October 22, 2025 • 26 mins
Native Land Pod hosts Tiffany Cross, Angela Rye, and Andrew Gillum are LIVE at CultureCon 2025 for a special conversation about where they see politics intersecting with creative spaces. PLUS questions from the audience.
CultureCon started in 2016 as a small gathering of Black creatives in Imani Ellis NYC apartment. In less than 10 years, it has become one of the world’s most premiere gatherings of creatives and cultural influencers, with Black talent at the center.
And of course we’ll hear from you! If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video: http://www.instagram.com/reel/C5j_oBXLIg0/ and send to @nativelandpod.
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We want to hear from you! Send us a video @nativelandpod and we may feature you on the podcast.
Watch full episodes of Native Land Pod here on YouTube.
Native Land Pod is brought to you by Reasoned Choice Media.
Thank you to the Native Land Pod team:
Angela Rye as host, executive producer and cofounder of Reasoned Choice Media; Tiffany Cross as host and producer, Andrew Gillum as host and producer, and Lauren Hansen as executive producer; Loren Mychael is our research producer, and Nikolas Harter is our editor and producer. Special thanks to Chris Morrow and Lenard McKelvey, co-founders of Reasoned Choice Media.
Theme music created by Daniel Laurent.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Native lamp Pod is the production of iHeartRadio and partnership
with Recent Choice Media.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
So I want you guys to make a very very
warm welcome as we introduced to the stage our three panelists.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
For that discussion.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
We have the co host of Native Lampod. First up,
Andrew Gillotty.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Betty, y'all do better than that.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Talk about berry God because of my hip hop month. Wait,
it's domastating. Damn you're going gun.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Next to the stage, we have the lovely Tiffany Cross
lose me you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Know that to tell his mom, tell your Mika issue.
And last but certainly not Lise my girl Angela.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Ry Okay, we no st up gun and Nama Shine
some up bed.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
I know they have real fun.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
May not get it for Mama. Don bemn out yet.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Bam y' welcome, hey, y'all, Welcome home, y'all see, and
that's how we we know y'all listen to podcasts we
say welcome home, y'all. You got to say it back,
Welcome home, y'all, Welcome home.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
That's better.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
We know you've had a full day.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
We are so excited to be here with you all.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
This evening in New York Andrew Gillim and Tivity Cross.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Hey y'all doing, Welcome home, y'all. Thank y'all for coming
out to hear us.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
We so night. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yes, how many Native Lampard listeners out there?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
All right?
Speaker 6 (01:25):
All right, now, have y'all enjoyed the day so far?
Been pretty good? Well, we're gonna we're gonna try not
to overload you with politics. But if anybody's paying attention,
if you're aware, if you're breathing, you realize that politics
isn't just something over there that is affecting us every
single day. Every decision that's being made in Washington and
(01:48):
in state capitals and city halls around the country way
on our quality of life and how we get to
live our lives. So we hope to share with you
today some of our thoughts on how we may be
able to live our lives to the fullest so that
we're not just finding ourselves in a state of survival,
but rather in a state of thriving.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Is that all right, yes, sir, it is.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
We'll be your call and response so on that. One
of the questions that we got back from this audience.
We got questions submitted earlier today.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Thank you all so much.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
We hate we didn't get your names and where you're from.
But if you recognize the question, just wave at us
so we know it came from y'all. The first question
we got that we thought would be a great starting
off point for us today is one more minute, just
so y'all can follow along.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
We do read as you go, so these questions.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
The first question is there's been a lot of conversation
lately about who gets to tell our stories? How do
you all navigate that tension when you see outsiders profiting
from or misusing black narratives. Story is old as time,
Tiffany Cross, yep, I got you for all of us.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Why go on a lot of legacy media.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I don't think a lot of us are tuning in anymore.
A lot of people are getting their information off social
media of outlets like TikTok.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
And there's some danger to that.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And so when we see people who have an intentional
effort to lead us with misinformation and disinformation, we have
a responsibility on Native lamppod to talk about things that
are happening that are getting overlooked. Just this week, the
federal government went into a neighborhood under the guise of
looking for undocumented immigrants that has less than two percent
(03:35):
of a Latino population in the.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Chicago and disappeared black people. They were bursting in their homes.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Zip tying children. You didn't see one story about that
on Legacy Media. Those are the types of stories that
we talk about on Native lamp Pod. It can be
overwhelming when you don't hear about these stories and so
you just check out. But that is what they're depending
on for us to get to flood the zone with
ca ch until chaos feels normal, until quiet feels uncomfortable
(04:04):
and eerie.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
But a Native Lampid we break it down for you.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
We make it accessible, We make it digestible, to not
only tell you what's going on, but to charge you
with all call to action where you can combat us
being at war and then make it black folks the
face of the enemy by our own federal government.
Speaker 6 (04:22):
So, first of all, y'all just heard the voice of
Tiffany Cross, who I know some of us are remember
from MSNBC when she had her show there. But her
example there, similar to what we saw with Joy Reed,
is that corporate America at any point in time can
decide when they want to silence us. And this is
what's so important about you all being here as creatives
(04:43):
in this space. A lot of times it's difficult for
politicians to change culture. It's difficult for politicians. And I
say this to somebody who ran for the governor of
Florida and came within point three percent of winning that
race out of eight million, twelve million vost casts in
the state of Florida, that as much truth as I
was speaking in as much as of an agenda I
(05:05):
wanted to have for all of our community, but particularly
for the black community, because when we thrive, everybody else thrives.
When we get when America gets a cold, y'all already know,
we get COVID loan COVID right, And so creatives, people
like you all, who get to tell stories and intriguing
ways and in ways that people can relate to. You
(05:27):
approach things that my brain cannot really process because I'm
so technical in so many ways, except your expanded boundaries
allow you to get at things in a much more
compelling way. So the stories that we tell and that
I believe are important, we need your help and repurposing
those stories, giving it more body, more contours. So that
(05:51):
the person who thinks that they don't want to hear
a thing about politics doesn't realize at the end of
the day that they're hearing politics because you've put your
spin on it.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Right.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
If we don't start to transform more people into caring
about these things, y'all will never ever ever win this race.
And we've got to win this race because the ancestors
did too much, laid down too much, sacrifice too much
for a future that they knew they would never inherit.
We're their wildest dreams. You know.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I want to double down here.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
First, I want to shout out and Moni from Culture
Con if y'all can give it up for Amani, she's
done amazing.
Speaker 7 (06:30):
Word.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
And I'm saying that because as I sit here looking
at my sister, my brother, Tiffany, and Andrew, there's a
sign on the wall right here that says, we are culture.
And because we are culture, we have always defined culture.
We've given birth to this culture. We created the mad
the science that they use to this day, fashion, the.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Arts, hip hop. We are hip hop. We are culture.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
So of course they want to try to steal it.
Of course they want to try to silence it. Of
course they want to have our little flare and pizzazz.
Of course they want to have Can we still say sweat?
Can we still say sweat?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Okay, a little swag? Right, so like, of course that
is what they want to do.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
But this, this convening, this gathering of black folks, is
an act of resilience.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
It is an act of defiance.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
It is an act of resistance, It is an act
of rebellion to say, we are culture, We've been culture,
we will always be culture. So that's what I think
we need to lean into right now. So we have
some questions, Tiffany, I'm gonna come to you first. The
one question from the audience is sometimes people say representation matters,
(07:43):
but not all representation is powerful or for us, how
do you decide which stories or perspectives are worth platforming
on Native land?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Pod I like that.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Well, luckily, we all have different perspectives on what should
and should not be platform Our key importance, though, is
what people want to know as well as what people
need to know. And there are a lot of outlets,
a lot of outlets, and some of y'all might follow
that present as being black outlets, but sometimes they're parroting
conservative talking points. Sometimes these Instagram and TikTok outlets that
(08:22):
are entertainment news, a lot of the things they posts
are coming directly from the GOP, directly from right wing
MAGA extremists, and I see a lot of people sharing them.
We have to share responsibly, So we want to platform
voices and stories that get overlooked. Like Angela said, and
what I know is we are fourteen percent of the
US population, and where we go, the entire world follows.
(08:46):
So what we have to put forth is uniquely important.
And I hope that for the people who don't listen
to Native Lampod that you start because we lived in.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Service to you.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
We live in service to black liberation, because when black
people win, everybody wins.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
So you can catch episodes of Natal Lampod.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
On iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts and on
YouTube every Thursday, because every week we show up to
inform you, give you context, and give.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
You a call to action.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
If that was an excellent answer, Andrew, I'm gonna go
to your question. Andrew cannot see everybody say find your glasses, Andrew.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
He's trying to get him discreetly.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Right now, I can say, everybody can see him going
like this, Andrew, we know you can't. Oh look, bless
your heart, lo Lo shout out our.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Producer, Lolo, everybody, poor Lolo.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
This question is for me, Andrew. You want to ask me?
Speaker 5 (09:36):
No, okay, I'm gonna ask my, I'm gonna ask you.
I'm gonna ask you.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
This question is for you.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
What does solidarity within the black creative and political community look.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Like to you right now?
Speaker 5 (09:48):
What kind of collaboration do we need more of?
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Andrew Gillim.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
I mean when I think of collaboration, I think about
I think about us w look together to tell stories
that get resonance based off of Frankly, who is the
person telling the stories. So I know, I'm very clear
about the fact that I'm not everybody's cup of tea,
that Tiffany may not be everybody's cup of tea, that
(10:15):
Angela may not be everybody's cup of tea. We together
may communicate a compelling story, but it doesn't break through
to the masses and the way that we need it to.
So one of the challenges I think I would make
to this audience it would be that if we can
get you all, and I'm going to assume that most
of you stay pretty aware. But if we can get
(10:36):
you all to frankly lean on some of the trusted voices,
some of the topics that we might platform, maybe you
take those and you repurpose them in your own voice
and get them out there so that we can get
greater buy in, greater spread, greater information sharing. When I
ran for governor of Florida, the entire press cord, which
(10:58):
are the people who write about or talk about on television,
the race, the people who largely shape the questions that
are asked and decide what matters and what it doesn't matter,
and the entire state of Florida, the third largest state
in all of America. There was not one single black
political journalist in Florida. So because I got brothers who
(11:18):
went to jail, who served time for selling drugs, accused
of selling drugs, reporters would ask me questions and hold
me responsible for every single step of the actions that
they may have taken, decisions that they may have made.
You had white politicians whose fathers were benefiting from state contracting,
(11:43):
who were making money hand over fists off of votes
that their brothers, sisters, daughters, sons had taken. In one
legislature or another, and then they were benefiting from it financially,
but those issues were never coming up. It seemed to
me that their actions, no matter how illegal or inappropriate
or unethical, I thought they were white people who for
(12:04):
some reason were given grace. White was right, and if
they were doing these actions, it must be okay. But
if we were doing it, something the farious, illegal, under
the table untour took place, and for me would have
just been so much better to be able to look
out at an audience of black journalists or journalists of color,
(12:27):
or journalists with diversified experiences who knows what it means
to grow up in a poor neighborhood and have relatives
who went to jail, but also some who went to
college and graduated, and those who gave back, maybe not
in money directly to the institution, but by paying the
tuition for their nephews and nieces as a way of
giving back to the institution. So I would just say,
(12:50):
it's helpful to have voices in this space with diverse experience.
I like the term representation matters, but more than representation matters,
diverse find experiences matter because you, oftentimes and they oftentimes
experience the world through their lens, and oftentimes that lens
bears no resemblance to our experiences, and so we need
(13:13):
more of us in more of those spaces. The collaboration
that I think needs to take places, we've got to
show up in those environments so that when our people
are on the line and there are the targets, that
we've got people who can rationalize, reason and explain those
narratives in ways that our people can understand.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Okay, Angela, a question for you.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Culture con brings together a lot of creative people who
care about impact but may not see themselves as political.
Some mean y'all may not see yourselves as political. What
would you say to folks who may be in this
room who thinks politics isn't really their lane, or they
don't do politics, or maybe some of y'all do politics, but.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
You're just tired.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
So I love this question because this gives me an
opportunity to focus group the audience.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
That's the way for us to pull you.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
How many of you all think that we all deserve
a safe place to lay our head at night, somewhere
to live? Okay, how many of you all believe that
we all deserve to eat, to make sure that our
family members can eat, and we can eat good food.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
That is healthy for us.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Raise your hands. Okay. How many of you all believe that.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
We should have access to relatively easily clean drinking water.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Raise your hands.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
How many of you all believe that we should be
able to see a doctor, have access to healthcare, be
able to go to an emergency room, get taken care
of proactively, to ensure we can live.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Raise your hands.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
How many of you all believe that black people deserve reparations?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Raise your hands?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Okay, all of.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
That is political.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
There is not a single one of us in this
room that can afford to have our basic needs met
in this country and.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Not be political. Your very existence is political.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
There is a.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
Constitution that would have declared you three fifths of a
human being if you didn't reclaim your full humanity.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Our existence is political.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
We don't have any choice but to be involved in
the political process.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Why because if.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
You opt to sit out, you see what these fools
is doing. I know this ain't partisan, but I am.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
They will shut down the government on your ass.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
They will send your people home.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Who said the only way for me to thrive, for
me to reach the middle class. For me to take
care of my kids so they can go to college
is for me to get this what this good government job?
They're sending our people home from those good government jobs.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Our existence is political.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I know y'all are tired.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
You know, I know I'm tired, But I don't have
a choice.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
I know that if we want to preserve a future
for upcoming generations, for future generations, this fight is ours.
It's not because we chose this fight. Some of us
voted in twenty twenty four in the right way. Oh okay,
that's my clothes, and I ain't got we're political, get involved.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
So I think my question is to you Tiffany right. Yeah,
So this question came from an audience member who said,
I've been following Native Lampod for a.
Speaker 7 (16:40):
Bit, but I love to know what sparked it. That's
the right question. Yeah, okay, what sparked it? So what
made you all decide to start this show in the
first place, and why do we think it's necessary.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
So one of the beautiful things I love about being
a co host of Native Lampod is our friendship authentically
and organically stretches two decades. Okay, when I say two decades,
I all was supposed to, Well, what two decades? You
guys were alive two decades ago? I thought you were
like twenty something. AnyWho we owed y'all real, We've known
(17:20):
each other organically for more than twenty years, and so
the conversations that you hear are the conversations you would
hear whether there were a camera's roland or not, whether
there was an audience before us or not. These are
the conversations we have over dinner. And so when Angela
called and said, hey, I want to do this podcast
and I want you and Andrew to do it with me,
(17:42):
it was an immediate yes. The call came months after
my own show on MSNBC was canceled, and at the
time it was sure, I'll do it. But looking back,
I cannot imagine during the grave dangers that we are.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Facing right now not having this platform.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
This is where we get to cry, where we get
to express our righteous anger right now, where we get
to look to each other to be inspired. I'll take
a brief, shameless promo and just say we covered the
Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Thank you. I don't know if you guys.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Remember Angela gave an amazing acceptance speech.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
She got the Chairman's Award. I really encourage you.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Please go back and watch that speech, and you will
see that we get goosebumps from each other. I learned
from Andrew. I learned from Angela. We fight if y'all listen,
y'all have heard us fight before. We yell, we scream,
We fight like siblings. And so it really came together
to answer the call for a time such as this.
But I want y'all to hear from my co host
(18:45):
as well, because each of us had a calling and
each of us brought something different to the platform. For me,
my intention is always to inform, to break down things.
When you hear things like the DLJ or the CBO,
not everybody knows what those things mean, and you can
feel like an outsider listening to political conversations. Listen to
a white run media landscape talk about politics in a
(19:07):
way that seems so far removed, and I remember watching thinking,
you're not talking to me for me or about me.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
We are intentional.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
We say welcome home because we want you all to
feel like you're at home, and a part of this
conversation you send in a video. You can disagree with us,
we play your video. If you have a question, we'll
answer it. So it was really beautiful to be a
part of building a home. But Andrew, I want to
know for you what was it for you that you
feel like you bring and also who's your favorite co host?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Well, okay, and.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Before you get to lining to her, since she had
the mic, Glass, I want you to fold that answer
into this because I'm going to take a page from
TIFF's book, which is to get to as many audience
questions as possible. So your last audience question also was
if someone in the audience wants to use their platform,
whether it's our business or content, to make change, what's
(20:00):
one piece of advice you'd give them to start?
Speaker 6 (20:04):
I would say whatever, the talent is the gift that
you've been given. And sometimes we have that voice in
our heads that tells us we're not enough, that we
don't have as much experience or as background to do something.
I would say, one, do your very best to silence
that voice, or rather hear it and then ask it
(20:25):
to take a seat. Because now oftentimes we'll continue to
persist in our lives no matter how how we achieve
how many audiences we've spoken in front of, how many
positions or titles we've had. That voice is always present.
It's present with me right now. If my colleagues were
to be honest, I'm sure they would tell you that
those voices are present with them. And I would just
(20:47):
tell you to again acknowledge that voice, tell it to
have a seat, and you keep going. But the truth
is is God has granted all of us with gifts.
He's given us a thing. He's given you a thing
that only you can do that particular way for this
particular time, this particular moment, and if you don't do
(21:07):
that particular thing, then it will never be done. Believe
that God is that intentional in your life to purpose
you to have impact in your own way. And so
I would simply say is I oftentimes would often find
the people who were the best at the game and
then think, compare myself to oh what do I need
(21:28):
to do? And movement building. Maybe the question out of
be what can I do right now that might make
something come out different, might change the outcome of a thing.
Most of our greatest movements didn't start with a person believing, oh,
we'll start a Montgomery bus boycott and all of a
sudden or one hundred plus for over a year, black
(21:50):
people will restrain from being on the bus and will
change the trajectory of the South and black accommodations by
doing this. They didn't start that way. It started by
saying I don't want to sit in the back of
the bus and give my seat up to a white
kid just because I happened to be black, and that
one thing then transformed to something else. So I would
simply say, don't start with the goal of changing the world.
(22:13):
Maybe the world being changed will eventually come start changing
on your block, on your street, and your neighborhood and
your city, county, state, and see if that won't then
lead to something that creates just the most incredible opening
that nobody ever saw, including you. That's how God works.
(22:33):
He takes the little things, the little people, puts them
in the right places and the right moments and the
right circumstances to blow it up so that all of
us know that he's still possible that he could take
a little thing and make it a big thing. So
my advice is simply start where you are, do what
you can, and then make the difference.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Okay, Tiff is gonna ask me this last question sooners
she finds it.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Well, was the one I just asked Andrew? Yup. No,
it's about why did we come together? Like why did
Native Land come together?
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Okay, so we've not answered my question? Well, how was
your question?
Speaker 7 (23:13):
It was?
Speaker 5 (23:13):
It was for those of us in this room who
want to build something that has purpose?
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Okay, Oh, for those of us in this room, I
want to build something to have purpose.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
But what do you think? And also how did we
come together as Native Lampop?
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Okay, well I'm gonna I'm gonna start with this.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
To build something that has purpose, you need to be
building with people you admire, people you.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Can grow from, people you respect, people you can teach.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
And I'll tell you this.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
We might be the people you see on camera and
whose voices you hear when you tune into the show,
but there's an army behind us. Some of you all
who listen to the show are the army. But we
also have some of those army members in the audience today.
And so you already saw Lolo run up here with
Andrews glasses loo and waived everybody. This is Lolo Smith,
our producer utility player. For those of you are old
(24:05):
enough who know who Charles Barkley is. This is our
Barkley on the squad. Bree is helping us with press
right now, Bri stand up and just wave. Brief is
doing our pre r And then Chloe Pusche is. If
you see any thumbnail that's beautiful, any of the graphics, y'all.
She is also a creator, a brilliant creator, super dope artist.
Chloe Puschet right here also looks like a supermodel. But
(24:29):
we are so thankful to our team who's here, Nick
and Lauren who aren't here, our iHeart family, Leonard and
Chris Marrol who helped us to create Reason Choice. Oh sorry,
Tiff always Lenard is Charlemagne la God who also is
one of our co founders a Reason Choice. With the
thirty five seconds I have left, I will just say this.
(24:49):
The name of the show comes from that last stanza
in the last verse of lift every voice and sing
the Black National Anthem, the Holy National Anthem, I will sing,
they say.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
James Weldon Johnson wrote, true to our God, true to
our native land, and.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
In a space where that land is being challenged on
every side, our very existence is being questioned. It is
more important than ever for black folks to create safe
spaces where we.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Never question our belonging. And so to that in we
welcome you all home.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
Welcome home, y'all, Thank you so much, Welcome home to
the Native landing on the podcast space.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
That's it for greatness.
Speaker 8 (25:29):
Sixty minutes, it's so hit, not too long for the
great shift, high level combo politics in a way that
you could taste.
Speaker 6 (25:35):
It then digest it.
Speaker 8 (25:37):
Politics touches you even if you don't touch it. So
get invested across the t's and doctor i's kill them
back to get them staying on business with Rod. You
could have been anywhere, but you trust us Natively podcast
the brand that you can trust us.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio and partnership with
reisent Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Native lamp Pod is the production of iHeartRadio and partnership
with Recent Choice Media.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
So I want you guys to make a very very
warm welcome as we introduced to the stage our three panelists.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
For that discussion.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
We have the co host of Native Lampod. First up,
Andrew Gillotty.
Speaker 4 (00:20):
Betty, y'all do better than that.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
Talk about berry God because of my hip hop month. Wait,
it's domastating. Damn you're going gun.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Next to the stage, we have the lovely Tiffany Cross
lose me you.
Speaker 3 (00:33):
Know that to tell his mom, tell your Mika issue.
And last but certainly not Lise my girl Angela.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Ry Okay, we no st up gun and Nama Shine
some up bed.
Speaker 4 (00:48):
I know they have real fun.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
May not get it for Mama. Don bemn out yet.
Speaker 5 (00:54):
Bam y' welcome, hey, y'all, Welcome home, y'all see, and
that's how we we know y'all listen to podcasts we
say welcome home, y'all. You got to say it back,
Welcome home, y'all, Welcome home.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
That's better.
Speaker 3 (01:06):
We know you've had a full day.
Speaker 4 (01:09):
We are so excited to be here with you all.
Speaker 5 (01:11):
This evening in New York Andrew Gillim and Tivity Cross.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
Hey y'all doing, Welcome home, y'all. Thank y'all for coming
out to hear us.
Speaker 4 (01:19):
We so night. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
Yes, how many Native Lampard listeners out there?
Speaker 4 (01:24):
All right?
Speaker 6 (01:25):
All right, now, have y'all enjoyed the day so far?
Been pretty good? Well, we're gonna we're gonna try not
to overload you with politics. But if anybody's paying attention,
if you're aware, if you're breathing, you realize that politics
isn't just something over there that is affecting us every
single day. Every decision that's being made in Washington and
(01:48):
in state capitals and city halls around the country way
on our quality of life and how we get to
live our lives. So we hope to share with you
today some of our thoughts on how we may be
able to live our lives to the fullest so that
we're not just finding ourselves in a state of survival,
but rather in a state of thriving.
Speaker 4 (02:08):
Is that all right, yes, sir, it is.
Speaker 5 (02:10):
We'll be your call and response so on that. One
of the questions that we got back from this audience.
We got questions submitted earlier today.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Thank you all so much.
Speaker 5 (02:21):
We hate we didn't get your names and where you're from.
But if you recognize the question, just wave at us
so we know it came from y'all. The first question
we got that we thought would be a great starting
off point for us today is one more minute, just
so y'all can follow along.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
We do read as you go, so these questions.
Speaker 5 (02:39):
The first question is there's been a lot of conversation
lately about who gets to tell our stories? How do
you all navigate that tension when you see outsiders profiting
from or misusing black narratives. Story is old as time,
Tiffany Cross, yep, I got you for all of us.
Speaker 4 (02:58):
Why go on a lot of legacy media.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
I don't think a lot of us are tuning in anymore.
A lot of people are getting their information off social
media of outlets like TikTok.
Speaker 4 (03:10):
And there's some danger to that.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
And so when we see people who have an intentional
effort to lead us with misinformation and disinformation, we have
a responsibility on Native lamppod to talk about things that
are happening that are getting overlooked. Just this week, the
federal government went into a neighborhood under the guise of
looking for undocumented immigrants that has less than two percent
(03:35):
of a Latino population in the.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Chicago and disappeared black people. They were bursting in their homes.
Speaker 1 (03:43):
Zip tying children. You didn't see one story about that
on Legacy Media. Those are the types of stories that
we talk about on Native lamp Pod. It can be
overwhelming when you don't hear about these stories and so
you just check out. But that is what they're depending
on for us to get to flood the zone with
ca ch until chaos feels normal, until quiet feels uncomfortable
(04:04):
and eerie.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
But a Native Lampid we break it down for you.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
We make it accessible, We make it digestible, to not
only tell you what's going on, but to charge you
with all call to action where you can combat us
being at war and then make it black folks the
face of the enemy by our own federal government.
Speaker 6 (04:22):
So, first of all, y'all just heard the voice of
Tiffany Cross, who I know some of us are remember
from MSNBC when she had her show there. But her
example there, similar to what we saw with Joy Reed,
is that corporate America at any point in time can
decide when they want to silence us. And this is
what's so important about you all being here as creatives
(04:43):
in this space. A lot of times it's difficult for
politicians to change culture. It's difficult for politicians. And I
say this to somebody who ran for the governor of
Florida and came within point three percent of winning that
race out of eight million, twelve million vost casts in
the state of Florida, that as much truth as I
was speaking in as much as of an agenda I
(05:05):
wanted to have for all of our community, but particularly
for the black community, because when we thrive, everybody else thrives.
When we get when America gets a cold, y'all already know,
we get COVID loan COVID right, And so creatives, people
like you all, who get to tell stories and intriguing
ways and in ways that people can relate to. You
(05:27):
approach things that my brain cannot really process because I'm
so technical in so many ways, except your expanded boundaries
allow you to get at things in a much more
compelling way. So the stories that we tell and that
I believe are important, we need your help and repurposing
those stories, giving it more body, more contours. So that
(05:51):
the person who thinks that they don't want to hear
a thing about politics doesn't realize at the end of
the day that they're hearing politics because you've put your
spin on it.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
Right.
Speaker 6 (06:00):
If we don't start to transform more people into caring
about these things, y'all will never ever ever win this race.
And we've got to win this race because the ancestors
did too much, laid down too much, sacrifice too much
for a future that they knew they would never inherit.
We're their wildest dreams. You know.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
I want to double down here.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
First, I want to shout out and Moni from Culture
Con if y'all can give it up for Amani, she's
done amazing.
Speaker 7 (06:30):
Word.
Speaker 5 (06:32):
And I'm saying that because as I sit here looking
at my sister, my brother, Tiffany, and Andrew, there's a
sign on the wall right here that says, we are culture.
And because we are culture, we have always defined culture.
We've given birth to this culture. We created the mad
the science that they use to this day, fashion, the.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
Arts, hip hop. We are hip hop. We are culture.
Speaker 5 (06:54):
So of course they want to try to steal it.
Of course they want to try to silence it. Of
course they want to have our little flare and pizzazz.
Of course they want to have Can we still say sweat?
Can we still say sweat?
Speaker 3 (07:06):
Okay, a little swag? Right, so like, of course that
is what they want to do.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
But this, this convening, this gathering of black folks, is
an act of resilience.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
It is an act of defiance.
Speaker 5 (07:20):
It is an act of resistance, It is an act
of rebellion to say, we are culture, We've been culture,
we will always be culture. So that's what I think
we need to lean into right now. So we have
some questions, Tiffany, I'm gonna come to you first. The
one question from the audience is sometimes people say representation matters,
(07:43):
but not all representation is powerful or for us, how
do you decide which stories or perspectives are worth platforming
on Native land?
Speaker 3 (07:54):
Pod I like that.
Speaker 1 (07:57):
Well, luckily, we all have different perspectives on what should
and should not be platform Our key importance, though, is
what people want to know as well as what people
need to know. And there are a lot of outlets,
a lot of outlets, and some of y'all might follow
that present as being black outlets, but sometimes they're parroting
conservative talking points. Sometimes these Instagram and TikTok outlets that
(08:22):
are entertainment news, a lot of the things they posts
are coming directly from the GOP, directly from right wing
MAGA extremists, and I see a lot of people sharing them.
We have to share responsibly, So we want to platform
voices and stories that get overlooked. Like Angela said, and
what I know is we are fourteen percent of the
US population, and where we go, the entire world follows.
(08:46):
So what we have to put forth is uniquely important.
And I hope that for the people who don't listen
to Native Lampod that you start because we lived in.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
Service to you.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
We live in service to black liberation, because when black
people win, everybody wins.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
So you can catch episodes of Natal Lampod.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
On iHeartRadio or wherever you get your podcasts and on
YouTube every Thursday, because every week we show up to
inform you, give you context, and give.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
You a call to action.
Speaker 5 (09:13):
If that was an excellent answer, Andrew, I'm gonna go
to your question. Andrew cannot see everybody say find your glasses, Andrew.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
He's trying to get him discreetly.
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Right now, I can say, everybody can see him going
like this, Andrew, we know you can't. Oh look, bless
your heart, lo Lo shout out our.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Producer, Lolo, everybody, poor Lolo.
Speaker 6 (09:33):
Oh.
Speaker 3 (09:34):
This question is for me, Andrew. You want to ask me?
Speaker 5 (09:36):
No, okay, I'm gonna ask my, I'm gonna ask you.
I'm gonna ask you.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
This question is for you.
Speaker 5 (09:41):
What does solidarity within the black creative and political community look.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
Like to you right now?
Speaker 5 (09:48):
What kind of collaboration do we need more of?
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Andrew Gillim.
Speaker 6 (09:53):
I mean when I think of collaboration, I think about
I think about us w look together to tell stories
that get resonance based off of Frankly, who is the
person telling the stories. So I know, I'm very clear
about the fact that I'm not everybody's cup of tea,
that Tiffany may not be everybody's cup of tea, that
(10:15):
Angela may not be everybody's cup of tea. We together
may communicate a compelling story, but it doesn't break through
to the masses and the way that we need it to.
So one of the challenges I think I would make
to this audience it would be that if we can
get you all, and I'm going to assume that most
of you stay pretty aware. But if we can get
(10:36):
you all to frankly lean on some of the trusted voices,
some of the topics that we might platform, maybe you
take those and you repurpose them in your own voice
and get them out there so that we can get
greater buy in, greater spread, greater information sharing. When I
ran for governor of Florida, the entire press cord, which
(10:58):
are the people who write about or talk about on television,
the race, the people who largely shape the questions that
are asked and decide what matters and what it doesn't matter,
and the entire state of Florida, the third largest state
in all of America. There was not one single black
political journalist in Florida. So because I got brothers who
(11:18):
went to jail, who served time for selling drugs, accused
of selling drugs, reporters would ask me questions and hold
me responsible for every single step of the actions that
they may have taken, decisions that they may have made.
You had white politicians whose fathers were benefiting from state contracting,
(11:43):
who were making money hand over fists off of votes
that their brothers, sisters, daughters, sons had taken. In one
legislature or another, and then they were benefiting from it financially,
but those issues were never coming up. It seemed to
me that their actions, no matter how illegal or inappropriate
or unethical, I thought they were white people who for
(12:04):
some reason were given grace. White was right, and if
they were doing these actions, it must be okay. But
if we were doing it, something the farious, illegal, under
the table untour took place, and for me would have
just been so much better to be able to look
out at an audience of black journalists or journalists of color,
(12:27):
or journalists with diversified experiences who knows what it means
to grow up in a poor neighborhood and have relatives
who went to jail, but also some who went to
college and graduated, and those who gave back, maybe not
in money directly to the institution, but by paying the
tuition for their nephews and nieces as a way of
giving back to the institution. So I would just say,
(12:50):
it's helpful to have voices in this space with diverse experience.
I like the term representation matters, but more than representation matters,
diverse find experiences matter because you, oftentimes and they oftentimes
experience the world through their lens, and oftentimes that lens
bears no resemblance to our experiences, and so we need
(13:13):
more of us in more of those spaces. The collaboration
that I think needs to take places, we've got to
show up in those environments so that when our people
are on the line and there are the targets, that
we've got people who can rationalize, reason and explain those
narratives in ways that our people can understand.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Okay, Angela, a question for you.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Culture con brings together a lot of creative people who
care about impact but may not see themselves as political.
Some mean y'all may not see yourselves as political. What
would you say to folks who may be in this
room who thinks politics isn't really their lane, or they
don't do politics, or maybe some of y'all do politics, but.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
You're just tired.
Speaker 5 (13:52):
So I love this question because this gives me an
opportunity to focus group the audience.
Speaker 3 (13:57):
That's the way for us to pull you.
Speaker 5 (14:00):
How many of you all think that we all deserve
a safe place to lay our head at night, somewhere
to live? Okay, how many of you all believe that
we all deserve to eat, to make sure that our
family members can eat, and we can eat good food.
Speaker 4 (14:17):
That is healthy for us.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
Raise your hands. Okay. How many of you all believe that.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
We should have access to relatively easily clean drinking water.
Speaker 3 (14:28):
Raise your hands.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
How many of you all believe that we should be
able to see a doctor, have access to healthcare, be
able to go to an emergency room, get taken care
of proactively, to ensure we can live.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Raise your hands.
Speaker 5 (14:44):
How many of you all believe that black people deserve reparations?
Speaker 3 (14:48):
Raise your hands?
Speaker 4 (14:50):
Okay, all of.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
That is political.
Speaker 5 (14:54):
There is not a single one of us in this
room that can afford to have our basic needs met
in this country and.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Not be political. Your very existence is political.
Speaker 4 (15:06):
There is a.
Speaker 5 (15:06):
Constitution that would have declared you three fifths of a
human being if you didn't reclaim your full humanity.
Speaker 3 (15:14):
Our existence is political.
Speaker 5 (15:16):
We don't have any choice but to be involved in
the political process.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Why because if.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
You opt to sit out, you see what these fools
is doing. I know this ain't partisan, but I am.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
They will shut down the government on your ass.
Speaker 3 (15:31):
They will send your people home.
Speaker 5 (15:33):
Who said the only way for me to thrive, for
me to reach the middle class. For me to take
care of my kids so they can go to college
is for me to get this what this good government job?
They're sending our people home from those good government jobs.
Speaker 3 (15:50):
Our existence is political.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
I know y'all are tired.
Speaker 3 (15:53):
You know, I know I'm tired, But I don't have
a choice.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
I know that if we want to preserve a future
for upcoming generations, for future generations, this fight is ours.
It's not because we chose this fight. Some of us
voted in twenty twenty four in the right way. Oh okay,
that's my clothes, and I ain't got we're political, get involved.
Speaker 6 (16:28):
So I think my question is to you Tiffany right. Yeah,
So this question came from an audience member who said,
I've been following Native Lampod for a.
Speaker 7 (16:40):
Bit, but I love to know what sparked it. That's
the right question. Yeah, okay, what sparked it? So what
made you all decide to start this show in the
first place, and why do we think it's necessary.
Speaker 1 (16:58):
So one of the beautiful things I love about being
a co host of Native Lampod is our friendship authentically
and organically stretches two decades. Okay, when I say two decades,
I all was supposed to, Well, what two decades? You
guys were alive two decades ago? I thought you were
like twenty something. AnyWho we owed y'all real, We've known
(17:20):
each other organically for more than twenty years, and so
the conversations that you hear are the conversations you would
hear whether there were a camera's roland or not, whether
there was an audience before us or not. These are
the conversations we have over dinner. And so when Angela
called and said, hey, I want to do this podcast
and I want you and Andrew to do it with me,
(17:42):
it was an immediate yes. The call came months after
my own show on MSNBC was canceled, and at the
time it was sure, I'll do it. But looking back,
I cannot imagine during the grave dangers that we are.
Speaker 4 (17:56):
Facing right now not having this platform.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
This is where we get to cry, where we get
to express our righteous anger right now, where we get
to look to each other to be inspired. I'll take
a brief, shameless promo and just say we covered the
Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference.
Speaker 4 (18:15):
Thank you. I don't know if you guys.
Speaker 1 (18:18):
Remember Angela gave an amazing acceptance speech.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
She got the Chairman's Award. I really encourage you.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
Please go back and watch that speech, and you will
see that we get goosebumps from each other. I learned
from Andrew. I learned from Angela. We fight if y'all listen,
y'all have heard us fight before. We yell, we scream,
We fight like siblings. And so it really came together
to answer the call for a time such as this.
But I want y'all to hear from my co host
(18:45):
as well, because each of us had a calling and
each of us brought something different to the platform. For me,
my intention is always to inform, to break down things.
When you hear things like the DLJ or the CBO,
not everybody knows what those things mean, and you can
feel like an outsider listening to political conversations. Listen to
a white run media landscape talk about politics in a
(19:07):
way that seems so far removed, and I remember watching thinking,
you're not talking to me for me or about me.
Speaker 4 (19:13):
We are intentional.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
We say welcome home because we want you all to
feel like you're at home, and a part of this
conversation you send in a video. You can disagree with us,
we play your video. If you have a question, we'll
answer it. So it was really beautiful to be a
part of building a home. But Andrew, I want to
know for you what was it for you that you
feel like you bring and also who's your favorite co host?
Speaker 4 (19:37):
Well, okay, and.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Before you get to lining to her, since she had
the mic, Glass, I want you to fold that answer
into this because I'm going to take a page from
TIFF's book, which is to get to as many audience
questions as possible. So your last audience question also was
if someone in the audience wants to use their platform,
whether it's our business or content, to make change, what's
(20:00):
one piece of advice you'd give them to start?
Speaker 6 (20:04):
I would say whatever, the talent is the gift that
you've been given. And sometimes we have that voice in
our heads that tells us we're not enough, that we
don't have as much experience or as background to do something.
I would say, one, do your very best to silence
that voice, or rather hear it and then ask it
(20:25):
to take a seat. Because now oftentimes we'll continue to
persist in our lives no matter how how we achieve
how many audiences we've spoken in front of, how many
positions or titles we've had. That voice is always present.
It's present with me right now. If my colleagues were
to be honest, I'm sure they would tell you that
those voices are present with them. And I would just
(20:47):
tell you to again acknowledge that voice, tell it to
have a seat, and you keep going. But the truth
is is God has granted all of us with gifts.
He's given us a thing. He's given you a thing
that only you can do that particular way for this
particular time, this particular moment, and if you don't do
(21:07):
that particular thing, then it will never be done. Believe
that God is that intentional in your life to purpose
you to have impact in your own way. And so
I would simply say is I oftentimes would often find
the people who were the best at the game and
then think, compare myself to oh what do I need
(21:28):
to do? And movement building. Maybe the question out of
be what can I do right now that might make
something come out different, might change the outcome of a thing.
Most of our greatest movements didn't start with a person believing, oh,
we'll start a Montgomery bus boycott and all of a
sudden or one hundred plus for over a year, black
(21:50):
people will restrain from being on the bus and will
change the trajectory of the South and black accommodations by
doing this. They didn't start that way. It started by
saying I don't want to sit in the back of
the bus and give my seat up to a white
kid just because I happened to be black, and that
one thing then transformed to something else. So I would
simply say, don't start with the goal of changing the world.
(22:13):
Maybe the world being changed will eventually come start changing
on your block, on your street, and your neighborhood and
your city, county, state, and see if that won't then
lead to something that creates just the most incredible opening
that nobody ever saw, including you. That's how God works.
(22:33):
He takes the little things, the little people, puts them
in the right places and the right moments and the
right circumstances to blow it up so that all of
us know that he's still possible that he could take
a little thing and make it a big thing. So
my advice is simply start where you are, do what
you can, and then make the difference.
Speaker 5 (22:55):
Okay, Tiff is gonna ask me this last question sooners
she finds it.
Speaker 4 (23:00):
Well, was the one I just asked Andrew? Yup. No,
it's about why did we come together? Like why did
Native Land come together?
Speaker 3 (23:09):
Okay, so we've not answered my question? Well, how was
your question?
Speaker 7 (23:13):
It was?
Speaker 5 (23:13):
It was for those of us in this room who
want to build something that has purpose?
Speaker 1 (23:17):
Okay, Oh, for those of us in this room, I
want to build something to have purpose.
Speaker 4 (23:22):
But what do you think? And also how did we
come together as Native Lampop?
Speaker 3 (23:27):
Okay, well I'm gonna I'm gonna start with this.
Speaker 5 (23:31):
To build something that has purpose, you need to be
building with people you admire, people you.
Speaker 3 (23:37):
Can grow from, people you respect, people you can teach.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
And I'll tell you this.
Speaker 5 (23:43):
We might be the people you see on camera and
whose voices you hear when you tune into the show,
but there's an army behind us. Some of you all
who listen to the show are the army. But we
also have some of those army members in the audience today.
And so you already saw Lolo run up here with
Andrews glasses loo and waived everybody. This is Lolo Smith,
our producer utility player. For those of you are old
(24:05):
enough who know who Charles Barkley is. This is our
Barkley on the squad. Bree is helping us with press
right now, Bri stand up and just wave. Brief is
doing our pre r And then Chloe Pusche is. If
you see any thumbnail that's beautiful, any of the graphics, y'all.
She is also a creator, a brilliant creator, super dope artist.
Chloe Puschet right here also looks like a supermodel. But
(24:29):
we are so thankful to our team who's here, Nick
and Lauren who aren't here, our iHeart family, Leonard and
Chris Marrol who helped us to create Reason Choice. Oh sorry,
Tiff always Lenard is Charlemagne la God who also is
one of our co founders a Reason Choice. With the
thirty five seconds I have left, I will just say this.
(24:49):
The name of the show comes from that last stanza
in the last verse of lift every voice and sing
the Black National Anthem, the Holy National Anthem, I will sing,
they say.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
James Weldon Johnson wrote, true to our God, true to
our native land, and.
Speaker 5 (25:06):
In a space where that land is being challenged on
every side, our very existence is being questioned. It is
more important than ever for black folks to create safe
spaces where we.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
Never question our belonging. And so to that in we
welcome you all home.
Speaker 8 (25:22):
Welcome home, y'all, Thank you so much, Welcome home to
the Native landing on the podcast space.
Speaker 4 (25:28):
That's it for greatness.
Speaker 8 (25:29):
Sixty minutes, it's so hit, not too long for the
great shift, high level combo politics in a way that
you could taste.
Speaker 6 (25:35):
It then digest it.
Speaker 8 (25:37):
Politics touches you even if you don't touch it. So
get invested across the t's and doctor i's kill them
back to get them staying on business with Rod. You
could have been anywhere, but you trust us Natively podcast
the brand that you can trust us.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio and partnership with
reisent Choice Media. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the
iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Hosts And Creators
Tiffany Cross
Andrew Gillum
Angela Rye
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