July 16, 2025 • 29 mins
On part 1 of today's podcast, Ramses and Q Ward discuss voting rights activist Stacey Abrams and her recent comments regarding DEI rollbacks.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from he is the
q N QR code. He is a person I aspire
to be more and more like each and every day.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
He goes by the name of q Ward.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
The man who just said all those lovely things about
himself and then said my name is the r QR code.
He goes by the name Rams his job, and.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
We want you to stick around. We got a lot
to talk about today. First off, we're going to be
talking about Stacy Abrams, the great orator herself warning companies
eliminating DEI that it's going to cost them, and she
is ever so wise and I'm really excited to see
what it is that she's doing and what it is
(00:47):
that she's saying the companies. A little after that, we're
going to be talking about Vance Bolter, the person who
is indicted for killing Minnesota, the Minnesota House Speaker. We're
also going to be talking about how Republican moved to
block the vote to release the Epstein files. And then
for our entertainment section, we are going to be talking
about how Shaquille O'Neil stepped in to defend Angel Reese
(01:12):
from RG three. In between all of that, q is
going to hit us with another clapback about how the
tough on crime right wing seems soft on crime when.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It involves them.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And for our Better Do Better section, we're going to
be talking about the FCC chair Brendan Carr forcing T
Mobile to abandon DEI and so all that and so
much more to stick around for We're gonna have a
good show today. And I know that we end up
talking about a lot of heavy stuff, a lot of
you know whatever, But you know, this is the world
that we live in, and we got to make sense
(01:43):
of it, and so really excited to get into these
weeds and hopefully get some more game and some more
strategy from today's conversation. But before we move any further
right now, we like to start to show off with
a feel good feature or so today's feel good feature
comes from the Black Information Network and for those that
(02:04):
remember the poet Amanda Gorman, she is eyeing a future
presidential run. During last Sunday's episode of Meet the Press,
Gorman who garnered national attention after reading her poem at
former President Joe Biden's inauguration, said she absolutely wants to
make a bid for the presidency in twenty thirty six,
when she's old enough. Per Huffington Post, Gorman twenty seven
(02:26):
said she's felt a responsibility and opportunity to step up
from a young age. The poet recalled becoming interested in
a friend's mom's around work around sex trafficking at age eleven,
which prompted her to become an activist.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I was finding out about all of that, and I
was just overwhelmed with the amount of policy that was
not in place. This is what she said on Meet
the Press. She goes on to say, and I started
to think to myself, someone has to do something about
these issues. Then I kind of looked around and said,
why not me?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Why not?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Now?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Why not here? In twenty three, Gorman's poem was banned
at a Florida school after a parent deemed her work
not educational and said it contained indirect hate speech. Gorman
said Sunday that the band felt like a gut punch.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Quote it felt surreal.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
She said, I had understood that book bands had been happening,
but I think this hit me so incredibly hard because
not only was it something I had written, which was
besides the point, but it was a moment in history
that if a child at the school wanted to hear
words that were spoken at a presidential inauguration for their country,
it had kind of been softly restricted in that way.
Gorman's appearance on Meet the Press came amid promotion for
(03:34):
her new book, Girls on the Rise. Gorman said she
was inspired to write the book after she watched Christine
Blaze Blazy Ford Sorry testify in twenty eighteen that then
Supreme Court nominee Brett Covanaugh had allegedly sexually assaulted her.
So she seems like she's on top of things, and
I remember her reading that poem. It was just an
(03:55):
excellent moment. We were also proud of her and the
fact that she's eyeing the presidency. I love when people
aspire to actually get out there and make the changes
that they want to see in the world.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
All right, So, Stacy Abrams.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Warren's companies eliminating DEI it's going to cost you, all right.
So I'll share a bit from the Black Information Network.
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams is warning companies about
the cost of eliminating their die policies amid pressure from
the Trump administration. Abrams, a voting rights advocate known for
her bids for Georgia governor in the twenty eighteen and
twenty twenty two elections, appeared on a panel last week
(04:29):
at New York University where she addressed the DI rollbacks
at several major companies. Fortune reports earlier this year, Trump
issued an executive order banning DEI in the federal government,
leading many major companies to follow suit. The former gubernatorial
candidate said acquiescing to Trump's policies is a slippery slope
that companies should avoid. Quote this notion that's simply complying
(04:51):
a little bit stops at the water's edge is antithetical
to every history we have ever written, and it costs you,
Abrams said during July eleventh panel. She goes on to
say it may not cost you in the short term,
but in the long term, she added. Abrams also noted
the cost of companies aligning with Trump's in the Trump
administration and turning their backs on the customers who fueled
(05:14):
their success. Quote, I'm also less sympathetic to multi billion
dollar corporations that are concerned about losing a few contracts
when they're willing to sacrifice whole communities for that purpose. Unquote,
Abrams pointed out to Costco's historic growth after the company
moved to reaffirm its commitment to DEI rather than eliminating
its policies.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Costco has always been grounded in this responsibility. Therefore, irrespective
of the change, they never had to change their policies.
They never had to promote who they were. They simply are,
and we can see the distinction between Costco and other institutions.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Abramson's panel appearance comes as she's set to release a
new novel called Coded Justice, which addresses ethical and legal
questions concerning artificial intelligence development. Okay, she's always wise, always measured,
and here she is reminding people exactly what they're walking
(06:09):
away from when they walk away from DEI policies.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Your early thoughts, Q, I definitely have somebody I want
to hear your first.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You know, you and I have discussed before the amount
of companies that so readily and voluntarily like ran from DEI. Yeah,
just based on Donald Trump being opposed to it. I
never stopped being amazed by it that so many people
I use the term bend the knee intentionally because he's
(06:39):
like a ruler. Now it just seems like the type
of person that actually powerful people would see through. But
everybody's just like like voluntarily falling in line, like it's
not I don't know that it's yet illegal to be diverse,
(07:01):
even in the face of it being a clear fiscal
bad decision, because we've seen what happened with Target. Yeah,
companies are lining up to volunteer to make that choice
without much in the way of pressure, And even if
it's back room pressure, no one's fighting back, right. And
(07:23):
you always say, you know, black people will be here
a lot longer than Donald Trump, and that's true. But
the scarier thing to me is that racism seems like
it's going to be here that long as well. And
racism is winning on every front, and we unfortunately have
this habit of kind of not holding the line. Like
(07:46):
I haven't been back to shop at H and M
since the Coolest Monkey in the Jungle, but a lot
of people remember that I haven't been back to Target
and never will, but a lot of people have just
out of sheer convenience. I haven't ordered on Amazon and
probably never will, but some people have. We just eventually
(08:06):
it's like fatigue. We just ah, never mind, like it's
not that serious anymore. People aren't that mad anymore, and
we just go back to the normal.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Now.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Target saw some very very noticeable loss, but for how long,
like unfortunately we do stop. Like eventually we just all right,
let's go back to normal. I'm hoping that this time
around we won't, but it's been very disappointing. You and I.
I won't name the company because I don't want us
to be in any liability having any liability issues, but
(08:37):
you and I wouldn't spoke to some children in Detroit
at an event that sponsors pulled out from because it
was Juneteenth. Yeah, a similar company, maybe even the same company,
either threatened to pull out or pulled out or made
(08:57):
some type of statement with regards to their contribution to
since fest that they weren't supposed to bring up blackness,
like we're going to sponsor the blackest event in the
country to.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Make sure you make it unsay black. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I think it's the same company that was supposed to
sponsor that event that we went to in.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Detroit thinking it's a phone company, right, I think so.
So it's like we're talking about the same.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
What is going on here?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Man? Sure don't talk about blackness at essence Fest. Like again,
something in me feels like all these companies couldn't wait
to be racist because it's not in their financial best interest.
So it has to be what they wanted to do.
(09:44):
So let me let me go with that. So one
of the things, So how about this, let me start here.
First off, you're absolute right, Black people.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Are going to be here longer than Donald Trump, and
these companies are choosing Donald Trump. Now your point is
that they're choosing racism, right, But Donald Trump is the
perfect conduit if indeed that is true, right, and Donald
Trump doesn't last forever black people do. Right. We always
thought money was the great driver of this country, but
(10:18):
we're seeing people make fiscally poor decisions right now. What
qualifies me to speak on this, Well, I went to
school and I studied this. I have a master's degree
and a bachelor's degree, both in business, so and you know,
(10:41):
and I went to school kind of in the early
two thousands, you know, And I went to one of
the best business schools in the country and they taught us,
and I went to a business school in a red state,
but they taught us that diversity will help you get
(11:04):
more money, right, And the things that they spoke to were, Okay,
having a diverse workforce means that you can identify blind spots.
Having diverse decision makers and deciders means that you can
(11:24):
avoid litigation, you can avoid offending communities you can avoid,
you know, and on the other side, that you can
penetrate deeper into the communities you can you can come
across more authentic in your creation of widgets or marketing
of widgets or whatever it is that your company.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Creates.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Right now. The other side of this is your customer base.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I remember hearing a story about some secret service agents
or FBI agents or what I think of a secret
service and they went into a Denny's and they were
discriminated against, and of course the people that the dennis
didn't recognize that they were federal employees and secret service agents,
so they just thought they were just a group of
guys that were in there whatever, and they didn't seat them,
(12:15):
and they didn't serve them or whatever, and they ended
up leaving, suing the Dennys. And then it made you know,
it made news, of course, and Denny's the company, was like, listen,
we need to fix this problem or else a very
significant amount of the population is not going to eat
here anymore. And since we live and die by the
razor margins of profitability, you know, a small drop in
(12:37):
revenue and you know, income over the course of a year,
it makes a significant impact on our share prices, our
capacity to run a business, especially if that drop goes
to another competitor, right, And so, you know, for people
that have allowed Donald Trump's administration to mischaracterize diversity, equity
(13:04):
and inclusion initiatives to somehow suggest that they are anti white,
they are discriminatory in nature, as opposed to they are
restorative and indeed are offsetting the historical discrimination that has
plagued marginalized communities since the inception of this country, at
the beginning of this country. For those companies that have
(13:26):
allowed this administration to mischaracterize that, you know, those of
us that live this life, we can see through that.
And again, I think to Stacy Abram's point, you know,
and to your point q In mine too, because I
don't shop at Amazon anymore, nor will I I don't
shop at Target anymore.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I have no reason to go there. I can.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I will figure something else out right. But the lasting implications,
the lasting effects of these decisions are going to ripple
out a lot further than I believe the Trump administration,
and I hope that I'm right about that. Moving on,
we're going to talk about Vance Bolter, the person that
(14:08):
was in the news for killing the Minnesota House speaker
and shooting up a bunch of other people. So I
know this one really bothered you. Ku. Let me just
read it and get it off and then we'll get
your thoughts here. So this is from CNN. Vance Bolter
was indicted Tuesday on federal charges related to the killing
of a Minnesota lawmaker and her spouse and seriously injuring
another state lawmaker and his wife. Bolter is accused of
(14:30):
killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband
and seriously injuring Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his
wife last month. He faces six charges, including stocking, murder,
and firearms offences, with at least two of those charges
carrying the possibility for the death penalty. Acting US Attorney
Joseph Thompson said during a news conference Tuesday. Quote The
(14:52):
ultimate decision as to whether to seek the death penalty
will not come for several months and will ultimately be
decided by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Thompson said. Bolter also
quote shot at and attempted to kill unquote, the Hoffman's daughter.
Thompson said, quote both John and Yvett acted with incredible
bravery and put themselves between between Bolter's bullets and their daughter. Miraculously,
(15:16):
Hope Hoffman was not shot unquote. He added, authorities have
also recovered both the guns used that day in the incident,
Thompson said. Authority said Bolter was heavily armed and dressed
in tactical armour with a silicone mask hiding his face
and police style badge during the incidents, appearing as a
police officer, a real police officer mistook him for a
(15:37):
fellow cop. Bolter embarked on a planned campaign of stalking
and violence designed to inflict fear, injure and kill members
of the Minnesota State Legislature and their families. This is
according to a NAPA David Quote. He say the attacks sorry.
Authorities say the attacks were highly planned. Bolter possibly spent
months gathering personal information about his targets and other officials
(15:58):
and buying supplies for his attack active they said, so, yeah,
I mean, here we are. You know, obviously we knew
they caught him, but now the charges are laid down
and he's been indicted on these You talk to me.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
It's it's this is just more evidence of how scary
a time we're living in.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, very very.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Obvious outright political violence. And the base that he represents
is not in any way aggressively or overtly in any
way standing up to disassociate themselves with him, call what
(16:50):
he did wrong, To even make this statement, the vanilla
easy softball statement that there's no place for political violence
in this country, the same things, the same things they
would say, you know, we're it the other way around,
and the unfortunate thing is that we know better. Can
(17:15):
you imagine if somebody that voted multiple times for Barack
Obama did the same thing to two Republican lawmakers, the
way the story would be amplified covered I think pieces
(17:35):
the left as a whole would have to answer for
the crime of one person, especially if the assailant was black.
It would be it would be confirmation that black people
are as criminal as they say, that the woke left
is as emotionally and mentally disassociated as they say, like,
(18:01):
it would be confirmation bias for every evil thing they've
ever said about anybody that's different from them. But this
time it's one of theirs, and they just pretend it
didn't happen or they're not really that bothered by it. Yeah,
(18:21):
it's not covering the news anymore. Nobody's like, nobody's talking
about it at all. You know, the the the the
attempt on the president's life, or what they said was
an attempt on his life. That person was also a
right wing Trump supporter.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
That's what I was gonna say.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, And ironically, since that week, we've heard not just
nothing about the shooter, nothing about the incident at all,
an actual attempt on the president of the United States life,
and the news doesn't talk about it, and nobody thinks
that's strange. We haven't seen or heard anything from or
(19:06):
about the assailant at all.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Nothing.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Donald Trump still talks about Barack Obama, who never did
anything to him, still talks about Joe Biden, who never
did anything to him. He's never even mentioned this guy
who tried to take his life on television.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I think I'm kind of in that same in
that same headspace when it comes to this, because as
far as I can remember, everybody that really tried to
enact some form of political violence has been from the right.
(19:52):
All of them. I can't think of one person that
has that the media has successfully painted as at even
a left leaning.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You know, Now, I'm not saying that that doesn't exist.
I could be wrong, of course.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
But I'm saying it doesn't exist because it did, we
have example, we would know it, right, Yeah, And like
you said, you said successfully, And I feel like that
was intentional because they've tried to paint people that's left
leaning and they came out find out in almost every
case not only were they right leaning, but they were Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Supporters, yes, specifically. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
So so when I think of stuff like this, I'm like, Okay,
so we're in an age where political violence is like,
we're right on the cusp of some major things. This
is like what was happening in the sixties. There was
like this unrest, this social unrest, and so many people
(20:47):
were thinking like, oh my god, I have nothing else
to lose. I'm willing to give my life to try
to make things right.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And the thing is is the person I think who's
stoking this political unrest is Donald Trump himself and the
right wing. You know, this is like they're they're they're
pedaling a lot of things, a lot of they're mischaracterizing
(21:17):
a lot of stuff. They're pedaling a lot of baseless things,
and they're they're they're offering a lot of maybe they're
offering data without proper context so that it seems plausible
if you if you just hear it on its face,
it sounds like, Okay, well that makes sense. I have
every right to be upset. But you know, lacking critical
(21:40):
perspective in uh context would cause a lot of people
to be upset. But once you have that context and
people kind of understand it a little bit more, and
I don't want to just like I don't want to
give a free pass to the Democrats, but they seem
to be closer to like normal then Republicans and Republicans
(22:04):
seem to be the ones paying for it for the
most part until it comes to this, And like you said,
when it comes to this, they're like, oh, well, you know,
that's really sad thoughts and prayers. And that's only some
of them. You know, there were some people who really
mean about this. I remember when this story first broke
(22:25):
and there were people that were like, I wouldn't dare repeated.
But you know, there are some people that are really
gross and I get it. You know, some people will say, look,
it's more than just a matter of a difference of opinion,
or it's more than just you know, your politics versus
my politics. This is like your vote affects my life.
(22:47):
I totally understand that, right, But the one thing that
I don't really.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Get is.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
People's delusion to these people tend to be on the right,
but the delusion that somehow those on the left are
actively harming them, and it's all baseless. There's no there's
nothing credible there. It's just a lie that keeps getting repeated.
And it's like, it's like, uh, what is it? The
(23:18):
Mandela effect, So that everybody just subscribes to the same
reality and as long as they have that, as long
as they have each other to confirm this false reality,
well that becomes real enough for them. And then now
they're afraid of something that doesn't exist and that feels
like the primordial ooze, out of which is born political
(23:43):
violence like this. So I don't know, man, this is
it's like a heartbreaking reality to live in that this
woman lost her life. But you know, here we are.
Donald Trump's still alive. And well, all right, let's talk
(24:04):
about Brendan Carr. You know, you and I we do radio,
and radio's subjected to the FCC Federal Communications Commission. We're
not a DEI show, so we can talk about the news.
But this is crazy. So this is from the Black
Information Network. At the headline, of course, Brendan Carr forces
(24:25):
T Mobile to abandon DEI.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
So I'll shared the article. T Mobile has scrapped.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as it seeks to
make two major acquisitions which require approval from the Federal
Communications Commission, and a letter sent to the FCC on Tuesday,
July eighth, the wireless carrier pledged to discontinue its de
I apologies, not just in name, but in substance. Quote,
we recognize that the legal and policy landscape surrounding de
(24:52):
under federal law has changed, unquote, T Mobile wrote per
USA today. Among the changes are the elimination of roles
and teams dedicated to DEI, and the removal of DEI
references from its website and training material. The company is
also opening up training and other career development opportunities to
all employees. FCC chair Brendan Carr previously threatened to block
deals involving companies engaged in DEI. Quote, any businesses that
(25:17):
are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to
get busy ending any sort of their Sorry, this is
invidious forms of DEI discrimination unquote, Car said in an interview.
In May, the FCC approved Verizon's twenty billion dollar deal
to acquire Frontier Communications after it ended its commitment to DEI.
(25:38):
T Mobile needs FCC approval to acquire US Cellular's wireless
operations and internet provider Metronet through a joint venture with KKR.
Car said T Mobile's move to roll back DEI was
quote another good step forward for equal opportunity, non discrimination,
and the public interest unquote. Okay, So first thing I'll
say again, this is a person mischaracterizing diverse, the equity
(26:00):
and inclusion. Okay, diversity, equity, inclusion means everybody. It doesn't
discriminate against white people. It doesn't discriminate against white men. Indeed,
it needs white men, it needs everybody. That is the
definition of diversity. It's not exclusion of someone's it's inclusion, right,
(26:25):
So there are no people who are excluded. Indeed people
are included. But you know people like this that mischaracterize
it so that they can advance that they're just using
crafty language to advance a pro this is this is
I just I don't I don't like using this language.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
But there's no other way to say.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
This is a white supremacist maneuver endeavor right, because it
protects the status quo, which again benefits white, straight Christian
healthy and that's all it is. And so mischaracterizing something
(27:05):
that is good to maintain a status quo, which is
has historically and continues to hinder the advancement opportunities and
the growth opportunities for marginalized peoples in this country is
the craziest work. And for him to use this power
of this position, and I know Donald Trump put him
(27:25):
there so he could do that. Donald Trump can appoint
person to the appoint a person to the Federal Communications
Commission because it falls under the federal government. But I
think this person still wants to be viewed as a
decent human being on some level, and this language that
the logic falls short, It falls flat once you introduce
(27:48):
the context to this equation. And I'm like, of course,
I'm not like happy that T Mobile's doing this, but
like I kind of understand. It's like, well, how do
we remain competitive? How do we compete? Only the racist companies,
only the companies that are getting rid of their DEI
can even make deals, can can remain competitive in this
(28:13):
new political landscape. Indeed, their language doesn't say we've abandoned it.
We've seen the new light. You know, the status quo
prior to twenty twenty was what we should have maintained.
They didn't say that. They say, we recognize the legal
and policy landscape surrounding DEI under federal law has changed.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
And so you know, my heartbreaks for T Mobile at
the same time, like I'm disappointed in them making the decision.
I just kind of know why. And you know, Brendan
Carr from where I said, Brendan Carr is one of
those people that you know, listen, man, if like history
is going to remember you, and just like how we
remember the Nazis and all the people that supported Hitler. Man,
(28:53):
you're right up there, like, long term, I don't think
that this lasts. You might got the next fifty years
or whatever, as long as that Supreme Court's there. But
long term, this country has changed and will continue to change.
It's my belief we're going in one direction, whether these
people like it or not.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
So my thoughts Q yours.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I don't have much time, so I'll try. That's enough
time for them Ramses, the time that he'll be in office,
the time that those justices will be justices, it's enough time.
This is capitalism. They don't care about what it'll look
(29:38):
like in fifty years. And their language was very reassuring
to white supremacy. And watching white supremacists use Civil rights
era language to position themselves as the victim and the
oppressed and getting that off is insulting.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
And we have to just grid and bear it.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Yeah,
Broadcasting from the Civic Cipher Studios. Welcome to the QR Code,
where we share perspective, seek understanding, and shape outcomes. The
man you are about to hear from he is the
q N QR code. He is a person I aspire
to be more and more like each and every day.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
He goes by the name of q Ward.
Speaker 3 (00:17):
The man who just said all those lovely things about
himself and then said my name is the r QR code.
He goes by the name Rams his job, and.
Speaker 1 (00:25):
We want you to stick around. We got a lot
to talk about today. First off, we're going to be
talking about Stacy Abrams, the great orator herself warning companies
eliminating DEI that it's going to cost them, and she
is ever so wise and I'm really excited to see
what it is that she's doing and what it is
(00:47):
that she's saying the companies. A little after that, we're
going to be talking about Vance Bolter, the person who
is indicted for killing Minnesota, the Minnesota House Speaker. We're
also going to be talking about how Republican moved to
block the vote to release the Epstein files. And then
for our entertainment section, we are going to be talking
about how Shaquille O'Neil stepped in to defend Angel Reese
(01:12):
from RG three. In between all of that, q is
going to hit us with another clapback about how the
tough on crime right wing seems soft on crime when.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
It involves them.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
And for our Better Do Better section, we're going to
be talking about the FCC chair Brendan Carr forcing T
Mobile to abandon DEI and so all that and so
much more to stick around for We're gonna have a
good show today. And I know that we end up
talking about a lot of heavy stuff, a lot of
you know whatever, But you know, this is the world
that we live in, and we got to make sense
(01:43):
of it, and so really excited to get into these
weeds and hopefully get some more game and some more
strategy from today's conversation. But before we move any further
right now, we like to start to show off with
a feel good feature or so today's feel good feature
comes from the Black Information Network and for those that
(02:04):
remember the poet Amanda Gorman, she is eyeing a future
presidential run. During last Sunday's episode of Meet the Press,
Gorman who garnered national attention after reading her poem at
former President Joe Biden's inauguration, said she absolutely wants to
make a bid for the presidency in twenty thirty six,
when she's old enough. Per Huffington Post, Gorman twenty seven
(02:26):
said she's felt a responsibility and opportunity to step up
from a young age. The poet recalled becoming interested in
a friend's mom's around work around sex trafficking at age eleven,
which prompted her to become an activist.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (02:41):
I was finding out about all of that, and I
was just overwhelmed with the amount of policy that was
not in place. This is what she said on Meet
the Press. She goes on to say, and I started
to think to myself, someone has to do something about
these issues. Then I kind of looked around and said,
why not me?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Why not?
Speaker 3 (02:57):
Now?
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Why not here? In twenty three, Gorman's poem was banned
at a Florida school after a parent deemed her work
not educational and said it contained indirect hate speech. Gorman
said Sunday that the band felt like a gut punch.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Quote it felt surreal.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
She said, I had understood that book bands had been happening,
but I think this hit me so incredibly hard because
not only was it something I had written, which was
besides the point, but it was a moment in history
that if a child at the school wanted to hear
words that were spoken at a presidential inauguration for their country,
it had kind of been softly restricted in that way.
Gorman's appearance on Meet the Press came amid promotion for
(03:34):
her new book, Girls on the Rise. Gorman said she
was inspired to write the book after she watched Christine
Blaze Blazy Ford Sorry testify in twenty eighteen that then
Supreme Court nominee Brett Covanaugh had allegedly sexually assaulted her.
So she seems like she's on top of things, and
I remember her reading that poem. It was just an
(03:55):
excellent moment. We were also proud of her and the
fact that she's eyeing the presidency. I love when people
aspire to actually get out there and make the changes
that they want to see in the world.
Speaker 2 (04:05):
All right, So, Stacy Abrams.
Speaker 1 (04:07):
Warren's companies eliminating DEI it's going to cost you, all right.
So I'll share a bit from the Black Information Network.
Former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams is warning companies about
the cost of eliminating their die policies amid pressure from
the Trump administration. Abrams, a voting rights advocate known for
her bids for Georgia governor in the twenty eighteen and
twenty twenty two elections, appeared on a panel last week
(04:29):
at New York University where she addressed the DI rollbacks
at several major companies. Fortune reports earlier this year, Trump
issued an executive order banning DEI in the federal government,
leading many major companies to follow suit. The former gubernatorial
candidate said acquiescing to Trump's policies is a slippery slope
that companies should avoid. Quote this notion that's simply complying
(04:51):
a little bit stops at the water's edge is antithetical
to every history we have ever written, and it costs you,
Abrams said during July eleventh panel. She goes on to
say it may not cost you in the short term,
but in the long term, she added. Abrams also noted
the cost of companies aligning with Trump's in the Trump
administration and turning their backs on the customers who fueled
(05:14):
their success. Quote, I'm also less sympathetic to multi billion
dollar corporations that are concerned about losing a few contracts
when they're willing to sacrifice whole communities for that purpose. Unquote,
Abrams pointed out to Costco's historic growth after the company
moved to reaffirm its commitment to DEI rather than eliminating
its policies.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Costco has always been grounded in this responsibility. Therefore, irrespective
of the change, they never had to change their policies.
They never had to promote who they were. They simply are,
and we can see the distinction between Costco and other institutions.
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Abramson's panel appearance comes as she's set to release a
new novel called Coded Justice, which addresses ethical and legal
questions concerning artificial intelligence development. Okay, she's always wise, always measured,
and here she is reminding people exactly what they're walking
(06:09):
away from when they walk away from DEI policies.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
Your early thoughts, Q, I definitely have somebody I want
to hear your first.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You know, you and I have discussed before the amount
of companies that so readily and voluntarily like ran from DEI. Yeah,
just based on Donald Trump being opposed to it. I
never stopped being amazed by it that so many people
I use the term bend the knee intentionally because he's
(06:39):
like a ruler. Now it just seems like the type
of person that actually powerful people would see through. But
everybody's just like like voluntarily falling in line, like it's
not I don't know that it's yet illegal to be diverse,
(07:01):
even in the face of it being a clear fiscal
bad decision, because we've seen what happened with Target. Yeah,
companies are lining up to volunteer to make that choice
without much in the way of pressure, And even if
it's back room pressure, no one's fighting back, right. And
(07:23):
you always say, you know, black people will be here
a lot longer than Donald Trump, and that's true. But
the scarier thing to me is that racism seems like
it's going to be here that long as well. And
racism is winning on every front, and we unfortunately have
this habit of kind of not holding the line. Like
(07:46):
I haven't been back to shop at H and M
since the Coolest Monkey in the Jungle, but a lot
of people remember that I haven't been back to Target
and never will, but a lot of people have just
out of sheer convenience. I haven't ordered on Amazon and
probably never will, but some people have. We just eventually
(08:06):
it's like fatigue. We just ah, never mind, like it's
not that serious anymore. People aren't that mad anymore, and
we just go back to the normal.
Speaker 2 (08:14):
Now.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
Target saw some very very noticeable loss, but for how long,
like unfortunately we do stop. Like eventually we just all right,
let's go back to normal. I'm hoping that this time
around we won't, but it's been very disappointing. You and I.
I won't name the company because I don't want us
to be in any liability having any liability issues, but
(08:37):
you and I wouldn't spoke to some children in Detroit
at an event that sponsors pulled out from because it
was Juneteenth. Yeah, a similar company, maybe even the same company,
either threatened to pull out or pulled out or made
(08:57):
some type of statement with regards to their contribution to
since fest that they weren't supposed to bring up blackness,
like we're going to sponsor the blackest event in the
country to.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
Make sure you make it unsay black. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:11):
I think it's the same company that was supposed to
sponsor that event that we went to in.
Speaker 1 (09:15):
Detroit thinking it's a phone company, right, I think so.
So it's like we're talking about the same.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
What is going on here?
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Man? Sure don't talk about blackness at essence Fest. Like again,
something in me feels like all these companies couldn't wait
to be racist because it's not in their financial best interest.
So it has to be what they wanted to do.
(09:44):
So let me let me go with that. So one
of the things, So how about this, let me start here.
First off, you're absolute right, Black people.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
Are going to be here longer than Donald Trump, and
these companies are choosing Donald Trump. Now your point is
that they're choosing racism, right, But Donald Trump is the
perfect conduit if indeed that is true, right, and Donald
Trump doesn't last forever black people do. Right. We always
thought money was the great driver of this country, but
(10:18):
we're seeing people make fiscally poor decisions right now. What
qualifies me to speak on this, Well, I went to
school and I studied this. I have a master's degree
and a bachelor's degree, both in business, so and you know,
(10:41):
and I went to school kind of in the early
two thousands, you know, And I went to one of
the best business schools in the country and they taught us,
and I went to a business school in a red state,
but they taught us that diversity will help you get
(11:04):
more money, right, And the things that they spoke to were, Okay,
having a diverse workforce means that you can identify blind spots.
Having diverse decision makers and deciders means that you can
(11:24):
avoid litigation, you can avoid offending communities you can avoid,
you know, and on the other side, that you can
penetrate deeper into the communities you can you can come
across more authentic in your creation of widgets or marketing
of widgets or whatever it is that your company.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Creates.
Speaker 1 (11:46):
Right now. The other side of this is your customer base.
Speaker 2 (11:52):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (11:53):
I remember hearing a story about some secret service agents
or FBI agents or what I think of a secret
service and they went into a Denny's and they were
discriminated against, and of course the people that the dennis
didn't recognize that they were federal employees and secret service agents,
so they just thought they were just a group of
guys that were in there whatever, and they didn't seat them,
(12:15):
and they didn't serve them or whatever, and they ended
up leaving, suing the Dennys. And then it made you know,
it made news, of course, and Denny's the company, was like, listen,
we need to fix this problem or else a very
significant amount of the population is not going to eat
here anymore. And since we live and die by the
razor margins of profitability, you know, a small drop in
(12:37):
revenue and you know, income over the course of a year,
it makes a significant impact on our share prices, our
capacity to run a business, especially if that drop goes
to another competitor, right, And so, you know, for people
that have allowed Donald Trump's administration to mischaracterize diversity, equity
(13:04):
and inclusion initiatives to somehow suggest that they are anti white,
they are discriminatory in nature, as opposed to they are
restorative and indeed are offsetting the historical discrimination that has
plagued marginalized communities since the inception of this country, at
the beginning of this country. For those companies that have
(13:26):
allowed this administration to mischaracterize that, you know, those of
us that live this life, we can see through that.
And again, I think to Stacy Abram's point, you know,
and to your point q In mine too, because I
don't shop at Amazon anymore, nor will I I don't
shop at Target anymore.
Speaker 2 (13:43):
I have no reason to go there. I can.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
I will figure something else out right. But the lasting implications,
the lasting effects of these decisions are going to ripple
out a lot further than I believe the Trump administration,
and I hope that I'm right about that. Moving on,
we're going to talk about Vance Bolter, the person that
(14:08):
was in the news for killing the Minnesota House speaker
and shooting up a bunch of other people. So I
know this one really bothered you. Ku. Let me just
read it and get it off and then we'll get
your thoughts here. So this is from CNN. Vance Bolter
was indicted Tuesday on federal charges related to the killing
of a Minnesota lawmaker and her spouse and seriously injuring
another state lawmaker and his wife. Bolter is accused of
(14:30):
killing former Democratic House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband
and seriously injuring Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his
wife last month. He faces six charges, including stocking, murder,
and firearms offences, with at least two of those charges
carrying the possibility for the death penalty. Acting US Attorney
Joseph Thompson said during a news conference Tuesday. Quote The
(14:52):
ultimate decision as to whether to seek the death penalty
will not come for several months and will ultimately be
decided by Attorney General Pam Bondi. Thompson said. Bolter also
quote shot at and attempted to kill unquote, the Hoffman's daughter.
Thompson said, quote both John and Yvett acted with incredible
bravery and put themselves between between Bolter's bullets and their daughter. Miraculously,
(15:16):
Hope Hoffman was not shot unquote. He added, authorities have
also recovered both the guns used that day in the incident,
Thompson said. Authority said Bolter was heavily armed and dressed
in tactical armour with a silicone mask hiding his face
and police style badge during the incidents, appearing as a
police officer, a real police officer mistook him for a
(15:37):
fellow cop. Bolter embarked on a planned campaign of stalking
and violence designed to inflict fear, injure and kill members
of the Minnesota State Legislature and their families. This is
according to a NAPA David Quote. He say the attacks sorry.
Authorities say the attacks were highly planned. Bolter possibly spent
months gathering personal information about his targets and other officials
(15:58):
and buying supplies for his attack active they said, so, yeah,
I mean, here we are. You know, obviously we knew
they caught him, but now the charges are laid down
and he's been indicted on these You talk to me.
Speaker 3 (16:17):
It's it's this is just more evidence of how scary
a time we're living in.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
Yeah, that's what I was gonna say, very very.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
Obvious outright political violence. And the base that he represents
is not in any way aggressively or overtly in any
way standing up to disassociate themselves with him, call what
(16:50):
he did wrong, To even make this statement, the vanilla
easy softball statement that there's no place for political violence
in this country, the same things, the same things they
would say, you know, we're it the other way around,
and the unfortunate thing is that we know better. Can
(17:15):
you imagine if somebody that voted multiple times for Barack
Obama did the same thing to two Republican lawmakers, the
way the story would be amplified covered I think pieces
(17:35):
the left as a whole would have to answer for
the crime of one person, especially if the assailant was black.
It would be it would be confirmation that black people
are as criminal as they say, that the woke left
is as emotionally and mentally disassociated as they say, like,
(18:01):
it would be confirmation bias for every evil thing they've
ever said about anybody that's different from them. But this
time it's one of theirs, and they just pretend it
didn't happen or they're not really that bothered by it. Yeah,
(18:21):
it's not covering the news anymore. Nobody's like, nobody's talking
about it at all. You know, the the the the
attempt on the president's life, or what they said was
an attempt on his life. That person was also a
right wing Trump supporter.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
That's what I was gonna say.
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Yeah, And ironically, since that week, we've heard not just
nothing about the shooter, nothing about the incident at all,
an actual attempt on the president of the United States life,
and the news doesn't talk about it, and nobody thinks
that's strange. We haven't seen or heard anything from or
(19:06):
about the assailant at all.
Speaker 2 (19:09):
Nothing.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Donald Trump still talks about Barack Obama, who never did
anything to him, still talks about Joe Biden, who never
did anything to him. He's never even mentioned this guy
who tried to take his life on television.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Well, I think I'm kind of in that same in
that same headspace when it comes to this, because as
far as I can remember, everybody that really tried to
enact some form of political violence has been from the right.
(19:52):
All of them. I can't think of one person that
has that the media has successfully painted as at even
a left leaning.
Speaker 3 (20:00):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (20:01):
You know, Now, I'm not saying that that doesn't exist.
I could be wrong, of course.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
But I'm saying it doesn't exist because it did, we
have example, we would know it, right, Yeah, And like
you said, you said successfully, And I feel like that
was intentional because they've tried to paint people that's left
leaning and they came out find out in almost every
case not only were they right leaning, but they were Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Supporters, yes, specifically. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
So so when I think of stuff like this, I'm like, Okay,
so we're in an age where political violence is like,
we're right on the cusp of some major things. This
is like what was happening in the sixties. There was
like this unrest, this social unrest, and so many people
(20:47):
were thinking like, oh my god, I have nothing else
to lose. I'm willing to give my life to try
to make things right.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (20:56):
And the thing is is the person I think who's
stoking this political unrest is Donald Trump himself and the
right wing. You know, this is like they're they're they're
pedaling a lot of things, a lot of they're mischaracterizing
(21:17):
a lot of stuff. They're pedaling a lot of baseless things,
and they're they're they're offering a lot of maybe they're
offering data without proper context so that it seems plausible
if you if you just hear it on its face,
it sounds like, Okay, well that makes sense. I have
every right to be upset. But you know, lacking critical
(21:40):
perspective in uh context would cause a lot of people
to be upset. But once you have that context and
people kind of understand it a little bit more, and
I don't want to just like I don't want to
give a free pass to the Democrats, but they seem
to be closer to like normal then Republicans and Republicans
(22:04):
seem to be the ones paying for it for the
most part until it comes to this, And like you said,
when it comes to this, they're like, oh, well, you know,
that's really sad thoughts and prayers. And that's only some
of them. You know, there were some people who really
mean about this. I remember when this story first broke
(22:25):
and there were people that were like, I wouldn't dare repeated.
But you know, there are some people that are really
gross and I get it. You know, some people will say, look,
it's more than just a matter of a difference of opinion,
or it's more than just you know, your politics versus
my politics. This is like your vote affects my life.
(22:47):
I totally understand that, right, But the one thing that
I don't really.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Get is.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
People's delusion to these people tend to be on the right,
but the delusion that somehow those on the left are
actively harming them, and it's all baseless. There's no there's
nothing credible there. It's just a lie that keeps getting repeated.
And it's like, it's like, uh, what is it? The
(23:18):
Mandela effect, So that everybody just subscribes to the same
reality and as long as they have that, as long
as they have each other to confirm this false reality,
well that becomes real enough for them. And then now
they're afraid of something that doesn't exist and that feels
like the primordial ooze, out of which is born political
(23:43):
violence like this. So I don't know, man, this is
it's like a heartbreaking reality to live in that this
woman lost her life. But you know, here we are.
Donald Trump's still alive. And well, all right, let's talk
(24:04):
about Brendan Carr. You know, you and I we do radio,
and radio's subjected to the FCC Federal Communications Commission. We're
not a DEI show, so we can talk about the news.
But this is crazy. So this is from the Black
Information Network. At the headline, of course, Brendan Carr forces
(24:25):
T Mobile to abandon DEI.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
So I'll shared the article. T Mobile has scrapped.
Speaker 1 (24:30):
Its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives as it seeks to
make two major acquisitions which require approval from the Federal
Communications Commission, and a letter sent to the FCC on Tuesday,
July eighth, the wireless carrier pledged to discontinue its de
I apologies, not just in name, but in substance. Quote,
we recognize that the legal and policy landscape surrounding de
(24:52):
under federal law has changed, unquote, T Mobile wrote per
USA today. Among the changes are the elimination of roles
and teams dedicated to DEI, and the removal of DEI
references from its website and training material. The company is
also opening up training and other career development opportunities to
all employees. FCC chair Brendan Carr previously threatened to block
deals involving companies engaged in DEI. Quote, any businesses that
(25:17):
are looking for FCC approval, I would encourage them to
get busy ending any sort of their Sorry, this is
invidious forms of DEI discrimination unquote, Car said in an interview.
In May, the FCC approved Verizon's twenty billion dollar deal
to acquire Frontier Communications after it ended its commitment to DEI.
(25:38):
T Mobile needs FCC approval to acquire US Cellular's wireless
operations and internet provider Metronet through a joint venture with KKR.
Car said T Mobile's move to roll back DEI was
quote another good step forward for equal opportunity, non discrimination,
and the public interest unquote. Okay, So first thing I'll
say again, this is a person mischaracterizing diverse, the equity
(26:00):
and inclusion. Okay, diversity, equity, inclusion means everybody. It doesn't
discriminate against white people. It doesn't discriminate against white men. Indeed,
it needs white men, it needs everybody. That is the
definition of diversity. It's not exclusion of someone's it's inclusion, right,
(26:25):
So there are no people who are excluded. Indeed people
are included. But you know people like this that mischaracterize
it so that they can advance that they're just using
crafty language to advance a pro this is this is
I just I don't I don't like using this language.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
But there's no other way to say.
Speaker 1 (26:44):
This is a white supremacist maneuver endeavor right, because it
protects the status quo, which again benefits white, straight Christian
healthy and that's all it is. And so mischaracterizing something
(27:05):
that is good to maintain a status quo, which is
has historically and continues to hinder the advancement opportunities and
the growth opportunities for marginalized peoples in this country is
the craziest work. And for him to use this power
of this position, and I know Donald Trump put him
(27:25):
there so he could do that. Donald Trump can appoint
person to the appoint a person to the Federal Communications
Commission because it falls under the federal government. But I
think this person still wants to be viewed as a
decent human being on some level, and this language that
the logic falls short, It falls flat once you introduce
(27:48):
the context to this equation. And I'm like, of course,
I'm not like happy that T Mobile's doing this, but
like I kind of understand. It's like, well, how do
we remain competitive? How do we compete? Only the racist companies,
only the companies that are getting rid of their DEI
can even make deals, can can remain competitive in this
(28:13):
new political landscape. Indeed, their language doesn't say we've abandoned it.
We've seen the new light. You know, the status quo
prior to twenty twenty was what we should have maintained.
They didn't say that. They say, we recognize the legal
and policy landscape surrounding DEI under federal law has changed.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
That's it.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
And so you know, my heartbreaks for T Mobile at
the same time, like I'm disappointed in them making the decision.
I just kind of know why. And you know, Brendan
Carr from where I said, Brendan Carr is one of
those people that you know, listen, man, if like history
is going to remember you, and just like how we
remember the Nazis and all the people that supported Hitler. Man,
(28:53):
you're right up there, like, long term, I don't think
that this lasts. You might got the next fifty years
or whatever, as long as that Supreme Court's there. But
long term, this country has changed and will continue to change.
It's my belief we're going in one direction, whether these
people like it or not.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
So my thoughts Q yours.
Speaker 3 (29:16):
I don't have much time, so I'll try. That's enough
time for them Ramses, the time that he'll be in office,
the time that those justices will be justices, it's enough time.
This is capitalism. They don't care about what it'll look
(29:38):
like in fifty years. And their language was very reassuring
to white supremacy. And watching white supremacists use Civil rights
era language to position themselves as the victim and the
oppressed and getting that off is insulting.
Speaker 2 (29:55):
And we have to just grid and bear it.
Speaker 1 (29:58):
Yeah,
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