October 10, 2024 • 26 mins
On today's podcast, Host Ramses Ja and co host Q Ward conclude their 2 part conversation with the Honorable Corey Woods, Democratic Mayor of Tempe Arizona.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
And now part two of our two part conversation with
Mayor Corey Woods discussing the Black Future under Kamala Harris
with myself, ramse's Jah and q Ward. I want to
(00:21):
add one more thing right here, because we were talking
about it before we started recording. Jasmine Crockett is in
another video doing her clap back, and she pointed out,
and I didn't even know this, but she pointed out
that Donald Trump's name is mentioned over three hundred times
(00:43):
in Project twenty twenty five. And so, you know, to
your point about him distancing himself and folks throwing a
flag on a play, you know, for folks who you know,
let's say that you do consume. You know, a lot
of our listeners here are conservative. This is something we know.
It's well established. We appreciate you listening to us because
I am not that. But it shows me that you
(01:06):
are open minded, those of you who identify as conservative,
and it shows me that you are critical thinkers, and
that's all that we ask of each other. I'm sure.
So you know, in thinking critically about kind of what
the situation at hand is and how it could impact
your life, I just feel it's important to say that
(01:29):
because if you're consuming content from let's say Newsmax. Not
sure if that's you, but let's just say you are,
you might hear Donald Trump repeatedly say that he doesn't
know anything about Project twenty twenty five. And I think
that this conversation that we're having with you, Corey Woods,
is important in establishing that Nope, that is not accurate.
(01:51):
His name is in there, and we know he loves
his own name, so his name's in there over three
hundred times. He knows what's in there. He might not
know the intricate detail what you mentioned, but you know
this was cultivated so that he could have a term
that would ensure a conservative some conservative momentum in perpetuity.
(02:12):
And I think that's my base level understanding.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well. And two, I'm glad you brought that point up
about having listeners who are Republicans and who identify as conservatives,
because look, I'm in a non partisan job where I
represent both Democrats and Republicans as well as independents, Green
Party members, libertarians, whoever you happen to be in Tempee.
I'm the mayor for all of you. But what I
think about what Donald Trump is attempting to do. I
(02:39):
don't think of it as him being a Republican or
being a conservative, because a lot of the people that
I know who are lifelong conservatives don't recognize a lot
of the stuff that he's actually talking about. I view
Project twenty twenty five, and the agenda that he's running
on is frankly just maga extremism. Sure, I have a
lot of friends who are identify as Republicans or registered Republicans,
(03:00):
identify as conservatives and basically say, I don't recognize this
version of the Republican Party anymore. This is not the
same party that I joined. And when I look and see,
you know, when I think about, you know, the late
John McCain from his race back in two thousand and eight,
or I think about when Mitt Romney was running for
president in twenty twelve, the brand of politics that Donald
(03:21):
Trump represents is nowhere near what those two gentlemen actually espoused.
It's a when John McCain and Mitt Romney ran for president,
even though both times I voted for, you know, for
obviously President Obama, I could go to bed at night thinking,
if I wake up tomorrow morning and one of these
other gentlemen wins it might not be exactly what I
(03:44):
would have liked, and I think they'll pursue a very
different policy agenda than what I would have personally want
to do adhere to. But at the same time, I
wouldn't have been downright aFrame. And the difference with you know,
with Donald Trump, is that the things that he's talking about,
the Jena that he's actually pushing and Project twenty twenty
five downright frightens me, and I think it worries a
(04:06):
lot of Americans because and I think what people have
to be also very clear about too. When I think
about former President Trump and a lot of what he does,
he has a way of saying so much stuff and
like flooding the zone sometimes that people many times don't
take him seriously. And that's what a lot of his
you know, supporters of the people who do pr for
(04:27):
him will always say, it's like, well, you know, he's
he's just talking. You know how he is. He's a showman.
You know, he was on the Apprentice and you know,
you're fired and all that stuff. But I think we
have to look at his track record. I mean, he
was the one who made these Supreme Court appointments that
led to Roe versus Wade being overturned, and for the
first time in decades, women in this country have fewer
(04:47):
rights than they had back in the nineteen seventies. So
I think that people can't afford to not take him
seriously and say, oh, well, he's just joking or he's
just playing to the camera and he didn't really mean
what he just said. I think he He's proven many
times over again that he means exactly what he's saying,
and I think that's once again, while we have to
make sure that Vice President Harris gets elected.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
I want to add something right here that might be
even additionally I should say relevant to our listeners, is that,
you know, the same Supreme Court has weakened what we
historically understood to be a protection of ours affirmative action.
And so these are the outcomes that are shaped, maybe
(05:29):
not in perpetuity, but certainly for the next generation. And
we're kind of stuck behind the echo of Donald Trump's
presidency in a lot of ways because of that Supreme Court.
So this election is more critical than many folks know.
And Q makes this point quite a bit that you know,
(05:51):
every election, we always say this is the most important
election of our lifetime. But in this instance, A, it's
true and be we have the proof simply by as
you mentioned, looking at the Supreme Court and how it's
affected women of course and black people. And so I
think that your point is well made. I just didn't
(06:14):
want us to get get away from that because that
affirmative action one is something we did.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Discussed absolutely, and you know, and I really do. I'm
kind of old school in a lot of ways. I
really do appreciate the concept of having two strong political
parties that can actually debate concepts and ideas. I think
it's actually really is important to the country. But what
I've seen former President Trump do is is take the
(06:41):
Republican Party in a direction that a lot of us
are not comfortable with. And I think that's why you're
also seeing a record number of people who worked for
him at one point in time, people who at some
point worked for previous Republican administrations or Republican candidates, and
a lot of folks here locally in Arizona go over
and say, look, I'm publicly endorsing Vice President Harris. I
(07:03):
would have never thought in my lifetime that I would
have seen Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney endorsing Kamala Harris.
But the reality is, I think what they see in
this situation is someone who really is a threat to democracy,
and it's not just I think their perspective is, hey, look,
we can work out some of this other stuff later,
but we can't let someone back in office who's also
(07:26):
just not going to agree to a peaceful transition of power,
who's going to try to undermine democratic norms. As I
started this whole thing off with saying I lost my
first election for public office, I didn't try to stage
a coup. I simply said I lost. I didn't apparently
win enough votes to get a seat on the city Council.
(07:46):
But I didn't try to encourage an insurrection on Tempee
City Hall, nor would I ever so from my perspective,
you know, what occurred back on January sixth of twenty
twenty one is disqualifying behavior to ever hold the office
of president ever. Again. I mean, there were people killed,
There were police officers who were killed during that point
in time, And the fact of the matter is that
(08:07):
there are some basic things that we would expect when
it comes to upholding our constitutional norms of this country
and upholding the principles of democracy that we all believe in.
And and one of those fundamental things that I never
thought I would have to say out loud as a
forty five year old grown man, is you have to
accept the outcome of the election. I mean, but that
is unfortunately the point that we are at where we
(08:29):
actually have to say that. And so, and he's already
beginning to do this of talking about, well, you know,
if people don't cheat, there's no way that I won't win.
I mean, he's already sort of sowing the seeds and
laying the groundwork to contest the election if he doesn't
actually prevail. And So I think that's incredibly dangerous behavior.
(08:50):
That's not about Republican or Democrat or progressive versus conservative.
That's about people who believe in democracy and people who
just don't.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, I'm glad you brought up January sixth and so
many other examples that we would have all thought were
disqualifying but never had to be pen never had to
be put to paper to lay out that, you know,
a thirty four time convicted felon or someone who incites
a riot on our capital would be disqualified because our
political norms would never have allowed a person like him
(09:20):
to become the president of the United States. So as
we think about you know, you talked about being old
school and having two strong parties. When I was a child,
you know, my mother's best friend was a Republican, and
the day after the election, we still eight lunch together
and we were still family because they didn't want bad
outcomes for us. You know, their family had a different
(09:41):
list of things they wanted out of a candidate, and
they voted accordingly, but they didn't consider us the enemy.
We have a former president now who points to us
and anybody who doesn't agree with everything he says as
somehow the enemy of him, therefore an enemy of the country.
So it's a very different, you know, political divide now
than than when we were younger. When I was a
(10:01):
college student, I volunteered at the RNC with people who
did not vote the same way as me, but that
were kind to me and who wanted good outcomes for Americans. Again,
they had a different idea of what that meant, but
they didn't want life to be harder and more difficult
for me, even though they knew that I didn't vote
and support the same candidate that they did. As we
(10:21):
get towards this election, and we are now in the
fourth quarter, you know, we are now in crunch time
in the red zone. Can you speak to us about
the importance of not just you know who we're going
to vote for as president, but down ballot in Arizona
and nationally when we're casting our votes, how important it
(10:41):
is to vote Democrat all the way down the ticket.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
What I tell people many times is how important local
elections are to your everyday life, because many times people
in frustration will say things like I'm going to reach
out to my congressman or I'm to my senator. And
I'm not saying those people aren't important. They're absolutely critically important.
But when I think about just even the things that
go on at a city level, whether or not you
(11:08):
feel safe in your community, what's the condition of your parks.
Do you have enough police offices and firefighters and human
services workers in your city? I mean, those are decisions
that are made by your local city council. And so
I know sometimes when you get to a four page ballot,
it's a lot of bubbling names and initiatives and judges
(11:30):
and things of that nature. The judges are what always
stumps people. That's where even I get stumped. I'm a
political junkie and I'm around people in politics all the time,
but usually the judges arrive to call some friends of
mine in the legal worlds. I need some help with this,
But frankly, I know how critically important those issues are
as well where those people are, because they're determining what
the judiciary looks like in our state. So I tell
(11:52):
people all the time it really is critically important to
start at the top of your ballot, but make it
all the way down to the bottom, whether it comes
to who's running for president or US senator, Congress, or
state legislature, school board, city council, judges, ballot initiatives, all
of those things are critically important to vote on. But
(12:12):
I think that when I think about right now, even
let's say the state legislature. We talk about myself being
a Democrat, I really do think there are a lot
of things that I have been that I would like
to see even in our state government that we've been
trying to get for years, and we've had one party
control over the House of the Senate locally here for decades,
(12:36):
and I would like to see us not the fiftieth
or fifty first when it comes to a public funding
and educ for education or educated for public education funding.
And I do believe with a Democratic House and Senate
down at the state Capitol, I think a lot of
that would begin to turn around very quickly. I know
the emphasis that my friends on that side of the
(12:57):
fence very much place on public education and making sure
that not only our students, but our teachers and administrators
have the resources they need. So I would like for
us to get out of those out of that sort
of basement when it comes to what we actually contribute
to public education at our state. The fact of the
matter is too I talk to people in the business
community on a regular basis as well, who talk about
(13:19):
how difficult is this for them to recruit Fortune five
hundred employers and people to this state when they recognize
what's going on with our education system. They're talking about
relocating families with children here, and if they look at
the education system where they look at the funding and
say a lot of folks apparently at the capitol do
(13:40):
not care about this. They may say, oh, the taxes
are lower in Arizona, but frankly, I'm not going my
employees will not follow us to this new location if
we don't see something turn around pretty quickly. So they're
just they're a number. I mean, I could probably go
on and on, but I think that if you are
unhappy with the direction of education funding in the state,
(14:01):
as an example, it really is critically important that you
make sure to vote in your state legislative races. And
I do think the Democratic Party has the more forward thinking,
proactive view when it comes to how we fund public
education in the state. And so that's why you know,
I'm out many times knocking on doors, making phone calls
and supporting a lot of my friends to make sure
(14:23):
that the Democratic Party does, you know, for once in
quite some time, regains control of the State House or
the state Senator. Frankly, from my perspective, both.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Now let's shift back national before we let you go,
because I think it's important for us to make sure
that regardless of if people have, you know, kids that
attend school, regardless of people visit parks, you know, whatever,
everyone that will listen to our conversation today is a
(14:54):
citizen of this country, and by virtue of the fact
that this is capitalism, they participate in an economy, and
so you know, we wouldn't be doing our jobs if
we didn't at least bring it up. Vice President Harris
has used the term opportunity economy, and I think that,
(15:21):
at least from where I sit, it sounds special. It
sounds like something worth peeling back some of the layers,
and I know that if anyone can do that for
the benefit of our listeners, it's you. So talk to
us a bit about an opportunity economy, what she means
by that, and how it might benefit our listeners.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So there are a few very specific things. I think.
One when we talk about we talked about housing a
little bit earlier, but that obviously is a critical thing
when it comes to adding three million additional homes in
this country, is really critically important when you talk about
an opportunity economy, giving everyone a chance to obtain home
ownership if that's really what they'd like to do, but
(15:59):
just providing more more options in general when it comes
to housing for people of all different incomes and occupations.
Her perspective is, if you are working in honest day's work,
you should have the ability to live in this country
in a comfortable fashion and not have to worry about
where your next meal is going to come from. It's
talking about trying to find ways to ensure that there
(16:19):
isn't price gouging when you think about prescription drug costs.
I mean, there are people who desperately need some medica.
I mean things as simple as I mean, I take
blood pressure medication every day. I'm sort of genetically predisposed
to having from family issues to having issues with blood pressure,
So I take blood pressure medication on a daily basis.
But you know, sometimes, as we've seen that there are
(16:42):
prescription drug companies that have artificially inflated the prices of
prescription drugs that are life saving medications to people all
throughout this country. And she's really talked about a plan
to cut down on that kind of price gouging, which
I think really is critically important. It's trying to find
a way to make sure that there are twenty five
million new small business applications during her term. There are
(17:03):
so many people, especially African Americans, that I talk to
on a regular basis, who are entrepreneurial and want to
you know, they may some people want to work for
a company, and that's fine, but a lot of people
really want to strike out and do their own thing.
And I know she's really trying to find ways to
ensure that small business people get additional tax credits and
additional assistance from the federal government to make sure that
(17:24):
their dream of owning a small business or really innovating
can become a reality. And I just think generally when
I think about her plans, she's talked a lot about
trying to find ways, like we talked about with housing,
but really to cut red tape for people who want
to open up small businesses and have an opportunity to
participate in today's economy. Because sometimes, I mean sometimes, I
(17:46):
mean I see this at city Hall. If you have
a large business or a large project that you have
going on, many times you have the ability to hire,
you know, an attorney that you'll pay one thousand dollars
an hour or two who can come down to the
city council, work with city staff and they understand what
the process is and they can basically do a lot
of the work for you, provided you can actually cut
that check. But many times it's the person who's the
(18:08):
small business person who's just simply trying to get a
storefront open, who doesn't have access to those kinds of resources,
of that kind of startup capital that really struggles. And
it's not because they're doing anything wrong, they just don't
have the ability to pay someone at a thousand or
even five hundred dollars an hour to go down to
city hall and advocate and help them kind of work
through all those different processes. So what I think about
(18:30):
an opportunity economy, I know what she's really talking about
is trying to find a way to level the playing field,
to make sure that all people have the ability to
not only take part of the economy, but to achieve
health and wealth, and not just simply people who might
have been either born with money or have been handed
a tremendous amount of money down to them. But it's
(18:50):
really making sure that people from all different income levels,
and all different educational levels, and all different backgrounds really
have the opportunity to achieve if they choose to work
hard and really and really put in that time. And
I know that's what she wants. It's really about a
country and an America that's fairer for all people and
really making sure to level the playing field to make
sure that we all have a fair equal chance to compete.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I I'm so glad that we asked that question. You
just are a gifted orator, and you know the way
you break things down. And obviously we've had a chance
to hear you speak several times. We had some time
on the ground in DC, and then we're from here,
so we see you, you know from time to time,
just kind of popping up at all the events where
there's an audience and they hand you the microphone and
(19:34):
you do your thing.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
So sometimes they don't even tell me. Actually that at
least you both told me I knew where I was
coming to. Sometimes I go to a place. One thing
I've I've learned just as a as a funny aside
as mayors. I'll walk in places and I'll before I
get somewhere, you know, my chief of staff or someone
will ask me, you know, are you do you have
any speaking points mayor. I'm like, no, I'm not expecting
(19:56):
to talk of this event. They just said, we'll just
ask them to show up, and I'll show up somewhere,
and then I'm kind of standing off of the bat,
you know, watching its almost like, hey, may can you
come up and say if your words here? I'm like,
I don't have anything prepared, so you have to learn
very quickly how to have you know, just a few
things in your mind at all times, or just sort
of the constantly be aware of your surroundings because you know,
(20:19):
at any point in time someone's gonna pull you out
of the crowd and say, hey, you know, we want
you to talk about our small business that we're cutting
the ribbon for. We want you to talk about all
the people that were feeding through meals on wheels at
our community center. And you have to have the ability
to have enough things in your head at all different
points in time, so if someone taps you on the
shoulder or grabs you by the arm, you have the
ability to get up there and speak confidently and obviously
(20:42):
competently as well about all of those different issues. So
I appreciate the fact that we set this up that
I didn't just get pulled. I don't know, because I
might talk a lot, but as honestly as hard if
I don't know, the subject matter.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Is in the immortal words of Nate Dog, nobody nobody
does it better. Man, do us a favor. Let's leave
everyone with your social media just so that they can
tap in and get some more of that good game
from you websites, all that sort of stuff, so that
we have to connect with absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
I am on Facebook, I'm on X, I'm on Instagram
on Facebook. Could just find me obviously at Corey Woods
on my personal since we're talking more politics here, my
personal social media is at Corey Woods Tempee on X
and at c D Woods seven on Instagram. So I
would encourage everyone to follow me there if you want
to hear more about what I've got going on on
(21:34):
the political side, but also just to get a little
bit more insight into who I am as a human being,
because one of the things I really like to do
on my personal pages is show people more who I
am as a human and not just simply posting white papers.
The things that happened at the council meeting over the
past week. One of the things that we did just
last weekend was that this was in my city role,
(21:55):
but we did some media about this. The one of
our tattoo shops in the city at Tempee Living Campus
Tattoo at nine thirty South Mills, So now giving them
a little bit of a commercial. They were doing their
thirty first anniversary celebration in the city of Tempee. I
believe they were the first tattoo parlor in the city Attempee,
and so they but they were also very responsible for
(22:17):
helping to craft sort of healthcare and regulation standards around
tattooing because back when they were first starting, it wasn't
as accepted of an industry then as it is now.
And so when I started talking to the owner about
coming to read a proclamation just celebrating them being a
you know, high quality, exceptional small business, I said, well, look,
(22:38):
I would like to get another tattoo that day, So
why don't I actually come in? And he was like,
will you do that? I'm like, yeah, I'll do it.
He said, would you want if we actually get some
cameras out here to film it? I said, yeah, come
on out, so he he. So I got there and
there are a bunch of you know, a bunch of
news networks, and next thing you know, I'm face down
and he's you know, you see him, you know, tattooing
me while I'm sitting there. And I'll post about stuff
(22:59):
like that on my social media page. And I told
people that the tattoo I got was a It was
the words you're all I need to get by, which,
of course was the famous Marvin Gaye Tammy Terrell song
because it was my mother's favorite song. She passed away
nearly thirteen years ago, and I had gotten a tattoo
with that many years back. But the tattoo was so bad,
(23:20):
it's so faded you can't even read it. And so
I made a decision that I wanted to still get
something to honor my mother. So I thought, why don't
I merge these two things. Why don't I find a
way to support and promote a local small business that's
been here for over three decades, but also do something
that's a tribute to my mother as well. So you
get a chance, when you're sort of following my social
media pages to see a little bit more about me
(23:43):
and not just sort of what i'm I mean, the
stuff I do with the city I think is important,
and obviously I'm kind of a public policy nerd, That's
why I got into politics in the first place. But
I also liked to be able to use my social
media for the purposes of seeing who I am as
a human being. And the last thing I'll say on
that is that one of my favorite moments during the
COVID nineteen pandemic when everyone was in quarantine, was watching
(24:06):
the Versus series, you know, with Swiss Beats and Timberland
and myself and Roy Tatum. One day, we're on social
media going back and forth watching the Risen DJ premiere
and frankly scoring the battle in real time on Facebook,
and there were people writing back like I can't believe
the mayor of teen b is here going back and forth,
(24:27):
and I'm like, I'm like, guys, like, hey, you know so.
I mean, Dwick is still one of my favorite songs
of all time. So it was funny that. But I
love the ability to frankly show a different side of
my personality and for people to see that this is
not just a person sitting up here in a suit
on a Thursday night. This is actually a real human
being with real interest in the hobbies. And also, I
(24:48):
think it really is critically important as black men that
we're able to not just show one side of our personalities,
but frankly show who we are as human beings. And
you know, hip hop culture is very very much a
part of me. I grew up on hip hop and
R and B music, and you know, I'm happy to
talk about affordable housing, and talk about climate change and
sustainability and resilience and transportation infrastructure. But I also want
(25:10):
people to know where I like to go eat and
frankly the kind of music I have playing in my
car when I drive home. So you know, So yeah,
follow my social media if you want to know more
about it, just policy. But if you want to know
who Corey, what's the human being is?
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And now you guys know why while we actually had.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Corey here, yeah, yeah, exactly exactly, but I gotta I
got to remind you all that obviously the stakes are
very high. We have our work cut out for us
and till we get through election day. And as always,
this is a conversation and conversation requires your input, and
(25:50):
if you have an input, please share it with us.
You can do so using the red microphone talk back
feature on the iHeartRadio app. You can find me on
all social media at Rams's job.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I am award on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
And as I mentioned, let's keep the conversation going and
until next time, y'all peace. This has been a production
of the Black Information Network. Today's show is produced by
Chris Thompson have some thoughts you'd like to share, use
the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While
you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all
of our episodes. I'm your host ramses Jah on all
(26:22):
social media. Join us tomorrow as we share our news
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
Black Information Network Daily Podcast
And now part two of our two part conversation with
Mayor Corey Woods discussing the Black Future under Kamala Harris
with myself, ramse's Jah and q Ward. I want to
(00:21):
add one more thing right here, because we were talking
about it before we started recording. Jasmine Crockett is in
another video doing her clap back, and she pointed out,
and I didn't even know this, but she pointed out
that Donald Trump's name is mentioned over three hundred times
(00:43):
in Project twenty twenty five. And so, you know, to
your point about him distancing himself and folks throwing a
flag on a play, you know, for folks who you know,
let's say that you do consume. You know, a lot
of our listeners here are conservative. This is something we know.
It's well established. We appreciate you listening to us because
I am not that. But it shows me that you
(01:06):
are open minded, those of you who identify as conservative,
and it shows me that you are critical thinkers, and
that's all that we ask of each other. I'm sure.
So you know, in thinking critically about kind of what
the situation at hand is and how it could impact
your life, I just feel it's important to say that
(01:29):
because if you're consuming content from let's say Newsmax. Not
sure if that's you, but let's just say you are,
you might hear Donald Trump repeatedly say that he doesn't
know anything about Project twenty twenty five. And I think
that this conversation that we're having with you, Corey Woods,
is important in establishing that Nope, that is not accurate.
(01:51):
His name is in there, and we know he loves
his own name, so his name's in there over three
hundred times. He knows what's in there. He might not
know the intricate detail what you mentioned, but you know
this was cultivated so that he could have a term
that would ensure a conservative some conservative momentum in perpetuity.
(02:12):
And I think that's my base level understanding.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
Well. And two, I'm glad you brought that point up
about having listeners who are Republicans and who identify as conservatives,
because look, I'm in a non partisan job where I
represent both Democrats and Republicans as well as independents, Green
Party members, libertarians, whoever you happen to be in Tempee.
I'm the mayor for all of you. But what I
think about what Donald Trump is attempting to do. I
(02:39):
don't think of it as him being a Republican or
being a conservative, because a lot of the people that
I know who are lifelong conservatives don't recognize a lot
of the stuff that he's actually talking about. I view
Project twenty twenty five, and the agenda that he's running
on is frankly just maga extremism. Sure, I have a
lot of friends who are identify as Republicans or registered Republicans,
(03:00):
identify as conservatives and basically say, I don't recognize this
version of the Republican Party anymore. This is not the
same party that I joined. And when I look and see,
you know, when I think about, you know, the late
John McCain from his race back in two thousand and eight,
or I think about when Mitt Romney was running for
president in twenty twelve, the brand of politics that Donald
(03:21):
Trump represents is nowhere near what those two gentlemen actually espoused.
It's a when John McCain and Mitt Romney ran for president,
even though both times I voted for, you know, for
obviously President Obama, I could go to bed at night thinking,
if I wake up tomorrow morning and one of these
other gentlemen wins it might not be exactly what I
(03:44):
would have liked, and I think they'll pursue a very
different policy agenda than what I would have personally want
to do adhere to. But at the same time, I
wouldn't have been downright aFrame. And the difference with you know,
with Donald Trump, is that the things that he's talking about,
the Jena that he's actually pushing and Project twenty twenty
five downright frightens me, and I think it worries a
(04:06):
lot of Americans because and I think what people have
to be also very clear about too. When I think
about former President Trump and a lot of what he does,
he has a way of saying so much stuff and
like flooding the zone sometimes that people many times don't
take him seriously. And that's what a lot of his
you know, supporters of the people who do pr for
(04:27):
him will always say, it's like, well, you know, he's
he's just talking. You know how he is. He's a showman.
You know, he was on the Apprentice and you know,
you're fired and all that stuff. But I think we
have to look at his track record. I mean, he
was the one who made these Supreme Court appointments that
led to Roe versus Wade being overturned, and for the
first time in decades, women in this country have fewer
(04:47):
rights than they had back in the nineteen seventies. So
I think that people can't afford to not take him
seriously and say, oh, well, he's just joking or he's
just playing to the camera and he didn't really mean
what he just said. I think he He's proven many
times over again that he means exactly what he's saying,
and I think that's once again, while we have to
make sure that Vice President Harris gets elected.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
I want to add something right here that might be
even additionally I should say relevant to our listeners, is that,
you know, the same Supreme Court has weakened what we
historically understood to be a protection of ours affirmative action.
And so these are the outcomes that are shaped, maybe
(05:29):
not in perpetuity, but certainly for the next generation. And
we're kind of stuck behind the echo of Donald Trump's
presidency in a lot of ways because of that Supreme Court.
So this election is more critical than many folks know.
And Q makes this point quite a bit that you know,
(05:51):
every election, we always say this is the most important
election of our lifetime. But in this instance, A, it's
true and be we have the proof simply by as
you mentioned, looking at the Supreme Court and how it's
affected women of course and black people. And so I
think that your point is well made. I just didn't
(06:14):
want us to get get away from that because that
affirmative action one is something we did.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
Discussed absolutely, and you know, and I really do. I'm
kind of old school in a lot of ways. I
really do appreciate the concept of having two strong political
parties that can actually debate concepts and ideas. I think
it's actually really is important to the country. But what
I've seen former President Trump do is is take the
(06:41):
Republican Party in a direction that a lot of us
are not comfortable with. And I think that's why you're
also seeing a record number of people who worked for
him at one point in time, people who at some
point worked for previous Republican administrations or Republican candidates, and
a lot of folks here locally in Arizona go over
and say, look, I'm publicly endorsing Vice President Harris. I
(07:03):
would have never thought in my lifetime that I would
have seen Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney endorsing Kamala Harris.
But the reality is, I think what they see in
this situation is someone who really is a threat to democracy,
and it's not just I think their perspective is, hey, look,
we can work out some of this other stuff later,
but we can't let someone back in office who's also
(07:26):
just not going to agree to a peaceful transition of power,
who's going to try to undermine democratic norms. As I
started this whole thing off with saying I lost my
first election for public office, I didn't try to stage
a coup. I simply said I lost. I didn't apparently
win enough votes to get a seat on the city Council.
(07:46):
But I didn't try to encourage an insurrection on Tempee
City Hall, nor would I ever so from my perspective,
you know, what occurred back on January sixth of twenty
twenty one is disqualifying behavior to ever hold the office
of president ever. Again. I mean, there were people killed,
There were police officers who were killed during that point
in time, And the fact of the matter is that
(08:07):
there are some basic things that we would expect when
it comes to upholding our constitutional norms of this country
and upholding the principles of democracy that we all believe in.
And and one of those fundamental things that I never
thought I would have to say out loud as a
forty five year old grown man, is you have to
accept the outcome of the election. I mean, but that
is unfortunately the point that we are at where we
(08:29):
actually have to say that. And so, and he's already
beginning to do this of talking about, well, you know,
if people don't cheat, there's no way that I won't win.
I mean, he's already sort of sowing the seeds and
laying the groundwork to contest the election if he doesn't
actually prevail. And So I think that's incredibly dangerous behavior.
(08:50):
That's not about Republican or Democrat or progressive versus conservative.
That's about people who believe in democracy and people who
just don't.
Speaker 3 (08:58):
Yeah, I'm glad you brought up January sixth and so
many other examples that we would have all thought were
disqualifying but never had to be pen never had to
be put to paper to lay out that, you know,
a thirty four time convicted felon or someone who incites
a riot on our capital would be disqualified because our
political norms would never have allowed a person like him
(09:20):
to become the president of the United States. So as
we think about you know, you talked about being old
school and having two strong parties. When I was a child,
you know, my mother's best friend was a Republican, and
the day after the election, we still eight lunch together
and we were still family because they didn't want bad
outcomes for us. You know, their family had a different
(09:41):
list of things they wanted out of a candidate, and
they voted accordingly, but they didn't consider us the enemy.
We have a former president now who points to us
and anybody who doesn't agree with everything he says as
somehow the enemy of him, therefore an enemy of the country.
So it's a very different, you know, political divide now
than than when we were younger. When I was a
(10:01):
college student, I volunteered at the RNC with people who
did not vote the same way as me, but that
were kind to me and who wanted good outcomes for Americans. Again,
they had a different idea of what that meant, but
they didn't want life to be harder and more difficult
for me, even though they knew that I didn't vote
and support the same candidate that they did. As we
(10:21):
get towards this election, and we are now in the
fourth quarter, you know, we are now in crunch time
in the red zone. Can you speak to us about
the importance of not just you know who we're going
to vote for as president, but down ballot in Arizona
and nationally when we're casting our votes, how important it
(10:41):
is to vote Democrat all the way down the ticket.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
What I tell people many times is how important local
elections are to your everyday life, because many times people
in frustration will say things like I'm going to reach
out to my congressman or I'm to my senator. And
I'm not saying those people aren't important. They're absolutely critically important.
But when I think about just even the things that
go on at a city level, whether or not you
(11:08):
feel safe in your community, what's the condition of your parks.
Do you have enough police offices and firefighters and human
services workers in your city? I mean, those are decisions
that are made by your local city council. And so
I know sometimes when you get to a four page ballot,
it's a lot of bubbling names and initiatives and judges
(11:30):
and things of that nature. The judges are what always
stumps people. That's where even I get stumped. I'm a
political junkie and I'm around people in politics all the time,
but usually the judges arrive to call some friends of
mine in the legal worlds. I need some help with this,
But frankly, I know how critically important those issues are
as well where those people are, because they're determining what
the judiciary looks like in our state. So I tell
(11:52):
people all the time it really is critically important to
start at the top of your ballot, but make it
all the way down to the bottom, whether it comes
to who's running for president or US senator, Congress, or
state legislature, school board, city council, judges, ballot initiatives, all
of those things are critically important to vote on. But
(12:12):
I think that when I think about right now, even
let's say the state legislature. We talk about myself being
a Democrat, I really do think there are a lot
of things that I have been that I would like
to see even in our state government that we've been
trying to get for years, and we've had one party
control over the House of the Senate locally here for decades,
(12:36):
and I would like to see us not the fiftieth
or fifty first when it comes to a public funding
and educ for education or educated for public education funding.
And I do believe with a Democratic House and Senate
down at the state Capitol, I think a lot of
that would begin to turn around very quickly. I know
the emphasis that my friends on that side of the
(12:57):
fence very much place on public education and making sure
that not only our students, but our teachers and administrators
have the resources they need. So I would like for
us to get out of those out of that sort
of basement when it comes to what we actually contribute
to public education at our state. The fact of the
matter is too I talk to people in the business
community on a regular basis as well, who talk about
(13:19):
how difficult is this for them to recruit Fortune five
hundred employers and people to this state when they recognize
what's going on with our education system. They're talking about
relocating families with children here, and if they look at
the education system where they look at the funding and
say a lot of folks apparently at the capitol do
(13:40):
not care about this. They may say, oh, the taxes
are lower in Arizona, but frankly, I'm not going my
employees will not follow us to this new location if
we don't see something turn around pretty quickly. So they're
just they're a number. I mean, I could probably go
on and on, but I think that if you are
unhappy with the direction of education funding in the state,
(14:01):
as an example, it really is critically important that you
make sure to vote in your state legislative races. And
I do think the Democratic Party has the more forward thinking,
proactive view when it comes to how we fund public
education in the state. And so that's why you know,
I'm out many times knocking on doors, making phone calls
and supporting a lot of my friends to make sure
(14:23):
that the Democratic Party does, you know, for once in
quite some time, regains control of the State House or
the state Senator. Frankly, from my perspective, both.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
Now let's shift back national before we let you go,
because I think it's important for us to make sure
that regardless of if people have, you know, kids that
attend school, regardless of people visit parks, you know, whatever,
everyone that will listen to our conversation today is a
(14:54):
citizen of this country, and by virtue of the fact
that this is capitalism, they participate in an economy, and
so you know, we wouldn't be doing our jobs if
we didn't at least bring it up. Vice President Harris
has used the term opportunity economy, and I think that,
(15:21):
at least from where I sit, it sounds special. It
sounds like something worth peeling back some of the layers,
and I know that if anyone can do that for
the benefit of our listeners, it's you. So talk to
us a bit about an opportunity economy, what she means
by that, and how it might benefit our listeners.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
So there are a few very specific things. I think.
One when we talk about we talked about housing a
little bit earlier, but that obviously is a critical thing
when it comes to adding three million additional homes in
this country, is really critically important when you talk about
an opportunity economy, giving everyone a chance to obtain home
ownership if that's really what they'd like to do, but
(15:59):
just providing more more options in general when it comes
to housing for people of all different incomes and occupations.
Her perspective is, if you are working in honest day's work,
you should have the ability to live in this country
in a comfortable fashion and not have to worry about
where your next meal is going to come from. It's
talking about trying to find ways to ensure that there
(16:19):
isn't price gouging when you think about prescription drug costs.
I mean, there are people who desperately need some medica.
I mean things as simple as I mean, I take
blood pressure medication every day. I'm sort of genetically predisposed
to having from family issues to having issues with blood pressure,
So I take blood pressure medication on a daily basis.
But you know, sometimes, as we've seen that there are
(16:42):
prescription drug companies that have artificially inflated the prices of
prescription drugs that are life saving medications to people all
throughout this country. And she's really talked about a plan
to cut down on that kind of price gouging, which
I think really is critically important. It's trying to find
a way to make sure that there are twenty five
million new small business applications during her term. There are
(17:03):
so many people, especially African Americans, that I talk to
on a regular basis, who are entrepreneurial and want to
you know, they may some people want to work for
a company, and that's fine, but a lot of people
really want to strike out and do their own thing.
And I know she's really trying to find ways to
ensure that small business people get additional tax credits and
additional assistance from the federal government to make sure that
(17:24):
their dream of owning a small business or really innovating
can become a reality. And I just think generally when
I think about her plans, she's talked a lot about
trying to find ways, like we talked about with housing,
but really to cut red tape for people who want
to open up small businesses and have an opportunity to
participate in today's economy. Because sometimes, I mean sometimes, I
(17:46):
mean I see this at city Hall. If you have
a large business or a large project that you have
going on, many times you have the ability to hire,
you know, an attorney that you'll pay one thousand dollars
an hour or two who can come down to the
city council, work with city staff and they understand what
the process is and they can basically do a lot
of the work for you, provided you can actually cut
that check. But many times it's the person who's the
(18:08):
small business person who's just simply trying to get a
storefront open, who doesn't have access to those kinds of resources,
of that kind of startup capital that really struggles. And
it's not because they're doing anything wrong, they just don't
have the ability to pay someone at a thousand or
even five hundred dollars an hour to go down to
city hall and advocate and help them kind of work
through all those different processes. So what I think about
(18:30):
an opportunity economy, I know what she's really talking about
is trying to find a way to level the playing field,
to make sure that all people have the ability to
not only take part of the economy, but to achieve
health and wealth, and not just simply people who might
have been either born with money or have been handed
a tremendous amount of money down to them. But it's
(18:50):
really making sure that people from all different income levels,
and all different educational levels, and all different backgrounds really
have the opportunity to achieve if they choose to work
hard and really and really put in that time. And
I know that's what she wants. It's really about a
country and an America that's fairer for all people and
really making sure to level the playing field to make
sure that we all have a fair equal chance to compete.
Speaker 1 (19:13):
I I'm so glad that we asked that question. You
just are a gifted orator, and you know the way
you break things down. And obviously we've had a chance
to hear you speak several times. We had some time
on the ground in DC, and then we're from here,
so we see you, you know from time to time,
just kind of popping up at all the events where
there's an audience and they hand you the microphone and
(19:34):
you do your thing.
Speaker 2 (19:35):
So sometimes they don't even tell me. Actually that at
least you both told me I knew where I was
coming to. Sometimes I go to a place. One thing
I've I've learned just as a as a funny aside
as mayors. I'll walk in places and I'll before I
get somewhere, you know, my chief of staff or someone
will ask me, you know, are you do you have
any speaking points mayor. I'm like, no, I'm not expecting
(19:56):
to talk of this event. They just said, we'll just
ask them to show up, and I'll show up somewhere,
and then I'm kind of standing off of the bat,
you know, watching its almost like, hey, may can you
come up and say if your words here? I'm like,
I don't have anything prepared, so you have to learn
very quickly how to have you know, just a few
things in your mind at all times, or just sort
of the constantly be aware of your surroundings because you know,
(20:19):
at any point in time someone's gonna pull you out
of the crowd and say, hey, you know, we want
you to talk about our small business that we're cutting
the ribbon for. We want you to talk about all
the people that were feeding through meals on wheels at
our community center. And you have to have the ability
to have enough things in your head at all different
points in time, so if someone taps you on the
shoulder or grabs you by the arm, you have the
ability to get up there and speak confidently and obviously
(20:42):
competently as well about all of those different issues. So
I appreciate the fact that we set this up that
I didn't just get pulled. I don't know, because I
might talk a lot, but as honestly as hard if
I don't know, the subject matter.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Is in the immortal words of Nate Dog, nobody nobody
does it better. Man, do us a favor. Let's leave
everyone with your social media just so that they can
tap in and get some more of that good game
from you websites, all that sort of stuff, so that
we have to connect with absolutely.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
I am on Facebook, I'm on X, I'm on Instagram
on Facebook. Could just find me obviously at Corey Woods
on my personal since we're talking more politics here, my
personal social media is at Corey Woods Tempee on X
and at c D Woods seven on Instagram. So I
would encourage everyone to follow me there if you want
to hear more about what I've got going on on
(21:34):
the political side, but also just to get a little
bit more insight into who I am as a human being,
because one of the things I really like to do
on my personal pages is show people more who I
am as a human and not just simply posting white papers.
The things that happened at the council meeting over the
past week. One of the things that we did just
last weekend was that this was in my city role,
(21:55):
but we did some media about this. The one of
our tattoo shops in the city at Tempee Living Campus
Tattoo at nine thirty South Mills, So now giving them
a little bit of a commercial. They were doing their
thirty first anniversary celebration in the city of Tempee. I
believe they were the first tattoo parlor in the city Attempee,
and so they but they were also very responsible for
(22:17):
helping to craft sort of healthcare and regulation standards around
tattooing because back when they were first starting, it wasn't
as accepted of an industry then as it is now.
And so when I started talking to the owner about
coming to read a proclamation just celebrating them being a
you know, high quality, exceptional small business, I said, well, look,
(22:38):
I would like to get another tattoo that day, So
why don't I actually come in? And he was like,
will you do that? I'm like, yeah, I'll do it.
He said, would you want if we actually get some
cameras out here to film it? I said, yeah, come
on out, so he he. So I got there and
there are a bunch of you know, a bunch of
news networks, and next thing you know, I'm face down
and he's you know, you see him, you know, tattooing
me while I'm sitting there. And I'll post about stuff
(22:59):
like that on my social media page. And I told
people that the tattoo I got was a It was
the words you're all I need to get by, which,
of course was the famous Marvin Gaye Tammy Terrell song
because it was my mother's favorite song. She passed away
nearly thirteen years ago, and I had gotten a tattoo
with that many years back. But the tattoo was so bad,
(23:20):
it's so faded you can't even read it. And so
I made a decision that I wanted to still get
something to honor my mother. So I thought, why don't
I merge these two things. Why don't I find a
way to support and promote a local small business that's
been here for over three decades, but also do something
that's a tribute to my mother as well. So you
get a chance, when you're sort of following my social
media pages to see a little bit more about me
(23:43):
and not just sort of what i'm I mean, the
stuff I do with the city I think is important,
and obviously I'm kind of a public policy nerd, That's
why I got into politics in the first place. But
I also liked to be able to use my social
media for the purposes of seeing who I am as
a human being. And the last thing I'll say on
that is that one of my favorite moments during the
COVID nineteen pandemic when everyone was in quarantine, was watching
(24:06):
the Versus series, you know, with Swiss Beats and Timberland
and myself and Roy Tatum. One day, we're on social
media going back and forth watching the Risen DJ premiere
and frankly scoring the battle in real time on Facebook,
and there were people writing back like I can't believe
the mayor of teen b is here going back and forth,
(24:27):
and I'm like, I'm like, guys, like, hey, you know so.
I mean, Dwick is still one of my favorite songs
of all time. So it was funny that. But I
love the ability to frankly show a different side of
my personality and for people to see that this is
not just a person sitting up here in a suit
on a Thursday night. This is actually a real human
being with real interest in the hobbies. And also, I
(24:48):
think it really is critically important as black men that
we're able to not just show one side of our personalities,
but frankly show who we are as human beings. And
you know, hip hop culture is very very much a
part of me. I grew up on hip hop and
R and B music, and you know, I'm happy to
talk about affordable housing, and talk about climate change and
sustainability and resilience and transportation infrastructure. But I also want
(25:10):
people to know where I like to go eat and
frankly the kind of music I have playing in my
car when I drive home. So you know, So yeah,
follow my social media if you want to know more
about it, just policy. But if you want to know
who Corey, what's the human being is?
Speaker 1 (25:22):
I like that.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
I like that.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And now you guys know why while we actually had.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
Corey here, yeah, yeah, exactly exactly, but I gotta I
got to remind you all that obviously the stakes are
very high. We have our work cut out for us
and till we get through election day. And as always,
this is a conversation and conversation requires your input, and
(25:50):
if you have an input, please share it with us.
You can do so using the red microphone talk back
feature on the iHeartRadio app. You can find me on
all social media at Rams's job.
Speaker 3 (25:59):
I am award on all social media as well.
Speaker 1 (26:01):
And as I mentioned, let's keep the conversation going and
until next time, y'all peace. This has been a production
of the Black Information Network. Today's show is produced by
Chris Thompson have some thoughts you'd like to share, use
the red microphone talkback feature on the iHeartRadio app. While
you're there, be sure to hit subscribe and download all
of our episodes. I'm your host ramses Jah on all
(26:22):
social media. Join us tomorrow as we share our news
with our voice from our perspective right here on the
Black Information Network Daily Podcast
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