REPLAY* Confronting Both Sides of The Gun

It is "Gun Violence Awareness" month and for this week Tamika and Mysonne address the first week where anti violence organizations come together to focus on the movement and bring attention and awareness to the issue. Moreover, during the episode you will hear the press conference of anti violence experts and councilman addressing gun violence. Also, they were joined by Ms Oresa Napper-Williams the founder of "Not Another Child" organization and their friend Ife Charles, and discussed more on the issue of gun violence, and the different measures they are taking to combat it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
What's up.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Family, it's your girl to Mika D.

Speaker 1 (00:07):
Mallory and it's your boy, my son the General.

Speaker 3 (00:11):
And we're your host of street politicians, the place and Holst.

Speaker 2 (00:17):
We've got our.

Speaker 3 (00:18):
Good old orange T shirts on today which represent Gun
Violence Awareness Month.

Speaker 2 (00:25):
This is the first week of gv.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
A M, which is a time in New York City
where anti violence organizations, advocates, partners, families, people who've been
impacted on either side of a gun, the shooter and
or the victim all come together to focus on UH,
the anti violence movement, to bring attention, awareness, and support

(00:54):
to the movement, UH, and really to just to put
some some attention on the fact that there are models
that work, and in New York City, we have a
model which we've you know, we'll be talking much more
about called the Crisis Management System. And we know that
over many years, the number of violent crimes and violent

(01:17):
incidents have been reduced by the work of so many folks.
You all will see and hear the footage of the
press conference that happened today where hundreds of anti violence activists, experts, organizers.
We're at City Hall with the city officials, city council members,

(01:39):
and other government officials and of course the Mayor of
New York City, and you know, standing there announcing some
important things that we'll talk about later on the show.

Speaker 4 (01:53):
We have been doing this for a long time, and
history is going to show that the first crisis management
funding came from an idea I had in the State
Senate called snug gun spelled backwards first, allocation of money first,

(02:16):
and it has moved into the movement you see behind us.

Speaker 5 (02:20):
And so when people believe that folks of.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
Color want to normalize gun violence in their community, they
are wrong.

Speaker 6 (02:31):
They are wrong.

Speaker 4 (02:32):
This is a real issue that we want to attack
head on. But what we don't want to do is
minimize the complete picture that must be addressed. By the
time a person picks up a gun, we've already failed.

Speaker 6 (02:52):
We've already failed. Now I said this over and over again.

Speaker 4 (02:55):
There are many rivers that feed the sea of violence,
and it's time to damn every river, not just one
with law enforcement.

Speaker 6 (03:05):
Damning every river is what we're going to do.

Speaker 4 (03:08):
The epidemic of gun violence is not a New York problem.
It's not a Democrat Republican problem. Tulsa is a red state.
The shooting that took place there was a red state.
An announcement came over just a few minutes ago of
a sixteen year old attempting to recruit others in Berkeley

(03:34):
to go in and shoot up a school.

Speaker 6 (03:37):
Every day we're hearing about this.

Speaker 4 (03:40):
It's breaking our hearts, breaking our bodies, and breaking our communities.
When a bullet hits the target, the physical bullet stops,
but the emotional trauma rips apart the anatomy of our
entire community.

Speaker 6 (03:57):
And there have been more mass shootings.

Speaker 4 (03:59):
Think about this for a moment, more mass shootings in
America than days of the years. Some unbelievable. And we've
normalized it. We say it's okay, and I think we
often dismiss it because the victim of handguns violence, for
the most part are black and brown, and then the
inner cities all across America. So we've normalized it and

(04:22):
stated that that is just the way it has to be.
And we're saying today, your damn right is not going
to be that way.

Speaker 6 (04:29):
We can turn it around and make it happen.

Speaker 4 (04:31):
And yes, instead of gu n s, let me give
you another four letters. How about jobs. Let's get our
children jobs. Let's put them on a pathway of employment.
That's why we have one hundred thousand sem of youth jobs,
first time in the city history. Thank you Jomini Williams
for pushing this for years. That is why we're pushing

(04:53):
the tail corporate America. We want a one hundred percent
paid internship program throughout the school year leading into our
fosdy care children to give them the support they need
so they don't age out at twenty one, give them
mentors until their twenty six. All of these things are
gonna help us deal with this issue in a real way.

Speaker 6 (05:12):
Time to take our.

Speaker 4 (05:13):
City upstream and build real partnership with people who are
tired as I am, of pulling people out of the
river downstream.

Speaker 6 (05:21):
This is our moment.

Speaker 4 (05:23):
You do not elect me to do what everyone has
done in the past. You wanted a different outcomes and
you picked a different mayor. And trust me, it's a
lot of noise out there. Everybody's gonna critique us. Everybody's
gonna start telling them, why didn't you pick this one,
Why don't you pick that? Because I'm the mayor and

(05:47):
we're gonna make the decisions now to save our children
with the level of urgency that we deserve.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Today, what you see behind us is not just the
government may to happen, because to be clean, we were
told no every time that we asked for resources. When
we first started, we met with the mayor at the
time and he looked Erica Ford and not dead in
the face and said, there is no proof that what
you're trying to do will work.

Speaker 7 (06:16):
But we proved it.

Speaker 3 (06:18):
They sent us back.

Speaker 7 (06:19):
They told us to get data.

Speaker 3 (06:21):
And all that Erica has mentioned in terms of how
many days, weeks, years, months went by without shootings in
this city, we did that together. Now, once the pandemic came,
it changed a lot for everybody.

Speaker 2 (06:39):
So stop trying to act like.

Speaker 3 (06:41):
In media who you are here, if you have any
moral conscious, tell the true story.

Speaker 2 (06:47):
Violence is up everywhere. In fact, in nineteen.

Speaker 3 (06:52):
Sixty three, Malcolm X got in big trouble for saying
something that we see today but is that the chickens
are coming home to ruths.

Speaker 7 (07:03):
As we see.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
Shootings happening across this nation, shootings of all types, mass.

Speaker 7 (07:09):
Shootings, violence everywhere. Remember that this.

Speaker 5 (07:14):
Group we told you, we told.

Speaker 8 (07:17):
You what would happen.

Speaker 3 (07:18):
We gave you the forecast of what would happen to
this nation. If we did not deal with mental health,
if we did not deal with the lack of jobs
and resources, if we did not address food, deserts and
other concerning issues in our community. We already told you
that today would come, and so if we are to

(07:41):
go forward and this nation is to be better, this
group is an example of what must come together in
order to address those concerns. The police force cannot do
it alone. If they could have, CMS would have never
been needed.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
The government cannot do it alone.

Speaker 3 (08:02):
Half the time, they can't figure out from one side
to the other what to do.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
It takes all of us.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
But the main thing is that the people must.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
Be centered here.

Speaker 5 (08:13):
Your title is your title.

Speaker 9 (08:15):
I'm a part of a very robust group of advocates
that I'm very proud to be a member of, and
a lot of us know each other respectfully. But thank
you to Mayor Adams for naming me to be the
gun violence Prevention Czar in New York City. A new title.

(08:40):
It's the first ever, and it should be. As he mentioned,
we should want some things that are different. We've been
dealing with this issue for far too long, and we've
been using the same tactics over and over again, and
we've been getting the same results.

Speaker 5 (08:58):
So no one should have a problem.

Speaker 9 (09:00):
With us trying something different, right, give us a chance
to prove our self work. We are the people who
are closest to the problem, right, so quite naturally we
have the answers to those problems. There's nobody that wants
gun violence to in more than the young people that

(09:20):
come from the neighborhoods and the people who live in
this community every single day. And so this is a
community driven approach. When you hear about the state or
the FEDS and.

Speaker 5 (09:34):
Now the city, now include the community. That's the fourth
leg of the chair.

Speaker 9 (09:39):
That you're sitting on, MARCHA. The community that we represent.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Can create.

Speaker 9 (09:50):
As you heard mentioned that this podium solutions for themselves,
and we're going to work hand and sync with that
community to make sure that we deliver the things that
they say that they need, the things that they said
that they want, and these men and women behind me
are trained to deliver those resources into.

Speaker 5 (10:09):
Those neighborhoods where other people cannot go.

Speaker 3 (10:13):
You know, I'm proud because I was one of the first,
very very few. There was three of us who were
the main leaders, and no more than maybe six to
seven in the room at any given time.

Speaker 2 (10:25):
Who put the crisis management system together?

Speaker 1 (10:28):
Architect artist.

Speaker 3 (10:30):
We were the architects of this movement. Erika Ford was
really the brainchild. She threw all of her thoughts on
the board. And Richard gup Glover, who at the time
I think was at Columbia, I think he was at Columbia,
he was a professor. He worked to help organize her thoughts.

(10:51):
We did the advocacy work, our brother at Mitchell and myself.
We worked together with Erica pulling it and putting it
and focusing and holding it to make the crisis management
system a real thing. And here we are over a
decade late later, you know, and the christ and the
Gun Violence Awareness Month came along later where we decided

(11:13):
that we had to have a month that really every
single day there'll be educational opportunities and other moments for
people to get together. So I was happy to be
in the hot sun today with all our brothers and sisters.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yeah, I was definitely happy to be there.

Speaker 10 (11:29):
Our brother at as you mentioned he was he was
announced to be the bizarre of gun Violence and Prevention
from New York, So that was a big thing. You know,
just he's somebody that I think his mannerisms, the way
they carries itself, you know, it's it's just somebody that
I look up to that called for advice a lot,

(11:50):
and he's been a mentor, you know, he's been doing
this work longer, way longer than I have, and he's
and he also respects my leadership at a lot of times,
and we just have a beautiful relationship. So seeing him,
you know, pointing to this position, knowing that it's in
the right hands. He's somebody who definitely takes this work serious,

(12:12):
sleep and wakes up with this work, who calls me,
you know, and whenever something is going on, it's like
what are we going to do? Like that's this is
what we need to do. He comes up with strategy. So,
you know, I was happy to see that. And then
there was a plethora of other individuals that I've known
throughout the years through different channels, some just being in
the streets, some from hip hop, some from just different channels,

(12:35):
and just seeing that they've invested their lives in this
work and I've seen them really transition with something good
to see. And just our family, you know, we've been
doing this work for so long. All of our friends
and family was out there in the sweltering heat. You know,
some march all the way across the bridge. We didn't
make it to the full bridge march. But I also

(12:58):
see the young kids that I worked with at Van
Sickla Middle School.

Speaker 1 (13:04):
They were there at the march we put together. They
actually put together it's dope.

Speaker 10 (13:10):
Anti gun violence song that they allowed me to feature
on that we're actually gonna be shooting a video for
in the next couple of days. So that's something I,
you know, was happy to see. And the principal, principal
camp was there. You know, they have a beautiful program
in which Wednesdays is like career day everywhere you able to.

Speaker 11 (13:33):
Every Wednesday for the first two hours on first two
periods you go to either music program, video program, any
kind of program that you want to do and you
want to invest your time.

Speaker 10 (13:48):
And they take the first two periods of every Wednesday,
and then there's an after school component till where you
can go to after school. But these people have the
state of the art studio. I'll tell you their studio
is better than the studio that I work.

Speaker 3 (14:03):
Like, they had a food, the kids got a great
studio today.

Speaker 10 (14:07):
Studio in that school, it was just amazing. I've been like,
I've seen different music rooms and they have a little
mic here and there set up, but this is a
full fledged studio. So shout out to in Sickly Middle
School and principal camp who who really invests in those children,
Like you can see and you can see the investment
playing off because they're happy to be there. You know,

(14:28):
they're happy to come. They really are enthused. They're doing
something they like. They're not just learning in this mundane setting,
you know, to where it's boring and looking at the chalkboard.

Speaker 1 (14:39):
They're doing something that they like to do. So shout
out to them.

Speaker 3 (14:43):
Yeah, that's great. I mean, you know, the evolution, if you.

Speaker 8 (14:49):
Will, of.

Speaker 2 (14:53):
Different entities within education and.

Speaker 3 (14:57):
Community and government and what have you beginning to know
that there has to be a different way to educate
our children, a different way to bring our young people
along and help them be successful.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
That's that's happening. But it's slow. It's a slut drip,
but happening.

Speaker 3 (15:16):
Like you said, a career day every single week. That's
very different because in the past it's just once a year.

Speaker 10 (15:22):
Right, career day is not just them talking about careers,
showing courses and classes to where it's just creativity, it's music,
it's arts, is cooking and hands on, hands on and
you just in that for two periods of the day,
for the beginning of the day.

Speaker 1 (15:43):
You start your day off with something that you like
to do.

Speaker 10 (15:46):
You're not just going into a classroom and listen, and
you start in your day of doing the activity that
you've chosen that you want to be a part of,
and you're learning and your creating and it's just dope.

Speaker 2 (15:56):
But that's great. It's great. It's great.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
So there's a lot out of when we're talking about youth,
we're talking about violence, we're talking about you know, getting
ourselves organized, and there's a lot of really really dangerous
and serious things happening where I think.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
We It's probably one of the reasons.

Speaker 3 (16:19):
Why the evolution is such a slow drip, because it's
like you're moving forward and there are people who are
pushing to change the culture and to you know, really
sort of I really want to be intentional about my point.
There are people who are really fighting to get the

(16:43):
government to come out of its old and sort of
archaic ways of thinking about educating youth about dealing with
mental health and other issues.

Speaker 7 (16:58):
Right.

Speaker 2 (16:59):
You know, you are one of.

Speaker 3 (17:01):
Those people that constantly talks about how no one can
just sit you down for two hours and just talk
to you. Want back and forth about your issues. To
help you with your needs. You need people from a
therapeutic perspective, Yes, you could sit down and talk to
them sometimes, but also that they may be able to

(17:23):
come into your world, see what you're doing, work with
you from a very hands on perspective. Now, maybe the
fact that we're now in our forties we can sit
still a little bit different.

Speaker 2 (17:34):
But certainly a young child will not be able to learn.

Speaker 3 (17:39):
The same way that other communities learn. We know that
and to be you know, to receive therapeutic services and
other things in those ways. And so with that being said,
there are folks who are sort of pushing to change
the culture. But when you have such traumatic events like
what we see happening across this country going on, it

(18:02):
takes us back. So even if you go forward, you
go back because people get afraid, people get you know, traumatized.

Speaker 2 (18:11):
It's a lot.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
You've got four people killed, he had just you know,
in the last four to twenty four hours. Obviously, we're
taping this show, so when people hear it, it will
be a week old.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
And that's a thing that it's a week old. By
the time, you know.

Speaker 3 (18:29):
Several days passes, we're like, well, that happened a week ago.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
Buffalo shooting happened.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
You know now, I don't know, probably fifteen sixteen days ago.
It's not a long time, but in media time, the
cycle just keeps changing.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
Four people shot in a medical center.

Speaker 3 (18:47):
Then you have the police doing what police do, shooting
an unarmed black woman who was suspected to be in
a stolen car. She was with a guy, allegedly the
guy I ran and the woman when they told her
to get on the ground, trit to explain that she
was pregnant and that she could not lay down, and

(19:08):
the police shot her multiple times. She wasn't in a pocket,
she wasn't None of the witnesses have said she grabbed
for anything or did anything that should have caused her
to be shot as a pregnant woman. But again, police
will be police, and so that happened. And then you
have a situation where other governments are catching on quicker

(19:32):
than us because in a place like Canada, they are
banning or at least they are new regulations that will
ban the sale of purchases for certain types.

Speaker 2 (19:44):
Of handguns, right or maybe all handguns.

Speaker 3 (19:48):
So people are like, yo, we're seeing what's going on
in America, and we're not gonna sit by and allow
our nation to be riddled with the same types of
watunate traumas.

Speaker 2 (20:01):
I don't know what the hell they're doing in Washington,
d C.

Speaker 3 (20:05):
We ultimately have no choice but to fight for and
fin for ourselves.

Speaker 1 (20:11):
Actually, you know.

Speaker 10 (20:13):
And and now I'm hearing that there's going to be
legislation passed in New York City.

Speaker 1 (20:18):
Will be an open cab state. I mean New York state.
I apologize New York State.

Speaker 10 (20:23):
That seven worse like when we when we look and
see that gun violence is up, and then we're gonna
make it more easy to access guns. I don't even
understand how we don't realize that's a recipe for disaster.

Speaker 1 (20:35):
You know.

Speaker 10 (20:36):
The reality of situation is everybody shouldn't have a gun,
you know, And that's what the problem is. Obviously, the
guns are getting into the hands of people who shouldn't
have guns. When you look at these mass shootings. These
aren't you know, cultable, you know culpable ready, you know
informed people, it would have packed the background check and

(20:57):
should be able to have guns. So when we understand
that something is not working, why do we continue to
exacerbate the mistake. It doesn't really make sense to me.
You know, New York is on fire with gun ViOS.
People who don't are getting illegal So now you're gonna
make it a lot easier for somebody who shouldn't have
a gun to get it.

Speaker 1 (21:18):
I just don't understand the logic. Just don't.

Speaker 3 (21:24):
We don't need people on the trains in New York
that are already suffering.

Speaker 1 (21:29):
From like all types of traumas.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
I don't even know what it's called. That's going to
go on the train.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
People fucked up people.

Speaker 2 (21:40):
People, and they buy a gun.

Speaker 1 (21:48):
People fucked up out here, Jack.

Speaker 10 (21:50):
And the thing is you we look at our police,
who supposedly are trained to deal with situations, and they
say they fear for.

Speaker 1 (21:59):
Their life and they make mistakes and they shoot.

Speaker 10 (22:02):
So you gonna give guns to people who got nothing
near what the police got and hope that in situations
such as road rage when somebody cuts you off and
they get out and they got a gun name blowing
your head.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
You see, we literally seen sick people.

Speaker 10 (22:17):
Driving on a highway and shoot a cause because they arguing.

Speaker 3 (22:22):
So yeah, but I mean your point is so valid,
my son, because when you think of the fact that
young kids sat in the classroom for over an hour,
some shot, some almost dying, others who I've been told
was shot a second time because there was so much

(22:47):
room for additional horror, you know, sat there for over
and out.

Speaker 2 (22:55):
And now, I mean, I don't even know.

Speaker 3 (22:58):
How you talk about kids, babies who for one second,
if your baby is lost from you in a crowd
for one second, it can turn into a complete meltdown
and break down for a child. So imagine people bloody,

(23:18):
you know, big boom, sounds of shots going off, and
there was no help. So these police officers who stood,
they said at least nineteen officers were in the hallway
standing there. If they didn't do anything to deal with
the shooter, why are we now, all of a sudden,

(23:41):
so convinced that a resource officer is going to do something.

Speaker 2 (23:46):
So if that's the case, then fuck it. Fire the
police officers.

Speaker 1 (23:52):
Exactly. If you've given us all guns to telling us
protect ourselves.

Speaker 10 (23:55):
What is the police officer doing that we can't do ourselves.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (24:02):
Nobody's explained that to me. So just thinking about so
much stuff that's happening. I don't want to be a
conspiracy theorist, as they say, I don't even know if
theorist is a word, but I don't want to be
a conspiracy theorist person. But I'm really just trying to

(24:23):
figure out my because there's so much to process, and
the last few weeks I've been like, I don't even
want to post anything on socials because I got to
like think before, I got to like gather my thoughts
and gather myself before I speak. But I've been noticing

(24:48):
over the last few weeks that while we're dealing with
all this trauma in terms of like how what type
of horrific incidents are happening, there's also.

Speaker 2 (24:59):
Mad health challenges.

Speaker 3 (25:02):
Like I'm trying to figure out if when you get old,
allergies come on. I mean, I'm really I know this
is totally off topic.

Speaker 10 (25:10):
No, it's a real thing because I never had no
damn allergies to like last year, I didn't even know
what no allergies was like I would sneeze a little bit, But.

Speaker 1 (25:17):
Now I feel like I got I can't breathe.

Speaker 10 (25:21):
I feel like my eyes is always itching, I got
a something in my Throat's like cotton balls in my nose.
It's like, Yo, this is the worst shit I've ever felt.
And it just started happening. And I'm like, when did
all this shit just start happening?

Speaker 3 (25:34):
The last two years I have been experiencing allergies.

Speaker 2 (25:39):
Last year wasn't as bad.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
This year.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
I literally had several incidents, like different periods where I
could not breathe, my throat was hurting, I was feeling exhausted.
I almost felt like I had a flu, but I
didn't because you know, I get a COVID test very often,
and you not.

Speaker 1 (25:58):
The COVID HU about that.

Speaker 3 (26:00):
You No, No, no COVID tests that I get. They
test for the flu. Also, that's why they swab me
a little deeper because they go for the flu as well.
You know, you should learn how to get you some
of those.

Speaker 1 (26:18):
No thinking me.

Speaker 2 (26:19):
I do, but I feel like, wow, like what what?
I don't understand it.

Speaker 3 (26:26):
And people have been saying like the environment is not
what it should be. So I'm thinking like, is it
is can aalogies be caused by the environment, even today
at the press conference, But then how is pollend We
need like a medical expert, Like how is an environmentalist?

(26:49):
How is pollen impacted by like global warming and all
of that.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
I feel like it could be.

Speaker 10 (26:57):
I mean what happens is trees are growing, and the
more the warmer it gets, I guess trees are going
fast and they probably producing more poling. I can't really
give you. I'm just that was just some shit. I
thought it, well, yes, but when you drive around now,
you literally seeing clogs of polland everywhere. Like I was

(27:18):
driving on a highway and I could just see the shit.
I had to close my window. I couldn't even breathe
because it was so much pollen that started coming inside
my car. So like I see, like I guess being
sick when when something ails you and you know it,
you know it's the cause of your sickness, and you
see it, you get real.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
So I'm very aware of piling that.

Speaker 3 (27:40):
Yeah, I mean, you know, we pay attention to coughing.
Anybody coughs, everybody's like, why are you coughing? And I
noticed today at the press conference that in the middle
of the mayor speaking, he had to keep breaking to cough.

Speaker 2 (27:53):
It's allergies. It probably, of course I didn't.

Speaker 3 (27:56):
Ask him, but everywhere I go, I'm noticing that more
people are like, yo, I'm really dealing with it. I'm scratching,
you know, people are experiencing the side effects of I
guess an analogy to polin as you said, And I'm
just like.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
I don't want to do conspiracies because I don't know.

Speaker 3 (28:15):
But it's like all these things are happening at the
same time, and it's real weird out with.

Speaker 10 (28:21):
The fluid this, you know, this variant. Everybody's allergies is
acting up. The football players is dying suddenly, like.

Speaker 1 (28:34):
It's just like y'all.

Speaker 3 (28:36):
Every time I turn, every time I open my Instagram,
I'm seeing somebody that die. And I'm noticing football players,
basketball players like or at least a former or current
they just checking out. It's a car accident, it's a
heart issue. Rappers, of course, so entertain us. It's like

(28:58):
the energy I saw on John Gray, Reverend John Gray's page,
he said, we need a revival of the soul, and
I thought that was the most powerful.

Speaker 2 (29:10):
Thing that I have read in a long time.

Speaker 3 (29:13):
We need a revival of the soul because.

Speaker 1 (29:18):
This is we need zero texts.

Speaker 2 (29:21):
And I feel like white supremacy.

Speaker 1 (29:25):
Amplifies all of the shit exactly.

Speaker 10 (29:29):
It's like you gotta call you gotta allergies and you've
got white supremacy.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
Well, because they don't want to acknowledge, you know not
they but the system has failed to correct or address
environmental issues. There's not even an acknowledgment from UH, from
the Republican Party in particular around the fact that global
woman is an issue and that we're having climate change.
So that's one thing policing is out of control. Also

(29:58):
something that will being fought tooth and nail on.

Speaker 1 (30:03):
Everything.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
So that's the deal to today.

Speaker 3 (30:08):
Yes, we are being joined by two women who we
talked about Gun Violence Awareness Month. There are two women
who were instrumental in helping us to get this month
off the ground, and for the last several years we've
all worked together in different capacities to refine it and
to continue to work up the crisis management system in

(30:29):
different ways.

Speaker 2 (30:30):
You've got within.

Speaker 3 (30:34):
Well, we'll let them talk about what CMS looks like
and all the types of folks that work within the Network,
miss Orisa Napper Williams of Not Another Child, and also
our dear sister mss e Fae Charles, who has been
in the trenches with me for a real long time

(30:54):
and she has been a strategist in this movement, working
in the Bronx and working in different words organizations, but
now she's actually working on, you know, changing the culture
within the court system in New York, which is a
part of it. So that's what the Network is supposed
to be all about, holistic work.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
So let's bring them on.

Speaker 3 (31:19):
So as has been mentioned, we're being joined during Gun
Violence Awaren this month in New York by two really
really important individuals.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
On this show, my son, we always.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Have our friends, friends, friends, and more friends, but we
do know some incredible people who do incredible work. And
Gun Violence Awareness Month is important, really special to me
because we started it with these individuals some years ago,
you know, working to try to make sure that the

(31:52):
city of New York is really focused on the people
doing the work and the people who are truly impacted.
And the two people that we're joined with today two
black women, by the way, and you can't say, oh,
we only have black women on this show that do things,
because we've been having a lot of black men lately,

(32:14):
so don't even try it. But miss Arisa Napper Williams
of Not Another Child, and also miss Efe Charles, who
is she has a big title. First of all, she
worked with People and Culture Center for Court Innovation, so

(32:34):
she's in the system transforming the system, but also is
the immediate past leader, if you will, of anti violence
projects and initiatives in New York City. She has been
working in the Bronx coordinating and organizing all of us
for some time. Miss Arisa is actually a mother who

(32:59):
lost her son two gun violence, and so we're dealing
with two people who are very very close to both
of you. I think, also, Ife, you lost the child
as well.

Speaker 8 (33:10):
In my my son did not die from gun violence,
but I've lost the son.

Speaker 3 (33:14):
Yeah, okay, but you lost the son. So that in
and of itself, so we're we're we're talking with two
individuals today and my son and I have just been
really trying to get into this whole idea of shootings
happening across the country and what it means. Some of it,
of course, is racially incentivized, or at least racially motivated.

(33:38):
Others are mental health situations. You have other things that
you know are poverty, uh motivated. So there's shootings happening
and people are noticing it. And one of the things
that I said today when I spoke at and of
course we were taping this show today for an upcoming
show excuse me, an upcoming episode of Street Politicians. But

(34:04):
one of the things that I said today is that
we as in this group, the CMS group, which is
the Crisis Management System in New York, as well as
individual organizers around the City of New York, have sounded
the alarm. And I talked about how in nineteen sixty three,
Malcolm X said that the chickens were coming home to roots.

(34:27):
And here we are watching it happen happen across the nation,
where people like you, miss Sorisa and Efe have been
out there hitting the pavement telling the government, officials, corporations,
community members that if we did not stop to deal

(34:47):
with this issue, we are going to experience an insurmountable
level of violence across the nation.

Speaker 2 (34:57):
And here we are. People are afraid, they're fred to
leave their homes.

Speaker 3 (35:01):
We've got shootings at grocery stores, We've got shootings in hospitals,
we've got shootings just in general, and schools of children,
and yet here we come to a place where everybody's
saying what to do, and yet we have laid out
a blueprint years and years and years.

Speaker 2 (35:18):
And years and years.

Speaker 3 (35:19):
So we want to talk about that blueprint today, and
my son, let me kick it to you to invite
these two wonderful ladies to be a part of our conversation.

Speaker 1 (35:29):
Quite thank you, quite thank you.

Speaker 10 (35:31):
As you just mentioned, we just left a press conference
in which we spoke about Gun Violence Awareness Month, which
is the start of the gun violence Awareness Month. But
if you see these shirts, this is the gun violence
awareness movement because for us who do this work, it's
just not about a month, it's not about a day.
It's all the time. And we go to sleep and

(35:53):
we wake up with this work. And we've been joined
by two phenomenal women, Black women who've been on the
forefront of this work for a long time. So I
just want to start with Efa, who right now is
you know, she has elevated and evolved into she's inside
the system now and you know she's able to attack

(36:13):
it that way. But she's always been a frontline worker.
You know, like you said, she's been in the bronx
organized and putting together some of the best crisis management
systems and organizations that we have. So EFA, you know,
we look at this influx of violence, right, and like
like Tamika said, the chicken's coming home the roost, and
we've been saying what was going to happen? What do

(36:37):
you think is the major cause? And what should how
should they be attacking it?

Speaker 8 (36:45):
Well, first of all, you know, I want to salute
to you, sister Tamika ant and my brother my son.
You know, when you sit back here and in spaces
with the both of you, there is a conscious awareness
that I hold on to you from both of you guys, right,
because there's a consistency in the way that you do
this work. To my sister, Bariso always salute you, says,

(37:05):
just for what you're doing now because I think as
you talked about that when Malcolm talked about the chickens
coming home to roost, we are here now, right, We're
here hens beep and you know the rooster's growing. Right,
That's what's going on right now. And so in my
experience and in my work, and I go back to
brother at Mitchell, who when we started doing some stuff

(37:27):
way back and we had these sites that were being
evaluated and research to come up with systems to address
gun violence. I think the way that my brain always
works about this is their compartmentalization of what's acting happening.
There's two pieces to this, right, you have this national
piece where gun laws need to be changed, policies need
to be uplifted, you know, marginalization of people needs to

(37:50):
be definitely destroyed. And then you have on a local
level where there's a need for involvement. So when we
just talked about my song, when you talked about the
work that we've been doing or reselling you and Ta
making a bunch of other folks, It's about consistency. It's
about consistency in the way that you lead. It's about
consistency in the way that you address problems. Too often,

(38:13):
what we do as a city is we run for
the newest and latest thing, right, not looking at what
has worked really in the past and sticking with it.
You can have a cookie cutter approach to gun violence.
You cannot, right because just levels to this madness. Like
I say this, I was telling to Meka last night.

(38:33):
There's levels to this ship. If I can custom can
I say customers for this LTTS right, it's my acronym
that I made of this levels to this ship. And
so too often what happens is that, you know, you
have people who want to be in the front, but
there's work that needs to be done behind. And I
think when we talk about what's the approaches and what
we need to do, I think we need to seriously

(38:56):
evaluate who's doing work right, staying that we will each
have a role in this work. There is something that's
going to fight from a macro level and there's those
that are going to fight from the inside on the
street level, which is a lot of what CMS is doing,
but addressing it comes from both angles. It just can't
be one solution. And I think that's what people are
trying right now is just one approach. And I think

(39:19):
Malcolm's quote of the chicken comings home to roosts, we
will be roosting for quite some time if we don't
look at the multiple levels to gun violence.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
And miss SORIESA. You know, what do you think we
need to do?

Speaker 10 (39:33):
How do you think we should be attacking and what
do you think you know is the most sustainable strategy.
Have to be in this movement for so many years
and seeing what's work, seeing what's failed, understanding after we
just heard the mayor and his speech about how he
plans to go about it, what.

Speaker 1 (39:51):
Is your opinion.

Speaker 12 (39:54):
So first, thank you Mice and make Up for inviting
me today. It is simply a pleasure to be here
with you, guys, and thank you for always seeing me
as more than a parent, more than a mother that
lost a child. And I really think the way that
CMS has always moved forward where we always moved together

(40:16):
before you.

Speaker 3 (40:16):
Go forward, because I think we keep saying CMS and
we have not explained.

Speaker 8 (40:24):
Yes, so folks will.

Speaker 3 (40:25):
Say, well, what are they talking about? Don't tell us
what you are part of.

Speaker 2 (40:30):
In New York.

Speaker 12 (40:31):
So it is the New York City Crisis Management System.
Several models was looked at from over the country, and
we know that the biggest model, I would say, at
that time that actually had the data that it worked
was pure balance, which was balance interruptors and outreach workers.

(40:54):
But the co architects in New York, you know you
guys Ata to meet EFE, all of you pioneers from
years ago, saw that that was not enough for our
city and what we need. And you guys are are pioneers,
so let me know if I got the history right.

(41:14):
But you know, you guys knew that it was more
that after you took the gun out of a hand,
after you gave a job, therapeutic support was still needed,
professional mental health services was still needed. Employment opportunities, you know,
was still needed. And so the system comprises of not
just the balance and diruptors and the outreach workers as

(41:34):
the anchor, but also the wrap around services which is
greatly needed. A lot of models do not reflect the
mental instability.

Speaker 7 (41:45):
That comes along with gun violence.

Speaker 12 (41:48):
It does not reflect the layers of drama that is
a leading cause of gun violence.

Speaker 7 (41:54):
And see them as does.

Speaker 12 (41:56):
And so I think, going back to MYCE question, you know,
that's what we need to do is.

Speaker 7 (42:02):
Expand on that.

Speaker 12 (42:05):
Right now, CMS is only in and if they correct
me if I'm wrong, I believe it's thirty something, maybe
forty sights in about sixteen catchment areas or something to
that effect.

Speaker 7 (42:18):
But it needs to be expanded on.

Speaker 12 (42:20):
The other thing that was spoken of today was the
interconnecting with city agencies. You know, no longer should we
be working in silos where I never forget. I have
a parent that I was with and her son was murdered.
She was at his house visiting him for his birthday,
which was two days prior.

Speaker 7 (42:42):
She heard some arguing. She went out to the steps
and he was like, mom, good, I'm good.

Speaker 12 (42:46):
When in next thing she heard was gunshots and came
out and saw her child rolling down the steps.

Speaker 7 (42:52):
When we went back a.

Speaker 12 (42:53):
Day later, his blood still laid on the ground.

Speaker 1 (42:58):
And so.

Speaker 7 (43:00):
We need sanitation.

Speaker 2 (43:02):
To be a part absolutely.

Speaker 12 (43:04):
To be even given a time constraint of no. Twelve
to twenty four hours, this blood.

Speaker 7 (43:09):
Should be off of our streets.

Speaker 12 (43:12):
Our parents should not be and family members should not
be re traumatized to come back and see the blood
of their loved ones there. And so I think having
someone in in the position of the tsar, you know
which he is from the streets and know the needs
from there to be able to come back and implement

(43:32):
it with the help and the support of the city
agencies is dope.

Speaker 6 (43:37):
You know.

Speaker 12 (43:38):
And I think it was Ephae that said a little
while ago, you know that we just always do is comfortable.
We do the same things over and over. This is
a major monumental like this has never happened before, So
I'm looking forward to the success with it.

Speaker 3 (43:55):
Well so for folks who are listening, those who may
not understand, because we're so close to it that when
we speak of it, we speak as if everybody knows
and they should and they should.

Speaker 2 (44:10):
But today, well let me go back before that.

Speaker 3 (44:14):
Over a decade ago, a number of us came together
to work on building the crisis Management System. We were
told no by previous administrations because the purpose of the
crisis management system and our fight was to get resources
for formally incarcerated individuals, youth, families whether they be victims,

(44:40):
and or the families of victims, to be advocates, people
to work in hospitals, people to be there with therapeutic services,
people to deal specifically with, you know, extreme mental health issues, jobs,
so on and so forth. That was the model that
we came together to create, and through that model we

(45:04):
created CMS. And the first and I think Mayor Bloomberg
was the mayor who told us no. But it happened
to be that at that time there was a mayoral
election and all the candidates wanted our support because we
had organized ourselves around the city to be a force,

(45:24):
and gun violence numbers were up, and so people were
looking for our support. And to her credit, Christine Quinn
was the speaker of the city Council but also running
for mayor, and of course Jimani Williams was a city
council person at that time, along with a brother of Fernando.

Speaker 2 (45:44):
Fernando Right, He's was the city council person.

Speaker 3 (45:49):
And so we worked with them outside of Nia Bloomberg
to get the first five million dollars distributed to grassroots
groups one million dollars per borough, five boroughs in New York,
so that they could do gun violence intervention work. What
we learned was that the major thing that they would
focus on was data, and so we learned that and

(46:13):
we knew we had to provide data that shows the
shootings were down. Shootings dipped tremendously, and as a result,
now crisis management, the crisis management system is up to
over a hundred million dollars that goes to individuals who
are formal who are organizing and employing formally incarcerated folks

(46:35):
and you know and others.

Speaker 2 (46:37):
At Mitchell, who's one of those.

Speaker 3 (46:39):
In the beginning, is now the new czar I've been
saying Czar, but anyway, Czar.

Speaker 7 (46:45):
Yar, Czar, I was saying, kaz okay.

Speaker 8 (46:51):
So he got a title, y'all, he got a title.

Speaker 1 (46:54):
We got a Yeah.

Speaker 3 (46:56):
The Star Violence Intervention and Prevention in New York City
today was announced by our mayor.

Speaker 2 (47:04):
This to me once again and if you you know,
jump in here.

Speaker 3 (47:10):
But once again, we're setting an example, we're setting the
tone again. After more than a decade, we're finding new
ways to revitalize our movement for to fight violence in
our city. Very similar to relationships. Every now and then,
when you with a man or a woman, you've got

(47:32):
to see evaluated.

Speaker 8 (47:33):
You got to evaluate the relationship. And and that's and
I think I think that's what we're doing as a
city is as an evolution that's happening, right. People are evolving.
And I think there was a point in this movement
where we were standing still, right and we're dependent upon
the funding. What I've seen with the movement, there's this
innovation that is happening, right, there's this different thinking process.

(47:54):
This the way that we're moving around the city. And
so you're right to Mika, in any relationship that you have,
you've got to grow, right, do you either grow up
or you grow out? I think what's happening right now
we're seeing in the city this need because this is
what I say about gun violence. There's a cross pollination
of the effects of gun violence.

Speaker 1 (48:13):
Right.

Speaker 8 (48:13):
So what just happened in Buffalo, what just happened in
uval in Texas? What's happening right here in the city.
This is heading home for everybody. Right. It is no
longer isolated. It's no longer saying well, it's only happened
in Brooklyn and invest eying the row. It's only the
black and brown communities. This is happening nationally and the

(48:34):
I think now what you have is the support of
folks like the President, like a man that's saying okay,
so we have a model. We know that aspects of
this model works. Let's use it, but then build upon it, right,
and let's take someone who's had the experience. Because I
tell people all the time, this work is not for
the feint at heart. If you want to do gun

(48:57):
violence work, you have to breathe it, sleep. You also
have to sometimes step away from it. Like I told
Tamika yesterday, it just doesn't fit into my spirit because
just the death of people consistently could be traumatizing. So
when sister Reesa starts talking about the trauma in the past,
that wasn't even a part of the picture, right. So
as we evolved now in the city, looking at different

(49:19):
aspects and different tools to address gun violence. This holistic
approach we talked about it. You can do this work
unless you think about the entire group of people a nation,
the people, right, that's who we have to think about.
And so I think the way that we're moving now
in the city where we're addressing to make it. Macenga

(49:39):
knew this like ten fifteen years ago. Mental health issue
wasn't discussed with gun violence. It was never said simultaneously
that it exists in the same house. And now that
we're thinking about it, we're looking at aspects as Arisa
just talked about the trauma that happens, like, people are
literally talking about how trauma affect individuals and not only

(50:02):
the individuals who are victims or those who are perpetrators
of crimes. We're talking about the network, right, this idea
of community. So for me, when I think about it,
we have evolved. We started off with five million, it's
now over one hundred plus. We have over thirty somethings
sites in the city. The mayor is specifically looking at
ways to broaden this aspect, not just through CMS, but

(50:25):
in other avenues. To me, a multi layer approach to
addressing gun violence is what's needed. And I think that's
what we're doing and it is my hope and we
have to remember this. I'll say this and I'll pass
it on. This can be resolved overnight. This is a
long term investment, right, you know, like when you put
your little dollar in a bank if you think you're

(50:46):
getting three point three percent interest and it's going to grow.
This takes a while, but it takes a while with
people who are committed, and it's consistency.

Speaker 1 (50:55):
And again I will.

Speaker 8 (50:57):
Say this, because we're brown and black, the money has
to match the value of the human life. And too
often when we're talking about blank and brown and black
communities and marginalized communities, we always want to just give
a little bit, right. We don't want to open the
pot fully, and that is problematic because that's not where

(51:18):
equity is right because when we think about our others
who've been injured, laws, policies, investment changes have been.

Speaker 1 (51:27):
Made and it's time for that to happen.

Speaker 8 (51:29):
And I think with the mayor, Atoms and others that
that potentially could happen. So I'm optimistic. I really am optimistic.

Speaker 1 (51:38):
I'm optimistic as well.

Speaker 10 (51:39):
You know, when I was sitting here listening and I
was just, you know, just looking at how the crisis
management system has grown, right, and I'm seeing a lot
of guys that I know, people who've been formally incarcerated,
Guys that I've watched completely change their lives, change their
mind states, that are really inside the communities who used
to be doing harm in those communities, who have invested

(52:00):
the same and not more energy into transforming the mind
state of the young kids who had the same mindset
that they have, and they're invested in it, right. So
when I understand that they're invested in it without really
having the monetary things that they want, just because their
heart is into it.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
Right.

Speaker 10 (52:18):
So when we start to incentivize that change and we
start to you know, we start to reward that change,
and people start to realize that, you know what, I
can actually make a living, I can be successful, and
I can be change in my community. I can be
something positive because negativity and violence is incentivized.

Speaker 1 (52:38):
In our culture.

Speaker 10 (52:39):
You know, when we look at all of the negative
on artists and hip hopping, all of the things, they
making millions of dollars. So when these kids see them,
right and they're comparing them to you, who're telling them
to stop the violence, and you don't look like you successful,
you don't look like you have anything, who are they
really gonna listen to?

Speaker 1 (52:57):
And that's what I try to say.

Speaker 10 (52:58):
If you want us to heat with the violence, then
you got to give us the resources and give us
the ability to compete, give us the same stages, and
give us the same platforms, and give us the same
resources that you give the counterparts. So you know, I'm
very optimistic at this point, it seems as Mayor Williams
said that he wants to not only Mair Adams.

Speaker 1 (53:21):
Mayor Adams Adams about.

Speaker 10 (53:23):
Matt Adams said that he didn't just want to make this,
you know, it's it's separate entergy.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
He wanted to make this a part.

Speaker 8 (53:32):
Of the first one, integrated.

Speaker 1 (53:35):
Another leg of government.

Speaker 10 (53:37):
He's saying that this is the fourth leg, you know,
and this and this, and it really is common sense
for me. It's like when you have a community and
people who are in that community every day, who know
the people every day, who have relationships, who build relationships
over years, who have respect in all those things, and
those people are incentivized to stop the violence and utilize

(53:58):
that respect and util all of the things that they've
gained over their lives to make sure that negativity doesn't
happen in opposed to just having a police system that
comes in when there's the violence is happening and comes
in as an after.

Speaker 1 (54:14):
You know, as a response. No, you know, you have
a I think that when you.

Speaker 10 (54:18):
Combine both of those days, because there will be things
that you at some point it will get to a
level that we might have to call police. But I
think more often than not, if you give use those resources,
that we'll be able to intervene and stop a lot
of violence in the community. So I'm really hopeful and
looking forward to what the future has. Like you said,
it's not gonna be an overnight thing. It's not gonna

(54:40):
be it's gonna have to be invested in. It's gonna
be a process. It's gonna be a long haul, but
you will see the narrative shift, you will see the
culture start to shift. You will see the people who
are celebrated for doing positivity will start to give people
those same platforms and we'll say as accolades in the
same everything else that negativity has gotten for the last

(55:02):
couple of.

Speaker 3 (55:02):
Decades, ms Orisa, what exactly as a mother? I know
you said that you obviously, you know you do a
lot more than just focusing on grief as a mom,
which in and of itself is a lot.

Speaker 2 (55:18):
But what exactly do you do?

Speaker 3 (55:20):
I watched you today as you know, some of our
people were talking when they shouldn't have been, you know,
doing things that you know you always need, you always
have to have mothers of the movement, And I watched
you today facilitating everything from process to behavior to you know, everything, decorum,

(55:43):
the whole thing.

Speaker 2 (55:44):
What exactly is.

Speaker 3 (55:46):
It that that that not another child does? And also
you specifically, how do you see your role in this movement?

Speaker 12 (55:56):
Yeah, you know, I'm the smallest one, but I'm I'm
the mother of all they today. And so you know,
we started off with just a basketball tournament because one
of the young men that played guilty to my son's
murder was fifteen, and it was in the middle of
the summer August seventh, and a mother when.

Speaker 7 (56:21):
This happens, when this experience happens, they.

Speaker 12 (56:24):
Always want to scream out so that everybody will know
their hurt and how they feel. And that's where I
was at, you know, But I wanted to scream out
to youth, you know, fifteen year old.

Speaker 7 (56:37):
I wanted all fifteen year olds to know what your choices.

Speaker 12 (56:40):
And and consequences and decisions was doing the people and
how they was hurting people. And I started out with
what they love, basketball, game and food, you know, and
set that platform to be heard.

Speaker 7 (56:52):
But as the years went by, more.

Speaker 12 (56:56):
Parents kept showing up, you know, from both sides of
the gun, to really get that support, you know, on
how can I identify if my son is really into
something like this or you know, I'm just trying to
get through the pain of losing my child, you know.
And so we grew into more of a therapeutic organization.

(57:20):
I would like to say that everything that we do
has a therapeutic basis. So, you know, we grew into
peer support sessions for parents of homicide victims because you know,
if it's left up to us, nobody knows how we feel. Nobody,
but that's just us. Don't be offended if one of
us say it to you, you know, that's just.

Speaker 7 (57:42):
Don't nobody know how I feel.

Speaker 12 (57:43):
Actually somebody may know, but you know, just those support
sessions so that we can support each other, you know,
without the assistance of.

Speaker 7 (57:53):
A counselor and different things like that.

Speaker 12 (57:55):
And so that's our our family support aspect, the peer
support sessions, the retreats where we go away, you know,
just different things we do with the parents, helping them
to or providing therapy for them.

Speaker 7 (58:13):
Unconventional therapeutic support.

Speaker 12 (58:15):
We just went to Patches and Hops, which is an
event space where you throw hatchets, you know, and so
we made it where that's a place for them to relieve,
you know, anger and things. And they also had to
be you know, just looking straight forward at what they

(58:35):
were trying to target. So we do different events and
things like that for them. Even with our basketball tournament
now that my song actually came to one year when
we first came up to Harlem. The therapeutic aspect of
that is the teams bring pictures of loved ones that
they have lost the gun violence, and we hang them

(58:57):
all around the park so that they're playing and memory
of them and you know, hoping that that will defer
or deter retaliation. You know, we have other youth groups
out the hood where we take kids out of their neighborhood.
You know, We've taken them to our club Jean Studio,
showed them you don't have to be a rapper to

(59:19):
be in the industry, you know, exposing them to various
cultures and careers. We have BUDS which is the Brothers, Uncles,
Dads and Sons mentorship program.

Speaker 7 (59:29):
And we have Brown Boys Book Club.

Speaker 12 (59:31):
So we do you know, we do cleanups I'll call it,
you know, after child, after loved one is murdered to
mecause you know, you call me plenty of days with
a parent with a wife, you know, to provide support
to them, but also trying to adhere our children from
going either side of the gun.

Speaker 1 (59:54):
You know.

Speaker 12 (59:55):
And that is what we do do the other youth
programs that we have, you know.

Speaker 8 (01:00:01):
And when I hear reesa speak like, my mind is
always blown at the way that we have evolved. Right
that the idea of what therapy has been, because a
lot of time is brown and blacks. The way that
we heal and the way that we deal with things
have not been mainstream. And the evolution of us as

(01:00:22):
a city to recognize non traditional therapeutic services and say
that all in the same sentence, that's growth for us
as city. Right because and before you know, you push
the traditional and no disrespect to white folks who are clinicians,
but we push the traditional whiteism of therapy on people

(01:00:44):
of color, totally not engage in religion, totally not engaging
the village that we have as people of color, Totally
not engaging the way that Teresa just speak about parents
and getting mothers together.

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
So the fact that.

Speaker 8 (01:00:58):
We have now been able to recognize that non traditional
support for families is under the city and it's talked
about in city documents as non traditional.

Speaker 1 (01:01:10):
That is growth.

Speaker 8 (01:01:11):
But again, this idea around uplifting and bringing cultural competency
to the fact that we grieve differently, that is recognition
by the city.

Speaker 1 (01:01:22):
Right.

Speaker 8 (01:01:23):
I told we said this before. I remember when my
son passed, he died from an illness, and when I
was going through my feelings of loss and depression, I
was told go to God, right, go to church.

Speaker 1 (01:01:36):
You know, that's what you do.

Speaker 8 (01:01:38):
What we change now, which is not bad because that's
what we do as people of color back from slavery,
you know, we pray to the same oppressors, or we
go to the oppressors to relieve us from stuff that
we're going through. But what we have seen in the
city right now is a mayor recognizing the fact that
which you consider to be traditional for some communities, you

(01:01:59):
can not doe for other communities. And that recognition right
there in itself to me as an advancement in the
way that we're approaching the work and the way that
we're approaching leadership and the support that's needed. So just
a Lisa talking about and I think Aresa has done it.
She has put moms in the city on a local
level at a higher platform because before parents of victims

(01:02:24):
were not really given the opportunity within the process of healing.
Has done in the past two years, I think has
made it a much more vocal point that people recognize
there is a need to support parents and loved one
right not just through.

Speaker 1 (01:02:41):
Victim services, but through the.

Speaker 8 (01:02:44):
Collective village that we'll grow into CMS. Let me ask
this go.

Speaker 2 (01:02:49):
Ahead, my son.

Speaker 10 (01:02:50):
Know what I was going to say is I think
what you touched on something that was so important you know,
and it's cultural relevancy is the way that we do things.
And you know, I've been I've always every government official
I'm gonna be critical of. I'm not gonna just let
you pass because you got black skinned, because we went
to sleep before, you know. And I've been critical of

(01:03:12):
some of the things that man Adams has said, you know,
and I've and I've held him to it, you know.
But today he says some really powerful things, you know.
And he spoke as a black man, he didn't speak
as a politician, and he spoke to people and said
and basically said, you don't understand us. You don't understand
what it is that we go through in our communities.

(01:03:33):
You don't understand how we grieve. You might not understand
our lingo. Everybody here you looking at you saying what
are they doing here? But the bottom line is we know,
we know what we're doing. We know we got this
boogerloo thing that we do that works for us, that
our community.

Speaker 1 (01:03:48):
There's people in this that's in.

Speaker 10 (01:03:49):
This crowd right now that can talk a gun out
of somebody's hands, way different than you can. And you're
gonna go there with your textbook theory of how we're
supposed to go. And these people right here have been shooters,
have known what it is to be shootings, been around,
and they know exactly what to do. So I'm going
to give them the opportunity to do what they've been
doing their whole life, and we're gonna make sure that

(01:04:10):
it's recognized as someone who does first response to And
that was really important for me. It wasn't just the
regular old conversation that the politicians have and we want
to do. He really he really spoke to that and
making at Mitchell bizarre someone who I know very personal,
and I know how he does this work.

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
I know the relationship that he has in communities.

Speaker 10 (01:04:32):
I know his background, I know the people around him background,
I know how engaged and serious he is about this work,
and I know how he's going to bring more people
who have that same vigor, who have that same background,
who have that same intention into this work and the
people he's already connected with. And I'm just I'm just
really excited, man. I'm very excited.

Speaker 8 (01:04:54):
More excited, mind, you know, I really am, because.

Speaker 1 (01:04:57):
It's going to be culturally it's going to be culturally relevant.

Speaker 10 (01:05:00):
Work is not going to look like what people think
it is he's saying at And the thing that I
respect is that he said the fact that we didn't
make him part of government because we wanted him to
have his autonomy to do the work the way he
does it, to walk into communities the way that he
does and still be connected to the community, but just

(01:05:22):
an extension of a different level of government.

Speaker 1 (01:05:25):
And that is something that I've never seen done before.

Speaker 8 (01:05:28):
Yeah, because his respected has lived and learned experience, right,
because too often what we equate is that you have
to have multiple degrees in order to execute. And what
he is saying is that there are lived and learned experiences.

Speaker 1 (01:05:41):
And listen, I'm all push.

Speaker 8 (01:05:43):
About education because it shows that you can stick with
something that's continuous behavior in practice. There's theories around that,
but there's also theories about someone who's had to lived
and learned experience. What I like about what's happening now
is that we're not glorifying our past mistakes, right, And
that's when we talk about the way this movement is.
There's too many that want to highlight, Oh, I was this,

(01:06:04):
I was that.

Speaker 1 (01:06:05):
I think to shift my son.

Speaker 8 (01:06:07):
It's something you always say, even when you're talking about
when I be following my own is ig and he's
talking about the rappers and all that stuff. The reality
is that you're talking.

Speaker 1 (01:06:17):
Grown folks business, right.

Speaker 8 (01:06:19):
You're not talking the fact that I am Sidney and
talking I was a shooter, I'm this gangster, I'm that
person I got distrike. You're saying that was a part
of me. But I've evolved because I understand the impact
of my own violence to myself my community, and now
I need to shift, right. And so there's a shift
in the mind state that you're talking about. And I

(01:06:41):
think that's what you're seeing that there's a mayor that
recognizes the fact that you don't have to have multiple
degrees to have impact.

Speaker 1 (01:06:47):
Right.

Speaker 8 (01:06:47):
There's a mayrit that's saying, let's invest and use non
traditional approaches to also aid in gun violence. There's a
mayor that's saying, there are people that's been doing this work,
who have evidence based and research data. Because you know
how our city city is and how our people are.
Show me the data, show me that it's been researched,
that's been able to do that, And you have a

(01:07:09):
mayor that is committed and know that it takes consistency
to make change that in itself is evolution, right, That
is itself is innovation for us.

Speaker 2 (01:07:19):
It is, it is, it is innovation.

Speaker 3 (01:07:22):
It is certainly I believe in it because I believe
in at and in many ways, you know, I believe
in Eric also, the Mayor Adams, right. I believe in
him because I know him since I was a young child,
and I know that he loves black people.

Speaker 2 (01:07:41):
However, I do feel that the one track that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:46):
Mayor Adams may fall into that could potentially be a
trap for us as a movement and for the entire city,
is the trap of believing that an investment and a
continued stroke of the ego of NYPD is going to

(01:08:08):
somehow be the other side, the other balance, if you will,
of addressing gun violence. Certainly, he said today, which of
course he's going He's a former police officer. He believes
in the police and what you know, and he believes
in the police and the police, right, and he said
today that thirty percent of the shootings are down, and

(01:08:33):
that you know, he named the number of things, the
highest arrest rates of people with firearms, illegal firearms.

Speaker 2 (01:08:41):
He talked about those things.

Speaker 3 (01:08:42):
He's going to tout that he's also the mayor, which
means he has to talk about the success of all
his agencies, including the police department. But the thing that
I realize and I hope and that he also understands,
is that we've also added more jobs. So you've got
more people back to work, right, you have more folks

(01:09:02):
out in the world post COVID visiting other individuals out
doing their work, getting their mental health services back on track.
And so while yes, I think the police have one
role that in and of itself is not and has
never been, this solution or the turn key way to

(01:09:25):
address the needs of the community. So yeah, I see
how policing is important, but the budget is extremely inflated
for policing and there is not enough money going to
the services and the other areas that I just mentioned.
We know that police are funded more than any other agency,

(01:09:50):
so education is not funded in the same way.

Speaker 2 (01:09:54):
You know, foods, food.

Speaker 3 (01:09:55):
Services, to our community housing, all those things are suffering
tremendously And I really do hope that as a part
of what Mayor Adams does and what he is focused on,
that he realizes that there has to be a shift.
And that's why, whether it frustrates people and it pisses

(01:10:16):
people off. And whatever we say, defund the police, not
that we want to take all the resources and completely
get rid of police, but we believe that police funding
needs to go down and the funding for our organizations,
our networks, and our services needs to increase. So let's

(01:10:38):
see how that goes. You know, I support the work
I can be whether they say it's no permanent friends,
it's only permanent interests or something like that.

Speaker 2 (01:10:51):
So we're not enemies, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:10:53):
I tell Eric directly how I feel about some of
the things.

Speaker 2 (01:10:57):
He says, and that there's no he knows clearly.

Speaker 3 (01:11:00):
We speak about it when we see each other professional
and or social events. I have said many times I
thought what you said on this is wrong or it's right.
But I do think that the fact that he was
there today, that he's made the investment, and that he
named our brother the bizarre of gun violence intervention and

(01:11:20):
prevention is putting us on the right track and once again,
the people will save the city.

Speaker 8 (01:11:26):
That's really what we're bottom line. That's the bottom line.
You know, I'm with you on that. I don't you
know when they started talking about defund police, I've always
been like the language has always been you know, as
a as a mediator, as a certified mediator, someone who's
mediad cases a lot of cases in my time. The
reality for me is that when we start using language,

(01:11:46):
it is toxic that can inflate and that can actually
create problems.

Speaker 1 (01:11:51):
You're right to me that I get it.

Speaker 8 (01:11:52):
They have an Although i'm amount of budget, I do
think there's an opportunity to shift some of that money
to other resources, right, And I'm hoping that Eric does that.
I'm hoping that Maya Adams does that across this city
because there is a balance, and that's what we've been
talking about.

Speaker 1 (01:12:09):
The balance. All we know is police, right, We've grown.

Speaker 8 (01:12:12):
Up only knowing police to resolve our situations. When we
look at Switzerland as a Switzerland and Sweden that have guns,
they have a number of guns, their gun crime stats
are so dog gone low, right, for a place that
owns guns and people use guns. All we know in
our country is police, and so that's the first thing

(01:12:34):
that we turn to resolving all issues, whether domestic violence,
whether you have your you hit your big toe, whether
you're neighbor playing music too loud, we call police. I
think the shift that we're going to see right now.
And I'm not saying that we don't need police.

Speaker 1 (01:12:49):
I'm hoping at.

Speaker 8 (01:12:50):
One point in our lives we don't have to have
police resolve in everything. But the one thing that I
would say is that I hope that Eric, as a
former police officer, understand that you can do and sing
him do this, is that you have other ways to
resolve community safety. Invest in community, allow people to have
community sustainability practice and plans, allow young people. Change the

(01:13:11):
way that we educate our children in schools. We've taken
away trade from the schools. Right we automatically say that
folks must go to college. We don't give people another
opportunity to be invested in the arts, to invest in
sports in other areas. Like I think with him right now,
this is a great opportunity for him to reinvent the city,
and I believe with the right people in place, he

(01:13:32):
can do that.

Speaker 1 (01:13:34):
Well.

Speaker 2 (01:13:34):
We will know.

Speaker 3 (01:13:37):
We want to keep the conversation going. We're about to
start a whole sort of reinvite track of bringing back
all the folks that we have talked to over time
to follow up on where people are. I think what's
important about this conversation today is we really kind of
are helping folks who are sitting at home saying they

(01:13:58):
either want to get started or they already have grassroots organizations.
What does that look like? What does the relationship look
like to work with the mayor who you may have
issues with on one hand, but on the other hand,
they have the resources you need to deal with certain
things in the community. There's many different layers to this,
and I think in New York City, while we may

(01:14:20):
not have figured it all out, we certainly have.

Speaker 2 (01:14:23):
A good model for the nation.

Speaker 3 (01:14:26):
And miss Orisa, I would say to you that your
spirit and your leadership not just being again a grieving mother,
which in and of itself is important, but taking that
and turning it into leadership is so important because.

Speaker 2 (01:14:40):
You keep us all centered, You keep us no matter.

Speaker 3 (01:14:44):
I don't know anybody that has a problem with this,
or Resa. We all have issues with one another. We
fighting each other everywhere. I don't speak to this one,
this one, don't speak over here in the third but
we none of us have that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:57):
Issue with you. And it's important to you that we
love me.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (01:15:02):
We need mothers and fathers.

Speaker 8 (01:15:04):
That's because she comes with a pure spirit, to me,
I'm gonna say that all the time. I tell people
that all the time.

Speaker 1 (01:15:12):
You gotta have you gotta have a pure spirit, and
I'm giving yours.

Speaker 8 (01:15:18):
You gotta have a pure spirit school with her because
she has a pure spirit.

Speaker 12 (01:15:24):
My motive and intent is pure. I just want to amplify.
I don't want another mother to be where I am.
I really really don't. And so whatever I have to do.
I know everybody's staff, Like I mean, at brought me
in and when my mind goes back to that first

(01:15:44):
time that I met him, like that's almost like twelve
thirteen years ago.

Speaker 7 (01:15:49):
But I know everybody's staff. I just because I.

Speaker 12 (01:15:52):
Know the important work that they do, you know, and
so pure.

Speaker 13 (01:15:56):
Heart you do, pre heart and organized has just come
to the forefront a lot more, you know, given this
platform to be able to do so, and because this
is so important to me, Like shutting down the Brooklyn
Bridge today.

Speaker 12 (01:16:16):
No like like it was shut down I know to
me because you saw it.

Speaker 6 (01:16:20):
I know.

Speaker 12 (01:16:20):
My but coming from the other way after going over
the Brooklyn Bridge all my life, always at a standstill,
always caused to see it was like we was everybody's
at a standstill, just looking and bringing awareness to gun balance.
And what's important about that is today was one of

(01:16:42):
several times over the history of this thing as we
were building it, we bought caskets over yes.

Speaker 2 (01:16:56):
For helping us to bring this thing to fruition. And
now it's time for us. You know, sometimes in the
movement we get a little comfortable. People. You know, your
numbers are down.

Speaker 3 (01:17:07):
You know, you're trying to just keep things afloat contracts exactly.

Speaker 2 (01:17:13):
But now we got we got to put the A
team eighteen plus the newcomers back in the.

Speaker 3 (01:17:23):
In the mix and on the grind, and we can
save our communities. We can work with the community to
save our communities. And so that's what we're going to
focus on. We love you both, you know, thank you
so much for your leadership. People need to be you know,
we in New York have to teach the rest of

(01:17:45):
the country, uh, in pockets where they don't have models like.

Speaker 2 (01:17:49):
Ours, how to do this work. My son, you're going
to take us out.

Speaker 10 (01:17:53):
I just want to say, uh, you know, bout down
to you beautiful black queens. You know, thank you for
all the work that you do, thank you for the
energy that you bring. Thank you for your smile. Thank
you for cussing us out. Sometimes it's a reason because
we'll be needing it, you know.

Speaker 8 (01:18:09):
But I just want to say, hands on you Church Mama,
like she'd be laying hands and got the Holy oil.

Speaker 1 (01:18:19):
Give you that look together them.

Speaker 7 (01:18:24):
That's not me, we need it.

Speaker 10 (01:18:29):
But I just want to say I love you all
and I appreciate your conte part of you.

Speaker 1 (01:18:34):
Guys.

Speaker 8 (01:18:34):
Man, we are just like you know when you think
about the baton being pasted and the new.

Speaker 1 (01:18:38):
Generation of folks.

Speaker 8 (01:18:39):
Yo, bro, I'm just gonna say this to you, my son.
I got nothing but love for you, y'all always in
my prayer to me because you're ready now. I feel
about you at the end of the day. It is
just great to see the both of y'all where you bomb.
I to lift y'all up in every comp Happy birth
I know, his birthday and all that good stuff.

Speaker 2 (01:19:02):
The episode airs on my birthday next on June.

Speaker 11 (01:19:05):
Ah.

Speaker 8 (01:19:06):
Yeah, Geminis, y'all ain't taurists though it ain't a tourist season,
but I'm my son is.

Speaker 1 (01:19:14):
It was May sixteenth, O listen, I know it was
something I knew, that tourist thing. It's a rest.

Speaker 2 (01:19:26):
Okay, thank you, thank you.

Speaker 1 (01:19:33):
I love me and Miss Reesa and I love me.

Speaker 10 (01:19:37):
They just two of the baddest black queens that you know,
and they both do different things in their perspective ways,
but they are so effective man.

Speaker 3 (01:19:46):
So I think what's important about the two of them
is that you know, there's different sides to this. There
is the you know, the trauma side, which miss which
both of them can speak to because Efa has been
working in it and Miss Sorisa actually is living it.
And then there is the side of the organization. How

(01:20:09):
do you actually put one foot in front of the
other and lead people in this work so that people
can be effective and so that a movement can really
grow and so we can actually help to save lives.
That is what today is about. Listening to them talking
about leadership qualities, vetting individuals who are working in the movement,

(01:20:32):
A lot of people jump up and say they're going
to work in the movement. Everybody shows up. I'm an
anti violence participant, I can do this, I'm a leader.
And you find out that they have more mental health
issues than the kids that are out there shooting, than
the people who are out there being problematic and so
vetting the workers. I hope people don't miss some of
what they've been talking about having mothers of the movement

(01:20:54):
that can help to deal with the internal conflict, because
you have much of them. That comes up in all
movement spaces, but in this anti violence work, having so
many people who are passionate and yet they come from
the streets, you got a lot of egos and a
lot of bravado that even exists within some of the
women within the work, and so that is necessary working together,

(01:21:20):
being unified. First thing on this shirt, unity, all of
us coming together. We have boycott Black Murder and until freedom.
You also have life Camp. You have Man Up. You
have not another child, you have a Harlem mother saved.
You have Jos exactly, Guns up, Life down, Guns down,

(01:21:44):
Life up.

Speaker 2 (01:21:45):
Excuse me, guns down, Life Up.

Speaker 3 (01:21:47):
You have so many organizations in the city that's doing
this work. But today we didn't go out as individual organizations.
We went out as one and all of those things.
Working with your mayor, working with your city officials, looking
at your budgets, budgets, increasing the budgets, maintaining data, right

(01:22:09):
to show your numbers in terms of how you're impacting communities,
bringing people who are from the streets of the streets,
you know, dealing with folks who are on both sides
of the gun. All of those things are strategies for
building real movements. And you know, and I think that
both of these women have a lot that they can

(01:22:31):
share on what that looks like from being in this
and on the outskirts.

Speaker 10 (01:22:37):
Yes they do. And you know, I'm just like, once again,
you know, there's a very big opportunity, you know, and
we always say we need something different, and this is
one of those moments where I think.

Speaker 1 (01:22:48):
Something different is actually happening.

Speaker 10 (01:22:50):
I always say that culturally relevant in us, doing things
that fits within our culture, fits within our DNA is
you know, we've been we've been foot fit into this
cookie cutter system in the structure of the way things
supposed to happen. You know, just regular policing doesn't really

(01:23:11):
work in our communities.

Speaker 1 (01:23:12):
It doesn't.

Speaker 10 (01:23:13):
It hasn't stopped violence, it is you know, it hasn't
stopped crime.

Speaker 1 (01:23:16):
It hasn't really done anything.

Speaker 10 (01:23:17):
It's locked more people up, but it hasn't been a
solution to crime, you know, it has been a solution
to nonviolence. So I think having people who are invested
in the community because they actually come from there, because
their mothers live there, their sisters live there, their cousins,
their own children lived there, and them speaking energy into
the community, them bringing peaceful energy and nonviolent energy, providing

(01:23:42):
opportunities and resources, being able to employ people from their community,
and saying, hey, you don't have to be out here
with no gun. We're gonna give you a check, and
we just need you to make sure that the park
is safe. We just need you to make sure that
you you know, you you intervene it. Like if we
started centivizing you imagine if somebody got paid a couple
of dollars every time they broke up a fight or

(01:24:03):
got in the middle of some conflict. People would love
to do it. People like I ain't getting in the
middle of that. I ain't getting paid for that. That's
not my job. So when we started centivizing those things
and people start realizing there's a level of honor that
comes with that, there's gonna be a celebration for someone
who's able to, you know, diffuse and de escalate situations

(01:24:26):
in communities, We're gonna see the whole shift in the culture.

Speaker 4 (01:24:29):
So, you know, what I mean.

Speaker 3 (01:24:30):
The problem is, But the problem is that a lot
of people want to do it, but they don't realize
that once it's a job, there's actual training that goes
into it, and that's what we have to focus on.

Speaker 2 (01:24:43):
You also have to do internal work, right, like I
talked about.

Speaker 1 (01:24:47):
But the thing is, I say it all the time.

Speaker 10 (01:24:49):
It's like it's like anything, right, It's like being a
basketball player. There's a natural talent that you have and
then there's coach. When you're coach once you have that
natural talent and you want to be good to those
just refines the talent that you have. They're mediators who
just have a natural gift to mediator.

Speaker 1 (01:25:07):
Right, and they don't have they haven't been taught to
certain skills.

Speaker 10 (01:25:10):
So when you give these natural mediators the skill set
and you tell them, hey, these are these are the things,
and most of the times, when you look at it
and you when you and you're a natural.

Speaker 1 (01:25:20):
Person at it, you already applied most of those things.
But you then what happens is.

Speaker 10 (01:25:24):
You understand that you have to make sure that you
fit into a formula, that you fit into a structure,
that there's a way to go about it.

Speaker 1 (01:25:31):
But you also implement your natural ability into everything.

Speaker 10 (01:25:34):
So yes, there's training that comes, but that training is
welcome when it's incentivized. That training has come is welcome
when it's when it's celebrated. So, you know, I think
there's going to be a different time, I see, because
like I said, there were so many quote unquote forming
gangsters that was in there, people that know it's in
the streets that have come home and.

Speaker 1 (01:25:54):
They have actually really changed their lives. You know.

Speaker 10 (01:25:57):
I know dudes that was notorious ten years ago that
I looked at I was locked up with, and they
and they got these young kids and they putting you know,
they got them on the right path, and they really
invested in changing the mind states and changing the trajectory
of these kids.

Speaker 1 (01:26:13):
So you know, I'm just I'm really happy for that. Man.

Speaker 3 (01:26:16):
I'm looking forward to I'm looking forward to it as well.
And at also you know, as a leader, he doesn't
play around, so that's a good thing as well. So
with that being said, what is your I don't get
it but today, because I'm sure you have one, Well.

Speaker 1 (01:26:33):
My only I don't get it, right, was.

Speaker 10 (01:26:37):
You know, since we're going to be on this topic
and you know, for me, it was the media. You know,
the media decided that rather than celebrate something, they wanted
to try to make negative and speak about background to

(01:27:01):
speaking about at or how was he vetted? And you know,
do you know that he had this investigation?

Speaker 1 (01:27:07):
Did you know? For you? You only have one I
said for me.

Speaker 10 (01:27:15):
For me, you know, I think the one thing that
I didn't get was how the media wanted to spend
something that was so monumental and so positive into talking
about negativity, right, and immediately went to well how was
this person vetted?

Speaker 1 (01:27:31):
And did you know about this investigation?

Speaker 10 (01:27:34):
And all of these things and we all have a past,
you know, and they wanted to focus on that, and
they wanted to say, well what is the timeline and
how do you notice?

Speaker 1 (01:27:44):
And it's like, what is the timeline for the police? Right?

Speaker 10 (01:27:47):
We we gotta hold we we've been giving billions of
dollars to the police, and what is the timeline that
says that they're doing their job?

Speaker 1 (01:27:54):
Right?

Speaker 10 (01:27:54):
Because gun violence goes up, it goes down, violence crime
goes up, it goes down. There's no timeline, right, There
just has to be multiple strategies implemented. And I don't
know why when it comes to things that we're doing
as a community based especially black and brown people, there
always has to be this negative connotation that surrounded. There
always have to be the DeBie downer, There always has

(01:28:17):
to be well, how do you know it works?

Speaker 1 (01:28:20):
How does this why we always have to go through
those things?

Speaker 5 (01:28:23):
Man?

Speaker 10 (01:28:23):
I just don't get you know how the media constantly
spends those things.

Speaker 1 (01:28:27):
And that's why violence.

Speaker 10 (01:28:29):
Is perpetuated, right because the picture of a mass killer
is all over the TV and it gives some level
of infamy.

Speaker 1 (01:28:37):
It gives some level.

Speaker 10 (01:28:38):
Of fame, and people see this and these other people
who just sick, who dealing with those same issues, want
that picture on the stream. But you don't give the
picture of someone like at who just was giving the
gun violence?

Speaker 1 (01:28:51):
Are you? That's not put all over every news channel?

Speaker 10 (01:28:55):
Right, we don't celebrate the person who is doing the
gun violence.

Speaker 1 (01:28:59):
Is not class it all over every.

Speaker 2 (01:29:01):
Channel, not doing the gun violence, the person who's doing
the work.

Speaker 8 (01:29:05):
The work to Then it's important, that's.

Speaker 10 (01:29:08):
Right, You're right, And it's important because people want to
emulate that.

Speaker 1 (01:29:12):
People want to they want to follow something that they
see celebrated, you know.

Speaker 10 (01:29:16):
So I just don't get why we don't celebrate the
positivity more while we always want to focus on the
negative and try to defame and discredit and devalue things
that are so positive, especially when it comes to black
and brown communities.

Speaker 3 (01:29:32):
Yeah no, I mean, listen, I don't have anything to say.
You already said it. They begin to ask all kinds
of questions today to try to create negative narratives. They're
going to write a bunch of trash. We already know that,
and I think that our responsibility. I said today while
being interviewed by someone that if at fails, we all

(01:29:54):
fail together. That's the bottom line for us. We have
to work with our brother and help him and provide
him with the resources and the support, and also allow
him to leave without all of us thinking we know better,
and therefore we could try to get in the way
of what it is that he feels, what he's led,

(01:30:16):
what he's motivated to do, and how he wants to lead.
That's our responsibility, because we already know, based upon the
line of questioning that you spoke of, that these reporters
begin to ask today that they don't want to see
him win, that they don't they want to be able
to use the failure of the news AAR and the

(01:30:37):
crisis management system in total, with one hundred plus million
dollars going to formally incarcerated individuals, They want to use
that to say it didn't work, it was a waste
of money. And let's go back to policing and government
and the processes of all the things that we know

(01:30:58):
does not in and of itself work to all of
our issues in our community. And so it's our responsibility
to make it work. We've got to be innovative, we've
got to put our strategy out there. And we also
which is why I'm glad that at also doesn't work
for the government so to speak, that he's not an

(01:31:18):
employee of the mayor's office and it's not an agency
that is inside the administration. Because guess what, we also
have to challenge and push the administration. And he said
today when asked by one reporter, what resources do you need,
he said, we need the cooperation of all of the

(01:31:41):
agencies within the city. And that's a fact because sanitation,
as miss Or Resa just talked about, they need to
know you cannot leave a community shot up from some
incident with blood splattered everywhere, because that is very similar
to bodies hanging from trees, from lynchings, that you're leaving

(01:32:04):
the trauma behind. That normalizes the behavior, and it normalizes
the unfortunate sort of discomfort of the people who live
in communities. We have to accept the example by keeping
our communities clean, by focusing on taking care of those
people who because again, as has been said, most people

(01:32:27):
are not shooting most people in the communities, the overwhelming majority,
they want to live in safe, clean communities. Unfortunately, we
have some that are knuckleheads and others who are traumatized
and challenged and whatever that is. We got to do
the work. So that's that for me. I think, you know,

(01:32:47):
New York City is pointing in the right direction on
at least this one issue. And now it's up to
all of us to get in there.

Speaker 10 (01:32:56):
And do the work, you know, and I'll ended you know,
as much work and as much as you know each
individual I mean, each of these entities are doing, each
organization is doing. We as individuals have to take pride
and take a declaration that we're gonna do something in

(01:33:19):
our communities, especially as black men, you know, knowing that
black men are dying in this gun violence crisis that
we're faced with.

Speaker 1 (01:33:29):
We're dying at at alarming rates.

Speaker 10 (01:33:32):
And as a black man who comes from marginalized communities,
who has a level of influence in those said communities,
you know, I declare that I will be frontline and
center dealing with these young men and trying to steer
them away from those streets. So with that said, I'm
not gonna always be right. Miss Timika Mallory is not

(01:33:55):
gonna always be wrong, but we will both always and
I mean always, be authentic.

Speaker 2 (01:34:01):
Pace to.

Speaker 3 (01:34:04):
Listen to Street Politicians on the Black Effect Network on iHeartRadio.

Speaker 10 (01:34:08):
And catch us every single Wednesday for the video version
of Street Politicians on iwomen dot tv.

Speaker 1 (01:34:14):
That's how