Let's Take Action

feel so great this week. Yeah, I mean, I think the job that we've been called to do, that we've taken on often brings forth that type of feeling. You know, we always calling notified about people either being shot, wrongfully arrested, people lost their lives, so you know, we take on a lot of that. But you're right to This week was a lot. We just attended the funeral of Jayalen Walker, you know, and you know, my condolecens goes out to

his family. But you know, just to see how constantly we still faced with the same injustices and inequalities in America, it's just crazy, man. Yeah, I mean, you know, his family, they're such a conservative group of individuals who are um, you know, they they're not public people. They never in their lives expected or imagined, of course, that anything like this could happen to their loved one. And now here they are experiencing something that is so devastating. His mom

and his sister Jada. Um you know, they're they're torn up, and the whole family of people whose lives have been changed forever. Nineties shots, Um is devastating. Sixty of the bullets actually hit him, about sixty and first of all, it was more than nineties shots. But um, you know, sixty of the bullets actually hit his body, and the majority of the bullets that hit him were in his torso. Um, so they were down low, which means that he got hit a lot while he was actually on the ground, um,

you know. And the police their position is that they saw of shot fired, like the flash of a shot being fired while he was in the car. But they but I don't think there's anyone disputing that when he got out the car and as he's running, you can clearly see from the video that there is no gun. He is not turned towards the police, uh, pointing anything at them. Um. And so the messaging of the attorneys Robert, excuse me, Robert de Cello, Robert de Cello, uh and

his team. Their message is there should have been zero shots. He was zero threat, zero shots. And I think the larger framing that we have to talk about is how police seem to be able to apprehend murder mass murderers. So at this point, this is a traffic stop that has put them in contact with Jalen Walker. A traffic stop and let's just say that he shot a shot

in the car. You know, the the attorneys at this point, they're still dealing with ballistics and investigation, but I'm just gonna go with the police's worst case scenario that he shot a shot inside the car um and as a result of that, they say they felt threatened. But what I don't understand is why they don't feel threatened by individuals who shoot mass They first of all, they're looking for you. They are literally looking at it in this situation.

They're not even looking for Jalen for a crime that is a dangerous crime. They're looking for him. They're pulling him over because of a traffic stop. And two officers only tasted him right, So that means that at least two people were close enough and saw that he wasn't a threat to the point that they needed deadly force. So they chased him right, and then all these other

officers opened fire. But we just watched them pull over, kindly, pull over the young man or the guy who where was he at in um Chicago and Illinois and Illinois where on the fourth July perade? We watched them get him out of the car on the ground. I'm just trying to figure out when when you approached him, knowing that he just shot people at a parade? Yeah, well you didn't feel like he was a threat after he

just killed People's just a common question for me. It's just like we keep having the same same dialogue, and it's because there is this notion, there's this narrative that blacks are dangerous, right, don't matter what scenario we're in, we are always seem to be a threat to their life. And it's believable because that is what this structure, this system has created, right they have they fed that to

the police. You know, I've I've seen many different videos and pictures where they do target practice for black men as the you know, as the perpetrators. So this is a visual, this is a mental thing that has been passed down inside of the police structure. That has to be broken down. It has to be completely dismantled, and it has to be retraining. It has to be re you know, approach to how we we police our communities,

you know, right. But you know the thing about it is that you I don't know if you can retrain that mindset. I don't know if you can retrain that mindset, because it's not just in the police department. It's systemic. It's everywhere everywhere we go, we are, we are, we are seeing everywhere. I mean, I was shopping, and I think I mentioned this before. I was shopping one day and a lady asked me, was I an entertainer? She

in her mind could not imagine. She can't fathom that a black girl is in the store in Neiman marcus able to purchase whatever it is that I want. She's not she she just so in her mind it has to be entertainment. And I told her, I know, I'm not a singer, a dancer. I'm also not the wife of us, of a sports player, none of those things.

And she's like, you know, and and of course once I said it, she realized what she had done, and how I was offended, not because I think any of those things are bad, because if I was an entertainer, I should also nobody should even be asking me what I do right that that's the only way that you would be able to do these things. That is different. But but what I'm what I will say is it's something to say to what Ben Crumb said, you know

how we have to make it unsustainable. We have to put the value of black life to a point where it is unsustainable, right where we have to make accountability to the point where it's so many officers going to jail, the state is losing so much money that they say to theirselves, we have to restructure how we look at this right because it's not conducive anymore. Right now, if you you shoot a black man, you say you fear for your life, you're gonna destinuty for a little while,

and you're back on the force. When that's no longer the reality, right when when every time you do it you're held accountable, the state is losing millions of dollars, then it's not a sustainable method. Is no longer conducive to what it is they're trying to accomplish. So that's

what I would go is. You know, so I hear you say, and can't retrain, But you you can because when when when when, um, when the accountability and the consequences for taking a black life become too much for you to have to deal with, you'll figure it out. Oh no, I I agree a hundred percent that the only way to deal with it is through accountability, right

like you've gotta per walk people. And then folks start saying whether I'm racist or not, I know, I can't carry out these things, um, you know, and and and get away with this. So I certainly agree with you that that's the only method or the only strategy, uh, the only only remedy. Remedy, that's the right word, that we can use to put an end or at least to significantly reduce the amount of brutality that's happening by police departments across the nation. Um. But because I don't believe,

I don't think that you can retrain. However, many years where are we this, you know, beyond four hundred years? First of all, we were seeing when we were in um At, at home in the motherland in Africa, they saw us as potential to be used as cattle, as enslaved individuals. So we've always been seen as as Africans, We've all always been seen and demeaned. The way in which we were viewed was always as a servant um as was always as something dirty and bad um, something

to be used. And so that has only grown over time. And as people learned that we we uh, that they that they could use their white skin to um to enslave us, they've only found new ways to be able to do that. And you can't tell me at all that the police department is not a part of it. So that's just my my personal opinion. But let's talk about some more of the news stories that's happening out here. UM in Arizona, there is speaking of policing. Here we

go again. A new bill has been passed and actually I think I heard something very similar being stated by Mayor Eric Adams in New York about putting a certain amount of distance between people filming incidents um with when you know police encounters. Uh. And so now Arizona has eight feet as the distance. Now here's what I will say. I do understand that you that you can't have officers engaging and arresting somebody, and then you have people who are affiliated or not right there up on top of

the police. I can completely understand how an officer is not gonna feel comfortable. Different things can happen. Somebody could grab your gun. Who knows, right, so I can I can see that. I'm not sure. I think eight feet, though, is giving them enough space to be able to find ways to sort of distract and or um what's the word to to to like to cover up whatever they're doing.

I'm sorry what you're saying, manipulate. Manipulate is a real good word to use to you know, they can find a way to cover the shot, to put their back in a certain way. And what we've had up until now, these videos have given you a real, like, you know, a clear view into the incident and what's going on. So I think eight feet might actually create some distance that is not necessarily helpful for victims of police abuse.

I mean, like you said, I do see the need to if you're trying to apprehend someone who is you know, accusing of crime, that you gotta every hand. You do want the police to be able to have space, you know, to make a rest and deal with situations accordinated. But we do also one people who who are able to

record to make sure that it's going down right. I don't know if six ft maybe six ft probably eight feet might be a little, but I think six ft a southern but eight feet at that point, they can they can play with the distance, right, and that's what they're gonna do anyway, you could be if you eight feet, if you're exactly they're gonna walk up to you and stay back up right, they walk up to you, you still closer to them. That's what they've been doing. So

you know, it's it's another tactic, you know. I don't I don't know whether it's necessarily good or bad. You know, we'll have to see how it pans out. We have to see how they utilize and how they don't utilize that they actually respect it, and see if it's something that they utilize it to where it is able to manipulate the situation to where it doesn't benefit the citizens. So, you know, I think only time will tell with that situation.

But what I do like is the fact that you chemical because a lot of these officers are trying to tell you that you can't even record right now. But I'm glad that we were making insane that you can at least giving some level of acknowledgement where it's necessary that where you are legally able to do something. So we'll see our advans. Yeah, I mean, well we will see. But I think it's two things that need to happen.

Number One, we have to make sure if you are living in a local district and you're listening to the sound of my voice and you're living somewhere because you know, some of us say we don't care about politics, and I don't care about that. I ain't even know politics. That's for y'all. Well, here's the political part of where your voice counts around this filming issue. Police need to

have on their body cameras. I don't know many districts, are state cities or what have you that don't have body cameras as a part of their natural they're you know, their normal protocol at this point, but there probably are some, and you need to check to make sure that your city council has forced the local police department to wear

body cameras. And now what we know is that oftentimes everybody, all the officers body cameras were off at the same time, or at least the one or two who have their body cameras in a particular position to get another view of the incident, their cameras that just happen to be off. So that's something that we have to be pushing that the that the the city Council needs to enforce a rule that says if an officer is caught without that body camera working and on, somebody needs to be held accountable.

So if the if the officer has already reported that his camera is not working and nothing has been done to fix it, who's accountable for that? If the officer has been notorious for not turning on his camera or her camera, who's responsible for that. But there needs to be mechanisms in place to ensure that people are wearing

a body cameras. The second thing is if you are a person who is filming an incident, you have to immediately let your mind click into the fact that it is not the time to be but so emotional, because what we have, What what I see is people get so emotional about what they're filming that the cameras swinging all over the place and they're yelling and screaming over the footage or whatever. If once you take that camera out,

you're trying to do a job. So you have to figure out how to calm yourself to the point where you are holding the camera in place and where you also use the the the the feature that allows you to expand the view. So if they're only giving you eight feet, one of the things that brings you closer is to expand the view so you can get a little closer, which is zooming in basically on the incident. Don't zoom in too much where you can't see, but make sure you try to get as close as possible, um,

you know, with your with your camera. But the only way you can do that is you have to calm your own anxiety a little. I'm you know, I'm sure it's probably already exciting that something crazy is happening, But you gotta calm your anxiety, use your camera properly, and try to stay quiet so that you can hear what's happening and so the audio is clear. Now that I mean,

you know, I don't know. I'm sure there are people out here that train folks on how to film incidents, but that information is worth goal because that that is the difference between having a very clear George Floyd video and having other videos where you really can't see what's going on. The reason why we know that um Jalen Walker didn't have a weapon on him at the time that he was shot is because of videos. So it actually does work. Now, you're right. Look like you said,

there's also emotional situation. People are. You know, they traumatize, they want to get record, but they also do through the motions, so you know, human nature kicks in and they start yelling and stop I'm using that. So it's gonna figure out how do you balance that, especially just for everyday citizens who are just trying to do the

best they can. Just kind of gotta get yourself in the mindset that once I say that that all of us have a job to do and that's about that's that collective power, right that is knowing that my cell phone is actually a tool to addressing police violence and other bad incidents happening in our society. And so when I have my cell phone, I can't just think of myself as just you know, I'm just I just was taping.

Now we have to be like, you know what, I'm taping this and if I was taping it, if I know my video is gonna make it to ABC, CBS, you know, Rolling mar In, CNN and every Revolt and everywhere else and street politicians. So anyway, that's that. So Hunt Tobiden gives his family a lot of help, Like they go through a lot with Hunt Tobiden. He already is in some other trouble that I don't even care to know the details of it. But um, he was

already in some stuff. They were already talking about something. I guess that has to do with money. I don't know, but you guys could go look it up. Um uh. And you know, it seems that because his father's president, no one is looking to uh, you know, pursue charges or whatever against him. But I've heard several times folks talking about, you know, once uh Joe Biden is no longer president, Hunter Biden is going to have some issues. But it seems like he's just kind of like a

wild guy in the family. And I don't know, you know, the investigations and all of that are still unfolding. But this latest footage, which the picture of him with the two women is you know, hey, I don't know, it's he's single or is he married? I don't know. See, I don't know a lot about Hunter Biden, but you know him with two women. Hey, that's if that's his prerogative.

It is what it is. It's the drugs, the crack and the arguing with the prostitute and something else that they claimed it's him in these in this audio and in some of these videos, So they're investigating that. Um. While being at the White House the other day for the signing of the UM uh, the the Safer Communities Act, UM, you know, a man jumped up in the audience and started asking questions about Hunter Biden and UM. You know he was obviously speaking out of term, doing protesting if

you will, UM. And you could tell that Joe Biden kind of stopped in his tracks to really hear what the man had to say. Uh. And I think I'm sure it's pretty disturbing to have people rolling up on you talking about what's up with Hunter Biden and is he using crack and whatever else? So they got problems over there with the sun. Yeah, I mean it's obviously

has he's dealing with some issues. And I think it comes back, you know, like like I've always said, I don't deal with government, and I'm don't really care about any politician. I'm not you don't care about politicians. We have great friends that are politicians, but I don't really care. I care about my friends who happened to be politicians

right there there. They're good people, got into offices and they're able to do the best they can with politics does not fully allow you to be where you are. And a lot of those people in those positions of people that I would never vote for or never cared about if I didn't have to vote. Right, So when we look at the presidential situation, is what it is, right, you know, at this point, for me, I think Joe Biden is doing what he feels the best he can do.

I think the destructures that already haven't been set in place, you know, make it a lot harder. You know, we're looking dissent it and spring call all those things that make it a lot harder. I do see, you know, just like you said that the bill that he passed, the Safer Communities Act, it's something that's definitely needed. He's doing a lot more executive orders that he's trying you know, they're actually trying to see to circumvent and get in front of a lot of you know, harm that's being

done on the opposite end. You know what, all most people are gonna point to the ninety four Crime Bill and talk about how you talking about how people are going to jail for crack and for five years for a little piece of crack, you do five years, and how this was the bill that he had and most people are gonna talk about that, and that's something that

it's going to be a part of Joe Biden's legacy. Right, So when we look at what Hunter Biden is doing right now, and that's gonna be the main thing everybody focuses on. Everybody's gonna focus on your son is out here smoking crack, you're doing all that, but he's doing five years in prison, right and and that's what that is something that it's logical, right, it's it's it is a good thing to say. People have the right to say that that you have the right to answer those questions.

A lot of our kids, a lot of our brothers fathers did or doing thirty or forty years for crack, right, And Hunter Biden's around here taking films while he he has cracked you know, allegedly, and there's nothing happening to him. So, you know, Joe Biden has his own personal things he has to deal with along with what he has to do with for being president. I'm what I would say is that the Safer Communities Act, it's something that's definitely needed.

It's gonna provide more resources to people in the communities who are doing the work, who are trying to end gun violence, who are violence interrupters, who are you know, trained in the escalation of violent situation in our community. So that's gonna do a lot to help. But on this situation with him and his son and that Ninty for crack Gold, he don't have to deal with that. His critics ain't gonna stop. They're never gonna stop talking about that. So you know, Joe Biden has his work

cut out. I mean, here's how I see it. I think that if we're all being honest, I don't care who the hell you are, whether you are an elected official, whether you are the holiest, the pope to the preacher, the good grandmama from the community, there's always gonna be somebody in your family that keep up ship all the time. They got something going on, and you are not getting ready to go turn your your problematic niece, nephew, child, grandson,

or whatever over to the authorities. You're gonna do everything you can to try to keep it quiet and try to get them help. Now, if they're killing people or you know, taking people's lives from me, I've already made it very clear to my son and other family members, do not even call me if you killed somebody, especially if it's not in self defense, or if you are physically abusing women and children. I don't play that. So if if my son is beaten and abusing women, I'm

not I'm I don't think that's okay. And I've had situations where my son and his girlfriend got into a scrapping or whatever, they arguing back and forth, and I let him know. Bro, Bro, I'm telling you now, your mom is not gonna stand by you with that, okay. But at the same time, if he went to court, if there were bills that needed to be paid, or you know, if there was if I had to get a lawyer, I'm gonna still do that for my son.

But I'm not going to be the person that's walking around saying, oh, he's so good and and no, not mine. I don't do that. But so my point is you're always dealing with the balance. You're always dealing with the balance because you when you love your family member. I'm just talking about if we're being honest. I'm not talking about your campaign speech. You know, I ain't talking about

your campaign speech. I'm telling about if you are being honest, regardless of whether it's something that you stand a hundred percent against, a hundred percent against, you could you could be I'm alway against this. If you love your child or your family member, you will at least be there to support them in some way and try your best not to allow their indiscretion to get out into the world.

That's just what we do as humans. So of course the President voted on the bill, and then guess what, every single night he probably can't sleep because you know why, you got Ray Ray over here with the same problem, old hunter be in here with the same problem that you're fighting every day, and that happens to each Now, that's not a Joe Biden problem. That's what everybody. Oh, I'm not saying. I'm not arguing, no, but I'm just saying.

I'm just saying this one thing. I'm not saying people shouldn't take Joe Biden the task because because what the reason why you got to take him the task about it is because now the question is where is and where was your comp passion understanding your own situation. So

I get that. I'm just talking about a larger narrative around the idea that if we're being honest, if we're being honest, we all got somebody in the house or in the yard or in the wherever that's got some ship going on, and you're trying your best not to get left, not to let the world know why you

try to help them get help. The problem with that, right is if we're making laws and we're making rules, and we're making all those things, then we have to acknowledge is people's live reality, right, That's what That's what the lord, the lord that governs the people has to acknowledge the people's situations. Right. So it's easy for you to make a law that targets people when it looks like that situation is not in your own arena and your And that's what a lot of us go through, right.

We understand their politicians who don't have the experiences of the majority. Right, so they're making laws and rules and signing bills that don't affect them because they don't have to deal with those circumstances. Right, So what happens with the situation like this happens and Joe Biden's son is now a drug and and abused and dealing with the same situations that he wants condemned and wanted to see. He didn't care about, you know what the upbringing was,

what they went through. These people are just bad people. Right now that this is come home to you and this is the person that you raised and you've done the best you can and you you know you're well to do individual, and you're the president of the world, and your son still has the same bills and skills of the average individual and communities that you pretty much

condemned for years. That that that has to start to reshape, right, what we do in legislation, reshape how we attach legislation people. It should be people around him, even Republican friends that you know that are seeing this is what this can happen to us, and then we always think it is happening to us because my sign the main that the point that's being missed. Here is some of these people making the laws as the drug addicts themselves. There, the

sex addicted themselves. They are the whatever themselves, the abuser, the abortion they haven't had an abortion. Let me tell you something. Let's bring it home. In the black church. You got preachers that running around talking about how they won't marry gay people, how they don't support gay people, and they don't believe in gay marriage. They don't believe in all of this, and they sleeping with the same sex. Then their damn selves. Okay, so listen, let's talk about

you know, there's some people. Okay, So I'm just saying, hypocritical hypocrites. We are all. Every single person walking the earth has some form of hypocritical uh fiber in their body and their soul, each and every one of us. We all are against everything until it hits home. And then you know, we all of a sudden understand circumstances

mitigating circumstances. And I don't. And I think I think that the laws have changed in a lot of ways to deal with drugs, right, and you know, you now look at a lot of people marijuana obviously becoming legal in a lot of states. Um, you see more programs for folks who have addiction to opioids. Of course, that is only because white folks started to experience it. But

there are some changes. What I would like to see, not just a change in UM in the the laws, which again I think there has been movement in that direction. But what I would like to see is Old Biden come out and talk and tell the truth. That's what I think. That would mean a whole lot to say. Damn. You know. Now, first of all, he ain't gonna incriminate his son, but once it gets to the point where the truth ship shall be spoken, I think he should

tell the truth. I think so truth. You know, we'll just have to see how pins out, because like you said, ain't nobody gonna throw their child under the bus. So we're gonna see how that works. That's that on that. But I was thinking, because you know, that's what I do, I think, and and my thought of the day, I was wondering. I know, it's probably the stupidest question I've ever asked, but it really really does have to be asked.

And I asked the white woman on the plane UM yesterday what she thought the answer was to this issue. She knew that I had done work with the Women's mar so she wanted to talk to me. So she I used it as an opper need to throw a good question on her, And it was, if we know that white men or white young people, unfortunately young guys, young men are shooting people, They're committing mass shoes, they are, um,

you know, exhibiting some of them are exhibiting white supremacist behavior. Um, they are violent, and some of them, a lot of them, too many of them are studying these uh you know, uh, these these these racist manifestos, and and who the hell knows how many of them are out there? Why is it that law enforcement does not pull them over and search their cars just to see whether or not they

have weapons. Why is it that at their schools, um, they're not being a questioned and frist And why is it that every time you see a young white boy going into a school building or picking up this brother sister or in a particular community, how come they're not being profiled? Because it would seemed to me that if what we say, if if the excuse for profiling black men is that too many of us, too many of

our young black men have guns. The community shootings are out of control, and therefore we need programs like stopping frisk What is the name of the program for white supremacists eighteen nineteen twenty year old? And at what point are they going to have some type of profiling system to try to catch these dudes who are showing up at parades, grocery stores. I mean, let's think about it. The dude in um Albany, I mean, not in Albany, in Buffalo. This guy was walking around the town for

several days. Imagine if while he was moving around, somebody would have stopped him and looked in his car, profiled him, checked him out, maybe they would have been able to stop to to prevent a shooting. So I know it's a dumb question. I already know people are gonna say, well, why would you ask that. I've been I've been asking stupid questions on the internet all week, and people so mad at me. They're all in the comment section, like I cannot believe that you would even ask this question.

But it's just like even those of us who know what we know, sometimes even you feel like posing a question that you might have the answer to. But it's more so, it's more than getting an answer. It's more so just pointing out the lies. Right. When you ask these questions, you want them. You know that they can't really answer it, so you want to try to answer it so they can look stupid, and then they start really thinking to themself. Right, It's like it's reverse psychology.

It's the way that I'm mentor kids, right, And I tell people all the time like sometimes you don't you you're yelling at screaming at somebody. They don't get the information. But when you ask some questions that when they answer them, it don't even make sense to answer that they give themselves. Then they start to really think, like, then this ship

don't really make sense. Right, So if if I have a conversation, I actually kill your y'all they're shooting each other, you don't make no money, and you go to jail, you die, like where where's the benefited? And they I'm saying and they try to answer it, and the more they answer it just looks stupid and stupider. At some point the mind state starts to say, you know what, this ship don't even make sense. We were doing some

ship that don't make sense. So your question is very legitimate and every time you ask somebody those questions, they're not gonna be able to give you an answer. The only thing they can say is I don't know, or they can try to ask somebody else to give them a dumber answer, and then at some point they start realizing that the ship that they're being told is just stupid, you know, So keep asking these these quote unquote dumb questions because we need dumb answers. Well, well, then there's that.

That's my question. Why you're not profiling white boys between the ages of eighteen to twenty four since we know that they're the ones who are for the most part, committing mass murders. Mass shootings are happening, and the white boys are right in your community, So why don't you go sit outside their homes? Why is it that social media outlets are not scrubbing these guys accounts and shutting them down. They they got manifest those and all types of ship on the internet, And it seems like me,

you are definitely targeted. My son, do you say boom and they shut you down, your live everything, So you're definitely targeted. But these these white kids, I don't know, somehow or another, they're just doing what they're doing. So anyway, long story short, I know the question is certainly rhetorical as they say, Uh, it's has a level of sarcasm, but it really isn't. It's really actually a serious question.

We're being targeted. They want to profile us, and I think what black people are always saying, we don't want anybody to die. It's not that we're saying kill somebody else, but we do want to know why is it not fair and equal justice for us the way that they that way that they claim this country is supposed to be designed to do so our our guest that's coming

up today. UM. You know us with our friends are good friends that we have who joined us on um Street politicians every week we have people on who are really doing incredible working. We call him our friends because you know, we work together, we cry together, we pray together, we stomped together. UM. And this brother is no different. He is doctor Chico Tillman, just known to us as Chico.

We love to call brother Chico. Uh. He's the executive director of ready National Center for Safe Communities at Heartland Alliance, and he's also a White House expert on gun violence. UH. And just this week we attended the UH signing of the Communities the Safer Communities Act, which is groundbreaking UH gun violence Prevention and intervention legislation. There's still, of course, way more to be done. Let's just say that from

the onset, however, a step in the right direction. And let me just say that from my perspective, and of course I'm gonna bring um A Chico into to give his perspective on all of this. I don't feel the administration has done enough at all around the issue of criminal justice and dealing with police accountability, even with the signing of the Executive Order for the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. But we have to be fair and

give credit when credit is due. We have to make sure that as activists and organizers, we are not people who are unable to speak truth to power on all forms, in all forms. And five billion dollars in a bill that will go to grassroots organizations doing gun islands work around this country is very, very significant. It is important, and it is something that we have been fighting for on the federal level for a long, long, long long time.

So many have been out there doing that work, and so Chico Tillman Dr Tillman is one of those, along with Pastor Mike McBride and a number of individuals were doing that work already. Uh, you know, for the last several years, working very closely with the administration. And here it is that the bill finally was signed and now it's all gonna be about actually getting the resources on the ground. So here to talk with us today, um, Chico, and to help us break down what's in the Safer

Communities Act. Um. You know, as our brother and my son, I know you want to welcome, Yes, my brother, Chico man, welcome to our show, and thank you for all the work that you do. Is you know, his groundbreaking, his monumental understanding the background, I understand it. Where you come from, how you got here. You know, you make it a lot easier for brothers like myself reacting me into society and wanted to change the direction and change the perspective

and the narrative that's told about us. And so I just want to see give you your flowers right now and say that I commend you and I appreciate. First of I want to start by thanking y'all man, and I really appreciate the work until freedom does because had not had there not been an Until Freedom, there would be no Safer Communities Act. And I believe because of all of the attention you brought to the injustices throughout the United States, that we pushed and pressured this administration

into action. And I'm man, I brag about y'all all the time. UM, I love y'all, and I appreciate your dedication towards this work, um and in in In regards to the administration, I think this administration is doing an amazing job because I recognized recognize their politicians and for the last thirty years, politicians ain't did nothing for us. As a matter of fact, this is the most money that's ever been dedicated specifically for black and brown communities,

and that's what I'm excited about more than anything. It's two hundred and fifty million in there for violence prevention, but it's another billion for mental health. There's other money for housing, it's money for domestic violence. And sadly, it took something happened that they could identify with our pain taking place to move them to action, and that's Highland Park.

I don't know if you're familiar to Meka and my side the Highland Park is one of the most wealthiest communities in the Chicago Land area, if not the wealthiest community, and for violence to strike amongst the rich and wealthy, it pushed them to act, even conservatives, to move toward a bipartisan um legislation around gun reform. Oh so, talk about something you talked about some of that money that's

in the bill. Are there other things, other highlights that you know, things that you're really proud of, that you wanted to see in the bill, that you pushed for and it actually made it. I think, I think the most important thing um and even I think the money that's going directly the black and brown community, the money that could be used for advocacy. They gave us flexibility and how the money can be used, even though it's going to the d o J capacity building for grassroom

organizations and to create healthy communities. That's the thing I'm most proud of. When we get into the nitty d in the nuances of what's in the bill to mitigate violence, it's a it's a small step. It's a very small step. And I have to be real with you because even though it closed the loophole for boyfriends and even though now when you're eighteen and and this is unheard of in many states, when you're eighteen with an I D without a gun from it, what they say, they're gonna

look at you a little more intently. So if you if you look at it like that, it's not gonna impact our communities and the way that we think. But it's something that's that's that's the main thing, and it's an investment. The thing we're most are proud of is the investment and the access because they listen to us and for the first time, they're sending money directly to us. Mm hmmm. I think that was the first thing I pointed out. Exactly what you said, is that you said.

The first thing that you said was their politicians and the expectations are very low. But when you look at how these things can positively impact our communities, when you look at what this law actually says, it gives us a little more leverage. It gives us more opportunities to provide opportunities in our communities. Because we both know that the first that poverty is violenced, and I say it all the time that wherever you see poverty, will see violence.

You will see gun violence. Their most rampant where in the poorest communities. So when you look at the moneys that can be allocated to communities to you know, keep to create programs and create opportunities for these young at rich youth that you know, we have a we have an opportunity to really keep in front of it. So that's the main thing for me. But like you said, politicians of politicians, you know, and they're doing I guess when we look at this administration is probably doing the best.

But what it has, you know, and nobody's gonna ever be satisfied. I'm never gonna be satisfied because they can't make up for the amount of things that we haven't been given. You know, it's not gonna happen. So me being satisfied completely, I don't even see that happening in my lifetime because it's it's so much that they gotta make up for. But like you said, this is a step in the right direction. Yeah, and I and I'll

jump in and saying that we've been talking. And when I say we, I'm talking about black folks in general. I see everywhere I watch all of our brothers. ERNIEA.

Leisure nineteen keys and so many financial wizes, if you will, talking about and Jay Morrison talking about how we have to do for our own how this is a time when we realize they're not gonna legislate away violence against us, they're not going to protect us in the ways in which we need to be protected because it's just way too much politics, as both of you have said, involved

with that. But what we know is that if we can take our resource is our money, and do within our communities, creating the opportunities you spoke about my son and really pouring our own resources into our communities, we may be able to sustain ourselves and too in a lot of ways set up um UH, set up, set up or design different activities and ways that we are self sustainable that we don't need to be in contact

with police all the time. So making our grassroots organization stronger, right, making sure we have more individuals who understand community conflict to be on the ground, but now they have a real paycheck. And then of course hoping our young people to get jobs and having pipelines that's the word I was looking for, pipelines to success UM. And the thing is we're not asking the government this two hundred and fifty million you spoke of, and the five billion dollars overall,

that's not that's our money, that's our money. We as black folks spend one point four trillion dollars a year. The tax dollars from that five billion is only a small fraction of the money that we have invested in the federal government, and now we're asking for a portion of that money back so that we can be self sustainable.

You know, I think that is groundbreaking. And to your point, she go, it's a whole lot of ship that's missing from the bill because the one thing that was not bipartisan is the idea that they really needed to be real serious transformation in terms of access to weapons. They have not been able to fix that, but at least they are putting the money on the ground. You talked

about the d o J getting the money. That's important because in the past, the governors, we're getting the money, and then depending on who the governor is, he or she decides as he basically decides how that money gets distributed. Let's talk about that a little. Yeah. Interestingly enough, um, right after we left the White House, we knew what money was going, so what we do. We followed the money.

We met with d O J and surprisingly they were really open about their ignorance to the plight and what's going on in the black community and how to support grassroom organizations, and we said, what you have to do is have intermediaries that are experts life fund peace like until Freedom, that will allocate the money to people who

we know who are doing the work. I said, it's no way you can utilize a narrative on a piece of paper and continue to give money to white men groups who aren't in touch to this population that's hard to reach. And I said, we have to have intermediaries that can distribute this money, and they agreed, and we talked about some of the structural violence that continue to go on that makes it difficult for these groups to

really have progress. So we do need funding at the federal level, but they have to remove the barriers so that the same white groups don't get the money because they have the infrastructure and the capacity, and still it gets skipped over us and we get the crowns because we all need them as a fiscal agent. So we say we have to find ways to get the money directly to the ground. To the people that's doing the work.

So there so there's still more to do in terms of fighting to ensure that the money is directed um towards us. And you know, I've had many conversations with Past the Mike about this and of course with Erica Ford and others about this idea that the money that we gotta go beg white people for what belongs to us. We don't want to do that anymore, and that has

to that's something that has to be stopped. Yeah, we appreciate and respect every town, uh USA or I think yeah, I think it's every time, every USA, but deaf every town we know that we respect them. You know, they do work um in the gun violence space and dealing with mass shootings and dealing with families and all of that, and that's important. But we do not need every town to be a filter to our community so that we

can get resources. We've been taking a dollar and make what they say, fifteen cent and making it a dollar all of our lives. We know how to fund our own programs and take care of our people. And in fact, some of the guys that you need and gals that you need to get involved with this work are going to be apprehensive if they feel like there are other people involved that are sort of controlling the strings and and and making decisions about how the work is being done.

You really need full autonomy to work with and for black and brown people and address our issues the only we can do. So I guess that's the next one. People say, well, what do we do now? You don't go home and say we got the money and we're done. Now we got to make sure the money gets to the community. And then we have to support individuals who have grassroots organizations out there with ensuring that they have

the support they need to do the work. Two hundred and fifty million dollars is not a lot of money. It's a lot of money. And then it's not a lot of money. So now you still need volunteers, You still need other donors to leverage the money that you do receive so that they can back it up and give you more so there can be real capacity building. There are layers to this work that a lot of people don't necessarily understand, and Chico, I think that you know as we come to it at the end of

this interview. I think that you um are a person who understands the complexities of all of this and that the White House benefits from having someone like you engage to help walk them through the process. Well, I just I thank you for all the work y'all doing it ever being an advocate for the voiceless people who are murdered um through police violence. I think that's that's courageous to go up against this gigantic institution. And I applaud

you because I think we all have a role. I wanna I wanna if by saying this, my goal, well, my mission in life now is to make our colleagues a permanent part of the public safety plan where that we no longer are fighting for grants every year, but in the same respect that police officers are seen as first responders, that we are respected as first responders and our item line at the local, state, and federal level, and the money from philanthropy can be used for innovation

as opposed to for survival. Mm hmm, that's right. You know, like I said all the time, we have to fund our communities, and we have to and really they have to really invest in what piece looks like. And with gun violence and with gunning, absence of gun violence, looks like you know, the work that we do is just

it is definitely first response. You know when when we say black words is not just police violence is not just you know violence in our communities with gun violence, it's an overall and somebody has to invest in that because we know how we got to where it is. Right, So in order for you to write the wrongs and you have to reinvest in change in the culture that they created. So no, I'm with you brother. You know every they have to be, they have to be with

us and they have to be partnerships in our evolution. Yeah, because that type of advantment take real commitment because now we're item lying because think about it, when the police do bad, they don't take away to fund them. In fact, they have more police. But we on this we on this short leash where if we don't produce, We got this anxiety about if we don't stop murders in thirty days, then they regret giving us funding. M Yeah, that's the data. That's the data trick bag. But we know that the

data the math does math, right, it adds up. When you invest in our communities, you invest in our people because folks that gotta go to work, and that's in school and thriving and have comfortable living, uh you know, circumstances, and they have clean food, grocery store. They're not shooting and killing each other. It's folks who are living the opposite of that that we see out here on these streets and folks on You know, people don't like when

I say it. They say, oh, you know, you're making excuses. I'm not making excuses, but I'm not. I'm not stupid. I understand that in my own life. You know. I was watching um Gilly Willow and Gilly and Gilly was talking about how a lot of people not even that tough, they just broken mad because once you start are getting some money, you realize that you got time to be outside shooting, fighting and carrying on, you trying to live

and take care of your family. I don't know anybody, and I'm sure there's probably some knuckleheads out there that just need guidance and love and support, But I don't know anybody who's outside just wanting to be involved in violent activity for no reason and they got everything that they need, right, I don't. I don't know people like that. I know most people are folks who uh. And I'm not talking about they're getting the money on the wrong side.

I'm talking about real viable income coming in from their either their entrepreneurship, their job, or whatever it is that they're doing. They are focused more so on living, trying to figure out how to vacation, trying to figure out how to raise their children, than they are being involved in violence. And I think we have a responsibility to feed that. And that's why I'm happy that the Safer Communities Act was signed, that the resources are coming and

you know, again giving credit where credit is due. They Biden administration did that, and now it's time for us to push them to do more. We appreciate, um, you know, Chico for being with us. I really wanted to have somebody who's been directly involved, um, you know and getting the Community Safer Act or excuse me, I have to get it together, the Safer Communities Act to be you know, on with us today because um, people need to hear

exactly what's in the bill, you know. So it's good to know that Chico is one of those that's inside fighting for us. And you know, we gotta have folks that's inside fighting for us on so many other issues, and we still gotta hold the Biden administration super duper, duper duper accountable. Sure do man, you know, like he said, Man, you said so many, so many viable things man, this administration,

like the policy the politics thing they said. And I want my people to understand that politics are politics, right, We're never going to change politics. You're not gonna change politicians from doing politics. The only thing that we can do is make sure that we hold them accountable and that we continue to utilize every resource that we have that they give and not and and make it make sense for us. That's all we can do, because it's not They're not gonna stop doing politics. This is this.

We live in a capitalist society. We live with money is the main thing. So we have to figure out how do we make money make sense for us. It Stop complaining about what's not happening for us, what nobody's doing, because nobody's gonna do this for us. Because the more that they keep us, they can't really keep us stupid and keep us fighting against each other and keep us poor and all that ship is the you know, the

system will continue to run. It is it is when we're able to get two fifty million and get five billion dollar bills. We gotta figure out how do we invest that in our communities and our people to change

our own situations and circumstances. Yeah, so in the hip hop news, I was on the internet yesterday and I saw Cardi B in a Twitter chat room and she was talking about how, you know, she did this song shake It, which is a drill song with the young boy k Flock, who was actually right now arrested for

murder and fighting. You know, there's this case for murder, and she was talking about how she didn't want to do it right, and the reason why she didn't want to do it is because the song was awakened demons inside of her and she knew that just what it was just as negative, and she had moved away from that, and she just wanted to be a mother. And she was literally tears and she was talking about, you know, I feel these demons coming back, and I don't want that.

I want to be a good person. I want to be a mother. And and it really spoke to me. It spoke to me because I remember having that level of an epiphany, right, I remember when I my music was so violence based, right, and it was the reality that I was dealing with. But as I started to grow and involved, and I had children, and I started when I got locked up and I was surrounded by so many people who weren't coming home and just understanding

the circumstances. It was a level of evolution and growth, that maturity that comes with actually living man and I and I wanted to say a prayer for her. I wanted just to tell people that anybody who does it respect that level of growth. It's the problem. Right, I don't get That's what I don't. I don't get how

anybody don't respect that level of growth. I don't. I don't get how anybody that's thirty plus it's still advocating for you to be ignorant, right, And those are the people that's that's detrimental to our growth, man, and the reason why we're not getting where we are. So I

really don't understand. And it was people on there. There was all the way I want to hear that, this and that, and I know so many people who are able to profit or for that ignorance, right, who are able to benefit or for the fact that you've got thirty year old plus people still talking about ship that's demeaning and de great in our communities who haven't acknowledged. Right, And I understand entertainment is entertainment because we don't hold Robert de Niro to the same standards that we hold

a rapper. Right, Robert DeNiro could do every gangster movie in the world and nobody's mad at them. They call the best actor in the world. Right. So, but we have to understand that there has to be a balance though, Right, there has to be If I'm if if my music is this, I'm gonna do some real community work. You go back to the community and say, yo, this is

just entertainment. But we can't be killing ourselves. Right, I'm gonna sit down with these young artists that I know are heading down the path that's destructive, destructive to their own lives, livelihoods, and their lives and you know, just their growth. I'm gonna pull them in and trying to

mentor them. So, you know, I just don't get while we we haven't reached that level of understanding, and why are we still you know, mad at people for going Why are we still want to make fun of people who are evolved into the next level that's what it's about man wisdom. It's about gaining wisdom as you get older. If you have a gain wisdom, if you're not going when did you die in you know, So that they kind of bugged me out to see some of the responses that I heard. Well, you know, I think that

we gotta be honest with ourselves. What we listen to, what we watch, what we read, It feeds our souls, either in a good way or a bad way. And um, that's why we liked you know, that's why our people during the time one Dr King was really out there marching and protesting. Mahe Mahelia Jackson was singing some of the songs that gave people encouragement. You got James Brown

talking about I'm Black and I'm proud even now. Some of the music that you have out there, I mean, little baby, all of these people creating music that speaks to the moment. And so if you're only speaking to violent death, rape, sex, drugs, um yes, and rape yes, because some of the stuff that some of our artists say it is it borderlines rape rape culture. Um. You know, women talking about you know, just the use of their bodies and themselves in ways that it's not good for

our kids, it's not good for our development. It does harm us, and so we do have to have some responsibility. It doesn't mean that we don't like a good you know, shake it, shake it, drop it down, and get low like we could do all of that too. But if a person feels like, you know what, I really can't be involved in I can't that music is not good for me because it takes me to another place. Not

to mention. Remember Cardi was saying a few months ago that being a celebrity is pretty boring because we know that Cardi is used to She's used to the ships, she's used to you know, the strip clubs, the streets, hanging doing her thing, and now trying to be a family person. And she's got to fill herself with things that keeps her mind straight and keeps her focus. And it's nothing wrong with that. All of us need that. I needed, you need it when I started getting in

those moods. I gotta get that good gospel music going on to help me keep going in this work. So that's the deal. But you know, I think today was a good show. We talked about a lot of important issues, and um, we all just have to keep building, you know. Uh. I'm praying for Randy Cox, our brother who's fighting for his life UH in Connecticut, and we need to continue to lift him in his family and prayer um and

also praying for the family of Jalen Walker. And then we didn't get to say as we closed today is that we will be headed on Saturday, UH to um Kentucky, well to Indiana for Teke Nicias Chappelle. There will be a modecaid leaving Indiana at twelve pm on Saturday going to Indiana to the jail where it take Easia Chappelle died after begging for help for twenty three hours. She begged for medical attention. Other incarcerated individuals begged for medical attention.

She didn't get it, um, and she died in that jail. Uh. And it's the one year anniversary. This sad and so we will be there. So you know, we must make sure that we're praying for our people, praying for the good, praying for those who are suffering the bad, and that we just continue to build, and that none of us allow any of this to go silent. Right. We all have to make sure we continue to say the names of those who have been caught by the oppression that

exists in our society. Much love, much love, Man, I appreciate you once again. Shout out to my boy Chico Tillman, the doctor Chico till Look him up, man, he's doing amazing work in Chicago. When you know where he's come from, we is now You'll do nothing to celebrating Man once again. Amazing show with the number one show in the world growing. We appreciate y'all. I'm not gonna always be right, Samika D. Mallory is not gonna always be wrong, but we will

both always and I mean always, be authentic. 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