July 8, 2025 • 28 mins
On the second half of today's program, Ramses and Q Ward discuss Target's plan to use social media influencer Kai Cenat to bring Black shoppers back to their stores.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding and shape.
Outcomes the man on the microphone with the golden voice,
the man with a.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Smile that lights up the room.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
The man who is I think yasmina DJ yasmine and
called it, called it magical.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
He goes by the name of q Ward. He is
your host.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Try to tell Ramses, you have to stop lying to
these people. You have to I'm always pig, he describes himself,
and then he says my name, and then he says host.
Ramses is the host. I just work here. No, we
are the hosts of the show. But we need you
(00:46):
to stick around. We got a lot more show coming
your way.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
We are going to be talking about how Target is
using the influencer Kaisana to win back black shoppers, and
also what happened to the Epstein files. But before we
get there, it is time to listen to qboard as
he claps back, answering the question why in the world
is there even an anti woke movement in the first place?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Cute You know the interesting and kind of most pressing
part of that question, because when you ask that it's
become a policy thing right there. It's become a political
talking point, right and I think it's import important rather
to point out that being anti woke is not policy,
(01:33):
it's just like a really quick talking point excuse to
be racist, and calling out the emptiness of the anti
woke movement is the reason why we're having this conversation today.
So you see a lot of people online now we
talked about social media that are anti woke, and just
like with a lot of things that we discuss, there's rallies,
(01:56):
and there's hats, and there's flags, and you know, they've
build an entire segment of their campaign on being anti woke.
But here's the question arounds what does being anti woke fix?
Because being anti woke isn't a plan and it's not
(02:17):
a policy. It doesn't give you a pathway toward anything.
It just gives them an excuse to find groups and
movements and people to hate. So you won't even see
them define woke, just like you never see them define
critical race theory, you know, just like you never see
them define any of the things that they steal from
(02:39):
us in co op so woke the way that we
use it because I'm not even gonna let them steal
this from us. Meant to be enlightened, meant to be aware,
meant to be able to see notice and point out injustices.
Now it means anything they don't like. You want to
teach black history at your university, you're woke. You want
(03:00):
to put LGBTQ characters in a script, you're woke. You
want to point out racism and policing woke, using someone's
pronoun woke, making sure that a company has fair hiring
practices woke. And it's intentionally vague so that they can
paint with these broad strokes against anything that they don't like,
(03:22):
because vagueness is the point. If you can label anything woke,
now you don't even have to speak about it or
debated with in good faith. You can just use it
to scare people. And again we saw them do that
with CRT. So anti woke. They attack DEI because God
(03:43):
forbid there's opportunities in equity and inclusion for everybody, like
God forbid that. They attack honest history because confronting racism
makes them uncomfortable. They attack the rights of the LGBTQ
community because recognize people's humanity somehow threatens theirs. They attack education, Ramses,
(04:06):
banning books, silencing teachers, erasing entire perspectives that they don't
want their kids to see. They say they want to
protect children, but what they really want to do is
control and doctrinate and brainwash those children. Ask yourself this,
what does anti WoT do for people that want to
(04:31):
make a living wage? Nothing? Nothing, health care, nothing, housing,
nothing something that Ramses is very passionate about gun violence. Nothing.
It doesn't feed the hungry, it doesn't heal the sick,
it doesn't teach a generation to think critically. It bans books,
(04:53):
it bans those dangerous drag shows, it bans history, and
it bans the truth. It's a platform that's there to
build anything. It's just a vague strategy they use to
control everything. And let's be real about what they try
to sell us, because you know, fear has become very
very profitable in show, so has outrage. They keep us
(05:16):
distracted from using these things that don't matter, while they're
getting rid of things that matter a lot. They're cutting
the budget to your kids' school, blocking your health care
while they yell about pronouns. They say they're fighting DEI,
but they're really giving billionaires tax cuts. They want you
(05:37):
angry at the people that live next to you so
you don't watch them robbing you blind. They do not
want us to be united, so they create all these
things for us to be woke and divided on because
a divided population is a very easy population to control.
So here's the truth. Anti woke is not some badge
of honor. It's not a solution, and it's not leadership escapegoat.
(06:00):
It's censorship. It's fear dressed as morality. If your entire
platform is telling people what they can't read, who they
can't be, what they can't learn, and who they can't love,
then you're not really preaching freedom, you're preaching oppression. And again,
Ramses and I have made it very clear that we
(06:21):
don't want any part of that type of anti wokeness.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You know the thing about.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Woke that blows my mind, and I've said this on
many shows, but if you think about it, woke exists
as a word to identify, like the opposite of sleep,
you know what I mean, And those metaphors translate very
easily into our level of political engagement or our level
(06:57):
of engagement in our society. And in terms of how
we are capacity to empathize with each other, our capacity
to know what's going on, you know, at higher levels
of government, who's writing what checks and who's making what
back room deals and whatnot, and how they're affecting our day.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
To day lives.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So to be woke relative to being sleep is preferable.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So the fact that that term has been co opted
and there are people who, like I still say it
proudly like, yeah, of course I'm woke.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Like the opposite of that is asleep, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Like it's like somebody telling me that, like like ha
ha ha, you have an afro. Yeah, of course I
have an afro. Like have you seen my hair? It's amazing,
Like think, I'm gonna cut this. So it's like I'm
proud of it.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Man.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
You can wear your hair how you want.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Man, But I'm look, man, if you had this, you
would do this.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I promise you that. So I don't know, I'm gonna
just keep on riding.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
With woke because it works from Yeah, all right, you.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Sent this one to me. Now that we're.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'm gonna have some dialogue about the Epstein files. You
sent this over man, and I know why you sent
it over. Uh, Jeffrey Epstein kind of pops in and
out of the headlines for various reasons. But you know,
a few weeks ago, Elon Musk and Donald Trump had
a falling out, and Elon Musk said, I'll go go
(08:34):
ahead and release the Epstein files or something like that, right,
and that was this bombshell moment where everybody's like.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Oh, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And you know, the Department of Justice is under Donald
Trump's control now, and Elon Musk has formed formed his
own political party, you know, we spoke about that on
yesterday's episode, the America Party, and he's likely going to
launch a full frontal of on Donald Trump and everyone.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
That voted for the Big Beautiful bill.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
This is what he states.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And so.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Mysteriously, all of a sudden, there's sort of nothing to
see with respect to the Epstein client list, the Epstein
files or whatever. And so, so I know why you
were watching this, que I'll paint the picture from the
Associated Press here and then we'll hear.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
What you have to say about it.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So, all right, Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a client list.
The Justice Department acknowledge Monday as it said no more
files related to the wealthy financiers sex trafficking investigation would
be made public, despite promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi
that had raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
The acknowledgment that the well connected Epstein did not have
(09:49):
a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked
represents a public walk back of a theory that the
Trump administration had helped promote, with Bondi suggesting in a
Fox News interview earlier this year that such a document
was quote sitting on my desk unquote for review, even
as it released video from inside a New York jail
meant to be meant to definitively prove that Epstein killed himself.
(10:11):
The department also said in a memo that it was
refusing to disclose other evidence investigators had collected. Bondi for
weeks had suggested more material was going to be revealed.
Quote it's a new administration and everything is going to
come out to the public unquote, she said at one
point after a first document dump that she had hyped
(10:32):
angered President Donald Trump's base by failing to deliver revelations
That episode, in which far right influencers were invited to
the White House in February and provided with binders marked
the Epstein Files Phase one and declassified that contained documents
that had largely already been in the public domain, had
spurred conservative internet personalities to sharply criticize Bondi. After the
(10:56):
first release it fell flat, Bondi said a fish were
pouring over a truckload of previously withheld evidence she said
had been handed over by the FBI. In a March
TV interview, she claimed the Biden administration quote sat on
these documents. No one did anything with them. Sadly, these
people don't believe in transparency. But I think more unfortunately,
(11:18):
I think a lot of them don't believe in honesty unquote.
But after a month's long review of evidence in the
government's possession, the Justice Department determined that quote no further
disclosure would be appropriate or warranted unquote.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
The memo says.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
The Department noted that much of the material was placed
under seal by a court to protect victims, and only
a fraction of it would have been aired publicly had
Epstein gone to trial. Conservatives who have sought proof of
a government cover up of Epstein's activities and death. Expressed
outrage Monday over the department's position. Far right influencer Jack
(11:55):
posse Beek posted quote, we were all told more was coming,
that answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible,
how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been and it
didn't have to be unquote. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wrote
that quote. Next the DOJ will say, actually, Jeffrey Epstein
never even existed unquote, calling it quote over the top, sickening.
(12:18):
Elon Musk shared a series of photos of a clown
applying makeup, appearing to mock Bondy for saying the client
list doesn't exist after suggesting months ago that it was
on her desk. Okay, I know why far right people
are reacting to this, because they really love to pin
the child molester stuff on the left, right, the Pizza
(12:38):
Gate stuff, and you know, the conspiracy theorists on the right.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
They like to.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Like the most evil thing that they can think of,
so they try to make these connections.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So the fact that they don't have that list now
is probably infuriating. And you know, over here, you know
we kind of think that, well, I'll speak for myself,
it at least crossed my mind that Trump, being at
the helm of everything, has the power to do this
and has the reputation of doing these sorts of things.
(13:08):
This is definitely in his wheelhouse, and so it wouldn't
surprise me one bit if he's just like, hey, make
this go away, and then all the people who are
loyalists that have been installed in various positions in the government,
We'll just make it go away.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And so.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
My thoughts, But Q, you brought this to my attention,
please share.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
There's such blatant hypocrites, okay, And it's interesting to see
some right wingers call this out because they were so
sure this thing would be their slam dunk gotcha moment
where they could point to all the people on the
left who were never on this list. You know. The
(13:48):
maga kind of mo is to accuse everyone that they oppose,
what they're doing, things that they've already done, and it
works like magic every time. It's like punching you in
the face and then raising their hand and telling the
(14:10):
teacher that you hit them. Except we have cameras that
show the truth, and no one cares about the cameras.
They said, this is what happened, So this is what happened.
So it's an It's an interesting position though, because typically
what we've learned is that they really can't be guilty
of anything. If it came out via video and photos
(14:35):
and flight logs and a full out, you know, itemized
receipt of all the services that Donald Trump and Jeffrey
Epstein purchased and did together, his base would just find
a way to justify it. So I'm wondering how bad
were these documents that they just said, you know what,
just get rid of them, because typically you make something
(14:57):
like this public, you blame it on the left, you
own the Libs, your base cheers, and it doesn't matter.
So for them to actually just now pretend none of
this ever happened, like like he said, I wouldn't be
surprised if they're like, you know what, Jeffrey Epstein is
the boogeyman, we made him up, he's never even real
His base would just go with that. So now these
things don't exist. After using this as a weapon somehow,
(15:22):
you know, the left didn't do anythings with these documents,
and sure they should have done more we won't even
talk about all that the Department of Justice under Biden
didn't do, like hold the guy accountable for January sixth,
or actually have him sentenced before he got to run
for president again. But you know why even go down
that path really really shocking that they don't have a
(15:44):
limit to their hypocrisy and we just keep getting to
see the same thing happen over and over again.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
This is such a scary time to live in because
I know that I think the only saving grace is
that in my mind, there's a clock might not be
four years like typical presidential terms. But you know, I've
said this to you, uh many times, but Donald Trump
(16:11):
is like a million years old, you know what I mean.
And he doesn't seem to be in the best shape.
So you know, people don't live forever. Donald Trump as
far as I can tell, as a person, so you know,
he's in the final stage of his life, right, So
the clock is running out in terms of you know,
he's not going to be here in my final days, right,
(16:32):
or the final days of my child, right, And so
that's kind of the saving grace. But watching this stuff
happen right now, if.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I don't I don't want to pour water on your hope.
But we're still dealing, dealing today with the effects of
Ronald Reagan's president.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Oh yeah, no, I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So him dying, he's doing enough damage to last. I
need to be clear about that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Oh no, I've had this conversation too where I'm like,
you know, any meaningful progress that I had hoped to
experience in my life has now been punted to, you know,
twenty years after I'm gone. And that's the best case
scenario because of the Supreme Court, the super majority on
the Supreme Court, and that's Donald Trump's doing that by itself,
(17:21):
you know, the weakening of affirmative action and the weakening
of obviously with Donald Trump and kind of changing the
culture via executive order of you know, these people's a
lot of companies. Maybe they weren't good faith efforts, but
at least they were pouring into the culture the narrative
that diversity, equity, and inclusion was a good thing.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You know. The reversal of that will reverberate.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
For a long time, you know what I mean, And
that's heartbreaking. But the fact that this guy can also
cover up his own sins, Now, this is the worst
timeline man. So anyway, speaking of people that once upon
a time were all about diversity, equity and inclusion, I'm
(18:10):
going to talk about Target.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know, we do.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
You know, this is QR code. So we talk about
you know, culture, We offer our opinions, that's the O.
You know, we have a little bit of dialogue, that's
the D. And we end with entertainment. That's the So
there's your QR code and for entertainment today, there's an influencer.
It's a wildly popular influencer named Kaysanot, and Target has
(18:39):
used him to coax black shoppers back into the stores.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
This is I don't know that they've admitted that publicly
that that's exactly what they're trying to do, but you know,
those of us that are watching it happen know exactly why.
So in order to paint this picture from a journalistic standpoint,
I'm going to share from the bi in and then
we'll get into the weeds. So Target is being accused
(19:04):
of using stunt marketing to win back black shoppers by
collaborating with a popular online personality. Over the weekend, streamer
and YouTuber Kai Sanat launched his Tone personal care line
in Target stores. The rollout of Sinnat's line included a
live stream sleepover inside a Target location with the AMP collective,
the Internet Personalities YouTube group. Sinnat's launch also came amid
(19:27):
Target's twenty twenty five wellness campaign, aiming to target younger
shoppers through influencer led brands. Social media users blasted the
rollout of the streamer's brand, accusing Target of trying to
win back Black shoppers amid a boycott against the rollback
of its DEI initiatives. In January, Target dismantled several of
its DEI programs, falling in line with the Trump administration's efforts.
(19:49):
The move has sparked nationwide boycotts, encouraging black consumers to
avoid shopping at the retailer. The company's in store sales
have reportedly dipped due to boycotts. The Internet Labors labeled
these Sinnai Target partnership as a stunt and distraction from
DEI boycotts. Some social media users also questions Not's move
to work with the company made its DEI rollback.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So yeah, So the first thing I'll say here.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Is Target is kind of a lot of companies roll
back their DEI a lot of companies. It was heartbreaking
for people that really believed in a better world of
us kind of treating each other better. And maybe the private,
private industry stepping in where political interests had failed to
(20:37):
meet the people right and black people that have supported
these these these businesses for for such a long time. Finally,
you know, they were paying attention after George Floyd and saying, hey,
look there's a lot of systemic elements that lead to
George Floyd type situations and we don't get to see
them all. We can see the data, and we can
see the ones that get filmed, and there's a lot
(21:00):
more data than that. So this is happening. You know,
this is a systemic issue because it's happening so frequently.
So we're going to step in and we're going to
try to change things doing what we do. We're going
to use enterprise, We're going to use you know, the
intersection of fiscal interests and marketing and you know, industry
and business and so forth. So of the businesses that
(21:23):
rolled back their DEI, Target had made such huge promises.
Target seemed to be the one almost like championing diversity,
equity and inclusion initiatives. Target was the one and they
I mean, you know from comptent. So the Target was
the red store and Walmart was the blue store. I
(21:44):
mean not that that matters, but like every reason that
I had to love Target, I did, you know what
I mean? And for Target to be like one of
the first and they didn't even have to Q you
always point this out to me.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
They didn't. There was no law that said they had
to roll this back.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
They just did it.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
And then they came up with every excuse in the
world like, oh, these products aren't selling this well and
all this and that and blah blah blah. No, No,
you had made a commitment, a year's long commitment to
develop that like that was the commitment. Don't talk about
money now come with these excuses. Your keep your word.
First of all, keep your word, and second of all,
(22:25):
see your commitment through to the end. The end is
when we get the results. We don't get the results
after the first year or the first whatever period of
you know, period of time. This is a year's long effort.
It took years to get black people in this predicament.
It's going to take years to get us out of
this predicament and you've pledged to lead, to be a
champion of this cause, and so for them to reverse it,
(22:48):
they were the ones that kind of were the lightning
rod for all of our frustration with this new administration
and the last modicum of control that we have over
our lives is where we choose to spend our money.
And I'll speak for myself, but I know but to
a larger extent, Black people can also be very petty.
(23:10):
But I'll speak for myself. I'm super petty. Like I
love driving past a Target. I love going into Target
just to remind them I'm not going to spend money there.
Like that's how petty. I am, right, and the people
that work there, and I have that to do with it.
But I need manager, I need people to understand that
this is a real thing.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Right, It's not just your data and your sales reports.
This is a real thing.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
People are affected by this, Like while they go in
the stores that kept their DEI, and I tell them
the reason I shop here is because you kept your DEI.
People need to know this, Okay. So Target is now
scrambling and doing everything sort of making the massive apology
that probably wouldn't be well received, but making the massive
apologies that need to.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
To make this right.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
They're going after, in my opinion, my estimation, I should say,
going after younger black shoppers who might not be INAAC,
you know, urban league affiliated, you know, a little bit
more age, a little bit more seasoned individuals. They're going
after people that watch Kai Sannod. They're trying to get
(24:13):
those black folks to get back in the stores, and
they're going to catch them young and grow them up
and target where those people will think Target is cool. Right,
And again the rest of us looking at it, it can
see like, Okay, this is a stunt. Is this is
not an apology, This is not okay, we made the
bad call. This is not none of that. And I
(24:33):
said earlier in the show, you know, everyone deserves a
path back, right, And I'm not sure that that extends
to a Target.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I can't speak for all black people in that regard.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I can't speak for all black people period.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
But what I will say is that if there was
a decision that Target could work their way back into
our good graces as a people, I would not even
begin to know how they could apologize, because this certainly
isn't it. This isn't even an apology, This is just
in paying a YouTuber.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
So those are my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Q yours, Well, I typically have real estate to have
less thoughts, so I'll make my response a bit expedient.
I don't know that there's anything that can say that
would win Q and rams is back. But when we
say that out loud, then it's like, okay, well, why
(25:29):
would we ever apologize if it will never be received.
So by all means, apologize the right thing to do. Yeah,
I won't be shopping at your store ever again. But
by all means, say you're sorry and say that you
were wrong. The fortunate thing for places like Target is
that there are always people who will say yes to
quote unquote the bag, especially in this new generation where
(25:53):
selling out is no longer shameful. You know that our
ancestors being called a sellout was a major inc and
that's not so much the case anymore. As long as
you're making money and seen as successful, people will curb
their morals to applaud your success. So that's why you
see the Nelly's and the Snoop Doggs go perform for
(26:13):
Donald Trump and pretend it's for the honor of the office,
like that man has ever done or said anything honorable.
But he's somebody who Nellie once upon a time rapped about. Right,
there's a success or a kind of celebration of success
for this new generation and anything for the bag. And
somebody like Kaisannat, who's young and a capitalist, you know,
(26:36):
sees an opportunity to get some money, and Target might
think that he can sway some of the younger you know, customers,
because like you said, Rams, they're not like us. They're
not all activists. Now, there are some young people that
are outside with us, we see it, right, but that
generation is a little more removed from the civil rights
movement and activism and you know, our civil rights legacy organization.
(26:58):
So we'll see what happens. I think the idea that
those products that black products weren't selling well is a
lie because what they've noticed as we stopped shopping there
is that their their their check balance felt our absence
and that's why they're scrambling. Now Boom, say a Q.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
That's perfect, But you can't complain about not making enough
money and then start complaining about not making enough money.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Because we stopped shopping there.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
So even if these products from these black you know,
creators and designers and whatever were just the catalysts to
get black shoppers in.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
The store, it worked. And I think that Costco.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
The success of Costco on the other side, is because
they kept their DEI shows that, you know, black dollars
do matter. And I will say this because I do
want to leave a little bit of hope if just
in case there's an executive out there, it might be listening, right,
if Target did put together brother but hold on, hear
me out. If Target did put together an effective apology,
(27:57):
maybe in ten years after we've seen the fruit of
that apology and that about face, maybe I might spend
ten bucks in a Target, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
And that's a start. That's not nothing.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
But they should do it because it's the right thing
to do. Okay, we got to leave it there. So
that's it for us here on the QR code. Thank
you for tuning in always and we appreciate you riding
with us. Todays show, of Course, was produced by the one,
the only, Chris Thompson. If you have some thought you'd
like to share, please use the red microphone talk back
feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure
to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. You
(28:33):
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we look. And you can find me on all social
media at Ramsey's JA on all platforms.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I am QORD on all social media as.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Well, and be sure to join us next time as
we share our news with our voice from our perspective
right here on the QR Code.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Peace
Still broadcasting from the Civic Cipher studios. This is the
QR code where we share perspective, seek understanding and shape.
Outcomes the man on the microphone with the golden voice,
the man with a.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Smile that lights up the room.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
The man who is I think yasmina DJ yasmine and
called it, called it magical.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
He goes by the name of q Ward. He is
your host.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
Try to tell Ramses, you have to stop lying to
these people. You have to I'm always pig, he describes himself,
and then he says my name, and then he says host.
Ramses is the host. I just work here. No, we
are the hosts of the show. But we need you
(00:46):
to stick around. We got a lot more show coming
your way.
Speaker 1 (00:48):
We are going to be talking about how Target is
using the influencer Kaisana to win back black shoppers, and
also what happened to the Epstein files. But before we
get there, it is time to listen to qboard as
he claps back, answering the question why in the world
is there even an anti woke movement in the first place?
Speaker 3 (01:11):
Cute You know the interesting and kind of most pressing
part of that question, because when you ask that it's
become a policy thing right there. It's become a political
talking point, right and I think it's import important rather
to point out that being anti woke is not policy,
(01:33):
it's just like a really quick talking point excuse to
be racist, and calling out the emptiness of the anti
woke movement is the reason why we're having this conversation today.
So you see a lot of people online now we
talked about social media that are anti woke, and just
like with a lot of things that we discuss, there's rallies,
(01:56):
and there's hats, and there's flags, and you know, they've
build an entire segment of their campaign on being anti woke.
But here's the question arounds what does being anti woke fix?
Because being anti woke isn't a plan and it's not
(02:17):
a policy. It doesn't give you a pathway toward anything.
It just gives them an excuse to find groups and
movements and people to hate. So you won't even see
them define woke, just like you never see them define
critical race theory, you know, just like you never see
them define any of the things that they steal from
(02:39):
us in co op so woke the way that we
use it because I'm not even gonna let them steal
this from us. Meant to be enlightened, meant to be aware,
meant to be able to see notice and point out injustices.
Now it means anything they don't like. You want to
teach black history at your university, you're woke. You want
(03:00):
to put LGBTQ characters in a script, you're woke. You
want to point out racism and policing woke, using someone's
pronoun woke, making sure that a company has fair hiring
practices woke. And it's intentionally vague so that they can
paint with these broad strokes against anything that they don't like,
(03:22):
because vagueness is the point. If you can label anything woke,
now you don't even have to speak about it or
debated with in good faith. You can just use it
to scare people. And again we saw them do that
with CRT. So anti woke. They attack DEI because God
(03:43):
forbid there's opportunities in equity and inclusion for everybody, like
God forbid that. They attack honest history because confronting racism
makes them uncomfortable. They attack the rights of the LGBTQ
community because recognize people's humanity somehow threatens theirs. They attack education, Ramses,
(04:06):
banning books, silencing teachers, erasing entire perspectives that they don't
want their kids to see. They say they want to
protect children, but what they really want to do is
control and doctrinate and brainwash those children. Ask yourself this,
what does anti WoT do for people that want to
(04:31):
make a living wage? Nothing? Nothing, health care, nothing, housing,
nothing something that Ramses is very passionate about gun violence. Nothing.
It doesn't feed the hungry, it doesn't heal the sick,
it doesn't teach a generation to think critically. It bans books,
(04:53):
it bans those dangerous drag shows, it bans history, and
it bans the truth. It's a platform that's there to
build anything. It's just a vague strategy they use to
control everything. And let's be real about what they try
to sell us, because you know, fear has become very
very profitable in show, so has outrage. They keep us
(05:16):
distracted from using these things that don't matter, while they're
getting rid of things that matter a lot. They're cutting
the budget to your kids' school, blocking your health care
while they yell about pronouns. They say they're fighting DEI,
but they're really giving billionaires tax cuts. They want you
(05:37):
angry at the people that live next to you so
you don't watch them robbing you blind. They do not
want us to be united, so they create all these
things for us to be woke and divided on because
a divided population is a very easy population to control.
So here's the truth. Anti woke is not some badge
of honor. It's not a solution, and it's not leadership escapegoat.
(06:00):
It's censorship. It's fear dressed as morality. If your entire
platform is telling people what they can't read, who they
can't be, what they can't learn, and who they can't love,
then you're not really preaching freedom, you're preaching oppression. And again,
Ramses and I have made it very clear that we
(06:21):
don't want any part of that type of anti wokeness.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
You know the thing about.
Speaker 1 (06:30):
Woke that blows my mind, and I've said this on
many shows, but if you think about it, woke exists
as a word to identify, like the opposite of sleep,
you know what I mean, And those metaphors translate very
easily into our level of political engagement or our level
(06:57):
of engagement in our society. And in terms of how
we are capacity to empathize with each other, our capacity
to know what's going on, you know, at higher levels
of government, who's writing what checks and who's making what
back room deals and whatnot, and how they're affecting our day.
Speaker 3 (07:14):
To day lives.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So to be woke relative to being sleep is preferable.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
So the fact that that term has been co opted
and there are people who, like I still say it
proudly like, yeah, of course I'm woke.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Like the opposite of that is asleep, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Like it's like somebody telling me that, like like ha
ha ha, you have an afro. Yeah, of course I
have an afro. Like have you seen my hair? It's amazing,
Like think, I'm gonna cut this. So it's like I'm
proud of it.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Man.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
You can wear your hair how you want.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Man, But I'm look, man, if you had this, you
would do this.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
I promise you that. So I don't know, I'm gonna
just keep on riding.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
With woke because it works from Yeah, all right, you.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
Sent this one to me. Now that we're.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I'm gonna have some dialogue about the Epstein files. You
sent this over man, and I know why you sent
it over. Uh, Jeffrey Epstein kind of pops in and
out of the headlines for various reasons. But you know,
a few weeks ago, Elon Musk and Donald Trump had
a falling out, and Elon Musk said, I'll go go
(08:34):
ahead and release the Epstein files or something like that, right,
and that was this bombshell moment where everybody's like.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Oh, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And you know, the Department of Justice is under Donald
Trump's control now, and Elon Musk has formed formed his
own political party, you know, we spoke about that on
yesterday's episode, the America Party, and he's likely going to
launch a full frontal of on Donald Trump and everyone.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
That voted for the Big Beautiful bill.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
This is what he states.
Speaker 3 (09:05):
And so.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Mysteriously, all of a sudden, there's sort of nothing to
see with respect to the Epstein client list, the Epstein
files or whatever. And so, so I know why you
were watching this, que I'll paint the picture from the
Associated Press here and then we'll hear.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
What you have to say about it.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
So, all right, Jeffrey Epstein did not maintain a client list.
The Justice Department acknowledge Monday as it said no more
files related to the wealthy financiers sex trafficking investigation would
be made public, despite promises from Attorney General Pam Bondi
that had raised the expectations of conservative influencers and conspiracy theorists.
The acknowledgment that the well connected Epstein did not have
(09:49):
a list of clients to whom underage girls were trafficked
represents a public walk back of a theory that the
Trump administration had helped promote, with Bondi suggesting in a
Fox News interview earlier this year that such a document
was quote sitting on my desk unquote for review, even
as it released video from inside a New York jail
meant to be meant to definitively prove that Epstein killed himself.
(10:11):
The department also said in a memo that it was
refusing to disclose other evidence investigators had collected. Bondi for
weeks had suggested more material was going to be revealed.
Quote it's a new administration and everything is going to
come out to the public unquote, she said at one
point after a first document dump that she had hyped
(10:32):
angered President Donald Trump's base by failing to deliver revelations
That episode, in which far right influencers were invited to
the White House in February and provided with binders marked
the Epstein Files Phase one and declassified that contained documents
that had largely already been in the public domain, had
spurred conservative internet personalities to sharply criticize Bondi. After the
(10:56):
first release it fell flat, Bondi said a fish were
pouring over a truckload of previously withheld evidence she said
had been handed over by the FBI. In a March
TV interview, she claimed the Biden administration quote sat on
these documents. No one did anything with them. Sadly, these
people don't believe in transparency. But I think more unfortunately,
(11:18):
I think a lot of them don't believe in honesty unquote.
But after a month's long review of evidence in the
government's possession, the Justice Department determined that quote no further
disclosure would be appropriate or warranted unquote.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
The memo says.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
The Department noted that much of the material was placed
under seal by a court to protect victims, and only
a fraction of it would have been aired publicly had
Epstein gone to trial. Conservatives who have sought proof of
a government cover up of Epstein's activities and death. Expressed
outrage Monday over the department's position. Far right influencer Jack
(11:55):
posse Beek posted quote, we were all told more was coming,
that answers were out there and would be provided. Incredible,
how utterly mismanaged this Epstein mess has been and it
didn't have to be unquote. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones wrote
that quote. Next the DOJ will say, actually, Jeffrey Epstein
never even existed unquote, calling it quote over the top, sickening.
(12:18):
Elon Musk shared a series of photos of a clown
applying makeup, appearing to mock Bondy for saying the client
list doesn't exist after suggesting months ago that it was
on her desk. Okay, I know why far right people
are reacting to this, because they really love to pin
the child molester stuff on the left, right, the Pizza
(12:38):
Gate stuff, and you know, the conspiracy theorists on the right.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
They like to.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Like the most evil thing that they can think of,
so they try to make these connections.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So the fact that they don't have that list now
is probably infuriating. And you know, over here, you know
we kind of think that, well, I'll speak for myself,
it at least crossed my mind that Trump, being at
the helm of everything, has the power to do this
and has the reputation of doing these sorts of things.
(13:08):
This is definitely in his wheelhouse, and so it wouldn't
surprise me one bit if he's just like, hey, make
this go away, and then all the people who are
loyalists that have been installed in various positions in the government,
We'll just make it go away.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And so.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
My thoughts, But Q, you brought this to my attention,
please share.
Speaker 3 (13:28):
There's such blatant hypocrites, okay, And it's interesting to see
some right wingers call this out because they were so
sure this thing would be their slam dunk gotcha moment
where they could point to all the people on the
left who were never on this list. You know. The
(13:48):
maga kind of mo is to accuse everyone that they oppose,
what they're doing, things that they've already done, and it
works like magic every time. It's like punching you in
the face and then raising their hand and telling the
(14:10):
teacher that you hit them. Except we have cameras that
show the truth, and no one cares about the cameras.
They said, this is what happened, So this is what happened.
So it's an It's an interesting position though, because typically
what we've learned is that they really can't be guilty
of anything. If it came out via video and photos
(14:35):
and flight logs and a full out, you know, itemized
receipt of all the services that Donald Trump and Jeffrey
Epstein purchased and did together, his base would just find
a way to justify it. So I'm wondering how bad
were these documents that they just said, you know what,
just get rid of them, because typically you make something
(14:57):
like this public, you blame it on the left, you
own the Libs, your base cheers, and it doesn't matter.
So for them to actually just now pretend none of
this ever happened, like like he said, I wouldn't be
surprised if they're like, you know what, Jeffrey Epstein is
the boogeyman, we made him up, he's never even real
His base would just go with that. So now these
things don't exist. After using this as a weapon somehow,
(15:22):
you know, the left didn't do anythings with these documents,
and sure they should have done more we won't even
talk about all that the Department of Justice under Biden
didn't do, like hold the guy accountable for January sixth,
or actually have him sentenced before he got to run
for president again. But you know why even go down
that path really really shocking that they don't have a
(15:44):
limit to their hypocrisy and we just keep getting to
see the same thing happen over and over again.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
This is such a scary time to live in because
I know that I think the only saving grace is
that in my mind, there's a clock might not be
four years like typical presidential terms. But you know, I've
said this to you, uh many times, but Donald Trump
(16:11):
is like a million years old, you know what I mean.
And he doesn't seem to be in the best shape.
So you know, people don't live forever. Donald Trump as
far as I can tell, as a person, so you know,
he's in the final stage of his life, right, So
the clock is running out in terms of you know,
he's not going to be here in my final days, right,
(16:32):
or the final days of my child, right, And so
that's kind of the saving grace. But watching this stuff
happen right now, if.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
I don't I don't want to pour water on your hope.
But we're still dealing, dealing today with the effects of
Ronald Reagan's president.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Oh yeah, no, I know, I know.
Speaker 3 (16:51):
So him dying, he's doing enough damage to last. I
need to be clear about that.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
Oh no, I've had this conversation too where I'm like,
you know, any meaningful progress that I had hoped to
experience in my life has now been punted to, you know,
twenty years after I'm gone. And that's the best case
scenario because of the Supreme Court, the super majority on
the Supreme Court, and that's Donald Trump's doing that by itself,
(17:21):
you know, the weakening of affirmative action and the weakening
of obviously with Donald Trump and kind of changing the
culture via executive order of you know, these people's a
lot of companies. Maybe they weren't good faith efforts, but
at least they were pouring into the culture the narrative
that diversity, equity, and inclusion was a good thing.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
You know. The reversal of that will reverberate.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
For a long time, you know what I mean, And
that's heartbreaking. But the fact that this guy can also
cover up his own sins, Now, this is the worst
timeline man. So anyway, speaking of people that once upon
a time were all about diversity, equity and inclusion, I'm
(18:10):
going to talk about Target.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
You know, we do.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
You know, this is QR code. So we talk about
you know, culture, We offer our opinions, that's the O.
You know, we have a little bit of dialogue, that's
the D. And we end with entertainment. That's the So
there's your QR code and for entertainment today, there's an influencer.
It's a wildly popular influencer named Kaysanot, and Target has
(18:39):
used him to coax black shoppers back into the stores.
Speaker 3 (18:42):
Right now.
Speaker 1 (18:42):
This is I don't know that they've admitted that publicly
that that's exactly what they're trying to do, but you know,
those of us that are watching it happen know exactly why.
So in order to paint this picture from a journalistic standpoint,
I'm going to share from the bi in and then
we'll get into the weeds. So Target is being accused
(19:04):
of using stunt marketing to win back black shoppers by
collaborating with a popular online personality. Over the weekend, streamer
and YouTuber Kai Sanat launched his Tone personal care line
in Target stores. The rollout of Sinnat's line included a
live stream sleepover inside a Target location with the AMP collective,
the Internet Personalities YouTube group. Sinnat's launch also came amid
(19:27):
Target's twenty twenty five wellness campaign, aiming to target younger
shoppers through influencer led brands. Social media users blasted the
rollout of the streamer's brand, accusing Target of trying to
win back Black shoppers amid a boycott against the rollback
of its DEI initiatives. In January, Target dismantled several of
its DEI programs, falling in line with the Trump administration's efforts.
(19:49):
The move has sparked nationwide boycotts, encouraging black consumers to
avoid shopping at the retailer. The company's in store sales
have reportedly dipped due to boycotts. The Internet Labors labeled
these Sinnai Target partnership as a stunt and distraction from
DEI boycotts. Some social media users also questions Not's move
to work with the company made its DEI rollback.
Speaker 2 (20:09):
So yeah, So the first thing I'll say here.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Is Target is kind of a lot of companies roll
back their DEI a lot of companies. It was heartbreaking
for people that really believed in a better world of
us kind of treating each other better. And maybe the private,
private industry stepping in where political interests had failed to
(20:37):
meet the people right and black people that have supported
these these these businesses for for such a long time. Finally,
you know, they were paying attention after George Floyd and saying, hey,
look there's a lot of systemic elements that lead to
George Floyd type situations and we don't get to see
them all. We can see the data, and we can
see the ones that get filmed, and there's a lot
(21:00):
more data than that. So this is happening. You know,
this is a systemic issue because it's happening so frequently.
So we're going to step in and we're going to
try to change things doing what we do. We're going
to use enterprise, We're going to use you know, the
intersection of fiscal interests and marketing and you know, industry
and business and so forth. So of the businesses that
(21:23):
rolled back their DEI, Target had made such huge promises.
Target seemed to be the one almost like championing diversity,
equity and inclusion initiatives. Target was the one and they
I mean, you know from comptent. So the Target was
the red store and Walmart was the blue store. I
(21:44):
mean not that that matters, but like every reason that
I had to love Target, I did, you know what
I mean? And for Target to be like one of
the first and they didn't even have to Q you
always point this out to me.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
They didn't. There was no law that said they had
to roll this back.
Speaker 3 (22:02):
They just did it.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
And then they came up with every excuse in the
world like, oh, these products aren't selling this well and
all this and that and blah blah blah. No, No,
you had made a commitment, a year's long commitment to
develop that like that was the commitment. Don't talk about
money now come with these excuses. Your keep your word.
First of all, keep your word, and second of all,
(22:25):
see your commitment through to the end. The end is
when we get the results. We don't get the results
after the first year or the first whatever period of
you know, period of time. This is a year's long effort.
It took years to get black people in this predicament.
It's going to take years to get us out of
this predicament and you've pledged to lead, to be a
champion of this cause, and so for them to reverse it,
(22:48):
they were the ones that kind of were the lightning
rod for all of our frustration with this new administration
and the last modicum of control that we have over
our lives is where we choose to spend our money.
And I'll speak for myself, but I know but to
a larger extent, Black people can also be very petty.
(23:10):
But I'll speak for myself. I'm super petty. Like I
love driving past a Target. I love going into Target
just to remind them I'm not going to spend money there.
Like that's how petty. I am, right, and the people
that work there, and I have that to do with it.
But I need manager, I need people to understand that
this is a real thing.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Right, It's not just your data and your sales reports.
This is a real thing.
Speaker 1 (23:28):
People are affected by this, Like while they go in
the stores that kept their DEI, and I tell them
the reason I shop here is because you kept your DEI.
People need to know this, Okay. So Target is now
scrambling and doing everything sort of making the massive apology
that probably wouldn't be well received, but making the massive
apologies that need to.
Speaker 2 (23:50):
To make this right.
Speaker 1 (23:52):
They're going after, in my opinion, my estimation, I should say,
going after younger black shoppers who might not be INAAC,
you know, urban league affiliated, you know, a little bit
more age, a little bit more seasoned individuals. They're going
after people that watch Kai Sannod. They're trying to get
(24:13):
those black folks to get back in the stores, and
they're going to catch them young and grow them up
and target where those people will think Target is cool. Right,
And again the rest of us looking at it, it can
see like, Okay, this is a stunt. Is this is
not an apology, This is not okay, we made the
bad call. This is not none of that. And I
(24:33):
said earlier in the show, you know, everyone deserves a
path back, right, And I'm not sure that that extends
to a Target.
Speaker 2 (24:40):
I'm not.
Speaker 1 (24:40):
I can't speak for all black people in that regard.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
I can't speak for all black people period.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
But what I will say is that if there was
a decision that Target could work their way back into
our good graces as a people, I would not even
begin to know how they could apologize, because this certainly
isn't it. This isn't even an apology, This is just
in paying a YouTuber.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
So those are my thoughts.
Speaker 3 (25:08):
Q yours, Well, I typically have real estate to have
less thoughts, so I'll make my response a bit expedient.
I don't know that there's anything that can say that
would win Q and rams is back. But when we
say that out loud, then it's like, okay, well, why
(25:29):
would we ever apologize if it will never be received.
So by all means, apologize the right thing to do. Yeah,
I won't be shopping at your store ever again. But
by all means, say you're sorry and say that you
were wrong. The fortunate thing for places like Target is
that there are always people who will say yes to
quote unquote the bag, especially in this new generation where
(25:53):
selling out is no longer shameful. You know that our
ancestors being called a sellout was a major inc and
that's not so much the case anymore. As long as
you're making money and seen as successful, people will curb
their morals to applaud your success. So that's why you
see the Nelly's and the Snoop Doggs go perform for
(26:13):
Donald Trump and pretend it's for the honor of the office,
like that man has ever done or said anything honorable.
But he's somebody who Nellie once upon a time rapped about. Right,
there's a success or a kind of celebration of success
for this new generation and anything for the bag. And
somebody like Kaisannat, who's young and a capitalist, you know,
(26:36):
sees an opportunity to get some money, and Target might
think that he can sway some of the younger you know, customers,
because like you said, Rams, they're not like us. They're
not all activists. Now, there are some young people that
are outside with us, we see it, right, but that
generation is a little more removed from the civil rights
movement and activism and you know, our civil rights legacy organization.
(26:58):
So we'll see what happens. I think the idea that
those products that black products weren't selling well is a
lie because what they've noticed as we stopped shopping there
is that their their their check balance felt our absence
and that's why they're scrambling. Now Boom, say a Q.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
That's perfect, But you can't complain about not making enough
money and then start complaining about not making enough money.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
Because we stopped shopping there.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
So even if these products from these black you know,
creators and designers and whatever were just the catalysts to
get black shoppers in.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
The store, it worked. And I think that Costco.
Speaker 1 (27:35):
The success of Costco on the other side, is because
they kept their DEI shows that, you know, black dollars
do matter. And I will say this because I do
want to leave a little bit of hope if just
in case there's an executive out there, it might be listening, right,
if Target did put together brother but hold on, hear
me out. If Target did put together an effective apology,
(27:57):
maybe in ten years after we've seen the fruit of
that apology and that about face, maybe I might spend
ten bucks in a Target, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2 (28:08):
And that's a start. That's not nothing.
Speaker 1 (28:10):
But they should do it because it's the right thing
to do. Okay, we got to leave it there. So
that's it for us here on the QR code. Thank
you for tuning in always and we appreciate you riding
with us. Todays show, of Course, was produced by the one,
the only, Chris Thompson. If you have some thought you'd
like to share, please use the red microphone talk back
feature on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure
to hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. You
(28:33):
can also check us out on all social media at
Civic Cipher specifically YouTube. Subscribe and you can see how
we look. And you can find me on all social
media at Ramsey's JA on all platforms.
Speaker 3 (28:46):
I am QORD on all social media as.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
Well, and be sure to join us next time as
we share our news with our voice from our perspective
right here on the QR Code.
Speaker 3 (28:56):
Peace
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.