Tackling Politics, Media Ownership, and Accountability with Ashley Allison

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm Tamika d. Mallory and it's.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Your boy my son. In general, we.

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Are your host of TMI.

Speaker 2 (00:05):
Tamika and my song's information, truth, motivation and inspiration.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
New name, new energy, but same. What's up my song
lend and what's the deal?

Speaker 2 (00:16):
I am black Blessing Holly Favorite. How are you feeling today?

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Good? I'm good.

Speaker 3 (00:20):
A lot going on. The seasons are changing, It's getting
cooler in New York.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Fine rich I was.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
I was so grateful that October twelve thirteen, those days
were still seventy seventy one, seventy two.

Speaker 1 (00:35):
But it is time. It's time to let it go.

Speaker 2 (00:38):
It's time. It's time going to put your good old.

Speaker 1 (00:40):
Jacket to the hoodie and a jacket. We need to
do that.

Speaker 3 (00:45):
We need to have Censerre and other stylists come on
and talk about like what's the what's the what's the
attire for the season, because I'm telling you, like I
don't be knowing what to whear when the seasons first changed.
I always ask myself, what did you wear last year?
Because I don't know where this stuff is.

Speaker 2 (01:06):
We need to interview Cinseray.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
Listen, Sinsora knows she s so but any who censer
Ay is our stylist for anybody who's who's listening, and
she's she is little but mighty. Oh my god, here
we go with you anyway, renaming people. Uh, let's see

(01:31):
what is what what we're going to talk about today?
There was so many topics.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Oh okay, let's talk again.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
And I guess similar to the diversity, equity and inclusion
conversation that I plan to bring up almost every week
and until until until until.

Speaker 1 (01:49):
Freedom, until freedom.

Speaker 3 (01:51):
I you know, I think it's important during this election
period to be talking about the two people who are
most likely to be elected. Now, at the point of
this podcast being released, we would have crossed the end
of voter registration and the beginning of early voting in

(02:15):
New York City. And you know, last week was the
debate with Mandani Sliwa and Cuomo is independent now running
as an independent, formerly democratic governor of New York State
who many people watched on TV during COVID and fell

(02:37):
in love with him all over. People who didn't even
know who the governor was in New York they fell
in love with him, or people across the country were like,
oh my god, Andrew Cuomo. But we those who are
politically astute, people who really pay attention, we know who
Andrew Cuomo is. I've told y'all already last week or

(02:57):
a week last week, maybe a week before. He is
part of the only group of people, which is white men,
who can fall forward in the way and in such
a drastic way. Some people say it's twenty million dollars
that the state has had to pay, but my research

(03:17):
shows it's been up to sixty million dollars that the
state has had to pay for sexual harassment settlements. Right,
So this is who Andrew Cromo is. The he do
some good things, sure, absolutely, he was the first. I
think he was the first governor to start assigning or

(03:38):
to make it law that a special prosecutor would step
in at the point of a police involved shooting, especially
with an unarmed individual, you know, and I was a
part of that that fight to get him to do it.

Speaker 1 (03:52):
He did it. There's been some other things.

Speaker 3 (03:54):
So I'm not going to say here and try to
give his entire record, but I certainly am not going
to say that Andrew Croomo was the worst governor ever,
because that's not the case with a lot of things
I would say Eric Adams, I wouldn't say he was
the worst mayor ever. I would say that it got
to a point with Eric Adams that after a while
you just kind of like, it's too many infractions, it's

(04:16):
too much stuff going on. We all know nobody's whistle
is one hundred percent clean. But now it's the Trump relationship.
It's the supporting or not supporting. But you know, what
would I say defending Daniel Penny after he killed choked
to death Jordan nearly a young man on the train,

(04:38):
who was houseless.

Speaker 1 (04:39):
Who did not have to die.

Speaker 3 (04:41):
And I just couldn't believe to hear, you know, what
Eric was saying. And then it had been many other instances.
So but it doesn't mean he didn't do some other
important things. It's Curtis Sleewah, right, he's the Republican candidate
for mayor of New York City. Now I know Sleewar
and you know I used to work with him at
ABC Radio. We were at one oh three point nine,

(05:04):
which is a new dial. It's not new anymore, but
twenty fifteen, I think is when that dial started. Jonathan Mason,
who I used to work for as a consultant. He
hired me to come in and help with the community
engagement for one O three point nine, and we were
in the same building with many of the other stations,
and I used to see Courtesy why every day we

(05:25):
talked about his community engagement work, you know, being on
the train stopping violence, the red Beret guys with the
red jacket. He and I didn't agree on most of anything,
but he did have some good community safety points, right,
and some other good, good community safety stuff he'd been
involved in. Now you come to Mandani, right now, Mandanni

(05:47):
is the Democratic nominee.

Speaker 1 (05:49):
Under any other I mean, every time in my life I.

Speaker 3 (05:52):
Thought about challenging the Democratic nominee, the Democrats would tell
me it's blue period, and we don't go against our nominee.
But this time we see something completely different that's happening.
Of course, the rules change when a young progressive Muslim
young man who aligns himself in a lot of ways

(06:16):
with black culture, right when he becomes the nominee and
starts talking about giving people free stuff and changing the
way that the system operates so that people will have
more what's the word I'm looking for it just more
equitable services. It's different terms that I want, but that's good,

(06:38):
more equitable services that the rich are not the most.
The people who get the most convenience in New York
City and then the rest of us and people who
are he have even less than us, will suffer. He
wants to try to make it more fair and equitable,
and we support that. He is not inexperience. He's a
New York State Assemblyman, right, he has been in government.

(07:00):
He also has worked in coalition with many, many people
around the city of New York and the state of
New York.

Speaker 1 (07:08):
And so I believe me and you were sitting up here.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
We believe that the brothers should be given a chance
because we gave a chance to Verdann Bays. We gave
a chance to everybody, all these people, right, even if
you were Again, I mean, he's been in government, but
we've given ample opportunities for other people to get in
there and show us what they have.

Speaker 1 (07:31):
And now we're prepared this city.

Speaker 3 (07:34):
I believe some people kicking and screaming, but I do
believe that Madonnie is going to become the next mayor.

Speaker 1 (07:41):
I do think so.

Speaker 2 (07:42):
I believe so too, and I believe that his ideas
are just fresh, you know, they meet the people where
we are today, just right now, where we are, people
are barely surviving, they don't have lunch, meet people are
living check the check. And he's talking about how how
do we circumvent how do we, you know, figure out
a way that all of these things that our community

(08:05):
is dealing with. The government shares in that. And that's
what That's what the government is supposed to do. That's
what I always thought that the government was supposed to
be for the people, by the people. When y'all keep
making rules and laws and budgets that don't fit the
shit that's going on in the community, why are we
doing it? You know what I'm saying. So he's speaking
that language, and he seems to be very he seems

(08:26):
to have the energy. He seems like he wants to
do it. They said, oh, he can't do this. I
want somebody that wants to change, right. One thing I
learned from watching Trump is that if you want to
do some shit, it could be the worst shit in
the world, you'll find a way to do it. So
when I look at Mandami, I hear someone who actually
wants to change, and I hear that he actually wanted

(08:48):
to see citizens happen. He actually wants the community to thrive,
you know, so I'm with that.

Speaker 1 (08:54):
Yeah, I think so too.

Speaker 3 (08:55):
I think that he does want to see just a
fresh and for me, if he puts forth three policies
or three big things that he wants to do, I
understand because I have close friends who work within government.
Right Deputy Mayor Tiffany Raspberry is my good friend, and

(09:15):
she says to me often, y'all call me up in
arms about all the things you want to see happen,
and I respect every time. I believe I agree with
you on most of it. Where I disagree, we might
have some back and forth. But I want you to
know that when you are on your way down the
hall in city Hall to go get the thing done

(09:39):
that you just got off six conference calls working on it,
figuring it out. To Meeka Mallory's feeling the way uptown
in this community. My sons got this to say, we're
gonna figure this out.

Speaker 1 (09:50):
We got all of it.

Speaker 3 (09:52):
On the way down the hall, a building halfway falls apart,
something blows up, migrant buses show up, this thing happens,
that thing happens, and as you, all of these things happen,
whatever you are working hard on, right, because they had plans,
they had plans, and some of it they did. Other

(10:12):
things they would they were never able to get to
because what they say city cities, right, the city cities
is the city is citying and things are happening, and
so we have to also be able to keep that
in mind. So if he's got three big things, that
he gets one of them done, will and I will
of course look at the rest of his portfolio of

(10:34):
the work that he's been doing to maintain some of
what's happening in the city and increase other things. I
want to see him ensure that we still have representation
of black folks within the government. That's important to me
and to many other people. And I'm going to of
course judge him on the full thing, but I want
to see this young man succeed because I think that

(10:55):
he is smart, he has what it takes. And I
don't want the governor to come to mayor. I just
I'm not interested in that. We did that already and
thank you for your service. Go somewhere and do something else.
We don't want it. And so I do want to
say this, I see a thing happening, or I hear
it happening, and it's being repeated.

Speaker 1 (11:17):
It's this is a thing that is being repeated, that
is happening right now.

Speaker 3 (11:22):
When Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in a dead heat race,
people said, well, I think we should go with Donald Trump,
not because I like him, but because she, being Kamala Harris,
is not strong enough to stand up to poo in

(11:45):
that Yahoo They said, you know, he's the one that
can go up against these people and keep us out
of war and all of that. They were like, she
they some folks don't respect her. They gonna run all
over her.

Speaker 1 (12:00):
Number One.

Speaker 3 (12:01):
I despise that because what I know from my studies,
when we travel to Africa and we go to other
places around the world, the women leaders are often the bosses,
like the strategists and the muscle in many of these situations.

Speaker 1 (12:19):
Just to be clear, right, and the way in which.

Speaker 3 (12:22):
Our contribution is often reduced to us being weak or
unable to stand up to particular people or things or situations. Meanwhile,
y'all was in here talking about cramps. Y'all couldn't handle
half of what we go through from menopause. To childbirth,
to all of that, But that's for another day's show.

(12:44):
You laughing, you laugh at what we deal with. What
we deal with is no joke, right, But they said that,
and now they put a man in place that some
of those same people are like, yo, this guy is
a tyrant. Our country is being destroyed worse than it
already was. People are losing benefits, Medicaid, Medicare is on

(13:08):
the chopping.

Speaker 1 (13:09):
Block, workers are furloughed. I mean, the list goes on
and on.

Speaker 3 (13:14):
Anti dei ice agents running through the streets. People are unhappy,
and the damn wars hav't stopped, and the Seaspire ain't
no ceasepire in Gaza.

Speaker 2 (13:26):
Right.

Speaker 3 (13:27):
Potent is running around telling Trump basically, you could kiss
my behind because I am where I am. They can
make statements and write documents and have press conferences, but
the people are still dying.

Speaker 1 (13:38):
So what you said that you thought he could do
hasn't happened.

Speaker 3 (13:42):
And now they're doing the same thing by saying that
they would like to see Cuomo be in office because
they think that if he is the one that's elected,
he'll be able to stand up against Trump. He's going
to be able to do all these things. He's stronger,
and again, a young brown man who.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
Has the energy and the.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Energy of the youth, not the stupid youth that the
way I see on my Facebook page by some of
these preachers and so called leaders where they talk about
these kids like they just dumb.

Speaker 1 (14:13):
Okay, because they're not. They just tired. They tie to y'all.

Speaker 3 (14:18):
Okay, that's the issue. But whatever, he has all of
that energy. He's smart, he's brilliant, he's all of that.
And we're about some people are about to make the.

Speaker 1 (14:28):
Decision, the wrong decision, the.

Speaker 3 (14:32):
Ridiculous decision of going back to vote for somebody because
they believe that he's the best person, instead of trying
something different so that we can have the opportunity to
see a better future for our children and for New
York in general and the country. Because what happens in
New York happens everywhere.

Speaker 1 (14:53):
So that's the deal.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
I just don't understand that logic because Croma's never done
anything really that was stand up with the exception of
how he might have handled it, handled COVID, and that
was just in opposition to how Donald Trump handled it.
So anything you love like a genius when you're standing
next to an idiot. So that's all that was. But
other than that, he really didn't do anything, and he

(15:16):
had a and then he actually had to leave because
there was a scandal. So it's at this point, you know,
like I said, Mamdami actually represents core values that I have, right,
and that's what it is for me. I don't vote
for politicians just merely because of one or two things.
But we have to have the same moral compass and
core values, and that's how I vote. Everybody votes different,

(15:39):
you know, but just listening to a man that has values,
who has empathy, who sees human beings, who actually is
a human being, who seems human to me, like we've
missed that in government, like for the last almost a year,
like we haven't had that.

Speaker 1 (15:56):
Talking about the president. You know what I'm saying about.

Speaker 2 (16:00):
No, Eric is not a bad guy, just that you know,
Eric is pro police in every way. He doesn't even know.

Speaker 1 (16:09):
That's police different he with the popo.

Speaker 2 (16:13):
Eric don't even know how to tell you that's wrong.
He couldn't tell. He looked me in my face and
told me that an officer that punched the lady in
her face because she was yelling in his face. It
was justified. And and that's when I'm like, you just
too far going with the police ship We not, we
don't see eye to eye at all, because there's no
way that a woman yelling because she frustrated because he

(16:33):
grabbing her boyfriend up justifies a man punching on her
face with all his might till she fell. It's just
no way. There's no justification for that to me. So
I know he just was all the way with the popo,
you know what I'm saying. So but you know, but Mom, Dommie,
you know I'm wishing the best. I'm almost positive he
will be our next man and I'm gonna be righty

(16:55):
there with him, and I'm gonna push him too, and
we're gonna.

Speaker 1 (16:58):
And we're gonna got a Christian you.

Speaker 2 (17:02):
We gonna protest you as too. But you we just
know that you're gonna listen.

Speaker 1 (17:10):
All right, My thought of the day. So The Perfect
Neighbor is out.

Speaker 3 (17:14):
It is a documentary out on Netflix which is the
story of Jika Owens or AJ as she is affectionately
called by her family and friends, and it's really not a.

Speaker 1 (17:26):
Story about her entire life.

Speaker 3 (17:29):
It is a story about the unfortunate incident and the moments,
the days and months yeah almost yeah, yeah, leading up
to the murder of aj Owens.

Speaker 1 (17:44):
I watched the film on the way.

Speaker 3 (17:48):
But first of all, let me start off by saying,
I just want to thank the family and the team
for for thanking me, which you know, I feel like
I did a little part, but I'm sure or there
are other people who did even more. But they've shown
me nothing but love and respect, and we definitely supported it.
Was out there for aj and making sure that them

(18:11):
people were not able to sweep under the rug the
murder that.

Speaker 1 (18:16):
Took place who that day.

Speaker 3 (18:19):
I mean, I sat and watched it on a plane
and I cried so bad that my neighbor was kind
of like, I don't know if I'm supposed to help
or what to do.

Speaker 1 (18:31):
It was tough. It was tough to get through.

Speaker 3 (18:35):
Some different in different moments, even before it got to
the most gruesome part, which is where she shot and killed.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
There's still some.

Speaker 3 (18:44):
Other things that happened earlier on that broke my heart,
and I would say that one of those things for
me was even the notion that the children couldn't be
children because this woman was harassing these kids. And for
those who may not know what we're talking about, aj

(19:05):
Owens was killed by a woman, a white woman. Aj
is a black woman, the mother of four children, and
she was killed by Susan Lorenz on June.

Speaker 1 (19:16):
Tewod of twenty twenty three, one shot through a.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
Locked, closed, locked door after a dispute that was solely,
solely based upon the harassment of this white woman in
a community. We went there, Montie Presley, Angelo Pinteau, yourself.
I think Kevin Kevin oh Trey trade of truth was

(19:40):
with us. I believe brother Kevin god Rest his soul
was with us. And we went there and actually walked
the grounds to see the entire setup. And one thing
we know, or we strongly believe that where the window
is placed on the house of Susan Lorenz looking directly

(20:00):
across at aj Owens, she knew exactly when aj was
walking out of her house. Headed over there to Susan
lorenz house to question her about why she threw skates
at those children and took the iPad and like I said,
one of the things that upset me was that those

(20:24):
kids were just being kids.

Speaker 1 (20:25):
It's a big old open field.

Speaker 3 (20:28):
The owner of the house that Susan Lorenz lived in
tried to put like a little line to separate his
small portion of the big open fields. The other owner
of the big part said, I'm not telling these kids
they can't play football here. It kept being said, which

(20:50):
I don't know. I had mixed feelings about how people were, like, well,
I'd rather than play football than steal cars and whatnot,
because that's to assume that that's what they would be doing.

Speaker 1 (20:59):
But nonetheless, it's true, you keep kids business.

Speaker 2 (21:01):
They were just based on the community and based on
what they know goes on outside with a lot of
those kids were actually doing it because you can tell
us it's not a very you know, rich community, you know,
well resource, not well resourced exactly. So that statement, even
though I didn't I hate, that's the reality, but I
wasn't mad about it because they know what can actually

(21:24):
be happening. Especially the officers were saying they could be
doing a lot. They getting calls all the time, and
a lot of these kids is doing shit that you know, it's.

Speaker 3 (21:32):
Getting them in trouble, and that's why the field, the
use of the field was good. So for my thought
of the day today, I want to address people who
I see saying, well, I wouldn't have let the kids
go over there, right, They shouldn't have been playing in
that field. Right. Then you have people who say, well,

(21:53):
if I was a j Owens, I would not have
gone over to her house. Why did she go over there? Right?
Then there are people who said, well, those kids look bad.
Listen to the things that they said to Susan Lrenz,
Like you know, sometimes they would clown hard to Karen,
to Karen or whatever, and they were like, oh, well,

(22:15):
look a look at that.

Speaker 1 (22:17):
And I just want people to realize how we.

Speaker 3 (22:19):
Have internalized self hate and worshiping of white people because
we don't even understand that who we have centered as
the person who needs to be protected is.

Speaker 1 (22:34):
This white woman.

Speaker 3 (22:36):
The kids shouldn't have been over there in a yard
that does not belong to her, right, aj Owens should
not go address somebody for hitting, harming, and constantly harassing
her children. And the kids ought to act better because

(22:56):
you know, nobody ever did anything to physically harm the lady,
nobody did any to her property.

Speaker 1 (23:01):
But the kids at act better because.

Speaker 3 (23:03):
Who has been centered as the person who deserves protection
is the white woman instead of it being about her behavior.
Susan Lorenz is one hundred percent responsible for everything that happened.
She is responsible. Aj Owens didn't do anything wrong. The

(23:26):
kids were kids. They deserved to be free. No one
else in the neighborhood was calling the police except this
one woman who happened to be calling them names, racial slurs,
calling them bees, calling.

Speaker 1 (23:41):
Them all types of names. And she was allowed.

Speaker 3 (23:44):
And because a white woman has been centered as the
person who deserves the protection, because she is in the center,
as the one that hands off, accommodate her. Don't go
over there, don't step into her, don't say don't confront her,
don't do don't let the kids talk.

Speaker 1 (24:02):
A certain way because that is the way that we
treat them.

Speaker 3 (24:07):
It shows you how the police also respond, because when
the cops were dealing with her, whether it be an
interrogation or when they went over to her house, they
pretty much treat her like we know that this lady
is wrong, but we still feel like this is our grandmother,
so we're just going to allow her to continue to

(24:27):
escalate a problem in this community. Nobody said something has
to be done because this cannot go on.

Speaker 1 (24:34):
But for so long the lady could have got hurt.

Speaker 2 (24:37):
Yeah, once they said she was waving a gun, and
at that point it was gone beyond just a dispute.
You know, I'm watching the community, and it seemed like
everybody else was a community, even get along.

Speaker 1 (24:51):
They didn't have an issue with the kids.

Speaker 2 (24:52):
Yeah, it just it just seemed like she was the
only person that didn't fit inside that community, and it
became a thing. It was like she constantly was calling
about those kids. And then even when you showed, they
showed like the pictures that she had on the phone,
the kids wasn't even on her yard. They just was
watching her tape them. So now they get in front
of the camera like any kid would do. But you know,

(25:13):
I think she did she was dealing with mental health.
I definitely believe that she had some mental health issues.

Speaker 1 (25:18):
You know what it is, no seriously, because racism is
what it is.

Speaker 2 (25:25):
I believe I believe that that fueled I believe that
she was fueled by racism along with mental health. Because
when they showed there was a part where she had
got locked in a yard and she saw crashing her
car into it, it showed that she had rage issues.
But this is not no, she had But I'm just
telling you. I'm saying I think she had mental health.

Speaker 1 (25:45):
She had privileged But I hear you, but I'm.

Speaker 2 (25:48):
Just trying to say that, well, to me, white privilege
and the way that white people react when they have
racist I think it's a formal men for real, It's
just like you don't even understand, like why what are
you so mad about? What the It's just like when
you see the cameras that throw themselves on the floor
and all that shit. That shit is a mental health thing.
And like you said, it's privileged. And I'm watching this lady,
she have anger issues and you can just look and

(26:10):
then they show how you know, she premeditated, like she
wouldn't looked up to stand in your ground, Like she
knew what she was doing through guns in the garden,
Like she knew what she was doing. But it's like
how she was Why were you Why were you that
angry about kids?

Speaker 3 (26:25):
No, but she wasn't angry about kids. She was angry
about black children, and she was angry that she had
to live due to her financial situation or whatever the
issues may have been in that neighborhood.

Speaker 1 (26:42):
She believed that she was above those.

Speaker 3 (26:44):
People, and so she is solely responsible for everything that happens.

Speaker 1 (26:51):
No, no, I'm not saying you are. I know you're not.
I'm saying those.

Speaker 3 (26:55):
People who attempt to make aj Owens some of the
problem because she did not keep her children from going
in that area.

Speaker 1 (27:05):
No, it is wrong.

Speaker 3 (27:06):
Those kids should have been allowed to be children, and yes,
within reason. And I bet you if she was a caring,
loving older person, which by the way, I met black
old people who can be just like that. You know,
but you can't be hitting people's kids with skates throwing
stuff at them like you're doing too much. But if
she had been a loving, caring older person and people

(27:30):
knew that she had their children's best interests at heart,
sometimes bring them some fruit outside, sometimes whatever. When she
would have said don't come over, or don't do this,
or I don't like whatever, everybody would have been saying,
you know, miss so and so, don't like when we
do bla la lah, so, we gotta have some respect.
The parents would have been going, stop aggravating that lady,
or don't make noise or whatever. But the reason why

(27:51):
she wasn't respected is because she did not act as
if she deserved it because she didn't respect her neighbors
as well, and I appreciate the There's two things that
happened and I'm done with it. The two things that
happened is that when the police officers brought Susan Lorenz
back to her house to get things a couple of times,

(28:12):
the neighbor was going crazy.

Speaker 1 (28:14):
Who happened to be a white woman as well. She
was going crazy. She was cussing the house.

Speaker 3 (28:18):
She was talking crazy, saying all the things, and needed
to be someone she she don't don't nobody know how
to cuss like black mamas know how to cuss. She
needed to have a black mama out there with her
so the two of them could have cussed to good
down because it wasn't even enough cussing and she was
cussing down And I'm saying that being funny, but what
I mean is that Susan Lorenz didn't even catch enough

(28:40):
of the heat that she should have caught from people.

Speaker 2 (28:44):
She killed.

Speaker 1 (28:46):
Shot a woman who had four children. Even with no children.

Speaker 3 (28:51):
She killed a woman with at the time a three
year old, a eight year old, a nine year old,
and a twelve year old.

Speaker 1 (28:57):
She shot her at two men.

Speaker 3 (29:00):
Minutes after she was on the phone with the police,
or one minute after being on the phone with the police,
she killed a woman.

Speaker 1 (29:08):
Are we everybody, okay?

Speaker 3 (29:11):
So when the police officer comes and he hears the
lady across the street and this woman over here would
have the miss Lorenz, the white lady, she's feeling uncomfortable
about being yelled at and cursed that from across the street,
he goes over there to tell this other lady, Oh,
I didn't come over here.

Speaker 1 (29:31):
She didn't even let him say calm down.

Speaker 3 (29:34):
She refuse, She refused, And that's why I said she
needed two three black mamas out there with her to
cuss down on this woman, because that's all we could
do to you.

Speaker 1 (29:43):
That's the only thing we could do, is to cuss
you out for how you shot and killed a woman
and traumatize an entire neighborhood of people who had to
see her laid out on the grass or had to
learn about it the next day to the day after
that that the woman who had been harassing their community,
that the the police did absolutely nothing to protect them from.

Speaker 3 (30:03):
They had no protection and no support from a person
who who was harassing them, who was a tyrant within
their community.

Speaker 1 (30:11):
Nobody did anything. And the final answer is that the woman.

Speaker 3 (30:16):
Shot and killed a black mother who was in the community,
in good space with everybody else except this particular woman. Okay,
That to me is the officer's response is so insensitive
that you would dare even come across the street, that
you would dare even come across the street. But then

(30:37):
the worst part for me, where I really broke and
it just I was through, is where the young boy
who was her oldest son, Isaac. He can be seen
at the time Isaac was twelve, right, because now he's fourteen,
he can be seen on a camera a video camera,

(30:58):
by the way, for people who want to know about
why this documentary is so good, it includes no video
tape of like a camera crew out videoing people and
making scenes. It's all coming from police cameras and ring cameras, right,
and of course audio from the calls and all of that.

(31:21):
And that's how they put this thing together. That's how
much footage they have that they were able to put together.
And so you see Isaac, her oldest son, aj Owen's
oldest son, walking back and forth trying to get help
because he sees his mother's been shot. He's trying to
get help, and after a while people someone ask him,
are you hurt?

Speaker 1 (31:41):
Are you harm? And he says, no, I'm not harm,
but my heart is broken. That to me, I just
I don't even know what you say.

Speaker 3 (31:53):
So I don't even know how anybody comes up with
what AJ or somebody else should have done. But it's
the quoring games mindset that Coryn went in her house
cocktail gun and said, you're gonna have to come get
us because we not. Everybody's not gonna just let you
do whatever you want to do to us, policeman. Everybody
not gonna be okay with it. And that is what

(32:13):
separates those of us who are out here in the
face of tyranny and white supremacy and all the things
that we deal with. The violence against us we out here,
we fight it in person. And other people run in
the house and say, keep the doors locked, don't get

(32:33):
in the way.

Speaker 1 (32:35):
Stephen A. Smith, tell you lower.

Speaker 3 (32:37):
Your voice, don't talk so loud, don't be so boisterous
when you talk to the white man.

Speaker 2 (32:46):
I ain't got much to say behind that, because that
was a good read you gave just now. But you know,
it was a very sad story. You asked me to
watch it so we could talk about it, and I
woke up at like five point thirty in the morning
and just started watching it. I just had odds for Latiers,
just odds vilatives. Just watching the father have to tell

(33:06):
the kids that the mother was gone, you know, and
just seeing them break down. It was a lot for me,
you know, and just it just was a lot. Man.
Just we just deal with so much in America, you know,
and it's worse, like you know what I'm saying, Like
we is actually we actually in worse times than it
was in twenty twenty three. And that's what we dealing

(33:27):
with right now. So you know, my condolences. Once again,
if you did not see this documentary, go see so
you could just understand. The family wants people to understand
what they had to deal with. So go watch it.
It's called The Perfect Neighbor, and I hate the name
of it because it's.

Speaker 1 (33:46):
Like it's not but it has a double angue, I
guess so.

Speaker 3 (33:50):
But and also let me just make sure that let
people know that there is a call to action associated
with this film.

Speaker 1 (33:58):
Standing in the Gap dot Org.

Speaker 3 (34:01):
Standing in the Gap dot Org is where you can
go to learn more about the movement for aj Owens,
and not just for aj Owens and her family, but
the work that is being done by Pamela Diaz, which
is the mom. The mother there is a mother of
aj Olwens. Like she's a real person who has real family.
Her friend to keep.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
Seems such like a good lady. She just seemed like,
you know, she was a mother. She they said, she
just worked every day she was with her kids. She
just didn't like, you know, there's a lot of people
you see an energy and okay, she might been, but
that wasn't her. It just seemed like she really didn't
want no confrontation with this lady and wished that The
lady just was like, these are kids, like you know,

(34:44):
and she said and she actually said, you know, I
teaching my kids manners. I don't care what she says
to do, And say, you speak to that lady like
she's a one, she's growing. You don't go over there
disrespecting that lady, no matter what she might do. We're
not going to do that. And that was just he
was about character, man, so for her to lose it.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
But kids, kids respond to stupidity with stupidity, like that's
just the way you have to elevate yourself so that
a child knows. It's certain classrooms you could go in
when you were a kid, and you already knew what
the energy was gonna be.

Speaker 1 (35:17):
You already knew, don't come in here with this that.

Speaker 3 (35:20):
And the third you had the one who said, I'm
gonna support you, I'm gonna respect you, but you're gonna
respect me back. And those are usually the teachers that
get the best response and the best out of the children.

Speaker 1 (35:31):
But you had that teacher that was an.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
Asshole that it was always drama in their classroom. Because
kids respond and respect respect, That's.

Speaker 1 (35:41):
Just what it is. The lady is she's the whole problem.
That's it.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
That's all I got to say. Standing in the Gap
dot org. But go watch The Perfect Neighbor on Netflix.

Speaker 1 (35:51):
Check it out.

Speaker 3 (35:51):
Support this family, share it, tell everybody else to share it,
and just support this family because they they are trying
to they have use Pamela Diez. AJ's mother has used
this story because you actually see AJ's real body on
the ground. She has used it as a MAINI taill
moment to show her baby and the story of her

(36:13):
baby in the most in the raws form possible, that
many people would have wanted to try to hide or protect,
at least protect, I won't say hide, And she's doing
the complete opposite to shine a light on what vigil
what is this called? This is not even vigilanteism, because
nobody did anything to her, but the Karen syndrome that

(36:34):
we see. I see so many videos of it, and
I think my algorithm has just shifted. But if it's
that many, it's ridiculous. It's a lot, and that stuff
can get people hurt. It's a wonder that those people
were able to maintain themselves so much in that community
for so long that they never even did They didn't
even fight the lady, but they knew, they knew that

(36:56):
she was being allowed to stay in the community, harassing them.
But at the point that she mess with their children,
they are whooped to ask before they all would have
been in jail.

Speaker 1 (37:06):
That's a fact, all right. So the TMI today, the
TMI today low have messy. They doesn't toe up the.

Speaker 3 (37:15):
East wing of the White House, just tore it down.
You know, listen, I'm gonna make this quick. We're gonna
wrap this up because it's a lot of people that's like,
I don't think Trump is doing too much.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
They don't think so.

Speaker 3 (37:28):
So you know, we put every time we give the
TMI that got anything to do with Trump, people tell me, oh, no,
I actually oh, They say, well, I think what he's
doing is just right. I don't think it's too much
at all. But Congress is supposed to vote on, agree upon,

(37:49):
and fund renovations to the White House. That's what's supposed
to happen. Donald Trump is defying everything. And I noticed
some people that say, with us, good because now we
could see what we see what you can get away with.
If Obama had done even a portion, even a slither

(38:11):
of the things that are happening now, there would have
been literal army Armed Services members that would have took
him and his family up out of the White House.
If they didn't lock him up, it would have never happened.
Donald Trump is purposely defining every possible rule or provision

(38:34):
that has been designed a certain way to ensure that
people are like following a process right. And he is
building his ballroom because he does not intend to leave
the White House. This is his new house that he
thinks he's going to live in as a dictator for

(38:55):
a long period of time, extended period of time, and
I I as I watched it, there were some people
who were arguing that there's a picture I think Montie
Presley posted it. There's a picture of Barack Obama that's
famous running down the hall with Bo the dog right,
And I think it's bold because they eventually got a

(39:17):
second dog. But I think it's Bo running down the
East Wing. And I've been in that East Wing many times.
I've walked up and down that hall. I've been there
for events, I've been there for meetings. I've been to
screenings by the screenings that were hosted by the First Lady.

Speaker 1 (39:33):
So I know the beauty of that hall.

Speaker 3 (39:36):
And that picture represents what was there when there was
some black joy in the White House. I don't know
that it has anything to do with that why he
would tear it down, But it would take a cynical,
evil motherfucker to say we just gonna tear it up
and not have to go through any approval to do it.

(40:00):
It's all just him setting it up for all the
things that's succumb and all the rules that are currently
being broken, and you know, I guess he's saying, whos
gonna check me?

Speaker 2 (40:11):
It's exhausting, you know, because that's that's one thing about
this administration is that they work in misdirection, right, Chaos,
it's misdirection. It's I forgot what's the movie that I watched.
It's a movie that John Tavoter was in. It was
called Swordfish, and he was a spy, and he talked

(40:33):
about misdirection, right, And at the end of the movie,
he made it seem like he blew up in the
ship and he caused the ship to blow up while
he disappeared, and and you think he blew up in
the ship, but he cast so much of a spectacle
everywhere else that what he actually was doing was just
getting away. And that's what this administration does. They caused

(40:56):
so many different it's like they're putting up a bunch
of fires so they can actually blow setting up over there,
so you over there trying to put out that fire,
and that firefight, so everybody, you don't know what to
focus on, and he got you directed all over here
with Actually the real problem is the shit that he's stealing,
because that's what he's doing, Like, right, now he's just
stealing everything. So he's causing all this commotion. He's got

(41:16):
Epstein files, he got this. He don't want you to
really focus on Epstein files. He wants you to focus
on what's going on with the wars. He wants you
to focus on with ice. They come in the community,
So everybody's focusing on that. Why he's just stealing him
and his family that made billions of dollars in ten months.
And he's stealing and and he's he's getting money from

(41:37):
other countries like he's extorting other countries like this. This
shit is literally the mob. So it's tiring because we
get every day. He's gonna make sure that we have
something to talk about so he can pull off the
biggest heights in history.

Speaker 3 (41:51):
You know, anybody listening says, what do I do? Like
they say they get tired of us telling them all
the bad things that's happening.

Speaker 1 (41:59):
To know what I do?

Speaker 3 (42:00):
It is we are entering the holiday season. They are
expecting you to spend so much money one point four
trillion dollars for you, black person, black man, black women,
black man, black woman. They expect you to spend one
point one point four trillion dollars, And the most effective

(42:21):
plan in this moment that I can think of.

Speaker 2 (42:27):
Is to.

Speaker 1 (42:29):
Say, no, don't spend a dime, don't buy a new TV.
You don't need a TV.

Speaker 3 (42:34):
Got's currently working. You can wait till a different season,
a different time. You don't need a new air fry.
They starting to say those might not be good anyway.
You don't need a new whatever. You don't need a
new car, you need any of that. Hold your money.
Things are getting tight out here and people are experiencing

(42:54):
financial hardship. This is a good time to fall back,
and you can. It couples is two things. It couples
as holding your money for your family survival and logging
your complaint about the way America is operating.

Speaker 1 (43:16):
So hold your money, Hold your money. This week, I
meant to talk.

Speaker 3 (43:20):
About the no Kings protest, but we don't have any
more time, so maybe I'll make it alive.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Sound like a plain to me?

Speaker 1 (43:27):
All right, So our guest is coming up.

Speaker 3 (43:29):
I'm really excited about the sister coming in coming into
us to see us to talk about a new very
important project that she has, a new business that she has,
and I'm looking forward to watching it grow and doing
everything we can to support her.

Speaker 1 (43:42):
Let's go, Let's go, all right, So you know, I
get fangirl a little bit sometimes.

Speaker 3 (43:49):
Sometimes I've been around all the greats, but there's probably
still some that I have not had the opportunity to
talk to. And today is one of those moments when
we have on our show someone who I considered to
be a great, great voice, a great strategist.

Speaker 1 (44:08):
A brilliant, black, beautiful woman.

Speaker 3 (44:12):
Ashley Allison, a nationally recognized political strategist, communications expert, and
the hottest thing that's happening right now is being a
CNN commentator that's on there basically every night on Abby
Phillips Show, kicking ass and taking damn dumb. But also,
I think my first encounters with you, Ashley were we

(44:35):
were when you were at the Obama No, I'm going
to oh really before that?

Speaker 1 (44:43):
Yeah, so well let me tell you, okay, and then
we can tell you when I first met Okay. Cool.

Speaker 3 (44:48):
So she also was a senior policy advisor in the
Obama Biden administration in the public let me see, you
were in the public engagement see, And I didn't even
know I'd even write that down. I just know that
off the top of my head. But most recently, Ashley
did something incredible, which is to purchase the Roots. The

(45:12):
Root have become It was black owned and it became
non black owned, and now Ashley has purchased this brand
back so that we as black folks can continue to
have voices in the media. It's so important to have
credible voices in this moment. And if you watch Ashley
Allison on CNN, you know what you're finna get on

(45:33):
the route, right. But lots of writers and other people involved.
This is a real robust business, a media enterprise, and
we know you're gonna be the next media mogul. When
I think about Roland Martin and what he has been
able to do, people just basically pooh, pooh Roland. They said,

(45:53):
Roland's not you know, it ain't gonna be going anywhere.
Roland has It's rolls. Roland, Okay, Roland Martin Unfiltered is
a thing. Black Star Network is a thing, and in fact,
right now, when you're looking for a place to go
for real information outside of white media outlets, it's not

(46:14):
many places. And Roland is that outlet. He is that
network and for us in every instance of struggle, that
we've been engaged in if no one else was covering
it or no one else was talking about it. Roland
followed us from the time we started until the time
we ended. We always knew we can get take get

(46:36):
audience with him. And when my book was released in February,
I did rolland show twice. Every book tour stop that
I went on, Black Ladies was showing up saying.

Speaker 1 (46:49):
I heard you on Roland Martin, and I got my ticket.

Speaker 3 (46:52):
I'm saying that though this show is this is not
about Roland, but I'm saying that to say it's there's
no place like home. There's no place like home. So
Ashley Allison is building home for us within the route.

Speaker 1 (47:04):
And we appreciate you. Sis, I loved you.

Speaker 2 (47:07):
Thank you.

Speaker 1 (47:07):
That was dope. H girl.

Speaker 3 (47:11):
Okay, wait, can I tell a story when we first Yes,
I don't remember me, but I remember you.

Speaker 1 (47:16):
So I lived in New York most of my twenties.
Then I was here when Sean Bell was murdered.

Speaker 2 (47:21):
Oh wow.

Speaker 3 (47:22):
And I was a citizen journalist. So I was a journalist,
a major undergrad. No, and I was doing stories. This
is when YouTube was first coming out, and I had
just started watering hole the property that fought the route.
Then I started and I reached out to try and
get an interview. I interviewed Tiss James, and I interviewed you.
Did you at the wow?

Speaker 1 (47:43):
I do not remember, I know.

Speaker 3 (47:45):
Because I was just like I had my low camera,
low cam quorder and you made time for me and
you talked to me for about thirty forty minutes about
social justice reform, what people need to be doing, how
we organize.

Speaker 1 (47:55):
And I was slow young. Oh we met, I was
I don't even know what I said you were going
to I threw it away, like but it was it
was great And that was like and then I remember
started working at the White House. That's just so there's
so many different because Cush, you met me at the

(48:17):
White House when I was working on police reform.

Speaker 3 (48:20):
But I share that story because the three line is consistent, right,
and so wherever you go, you have to remain consistent.

Speaker 1 (48:27):
You have to be authentic to your voice. And that's
what I really hope to break.

Speaker 3 (48:32):
Yeah, and you you've been humble, although everything was a
frenzy all the time, but you absolutely are Probably I
would say you're one of the most brilliant minds that
we have in the current dis you know, these people dumb,
Like we listen to dumb people's wrong day that have platforms.

(48:52):
So when I hear you and Joy and other brilliant
black women like me like you know myself, Britney, Yeah, Angela,
it's like, Okay, did you remind yourself there's some of
us that still because these people I don't even know
what's going on.

Speaker 1 (49:09):
Yeah, but you know then, so I have different lives, right.

Speaker 3 (49:13):
So I was a former teacher, and that's when the
teacher comes out of me and being like, you know,
my sister's a teacher too, and she's always like people
are like the kids can't read. She's like, well teach them, right,
that's your job, you know what I mean? Like, if
somebody doesn't know some information, teach them. So I as
an organizer, our job was always to meet people where
they are, and I'm willing to meet anybody where they are. Now.

Speaker 1 (49:33):
I can't make you come on a journey with me,
but I will constantly feed you information.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
You know, So you always wanted to be in journalism, Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3 (49:43):
I graduated from Ohio State and left the day after
I graduated, packed a U haul up and moved to
Brooklyn and slept on my cousin's couch for the whole summer.
I was starting grad school because I used to work
at Boys and Girls High School, and.

Speaker 1 (50:01):
I, you know, I was delusional. I was like, I'm
about to be on the Today Show, you know, like,
let me just make a co.

Speaker 3 (50:08):
I was like mad co phone calls and said I
was at BCAT doing sports report. Okay, well, following cricket
matches for high school games.

Speaker 1 (50:16):
But just I always had it.

Speaker 3 (50:18):
I always wanted to do it, you know. Then I
life liked so I had the sun set it for
a minute. But a dream deferred is not a dream denied. Yeah, well,
how to going into the White House and politics at
that level? Like how did that play into where you
are now in your skill set?

Speaker 1 (50:37):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (50:39):
I actually think it is more of me being a teacher,
and like, do you know how hard it is to
teach high school students from like Bedstide, Brooklyn, Not because
they're like trouble youth, but because they're so smart and
like the Yeah, they can run circles around you and
you got to be like wait a minute, a minute,
you know, And they taught me a lot and I

(51:00):
use those tactics. Also, I was a special education teacher,
and part of the training you do is about differentiating
instruction so each student's brain works differently, And honestly, I
didn't really get that when I was a kid. I
was always a creative. When I went to Catholic school,
and it was like you got to be very strict.
I talked too much. Surprise, you know. My mom was

(51:21):
always getting right, and they're like beat it out of her,
like breaker spirit, she's too rambunctions. And my mom was like,
she's not gonna be rude, but I'm not going to
take it out of her. So then when I go
to the White House and I'm talking to police officers
and I'm talking to activists, I'm like, my message is
not different. So the consistency is there, but how I
engage with people will be different because you have to

(51:43):
differentiate how you engage with folks. And that I mean
the rigor you have to have to work at any
White House, but the Obama White House, it was like
this was my sixth finger, you know.

Speaker 1 (51:56):
It never I like slept like this, you know.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
I started working there a month before Michael Brown was
murdered wowowow. So I felt a great weight and responsibility
to show up as an authentic black person. That doesn't
matter if I have a White House badge, like, and
I needed I had to see at the table and
I needed to make sure I represented people who might

(52:20):
not have one right and then get the chance to
bring people in. So yeah, it was and it was
also amazing and fun. And it was like I worked
for the first black president. Yeah, and he's super cool, right,
and he's cool, and like we did crazy stuff and
great stuff and amazing stuff and transformative stuff and we
got you know, we did get to do everything as well, right,

(52:41):
all right, but it just taught me how to navigate,
how to engage with people and when things got hard,
so like when there were police shootings, it's like, what
is your north star? And if you can't there will
be many journeys and pathways to get there, but you
can never change what your north star is.

Speaker 2 (53:00):
So I'm gonna ask you a crazy question, oh boy,
because I hate this that people say, what do you
say when people say that Obama didn't do anything for
black people? What is your response today?

Speaker 3 (53:13):
I think those are people who are experiencing pain and
so it's hard to acknowledge some things that are happening
if you're still experiencing the same pain you had after
those eight years.

Speaker 1 (53:28):
Right, you're like, well you didn't you know.

Speaker 3 (53:29):
So it's frustrating because I know he did because I
watched him do it, and I understand it. We didn't
get everything right, So I'm not mad. Like, listen, it
takes a lot to make me hot.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
Now, when I get hot, I'm hot.

Speaker 3 (53:44):
Okay, you don't want to see it, but when I
get there, But I'm just like, I try and just
listen and be like I try to understand why they're
saying that, right, like to be to say, oh, you
don't know what you're talking about. It's like, well, somebody
used to say, give me three more sentences about that,
Like you said one, give me three more? Can you

(54:05):
give me a little more color? After he didn't do
anything for black people, like tell me so many that
because then once you hear it, you're like, oh, okay,
like but don't you have better healthcare now? And like oh,
your cousin was formally incarcerated, don't you know now? Like
band the box is a thing because of President Obama.
So yeah, we didn't get everything right. We didn't get

(54:27):
everything done. But I don't hate people who say that.
I don't think it's accurate. And I also think that
there's a lot more that has to be done. Oh yeah,
I mean from everybody, from everybody, everybody, everybody.

Speaker 2 (54:40):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (54:42):
So okay, you're on the show, you go in that studio,
when you walking in there, tell us we need to
know the juicy part. What are you thinking when you're
pulling up to CNN and you like, oh, Lord Jesus
first of all, when they because they have to hit
you right and let you know today they need they
want you today, tomorrow and the next.

Speaker 1 (55:02):
Because I'm a.

Speaker 3 (55:03):
Signed commentator there, like we try and coordinate schedules ahead
of time. So but the prayer that I always pray, no,
it's it's serious as the prayer I always play, is
Lord speaks to me the way you spoke to Harriet.

Speaker 1 (55:18):
That is the prayer.

Speaker 3 (55:21):
Well, I shouldn't say always, but it's the prayer I
started praying since twenty twenty two because you know, on
election night, everybody wants.

Speaker 1 (55:28):
To be on the big table, and I was.

Speaker 3 (55:30):
Then I got to be on the table, and so
I sent a text to my mom and my aunt
and my sister, and I said, okay, get the prayer
chains going.

Speaker 2 (55:38):
I got it.

Speaker 3 (55:39):
I got the spot, you know. And I sent that
text and I said, pray that God speaks to me
the way he spoke.

Speaker 1 (55:44):
To Harriet to lead people to freedom. Yes, it's the
third eye, the one that you can see. That's right.

Speaker 3 (55:51):
See like the water thing that I just showed y'all
to cut the water thing. Y'all not gonna believe this.
I did the four o'clock show I'm seeing and in
the green room for the four o'clock show, we literally
had a conversation about how many people how few people
have ever spelt water live on the set.

Speaker 1 (56:10):
I get on. I swear, I swear. I can't make
it up. I can't make it. Were you talking to
the floor producer?

Speaker 3 (56:20):
So we were like getting because you know you're in
the green room, they pour your coffee, they pour your water.
They're like, okay, let's come out on the set five
minutes before and somebody said, now don't He said, now
don't spill this water.

Speaker 1 (56:30):
He said, there's two people I know that have ever
spilt water. And we have been in conversation and I'm
in my head. I'm like, don't spell the water, don't
spill the water.

Speaker 3 (56:38):
So I go out, get on the train, head up,
do Abby show that night the water spills on the table,
and I just that was That was doctor WEBBT Cornell,
That's who spilled the water.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
And I just sat there and I was like, there
has to be something here there. Oh no, I come on,
father God. Yeah, yeah that's good. Well it feels like
it because I don't know how you do it, Like
I don't love it, but you don't.

Speaker 3 (57:01):
You stay really calm and other people get a little
excited because it's a lot.

Speaker 1 (57:08):
Yeah it is a lot, Yeah, a lot.

Speaker 3 (57:09):
But I believe I'm in my assignment. I like, I'm
a big person of faith. I pray, I meditate. I've
been on a spiritual journey for a very long time.
I've made mistakes in my life. I feel very grateful
to be where I am. I don't take anything I
have right now for granted. And I was built for

(57:32):
this moment.

Speaker 2 (57:33):
I say that all the time. And I was I
was built in birth for such.

Speaker 1 (57:37):
A time as this. I wasn't built for slavery, I
wasn't built for civil rights.

Speaker 2 (57:42):
Movement.

Speaker 1 (57:42):
But I was built for this moment. What do you
call it?

Speaker 3 (57:45):
This moment?

Speaker 1 (57:47):
I think we're on the cusp of going way back.

Speaker 3 (57:55):
Or standing our ground and moving forward. And I say
all the time, I'm a storyteller, and this is not
how my story is. This is barely chapter four of
the book.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
So if this is if you're like, god, you know,
I'm like, you can't rock with me, right, I know that.

Speaker 3 (58:11):
I know that's right all the time. Like, but I
wasn't built for this, Yes, you weren't. I want to
live a soft like like I don't.

Speaker 1 (58:22):
Want this is too much.

Speaker 3 (58:23):
I've been through too many of these things over and
over again, people trying to take our rights. People try
It's like it's almost like I always use this as
an example, like if you're in a carnival and you
know how you pop the heads down, like you know,
walk them off, lock them off, Like that's how I
feel like Bride Sad leave us alone from last time,

(58:44):
they're back, but this time it's back with the ingins.

Speaker 2 (58:47):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (58:48):
But U's the thing to me because you can be
living a fully soft life right now. I do a
little bit.

Speaker 3 (58:53):
Yeah, but it's very stressful. It's very stressful, but you
can tap out. That's the thing she can because you
were built. Because she'll wake up and say, look, we
have to do this. She'll send me something and be
like and we'll be like and I'd be like, what
is this? She was like, Yeah, we have to do this,
we have to go here, we have to number, we
have to organize this, and I'd be like.

Speaker 2 (59:14):
But you're supposed to be. Every time she says she
going on vacation is never a vacation. He's on the phone,
she's calling you a thousand times, she's sending messages apposed
to be Oh, it's not a vacation, I am on vacation.

Speaker 3 (59:26):
Calling it is, and trust and believe. I thank God
for it because I know that it's not on everybody right,
So I understand. I think it is also a calling
to be able to discern, like where you're supposed to be,
and that this group of people, which is not just black,
but it is vulnerable people, needs our attention and you

(59:49):
are you have become a vanguard in some ways or
what do I want to use? I want to use
a different term. You've been deputized to go out there
and to help fight, help yeah, chip you know, chip away. Yeah.
I I've lived my life through symbolism a lot, so

(01:00:09):
to whatever you're the cat Williams.

Speaker 1 (01:00:11):
That was okay, remember that in the beginning of we
still living it out.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
So I wasn't believed, okay, And it was a rough
trip shout out to Belize. But it was a rough trip, okay.
And the best thing I had ever done, maybe on
any vacation is my friend. Now, we did a three
hour snorkel. Now I didn't know this, but Belize has
the second largest coral reef in the world, after the
Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Okay, So I'm underwater snorkeling,

(01:00:38):
and all of a sudden I look down and I've
never seen this.

Speaker 1 (01:00:40):
There's scuba divers going down and I'm like whoa.

Speaker 3 (01:00:44):
And then I'm like whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, don't you
go down? And so like the whole time, there's things
that are like luring you here and luring you there.
And I realized I just kept saying snorkel, actually, snorkel,
snorkel and and and when I came back, I was like,
what was that saying to me?

Speaker 1 (01:01:01):
And it was twenty twenty four and it was like, yeah,
you could go work on the campaign because they lure
you back. I'm gonna pick campaign girl. And I'm like,
but that's not what I'm supposed to be doing. That's
scuba diving. I don't got the equipment to scuba dive.
I don't got the training of scuba dive. That's not
what I'm supposed to be doing right now. You're supposed
to be snorkling focused.

Speaker 3 (01:01:19):
So every time I would get distracted, every time I
would be like, here's a shiny object here, I would
be like, no, I'm gonna build watering hole for the moment.

Speaker 1 (01:01:27):
And the moment came faster than I expected.

Speaker 3 (01:01:29):
Well, but the opportunity for the route to come, because
if I would have gone and work on the campaign,
I mean, if the outcome might have still been the same,
but I wouldn't have been prepared.

Speaker 1 (01:01:38):
Oh no, you might have been like I would have
missed it. You we might have been coming.

Speaker 3 (01:01:43):
Over the water.

Speaker 1 (01:01:44):
Are you literally?

Speaker 3 (01:01:45):
Like you all right?

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Because the people probably would have had you like would
that be drawn back on y'all? So it's like you
gotta stay focused.

Speaker 3 (01:01:55):
You gotta know, like sometimes it's easy to look at
somebody's life over there and be like, man, I wish
I had that.

Speaker 1 (01:02:00):
You don't know what is going on? Man, we know that.

Speaker 2 (01:02:04):
So do you feel pressure with this new situation?

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
Yeah? Simple, Yeah, I feel pressure, but I feel a
responsibility which feels like pressure. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:02:19):
I feel great responsibility because it's a massive platform and
I want to do it right.

Speaker 1 (01:02:28):
That's right, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:02:29):
And I said this in the note I wrote to
the readers that we won't always be perfect, but we
will have a standard of excellence. And so you know,
I'm an ideas first, and my team is like, oh lord,
here s you go again. I've never had a shortene
of ideas. But one thing that I've learned in management
is like, you can't boil the ocean. So what are
the things you need to be doing quarterback? Quarter to Yeah,

(01:02:53):
you know, so it's like, what are the things that
we need to be doing quarterback, quarter to build to
be ready for twenty eight, but also to be ready
after twenty eight.

Speaker 1 (01:03:01):
You know, they're like I said, this is not the
story ends, So we're we're not going to hear from
you all until twenty eight.

Speaker 3 (01:03:07):
No, No, I'm saying each court, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, no,
we're no like a night twenty six, twenty seven to
be ready, but like even after twenty ight, yeah, oh
we're gonna have to do because they're rebuilding entire nation. Yeah,
like people think, I think that there is a misconceived notion.

(01:03:27):
Is that what you're saying, Yes, proceeding conception from the
powers that be that this thing is only going to
harm the groups that they have. You know that they
have a sort of a scarlet letter. This is this
what they're doing is going to make the entire bottom fallout.

(01:03:48):
So many people are going to be harmed as a result.
And they believe that, you know, rich people will still
be in powerful positions.

Speaker 1 (01:03:57):
And I'm not saying that that's not true. I think
that is true. But whenever, like whenever you have a
society of hurting.

Speaker 3 (01:04:07):
People, it trickles upwards. Yeah, you know, and I don't
think they think. I don't think they feel that way.
It's naive or everyone. You know, there might be radiations
of impact, right, but ultimately, ultimately people are gonna people
are going to experience hur and the reality is like

(01:04:29):
I want to be wrong, to want to be wrong,
because I don't know, you want us only to be
the ones I.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
Don't want anybody. But that's already in progress.

Speaker 3 (01:04:38):
So now like they were lined up by the hundreds
at the Bernice King of not Berney's King the King
Center in Atlanta, I think it was this weekend. They
were going there federal workers to get food and others. Yet,
so this's already happening, and I just I wanted to stop, please,
you know.

Speaker 1 (01:04:59):
And so we'll see.

Speaker 3 (01:05:01):
So you all are going to do entertainment and politics
and like the genres that black folks care about, with
entry points for anybody to read and see.

Speaker 1 (01:05:13):
But it's not going to just be political, no, okay,
because I think everything is political.

Speaker 2 (01:05:18):
It is.

Speaker 1 (01:05:18):
It is, everything is full.

Speaker 2 (01:05:20):
And we figured that out like I never used to.
It's crazy. I didn't mean interepretybody. I was never into politics,
right because I didn't. I didn't believe that none of
those things actually affected my life. You in the hood,
you like man, none of us deal we don't deal
with nothing. And then as you start paying attention and
you get involved in this and you realize, well, this

(01:05:41):
is directly affected why Pooky is out here doing this
and while Pooky ain't got this and why jojo ain't
got this and like and all of these things and
you don't realize it, and then you when you start realizing,
it's like this light bulb goes off. Yet and try
and as you you bring people to it. And I
think that's what my job is in this moment, because

(01:06:02):
there's so many people from my community, like in the hood,
that have never had any understanding of politics. So when
they see me talking about it, first they'd be like, oh,
I don't watch point. And then they they like, what
you mean, what you mean that's going on? Yeah, how
does that affect this? And then you start explaining it
to them, and then they start First they be like whatever,
and then they start seeing right, you know what they

(01:06:23):
start actually seeing and it's like, wow, this is really
actually happening.

Speaker 1 (01:06:27):
Don't boys and girls need so much?

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
Way?

Speaker 3 (01:06:30):
When I worked there, because I was like, one, the
food in New York is so good, right, But two
the only place there was to get food outside was
the corner store. No fresh fruit, no fresh right. It
was like extra sugary drinks. So either you had to
like think ahead, pack a lunch or either school lunch
or have a honey button for breakfast. You know what

(01:06:51):
I mean, Having a honey button for breakfast every morning
is not healthy. Absolutely, And that's a political decision. Yeah, food,
that is a political decision. That's right, Yes, that's right.
The bus not running as frequently and so you having
to leave for work hours before so you can take
this bus to this bus to this bus is a
political decision.

Speaker 1 (01:07:12):
And like people just don't realize that. You know, there
are people who think you woke up one morning and
you just own the route. They have no idea. You
took the bus to the bus, to the honeybun to
the things that have gained in the way to the
well from downtown. You could take twenty six and cut
up this way.

Speaker 3 (01:07:31):
But yeah, yeah, I mean, and I don't want to
paint this picture of you know, I grew up very
mental class.

Speaker 1 (01:07:39):
But you know when I left the White House, I
was broke. Now you need a hustle. I a girl.
I was sleeping on people's couches and air being my
place Airbnb and my place out to pay my rent,
like broke. There have been an hours.

Speaker 3 (01:07:51):
So the story you was sleeping on people's couches, yes,
so that you could airb and be your apartment out
to pay the rent because I left the White House.
I told the story a lot like I had ended
a relationship. So I was really upset about that Trump
had won. You worked at the White House for three years.
I had a really hard portfolio, which was criminal justice

(01:08:13):
reform and police shooting. So like all the trauma that
happened that I didn't get to experience, like seeing black
people murder the way we saw for those that wasn't normal.
But having to wake up and act and do something
doesn't allow for a lot of emotion emotion, right, but
that emotion is gonna come out while the other So
I found myself being depressed.

Speaker 1 (01:08:34):
I didn't know. I couldn't get a job. It was
like everybody was so in shock of what. You know,
you leave the White House and it's.

Speaker 3 (01:08:40):
Like you can't get back in.

Speaker 1 (01:08:42):
You don't got no bad you know, you have no job,
and so I was like trying to get that's right,
couldn't get a contract, was just struggling, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:08:50):
And so you don't make a lot of money at
the White House, right, And honestly, I was a teacher
in New York City.

Speaker 1 (01:08:57):
I went to law school.

Speaker 3 (01:08:59):
I worked on a campaign was after I got my
law degree, I worked and had like the lowest paying
job on the campaign in Ohio.

Speaker 1 (01:09:08):
I worked at a nonprofit. I worked at the White House.

Speaker 3 (01:09:10):
These were not lucrative job, right, So like savings, retirement,
all that stuff was happening, but savings wasn't happening.

Speaker 1 (01:09:17):
Actually happened.

Speaker 3 (01:09:17):
It was like paycheck to paycheck, you spend you and
maybe I wasn't as responsible with my money as I
should have been, but like who is in their early
late twenties early thirties, right, But yeah, when you leave
the White House and I didn't have a job, like
at some point, the account gets lower and lower and
you got to figure out a way. So I was like,
when we gotta stay with my sister, won, we've got
to stay with my friend. When we've got we'll go
home just to get some money to come in. And

(01:09:39):
then you know, I like never was like so far
off my footing, but yeah it was. I worked eighteen
twenty hour days every day for like the last ten years. Yea, yeah,
last host twenty years. Being very middle class does not
mean that you have not worked hard to get to
where you are. I think there's a there's also this

(01:10:01):
idea that if your middle class yeah yeah, they feel
about activists that we are not allowed to have a dime.
You're supposed to be like destitute and then that's trauma. Yeah,
we don't know what is for your mom, is exactly,
it ain't for me.

Speaker 1 (01:10:20):
Right now.

Speaker 3 (01:10:21):
I deserve We all deserve it. That's the thing is
like I am not the only person that deserves to
own a media property.

Speaker 1 (01:10:28):
I'm a person that did it.

Speaker 3 (01:10:30):
But like, if you want to own something like you
know how many people looked at me crazy when I
would It wasn't like I was even moving in the
darken night at one point, once the deal started to happen,
I couldn't talk about it, right, But I'm telling people
I want to buy a media property for like three years, right,
and people have just heard it was like whatever, whatever,
And I was like, Okay, I'm going to do it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:49):
The train is pulling out the station, get on or
catch me at the next stop. But we moving, you know.

Speaker 3 (01:10:54):
So so it's an undisclosed amount that it is that
you purchased this property for this outlet, but so you
I just want to know, did you basically stockpile everything
from the time that you.

Speaker 1 (01:11:08):
Weren't broke anymore? Oh get ready or did you help?

Speaker 2 (01:11:12):
Let me?

Speaker 1 (01:11:13):
Okay? So this was resource. I have investors right that
invested in me too. I ain't like that good. I
ain't got that much of a stuffs like, but.

Speaker 3 (01:11:24):
No, I had. And that's the thing I want people
to understand is that there are opportunities to do this
if you have access to the right people.

Speaker 1 (01:11:31):
So I was telling.

Speaker 3 (01:11:32):
There were some people I was telling and they believe me,
and they were like, we want to help you. And
you know, people would see me and I was like,
I'm on my way to California.

Speaker 1 (01:11:39):
I'm on my way to New York.

Speaker 3 (01:11:40):
It would be meeting with like underground road, right, and
I'm like, I'm just I'm just hustling.

Speaker 1 (01:11:44):
I'm gonna tell you know, I'm an organizer.

Speaker 3 (01:11:46):
You tell one hundred people what you're trying to do,
you get tended to actually talk to you about it.

Speaker 1 (01:11:50):
You get one that closed the deal, You got it right.

Speaker 3 (01:11:53):
So that was kind of how So I have investors
and it wasn't like all out of the bank account,
so you can still you don't got air view, well,
you know, it's.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
We've meant to me was having this conversation on our
way here about how there's such a need and want
for black media, right, but it's it's so we don't
have a lot of the resources to be able to
pay for it, right because I look on when I
look online, I love to see you and Abby on
and I was I'd be like, why we don't got

(01:12:26):
our own CNN? Like, right, if we just had our
own CNN. And that's that's like the problem that we
have in politics right now because our messaging gets cloudy
with everybody else's. Like, black messaging is very clear, and
the way that we talk to each other, we know
the things that we need to say to each other,

(01:12:46):
and we want those things too, Like what do we
what should we be doing right now to support you know,
how do how do we start building up our own
you know, our own networks and getting our own media?
What should we be doing? Well?

Speaker 1 (01:13:00):
I think you're doing it right now.

Speaker 3 (01:13:01):
Like just being having this show is a great step.
I think the ability to use the platforms is awesome.
It kind of democratizes access to audience. I think collaborating
a lot like working. I ultimately am a coalitions person.
That's the most work I've done is building coalitions. It's

(01:13:23):
like you don't have to do it by yourself, So
you could be on somebody's pod, they could be on
yours and self and cross promote. And then it's like,
if you really want to think about purchasing or acquiring something,
you know, talk to somebody who has done it. Like
I at some point will probably do some webinars to

(01:13:43):
say like this is how you know, once I get
my footing, this like, this is how you can do it.

Speaker 1 (01:13:47):
It show how you go.

Speaker 3 (01:13:50):
And the trade secrets, you know what I mean. Like,
that's not how we get we grow. I can't do
it all, so I'm not gonna keep a secret about it,
you know. I mean quite honestly, I laid real love
when this deal was happening because I wanted to tell
what should I do?

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
What should I do? But I just legally wasn't able to.
So I think those are a couple of ways.

Speaker 3 (01:14:10):
But yeah, I think we have a great opportunity to
support one another. And then for people who don't want
to do media, because it is an ecosystem, right, you
have the talent, you have, the editors, you have like
the folks behind the camera, right, now like keeping our
sound tight. You can be in media a lot of

(01:14:31):
different ways. But then there are people who might work
and have ad dollars, right, and so if they are
invested in different media, they can support our platforms by
buying ads and so that we can become more self sustainable. Right, Like,
everyone can see a way they can have a role
in building a media ecosystem. So you have to do
the webinars for sure, Yeah, because we need that training

(01:14:53):
to figure out. Because you may already be in the spot,
you just don't know it. No one has told you
that you're doing the thing. And this is how it
can benefit not just the Root or the TMI show
or the Black Effect podcast network or whatever it actually can.

Speaker 1 (01:15:11):
It is an investment in the.

Speaker 3 (01:15:14):
Reimagining of black culture and black life, you know, and
I think we we are if nothing else about this
moment is a good thing. Yes, it is that we
will be forced to have to go back to some basics,
to have to build with one another, to have to
be our own mutual aid, our own support, and that

(01:15:35):
I'm not I don't hate that.

Speaker 1 (01:15:37):
I don't hate that, but I hate how we got here.

Speaker 3 (01:15:40):
Sure, And I'm also very concerned about those of our
people who will be lost in the midst of it.

Speaker 1 (01:15:47):
Because not everybody.

Speaker 3 (01:15:49):
I have family members that I can tell you don't
turn the news on right like they don't and not
even their local news station. They live in places where
they need to be, but they don't turn it on.
So when the train comes through, they wn't even know
that it's happening, and it's like they're not it's not
it's not top of mind. They're trying to eat and

(01:16:11):
survive and take care of their children. Now doesn't they
got brilliant kids. They you know, their kids are going
to college through football, that the whole family has been
there supporting the child, making sure he got the education
and everything he needs. You got another one that's a dancer,
you got, So it's not that they haven't. They're just

(01:16:32):
you know, destitute and just like hanging out being trailer
park trash, not at all, But they don't have time
to consider the political levers that you know are engaged
are are that they're engaged with every day and that
it's like we need a place that they will feel
comfortable saying, Okay, I can get.

Speaker 1 (01:16:52):
Me a little cardion Nick, Yeah, exactly exactly and a
little little Trump.

Speaker 3 (01:16:58):
Because it's like that's why when you that, what are
we going to be covering? And we're not going to
be all things. You can't be all things to all people.
But we will cover culture, we will cover sports, we
will cover politics. We probably will have a health and
wellness thing we'll cover I'm really interested in talking about
faith in the state of the Black church and all
of that.

Speaker 1 (01:17:16):
So we will have those different verticals so.

Speaker 3 (01:17:20):
That when people come or run, actually when we go
to them, when we show up in their feeds, they
can get they know because if you actually think about
the history of the black press, right, like that was
why it was so essential.

Speaker 1 (01:17:31):
It is because.

Speaker 3 (01:17:33):
Even if they were watching the news, they weren't being
told that the train was coming on the news station, right,
So you needed the black newspapers. You need it jet
to run im Mit tills photo right to know what
was happening. And so it might show up in a
different way because it's digital now and it's not on
our coffee table, but we still need to let folks
know the train is coming and go to them and say,

(01:17:55):
you know, we didn't It's always been like ten percent
of the community mobilizing and organ right. It's never been
the masses right, and we always go to them. That's
why why do you think the Black Church is important?
We would go to the Black Church and organize there.
We would go to the beauty shops and organize there.

Speaker 1 (01:18:12):
But you know, I remember doing that when I was
a little kids selling tickets to the local play. We
would go through every beauty shop whatever, you know, by
any means, by anything necessary. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:18:25):
So I have been a person that never wanted to
like share space with people who's mentality I felt was
so far away from minds, Like I didn't never want
to lend my voice or anything to that until I
started watching Yon Abby show. Right, do you have show

(01:18:46):
what I'm saying? Dude? Do you feel like it's it
is progressive? Do you feel like it that you get
to it actually you turn mentalities? Do you feel like
when you're saying things that are very potent and real
and based on fact, you and you having this conversation
with somebody whose ideology is so far do you actually

(01:19:09):
feel that it's working?

Speaker 1 (01:19:14):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:19:17):
I hope.

Speaker 3 (01:19:17):
So I try and present the information in such a
way to get you to shift just dare to look
at it in a different way. But what I also
heard in your question is like I used to be
like this, where like if you didn't agree with me,
I didn't want to be around you. And that's not
the work environment I live like.

Speaker 2 (01:19:36):
I love.

Speaker 3 (01:19:38):
I love working at CNN. It's been a dream of
my honestly since I was a little girl when the
network started. I will watch it at my Grandma's house
and when you're in the green room, look, I'll tell
the story. My dad died too and a half years ago,
and the first person I talked to when I heard
I had to get on the road to go with

(01:19:59):
Scotch because Scott had called me about an opportunity to
do a speaking engagement with him, and I was like, Scott,
I can't talk right now.

Speaker 1 (01:20:11):
I'm driving home. My dad is taking his final breaths,
like I gotta I gotta go, and he's like, WHOA,
what can I do? It wasn't Trump, but no, it was.

Speaker 3 (01:20:25):
You know my friend Alice Stewart, who tragically died a
year and a half ago.

Speaker 1 (01:20:30):
I mean, we would go tussle it.

Speaker 3 (01:20:32):
We would tussle it out on air, and one night
we had a really really heated exchange and I was
she could tell I was very upset with her, and
she said, let's go get a drink and we talked
about it. Now, neither one of us, you know, moves
from But I do think I know that everyone can't
doesn't want to do that. And I'm not saying that
because I'm not doing it. That's right, that's okay, you defuize.

Speaker 1 (01:20:58):
But I look, when.

Speaker 3 (01:21:00):
Charlie Kirk was murdered, I was seeing what was happening,
and I text Scott and I was like, Scott, what
do you think We're in each other's lives?

Speaker 1 (01:21:10):
Why what's happening? Like?

Speaker 3 (01:21:12):
What are what are we supposed to? There has to
be something bigger that is happening right now and it
can't be like for more people to be murdered Jesus.
And so I just sent him a prayer and I
was like, can we.

Speaker 1 (01:21:24):
Just keep talking? Can we just I just my like,
I just it can't can't.

Speaker 3 (01:21:30):
Keep going like this, you know, I agree, And I
wasn't like that five years ago. I was like, don't
talk to me, don't speak to me, don't look at me,
don't breathe on me. Like but I've changed and now
I realize, like that's my role. And so I think
about my friend Alice, who tragically died. Every single day,
I'm like, I wonder what Alice would say to this.

Speaker 1 (01:21:49):
I wonder what you know?

Speaker 3 (01:21:51):
But also being around people I don't agree with it
actually makes me. Of course it does clear on my
thought process. Yeah, But I mean I trust I gauge
to the extent that I listen, I read, I hear,
I watch Fox News.

Speaker 1 (01:22:05):
Sometimes I can get the worst of it.

Speaker 3 (01:22:07):
I have family members and people who I can't cut
off even if I wanted to, like they're just going nowhere.

Speaker 1 (01:22:13):
And we talked.

Speaker 3 (01:22:14):
Now we have a friend that we were talking to
the other day who you know, always has something to
say that we don't agree with.

Speaker 1 (01:22:21):
Let's just put it that way. And I think it
does sharpen your tools. But for me, I have a prize.

Speaker 3 (01:22:28):
It's like i feel like I'm being gas lit all
day when I'm dealing with somebody who is like intentionally
spreading this information that.

Speaker 1 (01:22:40):
I just can't, I just I can't. I get it.
It's too much. It gets me too excited.

Speaker 2 (01:22:45):
That's how I feel. And that's why I asks because
and I watch, I'll be like, yes, yes, I'll be
looking at you and I'll be like, yes, that's what
I'm saying. And then I look at them and they'll
come back with some shit that I'm like, why would
they even say that? She just said that? But why
won't they just agree? Because there's no like you box
them so in and they still will not just admit

(01:23:05):
that is right. And it's just like, keep.

Speaker 1 (01:23:07):
Watching the show, shameless plug. One day I'll get up.

Speaker 2 (01:23:12):
I'm gonna keep watching it because I actually enjoy the discourse.
I actually enjoy watching you, you know, you and other
brilliant people actually just say the things that I want
to say that I'm not able to say that in
that place, and I'll be wanting to say, like I
take clips from y'all show and I send it to people,
like this is what I'm saying. And the thing is
they'll still be like, yeah, but Obama or this and that,

(01:23:34):
but no, we talking about this right here. And it's
just like, but I just want to commend you, you know,
for the ability to do all the things that you are,
like black women are so many things like and y'all
continue to impress me to make me feel happy to
come from black women, you know, do y'all are the
mothers of the earth and just watching y'all just conquer

(01:23:56):
so many things. Like you said you was gonna get
this and you did it instead, she was going to
be everything that you said you did, you know, And
that's what it is for me. So I'm always in
awe and we always got your back.

Speaker 1 (01:24:09):
Oh, thank you, I appreciate it.

Speaker 3 (01:24:11):
How does your family feel about this? Like, tell me
about your family. My mother is cloud nine, right, her baby,
her baby, there's your mom from.

Speaker 1 (01:24:23):
We're from Youngstown, Ohio. She's still well.

Speaker 3 (01:24:26):
She since my father passed. She stays there Happy Year
and she's with me half the year, or me and
my sister in DC. Okay, so my family were born
in both my parents were from Youngstown.

Speaker 2 (01:24:36):
My dad was a.

Speaker 1 (01:24:39):
Fantastic athlete.

Speaker 3 (01:24:42):
Like if you tell anybody who he is in Youngstown
and even sometimes in the state of Ohio, they're like,
Benny Allison was the best best player like I've ever
seen play.

Speaker 1 (01:24:51):
It just happened to me.

Speaker 3 (01:24:52):
Actually last week I was at a meeting and random
somebody at young from Youngstown, like, and he was like.

Speaker 1 (01:24:57):
Your dad was Bunny. Oh my god, and I'm like, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:25:00):
But he played basketball, football, and baseball at Ohio State,
got drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates,
but decided to go to medical school at Maharry. And
so I was a family practice doctor for most of
the black folks in Extown and then eventually Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (01:25:16):
And my mom is a rock star. She's like, I'm tall,
I'm five nine. My mom is like five three. But
she was the head of Wick and head Start in
our hometown, and you know, she took us a lot
of places.

Speaker 2 (01:25:30):
I think.

Speaker 1 (01:25:32):
The range that I have in my life in terms
of black experiences, I was in Jack and Jail. I
want to very middle class Youngstown.

Speaker 3 (01:25:42):
Jack and Jill was a little different other I was
in Jack and Jail, but I also went to the
Boys and Girls Club every day after school because it was.

Speaker 1 (01:25:51):
And that both were my friends, you know. And so
that's my life.

Speaker 2 (01:25:55):
You know.

Speaker 1 (01:25:56):
It's like.

Speaker 3 (01:25:58):
The ability to be in all faces and love black
people no matter their environment is what I think is
magical about us. So our sister, she's a teacher. She's
an amazing she teaches AP science in DC and she's like.

Speaker 1 (01:26:15):
This one of the She's like the smartest person ever. Like,
when I'm running numbers, I'm like, Gina, what's the carry
to one to the two? Everything I send out, every
piece of paper I ever send out, I have her
read it for me. She's just she's brilliant. So and
then I have a lot of cousins and just a family.
So how'd your mother? I got two questions, and I'm
gonna let you go.

Speaker 3 (01:26:35):
How does your mother feel about the current state of
wick and social net programs?

Speaker 1 (01:26:42):
Like is she saying this?

Speaker 3 (01:26:44):
Is she because she obviously knows how important it is
and how necessary it is. When people just act like
it could be cut, It's like, no, no, you don't understand.
And then talk talk about your love life because you know,
we gotta get in your personal goods.

Speaker 1 (01:26:57):
Well, that second question is easy, non existing because I'm
buying the room. I was buying the room and you
were busy doing that. I'm busy. I'm busy, but you
got a date, man, I'm okay.

Speaker 2 (01:27:07):
Well, you know we're gonna put up some yeah, some
little messages out here.

Speaker 3 (01:27:11):
Yeah he's match, Mabe, don't come, don't don't I don't
own the route, babe.

Speaker 1 (01:27:18):
And no room, don't bring no mess. I know, but
you got to stop.

Speaker 3 (01:27:24):
This is the problem that we have, dear sister, because
I do the same thing and they say that's.

Speaker 1 (01:27:32):
Not the energy.

Speaker 3 (01:27:33):
Okay, bring peace, no just what you should say. He said,
I am peace, joy in love, and I'm looking for
someone to match my I am peace, joy and love
and I'm looking for someone to match. And don't bring
no mind. But tell us about your mama and let's
take so you know, the cuts to Wick, that's not

(01:27:56):
the first time that she has seen that happen in
her life. When she was runn in the program, Like
I remember her coming home stress like, oh my god,
they're gonna cut our budgets. Like but she wouldn't be
thinking about it because like she's like, I'm gonna lose
my job. She's like the kids, yeah, babies, you know,
they they sometimes that's the only male they get. That's
you know, after school lunches. So I mean, I think

(01:28:18):
rit large. She's definitely stressed. She's always like what can
I do?

Speaker 1 (01:28:22):
What can I do?

Speaker 3 (01:28:22):
And I'm like, well, you know, you can help register
people to vote, Like she's mobile, so I'm like, you know,
she went to my high school.

Speaker 1 (01:28:29):
One day she registered students to vote.

Speaker 3 (01:28:31):
She's involved in our or both Delta, so she does, like,
you know, activities through social justice work. But I was like,
you should share information, you should talk to your face.
You know, you can't make assumptions that everyone around you
was at Rining gig, so you know, she.

Speaker 1 (01:28:44):
Has first hand knowledge.

Speaker 3 (01:28:46):
Yes, And I think that's so important to hear from
people because a lot of the younger black folks, I'm
not saying younger like twenty, even younger fifty forty believe
that well, we.

Speaker 1 (01:28:59):
Just got it.

Speaker 3 (01:28:59):
You gotta figure it out. That's why we got to
build our own That's why you gotta have your own money.
You gotta do this, you got to do that. But
it's these programs were set up. They were designed for
a reason. Wick when I was when I first had
my son, my son is now twenty six, I had
him whatever in ninety eight, ninety nine, Wick was really
really serious for me, Like I needed that almost. I'm

(01:29:22):
not saying food stamps should be cut in any way,
but that Wick was very, very substantial.

Speaker 1 (01:29:28):
Like we went out.

Speaker 3 (01:29:30):
You had the milk, the eggs, the things that like
basic thing, and I didn't have to use the food
stamps to get the things that Wick supplied.

Speaker 1 (01:29:41):
That was about his health. Yes, that's the thing for
folks who don't know.

Speaker 3 (01:29:45):
It's like Wick actually provide nutritious food for women who
are pregnant because we know that what happens to the
baby in utero often impacts their life.

Speaker 1 (01:29:56):
So it was like getting them healthy from.

Speaker 3 (01:29:59):
Conception into five years of age and then they migrate
over into head start where they can have healthy So
it is really about you know, it is a very
pro life. It's a pro life policy because it is
about giving people a healthy lifestyle, giving people access. It's
not you know, people the the tropes are like, oh,

(01:30:21):
people are out there eating stick.

Speaker 1 (01:30:22):
That is not what is happening. People are getting nutrition.
We just talked about what I ain't gonna say. I
want to say. I want to say.

Speaker 3 (01:30:30):
There's a guy on my Instagram who's like who's He's like,
people are like, oh my god, you know what about
the immigrants.

Speaker 1 (01:30:37):
I don't care. I want to do it. I don't think.

Speaker 3 (01:30:39):
Let me.

Speaker 1 (01:30:41):
He said, my tax dollars go to war crimes in Yemen.
He said, I will feed the children that I will
get somebody an MRI. It's on me. And that's how
I feels. Your mom's name fun, miss Fun. You raise
the good one.

Speaker 3 (01:30:57):
You and mister Allison did a good job. No, yeah,
it's mister yeah, doctor Allison. Okay, so he was like,
don't like.

Speaker 1 (01:31:09):
I did a great job. Thank you, Ashley.

Speaker 2 (01:31:11):
So we want you to just there's a young black
girl in Ohio some and she's just trying to figure
it out, you know, and she doesn't know. Yeah, you know,
give her some words and courage.

Speaker 1 (01:31:25):
You're enough and you are sufficient.

Speaker 3 (01:31:30):
Every day until you believe it and then keep saying it.
You don't have to have all the answers right now.
You just got to keep going until you figure out
what you want to do. And then when you do,
don't let anybody tell you don't do And if they
tell you don't, don't trust them.

Speaker 1 (01:31:46):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (01:31:47):
Yes, you owner, the owner and the owner of the
roots by way of watering hole media.

Speaker 1 (01:32:01):
That's it. I got it. Look take me on the road.

Speaker 2 (01:32:07):
Nothing but love and praise for Ashley Allison who came
here today. She's amazing, you know, special, she is. She's
you know, you know, when you be in a room
with one of them one. She's one of them one.

Speaker 3 (01:32:21):
Well she is, and you know, I'm sure there was
a time when I pissed them off over there at
the White House.

Speaker 2 (01:32:29):
Oh yeah, that's your job.

Speaker 3 (01:32:31):
Because she never she's not changed up ever. She's always
been very consistent. She's not like a d C person.
There's DC people. They have like a DC attitude, like
they can't just say hi. It's all very transactional, transactional.

Speaker 2 (01:32:48):
She doesn't seem transactional at all. She seems very authentic,
you know. Just just this the first time that I've
actually had a conversation what I've seen her before and
met her before, but just actually had a conversation with
her and just judging her from her work, I always
thought she was just dope, you know. She was always
her comeback. She's very witty. But just talking to her

(01:33:12):
today and just getting underneath the surface. That's what I
love about our podcast because a lot of people do interviews,
but we start we go a little below the surface.
We want to know what made you. We want to
know about your history we don't know, we don't, just
want to know about the work that you're doing now.
And you know how you got to fame and the
famous stuff. We want to know. Yeah, we want to

(01:33:34):
know you. I love that we do that and we
get people to give us the other side of themselves.
It's outside of the work.

Speaker 3 (01:33:41):
It was good, but she now has a major responsibility
and that is being, you know, the owner of the route.
There are many people out here who are probably praying
on her downfall because it's not easy to manage and
to hold up black media. We know, we know how,
you know, we could be talking about all the right

(01:34:02):
things that people say they want to hear, but getting
them to click a thing like a thing, share a thing,
subscribe to a channel is not always easy, and so
it sounds really good until you get into the knit
and grid of it. However, we pray the blood of
Jesus over her every hand that's involved, the editors, the writers,

(01:34:25):
the accountants, the lawyers, the whoever, even somebody who might
be cleaning up the building. You know, we pray over
them that this vision that she has is realized in
a big, big, big, big way, and that it grows.

Speaker 1 (01:34:42):
Like I was saying, think about Roland.

Speaker 3 (01:34:45):
Roland started out just trying to do his thing, you know,
and now his thing has become a big thing, and
you know, I want to see that happen for her
because I think there needs to be more than just
one person in the space who can be talent and
also behind the scenes growing the company. So that's that's
how I feel about it. I'm really excited. I know

(01:35:07):
we need it for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:35:08):
It is definitely needed. I definitely wish her the best,
and I know I'm manifested. It's going to happen. She's
going to win. Black Media is gonna win, and we're
gonna thrive. So that brings me to my I don't
get it. Last week, a couple of weeks ago, Steven A.

(01:35:29):
Smith had made some not so nice remarks about Congresswoman
Jasmine Crockett. You chimed in, you know, actually went viral
for what you said. I've seen a lot of different people,
and you know, he took offense. He went back and forth,
and I think at some point somebody got to him
because last week, a few days ago, I believe I
don't know exactly which there was. I seen that he

(01:35:51):
issued an apology and I had already said something on
my YouTube channel. You want to go so you can
see about it. But I wanted to bring it to
this show because I need our audience to understand my perspective. Now,
he made an apology, and our friend Dale Hugley had
posted it and he said he accepted it. You know,
he gave him grace. He said, you know, I have

(01:36:13):
to admit that the apology was as loud as the
disrespect he used the platform. And I'm gonna give you
grace and I accept the apology. I have a different take,
you know, I believe in grace. I believe in giving
everybody grace. I believe we all make mistakes, we all
say things, we all do things, we all learn and

(01:36:33):
we grow. But when you constantly do the same thing
and you give an apology, that is a habit. That
means that you are you're conscious of what you're doing,
but you're choosing to do it. So when you constantly
do the same thing and then you ask for grace
and then you give an apology, my mother always told

(01:36:54):
me that the best apology is changed behavior. So there
is a history of Stephen A. Smith doing the same thing.
You know, it wasn't the first time with Jasmine Crockett,
It wasn't no what else it was Kyrie Irving.

Speaker 1 (01:37:10):
Oh oh, I see what you're saying.

Speaker 3 (01:37:13):
It wasn't the first Yeah, this wasn't the first time
his rocket wasn't the first time.

Speaker 2 (01:37:17):
People were Yes, this wasn't the first time that Stephen A.
Smith has utilized his voice in his platform to disparage
and discredit black people. This is not the first time.
Kyrie Irving was going through a lot of things in
his career. You know, he had pretty much almost lost
his job, he got traded in all types of things,
he lost endorsements, and Stephen A. Smith used his voice

(01:37:39):
every day to demean that man. He lended his voice
every day to over and over and over and over
until somebody he respected had to tell him, like, yo,
this is you know, that's he's from where were from
and we all grew up in the same people. We
have the same people who love and care for and

(01:38:00):
what you're doing is not okay. Somebody pulled his coattail
and he said he had to think about it. He
didn't think about it that way, that he was using
his voice and it was harming him, and he apologized.
So we took that apology. So then there was another
incidents in which Stephen A. Smith utilized his voice to

(01:38:21):
speak about Jayleen Brown. Jayleen Brown a stellar young man,
excellent athlete, brilliant young man, doing everything for his community.
He actually repeated gossip about Jayleen Brown that discredited on
his public platform were millions of people listening, and didn't

(01:38:43):
even tell him who said it. It said, he wouldn't
reveal the source that said something negative about the man,
and to the point where Jalen went on a campaign
called release your source, let me know your sauce, and
then they actually had a conversation and then Stephen A.
Smith had to apologize to him. Then there was the

(01:39:04):
Serena situation where Steven A. Smith decided to use his
voice to talk about Serena, another man's wife about how
a man could do something with his wife which was
out of line, and then the husband actually came to
the show. He wasn't there, but they were on the screen,
and then he actually issued apology. Then there's Lebron James

(01:39:27):
situation where he criticized Lebron James for doing what any
father was supposed to do, provide the necessary resources for
their son to succeed. He not only criticized him for it,
he kept on demeaning his son every chance he got
until Lebron had to approach him face to face and

(01:39:49):
he apologized to him.

Speaker 3 (01:39:50):
I think I remember so he then when the son
did well on his own, then he was like, okay,
well he's no he no, it wasn't that.

Speaker 2 (01:39:58):
It's that Lebron James approach that man at the game
has told him stop playing with my son, like you
pass basketball, you talking about me as a father, you
passed the line like you're going too far, and he
had to apologize. There. Now we come back again where
he realizes, finally realizes that the voice and he's using

(01:40:21):
his voice in his platform to discredit and to fame
another black person that's doing something positive. And I think
for a lot of us, we tired at hearing you
say you apologize about the same thing. You know, until
you change the behavior, until you start doing something different,
until we start seeing some action that shows that you

(01:40:43):
apologize or that you're actually sorry, then I think it's
just lip service for a lot of us. You know,
I don't want to disparage and I don't want to
be at odds with another black man, but at some
point you have to own that your responsibility is more
than just using your words to apologize us. You have
to use actions. You have to start moving in a
way that shows us that you're for You said, I

(01:41:05):
don't want you know, I'm not against y'all. I'm for
these people. I want to see things happen. If you
really wanted to see things happen, then what you would
have did was probably to speaking about Jasmine Crowd because
you would have looked up her resume. You would have
understand the accomplishment she had. You would have seen her
on the floor and how she conducts herself. You would
have seen how brilliant this lady was. You would have
never utilized your voice of this barager. So I just

(01:41:28):
don't get how the man constantly does the same thing
and expect a different result. That's called insanity to me,
you know. And I'm just not as willing. I don't
have the level of grace maybe other people doing it.
And it's not that maybe you don't even give a
fuck about what I think. I'm just saying, but there's
a lot of us that are watching you move in
a man that's detrimental to us as black people, and

(01:41:50):
you don't and you act like you don't understand that
you have a very big platform, and a lot of
these people that put you in power, they will allow
you to disparage us, but they won't allow you to
disparage them. And I watched you defend Jerry Jones when
he went through the situation when they talked about him
being a young man confronting the black kids at Little

(01:42:13):
Rock High School, and you talked about how he was
a good, good person and this was old. But I
never see you do that for us. You always utilize
in your voice to disparage even the best of us
and then come with apology, you know. So at this point,
for me, I just want to see change behavior, my brother.
When I start seeing change behavior, then I can give

(01:42:35):
you the grace and accept your apology. And I feel
like a lot of us feel the same way.

Speaker 1 (01:42:42):
I mean, I don't know, I feel that I'm I'm.

Speaker 3 (01:42:46):
You know, I don't The history that you gave is
some of it I kind of know, But I keep saying,
because I want to be honest, that I don't listen
to him often, so I don't know all the ins
and outs and the details of whatever he has or
has not done or said, and how it impacts people.

(01:43:07):
What I noticed, though, is that over time, I just
constantly see black men that I respect saying that this
is beyond sports and giving commentary about the commentary that
Stephen A. Smith is given and I you know, of course,
with Kyrie, that's a sensitive topic for me, for us

(01:43:30):
because we love Kyrie, we have a personal relationship with him,
his family, you know. So it's like when you say
something about Kyrie, we're listening because we know how hard
it is to be a black person to stand on
what you believe in even if everybody else doesn't agree,

(01:43:51):
but still just to stand on what you can believe in.
And most of the time, I don't know of a
time where what Kyrie has done is something that I
would just act like he's the worst person in the world,
you know, you know, and he would he probably would
say I didn't say it was the worst person in
the world.

Speaker 1 (01:44:08):
But that's how it feels, right when you when you.

Speaker 3 (01:44:13):
Want to protect somebody that you know is has the
purest of intentions with their actions and you know that
they're like literally again standing up for what they believe
in and also trying to they're fighting a beast. It's
a difference between for me, right if you say I
don't like you know, the way that so and so

(01:44:37):
sings a song. All right, you know, cool, what I'm
gonna do.

Speaker 1 (01:44:42):
I can't argue that you gotta like them, you gotta whatever.

Speaker 3 (01:44:46):
But if that person as a singer also is out
there like speaking against injustice, trying to like fight you know,
the issues and fight for the people in the community,
and then you we're not just challenging their talent, but
then also talking about other things that they're doing, telling

(01:45:06):
them stay out of trouble, you know, don't don't don't basically,
don't be making them folks mad, you know, don't don't
get don't get everybody upset. Just go to work and
do your job that hits us in a particular place,
because we know it takes a lot to step outside
of just your talent or just whatever people are paying
you for to use your voice in other places. And

(01:45:30):
that's how I think the situation with Jasmine Crockett, it
wasn't just me, Like I said, what I know, so
many people, especially women, are thinking. We hear our brothers
saying we're tired of this. You know, constantly, you in
your house with your man and he like God, damn
it he hates Stephen ain' smith. Go again, da da da,
You know, getting all upset. You see the conversations back

(01:45:51):
and forth, You see the post online, you see all
of that. And what black women do is when we
start feeling like something has gotten to the point where
it's stepped out of the professional realm of whatever it is,
even if your profession is trolling, right, but their professional realm,
and now you're starting to step into things that have

(01:46:13):
to do with our survival.

Speaker 1 (01:46:15):
We organize.

Speaker 3 (01:46:16):
Tiffany Cross said the same thing on the Native Land podcast.
We organize. We get ourselves organized to push back. And
that's what I asked. I just asked the question. I
didn't say people.

Speaker 1 (01:46:28):
Should or would.

Speaker 3 (01:46:29):
I just asked when will you if this is how
you feel about this at this time.

Speaker 1 (01:46:34):
But neither here nor there.

Speaker 3 (01:46:36):
Whether I said he should be shut down and all
of that, whether I said that or not is not
even relevant because I I am.

Speaker 1 (01:46:43):
Not one of the people who keeps them going.

Speaker 3 (01:46:46):
So my thoughts and opinions is like whatever, It's up
to other people who are his supporters to decide where
the line is and when at which point is that
line being And by the way, I'm not exempt from
that line, right.

Speaker 1 (01:47:05):
I've been at that line.

Speaker 3 (01:47:06):
I've been at the place where people who supported me
have decided that for whatever reason, they are challenging me.

Speaker 1 (01:47:14):
Just like he can get on TV.

Speaker 3 (01:47:16):
Every day or get on this podcast wherever he wants,
he can say what he wants, say what he believes.
People have the right to respond with how they feel
about whatever he's saying.

Speaker 1 (01:47:26):
So this can't be a one way street.

Speaker 3 (01:47:28):
And I've said several times I hear you know, folks
keep hitting me up like, well, have you engaged him?

Speaker 1 (01:47:33):
Why don't you go on his show? Why don't you go?

Speaker 3 (01:47:35):
You know, first of all, in order to go on
somebody's show, you have to be invited. People need to
stop trying to make it seem like all the onus
is on those people who are responding to what they see,
because if he wanted to engage people like me who
have a yes, a very very serious absolutely, I have

(01:47:56):
a serious issue with Jasmine Crockett. And and like you said,
not her record, not her record, not the specific things
about her record, because I'm sure that I could see
here and say, well, I think Jasmine should have done
this or vote, or she should have voted this way,
or she should.

Speaker 1 (01:48:13):
Have done We could anybody could do that.

Speaker 3 (01:48:15):
But when you start talking about how we speak, right, basically,
the tone and words that we're using, that's policing us.
That's tone policing us as black women, and we have
experienced that too much from too many people. We definitely
not gonna just take it from you, especially as a
black man. Right, that's a problem too.

Speaker 2 (01:48:36):
You shouldn't have to no, and we're not going to no.
But the fact is that a black man should not
want to tone police you.

Speaker 3 (01:48:42):
Oh yeah, I mean, you know, because I see a
lot I don't like the way a lot of people speak, right,
I don't like the way a lot of people speak.

Speaker 1 (01:48:49):
I think that when and I'm sure people don't like
the way I speak.

Speaker 3 (01:48:53):
But regardless of what, when you get to the substance
of what Jasmine Crockett does and who she is to
us and who she is especially in this moment, it's
evident in the way that so many people have responded
with their feelings about this situation. And so when folks say, oh,
you should go on his show, or you should I'm here.

(01:49:14):
I spoke to at least two people who said Steven A.
Smith said that he'll have you on his show that
you know he don't mind talking to you.

Speaker 1 (01:49:22):
I never got a call. It's okay.

Speaker 3 (01:49:23):
He doesn't have to There's a million other people he
could talk to. He doesn't never have to talk to
me because I said what I said, And well, he
can do whatever he wants and have whoever he wants
to be at his townholl And trust and believe. It's
okay if I'm not one of those people. I'm completely
fine with that because I think that my contribution to

(01:49:44):
the conversation has been solidified. And anybody who is not
willing to engage me, that's their problem, not mine. Because
I could talk to presidents, I could talk to gangsters,
I could talk to anybody, and I know how to
have conversations. But the truth is the truth, and the
truth is the truth, and the line just is where
it is. So don't ask me why haven't I talked
to steven A.

Speaker 1 (01:50:04):
Smith.

Speaker 3 (01:50:04):
Because I gave my phone number an email to the
people who said y'all need to sit down, and I
never heard from the brother.

Speaker 2 (01:50:12):
So there's that, and there's that, and that brings us
to the end of another episode. Shout out to Ashley
Allison for coming up, sharing her story, sharing everything with us. Yeah,
we're wishing her nothing but success as the new owner
of The Root as a big, big task, but I
know she's up for it. She got it, she got this,

(01:50:33):
And that brings us to the end of another episode. Tamikady,
Mallory's not gonna always be wrong. I'm not gonna always
be right, but we both always and I mean always,
be authentic. Peace.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Tackling Politics, Media Ownership, and Accountability with Ashley Allison