August 9, 2025 • 36 mins
BIN News anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens join Host Ramses Ja on today's podcast to discuss this week's major news stories.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
It's been another busy news week and we like to
review the major stories of the week here on the
Black Information Network. Today, we are joined by Black Information
Network news anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens to discuss
this week's major stories. This is the QR Code and
I am your host, ramses Jah. All right, Vanessa Tyler
and Mike Stevens, it's been too long. Welcome back to
(00:22):
the show. Vanessa. What's the latest and the greatest in
your world? Oh?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
It was breaking news every hour. It's very very busy.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
How about you, man, I'm I'm hanging in there.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I gotta I gotta kind of sift through the mire
every day, just like you. But uh, you know, we
kind of signed up for it. I think we we
love the we love the drama of it all on
some level, even when it feels a little overwhelming. But
you know, it's, uh, it's your party today. So uh
let's uh put the spotlight on the one and only
(00:57):
the Man, the myth, the legend. Mike Stevens. Latest in
your growth? Wow, what a bildo? Can I record that?
And just on the supermarket, like I'm trying to big
everybody up. Man, we probably all need it right?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
All good?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Okay, Well, as long as it's all good, well, then
let's get into the news. First up, Fueled by comments
made about the President's performance during a Fox News interview,
Breakfast Club co host Charlemagne the God found himself in
a war of words with Donald Trump. It spilled over
into personal attacks. Vanessa, let's get the show started with
you tell us more about Charlemagne and the President's comments,
(01:34):
and then Mike, we'll get your thoughts next.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
H Trump called Charlemagne a racist. Yeah, that's really rich.
He also called him low iq, which appears to be
the insult he saves for certain people, and he called
him a sleeve's bag. It doesn't take much for him
to react unpresidential. What did at this time was Charlemagne
(01:57):
appearing on Lara Trump's Fox Show of whereas Lara is
the President's daughter in law. Charlemagne gave some facts those
Day one promises didn't happen, and he wouldn't give Trump
a good rating because, as he put it, the least
of us are still being impacted by the worst end quote,
and criticism results in an attack. So what spewed from
(02:22):
Trump via truth, social or a string of petty attacks,
including that low IQ comment, and to that Charlemagne responded
besides giving him the donkey of the day, Charlemagne equipped
he never took an IQ test in his life, basically
rising above the Trump insult. Charlemagne even joke, depending on
(02:44):
who you ask, the slee's bag comment may apply. So again,
with so much going on, he's got the time to
battle it out with Charlemagne the God.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, Mike your thoughts.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
Yeah, And this kind of thing is going to continue
going on throughout his administration with Donald Trump and the
media that he doesn't like. I just want to remind
our listeners that when Kamala Harris was in there as
Vice president, she sat down with Charlemagne also and there
was some controversy in there as well. So if depending
(03:23):
on who you ask, maybe he's an equal opportunity offender,
or he's just speaking the truth and people don't like it.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah, And he's known for That's he's kind of soften
in like the past maybe maybe ten years, especially in
the last five years, I'd say, but he's soft in
his approach. But yeah, he still ruffles feathers. He's kind
of known for that. He asks uncomfortable questions, awkward questions
(03:51):
of his guests, and you know, that's kind of what
you expect when you go there. This is coming from
somebody who's been on his show. You know, he's put
me to the to the fire too, and I appreciate
that because, you know, if you're going to say your
side of the story, if you're going to speak your truth,
(04:15):
you want someone that's going to challenge you so that
it doesn't feel like you've got anything handed to you,
you know what I mean, if you really stand in
the middle of.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yourself, that's okay.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And a lot of people are very kind and they
interview you, asking you questions that you would like them
to ask you, that you're prepared for, and then you
end up, you know, coming from someone who's been through
kind of the media process, interviewed, having to say the
same story over and over again to every single media
outlet in the world, you know, you it's just like
(04:45):
a broken record. And Charlomagne is one of those few
disruptors in that space that will ask you a question
you weren't expecting and then it allows you to access
a different version of the story or a different facet
of the story. Or whatever it is to you know,
respond to him. So Charlemagne is known for, you know,
being I don't want to say contentious, but.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
He like I said, he ruffles feathers. That's probably the
best way to say it. But in terms of you know,
Donald Trump calling Charlemagne racist and low IQ and all
these things, you know, there's this common saying that I've
been hearing lately, and it's that, you know, Republicans, their
(05:33):
accusations are often admissions. I think that's kind of the
way that it's being said. Effectually, that's what's being communicated,
and I think that this example rings true of that idea,
because for Donald Trump to call Charlemagne racist is crazy.
(05:55):
Charlemagne has not Charlemagne does not have the power to
be racist. Charlemagne does have the power all as do
all of us, to be prejudiced, but racism comes with power,
and you can shape outcomes for large communities of people,
so you know, by definition that's not realistic. But also
(06:20):
Charlemagne does not have a pattern of behavior that any
reasonable person would call racist. He does not do anything
to non black people that he doesn't also do to
black people. From when I said he doesn't mistreat people.
He certainly has non black people on his show, So
racism is not a term that I associate with Charlemagne.
Now I can make that argument for Donald Trump. Indeed,
(06:43):
many people have made that argument for Donald Trump before
I was even born. So you know, there's admission number
one and then low Iq. Charlemagne is clearly a person
who is intelligent. He's eloquent, he's well spoken, he has
a decades long career and broadcasting, and he has the
ratings to support.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
You know, his thoughts.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You know, his thoughts being you know, well founded and
well communicated, and I think those two things are great
indicators of a person's intelligence. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has trouble
getting through sentences. He's never been known to be an
eloquent man. He's never been known to be a particularly
successful business man. You know, I think it was said,
(07:29):
you know, back in twenty sixteen that a person could
have invested Donald Trump's inheritance and beaten Donald Trump's net
worth by simply investing it in. I forgot the exact scenario,
but I remember that being said, and I believe that
to be true because Donald Trump, this is a person
who's file bankruptcy on his airlines and his stakes and
(07:50):
his university, and he's been sued for his charities and
he's been sued by tons of people, and you know,
he files new LLCs and sticks people with the bills
and he's you know.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
What I mean.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And so when it comes to intelligence and that sort
of thing, he's crafty.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I'll give him that. He's sneaky, you know, but.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Intelligence, I just don't think that that those insults really work.
And I think that again, Charlie Mane just ruffled his
feathers by saying the truth.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
And that's the best way to say it. Moving on.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
This week may have marked the sixtieth anniversary of the
Voting Rights Act, but in Detroit, black voters are still
being pushed away from the polls through illegal tactics. Mike,
we're gonna start with you this time. Tell us more
about this story, and Thanessa, we're gonna get you next.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Well, some may call this let the cheating begin. The
Voting Rights Act was a landmark piece of legislation. It
really has helped African Americans for generations with equality. There
have been many efforts to erove those efforts lately.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
And over the last few years, one of them in Detroit.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
Detroit considered one of the black big cities in America,
So like this is like the perfect place for these
two white men to do this. Fast forwarding to sort
of the end of the story, the men pleaded no
contest to the charges of creating and disseminating a robo
call intended to defer to deter black people from participating
(09:22):
in absentee voting. This is for the twenty twenty election.
So the charges that we're talking about are tied to
a robo call that suggested people voting by mail, which
is something you know Black Democrats are often known for
in Democrats in general, that.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Put their they will put their information into.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
A database if they voted by mail, that could be
used against them to track warrants to collect credit card debt.
So basically scaring people to say, if you vote by
a mail, it's going to come back to haunt you.
A lot of people complain. The Democratic Attorney General in
Michigan listened, looked into the matter, and you know, call
(10:06):
this racially targeted suppression, saying that it's not going to
be tolerated.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
There.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
We should mention that these same type of tactics were
also done in other states that have large black urban populations.
So it's just kind of a way, you know, we
President Trump talked has talked about the election being rigged,
but really seems like the rigging more was on that
(10:35):
side than on the Democrats or African American side.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Vanessa, voter suppression is real in and an effect right now.
Those who decide to sit out elections under the excuse
nothing's going to change must see now things do change
and change quickly. That is why knowing our history is vital.
I did that this story that we're talking about on
(11:03):
the Black Information Network and I used to clip from LBJ,
and I also used reaction from Reverend Al Sharpton and
he talked about remembering when President Johnson signed the Voting
Rights Act sixty years ago that it made his mother
cry because she could now vote in her Alabama hometown.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
The really sad thing.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Is people think this fight is over, but it's continuing,
and it's going to continue. We see what's happening, of
course right now in Texas, that's a huge story. They
decided to leave the state, but eventually they're gonna have
to come back. But what they're doing rewriting those districts
and what they're probably planning to use that as a
(11:48):
blueprint to rewrite districts nationwide. It's it's gonna be pretty
tough for us. And I just read something about the
census being redone before the ten years, which, of course,
you know, the census dictates these congressional district lines. So
it's not going to be good. It's going to be
a real tough fight, and it's getting even tougher every day.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, yeah, we're in a tough spot. I'm so disappointed
in everyone that set out the last election because and
I'm disappointed in those of us that overused the idea
(12:32):
that this election is the most important election of our lives,
going all the way back to you know, twenty or
two thousand, really, because that was the first election I
was able to vote in, because every election was the
most important election of our lives. And so you know,
at least the group of folks that I came up with,
(12:54):
they had heard it so much that maybe they'd become
desensitized to it. Just of course, all the elections are
the same. No matter who I vote for, my reality
doesn't change one way or the other. It makes no difference.
I can't be bothered or I've done my research and
none of them are doing anything for me. Right, And
then there's the other narrative, Well, it's the lesser of
(13:15):
two evils. Why would I choose something that's evil. That
was something that a lot of folks had to say
this past election, particularly folks that had an issue with
United States supporting Israel's campaign in Gaza. You know, am
I going to vote for the person who wants to
stab me? O the person who wants to shoot me?
(13:35):
You know, this is kind of the mentality of a
lot of these folks. And you know Q always mentions that,
you know, there are people that will argue and sit
out elections and so forth over one issue. Right, they
(13:57):
have one issue a politician won't do what it is
that they want their single issue voter, so they're going
to stay home. And meanwhile, the opposition is not really
on that. They have one issue that they agree on
the rest of it really doesn't matter. And often that
one issue is either based in racism or based in
(14:18):
their finances, and if they can get one or the other,
then that's their guy.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And so you know, this last election was a combination
of both of those factors, that being the most important
election of our life and us not being willing to
get past the single voter issue thing. Kamala Harris locked
up black man, She's no better than Trump. I'm not voting, okay.
And then now there's no more elections conceivably based on
(14:46):
the plan that they are. I don't want to say
that they want to put in place, because they're actively
putting in place. The President has called for a new census,
and it's under the guise of removing illegals quote unquo
quote illegal residents from the census to have a more
accurate you know, census, have more accurate census records. But
(15:12):
you know they can. I mean, the writing's on the wall.
Donald Trump said it himself, folks, You're only going to
have to vote in this election. After that, you don't
have to vote in any more elections. Like they were
saying everything out loud the whole time, and we tried
to tell people that and then now here we are,
and what does it mean to vote in mid terms now?
I mean, I'm grateful for the you know, the governors
(15:34):
in New York and in California saying that if they're
going to jerry mander, then we're going to jerry mander
all the Republican seats out of California and out of
New York. I'm grateful that there is some fight there,
but you know, this is the fault of the voters
who chose to stay home. That's it. That's the whole thing,
and that's why it's so heartbreaking. And this is just
one thing. You know, all of us we cover. We're
(15:58):
like the band on the ship as the Titanic is
going down. And I don't mean to sound so bleak,
but it's like it's almost overwhelming to be in the news,
you know, reporting space these days, because it's like, well,
which of these eleven horrible stories do we share? Because
we can only get to four of them, you know,
And so I at this point, I mean, I wouldn't
(16:23):
tell people to write letters, you know, I wouldn't tell
people to vote, you know. I guess I always have
to say that this is still, I guess has some
semblance of a democracy. But you know, we're here now.
This is the find out phase. And my only hope
is that if there is a lesson that we learned
from this, on the other side of Donald Trump's death
because he doesn't live forever. And you know, my belief
(16:46):
is that that's going to change quite a bit. I
think MAGA goes away after Donald Trump's death and traditional
Republicanism sets back in. But we have to weather this storm,
you know, until that time comes and we can appeal
to you know, the traditional GOP that you know assumes
leadership again and their decency, which you know, now that
(17:08):
they realize that they don't really have to adhere to
those standards, maybe that won't exist either. But my only
hope is that if we all do whether this storm,
when we get there, that we can try to claw
back some of these protections and rights that we once
had as a people and as a country.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Hey, what's up.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
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Speaker 1 (17:56):
Black Information Network news anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens
are here with us discussing this week's major stories. All right,
up next, some sad news out of the entertainment industry
involving two iconic Black Award shows. And Essa, let's go
back to you give us an update on the story,
and then Mike will get your thoughts next.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
No, No, some of the best entertainment moments in history
happened at BT Award shows and for black entertainers, those
awards really really meant a lot to them. And Soul
Train that is black history, that is music history. I
would argue this is not the time to celebrate blackness
(18:40):
and see that falling right in line with this current climate.
For the record, b ET CEO Scott Mills tells Billboard,
the team is now reimagining the shows in this changing
media landscape. You also said maybe the shows will appear
in another space, throwing out their streaming or some other platform.
(19:07):
One more tidbit, b ET went from black owner, Bob
Johnson legendary to Viacom, then Paramount Global to now black
lead investors. So people are really surprised by this announcement.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Mike, let's get your dots.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Yeah, the changing landscape of the media, I mean, this
is just another example of who was voted in the office.
You know, so many networks, so many I mean, there's lawsuits,
there's you know, he's not black, but Stephen Colbert is
an example, you know. I mean Donald Trump is in
(19:47):
the forefront of getting that show canceled. And I think
these things are as well, you know, and it's another
example of anti DEI efforts.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
You know, these are iconic in the in the black community.
But things are changing and I don't really see them
changing back anytime soon.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, elections have consequences, man. And like I said, this
is the find out part. It's you know, I don't
know what went into this decision, Okay, I can only speculate.
But on the one hand, you know, the world is
a different place. You know, podcasts are I think podcasts
(20:38):
stand firmly in the place for a lot of folks,
in the place of television shows. Where television shows once stood.
You know, streaming obviously is something that has eclipsed you know,
physical ownership of music, copies of music, I should say,
(21:07):
And the way that we consume and regard, you know,
entertainment has shifted. And so maybe these awards shows do
need to evolve in some meaningful way in order to
remain relevant, because all of these other things have their
own awards and they become more and more prestigious with time, right,
(21:27):
And so what value does a BET award or a
Soul Train Award or whatever have in this current you
know climate, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
So that's that's the one.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
You know, that's one way of considering why these changes
are taking place. But I think, Mike, to your point,
the other way is, how do you when you are
subject to the whims of the Federal Communications Commission the
(22:02):
FCC to broadcast your signal. The NFCC, might I add,
that is subjected to the whims of the President, who's
very clear on anything that's black or special or delineated
for black people around people, or anything like that, women, equity,
(22:25):
any of the anything that sounds like what we should
espouse as human beings.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Anything that sounds like that is under attack.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And you can obviously weaponize the FCC and go after
these entities, revoke their broadcast license, will funding, et cetera.
We've seen it happen. It's not like it's me imagining this.
This is what has been happening. NPR is desperate for,
you know, private funders so that they can remain on air.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Well.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
The other half of this is that, so if you
have an award show that specializes in highlighting black performers,
black music, black you know whatever, in the climate of
an administration that is shutting all that down, and they
have indeed weaponized the Federal Communications Commission to go after
(23:23):
entities that do that, now you have another thing to consider.
And so one of these two things is why I
would imagine Again, I can only speculate that's why you
know they're reimagining these award shows because again, either one
it's the changing world and technology and new platforms and
(23:43):
new ways of delivering content exists, or the other one
is how do you justify celebrating blackness under an oppressive
political regime that really will snuff you out if you
attempt to.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Have any sort of joy about, you know, being the
way God.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Made you, you know, or try to bring about any
sort of equitable experience having been born black in the
United States of America.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
So so yeah, all.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Right, for our final story, Senator Corey Booker was interviewed
this week on CNN and made a passionate plead to
the Democratic Party to stay united and strong during the
Trump administration. As we close out this week, let's get
everybody's reaction to the senator's message and whether there's a
true action plan for the Democratic leaders to back up
his words. Mike, let's go back to you and start,
and then of course, Benessa, we're going to get your
(24:40):
thoughts after.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
So again, this follows the theme for the show. You
know today things have changed. I've never been one to say, oh,
because someone's of a different political mindset or has a
different point of view on policy, that they're bad peace.
(25:01):
But this is different. It's not Democrat versus Republican. Now
we have what they were calling Trump Retrumplicans. I think
it was basically MAGA supporters who are following Donald Trump,
and you know, it's it's like almost like a third
party in a sense. It's not what we used to
(25:22):
know is Republican. So black Democratic US Senator Corey Booker,
who I have much respect for and I had the
pleasure of meeting in the past, is among the Democrats
pushing back against the Retrumplicans, the MAGA supporters, saying got
to do something, got to take a stand. And he
has done his part in that in that effort. But
(25:44):
what do you do. He's talking about those who are
being complicit with President Trump and bending the knee, and
so he's one of those Perhaps that I think we
can gain support by following the more progressive win of
the Democratic Party.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
And you know, pushing But will that work.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
I think that was tried with Kamala Harris did not work.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
This is just my opinion.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
I feel like if the Democrats are going to be
successful next time around the term elections coming up, they're
going to have to take a moderate, more moderate stance.
I think if you try to go toe to toe
with Donald Trump, you're gonna lose. I think that it's
with the independent voters who see, you know, what Donald
(26:38):
Trump is doing, and if they combined with a more
moderate approach to the Democrats, I think we would have
more success. It's just my view. I may be wrong,
you guys, you know, feel free to weigh in. But
I just think having the far left and far right
screaming and yelling at each other, I just don't I
think that Democrats will lose.
Speaker 4 (27:01):
Vanessa Well.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Corey Booker is a fighter. I interviewed him not too
long ago about his twenty five hour long speech. But
what he's saying, we see Democrats finally doing. They say
they don't really see a bottom to this administration and
they just can't wait it out. So you see what
Texas lawmakers are doing. We talked about that, and Democrat
(27:24):
governors say they too, will rewrite voting district maps. It
is that they're getting down and dirty and fighting fire
with fire. In fact, New York's governor Kathy Hulkel put
it bluntly, saying, we are at war. Donald Trump is
(27:47):
a dirty fighter, and so in order to make it through,
we just can't.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
We tried that, we go high, you know, but at
this point it's too much at risk. And I and
I do believe after Donald Trump leaves office, what he's
set in place is going to be so deep that
it's going to be kind of tough to undo. It's
not going to take oh, you know, the next year.
(28:14):
The next president. It's pretty it's pretty dug in an invasive.
So I hope they continue to fight, and I hope
that they get the people riled up, because really that's
really comes down to it's really not just the leaders,
(28:34):
it's the people. The people are going to have to
wake up.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, And I mean I I think I and principle,
I agree with the message. You know, there's a part
of me that wishes that Michelle Obama never said, you know,
when they go low, we go high. I mean, I
recognize that during that time, it was it was based
(29:03):
on what we thought that this country ultimately was the
direction this country was headed in, right, But you know,
I guess we didn't recognize how low they would be
willing to go. And you know, now the philosophy that
(29:28):
I think that we need to get behind is, you know,
when they go low, like we dig a pit and
jump inside the pit. You know what I'm saying, like
we need to go super low. And it's very sad
because I don't think that's really a part of our
nature as a country. I don't think that that's a
(29:50):
part of the nature of many you know, progressive minded,
liberal minded individuals and so forth. Mike, to your point
about common Land Harris being you know, too progressive of
a candidate. You know, I might be a little bit
more with you if we were talking about Bernie Sanders.
(30:11):
But Kamala Harris did her best to try to not
rock the vote, you know. So she was about as
as a moderate of a Democrats as I think we
would have gotten. Now, with that said, we didn't have
a robust primary, so you know who's to say.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
But I know that her strategy and I worked with
her team, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I know that I worked with you know, Corey Booker,
So I know that a strategy was to try to
make sure that she had at least some appeal to
people who would not vote for Trump no matter what,
and try to get them over and voting for her.
So I don't know if playing the middle works either,
(30:57):
because playing the middle leaves you voteulnerable to attack on
both sides. And this is why I said, you know,
I think I agree with the message, but I can't
say that the messenger is really the best person to
be delivering this.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I got to be careful how I say this, because
there are people who listen to this show that will
hold my feet to the fire.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
So here's what I'll.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Say, Corey Booker, the human being. You know, I've met
this man. I've talked with this man. I've you know,
obviously we've watched him, you know, as journalists, and I
think that he and he intends to, you know, create
(31:43):
a better world. I believe he's handcuffed to a pack
and as a result, handcuffed to the Nation State of Israel,
and as a result, has been very supportive Israel's campaign
in Gaza. And a lot of people are repulsed by that.
Even Maga Republicans are repulsed by that response. And he's
(32:06):
one of those people that you know, has to turn
a blind eye to it. With that said, the blood
is on his hands too, And so I don't want
to be one of those people that I talked about
where I says, Okay, this person does all this good
stuff and they do this one thing wrong, and so
throw the whole candidate away because people are complicated. Politics
(32:31):
are complicated. But I cannot applaud this man without saying
out loud with my whole chest that he too is
complicit in the genocide taking place in the Nation State
of Gaza. And so It's one of those things where
(32:51):
it's like this one action, I will say, this is
something that more Democrats need to do. And you know,
I shout out to Corey Booker for leading the charge here,
but you know, he's got some work to do, He's
got a ways to go, and I don't imagine that
the human being that he is morally stands by what
(33:15):
Israel's doing in Gaza. But I do believe that because
of money in politics, he's beholden to the people that
have put him in office, and they just as easily
could say, well, if you change your opinion on Israel,
then we'll fund whoever is running against you in the
next election, and we'll put double the amount of finances
into their campaign and get you out of office and
(33:36):
get someone in who can be our puppet. And that's
the reality of having money in politics. So this is
not a condemnation of Corey Booker the human being as
much as it is a condemnation of Corey Booker's circumstances.
And as a result of those circumstances, indeed, he does
have that blood on his hands. And so it's kind
of like that broken clock being right twice a day.
(34:02):
But you know, there's there's no reality where the listeners
of this show will allow me to say, you know, yeah,
shout out to Corey Booker. It's all good, because they will.
They will bring it to me in the comments. They
do it every time, and and and you know Queues
not on Toda's show, but Q would bring it to
me too. We have to we cannot excuse our politicians
(34:25):
the way that they do, but we also have to
be mindful of the fact that they will not uh
disconnect their support from whoever their person is, their politician
as easily as we do. And as a result, we've
ended up in circumstances that have reshaped our worlds and
(34:47):
our realities. And so we have to really have a
nuanced and unfortunately very complicated view of politics and how
we relate to our politicians.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
And so that's the best that we got for now.
So we believe it right there.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
This is the world that we live in, and I
thank you both for helping me make sense of it
and navigate it, you too, our seasoned professionals, And it shows,
and believe it or not, that little bit of comfort
goes a long way, especially on day's life today, where
you know you kind of get a little overwhelmed by
the amount of stories that you have to sift through,
(35:23):
but again, it's an honor and I'm really appreciative of
your time and your insight. Once again, today's guests are
Black Information Network news anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens.
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
(35:43):
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to
hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I am
your host, Ramsey's job on all social media and we'll
be hosting another episode of Civic Cipher this weekend on
a station near you or stations show times and podcast
info Jecksiviccipher dot com and join us Monday as we
(36:05):
share our news with our voice from our perspective right
here on the QR code
It's been another busy news week and we like to
review the major stories of the week here on the
Black Information Network. Today, we are joined by Black Information
Network news anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens to discuss
this week's major stories. This is the QR Code and
I am your host, ramses Jah. All right, Vanessa Tyler
and Mike Stevens, it's been too long. Welcome back to
(00:22):
the show. Vanessa. What's the latest and the greatest in
your world? Oh?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
It was breaking news every hour. It's very very busy.
Speaker 3 (00:32):
How about you, man, I'm I'm hanging in there.
Speaker 1 (00:35):
I gotta I gotta kind of sift through the mire
every day, just like you. But uh, you know, we
kind of signed up for it. I think we we
love the we love the drama of it all on
some level, even when it feels a little overwhelming. But
you know, it's, uh, it's your party today. So uh
let's uh put the spotlight on the one and only
(00:57):
the Man, the myth, the legend. Mike Stevens. Latest in
your growth? Wow, what a bildo? Can I record that?
And just on the supermarket, like I'm trying to big
everybody up. Man, we probably all need it right?
Speaker 4 (01:12):
All good?
Speaker 1 (01:13):
Okay, Well, as long as it's all good, well, then
let's get into the news. First up, Fueled by comments
made about the President's performance during a Fox News interview,
Breakfast Club co host Charlemagne the God found himself in
a war of words with Donald Trump. It spilled over
into personal attacks. Vanessa, let's get the show started with
you tell us more about Charlemagne and the President's comments,
(01:34):
and then Mike, we'll get your thoughts next.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
H Trump called Charlemagne a racist. Yeah, that's really rich.
He also called him low iq, which appears to be
the insult he saves for certain people, and he called
him a sleeve's bag. It doesn't take much for him
to react unpresidential. What did at this time was Charlemagne
(01:57):
appearing on Lara Trump's Fox Show of whereas Lara is
the President's daughter in law. Charlemagne gave some facts those
Day one promises didn't happen, and he wouldn't give Trump
a good rating because, as he put it, the least
of us are still being impacted by the worst end quote,
and criticism results in an attack. So what spewed from
(02:22):
Trump via truth, social or a string of petty attacks,
including that low IQ comment, and to that Charlemagne responded
besides giving him the donkey of the day, Charlemagne equipped
he never took an IQ test in his life, basically
rising above the Trump insult. Charlemagne even joke, depending on
(02:44):
who you ask, the slee's bag comment may apply. So again,
with so much going on, he's got the time to
battle it out with Charlemagne the God.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Yeah, Mike your thoughts.
Speaker 5 (03:01):
Yeah, And this kind of thing is going to continue
going on throughout his administration with Donald Trump and the
media that he doesn't like. I just want to remind
our listeners that when Kamala Harris was in there as
Vice president, she sat down with Charlemagne also and there
was some controversy in there as well. So if depending
(03:23):
on who you ask, maybe he's an equal opportunity offender,
or he's just speaking the truth and people don't like it.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yeah, And he's known for That's he's kind of soften
in like the past maybe maybe ten years, especially in
the last five years, I'd say, but he's soft in
his approach. But yeah, he still ruffles feathers. He's kind
of known for that. He asks uncomfortable questions, awkward questions
(03:51):
of his guests, and you know, that's kind of what
you expect when you go there. This is coming from
somebody who's been on his show. You know, he's put
me to the to the fire too, and I appreciate
that because, you know, if you're going to say your
side of the story, if you're going to speak your truth,
(04:15):
you want someone that's going to challenge you so that
it doesn't feel like you've got anything handed to you,
you know what I mean, if you really stand in
the middle of.
Speaker 3 (04:22):
Yourself, that's okay.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
And a lot of people are very kind and they
interview you, asking you questions that you would like them
to ask you, that you're prepared for, and then you
end up, you know, coming from someone who's been through
kind of the media process, interviewed, having to say the
same story over and over again to every single media
outlet in the world, you know, you it's just like
(04:45):
a broken record. And Charlomagne is one of those few
disruptors in that space that will ask you a question
you weren't expecting and then it allows you to access
a different version of the story or a different facet
of the story. Or whatever it is to you know,
respond to him. So Charlemagne is known for, you know,
being I don't want to say contentious, but.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
He like I said, he ruffles feathers. That's probably the
best way to say it. But in terms of you know,
Donald Trump calling Charlemagne racist and low IQ and all
these things, you know, there's this common saying that I've
been hearing lately, and it's that, you know, Republicans, their
(05:33):
accusations are often admissions. I think that's kind of the
way that it's being said. Effectually, that's what's being communicated,
and I think that this example rings true of that idea,
because for Donald Trump to call Charlemagne racist is crazy.
(05:55):
Charlemagne has not Charlemagne does not have the power to
be racist. Charlemagne does have the power all as do
all of us, to be prejudiced, but racism comes with power,
and you can shape outcomes for large communities of people,
so you know, by definition that's not realistic. But also
(06:20):
Charlemagne does not have a pattern of behavior that any
reasonable person would call racist. He does not do anything
to non black people that he doesn't also do to
black people. From when I said he doesn't mistreat people.
He certainly has non black people on his show, So
racism is not a term that I associate with Charlemagne.
Now I can make that argument for Donald Trump. Indeed,
(06:43):
many people have made that argument for Donald Trump before
I was even born. So you know, there's admission number
one and then low Iq. Charlemagne is clearly a person
who is intelligent. He's eloquent, he's well spoken, he has
a decades long career and broadcasting, and he has the
ratings to support.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
You know, his thoughts.
Speaker 1 (07:06):
You know, his thoughts being you know, well founded and
well communicated, and I think those two things are great
indicators of a person's intelligence. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has trouble
getting through sentences. He's never been known to be an
eloquent man. He's never been known to be a particularly
successful business man. You know, I think it was said,
(07:29):
you know, back in twenty sixteen that a person could
have invested Donald Trump's inheritance and beaten Donald Trump's net
worth by simply investing it in. I forgot the exact scenario,
but I remember that being said, and I believe that
to be true because Donald Trump, this is a person
who's file bankruptcy on his airlines and his stakes and
(07:50):
his university, and he's been sued for his charities and
he's been sued by tons of people, and you know,
he files new LLCs and sticks people with the bills
and he's you know.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
What I mean.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
And so when it comes to intelligence and that sort
of thing, he's crafty.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
I'll give him that. He's sneaky, you know, but.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
Intelligence, I just don't think that that those insults really work.
And I think that again, Charlie Mane just ruffled his
feathers by saying the truth.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
And that's the best way to say it. Moving on.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
This week may have marked the sixtieth anniversary of the
Voting Rights Act, but in Detroit, black voters are still
being pushed away from the polls through illegal tactics. Mike,
we're gonna start with you this time. Tell us more
about this story, and Thanessa, we're gonna get you next.
Speaker 4 (08:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (08:35):
Well, some may call this let the cheating begin. The
Voting Rights Act was a landmark piece of legislation. It
really has helped African Americans for generations with equality. There
have been many efforts to erove those efforts lately.
Speaker 4 (08:54):
And over the last few years, one of them in Detroit.
Speaker 5 (08:58):
Detroit considered one of the black big cities in America,
So like this is like the perfect place for these
two white men to do this. Fast forwarding to sort
of the end of the story, the men pleaded no
contest to the charges of creating and disseminating a robo
call intended to defer to deter black people from participating
(09:22):
in absentee voting. This is for the twenty twenty election.
So the charges that we're talking about are tied to
a robo call that suggested people voting by mail, which
is something you know Black Democrats are often known for
in Democrats in general, that.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
Put their they will put their information into.
Speaker 5 (09:43):
A database if they voted by mail, that could be
used against them to track warrants to collect credit card debt.
So basically scaring people to say, if you vote by
a mail, it's going to come back to haunt you.
A lot of people complain. The Democratic Attorney General in
Michigan listened, looked into the matter, and you know, call
(10:06):
this racially targeted suppression, saying that it's not going to
be tolerated.
Speaker 4 (10:11):
There.
Speaker 5 (10:12):
We should mention that these same type of tactics were
also done in other states that have large black urban populations.
So it's just kind of a way, you know, we
President Trump talked has talked about the election being rigged,
but really seems like the rigging more was on that
(10:35):
side than on the Democrats or African American side.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
Vanessa, voter suppression is real in and an effect right now.
Those who decide to sit out elections under the excuse
nothing's going to change must see now things do change
and change quickly. That is why knowing our history is vital.
I did that this story that we're talking about on
(11:03):
the Black Information Network and I used to clip from LBJ,
and I also used reaction from Reverend Al Sharpton and
he talked about remembering when President Johnson signed the Voting
Rights Act sixty years ago that it made his mother
cry because she could now vote in her Alabama hometown.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
The really sad thing.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Is people think this fight is over, but it's continuing,
and it's going to continue. We see what's happening, of
course right now in Texas, that's a huge story. They
decided to leave the state, but eventually they're gonna have
to come back. But what they're doing rewriting those districts
and what they're probably planning to use that as a
(11:48):
blueprint to rewrite districts nationwide. It's it's gonna be pretty
tough for us. And I just read something about the
census being redone before the ten years, which, of course,
you know, the census dictates these congressional district lines. So
it's not going to be good. It's going to be
a real tough fight, and it's getting even tougher every day.
Speaker 1 (12:11):
Yeah, yeah, we're in a tough spot. I'm so disappointed
in everyone that set out the last election because and
I'm disappointed in those of us that overused the idea
(12:32):
that this election is the most important election of our lives,
going all the way back to you know, twenty or
two thousand, really, because that was the first election I
was able to vote in, because every election was the
most important election of our lives. And so you know,
at least the group of folks that I came up with,
(12:54):
they had heard it so much that maybe they'd become
desensitized to it. Just of course, all the elections are
the same. No matter who I vote for, my reality
doesn't change one way or the other. It makes no difference.
I can't be bothered or I've done my research and
none of them are doing anything for me. Right, And
then there's the other narrative, Well, it's the lesser of
(13:15):
two evils. Why would I choose something that's evil. That
was something that a lot of folks had to say
this past election, particularly folks that had an issue with
United States supporting Israel's campaign in Gaza. You know, am
I going to vote for the person who wants to
stab me? O the person who wants to shoot me?
(13:35):
You know, this is kind of the mentality of a
lot of these folks. And you know Q always mentions that,
you know, there are people that will argue and sit
out elections and so forth over one issue. Right, they
(13:57):
have one issue a politician won't do what it is
that they want their single issue voter, so they're going
to stay home. And meanwhile, the opposition is not really
on that. They have one issue that they agree on
the rest of it really doesn't matter. And often that
one issue is either based in racism or based in
(14:18):
their finances, and if they can get one or the other,
then that's their guy.
Speaker 3 (14:23):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:24):
And so you know, this last election was a combination
of both of those factors, that being the most important
election of our life and us not being willing to
get past the single voter issue thing. Kamala Harris locked
up black man, She's no better than Trump. I'm not voting, okay.
And then now there's no more elections conceivably based on
(14:46):
the plan that they are. I don't want to say
that they want to put in place, because they're actively
putting in place. The President has called for a new census,
and it's under the guise of removing illegals quote unquo
quote illegal residents from the census to have a more
accurate you know, census, have more accurate census records. But
(15:12):
you know they can. I mean, the writing's on the wall.
Donald Trump said it himself, folks, You're only going to
have to vote in this election. After that, you don't
have to vote in any more elections. Like they were
saying everything out loud the whole time, and we tried
to tell people that and then now here we are,
and what does it mean to vote in mid terms now?
I mean, I'm grateful for the you know, the governors
(15:34):
in New York and in California saying that if they're
going to jerry mander, then we're going to jerry mander
all the Republican seats out of California and out of
New York. I'm grateful that there is some fight there,
but you know, this is the fault of the voters
who chose to stay home. That's it. That's the whole thing,
and that's why it's so heartbreaking. And this is just
one thing. You know, all of us we cover. We're
(15:58):
like the band on the ship as the Titanic is
going down. And I don't mean to sound so bleak,
but it's like it's almost overwhelming to be in the news,
you know, reporting space these days, because it's like, well,
which of these eleven horrible stories do we share? Because
we can only get to four of them, you know,
And so I at this point, I mean, I wouldn't
(16:23):
tell people to write letters, you know, I wouldn't tell
people to vote, you know. I guess I always have
to say that this is still, I guess has some
semblance of a democracy. But you know, we're here now.
This is the find out phase. And my only hope
is that if there is a lesson that we learned
from this, on the other side of Donald Trump's death
because he doesn't live forever. And you know, my belief
(16:46):
is that that's going to change quite a bit. I
think MAGA goes away after Donald Trump's death and traditional
Republicanism sets back in. But we have to weather this storm,
you know, until that time comes and we can appeal
to you know, the traditional GOP that you know assumes
leadership again and their decency, which you know, now that
(17:08):
they realize that they don't really have to adhere to
those standards, maybe that won't exist either. But my only
hope is that if we all do whether this storm,
when we get there, that we can try to claw
back some of these protections and rights that we once
had as a people and as a country.
Speaker 3 (17:24):
Hey, what's up.
Speaker 1 (17:24):
This is Ramsy's Ja and I am q Ward and
we're inviting you to subscribe to Civic Cipher.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Are we social justice podcast? Right here in the app.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
We pride ourselves on creating a show that fusters allyship,
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Speaker 5 (17:44):
The African proverb breeds if you want to go far,
go together, So we are asking you to search for
and subscribe to Civic Cipher.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
That's civ I c c ip h e R Right
here in the app.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Black Information Network news anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens
are here with us discussing this week's major stories. All right,
up next, some sad news out of the entertainment industry
involving two iconic Black Award shows. And Essa, let's go
back to you give us an update on the story,
and then Mike will get your thoughts next.
Speaker 2 (18:16):
No, No, some of the best entertainment moments in history
happened at BT Award shows and for black entertainers, those
awards really really meant a lot to them. And Soul
Train that is black history, that is music history. I
would argue this is not the time to celebrate blackness
(18:40):
and see that falling right in line with this current climate.
For the record, b ET CEO Scott Mills tells Billboard,
the team is now reimagining the shows in this changing
media landscape. You also said maybe the shows will appear
in another space, throwing out their streaming or some other platform.
(19:07):
One more tidbit, b ET went from black owner, Bob
Johnson legendary to Viacom, then Paramount Global to now black
lead investors. So people are really surprised by this announcement.
Speaker 3 (19:23):
Mike, let's get your dots.
Speaker 5 (19:26):
Yeah, the changing landscape of the media, I mean, this
is just another example of who was voted in the office.
You know, so many networks, so many I mean, there's lawsuits,
there's you know, he's not black, but Stephen Colbert is
an example, you know. I mean Donald Trump is in
(19:47):
the forefront of getting that show canceled. And I think
these things are as well, you know, and it's another
example of anti DEI efforts.
Speaker 4 (19:58):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (19:59):
You know, these are iconic in the in the black community.
But things are changing and I don't really see them
changing back anytime soon.
Speaker 3 (20:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
Yeah, elections have consequences, man. And like I said, this
is the find out part. It's you know, I don't
know what went into this decision, Okay, I can only speculate.
But on the one hand, you know, the world is
a different place. You know, podcasts are I think podcasts
(20:38):
stand firmly in the place for a lot of folks,
in the place of television shows. Where television shows once stood.
You know, streaming obviously is something that has eclipsed you know,
physical ownership of music, copies of music, I should say,
(21:07):
And the way that we consume and regard, you know,
entertainment has shifted. And so maybe these awards shows do
need to evolve in some meaningful way in order to
remain relevant, because all of these other things have their
own awards and they become more and more prestigious with time, right,
(21:27):
And so what value does a BET award or a
Soul Train Award or whatever have in this current you
know climate, you know.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
So that's that's the one.
Speaker 1 (21:39):
You know, that's one way of considering why these changes
are taking place. But I think, Mike, to your point,
the other way is, how do you when you are
subject to the whims of the Federal Communications Commission the
(22:02):
FCC to broadcast your signal. The NFCC, might I add,
that is subjected to the whims of the President, who's
very clear on anything that's black or special or delineated
for black people around people, or anything like that, women, equity,
(22:25):
any of the anything that sounds like what we should
espouse as human beings.
Speaker 3 (22:32):
Anything that sounds like that is under attack.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
And you can obviously weaponize the FCC and go after
these entities, revoke their broadcast license, will funding, et cetera.
We've seen it happen. It's not like it's me imagining this.
This is what has been happening. NPR is desperate for,
you know, private funders so that they can remain on air.
Speaker 4 (22:58):
Well.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
The other half of this is that, so if you
have an award show that specializes in highlighting black performers,
black music, black you know whatever, in the climate of
an administration that is shutting all that down, and they
have indeed weaponized the Federal Communications Commission to go after
(23:23):
entities that do that, now you have another thing to consider.
And so one of these two things is why I
would imagine Again, I can only speculate that's why you
know they're reimagining these award shows because again, either one
it's the changing world and technology and new platforms and
(23:43):
new ways of delivering content exists, or the other one
is how do you justify celebrating blackness under an oppressive
political regime that really will snuff you out if you
attempt to.
Speaker 3 (24:02):
Have any sort of joy about, you know, being the
way God.
Speaker 1 (24:05):
Made you, you know, or try to bring about any
sort of equitable experience having been born black in the
United States of America.
Speaker 3 (24:16):
So so yeah, all.
Speaker 1 (24:18):
Right, for our final story, Senator Corey Booker was interviewed
this week on CNN and made a passionate plead to
the Democratic Party to stay united and strong during the
Trump administration. As we close out this week, let's get
everybody's reaction to the senator's message and whether there's a
true action plan for the Democratic leaders to back up
his words. Mike, let's go back to you and start,
and then of course, Benessa, we're going to get your
(24:40):
thoughts after.
Speaker 5 (24:41):
So again, this follows the theme for the show. You
know today things have changed. I've never been one to say, oh,
because someone's of a different political mindset or has a
different point of view on policy, that they're bad peace.
(25:01):
But this is different. It's not Democrat versus Republican. Now
we have what they were calling Trump Retrumplicans. I think
it was basically MAGA supporters who are following Donald Trump,
and you know, it's it's like almost like a third
party in a sense. It's not what we used to
(25:22):
know is Republican. So black Democratic US Senator Corey Booker,
who I have much respect for and I had the
pleasure of meeting in the past, is among the Democrats
pushing back against the Retrumplicans, the MAGA supporters, saying got
to do something, got to take a stand. And he
has done his part in that in that effort. But
(25:44):
what do you do. He's talking about those who are
being complicit with President Trump and bending the knee, and
so he's one of those Perhaps that I think we
can gain support by following the more progressive win of
the Democratic Party.
Speaker 4 (26:06):
And you know, pushing But will that work.
Speaker 5 (26:09):
I think that was tried with Kamala Harris did not work.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
This is just my opinion.
Speaker 5 (26:16):
I feel like if the Democrats are going to be
successful next time around the term elections coming up, they're
going to have to take a moderate, more moderate stance.
I think if you try to go toe to toe
with Donald Trump, you're gonna lose. I think that it's
with the independent voters who see, you know, what Donald
(26:38):
Trump is doing, and if they combined with a more
moderate approach to the Democrats, I think we would have
more success. It's just my view. I may be wrong,
you guys, you know, feel free to weigh in. But
I just think having the far left and far right
screaming and yelling at each other, I just don't I
think that Democrats will lose.
Speaker 4 (27:01):
Vanessa Well.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Corey Booker is a fighter. I interviewed him not too
long ago about his twenty five hour long speech. But
what he's saying, we see Democrats finally doing. They say
they don't really see a bottom to this administration and
they just can't wait it out. So you see what
Texas lawmakers are doing. We talked about that, and Democrat
(27:24):
governors say they too, will rewrite voting district maps. It
is that they're getting down and dirty and fighting fire
with fire. In fact, New York's governor Kathy Hulkel put
it bluntly, saying, we are at war. Donald Trump is
(27:47):
a dirty fighter, and so in order to make it through,
we just can't.
Speaker 1 (27:53):
You know.
Speaker 2 (27:53):
We tried that, we go high, you know, but at
this point it's too much at risk. And I and
I do believe after Donald Trump leaves office, what he's
set in place is going to be so deep that
it's going to be kind of tough to undo. It's
not going to take oh, you know, the next year.
(28:14):
The next president. It's pretty it's pretty dug in an invasive.
So I hope they continue to fight, and I hope
that they get the people riled up, because really that's
really comes down to it's really not just the leaders,
(28:34):
it's the people. The people are going to have to
wake up.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
Yeah, And I mean I I think I and principle,
I agree with the message. You know, there's a part
of me that wishes that Michelle Obama never said, you know,
when they go low, we go high. I mean, I
recognize that during that time, it was it was based
(29:03):
on what we thought that this country ultimately was the
direction this country was headed in, right, But you know,
I guess we didn't recognize how low they would be
willing to go. And you know, now the philosophy that
(29:28):
I think that we need to get behind is, you know,
when they go low, like we dig a pit and
jump inside the pit. You know what I'm saying, like
we need to go super low. And it's very sad
because I don't think that's really a part of our
nature as a country. I don't think that that's a
(29:50):
part of the nature of many you know, progressive minded,
liberal minded individuals and so forth. Mike, to your point
about common Land Harris being you know, too progressive of
a candidate. You know, I might be a little bit
more with you if we were talking about Bernie Sanders.
(30:11):
But Kamala Harris did her best to try to not
rock the vote, you know. So she was about as
as a moderate of a Democrats as I think we
would have gotten. Now, with that said, we didn't have
a robust primary, so you know who's to say.
Speaker 3 (30:29):
But I know that her strategy and I worked with
her team, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
I know that I worked with you know, Corey Booker,
So I know that a strategy was to try to
make sure that she had at least some appeal to
people who would not vote for Trump no matter what,
and try to get them over and voting for her.
So I don't know if playing the middle works either,
(30:57):
because playing the middle leaves you voteulnerable to attack on
both sides. And this is why I said, you know,
I think I agree with the message, but I can't
say that the messenger is really the best person to
be delivering this.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Now.
Speaker 1 (31:13):
I got to be careful how I say this, because
there are people who listen to this show that will
hold my feet to the fire.
Speaker 4 (31:21):
So here's what I'll.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
Say, Corey Booker, the human being. You know, I've met
this man. I've talked with this man. I've you know,
obviously we've watched him, you know, as journalists, and I
think that he and he intends to, you know, create
(31:43):
a better world. I believe he's handcuffed to a pack
and as a result, handcuffed to the Nation State of Israel,
and as a result, has been very supportive Israel's campaign
in Gaza. And a lot of people are repulsed by that.
Even Maga Republicans are repulsed by that response. And he's
(32:06):
one of those people that you know, has to turn
a blind eye to it. With that said, the blood
is on his hands too, And so I don't want
to be one of those people that I talked about
where I says, Okay, this person does all this good
stuff and they do this one thing wrong, and so
throw the whole candidate away because people are complicated. Politics
(32:31):
are complicated. But I cannot applaud this man without saying
out loud with my whole chest that he too is
complicit in the genocide taking place in the Nation State
of Gaza. And so It's one of those things where
(32:51):
it's like this one action, I will say, this is
something that more Democrats need to do. And you know,
I shout out to Corey Booker for leading the charge here,
but you know, he's got some work to do, He's
got a ways to go, and I don't imagine that
the human being that he is morally stands by what
(33:15):
Israel's doing in Gaza. But I do believe that because
of money in politics, he's beholden to the people that
have put him in office, and they just as easily
could say, well, if you change your opinion on Israel,
then we'll fund whoever is running against you in the
next election, and we'll put double the amount of finances
into their campaign and get you out of office and
(33:36):
get someone in who can be our puppet. And that's
the reality of having money in politics. So this is
not a condemnation of Corey Booker the human being as
much as it is a condemnation of Corey Booker's circumstances.
And as a result of those circumstances, indeed, he does
have that blood on his hands. And so it's kind
of like that broken clock being right twice a day.
(34:02):
But you know, there's there's no reality where the listeners
of this show will allow me to say, you know, yeah,
shout out to Corey Booker. It's all good, because they will.
They will bring it to me in the comments. They
do it every time, and and and you know Queues
not on Toda's show, but Q would bring it to
me too. We have to we cannot excuse our politicians
(34:25):
the way that they do, but we also have to
be mindful of the fact that they will not uh
disconnect their support from whoever their person is, their politician
as easily as we do. And as a result, we've
ended up in circumstances that have reshaped our worlds and
(34:47):
our realities. And so we have to really have a
nuanced and unfortunately very complicated view of politics and how
we relate to our politicians.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
And so that's the best that we got for now.
So we believe it right there.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
This is the world that we live in, and I
thank you both for helping me make sense of it
and navigate it, you too, our seasoned professionals, And it shows,
and believe it or not, that little bit of comfort
goes a long way, especially on day's life today, where
you know you kind of get a little overwhelmed by
the amount of stories that you have to sift through,
(35:23):
but again, it's an honor and I'm really appreciative of
your time and your insight. Once again, today's guests are
Black Information Network news anchors Vanessa Tyler and Mike Stevens.
This has been a production of the Black Information Network.
Today's show was produced by Chris Thompson. Have some thoughts
(35:43):
you'd like to share, use the red microphone talkback feature
on the iHeartRadio app. While you're there, be sure to
hit subscribe and download all of our episodes. I am
your host, Ramsey's job on all social media and we'll
be hosting another episode of Civic Cipher this weekend on
a station near you or stations show times and podcast
info Jecksiviccipher dot com and join us Monday as we
(36:05):
share our news with our voice from our perspective right
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