A New Movement For Social Change (w/ Pastor Eddie)

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Dreams don't work unless you do. You have to be the change that you wish to seek. Heck, we even hear it in the scripture. Faith without works is dead. So the time has come you to put in the work because election season is here. Here on Vitamin D with Dawn Day, We're all about shedding light on the good and the bad, Because what do I say, If you want to be better and you want to do better, you're going to have to be able to see better, see who's out there standing for you. And right now

Don so glad to be here on today.

And I'm gonna say it again, I love listen to you to speak like it's like comfy warm.

I'm glad to be here in this space.

Yes, I always tell people I was like, I want to make a lot of money off this voice one day watch you know, so I love it. Thank you so much for joining in, Thank you so much for a firm of my voice, and thank you so much for using your voice to be the change that we seek. So you're here to talk to us about you are running for La City Council. City to Pastor Eddie. Give us a little background who you are and why are you running?

Yeah, so I am a local pastor, but you know it's black history. Most Let me go all the way back and say I come from Geechee folks on the coastal parts of Georgia.

My grandfather was.

A farmer and a pastor.

My grandmother was a homemaker of the grandmother of the janitor. Not to shape me.

My big mama was a compontologist doing hair and he gives you a worshi to the vote in her buick. So that's who shaped me right, and my parents always put it into me service. And so for the last decade I've been in the pastor of a cardio work which in church in West Adams. It's around for the ninety two years, got well known because it did civil rights work right, you know, Freing Summer A sixty eight integrating housing covenants and taking out housing kind of bussing

Uh.

And so we've started working, right, And so we're over a decade between the Church, Black Lives Matter work through LA Voice. We've been changing the built environment. Right. I always tell people, being a pastor means nothing if you can't deal with people, can people you know, big bills and rant and page old care, Right, that's what this is about. And so in twenty twenty, everyone was in the streets. You know, when I was in streets too.

And the response was not were good? Were good? We need to do that. We got to figure it out. Said how you got to figure it out?

None of the community people have offered their voice quote on what says you can't certain people let you know the people. You can know the people unless you love the people. Uh.

And I'm like, well, how are we serving people if y'all don't even come and talk to people?

What? Right?

That's what y'all got to catch the word right now? That's all that.

Got so h I said, Nah, they're staying right. Like we did not go.

Protests in these streets, change laws for over a decade. I personally didn't go to jail four times in this movement, been locked up from labor movements from you know, to stop the stops all of that.

Uh.

For folks that to be like, nah, your voice don't really matter. And so.

I started listening to deeper community and seeing what's going on. I did one hundred one to one, and community members said, why don't you run past her? Like you you're an organizer, you you know how to do this. And I had a thing long ahod and pray about it a little bit, and I said, okay. I talked to mentors, I talked to my wife, talked to friends as well, said listen, this is the thing about serving, and if the people need service, we're not getting the skills that we need.

And this is just another way of service for me.

This is another way of serving the community, emptying out who I am, the skills. I have to actually make sure that people voices are included in the city ten in Los Angeles.

Not only skills, but it's in your bloodline. You come a family from a family of organizers, a family that's been in the church, a family that cares about the community. Tell us a little bit about that.

Yeah, so yeah, like I was, I mentioned earlier, my big mama, she.

In the fifties.

Okay, this is before we get to the rights Bill sixty four would virtually people to vote and driving them around and turn her house into a polding place.

This isn't a deep South where you can get killed for that.

At the same time, on the other side of town, my father's side of the family, my grandfather was leading the NACVP and getting people rested to vote and helping feed in the neighborhood and community, and so it was I couldn't escape it, right, this is just well, this is what you do, take care of the neighborhood.

Like literally, the first story I heard of our service was.

My father telling me when you was a kid that they almost lost their house because his dad would make sure everyone neighborhood had food from their farm and everyone's bills to get paid, and that he will not back down. At the time were racist white folks at the time who did it on black people to get their stuff, and they would threatening them, and his dad looks like, we'll lose it all to make sure.

People are good, right.

The neighborhood is good, right, And that's what it means. That's how I grew up knowing what service means to me. The leadership to me always equal impact. If you're not changing material conditions on the ground to what are we doing? And so you do the work. And whether you get you know, a paster in the back or not, it's not about that. It's about are you changing their lives and someone have food on their table, our bills being paid, are life staying on? Are their jobs in the community.

Don't be bossed or bought and always serve the people. And from what you said, it makes sense. You said, hey, your parishioners came up and said, Pastor Eddie, you're already doing the work. Why don't you be the voice. I thought it was interesting you said, you've been serving as the pastor for the past ten years.

Yeah.

I don't even see a wrinkle. I don't see a great hair age, ain't none but a number of a pastor Eddie. How old are you?

Well, my brother is just this week, so I'm thirty four, but later body. Thank you.

So you have been leader of the church for the past ten years, starting when you were tender age of twenty four. How do you feel you coming in this perspective, in this legendary district, just Los Angeles. What do you feel as far as your viewpoint, as far as the age in which you can bring to the table.

Yeah, I mean, I think.

One with my age just means that I grew up a millennial, right, And so I grew up in That's why my campaign later says everything you want as possible. Yes, and then it's a at the core because I grew up in a way in the world where yeah, there's barriers and people.

My age has always been a burrier some people.

But I've always been inspired because I knew that doctor King was my age and he was doing this work. That John Lewis was my age, doing this work was my age.

Right. Ella Baker was the a little bit older than me doing this work. Right.

That the way that we democratize America has always been on the back of young people.

Right, because the future they can see what's possible. They are are willing to turn what others have said impossible to I'm possible.

Yeah, I am, I'm possible.

We are here, and I think it also allows me to build coalition.

Right, I I value your dream. I value your hopes.

I drove value your pain, and I believe that out of all of that we make progress. Right, I mean we change systems. We're not changing systems for now. I'm not working for me. I'm working for my niece and nephew who don't even live here. But are you know, five or six years old?

Right?

And what the world they will have? What is the what is the future? What is the future? We used to ask the question in blm.

Uh what is the black future?

Right?

And then just a question what is the future for Los Angeles? Like what is what is the world you will hope to live in? And then what are we doing to make that happen?

And what can I do that?

Yeah?

For me, the world that I see is a world where there is healthy food in our communities and we don't have the food deserts. We can get on the bus and it's free and his Wi Fi up on that bus because sometimes we don't have internet at our homes.

The world I see to see where.

Young people go to school and they also know, hey, look, I see you take takes cares of us. I'm get a job in the summer, get some training, and I'm going to be able to have a career, maybe in the city and maybe in the arts, but I'm going to learn the skills because.

People are investing in me.

It's a community where people's been here sixty seventy years. Get to talk to people who just moved to the city. That's what I got, and I got here. My members said, I moved here in fifty nineteen fifty three, nineteen fifty five. They went to Tuskegee. They went to these places a HBCUs and it was like yep, young brothers, like sit down, and they sat down and broke bread and said, listen, this is the story of la.

Through my eyes. When what are you going to do for the future? Right?

That's the kind of village we need to repair in our community and what's possible.

Right.

And that's why I think city council is so important because more than any other office, a city council office deals with the day to day. Is that your day to day? It deals with is your trash getting picked up? Is your is your business other businesses on your blog?

It deals with can you go to.

A library and how do you make sure that library stays open? It deals with what kind of conversations are we having in the post square. It is convening the spaces and then doing the work to make it possible. That's what a city councilor person is for. If they're they're convening in doing the work, they're righting the policy that actually benefits you, uh, and it affects you more than you know. And so when I knock on people's doors like I'm not participating, and I'm.

Like, sister, brother, your trash that picked up, you're participating. If you paid your light built today, you're participating. The question is how are you informing those who are participating on your behalf? And that's the question, right, We got to we gotta do that hard work. And that's why I decided that's why city council is important to me, because we do the work. Right.

What good is the protests If you still got to convince the person around who you're representing you that your protest was violent, how good is it? Right?

And if you go into the street and say we want.

A people's budget, we want participatory budgeting, but then you got to convince the people that is good. But the neighborhood already said okay, were down with it like that's the problem for me. And so that's why City Council is important, and that's why we got to break up status quo.

I believe and I love that. Honestly. I think that's something that's a highlight of you sharing that you can relate to those of the younger generation because oftentimes I feel as those who represent the voice or coming to speak, there's such a gap and sometimes this disparity causes some sort of miscommunication. And we know that any successful relationship

Now.

I had a chance to check out your website, Anderson for La and anybody that's following the campaign are discussing about the pillars in what you stayed upon. So things I saw on your website was about unemployment and drivers for poverty, the California Dream versus the California nightmare. I'd love to hear what you have to say about that. And then also being that CD ten has such a dysfunctional history, why did you decide to meddle in there and quote unquote clean it up?

Yeah? So I mean you Yeah, let's talk about some of that.

It was a lot, I know, unpack, unpacked.

Let's start with California Dreams, Californian nightmare, and then go into why I decided to get you know, get in there.

For most people, whether you grew up in califor in LA, or you moved here, there is this kinship of LA being a place where dreams are made right more than any other place in America. La is where dreams are made us where culture is not only uh created, but it's curated uh in many, in many, in many aspects. But what I find and when I was in the portraits campaign across California and nationally William Barber doing listening sessions up and down the state, I did up down stairs.

We will stop in small towns, big cities and just listen to people and convening these gatherings. A lot of people are flying around Los Angeles broken wings right.

Los Angeles is Los Angels.

Huh yeah, yeah, a lot of Los Angeles who are being crushed by unaffordability, being crushed by homelessness, being crushed by dreams, just not panning out the way they saw it. Want to hand out Uh yeah, the mental health Listen, if you are I came here and I tell people all the time, and I'm proud of it. Some people who are like, how are you going to solve the homelessness if you were homelessness, I said, yeah, let me

I save the money because I needed to put it first.

Last month in right, imagine now that time's ten because you're sleeping on the street, right. And that's why when I tell people, we just all want to be whole, we all just want to be well. So after we got to leave with care right, we got to create systems that actually are coordinated between the county and the city.

It actually worked together.

Like I love what's going on in other parts of the city where the supervirus and count supervisors are partnering with the council people to build the interim house with mental health wrapped inside of it. It has a hit steady tenure. That's a problem for me, right. And so so while in that space, my nightmare turned it into a dream and started serving on the Commission for Black

We started changing the narrative. And that's the power. Uh.

And so why did I jump in to CD ten and muddle the waters.

Because I know what's possible. I know we have to organize.

I know when we organize together we can actually change systems. I know how to pass the policy and also keep people's pain at the forefront. That's why I jumped in the race. Because I'm tired of folks saying we don't have the money when we know where the money is.

I'm tired of folks say you got to wait, when we say wait, We've already did the study. You just got to implement, right.

You got to have enough courage to implement and say I stand with the people, right, And yeah, you want always agree with the people. And there's lots of opinions, and that's what we've been in coalition, right c D ten. Let's be real, it's the most diverse district in the entire city. All right, But building coalition means understanding what people come to the table with and what and then

And I love that you said, built this mosaic because it's all it is is a piece of everybody. And I think we talk about those who are standing forth to represent us, let there be a piece of you that you see in them. And of course, like you said, it's with that connection and with these coalitions, with these shared initiatives, with these thought processes, let's come together and make this beautiful picture that we call CD.

Ten mm hm.

Absolutely like let's not. Let's let's you know, when folks and people like, how is this possible? And I said, when when the Korean Federation needed to reach out and do work in South La, I said, let's work together. When they needed a senior center, and you know, talking about it, I was like, sure, use a fellowship all at the church.

Let's figure out how to make it work.

I know for Korean words, so we can still work together to figure out how to make that work. When our neighbors were like, we need food, and they all Latina and Latinos, latin X and whatever how they identify, and and we were like, cool, we'll teach you. And I found some folks who speak Spanish and let's let's make sure you're good.

Right when Lemry Parks.

Said we don't have a grocery store, I said, all right, let's figure it out.

And so now we're building a grocery store.

Right right, ready to step forth and say something, Yeah.

To listen and then figure out how to make it happen.

And this is this is my frustration, and this is why I believe it's possible, because we're doing it already. And folks say, well, if you become the counsel person, doesn't mean we lose you from community, And I said, no, that's the politics of the vision. But I believe in the politics of multiplication. Come on, you don't lose me. We just get to do it on a larger scale

Think of it like some type of factory that's just pumping out the vision, pumping out the goodness, pumping out the future, pumping out the change that we all wish to see. And that's what Pastor Eddie says he's bringing to CD ten. So let's talk a little bit about You talked about the unhoused community while we addressed it. What needs to be done to eradicate it?

Yeah, So the hard truth is that the system is not coordinated. And the system is not coordinated, which means that I take the person who sleeps on the front of the church. We call at one agency, they say, oh, we can't help.

You.

Got to call this other agency. They do the test income, the intake, and they say, oh, you're not old enough to be housed. So we haven't been solving homelessness. We've been shoffing people around. And so the question is how do we resolve it. Well, in order to resolve it, first we got to coordinate the system. So the city council office got to be in contact with the Supervisor's office.

Were not signed correctly. They may be housed for six months, but then they find themselves back on to speak because they couldn't find a job and they couldn't get the assistance that they needed and they didn't know what was available to them. So that's part of it.

But then it's also like we got to be innovative, right, so we got to have interm housing because everyone's not ready to go from the street the permanent support of housing. And that's hard for people to hear pay all of this podcast, but that's also just the truth, Like I take it for yourself.

You know when you were take it out of homeless system. You were in college, right and you had a roommate.

If you went to college and you had a roommate and you had an apartment to figure out how I'm more shopping myself, like my memory in there here to help me take out this trash out and do this myself. Right, So interim housing allows folks to realize like, all right, I'm not on the street no more. Right, I have a place that is my own. And we can do that with the motels. We could do that with the social housing that we build in our community. Uh.

And so that's part of it.

So building the entrum housing so folks can have a waywear path and then from there perm support of housing. But while they're into term housing getting their mental health services, you're getting them occupational service.

Occupational services not meaning the.

Sense you can get a job right away, but it means what are you good at and how do we give you the technical insistence to make them happen. And that's only possible with community, that's only possible with local businesses. That's only possible with nonprofits leaning in and the counsel office saying yeah, I'm gonna give you the resource to make sure that happens. That's how we start solving homelessness. So that by the time you get the perment support of housing.

You're good, don Rack is what sounds like you're talking about how we got to build this bridge, and on this bridge we got you know, each of the ledge or each of the wood planks, but they all carry something, whether it's support here, there's food here, there's education, there's there's mental health services. There is support to carry you to the destination. I think what's so important too, is that this bridge not only is it so that you

Yeah, I don't want to hide you as a constant person. I'llness you well.

So let me ask you this, since we were talking about the unhoused community, what are your thoughts right now and make it just be, you know, a thumbs up or thumbs down. What are your thoughts on what Mayor Karen Bass has done with the unhoused community thus far.

I think you're doing a good job. Insight Safe is.

Felicia Adams, that lots of there, It's a good program. The question is what comes next. Right, you have something inside say, it's not intent, it's that INTENDI for you to be there for six months to a year. Right, So when you come inside, what's an next step. That's why the inter support of housing steps comes real crucial. Right, that's our social housing and title the land. It becomes very very crucial. We don't see as much in CD tam.

But the tools are being thought about. But the council office also got to lean in and write some ordinances and say like, how do we make this better in our district?

Uh and so and hows. It takes time, so you got to figure out how what the interim steps are.

Okay, another thing that you have listed as well, talking about the importance of reimagining public safety and investing in neighborhoods. I always like to ask people what does it look like?

Now?

What does it mean? What does it look like?

Very very thank you for that question. So it has multiple ways on which it looks.

But in my vision of CD ten and talking to neighbors, what it looks like is you first started with.

The budget and we're just gonna have to go there that we have to right size LAPD. What what do you mean, pastor right said LAPD. We gave LAPD a bion l contract race. We also gave them a raise and the regular budgeting cycle because we said one of them to.

Hire more more officers.

LAPD has not been hiring more offices in the last five years. It's not pragmatic to even say that's real. It's a fake number. It's imaginary at that point.

Right.

So with all the extra money, what that meant was that twenty two departments in our city were underfunded. And these are things like street services, you know, the things that like making sure you're sidewalks.

Them our every day activities.

Or the lights are on.

And I tell people that the lights being on on the street is public safety, that the sidewalk not being a tripping hazard is public safety because when you're walking down the street and you don't and the lights are on, you can feel more comfortable in your neighborhood. I tell folks that public safety also looks like the council officers working with violence interruptors so that people.

Aren't doing community to drive vives in your neighborhood. It looks like that we take that money that they use for what I call the hoodbirds that fly over every neighborhood. It seems like in CD ten.

At I didn't know it was that much crime happening.

But it's not.

Crime is down. Violent crime is down and across LA just in general. But yet we got the hood birds. And so we take that twelve thousand dollars they use the fly over our house every day and start reinvesting that into youth programming in our community. Right that it is possible because we're investing youth into these programming in our neighborhood right now.

Right, that's what it looks like. It looks like. And here this is a real story. I had a brother who was a part of our work with development program and UH get mental health services life skills training them for it for a job. He came to my office one day he said, Pastor, I'm late for class because I was gonna rob somebody because I didn't have no gas in my car. But then I thought about you and how you wouldn't really want me to show up like that, so I had to take the bush.

Wow, that's what public safety looks like. Somebody didn't get robbed that day, someone didn't get traumatized with a gun to their face, and that young brother did not end up in jail because we created a system of care, right, that's what looks like.

And it looks like we write side of the LAPD budget. It looks like they're not doing all these other things that they said and in the la time that they're not cut out to do in the first place, so that if there is an actual violent crime, they show up. That's what it means. And people be like, you know a pastor, you know, aren't you supposed to be like an abolitionist and all this.

Stuff, And I'm like, listen, I want to we keep us safe. But until we can figure out what happens if someone's shooting at me, I wonderful police to show up. It's okay, but we got to move into a system of care where there's other ways in which we think about care and our community. And so I want to be very clear of folks that public safety is, yes, making sure your voices are in power, but it's also making sure that your street services are delivered. It's making

That you are are good. All of that is public safety. It means ambassador programs in the community as well.

And people say, what is that. I'm like, you haven't been to the arts district.

You see the people in the bicycles rolling around their neighborhood. People, where's that app us?

You got a bike plane on Vennis right?

You know?

I just I just said, this is how we do public safety.

And I'm hearing the story about the young man in the situation where he is seeking higher levels of education but had to result on something that it can take

All, Yeah, the city has tools. The city has tools. First thing I look at is we got to do an audit on who the city is hiring and going to keep it.

It's already been questions. On twenty twenty, we did an anti racism motion and got councils people to vote on it, where the Civil Human Rights Department did an audit on who is the city hiring. The question was just simply because we have to take tests in order to get a city job. Are black folks, brown folks, api folks, folks have different language barriers?

Are they getting hired?

It's a city hall really looked like Los Angeles.

I would offer that it doesn't. It's getting there. We're on that path, but we're not quite there yet. So with that, we can hire folks into the city. A city job is a way to the middle class. A city job or a job that gives you union benefits. Right, So that's that's part of it.

So one, let's be let's hire folks, uh for in the city.

That's that's step one around that.

The other is, how do we make sure that we are not over uh taxing or burdening historically rooted businesses, right? Uh rk Park, mid City, mid Wiltshire, even Kye Town area. UH.

Businesses that I talked to tell me that it's hard to keep up with the rent.

I even had a small business shout out to Succording Taiwan of Milk Jow Cookies. She was a guest on the podcast. She had a shop on Wilshire and like a lot of other bakeries, had to close down simply because and I quote, the rent is too damn high.

Yeah. And that's and when that leaves, not only does that take away community benefits and one free to shop at by local particulate jobs.

And culture and community. Because these are your absolutely set own these stores that are looking after each other, that are voting for the same things that are important. Not just here to suck things out and then go live elsewhere. These are people in and of the community.

And so that means for me, how do we create more legacy business programs? But the Economic Work for Development Department, how do you make sure that the LA Development Fund is using their ties credits in a skillful way to make sure that small businesses can stay here and can pay a living wage job. And you have that community. Uh, in our neighborhoods. That's that's what reimagine folk safety. That's

Uh yeah, the guarantee basic income. Like we didn't hear about it. It was in La Times.

And listen, you know the National Jewish Women Councils also doing it on their own. But the big lead can be permanent. Guarante based income should be permanent as a floor, especially for single women and single mothers and folks who are trying to make it right. It can become permanent and for eighteen months give people guarante based income and then they begin to spend their money differently and their

Our traffic stocks. But it hasn't happened. It's been four years. And why is that important?

Because if we take police out of traffic stops, it lowers the encounter of people who can put over driving my black driving on a brown, which can turn fatal.

And then also let's take an account of the moneies that's spent for them the patrol to stop at faulty stops. Let alone, okay, don't get okay, I'm starting. Then we got the whole situation, like God forbid, if someone loses their life, the family comes up, you sue the police department. Not only is the officer out on pay leave, but the moneies that you are suing are the moneies that we've paid. And yet we still don't have change where we reside.

Absolutely, and so we can do slow infrastructure, which we did in coalition to put forward slow infrastructure in our streets. We can do voucher programs a lot of other cities. When the George word protests started, the lights on program where it basically the microgrant, where that if you had a track violation broken, like the city ain't give you no ticket, he gave you a voucher you're into a local mechanic and you gotta thinks right so that we don't have to do this again. Right, We have to

You need park space to play talking it for your mental health? Do you need it for enjoyment as well?

You want you're a constituent, Do you want your red that your neighbor. Uh to be Well, that's what I'm talking about. That's why it's possible in CD tech.

And I love that. You know, just as one you keep highlighting community, we keep highlighting how I portant it is to communicate and also highlighting the fact that when we talk about those who are running for La City Council, we're talking about individuals that are affecting our every day life. You know, there's this quote, inch by inch, life's assent. Yard by yard life is hard. Oftentimes we pop up and we look at the November presidential elections and everything

Yeah, so a couple of one. You know, you ask the questions. I want to talk about a couple of things. The one I understand I will never legislate my belief I'm not an evangelical Christian. I'm a progressive christ Also understand that I believe everyone is made in the image of God. For me, the question is how are you whole?

Are you well?

Uh?

And so what that also means for me is we have to make sure we have better uh lgbt Q centers in South la. It was only like one off game said, uh, what we're doing. We got to take care of our transits and brothers as well in our community because they are often for are the ones who find themselves first on the streets or being trafficked.

We got to make sure that we.

And we are looking at the district that we are also looking at how are we lessening the burden of entry and making sure that our our system is not it's not prejudice in that way. I was talking to UH people from stone Wall and they were like pastor every every ethnic group has like their own little caucus in the city. The workers do, but the LGBTQ folks stone And I said, that sounds like a lawsuit to me. Let me sign, where do I sign? And help move

You love, love and love love it.

Who you love, not just who you want to be with, who you want to sleep with, but essentially who you love.

Not hate love who you love you love right?

Uh? And so I never uh she seems that as a way to move forward. And I think that folks who actually are out here a bashining folks for who they love.

I have to ask you what you know? What God are you serving?

And you know what I always ask, I'll always say, who do you think that you are? If you are not supposed to judge, and here you are judging somebody's lifestyle, how they're living. The question is if this almighty God that you serve, who do you think that you are? Are you stepping in as God now? Because your judgment is just unbelievable.

Yeah, I mean I don't say even even one. But also, like, are we all made in the image of the Creator.

Guys said far more than what you could ever imagine.

So so if we are all made in the Creator, then isn't it that the plans that I have your life are for you to have a future and to prosper. Why would I do anything to harm your life? Why would I do anything to prevent you from living your best life? Right? And that's what it is about.

City Council's a equity. How are we moving with equity? I don't have to agree with anything.

And please understand that I think people are crazy.

We're We're not a religious podcast. It's not feeling I go to the park. We will not go into that on today. I don't know who all on your audience, But I just don't understand why are we not leading with equity?

Why treating people if you want to be treated.

Why we're not really loving our neighbors.

I'll tell you this.

One story around let bt Q community is the story of being at my uncle's funeral. Never left me and and we be going here.

Uh so, I don't know who's on.

It's a real conversation with real people. Right now, let's go.

I remember being come. My uncle was so fly right. My uncle so so fly.

He was like always dressed, real nice, got a fast car with a motorcycle.

So fly.

I remember getting to call my mom was like uncle sick. Okay, I was a little kid. My mom's the phone called uncle sick. He got He got pneumonia. A week later he died.

Mama said, oh, uncle sick. He had a pneumonia. His white blood cells weren't working right, you know where it's probably going. I said, okay, okay. A week we get to the funeral and my uncle's partner.

Comes and he's wailing over the tasket and people, my family, people in the audience getting all uncomfortable.

And I looked at that and I said, clearly he loved uncle. My uncle made sure Uncle was good.

What is this thing that we got inside, especially in some by culture where we're like hmm, what's going on here? And I made it in that moment a commitment. I said, Uncle, I ain't never gonna let you die.

Mates. We still can't say that in public to some people. Right, he died from AIDS.

But I said, I will tell my dying day I'm sure you good, that your partner good, everybody else is good, because this is what God want in my life.

This is what love looks like, This is what care looks like.

If we can't affirm one another and just find things to tear people down.

Listen, Mamma said, you get nothing good to say. Don't think none of that.

Oh keep a movie so you don't understand and keep it going, but don't tear people down. Build an equable future through the bridge. Be it to change, show us some love. Legislate justly, don't legislate to harm people. Legislate to make people the best they can be. I got a degree in political science. That's what I thought governments won't be about in the first place, is about making sure we're good.

Right.

And so that's when Bambi from Transplantina Coalition says, past Eddie show up.

I pull up. That's why my phone with just don't watch say Eddie pulled up. I pulled up.

That's on Travall writing their book and says Eddie, can you help pull up whatever support I'm there?

Say less right, because what are we doing?

When I went to Morehouse College, they try to make address code because some of our brothers a dress androgenists or they you know, they would vogue and you know, go to balls and stuff like that. At night people had issues. I said, what we're not doing that? We shut down to school in the chapel. We brought everybody to the chapel that listen, that's not what we're doing. That's not becoming I'm a morehouse.

Man, right right. We're coming from a warhouse.

That is justice, it's equity and making sure people are good and whole and just keep it real.

Every queer person that I know, they work hard. Yeah, they do everything that everything everything that everybody else does, and they do it beautifully, but style and with flavor and whist wave.

Got to talk that talk come on.

So what we're doing? What we do it?

That's the question. So the question becomes, what are you doing? Are you going to show up so that your voice can be heard. We have Pastor Eddie Anderson who's running for La City Council of CD ten, who's asking you to show up. Now you've heard his platform, you understand what's important and you understand why the bridge is so important. How this is a new movement. We're talking about social change from a young brother that actually is in the future,

Yeah?

Yeah, follow the campaign is Anderson for la on ig. The website we actually twitch it up as in twenty twenty four dot com is easier for people to remember. Answer twenty twenty four dot com. My personal ig is Eddie L.

Anderson.

You want slow to do my everyday life, you can check that out as well, and you can donate there as well. If you're ANCD ten, this is grassroots and other people aren't saying they running grasses campaigns enough. This is I didn't use all my savings. This is grass roots. Okay, So if you live at CD ten, if you can put five on it, it's five on it. It will help us get We need to many more people so that we can matching funds and pay up pay down some of these bills.

Right.

This is this is neighbor and neighbor out here, and so if you made that donation, I could do that as well as twent twenty four dot com or take the time, but both of form importantly be educative voter and vote.

Be typically engaged.

This is your future, this is your life. Don't let it tow it off to terminate. Live it, live it fully, liveing with on purpose and hopefull You can live with me and coalition.

There you have. Are you ready for change? Are you ready for this new movement? For social change? For a brother that is of the community, for the community, and bread for the community. We'll make sure you get out there and vote. Okay, okay, well it's time to get out of here. I want to encourage you. If you are tuned into the podcast and you'd love to be a guest, be sure to check us out and send an email to Vitamin d at Dawn d a I Speaks. You can catch us on all social media at Vitamin

Your Rite in Indy right here with me, and get excited about your life.