What Are We Voting For?

because a lot of people won't make it man. And speaking of being above ground, also need to be making sure we are taking care of ourselves. And I um am on my way to get my annual physical today and I realized that so many of us are not. In fact, it's been two years. I hated my doctor. I'm not gonna lie like, I just have to tell the truth. She just didn't get me, and she just didn't spare time, like she just didn't care. Really, she just didn't um And so I was very very unhappy.

And it takes time to find a good doctor, to find a different doctor. And I really wanted to be with a black woman. Now that's not to say that I'm I'm against other races being your doctor. Because prior to the doctor that I don't, I don't love. I had another woman doctor who was a white woman that I love so much. She was amazing, amazing, but she moved to a different thing and out of the network and that, you know, and so I ended up with this woman, and you know, and I don't like her.

So now I have a new doctor. I'm starting all over and today is the beginning. And I'm you know, people just need we all need to be taking care of ourselves, right because you know, all the stress and what not that we're under. Like I was saying that I feel extremely exhausted. Yes, I do run a lot and all of that, but I also know that some of the things that I'm consuming is slowing me down. So you know, I'm gonna today, i'mna be using all

the benefits. I want the nutritionist information and anything so I could take care of myself. I'm up here to the bottom of my people. I mean, that's a good thing. I gotta get on. You know, Black men we don't like doctor's period. I don't care what doctor you got, we just don't like it. It ain't something that we're into and you know, we have to change that cycle because a lot of us find out we're sick late.

You know, we feel like we're just invincible. You know, we don't want to like I remember just being I always wanted one of those people. I don't want to hear bad news, like I don't need to go there, and then you tell me something wrong with me, and and from in my perspective, you know, and there's a lot of us as men, we feel like the minute that you start telling people that they sick, they get sick, right, because it would be like for years, you'll be good,

and did you go to doctor? And then like, hey you got two days to live? They could be like, what the funk you're talking about? I was good, I ain't got no next you know, he's losing weight, hairfalling out all of the ship. Because a lot of sickness is mental. You know, a lot of body physically thinks it's physical things, the ailments that definitely affect us. So I'm not saying that, but nine I think fifty uh,

sickness is inside the mind. Right when your mind is defeated, your body don't fight right when your mind tells you that you're not well, when you're sick. You watch people who ain't even sick mentally think they sick and they start to look sick. So, you know, I think it's because it's stress. Stress causes you know, damage to your body. So I think as black men, we have to get over that hurt. I think that's a hurt. A lot of black men be like, yo, I'm just gonna deal

with it all. Hear A no bad dude, I'm gonna go along. So you know I'm moving forward and that I'm working on my physical and getting my stuff together, you know, making sure a part of it, a part of it. I will say this on we we have to always be mindful that a lot of our behavioral patterns are not just things that oh, you know, you're saying, well,

we're nervous about the doctor. We don't like the doctor because it makes us feel It's not just that, it's that we've been taught from childhood, I mean, excuse me, from childhood, from from from being enslaved that we were super strong and we didn't have any medical care. We had to figure out how to hustle up a little bit or whatever, you know, use the live off the land in order to deal with some of our ailments.

Now that made us extremely great. You know physicians, if you will, that we created all the things that you could think of to heal problems. But nonetheless, we never had a culture of going to the doctor or being taken care of a certain way because the doctor in the community wasn't for us. They didn't give a ship if we die in the fields. So I think a lot of what you know, these issues are things that have we have to be depro ran from from being enslaved.

So that's my thoughts on that. But sday we are moving UM and accordingly to accommodate the fact that I have to go to the doctor. Actually today I have to go to UUM rally. You know, there there's a there was a building in the Bronx with these elderly ladies and men were talking my how teenagers are beating up on them, hitting them with sticks, robbing um just

pretty much terrorizing the community. And it actually brought tears in my heart and I have posted it and a couple of my guys that worked within the UM the Cure Violence Network, have reached out to me because they found the address and they were already you know, saying that they're gonna go over there around four o'clock, so

you know, we're gonna rally over it. But just it just really broke my heart to hear what's going on, and I don't as a young man, you know, I always retorted spect and take care of the elderly and make sure they was comfortable, and don't let them carry bags upstairs, and hold the door open and make sure that you straighten up, you know. So to hear that teenagers are terrorizing elderly, I don't even know how we

got here. I don't know what in the hell is going on, but I know it can't stay like that. So you know, a lot of us, concerned individuals and people from the community are gonna be over there doing what we have to do in that community. And next week I'll give an update on what happened. You know, hopefully we'll be able to bring the you know, some

clarity and some unity to the community. A lot of these young kids are really just being misinformed man and being and being taught a culture of violence and a coach I call a coward culture that doesn't do anything for them, and it's because they've learned it They're not naturally like this. It's what they've been taught and what's been being insensivized in today's society. So you know we're gonna do that. Well, you know, I think that it

is true that there is a changing culture. But I will say that even when I was young, while there was much more protection for elders and children there we have always been. There's always been an element of our community that terrorized everybody, right they robbed the elders. I remember, um it was a thing going on in the projects where they was throwing old people down the stairs, trying

to rob them first to the mind. In fact, I had a neighbor who, between her own children who were addicted to crack and other people you know, that was like out there hunting at the first of the month. She used to give all of her money to my parents. It was more than one person in our building that did that. They had to give their money to other people that they think, you know, thought would protect them.

So there's always been an element of it. But it seems like it's become cool, because that wasn't cool if you got caught doing it. Just like you guys are going to the community today, people really approach you and it could be a real, real serious situation. By the way, you don't know who's grandmother or mama or a friend or whatever you are offending or harming, and people add to deal with that like seriously when we were young.

So you know, I'm glad to see that you guys are going out there making sure you find a way to figure out what is wrong with these kids, Like what exactly is the issue? What is it that you need? Or do you think this is fun? Because if you think it's fun, we're gonna let you know it's not fun. It's not gonna happen. But if you have a need, if something is wrong, then let's try to figure out. And I'm glad you're violence will be out there with you.

What exactly is it that you are trying to accomplish. So anyway, so I have been for the last several hours in a long debate with a number of individuals, um you know, privately about an incident that happened in that Atlanta just yesterday. So by the time people here, uh, this podcast will be on Wednesday, so Monday. A woman in Atlanta. In Atlanta sounds like she she's from the Islands. I don't know which one, but she certainly sounds like she maybe of Caribbean descent, but a black woman. Um.

She uh killed two individuals and injured one person shot them. Um. And of course, you know, at first, the speculation was just kind of like what happened, Like everybody's like, oh my god, you know, the woman just goes wild and

just shoots people. But then, uh, it became clear that she actually targeted these individuals after going to the police to report that the two people she killed, one a building manager and second, uh, the engineer in the building she lived in, that they broke into her apartment and they broke into her safe and took some of the things that she needed for a lawsuit that she had

been very public. I'm hearing that on LinkedIn. She was talking about this lawsuit and um, you know, she had been out there pretty much saying that she had she was a whistleblower and was reporting some individuals, and she had all of this stuff on a hard drive. Sounds like some of it may have been connected to the same building. I don't know, but nonetheless, she had been

you know, she tried to go get the police. Two first of all, take her situation seriously with the robbery of her home, but also to change the police report from just you know, a dispute to a robbery to an actual robbery. The officer that she so she videos

this encounter with the officer. I don't know if you had a chance to see this, but so she she she videos the encounter with the officer, but she's anxiously trying to exp playing to the office, and the officer very very passive aggressive, is like, you know, you uh, you just have to you know. But basically, one thing that the officer is saying that I completely understand is that she can't just go change the report. It doesn't

work like that. Again, it's what we've been saying. These officers also are caught up in a system where they are they are the way in which they are told to handle things is dangerous. Like it doesn't it's not helpful for them, it's not helpful for the civilians or anybody.

Because they're telling her that she needs to go call a phone number for the burglary department, and we already know what that looks like to try to get somebody to listen to her to potentially fix the you know, come and investigate the situation and determine whether or not a survivory. They said, well, we didn't. The lady said, well, i'm you know, the report doesn't say they was breaking an entry. She's like, but they have keys. It's the building manager and the engineer, so they have keys to

my apartment. There's no breaking an entry. So she's explaining this and anxiously going on. The officer takes a phone call right in the middle of her talking. Then the officer is frustrated because the lady is cutting her off trying to explain herself, and the officer basically you know, starts writing on her paper and and you know, finally she responds to the lady and she's like, you know, listen, I'm gonna say to you one more time. I get it. She don't told the lady the same thing over and

over again. This is just what it is. You gotta talk to the burglary department. The woman turns around then, so there's another lady there, Mike who she is. Obviously this woman had been trying to talk to first, and they went and got this sergeant. So she turns around and I see the lady behind the desk say to the sergeant, thank you, like you know, let's get this lady out of here. But it's one thing that the woman said, she said, I will um what did she say?

She said? I She said, I'm gonna go talk to the burglary department, and whatever happens happens. So she says to the woman. The officer goes on about her business. It's done. As far as she concerned. This lady left and became the law, which is completely wrong, outrageous, there's no excuse for it. But she went and shot and

killed these individuals and injured another person. From my perspective, and I think, you know, for today, my thought of the day is why do we Why are we so insane that we keep doing the same thing over and over and over again. It is very clear that this woman, either because of other things in her past and or the stress of the current situation was aggravated and she is not in her mental complete stability because she went to the airport with the same clothe is on with

the gun, so obviously she's not right. This officer is unable to either identify it or doesn't care, but the woman is with her trying to solve the problem and nothing happens. America is crazy because now people are dead, either because they went in her house or not. She still did not have the right to kill them. But this is what people are going to do if they feel like they can't get help, especially with the mental

health crisis that we're dealing with in our society. I don't know, I don't know what we are going to do, because that woman could kill any one of us if she, you know, whatever the situation, and it's not just her, but people are going to the police and not one one is not the place, unfortunately, to get help for too many things, and certainly if you have a mental health crisis going on at the same time while you're trying to deal with somebody potentially breaking in your heart.

I mean, it's a lot people, you know, you get the more it's it's it's like pretty much, we'll happen more, O Jack like, but he didn't kill the people, like those people stole stuff from him and had his stuff and he wanted to get his stuff back, like people are at some point, right, human nature kicks in, right, people are their emotionally, they're not trained to deal with certain ships. They don't, you know, they just figure out,

I gotta protect myself. Somebody belong to me. This is why we live and we live in where we have to have law and we have to have things to establish things because we know that human nature that if you're not giving a boundary that the average person will cross it. If if there was no if there was no penalties for violence and all that, it'll be a lot more people getting stabbed and killed. A lot of

people just don't want to deal with the consequences. So what happens when you deal with individuals who don't give a funk about a consequence, who had made up in their mind that you've done something wrong with it and they're not able to either discern or understand, or mental health gets to a point where they they you know, they've blacked out, they've they've left and in absent the consequences, then you have these situations, right, So what happens is

the police and all of these people have to be skilled enough to understand that I have to make each individual level of priority because when somebody's losing their things, their lives, you know, women come in saying they've been hurt, this and that when they don't see that you take them seriously or you you prioritize their situation, then at that point they take matters into their own hands. This is this is not anything new. This will can consistently happen.

And I think police officers have to do a lot better job and understanding the situation and looking and and prioritize and looking and making people feel like because you're supposed to protect and serve and when you're not doing either one of those things. But yet and still you wanted the highest pay entity in the world. It doesn't make sense. It doesn't make because why do I have

to call the burglary department. I'm standing here, right here, right now, and you might and she might have said to her, you know what, ma'am, Right at this moment, we don't have anybody that can deal with it. But if you go back to your partner within twenty four hours, we're going to send somebody there, or don't vote to your apartment, so you don't have fingerprints to whatever it is. But it wasn't taken seriously. So your point is a

hundred percent right. So you know, as we come up on our topic today, there was another news story that you know that pretty much made me think about it, right, because I always get a lot of flak about voting in all these things. Who's this lesson tweets and Trump and buying all this bullshit that we we we hear old top and I understand, I kind of get it.

You can't say it's bullshit. Bullshit. The reason why I say it it's bullshit because I think in the situation that we would talking about, it was clear what we were saying, right, And I think when we were talking about Biden and Trump, there was a clear understanding of why we said we were voting against Trump, that we we made it clear that we were voting for a better opponent. We made it clear that we didn't trust anything, but we we just didn't feel that Trump we had

anything positive for us at all. We made it clear that we wasn't the biggest Biden fans, we wasn't on the Biden but we made all of those things clear. But people just wanted to just have something to say afterwards. So I think that's why I says bullshit. So now there of two former judges who sent kids to jail for kickbacks. They were getting paid two block kids up for low level crimes and send them to these private prisons.

And this was in form. It was in Pennsylvania, and they were ordered to pay over two million, two million to two hundred million, two hundreds of people that they victimized, you know. And and I'm saying to myself, and these were democratic elected judges, they were elected by Yes, So the FAGA continues because this is something we knew about

the pay what was the kids for cash? Yeah, this is this is this was this was just this was just this decision was just handed down where they had to pay over two million, you know, on the eighteen so and it made me think, you know, a lot of people are saying, doesn't even make sense to vote. Should we be voting? You know? And if we're saying we should, why should we write? And I have a perspective, And I'm not mad at anybody at this point, right,

I'm not And I still share my thing. At this point, I'm not mad at anyone who's completely be fed up with the system. Right. We look at everything and there are you know, everywhere you look, it doesn't seem like anybody's doing anything for black people. You know, I understand why black people saying fun a vote, I'm just out

here doing this. But then again, for me, you know, when I when I look at the situation, I always say, we have to live in America, right, and if you're somebody who actually pays taxes, has a job, are going to be affected by the laws that are handed down by these government officials, right, then you will want to

be able to say, Okay. It's like for me, I want to be able to say, all right, this, this policy that this one candidate has is something that I know can benefit me and my family and my people, right, so I'm willing to vote for this because of that, I'm gonna look at both candidates to say how many policies are they um are trying to pass that can accurately and positively affect me and my people, and then I can weigh both of them. It's not about I'm

not choosing my best friends. I'm not choosing allies, you know. And I think that's where a lot of people don't understand. It's like when you do business and in personal is different. Right when I go into a business situation, I'm not doing business with the person that I want to go out and hang out with at the ball the person that I think is cool. When I'm sitting down and I'm doing business with somebody, I'm saying, what is the

person going to do to accurately affect me? And I think, you know, I think that's what people miss inside voting and whether or not to vote, because you're going to be affected anyway, You're going to be So if you don't like either one of the candidates, then you got to find something that the candidate is passing or proposing the past that you like it, or the push for it, or you have you have to push, and you and and then you have to find a candidate that you

feel that you have the better opportunity to push to do the things you want. Right. But some of them, sometimes both candidates are complete trash, right, And I get that, and and my thing is that I also understand. But there are people, and there's some of them are our friends who believe that they are living outside of the system, especially in the sort of finance space. Um and you know, in some of ours, some of the pockets of our movement, they're like, none of that stuff matters. I'm not I'm

not concerned about and we've talked about this before. They're like, I don't I'm not concerned about voting for any of these people. To hell with everybody. Fine. My thing is that's actually not true because even if you're in crypto, if you're in find uh real real estate, if you're in anything it, whatever business you're in, they have tax codes, they have laws that are being put in place to

govern even those things. And in fact, the more that people are getting into sort of online trading and crypto and all of that, the government is looking for ways to put more stipulations around it. Now. They've been doing it a lot lately to right now, if what you want to say, because some of some people don't want to say it. But the truth is that under a Trump presidency there was much more flexibility and sort of really willingness going on in terms of how this stuff

was handled, right. I mean it benefited I think I think when it benefited wealthy people. I think people are trying to become wealthy, yeah, I think. And if you you're in the note, but I think the people, the common people, the average every day individuals. It wasn't. It's no trickle down the whole like that's what I heard this the other day that the theory of trickle down is not it's not realistic. Well, and and that's our thing, and I think that's what puts us in two different

positions with some of our counterparts in this movement. It's not that what they're trying to do is not important, because if they're able to find ways for us to be more financially stable as a community, it helps. It does help us because you can hire more people, you can open more businesses, you can clean up the community and what happened, But there's still has to be people that are holding down the four in terms of what

the masses is experiencing in the moment. So if you have elected officials that are allowing the projects to go down, rats running around people's houses, what a lead poisoning in the water. You're not with your your new project or your long term project around real estate and and crypto and whatever other finance things and some of the other

you know, important things that people are doing. You cannot solve for X. For you know, I'm just making up a number the three hundred thousand people who are living in Nightsha. You can't do that, not in that quick second, so somebody has to be focused on making sure that we have people in office who are not putting Supreme Court justices on the bench that are going to overturn every single law that we have that was progressed in some ways, at least in in in some ways for

our communities. If you're not going to, uh, we don't want to have a president in place that is allowing federal courts to be packed with conservative judges who are also in line with some of those Democrats that sending our people to prison. So we have to have folks who are working on multiple tandems. And it's not easy,

of course, the situation. It's a difficult thing. And then in terms of what you said about the Democratic judges, it's people in our own family, right, It's people in our families that have I share our last name, people we love or people we are close to, people we would die and fight for and ain't ship. They ain't no good. They kill, they sell drugs to our people, they harm our people. You've got people who are sexually abusive or or physically abusive to women and children. It's

all of that. So of course, within Democrats, independence, Republicans, whatever you can't trust everybody nowhere. It's always gonna be people that go against the grain and do things that's harmful to our community. It doesn't mean I'm saying, oh, we can only vote for Democrats. But to the point that you keep making show us the the the the Republican agenda that is aligned with the things that out

that we need for our community. Because every bill that we have supported or been a part of trying to get past the Republicans have shut down in terms of progressive for our communities. So you know, that's just we are. And I'm not. That doesn't mean it I'm happy with the Democrats because they know I'm not. But I still know what it is that we're looking and I think building another party is going to be extremely important. Listen,

what do y'all think about this topic? You know, what do you think should we be voting, should we not be voting? What should we be looking for? And you know, is trying to pick between two parties that we know really don't align with Black America's agenda? Is it? Is it useless? Like? Tell tell us what you think. We want your input, want your feedback, let us know how you feel. So speaking of this topic on whether or not we should be voting um, which is it's a

sticky topic. I mean, you know, since you invited people into the comments section to tell us how they feel about it, I think that it will be a spirited conversation. You know, the comments will be uh very very uh interesting. UM. But we are being joined by um our friends. You know. Our running thing is that we've got a lot of great friends and great places doing great things for our people and our communities. And Teslain Figuo is no different. Now.

I like to say she is not just a political analyst, but she's also a political architect right political commentator, and she also bust down on people every single day and helps them understand what the hell is going on in the world from the language that's that our folks know how to understand. So she is, um what I think who has giving her the title okay, gave her the

title the Hood Whisperer. But we are being joined by our dear sister Teslin of Straight Shot No Chaser, which is also a podcast on Black Effect Network at our brother Charlemagne the Guy is giving us the opportunity to run out of mouths and try to educate the people. So thank you Teslin for joining us today. Always, thank you for being is always great to be in my family. Thanks for having me. Hey, so what do you like?

What do you think? You know? We wanted we that's how we had a topic of the day and we were talking about should we be voting a lot of people saying black people just should just see through the elections out. We shouldn't be voting. And we know you know how your perspective, I know how in depth and organized and what it is that you actually represent and inside of this culture and how once you bring to politics.

So first give us your opinion of that. Well before she said that, though, I think we need to tell her about the story that you were basically okay, so well, I know you've probably seen it. There was these Pennsylvania judges who were just um told it. They had to pay two hundred million back for families that they had locked up their kids and they were selling them to private prisons for low level crimes, some of them for jaywalking.

They even had a video. It was actually a Caucasian young boy who went to jail for something I think drug possession, and they locked him up messed his whole life of it. He came in and committed suicide within five months. So and these were democratic elected judges who who did this right, So a lot of people are like, what do what do we voted for? Like, it don't matter, Democratic, Republican, they're all doing the same ship to us. So you know, that's that was the basis of the topic. So just

want to get your input. Well, one, um, judge as judicial seats are not Democrats, are Republicans. So even though they may have leaned that way or identified as a Democrat in something different, I don't know in this particular case, but just overall, most judges across the board don't run as partisan seats. Doesn't mean they're not Democrats or Republicans,

but overall they're usually not partisan. We have to look more at that case to give, uh, you know, to give a precise answer on that, but it is important that we understand the difference between nonpartisans seats, your city council seats, and most cities are nonpartisans, some are, some are not. Uh, Some mayor seats are nonpartisans, some are, some are not. Your county commissioner seats, your elected positions that could be precinct share or Soil and Water commission.

There are a lot of seats school board seats for example, that do not lean partisan Democrat, Republican. But yes, these are still real people with thoughts and ideas, and you can find out how if they're registered as a Democrats, you can find out if they voted as a Republican. So when I say nonpartisan, it's not that we're pretending

as if they're not partisan, because they do. But it is important as we're educating our people to understand that there are not nonpartisan local seats that affect your everyday life. And when people say, hey, you know, I don't do politics, always say you don't have to do politics, but politics most certainly does does you. So if you don't have an understanding that everything, uh that you do is politics, I mean literally everything you know, we always like to

say we outside. If you literally go outside and look around, everything is affected by politics. If you don't like how they put restrictions on running your water, there's an actual commissioner in most cities that that take care of soil and water. If you feel like you don't have enough stop signs in your community, if you feel like there should be more street signs. If you don't like the traffic. There's a metro plane board that talks about the traffic.

So there's always elected positions and appointed positions that are managing our everyday lives. So I try not to uh criticized folks of my son and to Maka who have gotten so disenfranchised, so fed up, so over it that they say, you know what, I just don't see how it's making a difference. I feel that, I get that.

I try to spend more time on people who actually say I want to do something to change the system, because me trying to convince folks you gotta vote, you gotta vote, you should be a part of process, Be a part of the process. I find that my time is more productive with like hosting the training that I'm doing, you know, upcoming in Atlanta, more productive when people will say, what, you know what, I am tired of it. I don't want to chase them. I want to replace him. And

how can I get involved? Should I be a candidate? Should should I be an organizer? Or should I be an operative? So me myself, I try to be a part of the solution. Still talk about the problem as a commentator. But but obviously you know, provide the solution. That's the most important thing to me. And so I will say this. I've worked on campaign state, local, and federal, and and this is very important that people understand this.

When folks are out there, you know, trying to get what we call their win number, they're going after the super voters, those uh, super voters. So when you know that only a hundred people are coming to the polls and a hundred and fifty people are saying I'm gonna sit out, you're actually giving them more favor to only have to try to galvanize those one hundred voters to come to the polls. If you look at those local

elected a position, city commounts, a city commissioner. I was working looking at one race, so over eight hundred thousand people that were registered to vote in that district, only

eleven hundred actually showed up at the polls. So you're actually doing a favor when they're able to just galvanize just that small group of their circle, their church members, uh, their their coworkers, you know, they're the folks that go to school with their children to allow them to get these seats so I tell people that if you want to get out of the process and you say I don't want to vote, well, then are you at least running somebody in that seat. Are you at least causing

some type of disruption? Are you giving people a second option, because just sitting out, we've done that and that's not working either. So I think it's a action of those things. But I also think it's my my sound important that we have we hear some people say, you know what, I'm not gonna vote for you. Politicians hear that they hear that, and they should be responding because I don't know if it's just positive to keep saying we're just

gonna vote no matter what. Because our ancestors died for it, we have to create some opposition to at least give them something to fear. So it's a it's a collection of all of those things that that makes sense, makes a hundred percent sense to me, Tessa, and I say that all the time, And it was a real important thing you said, and and and and that's what it is for me understanding that when I don't vote, it's

not so much that it affects any part. What it does is I'm not somebody that they have to get a vote from. Right, they moved me out of the pool. Like you said, there's eight hundred thousand people there, and if they only know they after appeal to eleven thousand, then all the seven hundred the rest of those people, they don't matter because the vote is gonna be designed

by these eleven thousands. It's not like it's being decided by the age of When you take yourself out of the number and you make it easier for a certain demographic to appeal to just one or two recific groups and they can just win a whole election with six thousand votes, then you're doing a disservice because now nobody really has to work that all because now you're not

even involved in that number. So, like you said, when you start saying King, I'm I was a part of this and I'm not gonna vote, and we start saying that publicly and I'm moving towards doing this, and I'm having action items towards doing this, and this is what we're collectively gonna do with our votes, with our our power, then that makes more sense than just saying you're just not voting. I think it's important also for us to be very honest, there are people who are righteously indignant.

They just tied, right, they just tired and it ask people that's just lazy, and they don't want to do it, and they're looking for an excuse not to participate in the process. Because to your point, there are people test them. We talked about this all the time running for office, like Anina Turner and others who we know might not agree on everything, but we know they're gonna go there and fight. Is like hell for many of the things, majority of the things that we know we need in

our community in this country. And guess what did you give them? Some money did you give did you help being alternment at all? Did you help Jamanni Williams who was running for governor in New York money support knock on doors. So when we do have the potential with certain candidates, some of those same I just I'm not don't believe in politics. I'm not gonna vote those same

people don't show up. So I think what you're talking about and I want to hear, We want you to tell us more about something that you're working on right now that is super important. What you're talking about is none of us get to stay out of the process.

There is going there's a process when that when those eleven thousand people decide on behalf of a community of whatever a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, eight hundred thousand, you as the one the other folks that did not vote, You're still gonna live by whatever is being decided by the small majority of folks who most of the time don't look like you. Right because in these communities, like in the community I live in, there are there's a

lot of diverse folks here. And guess what, when I go to the polls, most of the time the white people, the Asian community, and some of the other community members are there. They are the ones who are deciding school board elections all the way up district leaders. In my community, I'm sometimes the only black person in the in the polling location, unless it's obviously running for president and things like that. But on super local elections, those people are

making decisions. So being a part of the process does not have to be just the vote. I got it. Votes are really important, but it's also supporting people financially, helping people run for office, knowing how to organize campaigns right you might it might not even be that this person is the the you know what, Well, let me say this. There are candidates that don't have the resources

to run a strong campaign. And if you are at home and you have two or three hours to donate, why not do that, you know, so that you can help them and volunteers so we can have strong electans in position. So that's my position. And I think what you're doing right now is working on helping people understand there's more than one way to slice the cake, right, So tell us more about what you've got going on,

because I think it's something that's extremely powerful. Something you've been working on is something that is so needed for our people. H Well, I have always UH come from the recruiting UH industry my corporate side. I was a branch manager at the Deco and Robert had as the first and third largest staff in from the world. I ran my own staff in from with three hundred employees in Orlando. I have all always use that recruiting model,

that matrix driven recruiting model in the political space. UM is one reason why in Orlando I was able to get so many different volunteers in three weeks time. Three hundred, five hundred, a hundred and fifty overnight because I've always had that matrix driven recruiting model, which means that people are not going to recruit themselves. You have to actually go out and get people and bring them into the fold.

And so by using that model, having the masses an adult education, I'm saying that because I want people to understand that when I'm building curriculum, I'm building real curriculum with real program objectives that you're actually leaving with substitutive information. And so I trained all throughout the year. I train and consult. I do that far more than I am on TV. Being on TV is great, commentary is great, but I'm about rolling up my sleeves and actually doing

the work. But I wanted to do something then this year, and particularly um with offering something free for folks to one understand that yes, they have a part that they can play push the line politics until something happens. If you look at my logo, you see each person is pushing one person pushing the p to you, the s, the h and it's a child standing beside this watching.

And I do that because people, if you look at the logo, people are doing what they can to push You have two people in street clothes, two people in business clothes, and they're not looking on the side of them to say, well, what is Tamika doing? Well, what is my sign doing? Why you ain't doing it? No, you need to be focused on what you can do to move the process forward. So by doing that training politics until something happens. Offering a nonpartisan training we did.

I did one in the summer. We had two hundred and forty six people that came online. I did a second one we had over two hundred people. Now our goal is to get a couple hundred people in the room in Atlanta for September ten, totally free, all day long, seven am to seven pm, back to back to back, core curriculum, nonpartisan training, not a summit, not a panel, not an interview. I do all of those wonderful things. But there's been a missing to me, there's plenty of

great trainers. I've been to them. I've been to CBC, I've been to P Triple C, ABC one, two, three, you name it. I probably more than likely it's send that the training I thought there there is obviously not thought. I know that there's a missing component that can allow people an opportunity to truly train nonpartisan. Um. Although I went to a congressional that Caucus boot camp in two thousand and ten and they said it's nonpartisan, I still left feeling like, uh, this is how to be a

good Democrat. I went to Pack Triple C that's a progressive Caucus boot camp. I was a trainer on crisis Calm, and it was still about how to be a good progressive. This is a training that is designed for you to pick a tract, a candidate, an operative, or an organizer. An organizer to to me, can be anything. Do you want a new park in your community? Do you want to organize a protest? Do you want to organize to get an issue like reparations or whatever it is insert

the blank. It is so critically important to me that people understand when I say nonpartisan and non agenda motive. Uh focus, that's exactly what that means. And I've reached out two different allies in the movement to say, hey, I am given you my word as a woman that there will not be any agenda pushed on this, because I want to see if those folks are willing to say, you know, what. I'm not just gonna complain online. We're gonna start running our own candidates. Even folks who make

we may have different opinions on things. There's been black conservatives ever reached out to me, far right, folks, far left, far be in the middle of whatever you want to call it. They say, hey, I want to be a part of it. How can I be a part of it and show by partisan support? And I said, you can't show by partisan support because it's nonpartisan. So I tell people that if you want to make sure that your issue is pushed, then come to the training and

let's give people a challenge. To me. People contact you all the time. We talk about this all the time. People don't know what to do, want what to do. And I pushed back on that because people do know what to do, they just simply don't do it. But there there is a group of folks that I believe truly don't know what to do. But we know how to do everything else. We share leak photos, which I

love by the way we share leak photos. We know how to get concert tickets, we know how to find the v I P. We know how to get on the list, we know how to find everything else that that that motivates us. We find trash online all day, comedy and and gossap. So do we really want to believe that people just don't know how to go to a city council meeting, or how to go to a state board meeting, or how to get you know. And so I'm putting the challenge out there that this is

an opportunity for you to learn the steps literally. Step one, this is how you feel at your paperwork. Step two, this is what you do with your paperwork. Step three, and you insert the blank. And I'm not going to allow folks to come and get on a soapbox about how we need to be this and how we need to be that we already know what we need to be and how we need to be. This is an

opportunity for you to learn. Take those tools back, and you organize around whatever you feel is important in your community. And so will this will get a chance to see are we really about that or are we just wanting to talk and create more chaos online? More of the clown caucus opposed to the action caucus that actually wants to put it, uh, put some skin in the game. Well, first of all. You know, I love I love the

way you get at them. You know, I watch I don't even watch Fox that much because I just don't watch it much, but whenever you're on there, I like, I love your perspective and it's always nonpartisan. It's always just coming from the realist perspective. And I'm sure that's what we're gonna get with this training. When exactly is the training, where is it located? How can people you know get involved with it? Absolutely? Text? Push the line all one word. Push the line to six six eight

six six. The training is September ten in Atlanta, Georgia. When you text, all of the information comes directly to you, how to register the fa ques, any questions that you have. Uh it has been very highly organized. I've sent out several several surveys confirming or confirming or confirming. UH. So people have been getting the information that they need. All they have to do my sign and text that number. But if you are not, then what's the number again? X Push the line to six six eight six six.

If you're not in Atlanta and you say I want to be a part of this in the future, are you doing an online training? Yes, I am I'm doing one in November. Still get on that mailing list. I would like to have the next one in New Jersey in person in January or February. I am committed to making sure that two thousand and twenty four people have set in some type of training one way or the

other by two thousand and twenty four. That's what I'm doing at my own personal commitment, not a pack and out of organization, out of what my own skin in the game, to show people that you can still do something just one person. How do you take that talent and bring other people into the fold. And so it is open to anybody. It is truly nonpartisan, for real. It is open to anybody. Text push the line six six six, but get on the mailing list. Because we're

gonna continue this online training. We're gonna do deep dives into subject matter training. For example. I would love to have you, guys, if somebody wants to talk up you know, talk to you about this down the road. Hey, we want to learn how to protest. I know Linda office at training with you guys all the time, would love for her to tap in. You don't do an online training, you know, so folks have access to that. So I'm

trying to make my sign to build. I don't want to say institute are an organization, but some type of way that we can streamline people to be able to say, hey, when we want to get something done, there's a place that we can learn. And it's also important if you're a candidate and you want to run, you're gonna need an operative. Come to this training, if nothing else, just to organize and see who else that you can work with, and they don't have to live in your city. I've

worked on campaigns long distance. Regina Hill, who want in Orlando, Florida. I managed her campaign from Oklahoma City at the time, working on the House Clock case, and she was in Orlando, Florida, and she was arrested twenty one times, y'all twenty one times, and she this was her first time running for office. She won. She won by landslide, first time, beat seven candidates because she was out there knocking on those doors. And it was just a handful of us to help

her get elected. So it does not require a huge team. You just need two or three right soldiers exactly, people who are dedicated and you know, when we was I was saying earlier, and you also said it's some folks just lazy, don't want to do what other people, um, you know, they say they don't know. But you know, we figured if you can figure all these other things out, you can also figure this out. I've been saying that

for a long time. But also I think that a lot of people just haven't been introduced to it, right, Like your mama talked about gossip and trash all the time, or your you know, it was fun in the community to hear about who who, you know, who zooming who. So you've been exposed to that. You've been exposed to your Christianity, You've been exposed to you know, the way we cook so full different things, good hair, whatever. But you have not necessarily been exposed to being a politically

a stooped individual. And that's something that I think you're now going to provide for the average Joe an opportunity to touch and feel it. I remember when Yandy and I first started working together, she would say she had not been invited to the rooms with you know, Melanie Campbell and all the women who are working on um, you know, political issues from a black woman's perspective. She hadn't been invited to those spaces, so she didn't even know that she could go into those rooms and and

participate and add value. Now that I introduced her to those spaces and made her comfortable, she's going on her own. She's, you know, has started sort of moving in that direction on her own. And I think that's what you're now providing is an opportunity for people to touch and feel it so that they know there is room for them and they are valuable in those But I want to put the I wanna throw this in the game because a lot of times to me, when they hear us

say that, they use that as an excuse. Well, I'm waiting on to somebody to be invited and I ain't ever been exposed. Well, I sent you in box, went to make a go. Let me be crystal clear. I was never exposed to any of this. Nobody in my family's in politics, and nobody's in my family in law. Nobody he set me down. I didn't go to no community meeting. I was never a part of this. I was exposed to the strip club. I was exposed to the hustlers. I was exposed to the ballers. I was

exposed to gang banging. That's what I was exposed to. So for those who are listening, let's not use that ain't been exposed. Somebody invite you bullshit, That brings to a good point. Why did you get in? I had to give a damn. I had to give a damn enough to know that it just because they didn't invite me in the room don't mean I'm not gonna bust the door down and walk in. So it had nothing too. I was exposed to having confidence as as a as a woman. My mother worked at a television station, but

she was a secretary. She wasn't on TV, and even then that was traditional TV. It wasn't like it was opinion TV or what I what or what you know I do? But nobody was in politics and my family both with my parents right now in the grave. I started my staff and firm with a three month old baby on unemployment, making two hudred and fifty dollars a week on unemployment in Orlando, Florida, in a city with no family, no friends, no nothing. This is called hustle period.

And I never got a loan. I never got anybody to put me on and introduced me every room that I've walked in, I had to bust my ass to walk. That's why I talked with the bravado that I do because when people trying to push back and say, well you that got a play. I had to build this. Had to go on talk radio for free for years, and had to go on blall talk radio for thirty nine dollars a month. I got this from the hustle to the muscle. So anybody that say what you can't

do and to give a damn enough about it. So because I had enough homies that got locked up from the ninety four crime bill, I got louder and louder and louder about that because I went to go see spund and went and put money on commissary and went fift miles to sit, you know, in the penitentiary to find out what does it really look like when the first time nine violent offender does fifteen sixteen years away from their family. Because I'm involved in that, I had

to use my voice. I knew that God put me in position. This was a calling. This was not exposing enough any room I've been in. I knocked the door down on that beach. So we want to be here for those who are saying because I it, it bothers me when people, well, you know you, it's easy for you. Show me where it's been easy. Show me what part of the ground has been easy. I tell people, what if I told you right now that for twenty years you're not gonna make a dollar, would you still do it?

What if I told you right now that you're gonna have everybody against you, would you still do it? What if I told you you had to move in five different cities, would you still do it? What if you had to be homeless, would you still do it? What if you had to move four teen times? Would you do it? If you had to stop and start your business three or four times, would you do it? I did it home me. So we don't want to get

no confused about getting invited. No damn. We're we're looking for people that that got the balls to bust the door down, to walk in the door and claim your rightful position. And if you don't have that level of energy, no problem. Just support somebody else, then, says somebody, file dollars or ten dollars. Everybody don't ride the same way. But when we talk about those rooms and to walk into a baby, and that it's very few even now when we just look at just the inner circle of

people that just really rock with me. I've been looking at who've been sharing this flyer. Yeah, I'm keeping names and receipts. I want to know you're gonna share it or you ain't gonna share it because next time, because it's too small of us to not, at least if nothing else, just share the flyer. Why you can't share the flyer? You know you're gonna need me to share something. And you better believe when these people who said they're gonna share it and ask me something I wish they

will make sure. No, remember when I asked you to chack. That's the accountability that we have to have because this ship is too hard to me to be around here playing when all it takes, all the take is a simple share you know that, right? We deal with it all my song. You go ahead and you speak. I mean, is it like everything you listen? You know I said get him test because you ain't doing enough but preaching

the gospel. Man, this ship is about only this, the strong surviving this like you know, like this was a colon on my life, like nobody in the world thought I'd be doing I didn't think i'd be doing this. You know, I was, like you said, we was in the streets, and you know, I had to sit down for a while. I had to understand how the system was actually plaguing us and taking us over to come up with a different mind frame and say, yo, I

got a different voice. I know I have a level of power and strength, and I have platforms, and I have people to actually respect me in a manner in the streets that I know that I can shift the mind state, because one if we don't shift the mind state, we're gonna die or be in these prisons forever. So that was my mind state. And a lot of people like, oh, this and that and this, do it? You know you ain't doing this? Why you ain't talking about this? Why

you because why you ain't talking about it? Because I'm talking about the ship I feel passionate about. I'm gonna use my platform, my voice to speak about whatever I feel passionate about, and I suggest you do the same thing. But if you're coming on my page to look for me to talk about what you think I should talk about,

then you wasting your time. You know what I'm saying, so I understand exactly what you're coming from, and you know, and it's not easy, but we got to support one another in this fight, you know, because we all do it different ways, but we all do it authentically. And when you know you do it authentically and you see somebody else that does it authentically, you gotta give him that support. So that's why you know, you always gonna

get my support. But I wish we had more time to sit and talk to you today, but I am going to get a physical um and I'm very excited to tell everyone that today I'm getting my annual I'm going to be checking myself from the top of my head to the bottom of my feet, and I'm suggesting that everyone do the same. And as a result of that, we are um not able to stay and talk as long as we want. But I really want you to come back to as because I want to. I want

to ask you this question. We're not gonna answer it today, but this is what I want us to answer. Together with the attacks that we have been through, why would anybody want to put themselves in our position? Right? Like? Why would anybody want to walk in the fire that we've had to walk in just because we dare to speak up, to speak truth and not to back down when um, when the when the attacks come for us.

And I want us to talk about that, and I think there's some other people that we should invite to be a part of that conversation as well, even though I'm gonna tell you I don't know many women. I don't know many women who have gone through what we've been through. Specifically, I'm not talking about people in political positions who have been hit. I'm telling about folks who are just trying to do what's right. And we're taking punches left and right, and a lot of times nobody

is there to support us. So that's why I love you. I want to say this, and I know you gotta go, but this is really important because I want to end on this, you know, and especially we're here in hip hop a lot the goat, the goat, the goat, and I always try to end my messages with this. And in the Bible they talk about the weed in the terror, or hear people say the weed in the tear, but the New International version talks about the goat and the sheep,

and this is very important. So while folks are saying, oh, man, you to go to to go to the greatest all time, I want to be crystal clear that when you say oh, they haven't been introduced to it, and maybe somebody got to introduce them, and maybe they just don't know. Let me tell you when you're gonna have to know. And I'm only talking about the believers. If I am wrong about it to me, then guess what, I just disappear into existence. But let's just let's just pretend for just

a moment that I'm right about it. There's gonna become a time where you're gonna have to answer. And when you go to the most high, the question is going to be asked. They are going to separate the goats from the sheep, and the sheep is not about going along to get along. The sheep is about the shepherd's business. So either you're gonna be about the shepherd's business for the least of these, or you will be the goat.

So it doesn't matter you the greatest of all time on earth, whatever it is that you're doing, there will become a time that you are gonna have to answer, and the answer will not be well. I sent to mek An inbox. They never responded, well, I was waiting on my side to talk about it. The question is gonna be what did you do for the least of these? So either you're gonna do it, and I'm putting that

calling out there right now that everybody who's listening. You can't say you ain't been told, because I'm telling you right now you have been told. You have been challenged, hopefully inspired, but more so challenged. What are you going to do for the least of these? And I'm glad to come back and have more in depth conversation because that answers your question. We've been called for this meeting all we have been called and you know and I hear you acent. You just gotta do what you gotta do.

It's not about being introduced. But I do think that your training is an obviotunities to introduce some people and get them closer to the water. So but they're gonna have to drink on their own, and I think that's the point that you are making. Thank you, Test, and we love you. We appreciate you so much for being with us today. Thank you, love you. Test. Get him Tests So as I get ready to go for my physical appointment that I have to use. You got to

get your physical test. Always gonna give you a world. She was, she was Reverend Test today, the mental physical. I got my mental physical and then I'm going to get my body physical. Yeah. That was that was. That was Reverend Test today. She gave us a word. You know what I'm saying, and I'm I definitely make sure that you're signed up for that course. She said, push the line dot com. You can go on there and get the tickets and sign up and register whatever it

is that you do what you need to be. You need to be there because it's a lot of us who are not politically savvy, who do not understand why politics even matter, saying they don't do politics. And like she said, if you don't do politics, they'll do you. So we're gonna end on that note. I had a ball to me. Did I listened? I was listening to the Reverend Test. She was listening. She'd be dropping scriptures. So I'm just sitting there like as she dropped it.

You know. But what I don't get it's why y'all always worried about us. That's how I gonna ended. I don't get how you're always worried about us. Instead of worrying about you, work about what you can do, work about you your Instagram page, worry about how you using your Facebook followers, work about how the videos that you're doing, your work about with you outside. Because we outside, we've been doing this work. We're gonna keep doing this work. So leave us alone. Do your part. If you don't

got a part, to get out the way. Because they want us to be accountable and accountable. Listen, I'm accountable every day of my life. I know what I do with my twenty four hours. Do you know what you do with yours. I'm not gonna always be right to make and marriage is not gonna always be wrong, but

we 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