Bring Brittney Griner Home

always good. Yeah. Today starts the concerts and the convention center has opened and for the next few days, people will be actively being black, learning about our culture, eating food that we like, buying products, supporting black businesses, um, you know, listening to health conversations, listening to social justice conversations. There's a panel on voting rights, seeing celebrities, um, all that. It all happens at the Essence Music Festival. The Essence

Festival is now what they call it. They drop music because it's it's in a whole experience. It's a whole experience. There ain't just no music no more. And going to the to the concerts at night, which is a highlight this year. I think Janet Jackson is coming back. Um, and you know, I know they're gonna have Mary, because that's something. If you don't have marry at Essence Fest, like what are you doing? I think the other thing that happens is that there is a very um intentional

celebration of black women at the Essence Fest. Blackness magazines pretty much this celebration and exaltation a black woman. Well, I I think I was telling you that. A man told me. He said, yeah, he was on the plane. I said, you're working this weekend. He said, oh yeah, I know I was working. If I'm not anymore, he said, but I'm a worker, right because I'm gonna give me one, two, three women down here at the essence Fast. I said, well,

come on, he gotta he gotta, he gotta go. A man with a plan man three not to not want three. So I get it, and I bet you there's three that that want to be They want to be with him to listen, like I said, man, a man with a plan's a man that's gonna get what he can whatever. So um, yeah, you know, um, my mother passed away and in the next week I've been just going over getting his tattoo of her face, and I'm trying to

find like a really good tattoo artists. I want to put this tattoo on my arm and underneath his satricious son and remembers, but I also want to put my grandmother's because I didn't. My grandmother passed away when I was locked up, and I always wanted to do it. So those are pretty much the two most influential people in my life, you know, who nurtured me and gave me levels of confidence and things that I don't think I would have without them. So I've been thinking about

that the last couple of weeks. I wanted to do it at first, you know, when she first passed, but I was I thought he was too emotional, you know, it's too most emotional time for me. So that's that's what I'm working on. I don't know why, but it's something I want to do, like and I don't do. I got a couple of tattoos. I'm not like a tattooed person, so it's not like a normal thing. But these tattoos that I really wanted, you know, just really

make sure that they're done right. They're not tattoo person, but you gotta full the whole thing across the top of your chest. In comparison, I got four tattoos, yeah, but they're big, like I got. I'm not a tattooed person. I have one thing, which is my son's name. Right here, you add something stretched from one side and your chest to the other. Well, Originally I wanted to um. I wanted to make my body into a general's uniform. Right. So what you're talking about is this is the the

um color that goes around the general's uniform. If you look on the general's uniform, you'll see d S these medals on the top of east side and then on I have the seal of the general on east soldier, I mean on each shoulder. So I was gonna put like the badge with all of the purple hearts and all those things. I was gonna literally make it into

a uniform. But I realized I wasn't like really a tattooed person at that time, you know, I got That's when I realized it, and I was like, you know, I don't really want to just be getting tatto whoos and tattoo my whole body up. So I stopped, but something stopped you from doing that. Yeah, you know what I mean. It's I know a lot of people who have hundreds of tattoos, Like I got friends they got

fifty and thirty and forty and hundreds of tattoos. So I'm not really a tattooed person, but when it has some level of value of significance to me, you know, I want, like I wanted, I want to see my mother's face when I look down. I want to see my grandmother's face on right here on my farm. So those are things that I mean, you might you know, it's it's it's gonna be a little bit of pain. But you're old man, and the old man it's different

when you become an old man. When you when you're older, you get the heart of your body gets so you want custom to pain certain things anymore because more custom that I'm listening to you, I'm saying, I've I've dealt with levels of pain and things that I thought I never could survive, and I survived them, So it ain't really that much different. While I was sitting on the plane yesterday and out of know where, my knees just started herd and I'm like I'm sitting down, I'm not

even walking, like what is wrong with my knees? This is just what happens when you get to be over forty, so you you are old man now. I don't know, but I think it's beautiful. I think you picked the right pictures. Make sure you get you know exactly what you're looking for. And to your point, you need a good tattoo artist, which is not easy to find because everybody thinks stay the best and they're great, and then their work looks like stuff just mumbled together, jumbled together.

So I hope you find the right person. You should actually put a call out on the graham Um to find a makeup makeup tattoo artists who can recreate what you're looking for. I mean, I've seen a couple so in a couple of my friends have tattoos that I've seen done and I like the quality and the detail of it. So you know, I'm gonna reach out to them and get some try to get those connections. Is it expensive? I mean, it depends it depends on who

does it. You know, tattoos, you know they're range in prices, depends on who does it. Some people sometimes the other couple of tattoos I got. I actually never paid for a tattoo, right. I tried to artists that were dope that wanted, you know, because I had a level of a platform and celebrity that they wanted people to to see the art that they did on me. So like, YO, just let people know I did it. Take a picture, you know. So it depends. It all depends. I saw

one guy. Did you see the guy who tattooed cockroaches all over his chest? Stupid? What he must have been a he was like, made no sense none whatsoever. So let's get into the news stories. We have a pretty uh deep interview that we're doing today with Brittney Brian's childhood friend who was like her sister. They actually call um one another sisters, and she's like one of the closest people outside of Sharrell Britten's wife. And so she's coming on and we want to give her a lot

of time because the sister, she's got a lot to say. Um, And so I want to get into these news stories quickly. There's two things that happened we get We'll get two stories from the National News and one from Instagram News. Um. The two stories unfortunately, and you know, I we were really all of the folks who work with us, precious who helps us to kind of think through, um, you

know what our rundown of the show will be. Uh. And certainly I was doing it trying to find like, what are some positive things that have made the press this week, things that we want to talk about. And it's like, yo, you you can't ignore these stories that keep coming out about um, black men being killed by the police and you know, or being harmed significantly by the police. Uh. And it's sad because it's like people, it's like you feel like it kind of dies down,

and then we are always back in the situation. And it seems like these situations get worse and worse and worse because George Floyd, we all know, was one of the worst that we've actually seen with our eyes. Now you have Jalen Walker, who's in akron Ohio, where by the way, my family lives there. Many members of my family are in akron Um And I don't even have the capacity to sit and read the details of what

the police say. I don't know, and I'm sure I other that be posted and I'm gonna have to understand it at some point. But today, what I do know it's sixty shots were fired at Jalen Walker that it him in his face and all over his body. That's

what I know. And the reason why I said I don't know the story is because you know, I know enough I'm able to pick up in enough places if he was shooting at somebody, or if he had robbed a bank and had an old lady you know, excuse me, an elderly woman hell hostage, or if he had a child dangling over a bridge, like I know, I would

have seen that. I would have seen that. I'm I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm like a hundred percent shore And I could be wrong, you might know, and somebody else been, but I'm I'm pretty sure he did not do anything that call for sixty shots that hit that boy all over his face, his his his face, and his body mutilated him. No,

did you hear? There's never there's never a justification for that, you know what I'm saying, especially when there's no weapon found, right, especially when you're running from the police, and and and we and yet we always try to find people that want to justify and say, well, I need to know the other part of the story, and I need to know what happened before this happened. That's always, well, what happened before this, y'all. You're only showing us this piece

of the thing. And it's always the same, same sad song, you know, And and it ultimately ends in the death or you know, the severe injury of one of our people. Man, So my my prayers go out to them. Hopefully he gets justice. Hopefully those officers are brought to justice. You know, I know what, they're on unpaid leave right now or

paid administratively, administratively probably old same old too. And so now the city has canceled some of their festivals and other things that you know, are supposed to you know, things that they do in the summer and acuring and all over the country. They've had to cancel those occasions because they are concerned about um uprisings. And I'm just so tired of it. Then, you know, we learned uh last week while we were interviewing being prompt and now

I've I've actually talked to him about it. Randy Cox in Connecticut. Basically the police did the same thing to him that they did to Freddy Gray. They put him in the car without strapping him in with his seatbelt, with his hands behind his back, and basically he broke I think they say he broke his neck, but certainly he's you know, he's paralyzed for um from his neck down for the rest of his life. Um. They there's video footage of the officers asking him, Hey, what's going

on with you? You know what's happened. He's like, I can't feel my body. I can't feel my legs. I can't feel And they're like, yeah, you know, okay, we'll just kind of like sit up, You'll be okay. But they took him on what's that with the way ride? On the rough rough ride, and so now this this this man, um, you know, it's paralyzed. And again I don't know because I just, you know, between us going traveling, we've been dealing with Brittney Grinder, we've been engaged in

another thing that we can't talk about right now. People don't I saw somebody on the internet today, Um, oh you look cute, because you know, I posted a picture of me at the BET Awards and he said, oh, you look. But do you even do activism anymore? Or are you a socialite. Now you're trying to be a socialite. I'm like, if people knew, you know, because you know

how you know? Last week was a tough week, Like I was busting my behind before the b ET Awards the next day afterwards, working on stuff, playing in a prayer vigil for Brittney Griner, handling proposals for other big things. Is that we have that we're working on. Um, it's just so much and people just don't know. And I think that folks believe that if they don't see you sitting there on your computer or look like you're crying and beat down, they don't believe that anything is happening.

But we actually have so much, so with everything with me research and Grinder reading up on Russian laws, talking to lawyers about what they think and how we should approach getting in this fight, the you know, calling Silla Jackson Lee, the congresswoman from Texas, doing all of that, I didn't feel like reading the space of more black men kill, but I looked enough not seeing them scape. Oh, Randy Cox drove his car into a senior citizen center

and therefore they nabbed him and this happened. It's not there. I don't believe it's there either. I very rarely see it. Sometimes there's justification before the most part, I think that police have decided that their emotions and there and how they feel about situation superseed justice, and we see it

often enough. And the fact that they're able to say or I felt this was happening, or or I was scared or this and that and I didn't know in those things or defenses, it means that it's going to continue to happen, right, So until we until we have something a system set in place that makes you accountable, fully accountable for when you do things that are completely wrong, when people lose their lives and people are paralyzed, then we're gonna keep seeing the same things. Yeah, it's got

to be a better way. It just it does. And we say that all the time. And I don't think that we're giving it today the full attention, but you know that over the coming days we will, UM well, we'll have more to say and of course will follow the lead of those people who are on the ground in Akron, Ohio and in Connecticut. Leaders. I know Scott Esdale is in Connecticut, UM and you know he's president

of the New haven. I think chapter maybe it's not NAVE and I might be wrong of the N double A C p UM and you know, and also the Regional UM president, I mean regional leader. I forget the exact titles, but he has a lot of influence there in Connecticut. And we're gonna take everyone's lead, and you know, we'll have more to say to break down the details.

But I'm like trauma wipped. I really am. I'm trauma with Like I feel like there's just so many cases, so much that's happening that people don't again, you don't think about the totality, and that's what everyone's worked. We don't always think of the totality of what the government is dealing with or what you know, different individuals. They have a lot to deal with every day. And you know, just sitting thinking about uh, Stanley David just the third

Stanley Davis, third teen year old boy deserve justice. He hit the officer to him, Staling has a job still hasn't been fired in Boyton Beach, Florida, kill by a rogue officer with a rat sheet, a rap sheet of times, including two other times where he performed high speed chases, and another child and another individual were killed, right, and he still has a job. So that is something that

requires our work and attention. I got a text message today from Tennisia Chappelle's family asking can until Freedom be there for the anniversary of their sister being killed basically by police, I mean by by jail officials, by the CEO is not giving them her medical attention and who even knows how she got sick. And that's in in in where they live in Kentucky, but it happened in Indiana.

There's just too much trauma. It just is. And you know, I hope people are mentally taking care of themselves, uh and doing whatever they can to kind of separate from the trauma at times, but not to separate so much that we're not fighting because we have obligation to fight. And speaking of obligation brings me to I said we would do our national news story and then our Instagram

news story. Uh. Last week a big thing broke out that has been going on all week on or yeah on uh whether or not the father of one child in a house with three other children was wrong for bringing McDonald's only to his child and not the other kids in the house. They it was a whole thing. You know, was he wrong and what was really probably disturbing. I know it was disturbing to me. And again I didn't even watch the video, but I heard enough about what was being stated, um that I know that what

took place was not appropriate. For a mother to go online and basically degrade the man, throw the food on the ground, put it on video, and send it out to the world. That to me is completely inappropriate and there's no excuse for it, none. And I'm not gonna sit here and say, well, but you know, I get that she's frustrated. It doesn't matter. It's wrong, it should

not happen. We got enough issues with black men even showing up to be with their children, and the barriers in that sometimes are created um by the world and then also sometimes by mothers where they are putting all of these different obstacles in the way for fathers to be able to see their children. So the fact that the father even showed up right is even there is important. And I have to say that. I want to make

sure I say that from the beginning. But I was going to weigh in as my thought of the day on the specific question of whether or not a man uh should bring or if he is obligated to bring food to all the children in the house when he comes to to feed his own, and I think he should. I think my uh if I had to give my vote, because it certainly is a split conversation. I happened to be on the phone with my sister, my God's sister, and they were arguing back and forth about who's right

and who's wrong. But I do believe that uh if you, especially because we later learned that I did see this video popped up on my feed where the same mother was talking about, um, you know, how this man had been there with her children in the past, that these three children are his, her first children, that he knew when he met her, and he had been involved in taking care of those kids and doing things for them

and feeding them and whatnot in the past. And I think that, UM, my perspective is that when when when we used the use of the word and I saw people saying, oh, he doesn't have an obligation, I think that's one of the problems with our society is that we don't feel obligated. We don't feel obligated when a woman is being beat down on the street by a man or you know, being robbed or whatever, and we're

just standing there watching. We don't feel obligated. When police are, you know, arresting somebody, you don't feel obligated to stand by and film what's going on. And we certainly and those situations are people you don't know, but you certainly should feel obligated to do what you can for the children who are the siblings of your child. And it is not to say buy them all fancy things or

give them a bunch of stuff. But in the black family, in the black community, it has always been very clear that when you show up with food, you don't come to a house to feed you. You don't come to the house with food just for yourself and not make

sure that everyone else eats. And I think as a man, as a father, um, if I personally believe that if you come to bring food for your child, you should bring it for all, or you should take your child out of the house, take them on the little trip to McDonald's, do what you're gonna do, and bring your child back, but never let your child eat what other children are not. And I'm pretty much I don't have any real disagreement with what you're saying, because I would

never do me personally, I would never do it. But my only issue with the conversation was the word obligation. Right. In the world, obligation is something it's difficult for a lot of people, right, because a lot of men be like, yeah, I'll do it, but I'm not obligated. It's like you're helping somebody's Like, if I have enough money to help my friend, right, people, your friend will called you right and feel out of yod. You got money, why you don't give me to pay my rent? You know you're

my friend. You've got money, you you you should be able to give it to me. You should make sure I'm good. You should make sure I'm doing this. It's a lettable entitlement, right. The word obligation means that somebody else is entitled to something that you have, right. And in my in my opinion, if I didn't make these children, right,

you're not entitled to anything for me. Right. What I what I do for those children is at the kindness of my heart, because I'm a man of a certain caliber, and the reality is every man is not of that caliber. And if you decide that you're dealing with men that I'm not of that caliber, and you have expectations of

them that is beyond the caliber of that individual. Whose fault is that at that point, right, Whose fault is that there's a bunch of friends, like I see a bunch of famous people, rich people all the time talk about how their family feel like they obligated to pay

their rent. That because I'm rich, I'm supposed to give you money because you know I have Because if I if I just call you every week for five dollars, because you're my friend and and we're family and I want to make sure you're good, I should give it to you. Am I obligated to do? That? Is their expectation for me to do that? Right, So this is what I'm trying to say in this situation, this man knowingly made one child. Knowingly he he made this challenge. Okay,

this is where my obligation is. I'm obligated to make sure that this child is could. Right. It's just like a mother say, like the argument is woman's suit. A man that made the challenge said you should be paying on my bills. No, my my obligation is to my child. Like when when the relationship. This um dissipates in its over right, I might have it dissolves or whatever. I might have been doing things within that relationship that I

felt obligated within that relationship. Right, I might have done things for those kids and you because that was my obligation to that relationship. There are men who feel when they're no longer in that relationship, they're no longer obligated to the things that they would do in that relationship. The only thing that obligated is to things that are completely there. And that man felt like, this is my child. Now, I wouldn't do that. If I'm bringing food to a child,

it's cool. But the word obligation to me is a false narrative. It's not a reality. And that's what I'm saying. I'm saying that the only way our communities can ever become whole is the use of the word obligation. So do you feel like you feel like you obligated to listen to me. Do you feel that you you break

up with a man he has kids. Those kids don't have anything they they I mean, okay, well, listen, you used to take care of those kids, used to give these kids a weekly allowance, When you was in a relationship with that man, you gave him a weekly allowance. When that relationships ends, are you still obligated to give

those kids a weekly allowance? I want this to be very clear because I think what we do, um all of us, is that we are to add a lot of elements to conversations that actually are not about the conversation. The conversation is very specific. We add a lot of things to conversations that is actually not what we're talking about. The conversation is not about allowance. We're not talking about Christmas, we're not talking about friends, We're not talking about any

of that. We're talking about food and what food means right. Food means love, food means nourishment right, And especially if you at one point lived or what what you were a constant person in children's lives, you do not feed one without feeding the others. That is a fundamental thing. I'm not talking about whether or not you should have to give. No, you can give your child allowance, and you may not be able to or even want to

give the rest of the people allowance. And I noticed also when you were speaking, you were like, whose fault is that? Because she and she we're not talking about she removed her from the situation, her when she's the one with the issue already. No, no, But because there's some women who don't believe that he's obligator, woman who

we're not talking about. We're not talking about women. We're talking about your opinion in mind, and we're not talking about I'm not talking about my opinion of your opinion has to be based on the totality of the situation, because if we just give our opinion based on us as an individual, and we're not giving it from perspectives that are are different than ours or understanding other people's perspective. So you can bring into space so that the conversation

can be in full it's not really a conversation. But what I'm saying to you is that I'm not I'm not here to try to analyze right that she did this, and she said this, and she said that, I'm here to narrow down to one point. Should a man or I want men who has been involved in the lives of children, which, by the way, you also said I had a child, I made a child with you. But that's a problem that we get ourselves into as human beings, right, is that we go have children and particularly our brothers.

Our brothers get themselves in situations when this when the ship is cool and it's good and it's popping, and have babies with people who already have babies. So when you meet a woman and she has children that are from a previous relationship or previous relationships, you now are putting yourself in a situation where you're having a child that is a sibling, that is a sibling, not just

your child that is you know. It's very similar to what we want to see uh people do for Brittany Grinder, what we want to see people do for Brianna Taylor. We're asking people to step out of their comfort zone to be engaged with the community. And when your child is a sibling in a community other kids is a community you do not feed. I'm not talking my buying sneakers. I'm not talking about uh, you know, taking them on every vacation, although I think you should if you was

doing it before, if you can't afford it. I'm talking about bringing food. It's in in every black household, right I know, with with um in my family, people got children by other folks, but they married to my grandparents. They're they married in and they bring other children with them. Those ain't my grandparents grandchildren. Those are my mom and dad or my aunts and uncles grandchildren. But when those children are around, they do for them all. They feed

them all. You don't feed one without feeding others. That's just an or. Or remove your child. You take your child, say I pick I'm picking my child up from four to six on Thursday, we go into McDonald's. You don't gotta say that. You don't even gotta say what you're doing. You're gonna tell nobody that's y'all thing, and you teach your child while you out. Hey, And by the way, guess what me like you said, you and I are different,

Me and my child going to McDonald's. When we leave, you're gonna get you another little twenty piece and take it home to your brother's assistance if you can. If that's what I'm going to tell you. What I'm trying to explain to you is that is that is a choice to me, because right, that is a choice that we've made based on our upbringing, based on how we feel about things. Right, But the word obligation means entitlement. Right,

somebody else's entitled. If you if I'm obligated to do something to you, that means you're entitled for it to happen.

But about my son, I think that that's the problem with the whole conversation, right, because what I'm trying to do is elevate the conversation to whether we are obligated to our people, and if we are obligated to our children, and if we are obligated to the mental capacity, and what we as adults when we make decisions we hurt or help, We hurt or heal, We cause confusion, and all of us have are guilty of it in one way or the other by things that we do. That's life.

We know it. You know what I'm saying. If you you you can work too much, Like my child was harmed because I was working all the time and I wasn't able to give him some of the things that he needed as a kid growing up. So we hurt and we heal. Right, I'm saying that we do have an obligation. The obligation is not about the entitlement piece the way you're speaking of it, Because I understand what you're saying, Like you you think you're entitled like I'm

supposed to just do. No, that's not what I'm talking about. I'm saying the obligation as a man that I want my child to be in a healthy environment with other children that feel loved. That's because this is a community, and that is the obligation. So I'm not and I

guess what you said. You made the point which I agree with, that I'm trying to remove the convo from the context of a dialogue that many people are having, and you're sitting in the middle of the dialogue understanding that there are people like, oh, you know, he's supposed to and you're saying he is not supposed to. I'm asking us, as men and our men, raise the level of standard to that and make it an obligation. Right.

I saw on Fathers a Live in the Hood um their Instagram page they said something that I thought was powerful and now I was if you can't bring McDonald's, bring groceries, but feed every child, we feed every child. So that's my opinion, that's my thought, and I agree. I just I just want, you know, just based on the whole situation, the context of it, I just want it to be a well rounded thought out situation, because in certain situations people will use this as some level

of entitlement and use the word obligation. And I realized that I'm only obligated to do what I know is right. Right, I'm only obligated to do what I feel is the right thing to do, or what what I'm bound to do. Right. I'm only if I make children, I'm obligated to take care of children. If I decide that it's another kid down the block that I want to take care for, and I've decided to do it, then those things wrong.

But I hear what you're saying with the thing, and I'm saying it's wrong because you're saying there's another child down the block, and I and I know why you're doing that, because your instincts are telling you to separate that child far enough down the block. But we're not talking about a kid down the block. We're talking about sitting right there, sleeping right next to and that and that and that. You see what I'm saying. That's what

makes the difference. And a child at one point you was around, You fed them, you was there with them. We're not told about down the block. You are not obligated to down the block, but you're damn sure are obligated to make sure your child grows up in an environment and has an attitude of certain Nobody knows what that man is dealing with. That man might be in a new relationship with a woman. They got three kids, right that he gotta take. But my sign already told

you take your child out the door to ncdonald's. That's it. This is this is this, two scenarios that can work. You don't have to do nothing for those kids, even though I feel that's wrong, and I still feel when the child comes back from McDonald's, he order have two or three little things. In that situation, that man as might well bring him out here. But again I'm not gonna. I'm not going to because I think again the way that she handled it is wrong from sorry to finish.

So I'm not see what I'm saying. You see how I'm offering. I tell you, I think in this situation, him just bringing she was triggered by him just bringing food to and that's what I'm saying. It was the fact that he brought the food, and then it becomes oh, bring my child. Ostut no, no no, no, no, no, don't even do Thursday from Ford, my child calls me up. Is that all daddy? I wants a mint out Thursday four to six. I'm gonna pick him up. We're going

to McDonald's. Now when we have McDonald's. Were having a conversation. Hey, you know, you know I'm making sure you get your McDonald's today. Your brothers and sisters, you make sure you take them these this I'm saying what I would do chicken nuggets or whatever, or what you do. If you're gonna do that, you don't even gotta do that. If bring food over there, if you just bring your food

for everybody. But you also could say, do not be going home, you know, trying to throw it in and then it depending on what type of child you have, sometimes you gotta talk to him about being humble. Let me just put it in that context. You're talking to him about humble. You ain't got to discuss everything and do not be going there. But but again, as a man, you are setting a tone, You're being a leader. You're teaching your child how to behaved, how to be in

community and in family. And so what I'm saying is I think in the situation, I think we talked about in totality, should men be providing for the whole community. I think that is definitely UH a criteria and a quality that men should have. I don't think you should ever want when kids to go. It's never a time that I brought one kid food and I didn't buy him all food. I just that's just not how I live. But the reality of situation is when I look at this situation in a way it was handled, he was

I don't think he came there with malicious intent. He was confused, like what do you will send him out? Like? Like, had you handled it a different way, right instead of trying to throw that man under the bus and make him seem like he was just this bad person, I think he would have. I think he would have stepped up in a different man. I think you're not gonna

get out argument of it. I don't. I literally know that the way in which the whole situation was handled going to the internet and all that, which I think is stupid ship anyway people thinking that they go to the Internet and somehow that's gonna help fix the issue.

It's not so I understand that I am saying, though, to beat all the kids, because because what to your point, the dialogue that has come up is I take care of mind, mind mind, mind, mind, mind, And I'm saying that that, but I don't think that's what nobody I think. I think most people are saying it's a congest and he should do it, and I would do it, but

that man is really not obligated. And that's what everybody is saying, is most people saying that they would bring food for the kid and this and that, but people saying, fun I don't have to do anything for nobody else's kids. And what I'm trying to say is that there needs to be more leaning towards you. He should affect the kids, because what happens is that when we provide that opening for mind, mind, mind, mind, and we give life to that, it starts to be like a chancer in our community.

And I'm I'm suggesting that more of our men. I appreciate again, Fathers Alive in the Hood for putting that statement on their page to say, if you can't maybe you can't McDonald's everybody, then you bring a few groceries, not even just for her day was being funny, but for her and her man. That's that's going too far.

But I'm just saying. The point is as a man, as a man, we need to set the message in the community and in the world that if your child is part of a community of kids that you already knew also that were there before your child, Everybody, well, I know my sign. Guess what. Here's the deal. It

is everybody. But there's a very rare circumc there's very rare circumstances where a man has children that he has in his house, all his children by his different baby mamas, or by his two baby mus or whatever, and the mother has to come there to bring something. Usually probably of time it's the other way around. She's the vessel who brings forth the children. They with her, and so it is a man, right that is coming to take of his child. That's what I'm saying that I'm just saying.

It's very rare. Yeah, everybody, this is This is a universal conversation. And it's not just about it's not just about these children in this house. When you go to school, you don't bring your child pizza. You ring all the kids pizza. Right, you don't come you don't come with one company for your child for the day party, You bring all the children cupcakes over the cousin's house and they spending the night and you're bringing something for your kids. What?

What did? What did your mother do? I know when I was a kid when I had to go stay over my auntie's house while they went to the event, So they did whatever, sorry, or or or at the babysitters. When I was going to the babysitter, my mother when she was like, let me give you some apple slices, she's she said, oh and how many kids miss pack out? Danda, let me cut up some more apple slices to make sure everybody can get something. Yeah, this is true. So

that's my point. But anyway, we should get into our next guest because this is gonna be a long ass show. So we're bringing up Um, the sister of Brittney Grinder.

This week, we held a prayer vigil in Brittney's honor that included rabbis, It included nondenominational folks, It included white folks, black folks, brown folks, Asian folks, women, men, everybody was there uh to support and to pray outside of the Russian Consulate for our sister Britney Grinder trial starts today, uh, today's July one, but this show will obviously air afterwards, uh, and we're praying for her, praying for her mind. We know that the court has a ninety nine percent uh

conviction rate, which means is kangaroo court. You show up in court and they've already determined what's gonna happen to you. But we hope she makes it in the one percent. So we're joined by the close friend, childhood friend, uh even they call one another sisters, Janelle Roy, who heard from Brittney Griner on the same day that she was being detained at a Russian airport. Um, Janelle, thank you

so much for joining street politicians today. We had an even such a beautiful person, and we just are you know, are glad that you're able to be with us, but sorry that it's under such difficult circumstances. All right, UM,

I just appreciate y'all. You know, it's it's such amazing to stand with such powerful people who have our support, who's showing love, you know, because it's hard to bring people out right, it's hard to get people to understand what's happening and what's going on, especially when it's not their loved ones. Some people don't understand that when it's not their family and it's not their the aught their nieces,

their nephews. People don't understand the impact that it has on people's who lives and family and their lives room, you know, the mental state. You know, like we were just talking about it earlier. You sit here and you think about how you have to listen and look at things in in the media and find out so much through the media that nobody ever tells you. Just a little while ago, you know, during the war, they just got hit with two different missiles that killed approximately, I

believe about twenty seven people. Um. I don't know, of course the whole statistics behind it, but I know that people were, people were impacted, people were injured, that people were dying because of it, you know, And you don't know how far away that is from my sisters, my sister's jail. Um is she okay? Is she impacted? But she affected? Was any of that thing? You know? It was any of that happening, And people don't understand the

impact of those things because it's not them people. So many people are so quick the judge and have the opinions about things, you know. So, but y'all to stand behind my family and the support it's it's been, it's been amazing. I couldn't ask for anything level I've been a blessing to us. Well, it's you know, unfortunately we have to be a blessing, right, it's unfortunate that we have to meet. So it's beautiful people like yourself with the level of energy like yourself in situations like this.

You know, I know today is the first day of the trial, you know, and I know that it has to be a lot on family and yourself, Like what with what emotions are you're having right now based on this tram um. It's it's a little bit of a struggle, right because you you literally are sitting and you're watching the anticipation of you don't know what's gonna happen. You don't know what's gonna get said. Um, it's different when in the United States and when you're are in Americans.

Saw you you have the phone calls, right, you have the contacts and we have the connections to where you're like, yo, is this happening, What's what's going on? What's the next step? But the unfortunate lack of communication that we've had. We have to sit in front of a TV and you have to sit almost feeling numb of I have to pray for the best and I hope that you know, the worst has already happened. So you're just sitting in

front of a TV screen pretty much watching like everybody else. UM. And unfortunately, sometimes you know, it's like people are like, are you are you good? Do you know everything? You know? It's sad to say that that's my own system, my best friend, and I tell people like, no, I don't want I don't know what's gonna happen. I'm gonna watch the TV like you do. So it's new to every all of us at the same time. So let me

be clear. No one has had any communication with Brittany since she's been lacking no, not pretty much, not verbal. But she did write a few letters when they allowed yes, yes, I was gonna say yes the letters the letters that they have allowed. UM. So we have talked to her through the letters, but through the verbal of course, like with my sister in law situation. UM. The ball was dropped unfortunately, UM with the phone call, so she she wasn't allowed to make their phone call. And that's such

the difference right on American soil. You're allowed to make the phone calls, you know, so you can at least talk to the person to understand, because I mean, it is what it is, right, But you can talk to somebody, if you know somebody long enough to say, hey, how are you feeling? How are you doing? And you can almost you can tell people voice and the emotions of

how that person is doing. And sometimes that's all it takes, is just a phone call to even make the person feel some type of you made to say, all right there, like os, so can you tell us what happened with the phone call? Like? What what happened with the phone calls? To um? So? For me, UM, it was my sister's anniversary, and pretty much what happened was UM And this is obviously it wasn't to me, So I'm responding on behalf of my sister in law. But when I spoke to her,

she kind of, you know, she broke down. She had a breakdown moment, which of course as she should respectfully, UM, and that's who I wanted to call her to make sure that she was good. So pretty much what happened was they scheduled the phone call UM weeks at least a week in advance, maybe a couple of days approximately, And what happened was a phone call was supposed to come in UM for their anniversary. They scheduled that. They scheduled the phone call on a Saturday, which it was

supposed to be already scheduled. It should have had it should have been somebody there at the U S Induscy. So what happened was is the Russians came in and they allowed my sister to make a living calls. They actually brought her in, which where they have to bring her from the jail to where the call is is about an hour or two hours approximately, so they have to travel with her all the way there to make the phone call. UM. She made the phone call that

morning that several that morning, several that afternoon. The number that was given to my sister to make was a Monday through Friday phone call pretty much at the United States Embassy. They didn't give her a phone call that was a twenty four hour line for a weekend line for unknown reasons. I don't know why or how the

call got dropped on that side. UM but they came back and the attorney said, hey, listen, they showed my sister, I'm sorry, my sister in law, so Charelle the call logue and they said, hey, BJ was able to make the call. So Sharelle sat that Saturday like literally waiting on the phone call to happen at ten eleventh class and just sat a for her phone the entire time. But she's like, hey, I haven't gotten a phone call like I thought. We scheduled this days ago. Where's the

phone call not coming in? And the attorney said, listen, she's already called you. She's called you eleven times. And she wrote like, how is she called me eleven times? I have I've gotten nothing. So the communication started coming in and they pretty much said that on the UM on our side, there was nobody working. Um, nobody was working that Saturday. We don't know why. UM. That really hasn't been answered to my sister in law as to

why the ball got dropped. Why they even allowed her to schedule a call on a Saturday and give give them a one day through Friday phone number. UM, So pretty much nobody answered because there was nobody working. Yeah, And that was and this is four months later that they have not had a verbal conversation. And you know, and I agree with you, um, with what you said that letters are important, but a phone call helps people to really feel like they are, um, you know, able

to hear a familiar sound, right, soothing. Writing letters only feels like solitary confinement. I mean that that is you know, that's how it feels. I'm not saying that that's her condition. I'm just saying if it feels like stop because in solitary confinement, all you can do is basically write some letters. And what we know is that, um, there is no

law because I went to look it up. I went to see whether or not Russia has like a rule or a law in place that says they have to allow a phone I mean of letters to be written, they actually don't. So you know, whatever the attorneys are doing and the negotiations that's happening, at least to the extent that it is, um, you know, to to this extent, it's working that they would even allow her to be in communication where she can write letters. Um, you know, her life. And so I had to say, you know,

that's a good thing. So now you you let's go back to the day that Brittany was arrested, because she was in communication with you throughout different times, maybe on the flight the west and you know, so she just talked, so tell us about those messages and what happened at the end. UM. So we were in communication and we even faced on each other for a little bit. UM.

She I want to go see her wife. She had came in um because of course my sister plays for the Russian the Russian League, um, um out there or whatever. So when I remember when she called, she goes sis was good. I just wanted to give you a call. I'm getting ready to fly back. I knew she want to go see Charrell. UM. So she was coming back before she was, you know, flying around and stuff like that.

Left Phoenix, went to New York, and I had FaceTime Flury in New York, and I was like, yo, I love you have a good flight, because that's typically the long flight to me, I don't talk to her for like two or thirteen hours UM. And sometimes me being a big sister, right, I'm like, yo, you have to call me, you have to text you get what if I'm like, yo, I'll pay for the WiFi for the for the plane, like you gotta give WI fire so I can text you. Um. I remember waking up that

morning and it was uh February seventeen. She text me um to let me know that she was in a little bit of trouble. She goes, hey, UM, I didn't get a text you. As soon as I landed, I called shrill, but um, I'm probably you know some stuff happening at T s A. I can't say much. Um, some stuff happening at T s A. I love you. So my heart kind of went down, like it's six's happened. Um. We did stay in communication. I'm assuming for what they allowed her to keep her phone because she was allowed

to text me a little bit. But I know between me, her agent, and her wife, we were all between us three. She told me that she was in constant communication with all of us. So she just sporadically would text um and say hey, I love you, And I'm like, where are you at? Have you landed? I'm like, do I need to come fly to you? I even asked them one of the text messages, I and yo, I'll buy

a flight right now, okay the price. I will come help you, um, or I'll come, you know, talk to you or sit with you or whatever, and she goes, no, I'm already in Russia and I'm at the police station. Now. She was like, I still can't say much. Remind you, our conversations were so spread out, so they were like maybe i'll run between so my sexy messages. I'm still like, sister, you're okay, Sister, you're okay, and I'm just getting no response.

So when she says me a little response, I'm getting hope. I'm like, Okay, my sister is not in that much ruble because she still has her phone. Um. And then between was the last text message I got, and that's when she pretty much she was like, Sis, I love you, and I'm like what happened? And that was what I said. I'm like, what happened. Thirty minutes after that, I asked her, I'm like are you okay? I'm like, say, it's where

are you at? And then that's pretty much when I got the last thing, and she pretty much told me that she loved me. UM, and that broke me right because the next phone called that I got was the attorneys and she reil calling. Then she goes like, hey, they took phone for good, and I'm like, what are you I'm talking to Sheila on the phone. I'm like, what do you mean they took her phone for good? There was like she was detained. Now they've officially arrested her.

So from that time at you know, eight o'clock in the morning to about two o'clock to to three o'clock our time, the force, um is when the entire situation took place. And then after Sherrille called me, it was like, she's not gonna text you anymore, you know. And you know the crazy part about this for me, right, it's like, this is b G is arguably one of the best basketball players in the world, um, and both of these countries have utilized that skill set, right if utilized, they

benefited from it. You know, She's played in the USA team, she's played in the Russian League, and both of these teams have utilized that. And for them not to see the necessity in allowing this woman to be free, especially at this in this moment, in this situation, you know, and and to handle it as if she was somebody that has they both benefited from it's really just disheartening to me. It's really disheartening that black women have to

deal with these things. I just feel like even in the league, even just the outcry is not loud enough for me. You know, if you know, she's one of the best players in the w n b A, and if one of the best players in the NBA this would happen to it would be a far louder cry. There would be way more people speaking up on behalf, not just sporadically. They would be an organized attempt to make something known. And the fact that that's not happening it really bothers you know, how do how do you

feel about that? Um, it's just like you said, I mean, you took the words out of my mouth, right, it's just heartening. You know, my sister being uh an Olympic player playing for the United States and as women, right, my sister only goes overseas because of the salary. She goes overseas because that is her income, that is her means of living, and that's how you know she has

to maintain. You know, this is not and as a as a previous ball player, I can speak on you know, she's not going over there because she just enjoys it. And that's what she wants to do. She's growing over there because that is her livelihood, that is her career, and that's how she makes money. Um. And unfortunately, you know, she doesn't make the same money like that airplane in the United States. So then what do you have to do. But it's also the passion and the love for the game.

But for her as a as a human being, as a woman, you're playing for two countries who put you on this pedestal. But yet when something happens, is it reciprocated? Do we have your back the way that you've been having goers in the way that you represented our country Because at the end of the day, as a basketball player, she's representing both countries. You know, she's represented when she goes over Sieve and when she a hundred percent represents

while she's here with us on American shoil. Um. So you know, dis hardening is the it's the perfect word for it, because you say, we were talking about this already earlier in the show. Uh talking about I think they is it like twenty thousand dollars or something like that is the salary? Well for women they have a cap it's approximately I think they gave a little bit of an increase, but I think for the women right now, the cap is like a two hundred Okay, so right,

I'm sorry I said the wrong number. I didn't mean to say two hundred thou yes, so its two hundred thousand dollars. It's all you can make in the US as a yeah, I mean, and the and the NBA players some of them are making so much money they can't even count. It's just every average basketball players, like average basketball players make five and six million dollars a year, and oh absolutely, and it's yeah, and there's no disrespect, there's no disrespect to anybody, you know, for the league.

For the league goes um, but as people um for the NBA who sit on the bench and you know, that's that's thirteenth man. They probably won't play, you know, for another three and four seasons, and they getting paid millions of dollars, you know. And it's funny because me and my sister a couple of months ago, obviously before she got arrested, we actually had the conversation we were laughing about and I'm like, yo, you still think about

going to the NBA. I'm like, yo, you should just do it, like going to the NBA at least one year, right, because a couple of years ago, you know, when she first got um in the league, they were talking about, you know, should be the first woman in the NBA, like we'll pick her up, and I'm like, yo, at this point, I'm like, you should have just did it, Like you should have just did it the accolade, you know, And then now you think about you like if she

was in the NBA with the's still make a difference, you know what I mean, the salad. That thing is a political issue, right, It's a political I had a conversation yesterday with Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee where we were talking about you know, she's obviously been very supportive of

b J as well. She held a demonstration in Texas um and also pushing the administration making sure the State Department doesn't forget about Brittany, and so she's doing that work and she and I were speaking about this whole situation yesterday, and a part of it again comes back to the fact that Brittany even had to go to

Russia in the first place. And as you it is an it's an economic situation, and therefore we have to talk about in the midst of all of this, and I can't wait until Brittany is free so she can come home and be a part of the discussion about how there is the pay gap disparity that we speak about all the time in other industries is right before our faces right here in sports that you have two different um uh leagues, if you will, but both of

them make major money for for other people. See I want to see for white boats, but I don't want to get y'all you know you and have Sharrelle upset with me, But actually no, for real, because the owners of these teams for the most part, for the most part, I know there's a few here and there, but you know, in the in basketball, the owners of these teams there are a bunch of white people and they're making millions and millions billions of dollars utilizing black and brown bodies,

largely knowing that people have to fly back and forth to your point, and I want to know where are the owners right? Forget about the players. We put so much responsibility, which I still feel Carmelo, Lebron and all these guys. I'm I thought to myself last night, I need to call Kyrie because Kyrie is our he's our friend, right, And we call him and asked him and Nick what he feels engaged because some people don't know what they

should do or not to do. They don't know, right, But so I'm gonna call him because I know that he will support But that's a lot of pressure on players who are all right. Issue the people that we need to be challenging is where are the owners of these different teams? And what is your position on this? Because you're the one that has the power to make the phone calls. You might have a Russian friend you play golf fit at your country club who flies back

into a business in the US. Perhaps you should call that person and see if they have a direct line to be able to contact the folks over in Russia. People need to go to work on this and this and this, and I keep hearing this thing. Someone said to me the other day, a very powerful black woman's it to me, Well, they are working on it. It's just that they can't tell you anything. Okay, maybe that's true.

But all I know is I now have done some research on the Trevor Reid situation, and yes, it looked longer time and it was all of that, I get it, but there was it was very clear that there was work being done to try to negotiate on his behalf. There are stories out there where there's more being said than just um a priority. No, they're getting into the details of how they're working on it. That all of

this is I don't understand. Why not for for Britney Griner, I don't you know, And I agree with you, that's the same um thing that me and my system I was just talking about that. She discussed it, uh the other day when she had an interview with C and them. Where's the action being shown? You know, there's a there's a complete difference of we can continue to talk about something every day, right, but when you show me unthing on paper, when you show me something in the end, oh,

it makes a big difference. It's just like the phone call, right, writing and talking, Well you can talk or do those are those are the two things? Um. And that's why we said, you know, that's that's always the biggest push for us, is that's the only thing that we're asking if you are you showing me something or you're just

telling me what do I want to hear? Well, especially as women we go through so much every day that we have to battle a man's world, right sometimes, so if you show me something and say, hey, this is what we're doing or this is what we're working on, okay, respect, we get it now. Okay, I see where this is going. I see that we're moving in a forward direction. But it's like, especially as a woman, it's almost like you're telling you telling me what I want to hear, so

I can shut up and sit down. Well, I mean, you know, I've had the opportunity to speak with Charrell on the number of occasions and with and this is a very poised woman who, um, you know I I'm surprised that. Well, no, I'm not, because black women are just what we are, black people, and I'm not gonna just because black men also have to just deal with extreme circumstances all the time and still show up and still speak, you know well, and and present well and

try to keep everybody else calm and all of that. Right, Because I called her lit like what and like this is and so she's unable to share every little bit of what she's pizzd together because this is a very sensitive issue. But I can tell and she has said to me very clearly, I don't have a lot of faith. I don't have a lot of faith that people are

working as hard for my wife as they should be. Um, And you know, and I think that I don't think if I'm if I'm President Biden and I'm getting my briefing, right, and I'm and I'm Kamala Harris, Vice President Harris, and we're getting a briefing and Brittany Grinder comes up. Knowing these two individuals and being around them for many years, it's compassion there. I'm sure they're like, this is horrible,

what do you mean? But I also know that when the politics get in the room, when all the other individuals come in and they're like, yeah, but we're dealing with the war and we got this going on and we did that in the third and blah blah blah, it can push further their action to match their compassion. And that's why we as the citizens of this country, have to be vocal so that they will say, oh, that's right, I forgot. We can't forget Brittany. You know,

we can't forget Brittany. Sorry, my son, I'm just running my mouth, but about this, you know, no, and I was gonna say, you know, you hit the nail on the head with that. And that's that's the biggest thing for us and my family is I don't want my sisters to be forgotten for everything that she has done, um for this country, um these teams, for both countries. You know, she's won multiple championships also with the Russian team,

you know. And that's the biggest thing for us, is we don't want my sister to be forgotten under no circumstances. You're right, And I don't think it's it's even humane for her to be for good. I think you know,

this situation requires all hands on deck, you know. I just it really bothers me that we hear that something that's going to supposed to be going on, and nobody knows what it is, right, nobody knows what a negotiation looks like, what anything, and and and for the first time, her family, her wife, her friends are only gonna learn actually what happened really is going on just watching the trial, right, this is the only way that you you we are being informed. And I think you know there needs to

be more steps. I think you know from the beginning, the strategy that everybody had for me was just wrong, you know, understood to a certain degree, but I think that not making it seem like this was a priority and didn't allow on it to continuously get to this place. Now I've heard now that regardless of whatever that's going on, this another six months at least, that she has to wait to come home or if that's even gonna happen.

So I'm just so confused, you know. But they'll say, they'll some I'm sorry, Look, we got we took over the interview to each other. But but they only that we're into process and that negotiations, especially in a high tension situation, because obviously we cannot. First of all, we do know. We're very brilliant people who have been able to organize lots of things. We read, we understand, so we do know that when there's a war happening, it

makes it more politically complicated to be able to negotiate someone. Brittany, she's she is in this situation at the wrong time. We all we get that. What they will say is that the negotiations that's happening, especially in light of the tension, is it creates a situation where they can't talk about any of it. The our administration, any administration, they have a bully pull pick right where they can keep the people in the people's um interests, they can speak about

at least say her name. Have you ever even heard President Biden or Vice President Harris at at any situation say we also, you know, are thinking of our sister. Brittney Grinder hasn't been have you seen I'm asking you have you seen anything any any any letters written or anything.

So I I personally have not. And I know my sister in law from what we've discussed and what we talked about here and there, UM, I know she's probably had one person that reached to her, uh from the administration side, but it was more so towards her to say, hey,

we're gonna help you, We're gonna try to work with you. UM. I don't remember exactly who that was, but I believe from what my sister in law told me, that was the EMI phone call that she had received from them since and that was that was I believe in the very beginning when it first got pushed out, UM that she was arrested in Russia, because if you remember, for us, we had already knew that there was some type of situation that was going on before he had actually got

exposed in the media. Um so we were already trying to come together, obviously as a family, to try to figure out, Okay, what's the next steps. And that's kind of been a phone that one phone call came through. But other than that, we I believe I know my behalf you know, um on, my sister in law's behalf from We talked very frequently. She hasn't told me anything of that nature. Everything that we've pretty much been told and exposed to has been through the attorneys from both parties,

from both administrations. And see, that's that's what I That's what I'm saying. Like that, that's I'm talking about. I'm saying that some type of public Uh god, right, I get it. They're working their meeting behind the scenes. But we know them, we know, we know how college seations operate. If you don't if if it's out of sight, it's out of mind. That's just it is. And and the other thing is a black woman, you can pay me money. There's no amount of money. You couldn't give me a

billion dollars right now. To believe that people are waking up every day going hard for Brittany like they would for lebron. Hey, now you'd be speaking too much of the truth on that, right, um. And that's why I said, unfortunately, it's just the way that our society is right now, right. But that's why we just spoke about it a little while ago. I said, I don't want she shouldn't be forgotten because we're pushed so much in the back burner that you know, for society, she's not let's not say, oh,

she's not that important to deal with. But I guarantee you anybody else that meant something to them, or somebody that was such this this huge athlete or this huge person, oh, it would have never been forgotten. It would have never been pushed off the table. We would have been discussing this every single day. It would have been a political report. But because it's just my sister, and it's just a woman, and it's just this, it becomes so minute that people

don't take it off as important. But yet she's done so much for the country. I think for me, like what I want to see And you know, it's not calling anybody out, it's not you know, to um throw anybody under the bus. But I would love I would love to see the superstars of the NBA and all the superstars of the NBA come together collectively and make a statement to talk to the administration and say that this that that you know, we we've given our lives

for this country. We've given blood, sweat and tears for this country, throwing medals for this country. We've done everything for this country. And we and we want you to treat Brittney Grinder like she did. That we want from behalf of us that we we were making a united front as a voice and standing up and speak to the administration and president and everybody to make it known that listen, we want Brittany Grinder home. We want you to do whatever is necessary to make sure that Britney

Grinder comes home. She shouldn't be a political poemt she shouldn't be caught in between it is. Brittany Grinder should be home at whatever course it takes for the come And I would just love to see that because that would show me because we had conversation yesterday about protecting black women and black men and all these things, and

for me, that's what it looks like. It means having an uncomfortable situation, saying things that might not make you favorable to the to the higher ups or whatever it is, because you know it's the right thing, and I agree with you, and you know you make a good point, right, Um.

Much of love to everything at the NBA has done for my sister, because I know during the playoffs and stuff like that, they did, you know, they put my sisters Molitioris and forty two and stuff like that, and you know you had a lot of the big NBA players you had like CP went out and you know, were my sisters show they you know, they have to lectures. All that says, you know, we're b G and much love to that and the support and you know it's

it's definitely definitely appreciated. You know. But you know, like we were saying before, it almost as like, where do you put people in the position that if it was your brother, if it was your sister, how much would you actually do? How much would you actually do? And it is your sister? And that's what that's what I want. I want us to realize that this is how a sister. It ain't this is not somebody that's this is one of us. This is somebody that we celebrate the accolades,

we look and we we love everything. So you have to you have to celebrate it when it's not favorable, right. You gotta be able to promote, You gotta do the things that it takes an uncomfortable time to fight for people. So that's it's definitely our system. And I think and I think that's hard for a lot of people. A lot of people don't like to be pushed out of

their comfort zone. Right. A lot of people are like, Okay, I don't know what to say, but if it was you, if it was your sister, your brother, what would you say at that point? Would you sit back and allow something like that to happen, especially somebody so close to you? It could have been you Because a lot of these players gold with seas and they do all these things. It's could have been you, and it couldn't be next time,

any situation, this could be you. So you want you want to be pro and not say we say this, this work that we do. We see this all the time, their mothers, who even who lose their child and police violence to just regular violence, and what we say is unfortunately, you become a part of this club, and there are a lot of active mothers who based on the reality that did something happened to their children, they would force

into being in this life. And what we say all the time, don't wait until it's your child, right, don't don't wait till it's your child to be on the front lines and standing up because that that's not what it's gonna take to prevent it. Right. We want to be in front of it. We want to make sure that doesn't happen to somebody else. So we need you to make sure that before something happened to your child, to be in the proactive mode. Active. Yeah, I agree

with you. It's it's always we're always reactive, and you know, and then that's when you have to stay in and you have families that it's like, Yo, this is happening to me now, I can't believe this is me. Well, guess what, you could have done something about it. You could have done something to prevent them, right, right in that you fight in preparation, right and and hopefully as a preventive measure. And I think that I think that in this situation and I know, um, you know, we

have to end this interview. We can sit here and talk all night. Yeah. But I think in this situation, again, while I want to see the same thing you said myself, I hadn't even thought about that, that all the players coming together physically, physically getting together and making a statement for Brittany. I think that would be extremely powerful. I think it's something we need to suggest. Um. I think it's something that can be orchestrated by individuals who have

influence and power. And I think they have to take it seriously that it can't if it if the playoffs was when was that? That was just it was a month ago. So they there's there's a refresher needed now, right, it's a refresher. Can't let people forget we need the influence of these big names. But what I will say is again you still need to lean in on those people who have power and resources within That's what we do it when they see the top players that saying, hey,

we need this to get done, but we're not coming. Well, is there still a Russian NBA player in there? A guy who's super tall that's from us? Pretty sure? Yeah, I don't know his last name. But because I think as far as athletes, I've just seen the other day. The only I've seen Roy Jones actually reached out to some people that he knew in Russia. I was like, yeo, Roy Jones just came out of the blue, right, That's

that's amazing, that's how who's so much love and appreciate it. Um. But he actually, I know I heard that he reached out to some people in Russian that he knew to try to help up. Yeah, so that's what we need action. Action, We need action, and sometimes it takes us the agitated. You know, we get on everybody's nerves because we always got something to say, and we always took about who

needs to do what? You shut up? Like why y'all always went But this is our job and it doesn't get us like and nobody's gonna invite us to uh sit courtside at the games as a result of of what we're saying. But we sacrifice that and it's okay. It's okay because somebody's gotta push the envelope and that's

what we're here to do. We've made that commitment to Cherrell, to you, um and and you know, without speaking to Brittany, we're making that commitment to her that we're not going to let a week go by where where she's not talked about, where there's not some action where we did our prayer visual the other day. There's several media stories now about a prayer visual that took place outside of the Russian Russian consulate and that was the goal. That

was the goal. And we didn't go to the Russian Consulate with the protests and you know, the yelling and the things that we do, the chanting if you will, we do that, We definitely do that, and we do that well. But instead we went there with an interfaith group of clergy. So this is not it was not just you know, the black per the black preachers, which in its in and of itself is power. It was not.

There was a rabbi there, there were nondenominational boats there, there were white people who prayed, black people, brown people, and we all came together to pray not just for Brittany, not just even for your your your family, but to pray for the minds and hearts of those individuals who have the power on the Russian side that we're praying for you to move your spirit as well. And as uh Bishop Daughtry ninety years old, still showing up, and he came out for Brittney Grinder. What he said in

his prayer was so powerful. He said, do the compassionate thing, do the right thing, lead with love, and that's what we hope happens for Britney Grinder. But I promise you one thing about it, and my son knows it. When I decide that I'm going to get involved in something, I will not shut up. I'm gonna annoy you at least at least if nothing else, I will annoy you, and to the point like you gotta do something because I'm annoyed. And that's okay. So thank you to listen.

It's powerful, Thank you. I appreciate your support so so much, you know, especially with us being able to talk and get in the stand with you all, it's been powerful to me. You know. It's it's uplifting when you have such powerful people and strong people that you know that we're all in it for the same thing. There's no games, there's no Giftecks behind it. We're all in it for the right things. So I appreciatepciate we're here for you. I appreciate you all so much. Thank you. Thank you.

First of all, Janelle and Charrelle, very very um kind, beautiful black women. Uh, you could tell these folks their whole the whole lot of life, everything, everything about what they know has been disrupted. You know. By this situation, you have Charrelle who is working on UM passing the bar. You have Janelle, who's taking care of her two beds.

I mean, there's these folks are like going along with their regular life with their sister and wife who is a superstar traveling the world, and then boom, this happens and you find out so much about the system. You can't get information, you know, phone calls need to happen on certain days. There's so much and and and and when you think about it, because of the fact that they are power, that um Brittany is a public figure, we're getting to see it and it's playing out in

real time. But imagine how many people just right here in the USA are dealing with similar circumstances of being locked up, not knowing when they're going to court, not understanding how to opera navigate in the system, listening to lawyers, trying to talk to your loved ones. It's really incarceration

is is It's tough. It is very tough, and I know, you know, but I just i'm my goes out because I can't imagine what it's like to have your loved one, Because, like I said, the US is rough, so imagine you all the way in Russia. Yeah, it's it's it has

to be. Um just I've been in prison with people who are Russians, right, who actually were locked up in Russia, and they say that prison in America's there's a hundred times better than being in Russia, right, So, and I can tell just by just the energy, just the way that they discipline, things are just different, you know. And especially when you're not in the life of crime, when

you're not somebody who's you know, around that. You know, you've been a star athlete your whole life and you've done things the right way and then unfortunately find yourself in the situation that puts you in one of the most dramatic and drastic situations ever you can even imagine, you know. So the level of trauma that she's dealing with, it's just unimaginable. Man. I just I'm just hoping that it gets x. You know, my prayers go out to her wife and Janelle. I haven't had the pleasure of

meeting or speaking to Chanelle. But this Jenelle's energy alone is it's just beautiful. Man. Just knowing so when knowing that she had these types of people around her, just that gives you a understanding of who she is. Yeah, and just I love her as a basketball player, love her spirit, everything about her. It's just dope. So you know, my prayers definitely go out and I'm hoping that she get a speedy return. You know, one thing that we didn't get to discuss with Janelle, and I wish she

was still here. She said that, you know, they're concerned about who they will get back once is returned, who they will get back because mentally we already know. We always talk about what incarceration does to the mind. Imagine what it does to you in Russia again, unable to

communicate with your family. We don't know what she'll be like when she returns um and that is something that I hope that all the parties involved takes into consideration that we do not want this thing that has happened to to damage this woman for the rest of her life.

You know, it's just heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking, and I don't think we as activists, organizers, leaders can allow our brethren who we love and we celebrate, but those individuals who play for the NBA, we can't allow them off the hook with this. We have to make sure that they get uncomfortable and that they are just as annoying as I talked about, and we got to stay on them. So from my perspective, I've already decided I'm going to be them and on a daily basis everything I'm dam texting,

calling we need help, we need help. And I know what happens is that their agents are going to tell them, oh, no, we we heard, it's being worked on. It's being worked on. But but very similar to what Congresswoman Lee said to me on yesterday that Trevor Read's family, they were in the streets, they were on the phone, they were making it uncomfortable for the administration so that the administration would make it on, make themselves uncomfortable and getting work done.

I don't We've not seen, I asked. I asked Attorney Crump about then there said, Hey, what do you really think the strategy is on grind? Do you think that we should be out here? You know? And and how loud do you think we should be out and I do ask people. You know, you may not think so,

but I do. And he said that he's never seen a situation where in this country the silent ones got anything those who cried, And you know, he reminded me of that quote where Frederick Douglas says power conceives nothing without a demand, and that that pretty much grinds that up. Man, No no pun intended. Yeah, you know, but shouts out to um Janelle for coming on on our show and just to love the love that she has for her and her wife has for her. It's just different that

brings me to my um. I don't get it right. I was I post, actually posted something on my page today from Jazz Watch Jazz and and she was just talking about her willingness to be quote unquote submissive. And I know it's like a negative connotation that's attached to it, but it was so profound and the fact way that she broke down what submissive was to her and how it brought her joy, right, And she was just explaining how catering to her man and doing all these things

for her man made her happy. It brought her levels of joy and what I didn't get was why that bothered somebody else? Right, Because how I love somebody or how somebody loves whatever that goes on with somebody in their relationship. I don't understand why that would bother other people, Right, Because if I get joy from loving my woman or this and that a certain way, or I go to the movies, I like to watch the movies every day, and this is what I do. This is my happy place.

Why would it bother somebody else? Why do why people triggered by what makes somebody else happy? And people like, oh, she shouldn't do Why shouldn't if this is what brings her joy? I don't think. I think what people miss in it. You know when I when I listened to it was the fact that she did it for her, Right, It wasn't you know, I'm doing it for him, and he's using me and this and that. It's like being and I And I used the example about a man who might spoil his woman and buy her a bunch

of stuff. Right, if you're buying that woman things because you want sex from her, or you want to make her feel a way about you that she doesn't already feel, or if you're not doing it genuinely because Yo, I like, I thought about her and this would be nice for her. I want to take it here because I enjoy her company and I want to spend time with her. If you're doing things because you're you're trying to do it for somebody else, then you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

And I think that the way that she spoke about love, it was more pertinent to what made her. She said, my superpower is love, and she and she made a quote that was so dope to me. She said, I can love a man back to health, right, And and that for me is so dynamic, right Because in relationships people say it's given take. Sometimes it is given take. But in relationships sometimes it might be eight twenty. Some people might be able to provide eighty to somebody else's twenty.

That makes a hundred. Some people might provide thirty to somebody else's seventy and it makes a hundred. But that's the dynamic for those individuals. So what I don't get is why people are triggered by what makes somebody else happy. So do you think that seventy thirty consistently is okay? If it's a dynamic for relationship. What I'm trying to say, I'm asking you, do you believe that at some point that seventy thirty flips or they do have moments of

fifty fifty? Do you think that it's okay for a person to give seventy all the time and the other person only gives thirty or eight twenty. I'm just I'm asking you. I'm not asking you if it's if I'm gonna answer, do you believe that it's okay? Like if you as a man, right and you're giving all the time? Right? Because because in my last relationship, I didn't have the financial means to do the things that he was able

to do for me. He could. He put me on right jets, he bought me diamonds, things that I could not afford to do for him. So that would be an eight twenty ship at sometimes at some point it might be a ninety ten, right, because I I didn't have that money. I couldn't If I wanted to go out to eat lobster every night, he could afford that. But if it was just me by myself, I couldn't afford that, So that would be a ninety ten. That's consistent.

But what I did do was found out what his favorite meal was and made sure that I cooked it. What I did do was find out, like, what things does he need? How do I change the socks in the drawer every six months? Because this is a person that works out and I know that he needs that. What I did do was figure out what how he does he like his Sunday to be right. I made sure his newspapers got delivered. I made sure that on certain days he had the desserts and things that he liked.

I kept myself together physically. I did not run around lying, cheating and being abusive and doing things to him that hurt him. Right. So that was my ninety back. And I think what triggers people which they shouldn't be. They should not be triggered in any way, shape or formed by somebody else's situation, because I'm not driggering right at all. But what I will say is the triggering that is that's coming up for most people is one day've never learned how to love the way that she speaks. They

never learned that, right, That's just not their situation. But the other piece I think that gets sort of left out is that a lot of people are triggered because they've never had anybody that deserved to be loved in that way that the words submits. Not. But that's but that's That's what I'm trying to explain to you. And I think when you listen to when I listened to it, right,

it was her decision right to love that person. It wasn't listen to what I'm saying, No, But but I just need to be able to say this because I don't I know, but I just cannot just I'm asking for the pretty opportunity today to cut you off even though way better better, but I don't know because I didn't listen to the full interview if she ever talks about her expectations. Right. What I'm saying to you is that the way that the man that I was with show his love for me right, um was was and

it's not just buying things. He also was an experienced person. Wake up on a Saturday morning, let's do this today, right, This is the type of person that he was. If I kept a nasty house, cheated and light all the time, didn't do anything back to show him that he was special, and he still I don't believe that he still would have continued to do this just because this is the type of person he is. I think that in every

situation is given take you make somebody. You bring out of people a feeling that they want to keep going hard for you. You can't beat people down or mistreat them and or be nothing and didn't have the same expectation of them to keep showing up. I would love to hear that part of the discussion from her if she was right. And I hear what you're saying, and I think we I think I see why you feel

like women are triggered by the situation. But what I'm explaining to you is right when you lead a certain way, right Like it's like this, I got a friend. My friend never gave me nothing. He can't give me nothing, right boom. He I know he's hungry. Y'all, come on, come to my house. I feed you, I take care of you. I do all the ship for you. Boom. I don't expect you to be able to do anything for me. Right I'm doing I'm literally doing this because I see you as my friend. I don't know how

you see me. I don't even know if you're able. I don't even know if you're able to give me back the love that I can get. But but but my superpower is that I love a certain way. And if I call you, if I made a decision that you're my friend, you're gonna get this love. And if you do ship that that But listen, but listen to what I'm can You can't keep cutting me off because that way right. So what I'm trying to say is,

as my friend, you're gonna get this love. In the minute that I feel like you don't deserve it, I'm I'm not I'm not gonna be angry. I'm not none of this. I'm able to separate myself from a situation and move on because I didn't do anything for you. I didn't. I didn't. I didn't be me. I'm not being me for you. I'm being me for me. Right, I'm gonna be the same friend to anybody that I call a friend. Now, if you fuck if you fuck that up, that's when you don't. It don't reflect me.

I'm not stupid because I did you that I that made me feel comfortable that I do for friends in my friendship. So what I'm trying to say is, oh, but what is he doing It don't matter whatever he's doing for me. If I call on my friend and I'm still doing it, it's enough for me. Right. He might not be doing it. He might just make a phone call every day and check up on me. You're good one, I just talk. That's all he might be doing.

And that might be enough for me to give him everything that I want to give, because that's what if I've required from him in my relationship. And I don't disagree. I don't think that's what I'm saying that because I show up in all my friendships and relationships a certain way as a very giving person. Right, I'm very I'm always trying to help people figure things out. I'm always trying to set people up in the best situation possible

based upon my um my access and whatever. So I don't disagree with you, and I don't change, right, I remain the same. But I do understand people who are triggered and and I understand family members of mind that will come to me and be like, you need to be careful, Like you give so much, you know who gives to you? Are you? Are you sure that you

are invested in somebody that is invested in you? And I do have a criteria for being able to measure when I'm doing more than I should and should, whether someone somebody else being bothered by you being happy or or or looking at the situation that you're happy and telling you that you shouldn't be happy in that it is the most weirdest ship in the world. To me, it really doesn't make sense. It is the wet No, it's no, I want to say it this way. It is the most weird. It is the most weirdest ship

in the world. Like what you eat don't make me ship. It's it's people in relationship. Just like when you look at Will and j the people want to tell those people down. Their relationship has outlasted most of the people who are talking about their relationship in any relationship they had twenty eight years. And if people was mad, oh, she's toxic, he's this he should why that man? Don't think that about this woman? That man it will he

love our dirty drawers. And because it don't fit the criteria for what you quote relationship you have, you think that you should be angry about the fact that he loves this woman and they love each other, how they love each other, And to me, I think that right there is just what what what is detrimental in society that people are so worried about other people and how they feel and how they feel about what they're doing. I don't give a damn about what somebody thinks about

what I'm doing. It don't matter to me, you know. And and it's just like for me, is listening to that woman she found she seemed like she was enjoy talking about whatever she was talking about. She looked like she was lightening up, she was happy, this is my super power. And Pete, why would somebody want to criticize that or make her feel like she was wrong for loving how she loves? And that's just weird to me. But you know, I don't get it. Maybe somebody else

will get it, and that's that. But with that said, you know, I'm not gonna always be right, Tamika, Mary is not gonna always be wrong, and we're gonna debate our ass off because we both think we're right, but we will both always and I mean always be authentic. He's listen to Street Politicians on the Black Effect Network on I Heart Radio and catch us every single Wednesday for the video version of Street Politicians when I women dot TV,