Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is the Black Information Network Daily Podcast, and I'm
your host, Rams' Ja. And sometimes the amount of stories
that make their way to us means that we simply
can't cover everything.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That comes our way.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
But from time to time, a story just stays with
me and I feel compelled to share it with you
and give you my thoughts. And now one more thing.
All right, welcome to this very special episode of One
More Thing here on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast.
I'm your host, Rams's Jaw.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
And I am q Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
And every so often we get to do something that
is extra special, not special, extra.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
Special, extra special.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Indeed, to say we have a special guest, that would
be an understated, gross understate, absolutely, But we only have
this special guest for a small amount of time. And
so normally where we would go through all of the pleasantries,
we're just gonna cut to the chase and get right
to the good stuff. We are joined today by the
one and only Eric Holder, the former US Attorney General
(01:03):
during the Obama administration and the first African American to
become Deputy Attorney General in US history. He is currently
Senior Council at Covington and Berlin, where he successfully tries
discrimination lawsuits and has represented several life sciences companies in
litigation and investigations. Eric Holder, Welcome to the show. We
(01:23):
appreciate you spending some time with us today.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, I want to thank you all so much for
having me. I'm looking forward to the conversation.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
So we were lucky enough to be in the same
room with you recently. Talk to us about campaigning in
the swing state of Arizona for the Harris Walls campaign
and what that experience has been like for you thus far.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Sure, I was in Phoenix, I guess probably about ten
fourteen days ago, and it was a great experience. A
lot of enthusiasm there, a lot of people, I think,
really anxious to start voting. And now early voting has
actually started in Arizona. So I want people to make
a plan and to vote early in person. You can
do it now and do it by mail. Go to
(02:03):
Iowa vote dot com if you have any questions about that.
But Arizona plays a particularly important role this year. There
are seven states that are going to decide this election.
I've been quoted as saying, you know, Kamala Harris is
gonna win by She's gonna get five million more votes
than Donald Trump. But that doesn't mean she's gonna win
the election. It's going to be decided in seven states,
and Arizona is one of those states. And so people
(02:26):
have to get out and vote. And I think black
folks have to make sure that they get out and
vote because so much of what is of concern to us.
It's going to be decided a by who the next
president is. And we know who Donald Trump is, and
we also know now who Kamala Harris is. The choice
could not be more stark. And so I hope that
(02:47):
all Arizona's and especially African Americans who live in Arizona,
will get to the polls as quickly as possible. Sure.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Sure, Now, Now I want to ask you a question,
you know, as someone who has you know, your level
of insight and oversight on the topics like these, what
sort of things have the voters in Arizona been particularly
interested in? Or what sort of things should Arizona's voters
be interested in?
Speaker 2 (03:14):
Well, you know, I think that's a really good question,
and I think you know, people need to make an
intellectual decision here. The factor in some degree of emotion.
But I think you know, people have been focused in
Arizona and other places, around reproductive rights, around protecting the
right to vote, around issues related to the climate. These
(03:34):
are all the kinds of things that you see motivating
people that people have talked to me about as I've
gone around the country, and certainly what I heard, you know,
when I was in when I was in Arizona. So
I would think those are the kinds of things. And
it's interesting that in Arizona you've got, you know, some
down bout measures that you've got to focus on as
well that kind of demonstrate again what I was saying.
(03:55):
You know, the state Supreme Court there decided to keep
in place a an abortion band that goes back to
the Civil War. Arizona's are going to have the ability
to say to Clint Bolock and Catherine King, to Supreme
Court justices that they shouldn't stay on the court. They
have it's called the retention election, you can say that
they shouldn't. Republicans in Arizona, sixty six percent of the
(04:17):
people serve in the state legislation in Arizona believe that
Joe Biden didn't win the twenty twenty election. Their election deniers,
and so you can vote them out of office as well.
But those kinds of things democracy, protection of democracy issues,
reproductive rights, climate, the protection of voting rights. These are
all the things that people have been focused on around
the country and in particular in Arizona.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Yeah, we've seen some added focus on the state of Arizona,
so we know that Arizona is pivotal with this upcoming election.
We noticed that former President Obama will be in the
state of Arizona this week, and on a recent appearance,
President Obama made some remarks regarding black men. I quote,
(05:00):
part of it makes me think, and I'm speaking to
men directly, part of it makes me think that, well,
you just aren't feeling the idea of having a woman
as president, and you're coming up with other alternatives and
other reasons for that. Now, do you have any thoughts
on those statements by former President Obama?
Speaker 2 (05:16):
Yeah, I think he was expressing a concern that he had.
My hope would be that those remarks made people and
men in particular, think about, well, you know, if I'm
not for Kamala, or if I'm thinking about voting for Trump,
you know what's this all about? And you know, if
you look at Donald Trump and if you're black. You
got to remember, this is a guy who labeled Barack
(05:38):
Obama as not being born in the United States. That
was racist. You know, he was a birth he started
that stuff. He was also the person who wanted to
execute the central part five, those five innocent young black
men charged improperly in New York. You know, many years
ago his company would refuse to rent to black tenants,
had to be sued by the Justice Department. So that's
(06:00):
who Donald Trump is. If you look at what Kamala
Harris has said about her agenda for black men, you know,
a million small business loans, for giving up to twenty
thousand dollars to black entrepreneurs. She's championing education, training, mentorship
programs to help black men to get good, good paying jobs,
focusing on health issues that are particular concern to black men,
(06:24):
prostate cancer, mental health, you know, diabetes, and then legalizing
marijuana and making sure that African Americans have the ability
to succeed in this new marijuana industry. So you compare,
you know, who Donald Trump is what Kamala Harris is proposing.
I don't think the choice is a difficult one, and
(06:45):
I think Brock was trying to say that if you're
having doubts, you know, look at the facts, look at
the facts, and make a decision based on those facts,
and then vote early.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Yeah. Yeah, So let's go with voting early, because you
mentioned that earlier and I made a note of it.
But also you and I were talking before you came on,
and we were checking with each other to make sure
that we have both voted early. Talk to us a
bit about the importance of early voting, like what impact
does that have and why should people vote early if
(07:17):
they're able to.
Speaker 2 (07:18):
Yeah, for me, I always vote early because it's like
a protection thing. You know, if there's a problem with
my ballot, I don't want to find out about it,
you know, if I'm not filled in something correctly, if
I whatever reason didn't bring the necessary I d with me,
I find out about it, you know, that day, and
then I have the ability to come back, you know,
a couple of days and make sure that my ballot
is actually cast. So I think it's a protective thing.
(07:43):
And to you know, Republicans try to make it difficult
for certain people to vote, in African Americans to vote,
and they come up with all kinds of things. You
have to see it makes make sure they have your
necessary I D and make sure that you're the appropriate place,
and if you have questions again go to I will
vote DOT. But I think voting early ensure is that
(08:04):
you also have the ability to decide when it is
you're going to vote. You know, maybe you're doing something
on election day. Hours at work will not allow you
to be at the polls on election day, you know.
Voting early, voting voting by mail allows you to work,
voting in which is really important around the other parts
of your life. But the thing that really drives me
(08:25):
the most is that protective notion that I get to
the polls if there any seed, that my ballot is accepted,
if there any issues, I can come back, you know,
later in the day or the next day and make
sure that my vote is actually accepted by the system
and then is ultimately counted.
Speaker 3 (08:44):
Before we let you go. You touched on this a
little bit already. When we are headed to the ballot
box and we are about to cast our vote. Some
of the things that we should consider making an intellectual choice,
of course, but of course, as you stated, there is
some emotion involved. Recently, Vice President Harris announced a new
opportunity agenda for black men, talk about some of the
(09:07):
ways that could impact people who are still trying to
make up their mind about how they should vote men
in particular in this election.
Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, I mean, as you know, as I was saying,
you know, this notion of small business loans to focus
on help black entrepreneurs, mentorship education programs, focusing on the
health of black men, and and then coming up with
ways in which you allow African American particularly men to
be engaged in, you know, the legalized marijuana industry. I mean,
(09:38):
that's that's you know, kind of that's where her specific
opportunity agenda is for African American men. But but I think,
you know, you have to look at at her record.
You know, I've heard some people in the community say, well,
she's a prosecutor. Well, guess what, you know, I'm a
prosecutor or. I was a prosecutor. But the question is,
(09:59):
you know, what kind of prosecutor are you? And I'd
like to think of myself in the same way that
I think of Comma as somebody who used the power
that we had to go after people who did negative
things in our community while making sure that our people
treated were treated fairly and equitably in a criminal justice
system that too often has turned its back on black folks.
(10:21):
You know, I was proud of the fact that when
I was in the Justice Department that we had a
drop in the crime rate and we also had the
smallest number of people in the criminal federal prison system
that we had in forty years. And that's the kind
of things that I did, and that's consistent with the
way in which Kamala conducted herself. And what we have
(10:42):
to always remember is that I want people to be
treated fairly in the criminal justice system, but I don't
want people in the criminal justice system at all if
I can possibly help it. And that's what she has tried
to focus on herself, to try to come up with
ways in which you prevent people from becoming involved in
the system. And always remember that the vast majority of
African Americans are nothing more than law abiding folks who
(11:04):
simply want to do the things that every American wants
to do, you know, send your kid to school safely,
make sure feel safe in your in your house. And
so she is about protecting people but also making sure
that people who becoming engaged in the system are treated fairly.
And with dignity.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Yeah, yeah, and you know, I think that it's really
critical that we doubled down on that, because in our
opinion and our estimation, the easiest way to change the
system is to do it from the inside, you know,
or do it from the top down. And so that
seems to be consistent with you know, your legacy, as
you mentioned, and Kamala Harris's legacy as well, you know, Ramseys.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
That's that is a really important point. And when I
came into law school, that was a question that I
had asked myself. You know, how did I think I
could have the best the greatest impact. I'm a kid
of the sixthes, you know, so I was demonstrating taking
over buildings, you know, all that kind of stuff, and
how could I best impact the system? And the determination
I made was to go, if I was a prosecutor,
(12:07):
a person in law enforcement making law enforcement decisions, that
I could have a greater impact than if I was
a defense attorney just representing the interests of one person. Now,
defense attorneys are extremely important, you know, and they play
a huge important role in the system. But you've got
to have good prosecutors who're making sure that the right
people get charged with the right crimes, asking for appropriate sentences,
(12:30):
and then so also making determinations about even if somebody
is arrested, a case should not be brought against that person.
And I thought, and I think Kamala believed the same thing,
that that's the way in which we could have the
greatest impact on making the criminal justice SYS a system,
you know, more fair than it historically has been.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
Yeah. Yeah, and I appreciate you saying that. You said
that much better than I ever could. I know that
we are over on time. We appreciate the extra couple
of minutes with you. I know you have to run,
but before we let you go, I want to make
sure that I say it as often as I can.
Donald Trump did not send you twelve hundred dollars. That
was a Democratic Congress that sent you that twelve hundred dollars.
(13:09):
Donald Trump held up that twelve hundred dollars because he
wanted his name on the check. And if you think
that Donald Trump went to his bank and took that
money out and sent it to your house, you're playing
right into his hand. This is for everybody listening. Want
to make sure that you know that Eric Holder, I
appreciate you taking the time to talk with us. It's
been a joy and an honor. Indeed, this is something
we've very much been looking forward to. So thank you
(13:30):
so much for taking the time once again. Our guest
today former US Attorney General during the Obama administration, the
one the only Eric Holder.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
Well, thanks for having me and you all are doing
a great job. I am extremely proud of you two
young men. You all are doing a great job.
Speaker 3 (13:46):
Thank you, brother, We appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (13:47):
Man. This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show is produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature
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hit subscribing With all of our episodes, I'm your host
ramses Jah on all social media. Join us tomorrow as
we share our news with our voice from our perspective
(14:09):
right here on the Black Information Network Daily Podcast