April 30, 2025 • 57 mins
Today we talk to Maurice Mitchell, the National Director of the Working Families Party, an alternative to the two party system that currently has American politics in a chokehold. Y'all, Maurice and his team literally created their own political party, so we had to ask the obvious question in today's political hellscape: WHAT IS EVEN THE POINT?!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
All media.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, y'all, here we are politics with prop You
already knew because you obviously have clicked play at some point.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Today's a special one.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We do this series called Terraformers, and which was, according
to the surveys we took, was like the least like
types of episodes.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I was like, y'all don't want to meet people actually
do it good, you know. But I'm like, I don't
care what y'all say. You're gonna get this work right.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So so every once in a while we try to
bring in people actually doing.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Real work out here, you know.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And somehow, I don't know how we got connected. I
just got an email that said, y'all need to holler
at Maris and I was like, let's holler at Maris
so working families party, right, okay, ladies and gentlemen to
the block, Mariics Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
You know, it's good to be with you, bro, It's
good to be here. Many glad to be with you
in your audience for real.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So glad to have you here.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
This is unique, Like, like the reality is I have
never said yes to a candidate that wanted to be
interviewed on the show. I've never said yes to anybody
that's part of a party, Like I've never said yes
to that, you know what I'm saying. Some of that
is because like I don't know you cuz you're we're
(01:46):
saying like you're not gonna use my name? You feel
me like I work real hard for his name, I got,
you know what I'm saying. So you know, it's it's
very rare that like I you know, won't be given
out from co signs like that, you know what I'm saying.
Most of the people we've we've had on the show,
I've either known personally or have been a fan of
(02:06):
for a long time, you know what I'm saying. So
this is really a first you know what I'm saying,
because I think ground, Yeah, what you're doing is unique.
So for y'all that don't know this young man is
is is the head of a major political party.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And I'm gonna say major because you major homi uh.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And we did an episode last year which is basically
about like it was like political parties here are like
ordering at like a Jamaican restaurant to where it's just like.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, ah, like you know, like your actual order. What
you walk in there? Do you actually ordered? They ain't
got yo?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Say let me let me get a patty pati done?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
All right, all right, let me you already know? All right?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Son?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Peace? All right, son peace? What's done?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know what I'm saying, Like, you're not gonna have
have So I just got to settle with whatever you willing,
whatever's left.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Like that's what I feel like voting is here.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
You know that's really that's a really good analogy. Yeah,
you got to settle and you're confused. It's like, why
are they mad at me? Like I'm trying to I'm
in your establishment. I'm trying to understand.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
First of all, you wrote it on the menu. You
said this was an option. You tell you it's not
an option.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Okay, substitute the sweet potato fries? What if? I'm like,
what if? On like sweet? How come I can't I
can't get the tots? Nah? No, this is how the
menu will, just how the menu work. It's like, well,
damn okay.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So having viable, you know, third, fourth, fifth party options
has been something that's been a blaring problem since you know, really,
like I mean, whether were talking like wigs or like
ter or less democratic republic, like finding a viable option
(04:11):
has you know, is just kind of like it's built
into the batter, you know what I'm saying. So so
it's been a difficult thing. So what you're doing is
really a herculean lyft number one, you know what I'm saying,
and then a number two like really it's I mean,
it's necessary. So that being said, let's hear some of
(04:35):
this math here. So first of all, like who are
you right? Where you from? And like if you can,
I'm pretty sure you've practiced this plenty of times. But like,
what was that catalyst that was like all right, fam,
I'm getting in this? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, So
(04:56):
who am I? I mean, I feel like whenever I
get post that question and there's so many ways I
can answer it. I mean, I'm definitely a child of
the eighties. Okay, I'm definitely a child of the eighties.
I grew up on the East Coast.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I grew up in a in a different there's a
you know, there's another long Beach. I grew up in
a long beach on the East Coast, the New York one. Okay, yeah,
Long Beach, New York, the Second Beach.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, sorry, I'm sorry, it's just unnecessary shade.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Oh Man, Yeah, listen, oh Man. But you know, I'm
a I'm a child of the golden era of hip
hop word.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
My cousins were hip hop artists, So I got to
I got a front row seat of witnessing this very
very special time in hip hop in the late eighties
to early nineties to mid nineties that was really beautiful,
and that that has really shaped my life, shaped my
politics in any way. Yeah, you know, I'm I'm somebody
(06:02):
who was raised in a family of black people that
understood the assignment. So both of my parents, they're working
class folks.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
My mom is a retired registered nurse. My dad was
a retired electrician, worked underneath trains, you know, and they
both worked long hours, but they would make sure every
weekend or every other weekend, we'd go to the black bookstore,
you know, and we would get to choose a book.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so I didn't realize looking back, I see how
foundational that was for me. I'm somebody who you know,
there's an event that took place that we need to
always bring up, the move bombing you know Philadelphia, right
where our country out bombed, bombed us. This isn't re memory,
(07:06):
This isn't this isn't Black Wall Street.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
We were alive. This is recent memory, right.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And so I'm in a family that my dad always
brought up the move bombit. He's like, you can't forget that,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
And so I was raised.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
I was raised with a certain level of consciousness, and
I really took to it, and I wanted to be
part of the stories that my parents told me about
about Martin, about Malcolm, about all of these folks, not
just in the US, but in the diaspora. To talk
about Marvy, they'll talk about all these folks. And so
(07:42):
that was just in the air. You know, my dad
is from a small island nation, Grenada. But the cool,
cool thing about Grenada is that in nineteen seventy nine
to nineteen eighty three, Grenada was an independent black socialist.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Repuber Yeah right, yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That was normal to me, the idea you could have
self determination and you could decide on your own and
you could even be in a tiny little island nation
and still be upright and say whatever you're talking about
over there, like I know, you're the big bad superpower.
We're gonna move in our own way, right, So that
(08:21):
is when people ask who I am, how I'm raised?
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Is all those things.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
It's you know, being a black child in the eighties,
growing upcoming of age, no matter where you lived in
the country. This was during the drug war, y, so
it meant getting pulled over by the police times that
you could even understand for all types of situations that
(08:47):
made no types of sense. So it's like being faced
with those contradictions. It meant it meant living right next
to the trap house and watching people people come like zombies,
you know, day and night, you know, back and forth.
It meant my mom working as a detox nurse, so
(09:10):
she's treating folks, you know, who have multiple chemical addictions.
So it's like I'm a child of all of those contradictions.
I just I live with those things. I was radicalized
in different moments of my life, you know. I was
I have the good fortune to be able to go
to college, and I went to Howard University and that
(09:33):
was a transform experience. And two things happened at Howard
that like to this day, I remember, like yesterday. So
one of the gifts that I got was Stokely Carmichael,
who was also Kwame Terray. He spoke at Howard when
(09:54):
I was at Happy I got to see him speak,
and I mean it was is mind blowing.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I think this might have been his last year of life.
Wow and wow.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
He said a lot of things, but he said one
thing in particular, the state in my mind.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
He said he was he was at the end.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
He's a organizers at the end. He invided people to
join his organization. Yeah, the All African People's Revolutionary Party. Right,
it's like, join our organization. But he was like, look,
you may not agree with our politics, but he was like,
what I'm telling you is that we as a people
need to be organized. So if you don't align with
our organization, join another. I rather have you join. And
(10:39):
he's like, I disagree with them, but I'd rather have
you joined the Urban League. Yeah, have you joined. I'd
rather have you join, you know, the NAACP. That's better
you not joining us and joining them is better than
you leaving this audience and not being part of an organization.
And so I remember that to that day and left
(11:00):
and I was like, man, I'm yeah, I'm going to
be an organizer.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's what I wanted. It was like a religious experience.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
And the second thing that happened to me and Howard
is that one of our classmates was killed by the police,
and wow, and why that was powerful is that and
Howard University, you have every single type of black person
from all.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Over the world. You got.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Regular sh regular black folks from the US, every region,
every part. You got black folks from the Caribbean, from Africa,
from wherever. You got like people like me who came
up working class. You got black elite people who you know,
who their great grandparents have high degrees from college.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
You got every type of black person.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
And the thing that that I think was so radicalizing
for so many of us was that when our classmate
was killed by the police, by an undercover police officer,
it was a.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Reminder that none of that matters. Don't matter.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Bro, none of those distinctions matter. It doesn't matter at all. Right,
And so whatever type of black person you think you are, right,
you need to understand the assignment that we that it's
our duty, it's our duty to organize around one agenda
(12:36):
so that we could defend ourselves from that type of violence.
And it's not just the state violence against police like that.
It's all the different economic violence, whatever. And you can't
escape it. Your degrees can't can't allow you to escape
your blackness. Your whatever you got in your your bank
account can't allow you to escape your blackness, none of
(12:59):
those things. And so the quicker, you know that, the quicker,
you could develop a strategy for survival. Let's go from
the society, man bro.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
There are so many similarities in our upbringing, the listeners know,
but like for this, it was like, so I'm the
I'm I'm from Los Angeles, but I'm I'm the child
of a black panther. So for for us, like the
same thing, like the books we had to write my
dad book reports, so like you know right, so I'm
(13:32):
like I'm writing him book reports on black authors, black writers,
black inventers.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Uh My, I had no like cartoon like posters on
my wall. It was the ten buck two road, it
was the Five Kingdoms of West Africa. You know what
I'm saying, Like that's what like so like and he
would rent, he would you know back when you go
to library and rent movies, you saying, So he would
(13:58):
rent like black films know, like, so, you know, when
it was time to do the country report in sixth grade,
I did mine on Ethiopia, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You know, and speaking of Grenada, like my.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Father even in passing mentioned moving there, you know what
I mean, because he's black panther, you know what I'm saying.
Uh and so yeah, So having that just being in
the gulage of understanding. I remember we had to do
a person's report in seventh grade. I did mine on
Nat Turner.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
That little school was like uh.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Wait, you know I'm saying like I was like, what, like, yeah,
what I don't see what you talk about?
Speaker 4 (14:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I grew up in the sort of the borderlands of
the Black and Mexican specifically neighborhoods out here. Uh you know,
we obviously have a broader Latino population, but where I
was at, like this is Mexican, you know what I'm saying. So,
like just the solidarity around suffering people. I was like,
you in the same hood I'm in, you know what
(15:02):
I'm saying, Like, so, you know, we just didn't I
ain't see the I don't understand what the you know
what I'm saying, Like, what what's the problem, you know.
And then even more interesting was getting to college having
two things. It wasn't for me, It wasn't stokely. It
was Angela Davis. So Angela Davis came and spoke in
my school and she had mentioned like ending prison and
(15:28):
I was like, what, like I remember, and I'm again
my father was a pat. So I was like, wait
a minute. Now, I was like, you know, and again
I'm from La. I'm like some of y'all y brother
in jail, aint Nelson Mandela. Now like I mean, like,
you know, like that's what I was thinking. I was like,
(15:50):
you know what I mean, but that germ of like actually,
there's another way to think about this, and I was
like what. And then second was this thank you know
for us. It wasn't a death. It was this Filipino
girl named Irene Dudler, who I talk about all the
time because I she was a couple of grades above me,
(16:12):
but I had a huge crush on her. But anyway,
I mean she I think she teaches at like s
F State. Now she's a homie. She already knows. But
like I was like, yeah, yeah, no, you know, we
you know, we all grown folks now. But like I
remember she was like she shaved her head and she
moved to the Philippines to fight against the Dutertes. No yeah, yeah,
(16:33):
to fight against the revue the senior, to fight against
the revolution. I was like, first of all, I didn't
know anybody that was not black that was a revolutionary,
you know what I'm saying. But she was like, yo,
I'm moving and I was like what, Like that's an option,
you know what I'm saying. Like so that those two
(16:53):
things for me, I was like, Okay, it's more than
just knowing my history, like this we need to do.
And it's crazy like how hip hop played such a
role here because for us, it was like the Lahmurt
Park village where like you know, blowed and a lot
of just a lot of like that was like our
Harlem if you will, where it was like this is
where like black art, excellent renaissance of a working class
(17:18):
you know what I'm saying, Because you have the UCLA
stuff that was like we're that's that's UCLA, you know
what I'm saying. Like I'm like, this is like at
a street level, because like Lamur Park is really in
between two very legendary like crib hoods. So you have
like the forties and then you have the roll in
sixties that are a little bit further down.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Lamurt Park's right in between, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
So to be in this neighborhood where like we are,
it was kind of I can't think.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Of any particular like real.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Problems that happened at Lamurt for some reason, at least
in my memory, it was like, you know, these are
the Sunday drum circles, you know, making rest, you know
what I'm saying, Like it was just like black area
that like yeah, you just wasn't a It wasn't a
thing there, you know what I'm saying. This is where
we get to be ourselves, you know what I mean.
(18:09):
And that's where like our hip hop scene came from.
As you were talking, man, I was like really blown away,
Like how many parallels?
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:17):
I gotta send to this.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
All right?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So my next thought is this, like I told you
before we started recording, but as a reminder, like you know,
our show is rather educational, like in the Cornerstone premise
again is like if you understand growing up, we'll use
the term working class because you know, color mute terms
like urban or or stuff like that, Like, well, I
(19:15):
I personally use the term like like if you grew
up in our inner cities because I am personally because
I am trying to expand it to.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Poor folks. You know what I'm saying, Like I'm like
all of us.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
If you grew up any like don'tkay if this was
like if you was in Toadsuck Arkansas.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
And like me, Ma and Nim, you know worked at
the sawmill. Your uncle you'll you know your uncle Billy
Ray got a finger missing, Like you actually understand politics,
you know, they just use different terms. And I found
that when you approach something in in terms of like
I believe that even though I'm also college educated, that
(19:53):
you ain't.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
No, I'm not any smarter than you, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I'm just gonna I just think you you just weren't
in interested in the things I was interested in. So
when I just say, if I just give you the game,
like hey, this is what that means? I like, we
we talked to I think it was two weeks ago
on the show, Like we'll use the Democrats for example,
like if you have just said, what the Department of
Education does you know what I'm saying. Rather than being
(20:19):
like we need to keep it, we'll just say what
they do, you know what I'm saying, Like if you
just say, hey, they're not they don't write curriculum.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Gee, Like you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
They don't. They don't hire, they don't fire. They just
make sure that your little poor school that ain't got
no reading teacher, and why your baby can't read, they
just make sure that that school has somebody that'll teach
your baby to read.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
It's just that's all I'm saying, Like you try to
get rid of it. Like I'm just saying, like.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
You know how, you know how your baby got bad
eyes and they making them sit in the back of
the thing, and sitting in the back of you was like,
my my baby can't see the screen. Okay, Well you
need an IEP that says that you need to place
my child in the front of the in the front
of the thing, and you need an RSP teacher that's
gonna help you. But you know what, you just killed
(21:09):
that funding because that comes from the Department of Education.
So if you just explain it, yep, you know I'm
saying that, like I don't have to tell.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
You what to think about.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I'm just saying, oh, yeah, yeah, you know, you know
me mall can't get her medicine now because you just
removed the law that said that that kept the price.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
You just voted to remove it.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So with that, I'm obviously trying to onboard people into
the political process, right, Yeah. So I'm wondering a couple
of things for you, Like, so, how did y'all come
to the conclusion that, like the best way to do
this is to start a party rather than just grassroots organizing.
And then what things have like kind of worked for
(21:53):
recruitment for that.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Well, let me let me tell you a story that
might help. I'll make that happen. And I couldn't agree
with you more. The thing that keeps people out of
knowledge often is is understanding the vocabulary of the language
of that you know, what I'm saying, and and and
(22:16):
a lot of times people gate keep a certain type
of knowledge. It's just based it's just based on vocabulary,
but they gate keep it by suggesting that the folks
who aren't in that realm lack the expertise, the specialized knowledge,
(22:36):
the intelligence to be able to even understand it. You know,
and like people do that with politics, people do that
with economics, people do that with so many things.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Like and like, you know, I went to I went
to college.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Some of it was about learning how to think, but
a lot of it was just learning vocabulary for for sure,
for specialized sort of gate keep type. Ye, specialized knowledge,
that's all it was. It's like, yo, that's what that means, right,
And so yeah, when you look at what we're losing
(23:13):
day to day, a lot of it has to do
with the fact that nobody kept it plane, yes, and
just communicated to the people what any of these things
were about. Yes, So of course people are not going
to value things that nobody ever leveled with them on
what they were in the first place. And so I
(23:36):
just wanted to like, I couldn't agree with you more.
And to me, that's that is the actual role of
a political party, you know, that is one of the
roles of a political party. And by that measure, both
parties are failing the American people. Both Republicans and Democrats
are failing the American people just on that base thing,
(23:56):
which is being able to communicate to the peace people
in a language and culture that the people could understand.
What's going on.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
That almost gave me the chills, bro, because like, what
a bar that. You're like, well, you're not even doing
the definition of what you exist for.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
The basic one of the basic roles.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
And I'll I'll say more about that, but you know,
there's people who really nerd out on this subject. They
talk about the difference between a thin party and a
quote unquote thick party or a rich party experience, and
they say that the Republicans and Democrats in the United
States are basically thin parties, parties that are not offering
(24:41):
yea on your day to day very much for people.
But you know, every few years when they want votes,
you'll get a lot of glossy mail. You'll get digital
ads if you're watching you know, YouTube, if you're watching
whatever you're watching, you'll get TV ads. You know might
be it right, And so that might help you understand
(25:05):
how I got to the place where I'm like, oh,
you need to build a party. So I started off
as a as a grassroots organizer. Like I said, when
I left college, I went back home to New York
and I started working in a very very small, underresourced
grassroots organization and we worked on all types of issues.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
It was, it was just one issue.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
We worked on making sure that big companies didn't pollute
working class communities, especially working class communities of color. We
writ to make sure that education money got to not
just wealthy school districts that could afford it because they're
able to have a tax base that allows them to
(25:46):
have things right and property taxes. But you know, maybe
you know working class neighborhood like Wine Dance.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Wine Dance on Long.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Island, one hundred percent of the students are black. When
I was working on those campaigns to get more money
into that school district and other school districts like it,
the graduation rate was in.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
The thirtiesh So that means.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Basically, if you are working hard and you're doing all
the right things, and you're sending your child to that school,
chances are your child will not graduate.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, only three out of ten is good. You're doing
everything you could do as a parent.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, you know, everything that this country says you're supposed
to be doing, you're doing, and chances are your child
will not graduate.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
So, so we did a lot of work to try
to change those things. And what I realized is, you know,
and I'm really proud of the work that we did.
But I realized that at a certain level, the grassroots
organizing that I was doing.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
We would hit a wall. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
That wall was the elected officials that even when we
brought it to them, they did not want to hear us.
And it was because they were listening to and they
felt accountable to the real estate lobby or the pharmaceutic.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
And so that got that got me involved in elections
because I was like, we need to take them out, right,
And so so that got me involved in elections. We decided,
all right, let's get new elected officials. And you know,
at the time New York the legislature was run by Republicans.
(27:29):
We had a Republican governor, and they weren't they weren't
hearing any of that. And so we were like, all right,
we're gonna flip the the legislature from Republican to Democrat.
Once we do that, boom, And we eventually did that,
and we we learned that once you flip from Republican
(27:52):
to Democrat, it's not going to be a game changer
because so many of those Democrats are listening to the same.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Lobbyists, same.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Right, Yes, so we were like, Yo, they were talking
all this good stuff about educational equity and racial justice
to da da dada where they didn't have power, but
now they have the power to do something, and now
they're like, it's like they have.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Amnesia and they're not right. Okay. So that was a
huge lesson.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
So lesson number one, when I was working on the
very very grassroots level with parents and teachers and students,
the power of grassroots organizing, it's undeniable, but there's barriers,
and those barriers are political. And the way that you
overcome those political barriers. Lesson number two is by getting
(28:44):
different people into office. Lesson number three. Who those people
are matter. It's not just the or R next to
their Who those people are matter? Right, Okay, fast forward,
fast forward, because I'm being those people, right and I'm
feeling frustrated year after year after year. And in the
(29:06):
midst of that, Michael Brown is murdered in Saint Louis, right,
And it's hard to explain where I was at in
my mind at the time, but it was like I
felt appalling in that moment, and I picked up the
phone and I reached the Organization for Black Struggle in
(29:27):
Saint Louis, and you know, we had a good conversation.
The organizer I spoke to and I was like, look,
I'm in New York right now, but I will get
on a plane and support whatever you're doing, and I
will follow your lead and I will recruit others and
you know, maybe I'll go for I'll go this weekend
and you know, and they were like boom, come through.
(29:50):
And it was life changing, life changing what I saw
on the ground in Saint Louis. I saw every type
of black person that yeah all together.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, I got to do it because I come from music.
I got to do a benefit concert around that time too.
And when you witness, like first of I had no
idea like Ferguson was the Sundowntown.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
But then like once you.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Witness, yeah, this full strap, full like social stratification of
black people, like all in one space, it was like,
oh this is yo, it's different.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, life changing.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Yeah, like you know, from the from very very very
young people you know with science hands up, Mike Brown, yeah, people,
church folk, yep, the people in the civil rights organizations,
the people in the street organizations, yeah right, everybody, but
(30:49):
you know, the everybody.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
It was like something I never could have imagined.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
And so I was like, whatever the people, whatever, the
working class black people who were willing to take these
risks on these streets are doing, I'm gonna support it, right,
And so I basically stayed in Ferguson and in Saint Louis.
I left the work that I was doing in New York,
and I was able to see the rise of the
(31:17):
movement for Black Lives. Yeah, from that ground level, maybe
a week or two after Michael Brown was murdered to
it becoming an international so the right and so what
I saw, and this will get to why I'm like, okay,
political parties, what I saw was, Wow, social movements have
(31:39):
the power to call questions at the level of society
where everybody question that the social movement is calling. Everybody
has that on their lips, right, And I saw that
Barack Obama was like Ferguson, what's going on in Ferguson?
But you know, to you know, man, I was in
(32:00):
Tanzania and this this brother in Tanzania was like, tell
me about fergus It was like that, right, Yeah, Now
social movements could call the questions social movements and protest movements,
they could surface these contradictions, like big contradiction in this
country that we have ignored violence against black people.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Now we're dealing with it.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
But but social movements don't necessarily have the power, and
protest movements don't necessarily have the power to answer the
question and resolve the contradiction. So you ask the question
and then the most organized forces are able to answer
the question. And generally, under this system, the system of capitalism,
(32:43):
the most organized forces tend to be companies, corporations, organized capital.
So so Taser International, which they produced the Taser, and
they produce they produced non lethal weapons, right they they
they're made. They had a product body cameras, right yeah.
And this was before body cameras have become now they're very,
very popular. They were like the answer to these killings
(33:07):
like Mike Brodcamera boom, and their logic was the mainstream
logic of the day. If you put the body cameras
on these cops, they're gonna be self aware of the
fact that they're being recorded. They're not gonna, you know,
commit these heinous crimes against people. BA Bob easy And
it became the answer. So what did I learn from that?
(33:30):
I learned that we need the We need everything. We
need the ability and the grassroots like I saw to
be able to bring people together on our issues. Like
I saw in in Windage. We need the ability to
elect people who actually are about that business. I saw
that we need the ability to protest because we've got
(33:51):
to call the question. We've got to surface these big
problems in our society. And if we stopped there, we're
gonna alley oop the ball to companies and corporation because
under the system, under the system of capitalism, every problem
requires an answer, and so every problem becomes a market
(34:13):
for a company.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Right, right, And so a couple of gems. Man, Yeah,
so when.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
You surface a social problem, that becomes a market for
a company. So you protest and you make a social problem.
There is a some probably white man in some office
somewhere right who is looking at that social problem and
trying to figure out how he can market to it.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
How do I monetize it? You, how can I monetize it?
Speaker 4 (34:44):
But the.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Real quick, the sinister propheticness of the idea of the
Taser company also making the body cam that it's the
same you know, like how America funds civil wars and
we actually fund both sides of the civil wars, like
this is it's so sinister anyway?
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Go on? Yes, And so I read like that was
my experience.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
I was like, wow, So, even when our protest movements
work at the highest level, we're going to throw up
a ball, which is this organic, authentic calling from the street,
and they're gonna slam duckt and make profit off of it.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
How can we correct that? And my thing is like, well,
we don't have.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
The billions of dollars that they have that allow them
to have lobbyist city level, the county level, you know,
so that they have all of these capacities to be
able to be like boom, we got a solution for you.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
We got a solution.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
But if we're able to take government, because government has
a lot of capacity, Government actually has a lot of resources,
has a lot of staff. If we people could govern together,
then we could have a protest movement on the outside
calling calling the question, and then we get people who
(36:11):
are aligned with that, with that social movement on the
inside governing and then being able to deliver an answer
and and so. And the vehicle the organization that focuses
day in and day out on governing is a political party.
That's what political parties are. For political parties small and large.
(36:34):
They wake up every day, the political parties put their
pants on and they have this they have this audacious
idea that the ideas in their head to be the
ideas out in the world. Wow, that's what political parties believe.
And that's the difference between a protest movement. Protest movements
are protesting the power. Political parties seek to be the power.
(36:55):
And so that's why that's why I focus so much
on building party power. It's not because I think grass
who's organizing isn't powerful. It is powerful. It's not because
I think electing individual elected officials is powerful. That's critical.
It's not because I don't think protest is powerful. I've
(37:17):
been on the ground floor of a protest movie.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
All of those things are important.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
But if we don't focus on governing, then what will
end up doing is calling a question that our class
enemies will answer. You know, the billionaires, all of the
people like Elon Musk. Yeah, they will answer the question,
and I don't want them to answer the question.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Yeah, and they answer it wrong because we said the
government's corrupt. He said, Okay, Like right, I'm going to
fix corruption.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Okay, hold my beer.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yeah, basically like I got you. Didn't you say you
wanted me to root out corruption?
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yo? Listen, we got to.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
I'm like furiously in my head taking notes on a
few on so many things that you said that I
wanted to come back to. And you kind of answered
the next question, which was like, well then why not
just why choose work within rather than just burning it
down and starting over?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
And I think it kind of already kind of answered that.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
But one thing I want to say a little bit,
a little bit about the burning down thing, because I've
had the honor of having political mentors. Yeah, political mentors
of all stripes, and political mentors who were around and
very political during the late sixties, yeah, the early seventies,
(39:06):
all the way up to the early eighties. And you know,
you're you're a child of a black panther, so you know,
people who were active during those times, they were.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
About that life, Like who were about that life for real?
For real?
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Yeah, And the people who have mentored me that came
through those experiences, they do not romanticize, No, they do
not romanticize any of that type of activity. It is
serious business. So I'll just I'll say that right, Like,
there's a lot of people who cosplay Revolution.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Not for sure. Yeah, it's like, all know, if you
know what you're asking for.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
And in my experience, people on the internet cosplaying Revolution
nine times out of ten they are not about that life.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
And I say that based on having.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
Deep relationships with people who were about that life and
if need to, would be about that life.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
And the thing is when you say burn it down,
I want people to be very specific, right because you know,
when you think about black people in our position in
the society, you're talking about burning down.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Let's use the analogy of a house.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yeah, all right, cool, But what happens if you and
your people are in an accessory apartment that is a
basement apartment in that house.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Yeah, and the door's locked.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
Yeah you want you want to burn this joint? Like, listen,
I'm about that, but listen, you want to you want
to burn it down while we're in it?
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Yeah, we're in the basement. Yeah, that's what you know.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
That's what the hummies say, Like they're like, well, that's
really gonna hurt us more?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
Yes, Like, yeah, I want us to be really clear
about what we're talking about. It's like, I mean this
this goes back to I was talking to somebody about this.
This is during the election, and people are like, man,
we're going to teach the Democrats the lesson and so
we're not gonna vot so we could teach them a lesson.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
And you know, if they lose, they're going to learn
their lesson.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I was like, who, let's be specific. I want you
to be specific about about the consequences, right, because when
you say the Democrats, you're probably talking about the people
inside of the Democratic Party apparatus that have the power.
These people are very, very wealthy, very very privilege. You're
probably talking about the consultants that sell TV ads and
(41:28):
sell digital ads, and like, these people are very wealthy, right,
win or lose, these people will continue to be wealthy
and to.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Still make seven figures and go back to their mansions.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah, yes, win or lose, Like nothing is really going
to happen to them. Are you talking about Joe Biden
and his family, You're talking about common They're gonna.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Be oh hey yeah right.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
You on the other hand, yeah, you on the other hand,
if MAGA and Trump and these oligarchs take to office,
and they do half of what's in Project twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
Five, you're going to feeling. So so when we talk
about what are you ging them a lesson? Yeah? And
and you know, burning it down.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
I want us to be really specific about what we're
talking about and have a strategy. That's all I'm saying,
Like what what we really yeah? And what are we
gonna rebuild?
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (42:20):
No, I think like I think that, Like you know,
as a parent, it's like, all right, your kids like
walking along a brick fence and you're like get down,
get down, or are you're gonna be like now let
them fall?
Speaker 1 (42:32):
They gonna learn?
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And it's like okay, ah, so you're gonna watch your
child get a concussion and then take them to the
hospital Like who's learning here?
Speaker 1 (42:42):
Or are you just like you know what? Let me go? Yo?
Speaker 3 (42:45):
I mean like yo, absolutely, if you said something really important,
really important, you said rebuild Because and as a as
a son of a panther, what you know is that
the Panthers were about building a new society. Yeah, that's
it's like, yeah, that's what they were about. They were
about building.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
That's what I was. Yep.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
That's like when I say it I'm like, I think,
which is something you suggested. I think burning down is
different than a controlled demolition. And if you've ever built something,
there are things you have to tear down, but it's purposeful,
Like I'm thinking about how it's coming down, what parts
(43:28):
were taking down, what needs to be salvage, how we're
replacing the new lumbers already here, Like you know what
I'm saying. So I'm putting this down and putting this in.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
You know what I'm saying. So yeah, but like me,
I want to I want it in a few minutes.
I got left.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
I want to go back to a few things you said,
which is like the functions of a political party. I
think one thing that kept really frustrating me during the
DNC was when they said we're going to read from
Project twenty twenty five and then proceeded to not read
from project and just say it's gonna do this to you.
And it's like, fam just like if just read, if
(44:08):
you would just read what it says, if you just
let people say, look, this is what it says, then
go do you understand that? And then be like okay,
now these are the implications of that. But I'm pretty
sure you heard it because you just this is what
this is what they said they gonna do. I don't
understand what you're so surprised about. They said they gonna
(44:28):
do this. And then when Trump goes, I don't know
these people, and then you go, oh, word, well it
looks like the forward.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
Was endorsed by jd Vance wrote the forward.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
Ye, so either you'll know what's happening in your own
house or you lying so like, I don't understand what
Like if.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
You just say that you know what I'm saying, I
think we'd be in a different place.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
So then yeah, So then the other thing that I
think you brought down, you brought really together for people
is the reality of of the both and in that
I talk about like a lot of times on the
show too, like people in the streets having actual political
power in the sense that like if you shot a
(45:17):
text and was like, hey, we're gonna be on seventh
in line today and then a hundred people.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Show up, you feel me you have actual political power.
You don't have to.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
You don't have to, You're not astroturfing nothing like, you
really have the pull.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
But what did it take for you to do that? Well,
you had to be outside. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
So you have been outside for years for people to
be like, Okay, so when you say we sliding, we sliding,
you know what I mean. So so, but I can't
bring I can't so I can't go into anybody's like
legislative office and be like I want you all to
do this, because they gonna be like, who is you?
And then if you like, who am I? Okay, watch
(45:55):
this dude, boom, it's a dread heads in the lobby
right now.
Speaker 4 (46:02):
You feel me.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
It's like, that's that's who we are. You feel me.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
But at the end of the day, I don't care
how many dreadheads are in the lobby. If the brother
that runs that organization is paying my mortgage like that,
he putting food in my children's in my children's mouth,
I don't care what you say.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
You bring it. Bring all your homies, yo.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Say, like, look, I belong to them, you know So
I think the both and of like, you can't just
try to get people elected because first of all, you
can't elect them if you ain't got the cred, you
know what I'm saying. But once you got the cred,
you got to be able to take it somewhere, you
know what I'm saying. So I think that you you,
(46:42):
you really put the two pieces together in a way
that like I have yet to hear hear anybody anybody do.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
So I got like three minutes with you.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
So my last question is like, oh, man, in this
our work by so quick man, you need to fast
for part two for show bro We're doing this again.
So look, I'm like, all right, everybody ain't starting a
political party, you know what I mean? Like you said,
we work in families.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
It's like, ma gi, like fools can't do their laundry,
let alone go organized.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
Like it's still a pile of laundry sitting in the corner.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
We still gotta work on your daughter's a little animal project,
like talking.
Speaker 1 (47:22):
About talking about rebuild a political party. You feel me?
Speaker 2 (47:25):
So I guess what I'm asking is like, where can
somebody who is working like that?
Speaker 1 (47:31):
Where can they start? What are some like easy pieces
they could do? Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
I'm gonna give people the advice I got from Stokely
Carmichael comment.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
Take notes. Everybody take notes. Okay, your job.
Speaker 3 (47:48):
Is to find an organization, right, and so if you're
listening to me, you could join the Working Families Party. Yeah, right,
you could actually join. It's easy. We try to make
it easy for you. You could go on our website. You
could text my name Mo Moe to three zero four
zero three and you'll get a text back. We'll plug
you in right now. People have different levels of time
(48:15):
and responsibility, So if all you have is a few minutes,
then you could go on our social media and just
read because, like I said before, part of the job
of a political party is to explain to the people
(48:37):
what is going on, and you could learn everything that
I know. There's a lot of misinformation, disinformation. Everything on
our channels is validated, real information for working people to
understand the day to day, right, So that's number one.
If you just I just got a few minutes, go
on any of our social media so that you could
(48:59):
learn and stay up on what's going on, right, and
we will come election time give you our voter guide
so you'll know how to vote for the candidates who
align with Working Families issues. If you have more than
a few minutes, if you have an hour, you could
actually join from wherever you're from.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
You could join a phone bank, you could join.
Speaker 3 (49:22):
We have political education where we're talking about all types
of things. We have these welcome gatherings that we do
everything that are virtual, so you could connect with other
people around the country who, like you, want to be involved.
But yo, you listen, you got yeah, the laundry, I
got that laundry pile too.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Everybody has, right, Okay.
Speaker 3 (49:41):
If you got a little bit more time, right, there's
not only could could you begin to phone bank, like
for example, we're calling congressional leaders all around the country
to get them to push back against Elon Musk, trying
to take our money, trying to take our data. Right,
if you got a little bit more time, We're encouraging
(50:02):
everyday working people. You don't have to have degrees, you
don't have to run for office, and so we whole
now you're talking, we're recruiting one thousand working people around
the country to run for local office. So if you
have more time, and you might be thinking, well, I'm
talking to you because I know if you're dealing with
(50:23):
trying to trying to pay off medical debt, trying to
get your kids to daycare, trying to make sure that
your kid has a good education in a school that
may not you know, try try trying to be president
and try to figure out how to.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
Make that IEP work for your yeah yeah, all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
Well, then you you know enough to be able to
to govern.
Speaker 1 (50:46):
On the local level.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
You should be in school board, you should be on
the city council, you should be on the school board.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
So we will support you, and we will train you
up to do that right, and we also train you
to support others to do that right.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
And because we don't have billions of dollars, but what we.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
Do know is that people power has always changed the world,
and so we're building this people power together.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
So we go from a few.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
Minutes, yeah, right, to several hours to all right, I'm
gonna actually be a part of the change and run
for we go through all of that.
Speaker 1 (51:23):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (51:24):
Whatever you want, whatever whatever capacity you have, however you
want to start, will meet you there.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
I even love like you said, back to Stokely's game
of like, look dude, and if it ain't us, oh yeah,
clock in with somebody, tap in with somebody. When we
interviewed h I don't know if you know Bamboo up
up in the bay, but he's an amazing organizer up
there runs beat rock music, amazing rapper. But that was
one thing that like kind of the same thing. He
(51:52):
was doing this revolutionary hip hop stuff. And then somebody
was like, but have you joined an org? Like who's
who's your big hommies? Like who are you checking in with?
Speaker 1 (52:02):
Where is this?
Speaker 2 (52:04):
Where is it going? And he was like yeah, you know,
and like so that's that's the reality, you know, I
have mine. I'm part of a nonprofit Search for Common Ground,
Like I'm checking in with like I have to check
in you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (52:17):
Yeah, And that is to me the primary wherever you are,
find your organization. Yeah, find your organization. We are for everybody. Yeah,
so you know, I don't I don't begrut you if
you if you look into WFP and you're like, ah,
that may not be it may not be for you,
but find an organization.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
That's powerful.
Speaker 2 (53:09):
Brett, thank you so much for your time. If you
could drop the ad symbols and then I'll let you go.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
Okay, absolutely, let me drop those joints right now at
working families and.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
At working families. I'm a verbally, but I appreciate you, Okay.
Speaker 3 (53:31):
It He was like yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, So you
can find listen, you can find Working Families, party at
Working Families, and you can find me everywhere at Maurice
WFP on all social media platforms, the social media platforms
that are currently owned by the fascist lawyers.
Speaker 1 (53:54):
It is so frustracked, so frustrating.
Speaker 2 (53:58):
It's like, yeah, I'm gonna put this video about how
to change the world and chant down Babylon on this
Babylon built site.
Speaker 3 (54:04):
I'm just like, contradictions are so intense, but which is why?
Which is why? And this is something I'm gonna start
talking about more. Why we need to we need to
have a future vision, right because we have to do
the work now stop them now.
Speaker 1 (54:24):
Yeah, we can't keep doing this.
Speaker 3 (54:25):
Yeah, but we can't keep doing this because we need
to build the information platforms of tomorrow that allow us
to be more connected because there their information platforms are
designed to divide us so that they did its working,
oh like working.
Speaker 1 (54:41):
Because yeah, you got my man.
Speaker 3 (54:43):
You know, you got my man you know in farm
country thinkingm his enemy.
Speaker 4 (54:48):
Yeah, like yeah, like.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
What I'm trying to say, Yeah, yeah man, man, correct,
thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
I appreciate your time. Man, This has been dope.
Speaker 2 (55:06):
So yeah, follow the hummy, get involved somewhere.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
All right, y'all, all right, y'all, pace, all.
Speaker 2 (55:25):
Right, now, don't you hit stop on this pod. You
better listen to these credits. I need you to finish
this thing so I can get the download numbers. Okay,
so don't stop it yet, but listen. This was recorded
in East Lost boil Heights by your boy Propaganda. Tap
in with me at prop hip hop dot com. If
(55:45):
you're in the Coldbrew coffee we got terraform Coldbrew. You
can go there dot com and use promo code hood
get twenty percent off get yourself some coffee. This was mixed,
edited and mastered by your boy Matt Alsowski killing the
beat softly. Check out his website Matdowsofski dot com.
Speaker 1 (56:03):
I'm a spelling for you because I know M A.
Speaker 2 (56:07):
T T O S O w s Ki dot com
Matdowsowski dot com. He got more music and stuff like
that on there, so gonna check out. The heat Politics
is a member of cool Zone Media, executive produced by
Sophie Lichterman, part of the iHeartMedia podcast network. Your theme
(56:27):
music and scoring is also by the One and Overly
Mattowsowski still killing the beat softly, so listen.
Speaker 1 (56:34):
Don't let nobody lie to you.
Speaker 2 (56:35):
If you understand urban living, you understand politics. These people
is not smarter than you. We'll see y'all next week.
Speaker 1 (57:00):
M
All media.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
All right, y'all, here we are politics with prop You
already knew because you obviously have clicked play at some point.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Today's a special one.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
We do this series called Terraformers, and which was, according
to the surveys we took, was like the least like
types of episodes.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
I was like, y'all don't want to meet people actually
do it good, you know. But I'm like, I don't
care what y'all say. You're gonna get this work right.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
So so every once in a while we try to
bring in people actually doing.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Real work out here, you know.
Speaker 2 (00:43):
And somehow, I don't know how we got connected. I
just got an email that said, y'all need to holler
at Maris and I was like, let's holler at Maris
so working families party, right, okay, ladies and gentlemen to
the block, Mariics Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
You know, it's good to be with you, bro, It's
good to be here. Many glad to be with you
in your audience for real.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, So glad to have you here.
Speaker 4 (01:25):
Man.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
This is unique, Like, like the reality is I have
never said yes to a candidate that wanted to be
interviewed on the show. I've never said yes to anybody
that's part of a party, Like I've never said yes
to that, you know what I'm saying. Some of that
is because like I don't know you cuz you're we're
(01:46):
saying like you're not gonna use my name? You feel
me like I work real hard for his name, I got,
you know what I'm saying. So you know, it's it's
very rare that like I you know, won't be given
out from co signs like that, you know what I'm saying.
Most of the people we've we've had on the show,
I've either known personally or have been a fan of
(02:06):
for a long time, you know what I'm saying. So
this is really a first you know what I'm saying,
because I think ground, Yeah, what you're doing is unique.
So for y'all that don't know this young man is
is is the head of a major political party.
Speaker 1 (02:20):
And I'm gonna say major because you major homi uh.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
And we did an episode last year which is basically
about like it was like political parties here are like
ordering at like a Jamaican restaurant to where it's just like.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, ah, like you know, like your actual order. What
you walk in there? Do you actually ordered? They ain't
got yo?
Speaker 3 (02:43):
Say let me let me get a patty pati done?
Speaker 4 (02:47):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (02:48):
All right, all right, let me you already know? All right?
Speaker 3 (02:53):
Son?
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Peace? All right, son peace? What's done?
Speaker 2 (02:58):
You know what I'm saying, Like, you're not gonna have
have So I just got to settle with whatever you willing,
whatever's left.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Like that's what I feel like voting is here.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
You know that's really that's a really good analogy. Yeah,
you got to settle and you're confused. It's like, why
are they mad at me? Like I'm trying to I'm
in your establishment. I'm trying to understand.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
First of all, you wrote it on the menu. You
said this was an option. You tell you it's not
an option.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Okay, substitute the sweet potato fries? What if? I'm like,
what if? On like sweet? How come I can't I
can't get the tots? Nah? No, this is how the
menu will, just how the menu work. It's like, well,
damn okay.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
So having viable, you know, third, fourth, fifth party options
has been something that's been a blaring problem since you know, really,
like I mean, whether were talking like wigs or like
ter or less democratic republic, like finding a viable option
(04:11):
has you know, is just kind of like it's built
into the batter, you know what I'm saying. So so
it's been a difficult thing. So what you're doing is
really a herculean lyft number one, you know what I'm saying,
and then a number two like really it's I mean,
it's necessary. So that being said, let's hear some of
(04:35):
this math here. So first of all, like who are
you right? Where you from? And like if you can,
I'm pretty sure you've practiced this plenty of times. But like,
what was that catalyst that was like all right, fam,
I'm getting in this? Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, So
(04:56):
who am I? I mean, I feel like whenever I
get post that question and there's so many ways I
can answer it. I mean, I'm definitely a child of
the eighties. Okay, I'm definitely a child of the eighties.
I grew up on the East Coast.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I grew up in a in a different there's a
you know, there's another long Beach. I grew up in
a long beach on the East Coast, the New York one. Okay, yeah,
Long Beach, New York, the Second Beach.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Yeah, sorry, I'm sorry, it's just unnecessary shade.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
Oh Man, Yeah, listen, oh Man. But you know, I'm
a I'm a child of the golden era of hip
hop word.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
My cousins were hip hop artists, So I got to
I got a front row seat of witnessing this very
very special time in hip hop in the late eighties
to early nineties to mid nineties that was really beautiful,
and that that has really shaped my life, shaped my
politics in any way. Yeah, you know, I'm I'm somebody
(06:02):
who was raised in a family of black people that
understood the assignment. So both of my parents, they're working
class folks.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
You know.
Speaker 3 (06:14):
My mom is a retired registered nurse. My dad was
a retired electrician, worked underneath trains, you know, and they
both worked long hours, but they would make sure every
weekend or every other weekend, we'd go to the black bookstore,
you know, and we would get to choose a book.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Right.
Speaker 3 (06:38):
And so I didn't realize looking back, I see how
foundational that was for me. I'm somebody who you know,
there's an event that took place that we need to
always bring up, the move bombing you know Philadelphia, right
where our country out bombed, bombed us. This isn't re memory,
(07:06):
This isn't this isn't Black Wall Street.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
We were alive. This is recent memory, right.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
And so I'm in a family that my dad always
brought up the move bombit. He's like, you can't forget that,
I mean.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
And so I was raised.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
I was raised with a certain level of consciousness, and
I really took to it, and I wanted to be
part of the stories that my parents told me about
about Martin, about Malcolm, about all of these folks, not
just in the US, but in the diaspora. To talk
about Marvy, they'll talk about all these folks. And so
(07:42):
that was just in the air. You know, my dad
is from a small island nation, Grenada. But the cool,
cool thing about Grenada is that in nineteen seventy nine
to nineteen eighty three, Grenada was an independent black socialist.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Repuber Yeah right, yeah, So.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
That was normal to me, the idea you could have
self determination and you could decide on your own and
you could even be in a tiny little island nation
and still be upright and say whatever you're talking about
over there, like I know, you're the big bad superpower.
We're gonna move in our own way, right, So that
(08:21):
is when people ask who I am, how I'm raised?
Speaker 1 (08:24):
Is all those things.
Speaker 3 (08:25):
It's you know, being a black child in the eighties,
growing upcoming of age, no matter where you lived in
the country. This was during the drug war, y, so
it meant getting pulled over by the police times that
you could even understand for all types of situations that
(08:47):
made no types of sense. So it's like being faced
with those contradictions. It meant it meant living right next
to the trap house and watching people people come like zombies,
you know, day and night, you know, back and forth.
It meant my mom working as a detox nurse, so
(09:10):
she's treating folks, you know, who have multiple chemical addictions.
So it's like I'm a child of all of those contradictions.
I just I live with those things. I was radicalized
in different moments of my life, you know. I was
I have the good fortune to be able to go
to college, and I went to Howard University and that
(09:33):
was a transform experience. And two things happened at Howard
that like to this day, I remember, like yesterday. So
one of the gifts that I got was Stokely Carmichael,
who was also Kwame Terray. He spoke at Howard when
(09:54):
I was at Happy I got to see him speak,
and I mean it was is mind blowing.
Speaker 1 (10:01):
I think this might have been his last year of life.
Wow and wow.
Speaker 3 (10:08):
He said a lot of things, but he said one
thing in particular, the state in my mind.
Speaker 1 (10:13):
He said he was he was at the end.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
He's a organizers at the end. He invided people to
join his organization. Yeah, the All African People's Revolutionary Party. Right,
it's like, join our organization. But he was like, look,
you may not agree with our politics, but he was like,
what I'm telling you is that we as a people
need to be organized. So if you don't align with
our organization, join another. I rather have you join. And
(10:39):
he's like, I disagree with them, but I'd rather have
you joined the Urban League. Yeah, have you joined. I'd
rather have you join, you know, the NAACP. That's better
you not joining us and joining them is better than
you leaving this audience and not being part of an organization.
And so I remember that to that day and left
(11:00):
and I was like, man, I'm yeah, I'm going to
be an organizer.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
That's what I wanted. It was like a religious experience.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
And the second thing that happened to me and Howard
is that one of our classmates was killed by the police,
and wow, and why that was powerful is that and
Howard University, you have every single type of black person
from all.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
Over the world. You got.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Regular sh regular black folks from the US, every region,
every part. You got black folks from the Caribbean, from Africa,
from wherever. You got like people like me who came
up working class. You got black elite people who you know,
who their great grandparents have high degrees from college.
Speaker 4 (11:51):
Right.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
You got every type of black person.
Speaker 3 (11:54):
And the thing that that I think was so radicalizing
for so many of us was that when our classmate
was killed by the police, by an undercover police officer,
it was a.
Speaker 1 (12:07):
Reminder that none of that matters. Don't matter.
Speaker 3 (12:10):
Bro, none of those distinctions matter. It doesn't matter at all. Right,
And so whatever type of black person you think you are, right,
you need to understand the assignment that we that it's
our duty, it's our duty to organize around one agenda
(12:36):
so that we could defend ourselves from that type of violence.
And it's not just the state violence against police like that.
It's all the different economic violence, whatever. And you can't
escape it. Your degrees can't can't allow you to escape
your blackness. Your whatever you got in your your bank
account can't allow you to escape your blackness, none of
(12:59):
those things. And so the quicker, you know that, the quicker,
you could develop a strategy for survival. Let's go from
the society, man bro.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
There are so many similarities in our upbringing, the listeners know,
but like for this, it was like, so I'm the
I'm I'm from Los Angeles, but I'm I'm the child
of a black panther. So for for us, like the
same thing, like the books we had to write my
dad book reports, so like you know right, so I'm
(13:32):
like I'm writing him book reports on black authors, black writers,
black inventers.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Uh My, I had no like cartoon like posters on
my wall. It was the ten buck two road, it
was the Five Kingdoms of West Africa. You know what
I'm saying, Like that's what like so like and he
would rent, he would you know back when you go
to library and rent movies, you saying, So he would
(13:58):
rent like black films know, like, so, you know, when
it was time to do the country report in sixth grade,
I did mine on Ethiopia, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1 (14:08):
You know, and speaking of Grenada, like my.
Speaker 2 (14:10):
Father even in passing mentioned moving there, you know what
I mean, because he's black panther, you know what I'm saying.
Uh and so yeah, So having that just being in
the gulage of understanding. I remember we had to do
a person's report in seventh grade. I did mine on
Nat Turner.
Speaker 1 (14:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
That little school was like uh.
Speaker 1 (14:35):
Wait, you know I'm saying like I was like, what, like, yeah,
what I don't see what you talk about?
Speaker 4 (14:41):
You know.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
I grew up in the sort of the borderlands of
the Black and Mexican specifically neighborhoods out here. Uh you know,
we obviously have a broader Latino population, but where I
was at, like this is Mexican, you know what I'm saying. So,
like just the solidarity around suffering people. I was like,
you in the same hood I'm in, you know what
(15:02):
I'm saying, Like, so, you know, we just didn't I
ain't see the I don't understand what the you know
what I'm saying, Like, what what's the problem, you know.
And then even more interesting was getting to college having
two things. It wasn't for me, It wasn't stokely. It
was Angela Davis. So Angela Davis came and spoke in
my school and she had mentioned like ending prison and
(15:28):
I was like, what, like I remember, and I'm again
my father was a pat. So I was like, wait
a minute. Now, I was like, you know, and again
I'm from La. I'm like some of y'all y brother
in jail, aint Nelson Mandela. Now like I mean, like,
you know, like that's what I was thinking. I was like,
(15:50):
you know what I mean, but that germ of like actually,
there's another way to think about this, and I was
like what. And then second was this thank you know
for us. It wasn't a death. It was this Filipino
girl named Irene Dudler, who I talk about all the
time because I she was a couple of grades above me,
(16:12):
but I had a huge crush on her. But anyway,
I mean she I think she teaches at like s
F State. Now she's a homie. She already knows. But
like I was like, yeah, yeah, no, you know, we
you know, we all grown folks now. But like I
remember she was like she shaved her head and she
moved to the Philippines to fight against the Dutertes. No yeah, yeah,
(16:33):
to fight against the revue the senior, to fight against
the revolution. I was like, first of all, I didn't
know anybody that was not black that was a revolutionary,
you know what I'm saying. But she was like, yo,
I'm moving and I was like what, Like that's an option,
you know what I'm saying. Like so that those two
(16:53):
things for me, I was like, Okay, it's more than
just knowing my history, like this we need to do.
And it's crazy like how hip hop played such a
role here because for us, it was like the Lahmurt
Park village where like you know, blowed and a lot
of just a lot of like that was like our
Harlem if you will, where it was like this is
where like black art, excellent renaissance of a working class
(17:18):
you know what I'm saying, Because you have the UCLA
stuff that was like we're that's that's UCLA, you know
what I'm saying. Like I'm like, this is like at
a street level, because like Lamur Park is really in
between two very legendary like crib hoods. So you have
like the forties and then you have the roll in
sixties that are a little bit further down.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Lamurt Park's right in between, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:40):
So to be in this neighborhood where like we are,
it was kind of I can't think.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
Of any particular like real.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Problems that happened at Lamurt for some reason, at least
in my memory, it was like, you know, these are
the Sunday drum circles, you know, making rest, you know
what I'm saying, Like it was just like black area
that like yeah, you just wasn't a It wasn't a
thing there, you know what I'm saying. This is where
we get to be ourselves, you know what I mean.
(18:09):
And that's where like our hip hop scene came from.
As you were talking, man, I was like really blown away,
Like how many parallels?
Speaker 4 (18:16):
You know?
Speaker 1 (18:17):
I gotta send to this.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
All right?
Speaker 2 (18:54):
So my next thought is this, like I told you
before we started recording, but as a reminder, like you know,
our show is rather educational, like in the Cornerstone premise
again is like if you understand growing up, we'll use
the term working class because you know, color mute terms
like urban or or stuff like that, Like, well, I
(19:15):
I personally use the term like like if you grew
up in our inner cities because I am personally because
I am trying to expand it to.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Poor folks. You know what I'm saying, Like I'm like
all of us.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
If you grew up any like don'tkay if this was
like if you was in Toadsuck Arkansas.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 2 (19:31):
And like me, Ma and Nim, you know worked at
the sawmill. Your uncle you'll you know your uncle Billy
Ray got a finger missing, Like you actually understand politics,
you know, they just use different terms. And I found
that when you approach something in in terms of like
I believe that even though I'm also college educated, that
(19:53):
you ain't.
Speaker 1 (19:54):
No, I'm not any smarter than you, you know what
I mean.
Speaker 2 (19:57):
I'm just gonna I just think you you just weren't
in interested in the things I was interested in. So
when I just say, if I just give you the game,
like hey, this is what that means? I like, we
we talked to I think it was two weeks ago
on the show, Like we'll use the Democrats for example,
like if you have just said, what the Department of
Education does you know what I'm saying. Rather than being
(20:19):
like we need to keep it, we'll just say what
they do, you know what I'm saying, Like if you
just say, hey, they're not they don't write curriculum.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Gee, Like you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (20:27):
They don't. They don't hire, they don't fire. They just
make sure that your little poor school that ain't got
no reading teacher, and why your baby can't read, they
just make sure that that school has somebody that'll teach
your baby to read.
Speaker 1 (20:41):
It's just that's all I'm saying, Like you try to
get rid of it. Like I'm just saying, like.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
You know how, you know how your baby got bad
eyes and they making them sit in the back of
the thing, and sitting in the back of you was like,
my my baby can't see the screen. Okay, Well you
need an IEP that says that you need to place
my child in the front of the in the front
of the thing, and you need an RSP teacher that's
gonna help you. But you know what, you just killed
(21:09):
that funding because that comes from the Department of Education.
So if you just explain it, yep, you know I'm
saying that, like I don't have to tell.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
You what to think about.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
I'm just saying, oh, yeah, yeah, you know, you know
me mall can't get her medicine now because you just
removed the law that said that that kept the price.
Speaker 1 (21:30):
You just voted to remove it.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
So with that, I'm obviously trying to onboard people into
the political process, right, Yeah. So I'm wondering a couple
of things for you, Like, so, how did y'all come
to the conclusion that, like the best way to do
this is to start a party rather than just grassroots organizing.
And then what things have like kind of worked for
(21:53):
recruitment for that.
Speaker 3 (21:54):
Well, let me let me tell you a story that
might help. I'll make that happen. And I couldn't agree
with you more. The thing that keeps people out of
knowledge often is is understanding the vocabulary of the language
of that you know, what I'm saying, and and and
(22:16):
a lot of times people gate keep a certain type
of knowledge. It's just based it's just based on vocabulary,
but they gate keep it by suggesting that the folks
who aren't in that realm lack the expertise, the specialized knowledge,
(22:36):
the intelligence to be able to even understand it. You know,
and like people do that with politics, people do that
with economics, people do that with so many things.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
Like and like, you know, I went to I went
to college.
Speaker 3 (22:51):
Some of it was about learning how to think, but
a lot of it was just learning vocabulary for for sure,
for specialized sort of gate keep type. Ye, specialized knowledge,
that's all it was. It's like, yo, that's what that means, right,
And so yeah, when you look at what we're losing
(23:13):
day to day, a lot of it has to do
with the fact that nobody kept it plane, yes, and
just communicated to the people what any of these things
were about. Yes, So of course people are not going
to value things that nobody ever leveled with them on
what they were in the first place. And so I
(23:36):
just wanted to like, I couldn't agree with you more.
And to me, that's that is the actual role of
a political party, you know, that is one of the
roles of a political party. And by that measure, both
parties are failing the American people. Both Republicans and Democrats
are failing the American people just on that base thing,
(23:56):
which is being able to communicate to the peace people
in a language and culture that the people could understand.
What's going on.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
That almost gave me the chills, bro, because like, what
a bar that. You're like, well, you're not even doing
the definition of what you exist for.
Speaker 1 (24:15):
The basic one of the basic roles.
Speaker 3 (24:18):
And I'll I'll say more about that, but you know,
there's people who really nerd out on this subject. They
talk about the difference between a thin party and a
quote unquote thick party or a rich party experience, and
they say that the Republicans and Democrats in the United
States are basically thin parties, parties that are not offering
(24:41):
yea on your day to day very much for people.
But you know, every few years when they want votes,
you'll get a lot of glossy mail. You'll get digital
ads if you're watching you know, YouTube, if you're watching
whatever you're watching, you'll get TV ads. You know might
be it right, And so that might help you understand
(25:05):
how I got to the place where I'm like, oh,
you need to build a party. So I started off
as a as a grassroots organizer. Like I said, when
I left college, I went back home to New York
and I started working in a very very small, underresourced
grassroots organization and we worked on all types of issues.
Speaker 1 (25:24):
It was, it was just one issue.
Speaker 3 (25:25):
We worked on making sure that big companies didn't pollute
working class communities, especially working class communities of color. We
writ to make sure that education money got to not
just wealthy school districts that could afford it because they're
able to have a tax base that allows them to
(25:46):
have things right and property taxes. But you know, maybe
you know working class neighborhood like Wine Dance.
Speaker 1 (25:54):
Wine Dance on Long.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Island, one hundred percent of the students are black. When
I was working on those campaigns to get more money
into that school district and other school districts like it,
the graduation rate was in.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
The thirtiesh So that means.
Speaker 3 (26:10):
Basically, if you are working hard and you're doing all
the right things, and you're sending your child to that school,
chances are your child will not graduate.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, only three out of ten is good. You're doing
everything you could do as a parent.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, you know, everything that this country says you're supposed
to be doing, you're doing, and chances are your child
will not graduate.
Speaker 1 (26:33):
Right.
Speaker 3 (26:33):
So, so we did a lot of work to try
to change those things. And what I realized is, you know,
and I'm really proud of the work that we did.
But I realized that at a certain level, the grassroots
organizing that I was doing.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
We would hit a wall. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (26:49):
That wall was the elected officials that even when we
brought it to them, they did not want to hear us.
And it was because they were listening to and they
felt accountable to the real estate lobby or the pharmaceutic.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (27:09):
And so that got that got me involved in elections
because I was like, we need to take them out, right,
And so so that got me involved in elections. We decided,
all right, let's get new elected officials. And you know,
at the time New York the legislature was run by Republicans.
(27:29):
We had a Republican governor, and they weren't they weren't
hearing any of that. And so we were like, all right,
we're gonna flip the the legislature from Republican to Democrat.
Once we do that, boom, And we eventually did that,
and we we learned that once you flip from Republican
(27:52):
to Democrat, it's not going to be a game changer
because so many of those Democrats are listening to the same.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Lobbyists, same.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
Right, Yes, so we were like, Yo, they were talking
all this good stuff about educational equity and racial justice
to da da dada where they didn't have power, but
now they have the power to do something, and now
they're like, it's like they have.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Amnesia and they're not right. Okay. So that was a
huge lesson.
Speaker 3 (28:22):
So lesson number one, when I was working on the
very very grassroots level with parents and teachers and students,
the power of grassroots organizing, it's undeniable, but there's barriers,
and those barriers are political. And the way that you
overcome those political barriers. Lesson number two is by getting
(28:44):
different people into office. Lesson number three. Who those people
are matter. It's not just the or R next to
their Who those people are matter? Right, Okay, fast forward,
fast forward, because I'm being those people, right and I'm
feeling frustrated year after year after year. And in the
(29:06):
midst of that, Michael Brown is murdered in Saint Louis, right,
And it's hard to explain where I was at in
my mind at the time, but it was like I
felt appalling in that moment, and I picked up the
phone and I reached the Organization for Black Struggle in
(29:27):
Saint Louis, and you know, we had a good conversation.
The organizer I spoke to and I was like, look,
I'm in New York right now, but I will get
on a plane and support whatever you're doing, and I
will follow your lead and I will recruit others and
you know, maybe I'll go for I'll go this weekend
and you know, and they were like boom, come through.
(29:50):
And it was life changing, life changing what I saw
on the ground in Saint Louis. I saw every type
of black person that yeah all together.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
Yeah, I got to do it because I come from music.
I got to do a benefit concert around that time too.
And when you witness, like first of I had no
idea like Ferguson was the Sundowntown.
Speaker 1 (30:11):
But then like once you.
Speaker 2 (30:13):
Witness, yeah, this full strap, full like social stratification of
black people, like all in one space, it was like,
oh this is yo, it's different.
Speaker 1 (30:23):
Yeah, life changing.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
Yeah, like you know, from the from very very very
young people you know with science hands up, Mike Brown, yeah, people,
church folk, yep, the people in the civil rights organizations,
the people in the street organizations, yeah right, everybody, but
(30:49):
you know, the everybody.
Speaker 1 (30:53):
It was like something I never could have imagined.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
And so I was like, whatever the people, whatever, the
working class black people who were willing to take these
risks on these streets are doing, I'm gonna support it, right,
And so I basically stayed in Ferguson and in Saint Louis.
I left the work that I was doing in New York,
and I was able to see the rise of the
(31:17):
movement for Black Lives. Yeah, from that ground level, maybe
a week or two after Michael Brown was murdered to
it becoming an international so the right and so what
I saw, and this will get to why I'm like, okay,
political parties, what I saw was, Wow, social movements have
(31:39):
the power to call questions at the level of society
where everybody question that the social movement is calling. Everybody
has that on their lips, right, And I saw that
Barack Obama was like Ferguson, what's going on in Ferguson?
But you know, to you know, man, I was in
(32:00):
Tanzania and this this brother in Tanzania was like, tell
me about fergus It was like that, right, Yeah, Now
social movements could call the questions social movements and protest movements,
they could surface these contradictions, like big contradiction in this
country that we have ignored violence against black people.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Now we're dealing with it.
Speaker 3 (32:23):
But but social movements don't necessarily have the power, and
protest movements don't necessarily have the power to answer the
question and resolve the contradiction. So you ask the question
and then the most organized forces are able to answer
the question. And generally, under this system, the system of capitalism,
(32:43):
the most organized forces tend to be companies, corporations, organized capital.
So so Taser International, which they produced the Taser, and
they produce they produced non lethal weapons, right they they
they're made. They had a product body cameras, right yeah.
And this was before body cameras have become now they're very,
very popular. They were like the answer to these killings
(33:07):
like Mike Brodcamera boom, and their logic was the mainstream
logic of the day. If you put the body cameras
on these cops, they're gonna be self aware of the
fact that they're being recorded. They're not gonna, you know,
commit these heinous crimes against people. BA Bob easy And
it became the answer. So what did I learn from that?
(33:30):
I learned that we need the We need everything. We
need the ability and the grassroots like I saw to
be able to bring people together on our issues. Like
I saw in in Windage. We need the ability to
elect people who actually are about that business. I saw
that we need the ability to protest because we've got
(33:51):
to call the question. We've got to surface these big
problems in our society. And if we stopped there, we're
gonna alley oop the ball to companies and corporation because
under the system, under the system of capitalism, every problem
requires an answer, and so every problem becomes a market
(34:13):
for a company.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Right, right, And so a couple of gems. Man, Yeah,
so when.
Speaker 3 (34:18):
You surface a social problem, that becomes a market for
a company. So you protest and you make a social problem.
There is a some probably white man in some office
somewhere right who is looking at that social problem and
trying to figure out how he can market to it.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
How do I monetize it? You, how can I monetize it?
Speaker 4 (34:44):
But the.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Real quick, the sinister propheticness of the idea of the
Taser company also making the body cam that it's the
same you know, like how America funds civil wars and
we actually fund both sides of the civil wars, like
this is it's so sinister anyway?
Speaker 1 (35:08):
Go on? Yes, And so I read like that was
my experience.
Speaker 3 (35:14):
I was like, wow, So, even when our protest movements
work at the highest level, we're going to throw up
a ball, which is this organic, authentic calling from the street,
and they're gonna slam duckt and make profit off of it.
Speaker 1 (35:31):
How can we correct that? And my thing is like, well,
we don't have.
Speaker 3 (35:35):
The billions of dollars that they have that allow them
to have lobbyist city level, the county level, you know,
so that they have all of these capacities to be
able to be like boom, we got a solution for you.
Speaker 1 (35:48):
We got a solution.
Speaker 3 (35:49):
But if we're able to take government, because government has
a lot of capacity, Government actually has a lot of resources,
has a lot of staff. If we people could govern together,
then we could have a protest movement on the outside
calling calling the question, and then we get people who
(36:11):
are aligned with that, with that social movement on the
inside governing and then being able to deliver an answer
and and so. And the vehicle the organization that focuses
day in and day out on governing is a political party.
That's what political parties are. For political parties small and large.
(36:34):
They wake up every day, the political parties put their
pants on and they have this they have this audacious
idea that the ideas in their head to be the
ideas out in the world. Wow, that's what political parties believe.
And that's the difference between a protest movement. Protest movements
are protesting the power. Political parties seek to be the power.
(36:55):
And so that's why that's why I focus so much
on building party power. It's not because I think grass
who's organizing isn't powerful. It is powerful. It's not because
I think electing individual elected officials is powerful. That's critical.
It's not because I don't think protest is powerful. I've
(37:17):
been on the ground floor of a protest movie.
Speaker 1 (37:20):
All of those things are important.
Speaker 3 (37:21):
But if we don't focus on governing, then what will
end up doing is calling a question that our class
enemies will answer. You know, the billionaires, all of the
people like Elon Musk. Yeah, they will answer the question,
and I don't want them to answer the question.
Speaker 2 (37:38):
Yeah, and they answer it wrong because we said the
government's corrupt. He said, Okay, Like right, I'm going to
fix corruption.
Speaker 1 (37:45):
Okay, hold my beer.
Speaker 2 (37:46):
Yeah, basically like I got you. Didn't you say you
wanted me to root out corruption?
Speaker 1 (37:51):
Yo? Listen, we got to.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (38:24):
I'm like furiously in my head taking notes on a
few on so many things that you said that I
wanted to come back to. And you kind of answered
the next question, which was like, well then why not
just why choose work within rather than just burning it
down and starting over?
Speaker 1 (38:38):
And I think it kind of already kind of answered that.
Speaker 3 (38:41):
But one thing I want to say a little bit,
a little bit about the burning down thing, because I've
had the honor of having political mentors. Yeah, political mentors
of all stripes, and political mentors who were around and
very political during the late sixties, yeah, the early seventies,
(39:06):
all the way up to the early eighties. And you know,
you're you're a child of a black panther, so you know,
people who were active during those times, they were.
Speaker 1 (39:17):
About that life, Like who were about that life for real?
For real?
Speaker 3 (39:20):
Yeah, And the people who have mentored me that came
through those experiences, they do not romanticize, No, they do
not romanticize any of that type of activity. It is
serious business. So I'll just I'll say that right, Like,
there's a lot of people who cosplay Revolution.
Speaker 1 (39:40):
Not for sure. Yeah, it's like, all know, if you
know what you're asking for.
Speaker 3 (39:44):
And in my experience, people on the internet cosplaying Revolution
nine times out of ten they are not about that life.
Speaker 1 (39:53):
And I say that based on having.
Speaker 3 (39:56):
Deep relationships with people who were about that life and
if need to, would be about that life.
Speaker 1 (40:02):
Yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (40:03):
And the thing is when you say burn it down,
I want people to be very specific, right because you know,
when you think about black people in our position in
the society, you're talking about burning down.
Speaker 1 (40:15):
Let's use the analogy of a house.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yeah, all right, cool, But what happens if you and
your people are in an accessory apartment that is a
basement apartment in that house.
Speaker 1 (40:28):
Yeah, and the door's locked.
Speaker 3 (40:30):
Yeah you want you want to burn this joint? Like, listen,
I'm about that, but listen, you want to you want
to burn it down while we're in it?
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Yeah, we're in the basement. Yeah, that's what you know.
Speaker 2 (40:40):
That's what the hummies say, Like they're like, well, that's
really gonna hurt us more?
Speaker 3 (40:44):
Yes, Like, yeah, I want us to be really clear
about what we're talking about. It's like, I mean this
this goes back to I was talking to somebody about this.
This is during the election, and people are like, man,
we're going to teach the Democrats the lesson and so
we're not gonna vot so we could teach them a lesson.
Speaker 1 (41:02):
And you know, if they lose, they're going to learn
their lesson.
Speaker 3 (41:04):
I was like, who, let's be specific. I want you
to be specific about about the consequences, right, because when
you say the Democrats, you're probably talking about the people
inside of the Democratic Party apparatus that have the power.
These people are very, very wealthy, very very privilege. You're
probably talking about the consultants that sell TV ads and
(41:28):
sell digital ads, and like, these people are very wealthy, right,
win or lose, these people will continue to be wealthy
and to.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
Still make seven figures and go back to their mansions.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah, yes, win or lose, Like nothing is really going
to happen to them. Are you talking about Joe Biden
and his family, You're talking about common They're gonna.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Be oh hey yeah right.
Speaker 3 (41:52):
You on the other hand, yeah, you on the other hand,
if MAGA and Trump and these oligarchs take to office,
and they do half of what's in Project twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
Five, you're going to feeling. So so when we talk
about what are you ging them a lesson? Yeah? And
and you know, burning it down.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
I want us to be really specific about what we're
talking about and have a strategy. That's all I'm saying,
Like what what we really yeah? And what are we
gonna rebuild?
Speaker 1 (42:20):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (42:20):
No, I think like I think that, Like you know,
as a parent, it's like, all right, your kids like
walking along a brick fence and you're like get down,
get down, or are you're gonna be like now let
them fall?
Speaker 1 (42:32):
They gonna learn?
Speaker 2 (42:32):
And it's like okay, ah, so you're gonna watch your
child get a concussion and then take them to the
hospital Like who's learning here?
Speaker 1 (42:42):
Or are you just like you know what? Let me go? Yo?
Speaker 3 (42:45):
I mean like yo, absolutely, if you said something really important,
really important, you said rebuild Because and as a as
a son of a panther, what you know is that
the Panthers were about building a new society. Yeah, that's
it's like, yeah, that's what they were about. They were
about building.
Speaker 1 (43:04):
That's what I was. Yep.
Speaker 2 (43:05):
That's like when I say it I'm like, I think,
which is something you suggested. I think burning down is
different than a controlled demolition. And if you've ever built something,
there are things you have to tear down, but it's purposeful,
Like I'm thinking about how it's coming down, what parts
(43:28):
were taking down, what needs to be salvage, how we're
replacing the new lumbers already here, Like you know what
I'm saying. So I'm putting this down and putting this in.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
You know what I'm saying. So yeah, but like me,
I want to I want it in a few minutes.
I got left.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
I want to go back to a few things you said,
which is like the functions of a political party. I
think one thing that kept really frustrating me during the
DNC was when they said we're going to read from
Project twenty twenty five and then proceeded to not read
from project and just say it's gonna do this to you.
And it's like, fam just like if just read, if
(44:08):
you would just read what it says, if you just
let people say, look, this is what it says, then
go do you understand that? And then be like okay,
now these are the implications of that. But I'm pretty
sure you heard it because you just this is what
this is what they said they gonna do. I don't
understand what you're so surprised about. They said they gonna
(44:28):
do this. And then when Trump goes, I don't know
these people, and then you go, oh, word, well it
looks like the forward.
Speaker 1 (44:37):
Was endorsed by jd Vance wrote the forward.
Speaker 2 (44:40):
Ye, so either you'll know what's happening in your own
house or you lying so like, I don't understand what
Like if.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
You just say that you know what I'm saying, I
think we'd be in a different place.
Speaker 2 (44:55):
So then yeah, So then the other thing that I
think you brought down, you brought really together for people
is the reality of of the both and in that
I talk about like a lot of times on the
show too, like people in the streets having actual political
power in the sense that like if you shot a
(45:17):
text and was like, hey, we're gonna be on seventh
in line today and then a hundred people.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Show up, you feel me you have actual political power.
You don't have to.
Speaker 2 (45:26):
You don't have to, You're not astroturfing nothing like, you
really have the pull.
Speaker 1 (45:31):
But what did it take for you to do that? Well,
you had to be outside. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (45:35):
So you have been outside for years for people to
be like, Okay, so when you say we sliding, we sliding,
you know what I mean. So so, but I can't
bring I can't so I can't go into anybody's like
legislative office and be like I want you all to
do this, because they gonna be like, who is you?
And then if you like, who am I? Okay, watch
(45:55):
this dude, boom, it's a dread heads in the lobby
right now.
Speaker 4 (46:02):
You feel me.
Speaker 1 (46:02):
It's like, that's that's who we are. You feel me.
Speaker 2 (46:05):
But at the end of the day, I don't care
how many dreadheads are in the lobby. If the brother
that runs that organization is paying my mortgage like that,
he putting food in my children's in my children's mouth,
I don't care what you say.
Speaker 1 (46:19):
You bring it. Bring all your homies, yo.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Say, like, look, I belong to them, you know So
I think the both and of like, you can't just
try to get people elected because first of all, you
can't elect them if you ain't got the cred, you
know what I'm saying. But once you got the cred,
you got to be able to take it somewhere, you
know what I'm saying. So I think that you you,
(46:42):
you really put the two pieces together in a way
that like I have yet to hear hear anybody anybody do.
Speaker 1 (46:52):
So I got like three minutes with you.
Speaker 3 (46:54):
So my last question is like, oh, man, in this
our work by so quick man, you need to fast
for part two for show bro We're doing this again.
So look, I'm like, all right, everybody ain't starting a
political party, you know what I mean? Like you said,
we work in families.
Speaker 2 (47:09):
It's like, ma gi, like fools can't do their laundry,
let alone go organized.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
Like it's still a pile of laundry sitting in the corner.
You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 2 (47:18):
We still gotta work on your daughter's a little animal project,
like talking.
Speaker 1 (47:22):
About talking about rebuild a political party. You feel me?
Speaker 2 (47:25):
So I guess what I'm asking is like, where can
somebody who is working like that?
Speaker 1 (47:31):
Where can they start? What are some like easy pieces
they could do? Okay, So.
Speaker 3 (47:40):
I'm gonna give people the advice I got from Stokely
Carmichael comment.
Speaker 1 (47:45):
Take notes. Everybody take notes. Okay, your job.
Speaker 3 (47:48):
Is to find an organization, right, and so if you're
listening to me, you could join the Working Families Party. Yeah, right,
you could actually join. It's easy. We try to make
it easy for you. You could go on our website. You
could text my name Mo Moe to three zero four
zero three and you'll get a text back. We'll plug
you in right now. People have different levels of time
(48:15):
and responsibility, So if all you have is a few minutes,
then you could go on our social media and just
read because, like I said before, part of the job
of a political party is to explain to the people
(48:37):
what is going on, and you could learn everything that
I know. There's a lot of misinformation, disinformation. Everything on
our channels is validated, real information for working people to
understand the day to day, right, So that's number one.
If you just I just got a few minutes, go
on any of our social media so that you could
(48:59):
learn and stay up on what's going on, right, and
we will come election time give you our voter guide
so you'll know how to vote for the candidates who
align with Working Families issues. If you have more than
a few minutes, if you have an hour, you could
actually join from wherever you're from.
Speaker 1 (49:19):
You could join a phone bank, you could join.
Speaker 3 (49:22):
We have political education where we're talking about all types
of things. We have these welcome gatherings that we do
everything that are virtual, so you could connect with other
people around the country who, like you, want to be involved.
But yo, you listen, you got yeah, the laundry, I
got that laundry pile too.
Speaker 1 (49:39):
Everybody has, right, Okay.
Speaker 3 (49:41):
If you got a little bit more time, right, there's
not only could could you begin to phone bank, like
for example, we're calling congressional leaders all around the country
to get them to push back against Elon Musk, trying
to take our money, trying to take our data. Right,
if you got a little bit more time, We're encouraging
(50:02):
everyday working people. You don't have to have degrees, you
don't have to run for office, and so we whole
now you're talking, we're recruiting one thousand working people around
the country to run for local office. So if you
have more time, and you might be thinking, well, I'm
talking to you because I know if you're dealing with
(50:23):
trying to trying to pay off medical debt, trying to
get your kids to daycare, trying to make sure that
your kid has a good education in a school that
may not you know, try try trying to be president
and try to figure out how to.
Speaker 1 (50:38):
Make that IEP work for your yeah yeah, all that stuff.
Speaker 3 (50:42):
Well, then you you know enough to be able to
to govern.
Speaker 1 (50:46):
On the local level.
Speaker 3 (50:47):
You should be in school board, you should be on
the city council, you should be on the school board.
Speaker 1 (50:51):
Right.
Speaker 3 (50:52):
So we will support you, and we will train you
up to do that right, and we also train you
to support others to do that right.
Speaker 1 (51:01):
And because we don't have billions of dollars, but what we.
Speaker 3 (51:06):
Do know is that people power has always changed the world,
and so we're building this people power together.
Speaker 1 (51:12):
So we go from a few.
Speaker 3 (51:13):
Minutes, yeah, right, to several hours to all right, I'm
gonna actually be a part of the change and run
for we go through all of that.
Speaker 1 (51:23):
I love it.
Speaker 3 (51:24):
Whatever you want, whatever whatever capacity you have, however you
want to start, will meet you there.
Speaker 1 (51:30):
Yeah, beautiful.
Speaker 2 (51:31):
I even love like you said, back to Stokely's game
of like, look dude, and if it ain't us, oh yeah,
clock in with somebody, tap in with somebody. When we
interviewed h I don't know if you know Bamboo up
up in the bay, but he's an amazing organizer up
there runs beat rock music, amazing rapper. But that was
one thing that like kind of the same thing. He
(51:52):
was doing this revolutionary hip hop stuff. And then somebody
was like, but have you joined an org? Like who's
who's your big hommies? Like who are you checking in with?
Speaker 1 (52:02):
Where is this?
Speaker 2 (52:04):
Where is it going? And he was like yeah, you know,
and like so that's that's the reality, you know, I
have mine. I'm part of a nonprofit Search for Common Ground,
Like I'm checking in with like I have to check
in you know what I mean?
Speaker 3 (52:17):
Yeah, And that is to me the primary wherever you are,
find your organization. Yeah, find your organization. We are for everybody. Yeah,
so you know, I don't I don't begrut you if
you if you look into WFP and you're like, ah,
that may not be it may not be for you,
but find an organization.
Speaker 1 (53:08):
That's powerful.
Speaker 2 (53:09):
Brett, thank you so much for your time. If you
could drop the ad symbols and then I'll let you go.
Speaker 1 (53:17):
Okay, absolutely, let me drop those joints right now at
working families and.
Speaker 2 (53:24):
At working families. I'm a verbally, but I appreciate you, Okay.
Speaker 3 (53:31):
It He was like yeah, okay, yeah, yeah, So you
can find listen, you can find Working Families, party at
Working Families, and you can find me everywhere at Maurice
WFP on all social media platforms, the social media platforms
that are currently owned by the fascist lawyers.
Speaker 1 (53:54):
It is so frustracked, so frustrating.
Speaker 2 (53:58):
It's like, yeah, I'm gonna put this video about how
to change the world and chant down Babylon on this
Babylon built site.
Speaker 3 (54:04):
I'm just like, contradictions are so intense, but which is why?
Which is why? And this is something I'm gonna start
talking about more. Why we need to we need to
have a future vision, right because we have to do
the work now stop them now.
Speaker 1 (54:24):
Yeah, we can't keep doing this.
Speaker 3 (54:25):
Yeah, but we can't keep doing this because we need
to build the information platforms of tomorrow that allow us
to be more connected because there their information platforms are
designed to divide us so that they did its working,
oh like working.
Speaker 1 (54:41):
Because yeah, you got my man.
Speaker 3 (54:43):
You know, you got my man you know in farm
country thinkingm his enemy.
Speaker 4 (54:48):
Yeah, like yeah, like.
Speaker 2 (54:54):
What I'm trying to say, Yeah, yeah man, man, correct,
thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (55:02):
I appreciate your time. Man, This has been dope.
Speaker 2 (55:06):
So yeah, follow the hummy, get involved somewhere.
Speaker 1 (55:09):
All right, y'all, all right, y'all, pace, all.
Speaker 2 (55:25):
Right, now, don't you hit stop on this pod. You
better listen to these credits. I need you to finish
this thing so I can get the download numbers. Okay,
so don't stop it yet, but listen. This was recorded
in East Lost boil Heights by your boy Propaganda. Tap
in with me at prop hip hop dot com. If
(55:45):
you're in the Coldbrew coffee we got terraform Coldbrew. You
can go there dot com and use promo code hood
get twenty percent off get yourself some coffee. This was mixed,
edited and mastered by your boy Matt Alsowski killing the
beat softly. Check out his website Matdowsofski dot com.
Speaker 1 (56:03):
I'm a spelling for you because I know M A.
Speaker 2 (56:07):
T T O S O w s Ki dot com
Matdowsowski dot com. He got more music and stuff like
that on there, so gonna check out. The heat Politics
is a member of cool Zone Media, executive produced by
Sophie Lichterman, part of the iHeartMedia podcast network. Your theme
(56:27):
music and scoring is also by the One and Overly
Mattowsowski still killing the beat softly, so listen.
Speaker 1 (56:34):
Don't let nobody lie to you.
Speaker 2 (56:35):
If you understand urban living, you understand politics. These people
is not smarter than you. We'll see y'all next week.
Speaker 1 (57:00):
M
Host
Prop
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On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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.
Ridiculous History
History is beautiful, brutal and, often, ridiculous. Join Ben Bowlin and Noel Brown as they dive into some of the weirdest stories from across the span of human civilization in Ridiculous History, a podcast by iHeartRadio.