January 8, 2024 • 27 mins
Host Ramses Ja and RTM Executive Editor AR Shaw kick off the week with a quick recap on some of the news stores that made headline this week.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Here at the Black Information Network, we know how important
it is for you to start your week off energized, engaged,
and enlightened. There are always major stories that break over
the weekend, and we feel you should know about the
ones we are talking about today, So stay tuned for
our weekend recap featuring the author of the book Trap
History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R. Shaw.
(00:27):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast, and I
am your host, Rams Jaw. All right, mister Shaw, Happy
New year, brother, Welcome back to the show. How have
you been?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Happy New Year? Man? A lot has happened since we lasts.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
So.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Absolutely man, okay, well listen. Obviously, the thing that everybody
is talking about as of late is Kat Williams interview
on Club Shay Say. I'm sure you've seen it, right
of course, okay, all right, Also all three out, okay, exactly, okay,
good man, Okay. So obviously this interview covered a lot
(01:04):
of stuff, a lot of name dropping, a lot of
first hand accounts, and a lot of people of course
saying that the things that Cat Williams is mentioning sounds plausible,
if not factual, And so you know, let's let's get
your thoughts on it.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, man, so he Cat Williams causing uproar club shay
she dropped at the top of the year with viral.
Immediately he struck a nerve and I think, but there,
you know, there's so many layers to this podcast. You know,
you talk about Lavill Crawford. He said that some of
the comedians didn't really have a They kind of felt guilty.
They sound guilty with their responses, and I was kind
(01:46):
of disappointed with a lot of the responses because, you know,
we talk about comedians, you want them to snap back
with clever and wit, and we haven't really seen that
yet in terms of how comedians are responding to what
Cat Williams said. But beyond him calling out different comedians,
I thought that Cat Williams actually brought up several ballid
points when it comes to sexual harassment in Hollywood. He
(02:07):
talked about black women who experienced low pay and also
the controversy, the controversial aspect of black black men who
wear dressed in TV and film, uh comedy. You know,
when we see black men dressed up as women, it's
usually a stereo type.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Of black women, which which is good either.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So I thought that Cat Williams brought up some valid
points and a lot of his Uh. I would say,
it's almost like a stand up wasn't an interview, It's
almost like a stand up special. Sure, so we can
take some of the some of the good with the bad.
But I think it was one of those interviews that
kind of had it's going to have an impact on
the culture from from not just now before for months
(02:46):
or maybe years to come.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah. Yeah, And he had he had a lot of
really potent one liners from there too. Just you know,
for those who haven't seen it, I want to make
sure that I cover just a bit about what he
was talking about. He mentioned Kevin Hard, as you said,
being an industry planned. He talked about Dave Chappelle walking
away from fifty million dollars and kind of praising him
(03:11):
for kind of keeping his integrity, and he kind of
suggested that he had been in a similar position four times,
having to walk away from fifty million dollars each time.
He mentioned Gary Owen, who's the white comedian having never
crossed over, perhaps because of the same reason he never
(03:31):
sold his soul. So that was a shoutout to Dave
Chappelle and Gary Owen. You know, so he wasn't just
like taking off heads in this interview, but there was
a couple of victims obviously when he said he wanted
to bust Cedric the Entertainer's stomach. So that was kind
of a funny one liner from the interview. He had
(03:54):
a lot to say about Steve Harvey stealing jokes from
Mark Curry. For those of us old enough to remember
Mark Curry's, you know, the peak in his career with
hangings with mister Cooper and you know, all that sort
of stuff. You know, again, all that stuff seemed plausible,
and then of course the Internet has all the receipts,
so it showed Cedric the Entertainer stealing jokes from Kat William,
(04:15):
It showed Steve Harvey stealing jokes the boxes joke from
Mark Curry. And then of course, you know Mark Curry's
hanging with mister Cooper, and then Steve Harvey kind of
has a show right after him, kind of the same premise,
wearing a suit at a school, that sort of thing,
and so you know, among other people, you know, obviously
(04:36):
you mentioned Jonathan Major's and you know, that list goes
on and on. But he he in addition to that,
you know, to your point how this might have a
lasting impression on the culture. He had some really potent
one liners that I think are just fantastic that are
worth remembering. One of them is that the truth don't
need motivation.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
At a point in the interview, Shannon Sharp suggest that
the alcohol was talking and Kat was like, no, I'm
not fueled by alcohol. You know. Another one is, and
this was probably my favorite on this list, but there's
no such thing as a human being not being afraid.
There are certain human beings that understand that being afraid
(05:18):
in no way stops you from doing what you gotta do.
And I think if you needed some motivation, you know,
in the face of fear, you know, in the space
where I work and we work, you know, in the
activist space, a lot of times things can be overwhelming.
And so you know, I really like that one. Another
one he says, anything that takes over your free time,
or sorry that takes over your free will is the
(05:40):
devil itself. Winners aren't allowed to let the losers rewrite history.
That one I thought was really potent as well. Race
is not where the line is drawn it's God's side
or the other side. A lot of folks like that one.
And another one I have here is you having an
unnatural allegiance to losers is not like you, just as
(06:01):
an affirmation, you know, for those of us to you know,
recognize and respect exactly what's going on in front of
us and not not try to play both sides if
we can avoid that. I think that that's something that
was potent as well. So again, a lot of really
meaningful contributions, not just to the moment, but I think
that a lot of this stuff will have a lasting impression,
and you know, for better or worse, it at least
(06:25):
will have a ripple effect in the in the comedy community.
And my hope is that it will keep excuse me,
it will keep people from stealing jokes and encourage more
creativity and more honesty in that in that genre. And
I think that everybody wins when that becomes a central
truth for that medium. So moving on, this one comes
(06:48):
from the Atlanta Black Star Charlottagne and the God feels
burned by VP Kamala Harris's disappearance in office.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
In short, he.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Said specifically he specifically supported the former California Senator during
the election because he was impressed by what he perceived
was her robust mental health platform. But since taking office,
he says that she's not been as active in pursuing
those initiatives and kind of just kind of faded to
the back. I got a quote from him here It says,
(07:22):
I learned my lesson from doing that. Once they got
in the White House, she kind of disappeared. He goes
on to say, when I give people my word, like, yo, man,
I think we should be supporting Kamala Harris for vice
president because she's going to hold you know, hold it
down and make sure we're good when we say those things.
And people don't see her holding it down. That causes issue.
So give us your thoughts on not just Charlemagne's take
(07:48):
on Kamala Harris, but really how you feel about the
administration overall, because you know, I think that this is
the kind of the time we're really having to wrap
our head around what our options look like for twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, to to Charlomagne's point, I thought it was a
myopic statement because you know, historically vice presidents.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Aren't really in the forefront like we go.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Back and just in our generation, uh, you know Biden
when when when President Obama was when when when Barack
Obama was president, we didn't see Biden much the same
with Mike Pinions. So it's it's it's traditionally you didn't
really see vice presidents in the forefront just because they
do a lot of the I guess I don't want
to say call it grunt work, but they do a
(08:31):
lot of the works when it comes in terms of Congress, uh,
trying to get lost past, that's kind of what they do.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
They do a lot of the behind the scenes activities.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Now, some of the things that VP Harris has worked
on since she's been in an administration is uh, you know, providing.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
More funding for HBCUs.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
She's done some things with reproductive rights, voting rights, and
immigration and so those things can be googled and you
can see.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Actually what she has done and what she's been working on.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Now, my pushback with the administration is that they haven't
really done a good job of disseminating their messages.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Uh, in terms of the accomplishments.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I think we come we're live in an age where
you have to kind of uh if you if you're
making it. If you haven't achievement, you have to pretty
much put it in in the forefront. You know, the
Democrats as a whole, they have to do a better
message at what we call, you know, going viral. Uh
we come from you know, the last president before President Obiden,
he was a guy who knew how to use social
(09:29):
media effectively. Whether you liked him or not, he was
able to use social media in a way where you
people wanted to share it or get upset. So I
think you know, in that sense, Uh, there are there
have been accomplishments, but you have to put it out there.
You have to let the people know what you have done.
And I think in a sense Charlemagne probably hasn't. He
(09:50):
probably hasn't really seen it because you don't really hear
about it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It doesn't go viral.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
It's work. That's just it's work. But it's not something
that we're sharing as a community.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Sure, And I think to your point, because you know,
I actually had a conversation about this recently, I think
to your point, there's not a lot of people excited
about the current administration, not not in the way that
as you mentioned, people were excited. It certainly wasn't me,
But there were people who were really excited about the
(10:21):
previous two presidents, very excited, very passionate, And maybe that
had a lot to do with messaging, or maybe you know,
people stepped into the role and just kind of made
it their own or whatever their story is. It just
kind of seems like, you know, as you mentioned, whatever
work is getting done is not being effectually, effectively sorry
(10:45):
communicated to the vote perspective. Voters, and what is being
communicated on their behalf and the behalf of the administration
is very divisive. Regardless of what President Biden has done,
(11:10):
what I will remember him for is perhaps handle how
he's handled the Israel Hamas war. What I will perhaps
remember him most for is seeing children's body parts get
pulled out of rubble. And there's a chance, you know,
(11:32):
in my mind, at least a person in that position
can strike a better balance between the interests of the
nation state of Israel and the human beings who are
being blown apart in Gaza and where I see inaction
(11:53):
and where that inaction is communicated on his behalf via
social media and now really mass media. The only thing
that we have really in our frame of reference, those
of us who are kind of cut from the activist cloth.
The only thing that we have is the images of
those body parts, and it's like, oh, yeah, that's he
did do Juneteenth, didn't he em? You know? Is can
(12:18):
I morally vote for a person who would allow something
like this to happen and not just allow it finance it,
you know what I mean? And again that this is
not really to choose sides, because you know, he exists
in a position much higher than I do, but walking
a finer line. I think that you know, because this
(12:38):
was communicated recently that a lot of younger people have
turned on him, and a lot of younger people have
hardened their hearts toward really the plight of the Israeli
government because of how they've chosen to respond to the
October seventh attacks. And so there are of course people
who feel like they are entire justified and this is
(13:01):
the right course of action, and a lot of people
feel like that's not the case. And for the Democrats
and for this current administration specifically, making sure that this
negative messaging is balanced by hey, we've done this, Hey
we're still fighting this fight. Hey we're still doing this
for you. We want to change your everyday lives, you know.
(13:22):
I think again, most people know Biden for not giving
delivering on you know, police reform, you know, executive voters
is one thing, but come on, that's not what we
ask for when we when we voted, and not delivering
on the student loans, the student loan relief, and then
(13:44):
now of course, as I mentioned, uh, the happenings in Gaza,
and so it's just hard to really be motivated. So
I can't really be mad at Charlemagne. You know. Obviously
there's a lot of reasons to be critical, but what
I think it results in is a lot of apathy.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
There's a lot of people who are just looking at
the election saying, you know, and this is not me,
of course, because I like to complain, so I have
to vote. But there's a lot of people who are
just like you know what. My conscience won't allow me
to vote for either of these people, you know. So
I'd rather stand on the side of humanity, or I'd
rather stide on stand on the side of truth, or
(14:25):
I'd rather cast my vote for people who will deliver
on their word or whatever the case is, and their hope.
And I can't knock them for it, but their hope
will be that perhaps the next administration that espouses their
political views will actually deliver on those promises. And that
seems about as good a tactic as any at this
(14:45):
point for those folks. So yeah, we'll see what happens.
Today's guest is the author of the book Trap History
and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Shaw.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
All Right, moving on, I clocked this one early. This
is interesting. This comes from Radar Online. Fox News. Is
Sean Hannity and Cornell West, doctor Cornell West clash over
ousted Harvard President Claudine Gay. First off, before I read this,
did you see this exchange of these two?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yes, yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, it was talking over each other, but yeah, I
got it, I got it.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Sure, Sure, it was fantastic to watch, man, it was,
but you're right, they were talking over each other. For
those that haven't seen it, I'll read a bit. Hannity
introduced West, to whom you described as his former friend,
with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He criticized
West for resorting to the race card and claiming racism
as the reason for Gay's ousting. Arguing that her removal
(15:49):
was not motivated by race. Hennedy quote, I mean, you
always call me brother Hannity, and I know you teach divinity,
but doctor West, really this is really beneath you, if
you don't mind me being very blunt. Hannity told West
goes on to say, for you to go to the
race card and say that doctor Gabe was pushed out
because of racism. That's not why she was pushed out.
You know the code of conduct as well as anybody
(16:10):
at Harvard. And then a response from doctor West. You know,
and I know there has been attempts to impost tremendous
pressures on universities, with big money donors dictating various conditions
under which they will give, and there's been attempts to
reshape universities. Now you and I know there's Orthodoxes in
the universities, and I'm against all Orthodoxes, there's no doubt
(16:34):
about that. But the very notion that you think that
it was about plagiarism, that's window dressing. And then the
final thing, he mentions that Lawrence Tribe plagiarized from Peter J.
Abrams much more than she did, and he remained a
prize professor at Harvard Law. So let's get your thoughts,
because I know that kind of watching it. They were
(16:55):
talking over each other. But how did it hit you?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Well, I mean, it's Sean Hannity, and I think Hannedy
knows his audience and he knows that claiming reverse racism
is on par with the people who follow him. So
I wasn't surprised in that sense. But the entire backlash
from doctor claudon Gay's resignation from Harvard, uh is what
doctor West said, it stems from racism. We've seen right
wing figures use social media as a way to attack
(17:20):
her credentials and academia. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman he used
racial rhetoric, claiming that Gay was only higher because of
the d I initiatives, which isn't disregarding all of her
noted achievements in academia.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
And which is so interesting is that Ackman's wife, who
was a professor at M I T, She's been saying this, Yeah,
she's taught out for plagiarism as well, when which is
crazy because she plagiarized Wikipedia.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
So I didn't know that, yeah, yeah, And so.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
It's just you know, it's just it's just really uh,
you know, you know, they they're using uh, plagiarism as
a way to attack Claudine Gay and and you know,
because she's a woman of color, yeah, first at Harvard,
and so uh is basically a knock on black achievement.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
We just have to call it what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And so I think I think doctor Cornell West was
right on par with what it really is. And in
terms of doctor Gay's what they call plagiarism, it was
really just in terms of just what they call sloppy work,
a bad citations.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So you know you won't get uh then talk about
you know, students being held to that same accountability. No
student is going to get put out of Harvard for
misplacing citations.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
So we just have to call it, you know, call
it what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
And I think doctor West was right and call it
and saying it racism was the reason why doctor Gay.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Uh sure, sure absolutely one of the things that it
sort of occurred to me. Let me, let me paint
a picture for our listeners and see if you follow
me here. If I'm out and the police decide that
(19:12):
they have a problem with me, right and they want
to harm me or arrest me or take me to
jail or something like that for whatever their reason. Right,
And they approach me and they questioned me and blah
blah blah. Okay, and I pass and I have witnesses
and support and everyone says no, no, no, police, you're wrong,
(19:35):
that's not what happened. Blah blah blah. And then I'm
free to go. And those police are so upset that
they could not get me, and then they start looking
for another reason. Then it starts to border on this
(19:58):
sort of like bullying type but behavior and abusive power. Right,
they're investigating, oh, well, you know what, you can't drive
away because you have a broken tail light, and they'll
wait for me to drive a little bit, you know,
and then pull me over and then they now they
have just cause to arrest me. Right, So that's what
this looks like. The thing is, if the police did
(20:19):
not do that to other people, if the police officer's
own wife had a broken tail light, then to me,
it's like, oh, you're being selective. You're choosing to do
this because you didn't get your way. You're choosing to
do this because you thought that you could, and it
embarrassed you when you found out that you couldn't, and
(20:39):
you're choosing to do this to me when you have it,
when you don't even have your own house in order.
So to me, the only thing that would motivate a
person beyond all of those extra factors would be racism.
And I think that, you know, on a long form
show like this, we can really hash things like that out.
But when you have a clip with Sean Hannity and
(21:02):
it's two minutes long, and you know you got to
get off whatever you got to get off, and Sean
Hannity sucks up three minutes worth of the oxygen, either
talking himself or talking over you, then it's very difficult
to make that point. But those of us in the
no No, and I feel like that probably wasn't the
(21:24):
strongest move for doctor West. But I also realized that
he's running for president, and so he has to play
the game and also walk in his truth. And again
in a show like Hannity's show, where he controls the
mic and the optics and again the oxygen and the conversation,
you can get starved out. With that said, I absolutely
(21:47):
believe that doctor West held his own He did not move.
He spoke with a lot of strength. And you know,
if there's anybody brilliant enough to make their point, it's
certainly not Rams's. It would be doctor. Don't know. So
if I can make my point, I'm sure he could.
He just probably didn't have the as much of a
(22:07):
stage and time wise as I would have liked, But
he still held his own and I thought it was
fantastic to watch. Moving on last, but not least man,
I'm gonna put this ball in your court, sir, because
you know me. I don't like to touch these if
I don't have to. But this comes from the Atlanta
Black Star Kiki Palmer's post about men who hate black
women but still date them. It's home for many, all right,
(22:30):
So the post and I'll read it just so our
listeners will have that benefit of knowing. The post was
titled how can I hate Black women when I date them?
All right? So this is her post very easily, So
glad you asked the question. It's very easy to date
someone you don't respect when you're looking for ways to
feel better about yourself, even if you are less successful
(22:52):
than said woman. There is still a history of propaganda
that tells you you will always be the be better
than she is. This is based off of racial oppression
and gender oppression. You may think you have created a
win win scenario for yourself to finally be better than someone.
This is when the one sided competition begins. But the
gag is you can't break a spirit that's already been
(23:13):
broken open when you experience oppression, At least from where
I'm standing, there isn't anything that can take you down.
So for my sisters that have found themselves sleeping with
an enemy or two, they were supposed to be able
to break you. Everyone said you are an easy target,
but you just keep winning, and this breaks their reality.
They couldn't beat the one person they were supposed to
(23:35):
be able to beat because you weren't competing anyway. And
now they're watching you rise up against it all in
the ways they never could. Just know they hate you
because they aren't who the world told them you'd be.
Keep winning, y'all, keep creating the only reality there ever was,
which is us winning in love, in work, in life,
(23:56):
in everything. So your take, sir, I mean, it's you know, unfortunate.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Kiki Palmer is going through uh a traumatic situation, traumat
traumatic ordeal with the father of her child, and so
a lot of this is playing out in the in
the public sphere where uh, you know, she has to
you know, go back and forth on social media about what,
you know, her present relationship. And so I think that
particularly user struck a nerve, and she was writing a
(24:25):
lot of in a lot of instances and with some
of the things that she said, you know, of course,
you know, you know, there's a lot of systemic racism
that occurred on our community that has created this rifk
between black women and black men, and so we see
further perpetuated h on podcasts on social media. So she's
writing in a sense even even I'm you know, in
(24:47):
terms of you know, a black woman having a bit
more credentials than I guess her partner. Uh, kind of
brings me to another uh you know situation that has
curved with someone Bowels and her husband. Uh but he
on a Pivot podcast saying that he was the catch,
which is to me, is insane considering all of her accomplishments.
(25:08):
So we've you know, there's been another dialogue on that
front as well, in terms of success and how black.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Women are treated in relationships.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
And so I think she has the right to really
you know, you know, put forth her emotions when it
comes to this rik between black men and women. But
I think all of us we got to heal at
some point. We can't just keep throwing this negative, this
negativity out. There's a lot of black couples who have
been married for years and decades that can show us
(25:37):
how to do it, and I think we follow those
examples instead of just go on to social media or
podcasts to tell us how we should conduct our relationships.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Sure, sure, and I think that that's more than fair.
But as I mentioned, I try not to you know,
step in it into too much of you know, the
relationship conversations, just because it's it's a very I live
in fear of the day when I'm going to get
cornered and have to have this conversation because I really
(26:09):
don't want to misspeak and hurt someone's feelings. And then, yeah,
so I appreciate your input more than you know, because
obviously we need to talk about these things. It's just
I haven't found how to be the best version of
myself really since the Me Too movement. I felt like
it's one of the things that I got from that
(26:31):
is that men need to do a lot more in
the way of listening and a lot less in the
way of talking. And so as a man, I was like, Okay, well,
then we'll do this. And if I'm ever entitled to
a you know, a little bit of conversation, you know,
at present, I can still do it one on one,
you know, one on two. But it's it's tough to
(26:56):
have an opinion that I'm able to voice out loud,
not saying that I agree or disagree, but it's just
like it's almost like a no win situation, at least
in my view, and it's a very scary place to
be in. So for those that are brave enough to
speak up, like Keiki Palmer and people like yourself, you know,
I'm still listening and I think I will continue to
(27:16):
do so. So again, thank you very much for your
insight on this and all the rest of our stories.
Once again, Today's guest is the author of the book
Trap History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World,
Mister A. R. Shaw. This has been a production of
the Black Information Network. Today's show was 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,
(27:39):
be sure to hit subscribe and download all of our
episodes I'm your host Ramsey's Jaw on all social media,
and join us tomorrow as we share our news with
our voice from our perspective right here on the Black
Information Network Daily Podcast
Here at the Black Information Network, we know how important
it is for you to start your week off energized, engaged,
and enlightened. There are always major stories that break over
the weekend, and we feel you should know about the
ones we are talking about today, So stay tuned for
our weekend recap featuring the author of the book Trap
History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R. Shaw.
(00:27):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast, and I
am your host, Rams Jaw. All right, mister Shaw, Happy
New year, brother, Welcome back to the show. How have
you been?
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Happy New Year? Man? A lot has happened since we lasts.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
So.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Absolutely man, okay, well listen. Obviously, the thing that everybody
is talking about as of late is Kat Williams interview
on Club Shay Say. I'm sure you've seen it, right
of course, okay, all right, Also all three out, okay, exactly, okay,
good man, Okay. So obviously this interview covered a lot
(01:04):
of stuff, a lot of name dropping, a lot of
first hand accounts, and a lot of people of course
saying that the things that Cat Williams is mentioning sounds plausible,
if not factual, And so you know, let's let's get
your thoughts on it.
Speaker 3 (01:23):
Yeah, man, so he Cat Williams causing uproar club shay
she dropped at the top of the year with viral.
Immediately he struck a nerve and I think, but there,
you know, there's so many layers to this podcast. You know,
you talk about Lavill Crawford. He said that some of
the comedians didn't really have a They kind of felt guilty.
They sound guilty with their responses, and I was kind
(01:46):
of disappointed with a lot of the responses because, you know,
we talk about comedians, you want them to snap back
with clever and wit, and we haven't really seen that
yet in terms of how comedians are responding to what
Cat Williams said. But beyond him calling out different comedians,
I thought that Cat Williams actually brought up several ballid
points when it comes to sexual harassment in Hollywood. He
(02:07):
talked about black women who experienced low pay and also
the controversy, the controversial aspect of black black men who
wear dressed in TV and film, uh comedy. You know,
when we see black men dressed up as women, it's
usually a stereo type.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Of black women, which which is good either.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
So I thought that Cat Williams brought up some valid
points and a lot of his Uh. I would say,
it's almost like a stand up wasn't an interview, It's
almost like a stand up special. Sure, so we can
take some of the some of the good with the bad.
But I think it was one of those interviews that
kind of had it's going to have an impact on
the culture from from not just now before for months
(02:46):
or maybe years to come.
Speaker 1 (02:47):
Yeah. Yeah, And he had he had a lot of
really potent one liners from there too. Just you know,
for those who haven't seen it, I want to make
sure that I cover just a bit about what he
was talking about. He mentioned Kevin Hard, as you said,
being an industry planned. He talked about Dave Chappelle walking
away from fifty million dollars and kind of praising him
(03:11):
for kind of keeping his integrity, and he kind of
suggested that he had been in a similar position four times,
having to walk away from fifty million dollars each time.
He mentioned Gary Owen, who's the white comedian having never
crossed over, perhaps because of the same reason he never
(03:31):
sold his soul. So that was a shoutout to Dave
Chappelle and Gary Owen. You know, so he wasn't just
like taking off heads in this interview, but there was
a couple of victims obviously when he said he wanted
to bust Cedric the Entertainer's stomach. So that was kind
of a funny one liner from the interview. He had
(03:54):
a lot to say about Steve Harvey stealing jokes from
Mark Curry. For those of us old enough to remember
Mark Curry's, you know, the peak in his career with
hangings with mister Cooper and you know, all that sort
of stuff. You know, again, all that stuff seemed plausible,
and then of course the Internet has all the receipts,
so it showed Cedric the Entertainer stealing jokes from Kat William,
(04:15):
It showed Steve Harvey stealing jokes the boxes joke from
Mark Curry. And then of course, you know Mark Curry's
hanging with mister Cooper, and then Steve Harvey kind of
has a show right after him, kind of the same premise,
wearing a suit at a school, that sort of thing,
and so you know, among other people, you know, obviously
(04:36):
you mentioned Jonathan Major's and you know, that list goes
on and on. But he he in addition to that,
you know, to your point how this might have a
lasting impression on the culture. He had some really potent
one liners that I think are just fantastic that are
worth remembering. One of them is that the truth don't
need motivation.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:56):
At a point in the interview, Shannon Sharp suggest that
the alcohol was talking and Kat was like, no, I'm
not fueled by alcohol. You know. Another one is, and
this was probably my favorite on this list, but there's
no such thing as a human being not being afraid.
There are certain human beings that understand that being afraid
(05:18):
in no way stops you from doing what you gotta do.
And I think if you needed some motivation, you know,
in the face of fear, you know, in the space
where I work and we work, you know, in the
activist space, a lot of times things can be overwhelming.
And so you know, I really like that one. Another
one he says, anything that takes over your free time,
or sorry that takes over your free will is the
(05:40):
devil itself. Winners aren't allowed to let the losers rewrite history.
That one I thought was really potent as well. Race
is not where the line is drawn it's God's side
or the other side. A lot of folks like that one.
And another one I have here is you having an
unnatural allegiance to losers is not like you, just as
(06:01):
an affirmation, you know, for those of us to you know,
recognize and respect exactly what's going on in front of
us and not not try to play both sides if
we can avoid that. I think that that's something that
was potent as well. So again, a lot of really
meaningful contributions, not just to the moment, but I think
that a lot of this stuff will have a lasting impression,
and you know, for better or worse, it at least
(06:25):
will have a ripple effect in the in the comedy community.
And my hope is that it will keep excuse me,
it will keep people from stealing jokes and encourage more
creativity and more honesty in that in that genre. And
I think that everybody wins when that becomes a central
truth for that medium. So moving on, this one comes
(06:48):
from the Atlanta Black Star Charlottagne and the God feels
burned by VP Kamala Harris's disappearance in office.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
In short, he.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Said specifically he specifically supported the former California Senator during
the election because he was impressed by what he perceived
was her robust mental health platform. But since taking office,
he says that she's not been as active in pursuing
those initiatives and kind of just kind of faded to
the back. I got a quote from him here It says,
(07:22):
I learned my lesson from doing that. Once they got
in the White House, she kind of disappeared. He goes
on to say, when I give people my word, like, yo, man,
I think we should be supporting Kamala Harris for vice
president because she's going to hold you know, hold it
down and make sure we're good when we say those things.
And people don't see her holding it down. That causes issue.
So give us your thoughts on not just Charlemagne's take
(07:48):
on Kamala Harris, but really how you feel about the
administration overall, because you know, I think that this is
the kind of the time we're really having to wrap
our head around what our options look like for twenty
twenty four.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
Yeah, to to Charlomagne's point, I thought it was a
myopic statement because you know, historically vice presidents.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
Aren't really in the forefront like we go.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Back and just in our generation, uh, you know Biden
when when when President Obama was when when when Barack
Obama was president, we didn't see Biden much the same
with Mike Pinions. So it's it's it's traditionally you didn't
really see vice presidents in the forefront just because they
do a lot of the I guess I don't want
to say call it grunt work, but they do a
(08:31):
lot of the works when it comes in terms of Congress, uh,
trying to get lost past, that's kind of what they do.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
They do a lot of the behind the scenes activities.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Now, some of the things that VP Harris has worked
on since she's been in an administration is uh, you know, providing.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
More funding for HBCUs.
Speaker 3 (08:48):
She's done some things with reproductive rights, voting rights, and
immigration and so those things can be googled and you
can see.
Speaker 2 (08:56):
Actually what she has done and what she's been working on.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Now, my pushback with the administration is that they haven't
really done a good job of disseminating their messages.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
Uh, in terms of the accomplishments.
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I think we come we're live in an age where
you have to kind of uh if you if you're
making it. If you haven't achievement, you have to pretty
much put it in in the forefront. You know, the
Democrats as a whole, they have to do a better
message at what we call, you know, going viral. Uh
we come from you know, the last president before President Obiden,
he was a guy who knew how to use social
(09:29):
media effectively. Whether you liked him or not, he was
able to use social media in a way where you
people wanted to share it or get upset. So I
think you know, in that sense, Uh, there are there
have been accomplishments, but you have to put it out there.
You have to let the people know what you have done.
And I think in a sense Charlemagne probably hasn't. He
(09:50):
probably hasn't really seen it because you don't really hear
about it.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
It doesn't go viral.
Speaker 3 (09:55):
It's work. That's just it's work. But it's not something
that we're sharing as a community.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
Sure, And I think to your point, because you know,
I actually had a conversation about this recently, I think
to your point, there's not a lot of people excited
about the current administration, not not in the way that
as you mentioned, people were excited. It certainly wasn't me,
But there were people who were really excited about the
(10:21):
previous two presidents, very excited, very passionate, And maybe that
had a lot to do with messaging, or maybe you know,
people stepped into the role and just kind of made
it their own or whatever their story is. It just
kind of seems like, you know, as you mentioned, whatever
work is getting done is not being effectually, effectively sorry
(10:45):
communicated to the vote perspective. Voters, and what is being
communicated on their behalf and the behalf of the administration
is very divisive. Regardless of what President Biden has done,
(11:10):
what I will remember him for is perhaps handle how
he's handled the Israel Hamas war. What I will perhaps
remember him most for is seeing children's body parts get
pulled out of rubble. And there's a chance, you know,
(11:32):
in my mind, at least a person in that position
can strike a better balance between the interests of the
nation state of Israel and the human beings who are
being blown apart in Gaza and where I see inaction
(11:53):
and where that inaction is communicated on his behalf via
social media and now really mass media. The only thing
that we have really in our frame of reference, those
of us who are kind of cut from the activist cloth.
The only thing that we have is the images of
those body parts, and it's like, oh, yeah, that's he
did do Juneteenth, didn't he em? You know? Is can
(12:18):
I morally vote for a person who would allow something
like this to happen and not just allow it finance it,
you know what I mean? And again that this is
not really to choose sides, because you know, he exists
in a position much higher than I do, but walking
a finer line. I think that you know, because this
(12:38):
was communicated recently that a lot of younger people have
turned on him, and a lot of younger people have
hardened their hearts toward really the plight of the Israeli
government because of how they've chosen to respond to the
October seventh attacks. And so there are of course people
who feel like they are entire justified and this is
(13:01):
the right course of action, and a lot of people
feel like that's not the case. And for the Democrats
and for this current administration specifically, making sure that this
negative messaging is balanced by hey, we've done this, Hey
we're still fighting this fight. Hey we're still doing this
for you. We want to change your everyday lives, you know.
(13:22):
I think again, most people know Biden for not giving
delivering on you know, police reform, you know, executive voters
is one thing, but come on, that's not what we
ask for when we when we voted, and not delivering
on the student loans, the student loan relief, and then
(13:44):
now of course, as I mentioned, uh, the happenings in Gaza,
and so it's just hard to really be motivated. So
I can't really be mad at Charlemagne. You know. Obviously
there's a lot of reasons to be critical, but what
I think it results in is a lot of apathy.
Speaker 3 (14:02):
You know.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
There's a lot of people who are just looking at
the election saying, you know, and this is not me,
of course, because I like to complain, so I have
to vote. But there's a lot of people who are
just like you know what. My conscience won't allow me
to vote for either of these people, you know. So
I'd rather stand on the side of humanity, or I'd
rather stide on stand on the side of truth, or
(14:25):
I'd rather cast my vote for people who will deliver
on their word or whatever the case is, and their hope.
And I can't knock them for it, but their hope
will be that perhaps the next administration that espouses their
political views will actually deliver on those promises. And that
seems about as good a tactic as any at this
(14:45):
point for those folks. So yeah, we'll see what happens.
Today's guest is the author of the book Trap History
and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Shaw.
Speaker 1 (15:03):
All Right, moving on, I clocked this one early. This
is interesting. This comes from Radar Online. Fox News. Is
Sean Hannity and Cornell West, doctor Cornell West clash over
ousted Harvard President Claudine Gay. First off, before I read this,
did you see this exchange of these two?
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yes, yeah, yeah, it was.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
Yeah, it was talking over each other, but yeah, I
got it, I got it.
Speaker 1 (15:28):
Sure, Sure, it was fantastic to watch, man, it was,
but you're right, they were talking over each other. For
those that haven't seen it, I'll read a bit. Hannity
introduced West, to whom you described as his former friend,
with a hint of disappointment in his voice. He criticized
West for resorting to the race card and claiming racism
as the reason for Gay's ousting. Arguing that her removal
(15:49):
was not motivated by race. Hennedy quote, I mean, you
always call me brother Hannity, and I know you teach divinity,
but doctor West, really this is really beneath you, if
you don't mind me being very blunt. Hannity told West
goes on to say, for you to go to the
race card and say that doctor Gabe was pushed out
because of racism. That's not why she was pushed out.
You know the code of conduct as well as anybody
(16:10):
at Harvard. And then a response from doctor West. You know,
and I know there has been attempts to impost tremendous
pressures on universities, with big money donors dictating various conditions
under which they will give, and there's been attempts to
reshape universities. Now you and I know there's Orthodoxes in
the universities, and I'm against all Orthodoxes, there's no doubt
(16:34):
about that. But the very notion that you think that
it was about plagiarism, that's window dressing. And then the
final thing, he mentions that Lawrence Tribe plagiarized from Peter J.
Abrams much more than she did, and he remained a
prize professor at Harvard Law. So let's get your thoughts,
because I know that kind of watching it. They were
(16:55):
talking over each other. But how did it hit you?
Speaker 3 (16:58):
Well, I mean, it's Sean Hannity, and I think Hannedy
knows his audience and he knows that claiming reverse racism
is on par with the people who follow him. So
I wasn't surprised in that sense. But the entire backlash
from doctor claudon Gay's resignation from Harvard, uh is what
doctor West said, it stems from racism. We've seen right
wing figures use social media as a way to attack
(17:20):
her credentials and academia. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman he used
racial rhetoric, claiming that Gay was only higher because of
the d I initiatives, which isn't disregarding all of her
noted achievements in academia.
Speaker 1 (17:35):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (17:36):
And which is so interesting is that Ackman's wife, who
was a professor at M I T, She's been saying this, Yeah,
she's taught out for plagiarism as well, when which is
crazy because she plagiarized Wikipedia.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
So I didn't know that, yeah, yeah, And so.
Speaker 3 (17:53):
It's just you know, it's just it's just really uh,
you know, you know, they they're using uh, plagiarism as
a way to attack Claudine Gay and and you know,
because she's a woman of color, yeah, first at Harvard,
and so uh is basically a knock on black achievement.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
We just have to call it what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:13):
And so I think I think doctor Cornell West was
right on par with what it really is. And in
terms of doctor Gay's what they call plagiarism, it was
really just in terms of just what they call sloppy work,
a bad citations.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (18:29):
So you know you won't get uh then talk about
you know, students being held to that same accountability. No
student is going to get put out of Harvard for
misplacing citations.
Speaker 2 (18:39):
So we just have to call it, you know, call
it what it is.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
And I think doctor West was right and call it
and saying it racism was the reason why doctor Gay.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Uh sure, sure absolutely one of the things that it
sort of occurred to me. Let me, let me paint
a picture for our listeners and see if you follow
me here. If I'm out and the police decide that
(19:12):
they have a problem with me, right and they want
to harm me or arrest me or take me to
jail or something like that for whatever their reason. Right,
And they approach me and they questioned me and blah
blah blah. Okay, and I pass and I have witnesses
and support and everyone says no, no, no, police, you're wrong,
(19:35):
that's not what happened. Blah blah blah. And then I'm
free to go. And those police are so upset that
they could not get me, and then they start looking
for another reason. Then it starts to border on this
(19:58):
sort of like bullying type but behavior and abusive power. Right,
they're investigating, oh, well, you know what, you can't drive
away because you have a broken tail light, and they'll
wait for me to drive a little bit, you know,
and then pull me over and then they now they
have just cause to arrest me. Right, So that's what
this looks like. The thing is, if the police did
(20:19):
not do that to other people, if the police officer's
own wife had a broken tail light, then to me,
it's like, oh, you're being selective. You're choosing to do
this because you didn't get your way. You're choosing to
do this because you thought that you could, and it
embarrassed you when you found out that you couldn't, and
(20:39):
you're choosing to do this to me when you have it,
when you don't even have your own house in order.
So to me, the only thing that would motivate a
person beyond all of those extra factors would be racism.
And I think that, you know, on a long form
show like this, we can really hash things like that out.
But when you have a clip with Sean Hannity and
(21:02):
it's two minutes long, and you know you got to
get off whatever you got to get off, and Sean
Hannity sucks up three minutes worth of the oxygen, either
talking himself or talking over you, then it's very difficult
to make that point. But those of us in the
no No, and I feel like that probably wasn't the
(21:24):
strongest move for doctor West. But I also realized that
he's running for president, and so he has to play
the game and also walk in his truth. And again
in a show like Hannity's show, where he controls the
mic and the optics and again the oxygen and the conversation,
you can get starved out. With that said, I absolutely
(21:47):
believe that doctor West held his own He did not move.
He spoke with a lot of strength. And you know,
if there's anybody brilliant enough to make their point, it's
certainly not Rams's. It would be doctor. Don't know. So
if I can make my point, I'm sure he could.
He just probably didn't have the as much of a
(22:07):
stage and time wise as I would have liked, But
he still held his own and I thought it was
fantastic to watch. Moving on last, but not least man,
I'm gonna put this ball in your court, sir, because
you know me. I don't like to touch these if
I don't have to. But this comes from the Atlanta
Black Star Kiki Palmer's post about men who hate black
women but still date them. It's home for many, all right,
(22:30):
So the post and I'll read it just so our
listeners will have that benefit of knowing. The post was
titled how can I hate Black women when I date them?
All right? So this is her post very easily, So
glad you asked the question. It's very easy to date
someone you don't respect when you're looking for ways to
feel better about yourself, even if you are less successful
(22:52):
than said woman. There is still a history of propaganda
that tells you you will always be the be better
than she is. This is based off of racial oppression
and gender oppression. You may think you have created a
win win scenario for yourself to finally be better than someone.
This is when the one sided competition begins. But the
gag is you can't break a spirit that's already been
(23:13):
broken open when you experience oppression, At least from where
I'm standing, there isn't anything that can take you down.
So for my sisters that have found themselves sleeping with
an enemy or two, they were supposed to be able
to break you. Everyone said you are an easy target,
but you just keep winning, and this breaks their reality.
They couldn't beat the one person they were supposed to
(23:35):
be able to beat because you weren't competing anyway. And
now they're watching you rise up against it all in
the ways they never could. Just know they hate you
because they aren't who the world told them you'd be.
Keep winning, y'all, keep creating the only reality there ever was,
which is us winning in love, in work, in life,
(23:56):
in everything. So your take, sir, I mean, it's you know, unfortunate.
Speaker 3 (24:04):
Kiki Palmer is going through uh a traumatic situation, traumat
traumatic ordeal with the father of her child, and so
a lot of this is playing out in the in
the public sphere where uh, you know, she has to
you know, go back and forth on social media about what,
you know, her present relationship. And so I think that
particularly user struck a nerve, and she was writing a
(24:25):
lot of in a lot of instances and with some
of the things that she said, you know, of course,
you know, you know, there's a lot of systemic racism
that occurred on our community that has created this rifk
between black women and black men, and so we see
further perpetuated h on podcasts on social media. So she's
writing in a sense even even I'm you know, in
(24:47):
terms of you know, a black woman having a bit
more credentials than I guess her partner. Uh, kind of
brings me to another uh you know situation that has
curved with someone Bowels and her husband. Uh but he
on a Pivot podcast saying that he was the catch,
which is to me, is insane considering all of her accomplishments.
(25:08):
So we've you know, there's been another dialogue on that
front as well, in terms of success and how black.
Speaker 2 (25:15):
Women are treated in relationships.
Speaker 3 (25:16):
And so I think she has the right to really
you know, you know, put forth her emotions when it
comes to this rik between black men and women. But
I think all of us we got to heal at
some point. We can't just keep throwing this negative, this
negativity out. There's a lot of black couples who have
been married for years and decades that can show us
(25:37):
how to do it, and I think we follow those
examples instead of just go on to social media or
podcasts to tell us how we should conduct our relationships.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
Sure, sure, and I think that that's more than fair.
But as I mentioned, I try not to you know,
step in it into too much of you know, the
relationship conversations, just because it's it's a very I live
in fear of the day when I'm going to get
cornered and have to have this conversation because I really
(26:09):
don't want to misspeak and hurt someone's feelings. And then, yeah,
so I appreciate your input more than you know, because
obviously we need to talk about these things. It's just
I haven't found how to be the best version of
myself really since the Me Too movement. I felt like
it's one of the things that I got from that
(26:31):
is that men need to do a lot more in
the way of listening and a lot less in the
way of talking. And so as a man, I was like, Okay, well,
then we'll do this. And if I'm ever entitled to
a you know, a little bit of conversation, you know,
at present, I can still do it one on one,
you know, one on two. But it's it's tough to
(26:56):
have an opinion that I'm able to voice out loud,
not saying that I agree or disagree, but it's just
like it's almost like a no win situation, at least
in my view, and it's a very scary place to
be in. So for those that are brave enough to
speak up, like Keiki Palmer and people like yourself, you know,
I'm still listening and I think I will continue to
(27:16):
do so. So again, thank you very much for your
insight on this and all the rest of our stories.
Once again, Today's guest is the author of the book
Trap History and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World,
Mister A. R. Shaw. This has been a production of
the Black Information Network. Today's show was 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,
(27:39):
be sure to hit subscribe and download all of our
episodes I'm your host Ramsey's Jaw on all social media,
and 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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