Ep 44: The Politics of Being Unpopular - Featuring Brandon Johnson

On this week's filibuster, Jemele fires back at right wing critics who are outraged over Cracker Barrel changing its logo. Jemele is then joined by Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson, who has faced and met many challenges since being elected two years ago. Among them, Mayor Johnson discusses what it will take to keep the Chicago Bears in Chicago, as the Bears are also considering a new stadium home outside of Chicago. The mayor also shares how he is navigating Donald Trump’s attacks on Chicago, the rising tension between Chicago residents and migrants, and what he has done to lower the number of homicides in Chicago. And finally, Jemele has a special message for the newly-engaged couple, Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, what's up everybody. I'm Jamel Hill and welcome to politics.
And I heard podcast and unbothered production time to get spolitical.
Seeing people crash out of the Cracker Barrel rebrand is

(00:21):
just another reminder that we're living in the stupidest timeline.
The last week, Cracker Barrell unveiled this new logo, which
was ridiculously basic and one that no one would have
ever guessed that would have led to this widespread conservative
outrage and the restaurant's value plummeting by about one hundred million. Now,
I had no idea Uncle Herschel had stands like that.

(00:42):
I mean, regardless of whether you like or dislike the
new logo, the outrage over removing Uncle Herschel is a
case study of what happens when benign gestures get hijacked
from the most disingenuous, intellectually lazy people who often operate
from a space of bad faith. Exhibit a Congress van
Byron Donald's, who actually tweeted this. In college, I worked

(01:04):
at Cracker Barrel in Tallahassee. I even gave my life
to Christ in their parking lot. Their logo was iconic,
and their unique restaurants were a fixture of American culture.
No one asked for this woke rebread. It's time to
make Cracker Barrel great again, given out of the god
who is the head of this hash brown casserole Exhibit

(01:24):
B Donald Trump Junior who tweeted what the fuck is
wrong with Cracker Barrel Now? The right determined, with no evidence,
just their feelings that Cracker Barrel changing its logo is
part of some far left, woke takeover that is undermining
American values.

Speaker 2 (01:40):
You've probably heard by now about Cracker Barrel changing their
logo from old American nostalgia to cold dead, lifeless and
modern in a comedic way. As one friend said to me,
they removed the cracker and the barrel. So what's left now?
And the answer is nothingness, the same nothingness that the
left wants you to stomach in every other facet of
your life.

Speaker 3 (02:00):
Cracker Barrel has rebranded and I hate it. Thanks, I
hate it. Cracker Barrel rebranded from their classic, totally iconic
country store logo where you probably have countless memories with
your grandparents I know I certainly do, and got rid

(02:22):
of the cracker and the barrel. They erased the white
guy sitting outside of the Cracker Barrel store. White people
are about to riot. Is it too much to ask
to just go? Get a fat stack of diabetes get
served by a lady named Maud smoking two packs a

(02:44):
day extra syrup. Ladies and gentlemen, it's getting sticky because
the CEO of Cracker Barrel is as woke as they come.
She destroying a great American brand.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
Look at who this is.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
She's turned Cracker Barrel gay. The Cracker Barrel Alphabet Alliance
honoring supporting home office and field employees to bring the
whole their whole selves to work well, strengthening Cracker Barrel's
relationship with the alphabet community. What does this have to
do with biscuits?

Speaker 1 (03:21):
Man? Those Epstein files must be jacked up, because the
way these conservatives are crashing out, you would have thought
Cracker Barrel replaced Uncle Herschel with a drag queen wearing
a datshiki while reading the sixteen nineteen project. Let's be real,
A lot of people taking aim at Cracker Barrel probably
haven't been inside one since the early two thousands.

Speaker 5 (03:41):
A had a hash.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Brown casserole of Uncle Herschel's favorite breakfast sampler. A Grandpa's
country fried breakfast, a Mama's pancake breakfast. Ain't bought a
worthless nicknack from the country store, ain't sat in narry
a rock and chair. Damn Now I'm hungry because of
these Cracker Barrels stand have been supporting Cracker Barrel like
they claimed to, then Cracker Barrel seals wouldn't have been

(04:04):
cratering in recent years. The company didn't switch up because
things were going great. They switched up because things were
going in the opposite direction. Now Cracker Barrel is trying
to compete in a world of chicken and waffles and
bottomless mimosas, so you damn right. They also started serving
the Moses beer and wine. Cracker Barrel updated the look
of their famous country store and the interior of their

(04:27):
restaurants so that shit wouldn't look like an unorganized ass
garage sale. Now I know I'm not the only one
who remembers those old wooden chairs at Cracker Barrel that
used to basically make your butt numb after you sat
on them for about ten minutes. The things one would
endure for some fried catfish. There's also the issue of
a significant portion of Cracker Barrel's customer base being born

(04:49):
before the microwave was invented, not exactly the group where
you can expand your growth. And despite all the backlash
they're receiving now, Cracker Barrel CEO has sei they made
these changes with input from customers and their employees. The
only reason Cracker Burew is being accused of changing up
as some kind of inclusion play is because the CEO

(05:11):
is a woman, and on its website, Cracker Burew has
the audacity to also list its employee resource groups, which.

Speaker 5 (05:19):
To the right, is a form of dei.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
Even though so many major corporations have these groups, Yes,
Cracker Barrel dared send the controversial message that everyone is
welcomed by having support groups for its employees. Their b
Bold Employee Resource Group is designed to quote, cultivate and
develop black leaders within the Cracker Barrel organization, utilizing allyship,
mentorship and education to create a path to continue excellence

(05:44):
as well as a vibrant.

Speaker 5 (05:45):
And diverse community.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
They also have groups for their Latino employees, the LGBTQ
plus community, even veterans, the neurodivergent women employees who are
into health and wellness.

Speaker 5 (05:57):
A total of eight different groups.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
I'm sure a few under five to five and ride
a bicycle with a Spider Man outfit.

Speaker 5 (06:03):
They got a group for you at Cracker Barrel, so
don't worry.

Speaker 1 (06:06):
Why, guys, I'm sure there's a resource group within Cracker
Barrel that you can join. Now, maybe the reason Cracker
Barrel has these groups is because Cracker Barrel had to
resolve a racial discrimination lawsuit after the company was accused
of segregating black customers to its smoking sections and outright
denying them service. It was the largest civil rights lawsuit

(06:28):
against the restaurant chained since Denny settled a forty six
million dollar discrimination lawsuit in nineteen ninety four. We can't
get pancakes and eggs without the side of three fifths compromise.
Among the many ironies here is that the right is
always disparaging left for being sold Well, what's the word
they used to describe snowflakes? Meanwhile, they out here protests

(06:49):
and bud like nikes and the latest Superman. And now,
if you think the new Cracker Barrel logo is just lame,
bland and born, that is more than fair because it
definitely isn't eye catching, but woke that hash brown casserole
ain't hunting. I'm Jamel Hill and I approved this message.
My guest today is the mayor of the third largest

(07:09):
city in America, and in that position, he has faced
some unique challenges, which include how to keep the Cities
NFL team in the actual city, escalating tensions between black
residents and undocumented migrants, a president who has repeatedly threatened
to unleash the National Guard on his city, and just
generally navigating some deeply unpopular decisions. Heavy is the head

(07:30):
that wears the mayor's hat, but my guest is determined
to leave his office and the city itself in a
much better place than what he inherited. Coming up next
on Spolitics, the Mayor of Chicago, Brandon Jackson. Mayor Johnson,

(07:52):
I just want to thank you so much for joining
me on this episode of Spolitics. I am going to
begin the podcast by asking you a question I ask
every guest that appears on his Politics, and that is
name an athlete or a moment that made you love sports.

Speaker 4 (08:06):
Oh wow, Well that's tough in Chicago to name just
one moment or one athlete. You know, I will say, though,
there is the iconic moment, of course, when you know,
Michael Jordan hit that a game winning shot against the
Cleveland Cavaliers, the Bulls finally getting over the hump and
getting into the second round in the playoffs. So that's

(08:27):
just an iconic moment in Chicago sports history.

Speaker 6 (08:30):
And from that moment on, of course.

Speaker 4 (08:32):
The Bulls went on a reign that really I think
has been unmatched. But I think the one athlete that
really drew my love and attention to sports. I'm a
big baseball fan. And when the Cubs drafted Shawan Dunstan
and he finally came up in nineteen eighty five at
nine years old, you couldn't have a better player that

(08:53):
was as reckless as Shawan Dunstan. I mean, he blew
through signs. He played shortstop with so much tenacity and energy.
And of course at that time there was you know,
Ozzie Smith with our arch rivals in Saint Louis. So
Swan Dunstan really helped me just develop my love and

(09:14):
aspiration for baseball. And you know, he will always, you know,
go down as you know, my most favorite childhood athlete.

Speaker 1 (09:25):
I'm always curious how mayors in the or politicians period,
but especially in cities like yours. We have people who
are decidedly white Sox fans, people are decidedly Cubs fans.
And you may sounds like you grew up a Cubs fan, right,
And so with that being the case, once you get
in the position that you're where you're technically supposed to
root for everybody.

Speaker 5 (09:45):
Is that hard to do?

Speaker 1 (09:46):
And it to some degree maybe abandoned some of your
childhood allegiances.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
No, no, it's not hard to do. I'm a Cubs
fan through and through. I might be the.

Speaker 6 (09:57):
First mayor as a legitimate bottom Cubs fan.

Speaker 4 (10:01):
Now, look, I love baseball, of course, I want to
see our white Sox do well. The city of Chicago
thrives when our sports teams are doing well. And you know,
again thinking about the nineties and what the Bulls met
for not just the city of Chicago, but for global sports.
You know, growing up watching the Cubs WGN, I mean
that game was on every day after school, it seemed like.

(10:22):
And I have such fond memories of being at Wrigley
Field or just you know, having the joy of baseball
through the lens of players like Gary Matthews, Desarge and
center field who brought so much energy, and at that
time there were far more black baseball players in the league.
But no, I'm a Cubs fan through and through. And

(10:43):
here's what Chicago appreciates about that. In Chicago, you are
either hot or cold. You know, we don't deal with
Luke arm three administrations that go. That mayor was a
legitimate white Sox fan. You would see him in the
stands and you know, mad respect. He was a South Sider,
a West Sider. I vote, vote, and root for the Cubs.

(11:03):
And we'll always and looking forward to, of course the
Cubs and the Brewers, who are in an important three
game series this week as we look to take our
work into the the to the fall.

Speaker 1 (11:16):
Well, while we're on the topic of Chicago sports, obviously
a very big topic around there is what's going to
happen with the Bears in terms of are they going
to stay to stay in Chicago, are they going to
move to Arlington. I mean, one of the issues that
really closely connects to me sports and politics is definitely
when it comes to stadiums being built and new arenas

(11:39):
and that kind of thing. And I often tell that
to sports fans, like the moment you decide to go
to a stadium or an arena. You are literally mixing
together sports and politics. I know that you have publicly
talked about how you want the Bears to stay in Chicago.
This is something you've been talking about with with state
officials Gudnan and Prisker. How are you feeling about out

(12:00):
the situation now, Because, at least based off what I
read I'm an outsider, it appears that the Bears are
at least considering certainly staying in Chicago.

Speaker 5 (12:10):
So where do things stand?

Speaker 4 (12:12):
Well, the Bears belong in Chicago, right There's not a
more storied sports franchise than our beloved Chicago Bears. And
from the very beginning of my administration, I've worked with
the ownership to come up with a package that allowed
for the Bears to actually stay in Chicago. And you know,
let me just say that through that work, we were

(12:34):
able to come up with some agreement really quite frankly,
around how we keep the Bears in Chicago. This is
one of those situations that are that's really unique in
this moment. Here's what my argument has always been when
it comes to our sports teams, you have to have
a public benefit and a public use and ownership has

(12:55):
to put real skin in the game. And what the
ownership of the Chicago Bears was willing to do was
to actually invest, you know, almost seventy two, seventy five
percent of the stadium's finances with their own resources. And
not only were they willing to put skin in the game,
there is a mechanism that allows for stadiums to be built,

(13:18):
which the dollars that would be used to finalize the
finances of that stadium are only designed to build stadiums.

Speaker 6 (13:27):
And then here's the real kicker here. Not only would
the Bears put.

Speaker 4 (13:31):
In seventy two, almost seventy five percent of their own
money into building this dome stadium, and then the other
dollars coming from what is referred to as KISFA, which
is you know, sports financing that only is permission to
build stadiums. The city of Chicago would actually own the stadium.
So ownership would pay for a stadium with additional dollars

(13:54):
that are designed to build a stadium that the city
of Chicago would actually own. Now, Jamille, you covering sports
and stadiums all over the country. I don't know if
there's a deal out there that reflects that type of
benefit for residents of a city where private entities would
put into the building of the stadium that the public

(14:15):
would actually own. And so I'm going to continue to
work with ownership but also with Springfield, and that's our
members of the House of Representatives are state senators, and
of course the governor to continue to work through a
process that keeps the Bears in Chicago. There are a
number of challenges that the Bears would still have to

(14:37):
overcome if they were to leave Chicago. We see it
as a no brainer. Here a stadium that is paid
for by ownership that the people of Chicago would own,
and then there are some commitments to investments of infrastructure
all over the city of Chicago, not just this particular campus,
that would allow for residents as well as visit and

(15:00):
tourists to be able to benefit from a beautiful stadium.

Speaker 6 (15:06):
That is, you know, backdropped by the lakefront.

Speaker 1 (15:11):
You're correct in the sense that, yes, I have covered
sports for a long time, but also the structure of
these deals typically is extremely owner friendly where the city
does not own the stadium, and it has caused a
lot of taxpayers in cities to be very reluctant to
approve these kind of things.

Speaker 5 (15:29):
And it's always interesting to me because.

Speaker 1 (15:33):
The team will move and then the fans will get
all pissed off about and it's like, well, this is
kind of what comes with it. And at least from
what I can read from Afar, it does seem like
there is some reluctance from your taxpayers despite the fact
you're trying to obviously sell them on that idea, like
we'd own this, they're contributing this amount of fundraising. What

(15:53):
is it that you think you need to say or
to do to convince the taxpayers to really get behind
and this especially as at the same time we know
that there's some overall budget limitations that the City of
Chicago is facing.

Speaker 4 (16:08):
Yes, so look, I believe that we have to, you know,
engage the community and the residents of Chicago. And what
I hear, you know, overwhelmingly is that they want the
Bears to remain the Chicago Bears, right Arlington Heights Bears.
That's even this, there's no ring to that. And part
of our effort really has to be educating the public

(16:28):
around how ISFA, the Illinois State's Finance Authority is purposefully
designed to actually help build stadiums. There's no other use
of those resources or dollars. And so that's why, you know,
I have not given up on this process and very
much committed to taking this campaign to the public as

(16:49):
well as with the General Assembly, that the overall benefit
that we would receive as a city where we would
have a dome stadium right on the lake front, we're
we're already seeing the signs of when stadiums are built,
you're almost guaranteed a super Bowl, not to mention all
the other all the other sporting events that we will

(17:10):
be able to host that facility, you know, and thinking
about the concerts as well. You know, Beyonce came to
Chicago for just a few days, and I mean our
economy has shifted as a result of her presence. I'm
making the case that Beyonce were to hold a concert
two more nights, If she were to hold a concert

(17:31):
for two more nights, I might be able to have
enough revenue to close my budget deficit. Right. So there's
just those type of opportunities, whether it's Big ten, NC,
Double A and other sporting events as well as you know,
football and the Super Bowl and many other concerts that
really becomes a revenue generator for the City of Chicago

(17:52):
that allows us to continue to make the critical investments
that we're making in the first couple of years of
my administration to build a safe and affordable big city. Look,
the last thing that I'll say is this, one of
the things that I actually appreciated about what the Bears
ownership was wanting to do was to actually build out
all around that stadium as well, adding additional fields so

(18:13):
that our Chicago public schools students could have their soccer
championships there, our baseball championships there, football championships there, all
outside of the stadium. They were committed to building additional
fields there so that there could be again more of
a public benefit of public use. We see this area

(18:35):
as a twenty four, seven, three and sixty five days
out the year apparatus, and so there's going to be
some ongoing efforts to educate the public on the benefit
of having a stadium that's financed by ownership, but that
the City of Chicago would still remain the owner of.

Speaker 5 (18:56):
Yeah, I mean it is. You know.

Speaker 1 (18:59):
The thing about these new arenas is that they want
to build typically entertainment complexes, not just something that's just
one use. I'll admit though, as a football purist, I
think if you live in a cold weather city, I
think you kind of have to have an outdoor stadium.
It's like, it's what makes playing in Green Bay so difficult,
is that biting cold, that effect of like being there,

(19:23):
of cycing teams out before they get there, and that
was I think something that worked the Bears advantage is
the fact that you were playing outside. So part of
me would be a little disappointed to see the Bears
kind of follow the trend of having the Dome Stadium
in a cold weather city.

Speaker 4 (19:40):
And look, I'm a traditionalist just like you, you know,
as a chicagoan detroitter is right, you know, folks from Milwaukee,
Green Bay, of course, the Midwest. There is an incredible
history and culture around the cold being synonymous with our
football teams. And I'm trying to build a twenty first

(20:02):
century model and a city that works year round. And
you know, as much as I'm a traditionalist, there's certain
things that I'm willing to, I guess get over to
some extent, and that if people just you know, want
to be cold during the football season, they're always welcome
to tailgame.

Speaker 1 (20:21):
Well, one of the things I guess switching off sports
for a minute, that I definitely want to talk to
you about is the because I'm actually surprised it's not
a bigger national story, but Chicago as a city has
seen an unprecedented dropping crime. I believe the last I
read it was like a thirty three percent dropping homicide.

Speaker 5 (20:40):
There's crime going on across the board.

Speaker 1 (20:42):
I know it's a uptake in some areas, but generally speaking,
crime is down, in particular shootings, the gun violence that
for so long has unfortunately played Chicago. This is a
trend that we're seeing actually in a lot of big
cities Baltimore, Detroit, And I believe you made a public
comment not too long ago where you thought that Chicago

(21:02):
had a chance of having less than five hundred homicides
this year, because that's.

Speaker 5 (21:06):
How much crime is dropping in Chicago.

Speaker 1 (21:11):
What are the things that you can point to from
your perspective, like what's working there that has allowed this
drop to take place?

Speaker 4 (21:20):
Yeah, well, thank you for that question. Community safety is
my top priority as mayor of the City of Chicago.
It's what I think about every single day. I'm raising
my family on the West Side of Chicago, the beautiful
neighborhood of Austin, and we have had our share of
disinvestment over the course of decades, which you know, as
you know too well, that around this country, when poverty

(21:44):
is pervasive, it attracts and it draws violence. And you know,
I maybe the first mayor of the history of Chicago
that wakes up in one of the toughest neighborhoods in
the entire city of Chicago. And my wife and I,
we love the West Side, We love the Austin neighborhood.
Children owing Ethan and Branden eleven, thirteen and seventeen. What

(22:05):
we want for our family, we won for every single family.
And so when I became mayor of the City of Chicago,
one of the first things that I directed was, let's
look at where violence is most pervasive. And Jamail, there
are thirty five beats in Chicago where the vast majority
of violence occurs. And I said, look, if we can
figure out how to address violence and the thirty five

(22:25):
most violent beats in the city, we can take those
efforts citywide. And that's what we did. And in those beats,
these are the neighborhoods where schools were closed, where resources
were not plentiful, to say the least, where unemployment was high,
and we focused our attention on delivering high quality services

(22:45):
in those specific neighborhoods. And one of the first things
that I did, after layering of all the different factors
that breed violence, I made a commitment to hire two
hundred more detectives by the end of my first term
and revamp our detectives bureau. Right because what happens in
Chicago and really around the country, if you're not solving
violent crime, it really becomes a feeder. And my case

(23:11):
has been if we can deter crime by solving it,
this is a way in which we can build safer communities.
And we've done just that. Our clearance rates have gone
up significantly. The cases that have been brought before our
Chicago Police Department, we've cleared about eighty percent of those
cases as a result of the revamping of our detective's
division and again promoting two one or more detectives. We're

(23:33):
actually ahead of schedule as it relates to the number
of detectives that I promoted. But it's not just policing
that's the real I guess the nucleus, if you will,
of it all that it's policing and investing in our
young people. This summer, we made a commitment to hire
twenty nine thousand young people for summer jobs.

Speaker 6 (23:53):
Well we blew past that number.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
Just received the update last week that we hire thirty thousand,
one hundred and thirty four were young people for summer jobs.
Why is that critical? Last year, again referring back to
the Austin community, the highest number of young people were
hired from the Austin neighborhood and we saw some of
the most dynamic declines precipitous declines of violence across the

(24:17):
board in that particular police district on the West Side,
and so those investments have proven to be worthwhile. The
other thing that we did was I expanded our mental
health support services.

Speaker 6 (24:30):
It's very personal to me.

Speaker 4 (24:32):
Unfortunately our mental health is something that we don't spend
enough time addressing, and they're a great deal of there's
a great deal of trauma that still permeates throughout our communities.
My brother had untreated trauma and unfortunately died addicted and unhoused,
and so I reopened three mental health clinics in Chicago
far South Side and the Rose and Community lower West Side,

(24:55):
as well as the West Side in Garfield Park. But
we've also expanded what we call our program, the Crisis
Assistance Responds Engagement, where when people are having a mental
health crisis, a police officer is not on the scene,
it's an actual behavioral mental healthcare professional. And where those
services have been deployed, not one incident has led to

(25:16):
an arrest, and so expanding mental and behavior healthcare services
have also led to the decline of violence. And then
finally creating affordable communities right home ownership or just having
stable housing is yet another factor that leads to community stability.
Right now, there's been infrastructure that has been unaddressed for
a very long time in our city, particularly around affordable homes,

(25:39):
and we are now on pace to build conservatively ten
thousand more affordable units by the end of my first term.
So it's policing and youth employment, it's policing and mental
and behavior health care services, it's policing and building affordable housing.
And so as we work to build the safest, most
affordable big city in America, we're putting forth investments that

(26:02):
are working to address these these issues that have been
ignored for decades. So thirty two percent decrease rather thirty
two percent decrease and homicides, thirty eight percent reduction in
shootings and shooting victims, robberies are down. In violence as
a whole is down because we're actually showing up with
critical investments and people are becoming far more appreciative of

(26:24):
those investments. And a year ago I did say, look,
we have to get under five hundred, made that pronouncement
a year ago, and now we're, you know, seven months
into this year, and we're seeing the returns of those
investments in a positive way. A lot of work to
do still, but we are certainly heading in the right direction.

Speaker 1 (26:41):
You ran on a progressive, a very progressive platform. I'm
sure you've seen in New York that you have a
Zohanman mom Donnie, who's also running on a very you know,
progressive platform. But as you know, it comes with a
lot of black backlash because you know, typically a lot
of times voters when we put more police on the
street where you know, they want to hear more of

(27:03):
a law and order message. And I know recently, you know,
when the snap curfew came up that you have been
an opponent of that. Now, the snap curfew would allow
the police in Chicago to basically.

Speaker 5 (27:16):
Call a curfew whenever they wanted to.

Speaker 1 (27:18):
I know there's a general city curfew for teenagers, but
this would give them more authority, more power, you know,
to do that. So, when you're running a progressive platform,
how do you sell these ideas that are very non
traditional to voters whose comfort has only been in how

(27:39):
one way of one way of doing things? Like how
do you in a city that has had crime issues,
Like how are you selling to people and especially crime
issues from teenagers? And you decide that you're not on
board with this and you're going to veto the snap curfew, Like,
how do you sell that to your constituents?

Speaker 4 (27:58):
Yeah? Look, there's there's a lot of concern that you know,
people have about you know, community safety as a whole.

Speaker 6 (28:05):
And I get it.

Speaker 4 (28:06):
And you know, I've said from the very beginning, we
have to do the things at work. And to your point,
there has been just this reliance upon one way of
doing things. And even though it has not panned out
for us or you certainly have not seen the reaping,
if you will, of those type of approaches that folks

(28:27):
tend to get stuck in that and unfortunately, Jamai as
you know that not just Chicago, but the country has
this addiction on jails and incarceration. If it were just
simply more police officers, then we would not be having
this conversation about violence. You know, the City of Chicago
spends more per capital on policing than anywhere else in

(28:50):
the country, and that has not you know, benefited you know,
our city, And it doesn't mean that they don't play
a role, but it's not the only thing that we,
you know, should should invest it. In fact, you know, unfortunately,
we invest more in policing, in jails and incarceration than
we are in economic development and education.

Speaker 6 (29:13):
And that's something that you know, I'm here to transform.

Speaker 4 (29:16):
And part of the way, one of the ways in
which we shift, we shift people's paradigm around this is
that making sure that the community understands the what and
the why. That is the responsibility that I have as
mayor of the City of Chicago. And I'm not saying
that I've always done that. Well, you know, when you

(29:36):
are motivated to do things a certain way, some instances
we just kind of plow through it. And we don't
take our time to educate people. And so what I've
done is I've set up a series of community meetings
all over the city of Chicago where we are having
these conversations. And trust me, you know, people push back,
you know, on on my approach. Preventing these gatherings from

(29:57):
happening is my top priority. Look, I was a former
public school teacher here in Chicago. I taught middle school
and actually taught at westing House where Mark acguire, one
of the persons we sent up to your city to
get you all some champions.

Speaker 6 (30:12):
We appreciate that You're very welcome.

Speaker 4 (30:14):
You know, Mark and Zeke are are two amazing Chicago
ones that really and bibe what I call the soul
of Chicago and the strength of our city.

Speaker 1 (30:23):
But having taught to be clear, Mayor, we stole Zeke.

Speaker 5 (30:26):
He's no longer yours like he's ours.

Speaker 4 (30:28):
Well, so I have something planned for that. By the way,
I'm going to have to talk to you offline about that,
because we want to make sure that he gets his
true honor in the greatest city in the world, the
city of Chicago. And I'm just going to go on
record breaking news right here on your podcast. The City
of Chicago has to do a much better job at

(30:49):
honoring those individuals that were born and bred and raised here,
and Zeke is one that we have to start with.
And I'm having some conversations around the country because Isaiah Thomas,
of course, is also a proud Westsider. His family members
lived just you know, a few blocks away from me.
So with that being said, you know, the responsibility that

(31:13):
I have to ensure that the residents of the city
of Chicago know the what and the why and the
case that we're making to transform this city. Though it
has been difficult for some to digest, but now we're
clearly seeing the evidence of the type of investments that
I'm putting forward.

Speaker 6 (31:29):
And here's the other thing too. You know, there is
a real dark past in.

Speaker 4 (31:34):
Chicago around how police and the community, particularly the black
and brown communities have not enjoyed that relationship. There's been,
you know, real significant breakdown and trust. There was, you know,
a long history of police brutality in this city, where

(31:55):
right now, as Mayor of Chicago, I'm paying restitution for
individual who were tortured in some cases when I was
barely an elementary school and so I didn't believe that
it was healthy for the direction of our city to
give that type of unfettered authority to one entity without
a check or balance. That has not bothd well for

(32:17):
residents in the city of Chicago, and it was my
responsibility and duty to make sure that we are moving
in the direction of real constitutional policing. As our police
superintendent is working hard to restore trust amongst black and
brown communities, that it would have been irresponsible to move
on a policy that I believe would have set us back.

(32:38):
And so again top priority of mine is to make
sure that all of our communities are safe and protecting
our young people, even from themselves at times, is something
that I go over with my team over and over
again because someone who was raising the family, someone who
was taught in our public schools, I know what it
really takes to help not only support a young person,

(33:01):
but for them to be able to see their purpose
and over policing and certainly leaning towards unconstitutional policing. That's
that's a dark pass that we have turned the page on,
and now as we move forward to build a safe
and affordable big city. It was imperative that I protected
our city from a policy that I believe that would

(33:24):
have been detrimental to our young people, but really to
the relationship that we're ultimately trying to build and restore
amongst police and the community at large.

Speaker 1 (33:34):
You said, you feel like you can at least get
resonance and constituents to be open minded if you give
them the what and the why. And you another challenge
that you have faced during your time is the fact
that estimated, I think fifty thousand migrants have come to
Chicago since twenty twenty two, many of which were bused

(33:56):
from Texas. My Governor, Greg Abbott, you.

Speaker 5 (34:00):
Can help me understand this. How is that even legal?

Speaker 4 (34:04):
Yeah? Look, look, I taught social studies as a proud
social studies and history teacher. You know, I've seen a
lot of things in my life, but I certainly have
studied and taught a lot of different eras of our
nation's history. This had to be one of the most
iniquitous acts that I've ever seen in modern history where

(34:28):
the governor of Texas literally used human beings as a
political attack against major cities, in particular New York and
Chicago and Denver. And I questioned, you know, just the
the the moral compass, you know, of a of a
of a of a leader that refused to coordinate and

(34:50):
cooperate with the entire nation to deal with what clearly
was a crisis at the border. No one disagreed that
are immigration system is broken. And one of the reasons
why we've had, you know, the type of chaos within
our country, if you will, is because we just have

(35:14):
not had comprehensive immigration reform. In fact, I believe the
last time immigration reform policy passed the Bears were the
Super Bowl champions. I believe it was nineteen eighty six,
the last time we actually had done something about responding
to the need to create a structure that allowed for

(35:34):
a pathway for people to find refuge and eventually find
their home in our country. And so when I took office,
I mean literally thousands of uses were coming up from
the state of Texas and there was no answer from
the federal government because they had abdicated their duties. And

(35:55):
you know, at times it felt like it was unbearable.
They were literally human beings sleeping on lawers and police districts,
and you know, we did not have the support from
the federal government that Ukrainians experienced you know, Jamail. Many
people don't know this, but there were thirty thousand Ukrainians
that were that found refuge in the city of Chicago,

(36:16):
and no one.

Speaker 6 (36:16):
Said a word.

Speaker 4 (36:17):
No one said a word, and there were federal dollars
attached to those families. I believe that was the right
thing to do. That did not happen with individuals coming
from Central and South America. And so what we did
do was we had to stand up shelters all over
the city. And it did create a lot of tension
and caused a great deal of consternation. But it's something
that in retrospect I realized even more so in the

(36:39):
day it was the right thing to do. Now as
much division as it was meant to cause, you know,
we took something that was meant to destroy and disrupt
our city, and we ultimately created a one system initiative
for homelessness across the board, where we have increased our
shelter beds by one and twenty six percent, and for
the first time over a decade, when families call, regardless

(37:02):
of your status, whether you are a born Chicago wind
or you have found refuge here, that there's not one
single family on the waiting list. In fact, we put
forth another forty million dollars just last week to repair
many of our shelters that have gone without air conditioning,
where you know, individuals had to stand up eating because
there were no dining spaces, right, So we made some

(37:24):
real critical investments there. But it's something that has shaped
my leadership. It's something that you know, I believe will
be an ongoing challenge as we see global population shift
that's happening through climate change and other political elements that
have created instability across this globe, and as a nation,

(37:45):
we have to have a comprehensive immigration policy that addresses
what ultimately is going to be an ongoing dynamic that
will will impact all of us.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
But how do you how do you message that to
your constituents because I know you know you mentioned you
have community meetings all the time, and even beyond just
a formal meeting, you in.

Speaker 5 (38:07):
The Chicago streets all the time.

Speaker 1 (38:08):
So I know that the number one thing that you
heard was especially from black residents, was let me get
this straight. You got money for that, but you don't
have money for us. As we try to figure out
ways to better strengthen and build our communities. So how
can you message against that when these are people who

(38:30):
feel like they have earned the right to have a
government that's more supportive of them.

Speaker 6 (38:36):
No, absolutely, Look, trust me, my number has not changed,
by the way, Jamail.

Speaker 4 (38:40):
So you know, I'm getting phone calls from everybody as
well as they mamas you know, around this issue. You know,
and I do I get it. You know, I've been
a teacher in this city. I've served as an organizer,
as an organizer in this city when administrations shut down
the schools and in our communities. It's one of the

(39:01):
things that further, you know, emboldened me to to have,
you know, this response of actually running for office shut
down public housing. So I'm fully aware of how black
folks have been shut out the process. One of the
ways in which we've had to message this. And this

(39:21):
has been a challenge, right because look, you know, the
mass media only wanted to share one story of my administration.
They didn't talk about the one point twenty five billion
dollar bond investment for housing and economic development to repopulate
the West and South side of Chicago, which was the
largest investment for economic development in housing in the history

(39:44):
of Chicago. You know, They didn't talk about the fact
that we have tip districts, you know, or tax increment finance,
where there are these districts where taxing bodies their dollars
are held for development, and those dollars have historically been
used to develop downtown, but not our neighborhoods, where I
released these surpluses back into the taxing bodies for our

(40:07):
schools or parks, our libraries, you know, the largest tiff
surplus if you will, to go back into these to
the communities that have been starved out. You know, they
didn't want to talk about the fact that we abolished
the sub minimum wage where tip workers overwhelming brown and black.
You know, women make up these positions where now they
will get raises that will be aligned with the minimum

(40:30):
wage for every single worker. Where we had paid time
off where workers get ten days off now with sick
and leave. You know, these were some of the investments
that we were doing even in the midst of that crisis.
And then finally we actually put money towards a working
group for reparations a half a million dollars. And that

(40:51):
working group has now been formalized and we've already put
money towards organizations for wealth building for black families in particular,
especially one program that I'm really excited about. It's called
the Missing Middle, where where we are building owner occupied
housing where individuals can only own their home, but they're

(41:11):
building units where they can rent there the other units
so that we can build generational wealth. So in other words,
the message is we can respond and deal with, you
know the need for undocumented families and immigrant families to
be protected while also calling for reparations. The challenge, of course,
that we've had is that there's only one story that

(41:33):
that dominated you know, the first six months of not
longer of my administration. And so that's why these community meetings,
this conversation is is so helpful. I think the last
thing that I'll say is this. You know this, this
this country has has been plagued for a very long time.
You know President Biden, former President you know Biden said

(41:55):
this at the one of the last commencement speeches that
he gave me, is that how university, and he said,
the greatest threat to our democracy is white supremacy. So
that's the greatest threat. And so now you have you know,
Governor of Texas and other individuals that are working to

(42:17):
use immigration as a way to split our community and
so families who are indigenous to this particular region. As
a black man who is a descendant of slaves who
found our way up through the Second Migration, as you know,
whether it's Chicago or Detroit, that somehow you want me
to be upset with other melanated individuals who are seeking

(42:40):
refuge in a country that quite frankly has gotten away with.
Whether it's kidnapping brown people in this season or lynching
black people, these are the stories, quite frankly, that we
have to share so that we know what our collective
struggle is. So this movement that has elected me to
this office, black, brown, white, Asian, young old, this intergenerational

(43:02):
movement that elected a working class middle child of ten
to the fifth floor without any political ties to the
machine to lead in this moment, I'm not going to
allow the threat of our democracy, which quite frankly is
white supremacy, to further divide our communities. Now, look, it's
going to be hard work. I recognize that, and I'm
up for it. I believe we can fight for comprehensive

(43:24):
immigration reform. We can keep our community safe, build more
affordable homes and make the case for reparations. That's something
that we have not done in a real dynamic or
bold way in this moment. But I'm up for it
because I believe it's Chicago's position to be the most
forthright and innovative political leadership.

Speaker 6 (43:46):
Much like the way doctor King described it when he
came to.

Speaker 4 (43:49):
Chicago, that if you can figure it out in Chicago,
you can do it anywhere in the world. And that's
what my approach has been, to figure it out in
Chicago so that we could be a model for the
rest of the world.

Speaker 1 (44:00):
Yeah, And as I've said on social media and then
certainly in conversations I've had about this, is they're not
mutually exclusive. The help and assistance given to undocumented people
who basically just want to contribute to America as best
they can, it has nothing to do with why we
have or haven't gotten any reparations. Like those are two

(44:21):
separate things. The all of the migrants and undoc committed
people could disappear tomorrow and we would still be fighting
for reparations. So it's not because they're getting money. We're
not getting reparations. No, it's because white supremacy has decided
that's something that we're not old.

Speaker 5 (44:38):
And so that's a different.

Speaker 1 (44:42):
But understandable conversation why people want to kind of relate
the to to make it seem like this other group
of people. And that's you know, that's the way politics,
unfortunately work right now in America. If you can prove
another group of people got something that you didn't get,
or prove that like even with you using just your emotion.

Speaker 5 (45:00):
Is that.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
You're better than another group of people. It is was
driving the political climate in this country and why it
feels so unhealthy and why I feel so so toxic.
So I have to say, given what's at stake for
you as somebody who is a politician and has to
get elected and approval, and these times, that's a boat

(45:21):
stand to have because I know, I know it's politically costly.

Speaker 5 (45:26):
That's that's why I said that.

Speaker 1 (45:27):
It's like it's not even it's cost a lot of
people their jobs when they take that position of like,
I'd rather stand on something right than stand on what
might benefit me politically. So it says something that despite
the blowback you knew you were going to get that
you were still intentional about wanting to make sure that
Chicago was held up as a model even as it

(45:48):
drew the ire of the president.

Speaker 4 (45:50):
Well, look, I'm just wondering to think about that. Right.
The welcoming city a position that I take in this
city has been brought to us by the first black
mayor in the history of Chicago, Mayor HERA. Washington. It
was Mayor Hearra of Washington that took the advice from
his corporate council, James Montgomery, who was the first black
corporate council, who also provided legal representation for the Black

(46:13):
Panther Party where they knew forty years ago to give
police seeing powers to a local jurisdiction to be able
to enact federal mandates, that that's not going to bode well. Right.
In fact, it was during the eighties in which the
States Attorney and many district commanders were all in cahoots
ultimately to to torture black men into false confessions. And

(46:37):
so I stand on the shoulders quite frankly of those
who came before me. And you know, one of the
things that I did have to do was to educate,
you know, people that a welcome in City ordinance just
simply means that our local law enforcement will not dub
as federal agents that in order to maintain community trusts,
it was critical that you know that the undocumented community

(46:58):
felt safe calling for supportive if there was violence that
was you know, surrounding them in any way. And then
the last thing is, you know, some people believe that
the City of Chicago gained dollars directly to migrants. That
just wasn't the case. In fact, for many of the
shelters and the workers and the programs that were made

(47:18):
available for migrants, these were black organizations and were doing
the work. It wasn't like we were just simply writing
checks to migrants as they came and were dropped off.
You know, we were literally paying black leaders and organizations
to provide that support. And as a result, you know that,
you know, we have seen you know, a greater coalesce

(47:39):
if you will, around how we build more affordable homes,
how we have a shelter system that keeps the dignity
of people who are unhoused. So, you know, I would
be remiss if I did not acknowledge Harold Washington, Mayor
Herald Washington and corporate Council James Montgomery, who knew something
interesting enough the Director of Immigration, Director Lawyer, back in

(48:03):
the eighties put an operation together that was called Operation
Taxi Cab where he set up agents at the airport.

Speaker 6 (48:12):
To round up taxi drivers who.

Speaker 4 (48:15):
At the time were overwhelmingly immigrants and had these big raids,
if you will, and turned out he ended up arresting
many individuals who were documented. Sounds familiar, right, And so
we stand on the shoulders of those who came before
us as a model of how do we stand up
to authoritarianism? How do we stand up to tyranny? When

(48:35):
the President of the United States of America puts so
much money into Ice, where the only other forces that
have more resources than Ice is the United States government's
army and China's army, that's a problem. That's a threat
to our democracy. And that's why it's important that the
City of Chicago stood up in that moment, because the
forces that are ultimately working to divide us are also

(48:58):
committed to an authoritarian rule that ultimately provides I believe,
a real detriment to our humanity.

Speaker 5 (49:05):
Yeah, I used to believe.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
Their budget is now one hundred and seventy billion, which
is larger than the US Marines. Okay, there's a lot
more I want to ask you. I know I only
have a very short period of time. I have a
sports question that's going to get you in a lot
of trouble.

Speaker 5 (49:19):
I cannot wait to ask you this.

Speaker 1 (49:22):
But first, Mayor Johnson, we're going to take a quick
break and we'll be right back with more from you.
Before we went to break, Mayor, you were talking, you know,
just about like sort of your the authoritarianism that is

(49:45):
obviously run rampant in this country.

Speaker 5 (49:47):
You've been very vocal about it.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
You have, you know, got into I guess a bit
of a public back and forth to some degree with
the President of the United States. For you leading one
of the what Chicago's the third largest city in the country.
I think that's leading a city like Chicago, and to
have a president that seems to be working against.

Speaker 5 (50:09):
You, how do you manage that?

Speaker 6 (50:16):
Yeah, Look, these circumstances are difficult.

Speaker 4 (50:19):
You know, I'll be the first to admit, and you
know we're living to a large extent in unprecedented times.
But the way, you know, I believe that, you know,
I have to do, well, what I have to do
as the city of Chicago is really to stand up
and fight for working people. You know, look, the city
of Chicago and our economy really drives the economy of

(50:42):
the state of Illinois in the region. And the state
of Illinois is a donor state. We actually give more
to the federal government than what we receive in return.
And I believe the best way to stand up to
authoritarianism and tyranny is to punch back. And I mentioned
that come from a large family, and you know, my
older brother would always say to us, if you are

(51:03):
in a fight and you are ducky, you're probably losing
that fight.

Speaker 6 (51:07):
At some point, you have to swing back.

Speaker 4 (51:09):
And so that's why, you know, we've taken it to
the courts, right with affirmative litigation. The Trump administration sued
my city and you know, we prevailed in that lawsuit
or a district court said that as sanctuary and welcoming cities,
that the federal government does not have the authority to
dictate you know, local awordinances. That was a victory for us.

(51:32):
We're also seeing people take it to the streets, right.
I come out of the organizing you know apparatus, and
you have people who are organizing all over the city
of Chicago round a host of things, whether it's knowing
the rights of undocumented individuals or pushing back against this
administration's animates towards diversity, equity, and inclusion, and then we're

(51:54):
passing law right, So it's it's what happened in the
civil rights era, and clearly there's an attempt to roll
everything back that we gained seventy years ago. And I'll
take it one step further. You know, the Republican Party
has made it very clear that they have not accepted
the results of the Civil War and they have desperately
longed for a rematch. And it's going to be paramount

(52:15):
to this moment that, as incorrigible as it, it feels
right now that we have to show resistance and again,
whether it's in the courts, whether it's in the streets,
whether it's policy, that that's the way we punch back,
and we have to do it collectively.

Speaker 6 (52:29):
I'm seeing people rise up all over the country.

Speaker 4 (52:31):
You know, we honored you know, the late great John
Lewis the day of action around good trouble, and.

Speaker 6 (52:37):
People's voices are coming alive again.

Speaker 4 (52:39):
And that's so critical in this moment because the threats
are absolutely real and as the city of Chicago goes.
I believe we are the heartbeat and the soul of America.
You know, this is the place that said, you know,
keep hope alive, Reverend Jesse Jackson, the city that said
yes we can. It's a city where electricity came to life.
You know, black Haitian immigrant and a Potawatamy woman fell

(53:01):
in love and set up a trade post at the
bank of the river. Because they believe that one day
the city of Chicago would be the global capital of
the world. I live and rest in that type of history,
and so that's what motivates me. The work of our
ancestors that fought back and one and we are always
having We're always better off having the tenacity if you

(53:24):
were the temerity to actually fight back. And that's what
we're doing in this moment. You know, we didn't ask
for the fight. You know, we didn't necessarily like sign
up for the fight. But since we're in it, you know,
you best believe that the City of Chicago's going to
do what we always do, and that's a show for
working people.

Speaker 1 (53:39):
How much does it surprise you or maybe even trouble
you that even with all the chaos that's happening at
the federal level right now. The Democratic Party's approval rating
is actually lower than the presidents is right now, and
it's lower than the Republican Party even though they also
have sort of a unfavorable rating.

Speaker 5 (54:02):
The Democrats do not.

Speaker 1 (54:03):
Control, you know, they don't control the citate of the House,
they don't control the presidency, they don't have any of those.
But yet in the minds of so many people, the
Democratic brand as a party has become toxic.

Speaker 5 (54:16):
What do you make of that?

Speaker 4 (54:19):
Well, I believe part of it is is that, you know,
there has been, you know, a customary form of political
engagement that just has not it doesn't speak to the moment, right.
It's not that we're wrong on the issues, like let
me just make that very clear. As I'm building more

(54:40):
affordable homes, investing in mental and behavior health, you know, care,
driving violence down in the city of Chicago, these are
the things that people expect out of its leadership. There
also has to be a concerted effort to engage voters
and hear the frustrations and experiences that people are having

(55:01):
and then being that much more committed to not just
addressing those issues in isolation, but doing it collectively. I
believe that the residents of this country are longing for
someone who would actually stand up, even in the midst
of difficult moments, and speak the truth, speak it from

(55:24):
power to power, and then be willing to do that
which is necessary to see to it that we actually
execute the values that we subscribe to. And I'll give
one good example. It's and I know this is you know,
another political hot but initie that you know, people expect

(55:46):
us to just power around. You know, what's happening in
Gaza is unconscionable. It should not have taken this long
for you know, organizations to call out what's happening. Our
core has has has stood the test of having moral

(56:07):
clarity domestically and abroad, and you know, as the party
took too long, quite frankly, to call out, you know,
the egregious response by the Israeli government. And you can

(56:32):
condemn the attack and condemn terrorism and also call for peace,
just like we can call for immigration reform and reparations.
I believe that voters in this moment, they want it all,
and there's nothing wrong with wanting more. In this moment,

(56:52):
I'm thinking about the families that you know, I come
in contact with every single day who I have longed
for investments in their communities. Just on Sunday, we had
a celebration where I made a vow and a commitment
to provide vacant lots over to community based organizations to
build affordable homes. And now we have almost seventy five

(57:15):
families within less than two years that are now homeowners,
and we're working to release another one and twenty five
lots for that. That's the type of work that people
want to see. And to the point that you made earlier,
you know, people wanted me to show how we can
respond to the migrant crisis while also making those critical investments.
We have receipts to prove that, and I believe that

(57:39):
the people of this country are well position for the
type of organizing that brings all of our communities together.
As much as there's been this attempt for a zero sum,
I know deeped out inside as an organizer, as the
leader of one of the largest economies in the world,
that people want us to come together. They want us

(58:01):
to unite around a common interest and a common goal,
which is to ensure that working people have a pathway
to the middle class. And then the last thing that
I'll say on this is we have given millionaires and
especially billionaires the ultra rich, way too much latitude in
our in our government, way too much. And we just

(58:23):
saw the President of the United States of America literally
cut food and medicine from people, and we see the
largest shift of wealth that is ultimately concentrated in the
hands of the few. It was Justice Brandeis that said,
you know, it's one hundred years ago that you either
can have a democracy or you can have wealth that

(58:45):
is concentrated into the hands of the few. He said,
but you cannot have both. We have to choose. And
that was raised or a one hundred years ago, and
now we're seeing the greatest concentration and shift into the
hands of the wealthy. And Democrats have not spoken forcefully

(59:06):
enough around demanding that the alter rich have to put
more skin in the game and pay their fair share
in taxes. That's the winning message. We have to organize
around that message and be okay with standing up to
the supremacist ideology that has not only want to divide us,
but ultimately is causing so much fear and terror. We
stand up for working people and demand that the alter rich,

(59:29):
and that's what we're doing in Chicago. Pay their fair share.
That's the message. That's the work that I believe that's
going to galvanize black, brown, white, Asian young old people
from the West coast to the East coast everywhere else
in between, to ensure that we finally have one nation
that is built under God and liberty and justice can
actually exist for everyone.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
It is how Mandani, despite you know, people trying to
throw around the word socialism to scare people, it is
how he has been able to be the now the
front runner in the race is like running against the
message of like I think we all see in this
country that we have a wealth inequality problem that is pervasive.
But even when you have those right message, as you

(01:00:08):
have experienced personally, that doesn't always point to or translate
to approval ratings. You know, right now, obviously I'm sure
you're aware of what your approval rating is. It's not
very high in the city of Chicago. And despite the
fact that you're doing these things on immigration and reparations
and affordable housing, how do you feel you've handled getting

(01:00:33):
your message to the citizens and what is that I
guess ultimately, what do you take from that the fact
that you do have a very low approval rating despite
what you feel like our signature accomplishments for your administration.

Speaker 4 (01:00:47):
Well, let me just, first of all, let me say that,
you know, I don't, you know, necessarily get overwhelmed by
like how someone feels or thinks about me. You know,
when I launched my campaign a few years ago, you know,
I be a millionaire, a bureaucrat, an incumbent, you know,
multiple holders, state reps, activists, and I believe I was

(01:01:10):
pulling that two point two percent, and no one thought
that I had a chance. I believe that what's happening
in this moment is that it's very clear that that
people have expectations of government that that I believe is
actually healthy, that they want more from government, and where
I believe that I have to be far more thoughtful.

(01:01:31):
And this is what I've learned in my first two
years in office, is that I took for granted that
people would just know the work that we're doing. So
we attack in particular issue, you see the results and
just move on to the next. You know, my father
was a pastor, and I'm just remembering, you know, a
passage in Mark chapter eight, where Jesus you know, warned

(01:01:52):
of the you know, the disciples of the yeast of
the Pharisees. In other words, if you don't share your message,
your opposition will, and it will most certainly spread. And
you know what I have done over the last seven
months is I spent more time in the community describing

(01:02:15):
not just the what, but why we're doing it. And
as we continue to do that, we're already seeing a
turn of how people are receiving this message. And so
I took that for granted. I just figured that you know,
those who were responsible to carry the news, that would
share all of the work that we were doing. And
not to say that this, you know, would relinquish you know,

(01:02:36):
me from from having some responsibility, or that it wouldn't,
you know, call for some critique of how I've handled things.
And certainly I'm not perfect, and you know, I always
remind people that, you know, something, it doesn't have to
be perfect in order for it to work. And that's
speaking from someone who's been married for twenty seven years.
But we have to work towards perfection. And so, you know,

(01:02:59):
this conversation with you and other conversations that I'm going
to continue to have to continue to make the case
that we are building the safest, most affordable big city
in America as crime continues to go down, as our
investments continue to go up. This is the pathway of
progressive governance. This is not a theory, you know, This
is not you know, someone's just hope or aspiration or

(01:03:20):
actually seeing the benefit of how we're showing up for
the unhoused, how we're showing up for you know, our
workers as the most pro workers city in America. And
you know, I'm going to continue to make the case
with residents across the city of how these investments are
ultimately leading towards the protection of working class and creating
opportunities for families to be able to move into the

(01:03:42):
middle class.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
All right, final question, mister mayor. I call this the
messy question because.

Speaker 5 (01:03:46):
This where we make the blogs. This is where that
headline comes. I don't know if this right now, I
don't know if it's going to help the approval writing
or not. Who knows.

Speaker 1 (01:03:55):
We'll see. All right, here's a messy question. Start cut.
You have Michael Jordan, Dwayne Wade, and Derek Rose, all
in their prime.

Speaker 5 (01:04:06):
Who you starting who you mention who you cutting.

Speaker 4 (01:04:11):
Yeah, well, look, you know, we know that Michael Jordan
is the greatest of all time, and Derek Rose is
Chicago threw and through. Derek Rose is starting absolutely starting. Yes, yes, wow.

Speaker 1 (01:04:28):
Okay, this may be the most controversial answer that's ever happened.

Speaker 4 (01:04:33):
If you're talking about their prime. You know, Derek Rose,
I believe, was Rookie of the Year and had m
VPS and his early stages far before Michael Jordan. So
we're just talking about the prime of these individuals. There
was We're talking about one of the most explosive players
of all time. Had Derek Rose stayed healthy, I am

(01:04:55):
confident that you know that his legacy would have been stronger. Now,
look as far as someone who can come in and
make a clutch shot. When Derrick Grosse breaks down the
defense and passes us out to the wing, mj is
hitting that shot down. So you see who I'm.

Speaker 5 (01:05:12):
Cutting right and d Waye is my homie. I can't
wait to tell him. I'mnna call him right now, but
like listen, you gotta go.

Speaker 4 (01:05:20):
He's Chicago through and through. I'm just simply saying when
we saw d Wade on the Bulls by that time.
You know, you know, I probably could have put up
five points against d Wade.

Speaker 5 (01:05:32):
I love disrespect.

Speaker 1 (01:05:36):
So you are starting Derek Ross, you are benching Michael Jordan,
and you are cutting d Wade.

Speaker 5 (01:05:42):
And I remind you Michael Jordan did win Rookie of
the Year, just so you know, all right.

Speaker 1 (01:05:46):
His MVP came I believe in his fourth season. So
that's not he was the man kind of right away me.

Speaker 4 (01:05:55):
No, No, look very well, and it's why I think
he'll be a good addition off the.

Speaker 5 (01:06:05):
That is awesome. Well, listen, Mayor John said, good luck.

Speaker 1 (01:06:09):
I'm really you know, one of the long standing arguments
I used to have about my cousin city in Chicago
being a detroiter is when they want to play that
what about Chicago game, whenever you try to make them
somewhat aware of white supremacy, they want to throw away
in Chicago's murder rate.

Speaker 5 (01:06:27):
Well, now they can stop doing that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:29):
They shouldn't have done it to be dealing with, but
it's it really should be talked about more of what
you have done in the city and reducing the crime.
I know that's always been paramount and a big part
of your platform and just I don't know how you
politicians do it, I really don't, but the enthusiasm from
the ones that really are committed to the community, it
always comes through. So good luck with everything in the city.

(01:06:51):
Enjoy a peaceful summer hopefully continued in Chicago. And yeah,
I can't wait to call you wait and tell them this,
this is gonna be fun.

Speaker 4 (01:07:00):
I would take some further exactly. Let me thank you
as well, Jamil for your work and you know what
you have meant to so many people around this country.
The way you stood a better time in which you
know you were you know, you know they were trying
to put you in time out in isolation for standing

(01:07:20):
to your true to your values and to see the
way your career has expanded and how many lives you
have reached. It truly is inspiration for me that even
you know when people misunderstand or try to characterize you
a certain way, that you know if there's real purpose
that God has for someone that not even your greatest
opposition can get in a way of that. So thank

(01:07:42):
you for your tenacity and taking that Midwestern uh if
you will, strength into your work. So we're very proud
of you. As a community, and and we're grateful that
you're providing a platform for so many voices to be
heard in this moment.

Speaker 5 (01:07:55):
All right, I appreciate you.

Speaker 1 (01:07:58):
One more segment to go coming up. Now, it's the
Final Spin. Time Now for the final Spin. The headline
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelcey are engaged the spin. I'm

(01:08:22):
sick of them and even worse the fixes in Now
Roger Goodell is going to figure out a way to
get the Chiefs back in the Super Bowl so Taylor
Swift can perform the truth. Sports fans, I'm gonna need
y'all to calm down, because y'all was already running with
that as soon as this announcement was announced. Now, when
did we become so toxic that we hate on what

(01:08:42):
appears to be a good love story.

Speaker 5 (01:08:44):
That cute Listen, we are reminded seven hundred.

Speaker 1 (01:08:47):
And forty five times a day how shitty this world
is and that people suck. If two people find love
in a hopeless place, let's celebrate that. Klay Thompson and
Meg thee Stallion, you are now officially my favorite sports
entertainment lab. Please don't let me down. This concludes another
episode of Spolitics. If you have a comment, question, like,
or dislike I'm at Jamail Hill across social media Twitter, Instagram,

(01:09:10):
Fan based, Blue, Scott Anthris, please use the hashtags politics.
You also have the option of emailing me as Politics
twenty twenty four at gmail dot com. You can also
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Politics is spelled s p O l I t i

(01:09:32):
c S. A new episode of Politics drops every Thursday
on iHeart podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. This
is politics where sports and politics don't just mix, they matter.
Politics is the production of iHeart Podcasts and The Unbothered Network.

(01:09:52):
I'm your host Jamail Hill. Executive producer is Taylor Schakoigne.
Lucas Hymen is head of audio and executive produce. Original
music first Politics provided by Kyle Visk from wiz Fx