickles down in society there's going to be more cases where you know, people are in this low vibrational state that results in someone end up ending up engaging in harmful behavior against a citizen or community member while representing their the the city and its municipal resources.

that the answer to that would be yes. But in what ways do you think this administration will affect people's capacity to to pro test what they feel is injustice.

administration has it has risen exponentially. So I mean, of course it is encouraged for people to engage in dialogue and then ask what they could do. But you know, the real what's next is to get involved in your local political structure to affect policy change. So in a way that's meaningful. So we have, you know, within your party within your state, there is you know, your your

state party, you may have your county party. And then within particularly work depending on where you live, whether it's a board or you have a district, you have your the party within that particular structure, and within that it's broken down because you know how you have for instance, like you said, hey, you have like a school district.

For instance, we have in using Arizona as an example on overspeaking to the entire nation, but we have what's called a legislative districts, and within that district are precincts which make up those districts. Within those precincts, it is operated by what are called precinct committee people, and within the United States it may be called precinct committee officers. Like in Washington or I believe, Pennsylvania. But it's the

same structure. So you have the foundation of that, which would be the precinct committee people or precint committee officers. They represent that legislative district and its party, and then you know that is how you can be directly connected to your party. The elected officials serve as a conduit between your community. I believe, for instance, the state of Arizona,

I think it's one hundred and twenty five. For instance, registered Democrats makes up one precinct committee person, So you're talking about someone who is a representative of their entire community. And when you add to that, you have the politically, you have the ability to affect policy change, run for office within your local party, and affect your county party for instance. You're talking about something that is revolutionary in

terms of our involvement in this space. The antithesis of that is when Steve Bannon ten or so years ago was telling people, if you have an issue with the Republican Party, become a precinct committee person and then take over your party, and now we have an entire maga cult. So the good natured version of that is people who are finding issues within their municipal structure, city state, what have you. Society in general become a part of the solution.

It's never about, oh, the Democrats. It's not this like collective person. A party is nothing more than a set of administrative paperwork, legal paperwork, a domain name, and a bank account. It is a vehicle if you want to compare it to anything, and if you don't like where it is going, get in a vehicle and help change it in a different direction that is more centered around

your community values. And we see that take place whether it's in our immediate region, within other communities, and the substantial history defining effect that it has within that particular political space, it is incredibly powerful and incredibly important. Without getting to verbos, I'll lastly say, one worker ant can't do much, but an entire colony can change the entire ecosystem or landscape around it. And that is exactly what

a precinct committee person is. No money obligation, no time obligation. It is what you make of it. But you are politically empowered to make a difference.

an illegal protest is? And when you have you know, thousands of people protesting, maybe one or two people might step out of line illegal and then you know, so so protesting in and of itself is under attack in addition to you know, free speech and you know, congressional oversight and you know all that sort of stuff. But it seems like this this PCP a precint committee person or prect committee officer, I saying it wrong a pc OC.

So depending on where you're at, sorry, you know, prect committee officers, say, like in Washington or Pennsylvania or some other states. In Arizona, where you know, I am based out of, it's called a precinct committee person or a pret committee woman, prec and committee man, so on and so forth. This is it's a person that speaks, that is that is a part of their districts party or

their legislative districts party and also their county party. So me, I'm a precinct committee person and I live in Tempe. I'm in North Tempe. It's called Legislative District eight. So I was the the coult the vice chair of that. So I helped direct the uh, you know, basically the whole organizational structure of that of that party. So how does a person become that? Is it? You like, go to your local city website.

you live in, for instance, Arizona. On azyledge dot org, for instance, they have an entire map of Arizona and it says, okay, find where you live, and it's this interactive map and you can click, say if you live in Tucson, you know, you click on that and it'll give you the information and and from there it'll direct you to where to go to who to contact, so on and so forth. So yeah, so in taking it back to sorry, taking it back to the protests, people

are going to show up. People always show up, but they expect for these demonstrations to die down. And that is what made us so effective, you and me and all of our folks who were out there with is that not only was it sustained, but we pointed it towards a next set of actions and the next set of goals.