September 12, 2025 • 18 mins
Afeni is an activist and community organizer based in Washington D.C. who was recently brutalized and detained by her city’s police just for filming.
Afeni joins our hosts, Angela Rye, Andrew Gillum, and Tiffany Cross to tell the story of her arrest and what federal control of D.C. means for the resistance to Trump’s crackdown. We get a peak inside the life of an activist and a critical perspective on the city’s current governance.
If you’d like to submit a question, check out our tutorial video: www.instagram.com/reel/C5j_oBXLIg0/
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well come, well come, well come, well come, well come come.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Let's be real.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Like the same white people that were poor in seventeen
seventy six when they said we the people, but if
you aren't white, rich and own property, you can't vote.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Those same white people are the ones that are out here.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Fighting against the democracy, fighting for president that didn't actually
fight for any of their rights, fighting for a president
that also picked up they're checks and their taxes, fighting
for president that didn't give them health care, fighting for
a president then give about their education. They're out here
literally fighting against their own interests.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
That is what they're fighting for.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
And at this point I think the only thing they're
fighting for is white supremacy. Is too uphold white supremacy
because they don't have shit that we don't have shits.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
They don't have shits. The only thing they have is
their white skin.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
All right, everyone, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
This is a Native Lampod Mini pod and we are
thrilled to be joining today by an incredible hero. Young
people make waves, and she is no exception. We witnessed
her unlawful arrest in DC just a few weeks ago,
as DC continues to be under occupation by the federal government,
and I got to tell y'all, this particular young lady
(01:19):
is someone who I was like, now, this is who
the ancestors are speaking through, and I just really want
to commend you for your courage, for your bold voice,
and if any, we want to welcome you home to
Native Lampid.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Are so happy to have today. Thank you so much
for having me. I've seen all of you on TV
various times, so excited to be here.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
We're very grateful to share space with you. I would
love if you would be so kind to just share
what happened when you were detained and what your experience
was in being detained by these officers who did all
the things including pepper spray you, if any please talk
about your experience and what other young people are going
through in DC right now. Well.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Uh, first of all, I was out doing cop watch
with an organization called Harriet's Watter's Dreams. They're also in
partners with three DC. UH, So what we were doing
was lawful and legal. We've done it for years. My
experience with the Metro Transit police that detained me specifically,
(02:23):
one officer named Sergeant Dial was that I was singled
out from the rest of my group and I was
brutalized and arrested. When I was pepper sprayed, they like
subsequently poured water like all down the front of me,
so like the pepper spray kind of like spread down
(02:47):
to everything that you could imagine. So I was kept
in multiple police cars for hours. They took me to
the hospital. They didn't do much, but I was arrested
at ten I didn't get processed until six am. And
throughout all that time, I was handcuffed with my hands
(03:09):
by my back, either in a police car or at
the hospital for a few hours, and I was getting
pepper sprayed over and over and over again throughout the night,
like anytime I sweat or cried or anything like that.
And also the whole front of my clothes were wet.
So yeah, it was I don't know, I feel like
(03:34):
mentally very different. I've been doing this work for a while,
it's not my first time being arrested. It's my first
time being arrested in about five years. But yeah, this
one was like very different, and it might be because
of the context of everything else that's going on with
young people, with undocumented people, with documented people who migrated
(03:54):
to this city, who are being snatched off the streets,
never to see their families again. You know, I was released.
Speaker 6 (04:02):
The next day.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I was in a lot of pain, but I was
released the next day. People's lives are being changed by
the ways in which the Trump administration, Janine Piro being
our new ag and also our mayor really just kind
of not really doing much of the way of like
(04:23):
actually fighting this.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, people from DC get sent all over the country
when they get incarcerated. There's no state prison, and there's
no then we have like about thirty five hundred beds.
There's nowhere to hold all these people, so they end
up getting sent anywhere that they can fit them. And
this will be black people disapportionately that are impacted in
the district by this.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Aphene, can I ask you. We spoke about Mayor Bowser
and how she's interacted with the Trump administration. We spoke
about it on last week's episode of NLP, and I
noted in conversations I had in person with people and
in a lot of the com that some people were
taken aback by our response and pushed back a little
bit and said, listen, Mayor Bowser is in a very
(05:07):
difficult spot. You know, why would we criticize this black
woman mayor who's doing the best that she can. And
they thought we were a little insensitive and perhaps naive
uh to the position that she's in. And just so
you know, our position was, if you're not going to
win with Trump, and why not be a revolution. I'm
just curious what you might say to people who have
(05:28):
that pushback for us, and maybe even you, I would.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Say that even up until this occupation, Mayor Bowser, throughout
this entire year has been taking tiny steps or big
steps depending on what you're what you're thinking about, towards UH,
the Trump administration and being in line with their agenda.
You know, home rule is a very sensitive topic. Even
(05:55):
if they they could institute a control board and not
even have to repeal home rule, and they the institute
control board in Congress, and our autonomy would essentially be cooked.
I understand that fear, but you know, everything that Trump
asked for the mayor to put in our budget to
like get repealed, it happened. Sanctuary city status. She tried
(06:16):
to repeal that through the budget. That is not a
budget item, so our council stripped that out. She also
wanted to do away with rank choice voting that was
a democratically voted on ballid initiative. She wanted to do
away with tip wage worker raises. That was another democratically
voted on ballid initiative that was voted on twice. Over
seventy percent of the city wanted to see tip wage
(06:38):
workers get a raised, and the city council they partially
funded rape choice voting, they didn't fund it fully like
there was like they said they were going to, and
they completely did away with I eight two, which is
the tip the raise for the tip wage folks. So,
I mean, it's it's kind of hard for me to
(07:01):
feel sympathy for her, especially at this time with my
history of like organizing against her, protesting against her, like
even meeting with her, talking with her. Muriel has never
been interested in like justice or like the interests of
working class people or addressing them or the material conditions
(07:22):
of people that live in Ward seven or eight, like
where the blackest part of the city. She's never been
invested in that. So I'm genuinely not surprised that she's
acting this way now, and I really feel like if
people have like issues with people criticizing her, they really
need to look back at her record in the way
that she has presented herself as a mayor, as a
(07:43):
black queer person, as you know she says she is,
she has not been. She has not legislated like a Democrat.
I'll just say it like that.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Well, because I'm going to pass the mike to you, Andrew,
But just because it's people who don't live in DC
may not be as familiar with d C home Rule.
So just for our viewers and our audience, d C
Home rule is shorthand essentially for legislation that passed in
Congress in nineteen seventy three that gave the d C
residents some autonomy before that when President Nixon was in office.
(08:15):
Before that, essentially Congress controlled d C and so you know,
they would appoint commissioners and appoint the member of Congress here,
a d C home rule allowed for elections here, even
though d C is a place where there is taxation
without full representation in Congress.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So sorry, Andrew, No, no, it's like they had a
territorial governance, you know, structure, what century are we in
here in America?
Speaker 6 (08:44):
And that's partly why, you know, for those of us
who visit d C or go there for work, you
see that statehoods for d C, you know, plates and
the advocacy around that. It is bigger than a number
of states that are represented by two US senators in
the US Senate. They got more population. Yet Eleanor Holmes
(09:07):
Norton is a delegate, uh, non voting delegate to the Congress.
Except for very special situations, I think she can count
for quorum. But that's about that. That's about the whole
of it. I just I want to salute you Sis
for the courage, frankly by what you've been standing on
(09:28):
quite fearless, and actually I don't think any of us
are without our levels of fear. But you absolutely present
quite fearlessly, I think, giving cover and also permission for
the people who want to be with you to be
with you. I would, I would. I'm stepping back from
just sort of this current situation. I'm actually curious sort
of where did this get seated? Where are you from?
(09:50):
Where did you grow up? Like what what put you
on this path? Because I think there's something to be
taken from that and to be shared, you know with
our listeners around how you got to this this moment
that you've been built for.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, so you know, I'm an armie brad. I was
born in Germany, so we did a little bit of
moving all over the country Baskett most of my time
really in Maryland. You know, I had like a very
I had a childhood with a lot of stuff, and
I lived in the neighborhood with like really like all
we always lived in like really well resourced neighborhoods. I
(10:26):
was a cheerleader for like twelve years. I played lots
of instruments when I was younger. So like, I feel
like I really got an opportunity to fully like self determined,
and that has really lended to like the way that
I imagine myself as an advocate, an organizer and like
quote unquote like political figure. And my entry point into
(10:48):
the movement was the George Floyd uprising. Before that, I
was like a full time college student. I was doing
I wanted to be a policy advisor, so I was
doing political science. I wanted to go to law school,
you know, do like campaign work and stuff like that.
And Yeah, then the George Wood Uprising happened, and pretty
(11:08):
much my entire life change from there, like I got
pulled into like just more radical organizing spaces. My first
organization was Fruiting Friders d C. From there, I started
working for the Movement, working with the Movement for Black Lives.
I got a job of working families party and like
I've just done, I've done like a lot of different
organizing congressionals, AM electoral organizers with congressional campaign in Maryland,
(11:31):
legislative work, legislative advocacy in Maryland, the state of Maryland.
And yeah, now I work for an organization called their
Budget Coalition, So I do budget equity work in DC.
Which is also why like my view of Muriel is
very it's deep in the line items like girl, your
your budget tells the story what your priorities are, and
(11:53):
time and time and time again, like this is what
has been. So I don't know, I think there are
many different things that push me to where I am
like now, and like my level of political thought. I
read a lot. I have a lot of really great mentors,
most of them are black women shout out. So yeah,
like I don't know, I'm really grateful, I'm really blessed,
(12:16):
And yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
I love that Andrew did that, because I do think
that there's always a story that we have that anchors
who we become, the missions we fulfill, the purpose in
life that we that we chase. So I'm so grateful
for your upbringing and for the courage it birthed in you.
But I also love what you said at the end
about budgets. I worked for the Congressional Black Caucus coming up,
(12:49):
and my forever boss, Congressman Cleever, used to say, your
budget will tell you where your heart is, and that's
the reason why the CBC would always introduce an alternative
budget to tell people where their heart should be. But
on this same issue, when the CBC was founded, they
had sixty one recommendations they took to Richard Nixon. In
(13:09):
those recommendations was DC statehood. In the nineteen seventy two
Gary and Deanna National Black Political Convention, in that agenda
was statehood for DC. The Black Papers process that we
just went through with State of the People, there is
a DC statehood paper for people who, just like Tip
mentioned earlier, may not understand DC home rule and it
(13:31):
why it matters. Can you speak to a little bit
about why this is a fight for the whole of
us and not just for the residents of DC.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Absolutely, DC is an experimenting ground for like all the
things they want us try to spread throughout the country.
Because of our lack of statehood, you know, there are
some ways where, especially even if you think about our
budget process, like the mayor proposes are budget, the Council
legislates the budget, votes on the budget, and then the
Congress approves our budget most of the time. Most of
(13:59):
the time, as for the most part, they've never really
intervened with our affairs, but then we saw congressional interference
in twenty twenty three with our criminal code. We've also
seen some congressional interference around like our marijuana laws and
like our ability to have shrooms recreationally, with things that
were also voted on democratically thro valid initiative. So the
(14:21):
issue of statehood for DC is so important because DC
is no longer necessarily a majority black city. It's a
polar plurality black city. It's about forty three to forty
six percent black now, and it's also being rapidly gentrified.
It's and a lot of that is because, like the
Mayor does some she does some work throughout the year,
(14:48):
but the Council really only has like seventy days to
really look at a budget proposal in DC, and that's
what's legislated in the Home Rule Act, So they only
have seventy days to like really try to create an
environment where transformative change could happen through a budget. And
it's like severely stunted. So who you are mayor is
(15:08):
in d C is very important because of that, and
because we don't have like senators, we don't have like
you know, we don't have real voting members in Congress.
There are many things that directly affect DC. DC pays
the highest federal tax rate that we don't actually get
a real say on. So not only are we bearing
(15:28):
the brunt of like the most like the cruelty of
whatever administration is in office, we are also like not
able to fully represent ourselves as a district and as
a city state whatever, you know. And there's seven hundred
thousand people in the district of the District of Columbia,
So we're bigger than a couple of states, Like we
have bigger populations in a couple of states.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
That thank you so much, thank you, go ahead, I
just wanted to say thank you Lafi for joining us.
We really appreciate your time and just all the information
you provided and look forward to seeing your future work
and activism. So we appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (16:11):
I think, I know you got to bounce. But last thing,
we love to leave people with something and something to do.
What what would look like support for you all and
your movement work in d C from people across the country.
What does support look like? What would you admonish us
to do well?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I would say number one, like, definitely talk to your
representatives about statehood. Statehood is a national issue for DC,
and DC should be the fifty first state, So that's
number one. And I would say number two for people
that live in black cities like Chicago, like Oakland, Atlanta.
He ain't mentioned it yet, but a mean places like that.
(16:51):
This is a time to really get deep into like
the quality of relationships that you have. We need to
beginning to know each other. We need to be building
relationships of trust. We need to be organizing in a
way that will position us to act courageously and collectively.
And yeah, like we can do it. We do have
the power to do like to to do something this
(17:14):
is not happening to us. We can stop this. Uh
and yeah, like, it's just you have to be able
to be a part of that collective responsibility and take
up that mandate of being an active part of the
revolution of the culture whatever whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
Just be an actor. Yeah, I love that, love that.
We know you've got a balance. But thank you so much,
and we wish you well.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh sure, well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Thank you guys for tuning in. A Feenie is so great.
I can't wait to see what's in store for her
and what she has more specifically in store for us.
And again, if you like this conversation, A lot of
people don't know the politics of the nation's capital. So
even if you don't live here, if you're one of
the cities she named, please drop this in your group, chat, spread, review, subscribe,
all of that. Not just to build an audience, but
(18:04):
to build community at a time such as this. So
we're inviting you all into a space where you have
a seat at this table and you can participate in
this conversation. So please be sure to spread this conversation
and start your own community work, and hopefully Afeenie can
offer you some guidance here this conversation I hope can
offer you some guidance here. Thanks for tuning in to
this mini pod, and welcome home y'all. Native Land Pod
(18:42):
is a production of iHeartRadio and partnership with Resent Choice Media.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Native Lampod is a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with
Reason Choice Media.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Well come, well come, well come, well come, well come come.
Speaker 3 (00:12):
Let's be real.
Speaker 4 (00:12):
Like the same white people that were poor in seventeen
seventy six when they said we the people, but if
you aren't white, rich and own property, you can't vote.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Those same white people are the ones that are out here.
Speaker 4 (00:24):
Fighting against the democracy, fighting for president that didn't actually
fight for any of their rights, fighting for a president
that also picked up they're checks and their taxes, fighting
for president that didn't give them health care, fighting for
a president then give about their education. They're out here
literally fighting against their own interests.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
That is what they're fighting for.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
And at this point I think the only thing they're
fighting for is white supremacy. Is too uphold white supremacy
because they don't have shit that we don't have shits.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
They don't have shits. The only thing they have is
their white skin.
Speaker 1 (00:54):
All right, everyone, welcome home.
Speaker 5 (00:56):
This is a Native Lampod Mini pod and we are
thrilled to be joining today by an incredible hero. Young
people make waves, and she is no exception. We witnessed
her unlawful arrest in DC just a few weeks ago,
as DC continues to be under occupation by the federal government,
and I got to tell y'all, this particular young lady
(01:19):
is someone who I was like, now, this is who
the ancestors are speaking through, and I just really want
to commend you for your courage, for your bold voice,
and if any, we want to welcome you home to
Native Lampid.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Are so happy to have today. Thank you so much
for having me. I've seen all of you on TV
various times, so excited to be here.
Speaker 5 (01:40):
We're very grateful to share space with you. I would
love if you would be so kind to just share
what happened when you were detained and what your experience
was in being detained by these officers who did all
the things including pepper spray you, if any please talk
about your experience and what other young people are going
through in DC right now. Well.
Speaker 3 (02:03):
Uh, first of all, I was out doing cop watch
with an organization called Harriet's Watter's Dreams. They're also in
partners with three DC. UH, So what we were doing
was lawful and legal. We've done it for years. My
experience with the Metro Transit police that detained me specifically,
(02:23):
one officer named Sergeant Dial was that I was singled
out from the rest of my group and I was
brutalized and arrested. When I was pepper sprayed, they like
subsequently poured water like all down the front of me,
so like the pepper spray kind of like spread down
(02:47):
to everything that you could imagine. So I was kept
in multiple police cars for hours. They took me to
the hospital. They didn't do much, but I was arrested
at ten I didn't get processed until six am. And
throughout all that time, I was handcuffed with my hands
(03:09):
by my back, either in a police car or at
the hospital for a few hours, and I was getting
pepper sprayed over and over and over again throughout the night,
like anytime I sweat or cried or anything like that.
And also the whole front of my clothes were wet.
So yeah, it was I don't know, I feel like
(03:34):
mentally very different. I've been doing this work for a while,
it's not my first time being arrested. It's my first
time being arrested in about five years. But yeah, this
one was like very different, and it might be because
of the context of everything else that's going on with
young people, with undocumented people, with documented people who migrated
(03:54):
to this city, who are being snatched off the streets,
never to see their families again. You know, I was released.
Speaker 6 (04:02):
The next day.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
I was in a lot of pain, but I was
released the next day. People's lives are being changed by
the ways in which the Trump administration, Janine Piro being
our new ag and also our mayor really just kind
of not really doing much of the way of like
(04:23):
actually fighting this.
Speaker 6 (04:25):
You know.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Yeah, people from DC get sent all over the country
when they get incarcerated. There's no state prison, and there's
no then we have like about thirty five hundred beds.
There's nowhere to hold all these people, so they end
up getting sent anywhere that they can fit them. And
this will be black people disapportionately that are impacted in
the district by this.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
Aphene, can I ask you. We spoke about Mayor Bowser
and how she's interacted with the Trump administration. We spoke
about it on last week's episode of NLP, and I
noted in conversations I had in person with people and
in a lot of the com that some people were
taken aback by our response and pushed back a little
bit and said, listen, Mayor Bowser is in a very
(05:07):
difficult spot. You know, why would we criticize this black
woman mayor who's doing the best that she can. And
they thought we were a little insensitive and perhaps naive
uh to the position that she's in. And just so
you know, our position was, if you're not going to
win with Trump, and why not be a revolution. I'm
just curious what you might say to people who have
(05:28):
that pushback for us, and maybe even you, I would.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
Say that even up until this occupation, Mayor Bowser, throughout
this entire year has been taking tiny steps or big
steps depending on what you're what you're thinking about, towards UH,
the Trump administration and being in line with their agenda.
You know, home rule is a very sensitive topic. Even
(05:55):
if they they could institute a control board and not
even have to repeal home rule, and they the institute
control board in Congress, and our autonomy would essentially be cooked.
I understand that fear, but you know, everything that Trump
asked for the mayor to put in our budget to
like get repealed, it happened. Sanctuary city status. She tried
(06:16):
to repeal that through the budget. That is not a
budget item, so our council stripped that out. She also
wanted to do away with rank choice voting that was
a democratically voted on ballid initiative. She wanted to do
away with tip wage worker raises. That was another democratically
voted on ballid initiative that was voted on twice. Over
seventy percent of the city wanted to see tip wage
(06:38):
workers get a raised, and the city council they partially
funded rape choice voting, they didn't fund it fully like
there was like they said they were going to, and
they completely did away with I eight two, which is
the tip the raise for the tip wage folks. So,
I mean, it's it's kind of hard for me to
(07:01):
feel sympathy for her, especially at this time with my
history of like organizing against her, protesting against her, like
even meeting with her, talking with her. Muriel has never
been interested in like justice or like the interests of
working class people or addressing them or the material conditions
(07:22):
of people that live in Ward seven or eight, like
where the blackest part of the city. She's never been
invested in that. So I'm genuinely not surprised that she's
acting this way now, and I really feel like if
people have like issues with people criticizing her, they really
need to look back at her record in the way
that she has presented herself as a mayor, as a
(07:43):
black queer person, as you know she says she is,
she has not been. She has not legislated like a Democrat.
I'll just say it like that.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Well, because I'm going to pass the mike to you, Andrew,
But just because it's people who don't live in DC
may not be as familiar with d C home Rule.
So just for our viewers and our audience, d C
Home rule is shorthand essentially for legislation that passed in
Congress in nineteen seventy three that gave the d C
residents some autonomy before that when President Nixon was in office.
(08:15):
Before that, essentially Congress controlled d C and so you know,
they would appoint commissioners and appoint the member of Congress here,
a d C home rule allowed for elections here, even
though d C is a place where there is taxation
without full representation in Congress.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
So sorry, Andrew, No, no, it's like they had a
territorial governance, you know, structure, what century are we in
here in America?
Speaker 6 (08:44):
And that's partly why, you know, for those of us
who visit d C or go there for work, you
see that statehoods for d C, you know, plates and
the advocacy around that. It is bigger than a number
of states that are represented by two US senators in
the US Senate. They got more population. Yet Eleanor Holmes
(09:07):
Norton is a delegate, uh, non voting delegate to the Congress.
Except for very special situations, I think she can count
for quorum. But that's about that. That's about the whole
of it. I just I want to salute you Sis
for the courage, frankly by what you've been standing on
(09:28):
quite fearless, and actually I don't think any of us
are without our levels of fear. But you absolutely present
quite fearlessly, I think, giving cover and also permission for
the people who want to be with you to be
with you. I would, I would. I'm stepping back from
just sort of this current situation. I'm actually curious sort
of where did this get seated? Where are you from?
(09:50):
Where did you grow up? Like what what put you
on this path? Because I think there's something to be
taken from that and to be shared, you know with
our listeners around how you got to this this moment
that you've been built for.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
Yeah, so you know, I'm an armie brad. I was
born in Germany, so we did a little bit of
moving all over the country Baskett most of my time
really in Maryland. You know, I had like a very
I had a childhood with a lot of stuff, and
I lived in the neighborhood with like really like all
we always lived in like really well resourced neighborhoods. I
(10:26):
was a cheerleader for like twelve years. I played lots
of instruments when I was younger. So like, I feel
like I really got an opportunity to fully like self determined,
and that has really lended to like the way that
I imagine myself as an advocate, an organizer and like
quote unquote like political figure. And my entry point into
(10:48):
the movement was the George Floyd uprising. Before that, I
was like a full time college student. I was doing
I wanted to be a policy advisor, so I was
doing political science. I wanted to go to law school,
you know, do like campaign work and stuff like that.
And Yeah, then the George Wood Uprising happened, and pretty
(11:08):
much my entire life change from there, like I got
pulled into like just more radical organizing spaces. My first
organization was Fruiting Friders d C. From there, I started
working for the Movement, working with the Movement for Black Lives.
I got a job of working families party and like
I've just done, I've done like a lot of different
organizing congressionals, AM electoral organizers with congressional campaign in Maryland,
(11:31):
legislative work, legislative advocacy in Maryland, the state of Maryland.
And yeah, now I work for an organization called their
Budget Coalition, So I do budget equity work in DC.
Which is also why like my view of Muriel is
very it's deep in the line items like girl, your
your budget tells the story what your priorities are, and
(11:53):
time and time and time again, like this is what
has been. So I don't know, I think there are
many different things that push me to where I am
like now, and like my level of political thought. I
read a lot. I have a lot of really great mentors,
most of them are black women shout out. So yeah,
like I don't know, I'm really grateful, I'm really blessed,
(12:16):
And yeah.
Speaker 5 (12:26):
I love that Andrew did that, because I do think
that there's always a story that we have that anchors
who we become, the missions we fulfill, the purpose in
life that we that we chase. So I'm so grateful
for your upbringing and for the courage it birthed in you.
But I also love what you said at the end
about budgets. I worked for the Congressional Black Caucus coming up,
(12:49):
and my forever boss, Congressman Cleever, used to say, your
budget will tell you where your heart is, and that's
the reason why the CBC would always introduce an alternative
budget to tell people where their heart should be. But
on this same issue, when the CBC was founded, they
had sixty one recommendations they took to Richard Nixon. In
(13:09):
those recommendations was DC statehood. In the nineteen seventy two
Gary and Deanna National Black Political Convention, in that agenda
was statehood for DC. The Black Papers process that we
just went through with State of the People, there is
a DC statehood paper for people who, just like Tip
mentioned earlier, may not understand DC home rule and it
(13:31):
why it matters. Can you speak to a little bit
about why this is a fight for the whole of
us and not just for the residents of DC.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Absolutely, DC is an experimenting ground for like all the
things they want us try to spread throughout the country.
Because of our lack of statehood, you know, there are
some ways where, especially even if you think about our
budget process, like the mayor proposes are budget, the Council
legislates the budget, votes on the budget, and then the
Congress approves our budget most of the time. Most of
(13:59):
the time, as for the most part, they've never really
intervened with our affairs, but then we saw congressional interference
in twenty twenty three with our criminal code. We've also
seen some congressional interference around like our marijuana laws and
like our ability to have shrooms recreationally, with things that
were also voted on democratically thro valid initiative. So the
(14:21):
issue of statehood for DC is so important because DC
is no longer necessarily a majority black city. It's a
polar plurality black city. It's about forty three to forty
six percent black now, and it's also being rapidly gentrified.
It's and a lot of that is because, like the
Mayor does some she does some work throughout the year,
(14:48):
but the Council really only has like seventy days to
really look at a budget proposal in DC, and that's
what's legislated in the Home Rule Act, So they only
have seventy days to like really try to create an
environment where transformative change could happen through a budget. And
it's like severely stunted. So who you are mayor is
(15:08):
in d C is very important because of that, and
because we don't have like senators, we don't have like
you know, we don't have real voting members in Congress.
There are many things that directly affect DC. DC pays
the highest federal tax rate that we don't actually get
a real say on. So not only are we bearing
(15:28):
the brunt of like the most like the cruelty of
whatever administration is in office, we are also like not
able to fully represent ourselves as a district and as
a city state whatever, you know. And there's seven hundred
thousand people in the district of the District of Columbia,
So we're bigger than a couple of states, Like we
have bigger populations in a couple of states.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
That thank you so much, thank you, go ahead, I
just wanted to say thank you Lafi for joining us.
We really appreciate your time and just all the information
you provided and look forward to seeing your future work
and activism. So we appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (16:11):
I think, I know you got to bounce. But last thing,
we love to leave people with something and something to do.
What what would look like support for you all and
your movement work in d C from people across the country.
What does support look like? What would you admonish us
to do well?
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I would say number one, like, definitely talk to your
representatives about statehood. Statehood is a national issue for DC,
and DC should be the fifty first state, So that's
number one. And I would say number two for people
that live in black cities like Chicago, like Oakland, Atlanta.
He ain't mentioned it yet, but a mean places like that.
(16:51):
This is a time to really get deep into like
the quality of relationships that you have. We need to
beginning to know each other. We need to be building
relationships of trust. We need to be organizing in a
way that will position us to act courageously and collectively.
And yeah, like we can do it. We do have
the power to do like to to do something this
(17:14):
is not happening to us. We can stop this. Uh
and yeah, like, it's just you have to be able
to be a part of that collective responsibility and take
up that mandate of being an active part of the
revolution of the culture whatever whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 6 (17:32):
Just be an actor. Yeah, I love that, love that.
We know you've got a balance. But thank you so much,
and we wish you well.
Speaker 3 (17:40):
Oh sure, well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Thank you guys for tuning in. A Feenie is so great.
I can't wait to see what's in store for her
and what she has more specifically in store for us.
And again, if you like this conversation, A lot of
people don't know the politics of the nation's capital. So
even if you don't live here, if you're one of
the cities she named, please drop this in your group, chat, spread, review, subscribe,
all of that. Not just to build an audience, but
(18:04):
to build community at a time such as this. So
we're inviting you all into a space where you have
a seat at this table and you can participate in
this conversation. So please be sure to spread this conversation
and start your own community work, and hopefully Afeenie can
offer you some guidance here this conversation I hope can
offer you some guidance here. Thanks for tuning in to
this mini pod, and welcome home y'all. Native Land Pod
(18:42):
is a production of iHeartRadio and partnership with Resent Choice Media.
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Hosts And Creators
Tiffany Cross
Andrew Gillum
Angela Rye
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