July 1, 2024 • 27 mins
Author and Executive Editor of Atlanta Daily World AR Shaw joins Host Ramses Ja to discuss reaction to Thursday's debate, the BET Awards, and other major stories from this weekend.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're 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.
(00:21):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast, and I'm
your host rams this job. All right, mister A. Rshaw,
Welcome back to the show. What is the latest and
greatest in your world today?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sir man, it seems like we've had like two months
in a span of a week, so so much new,
so much things that have happened since the last time
we got a chance.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
To catch up. Man. Oh yeah, let's get right to.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It, all right, let's get to it then. I'm not
mad at that. So obviously, the big news still in
the political arena is the debate. So I'll start us
off with an article from Reuter's. President Joe Biden delivered
a shaky halting for performance while his Republican rival Donald
Trump battled him with a series of often false attacks
(01:06):
at their debate on Thursday, as the two oldest presidential
candidates ever exchanged personal insults ahead of the November election.
The two men traded barbs on abortion, immigration, and the
wars in Ukraine and Gaza, their handling of the economy,
and even their golf games as they each sought to
shake up what opinion polls show has been virtually a
tide race for months. So I know you covered this extensively.
(01:30):
I know you had a watch party. Just give us
a sense of what people are talking about on the
ground and how people are feeling. I know this was
last week, but I know it's still very much in
the air.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So the debate actually took place in Atlanta, and it
was a big deal in terms of multiple stories. So
the first story is that black media wasn't allowed into
the actual dibuti.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah I heard that.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, he gave us this big issue that no black
owned media outlet got a credential to actually cover the debate.
And of course I'm the executivedics of the Atlanta Daily World,
which is the oldest black daily publication in America. But
we never got a credential application application from CNN and
so this this thing blew up maybe like two or
(02:16):
three days before the actual debate, and you just had,
you know, several black owned media outlets speak out and say,
why wasn't there any black on media credential for this debate?
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah. I was going to add, you know that I
don't know that they respect black jobs, so you know.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
So we could get to the black jobs. So the
debate happens and so okay. So so going back, of course,
you know, there was an issue with CNN and not
inviting black press, and then the biggest thing was eight
hundred media outlets invited or credential to this debate and
also international media they can't even vote in the election.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
That got de abs over black media outlets. Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
But moving forward to Biden, had Ris administration reached out
to our publication and invited us to the watch party,
which took place in downtown Atlanta. And getting to the debate,
you know, there was a lot of excitement in the air,
felt like a political rally, uh, prior to the debate.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And then the debate happens and we're like, what is
going on?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So Joe Biden, he has several moments where he just uh,
seems like he's like either overthinking, Uh, maybe he had
a cold. It's his his voice sound, and then he
just lost his train of thought on several occasions. And
so it was just you could you could fill the
room kind of the air let out of the room. Uh,
(03:47):
you know, once the debate started, and you know, it
was just a big you know, it was a big thing.
It was you know, it was like some you know,
something that you don't expect you It's kind of interesting
to be on in a room for of Biden and
hire supporters and just see what what occurred in terms
of his stumbles and how he wasn't really able to
(04:08):
gather himself. I got an opportunity to speak with several
individuals who actually in the room that night, and for them,
they continue to support uh Biden.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Of course, there's been calls to have Biden stepped down.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The New York Times, uh and the a j C
wrote an editorial piece saying that Biden should step down.
But the Philadelphia Inquirer they kind of counted that and said,
you know, Trump is the only one who has has
thirty four felonies. They haven't asked him to step down.
And so there's just been this hole back and forth
about just you know, what can be what should be
(04:42):
done in terms of should Biden step out of the race,
should he continue, or you know, should should they find
a replacement? And so we've been we've been seeing this
stuff happen back and forth, and of course, uh, former
President Barack Obama spoke out in support of Biden. H
Jazz Representative Representative Jaz mccrockert from Texas, she's spoken out
(05:04):
to support Biden. And so we're just going to see
how this whole thing plays out. But last week was
a debacle on many ends.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Oh yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I came
across on social media that and you know, longtime listeners
will know that I'm not once upon a time I was.
I've never been a big Biden fan. He was just
I was a Bernie fan. But he was the guy
that was not Trump, right, and so that's the guy
as long as we keep Trump out of there, that's
(05:35):
my guy, right. And then obviously his handling of the
warrant guys are that just affected me deeply and I
just it's hard to be excited about him. But the
fact remains, he's still not Donald Trump. And I came
across a piece of wisdom, i'll call it on social
media that kind of reframed things after the debate, and
it said basically that we're not just voting for Joe
(06:01):
Biden or for Donald Trump. We're voting for the administrations
of Joe Biden and the administration of Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And if you look at what these administrations have done,
and if you base the future on what you believe
the administrations will do, because both of them have had,
you know, a full term and a full go at it,
and one of us, one of the administrations was really
(06:34):
was really good for rich folks. You've got to bear
in mind that all of the deregulations and all of
the things that happened that led to where we are
right now, that was enacted under the former president. And
you know, the bounce back, the rebound comes from the
current administration and the lingering effects of the previous administration
(06:57):
still need to be remedied.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And so.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Joe Biden has made a case that hey, look, if
if I get a little bit more time, I can
get more student debt relief out, I can get more
I can get these these prices back down for groceries
I can get, you know what I mean, because that's
those are my goals.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And I.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Think when you when you frame it in that way,
that there's an administration that this person has put together
and not just him, you you're able to see beyond
kind of the debate stage. Now, this is of course
me painting a silver lining around it, because I think
everyone wants and espouses the idea of a strong leader
who's coherent and and you know, engaged and so forth.
(07:45):
But you know, we have two choices, and one of
those guys is going to be the president. You know,
it doesn't seem like Joe Biden is interested in stepping down.
So one of them will be the president, and that
president said administration will execute the major functions of this country.
And so again that was a way of reframing it. Again,
(08:07):
I'm not a fan of either of these people. This
is not an endorsement per se. It's just the sobering
reality is that one of those two men will be
the president, and their respective administrations will frame our lives.
And you know, as often as I get a mic
in an audience, I will remind folks that Project twenty
twenty five exists, and that is a rather longer commitment
(08:30):
that Republicans want to make on behalf of this country
to conservativism, which if you look at you know, the
most conservative states, the reddest states, you know, where you
know the people are the poorest, where the education rates
are the worst, and on and on and on, then
you can see that that that firm conservativism, that Bible conservativism,
(08:55):
is not an effective strategy for governing a state, much
less a country. Now you can make the argument that
cities have a lot of crime, but cities have more people,
you know what I mean, and so just you know,
but outside of that, in terms of like the measurable
segments of a society that we tend to look at
(09:17):
to determine the health of a group of folks, you know,
those deeply read states, those Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, those places
where they're put in the Bible or sorry, the Ten
Commandments up in classrooms, those states. Healthcare, all that stuff. Man,
those the ideas that these people have have not historically
(09:37):
proven the work. Now, granted again, cities have some more
engineering to figure out, but I think morally it's a
little bit more in align with the Bible, believe it
or not, and that these folks are humanitarian A. And
then b. You know, there's a lot more in the
way of rich people, if that's what you want from
this country. And there's a lot more in the way
(09:58):
of humanitarian efforts, which which again that California hasn't fallen
off into the water just yet. So again, think about
the administrations in vote accordingly. Moving on next up from
NBC News, the Washington, DC City Council approved a budget
for next year that includes funds for a Reparation's task
Force is scheduled to study restitution and to develop proposals
(10:19):
to address the harms of slavery. The allocation makes Washington
the latest city to develop legislation aimed at rectifying historical
wrongs against black Americans and their impact on their descendants.
The funding makes up one point five million dollars of
the city's twenty one billion dollar budget, which the DC
Council approved Tuesday. According to The Washington Post, the twenty
(10:40):
twenty five budget includes a provision directing the Chief Financial
Officer to allocate money for the Task Force. The legislation
to create the task forces aimed at developing reparations for
black residents quote directly wronged and traumatized by the ills
of slavery, Jim Crow and structural and institutional racismote The
bill reads. It also requires the Commissioner of the Apartment
(11:00):
of Insurance, Securities and Banking to create a slavery era
database of slaveholding records, including life insurance policies on enslaved persons.
So it's not nothing. I was glad to read it.
How about you.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, it's something, but it's really you know, when you
look at the numbers, it's really like a drop in
the bucket because they're only allocating one point five million
out of the twenty one billion dollar budget from and
so it's really like a drop in the bucket.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
But at the same time, of course, this is a
step forward.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Any type of step forward is good in terms of
the fight for reparations. But we're going to see what
happens and how this thing moves forward. Now we've seen
what happened in Everston, Illinois, which is one of the
only towns that actually implement some type of reparations for citizens,
and now they're facing a lawsuit by a conservative group
(11:53):
which says that it's legal to give black people reparations
when we were actually old reparations.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
So we're going to see how this.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Task force put implements or put together a plan, because
that's what it is, it's basically putting together a plan
to move of action. How do you how do you
move forward to this and get this thing passed in
a house and the Senate. And so I think the
first step in I guess a long road towards reparations.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Sure, sure, And I think that that that that attack on,
you know, the reparations by conservatives and the attack on
you know, the teaching of black history what they call
critical race theory, and the attack on the Fearless Fund,
(12:41):
which was the fund that was designated for black women,
because I think it's something like ninety nine or almost
ninety nine percent of money allocated for minorities doesn't go
to black women at all, Like federal funding that's supposed
to go to minorities doesn't go to black women at all.
Most of it goes to women, White women. Most of
(13:03):
the money, most of the ninety nine or one hundred
percent of the money goes to white women. And I
think it's maybe like less than one percent or around
one percent makes its way to black women. So the
Fearless Fund that was designed to offset that. Clearly, it's
an injustice that has also come under attack by conservative groups,
(13:25):
and they are succeeding. Now, imagine to take it back
to the first story. If Project twenty twenty five succeeds
and they get all of the conservative judges in the
places that they want, they get all of the people
in position that they want. Because they'll have the presidency,
they give these positions more power and more authority, and
they have the legal strategies to do it. If you
(13:46):
are familiar with Project twenty twenty five, they will fundamentally
reshape this country for the next hundred years in their favor.
So everyone who likes the idea of hey, look, we
did have to go through slavery. Maybe not us personally,
but our people did. We had to endure Jim Crow.
We were artificially repressed from achieving any meaningful wealth to
(14:11):
be able to pass down to our descendants, which is
us today. And reparations would remedy those injustices of the past,
and the same way that the United States of America
has paid reparations to almost everyone that they've wrong. One,
let me not say that, but there's a good number
of people that they've wrong. You know, Japanese people were
(14:34):
paid reparations because they were put in a what is
it the concentration camps or the internment camps or whatever
in World War two. During World War two, they were
paid reparations for that. Of course, Native Americans were paid
reparations right for the injustices that this country did to them. Right,
So for those of us that feel like, hey, these
(14:56):
reparations would offset some of the eng justices that our
people have endured, and indeed partially remedy the economic injustice
that we are still suffering through today. For those people
that this, then decide to vote for Donald Trump, who
will one hundred percent enact this project twenty twenty five.
(15:17):
And he doesn't even have to do it. The people
in his administration will do it right, and then they
reshape the courts and guess what is off the table
in perpetuity may as well be at least for the
rest of our lives. All the conversations about CRT, the
conversations about reparation, the conversations about the Fearless Fund, the converse,
all these conversations that are decidedly pro black gone is.
(15:41):
They don't want it. They want this country to be
reshaped fundamentally as a white, a white preferred country, and
anybody black that goes along with it can be included
to a lesser degree. Clarence Thomas, I'm looking at you
so again, there's only one way to engage in a democracy,
(16:02):
which is vote. The last thing I'll say about this, too,
is that this one point five million is allocated or
a task force for in investigating what reparations could look like.
It's not the indeed the reparations itself. It's just allocated
for a task force, meaning they're exploring it. So I
don't want to misrepresent what they're doing in DC. They're
(16:23):
just kind of researching it and they're allocating some money
for that.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Join us for the National Urban League Conference in New
Orleans July twenty fourth through the twenty seventh at HIGHD Regency,
New Orleans. Don't miss out register today at nuelconference dot org.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Today's guest is the author of the book Trap History
and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R. Shaw.
All Right. Next up from Newsweek and Atlanta Black barbershop
owners said on Friday that he lost business after he
was misled in the host a campaign event for former
President Donald Trump. I saw this one On Wednesday, a
(17:04):
day before Trump debated President Joe Biden on the CNN
stage in Atlanta, the former president sur gets held an event,
the Black American Business Leader Barbershop Roundtable at Rocky's Barbershop
that included a surprise phone call from Trump himself. Jones
said that he has quote no involvement in politics and
quote and added that he was under the assumption that
the event was meant to be a forum for small
(17:26):
black owned businesses. A Trump campaign source, however, told Newsweek
by an email on Saturday night, quote the business owner
signed an agreement with the Trump campaign and received payment
for the time spent in his location for this event.
End quote. So I saw the video of him talking
about it. I kind of believe what happened. I mean,
talk us through this man.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
This is another incident that occurred in Ali.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
But the day before the debate, Trump team they actually
so this is this is what happened.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
So the Trump team they actually reached out to our publication.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And and what was interesting is that they denied my
credential but they accepted the credentials from from my colleague
who's a bit younger.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
So so I.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Don't not sure if they read any of my articles,
uh you know, uh that I that I'm very critical
of Trump, you know ad w.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
So I'm not sure, but that was one issue. And
so I talked to my colleague.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
She actually covered the event, and we had had a
discussion about it, and she said, from the beginning, it
was just kind of like chaos. It was like Trump
called in and he said that the reason why black
people and Latinos want to vote for him is because
when he was in Fulton County that he got the
mug shot when he was arrested.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And so he's basically.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Again equating criminal activity to black people and saying that
because he's a criminal that black people support him, you know,
another racist trouble by Trump. That was one thing that
was and so, uh you know, maybe a day or
two later, the owner of the shop says that that
he didn't know, he was unaware that, uh, this was
some type of Trump affiliated event. But I'm trying to
(19:08):
figure that out because when you look, when you when
you look on the screen, it had some type of
uh messaging about Trump on the screen at the barber shop.
So I'm just trying to figure out where that disconnect
was and if there was an issue. I'm trying to
figure out why he didn't stop it in the midst
of realizing that this is some type of campaign or
(19:30):
political event held at his shop, and so he has
to take responsibility himself for not doing his due diligence.
And also when he found out I'm sure he was
in the midst of this stuff happening while you know,
Trump calls in, You know, why don't you just end
it there and say, look, you know, because you gotta
understand it does the members of the media that's.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Watching you right now. I think you could have rectified
this situation in real time.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Well, you know, you might be right, because it's it's
maybe he was thinking it was one thing. You know,
I know that when they say we're going to pay
you to use your facility to host an event, that
can be enticing, especially if you're you know, blue collar barber,
you know, just kind of working. You know, some extra
(20:19):
bread might might help with them groceries. Right, But when
I saw his interview, I felt like, you know, this
feels very trumpish, you know what I mean. We covered
something not too long ago where Trump did a black
like one of those blacks for Trump event. I don't
love the way that sounds. It just grosses me out.
(20:40):
But he did one of those events, and I believe
it was Michigan, probably Detroit, and he went to a
black church and he was on stage with like three
or four black folks, and then the camera pans to
the audience. You saw this, right, the camera pans are
the audience. Everybody is white. You know, there might have
been one black person in the audience. So at you know,
the smoke and mirrors thing is, you know, they're really
(21:02):
good at that. Well, they're not perfect at it, clearly
because we can see through some of us can see
through it. But you know, in terms of their the
optics that they choose to play up and the media
outlets that they work with, you know, the handful of
black people that watch them will feed into that and say,
you know what, if I'm an independent and I see
(21:24):
what Trump is doing and I see what Biden is doing,
you know, I believe Trump's case against Biden, you know,
and so those people are susceptible. But I think it's
largely smoking mirrors because on this side where I'm again
very critical of Donald Trump, he has so many holes
pokeds so frequently that it's just it's a no brainer.
He lost me way before this. But when he said
(21:44):
you can walk up to somebody and grab them, you know,
by the blank, I was like, what a disgusting person,
just a disgusting human being. And then somehow he was
able to walk that back. Oh, it's just locker room talk.
I would never do that. No, man, we know who
you are, your famous a playboy. Anyway, let me not
rand When I saw the Gentleman's interview the owner of
(22:06):
the barbershop, and he was like, hey man, these people
were in there talking and I was just like, all right, well,
this is a different vibe than I thought. And then
Trump called in, and you know, I could see, you know,
for a person, because he said he's not a political guy,
That's what he said. He never said he was anti
Trump or pro Biden or anything like that. But I
(22:29):
could see him like in that moment being like, oh
my god, this is something different than what I thought
it was going to be. And that part at least
felt sincere. Now, whether or not he should have ended
it right there or whatever. You know, For someone like me, yeah,
of course I would end it right there. I kicked
the phone out of the wall. But you know, for
someone who's not political, it's like, yo, I didn't sign
up for this. They pulled a fast one on me.
(22:52):
You know, I remember when Giuliani had something at the
Four Seasons what was it, landscaping company. They had to
do a press conference or whatever. It's because they meant
to do it at the Four Seasons hotel, and you know,
they just again smoking mirrors, like, hey, let's turn this
wrong into a right, you know what I mean. So
they moved. They're sort of shifty people over there, so
(23:14):
I could see them, you know, just putting some papers
in front of a guy. Sign here, sign here, or
however it comes together.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Or maybe the guy didn't do his due diligence and
didn't see a couple of layers deep that hey, this
is Donald Trump his people doing this thing. Or because
you know, you could name it like the conservative black
business Blah for America or something like that, or you know,
turning Point USA doesn't sound conservative until you look behind
the curtain. So who knows, but you know, my heart
(23:42):
goes out to the guy because he said he lost
business over it and didn't seem to be a Trump fan.
So anyway, last story. The BET Awards twenty twenty four
was hosted by actress, author and producer Taji p Henson
and it was another incredible ceremony celebrating black excellence in entertainment.
The event took place in l at Peacock Theater on
June thirtieth. I know you got some stuff to report
(24:07):
from this, so talk to me, man.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, the BT Awards.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
You know, it's always exciting to see what happens the
Monday morning quarterback and of the BBOT Awards, because that's
so many opinions about what actually happened on the stage.
Because there's a mixture of a lot of blackness, and
it's the ugly part of black what some would call
the ratchet side. You got some spiritual side, like you
(24:32):
have so much, so many components all put together in
this one show. So I can kind of just break
things down for you and just talk about some of
the things that people are talking about this morning. Of course,
some people are upset about the sexty Red performance. It
was you know kind of you know, she does a
thing and you know, the ratchet twerking on stage and
things of that nature. People thought that was kind of
(24:53):
a little bit overboard. But because at the same time
you had another performance by Harris and Van Van, which
are kids. They're like, you know, they're like, I think
like six or eight, they're like kids, right, So it
was just a mixture of just like a lot of
things that were happened that was happening. Another another interesting
moment is that VP Kamala Harris, she did like a
(25:16):
call in uh to talk to R. J.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
P Henson during the show, and so.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
She she she utters the phrase she says that uh,
basically referring to the Trump administration. She says they not
like us, and so that other thing. On social media,
you know, of course, some people are saying that she
was pandering, she's trying to pannering, she's doing too much, uh.
And so that was that was another discussion that was happening.
Should should politics be involved in in the BT Awards?
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
That was that was a moment. Also Killing Mike he
he came up. He had ah he won album other year,
which kudos Killer Mike uh for for the album Michael,
which won multiple Grammys, and he got on stage and
he spoke about, uh, just his incident at the Grammy
Award when he was arrested a month prior, back in February,
he was arrested at the Grammy Awards, and so he
(26:05):
talked about his redemption and coming back. He also had
Will Smith doing a song with Kirk Franklin, which was
something that we never expected. So, you know, I guess
it's just like Will Smith's Redemption tour. It was like
a kind of like a gospel spiritual type song that
he debuted at the BT Awards.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
So, like I said, with the BT Awards, there's so.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Much, so much to unpack because so much happens on
this one stage and on one night, and it kind
of gives you. It kind of puts all a lot
of aspects of blackness in one at one in one
place at one time, and so it has a lot
of a lot of different opinions.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Following the BT Awards.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Sure, sure, sure, well I know that it was. So
I had a friend that was actually at the BET
Awards and so I got a little bit of like
behind the scenes facetimes and little pictures and stuff here
and there, so it looked like a success overall. And
you're right, you know it's sometimes a mixed bag, but
(27:05):
you know, for better or worse, the culture moves forward,
and you know it's a celebration, so we take it accordingly.
So yeah, I'm not mad at it one bit. So
we'll leave that right there. That's the news, and as always,
i'd like to thank you for your time and your insight.
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
(27:29):
the Black Information Network. Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson.
Have some thoughts you'd like to share, use the red
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join us tomorrow as we share our news with our
voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information
(27:49):
Network Daily Podcast.
You're 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.
(00:21):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast, and I'm
your host rams this job. All right, mister A. Rshaw,
Welcome back to the show. What is the latest and
greatest in your world today?
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Sir man, it seems like we've had like two months
in a span of a week, so so much new,
so much things that have happened since the last time
we got a chance.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
To catch up. Man. Oh yeah, let's get right to.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
It, all right, let's get to it then. I'm not
mad at that. So obviously, the big news still in
the political arena is the debate. So I'll start us
off with an article from Reuter's. President Joe Biden delivered
a shaky halting for performance while his Republican rival Donald
Trump battled him with a series of often false attacks
(01:06):
at their debate on Thursday, as the two oldest presidential
candidates ever exchanged personal insults ahead of the November election.
The two men traded barbs on abortion, immigration, and the
wars in Ukraine and Gaza, their handling of the economy,
and even their golf games as they each sought to
shake up what opinion polls show has been virtually a
tide race for months. So I know you covered this extensively.
(01:30):
I know you had a watch party. Just give us
a sense of what people are talking about on the
ground and how people are feeling. I know this was
last week, but I know it's still very much in
the air.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
So the debate actually took place in Atlanta, and it
was a big deal in terms of multiple stories. So
the first story is that black media wasn't allowed into
the actual dibuti.
Speaker 1 (01:55):
Yeah I heard that.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Yeah, he gave us this big issue that no black
owned media outlet got a credential to actually cover the debate.
And of course I'm the executivedics of the Atlanta Daily World,
which is the oldest black daily publication in America. But
we never got a credential application application from CNN and
so this this thing blew up maybe like two or
(02:16):
three days before the actual debate, and you just had,
you know, several black owned media outlets speak out and say,
why wasn't there any black on media credential for this debate?
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Yeah. I was going to add, you know that I
don't know that they respect black jobs, so you know.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
So we could get to the black jobs. So the
debate happens and so okay. So so going back, of course,
you know, there was an issue with CNN and not
inviting black press, and then the biggest thing was eight
hundred media outlets invited or credential to this debate and
also international media they can't even vote in the election.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
That got de abs over black media outlets. Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:03):
But moving forward to Biden, had Ris administration reached out
to our publication and invited us to the watch party,
which took place in downtown Atlanta. And getting to the debate,
you know, there was a lot of excitement in the air,
felt like a political rally, uh, prior to the debate.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
And then the debate happens and we're like, what is
going on?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So Joe Biden, he has several moments where he just uh,
seems like he's like either overthinking, Uh, maybe he had
a cold. It's his his voice sound, and then he
just lost his train of thought on several occasions. And
so it was just you could you could fill the
room kind of the air let out of the room. Uh,
(03:47):
you know, once the debate started, and you know, it
was just a big you know, it was a big thing.
It was you know, it was like some you know,
something that you don't expect you It's kind of interesting
to be on in a room for of Biden and
hire supporters and just see what what occurred in terms
of his stumbles and how he wasn't really able to
(04:08):
gather himself. I got an opportunity to speak with several
individuals who actually in the room that night, and for them,
they continue to support uh Biden.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Of course, there's been calls to have Biden stepped down.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
The New York Times, uh and the a j C
wrote an editorial piece saying that Biden should step down.
But the Philadelphia Inquirer they kind of counted that and said,
you know, Trump is the only one who has has
thirty four felonies. They haven't asked him to step down.
And so there's just been this hole back and forth
about just you know, what can be what should be
(04:42):
done in terms of should Biden step out of the race,
should he continue, or you know, should should they find
a replacement? And so we've been we've been seeing this
stuff happen back and forth, and of course, uh, former
President Barack Obama spoke out in support of Biden. H
Jazz Representative Representative Jaz mccrockert from Texas, she's spoken out
(05:04):
to support Biden. And so we're just going to see
how this whole thing plays out. But last week was
a debacle on many ends.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Oh yeah, absolutely. One of the things that I came
across on social media that and you know, longtime listeners
will know that I'm not once upon a time I was.
I've never been a big Biden fan. He was just
I was a Bernie fan. But he was the guy
that was not Trump, right, and so that's the guy
as long as we keep Trump out of there, that's
(05:35):
my guy, right. And then obviously his handling of the
warrant guys are that just affected me deeply and I
just it's hard to be excited about him. But the
fact remains, he's still not Donald Trump. And I came
across a piece of wisdom, i'll call it on social
media that kind of reframed things after the debate, and
it said basically that we're not just voting for Joe
(06:01):
Biden or for Donald Trump. We're voting for the administrations
of Joe Biden and the administration of Donald Trump.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Right.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
And if you look at what these administrations have done,
and if you base the future on what you believe
the administrations will do, because both of them have had,
you know, a full term and a full go at it,
and one of us, one of the administrations was really
(06:34):
was really good for rich folks. You've got to bear
in mind that all of the deregulations and all of
the things that happened that led to where we are
right now, that was enacted under the former president. And
you know, the bounce back, the rebound comes from the
current administration and the lingering effects of the previous administration
(06:57):
still need to be remedied.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And so.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
Joe Biden has made a case that hey, look, if
if I get a little bit more time, I can
get more student debt relief out, I can get more
I can get these these prices back down for groceries
I can get, you know what I mean, because that's
those are my goals.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And I.
Speaker 1 (07:21):
Think when you when you frame it in that way,
that there's an administration that this person has put together
and not just him, you you're able to see beyond
kind of the debate stage. Now, this is of course
me painting a silver lining around it, because I think
everyone wants and espouses the idea of a strong leader
who's coherent and and you know, engaged and so forth.
(07:45):
But you know, we have two choices, and one of
those guys is going to be the president. You know,
it doesn't seem like Joe Biden is interested in stepping down.
So one of them will be the president, and that
president said administration will execute the major functions of this country.
And so again that was a way of reframing it. Again,
(08:07):
I'm not a fan of either of these people. This
is not an endorsement per se. It's just the sobering
reality is that one of those two men will be
the president, and their respective administrations will frame our lives.
And you know, as often as I get a mic
in an audience, I will remind folks that Project twenty
twenty five exists, and that is a rather longer commitment
(08:30):
that Republicans want to make on behalf of this country
to conservativism, which if you look at you know, the
most conservative states, the reddest states, you know, where you
know the people are the poorest, where the education rates
are the worst, and on and on and on, then
you can see that that that firm conservativism, that Bible conservativism,
(08:55):
is not an effective strategy for governing a state, much
less a country. Now you can make the argument that
cities have a lot of crime, but cities have more people,
you know what I mean, and so just you know,
but outside of that, in terms of like the measurable
segments of a society that we tend to look at
(09:17):
to determine the health of a group of folks, you know,
those deeply read states, those Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, those places
where they're put in the Bible or sorry, the Ten
Commandments up in classrooms, those states. Healthcare, all that stuff. Man,
those the ideas that these people have have not historically
(09:37):
proven the work. Now, granted again, cities have some more
engineering to figure out, but I think morally it's a
little bit more in align with the Bible, believe it
or not, and that these folks are humanitarian A. And
then b. You know, there's a lot more in the
way of rich people, if that's what you want from
this country. And there's a lot more in the way
(09:58):
of humanitarian efforts, which which again that California hasn't fallen
off into the water just yet. So again, think about
the administrations in vote accordingly. Moving on next up from
NBC News, the Washington, DC City Council approved a budget
for next year that includes funds for a Reparation's task
Force is scheduled to study restitution and to develop proposals
(10:19):
to address the harms of slavery. The allocation makes Washington
the latest city to develop legislation aimed at rectifying historical
wrongs against black Americans and their impact on their descendants.
The funding makes up one point five million dollars of
the city's twenty one billion dollar budget, which the DC
Council approved Tuesday. According to The Washington Post, the twenty
(10:40):
twenty five budget includes a provision directing the Chief Financial
Officer to allocate money for the Task Force. The legislation
to create the task forces aimed at developing reparations for
black residents quote directly wronged and traumatized by the ills
of slavery, Jim Crow and structural and institutional racismote The
bill reads. It also requires the Commissioner of the Apartment
(11:00):
of Insurance, Securities and Banking to create a slavery era
database of slaveholding records, including life insurance policies on enslaved persons.
So it's not nothing. I was glad to read it.
How about you.
Speaker 2 (11:15):
Yeah, it's something, but it's really you know, when you
look at the numbers, it's really like a drop in
the bucket because they're only allocating one point five million
out of the twenty one billion dollar budget from and
so it's really like a drop in the bucket.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
But at the same time, of course, this is a
step forward.
Speaker 2 (11:32):
Any type of step forward is good in terms of
the fight for reparations. But we're going to see what
happens and how this thing moves forward. Now we've seen
what happened in Everston, Illinois, which is one of the
only towns that actually implement some type of reparations for citizens,
and now they're facing a lawsuit by a conservative group
(11:53):
which says that it's legal to give black people reparations
when we were actually old reparations.
Speaker 3 (12:00):
So we're going to see how this.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Task force put implements or put together a plan, because
that's what it is, it's basically putting together a plan
to move of action. How do you how do you
move forward to this and get this thing passed in
a house and the Senate. And so I think the
first step in I guess a long road towards reparations.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Sure, sure, And I think that that that that attack on,
you know, the reparations by conservatives and the attack on
you know, the teaching of black history what they call
critical race theory, and the attack on the Fearless Fund,
(12:41):
which was the fund that was designated for black women,
because I think it's something like ninety nine or almost
ninety nine percent of money allocated for minorities doesn't go
to black women at all, Like federal funding that's supposed
to go to minorities doesn't go to black women at all.
Most of it goes to women, White women. Most of
(13:03):
the money, most of the ninety nine or one hundred
percent of the money goes to white women. And I
think it's maybe like less than one percent or around
one percent makes its way to black women. So the
Fearless Fund that was designed to offset that. Clearly, it's
an injustice that has also come under attack by conservative groups,
(13:25):
and they are succeeding. Now, imagine to take it back
to the first story. If Project twenty twenty five succeeds
and they get all of the conservative judges in the
places that they want, they get all of the people
in position that they want. Because they'll have the presidency,
they give these positions more power and more authority, and
they have the legal strategies to do it. If you
(13:46):
are familiar with Project twenty twenty five, they will fundamentally
reshape this country for the next hundred years in their favor.
So everyone who likes the idea of hey, look, we
did have to go through slavery. Maybe not us personally,
but our people did. We had to endure Jim Crow.
We were artificially repressed from achieving any meaningful wealth to
(14:11):
be able to pass down to our descendants, which is
us today. And reparations would remedy those injustices of the past,
and the same way that the United States of America
has paid reparations to almost everyone that they've wrong. One,
let me not say that, but there's a good number
of people that they've wrong. You know, Japanese people were
(14:34):
paid reparations because they were put in a what is
it the concentration camps or the internment camps or whatever
in World War two. During World War two, they were
paid reparations for that. Of course, Native Americans were paid
reparations right for the injustices that this country did to them. Right,
So for those of us that feel like, hey, these
(14:56):
reparations would offset some of the eng justices that our
people have endured, and indeed partially remedy the economic injustice
that we are still suffering through today. For those people
that this, then decide to vote for Donald Trump, who
will one hundred percent enact this project twenty twenty five.
(15:17):
And he doesn't even have to do it. The people
in his administration will do it right, and then they
reshape the courts and guess what is off the table
in perpetuity may as well be at least for the
rest of our lives. All the conversations about CRT, the
conversations about reparation, the conversations about the Fearless Fund, the converse,
all these conversations that are decidedly pro black gone is.
(15:41):
They don't want it. They want this country to be
reshaped fundamentally as a white, a white preferred country, and
anybody black that goes along with it can be included
to a lesser degree. Clarence Thomas, I'm looking at you
so again, there's only one way to engage in a democracy,
(16:02):
which is vote. The last thing I'll say about this, too,
is that this one point five million is allocated or
a task force for in investigating what reparations could look like.
It's not the indeed the reparations itself. It's just allocated
for a task force, meaning they're exploring it. So I
don't want to misrepresent what they're doing in DC. They're
(16:23):
just kind of researching it and they're allocating some money
for that.
Speaker 4 (16:27):
Join us for the National Urban League Conference in New
Orleans July twenty fourth through the twenty seventh at HIGHD Regency,
New Orleans. Don't miss out register today at nuelconference dot org.
Speaker 1 (16:43):
Today's guest is the author of the book Trap History
and the executive editor of Atlanta Daily World, Mister A. R. Shaw.
All Right. Next up from Newsweek and Atlanta Black barbershop
owners said on Friday that he lost business after he
was misled in the host a campaign event for former
President Donald Trump. I saw this one On Wednesday, a
(17:04):
day before Trump debated President Joe Biden on the CNN
stage in Atlanta, the former president sur gets held an event,
the Black American Business Leader Barbershop Roundtable at Rocky's Barbershop
that included a surprise phone call from Trump himself. Jones
said that he has quote no involvement in politics and
quote and added that he was under the assumption that
the event was meant to be a forum for small
(17:26):
black owned businesses. A Trump campaign source, however, told Newsweek
by an email on Saturday night, quote the business owner
signed an agreement with the Trump campaign and received payment
for the time spent in his location for this event.
End quote. So I saw the video of him talking
about it. I kind of believe what happened. I mean,
talk us through this man.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
This is another incident that occurred in Ali.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
But the day before the debate, Trump team they actually
so this is this is what happened.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
So the Trump team they actually reached out to our publication.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
And and what was interesting is that they denied my
credential but they accepted the credentials from from my colleague
who's a bit younger.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
So so I.
Speaker 2 (18:12):
Don't not sure if they read any of my articles,
uh you know, uh that I that I'm very critical
of Trump, you know ad w.
Speaker 3 (18:19):
So I'm not sure, but that was one issue. And
so I talked to my colleague.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
She actually covered the event, and we had had a
discussion about it, and she said, from the beginning, it
was just kind of like chaos. It was like Trump
called in and he said that the reason why black
people and Latinos want to vote for him is because
when he was in Fulton County that he got the
mug shot when he was arrested.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
And so he's basically.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Again equating criminal activity to black people and saying that
because he's a criminal that black people support him, you know,
another racist trouble by Trump. That was one thing that
was and so, uh you know, maybe a day or
two later, the owner of the shop says that that
he didn't know, he was unaware that, uh, this was
some type of Trump affiliated event. But I'm trying to
(19:08):
figure that out because when you look, when you when
you look on the screen, it had some type of
uh messaging about Trump on the screen at the barber shop.
So I'm just trying to figure out where that disconnect
was and if there was an issue. I'm trying to
figure out why he didn't stop it in the midst
of realizing that this is some type of campaign or
(19:30):
political event held at his shop, and so he has
to take responsibility himself for not doing his due diligence.
And also when he found out I'm sure he was
in the midst of this stuff happening while you know,
Trump calls in, You know, why don't you just end
it there and say, look, you know, because you gotta
understand it does the members of the media that's.
Speaker 3 (19:53):
Watching you right now. I think you could have rectified
this situation in real time.
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Well, you know, you might be right, because it's it's
maybe he was thinking it was one thing. You know,
I know that when they say we're going to pay
you to use your facility to host an event, that
can be enticing, especially if you're you know, blue collar barber,
you know, just kind of working. You know, some extra
(20:19):
bread might might help with them groceries. Right, But when
I saw his interview, I felt like, you know, this
feels very trumpish, you know what I mean. We covered
something not too long ago where Trump did a black
like one of those blacks for Trump event. I don't
love the way that sounds. It just grosses me out.
(20:40):
But he did one of those events, and I believe
it was Michigan, probably Detroit, and he went to a
black church and he was on stage with like three
or four black folks, and then the camera pans to
the audience. You saw this, right, the camera pans are
the audience. Everybody is white. You know, there might have
been one black person in the audience. So at you know,
the smoke and mirrors thing is, you know, they're really
(21:02):
good at that. Well, they're not perfect at it, clearly
because we can see through some of us can see
through it. But you know, in terms of their the
optics that they choose to play up and the media
outlets that they work with, you know, the handful of
black people that watch them will feed into that and say,
you know what, if I'm an independent and I see
(21:24):
what Trump is doing and I see what Biden is doing,
you know, I believe Trump's case against Biden, you know,
and so those people are susceptible. But I think it's
largely smoking mirrors because on this side where I'm again
very critical of Donald Trump, he has so many holes
pokeds so frequently that it's just it's a no brainer.
He lost me way before this. But when he said
(21:44):
you can walk up to somebody and grab them, you know,
by the blank, I was like, what a disgusting person,
just a disgusting human being. And then somehow he was
able to walk that back. Oh, it's just locker room talk.
I would never do that. No, man, we know who
you are, your famous a playboy. Anyway, let me not
rand When I saw the Gentleman's interview the owner of
(22:06):
the barbershop, and he was like, hey man, these people
were in there talking and I was just like, all right, well,
this is a different vibe than I thought. And then
Trump called in, and you know, I could see, you know,
for a person, because he said he's not a political guy,
That's what he said. He never said he was anti
Trump or pro Biden or anything like that. But I
(22:29):
could see him like in that moment being like, oh
my god, this is something different than what I thought
it was going to be. And that part at least
felt sincere. Now, whether or not he should have ended
it right there or whatever. You know, For someone like me, yeah,
of course I would end it right there. I kicked
the phone out of the wall. But you know, for
someone who's not political, it's like, yo, I didn't sign
up for this. They pulled a fast one on me.
(22:52):
You know, I remember when Giuliani had something at the
Four Seasons what was it, landscaping company. They had to
do a press conference or whatever. It's because they meant
to do it at the Four Seasons hotel, and you know,
they just again smoking mirrors, like, hey, let's turn this
wrong into a right, you know what I mean. So
they moved. They're sort of shifty people over there, so
(23:14):
I could see them, you know, just putting some papers
in front of a guy. Sign here, sign here, or
however it comes together.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
Or maybe the guy didn't do his due diligence and
didn't see a couple of layers deep that hey, this
is Donald Trump his people doing this thing. Or because
you know, you could name it like the conservative black
business Blah for America or something like that, or you know,
turning Point USA doesn't sound conservative until you look behind
the curtain. So who knows, but you know, my heart
(23:42):
goes out to the guy because he said he lost
business over it and didn't seem to be a Trump fan.
So anyway, last story. The BET Awards twenty twenty four
was hosted by actress, author and producer Taji p Henson
and it was another incredible ceremony celebrating black excellence in entertainment.
The event took place in l at Peacock Theater on
June thirtieth. I know you got some stuff to report
(24:07):
from this, so talk to me, man.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
Yeah, the BT Awards.
Speaker 2 (24:11):
You know, it's always exciting to see what happens the
Monday morning quarterback and of the BBOT Awards, because that's
so many opinions about what actually happened on the stage.
Because there's a mixture of a lot of blackness, and
it's the ugly part of black what some would call
the ratchet side. You got some spiritual side, like you
(24:32):
have so much, so many components all put together in
this one show. So I can kind of just break
things down for you and just talk about some of
the things that people are talking about this morning. Of course,
some people are upset about the sexty Red performance. It
was you know kind of you know, she does a
thing and you know, the ratchet twerking on stage and
things of that nature. People thought that was kind of
(24:53):
a little bit overboard. But because at the same time
you had another performance by Harris and Van Van, which
are kids. They're like, you know, they're like, I think
like six or eight, they're like kids, right, So it
was just a mixture of just like a lot of
things that were happened that was happening. Another another interesting
moment is that VP Kamala Harris, she did like a
(25:16):
call in uh to talk to R. J.
Speaker 3 (25:18):
P Henson during the show, and so.
Speaker 2 (25:21):
She she she utters the phrase she says that uh,
basically referring to the Trump administration. She says they not
like us, and so that other thing. On social media,
you know, of course, some people are saying that she
was pandering, she's trying to pannering, she's doing too much, uh.
And so that was that was another discussion that was happening.
Should should politics be involved in in the BT Awards?
Speaker 1 (25:44):
Uh?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
That was that was a moment. Also Killing Mike he
he came up. He had ah he won album other year,
which kudos Killer Mike uh for for the album Michael,
which won multiple Grammys, and he got on stage and
he spoke about, uh, just his incident at the Grammy
Award when he was arrested a month prior, back in February,
he was arrested at the Grammy Awards, and so he
(26:05):
talked about his redemption and coming back. He also had
Will Smith doing a song with Kirk Franklin, which was
something that we never expected. So, you know, I guess
it's just like Will Smith's Redemption tour. It was like
a kind of like a gospel spiritual type song that
he debuted at the BT Awards.
Speaker 3 (26:22):
So, like I said, with the BT Awards, there's so.
Speaker 2 (26:24):
Much, so much to unpack because so much happens on
this one stage and on one night, and it kind
of gives you. It kind of puts all a lot
of aspects of blackness in one at one in one
place at one time, and so it has a lot
of a lot of different opinions.
Speaker 3 (26:41):
Following the BT Awards.
Speaker 1 (26:43):
Sure, sure, sure, well I know that it was. So
I had a friend that was actually at the BET
Awards and so I got a little bit of like
behind the scenes facetimes and little pictures and stuff here
and there, so it looked like a success overall. And
you're right, you know it's sometimes a mixed bag, but
(27:05):
you know, for better or worse, the culture moves forward,
and you know it's a celebration, so we take it accordingly.
So yeah, I'm not mad at it one bit. So
we'll leave that right there. That's the news, and as always,
i'd like to thank you for your time and your insight.
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
(27:29):
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 episodes.
I'm your host, Ramse's job on on social media and
join us tomorrow as we share our news with our
voice from our perspective right here on the Black Information
(27:49):
Network Daily Podcast.
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