Call Zone Media.
You know, sometimes in life you come across people like if if I'm gonna keep it a buck that you're just like, I just want y'all to like me.
You ever met somebody like that, You're just like, man, I hope that I hope that food likes me. In like, like, just just be real with y'all.
You know, there are some people that you meet that you just like from far away, you already know like, oh yeah, nah, we're gonna be homies. It's it's going down, you know. I felt like with Robert and Sophie and Cools, I was like, we're gonna be friends. It was just it was just so obvious to me that when we met, we would we would it would be that's it, we would link up the system. I'm about to introduce y'all to is somebody that was more like the first part where I was like, God, damn, man.
I I hope she vibes with me.
Because some people are just that brilliant, just that just that dope, and they just carried his presence to where you're like that there's a there's a calmness to their brilliance and it's just dope to watch I got introduced to this thing called the Expectations Project.
This is a Terrorform episode.
I'll introduce you to the Expectations Project and Zakia Jackson.
Zach's I know that.
Capitol Hill is a cesspool, like we all know it. You know, we all find that lobbying is frustrating. We already did a thing on lobbyists. But then there's a thing called advocacy, right, and we're going to talk about the difference between the two, how they're connected, and that there are people out there really actually trying to do dope things. The Expectations Project is a project around educational equity.
I got involved.
In their campaign. They were doing about zip codes, that your zip code shouldn't dictate your future. It's just the idea, like just because I live in this zip code doesn't mean that, like my school should be underfunded. The point is this black woman finna change y'all's life. Let me introduce y'all to a terror former mster, Kia Jackson.
But before we do, currently.
It's like this.
Bullook is like this.
Bullook is like this all right, this week it's like this, Well, first of all, the most unconsequential debate, the most unnecessary. First presidential debate is happening on Thursday, which depending on when you listen to this, hopefully you listen to this when it drops is tomorrow. I'm gonna go live on my YouTube prop hip hop and just be going along with y'all about this foolishness. The Lord, this is fitna be so funny because what don't we already know? What
don't you already know about these people? This is they're truly just trying to prove that they not owed and they could own each other. Like that's the goal. The goal has to be you just trying to own each other. So we're gonna go, we're gonna talk about it. I basically just get yourself drink. Imagine me sitting in your living room just not being weird, but watching this debate's so that's what we're gonna do.
I'm gonna be sitting right here watching this mug with you. So that's Thursday.
Also in that spirit, on June twenty ninth, I'm gonna be up in Seattle, like come see your boy live. I'm gonna be rapping doing some music at Fast Penny Spirits in Seattle, Washington. You could also get tickets on my website prophip hop dot com. I'll probably be shouting that out as I'm going live, man, hopefully see y'all there.
You know what I'm saying, Like.
I popped out Sunday at a five K run. Shout out Greg who is just a dope dude who he's like a distance runner. He connected with this org that is flying people, are flying sick kids who need medical help. Obviously sick kids out of Palestine, so you're flying them out of guys that to get a medical help.
He was raising money for it. Praise the Lord.
They reached their goal, met some dope people, so that was cool. I got to meet some of y'all. So all I'm saying is like, yo, like let's connect you feel me. Don't be weird though I'm begging you, don't be weird. And lastly, I say this with a complete straight face, dead serious. I cannot overstate the significance of
what this can in France. Pop out was on Juneteenth that Kendrick Lamar did what I thought was going to be just a victory lap, like a celebration, you know, for the coast, because because they not like us, was such a big song. It was such a moment for the Coast. It was like, yeah, let's celebrate your.
Win, homie. You know what I'm saying.
This sho parade. You earned it and you put on for the Coast. But this man made it so much more than himself. He turned around and he shined a light on everyone and shout out the homie DJ Head who we've had on this show, who curated this experience in the opening experience where he brought these other talents out like the Wolves meet the Wolves and Jay Worthy, and just the significance goes so far beyond a couple back and forth tracks about Drake.
It was almost like Drake was like background noise.
This brought together Like I say this again, zero exaggeration. The term hood politics is a play on words if you don't already know, but there is such things called hood politics that has to do with the politics between gangs and if you're gonna do music in Los Angeles, surprise, surprise, there's a lot of politics involved. If you're just gonna move around our city, we just you can't just move freely. We witnessed on Wednesday on that stage. I'm talking like
generational Mortal sworn enemies. When we say sections like the hoods that don't they don't get along is the most under is just the understatement of the year.
These we are enemies. They were on stage walking dancing.
The joy, just the black joy that was on that stage from like I saw a tweet that said, it was like, think of all the Los Angeles gangs took pto from killing each other to do a sing along and dance together about how much they hate a Canadian and love a coast. So grown men shed tears like this was it was.
It was singular.
This is a moment in history that is not just for the West, because it's for hip hop as a whole.
He united the coast. He halted this moment halted gang violence.
And I think, I don't know what your belief system is, but like every once in a while, look, there's talent, there's hustle, there's luck, there's timing right place and right time, and then the stuff you just can't under you can't explain to where it's just like you are, you are God's choice, Like that man was chosen for as as the church folk would say, for such a time as this, Kendrick, that was.
Got He's got you.
I'm a rapper, I'm from la I would love to I would love to sell out the form. I'd love to take on the greatest, the top, the top rapper in the world and take him down and then unite the community like I would love to do that. I'm not Kendrick was God's choice and it was I don't know. I'm just saying witnessing that. It was like, this is undeniable.
It was.
It is beautiful to see somebody walking their purpose. And that's what we saw. Anyway, for you guys Thursday and Saturday, all right, politics with prop This is one of the Terrorform episodes. I've already done a whole intro, so I don't need to redo this. Ladies and gentlemen, Please, wherever you are, make some noise. We won't hear it, but make some noise for mystic kid Jackson. Yeah, man, I
ain't seen you in a while. We did a little like a slight little ketchup, you know, before we started recording, just about how how old comes and gets you when you don't when you don't want it to.
True enough, I had a friend who just turned forty. I said, Ointments ointments. My brother need to.
Have fam yo.
Look I used to for me, Like, look, that's so funny. I've never worried about my knees until recently. I was like, dang, my knees hurt up. But one thing I found speaking about flying. We saw about flying before y'all got on, But like speaking about flying is my jam used to be like left side of the plane, window, seat, hoodie, headphones.
I'm gonna knockout right, But now I'll be having to pee. Oh, so, like I gotta get it. I gotta get aisle. Now, I gotta get an aisle seat because I don't want to be having to tap these people be like sorry.
Always in the aisle.
Listen.
I'm like I almost don't want to go. If an.
Exactly one hour flight, I might last for that.
But yeah, yeah, I was like, what is why do I have to pee again?
Like dog? You know, like, well, here we are.
I will I will full on do stretches in the aisle. I do not care how it looks, stretch my calves. I'll just pick up the bottom of my foot.
We wanted to look, you wonder why, like I look the part of town I'm from, you know, the the Latino and Agents part of town. You see you see them eighty year old you know, chse Asian people outside stretching. I'm like, there's a reason why they live in that long and they lad limber because they because they get up and stretch. Yeah, what I'm like, lesson learned fam true?
All right, all right, let's get down to it. Expectations Project, first of all, tell us what that is and then back up and I'm gonna do a little let's learn a little more about you, and then we can talk about like how we met.
But Expectations Project, what is it?
Great?
We come alongside faith motivated people to help them demand policy change, policy changes in the systems that impact impact children's education in their lives.
Right.
And so we do this one through focusing on narrative shifts around who children are and what they deserve, because you know, people be thinking a lot of things. Press them if you press them on it. So you're saying children don't deserve to be angry. Ever, that's what you believe, you know what I'm saying. So so we do that, and then we also support folks with specific advocacy actions like hey, here's something you can do here's something you
can do right now, or we'll strategize. Sometimes there'll be a group of people from a certain organization or a place who care about something in their community and will help them figure out how to get policy changes for or what the next step is.
Okay, So the next obvious question is like, okay, so how is that different than like Florida and Ron DeSantis and getting getting all the color, scraping all the color out of our schools and just saying that, like, you know, trans kids are a problem, and you know, talking about sex is killing children.
You know, Like, how are you different in that?
Yeah, those things are usually done, I should I think always frankly done where they're not actually focused on thriving children. Right. It has something to do with the agenda of adults and what adults want, what they're comfortable with, how adults can move the base of voters, that sort of thing. Lots of fear tactics to get voters to do what they want.
That's the Ron DeSantis energy, Right.
We are saying we're trying to come alongside you, you know, your community. Now, sometimes you might think some things that are harmful. We'll push back on that, but you know, your people, We want to come alongside you and help you make sure these black and brown kids and other marginalized kids are learning and have access to the things that they need. Right, So we use data, and we use spiritual conviction, and we use you know, strategy to help people do that.
Yeah.
So yeah, So so I'm here and I'm hoping y'all hear. The difference is like what's happening in you know, on our televisions across like most news things because it's so salacious. Is like you said, there's really not a care for the kids. It's more like and a lot of times a lot of these people that show up at these like school board meetings don't even be from that area.
They just be wanting that it's a it's a strategy for power, right, And like I said, it's like it's more of a thing about the desire of the parent rather than and a scare tactic. That's that's a very important difference. So it's like, so you are an advocacy group that helps develop policy that actually reads actual data.
You know what I'm saying, right, you know what I'm saying.
And and another thing I think that's that's unique about y'all. Uh is the the the intersectionality of it all for you guys, like as far as like that, this is from I. I walked into an organization when I met y'all that was like completely led by black women. And for me, I was like, oh, you know, well, well that's well that's one, two and three for me. You know what I'm saying, like I'm down, you know what I mean, like let's roll, you know. And uh so yeah,
so that was so there's that. Now back up, how did you get involved in this? Tell us a little bit about out yourself here.
Yeah, let me just add one other thing. A lot of times faith motivated groups they think we're trying to get prayer in schools, right, or that we're about privatizing schools. We're absolutely not about.
That, right.
We think that there are already Christians and people of faith in schools. We're trying to help people advance things for children, not with an agenda towards everybody should be a Christian.
Right.
So that's an important distinction.
Very important distinction.
Yeah.
Yeah, that's the difference between like what I'll do and for.
Yes, yep, yep. Absolutely.
So your question was how did I get into all this?
Yeah, like a little bit about your your trajectory and then how you got into this particular thing.
Yeah. I was born in Southeast DC, grew up in Tennessee, and moved back to DC as an adult. My mama was raised in DC, and.
I know in Southeast which we connected about. Well, yeah, anyway, go on.
And I bring that up just to say, my mom taught me from her experiences directly and indirectly, what it really means to be from the hood, right, Like she taught me resourcefulness. She taught me creativity under pressure, how to defend yourself physically and otherwise, right, and how to pour everything you have into the people around you because we are who we got sort of thing. And so
I lived in Nashville a long time. I went to elementary high school all of that stuff there, and started working there as a social worker, preschool teacher and doing.
Youth development and all of that stuff.
And as I was doing that, I didn't have the word policy in my vernacular really at that time, but I was noticing.
A lot of stuff prop.
I was like way a minute, you know, from my own schools growing up, but then also from the hundreds of students I worked with. I was noticing how something wasn't fair about how whole groups of students are treated, and it really made me angry, just simple things like the desks were way nicer at the other schools. When I would go to competitions, everything looked better up and there, right.
And so I didn't know the word policy, but I started understanding it intuitively that something was not fair about how a whole group of students was decided to be treated by folks who maybe weren't even in the room with these students, right. And so, coming from the legacy of instigation on my father's side and the spirit of exploration on my mother's side, I said, well, let me get into this. Let me see how folks with more power than I do or making decisions and are organizing
themselves and figuring stuff out. So I went to business school, and through business school I got out, and not a couple of years after that is when I started working for the Expectations Project because it brought together all of these things that I was passionate about education, faith communities. I had been wondering a long time, why aren't faith communities radicalizing anything that has anything to do with children right in it.
Yeah, like in an actual way that actually asked other to do with children.
That's right, Yeah, that's right. Like I've been to all the vacation Bible schools and they're fun and they very meaningful, but it didn't stop me from having the struggles I had in schools with my family.
And you know what I'm saying.
So, yeah, I think to add a little color to the thing, Like the the southeast DC that your mom is from and my mom is from, in a lot of ways was kind of like it was kind of a Wakanda like it was just it was a black place, you know, and I think, you know, minus the Jim crowd segregation of it all, which was you know, it
forced us over into this corner. But like you said, the defending of yourself the part of the community in a lot of ways, Like sometimes I hear my father talk about, you know, my dad's from Dallas, you know, from Dallas, Texas, and he saw that Both my mom and my dad used to say, like I went to all black high school, you know, and.
Obviously that was because of segregation.
However, there was a sense of community that I think in some ways I was a little jealous of you know that you're like every teacher, every administrator, everybody, they were all.
Black, you know what I mean.
So you saw a community, a network of professional you know what I'm saying, in this space where you go to the corner store, that was mister Jenkins. When you go to the barbershop, that was you know what I'm saying.
It was just this world where.
You know, you're in this space to where you're you're seeing yourself in different versions of who y'all are reflected on so many different areas of culture. And then for you, then you get thrown in Nashville, You're like, that's right, what is happening right now? So did you was was there a little bit of like a shell shock around sort of the institutional racism from you from your childhood?
Yes, because.
You know, my mom is brilliant, my dad very smart, my I have all sorts of people in my family, right, So anything that was good came from black people. I didn't need white people as a.
Reference point as a child, right, Anything that.
Was good and beautiful and strong, it was just black people because that's who I knew, right, So then to be in schools were where as a child. I'm a child, right, I'm an elementary school in early middle school. White teachers are threatened by me because I'm so smart? What is that?
Yeah? That the like I thought that's what we was here for. Yeah, like what what is I.
Went to for part of my education? I went to this little, small private Christian school and I was the smartest kid in my class. And they this bent people out of shape so bad. Pro they were like say what now, like they I had teachers antagonize me. I had I won, like, you know, some academic awards. They took half of them away from me because they said it wasn't fair to the other kids.
But I heard what they were saying.
They were saying, we're not letting this little no.
Yeah not not not here.
Now yeah what I'm saying.
So now, I remember in fourth grade, I remember my dad was furious where I had. Essentially I made straight a's, and my teacher during the parent teacher conference, he gave me all B pluses and he was telling my parents.
That he wanted me to have something to strive for. Uh huhm. And my dad was like excuse.
Me, like and and yeah, I've never like I've seen my dad livid because my father is a black man, and he's been living towards me.
You know, I'm saying I've seen him lived towards the police. I've seen him livid.
But this type of angry, I don't think I've ever seen it because because it was as you as as you're talking about, it was a sign of an institutional problem, Like how how do you tell it? Like it basically was like, are you doing that for the little white kids? If they get if they get straight a's, are you taking away they? Like what do you what do you mean work for? He made it like what I don't understand?
Like so yeah, he man, he ripped that man. He told that man apart boy and uh And I didn't know until after because, uh, you know, you're not in the parent teacher conference.
I just walked in and out. I saw my grades and I was like, wow, b pluses, Oh all right, you know what I mean?
Like I don't the thought doesn't cross your mind that your teacher can tell you even though you earned something that you don't you didn't. Yeah, Like I didn't know that was possible. I thought if I earn a hey, I get a Hey, you know what I'm saying. So, yeah,
so that was there. There that there was there was that you know experience that I O of like where I can like really relate to like them them them saying well, you earn these awards, but we're not going to give them to you because it's not fair to the I thought this was America. I thought it was if you work hard, you succeed, Like what did you say?
Yeah? Oh man.
So I got involved with y'all over the the the zip Codes campaign.
That was the first one.
That was a word okay, uh we I flew out to DC. You know, we had a briefing.
You kind of taught us what what y'all was trying to do, and they gave an example very specific to California that the zip code between Beverly Hills and Compton are one number. It's a one number difference with the
budget for these two places. So so you're the art the the the the argument was it was around right, like tying funding to taxes, right, is that that's what That's what it was that Yeah, so that so if you're if you're tying your your your school funding to the property taxes, essentially you're perpetuating this wealth gap, this educational gap, because and and it's so stupid, and like the picture you're giving was like so stupid.
It's like literally one number apart.
But like and it's punishing children for something that they already maybe have some financial struggles obviously, right, and now you're gonna punish them again for not being born to a wealthy family.
Like that again, Yeah, I'm gonna punish you for not being brought as your fault. I we I think a lot of this would like you know, when you when you kind of like when you kind of like you're from La and then you kind of like have this like epiphany after spending most of your teen years seeing somebody in the opposite neighborhood as your op like this is my enemy. And and then you realize like, well, he ain't choose to get born over there, like I didn't choose to.
Get born over here. And neither one of us.
Own our houses, like we're we're all renters, and we don't own these blocks, Like why am I defending these Why are we defending with our lives these blocks.
We don't own? This is what are we doing? Like this is ridiculous, you know I didn't.
And then I say all the time, like Nipsey had a line like you know you only repping where your mama pay a rent, Like this's just that's the reason you repped this where your mama pay a rent. That's why you from this hood like that ain't got nothing to do, Like what are we doing?
Guys? You know what I'm saying.
So I think that like that reality of like why didn't get I didn't choose to get born in Compton and so and if that's the case, like you're again, you're you're creating a discrepancy, a disparaging you know, a discrip disparage.
What's the word I'm looking for.
Discrepancy?
Maybe I don't. Yes, that don't have to be there, Like it doesn't have to be like that. And I think that's what I appreciated about like a lot of the stuff that y'all do to where you're like it don't really, it don't have to be like this, Yeah, like you don't have to tie your the funding for your educational programs, Like it doesn't have to be like that.
No, it's a choice. And I think especially earlier on when I started working at expectations. It was so big and it still is to help people understand there are choices made daily that allow this to happen. This is not primarily about the choices parents made, you know, to exist in the world. And it's not to say that some parents aren't making better choices than others, but detangling
notions of wealth from personal choice. Whoa that is so related to so many things, including education and how systems work and what we have access to. I worked for a job once with youth leaders, and in our curriculum was something that basically said God trusts some people more than others with money, and so we need to like almost like be deferential to those people God trusts more that when I tell you that, I flipped out. Yeah, and without knowing what I was doing actually good on me.
I started thinking strategically, how do I get this change policy wise? Because this is influencing so many people. What they put in the curriculum isn't a policy, but curriculum is a policy, right like curriculum is a form of policy. How do I get this curriculum change so that all these other people influencing youth don't spread this message that God favors wealth and wealthy people that they have better character that is absolutely diabolical.
Yeah, and and and in a practical sense most of the time incorrect, Like it's.
Usually the opposite. They're they're usually the worst people. You know what I'm saying. Yeah, Yeah, And I think that like ss yes, stress, and I think that like you know, the the.
The difficulty, uh somebody like yourself. This like you know, it's it's very important even for for this audience, you know what I'm saying, because you know, we cuss on this show. You know, we we drinking smoke, and you know what I'm saying, Like it's it's street, you know what I'm saying, Like.
And but there their experience with church is.
Especially when we like when you and I say, like faith based. A lot of times we talk in deacon board. You know what I'm saying, you know, the motherboard. You know what I'm saying. We're talking. Yes, we have an entirely different experience than what America thinks when they think Christian.
You know what I'm saying, Like you just we have it.
So when you hear statements like well we believe that God, you know, sovereignly elected these people to have wealth, and therefore it's a sign of like clearly it's a sign of God's blessing.
So that's why they're in trust.
You know, you stretch that logic to why you stretch it's at the end of the day, it's why it's supremacy.
It's white supremacy.
It's you say, well, why God isn't trusted these people to have dominion over the world, And it's your job as a good Christian white man and white woman to be gracious And so that's their understanding. It's like, well, slavery's the system. So and since I've been entrusted with this position, oh, I need to come at it with humilion and make sure I'm treating this fairly like and how like you said, it's absolutely diabolical and batshit you
know what I'm saying. So so uh so you with the wisdom that you had, was like, okay, you're you're starting your starting position, your your your original premise, no matter what we do for no matter what we do after that, if this is where you're starting from, like there's so yeah, it's never gonna work.
Yeah, it's never going to work. It's never going to be liberatory. Yeah, it's never going to humanize parents who don't have a lot of money and are working their ass off for their kids. Right. It's never going to honor people who are choosing between medicine and rent this month, which I have done before. A terrible position to be in, you know what I mean. Yeah, And it's going to keep people bound to an idea that's not real.
But we're going to keep trying to achieve.
This essentially level of whiteness that we think would make us free. And they're not free themselves, but they do have more money can play around.
At least you can pay for it.
Though.
I'm reminded of two things.
One is like something from my own story, and then two is a a thing that you said. I don't know if it was to me or to a room, but you said it, and I was just like, damn. But there was one thing I remember, you know, to your point, a lot of families, you know specifically, like
I'm gonna say black and brown families. Your face was this choice once you have children to be like, why I want my kids to go to a better school, right, So you're like, okay, I want them to get the better education, so you choose to move out of a neighborhood that's way more comfortable, way more accepting, to where it's like, you know, for the like the Latinos, you like, I mean, I can there's a Badia truck right there. I know that there's pandulce on the way of the school.
You know what I'm saying, Like I can get the tortillas. I like, you know what I'm saying. Like for me, it was like as simple as like I just need some hair grease, like I need to be able to like I want to be able to go to the store. I mean even even like right now, like I was, like, I live in it and this is it's similar. It's not as bad, but like I live in a predominantly like Mexican part of town. But there was I wanted. I'm wanted to learn how to make black eyed peas.
And y'all everybody knows, they all know. Alm was my wife, and she had in our la hipster of it all our farm box that we get delivered a produce every week.
You know what I'm saying.
Come on now, Yeah, it was we had a bushel of kale of some greens. So I was like, Oh, I need to go get a turkey. I need to go get a turkey leg, you know, cause I was like, I'm gonna make some greens and I walked in there and I had to I had to go to Crenshaw to get some get a smoke turkey leg because they just don't sell it here. And it's and it's because well, this is Mexican, Like y'all don't cook with that, you
know what I'm saying. And it's like it's understand it's understandable, like you know, but you could get you could get called up. There is here, you know what I'm saying. So, like that's their environment, you feel me. So for me, it was as simple as like I just want to
get some hair grease, you know what I'm saying. Like I just so as as a parent, you make a decision to be like, well we got to go move out to the outskirts and now those comforts, those types of communities, that is good for your children's mental health, you know what I'm saying. So now it's like you in this good school, which was my story, I'm in this good school, I'm surrounded by these white kids and I'm fighting every other day, you know what I'm saying,
because I look. I remember the I mean the first day I was out there, I just walked down to the park.
I was gonna play some basketball. This little this little boy looked at me.
It was like and I was curious because I had never seen I was like this, this white boy looks like a like an eighties movie to me, I had never seen like a white boy.
White boy.
I was like, with the swooped hair and the blonde and I was like, oh my god, they're real people. Like I didn't know these movie characters were like act like they were based on actual people. So I'm looking at him like, dang, that's crazy. He was like, you got staring problem. I was like, oh, I'm gonna slap the shit out of you.
Like I was like, because where we're from, that means you ready to get away. Yeah, you ready to get down.
So I was like, okay, so I just got here, so I'm like, all right, we're gonna have to get down, you know what I'm saying. Like it was just it was almost like immediate. But then I like clicked into reality because I started looking around at the rest of the park and I was like, oh, I'm gonna get mopped, Like if I if I fire on this kid, They're all gonna jump Ben. And I'm like, and I'm most
likely gonna have to go to school with you. You know, so again where we from, that means like, oh, we're gonna be fighting every day.
Then, you know, I'm like, well, I don't want to fight out.
I ain't got no backup.
They all in. They all in the city. The backup in the city. They don't go to the school no more, you know what I'm saying.
But so so so I say that to say why I feel like what y'all do is so important, is like it would have been wonderful if I could have gotten that quality of education.
Where I was from.
You know what I'm saying, because because I get to have the again, I get to walk by mister Jones's liquor store, walk in there, Hey, mister Jones.
You know what I'm saying. I have that community that I that I had at home.
You feel me that now it's like I'm busted all the way to the other side of town. Like you learn to make new friends, you know what I'm saying, But like that was missing you know what I mean, And I feel like what y'all do is at least one of the reasons why that that project resonated with me was like, I wish I would have had that, you know what I'm.
Saying, absolutely, absolutely?
And then another thing dream, that's the dream, right, that's the dream. And then another thing you said and I would And I mean, it's kind of like it's very much a uh a mic drop statement, but I would love for you to elaborate a little further. Is you said a budget sheet is a moral document?
Mm, And I was like, damn, do you know what I'm saying? Can you can? You can? You can? You can you expound on that a little more?
Yeah? Absolutely, thanks? Prop A budget is you know, we know what a budget.
Is is how you're going to spend the money. That's what a budget is.
What we're gonna do with this money, how we're gonna give it to different folks, who gets what?
Right?
And the reason is a moral document is in determining where the money goes. We are making an education budget, moral judgments about who deserves what. When you say who deserves what, that is a moral decision. Yes, there's a ton of heat in DC right now because of some choices the mayor and the council people are making. Who was hot, it's hot right now in DC, But a lot of programs for kids are being cut while money is being put into capital investments, basically like getting more
business into downtown. And my mom and I keep talking about it, and I keep saying, you don't. Actually a lot of times we make it as the only one thing can be chosen. I refuse to accept that that is true. Congress does that all the time. There are ways to choose multiple things. But also, if we had to let something go, why wouldn't we choose children?
Why would we choose children to let go?
Right, So, we're making a moral choice when we say kids don't really need after will care, kids don't really need early childhood education.
The money should go towards more subsidies for businesses that aren't small businesses by the way, often yeah, let's provide money there.
And somebody also, I just.
I just am dumbfounding, like that's not actually how uplift works, Like if you were really focused on rising the rising tide or like bringing everybody up together.
Trickle down is false.
That's actually not.
That's what I'm just about to say is like, why are y'all still holding on to that.
It's been forty years. It's don't work it don't people write whole PhDs on it. White people write PhD yes too, It's not just us need that for your validation, right, Yeah, there is.
A white man going around telling people that have rich people just paid their taxes, we could fully fund universal education I think through college, which everyone just paid their taxes.
So funny with the laws we already have.
Like okay, with the laws we already have, if you just if you just paid it, college would be free.
Yeah yeah.
So so much of this work is deep. It is like it's like pulling uncovering it. What's that very spiritual old term uncovering the veil or removing the.
Veil in the veil.
Yeah yeah, like nah, it doesn't have to This is how it needs to be if there is enough.
And it beat him saying people that be like, well, kids have nothing to do. There's a problem with vagrancy. Why they always loitering? Why are you guys doing well?
Fam You know what I'm.
Saying, like, well, you know why, because you took away our after school programs. What we're supposed to do, well, kids are you know, well, there, we're gonna have an we're gonna have an undeveloped workforce. Well, you know, the head start was great, Like I felt very prepared, and now I'm that because you took away something that was working.
That's the crazy part to me. And I'm like this, this was working, like because what we're doing.
Girls.
Back to the Moral document, not everyone knows what's happening, and people ride on that and there's a lot of confusion. But some people do know exactly the choices they're making, and they're saying black people as a whole, or poor black people or black people from this neighborhood and immigrants who are too.
Brown or you know, yeah, nobody knows.
People we're not so worried about. We don't need to protect them. They're not worthy of deep care and they're certainly not.
Uh applicable for equity. We know, we're not even trying to because.
They're definitely not putting, uh, they're definitely not putting none of the Norwegian or Scandinavian immigrants on buses, you know, sending them up to sending them up to New York and Chicago. You're not putting them on but they immigrants too, you're not putting them on buses. Yep, yeah, this you're so brilliant. Okay, So here's the big question. Well there, Before I get to the big question, first, the first question is what are y'all working on now?
Yeah, there are three kind of big efforts we have right now. One is under the umbrella of truth Matters for students. So all the stuff around book bands and don't kids shouldn't be on come per bowl, white kids shouldn't be at school, But also the stuff around uh, trans kids and gender and parents' rights, all of that are the same people driving that engine. And it is around coordinated attacks against truth right and against educating all kids.
And so we are giving people resources and actions they can take to fight back against that.
We're also doing a campaign around.
Helping people just really understand what's going on in a deep way.
We call it telling it like it is or classes in session. So where did all these things come from?
What's time?
Proper?
I remember we had a conversation. You called me and you were like, ze, what what is the root of some of this? It was while forty five was still in office, something around the seventeen seventy six stuffy and.
All of that is the problem.
Yes, so we are actually doing work around explaining these things that people could know where this comes from. As you would say, prop, these people are not smarter than you, They just use another language, so we demystify the language. And then the last thing we were working on economic mobility, which some people think is weird since we're an education organization, but we really understand that family need money and resources and that it provides a level of stability that cannot
be underscored. And again I mentioned it earlier, but the data shows there's enough money, there is enough resources, but it's being hoarded, it's not being distributed, and we have to help help.
There be better access. So we have a lot of work around.
That right now, love it. And then the biggie yes, if okay, whoever, whoever forty seven is, Yeah, however it is, let's set that aside, whatever dystopian we're about to live through. Yeah, if you could write America's education policy, writ what would you write? Perfect?
Yeah, perfect world.
We would have an expanded tax credit again that we had in twenty twenty one, lifted a whole bunch of kids out of poverty, gave them stability, and then they let it lapse, and now they're trying to bring one back, and we're working on that. We want it, but it's baby compared to what was existing before. So we want the expanded child tax credit, gift parents money. Put money in the hands, and people just put money in their hands and they will spend it on transportation and food
and childcare. They're not out here spending it on whatever stuff that people are being accused of. Right, I would then say funding more modern school infrastructure, so get rid of the digital divide. Everybody needs wireless kidsney buses that don't break down when it's too hot. And I know it seems silly to say this, but it's true. It needs to be said. They need clean water, and they need clean air, and any food, any food.
Props, so.
Infrastructure around that. We want teachers to be trusted and treated like professionals, So pay them and give them what they need to succeed in schools. Treat them like the subject matic spirts there are. And for everyone who says, what about the bad teachers, then we will deal with those teachers. But but so much of other industry, every other.
I don't understand such a singer, like every industry, you deal with it.
Yeah.
The two more things we would invest in the mental and emotional well being of students, like to let a Child Be a Child.
Campaign you did with us making sure that children what they need. There's still thirty five million students in schools with police but without key mental health and other health staff for children, and so we need that to be addressed.
And then finally, our policy priority areas are really shaped around what does it mean to center the joy of black and brown students in their education? That can actually be a policy central of joy black and brown kids can be fully affirmed in school. Schools could be inclusive, culturally responsive in their curriculum and the books that they see, and in the recruitment.
Retention and hiring of teachers.
There can be folks who look like any student, all the students who are represented, you know in these schools. I think only two percent of public school educators or black men.
What the heck?
Yeah, yeah, you know, yeah.
So those are the That's what I would write, That's what we would write at CP.
Center and the joy that dude, you're like, I almost want to cry man, because it was like because I remember that, I like it was a stark difference, Yes, from like one school experience to the next one, Like it was jolting. And even now as a parent, I remember when my oldest daughter when they were doing their you know, uh early American like immigrants project, and they
did this like Ellis Island thing. So it was supposed to be like, we'll dress up like your ancestors and we're gonna do a whole Ellis Island kind of like fun thing that they were going to learn about history. And me and I Alma looked at each other and we was like, we didn't go through Ellis Island. I was like I was, I was like, you, well, do we not participate? Do you what do you want her to dress up as? I'm like, that's not that's not
our history. You said, we're learning our history. You want to know how, you want to know how we got here? You really want my child? You want my child to dress up how we got here? Is that that that's what y'all want to do. I don't think you want to smoke. You would have known better and like and like you said, like you had a if you had a black teacher in that room.
You know what I'm saying, You had a brown teacher, you had an agent teacher.
They they probably be like, nah, I don't know if we did, we're gonna tweak this project a little differently, you know. So that being said, my youngest daughter, her project is just about ancestry. So her project was bring pictures from your grandparents, your your your great grandparents, learn about your stories, bring in food from your community.
You know, they said.
One of them once she's doing is like build a model or a drawing of the types of homes you would have lived in. You know what I'm saying. So you're you're you're learning the same thing. You feel me like, you're there, you're the the The goal of that project
is the same, you know what I'm saying. But now you know, I'm not furious having to sit into the audience for this play that y'all doing for Ellis Island, like furious, I remember, like I just and trying not to show it on my face because my daughter just she's my little fourth grader, you know, she just trying to do her homework and she's participating.
We're in friends.
Yeah, it's not her fault.
You understand what I'm saying.
So I'm but like me and I almost like rubbing my shoulder because I'm furious, you know what I'm saying. This Friday and that, But that was my oldest, my youngest This Friday, they were like, we're gonna bring in dishes from our culture, almost.
Gonna make basle.
I'm gonna make a you know, we already made black eyed peas, so it's like bringing black eyed peasle. Like I'm like, Okay, this is this is what you're trying to accomplish, and it's accessible. You understand what I'm saying. Those that nuance like you said, that's why I like I almost started crying.
He was like, yo, send her the joy.
Because that would that would bring me joy. If I was a kid, I would have been like, oh, this is dope. Yes, okay, this is we're gonna bring you know what I mean.
People don't understand how much joy facilitates learning. Yeah, much, so much, not just for kids, for adults too, but don't be but you know, it creates a lot of space for wonder, for dreaming, for creativity, which is helpful in any topic, math or English or another language or geography. That sort of a kind of tenderness you can have when you're joyful is good for learning, and it's good for for creating an environment where kids feel safe and
seen and heard. Right, and we just audacious enough to say, let's let's make policy.
Let's make it a law. Yeah, what if it was a law.
I don't know.
I'm just saying, what if it was a law? Was wrong with that?
Let's to be able to do that, right, Let's let's do that. And I love something about the example you shared. Being culturally sensitive and being aware doesn't necessarily mean you have to start from scratch with your like that that activity. It's good to have children do activities that have them bring in things, but don't be so don't like neglect the tapestry of students that you're workat with.
It's not hard.
I feel like people always say, well, you're gonna you're make a teacher's work.
I'm like, well, really, it's not that hard.
Like if you if you as as a former educator, if you're looking at the thing I'm looking at my comic core, I'm looking at like the I'm looking at the learning objectives, and I'm going Okay, this is what you want, this is what they need to know.
Yeah, you know, and like you said.
If you treat educators as professionals, then they're going to be like, all right, let me think, let me think about it, let me think of what would be fun, you know, what would be a due way to do this.
And it's really.
Like like they're given that example where I'm like, you're the learning goals the same, you know, And I'm like, if you came through Ellis Island, if your family came through Ellis Island, do that mine didn't. I'm not saying don't. Like you said, you don't have to start it. You don't have to not do that.
You're not feeding up kids. If that's no experience.
No, that's not everybody's experience, not everybody's experience. It's like people, Oh, it's so overwhelming. If I have to cater to everybody, then it's like, well bro, it's really is not that. It's not that serious player, you know what I'm saying, like.
Oh, well kids got peanut allergies. A nigga and his kids gluten free. I'm like, well do you want the kid to die?
Fam Like like you because it's inconvenient, Like what's wrong with you?
Don't?
Like the kid could die eat peanuts?
I don't understand why that is what's the.
Problem, like.
Like you know what I mean?
Like just yeah, you know? Or yeah, we can go on forever about this and just yet could Yeah.
There is an Afro Latina teacher who's Dominican, a teacher educator named Lorene her mom, and she talks about textured teaching.
What does it mean to show up in a textured way?
I love that that allows your students to be fully seen. And the part that's hard about it, prop is I think it's hard when teachers don't want to examine themselves or when adults don't want to reckon. That's that's hard. Yeah, and you neither you and I as educators are saying that education is simple. We're saying it's not as hard as y'all. It's not as complicated as y'all are making it out to be. To be inclusive, yeah inclusive, yes, yes.
Yeah, you're right, Yeah, inclusivity It can be done, like you said, if you just sit down and think for yourself, like okay.
And that's what we say to people about advocacy too. It can be dramatic and super hard, or you might actually be doing versions of it already that you don't realize, And maybe we could come along and help you see that. We're not trying to make you have a whole new way of life. Necessarily, we want to come alongside and say, oh, well, just show up at this meeting and say this, and if you can't show up, ask mother so and so
to go to the meeting. Like we can incorporate this into our lives, the demanding that children get what they deserve and not shoulder all the burden in our own communities, because I think sometimes parents also feel guilty, like y'all are supposed to be able to do everything under the sun, all by yourself for your kids. How prop how could you?
No, you can't, how could you do that?
You deserve better from the places that are educating your children.
And it's okay to ask for what you deserve.
Thank you, Serena Williams. Comay to ask for an apology. It's okay to say this is what I deserve. It's okay to to demand more.
Can't add to that?
So perfect, So please tell them where to find you, Where to find Expectations Project. What types of things you guys like, you guys need donations, you guys need like.
Like, oh awesome, thank you.
We are Our website is expectations dot org. Please check us out there. We are in the midst of a campaign. We're trying to raise money a few hundred thousand dollars by September, which will put us in a really great place over the next year. So we're not asking any of you to write one check unless you want to, but expanding our donation base would be super helpful and we can plug you in and then also check out the campaigns on our website that we're doing right now
as well. You can find us on ig at expect Project.
I think that's right. I'd be terrible, gave the wrong I.
Looking at it now, And you can also find us on Facebook at the Expectations Project and you can see the campaigns we're doing right now. We've been doing a lot around the truth matters and as I mentioned earlier, economics mobility. So sign up for our resources. Let us support you any way we can. You can find me yes on Instagram as well at lady ze Love Now I'd be silly on there.
So y'all like we get to see the real youth.
It's all education. Now you're going to see my fens.
You know what I'm saying.
Black girl, travel boy, she'd be outside.
I'll be outside. But you'll get an education too. If you want to stick with just the education, stick with the company's side. All right.
When you when you run the thing, then you can have your own I G and dont buy your own thing.
I do what I want on my I G. That's right.
Thank you so much for having me on. It's a blessing to be in the work the struggle a celebration with you.
So thank you man, Thank you sis.
All right, all right, now don't you hit stop on this pod. You better listen to these credits. I need you to finish this thing so I can get the download numbers. Okay, so don't stop it yet, but listen. This was recorded in East Lost Boyle Heights by your boy Propaganda. Tap in with me at prop hip hop dot com. If you're in the Coldbrew coffee we got terraform Coldbrew. You can go there dot com and use promo code hood get twenty percent off get yourself some coffee.
This was mixed edited and mastered by your boy Matt Alsowski Killing the Beat Softly. Check out his website Matdowsowski dot com.
I'm a spell it for you because I.
Know M A T T O S O W s ki dot com Matdowsowski dot com. He got more music and stuff like that on there, so gonna check out.
The heat.
Politics is a member of cool Zone Media, executive produced by Sophie Lichterman, part of the iHeartMedia podcast network. Your theme music and scoring is also by the one and nobly Mattowsowski. Still killing the beat Softly, So listen, don't let nobody lie to you. If you understand urban living, you understand politics. These people is not smarter than you. We'll see y'all next week.