April 9, 2024 • 40 mins
Today's special guest is the Reverend Shavon Arline-Bradley, President and Chief Executive Officer for the Nation Council of Negro Women (NCNW)
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Black women are one of the strongest voting blocks in
the United States. We know statistically more than two thirds
of Black women turned out to vote in the twenty
twenty presidential election, the third highest rate of any race
gender group. The National Council of Negro Women seeks to
be the convener of our collective agency to make sure
the power of the vote is utilized not only to
(00:21):
elect Black women to office, but also cast votes for
those against anti racism work and policy outreach. While a
part of the legacy eight civil rights organizations for eighty
eight years, NCNW has been in the fight for civil rights,
often with the only woman at the table being the
late doctor Dorothy Hyde. In its eighty eight year the
(00:41):
NCNW has changed the structure of the organization as well
as added a new paid position president and CEO to
meet the needs of the twenty first century. The most
significant change is that the new president in CEO, chavn
our Line Bradley, is for the first time under the
age of fifty at forty five. In addition, Chavon is
dedicated to supporting DEI, especially in a time when the
(01:04):
term DEI is being weaponized against Black women, and she
is our guest today. This is the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast and I am your host, ramses Jah. All right,
chavon our line, Bradley, welcome to the show. It has
been a long time coming. I've had you on our calendar,
and of course I know all too well about the
(01:26):
National Council of Negro Women. It is an honor to
have you here today. Absolutely the pleasure is mine. And
you know, just a quick story before we get started.
I have a dear friend. She is a mentor. In fact,
we just honored her last week, it is a matter
(01:48):
of days ago, and she is a member of the
National Council of Negro Women. And I've known her since
my first year of college and she stepped in and
became my mentor. Her name is doctor Kamila Westsberg. She's
been on the show a number of times and she
always speaks about this organization. So when she finds out
that I finally have this conversation, she'll be up in arms.
(02:09):
And our listeners know her all all too well. So
I just wanted you to really sincerely know that this
is an honor to be able to talk to you.
So what we do around here is we start our
stories at the beginning. And of course I've given a
little bit of background on you. I've tried to, but
we have to ask you to tell us a little
bit about your background, a little bit about your upbringing
(02:31):
and sort of what led you to the position that
you hold today.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, first of all, thank you. It's an honor to
sit with you and sit with your listeners, and thank
you for being a voice sister, A breath of fresh air.
To be able to have space for our content and
our context and asking the personal story is really helpful
for me. I'm a church girl, want to raise in Camden,
New Jersey, and father was a principal, go figure out.
(02:57):
I was in school my day who was a principal,
and my mom was in corporate America. And I think
one of the things that people really know about my
story is that it really went from athletics to activism.
I was a collegiate athlete, was a great student, went
to Tulane University, got a full scholarship there, and then
got injured. And what I tell people all the time
(03:19):
is my context is around athletics, has always been. Athletics
was a part of the journey towards me to get
to my destiny and so full scholarship. Change is when
you can't run anymore, when you can't participate. But I
had the opportunity. I had a great coach who believed
in us getting our education, finished school and got into
public health. Health is my background. Public health is my
(03:41):
real passion place. And really learned a lot about healthcare
when I was in New Orleans, Louisiana. So I went
from Jersey to Louisiana in the nineties when David Duke,
who was a klansman, was running for governor. So that
really starts to set the tone for things that I
began to fight for. I was a young activist fully
early in life, because I have family members who were
(04:01):
young democrats. My godfather, who bad God rest his soul,
pushed me. He asked my parents, I'll never forget it.
At age nine, let me let her see em Mattil's story.
That did it for me. So all the way through college,
I was always clear on activism. I'm a member of
delt Sigma Data, so constantly pushing on activism. Then my
(04:23):
trajectory really switched. I went from public health into deep
civil rights work. I had the honor of serving as
chief of staff and let health care for the National NAACP.
And that was during the time when the affordable care
just got started. So I was there in that fight.
(04:45):
I got the most death threats during that time in
my career, but I figured out that race trumps everything, right,
so health care, education, all the things that we fight
and believed in. That was the time for me where
I had a chance to be there for the signing
of a piece of legislation, but then come home to
(05:05):
papers from the NACP of folks saying we're gonna kill
your family. We're gonna kill you about healthcare, right, So
you just see the disconnect with our country psyche. But
that's what really helped me to really engage in this
idea of activism. Then I went to become an Obama alum.
I served a certain General of the United States, was
(05:25):
there advising him during the time of the unfortunate massacre
in Charleston at the church, so we were there doing
a lot of public house space. But then fast forward
to become my own entrepreneurial. I have my own firm,
my own business, and getting a phone call to help
them find the next CEO of n CNW and I'm friendly.
Let me tell you something. I was trying to find her.
(05:47):
I mean I was looking for her for them, and
I was sending names who were like, oh, these are
great people. And then I made a joke and I said,
you know, in another life, I would have done this,
And she said, what did you say? Lesus Herman said
what she said? In the rest of history, I'm now
the first president CEO under the age of fifty in
(06:10):
working with doctor Lois Keith and having what I believe
is the time of my life, the most I've I've
never been as happy in my work before because I'm
doing what I believe I'm a called to do.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, I love that. I think that part of that
I got a little bit of that I got to
read prior to our conversation today. But I love the
fact that now we have a lot more in the
way of details. I feel like I have a I
don't even want to call it a similar story, but
similar parts in that you know, my background was in
(06:45):
radio and broadcast and a DJ, and in twenty twenty
I was inspired to transition into activism and I looking
back on my life, I realized that I kind of
always had a little bit of it in me mentioned
you know, your your father holding such a strong position
in the community, well as I mentioned my mentor in college,
(07:08):
doctor Kimilla Westenberg. She another brief story, but I just
I feel like it's so important to respond to these callings,
and you know, as often as I can, I like
to share the story. But she found me on campus
way back in the day. It sort of been two
thousand and one, maybe two thousand somewhere in there. And
(07:30):
when she found me on campus, she says, young man,
you know, I don't know who you are. And I says,
I'm Ramses and she says, did you check the box
of African American when you enrolled in this school? And
at the time, I felt like that would put a
target on my back. I didn't know what it was for.
I was didn't want toybody in my business. I was like,
(07:51):
let me wow, profile, that's what I thought. I you know,
I didn't have the context. And she says, shame on you,
because if you had checked that box, I wouldn't know
who you are. And I really needed at the time.
I'll bury the rest of that story, but I did
need that, and so she says, young man, I want
you to attend the Black Student Union meetings, and I said, yes,
ma'am's at older than me, you know. And then when
(08:14):
I came to the to the BSU meetings after some months,
it was suggested that I run for president. So I
became president of the Black Student Union and later got
into radio and broadcasting in djaying, and then twenty twenty
hit and then I'm like, okay, it's probably time for
me to do a little bit more. And you know,
the rest is history. So I love the fact that
(08:34):
you know, you think your life is well they say
man plans and God laughs or something like that. So yeah, yeah,
So anyway, I love your story, and I sincerely mean
that it feels like validation for my own story because
you know, you holding such a prominent position and doing
great work that has a ripple effect throughout the entirety
(08:55):
of the country is beyond significance. So I salute you,
and I commend you, and I appreciate the validation. Now
I want to talk about that position. Yeah, and you know,
we understand that institutions like yours are now now they're
more important than ever. So before we get into the
nuts and bolts of that part, of the conversation. Take
(09:17):
a moment and discuss a bit about the regression of
what you would call progress in recent years. I'm talking,
you know, DEI as we mentioned, you know, book banning
attacks on CRT or what we call American history, we
call it what it is, and you know things like that.
(09:37):
So talk about a bit about the regression, if indeed
you feel that.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
It is. It is that now longer I feel it.
I'm a product of a lot of it, right, I
am on the receiving of some of those backlashes. So
this conversation around regression has really been deep. Two things
that I think I want to say about this. I
think as we look at the gains that were made
(10:03):
in civil rights, they were all gains, gains that were
really created by advocacy and activism on the ground. And
as we think about I'm going through the civil rights
right ground by board. We're looking at voting rights, We're
looking at Title nine right for women's rights, We're looking
(10:26):
at Roe v. Wade. So this is no over like
ten fifteen years span a massive amount of civil rights gains.
What even twenty years, I can even say what I
have found in the work that we're doing now on
these work that we're seeing now is that many who
have an agenda that's concerted to lean towards a group
(10:47):
of people not losing power have really begun to weigh
in on what they've been doing for decades, and that
is strategizing on how to repeal progress. I mean, I'm
being honest, it was. It was an intentional and quite
frankly effective way to utilize backdoor strategy to begin to
(11:09):
change the way that these games have moved for communities.
Now here's the problem organizations like mine, the other levels,
like I say, said rights organizations, we have been so
entrenched in the gains and sustaining gains that we missed
the ground game that was happening under us. And these
underbellies have become so much more pronounced because of what
(11:32):
I call Trump rhetoric. Trump rhetoric and trump rhetoric, in
my mind, has been the ability to say, pull the
brand aid off, say what you want to say because
there's no repercussions for you saying it. Because it was
a day that we would have never heard things come
out of people's mouths and they would be able to
(11:53):
live an other day right in their spaces I'm talking.
I'm beyond canceling. I'm talking about what was deemed decorum,
what was appropriate and inappropriate. So if you look at
where we are now, I'm a black woman, so this
is really deep for me. I'm a mother, I'm someone
who's had miscarriages, who have seen how that Supreme Court
ruling has changed the way we do health care across
(12:14):
this country. And I'm saying to you that the regressions
are not only intentional, they are lasting because long term
strategy has put people in office for ten, fifteen, twenty years,
Supreme courts for lifetimes, and all this is based on
what our inability to be active when we were supposed
(12:35):
to be active and proactive when we're supposed to be proactive.
So we lost some right seats, we lost gains and
voting rights. We saw them gut voting rights. We fought it,
but we fought it too late. And now the momentum
is so intense. State legislatures are now completely I majorities
where people are voting to push these things back and
(12:55):
keep them back, and we're losing that fight as far
as I'm concerned.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
So I want to I want to go with that
for a little bit to the other half. So you're
talking about strategy, you're talking about sort of how we
got here, and I know that it goes back a
lot further than this. You know, there are different veins
that go deeper. But really what I've seen is that
(13:20):
what we're seeing is the results of the twenty sixteen election,
the ripple effect of the results of that election throughout
the country via you know, as you mentioned Supreme Court decisions,
the rise of trump Ism and the MAGA movement, and
you know this this capacity to say what it is
that you feel, say say the quiet part out loud,
(13:42):
say the racist part out loud, and know that there's
going to be a base of supporters who are now
rallied and gallvany exactly exactly. So talk to us about
the redoubling of the ncnw's efforts to ensure black women's
(14:02):
voices are heard through the vote, because I do recognize
that in a democracy. You know, I come from an
activist kind of tradition, recent tradition, but a tradition nonetheless,
But voting is still the way that everyone engages in
a democracy, and this is how we kind of shape
a democracy. So talk to us again about the efforts,
(14:24):
the nw's efforts to ensure black women's voices are heard.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So it's voting in voice. I want to do both. Okay,
so voting. We've actually coined right now an eight state strategy.
The a state strategy is centered around those precincts and
those states that have a high concentration of African Americans
and that have a clear sense of what we call
(14:50):
low propensity voting progress of voting practice. Low propensity voters
are voters that sometimes voting in elections that sometimes don't.
And if we can begin to hone and I'll tell
you the states is Georgia, Florida. Right is Virginia, is
North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Michigania states.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Right, these are our states where we see concentrated some urban,
some suburbans, some rural spaces where black people reside. Our
goal inside of NCNW is to actually go deep into
specific precincts to do the old school organizing. Right now,
we've targeted seventeen and eighteen year olds. Is our priority
(15:33):
ramses and I want to be very clear on this.
We've asked our sections, which are chapters, and our partners.
We have thirty six national affiliated organizations to NCOW plus
three hundred and fifty chapters. We're bringing that network together
to say, listen, divine nine faith leaders, business women, section leaders.
We've got to coalesce and get into these high schools
(15:56):
across the country. Why seventeen year roles who are seniors
that will turn eighteen in time for the elections and
I've got college freshmen. Why are you doing this because
you saw it was a five percent dip in the
twenty twenty two election. If I can get that five
percent back of young Black engagment, I'm changing the electric
(16:16):
I'm switching how we move. That's first. But I said
voice too. Let me tell you what I mean by voice.
We have seen a resurgence of black women's interests in
running for office in a way that is taking off.
And when I tell you, now, look, I don't make
the massive assumption that every black person is in alignment.
(16:39):
We're not a monolith. No, every black person is not
always agreed. But I believe we have black perspectives in
political seats. It is a different perspective that allows them
to govern in a way that considers the people first.
My goal is to ensure that we have black women
running from the school board all the way up to
(17:01):
federal office. And it is to ensure that our economic,
our education, are healthcare as well as our overall. Engaging
in social justice activism allows us to do the groundswell
to get people not only out to vote, but here's
the thing. Get them out to vote and then get
them engaged after they vote. That's the voice part. Run
(17:24):
for office, but don't let the legislators off the hook
after the vote. So it's a two part strategy and
it's getting traction. Let me say one more thing. We're
doing a massive thing called Purple Days in the districts.
It's coming up. We're setting folks across the country because see,
you got four hundred and thirty five people running for
(17:45):
office in the US House of Representatives. We're not going
to DC. We're going to your district offices. We're sending
sistems in their purple. We call it the Purple Rush.
We're coming. We're coming because they need to see we
will vote you out if you're not in alignment with
the work that we're trying to do. So I want
to offer that as well.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Okay, I love that. So here's another thing. You kind
of touched on it a bit, but I want to
I want to go with it a bit. So it
talk to us about some of the ways that the
n c NW is accounting for voter suppression initiatives. Ye,
how because I'd imagine that's got to be accounted or
(18:25):
in your in your strategies.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So it is, it's in partnership with the NAACP. So
I'm in an ACP or too, right, I'm gonna connect
the civil rights persons as part of my you know,
part of my lineage. And so one of the things
they've been asking our partners to do. We're trying to
come up with a number of three hundred thousand volunteers
across the country. Why because we need that many people
(18:49):
to be on the alert on election day, and not
just the lawyers. Right, there's a lawyer's side of it
for lawyers that are able to kind of help with response,
with rap response, but it's also the poleworker requests and
the actual election protection watchers. Poleworkers are the folks that
can sign up in their counties, get in the precinct,
(19:12):
be there to see that there's a discrepancy here while
I saw something here, and those of course bipartisans, so
it doesn't matter what political party you're in. But the
other side of it is too, the one A sixty
six my vote work right, making sure that we make
a phone call if we see someone being deterred, if
we see someone getting the wrong information. Our job as
NCNW is to make sure we send people to the
(19:34):
right precincts. So we're gonna stay in contact aground the
country to watch and track State of Georgia. The big
one forth rams is because that state said you can't
even have water within certain amount of feet of a precinct,
which they call they call it one thing. We call
it what it is, which is voter oppression. It'suppression, practical
(19:56):
plans to get people, not the vote. We're gonna have
the water right the mark because we need to make
sure our seniors. Okay, we didn't make sure all folks
can actually vote.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
There's there's something else too, you know, Georgia, That's what
I mentioned earlier. I didn't mean to cut you off,
but I was like, you had me at Georgia and Florida.
You know, you mentioned the eight states. I was like,
you had me at the first two, right, But yeah,
I'm aware. I'm aware that you know, Georgia was the
birthplace of the souls for the Pole Souls to the
(20:24):
Polls movement, I believe that's what it's called. And so
then they closed the polling places on Sundays something like that,
because you know, the the idea was that after church,
you know, these black women would organize and then yeah, yeah, exactly,
and so so I applaud that. I think that that's fantastic.
And again I've I've had a lot of insight into this,
(20:48):
the these strategies, and it feels it's interesting to know
how deep the fear for black voices and black people goes,
and how deep the racism goes. You know, I grew
up on the West Coast. I'm from Compton, California to Arizona,
(21:08):
and so you know, we oftentimes have to stand with
our Hispanic brothers and sisters, and we're kind of grouped
together because there's not a lot of us out here,
whereas in the South there are these huge groups of
black people and there's really pronounced black culture, and you know,
you think that in the South there's these isolated pockets
of racism, and of course there's police officers and a
(21:29):
judge here and there. No, it's like these people are
very organized and it's disheartening. But I think that the
silver lining is that, you know, we get to see
that there are organizations like this that are aware of
this and be doing something about it. And you being
at the head of such an organization is very comforting.
(21:49):
And so again, I'm very appreciative of your time today.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I appreciate you. And let me just say this, And
it's not us alone, right, it is. The beauty of
black culture is that we're familiar people, right the difficult
spaces that even being familial sometimes you know, things getting
away of your progress. And I've been blessed to be
(22:14):
able to talk to multiple generations, like I'm watching it.
I'm watching the you know, I'm a gen xer, right,
so I was born in the seventies, raised the eighties,
college in the nineties. Boom. I'm a hip hop girl.
So I'm able to speak old school church because my
parents are baby boomers. And I'm also able to you know,
hit the millennials and hit the gen zs in a
(22:35):
way that makes sense. And guess what, I've been trying
to push this narrative. Young people are engaged rams just
like I don't. There's this massive thought that they don't
there have apathy with them. Ah know, they're just mad
at what they see. They're not pleased with how things
they've been moving. And I think that what you and
I even represent even this conversation is, Look, we've got
(22:58):
to bring our generations together. We got our institutions together,
and there's a lot of you know, a lot of
criticism of black institutions, and I think in some cases
rightfully so we've not always been able to do things together.
But I think sometimes brother and sisters on the ground
do not understand the massive amount of requests and challenges
that are out here, and we have to start learning
(23:19):
how to Okay, where do we lean in? I knew
for us we had to lean in and get to
where the voters were. I knew for us we had
to deal with this di issue, which I hope we're
gonna talk about, because Black women are on the receiving
end of being sacrificial lamps of a movement that was
made up and coerced right, So it's a lot of
moving parts. My joy is when I see us come
(23:42):
together and align. We're not gonna always be on the
same page. You know, there's gonna be conservative views, they're
gonna be progressive views, it's gonna be moderate views. I'm
kind of in between both. And at the end of
the day, we've got to get to a point where
black liberation become the ultimate angle. Now, the methods that
we take might not be the same, but let's not
lose sight of what is the angle. What does freedom
(24:03):
look like for us? And it wasn't just getting Barack
Obama elected, Like, that's not freedom, right, Freedom is a
system where I wake up or race does not even matter.
Freedom is a place where I live in a country
that my son, my ten year old son, will not
be profiled because of his cute chocolate skin. Right, they
see him as a part of their fabric. And for me,
(24:23):
I'm not free yet, and until then, I want to
keep fighting.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
We are here today with Javon our Line Bradley, President
and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women. Okay,
so earlier you mentioned that you wanted to kind of
get into the nuts and bolts of DEI and the
attacks on DEI, and you know what we can do
(24:52):
about that? I personally am am a am a fan
of DEI initiatives and companies that take it upon themselves.
You intentionally create spaces, conversations, positions, and a culture that
(25:14):
pays attention to diversity, pays attention to equity, which is
different from equality. It is different and inclusion. The idea
that people not only have these spaces and conversations delineated
for them, but they feel welcome and they feel centered
when they choose to speak. And I know that you
(25:36):
have more to contribute to this, so please share with
us your thoughts on d I, n indeed the organizations.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, so I think one of the things, I'm a
DEI trained professionals, so I've done it from the healthcare
you standpoint, coming to n C and W. Since I've
been here about a little over a year now, we
have seen more attacks on d e I d e I.
You know, staff members in personnel and corporations and nonprofits
(26:03):
that are literally slashing their budget's posts. The affirmative action
ruling on two universities. Let me just clear the air here.
The affirmative action rulings were not for every universities, the
University of Carolina and Harvard University. So all of a
sudden general counsels across the because you have started pulling
programs telling whats it going to be sued and in
(26:24):
some case they have been. I'm so proud of NCNW.
We took on supporting the Fearless Fund, which assistants who've
done venture capital work to put money into black women's businesses.
Donald Emericus brief absolutely and they were sued by the
same folks that were actually suing these universities around THEI
so I want you to see it right, coordinated efforts
(26:46):
n CNW, who had to take two stances, one legal, right,
how do we make sure our voice is supporting the
impacted side of organizations like the Fearless Fund. But the
other thing for us is how do we help put
out there to the public that Black women are the
ones that are actually suffering the most. I call us
(27:07):
sacrificial lambs because in many cases, black women have been
tasked with advancing equity across the country. Now, the deed
to eating the eye is the real thing we got
to talk about. People in many cases don't mind the
eye eyes inclusion because inclusion means something bigger for people. Right,
They're like, oh, you know, we want to get your
(27:29):
input right. We're a company or an organization that wants
to hear from everyone, but see diversity, equity and inclusion.
Will he stands for diverse perspective, the verse backgrounds, the
verse abilities, right, because we don't talk about it all race, gender, identity, religion,
ability right. First, persons that are living with disabilities are
(27:51):
not that's diversity, right though, who's represented the eyes including
them in the ability to make decisions in those spaces?
And then the equity is the part that's the real
all because equity says I got to remove a barrier
for optimal experience. Now, wait a minute, what if I
like my experience. If it's not optal for you, it's
(28:11):
opera for me, that's a challenge with people that are
in power.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Right, So that's why I fool with equity because equity
does systems work. It does barrier removal work. But that's
the hard work, and that's the work that forces us
to look at all of our systems. Corporate, whatever sector
it is, doesn't matter how you serve, how you support,
how you provide for a community. If I'm removing barriers,
(28:38):
that means I'm actually touching what the system has created
to make sure that it is. I have the ability
to create optimal experience in healthcare, we say optimal experience
for quality of life. What if quality of life for
me is I woke up in a place where I
can actually find fruits in vestments. That's my quality of life.
It's just different for everyone, and so I've had to
(28:59):
really help people underst Then the D E and the
I going together is what makes this a movement. The
problem is has been co opted. You hear DI, you
automatically think, oh, white people are beinging left out. See
that's not me, when in actuality, if they would understand
the actual premise, DI is as American as.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Apple pie, m talk to them.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I mean, let's just have the conversation. You came to
a country to seek solace, right to create space where
they said all men are creating equal on paper, and
yet instill the opportunity for access, for removing barriers so
that you can have the ability to pick up your
bootstraps and go do what you need to do to
(29:40):
get away from your country's communism, your your country's challenges.
And now DI is the problem. No, DI is not
the problem. The people are the problem. The people that
are in power that want to sustain power and keep
it are the problem. And I say, I say the
answer to it is thus collectively defining it in the
way people understand. There's a study that was done years ago,
(30:04):
and I do this because it helps people understand the
idea of how equity really makes a difference. There was
a study of young people in New York City, partly
in Brooklyn, a couple of other boros queens, and they
assessed healthy fruits and vegetables. And there was a test
that was taken for young people and they said what
color are bananas? The kids said brown? Right, bananas a brown.
(30:27):
And for the average person who says, how can they
think that bananas are brown? Everybody knows bananas yellow. Then
you got to dig deeper into that and said, well,
what's the system saying, well, well, those bananas that go
to their neighborhoods come later, they get dropped off in
other neighborhoods. First, the fresher produce is sent to places
where trucks can be dropped off first. And then so
(30:49):
how can we say those kids are not okay? Well,
they answered the question correctly because in their neighborhood bananas
a brown right, and so what is equity say. Equity said,
we got to remove the barriers out. How do we
get more trucks to every area on time to the
produces fresh with that barrier so that now the children
have quality of produce. Same concept. What is in the
(31:11):
way of us having quality of life, being in an
American culture, having the right to book, having the ability
to have an education like everyone else, making sure the
resources are the same in every zip code and every
not solely about tax code. Right. So that's why DI
is so big for me. And look shout out to
those that have really been struggling. I'm looking at it.
(31:32):
The Clauding gay situation really blew my mind right because
those are those are the experiences that we're talking about
when we're on the wrong end of the stick.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
That was that was powerful, and I'm glad that that
we went in this direction so that you could share
that that's particularly meaningful to someone like me. I know
that we don't have much more in the way of
time together, but you seem like such a prolific speaker,
(32:04):
and you're in such an awesome position. I feel compelled
to at least ask you know. I know that you
know your role as a minister has influenced your leadership.
I know that you have just so much valuable perspective.
I want to ask, what is one piece of political advice,
(32:28):
if you had to just pick one, that you could
give to our listeners.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Today, That you, as a citizen of the United States,
are political. Every day Everything you do affects politics. When
you go to the grocery store and you see your
tax bill, what are little taxes in your grocery bill.
When you take your kids to school, there's some politics
happening around the funding that's going to your school. Every
(32:54):
day you wake up in this country, you have to
be politically minded. And if you are a listener that
understands what it means to have this hue of skin
in this country, you have to take that as a
part of your obligatory stance to ensure that the future
will be brighter for our children. I'm telling you I'm
(33:15):
moved by my child because I've seen even his little
psyche gets changed when people make assessments and assumptions about him. Right,
So my thing is show up every day understanding that
politics matters. So when I go to his school and
my husband and I go to that school. I know
I'm pushing politics. I had to fight for him to
(33:36):
get into a class because of a standardized test. You
know what the politics were. We don't have enough splots
and we don't have enough money. So my job was
be the politician in the room and fight for it.
And I'm saying to the listeners, you have the power.
I'm telling you the one thing you do is going
to change the game for your people. So I know
(33:57):
now there's other parents that are gonna know what to do
because I have blooprint. I knew how to fight, and
I want to tell Black people, and specifically, we come
from a fighting lineage. We've never just let stuff happen
to us, right, and when we do, and when we have,
we've lost. And I could just that's my takeaway. Be
(34:19):
political and be well with it, and don't fall in
the trap of I have to be nonpartisan. Being nonpartisan
doesn't mean you're not politically minded. That's why I tell
Faithful this all the time. Yeah, you let them come in,
be four years and say what they want to say.
You know why, because they know that your power. You've
got to understand you have power. You wake up in
(34:40):
this country you're a black person who has been the
lineage of civil rights, of Jim Crow, of lynching, of slavery.
We can win. We've won battles like crazy. Nobody thought
we could be what we are today. Nobody thought that,
And I'm just offering that encouragement. I believe it's God
given rights for us to be able to look at
our self to say, my God, we have come from
(35:02):
so much, and I refuse to be the generation that
allows this thing to change when I watch. That's what
I will tell you listeners. Be political, be intentional, and
it is our obligation. It is our job to make
sure our babies don't feel what our previous generations have.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Yeah. Yeah, we can't let it regress too much. We
were in a position to fight it. We should fight it.
I appreciate those words. There's a lot of moving pieces
in your world. I feel like I have to ask
what's next for you? What's next for the organization? What's
the next big thing you're looking ford?
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, we shared the policy Summit our national convenience this
year as well. What is also coming, quite frankly, has
been our expansion. We are opening the doors that are brothers,
that are now supporting us. We have associate members of
NCNW that have been around for a few years, and
so we are now building up on that big thing coming.
We are turning ninety years next year. Let's need to
(35:58):
say it. Mary mcclopp thune was ahead of her time
when she founded this organization. Man, what is it like
to be in a depression to bring black women together
in New York City to say, all right, I can
get us all on the same page. We can make
this happen. Well. Ninety years ago in December fifth, nineteen
thirty five, most of the things that are on that
(36:19):
list are still in our list in twenty twenty four,
are about to be twenty twenty five. Right, So what's
been coming up for us is us honoring the legacy
but then clamping down, hammering down on the list of
policy priorities. We are a Policy and the Program Organization RAMSES.
So we believe in direct service and direct action. That's
who we are, that's how we play, and there's so
(36:41):
much more to come. October nineteen thirteenth meet us in Baltimore.
We gotta get you to come too. We need some
media to come and hang out with us. We want
to celebrate together and honor some folks, but also do
the business of NC and W, which is to expand,
to grow, to build, but also to make sure that
we're changing the way that people live in this country
for the vitamin of our people.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
That that is fantastic. One of the things that that
we Chris Thompson is the producer of this show, and
he gives me a long leash and on this show
and my other show. One of the things that that
I'm able to affirm with our listeners as often as
(37:23):
as often as I can is that we feel that
being being close to black women is the same as
being close to God. Is as close to God as
you'll be able to get in this lifetime. And so
where your leadership takes our people, you know, we will
(37:44):
always be supportive. On this program and on my other
program with my co host Qward, I wish he was
here to be able to tell you that himself, because
he's a he's a lot more poetic with his words.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
I think you did alright with that.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
When you tell you well, I'll take it. I'll take it.
So before we let you go, I'm obviously gonna want
to tap in with you, but I know our listeners
are going to want to do the same. Is there
any sort of social media website and a connective tissue
that we can have for our folks listening?
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Please do follow us on Facebook, x, Instagram, LinkedIn at
NCNW underscore HQ for headquarters, and then of course our
website is www dot NCNW dot org. Please join us,
Please join us, section Listen. We skew in a way
that has been named to be Season more season Women.
(38:35):
All but the college students and the young women have
been blowing us up. We've had over twenty fifty girls
joined the FAMU, over one hundred and fifty girls over
at Howard University. I'm like, the movement is coming, the
sisters are coming, and I love it. I gotta close
with this. We are the one table for Black women
that no matter your background, no matter your geography, no
matter your education, no matter how much you make, you
(38:57):
have a seat at this table. This council well is
the counsel of women that are c suite to the streets.
And that's how we move, that's how we play. And
it's nothing but beauty when you see doesn't matter if
it's system so and so, who's ninety. I've got folks
my board at age ninety six down to nineteen, and
that's the beauty of NCNW. So please join us, please
support us, and let us know what we can do
(39:19):
to make sure that we're getting the message out.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Fantastic. Well, I'd like to thank you very much. Thank
you for coming on and sharing your insights and your
background with us today your overall commitment to the successful, informed,
inspired future of our black community. Once again, Today's guest
is chavn our Line Bradley, the President and CEO of
(39:42):
the National Council of Negro Women. This has been a
production of the Black Information Network. Today's show is produced
by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share,
use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.
While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download
all of our I'm your host Ramse's jaw on all
(40:03):
social media. Join us tomorrow as we share our news
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
Black Information Network Daily Podcast.
Black women are one of the strongest voting blocks in
the United States. We know statistically more than two thirds
of Black women turned out to vote in the twenty
twenty presidential election, the third highest rate of any race
gender group. The National Council of Negro Women seeks to
be the convener of our collective agency to make sure
the power of the vote is utilized not only to
(00:21):
elect Black women to office, but also cast votes for
those against anti racism work and policy outreach. While a
part of the legacy eight civil rights organizations for eighty
eight years, NCNW has been in the fight for civil rights,
often with the only woman at the table being the
late doctor Dorothy Hyde. In its eighty eight year the
(00:41):
NCNW has changed the structure of the organization as well
as added a new paid position president and CEO to
meet the needs of the twenty first century. The most
significant change is that the new president in CEO, chavn
our Line Bradley, is for the first time under the
age of fifty at forty five. In addition, Chavon is
dedicated to supporting DEI, especially in a time when the
(01:04):
term DEI is being weaponized against Black women, and she
is our guest today. This is the Black Information Network
Daily Podcast and I am your host, ramses Jah. All right,
chavon our line, Bradley, welcome to the show. It has
been a long time coming. I've had you on our calendar,
and of course I know all too well about the
(01:26):
National Council of Negro Women. It is an honor to
have you here today. Absolutely the pleasure is mine. And
you know, just a quick story before we get started.
I have a dear friend. She is a mentor. In fact,
we just honored her last week, it is a matter
(01:48):
of days ago, and she is a member of the
National Council of Negro Women. And I've known her since
my first year of college and she stepped in and
became my mentor. Her name is doctor Kamila Westsberg. She's
been on the show a number of times and she
always speaks about this organization. So when she finds out
that I finally have this conversation, she'll be up in arms.
(02:09):
And our listeners know her all all too well. So
I just wanted you to really sincerely know that this
is an honor to be able to talk to you.
So what we do around here is we start our
stories at the beginning. And of course I've given a
little bit of background on you. I've tried to, but
we have to ask you to tell us a little
bit about your background, a little bit about your upbringing
(02:31):
and sort of what led you to the position that
you hold today.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
Yeah, first of all, thank you. It's an honor to
sit with you and sit with your listeners, and thank
you for being a voice sister, A breath of fresh air.
To be able to have space for our content and
our context and asking the personal story is really helpful
for me. I'm a church girl, want to raise in Camden,
New Jersey, and father was a principal, go figure out.
(02:57):
I was in school my day who was a principal,
and my mom was in corporate America. And I think
one of the things that people really know about my
story is that it really went from athletics to activism.
I was a collegiate athlete, was a great student, went
to Tulane University, got a full scholarship there, and then
got injured. And what I tell people all the time
(03:19):
is my context is around athletics, has always been. Athletics
was a part of the journey towards me to get
to my destiny and so full scholarship. Change is when
you can't run anymore, when you can't participate. But I
had the opportunity. I had a great coach who believed
in us getting our education, finished school and got into
public health. Health is my background. Public health is my
(03:41):
real passion place. And really learned a lot about healthcare
when I was in New Orleans, Louisiana. So I went
from Jersey to Louisiana in the nineties when David Duke,
who was a klansman, was running for governor. So that
really starts to set the tone for things that I
began to fight for. I was a young activist fully
early in life, because I have family members who were
(04:01):
young democrats. My godfather, who bad God rest his soul,
pushed me. He asked my parents, I'll never forget it.
At age nine, let me let her see em Mattil's story.
That did it for me. So all the way through college,
I was always clear on activism. I'm a member of
delt Sigma Data, so constantly pushing on activism. Then my
(04:23):
trajectory really switched. I went from public health into deep
civil rights work. I had the honor of serving as
chief of staff and let health care for the National NAACP.
And that was during the time when the affordable care
just got started. So I was there in that fight.
(04:45):
I got the most death threats during that time in
my career, but I figured out that race trumps everything, right,
so health care, education, all the things that we fight
and believed in. That was the time for me where
I had a chance to be there for the signing
of a piece of legislation, but then come home to
(05:05):
papers from the NACP of folks saying we're gonna kill
your family. We're gonna kill you about healthcare, right, So
you just see the disconnect with our country psyche. But
that's what really helped me to really engage in this
idea of activism. Then I went to become an Obama alum.
I served a certain General of the United States, was
(05:25):
there advising him during the time of the unfortunate massacre
in Charleston at the church, so we were there doing
a lot of public house space. But then fast forward
to become my own entrepreneurial. I have my own firm,
my own business, and getting a phone call to help
them find the next CEO of n CNW and I'm friendly.
Let me tell you something. I was trying to find her.
(05:47):
I mean I was looking for her for them, and
I was sending names who were like, oh, these are
great people. And then I made a joke and I said,
you know, in another life, I would have done this,
And she said, what did you say? Lesus Herman said
what she said? In the rest of history, I'm now
the first president CEO under the age of fifty in
(06:10):
working with doctor Lois Keith and having what I believe
is the time of my life, the most I've I've
never been as happy in my work before because I'm
doing what I believe I'm a called to do.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Yeah, I love that. I think that part of that
I got a little bit of that I got to
read prior to our conversation today. But I love the
fact that now we have a lot more in the
way of details. I feel like I have a I
don't even want to call it a similar story, but
similar parts in that you know, my background was in
(06:45):
radio and broadcast and a DJ, and in twenty twenty
I was inspired to transition into activism and I looking
back on my life, I realized that I kind of
always had a little bit of it in me mentioned
you know, your your father holding such a strong position
in the community, well as I mentioned my mentor in college,
(07:08):
doctor Kimilla Westenberg. She another brief story, but I just
I feel like it's so important to respond to these callings,
and you know, as often as I can, I like
to share the story. But she found me on campus
way back in the day. It sort of been two
thousand and one, maybe two thousand somewhere in there. And
(07:30):
when she found me on campus, she says, young man,
you know, I don't know who you are. And I says,
I'm Ramses and she says, did you check the box
of African American when you enrolled in this school? And
at the time, I felt like that would put a
target on my back. I didn't know what it was for.
I was didn't want toybody in my business. I was like,
(07:51):
let me wow, profile, that's what I thought. I you know,
I didn't have the context. And she says, shame on you,
because if you had checked that box, I wouldn't know
who you are. And I really needed at the time.
I'll bury the rest of that story, but I did
need that, and so she says, young man, I want
you to attend the Black Student Union meetings, and I said, yes,
ma'am's at older than me, you know. And then when
(08:14):
I came to the to the BSU meetings after some months,
it was suggested that I run for president. So I
became president of the Black Student Union and later got
into radio and broadcasting in djaying, and then twenty twenty
hit and then I'm like, okay, it's probably time for
me to do a little bit more. And you know,
the rest is history. So I love the fact that
(08:34):
you know, you think your life is well they say
man plans and God laughs or something like that. So yeah, yeah,
So anyway, I love your story, and I sincerely mean
that it feels like validation for my own story because
you know, you holding such a prominent position and doing
great work that has a ripple effect throughout the entirety
(08:55):
of the country is beyond significance. So I salute you,
and I commend you, and I appreciate the validation. Now
I want to talk about that position. Yeah, and you know,
we understand that institutions like yours are now now they're
more important than ever. So before we get into the
nuts and bolts of that part, of the conversation. Take
(09:17):
a moment and discuss a bit about the regression of
what you would call progress in recent years. I'm talking,
you know, DEI as we mentioned, you know, book banning
attacks on CRT or what we call American history, we
call it what it is, and you know things like that.
(09:37):
So talk about a bit about the regression, if indeed
you feel that.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
It is. It is that now longer I feel it.
I'm a product of a lot of it, right, I
am on the receiving of some of those backlashes. So
this conversation around regression has really been deep. Two things
that I think I want to say about this. I
think as we look at the gains that were made
(10:03):
in civil rights, they were all gains, gains that were
really created by advocacy and activism on the ground. And
as we think about I'm going through the civil rights
right ground by board. We're looking at voting rights, We're
looking at Title nine right for women's rights, We're looking
(10:26):
at Roe v. Wade. So this is no over like
ten fifteen years span a massive amount of civil rights gains.
What even twenty years, I can even say what I
have found in the work that we're doing now on
these work that we're seeing now is that many who
have an agenda that's concerted to lean towards a group
(10:47):
of people not losing power have really begun to weigh
in on what they've been doing for decades, and that
is strategizing on how to repeal progress. I mean, I'm
being honest, it was. It was an intentional and quite
frankly effective way to utilize backdoor strategy to begin to
(11:09):
change the way that these games have moved for communities.
Now here's the problem organizations like mine, the other levels,
like I say, said rights organizations, we have been so
entrenched in the gains and sustaining gains that we missed
the ground game that was happening under us. And these
underbellies have become so much more pronounced because of what
(11:32):
I call Trump rhetoric. Trump rhetoric and trump rhetoric, in
my mind, has been the ability to say, pull the
brand aid off, say what you want to say because
there's no repercussions for you saying it. Because it was
a day that we would have never heard things come
out of people's mouths and they would be able to
(11:53):
live an other day right in their spaces I'm talking.
I'm beyond canceling. I'm talking about what was deemed decorum,
what was appropriate and inappropriate. So if you look at
where we are now, I'm a black woman, so this
is really deep for me. I'm a mother, I'm someone
who's had miscarriages, who have seen how that Supreme Court
ruling has changed the way we do health care across
(12:14):
this country. And I'm saying to you that the regressions
are not only intentional, they are lasting because long term
strategy has put people in office for ten, fifteen, twenty years,
Supreme courts for lifetimes, and all this is based on
what our inability to be active when we were supposed
(12:35):
to be active and proactive when we're supposed to be proactive.
So we lost some right seats, we lost gains and
voting rights. We saw them gut voting rights. We fought it,
but we fought it too late. And now the momentum
is so intense. State legislatures are now completely I majorities
where people are voting to push these things back and
(12:55):
keep them back, and we're losing that fight as far
as I'm concerned.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
So I want to I want to go with that
for a little bit to the other half. So you're
talking about strategy, you're talking about sort of how we
got here, and I know that it goes back a
lot further than this. You know, there are different veins
that go deeper. But really what I've seen is that
(13:20):
what we're seeing is the results of the twenty sixteen election,
the ripple effect of the results of that election throughout
the country via you know, as you mentioned Supreme Court decisions,
the rise of trump Ism and the MAGA movement, and
you know this this capacity to say what it is
that you feel, say say the quiet part out loud,
(13:42):
say the racist part out loud, and know that there's
going to be a base of supporters who are now
rallied and gallvany exactly exactly. So talk to us about
the redoubling of the ncnw's efforts to ensure black women's
(14:02):
voices are heard through the vote, because I do recognize
that in a democracy. You know, I come from an
activist kind of tradition, recent tradition, but a tradition nonetheless,
But voting is still the way that everyone engages in
a democracy, and this is how we kind of shape
a democracy. So talk to us again about the efforts,
(14:24):
the nw's efforts to ensure black women's voices are heard.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
So it's voting in voice. I want to do both. Okay,
so voting. We've actually coined right now an eight state strategy.
The a state strategy is centered around those precincts and
those states that have a high concentration of African Americans
and that have a clear sense of what we call
(14:50):
low propensity voting progress of voting practice. Low propensity voters
are voters that sometimes voting in elections that sometimes don't.
And if we can begin to hone and I'll tell
you the states is Georgia, Florida. Right is Virginia, is
North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1 (15:08):
Michigania states.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Right, these are our states where we see concentrated some urban,
some suburbans, some rural spaces where black people reside. Our
goal inside of NCNW is to actually go deep into
specific precincts to do the old school organizing. Right now,
we've targeted seventeen and eighteen year olds. Is our priority
(15:33):
ramses and I want to be very clear on this.
We've asked our sections, which are chapters, and our partners.
We have thirty six national affiliated organizations to NCOW plus
three hundred and fifty chapters. We're bringing that network together
to say, listen, divine nine faith leaders, business women, section leaders.
We've got to coalesce and get into these high schools
(15:56):
across the country. Why seventeen year roles who are seniors
that will turn eighteen in time for the elections and
I've got college freshmen. Why are you doing this because
you saw it was a five percent dip in the
twenty twenty two election. If I can get that five
percent back of young Black engagment, I'm changing the electric
(16:16):
I'm switching how we move. That's first. But I said
voice too. Let me tell you what I mean by voice.
We have seen a resurgence of black women's interests in
running for office in a way that is taking off.
And when I tell you, now, look, I don't make
the massive assumption that every black person is in alignment.
(16:39):
We're not a monolith. No, every black person is not
always agreed. But I believe we have black perspectives in
political seats. It is a different perspective that allows them
to govern in a way that considers the people first.
My goal is to ensure that we have black women
running from the school board all the way up to
(17:01):
federal office. And it is to ensure that our economic,
our education, are healthcare as well as our overall. Engaging
in social justice activism allows us to do the groundswell
to get people not only out to vote, but here's
the thing. Get them out to vote and then get
them engaged after they vote. That's the voice part. Run
(17:24):
for office, but don't let the legislators off the hook
after the vote. So it's a two part strategy and
it's getting traction. Let me say one more thing. We're
doing a massive thing called Purple Days in the districts.
It's coming up. We're setting folks across the country because see,
you got four hundred and thirty five people running for
(17:45):
office in the US House of Representatives. We're not going
to DC. We're going to your district offices. We're sending
sistems in their purple. We call it the Purple Rush.
We're coming. We're coming because they need to see we
will vote you out if you're not in alignment with
the work that we're trying to do. So I want
to offer that as well.
Speaker 1 (18:03):
Okay, I love that. So here's another thing. You kind
of touched on it a bit, but I want to
I want to go with it a bit. So it
talk to us about some of the ways that the
n c NW is accounting for voter suppression initiatives. Ye,
how because I'd imagine that's got to be accounted or
(18:25):
in your in your strategies.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
So it is, it's in partnership with the NAACP. So
I'm in an ACP or too, right, I'm gonna connect
the civil rights persons as part of my you know,
part of my lineage. And so one of the things
they've been asking our partners to do. We're trying to
come up with a number of three hundred thousand volunteers
across the country. Why because we need that many people
(18:49):
to be on the alert on election day, and not
just the lawyers. Right, there's a lawyer's side of it
for lawyers that are able to kind of help with response,
with rap response, but it's also the poleworker requests and
the actual election protection watchers. Poleworkers are the folks that
can sign up in their counties, get in the precinct,
(19:12):
be there to see that there's a discrepancy here while
I saw something here, and those of course bipartisans, so
it doesn't matter what political party you're in. But the
other side of it is too, the one A sixty
six my vote work right, making sure that we make
a phone call if we see someone being deterred, if
we see someone getting the wrong information. Our job as
NCNW is to make sure we send people to the
(19:34):
right precincts. So we're gonna stay in contact aground the
country to watch and track State of Georgia. The big
one forth rams is because that state said you can't
even have water within certain amount of feet of a precinct,
which they call they call it one thing. We call
it what it is, which is voter oppression. It'suppression, practical
(19:56):
plans to get people, not the vote. We're gonna have
the water right the mark because we need to make
sure our seniors. Okay, we didn't make sure all folks
can actually vote.
Speaker 1 (20:03):
There's there's something else too, you know, Georgia, That's what
I mentioned earlier. I didn't mean to cut you off,
but I was like, you had me at Georgia and Florida.
You know, you mentioned the eight states. I was like,
you had me at the first two, right, But yeah,
I'm aware. I'm aware that you know, Georgia was the
birthplace of the souls for the Pole Souls to the
(20:24):
Polls movement, I believe that's what it's called. And so
then they closed the polling places on Sundays something like that,
because you know, the the idea was that after church,
you know, these black women would organize and then yeah, yeah, exactly,
and so so I applaud that. I think that that's fantastic.
And again I've I've had a lot of insight into this,
(20:48):
the these strategies, and it feels it's interesting to know
how deep the fear for black voices and black people goes,
and how deep the racism goes. You know, I grew
up on the West Coast. I'm from Compton, California to Arizona,
(21:08):
and so you know, we oftentimes have to stand with
our Hispanic brothers and sisters, and we're kind of grouped
together because there's not a lot of us out here,
whereas in the South there are these huge groups of
black people and there's really pronounced black culture, and you know,
you think that in the South there's these isolated pockets
of racism, and of course there's police officers and a
(21:29):
judge here and there. No, it's like these people are
very organized and it's disheartening. But I think that the
silver lining is that, you know, we get to see
that there are organizations like this that are aware of
this and be doing something about it. And you being
at the head of such an organization is very comforting.
(21:49):
And so again, I'm very appreciative of your time today.
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I appreciate you. And let me just say this, And
it's not us alone, right, it is. The beauty of
black culture is that we're familiar people, right the difficult
spaces that even being familial sometimes you know, things getting
away of your progress. And I've been blessed to be
(22:14):
able to talk to multiple generations, like I'm watching it.
I'm watching the you know, I'm a gen xer, right,
so I was born in the seventies, raised the eighties,
college in the nineties. Boom. I'm a hip hop girl.
So I'm able to speak old school church because my
parents are baby boomers. And I'm also able to you know,
hit the millennials and hit the gen zs in a
(22:35):
way that makes sense. And guess what, I've been trying
to push this narrative. Young people are engaged rams just
like I don't. There's this massive thought that they don't
there have apathy with them. Ah know, they're just mad
at what they see. They're not pleased with how things
they've been moving. And I think that what you and
I even represent even this conversation is, Look, we've got
(22:58):
to bring our generations together. We got our institutions together,
and there's a lot of you know, a lot of
criticism of black institutions, and I think in some cases
rightfully so we've not always been able to do things together.
But I think sometimes brother and sisters on the ground
do not understand the massive amount of requests and challenges
that are out here, and we have to start learning
(23:19):
how to Okay, where do we lean in? I knew
for us we had to lean in and get to
where the voters were. I knew for us we had
to deal with this di issue, which I hope we're
gonna talk about, because Black women are on the receiving
end of being sacrificial lamps of a movement that was
made up and coerced right, So it's a lot of
moving parts. My joy is when I see us come
(23:42):
together and align. We're not gonna always be on the
same page. You know, there's gonna be conservative views, they're
gonna be progressive views, it's gonna be moderate views. I'm
kind of in between both. And at the end of
the day, we've got to get to a point where
black liberation become the ultimate angle. Now, the methods that
we take might not be the same, but let's not
lose sight of what is the angle. What does freedom
(24:03):
look like for us? And it wasn't just getting Barack
Obama elected, Like, that's not freedom, right, Freedom is a
system where I wake up or race does not even matter.
Freedom is a place where I live in a country
that my son, my ten year old son, will not
be profiled because of his cute chocolate skin. Right, they
see him as a part of their fabric. And for me,
(24:23):
I'm not free yet, and until then, I want to
keep fighting.
Speaker 1 (24:29):
We are here today with Javon our Line Bradley, President
and CEO of the National Council of Negro Women. Okay,
so earlier you mentioned that you wanted to kind of
get into the nuts and bolts of DEI and the
attacks on DEI, and you know what we can do
(24:52):
about that? I personally am am a am a fan
of DEI initiatives and companies that take it upon themselves.
You intentionally create spaces, conversations, positions, and a culture that
(25:14):
pays attention to diversity, pays attention to equity, which is
different from equality. It is different and inclusion. The idea
that people not only have these spaces and conversations delineated
for them, but they feel welcome and they feel centered
when they choose to speak. And I know that you
(25:36):
have more to contribute to this, so please share with
us your thoughts on d I, n indeed the organizations.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
Yeah, so I think one of the things, I'm a
DEI trained professionals, so I've done it from the healthcare
you standpoint, coming to n C and W. Since I've
been here about a little over a year now, we
have seen more attacks on d e I d e I.
You know, staff members in personnel and corporations and nonprofits
(26:03):
that are literally slashing their budget's posts. The affirmative action
ruling on two universities. Let me just clear the air here.
The affirmative action rulings were not for every universities, the
University of Carolina and Harvard University. So all of a
sudden general counsels across the because you have started pulling
programs telling whats it going to be sued and in
(26:24):
some case they have been. I'm so proud of NCNW.
We took on supporting the Fearless Fund, which assistants who've
done venture capital work to put money into black women's businesses.
Donald Emericus brief absolutely and they were sued by the
same folks that were actually suing these universities around THEI
so I want you to see it right, coordinated efforts
(26:46):
n CNW, who had to take two stances, one legal, right,
how do we make sure our voice is supporting the
impacted side of organizations like the Fearless Fund. But the
other thing for us is how do we help put
out there to the public that Black women are the
ones that are actually suffering the most. I call us
(27:07):
sacrificial lambs because in many cases, black women have been
tasked with advancing equity across the country. Now, the deed
to eating the eye is the real thing we got
to talk about. People in many cases don't mind the
eye eyes inclusion because inclusion means something bigger for people. Right,
They're like, oh, you know, we want to get your
(27:29):
input right. We're a company or an organization that wants
to hear from everyone, but see diversity, equity and inclusion.
Will he stands for diverse perspective, the verse backgrounds, the
verse abilities, right, because we don't talk about it all race, gender, identity, religion,
ability right. First, persons that are living with disabilities are
(27:51):
not that's diversity, right though, who's represented the eyes including
them in the ability to make decisions in those spaces?
And then the equity is the part that's the real
all because equity says I got to remove a barrier
for optimal experience. Now, wait a minute, what if I
like my experience. If it's not optal for you, it's
(28:11):
opera for me, that's a challenge with people that are
in power.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Right, So that's why I fool with equity because equity
does systems work. It does barrier removal work. But that's
the hard work, and that's the work that forces us
to look at all of our systems. Corporate, whatever sector
it is, doesn't matter how you serve, how you support,
how you provide for a community. If I'm removing barriers,
(28:38):
that means I'm actually touching what the system has created
to make sure that it is. I have the ability
to create optimal experience in healthcare, we say optimal experience
for quality of life. What if quality of life for
me is I woke up in a place where I
can actually find fruits in vestments. That's my quality of life.
It's just different for everyone, and so I've had to
(28:59):
really help people underst Then the D E and the
I going together is what makes this a movement. The
problem is has been co opted. You hear DI, you
automatically think, oh, white people are beinging left out. See
that's not me, when in actuality, if they would understand
the actual premise, DI is as American as.
Speaker 1 (29:17):
Apple pie, m talk to them.
Speaker 2 (29:20):
I mean, let's just have the conversation. You came to
a country to seek solace, right to create space where
they said all men are creating equal on paper, and
yet instill the opportunity for access, for removing barriers so
that you can have the ability to pick up your
bootstraps and go do what you need to do to
(29:40):
get away from your country's communism, your your country's challenges.
And now DI is the problem. No, DI is not
the problem. The people are the problem. The people that
are in power that want to sustain power and keep
it are the problem. And I say, I say the
answer to it is thus collectively defining it in the
way people understand. There's a study that was done years ago,
(30:04):
and I do this because it helps people understand the
idea of how equity really makes a difference. There was
a study of young people in New York City, partly
in Brooklyn, a couple of other boros queens, and they
assessed healthy fruits and vegetables. And there was a test
that was taken for young people and they said what
color are bananas? The kids said brown? Right, bananas a brown.
(30:27):
And for the average person who says, how can they
think that bananas are brown? Everybody knows bananas yellow. Then
you got to dig deeper into that and said, well,
what's the system saying, well, well, those bananas that go
to their neighborhoods come later, they get dropped off in
other neighborhoods. First, the fresher produce is sent to places
where trucks can be dropped off first. And then so
(30:49):
how can we say those kids are not okay? Well,
they answered the question correctly because in their neighborhood bananas
a brown right, and so what is equity say. Equity said,
we got to remove the barriers out. How do we
get more trucks to every area on time to the
produces fresh with that barrier so that now the children
have quality of produce. Same concept. What is in the
(31:11):
way of us having quality of life, being in an
American culture, having the right to book, having the ability
to have an education like everyone else, making sure the
resources are the same in every zip code and every
not solely about tax code. Right. So that's why DI
is so big for me. And look shout out to
those that have really been struggling. I'm looking at it.
(31:32):
The Clauding gay situation really blew my mind right because
those are those are the experiences that we're talking about
when we're on the wrong end of the stick.
Speaker 1 (31:43):
That was that was powerful, and I'm glad that that
we went in this direction so that you could share
that that's particularly meaningful to someone like me. I know
that we don't have much more in the way of
time together, but you seem like such a prolific speaker,
(32:04):
and you're in such an awesome position. I feel compelled
to at least ask you know. I know that you
know your role as a minister has influenced your leadership.
I know that you have just so much valuable perspective.
I want to ask, what is one piece of political advice,
(32:28):
if you had to just pick one, that you could
give to our listeners.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Today, That you, as a citizen of the United States,
are political. Every day Everything you do affects politics. When
you go to the grocery store and you see your
tax bill, what are little taxes in your grocery bill.
When you take your kids to school, there's some politics
happening around the funding that's going to your school. Every
(32:54):
day you wake up in this country, you have to
be politically minded. And if you are a listener that
understands what it means to have this hue of skin
in this country, you have to take that as a
part of your obligatory stance to ensure that the future
will be brighter for our children. I'm telling you I'm
(33:15):
moved by my child because I've seen even his little
psyche gets changed when people make assessments and assumptions about him. Right,
So my thing is show up every day understanding that
politics matters. So when I go to his school and
my husband and I go to that school. I know
I'm pushing politics. I had to fight for him to
(33:36):
get into a class because of a standardized test. You
know what the politics were. We don't have enough splots
and we don't have enough money. So my job was
be the politician in the room and fight for it.
And I'm saying to the listeners, you have the power.
I'm telling you the one thing you do is going
to change the game for your people. So I know
(33:57):
now there's other parents that are gonna know what to do
because I have blooprint. I knew how to fight, and
I want to tell Black people, and specifically, we come
from a fighting lineage. We've never just let stuff happen
to us, right, and when we do, and when we have,
we've lost. And I could just that's my takeaway. Be
(34:19):
political and be well with it, and don't fall in
the trap of I have to be nonpartisan. Being nonpartisan
doesn't mean you're not politically minded. That's why I tell
Faithful this all the time. Yeah, you let them come in,
be four years and say what they want to say.
You know why, because they know that your power. You've
got to understand you have power. You wake up in
(34:40):
this country you're a black person who has been the
lineage of civil rights, of Jim Crow, of lynching, of slavery.
We can win. We've won battles like crazy. Nobody thought
we could be what we are today. Nobody thought that,
And I'm just offering that encouragement. I believe it's God
given rights for us to be able to look at
our self to say, my God, we have come from
(35:02):
so much, and I refuse to be the generation that
allows this thing to change when I watch. That's what
I will tell you listeners. Be political, be intentional, and
it is our obligation. It is our job to make
sure our babies don't feel what our previous generations have.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Yeah. Yeah, we can't let it regress too much. We
were in a position to fight it. We should fight it.
I appreciate those words. There's a lot of moving pieces
in your world. I feel like I have to ask
what's next for you? What's next for the organization? What's
the next big thing you're looking ford?
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, we shared the policy Summit our national convenience this
year as well. What is also coming, quite frankly, has
been our expansion. We are opening the doors that are brothers,
that are now supporting us. We have associate members of
NCNW that have been around for a few years, and
so we are now building up on that big thing coming.
We are turning ninety years next year. Let's need to
(35:58):
say it. Mary mcclopp thune was ahead of her time
when she founded this organization. Man, what is it like
to be in a depression to bring black women together
in New York City to say, all right, I can
get us all on the same page. We can make
this happen. Well. Ninety years ago in December fifth, nineteen
thirty five, most of the things that are on that
(36:19):
list are still in our list in twenty twenty four,
are about to be twenty twenty five. Right, So what's
been coming up for us is us honoring the legacy
but then clamping down, hammering down on the list of
policy priorities. We are a Policy and the Program Organization RAMSES.
So we believe in direct service and direct action. That's
who we are, that's how we play, and there's so
(36:41):
much more to come. October nineteen thirteenth meet us in Baltimore.
We gotta get you to come too. We need some
media to come and hang out with us. We want
to celebrate together and honor some folks, but also do
the business of NC and W, which is to expand,
to grow, to build, but also to make sure that
we're changing the way that people live in this country
for the vitamin of our people.
Speaker 1 (37:01):
That that is fantastic. One of the things that that
we Chris Thompson is the producer of this show, and
he gives me a long leash and on this show
and my other show. One of the things that that
I'm able to affirm with our listeners as often as
(37:23):
as often as I can is that we feel that
being being close to black women is the same as
being close to God. Is as close to God as
you'll be able to get in this lifetime. And so
where your leadership takes our people, you know, we will
(37:44):
always be supportive. On this program and on my other
program with my co host Qward, I wish he was
here to be able to tell you that himself, because
he's a he's a lot more poetic with his words.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
I think you did alright with that.
Speaker 1 (37:57):
When you tell you well, I'll take it. I'll take it.
So before we let you go, I'm obviously gonna want
to tap in with you, but I know our listeners
are going to want to do the same. Is there
any sort of social media website and a connective tissue
that we can have for our folks listening?
Speaker 2 (38:14):
Please do follow us on Facebook, x, Instagram, LinkedIn at
NCNW underscore HQ for headquarters, and then of course our
website is www dot NCNW dot org. Please join us,
Please join us, section Listen. We skew in a way
that has been named to be Season more season Women.
(38:35):
All but the college students and the young women have
been blowing us up. We've had over twenty fifty girls
joined the FAMU, over one hundred and fifty girls over
at Howard University. I'm like, the movement is coming, the
sisters are coming, and I love it. I gotta close
with this. We are the one table for Black women
that no matter your background, no matter your geography, no
matter your education, no matter how much you make, you
(38:57):
have a seat at this table. This council well is
the counsel of women that are c suite to the streets.
And that's how we move, that's how we play. And
it's nothing but beauty when you see doesn't matter if
it's system so and so, who's ninety. I've got folks
my board at age ninety six down to nineteen, and
that's the beauty of NCNW. So please join us, please
support us, and let us know what we can do
(39:19):
to make sure that we're getting the message out.
Speaker 1 (39:21):
Fantastic. Well, I'd like to thank you very much. Thank
you for coming on and sharing your insights and your
background with us today your overall commitment to the successful, informed,
inspired future of our black community. Once again, Today's guest
is chavn our Line Bradley, the President and CEO of
(39:42):
the National Council of Negro Women. This has been a
production of the Black Information Network. Today's show is produced
by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts you'd like to share,
use the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app.
While you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download
all of our I'm your host Ramse's jaw on all
(40:03):
social media. Join us tomorrow as we share our news
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
Black Information Network Daily Podcast.
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