August 12, 2025 • 35 mins
Angela Rye is joined by leaders and members of the Black community in Washington D.C. to discuss Trump’s takeover of the D.C. police, the deployment of the national guard, and his threats toward Black youths.
Cora Masters is a political scientist and the forever first lady of D.C, where she logged decades of service, including as leader of the Recreation Wish List Committee. She is the widow of the former D.C. mayor Marion Barry.
Tony Lewis Jr. is a D.C. community activist and author of Slugg: A Boy's Life In The Age of Mass Incarceration.
Dionne Bussey-Reeder is the CEO of the non-profit Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative based in D.C.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Native Land Pod is a production of iHeart Radio in
partnership with Reason Choice Media. Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,
Welcome HOMEI All. This is a solo pod brought to
you by Angela Rye. That's me. We do these every Tuesday.
They are live on YouTube and of course uploaded later
(00:20):
on our podcast feed. So Native lamdpod is a production
of Recent Choice Media and iHeart podcasts, and we are
available everywhere you get your favorite shows. Today we are
talking about something very solemn, very somber, very scary, and
very real, and it is so important to me that
(00:41):
we can textualize this in the moment we're in. Donald
Trump has targeted black elected officials. He's gone after communities
that are run by people who look like us. He
has targeted Baltimore. Now, he has targeted Los Angeles as
(01:02):
we've seen, He's targeted Chicago. He has very unfriendly things
to say about these cities. And most recently, after many
veiled threats after cutting funding for the District of Columbia,
yesterday he signed an executive action and issued a presidential
memorandum stating that he was going to take over DC. Now,
(01:23):
what I want to be very clear about in this moment,
is that what Donald Trump is doing with the support
of his administration, with the silence and a blind, a willful,
blind eye turned to it by the United States Congress. Yes,
they are in recess, but we know that special sessions
can be called, and that may be what needs to
happen after this thirty day window. So Donald Trump issued
(01:47):
a presidential memorandum to the Secretary of Defense and the
subject is restoring law and order in the District of Columbia,
breaking New y'all. The DC area has had as currently
sitting in a thirty year low for crime, a thirty
year low. But Donald Trump sees this as an opportunity
(02:11):
to send in the National Guard, more than eight hundred
members of the National Guard, and he says in this
memo that it is my solemn duty to protect law
abiding citizens from the destructive forces of criminal activity. That
obligation applies with special force in our nation's capital. Whereas
Commander in chief of the District of Columbia National Guard,
(02:34):
I must also ensure that all citizens can avail themselves
of the rights to interact with their elected representatives, and
that the federal government can properly function without fear of
being subjected to violent menacing street crime, and he goes
on to say a lot of other nonsense. He goes
on to cite section seven point forty of the Home
(02:56):
Rule Act for why he is engaging in this at all.
Mayor Bowser, in a press conference yesterday, said that his
actions are unprecedented. I'm going to go so far as
to say they are unconstitutional, and he is going far
beyond what his executive powers allow. What is the state
of emergency? Sure, that's subjective, but what we know we
(03:17):
need to see on every side, from the community to
elected officials at the local level, at the county level.
When we're talking about beyond DC and the federal level,
this is what happens when DC does not have statehood.
It is super vulnerable. I'm bringing that all up to
say that all of these arguments that we will make today,
(03:39):
the conversation that we will have today, will be contextualized
in a framework that has existed for many, many years,
many decades. When the Congressional Black Caucus went to visit
Richard Nixon in nineteen sixty sorry nineteen seventy one with
sixty one recommendations one of the recommendations was for the
District of Columbia to have statehood. When the National Black
(04:02):
Political Convention convened in Gary, Indiana in nineteen seventy two
and they formulated a National Black Political Convention, one of
the recommendations was for DC to have statehood. When Tavis
Smiley convened folks around the Covenant for the State of
the Black Union, the State of Black America, one of
the recommendations was for DC to have statehood. And here
(04:25):
in twenty twenty five, as I sit before you all today,
d C still does not have statehood. It has one
representative that can vote in committee but cannot vote on
the House floor. That is Delegate Noe Delegate not Representative
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. And now then there's there're still
not two sitting senators. And now as the population continues
(04:47):
to shift, as they clean house, as they'll do, they'll
probably be a little bit more amenable to DC statehood
because the demographics will have changed. So it is my
honor to bring to you all today for an amazing
conversation rooted in community. First, Yes we want to talk
to our elected officials. Yes we want to know where
they stand. But I think it's so important for us
(05:08):
to understand the history of DC, how we got here,
where we go from here, and what is required from
all of us, whether we live in d C. We
have family members or friends who live in DC, but
because we are citizens who demand that this president followed
the Constitution, that he be law abiding. Somehow we haven't
seen it yet, but he find a way to find
(05:30):
the law and follow it. I got some great folks
for y'all today, So bringing We're going to bring up
now Cora Masters Barry, who is a living legend in DC.
She has been behind so many amazing movements in DC.
You also may know her as the widow of the
forever mayor in DC, Mary and Barry, and she has
become a dear mentor and I just am so grateful
(05:52):
to share time with her today. Welcome, Ms Cora. I'm
also going to bring up Tony Lewis, who is an
author and activists in the DC area, a heroing story
to tell, but cares deeply about the young people who
will be impacted by what's happening at the hands of
this administration. And also Dionne Bussy Reader who is the
CEO of Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative. So thank you
(06:16):
all so much for being here today. It is my
highest honor to have you and to be in conversation
with you all.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Okay, so I want to ask you all first, just
given where we are, how are you feeling? What are
you seeing and what are you hearing?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Can I start by thanking you for the work that
you do? Angela. I've watched you for many many years.
You my sister's mentee, friends, Tamika, you guys are you know,
you all are on the front line and I'm so
proud of your power of the people tour that you
all did over the summer. So yeah, I'm I'm in.
(07:00):
I'm up in the age, but I don't even worry
about it anymore. I used to worry about what was
going to happen to our people. But if you guys
is in good hands. That's one thing I want to say.
Another thing, you know, I'm always starting with, I'm a
political scientist and a historian, and so you did my
job for me. You look at you knowing the history,
doing the research. I'm giving you an a for that paper.
(07:21):
So then that just makes me just come to the
here and now we know the history of what we
struggle with down through the years. And I always feel
that if you're going to talk about a topic, you
have to have a conceptual framework for it, and you
set that. So at the end of the day, we
have a city that is run very well by black
woman and her third term and many many other black
(07:42):
marrors have done the city well. We have a chiefer police.
There's nothing but the truth and all of those things
that you're speaking about have taken place. The clime has
gone down, the cyndic thrives. But like any other jurisdiction,
especially and in this country with the proliferation of guns,
we have some problem with our youth as they have
all over the country. But if you notice that our
(08:05):
dear president has has targeted cities that have been led
by blacks and in this case black women first you
know Los Angeles, then then Muriel and we know what's next.
So yesterday I'm in Marcus Vineyard by the way for
the public. I don't walk around looking like this all
the time, but she called me on vacation. I had
(08:25):
two hours to give, so I stopped to do it.
But yesterday I was a fundraiser for Angela Ulsobrooks and
for Lisa Rochester and so, and in the in the
MC for the program was the former mayor Sharon Pratt.
So as it turned out, that fundraiser for them turned
into a whole thing about Washington, d C. And the
(08:48):
point that she made that I think everybody should just
hear her perception. And she's right that this is not
just targeting us, but it is the begin of taking
over cities and we are the start. And I said,
I know we had problems with black people not stepping
(09:08):
up when they had the immigrants when they're doing immigration
because of all the anti blackness that we always say
that the brown community has. But we don't have the
luxury of not standing up and fighting for anything like that,
because when they finish with them, they'll come from us.
And here we are. Here we are. So I'm heading
(09:29):
back home early to organize, and I've talked to several people.
A call to my community to bring the parents under
one roof. I need our children to get out the streets.
This is supposed to be a thirty day thing, but
we'll have pull our children off the street because I'm
(09:50):
telling you, the arbitrariness of this is very, very and
I explained to people, people will die. Let's you know.
I know about home rule and all that, but at
the end of of the day, I just saw a
picture of a young black man shackled or on a curve.
Bye bye. People who don't are not supposed to be
(10:11):
police in our streets. So I'm just I've got a
clarion call. I'm on, let's talk to our communities.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
And I want to act sorry, Miss Cora. I want
to ask you. An Toni and Diana promise them to
get to you y'all too, But I want to ask
you because you did talk about the history. I know
about the history from reading about it, right. I know
about it because I believe kind of intuitively that it's
the right thing to do. And I know and have seen,
just like you all have known and seen what it
(10:41):
means for black folks to be disenfranchised and to do
it in a way that is strategic. But I really
want you to also talk to us about how this
is something that has been seen before, not just in DC,
but even globally. Right, like the first thing that came
to mind and Tony and I talked for too long
earlier today I kept him on the phone. I said, Tony,
(11:01):
you know, my dad was an activist around anti apartheype movements.
And what we're seeing even when these cars are being
stopped by Howard University, not by Georgetown, not by GW,
not by American as Tony brought up earlier, when they're
being stopped, I'm thinking about pass laws. You know, is
you're having to prove yourself, You're having to prove that
(11:22):
you belong. Some of these students are just moving to
campus at Howard yesterday, that's their first day on campus.
I can't imagine what these parents might be feeling. So
ms Corey, if you can talk to us about how
this has been seen before and are there things that
we can rely on in terms of best practices to
survive and navigate in this moment, because that's what's most important.
(11:44):
It's gonna take Congress at least thirty days or now
twenty nine to do anything about this.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
If they are going to do anything about it, well,
this is why I tend not to get on these
shows because I get in trouble. But if everybody know
this han or in this country. Have you seen the
movie Origin? Did you see the more or Origin? When
that movie was over, I said to Abe Duberne, it's
a great movie, but you stopped at the movie didn't
(12:12):
end if it should have been it. If you're going
to talk about seeing these kinds of things, then you
have to go back to India how they did their untouchables.
You have to go to Germany, how they did the Jews,
and how you have to go to Palestine to see
what the Jews are doing to them. Then you have
to come all the way back and work your way
back to the United States of America. And let's not
(12:32):
forget slavery. So we have seen it over and over again,
and then that was replaced by Jim Crow and so suppression, oppression, segregation,
all of that. None of that is new. It's just
the most recent version of it. And anyway, I can't
talk about it a lot because I'll get upset. But
(12:56):
I've seen by people treated like they were doing the
brown people that they were doing the so called immigrants.
I've seen that, So I'm saying they did us like that.
And then I said, where are the Jews' voice? Because
that's what happened to them in Germany. We've all been
a victim of this, so we can't act as if
(13:17):
it's not us. So the first thing I thought when
I read this, well, really, actually they kept it from me.
They didn't tell me about it yesterday because I knew
what I've said me, so I, you know, I just
started getting just to go over to the sun Raison.
Then my phone started ringing and everything started blowing up,
and the only thing I could think about is, let's
protect the children. You know, democracy big deal, but our
(13:40):
kids are going to die. And so we've seen it,
and we've seen it in the South, We've seen it
in Germany, We've seen it in India, we've seen it
in Palestine. We've done it over and over again. But
what has to happen is in this strategy, we need
to protect our kids. We need to stay home and
let the activists for demor for to be in those
(14:00):
streets because they won't kill them. They already suffled around
the White House. You know, a C.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
L U.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I love them all. You know, all the white people
who are demanding not to be suppressed by the national government.
They're in the streets and they should be in the streets.
They should be defending democracy while we defend our babies.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
M You know, I want to come to you, Tony,
because this was a point that we talked about earlier,
the deep concern you and Dion have for the children.
What are what is the message to send to parents,
regardless of income level, economic status at this point, what
we know is that these officers don't see whether or
(14:43):
not you have a Jack and Jail membership, right They don't.
They don't know what income level you have, whether you
at to school, don't care. All they see is the
color of their skin. What are you What is your
recommendation right now? What message are you sending to young
people in DC?
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Yeah? Again, thanks for being here. And we're trying to
explain not only to parents and young people, but also
people that UH community viles interrupters, H credible messages to
let young people know to minimize UH interaction with law enforcement,
minimize verbal altercations with law enforcement. Clearly UH cease or
(15:19):
if you are involved in any criminal activity, UH cease
any criminal activity, and do not indulge. And I'm not
talking about just youth, but even young adults. Don't indulge
in any public use of alcohol or drugs, you know,
So so we can try to sort of keep them
any interaction with law enforcement because to Mama masters Bury's point,
(15:39):
we know our young people in this city and and
those interactions can take a left turn really quickly, and
I think they law enforcement has sold in some ways
been licensed to do whatever they deem necessary, and that's
a very dangerous place for our young people to be.
And so we want to continue to push that message
of you know, engaging a lot of the city activities,
(16:01):
you know, utilize our Department of Parks and Repregation, neighborhood
Safety and Engagement offices, the Southeast Tennis Center and all
of the sorts, and stay out of stay out of
home's way.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Thank you, and Dion, same question for you. I know
that this is also something literally when Ms. Coral was talking,
you said like that was something that really resonated with
you around their children. So what's the message that you're
sending to parents, two kids, to communities of young folks
who may be impacted. It's still the summertime, it is
(16:33):
they should never feel this type of restriction in a democracy,
but especially not now when there's already so much impression
of our people no again.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Thank you Angela for the opportunity to be here. I
am also one of those mentees of Missus Barry when
she's not mad at me, because she does put me
in my check. She checks me quite frankly. It keeps
me aligned and I need her so I like everyone else,
this has just devastated me. And I live in a
city like everyone else, I live in Ward seven, which
(17:02):
is also a part of Southeast And last night, after
we got off the call with you, the very first
thing I did is sent a very direct email. I
have over sixty employees that service at least ten percent
of the population that's struggling in Ward eight specifically, and
I have a lot of my staff that are activists
that are angry, that are heard, that have children that
(17:23):
live in these communities. And the very first thing I
did I thought about them. And I'm very prayerful about
what I say to people because they have to take
this message and they have to move forward to the
families that we serve. That I was very direct. I said,
avoid confrontation with the National Guard and FBI, remain calm
and do not engage in adversarial discussions. Do not drive
(17:44):
your car with marijuana and smoking marijuana. These are I was,
I'm very direct. I said, these are the messages we
have to send to our families. Pay close attention to
your surroundings and where where you are, and support each
other and stay connected and identify by our organization as
a hub and a spot for people to come as
a refuge. We're going to be opening up our doors.
(18:07):
So if we have young people that we see on
the block of MLK and Marion Berry Avenue, We're going
to galvanize them and push them inside my building. I'm
going to be that direct and that deliverate because if
we don't, our children will die. And my fear for
our families is that at fourteen, I don't know if
I always listened. Right at fifteen, I don't know if
(18:28):
I always listen. So children who think it's funny to
put up their camera phones and take things, we had them.
The actual group, FBI and the National Guard jumped out
yesterday on Minnesota Avenue, or across the street from Boom
Elementary School where we currently have an office. My staff
was deficit. They didn't even know what to do or
(18:50):
what to say, but call me and this is a
young group of young people, so instantly, I have to
put in place a calming mechanism, one to eliminate yere.
I just told someone, I can't let fear talk me
out of what faith talked me into. I have to
create a very safety net of resources for the families
that we serve. We have to yell at the top
(19:11):
of our lungs to get our babies to stay home
or be in those safe places where they feel love,
they feel nurtured, and find activities to keep them engaged.
I eat the parents as well, because we know that
this is not the type of government that we're dealing
with federally that's going to protect our children.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
They're not.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
They're looking at them as as the actual perpetrators of
crime and not victims.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
And you and Tony both work in the like the
violence prevention space, and I just want to call this out.
I'm yes, ma'am, but you do everything, and I deal
with these kids. I know, Okay, Well, then all three
of you that I want to call out this particular
(19:56):
this particular point. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, homicides
dropped by thirty two percent between twenty twenty three and
twenty twenty four. And this says that there's been another
(20:20):
substantial drop this year of twelve percent, so additional twelve
percent this according to data, This would not have happened
without some of the work you all are doing. And
I think even in this moment, the reason why you
all could send these kinds of messages and be effective
and be persuasive and convince people to do the things
you're advising is because of this work that y'all have
(20:40):
been doing. So if you can for a moment talk
about that and how you will utilize some of those
same skills, some of those same tactics to get people
to be responsive and do the right thing in this
moment where they're being challenged on every side.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, I think, just real quick, you know, non law
enforcement public safety measures have contributed to the downward tick
and and all of our numbers. It doesn't always get
the credit, but it has, and it's gonna take more
than just in constantration to make uh community safer. We
(21:14):
need people to thrive, we need people to address their trauma,
we need people to become more economically stable, and a
lot of these efforts has contributed to that, and we're
we're seeing the success Unfortunately, we even seeing you know,
some of the grants that came out of the Justice
Department around that focused in on supporting community violence interruption
has went away, but DC has continued to support the
(21:36):
efforts and it's barred fruit and I hope that it continues.
And that's what we need as we take these steps
on the law enforcement side. We really need to understand
that a holistic approach is needed, a public health approach
that we've been doing, is proven to have impact, needs
to continue to be supported because if what happens, like
(21:57):
if people and you know, we're making an assumption that
even having more officers or the National Guard is going
to make the community safer, Like that's a big assumption
people are making when we know that's not just the answer.
So it's so much more that can be done. And
I wish that this administration will open up lines of
communication with folks like us on this call and others
(22:18):
to really make a real plan to make our city
the safest place that it could be. You know, I
echo Tony Cinnamon, and I have to say, Angela, how
do you tell the story of the shooting that did
not occur because of your intervention? Like These are the
stories that people do not realize when you talk to
all three of us on this call. I mean the
(22:39):
organization that I represent. We deal with the issues of
the trauma, the case management, supporting families, building case plans
around what that family were like for themselves. Missus Barry
does an outstanding job and ensuring that babies are kept
in a safe place with a curriculum that's not just
sport based, but academically based to enhance the lives of
(22:59):
these people, and many of them are the parents that
we're serving. Tony does the work in the space of
returning citizens. Many of the families that we deal with
are part of that that entire spectrum. So it's together
that we're able to impact the families that we work with.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
It's all of.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
These resources that does actually tell the story that we
can decrease crime. Many of these individuals I've employed, right,
many of these individuals have now become certified for prevention
specialists with evidence based curriculums that they have actually accomplished
and now know how to deal with the trauma, and
not just the trauma, but the economic disadvantages that our
(23:38):
families are facing. So we got to deal with the
entire and that's what we do collectively, and that's the
story that our city understand, and our mayor is constantly
putting resources in. Our Chief of Police just stood up
a program working with my organization, working with the Southeast
Centers Learning Center to figure out how do we actually
impact and decrease those crimes, those victims and those individuals
(24:02):
who are perpetrators, who are children. So we are standing
up these programs and we're seeing the work that's being done,
but the story about the shooting that's never happening because
of the work that we're doing. It's never told and
we know it works, and that's the problem that's really
hurtful to us. We've seen a decrease, we've seen live change,
and we've gotten people employed. Some of our families are
(24:24):
now business owners as a result of this intervention.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
So that's how it decreases.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
We work collectively, We work as a team, and we
all unite our forces around saving our babies.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
That's what we do.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, and I agree with that. That is why I'm
working with and you guys are talk to offline putting
together what we call a village meeting, bring the village together.
So we can all hook up and let one the
parents know what's going on. Also, I talked with the chief.
(24:57):
She called me last night. We talked for about an
hour and I was voicing my concern about the safety
of our children, and so what she has agreed to
do that when we pull this needings together, that she
will make sure that there's a police officer or somebody
from MPD who will explain to them exactly what's going
on so they understand what to expect and what the
(25:19):
police to do and all of that. So all of
that I think is a time sensitive thing. So thank
you again, Angela for bringing us together. Although I was
going to get on the plane tomorrow and come back
to Washington, d C. I've already talked to you know,
the ne regulars, Wendy Ron. We're pulling the village together
so we can do all of these things they're talking
about and let the parents know just what the imminent
(25:40):
danger in the situation is and if they want to
drag their little hard headed children with them, they can,
but right now we're telling them pay attention to these things.
This is a height and alert and we're all in
the different places where we can reinforce it. So this
is very helpful.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Ms Cora. I want to come back to you for
a moment because one thing that we hear from marye O.
Vowser often is that she was mentored by your late husband.
I want to know you know, and it doesn't have
to be what you would tell her offline, but what
you know he would do in this moment. How would
he step up when the administration is essentially saying that
(26:19):
she cannot run her own city, that this city is
I think that the bag Dad was reference right, Like,
there are these things that are being said that are inflammatory,
that are untrue, and that have I won't even say
racial to undertones. They are racist overtones. They are fog horns.
So if when you're hearing these things, how do you
(26:39):
think mister Barry would have responded to Donald Trump's allegations
and his actions.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You have to remember when Marion came back for his
fourth historical return to office, the first thing they did
was clamp on a control board so that he would
not be able to in effect in power. Were enriched
black folks over what he had been doing for the
last thirty years. But I think maryel is doing what
(27:06):
she's I think she's being smarter and I think he
would tell her to keep a powder dry, and she
is doing that. She's being but she's also standing up
and being very intentional. I mean, she has such a
rod enough back yesterday, I don't think she'd ever beended again.
She was strong and she was decisive. But you have
to be smart. You do an inside and an outside strategy.
(27:27):
So you have people like me and Dion and formers
this and that, and we're the voices. We can say
the things that you just said. And she needs to
just make sure she keeps eye on the prise and
and the police department is reporting directly to her, so
deployment is important. Where you you know, the National Guard,
I don't know where to go. Somebody got to tell them.
(27:50):
So they have a role that they can play that
could be very helpful. So I think she's being very smart.
I'm very proud of her, and I'm disappointed and the
people who have hated on her and wrote terrible things
like when when the president said pay over Black Lives
Matter Plaza while she caved, Are you serious We're gonna
(28:10):
sit there and fight over over some words? When we
got billions of dollars on the line and the words
were wait for over. The should have been going a
long time ago in with you, in my opinion, because
if we did his job, we have the theme and
let's just go. So you know, when she does the
job she has to do to protect the city and
not Pope Pope the bear, she gets criticized for it.
(28:33):
Everybody wants to her to stand somewhere with her right
hand up and there and then we'll all go down.
She won't go. Nothing happen to her. It'll helping us.
So I think she's done a great job of protecting
us and I just want to put that on the record.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Okay, thank you, it's core Tony Dion. I want to
come to you. Well, it's just it's a slight change
in the question. Given the fact that she's mentored by
uh Mary and Barry. I want to know if you
had the opportunity, and I know you all speak to
her often, but for the people who don't know that
(29:06):
you do, what are the things that you're telling her
to do right now? If you were asking her to
pivot and we all need pivot. It doesn't mean that
we're hating miscor, but there have been folks who have said,
you know, I wish this could happen, or wish she
could do this, or has she considered this? These are
important considerations. We all need those because we can't. We're
not all seeing and all knowing at all times. We
(29:27):
not God. So what are the things that you would recommend? Like,
I just wish that you would pivot in this way,
or consider utilizing us in this way, or get some
young folks, whatever it is. I don't want to give
you all ideas. I want to hear yours.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
No, I understand your question. I appreciate that question. The
one thing I think that in this moment I think
could be a silver lining is that and a maya
often talks about DC values, and of course she's a
Washingtonian right throwing through, but because of her role as
the mayor, sometimes there seems to be a gap or
some distance between her and some of the constituents, right
(30:01):
some of the residents. And I think in this moment
could be well utilized to connect to those Washingtonians that
have seen or felt more distant from the mayor, to
be able to say we're in this together, I'm here
for you. Here are the instructions like at that village meeting,
if the mayor could show and talk to those parents
(30:21):
and say, I'm going to continue to try to give
you as much information as I know on how to
keep our baby safe. Not your babies, but our babies.
And I think in this moment, that's the type of
leadership that the city needs. Of course, you know, she
still has to do all the things that Ms Burry
just talked about, right, and things I think that the
average citizen couldn't even fathil. But I think we got
(30:44):
to make some space to go and touch the people
in that way.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
I agree with Tony if that's the same question. I
also agree with a statement that Tony made on yesterday
is that we do these small mini press conferences throughout
the entire city. Only mentioned that yesterday, and those spaces
where we know we can reach our young people. And
the second thing I've asked and I'm going to continue
to ask, is the messaging. We have to say the
(31:09):
same messaging. And there's some things that I believe her
insiders can say to us that we can say to
our community that she cannot, and we have to be
the spokespersons for her in this space.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
I think we have the best police chief I've seen
in my time. I do believe that this mayor is
the mayor that we need for the day. I support
both our mayor and our chief of police, but we
have to be their mouthpiece. We have to say what
they can't say to our families. I wear two hats.
I have a business as well, that's in a very
popular part of the city. It's a new establishment. It's
(31:43):
called Sycamara. And oh, we have a huge amphitheater. We
need to have a village meeting there. What missus Barry
is doing should not be the only meeting. We should
consistently have these small village meetings throughout those places in
our city where we know we have pockets of young
people that hang.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
We have parts.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
It's a young people that see.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
You know, we can't.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Forget that a lot of places these kids can't go
because of the beats. So we have to be where
they are, and we have the personality. We have the staff,
we have the personnel. It's necessary to get to those
trenches where we can speak directly to the parents and
say the same message. My fear is that our messaging
is going to be off, we got to speak the
same language, because if we don't, the kids won't listen
(32:25):
to us, neither with their parents. So if I had
to offer to the mayor, those would be my suggestions
having additional village meetings. I like that missus Barry and
give us the messaging that we have to say that
she can.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I love that well. I really appreciate you all time.
I knew having you all on would be the right thing.
You know, our natural business to call on elected officials.
But the reason elected officials work is because there's a
whole community behind them, and you are absolutely not only
the right messengers but also the right workers. And so
I just I thank God for everything that you're doing
(33:01):
in DC and beyond. Know that you all inspire me
and you would forever have a place to call home
here at Native LAMPI so welcome home, y'all, and I
look forward to talking.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
To you again. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Let's stay safe. Will absolutely thanks y'all. Love y'all, this
has been just a really insightful conversation, very very grateful
for the time of Ms Corra Masters, Berry, Tony Lewis
and Diane Bussie Reader a business owner. You know, folks,
who have entities that house our young people are all
(33:35):
over DC, and folks who have direct relationship with Mayor
Mauriel Bowser are willing to go challenge, uplift and encourage,
but push to do the right thing. I can't imagine
the stress and the courage that it takes in this moment,
the stress that she's under, the courage that it takes
in this moment to do the right thing, to make
every single decision calculated. And the one thing that we
(33:58):
know from protests, from those of you all who are
also raised by protesters, is the chant the people united
will never be defeated. And so in those moments where
things are the most challenging, but you can always call
upon are the people. The only way you can call
upon the people is if you keep them close. So, y'all,
(34:19):
in this moment, I encourage you to keep your people close.
Make sure you remember that if you all are not
just close, but united, if you are on the same page,
you don't have to be the same sentence, but on
the same page, the people united will never be defeated.
I have a good one. Flcahom, y'all. Native Lampard is
(34:52):
a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Reason Choice Media.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Native Land Pod is a production of iHeart Radio in
partnership with Reason Choice Media. Welcome Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome, Welcome,
Welcome HOMEI All. This is a solo pod brought to
you by Angela Rye. That's me. We do these every Tuesday.
They are live on YouTube and of course uploaded later
(00:20):
on our podcast feed. So Native lamdpod is a production
of Recent Choice Media and iHeart podcasts, and we are
available everywhere you get your favorite shows. Today we are
talking about something very solemn, very somber, very scary, and
very real, and it is so important to me that
(00:41):
we can textualize this in the moment we're in. Donald
Trump has targeted black elected officials. He's gone after communities
that are run by people who look like us. He
has targeted Baltimore. Now, he has targeted Los Angeles as
(01:02):
we've seen, He's targeted Chicago. He has very unfriendly things
to say about these cities. And most recently, after many
veiled threats after cutting funding for the District of Columbia,
yesterday he signed an executive action and issued a presidential
memorandum stating that he was going to take over DC. Now,
(01:23):
what I want to be very clear about in this moment,
is that what Donald Trump is doing with the support
of his administration, with the silence and a blind, a willful,
blind eye turned to it by the United States Congress. Yes,
they are in recess, but we know that special sessions
can be called, and that may be what needs to
happen after this thirty day window. So Donald Trump issued
(01:47):
a presidential memorandum to the Secretary of Defense and the
subject is restoring law and order in the District of Columbia,
breaking New y'all. The DC area has had as currently
sitting in a thirty year low for crime, a thirty
year low. But Donald Trump sees this as an opportunity
(02:11):
to send in the National Guard, more than eight hundred
members of the National Guard, and he says in this
memo that it is my solemn duty to protect law
abiding citizens from the destructive forces of criminal activity. That
obligation applies with special force in our nation's capital. Whereas
Commander in chief of the District of Columbia National Guard,
(02:34):
I must also ensure that all citizens can avail themselves
of the rights to interact with their elected representatives, and
that the federal government can properly function without fear of
being subjected to violent menacing street crime, and he goes
on to say a lot of other nonsense. He goes
on to cite section seven point forty of the Home
(02:56):
Rule Act for why he is engaging in this at all.
Mayor Bowser, in a press conference yesterday, said that his
actions are unprecedented. I'm going to go so far as
to say they are unconstitutional, and he is going far
beyond what his executive powers allow. What is the state
of emergency? Sure, that's subjective, but what we know we
(03:17):
need to see on every side, from the community to
elected officials at the local level, at the county level.
When we're talking about beyond DC and the federal level,
this is what happens when DC does not have statehood.
It is super vulnerable. I'm bringing that all up to
say that all of these arguments that we will make today,
(03:39):
the conversation that we will have today, will be contextualized
in a framework that has existed for many, many years,
many decades. When the Congressional Black Caucus went to visit
Richard Nixon in nineteen sixty sorry nineteen seventy one with
sixty one recommendations one of the recommendations was for the
District of Columbia to have statehood. When the National Black
(04:02):
Political Convention convened in Gary, Indiana in nineteen seventy two
and they formulated a National Black Political Convention, one of
the recommendations was for DC to have statehood. When Tavis
Smiley convened folks around the Covenant for the State of
the Black Union, the State of Black America, one of
the recommendations was for DC to have statehood. And here
(04:25):
in twenty twenty five, as I sit before you all today,
d C still does not have statehood. It has one
representative that can vote in committee but cannot vote on
the House floor. That is Delegate Noe Delegate not Representative
Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. And now then there's there're still
not two sitting senators. And now as the population continues
(04:47):
to shift, as they clean house, as they'll do, they'll
probably be a little bit more amenable to DC statehood
because the demographics will have changed. So it is my
honor to bring to you all today for an amazing
conversation rooted in community. First, Yes we want to talk
to our elected officials. Yes we want to know where
they stand. But I think it's so important for us
(05:08):
to understand the history of DC, how we got here,
where we go from here, and what is required from
all of us, whether we live in d C. We
have family members or friends who live in DC, but
because we are citizens who demand that this president followed
the Constitution, that he be law abiding. Somehow we haven't
seen it yet, but he find a way to find
(05:30):
the law and follow it. I got some great folks
for y'all today, So bringing We're going to bring up
now Cora Masters Barry, who is a living legend in DC.
She has been behind so many amazing movements in DC.
You also may know her as the widow of the
forever mayor in DC, Mary and Barry, and she has
become a dear mentor and I just am so grateful
(05:52):
to share time with her today. Welcome, Ms Cora. I'm
also going to bring up Tony Lewis, who is an
author and activists in the DC area, a heroing story
to tell, but cares deeply about the young people who
will be impacted by what's happening at the hands of
this administration. And also Dionne Bussy Reader who is the
CEO of Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative. So thank you
(06:16):
all so much for being here today. It is my
highest honor to have you and to be in conversation
with you all.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Well, thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Okay, so I want to ask you all first, just
given where we are, how are you feeling? What are
you seeing and what are you hearing?
Speaker 3 (06:34):
Well?
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Can I start by thanking you for the work that
you do? Angela. I've watched you for many many years.
You my sister's mentee, friends, Tamika, you guys are you know,
you all are on the front line and I'm so
proud of your power of the people tour that you
all did over the summer. So yeah, I'm I'm in.
(07:00):
I'm up in the age, but I don't even worry
about it anymore. I used to worry about what was
going to happen to our people. But if you guys
is in good hands. That's one thing I want to say.
Another thing, you know, I'm always starting with, I'm a
political scientist and a historian, and so you did my
job for me. You look at you knowing the history,
doing the research. I'm giving you an a for that paper.
(07:21):
So then that just makes me just come to the
here and now we know the history of what we
struggle with down through the years. And I always feel
that if you're going to talk about a topic, you
have to have a conceptual framework for it, and you
set that. So at the end of the day, we
have a city that is run very well by black
woman and her third term and many many other black
(07:42):
marrors have done the city well. We have a chiefer police.
There's nothing but the truth and all of those things
that you're speaking about have taken place. The clime has
gone down, the cyndic thrives. But like any other jurisdiction,
especially and in this country with the proliferation of guns,
we have some problem with our youth as they have
all over the country. But if you notice that our
(08:05):
dear president has has targeted cities that have been led
by blacks and in this case black women first you
know Los Angeles, then then Muriel and we know what's next.
So yesterday I'm in Marcus Vineyard by the way for
the public. I don't walk around looking like this all
the time, but she called me on vacation. I had
(08:25):
two hours to give, so I stopped to do it.
But yesterday I was a fundraiser for Angela Ulsobrooks and
for Lisa Rochester and so, and in the in the
MC for the program was the former mayor Sharon Pratt.
So as it turned out, that fundraiser for them turned
into a whole thing about Washington, d C. And the
(08:48):
point that she made that I think everybody should just
hear her perception. And she's right that this is not
just targeting us, but it is the begin of taking
over cities and we are the start. And I said,
I know we had problems with black people not stepping
(09:08):
up when they had the immigrants when they're doing immigration
because of all the anti blackness that we always say
that the brown community has. But we don't have the
luxury of not standing up and fighting for anything like that,
because when they finish with them, they'll come from us.
And here we are. Here we are. So I'm heading
(09:29):
back home early to organize, and I've talked to several people.
A call to my community to bring the parents under
one roof. I need our children to get out the streets.
This is supposed to be a thirty day thing, but
we'll have pull our children off the street because I'm
(09:50):
telling you, the arbitrariness of this is very, very and
I explained to people, people will die. Let's you know.
I know about home rule and all that, but at
the end of of the day, I just saw a
picture of a young black man shackled or on a curve.
Bye bye. People who don't are not supposed to be
(10:11):
police in our streets. So I'm just I've got a
clarion call. I'm on, let's talk to our communities.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
And I want to act sorry, Miss Cora. I want
to ask you. An Toni and Diana promise them to
get to you y'all too, But I want to ask
you because you did talk about the history. I know
about the history from reading about it, right. I know
about it because I believe kind of intuitively that it's
the right thing to do. And I know and have seen,
just like you all have known and seen what it
(10:41):
means for black folks to be disenfranchised and to do
it in a way that is strategic. But I really
want you to also talk to us about how this
is something that has been seen before, not just in DC,
but even globally. Right, like the first thing that came
to mind and Tony and I talked for too long
earlier today I kept him on the phone. I said, Tony,
(11:01):
you know, my dad was an activist around anti apartheype movements.
And what we're seeing even when these cars are being
stopped by Howard University, not by Georgetown, not by GW,
not by American as Tony brought up earlier, when they're
being stopped, I'm thinking about pass laws. You know, is
you're having to prove yourself, You're having to prove that
(11:22):
you belong. Some of these students are just moving to
campus at Howard yesterday, that's their first day on campus.
I can't imagine what these parents might be feeling. So
ms Corey, if you can talk to us about how
this has been seen before and are there things that
we can rely on in terms of best practices to
survive and navigate in this moment, because that's what's most important.
(11:44):
It's gonna take Congress at least thirty days or now
twenty nine to do anything about this.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
If they are going to do anything about it, well,
this is why I tend not to get on these
shows because I get in trouble. But if everybody know
this han or in this country. Have you seen the
movie Origin? Did you see the more or Origin? When
that movie was over, I said to Abe Duberne, it's
a great movie, but you stopped at the movie didn't
(12:12):
end if it should have been it. If you're going
to talk about seeing these kinds of things, then you
have to go back to India how they did their untouchables.
You have to go to Germany, how they did the Jews,
and how you have to go to Palestine to see
what the Jews are doing to them. Then you have
to come all the way back and work your way
back to the United States of America. And let's not
(12:32):
forget slavery. So we have seen it over and over again,
and then that was replaced by Jim Crow and so suppression, oppression, segregation,
all of that. None of that is new. It's just
the most recent version of it. And anyway, I can't
talk about it a lot because I'll get upset. But
(12:56):
I've seen by people treated like they were doing the
brown people that they were doing the so called immigrants.
I've seen that, So I'm saying they did us like that.
And then I said, where are the Jews' voice? Because
that's what happened to them in Germany. We've all been
a victim of this, so we can't act as if
(13:17):
it's not us. So the first thing I thought when
I read this, well, really, actually they kept it from me.
They didn't tell me about it yesterday because I knew
what I've said me, so I, you know, I just
started getting just to go over to the sun Raison.
Then my phone started ringing and everything started blowing up,
and the only thing I could think about is, let's
protect the children. You know, democracy big deal, but our
(13:40):
kids are going to die. And so we've seen it,
and we've seen it in the South, We've seen it
in Germany, We've seen it in India, we've seen it
in Palestine. We've done it over and over again. But
what has to happen is in this strategy, we need
to protect our kids. We need to stay home and
let the activists for demor for to be in those
(14:00):
streets because they won't kill them. They already suffled around
the White House. You know, a C.
Speaker 3 (14:07):
L U.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I love them all. You know, all the white people
who are demanding not to be suppressed by the national government.
They're in the streets and they should be in the streets.
They should be defending democracy while we defend our babies.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
M You know, I want to come to you, Tony,
because this was a point that we talked about earlier,
the deep concern you and Dion have for the children.
What are what is the message to send to parents,
regardless of income level, economic status at this point, what
we know is that these officers don't see whether or
(14:43):
not you have a Jack and Jail membership, right They don't.
They don't know what income level you have, whether you
at to school, don't care. All they see is the
color of their skin. What are you What is your
recommendation right now? What message are you sending to young
people in DC?
Speaker 4 (14:57):
Yeah? Again, thanks for being here. And we're trying to
explain not only to parents and young people, but also
people that UH community viles interrupters, H credible messages to
let young people know to minimize UH interaction with law enforcement,
minimize verbal altercations with law enforcement. Clearly UH cease or
(15:19):
if you are involved in any criminal activity, UH cease
any criminal activity, and do not indulge. And I'm not
talking about just youth, but even young adults. Don't indulge
in any public use of alcohol or drugs, you know,
So so we can try to sort of keep them
any interaction with law enforcement because to Mama masters Bury's point,
(15:39):
we know our young people in this city and and
those interactions can take a left turn really quickly, and
I think they law enforcement has sold in some ways
been licensed to do whatever they deem necessary, and that's
a very dangerous place for our young people to be.
And so we want to continue to push that message
of you know, engaging a lot of the city activities,
(16:01):
you know, utilize our Department of Parks and Repregation, neighborhood
Safety and Engagement offices, the Southeast Tennis Center and all
of the sorts, and stay out of stay out of
home's way.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
Thank you, and Dion, same question for you. I know
that this is also something literally when Ms. Coral was talking,
you said like that was something that really resonated with
you around their children. So what's the message that you're
sending to parents, two kids, to communities of young folks
who may be impacted. It's still the summertime, it is
(16:33):
they should never feel this type of restriction in a democracy,
but especially not now when there's already so much impression
of our people no again.
Speaker 3 (16:41):
Thank you Angela for the opportunity to be here. I
am also one of those mentees of Missus Barry when
she's not mad at me, because she does put me
in my check. She checks me quite frankly. It keeps
me aligned and I need her so I like everyone else,
this has just devastated me. And I live in a
city like everyone else, I live in Ward seven, which
(17:02):
is also a part of Southeast And last night, after
we got off the call with you, the very first
thing I did is sent a very direct email. I
have over sixty employees that service at least ten percent
of the population that's struggling in Ward eight specifically, and
I have a lot of my staff that are activists
that are angry, that are heard, that have children that
(17:23):
live in these communities. And the very first thing I
did I thought about them. And I'm very prayerful about
what I say to people because they have to take
this message and they have to move forward to the
families that we serve. That I was very direct. I said,
avoid confrontation with the National Guard and FBI, remain calm
and do not engage in adversarial discussions. Do not drive
(17:44):
your car with marijuana and smoking marijuana. These are I was,
I'm very direct. I said, these are the messages we
have to send to our families. Pay close attention to
your surroundings and where where you are, and support each
other and stay connected and identify by our organization as
a hub and a spot for people to come as
a refuge. We're going to be opening up our doors.
(18:07):
So if we have young people that we see on
the block of MLK and Marion Berry Avenue, We're going
to galvanize them and push them inside my building. I'm
going to be that direct and that deliverate because if
we don't, our children will die. And my fear for
our families is that at fourteen, I don't know if
I always listened. Right at fifteen, I don't know if
(18:28):
I always listen. So children who think it's funny to
put up their camera phones and take things, we had them.
The actual group, FBI and the National Guard jumped out
yesterday on Minnesota Avenue, or across the street from Boom
Elementary School where we currently have an office. My staff
was deficit. They didn't even know what to do or
(18:50):
what to say, but call me and this is a
young group of young people, so instantly, I have to
put in place a calming mechanism, one to eliminate yere.
I just told someone, I can't let fear talk me
out of what faith talked me into. I have to
create a very safety net of resources for the families
that we serve. We have to yell at the top
(19:11):
of our lungs to get our babies to stay home
or be in those safe places where they feel love,
they feel nurtured, and find activities to keep them engaged.
I eat the parents as well, because we know that
this is not the type of government that we're dealing
with federally that's going to protect our children.
Speaker 2 (19:30):
They're not.
Speaker 3 (19:31):
They're looking at them as as the actual perpetrators of
crime and not victims.
Speaker 1 (19:36):
And you and Tony both work in the like the
violence prevention space, and I just want to call this out.
I'm yes, ma'am, but you do everything, and I deal
with these kids. I know, Okay, Well, then all three
of you that I want to call out this particular
(19:56):
this particular point. According to the Metropolitan Police Department, homicides
dropped by thirty two percent between twenty twenty three and
twenty twenty four. And this says that there's been another
(20:20):
substantial drop this year of twelve percent, so additional twelve
percent this according to data, This would not have happened
without some of the work you all are doing. And
I think even in this moment, the reason why you
all could send these kinds of messages and be effective
and be persuasive and convince people to do the things
you're advising is because of this work that y'all have
(20:40):
been doing. So if you can for a moment talk
about that and how you will utilize some of those
same skills, some of those same tactics to get people
to be responsive and do the right thing in this
moment where they're being challenged on every side.
Speaker 4 (20:54):
Yeah, I think, just real quick, you know, non law
enforcement public safety measures have contributed to the downward tick
and and all of our numbers. It doesn't always get
the credit, but it has, and it's gonna take more
than just in constantration to make uh community safer. We
(21:14):
need people to thrive, we need people to address their trauma,
we need people to become more economically stable, and a
lot of these efforts has contributed to that, and we're
we're seeing the success Unfortunately, we even seeing you know,
some of the grants that came out of the Justice
Department around that focused in on supporting community violence interruption
has went away, but DC has continued to support the
(21:36):
efforts and it's barred fruit and I hope that it continues.
And that's what we need as we take these steps
on the law enforcement side. We really need to understand
that a holistic approach is needed, a public health approach
that we've been doing, is proven to have impact, needs
to continue to be supported because if what happens, like
(21:57):
if people and you know, we're making an assumption that
even having more officers or the National Guard is going
to make the community safer, Like that's a big assumption
people are making when we know that's not just the answer.
So it's so much more that can be done. And
I wish that this administration will open up lines of
communication with folks like us on this call and others
(22:18):
to really make a real plan to make our city
the safest place that it could be. You know, I
echo Tony Cinnamon, and I have to say, Angela, how
do you tell the story of the shooting that did
not occur because of your intervention? Like These are the
stories that people do not realize when you talk to
all three of us on this call. I mean the
(22:39):
organization that I represent. We deal with the issues of
the trauma, the case management, supporting families, building case plans
around what that family were like for themselves. Missus Barry
does an outstanding job and ensuring that babies are kept
in a safe place with a curriculum that's not just
sport based, but academically based to enhance the lives of
(22:59):
these people, and many of them are the parents that
we're serving. Tony does the work in the space of
returning citizens. Many of the families that we deal with
are part of that that entire spectrum. So it's together
that we're able to impact the families that we work with.
Speaker 2 (23:14):
It's all of.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
These resources that does actually tell the story that we
can decrease crime. Many of these individuals I've employed, right,
many of these individuals have now become certified for prevention
specialists with evidence based curriculums that they have actually accomplished
and now know how to deal with the trauma, and
not just the trauma, but the economic disadvantages that our
(23:38):
families are facing. So we got to deal with the
entire and that's what we do collectively, and that's the
story that our city understand, and our mayor is constantly
putting resources in. Our Chief of Police just stood up
a program working with my organization, working with the Southeast
Centers Learning Center to figure out how do we actually
impact and decrease those crimes, those victims and those individuals
(24:02):
who are perpetrators, who are children. So we are standing
up these programs and we're seeing the work that's being done,
but the story about the shooting that's never happening because
of the work that we're doing. It's never told and
we know it works, and that's the problem that's really
hurtful to us. We've seen a decrease, we've seen live change,
and we've gotten people employed. Some of our families are
(24:24):
now business owners as a result of this intervention.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
So that's how it decreases.
Speaker 3 (24:29):
We work collectively, We work as a team, and we
all unite our forces around saving our babies.
Speaker 4 (24:34):
That's what we do.
Speaker 2 (24:36):
Yeah, and I agree with that. That is why I'm
working with and you guys are talk to offline putting
together what we call a village meeting, bring the village together.
So we can all hook up and let one the
parents know what's going on. Also, I talked with the chief.
(24:57):
She called me last night. We talked for about an
hour and I was voicing my concern about the safety
of our children, and so what she has agreed to
do that when we pull this needings together, that she
will make sure that there's a police officer or somebody
from MPD who will explain to them exactly what's going
on so they understand what to expect and what the
(25:19):
police to do and all of that. So all of
that I think is a time sensitive thing. So thank
you again, Angela for bringing us together. Although I was
going to get on the plane tomorrow and come back
to Washington, d C. I've already talked to you know,
the ne regulars, Wendy Ron. We're pulling the village together
so we can do all of these things they're talking
about and let the parents know just what the imminent
(25:40):
danger in the situation is and if they want to
drag their little hard headed children with them, they can,
but right now we're telling them pay attention to these things.
This is a height and alert and we're all in
the different places where we can reinforce it. So this
is very helpful.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Ms Cora. I want to come back to you for
a moment because one thing that we hear from marye O.
Vowser often is that she was mentored by your late husband.
I want to know you know, and it doesn't have
to be what you would tell her offline, but what
you know he would do in this moment. How would
he step up when the administration is essentially saying that
(26:19):
she cannot run her own city, that this city is
I think that the bag Dad was reference right, Like,
there are these things that are being said that are inflammatory,
that are untrue, and that have I won't even say
racial to undertones. They are racist overtones. They are fog horns.
So if when you're hearing these things, how do you
(26:39):
think mister Barry would have responded to Donald Trump's allegations
and his actions.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
You have to remember when Marion came back for his
fourth historical return to office, the first thing they did
was clamp on a control board so that he would
not be able to in effect in power. Were enriched
black folks over what he had been doing for the
last thirty years. But I think maryel is doing what
(27:06):
she's I think she's being smarter and I think he
would tell her to keep a powder dry, and she
is doing that. She's being but she's also standing up
and being very intentional. I mean, she has such a
rod enough back yesterday, I don't think she'd ever beended again.
She was strong and she was decisive. But you have
to be smart. You do an inside and an outside strategy.
(27:27):
So you have people like me and Dion and formers
this and that, and we're the voices. We can say
the things that you just said. And she needs to
just make sure she keeps eye on the prise and
and the police department is reporting directly to her, so
deployment is important. Where you you know, the National Guard,
I don't know where to go. Somebody got to tell them.
(27:50):
So they have a role that they can play that
could be very helpful. So I think she's being very smart.
I'm very proud of her, and I'm disappointed and the
people who have hated on her and wrote terrible things
like when when the president said pay over Black Lives
Matter Plaza while she caved, Are you serious We're gonna
(28:10):
sit there and fight over over some words? When we
got billions of dollars on the line and the words
were wait for over. The should have been going a
long time ago in with you, in my opinion, because
if we did his job, we have the theme and
let's just go. So you know, when she does the
job she has to do to protect the city and
not Pope Pope the bear, she gets criticized for it.
(28:33):
Everybody wants to her to stand somewhere with her right
hand up and there and then we'll all go down.
She won't go. Nothing happen to her. It'll helping us.
So I think she's done a great job of protecting
us and I just want to put that on the record.
Speaker 1 (28:44):
Okay, thank you, it's core Tony Dion. I want to
come to you. Well, it's just it's a slight change
in the question. Given the fact that she's mentored by
uh Mary and Barry. I want to know if you
had the opportunity, and I know you all speak to
her often, but for the people who don't know that
(29:06):
you do, what are the things that you're telling her
to do right now? If you were asking her to
pivot and we all need pivot. It doesn't mean that
we're hating miscor, but there have been folks who have said,
you know, I wish this could happen, or wish she
could do this, or has she considered this? These are
important considerations. We all need those because we can't. We're
not all seeing and all knowing at all times. We
(29:27):
not God. So what are the things that you would recommend? Like,
I just wish that you would pivot in this way,
or consider utilizing us in this way, or get some
young folks, whatever it is. I don't want to give
you all ideas. I want to hear yours.
Speaker 4 (29:41):
No, I understand your question. I appreciate that question. The
one thing I think that in this moment I think
could be a silver lining is that and a maya
often talks about DC values, and of course she's a
Washingtonian right throwing through, but because of her role as
the mayor, sometimes there seems to be a gap or
some distance between her and some of the constituents, right
(30:01):
some of the residents. And I think in this moment
could be well utilized to connect to those Washingtonians that
have seen or felt more distant from the mayor, to
be able to say we're in this together, I'm here
for you. Here are the instructions like at that village meeting,
if the mayor could show and talk to those parents
(30:21):
and say, I'm going to continue to try to give
you as much information as I know on how to
keep our baby safe. Not your babies, but our babies.
And I think in this moment, that's the type of
leadership that the city needs. Of course, you know, she
still has to do all the things that Ms Burry
just talked about, right, and things I think that the
average citizen couldn't even fathil. But I think we got
(30:44):
to make some space to go and touch the people
in that way.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
I agree with Tony if that's the same question. I
also agree with a statement that Tony made on yesterday
is that we do these small mini press conferences throughout
the entire city. Only mentioned that yesterday, and those spaces
where we know we can reach our young people. And
the second thing I've asked and I'm going to continue
to ask, is the messaging. We have to say the
(31:09):
same messaging. And there's some things that I believe her
insiders can say to us that we can say to
our community that she cannot, and we have to be
the spokespersons for her in this space.
Speaker 2 (31:20):
I agree.
Speaker 3 (31:21):
I think we have the best police chief I've seen
in my time. I do believe that this mayor is
the mayor that we need for the day. I support
both our mayor and our chief of police, but we
have to be their mouthpiece. We have to say what
they can't say to our families. I wear two hats.
I have a business as well, that's in a very
popular part of the city. It's a new establishment. It's
(31:43):
called Sycamara. And oh, we have a huge amphitheater. We
need to have a village meeting there. What missus Barry
is doing should not be the only meeting. We should
consistently have these small village meetings throughout those places in
our city where we know we have pockets of young
people that hang.
Speaker 2 (31:59):
We have parts.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
It's a young people that see.
Speaker 1 (32:01):
You know, we can't.
Speaker 3 (32:02):
Forget that a lot of places these kids can't go
because of the beats. So we have to be where
they are, and we have the personality. We have the staff,
we have the personnel. It's necessary to get to those
trenches where we can speak directly to the parents and
say the same message. My fear is that our messaging
is going to be off, we got to speak the
same language, because if we don't, the kids won't listen
(32:25):
to us, neither with their parents. So if I had
to offer to the mayor, those would be my suggestions
having additional village meetings. I like that missus Barry and
give us the messaging that we have to say that
she can.
Speaker 1 (32:39):
I love that well. I really appreciate you all time.
I knew having you all on would be the right thing.
You know, our natural business to call on elected officials.
But the reason elected officials work is because there's a
whole community behind them, and you are absolutely not only
the right messengers but also the right workers. And so
I just I thank God for everything that you're doing
(33:01):
in DC and beyond. Know that you all inspire me
and you would forever have a place to call home
here at Native LAMPI so welcome home, y'all, and I
look forward to talking.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
To you again. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:12):
Let's stay safe. Will absolutely thanks y'all. Love y'all, this
has been just a really insightful conversation, very very grateful
for the time of Ms Corra Masters, Berry, Tony Lewis
and Diane Bussie Reader a business owner. You know, folks,
who have entities that house our young people are all
(33:35):
over DC, and folks who have direct relationship with Mayor
Mauriel Bowser are willing to go challenge, uplift and encourage,
but push to do the right thing. I can't imagine
the stress and the courage that it takes in this moment,
the stress that she's under, the courage that it takes
in this moment to do the right thing, to make
every single decision calculated. And the one thing that we
(33:58):
know from protests, from those of you all who are
also raised by protesters, is the chant the people united
will never be defeated. And so in those moments where
things are the most challenging, but you can always call
upon are the people. The only way you can call
upon the people is if you keep them close. So, y'all,
(34:19):
in this moment, I encourage you to keep your people close.
Make sure you remember that if you all are not
just close, but united, if you are on the same page,
you don't have to be the same sentence, but on
the same page, the people united will never be defeated.
I have a good one. Flcahom, y'all. Native Lampard is
(34:52):
a production of iHeartRadio in partnership with Reason Choice Media.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
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Hosts And Creators
Tiffany Cross
Andrew Gillum
Angela Rye
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