February 11, 2023 • 25 mins
In the first half of today’s show, we discuss the many accomplishments of Black Americans that have made the news in recent weeks! We take a break from the norm to highlight some of the trailblazers and history makers to show that we aren’t just victims of police shootings.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host,
Ramsy's job. He is rams Joh I am Q Ward.
Together we like to call ourselves unlucky weirdos sometimes, but
you are currently listening to Civic Cipher this indeed, uh Man,
unlucky wirdos. That's right for those that don't know the uninitiated.
(00:21):
Q and I we started off DJs, and when we
work together we call ourselves unlucky weirdos. I think that
name is excellent. Still, yeah, we're bringing it back. Yeah,
but right now Civic Ciphers in full effect. A lot
to stick around for, so please do. Today we are
going to be talking about something.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's gonna be a bit of a discussion.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We're gonna we're gonna open the floor up to our listeners.
We will not profess to be experts, but it's something
interesting that I think it's we're talking about again. We're
going to discuss standpoint theory. Heard about this recently and
I thought it was important given a conversation I had recently.
(01:01):
And also, we are going to spend some time talking
about a any excellence.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
You know, we spend this show.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
We spend a lot of time talking about really heavy things.
But this past week, so many amazing things have happened,
so many things worth highlighting, that we felt like we
can dedicate a whole segment to that.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So we're gonna We're gonna.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Enjoy some accomplishments today, do some celebrating, and of course
we're going to have our own dedicated any excellence as well.
Let's see what else we have to stick around for
our baba become a better ally This week is excellent,
and we're going to tell a story about a woman
who made history before Rosa Parks did. Her name is
(01:49):
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, and I promise you'll definitely want to
stick around for that story for our way Black history fact.
But first and foremost, I think it's time to get
an Ebony excellence. Q. How do you feel about that?
Shall we shall so? Our first Ebny Excellence that we'll
be discussing this week is sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly
(02:11):
Media and the story comes from the La Times and
we are shouting out once again on the show the
One the Only Beyonce and I will read. Beyonce has
broken the record for most lifetime Grammy wins with thirty
two with her victories for Dance Electronic Music Recording, Traditional
(02:31):
R and B Performance, Best R and B Song, and
Dance Electronic Music Album. Beyoncey surpassed late classical conductor Greg Solty,
who won thirty one Grammys. She entered the night with
twenty eight Grammys, and she is the most nominated artist
on Earth. She has eighty eight nominations, and that's a
(02:55):
distinction that she shares with her husband, Jay Z. Her
career triumph came in the wake of her twenty twenty
two album Renaissance, which dipped into nineties dance music, seventies disco,
modern electronic music, and classic R and B and a
virtual stick sprawling ode to black queer club culture. And
(03:17):
there are those of us who feel that she should
have won Album of the Year, And if you know
anything about the Beehive, you know that that's not.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
A small amount of people.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I can't pretend that I'm the biggest Beyonce fan. I
am a huge fan, but you know, there are certainly
people who know more about her career and just everything
about her and all that she and bodies than I do.
But I definitely recognize the Aveny excellence when I see it,
and That's why she's been the subject of our Aveny
Excellence feature maybe five times now. So once again, credit
(03:53):
words do shout out to Beyonce, mostly the most awarded
Grammy winner in history of the Grammys.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
But it don't stop there, and it shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That way, because as I mentioned, we're going to spend
some time this episode talking about any excellence. Now, I
want to take a moment and let you know a
little bit about radio. So you know, our show, we
didn't start off doing civic cipher. We started off doing
(04:26):
typical hip hop radio shows, djaying, you know, throwing to
you know, commercial breaks, teasing, you know, for folks to
come back, you know, all this sort of stuff. Right,
we wanted to make this show kind of consistent with
that format. So Abny Excellence was a feature we thought
(04:49):
really helped us to anchor this to positivity and a
positive momentum with the show that really dealt with some
heavy subjects. Right, But we always knew that two minutes
per hour per week wasn't enough, and that always felt
(05:13):
like a sacrifice that we had to make. I'm speaking
for both of us, but you know the sacrifice we
had to make because of course we had to deal
with a lot of more pressing issues.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I guess we knew it wasn't enough, But I think
one of the first things you said that is that
it wasn't nothing because we didn't always have a segment
of the show that made us smile, Like it was
just the things that we had to talk about. And
you and I both agree, like, it can't just be that, Yeah,
even when that's all that we're being given.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
We have to seek out some reasons that we're happy.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah, And I think a reason too, you know, for
folks that are listening to our show every week and
not black.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
We felt like it was important to not just be
the source of or like.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I wouldn't even know how to say it, just constantly
wallowing in our own misery effectively, is what I'm trying
to say. We do smile, we do celebrate, we are happy,
we do accomplish amazing things, and at the same time,
the other side of that coin is that we deal
with a reality that is problematic at points, and you know,
(06:34):
both of those things can be true, and a lot
of what we were learning at the time when the
show was initially conceived is that many people who really
do celebrate black culture and black people, and they love
black people. They don't really have access to meaningful access
(06:55):
to the other side of that coin. They don't recognize
the struggles. They just think, well, Obama did it, why
can't you do it? You know, Beyonce did it, why
can't you do it? You know? And that's a very
unfair approach because not everybody is Beyonce talented, let's be honest.
But also there's a significant amount of what you may
(07:20):
end up calling luck. It's not luck, but you know,
luck that goes into these these stories where people that
have these talents or have these gifts or whatever that
they actually peek through and make make it to the
end of that long journey.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I think you're more right than you realize, though, like
the luck part, because you can work very hard and
be very talented, and the only people that we know
plenty of stories like yeah, So I think that I
don't want to downplay the luck part. And you can
call it luck, you can call it prayer, you can
call it divine intervention. But it's not just you. It's
not just you were dope and work really hard, so
(07:56):
you made it. Like it doesn't does it doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That way, right, there's definitely some divine alignean even for
the show that we're talking about now, our show Civic Cipher.
For us to be as successful with this endeavor, there
had to be some people along the way who, despite
(08:19):
having a different opinion, a different political philosophy, persuasion, et cetera,
you know, had to green light our ability to talk
to you right now. And you know, most of the
(08:39):
people would not even want that, They would not even
encourage the conversations that we're having because it does not
reflect their worldview. I'm happy to say that many of
them have kind of moved a little bit more towards
the center since kind of dipping their tone in these
civic cipher waters and subscribing to the scife life along
with me and Q here but one, sir, But yeah,
(09:04):
we needed to make sure that we represented a full
spectrum of what it meant to be black and brown
and indigenous and so forth.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
We hold this.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Space for our brothers and sisters, our AAPI doesn't and everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Else who maybe they don't have a space like this.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
We do believe in solidarity here, but primarily it is
a black space. It was conceived to be a black space,
and we needed to not misrepresent our people here. And
so Ebny excellence was something that we had to work
into the we wanted to and had to work into this.
They're called clocks, it's radio terminology. We had to work
it into our clock as a segment so that we
(09:50):
had a bright moment.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
And we had to commit ourselves to having a bright
moment because it'd be easy to get lost in just what.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Is me or what was U?
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And then you know, you guys be tuning out, like, oh,
it's such a drag listening to that. We're happy people,
We celebrate, we love, we live, We play with our children.
Last night my son was doing science experiments in my house,
was a little National Geographic science kid.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
You know, we made memories last night.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
You know this is no different, right, but you know
you may not have glimpses into that beyond the more traumatic,
troubling things you see in the news. And so again,
have any excellence was meant to bring that balance. In fact,
our positioners broadcast the balance and defend the discourse. So
dedicating a segment to it is something that feels long overdue,
(10:42):
and so I want to make sure that we shine
a light on some of these things that we believe
our examples of that any excellence. So first up is
a woman named Ruth Simmons, So I'll read a bit
about her. She was born Gene Stubblefield on July third,
(11:02):
nineteen forty five. She's an American professor and academic administrator.
She is president of Prairie View A and M University,
which is a historically black university.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
One time for today, HBCUs.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Indeed, Now, the reason that we're talking about her today
as an example of ebony excellence is because in her
previous assignment, she served as the eighteenth president of Brown University.
She did this from two thousand and one to twenty twelve,
where she was the first African American president of an
Ivy League institution, not African American woman, African American person,
(11:40):
and that happened in two thousand and one Ivy League institution. Now,
you know that, you know that there were brilliant Black
minds prior to two thousand and one. You know, we
hear the stories and they're incredible academics.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
But I think this shows that they're still.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Sort of a good old boys club. Not to take
anything away from the people that deserve those positions. But
it's hard to break in, it's hard to affect change.
And we are now catching up, as illustrated by the
first black president of an Ivy League school happening in
(12:24):
two thousand and one, the effects of this type of
trajectory in this country, this type of storyline in this country,
the ripple effect is that now there's a battle on
educating children under the guise of protecting children.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
There's a battle on books at this point, which is
a really scary part. It's kind of happening under our nose,
but right in front of our faces at the same time.
The idea, I think there was like a book I
can't remember who wrote it, but it was called Fahrenheit
four or five one or fahrenheit four one five. It's
the temperature which pages burned, and the book they made
(13:05):
a movie about it about, you know, essentially destroying books.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
That was like a that was science fiction when it
was written.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Now and you know, we're actually going to talk about
that a little bit more later. Well, yeah, yeah, because
there's the second part of the show where we're gonna
talk about standpoint theory. There's a great example of that
and it uses an author whose books have been banned.
She's probably the most banned author Tony Morrison.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And so dangerous. Yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Before we get there, still talking about Ebney excellence, this
one makes me very very happy. You know, some of
us call her Auntie And if when you find out
who it is, you'll know why Viola Davis has officially
achieved the coveted egot status. Uh and just so you
know this this part for the OA Davis I'm pulling
(14:02):
from the Black Information Network. She won at the Grammys
this year as well, and she took home the award
for Best Audiobook Narration and Storytelling Recording.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Have you had a chance to hear it yet? I
have not. I have not you it's incredible. Yeah, yeah,
I believe it.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Well, the thing is, I know she's an incredible actor,
so she's reading her own books. You probably sell it, right,
But I knew going into that that she was up
for an egot. Now, for those who don't know egot is.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Well, I don't want you to say for an egot
because it's not a singular thing that.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
You for the egot.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I guess which is the quadruple crown if you will,
So These are all prestigious awards that very few individuals
get all four of them. This is like your cemented
in entertainment history with an elite few. And this is
not just box office success, her album sales or anything
like that, which are all well and good. This is
(15:06):
recognized by your peers, I believe, and by the community
that the entertainment community at large as having made significant
contribute contributions in multiple veins of entertainment. And so it's
(15:28):
it suffices to say it's it's quite coveted. Whoopi Goldberg
is an is an EGOT uh winner and so or
she won all of the EGOT awards and.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So that's kind of the benchmark and uh, and remind
the audience what E G O T stands. Absolutely So it's.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Emmy, Grammy Oscar and Tony Emmy being for.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Television, sir.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Uh, So you have to be recognized as as an
elite performer in television and win that award Oscar sorry,
Grammy of course's music. And this is what Aiola Davis
won this year Oscars of Courses. You know, it's from movies.
So she's an Oscar winner, which any one of these
by themselves, Yes, is an incredible It comes you know,
(16:19):
just to be nominated. That's something that follows you through
the rest of your risk. Win them is you know,
it puts you so to win all four.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Hopefully this is not making sense.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And then a Tony is for stage performances, so like
a live like Broadway theater, you have to win an
award for your performance in a live arena. And so
you can imagine how difficult this is to accomplish, and
so only a handful of people who have actually done it.
Now Viola Davis has done it, and I can't say
it enough. That's absolutely a glowing example of ebony excellence.
(16:56):
I will say this last bitness is from NBC News.
She's quoted as saying, it's been such a journey. I
just got an egot. Uh. And if you wanted to
find the book and I need to find myself. The
audiobook is called Find Me, and that's the one that
(17:16):
got the twenty twenty three Grammy Award. So shout out
to the Yola Davis. Now, Autumn Lockwood, we're gonna we're
gonna shift gears here because you know, we're in Super
Bowl time and we're in the city where the super
(17:36):
Bowl is taking place, you know, putting putting our show
together this week, So I want to make sure that
we acknowledge that, but also we acknowledge the people who
are involved, so you understand why it's important to us,
but also that it's important to us not just because
it's here, but because of.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
The people involved.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
So I want to you want she take this next one,
because we're again getting into the sports arena, and that's
a little bit beyond.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
The interesting thing about coach Lockwood is that she's in
a space where the organizations in the National Football League have,
with very little resistance, been able to almost exclusively promote
hire and employ white men in positions of power and leadership,
(18:27):
and just being able to point to what they consider
not just the talent pool, but those who are in
waiting and those who are being groomed as if the
only people that fit into those positions are white men,
even though the talent pool of players is predominantly African American.
For there to not just be a black person, but
(18:47):
a black woman in a position in an NFL, it's
hard because you want to give them credit for hiring her.
But just like you said earlier with Ruth Simmons man,
it took too long, right in twenty twenty three, it'd
be the first time, Like we shouldn't still be having
(19:09):
these first But I don't want to rain on this parade.
I do want to celebrate her Autumn is an assistant
sports performance coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, who just arrived
in Arizona for the Super Bowl a few days ago.
She would take the field as the first black woman
to coach in the Super Bowl when her team faces
(19:29):
off against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, February twelfth. Lockwood,
a graduate of the University of Arizona shout out to
the Cats bare Down and a former soccer player, broke
into the industry as a sports information director and Olympic
strength and conditioning coach at her alma mater. Lockwood went
on to work with the University of Houston as a
sports performance coordinator in twenty twenty one. She continued her
(19:52):
line of work as a strength and conditioning assistant at
East Tennessee State, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV,
and with the a Loant of Falcons before joining the
Eagles in August of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
You know, I want to say something for those of
you listening. These conversations that we're having are important, but
I have to remind you. I do this probably every
two or three shows. I want to remind you again
that none of this comes from a place of anger.
Some of it is like our coming to terms with reality,
(20:29):
our realizing dang, that's never happened before. Now, wow, the
system is more broken than we originally thought, or you
know this, how can this be?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
You know?
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And I recognize that if we're playing a numbers game,
more men are interested in football overall than are all women.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
But you know, you're absolutely right there.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
If we're looking at the color line, they're overwhelmingly more
people in those thinking, planning, strategizing, leading positions in football organizations.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that that's, strictly speaking, where
the concentration of talent is. That's where the opportunities are focused.
(21:09):
This is my understanding of how it is coming together. Yes,
that's where we are in twenty twenty three. And I
think it was further illustrated when I saw Dion Sanders
interacting with his students that he was coaching. What a
good man he is and a good role model he is,
(21:32):
and I can't imagine that there could be a more
effective role model for the class that he was talking
to in the clips that I've seen, the classes where
he's just up there being and saying and teaching and
being an example of what they can aspire to, and
that means something. And oftentimes people that end up in
(21:53):
that position don't look like him, don't have his perspective,
don't understand what some of those kids might be up
against with their their aunties and cousins still starving and
you know, living different lifestyles and so forth, and what
challenges may be ahead for some of these folks.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
And so especially as his former employer, he was the
head coach at Jackson State in Mississippi. I'm still sad
we didn't get a chance to go down there while
he was still there. But you know, Jackson didn't have
clean drinking water, and he had and educate these kids
and get them prepared to go play a game while
also getting an education. Like it's more than a notion, man.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
But I'm glad that there's progress.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
So I wanted to say that we're moving in the
right direction just because we're saying this stuff doesn't mean
that we're mad about the past. We're just acknowledging it.
We're excited about the future and the direction we're going in. Yesterday,
I go ahead and knock out that last one. This
comes from CNN. Both Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurt spoke
to the media on Thursday as they recognized the significance
of being the first two black quarterbacks to start in
(22:59):
the same Super Bowl. Boo, wow, before I move on,
good and it's great.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
That's cool man.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
And you know, being a former football player, you know,
from five all the way through college, I've heard those
conversations ram this did play football about how they used
to perceive black people that play this position or kept
us from playing the position because they figured we didn't.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Have the mental capacity to do the job. You see
what I mean. You have to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
So once again, I don't want to. I'm not reigning
on these celebratory moments, just giving you guys some context
as to why it's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
These are good things.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Almost exactly thirty five years after Doug Williams became the
first black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl
with the then Washington Redskins. They are now the Washington Commanders,
I believe because it took them this long to realize
Redskins probably wasn't the best name for your team, probably
the worst name with an aboriginal face on the side
of the helmet. But we'll move on. For twenty seven
(23:56):
year old Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, he's looking at his
second Super Bowl, looking to win his second as the
team's face off on February twelve, which would make him
the first black quarterback to win multiple Super Bowl titles.
So either way, this is going to be a moment
in history. Yeah, and Patrick, for what it's worth, might
be the best we've ever seen play the position.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Great, and that's not q's opinion. That's kind of you.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
There's Tom Brady, who's considered the goat, and then there's
this kid who they think might be the only person
to ever have a chance to give him a run
for his money.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Well, I can't wait to see what happens.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Also, I want to acknowledge this that we're recording this
before February twelfth. Of course, yes, you know, some stations
air our show at different times around the country.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
But either way, we're really excited about this.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
We do believe that these are amazing examples of Ebony excellence.
This is a celebratory, jovial moment for both of us
and it should be for you as well. And welcome
to our reality, because even when we're happy, it's sometimes
a mixed back.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah.
Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host,
Ramsy's job. He is rams Joh I am Q Ward.
Together we like to call ourselves unlucky weirdos sometimes, but
you are currently listening to Civic Cipher this indeed, uh Man,
unlucky wirdos. That's right for those that don't know the uninitiated.
(00:21):
Q and I we started off DJs, and when we
work together we call ourselves unlucky weirdos. I think that
name is excellent. Still, yeah, we're bringing it back. Yeah,
but right now Civic Ciphers in full effect. A lot
to stick around for, so please do. Today we are
going to be talking about something.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's gonna be a bit of a discussion.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We're gonna we're gonna open the floor up to our listeners.
We will not profess to be experts, but it's something
interesting that I think it's we're talking about again. We're
going to discuss standpoint theory. Heard about this recently and
I thought it was important given a conversation I had recently.
(01:01):
And also, we are going to spend some time talking
about a any excellence.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
You know, we spend this show.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
We spend a lot of time talking about really heavy things.
But this past week, so many amazing things have happened,
so many things worth highlighting, that we felt like we
can dedicate a whole segment to that.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
So we're gonna We're gonna.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Enjoy some accomplishments today, do some celebrating, and of course
we're going to have our own dedicated any excellence as well.
Let's see what else we have to stick around for
our baba become a better ally This week is excellent,
and we're going to tell a story about a woman
who made history before Rosa Parks did. Her name is
(01:49):
Elizabeth Jennings Graham, and I promise you'll definitely want to
stick around for that story for our way Black history fact.
But first and foremost, I think it's time to get
an Ebony excellence. Q. How do you feel about that?
Shall we shall so? Our first Ebny Excellence that we'll
be discussing this week is sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly
(02:11):
Media and the story comes from the La Times and
we are shouting out once again on the show the
One the Only Beyonce and I will read. Beyonce has
broken the record for most lifetime Grammy wins with thirty
two with her victories for Dance Electronic Music Recording, Traditional
(02:31):
R and B Performance, Best R and B Song, and
Dance Electronic Music Album. Beyoncey surpassed late classical conductor Greg Solty,
who won thirty one Grammys. She entered the night with
twenty eight Grammys, and she is the most nominated artist
on Earth. She has eighty eight nominations, and that's a
(02:55):
distinction that she shares with her husband, Jay Z. Her
career triumph came in the wake of her twenty twenty
two album Renaissance, which dipped into nineties dance music, seventies disco,
modern electronic music, and classic R and B and a
virtual stick sprawling ode to black queer club culture. And
(03:17):
there are those of us who feel that she should
have won Album of the Year, And if you know
anything about the Beehive, you know that that's not.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
A small amount of people.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I can't pretend that I'm the biggest Beyonce fan. I
am a huge fan, but you know, there are certainly
people who know more about her career and just everything
about her and all that she and bodies than I do.
But I definitely recognize the Aveny excellence when I see it,
and That's why she's been the subject of our Aveny
Excellence feature maybe five times now. So once again, credit
(03:53):
words do shout out to Beyonce, mostly the most awarded
Grammy winner in history of the Grammys.
Speaker 2 (04:02):
But it don't stop there, and it shouldn't.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
That way, because as I mentioned, we're going to spend
some time this episode talking about any excellence. Now, I
want to take a moment and let you know a
little bit about radio. So you know, our show, we
didn't start off doing civic cipher. We started off doing
(04:26):
typical hip hop radio shows, djaying, you know, throwing to
you know, commercial breaks, teasing, you know, for folks to
come back, you know, all this sort of stuff. Right,
we wanted to make this show kind of consistent with
that format. So Abny Excellence was a feature we thought
(04:49):
really helped us to anchor this to positivity and a
positive momentum with the show that really dealt with some
heavy subjects. Right, But we always knew that two minutes
per hour per week wasn't enough, and that always felt
(05:13):
like a sacrifice that we had to make. I'm speaking
for both of us, but you know the sacrifice we
had to make because of course we had to deal
with a lot of more pressing issues.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
I guess we knew it wasn't enough, But I think
one of the first things you said that is that
it wasn't nothing because we didn't always have a segment
of the show that made us smile, Like it was
just the things that we had to talk about. And
you and I both agree, like, it can't just be that, Yeah,
even when that's all that we're being given.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
We have to seek out some reasons that we're happy.
Speaker 1 (05:47):
Yeah, And I think a reason too, you know, for
folks that are listening to our show every week and
not black.
Speaker 2 (05:55):
We felt like it was important to not just be
the source of or like.
Speaker 1 (06:05):
I wouldn't even know how to say it, just constantly
wallowing in our own misery effectively, is what I'm trying
to say. We do smile, we do celebrate, we are happy,
we do accomplish amazing things, and at the same time,
the other side of that coin is that we deal
with a reality that is problematic at points, and you know,
(06:34):
both of those things can be true, and a lot
of what we were learning at the time when the
show was initially conceived is that many people who really
do celebrate black culture and black people, and they love
black people. They don't really have access to meaningful access
(06:55):
to the other side of that coin. They don't recognize
the struggles. They just think, well, Obama did it, why
can't you do it? You know, Beyonce did it, why
can't you do it? You know? And that's a very
unfair approach because not everybody is Beyonce talented, let's be honest.
But also there's a significant amount of what you may
(07:20):
end up calling luck. It's not luck, but you know,
luck that goes into these these stories where people that
have these talents or have these gifts or whatever that
they actually peek through and make make it to the
end of that long journey.
Speaker 3 (07:35):
I think you're more right than you realize, though, like
the luck part, because you can work very hard and
be very talented, and the only people that we know
plenty of stories like yeah, So I think that I
don't want to downplay the luck part. And you can
call it luck, you can call it prayer, you can
call it divine intervention. But it's not just you. It's
not just you were dope and work really hard, so
(07:56):
you made it. Like it doesn't does it doesn't work.
Speaker 1 (07:58):
That way, right, there's definitely some divine alignean even for
the show that we're talking about now, our show Civic Cipher.
For us to be as successful with this endeavor, there
had to be some people along the way who, despite
(08:19):
having a different opinion, a different political philosophy, persuasion, et cetera,
you know, had to green light our ability to talk
to you right now. And you know, most of the
(08:39):
people would not even want that, They would not even
encourage the conversations that we're having because it does not
reflect their worldview. I'm happy to say that many of
them have kind of moved a little bit more towards
the center since kind of dipping their tone in these
civic cipher waters and subscribing to the scife life along
with me and Q here but one, sir, But yeah,
(09:04):
we needed to make sure that we represented a full
spectrum of what it meant to be black and brown
and indigenous and so forth.
Speaker 2 (09:19):
We hold this.
Speaker 1 (09:20):
Space for our brothers and sisters, our AAPI doesn't and everyone.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Else who maybe they don't have a space like this.
Speaker 1 (09:27):
We do believe in solidarity here, but primarily it is
a black space. It was conceived to be a black space,
and we needed to not misrepresent our people here. And
so Ebny excellence was something that we had to work
into the we wanted to and had to work into this.
They're called clocks, it's radio terminology. We had to work
it into our clock as a segment so that we
(09:50):
had a bright moment.
Speaker 3 (09:52):
And we had to commit ourselves to having a bright
moment because it'd be easy to get lost in just what.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Is me or what was U?
Speaker 1 (10:00):
And then you know, you guys be tuning out, like, oh,
it's such a drag listening to that. We're happy people,
We celebrate, we love, we live, We play with our children.
Last night my son was doing science experiments in my house,
was a little National Geographic science kid.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
You know, we made memories last night.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
You know this is no different, right, but you know
you may not have glimpses into that beyond the more traumatic,
troubling things you see in the news. And so again,
have any excellence was meant to bring that balance. In fact,
our positioners broadcast the balance and defend the discourse. So
dedicating a segment to it is something that feels long overdue,
(10:42):
and so I want to make sure that we shine
a light on some of these things that we believe
our examples of that any excellence. So first up is
a woman named Ruth Simmons, So I'll read a bit
about her. She was born Gene Stubblefield on July third,
(11:02):
nineteen forty five. She's an American professor and academic administrator.
She is president of Prairie View A and M University,
which is a historically black university.
Speaker 2 (11:14):
One time for today, HBCUs.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Indeed, Now, the reason that we're talking about her today
as an example of ebony excellence is because in her
previous assignment, she served as the eighteenth president of Brown University.
She did this from two thousand and one to twenty twelve,
where she was the first African American president of an
Ivy League institution, not African American woman, African American person,
(11:40):
and that happened in two thousand and one Ivy League institution. Now,
you know that, you know that there were brilliant Black
minds prior to two thousand and one. You know, we
hear the stories and they're incredible academics.
Speaker 2 (11:57):
But I think this shows that they're still.
Speaker 1 (12:04):
Sort of a good old boys club. Not to take
anything away from the people that deserve those positions. But
it's hard to break in, it's hard to affect change.
And we are now catching up, as illustrated by the
first black president of an Ivy League school happening in
(12:24):
two thousand and one, the effects of this type of
trajectory in this country, this type of storyline in this country,
the ripple effect is that now there's a battle on
educating children under the guise of protecting children.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
There's a battle on books at this point, which is
a really scary part. It's kind of happening under our nose,
but right in front of our faces at the same time.
The idea, I think there was like a book I
can't remember who wrote it, but it was called Fahrenheit
four or five one or fahrenheit four one five. It's
the temperature which pages burned, and the book they made
(13:05):
a movie about it about, you know, essentially destroying books.
Speaker 2 (13:09):
That was like a that was science fiction when it
was written.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
Now and you know, we're actually going to talk about
that a little bit more later. Well, yeah, yeah, because
there's the second part of the show where we're gonna
talk about standpoint theory. There's a great example of that
and it uses an author whose books have been banned.
She's probably the most banned author Tony Morrison.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
And so dangerous. Yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (13:40):
Before we get there, still talking about Ebney excellence, this
one makes me very very happy. You know, some of
us call her Auntie And if when you find out
who it is, you'll know why Viola Davis has officially
achieved the coveted egot status. Uh and just so you
know this this part for the OA Davis I'm pulling
(14:02):
from the Black Information Network. She won at the Grammys
this year as well, and she took home the award
for Best Audiobook Narration and Storytelling Recording.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Have you had a chance to hear it yet? I
have not. I have not you it's incredible. Yeah, yeah,
I believe it.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Well, the thing is, I know she's an incredible actor,
so she's reading her own books. You probably sell it, right,
But I knew going into that that she was up
for an egot. Now, for those who don't know egot is.
Speaker 3 (14:37):
Well, I don't want you to say for an egot
because it's not a singular thing that.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
You for the egot.
Speaker 1 (14:42):
I guess which is the quadruple crown if you will,
So These are all prestigious awards that very few individuals
get all four of them. This is like your cemented
in entertainment history with an elite few. And this is
not just box office success, her album sales or anything
like that, which are all well and good. This is
(15:06):
recognized by your peers, I believe, and by the community
that the entertainment community at large as having made significant
contribute contributions in multiple veins of entertainment. And so it's
(15:28):
it suffices to say it's it's quite coveted. Whoopi Goldberg
is an is an EGOT uh winner and so or
she won all of the EGOT awards and.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
So that's kind of the benchmark and uh, and remind
the audience what E G O T stands. Absolutely So it's.
Speaker 1 (15:47):
Emmy, Grammy Oscar and Tony Emmy being for.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
Television, sir.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Uh, So you have to be recognized as as an
elite performer in television and win that award Oscar sorry,
Grammy of course's music. And this is what Aiola Davis
won this year Oscars of Courses. You know, it's from movies.
So she's an Oscar winner, which any one of these
by themselves, Yes, is an incredible It comes you know,
(16:19):
just to be nominated. That's something that follows you through
the rest of your risk. Win them is you know,
it puts you so to win all four.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
Hopefully this is not making sense.
Speaker 1 (16:29):
And then a Tony is for stage performances, so like
a live like Broadway theater, you have to win an
award for your performance in a live arena. And so
you can imagine how difficult this is to accomplish, and
so only a handful of people who have actually done it.
Now Viola Davis has done it, and I can't say
it enough. That's absolutely a glowing example of ebony excellence.
(16:56):
I will say this last bitness is from NBC News.
She's quoted as saying, it's been such a journey. I
just got an egot. Uh. And if you wanted to
find the book and I need to find myself. The
audiobook is called Find Me, and that's the one that
(17:16):
got the twenty twenty three Grammy Award. So shout out
to the Yola Davis. Now, Autumn Lockwood, we're gonna we're
gonna shift gears here because you know, we're in Super
Bowl time and we're in the city where the super
(17:36):
Bowl is taking place, you know, putting putting our show
together this week, So I want to make sure that
we acknowledge that, but also we acknowledge the people who
are involved, so you understand why it's important to us,
but also that it's important to us not just because
it's here, but because of.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
The people involved.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
So I want to you want she take this next one,
because we're again getting into the sports arena, and that's
a little bit beyond.
Speaker 3 (18:04):
The interesting thing about coach Lockwood is that she's in
a space where the organizations in the National Football League have,
with very little resistance, been able to almost exclusively promote
hire and employ white men in positions of power and leadership,
(18:27):
and just being able to point to what they consider
not just the talent pool, but those who are in
waiting and those who are being groomed as if the
only people that fit into those positions are white men,
even though the talent pool of players is predominantly African American.
For there to not just be a black person, but
(18:47):
a black woman in a position in an NFL, it's
hard because you want to give them credit for hiring her.
But just like you said earlier with Ruth Simmons man,
it took too long, right in twenty twenty three, it'd
be the first time, Like we shouldn't still be having
(19:09):
these first But I don't want to rain on this parade.
I do want to celebrate her Autumn is an assistant
sports performance coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, who just arrived
in Arizona for the Super Bowl a few days ago.
She would take the field as the first black woman
to coach in the Super Bowl when her team faces
(19:29):
off against the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday, February twelfth. Lockwood,
a graduate of the University of Arizona shout out to
the Cats bare Down and a former soccer player, broke
into the industry as a sports information director and Olympic
strength and conditioning coach at her alma mater. Lockwood went
on to work with the University of Houston as a
sports performance coordinator in twenty twenty one. She continued her
(19:52):
line of work as a strength and conditioning assistant at
East Tennessee State, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNLV,
and with the a Loant of Falcons before joining the
Eagles in August of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
You know, I want to say something for those of
you listening. These conversations that we're having are important, but
I have to remind you. I do this probably every
two or three shows. I want to remind you again
that none of this comes from a place of anger.
Some of it is like our coming to terms with reality,
(20:29):
our realizing dang, that's never happened before. Now, wow, the
system is more broken than we originally thought, or you
know this, how can this be?
Speaker 2 (20:38):
You know?
Speaker 1 (20:39):
And I recognize that if we're playing a numbers game,
more men are interested in football overall than are all women.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
But you know, you're absolutely right there.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
If we're looking at the color line, they're overwhelmingly more
people in those thinking, planning, strategizing, leading positions in football organizations.
But that doesn't necessarily mean that that's, strictly speaking, where
the concentration of talent is. That's where the opportunities are focused.
(21:09):
This is my understanding of how it is coming together. Yes,
that's where we are in twenty twenty three. And I
think it was further illustrated when I saw Dion Sanders
interacting with his students that he was coaching. What a
good man he is and a good role model he is,
(21:32):
and I can't imagine that there could be a more
effective role model for the class that he was talking
to in the clips that I've seen, the classes where
he's just up there being and saying and teaching and
being an example of what they can aspire to, and
that means something. And oftentimes people that end up in
(21:53):
that position don't look like him, don't have his perspective,
don't understand what some of those kids might be up
against with their their aunties and cousins still starving and
you know, living different lifestyles and so forth, and what
challenges may be ahead for some of these folks.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
And so especially as his former employer, he was the
head coach at Jackson State in Mississippi. I'm still sad
we didn't get a chance to go down there while
he was still there. But you know, Jackson didn't have
clean drinking water, and he had and educate these kids
and get them prepared to go play a game while
also getting an education. Like it's more than a notion, man.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
But I'm glad that there's progress.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
So I wanted to say that we're moving in the
right direction just because we're saying this stuff doesn't mean
that we're mad about the past. We're just acknowledging it.
We're excited about the future and the direction we're going in. Yesterday,
I go ahead and knock out that last one. This
comes from CNN. Both Patrick Mahomes and Jalen Hurt spoke
to the media on Thursday as they recognized the significance
of being the first two black quarterbacks to start in
(22:59):
the same Super Bowl. Boo, wow, before I move on,
good and it's great.
Speaker 2 (23:04):
That's cool man.
Speaker 3 (23:05):
And you know, being a former football player, you know,
from five all the way through college, I've heard those
conversations ram this did play football about how they used
to perceive black people that play this position or kept
us from playing the position because they figured we didn't.
Speaker 2 (23:20):
Have the mental capacity to do the job. You see
what I mean. You have to talk about it.
Speaker 3 (23:24):
So once again, I don't want to. I'm not reigning
on these celebratory moments, just giving you guys some context
as to why it's a big deal.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
These are good things.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Almost exactly thirty five years after Doug Williams became the
first black quarterback to start and win a Super Bowl
with the then Washington Redskins. They are now the Washington Commanders,
I believe because it took them this long to realize
Redskins probably wasn't the best name for your team, probably
the worst name with an aboriginal face on the side
of the helmet. But we'll move on. For twenty seven
(23:56):
year old Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, he's looking at his
second Super Bowl, looking to win his second as the
team's face off on February twelve, which would make him
the first black quarterback to win multiple Super Bowl titles.
So either way, this is going to be a moment
in history. Yeah, and Patrick, for what it's worth, might
be the best we've ever seen play the position.
Speaker 2 (24:18):
Great, and that's not q's opinion. That's kind of you.
Speaker 3 (24:23):
There's Tom Brady, who's considered the goat, and then there's
this kid who they think might be the only person
to ever have a chance to give him a run
for his money.
Speaker 2 (24:30):
Well, I can't wait to see what happens.
Speaker 1 (24:32):
Also, I want to acknowledge this that we're recording this
before February twelfth. Of course, yes, you know, some stations
air our show at different times around the country.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
But either way, we're really excited about this.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
We do believe that these are amazing examples of Ebony excellence.
This is a celebratory, jovial moment for both of us
and it should be for you as well. And welcome
to our reality, because even when we're happy, it's sometimes
a mixed back.
Speaker 2 (24:59):
Yeah.
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