July 9, 2025 • 59 mins
This week on The Black Perspective, we’re honoring milestones, elevating critical conversations, and breaking down global issues.
BIN’s Vanessa Tyler sits down with BIN President Tony Coles to reflect on the network’s 5-year anniversary, revisiting its early beginnings and looking ahead to what’s next.
Andrea Coleman continues our public awareness campaign, Saving Black Moms: A Maternal Health Crisis, shedding light on the urgent challenges Black mothers face and what’s being done to address them.
Gracie Award-winner Esther Dillard returns with a special edition of The Color Between the Lines, featuring a sneak peek into A Shade Deeper, a powerful new podcast now streaming on iHeartRadio.
And Morgyn Wood speaks with Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, a U.S. Army veteran, national security strategist, author, and foreign policy expert, on the growing tensions in the Middle East and what they could mean for the world.
Listen now!
BIN’s Vanessa Tyler sits down with BIN President Tony Coles to reflect on the network’s 5-year anniversary, revisiting its early beginnings and looking ahead to what’s next.
Andrea Coleman continues our public awareness campaign, Saving Black Moms: A Maternal Health Crisis, shedding light on the urgent challenges Black mothers face and what’s being done to address them.
Gracie Award-winner Esther Dillard returns with a special edition of The Color Between the Lines, featuring a sneak peek into A Shade Deeper, a powerful new podcast now streaming on iHeartRadio.
And Morgyn Wood speaks with Asha Castleberry-Hernandez, a U.S. Army veteran, national security strategist, author, and foreign policy expert, on the growing tensions in the Middle East and what they could mean for the world.
Listen now!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Mark Morial here, President and CEO of the National Urban League.
On Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland at
our national conference with Tony Coles, president of the Black
Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's exactly
what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic inequality,
health disparities, voter suppression and dismanling of our democratic institutions.
(00:23):
You must be a part of this conversation. Join us
in Cleveland to register, go to NUF conference dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
It's Sunday, June twenty ninth. And on today's show, Black
Information Network anchor Vanessa Tyler sits down with the bion's president,
Tony Coles, to talk about the five year anniversary of
the network, early beginnings and future moving forward. Andrea Coleman
continues bion's public awareness campaign saving Black Moms a maternal
(00:51):
health crisis. The Black Information Networks Esther Dillard is back
with a special segment from The Color Between the Lines,
A Shade Deeper, a new podcast on iHeartRadio, and Morgan
Wood speaks with Asha Castleberry Hernandez, a seasoned US Army veteran,
national security strategist, author, and form policy expert on what's
(01:11):
happening regarding tensions in the Middle East. These stories and
more are coming your way on today's program. Welcome to
the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Good Sunday, everyone, and welcome to the Black Perspective. We
are marking five years here at the Black Information Network.
We came on air at a time when America was
in a fight for black lives and we've been covering
what's been impacting the black community ever since. The Black
Information Networks. Vanessa Tyler sat down with the President of
the Black Information Network, Tony Coles, to talk about the
(01:54):
network's beginning.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Here.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
Hello, it needs to find a big boy.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Thank you for tuning into this important announcement.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
Hey what I'm Y'all's dj MV is Angela yee Can.
Speaker 7 (02:05):
I go by the name of Charlamagne the God and
with the world's most dangerous morning show, The Breakfast Club.
And today right now is the birth of a completely
new network.
Speaker 8 (02:14):
And with that, we were on the air on bi
IN station's nationwide.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Hey y'all is.
Speaker 9 (02:20):
Jamail Steve Harvey, and this is the launch of the
first and only all news audio network and by the
black community.
Speaker 10 (02:29):
Well history was made five years ago, a twenty four
to seven news network solely focused on reporting news impacting
the Black community. The president of the Black Information Network,
Tony Coles, welcome, Thank you. What timing is everything? The
(02:52):
bi N launched at a time when racial policing could
not be ignored. I mean, we saw a black man
and die right before our eyes, and I just wanted
to talk about how bi IN launched at that time
but was already in the works.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Talk about that absolutely. You know, it was tragic what
happened to George Floyd. It's tragic what had happened to
so many Black Americans. But the journey of BION and
the launch of the Black Information Network started long before
that moment. We had had so many conversations over the
(03:32):
years about how we truly serve the black community. We
own radio stations in black communities throughout America, and when
we look at how as a company we can provide
the best service to our listeners, news and information was
something that was missing and we had had so many
conversations about the need for this, and as we saw
(03:55):
in our own research the growing belief in the phrase
fake news, that was deeply concerning, and so in twenty nineteen,
we made a mission to build a network that served
the communities that we lived in, served the communities that
(04:15):
we were a part of for many, many years, and
at the foundation of that was going to be a
network based in truth, in fact based reporting, but more importantly,
having reporters and journalists and writers who reflect those cities
and were able to tell the stories of the day's
(04:36):
news from a black perspective.
Speaker 11 (04:39):
I'm the Davis, I'm Terry McCready, I'm Mike Island, I'm
Esther Dillon, I'm Kevin Brown.
Speaker 8 (04:45):
With more than a dozen top journalists located throughout the country,
delivering news impacting the Black community with fact based reporting,
bi IN is a news voice that stands apart and
lately standing alone. This is America's Black voice, no Black
information network.
Speaker 10 (05:06):
When we launched, there were also a lot of black
voices on larger national platforms than there are now. And
I'm just thinking about Don Lemon, Joy Reid, even Lester
is gone from the national news platform, and I'm just wondering,
you know, whether that makes our role I would think
(05:27):
much more important at this point, because here we are
with a national platform, in a national voice.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It's a really good point and a great question.
Speaker 9 (05:38):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I am really proud of the collection of black journalists
who called bi Home, And as you mentioned, there are
so many incredibly talented and powerful black journalists who are
no longer a part of traditional forms of media, and
they're certainly doing amazing work in new platforms and new venues.
(06:04):
But when it comes to one home dedicated to Black
journalism in America, we stand alone.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
At this point.
Speaker 10 (06:13):
You travel a lot. I'm just wondering the feedback you're
getting from people who listen to the network, what's been
the worried out there on the streets.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Feedback has been very, very positive and very powerful from
day one. Something that we've done over the past five
years to your point, is getting out into the communities
and making sure that the reporting on BIM and the
work that we do is not limited to what it's
like to be black in Atlanta, or what it's like
(06:45):
to be black in New York City, but really going
into so many of the communities that we serve. Our
vision from the beginning was to not only be in
cities with the largest Black populations in America, but some
of the smaller cities that have the highest concentration of
(07:05):
African Americans, making sure that not only are we serving,
but our news content reflects those communities. And I think
that that's part of the great feedback that we've gotten
is the fact that you can listen to BI in
and not only hear about what's happening in Washington and
how that impacts Black America, but also telling the stories
(07:29):
of a black farmer in the rural South.
Speaker 8 (07:31):
I'm Alexandria AKEMONI on your Home for twenty four to
seven News, Nashville's B ninety seven point five. I'm Amber
Payton on your Home for twenty four to seven News,
Norfolk's b I in one oh five point three.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I'm Mike Island on your Home for twenty four seven
News Memphis is BI in the Black Information Network.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
We've always been rooted, as I said, in telling the
untold stories of our community. But what has been most
exciting to me and what I see evolving and will
continue to is the depth of our reporting, again being
very intentional of telling the stories of black life and
(08:11):
how it looks in various parts of the country and
seeing that grow and develop. The partnerships and the collaborations
that we've made so that we're uncovering new aspects, new stories,
new perspectives every day, and that has really changed and evolved,
and I'm excited about the growth that we've had in
(08:33):
those areas.
Speaker 10 (08:34):
What is the future for the network? What do you
see some of the big things that are happening.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Really continuing to scale what we've done over the past
five years. I think that when you look at the
level of talent that we have as a part of
this network today. We started out with some incredible journalists.
We've continued to grow that, but really making sure that
(08:59):
we're making our content available wherever people are consuming news
about Black America. Looking at continuing our platform growth, the
markets that we serve, the way that we are delivering news,
whether it's through our network, which was the foundation, things
like providing news content now for the Breakfast Club, working
(09:24):
with black owned newspapers throughout America, and sharing bion stories there.
Really just continuing to grow and scale and making sure
that wherever someone is in this country, they have access
to BI News.
Speaker 8 (09:40):
Tony Cole's, president of the Black Information Network, says, the
future also holds collaborations.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
We are incredibly excited about the collaboration that we now
have with the Obama Foundation, and this is something that
we've worked on for quite some time, and we want
to do more of these kind of collaboration, specifically as
it pertains to the Obama Foundation and the Obama Presidential
Center which is opening in twenty twenty six in Chicago.
(10:11):
We are always looking for what are those stories about
work that is being done in the Black community to
help you build the next generation of leaders, not just
political leaders, but community leaders, activists, people who are having
an impact in the Black community. And when you look
(10:32):
at organizations, and there are a lot of great organizations
doing this work every day, but the Obama Foundation is
doing some of the most advanced work, some of the
most aggressive work, and really it goes beyond the building
of the Presidential Center, which is going to be incredible.
(10:53):
I just can't even tell you how excited I am
to see the work that they are doing, the active
engagement in communities throughout America, in building and developing great
Black leaders, great leaders in general, but especially great black leaders,
and being able to collaborate with them to bring those
(11:15):
stories to light is something that we're really proud.
Speaker 10 (11:18):
Of, and it certainly gives us a lot more material
to tell those stories. Tony Coles, thank you so much
for stopping by and giving us a chat, and thank
you for your vision for our network.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Thank you, and thank you for being such an important
part of it, right from the beginning with.
Speaker 8 (11:35):
A twenty four to seven news cycle that never stops.
I'm Vanessa Tyler on the Black Information Network, your home
for Black news first with the Black Perspective. Mike back
to you.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Thanks Vanessa Antoni, and continue to listen to the Black
Information Network, your number one source of black news. As
we've been reporting in bion's public awareness campaign Saving Black
Moms a Maternal health Crisis, hundreds of Black women die
each year during periods of maternity that includes during their
pregnancy and delivery of their child, or within a year
(12:09):
after giving birth. Many maternal health professionals and advocates say
the situation has reached a crisis level. In this report,
BIN anchor Andrea Coleman shares one family's journey that health
professionals say is happening way too often to Black families
across the country.
Speaker 8 (12:26):
Mike.
Speaker 12 (12:26):
Some of the latest statistics show the maternal mortality rate
between twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three decreased among white,
Asian and Latino women, but increase slightly for Black women.
That increase put Black women dying at a rate of
fifty point nine percent for every one hundred thousand live birds.
That is at least three times higher than white women,
(12:47):
whose maternal mortality rate is right at fourteen percent for
every one hundred thousand live birds. The maternal mortality rates
for Latino and Asian women are even lower. The increase
rate of Black women dying during this most precious moment
in life is impacting the lives of many Black families,
one of those being Nicole Berymnths.
Speaker 9 (13:07):
My daughter had a baby November eighteenth. She stated to
her nurse that she was having chest pains on November nineteenth.
The nurse told her that that was normal after having
a baby.
Speaker 12 (13:21):
Nicole recently shared the story of her daughter, Tierra with us.
Tierra died last November, just days after delivering a healthy
baby boy. Post delivery, Tierra developed severe chest pains. After
being discharged, the pains continued, so she returned to the hospital,
seeking the help of doctors. Hours after being admitted a
second time, Tiera was placed in intensive care, but doctor
(13:43):
struggled to find the cause of her pain. My mother, Nicole,
picks up the story from here. Please note it maybe
disturbing to hear.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
They told me pneumonia, they told me stress, They told
me us maybe spasms. There was never a diagnosis. It
was a maid and we communicated and nothing happened. They
took her, they did the test for her heart. They
came back and told me that it was stressed. So
I'm like, they're not gonna do an echo cardiogram or
(14:13):
chest X ray to find out if that's what it is.
And why would you just say it's stress. Why wouldn't
you rule out with the worst it could be and
then come back and say later that it was stress.
Because stress just wasn't sitting well with me. Tierra complained
about her head hurting from I'm sure the nitro glycerin
(14:34):
that they were giving her. She that was a side effect.
They said, I said, well, did you inform them that
your head is hurting? They said, it's a it's a
side effect. And then she said, well, what's the point
of telling them anything her cause they're not gonna do anything.
And I'm like, okay, well at this point, do you
want to go somewhere else? Because it's it's whatever you
want to do. It was convenient for me because I
(14:55):
worked down in the er. I could come, I could talk,
I could be proactive with what's going on with your care.
But I can't speak for you because you have a voice.
So she just said, I wanna get better. I wanna
go home to my baby. That's all she was waiting
on was him. So the next day, the nurse told
her if she left the hospital, it was gonna only
(15:18):
delay the care, so they were gonna have to start
all over. So she said, I just wanna go home
to my kids. She just said, forget it. I'll just
stay cause I don't wanna start over. This hurts. I
wanna get better, So we let her stay. Then that
(15:41):
was the twenty seventh is I came into work, I
did everything that I need to do, and then I said,
I'm gonna go check on her. So it was like
seven maybe seven forty am when I went to check
on her. When I got in the room, Tiar sitting
(16:01):
like in the bed, rocking back and forth, and I said, Babe,
what's wrong? She said, my chest hurt. I said, well,
did you put the call light on? She said, I did,
so I went out and looked to see if the
light on the outside of the door was beeping, because
that's what it does, and somebody has to physically come
(16:22):
in the room and cut off the call bill. So
she said, if somebody picked up the phone and said
someone will be there shortly, surely it is not an
option when your chest.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Hurts, Nicole said.
Speaker 12 (16:33):
She then went to the nurses station to seek help.
Speaker 9 (16:35):
I said, can I speak to the charge nurse. The
charge nurse walked me to the room, and by that
time her nurse was coming with medicine in her hand.
Tierra was like, please, please, you know, Mama, my chest hurt.
She said, well, I have you I have your morphine here.
If you want that I can give She said, yes,
(16:57):
give it to me. I said, well, wait, hold on, ma'am,
before you give her anything else, tell me why you're
treating the pain but not the problem. You're giving her morphine,
but what is the reason that you're giving her morphine.
Does she know why she's taking morphine? She said, well,
she has nitro glycerin and its appealed that dissolved it
under her tongue. Tear said that don't work. So as
(17:20):
I'm talking to the charger, she ensured me that Tiara
had the best two doctors. Her vitals looked great. As
a matter of fact, she was getting better. I said,
are you sure, because from what I'm looking at, it
don't look like it. So she said, well, I'm gonna
go check her charts. Tierra is begging for medicine. At
this point. The nurse injected her through the ivy with
(17:41):
the morphine and Tiarra instantly was like, it's hot. It's hot, Mama,
I can't breathe. Help me, Mama, please help me. And
I'm like, what am I supposed to do? The nurse
went out the room and said, well, I have talin
all three. If this is not working, I said, you
(18:02):
gonna go get some more medicine.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
Mm.
Speaker 9 (18:05):
So the charge nurse had walked out to go and
contact the doctors. The nurse went out to get tall
and all three. Ti Era I was cleaned off her
table cause it was just wet with water. So I
was clean off her table for breakfast, and I had
just hung up with a cafeteria and put in her order,
(18:29):
and no, soon as I hung up the phone, she
started gagging, and I said, what you gotta throw up?
And her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
And it wasn't even three minutes. It was not even
three minutes but for her for the pain to go,
(18:50):
and noticed for ten minutes that I was up there.
I I don't know how long before I got up
there that she was in pain. But the time that
it took, the the time that it took them to
get to her, is so unreal.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
And now I literally.
Speaker 9 (19:12):
Watched them just CPR eighty one minutes, so CPR on
my baby. And then they said, we're gonna see if
we can transfer her out. I said, after eighty one minutes,
you played in my face eighty one minutes, so CPR,
now you want to transfer her, Only for them to
come back and say we can't transfer her without a
(19:32):
proper diagnosis. I said, wow, get out of my face.
Speaker 12 (19:39):
Several months had passed when we spoke with Nicole, still
she was looking for greater insight into what caused her
daughter's death.
Speaker 9 (19:46):
There was never a diagnosis. There was never they When
I ended up getting the autopsy report, which was March third,
then she passed away in November. It said that she
had a heart attack. Well I know that, but why
did she have a heart attack? You injected the morphine
(20:08):
too fast? You delay care. She shouldn't have never been
released or discharged from the hospital when she said her
chest hurt the day after she had the baby. So
I feel like this could have been prevented. I feel
like if they were proactive, if they would have came
in with EKG machines and X rays to find out
what the problem was instead of guessing everything was a guess.
(20:32):
Well I'm not sure, I said, could it be a
heart murmur? Well, no, that wouldn't be it. Well could
it be her breast and gorge? Well no, that's not it.
Well we would have to call L and D and
find out this. And I'm like, this is I see you.
You guys are the top doctors here. Why are you
having to call and get second opinions on you know,
your job medical professional.
Speaker 12 (20:53):
Satierra's death is not an isolated incident. While not every
maternal death takes place while a mother is in the hospital,
far too many of them do. Suggested solutions to the
problem range from requiring more detailed training of medical professionals
on how different health elements and conditions present in African
American women compared to women from other racial groups, to
(21:14):
having an advocate like a birthing or postpartum doula present
during a mother's hospital stay to ensure proper care is given.
As for Nicole, she is now raising Tiera's three children,
all of whom are under the age of ten.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
I'm doing what the best I can. I know she's
with us.
Speaker 9 (21:35):
I really haven't had time to break down or agree
because I have to stay strolled for the kids, for
her siblings who try to commit suicide the day.
Speaker 12 (21:50):
After the message to your grandchildren, what are you going
to tell them about their mother?
Speaker 9 (21:54):
She's an angel and she's with them everywhere they go,
everywhere they go. Her seven year old Saturday, save me
a picture of the redbird on the roof of the house,
and she said, is this my mom?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I said it is.
Speaker 9 (22:09):
She's making sure you okay, that's same we A bird
came the day she passed and just stared in our
window for a long time. So it's gonna be it's
gonna be a tough road.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 12 (22:21):
We met Nicole through Donna Hickman, founder of Viola's House
in Dallas, Texas. Donna reached out to Nicole after learning
of her daughter's death to offer assistance in the care
of her grandchildren. As our campaign continues, we will hear
more of how organizations like Viola's House are providing critical
care and guidance to Black mothers and mothers to be.
They are part of a growing network of community based
(22:44):
organizations determined to bridge the maternal health gap that is
impacting Black families and communities in a most painful way.
I'm Andrea Coleman with the Saving Black Moms special Report.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Thanks Andrea. We will continue the spotlight this issue throughout
the summer. Our stories will include a first hand account
of mothers surviving to maternal health challenges, as well as
a look at some maternal health advocates who are helping
provide solutions to the problem. You can learn more about
bi's Saving Black Moms public awareness campaign at binnews dot com.
(23:19):
This week, we welcome back Esther Dillard with something we
at the Black Information Network are now calling a shade Deeper.
It's a special segment from the Color Between the Lines
podcast on iHeartRadio. This past week, many recognized National HIV
Testing Day, and in this conversation, Esther addresses it with
Grazelle Howard with the Black Aids Institute about how Black
(23:42):
communities more than ever, need to pay attention to the
crisis of HIV and AIDS.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
On this edition of The Color Between the Lines.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
The messages, the messages that force out community Blacks almost
not listening.
Speaker 11 (24:03):
I'm speaking with Grizel Howard and she's giving a wake
up call about the impact of HIV and AIDS in
the black community. Hey, it's Esther Dillard with The Color
Between the Lines, where I speak with authors, writers, producers
and thought leaders who have a black and brown perspective.
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, I'm
speaking with a woman by the name of Brazel Howard.
(24:24):
She's the board chair of the Black Aids Institute, and
she hasn't written a book, but she sure could with
all the knowledge she dropped on me in our last conversation.
She wants to raise awareness about the impact of HIV
and AIDS on the black community and how they are
new tools out there that not only impact homosexual Black men,
(24:45):
but really impact heterosexual Black women.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
That HIV is not a gay disease.
Speaker 6 (24:54):
That HIV specifically in the Black community impacts and effects
all of us, because if one community member has HIV,
then we are all impacted. And that HIV is a
preventable virus that currently is disproportionately impacting the Black community.
(25:16):
And can we define black maybe sure, black community is
obviously African Americans, but it is also our immigrant brothers
and sisters who hail from Cara combinations, the West Indies
as well as Africa, so that is the diaspora to
the continent.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
If you identify as Black or as an.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
African descendant, you should be articulate and understanding the facts
of HIV and the myths of HIV. And today we
have an opportunity to bend the tide of HIV in
all our Black communities.
Speaker 11 (25:56):
The CDC reports that black hetero sexual women account for
about fifty percent of the new HIV diagnosed diagnosis among women.
What factors have you found in the research that contribute
to this disproportionate impact and what is BIA doing, I
should say BAI doing to address this alarming statistic.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
The Black AIDS Institute has a long history seat in
communicating with Black women. We're the first HIV AIDS organization
in the country to assemble a conference exclusively for Black
women about Black women. And if you allow the timeline
to go back to forty years when HIV frightened the world,
(26:44):
frightened science, and specifically ravaged the homosexual gay community, the
messages were messages that force our community, Black women, it's
almost not listen why they said it was a gay disease.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
We received the messages that HIV was not about us
and for us.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
And then I usher you into a time when Oprah
Winfrey and others finally glombed or that this was an epidemic.
And unfortunately, rather than that episode being impactful and informative
for the entire community, it took a salacious spet and
that slation's bend was when uperh Winfrey ushered in Jlking
(27:36):
rather than actually the founder of the Black Aids Institute,
because he was on the stage as well, and that
would have been the opportune time to say, Black people,
we all need to be in this together. HIV is
contracted through sex, ivy, drug use, and bodily fluids. That
means it can attack or attract anyone fair it can
(27:58):
you know anyone is susceptible that engages in high risk behavior.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Let me say it like that two.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
IVY drug use.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
IVY drug use is a way you can contract the
virus exchange of bodily fluids.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Very simple, right.
Speaker 6 (28:16):
However, if you don't know that, the myths become true
and rapidly spread faster than the facts.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
So then you had fear.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
Oh you can't drink water in my house. Oh you
can't use my bathroom. Oh I can't hug or kiss you.
Oh we can't bury our loved ones. That still occurs
in some countries. So with all of that said, the
first messages about HIV went against our culture, and now
(28:45):
here we are forty years later, still battling myth shame, stigma,
which is also a word that's not really ours.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
We really don't use.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
The word stigma in our community because we're all stigmatized
because we can unzip our black skin.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
But let's speak about words we know, shame, fear.
Speaker 11 (29:10):
I'm going to ask there is you know, really big
concern now because your organization deals with black women and
deals with Black.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
People and AIDS.
Speaker 11 (29:19):
And now we have an administration which does not want
to give funding to organizations that deal with quote air
quotes DEI, how are you going to be able to,
I guess, ride this tide and still help your community
(29:39):
when you have individuals who are basically trying to cut
off funding in many ways.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
So this is the double edged sword, and we must
speak truth at all times. The Black AIDS Institute is
uniquely and unapologetically black addressing HIV and all all fear
and segments of the Black community.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
And in the current construct, HIV is not gay.
Speaker 6 (30:10):
The administration is targeting and focused on LGBTQ queer and
other organizations and non confidence that focus on the LGBTQ
plus community. In the state of HIV, we are speaking
about health and wellness and that is an entitlement of
(30:33):
every citizen of these yet United States. And I will
give you this tidbit because it's factual. Earlier I referenced
that the Black Aids Institute held the first Black women's
conference on HIV. The title of that conference was called
Sisters Get Real About HIV. It was a national conference
supported by public and private organizations. One of our earliest
(30:59):
funders was mister Donald Trump known as today President Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
My name is.
Speaker 6 (31:08):
Griselle Howard, and I must inform you that mister Donald Trump,
Natives New Yorker, was one of our earliest sponsors of
the Sisters Get Real about HIV inates.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
This national campaign was a billboard campaign.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
It was also a Black women's organization campaign. Representation from
every traditional HIV you know, every traditional Black women's organization
and augmented by HIV organizations and those doing the HIV
work most successfully at that time happened.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
To be Black Muslims.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
So we also had middle school students supported by actually
movie stars, and so Hollywood showed up as well as
daytime TV because many people were impacted, so people who
were pasted about social work, people who are passionate about
(32:04):
force to care. So we were trying to bring in
the full nucleus of where black women showed up to
give the message.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Middle school students.
Speaker 6 (32:12):
Came from Los Angeles County, high school students came from
Los Angeles County, and the women representation came from around
the country as young as eighteen to ninety. And in
that meeting, we thought we were addressing all the fears
of Black America, that we as Black women could go
back in our community and say, hey, this is not
just about gay people. Hey, the people that contract the
(32:35):
virus aren't bad people.
Speaker 11 (32:36):
What do you say is the biggest challenges that black
women face and accessing HIV prevention, testing and treatment. How
can community leaders help address those barriers?
Speaker 4 (32:47):
We can level set and demand that the messenger matters.
Speaker 6 (32:54):
Once you want to agree that the messenger batters, then
you must have some cultural fluency.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
Black people are not lone wolves.
Speaker 6 (33:04):
We're like grapes and so have you ever seen one
grape on a plate that you want to grab and
it looks appealing?
Speaker 4 (33:10):
So you must allow us to come together as black people.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
And then allow us to go into our self selected dialogues.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
What do you mean, Brazil?
Speaker 6 (33:23):
I mean allow young black men who have sex with
men to have a conversation, Allow women over the age
of fifty to have a conversation, Allow Big Poppa over
fifty five to have a conversation. Why Because when HIV
represented itself or presented itself, there was no performance enhancing drugs.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
No viagara, no saalis.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
We did not have the super highway in a way
that you had TikTok social media, so pornography has played.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
An interesting role for the youngs.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
And then lastly, we did not have this open acceptance
of group sex and partying and free love.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
So we first must refresh our hard drives with.
Speaker 6 (34:08):
An hizas and say, black people, what you heard forty
years ago is not true today. Why because we have
biomedical interventions. We have medical technology that allows for people
to love who they want, when they want safely. And
we also allow people who have been impacted by HIV
living with HIV to live long, thriving lives, so it's
(34:30):
no longer a death sentence. We need hip hop to
come back. We need hip hop to come back hard
and bring the messages that they brought fifty years ago.
Thirty years ago. Come on, everybody was rapping about it,
everybody was singing about it. Today, Mum's the word. In fact,
it's reversed. If you look at love and hip hop
(34:52):
and the housewives, they could be our biggest partner and
just show all the love, lust and lab lucks and
oopa ups. Now safely, let's talk about it again. Let's
talk about the STIs. Here's the fact that I'd like
you to think about crap. The pre perphylactic that if
(35:13):
you are HIV negative and you choose to engage in
high risk activities, you can take this one pill a day.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
And love safely.
Speaker 6 (35:23):
The cautionary tale to that is is that you still
are not protected from other sexually transmitted viruses that are
ravishing the community that have shown up post COVID to
really be resistant to drugs.
Speaker 11 (35:39):
If you'd like to hear the rest of that conversation,
you can head over to the Color Between the Lines
podcast on iHeartRadio or YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
I'm Ester Dillard.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Thanks Esther, and check for this special segment of Shade
Deeper wherever you get your iHeartRadio podcasts. In a Black
Information Network exclusive, Morgan Woods spoke with Asha Castlebury Hernandez,
a seasoned US Army veteran national security strategist and foreign
policy expert who has served in the Middle East and
advised on international security at the highest levels. She is
(36:14):
also the author of the book Why National Security Matters,
and she shares her take on what's happening regarding tensions
in the Middle East.
Speaker 13 (36:22):
Joining me now on the Black Information Network is Asha
Castlebery Hernandez a seasoned US Army veteran, national security strategists
and foreign policy expert who has served in the Middle
East and advised on international security at the highest levels.
She brings a sharp understanding of US military operations, diplomacy,
and how global decisions ripple through communities here at home.
(36:45):
We're grateful to have her here to break down what's
happening in the Middle East why it matters, especially to
us in the Black community. Because what struck me was
when the President said we bombed Iran's nuclear facilities.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
Our people were like, who is is we?
Speaker 13 (37:01):
So thanks for joining me, Asha Awsa, thanks for joining me,
Asha Castleberry Hernandez.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
Thank you.
Speaker 14 (37:09):
Or this is such a treat I'm here to explain.
So yeah, let's.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Get into it.
Speaker 13 (37:14):
So talk to me about the ongoing tensions in the
Middle East. What do we need to know, you know,
from the surface from a high level, and what should
we be paying attention to regarding these conflicts.
Speaker 14 (37:25):
Yes, well, there's a couple of major takeaways when it
comes to this conflict.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
First and foremost, as.
Speaker 14 (37:32):
We are engaged, and while we're engaged in this interview,
President President Trump is right now in at the NATO
sammit discussing the Iran the Iran is real conflicts. And
what is pretty interesting on what he said is that
based on the strikes that he has conducted, that Iran's
(37:54):
nuclear facilities are pretty much eradicated. But there are some
so versus that conflict with that information. So why is
that important? Well, that's the whole point of why President
excuse me, President Trump decided to engage in targeting Iranian
(38:15):
nuclear UH nuclear sites is because of the fact that
they that they were being accused of proliferation, accused of
building their first bomb, which was rattling many of their
allies and parties, mainly Israel. And so what we've seen
within the past seven years United States use diplomacy to
(38:36):
address this issue as far as addressing around from building
first nuclear weapons program or transition to a nuclear state.
We as Americans don't want Iran to become.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
A nuclear state.
Speaker 14 (38:48):
Why well, they can use those nuclear weapons against us,
against us, against our allies and partners. And also it
came provoked proliferation within the reach and like like for instance,
cause UH in Saudi Arabia to acquire a nuclear weapons
program and other other critical allies and partners in the regions.
(39:13):
So we're in the business of nuclear non proliferation efforts.
Speaker 5 (39:16):
We've been We've been doing that for many years.
Speaker 14 (39:19):
So another another important point too, Iran has always been
our adversary within the region, So we don't want our
adversary to have the deadliest weapons in the world. Uh So,
that's another reason why it's very important as far as
watching how this plays it out in terms of Iran
acquiring nuclear nuclear their first nuclear bomb. Now, the safest
(39:43):
way is diplomacy, and we had that in place. President
Obama initiate the Iran Deal and it worked. Iran was
pretty much uh working towards them not building up its
nuclear weapons program or sorry to transition it to its
first nuclear bomb. There was a slowdown. The deal worked.
(40:06):
It was imperfect, but it worked. And so after the
Obama administration, President Trump pulled out of the of the deal,
and then after that pull out or when when the
United States withdrew from the deal, we lost complete leverage
as far as trying to get the Iranian leadership to
relinquish its nuclear ambition.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Uh So, as a Biden.
Speaker 14 (40:31):
Appointee, a former buy An appointee, when we came back
in and the administration. We tried, we re entered the deal,
and we tried to renegotiate with the Iranian leadership, but
unfortunately the leverage was gone as a result of President
Trump pulling out. So now we trn Now fast forward
(40:51):
to the Trump administration. They tried to uh look into
renegotiating using diplomacy, but unfortunately did not work.
Speaker 5 (41:02):
Iran was already.
Speaker 14 (41:02):
Getting really really close to building its first nuclear bomb,
and in fact, UH, there was some differences as far
as what the Israelis were pretty much feeding us versus
our own intelligence community was feeding President Trump. But for
the most part, UH, the Iran was closer in building
its first nuclear bomb.
Speaker 13 (41:23):
So is that the context behind why the strikes happened?
Speaker 14 (41:26):
Now, Yes, it's because they're getting closer, and there was
a lot of reports that supported that. And also to
the negotiations that were happening during the Trump administration.
Speaker 5 (41:42):
Or right now, they were not working.
Speaker 14 (41:45):
Iran was not necessarily committed to relinquishing its nuclear ambition.
Speaker 13 (41:52):
There does appear to be a semi I will say
they call it fragile ceasefire that is taking place right
now between Iran and in Israel. What is the real
risk of escalation here, are we looking at another prolonged
conflict or a symbolic military action that could take place.
Speaker 14 (42:10):
Well, the good sign to this is that the United
States and the rest of the international community really wants
a ceasefire. But unfortunately, in this region has always been
a fragile region. There's gonna be some road bones along
the way. So the good thing is that there is
a cease fire. It's just a commitment, is what the
(42:30):
problem is. I mean, Iran has been involved in so
many malign activities throughout the region as far as targeting
specific groups or you know, in the Gulf region as
well as in Iraq and Jordan and Lebanon. So in
response to that, Israel has been countering their efforts and
(42:54):
so there's been a tiffer task for many years. So
to relinquish all of that behaves is going to be really, really,
really hard. It has to be really proven in the
field that both Aroan and Israel are no longer in
the business of engaging in each other using defense.
Speaker 5 (43:15):
So in order to really.
Speaker 14 (43:16):
Achieve a authentic piece deal, all these activits have to
stop right now. But it's really hard because a lot
of them you have sleeper seals, you have indirect attacks.
Who have you know, strikes excuse me, missile strikes, going
back and forth. But all that has to seize in
order to really achieve a cease buire.
Speaker 13 (43:38):
I'm speaking with Asha Castleberry Hernandez, a seasoned US Army
veteran national security strategist and foreign policy expert who has
served in the Middle East and advised on international security
at the highest levels. Let's talk about us on the
home front and how this stands to impact us here,
especially Black communities. We often bear the brunt of wars,
economic and social costs. Can you all laborate on that,
(44:00):
how that stands to impact the American people? Well, how
does the let me reset, How does this moment in
the US Iran Israel conflict affect us here at home,
especially the black community that often bears the brunt of wars, economic,
social costs.
Speaker 14 (44:20):
Yes, so there's a couple of impacts that we can
highlight here. One is first and foremost, we had US
troops in the region. In fact, when the missile strikes happened,
and thank guard United States intercepted those missiles that were
targeting US troops in cutter in Iraq. That was definitely
(44:44):
a big deal. In fact, right after that happened, I
did an interview with Al Jazeera and people that know
me from the military saw me on TV because they're
stationed out there and cutter and they're black.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
Are these people are black?
Speaker 14 (44:58):
You know, a lot of our soldiers, you know, represent
the United States overall in terms of identity, but a
lot of them are black.
Speaker 5 (45:07):
And so we have to keep.
Speaker 14 (45:10):
Please do not forget the fact that we have black
people still serving in the front lines when it comes
to these type of conflicts, just like what we saw
with the Gaza crisis. We lost three black soldiers from
the Georgia Nationals Guard right along the Jordanian is really
a border and yes, and that was really really disappointing,
(45:33):
but we lost three black soldiers as a result of
just the security challenges that were happening coming out of
the Gaza strip. So that's one thing to definitely take account.
We have to make sure that we have safety security
for our service members that are out there in the region.
And it's still residual from the Iraq War and Afghanistan War,
(45:54):
where we have not necessarily pulled.
Speaker 5 (45:56):
Out completely from the region. We still have.
Speaker 14 (45:59):
Service members troops about a good forty five thousand still
operating in the Middle East. So that's one and then two.
This is one impact I've seen while we were engaged
with ICES. When we were when I was part of
the the counter IIS mission in Iraq at that time,
(46:23):
there were there were a lot of different attacks happening
in the United States as we were engaging with ICES
uh in uh in Iraq, in Syria. So what does
that mean. Well, while we were engaging in operation, you
had a tax happened in San Bernadina, California, towards the
innocent people, as well as in Orlando, Florida at the
(46:48):
lgbt Q Club. Then you had some attacks happening over
at the West Side, the West Side Highway.
Speaker 5 (46:55):
Up in New York.
Speaker 14 (46:57):
So there was different type of counter attacks happening in
the United States. And one reason that was fueling is
because the existence of the conflict that was going on
with US engaged in a rocket Syria against ISIS. So
they're interconnected and we see this play out with this conflict.
Well more with the Gaza crisis, when you had the
(47:18):
two Israeli couple attacked in front of their embassy and
then also the attacks in Colorado. So the more we
more we're engaged in these fights, the more we're vulnerable
to counter attacks or counter terrorism activities.
Speaker 5 (47:36):
In the United States.
Speaker 13 (47:38):
Speaking of counter attacks and counter terrorism, there is or
there have been reports that there's a possibility of a
cyber threat. Can you elaborate on that.
Speaker 14 (47:49):
Yes, So, so what's really fascinating about this is that
Iran is pretty much sophisticated when it comes to cyber
attacks against the United States. And what makes them even
more sophisticated in conducting these activities is that they are aligned.
Speaker 5 (48:06):
With Russia and China.
Speaker 14 (48:08):
Russia is well sophisticated as far as the cyber attacks
when we've seen that play out in our political during
the political season in twenty sixteen, in other areas too
as well throughout in many in many ways we've seen Russia,
you know, targeting US. So, so Iran is definitely involved in,
(48:31):
you know, making sure that that United States is targeting
in terms of data inform, private information being hacked. You know,
we're in the open society, so we're definitely a.
Speaker 5 (48:42):
Lot more vulnerable to what Iran will like to conduct.
Speaker 14 (48:46):
And then also what comes along with is misinformation and disinformation,
the spread of it, what is exactly being said about
this conflict and allowing that to be spread into an
open society United States. So so the cyber attax is
one thing when they're trying to hack into our data,
but another two is the spread of misinformation disinformation where
(49:10):
I've seen just as a result of this confident, there's
a lot of just different information that was that did
not represent the truth to where the American people were
believing in it.
Speaker 13 (49:20):
Well, where do we get that information from? I mean,
Benjamin and Yahoo will speak, the President will speak, and
then Iranian officials and leadership will speak, and then all
of like you said, that tends to conflict. So who
do we believe?
Speaker 14 (49:34):
Yes, that's a really good question. I mean credible sources
out there. I would say in terms of international networks,
it's definitely like BBC News. Then you have you know,
you have you know, just your national networks that you
know definitely like CNN, and also think tanks that are
(49:55):
definitely following these type of conflicts, like the Institute of
Study War.
Speaker 5 (50:00):
That's a really good one. Brookens.
Speaker 14 (50:02):
This into csis those are really really great credible sources
from different think tanks that I would say weeds out
the misinformation or disinformation.
Speaker 13 (50:14):
Thank you so much, Asha, Before I let you go,
one more question. What's one thing that you wish that
we civilians knew and understood about how foreign policy is shaped?
And why is it important that we continue to be engaged,
in formed and use our voices.
Speaker 14 (50:33):
Yes, because in the twenty first century we live in
a world where we're more interconnected. We can no longer
think and operate isolated. Americans tend to feel that they're
the only ones in this world, but we're more interconnected.
In fact, a lot of examples represent that COVID nineteen
that came from away from China and hit us home
(50:55):
here where thousands of people were killed, and now it
has pretty much impact is society in terms of how
we're going to deal with health security. Climate change is
another example, cybersecurity, like you said, you know, and also
when you look at the global economy, we're more interconnected
with powerful e comomnis, like with the Chinese, So whatever
(51:17):
happens with the Chinese impacts us too here at home,
especially when it comes to tariffs, So we can no
longer have this mindset of we are an isolated country.
No rose on outside our borders impacts us here at home,
and you're seeing that increasingly. So that's why it's very
important to pay attention to foreign policy. And another point
(51:38):
why we should pay attention for policy is because when
we vote for the president of the United States, it's
not just about domestic policy. It's also about foreign policy.
And we are experiencing that right now. As far as
our hard lesson of oh yes, when I want to
vote for Kamala Harris or President Trump, yeah, I had
(52:00):
to take that into account, not just.
Speaker 5 (52:02):
Abortion, but also how do they manage their troops.
Speaker 14 (52:05):
How do they work with our allies and partners, how
do they represent themselves globally, especially at international institutions.
Speaker 5 (52:14):
There's more to it.
Speaker 14 (52:15):
When it comes to presidency, not just all solely about
domestic issues, and we need to break out of that
single issue voting behavior that's not working out when it
comes to the presidency.
Speaker 13 (52:26):
Absolutely, that's really good advice. One thing that before I
let you go, how can we continue to stay in
contact with you? Or before that, let me know is
there anything that I did not touch on that you
would like to.
Speaker 14 (52:39):
Another point that I really want to underscore is whoever
sits in that oval office. It's very important to note
that they have been provided a lot of constitutional latitude
or powers as the commander in chief, so they have
a lot of attitude on how they manage their troops.
Speaker 5 (53:02):
Based on their discretion.
Speaker 14 (53:05):
So what you're seeing in Congress right now is that
the legislative branch wants to check and balance President Trump
based on the decision making he made on the nuclear strikes,
the air strikes, the nuclear facilities. In some ways he
has the congressional powers in doing so, but in others.
(53:28):
And the other counter argument is that based on what
the legislative branch is saying, and they're pretty much using
the War Powers Resolution to justify this, is that his
those nuclear excuse me, those air strikes where pretty much
constitutes the declaration of war. So if that's the case,
(53:49):
and then then you cannot do that without congruss.
Speaker 5 (53:53):
So there's this you know.
Speaker 14 (53:55):
Gray area of what the president can do just as
the command achieved with out the Congress involved. And then
Congress has also this argument of you can't make certain
decisions without checking in with us. So we're seeing at
a playout right now.
Speaker 13 (54:12):
Absolutely and on top of that, you know, you have
the Supreme Court that ruled earlier that the president does
have immunity in certain cases. So I'm curious to see
how that will impact what we're dealing with in this
particular situation as well. But we will continue to get
our eyes on it.
Speaker 14 (54:29):
And right and sorry and not just necessary. That's a
good point because I mean, just add on two more
the national security nation security topics or items that the
presidency has a lot of power or latitude over, and
that is access to the nuclear codes as well as
trade policy. And in fact, when President Trump imposed the
(54:54):
massive terroriffts against so many different countries, there was one
senator and he was a Republican. He said, we're gonna
look at his I had no idea that the president
has so much power when it comes to imposing terrorists
on multiple countries. Yes, that comes along with its authorities.
So there's a lot of authorities when it comes to
different types of national security topics. In the top three
(55:16):
are how the how the president manages his troops as
the commander chief, trade policy, and access to nuclear the
nuclear code. Definitely stay in contact with me and follow
me on Instagram game my Asha Castlebury. Also to please
please consider ap purching my book, Why National Security Matters.
(55:37):
It pretty much talks about all my frontline experiences from
uh serving in China to the Middle East to Central America.
I learned about democracy, strategic competition, UH so many different
national security issues to where it helps explain how these
issues impact us here at home. It's an easy read.
(55:58):
Definitely check it out. It's on Amazon and Barnes and Noble,
so definitely consider purchasing my book.
Speaker 13 (56:05):
Thank you so much. That's Asha Castleberry Hernandez, a seasoned
US Army that are in national security strategist and foreign
policy expert who has served in the Middle East and China,
as she just mentioned, and advised on international security at
the highest levels. Not to mention she's also an author
named that book again, Asha.
Speaker 5 (56:24):
Why National Security Matters.
Speaker 13 (56:26):
Asha Castleberry Hernandez, thank you again so much for joining
us here on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 5 (56:31):
Thank you, and that's.
Speaker 2 (56:33):
Our program for this week. Thank you all who contributed.
For more on these stories, listen to the Black Information
Network on the free iHeartRadio app or log onto Bionnews
dot com for all of the latest news impacting the
black community. Also be sure to follow us on social
media at Black Information Network and on xCE and Blue
Sky at black Info Net. Now make the Black Information
(56:55):
Network first on your car radio and iHeartRadio app pre sense.
Be sure to tune in next week. I'm Mike Island,
wishing everyone for a great Sunday, and be sure to
tune in next week at this time for another edition
of the Black Perspective right here on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 15 (57:11):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of BN and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 7 (57:23):
I'm James Harris, and I have something to say. It's
happening again, folks. Carin John Pierre just dropped a book
titled Independent, A Look inside a Broken White House outside
the party lines, and it reads like a political Dear
John Lennard to the Democrat Party first heard and now
it's joy read.
Speaker 4 (57:40):
Joy, freaking read.
Speaker 7 (57:42):
The high Priestess of Progressive Snark the MSNBC Echo Chamber
in Heals is subtly talking like a woman ready to
ghost a Democrat plantation and go independent. You can't make
this up. This is the same recently released from MSNBC.
Joy Reid, who called Trump voters everything but the children
of God, now she's out here hinting that the party
(58:04):
she's defended with the fire of a thousand hot takes
might not be so great after all. Why the sudden
crisis of faith. Maybe it's because Joe Biden's black agenda
turned out to be Juneteenth flags, student loan scams and
the occasional Cardi b shout out. Even the diehards are
waking up because here's the truth. The Democrat Party has
never seen black voters as equals, only as guaranteed votes.
(58:27):
It's a political sugar daddy, offering broken promises and bad policy.
And now that Biden is gone and the Democrats' approval
ratings are falling down like Biden did up the steps
of Air Force One, folks like Joy Reid are suddenly
discovering reality. Oh now you want to be an independent?
We see you, Joy. This isn't political courage, it's panic.
(58:48):
It's rats leaving a sinking ship. The Titanic is listing,
and the party that once wore that black voters were
its backbone is now cracking at the spine. And black
Maga We're just sitting here withcorn smiling because we've been
saying it for years. Walk away, think for yourself, be free,
And if joy read of all people is peeking through
(59:09):
the door, the great Escape has officially begun. I'm James C.
Harris for the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (59:14):
Mark Morial here, President and CEO of the National Urban League,
and on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland
at our national conference with Tony Coles, president of the
Black Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's
exactly what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic inequality,
health disparities, voter suppression, and this manling of our democratic institutions.
(59:37):
You must be a part of this conversation. Join us
in Cleveland. To register, go to NUF conference dot org.
Mark Morial here, President and CEO of the National Urban League.
On Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland at
our national conference with Tony Coles, president of the Black
Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's exactly
what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic inequality,
health disparities, voter suppression and dismanling of our democratic institutions.
(00:23):
You must be a part of this conversation. Join us
in Cleveland to register, go to NUF conference dot org.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
It's Sunday, June twenty ninth. And on today's show, Black
Information Network anchor Vanessa Tyler sits down with the bion's president,
Tony Coles, to talk about the five year anniversary of
the network, early beginnings and future moving forward. Andrea Coleman
continues bion's public awareness campaign saving Black Moms a maternal
(00:51):
health crisis. The Black Information Networks Esther Dillard is back
with a special segment from The Color Between the Lines,
A Shade Deeper, a new podcast on iHeartRadio, and Morgan
Wood speaks with Asha Castleberry Hernandez, a seasoned US Army veteran,
national security strategist, author, and form policy expert on what's
(01:11):
happening regarding tensions in the Middle East. These stories and
more are coming your way on today's program. Welcome to
the Black Perspective. I'm your host, Mike Island.
Speaker 3 (01:22):
Welcome to the Black Perspective, a weekly community affairs program
on the Black Information Network featuring interviews and discussions on
issues important to the Black community.
Speaker 2 (01:32):
Good Sunday, everyone, and welcome to the Black Perspective. We
are marking five years here at the Black Information Network.
We came on air at a time when America was
in a fight for black lives and we've been covering
what's been impacting the black community ever since. The Black
Information Networks. Vanessa Tyler sat down with the President of
the Black Information Network, Tony Coles, to talk about the
(01:54):
network's beginning.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Here.
Speaker 5 (01:57):
Hello, it needs to find a big boy.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Thank you for tuning into this important announcement.
Speaker 6 (02:01):
Hey what I'm Y'all's dj MV is Angela yee Can.
Speaker 7 (02:05):
I go by the name of Charlamagne the God and
with the world's most dangerous morning show, The Breakfast Club.
And today right now is the birth of a completely
new network.
Speaker 8 (02:14):
And with that, we were on the air on bi
IN station's nationwide.
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Hey y'all is.
Speaker 9 (02:20):
Jamail Steve Harvey, and this is the launch of the
first and only all news audio network and by the
black community.
Speaker 10 (02:29):
Well history was made five years ago, a twenty four
to seven news network solely focused on reporting news impacting
the Black community. The president of the Black Information Network,
Tony Coles, welcome, Thank you. What timing is everything? The
(02:52):
bi N launched at a time when racial policing could
not be ignored. I mean, we saw a black man
and die right before our eyes, and I just wanted
to talk about how bi IN launched at that time
but was already in the works.
Speaker 3 (03:08):
Talk about that absolutely. You know, it was tragic what
happened to George Floyd. It's tragic what had happened to
so many Black Americans. But the journey of BION and
the launch of the Black Information Network started long before
that moment. We had had so many conversations over the
(03:32):
years about how we truly serve the black community. We
own radio stations in black communities throughout America, and when
we look at how as a company we can provide
the best service to our listeners, news and information was
something that was missing and we had had so many
conversations about the need for this, and as we saw
(03:55):
in our own research the growing belief in the phrase
fake news, that was deeply concerning, and so in twenty nineteen,
we made a mission to build a network that served
the communities that we lived in, served the communities that
(04:15):
we were a part of for many, many years, and
at the foundation of that was going to be a
network based in truth, in fact based reporting, but more importantly,
having reporters and journalists and writers who reflect those cities
and were able to tell the stories of the day's
(04:36):
news from a black perspective.
Speaker 11 (04:39):
I'm the Davis, I'm Terry McCready, I'm Mike Island, I'm
Esther Dillon, I'm Kevin Brown.
Speaker 8 (04:45):
With more than a dozen top journalists located throughout the country,
delivering news impacting the Black community with fact based reporting,
bi IN is a news voice that stands apart and
lately standing alone. This is America's Black voice, no Black
information network.
Speaker 10 (05:06):
When we launched, there were also a lot of black
voices on larger national platforms than there are now. And
I'm just thinking about Don Lemon, Joy Reid, even Lester
is gone from the national news platform, and I'm just wondering,
you know, whether that makes our role I would think
(05:27):
much more important at this point, because here we are
with a national platform, in a national voice.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
It's a really good point and a great question.
Speaker 9 (05:38):
You know.
Speaker 3 (05:38):
I am really proud of the collection of black journalists
who called bi Home, And as you mentioned, there are
so many incredibly talented and powerful black journalists who are
no longer a part of traditional forms of media, and
they're certainly doing amazing work in new platforms and new venues.
(06:04):
But when it comes to one home dedicated to Black
journalism in America, we stand alone.
Speaker 7 (06:12):
At this point.
Speaker 10 (06:13):
You travel a lot. I'm just wondering the feedback you're
getting from people who listen to the network, what's been
the worried out there on the streets.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
Feedback has been very, very positive and very powerful from
day one. Something that we've done over the past five
years to your point, is getting out into the communities
and making sure that the reporting on BIM and the
work that we do is not limited to what it's
like to be black in Atlanta, or what it's like
(06:45):
to be black in New York City, but really going
into so many of the communities that we serve. Our
vision from the beginning was to not only be in
cities with the largest Black populations in America, but some
of the smaller cities that have the highest concentration of
(07:05):
African Americans, making sure that not only are we serving,
but our news content reflects those communities. And I think
that that's part of the great feedback that we've gotten
is the fact that you can listen to BI in
and not only hear about what's happening in Washington and
how that impacts Black America, but also telling the stories
(07:29):
of a black farmer in the rural South.
Speaker 8 (07:31):
I'm Alexandria AKEMONI on your Home for twenty four to
seven News, Nashville's B ninety seven point five. I'm Amber
Payton on your Home for twenty four to seven News,
Norfolk's b I in one oh five point three.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
I'm Mike Island on your Home for twenty four seven
News Memphis is BI in the Black Information Network.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
We've always been rooted, as I said, in telling the
untold stories of our community. But what has been most
exciting to me and what I see evolving and will
continue to is the depth of our reporting, again being
very intentional of telling the stories of black life and
(08:11):
how it looks in various parts of the country and
seeing that grow and develop. The partnerships and the collaborations
that we've made so that we're uncovering new aspects, new stories,
new perspectives every day, and that has really changed and evolved,
and I'm excited about the growth that we've had in
(08:33):
those areas.
Speaker 10 (08:34):
What is the future for the network? What do you
see some of the big things that are happening.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Really continuing to scale what we've done over the past
five years. I think that when you look at the
level of talent that we have as a part of
this network today. We started out with some incredible journalists.
We've continued to grow that, but really making sure that
(08:59):
we're making our content available wherever people are consuming news
about Black America. Looking at continuing our platform growth, the
markets that we serve, the way that we are delivering news,
whether it's through our network, which was the foundation, things
like providing news content now for the Breakfast Club, working
(09:24):
with black owned newspapers throughout America, and sharing bion stories there.
Really just continuing to grow and scale and making sure
that wherever someone is in this country, they have access
to BI News.
Speaker 8 (09:40):
Tony Cole's, president of the Black Information Network, says, the
future also holds collaborations.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
We are incredibly excited about the collaboration that we now
have with the Obama Foundation, and this is something that
we've worked on for quite some time, and we want
to do more of these kind of collaboration, specifically as
it pertains to the Obama Foundation and the Obama Presidential
Center which is opening in twenty twenty six in Chicago.
(10:11):
We are always looking for what are those stories about
work that is being done in the Black community to
help you build the next generation of leaders, not just
political leaders, but community leaders, activists, people who are having
an impact in the Black community. And when you look
(10:32):
at organizations, and there are a lot of great organizations
doing this work every day, but the Obama Foundation is
doing some of the most advanced work, some of the
most aggressive work, and really it goes beyond the building
of the Presidential Center, which is going to be incredible.
(10:53):
I just can't even tell you how excited I am
to see the work that they are doing, the active
engagement in communities throughout America, in building and developing great
Black leaders, great leaders in general, but especially great black leaders,
and being able to collaborate with them to bring those
(11:15):
stories to light is something that we're really proud.
Speaker 10 (11:18):
Of, and it certainly gives us a lot more material
to tell those stories. Tony Coles, thank you so much
for stopping by and giving us a chat, and thank
you for your vision for our network.
Speaker 3 (11:29):
Thank you, and thank you for being such an important
part of it, right from the beginning with.
Speaker 8 (11:35):
A twenty four to seven news cycle that never stops.
I'm Vanessa Tyler on the Black Information Network, your home
for Black news first with the Black Perspective. Mike back
to you.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
Thanks Vanessa Antoni, and continue to listen to the Black
Information Network, your number one source of black news. As
we've been reporting in bion's public awareness campaign Saving Black
Moms a Maternal health Crisis, hundreds of Black women die
each year during periods of maternity that includes during their
pregnancy and delivery of their child, or within a year
(12:09):
after giving birth. Many maternal health professionals and advocates say
the situation has reached a crisis level. In this report,
BIN anchor Andrea Coleman shares one family's journey that health
professionals say is happening way too often to Black families
across the country.
Speaker 8 (12:26):
Mike.
Speaker 12 (12:26):
Some of the latest statistics show the maternal mortality rate
between twenty twenty two and twenty twenty three decreased among white,
Asian and Latino women, but increase slightly for Black women.
That increase put Black women dying at a rate of
fifty point nine percent for every one hundred thousand live birds.
That is at least three times higher than white women,
(12:47):
whose maternal mortality rate is right at fourteen percent for
every one hundred thousand live birds. The maternal mortality rates
for Latino and Asian women are even lower. The increase
rate of Black women dying during this most precious moment
in life is impacting the lives of many Black families,
one of those being Nicole Berymnths.
Speaker 9 (13:07):
My daughter had a baby November eighteenth. She stated to
her nurse that she was having chest pains on November nineteenth.
The nurse told her that that was normal after having
a baby.
Speaker 12 (13:21):
Nicole recently shared the story of her daughter, Tierra with us.
Tierra died last November, just days after delivering a healthy
baby boy. Post delivery, Tierra developed severe chest pains. After
being discharged, the pains continued, so she returned to the hospital,
seeking the help of doctors. Hours after being admitted a
second time, Tiera was placed in intensive care, but doctor
(13:43):
struggled to find the cause of her pain. My mother, Nicole,
picks up the story from here. Please note it maybe
disturbing to hear.
Speaker 9 (13:50):
They told me pneumonia, they told me stress, They told
me us maybe spasms. There was never a diagnosis. It
was a maid and we communicated and nothing happened. They
took her, they did the test for her heart. They
came back and told me that it was stressed. So
I'm like, they're not gonna do an echo cardiogram or
(14:13):
chest X ray to find out if that's what it is.
And why would you just say it's stress. Why wouldn't
you rule out with the worst it could be and
then come back and say later that it was stress.
Because stress just wasn't sitting well with me. Tierra complained
about her head hurting from I'm sure the nitro glycerin
(14:34):
that they were giving her. She that was a side effect.
They said, I said, well, did you inform them that
your head is hurting? They said, it's a it's a
side effect. And then she said, well, what's the point
of telling them anything her cause they're not gonna do anything.
And I'm like, okay, well at this point, do you
want to go somewhere else? Because it's it's whatever you
want to do. It was convenient for me because I
(14:55):
worked down in the er. I could come, I could talk,
I could be proactive with what's going on with your care.
But I can't speak for you because you have a voice.
So she just said, I wanna get better. I wanna
go home to my baby. That's all she was waiting
on was him. So the next day, the nurse told
her if she left the hospital, it was gonna only
(15:18):
delay the care, so they were gonna have to start
all over. So she said, I just wanna go home
to my kids. She just said, forget it. I'll just
stay cause I don't wanna start over. This hurts. I
wanna get better, So we let her stay. Then that
(15:41):
was the twenty seventh is I came into work, I
did everything that I need to do, and then I said,
I'm gonna go check on her. So it was like
seven maybe seven forty am when I went to check
on her. When I got in the room, Tiar sitting
(16:01):
like in the bed, rocking back and forth, and I said, Babe,
what's wrong? She said, my chest hurt. I said, well,
did you put the call light on? She said, I did,
so I went out and looked to see if the
light on the outside of the door was beeping, because
that's what it does, and somebody has to physically come
(16:22):
in the room and cut off the call bill. So
she said, if somebody picked up the phone and said
someone will be there shortly, surely it is not an
option when your chest.
Speaker 4 (16:31):
Hurts, Nicole said.
Speaker 12 (16:33):
She then went to the nurses station to seek help.
Speaker 9 (16:35):
I said, can I speak to the charge nurse. The
charge nurse walked me to the room, and by that
time her nurse was coming with medicine in her hand.
Tierra was like, please, please, you know, Mama, my chest hurt.
She said, well, I have you I have your morphine here.
If you want that I can give She said, yes,
(16:57):
give it to me. I said, well, wait, hold on, ma'am,
before you give her anything else, tell me why you're
treating the pain but not the problem. You're giving her morphine,
but what is the reason that you're giving her morphine.
Does she know why she's taking morphine? She said, well,
she has nitro glycerin and its appealed that dissolved it
under her tongue. Tear said that don't work. So as
(17:20):
I'm talking to the charger, she ensured me that Tiara
had the best two doctors. Her vitals looked great. As
a matter of fact, she was getting better. I said,
are you sure, because from what I'm looking at, it
don't look like it. So she said, well, I'm gonna
go check her charts. Tierra is begging for medicine. At
this point. The nurse injected her through the ivy with
(17:41):
the morphine and Tiarra instantly was like, it's hot. It's hot, Mama,
I can't breathe. Help me, Mama, please help me. And
I'm like, what am I supposed to do? The nurse
went out the room and said, well, I have talin
all three. If this is not working, I said, you
(18:02):
gonna go get some more medicine.
Speaker 6 (18:04):
Mm.
Speaker 9 (18:05):
So the charge nurse had walked out to go and
contact the doctors. The nurse went out to get tall
and all three. Ti Era I was cleaned off her
table cause it was just wet with water. So I
was clean off her table for breakfast, and I had
just hung up with a cafeteria and put in her order,
(18:29):
and no, soon as I hung up the phone, she
started gagging, and I said, what you gotta throw up?
And her eyes rolled to the back of her head.
And it wasn't even three minutes. It was not even
three minutes but for her for the pain to go,
(18:50):
and noticed for ten minutes that I was up there.
I I don't know how long before I got up
there that she was in pain. But the time that
it took, the the time that it took them to
get to her, is so unreal.
Speaker 7 (19:10):
And now I literally.
Speaker 9 (19:12):
Watched them just CPR eighty one minutes, so CPR on
my baby. And then they said, we're gonna see if
we can transfer her out. I said, after eighty one minutes,
you played in my face eighty one minutes, so CPR,
now you want to transfer her, Only for them to
come back and say we can't transfer her without a
(19:32):
proper diagnosis. I said, wow, get out of my face.
Speaker 12 (19:39):
Several months had passed when we spoke with Nicole, still
she was looking for greater insight into what caused her
daughter's death.
Speaker 9 (19:46):
There was never a diagnosis. There was never they When
I ended up getting the autopsy report, which was March third,
then she passed away in November. It said that she
had a heart attack. Well I know that, but why
did she have a heart attack? You injected the morphine
(20:08):
too fast? You delay care. She shouldn't have never been
released or discharged from the hospital when she said her
chest hurt the day after she had the baby. So
I feel like this could have been prevented. I feel
like if they were proactive, if they would have came
in with EKG machines and X rays to find out
what the problem was instead of guessing everything was a guess.
(20:32):
Well I'm not sure, I said, could it be a
heart murmur? Well, no, that wouldn't be it. Well could
it be her breast and gorge? Well no, that's not it.
Well we would have to call L and D and
find out this. And I'm like, this is I see you.
You guys are the top doctors here. Why are you
having to call and get second opinions on you know,
your job medical professional.
Speaker 12 (20:53):
Satierra's death is not an isolated incident. While not every
maternal death takes place while a mother is in the hospital,
far too many of them do. Suggested solutions to the
problem range from requiring more detailed training of medical professionals
on how different health elements and conditions present in African
American women compared to women from other racial groups, to
(21:14):
having an advocate like a birthing or postpartum doula present
during a mother's hospital stay to ensure proper care is given.
As for Nicole, she is now raising Tiera's three children,
all of whom are under the age of ten.
Speaker 4 (21:29):
I'm doing what the best I can. I know she's
with us.
Speaker 9 (21:35):
I really haven't had time to break down or agree
because I have to stay strolled for the kids, for
her siblings who try to commit suicide the day.
Speaker 12 (21:50):
After the message to your grandchildren, what are you going
to tell them about their mother?
Speaker 9 (21:54):
She's an angel and she's with them everywhere they go,
everywhere they go. Her seven year old Saturday, save me
a picture of the redbird on the roof of the house,
and she said, is this my mom?
Speaker 4 (22:08):
I said it is.
Speaker 9 (22:09):
She's making sure you okay, that's same we A bird
came the day she passed and just stared in our
window for a long time. So it's gonna be it's
gonna be a tough road.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 12 (22:21):
We met Nicole through Donna Hickman, founder of Viola's House
in Dallas, Texas. Donna reached out to Nicole after learning
of her daughter's death to offer assistance in the care
of her grandchildren. As our campaign continues, we will hear
more of how organizations like Viola's House are providing critical
care and guidance to Black mothers and mothers to be.
They are part of a growing network of community based
(22:44):
organizations determined to bridge the maternal health gap that is
impacting Black families and communities in a most painful way.
I'm Andrea Coleman with the Saving Black Moms special Report.
Speaker 2 (22:56):
Thanks Andrea. We will continue the spotlight this issue throughout
the summer. Our stories will include a first hand account
of mothers surviving to maternal health challenges, as well as
a look at some maternal health advocates who are helping
provide solutions to the problem. You can learn more about
bi's Saving Black Moms public awareness campaign at binnews dot com.
(23:19):
This week, we welcome back Esther Dillard with something we
at the Black Information Network are now calling a shade Deeper.
It's a special segment from the Color Between the Lines
podcast on iHeartRadio. This past week, many recognized National HIV
Testing Day, and in this conversation, Esther addresses it with
Grazelle Howard with the Black Aids Institute about how Black
(23:42):
communities more than ever, need to pay attention to the
crisis of HIV and AIDS.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
On this edition of The Color Between the Lines.
Speaker 6 (23:55):
The messages, the messages that force out community Blacks almost
not listening.
Speaker 11 (24:03):
I'm speaking with Grizel Howard and she's giving a wake
up call about the impact of HIV and AIDS in
the black community. Hey, it's Esther Dillard with The Color
Between the Lines, where I speak with authors, writers, producers
and thought leaders who have a black and brown perspective.
In this edition of The Color Between the Lines, I'm
speaking with a woman by the name of Brazel Howard.
(24:24):
She's the board chair of the Black Aids Institute, and
she hasn't written a book, but she sure could with
all the knowledge she dropped on me in our last conversation.
She wants to raise awareness about the impact of HIV
and AIDS on the black community and how they are
new tools out there that not only impact homosexual Black men,
(24:45):
but really impact heterosexual Black women.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
That HIV is not a gay disease.
Speaker 6 (24:54):
That HIV specifically in the Black community impacts and effects
all of us, because if one community member has HIV,
then we are all impacted. And that HIV is a
preventable virus that currently is disproportionately impacting the Black community.
(25:16):
And can we define black maybe sure, black community is
obviously African Americans, but it is also our immigrant brothers
and sisters who hail from Cara combinations, the West Indies
as well as Africa, so that is the diaspora to
the continent.
Speaker 4 (25:35):
If you identify as Black or as an.
Speaker 6 (25:37):
African descendant, you should be articulate and understanding the facts
of HIV and the myths of HIV. And today we
have an opportunity to bend the tide of HIV in
all our Black communities.
Speaker 11 (25:56):
The CDC reports that black hetero sexual women account for
about fifty percent of the new HIV diagnosed diagnosis among women.
What factors have you found in the research that contribute
to this disproportionate impact and what is BIA doing, I
should say BAI doing to address this alarming statistic.
Speaker 6 (26:21):
The Black AIDS Institute has a long history seat in
communicating with Black women. We're the first HIV AIDS organization
in the country to assemble a conference exclusively for Black
women about Black women. And if you allow the timeline
to go back to forty years when HIV frightened the world,
(26:44):
frightened science, and specifically ravaged the homosexual gay community, the
messages were messages that force our community, Black women, it's
almost not listen why they said it was a gay disease.
Speaker 4 (27:03):
We received the messages that HIV was not about us
and for us.
Speaker 6 (27:13):
And then I usher you into a time when Oprah
Winfrey and others finally glombed or that this was an epidemic.
And unfortunately, rather than that episode being impactful and informative
for the entire community, it took a salacious spet and
that slation's bend was when uperh Winfrey ushered in Jlking
(27:36):
rather than actually the founder of the Black Aids Institute,
because he was on the stage as well, and that
would have been the opportune time to say, Black people,
we all need to be in this together. HIV is
contracted through sex, ivy, drug use, and bodily fluids. That
means it can attack or attract anyone fair it can
(27:58):
you know anyone is susceptible that engages in high risk behavior.
Speaker 5 (28:02):
Let me say it like that two.
Speaker 4 (28:05):
IVY drug use.
Speaker 6 (28:06):
IVY drug use is a way you can contract the
virus exchange of bodily fluids.
Speaker 4 (28:13):
Very simple, right.
Speaker 6 (28:16):
However, if you don't know that, the myths become true
and rapidly spread faster than the facts.
Speaker 4 (28:23):
So then you had fear.
Speaker 6 (28:24):
Oh you can't drink water in my house. Oh you
can't use my bathroom. Oh I can't hug or kiss you.
Oh we can't bury our loved ones. That still occurs
in some countries. So with all of that said, the
first messages about HIV went against our culture, and now
(28:45):
here we are forty years later, still battling myth shame, stigma,
which is also a word that's not really ours.
Speaker 5 (28:55):
We really don't use.
Speaker 6 (28:56):
The word stigma in our community because we're all stigmatized
because we can unzip our black skin.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
But let's speak about words we know, shame, fear.
Speaker 11 (29:10):
I'm going to ask there is you know, really big
concern now because your organization deals with black women and
deals with Black.
Speaker 4 (29:18):
People and AIDS.
Speaker 11 (29:19):
And now we have an administration which does not want
to give funding to organizations that deal with quote air
quotes DEI, how are you going to be able to,
I guess, ride this tide and still help your community
(29:39):
when you have individuals who are basically trying to cut
off funding in many ways.
Speaker 6 (29:46):
So this is the double edged sword, and we must
speak truth at all times. The Black AIDS Institute is
uniquely and unapologetically black addressing HIV and all all fear
and segments of the Black community.
Speaker 4 (30:04):
And in the current construct, HIV is not gay.
Speaker 6 (30:10):
The administration is targeting and focused on LGBTQ queer and
other organizations and non confidence that focus on the LGBTQ
plus community. In the state of HIV, we are speaking
about health and wellness and that is an entitlement of
(30:33):
every citizen of these yet United States. And I will
give you this tidbit because it's factual. Earlier I referenced
that the Black Aids Institute held the first Black women's
conference on HIV. The title of that conference was called
Sisters Get Real About HIV. It was a national conference
supported by public and private organizations. One of our earliest
(30:59):
funders was mister Donald Trump known as today President Donald Trump.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
My name is.
Speaker 6 (31:08):
Griselle Howard, and I must inform you that mister Donald Trump,
Natives New Yorker, was one of our earliest sponsors of
the Sisters Get Real about HIV inates.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
This national campaign was a billboard campaign.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
It was also a Black women's organization campaign. Representation from
every traditional HIV you know, every traditional Black women's organization
and augmented by HIV organizations and those doing the HIV
work most successfully at that time happened.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
To be Black Muslims.
Speaker 6 (31:43):
So we also had middle school students supported by actually
movie stars, and so Hollywood showed up as well as
daytime TV because many people were impacted, so people who
were pasted about social work, people who are passionate about
(32:04):
force to care. So we were trying to bring in
the full nucleus of where black women showed up to
give the message.
Speaker 4 (32:11):
Middle school students.
Speaker 6 (32:12):
Came from Los Angeles County, high school students came from
Los Angeles County, and the women representation came from around
the country as young as eighteen to ninety. And in
that meeting, we thought we were addressing all the fears
of Black America, that we as Black women could go
back in our community and say, hey, this is not
just about gay people. Hey, the people that contract the
(32:35):
virus aren't bad people.
Speaker 11 (32:36):
What do you say is the biggest challenges that black
women face and accessing HIV prevention, testing and treatment. How
can community leaders help address those barriers?
Speaker 4 (32:47):
We can level set and demand that the messenger matters.
Speaker 6 (32:54):
Once you want to agree that the messenger batters, then
you must have some cultural fluency.
Speaker 4 (33:00):
Black people are not lone wolves.
Speaker 6 (33:04):
We're like grapes and so have you ever seen one
grape on a plate that you want to grab and
it looks appealing?
Speaker 4 (33:10):
So you must allow us to come together as black people.
Speaker 6 (33:16):
And then allow us to go into our self selected dialogues.
Speaker 4 (33:21):
What do you mean, Brazil?
Speaker 6 (33:23):
I mean allow young black men who have sex with
men to have a conversation, Allow women over the age
of fifty to have a conversation, Allow Big Poppa over
fifty five to have a conversation. Why Because when HIV
represented itself or presented itself, there was no performance enhancing drugs.
Speaker 4 (33:44):
No viagara, no saalis.
Speaker 6 (33:47):
We did not have the super highway in a way
that you had TikTok social media, so pornography has played.
Speaker 4 (33:53):
An interesting role for the youngs.
Speaker 6 (33:55):
And then lastly, we did not have this open acceptance
of group sex and partying and free love.
Speaker 4 (34:05):
So we first must refresh our hard drives with.
Speaker 6 (34:08):
An hizas and say, black people, what you heard forty
years ago is not true today. Why because we have
biomedical interventions. We have medical technology that allows for people
to love who they want, when they want safely. And
we also allow people who have been impacted by HIV
living with HIV to live long, thriving lives, so it's
(34:30):
no longer a death sentence. We need hip hop to
come back. We need hip hop to come back hard
and bring the messages that they brought fifty years ago.
Thirty years ago. Come on, everybody was rapping about it,
everybody was singing about it. Today, Mum's the word. In fact,
it's reversed. If you look at love and hip hop
(34:52):
and the housewives, they could be our biggest partner and
just show all the love, lust and lab lucks and
oopa ups. Now safely, let's talk about it again. Let's
talk about the STIs. Here's the fact that I'd like
you to think about crap. The pre perphylactic that if
(35:13):
you are HIV negative and you choose to engage in
high risk activities, you can take this one pill a day.
Speaker 4 (35:21):
And love safely.
Speaker 6 (35:23):
The cautionary tale to that is is that you still
are not protected from other sexually transmitted viruses that are
ravishing the community that have shown up post COVID to
really be resistant to drugs.
Speaker 11 (35:39):
If you'd like to hear the rest of that conversation,
you can head over to the Color Between the Lines
podcast on iHeartRadio or YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.
Speaker 4 (35:48):
I'm Ester Dillard.
Speaker 2 (35:51):
Thanks Esther, and check for this special segment of Shade
Deeper wherever you get your iHeartRadio podcasts. In a Black
Information Network exclusive, Morgan Woods spoke with Asha Castlebury Hernandez,
a seasoned US Army veteran national security strategist and foreign
policy expert who has served in the Middle East and
advised on international security at the highest levels. She is
(36:14):
also the author of the book Why National Security Matters,
and she shares her take on what's happening regarding tensions
in the Middle East.
Speaker 13 (36:22):
Joining me now on the Black Information Network is Asha
Castlebery Hernandez a seasoned US Army veteran, national security strategists
and foreign policy expert who has served in the Middle
East and advised on international security at the highest levels.
She brings a sharp understanding of US military operations, diplomacy,
and how global decisions ripple through communities here at home.
(36:45):
We're grateful to have her here to break down what's
happening in the Middle East why it matters, especially to
us in the Black community. Because what struck me was
when the President said we bombed Iran's nuclear facilities.
Speaker 4 (36:58):
Our people were like, who is is we?
Speaker 13 (37:01):
So thanks for joining me, Asha Awsa, thanks for joining me,
Asha Castleberry Hernandez.
Speaker 5 (37:08):
Thank you.
Speaker 14 (37:09):
Or this is such a treat I'm here to explain.
So yeah, let's.
Speaker 4 (37:13):
Get into it.
Speaker 13 (37:14):
So talk to me about the ongoing tensions in the
Middle East. What do we need to know, you know,
from the surface from a high level, and what should
we be paying attention to regarding these conflicts.
Speaker 14 (37:25):
Yes, well, there's a couple of major takeaways when it
comes to this conflict.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
First and foremost, as.
Speaker 14 (37:32):
We are engaged, and while we're engaged in this interview,
President President Trump is right now in at the NATO
sammit discussing the Iran the Iran is real conflicts. And
what is pretty interesting on what he said is that
based on the strikes that he has conducted, that Iran's
(37:54):
nuclear facilities are pretty much eradicated. But there are some
so versus that conflict with that information. So why is
that important? Well, that's the whole point of why President
excuse me, President Trump decided to engage in targeting Iranian
(38:15):
nuclear UH nuclear sites is because of the fact that
they that they were being accused of proliferation, accused of
building their first bomb, which was rattling many of their
allies and parties, mainly Israel. And so what we've seen
within the past seven years United States use diplomacy to
(38:36):
address this issue as far as addressing around from building
first nuclear weapons program or transition to a nuclear state.
We as Americans don't want Iran to become.
Speaker 5 (38:47):
A nuclear state.
Speaker 14 (38:48):
Why well, they can use those nuclear weapons against us,
against us, against our allies and partners. And also it
came provoked proliferation within the reach and like like for instance,
cause UH in Saudi Arabia to acquire a nuclear weapons
program and other other critical allies and partners in the regions.
(39:13):
So we're in the business of nuclear non proliferation efforts.
Speaker 5 (39:16):
We've been We've been doing that for many years.
Speaker 14 (39:19):
So another another important point too, Iran has always been
our adversary within the region, So we don't want our
adversary to have the deadliest weapons in the world. Uh So,
that's another reason why it's very important as far as
watching how this plays it out in terms of Iran
acquiring nuclear nuclear their first nuclear bomb. Now, the safest
(39:43):
way is diplomacy, and we had that in place. President
Obama initiate the Iran Deal and it worked. Iran was
pretty much uh working towards them not building up its
nuclear weapons program or sorry to transition it to its
first nuclear bomb. There was a slowdown. The deal worked.
(40:06):
It was imperfect, but it worked. And so after the
Obama administration, President Trump pulled out of the of the deal,
and then after that pull out or when when the
United States withdrew from the deal, we lost complete leverage
as far as trying to get the Iranian leadership to
relinquish its nuclear ambition.
Speaker 5 (40:28):
Uh So, as a Biden.
Speaker 14 (40:31):
Appointee, a former buy An appointee, when we came back
in and the administration. We tried, we re entered the deal,
and we tried to renegotiate with the Iranian leadership, but
unfortunately the leverage was gone as a result of President
Trump pulling out. So now we trn Now fast forward
(40:51):
to the Trump administration. They tried to uh look into
renegotiating using diplomacy, but unfortunately did not work.
Speaker 5 (41:02):
Iran was already.
Speaker 14 (41:02):
Getting really really close to building its first nuclear bomb,
and in fact, UH, there was some differences as far
as what the Israelis were pretty much feeding us versus
our own intelligence community was feeding President Trump. But for
the most part, UH, the Iran was closer in building
its first nuclear bomb.
Speaker 13 (41:23):
So is that the context behind why the strikes happened?
Speaker 14 (41:26):
Now, Yes, it's because they're getting closer, and there was
a lot of reports that supported that. And also to
the negotiations that were happening during the Trump administration.
Speaker 5 (41:42):
Or right now, they were not working.
Speaker 14 (41:45):
Iran was not necessarily committed to relinquishing its nuclear ambition.
Speaker 13 (41:52):
There does appear to be a semi I will say
they call it fragile ceasefire that is taking place right
now between Iran and in Israel. What is the real
risk of escalation here, are we looking at another prolonged
conflict or a symbolic military action that could take place.
Speaker 14 (42:10):
Well, the good sign to this is that the United
States and the rest of the international community really wants
a ceasefire. But unfortunately, in this region has always been
a fragile region. There's gonna be some road bones along
the way. So the good thing is that there is
a cease fire. It's just a commitment, is what the
(42:30):
problem is. I mean, Iran has been involved in so
many malign activities throughout the region as far as targeting
specific groups or you know, in the Gulf region as
well as in Iraq and Jordan and Lebanon. So in
response to that, Israel has been countering their efforts and
(42:54):
so there's been a tiffer task for many years. So
to relinquish all of that behaves is going to be really, really,
really hard. It has to be really proven in the
field that both Aroan and Israel are no longer in
the business of engaging in each other using defense.
Speaker 5 (43:15):
So in order to really.
Speaker 14 (43:16):
Achieve a authentic piece deal, all these activits have to
stop right now. But it's really hard because a lot
of them you have sleeper seals, you have indirect attacks.
Who have you know, strikes excuse me, missile strikes, going
back and forth. But all that has to seize in
order to really achieve a cease buire.
Speaker 13 (43:38):
I'm speaking with Asha Castleberry Hernandez, a seasoned US Army
veteran national security strategist and foreign policy expert who has
served in the Middle East and advised on international security
at the highest levels. Let's talk about us on the
home front and how this stands to impact us here,
especially Black communities. We often bear the brunt of wars,
economic and social costs. Can you all laborate on that,
(44:00):
how that stands to impact the American people? Well, how
does the let me reset, How does this moment in
the US Iran Israel conflict affect us here at home,
especially the black community that often bears the brunt of wars, economic,
social costs.
Speaker 14 (44:20):
Yes, so there's a couple of impacts that we can
highlight here. One is first and foremost, we had US
troops in the region. In fact, when the missile strikes happened,
and thank guard United States intercepted those missiles that were
targeting US troops in cutter in Iraq. That was definitely
(44:44):
a big deal. In fact, right after that happened, I
did an interview with Al Jazeera and people that know
me from the military saw me on TV because they're
stationed out there and cutter and they're black.
Speaker 5 (44:57):
Are these people are black?
Speaker 14 (44:58):
You know, a lot of our soldiers, you know, represent
the United States overall in terms of identity, but a
lot of them are black.
Speaker 5 (45:07):
And so we have to keep.
Speaker 14 (45:10):
Please do not forget the fact that we have black
people still serving in the front lines when it comes
to these type of conflicts, just like what we saw
with the Gaza crisis. We lost three black soldiers from
the Georgia Nationals Guard right along the Jordanian is really
a border and yes, and that was really really disappointing,
(45:33):
but we lost three black soldiers as a result of
just the security challenges that were happening coming out of
the Gaza strip. So that's one thing to definitely take account.
We have to make sure that we have safety security
for our service members that are out there in the region.
And it's still residual from the Iraq War and Afghanistan War,
(45:54):
where we have not necessarily pulled.
Speaker 5 (45:56):
Out completely from the region. We still have.
Speaker 14 (45:59):
Service members troops about a good forty five thousand still
operating in the Middle East. So that's one and then two.
This is one impact I've seen while we were engaged
with ICES. When we were when I was part of
the the counter IIS mission in Iraq at that time,
(46:23):
there were there were a lot of different attacks happening
in the United States as we were engaging with ICES
uh in uh in Iraq, in Syria. So what does
that mean. Well, while we were engaging in operation, you
had a tax happened in San Bernadina, California, towards the
innocent people, as well as in Orlando, Florida at the
(46:48):
lgbt Q Club. Then you had some attacks happening over
at the West Side, the West Side Highway.
Speaker 5 (46:55):
Up in New York.
Speaker 14 (46:57):
So there was different type of counter attacks happening in
the United States. And one reason that was fueling is
because the existence of the conflict that was going on
with US engaged in a rocket Syria against ISIS. So
they're interconnected and we see this play out with this conflict.
Well more with the Gaza crisis, when you had the
(47:18):
two Israeli couple attacked in front of their embassy and
then also the attacks in Colorado. So the more we
more we're engaged in these fights, the more we're vulnerable
to counter attacks or counter terrorism activities.
Speaker 5 (47:36):
In the United States.
Speaker 13 (47:38):
Speaking of counter attacks and counter terrorism, there is or
there have been reports that there's a possibility of a
cyber threat. Can you elaborate on that.
Speaker 14 (47:49):
Yes, So, so what's really fascinating about this is that
Iran is pretty much sophisticated when it comes to cyber
attacks against the United States. And what makes them even
more sophisticated in conducting these activities is that they are aligned.
Speaker 5 (48:06):
With Russia and China.
Speaker 14 (48:08):
Russia is well sophisticated as far as the cyber attacks
when we've seen that play out in our political during
the political season in twenty sixteen, in other areas too
as well throughout in many in many ways we've seen Russia,
you know, targeting US. So, so Iran is definitely involved in,
(48:31):
you know, making sure that that United States is targeting
in terms of data inform, private information being hacked. You know,
we're in the open society, so we're definitely a.
Speaker 5 (48:42):
Lot more vulnerable to what Iran will like to conduct.
Speaker 14 (48:46):
And then also what comes along with is misinformation and disinformation,
the spread of it, what is exactly being said about
this conflict and allowing that to be spread into an
open society United States. So so the cyber attax is
one thing when they're trying to hack into our data,
but another two is the spread of misinformation disinformation where
(49:10):
I've seen just as a result of this confident, there's
a lot of just different information that was that did
not represent the truth to where the American people were
believing in it.
Speaker 13 (49:20):
Well, where do we get that information from? I mean,
Benjamin and Yahoo will speak, the President will speak, and
then Iranian officials and leadership will speak, and then all
of like you said, that tends to conflict. So who
do we believe?
Speaker 14 (49:34):
Yes, that's a really good question. I mean credible sources
out there. I would say in terms of international networks,
it's definitely like BBC News. Then you have you know,
you have you know, just your national networks that you
know definitely like CNN, and also think tanks that are
(49:55):
definitely following these type of conflicts, like the Institute of
Study War.
Speaker 5 (50:00):
That's a really good one. Brookens.
Speaker 14 (50:02):
This into csis those are really really great credible sources
from different think tanks that I would say weeds out
the misinformation or disinformation.
Speaker 13 (50:14):
Thank you so much, Asha, Before I let you go,
one more question. What's one thing that you wish that
we civilians knew and understood about how foreign policy is shaped?
And why is it important that we continue to be engaged,
in formed and use our voices.
Speaker 14 (50:33):
Yes, because in the twenty first century we live in
a world where we're more interconnected. We can no longer
think and operate isolated. Americans tend to feel that they're
the only ones in this world, but we're more interconnected.
In fact, a lot of examples represent that COVID nineteen
that came from away from China and hit us home
(50:55):
here where thousands of people were killed, and now it
has pretty much impact is society in terms of how
we're going to deal with health security. Climate change is
another example, cybersecurity, like you said, you know, and also
when you look at the global economy, we're more interconnected
with powerful e comomnis, like with the Chinese, So whatever
(51:17):
happens with the Chinese impacts us too here at home,
especially when it comes to tariffs, So we can no
longer have this mindset of we are an isolated country.
No rose on outside our borders impacts us here at home,
and you're seeing that increasingly. So that's why it's very
important to pay attention to foreign policy. And another point
(51:38):
why we should pay attention for policy is because when
we vote for the president of the United States, it's
not just about domestic policy. It's also about foreign policy.
And we are experiencing that right now. As far as
our hard lesson of oh yes, when I want to
vote for Kamala Harris or President Trump, yeah, I had
(52:00):
to take that into account, not just.
Speaker 5 (52:02):
Abortion, but also how do they manage their troops.
Speaker 14 (52:05):
How do they work with our allies and partners, how
do they represent themselves globally, especially at international institutions.
Speaker 5 (52:14):
There's more to it.
Speaker 14 (52:15):
When it comes to presidency, not just all solely about
domestic issues, and we need to break out of that
single issue voting behavior that's not working out when it
comes to the presidency.
Speaker 13 (52:26):
Absolutely, that's really good advice. One thing that before I
let you go, how can we continue to stay in
contact with you? Or before that, let me know is
there anything that I did not touch on that you
would like to.
Speaker 14 (52:39):
Another point that I really want to underscore is whoever
sits in that oval office. It's very important to note
that they have been provided a lot of constitutional latitude
or powers as the commander in chief, so they have
a lot of attitude on how they manage their troops.
Speaker 5 (53:02):
Based on their discretion.
Speaker 14 (53:05):
So what you're seeing in Congress right now is that
the legislative branch wants to check and balance President Trump
based on the decision making he made on the nuclear strikes,
the air strikes, the nuclear facilities. In some ways he
has the congressional powers in doing so, but in others.
(53:28):
And the other counter argument is that based on what
the legislative branch is saying, and they're pretty much using
the War Powers Resolution to justify this, is that his
those nuclear excuse me, those air strikes where pretty much
constitutes the declaration of war. So if that's the case,
(53:49):
and then then you cannot do that without congruss.
Speaker 5 (53:53):
So there's this you know.
Speaker 14 (53:55):
Gray area of what the president can do just as
the command achieved with out the Congress involved. And then
Congress has also this argument of you can't make certain
decisions without checking in with us. So we're seeing at
a playout right now.
Speaker 13 (54:12):
Absolutely and on top of that, you know, you have
the Supreme Court that ruled earlier that the president does
have immunity in certain cases. So I'm curious to see
how that will impact what we're dealing with in this
particular situation as well. But we will continue to get
our eyes on it.
Speaker 14 (54:29):
And right and sorry and not just necessary. That's a
good point because I mean, just add on two more
the national security nation security topics or items that the
presidency has a lot of power or latitude over, and
that is access to the nuclear codes as well as
trade policy. And in fact, when President Trump imposed the
(54:54):
massive terroriffts against so many different countries, there was one
senator and he was a Republican. He said, we're gonna
look at his I had no idea that the president
has so much power when it comes to imposing terrorists
on multiple countries. Yes, that comes along with its authorities.
So there's a lot of authorities when it comes to
different types of national security topics. In the top three
(55:16):
are how the how the president manages his troops as
the commander chief, trade policy, and access to nuclear the
nuclear code. Definitely stay in contact with me and follow
me on Instagram game my Asha Castlebury. Also to please
please consider ap purching my book, Why National Security Matters.
(55:37):
It pretty much talks about all my frontline experiences from
uh serving in China to the Middle East to Central America.
I learned about democracy, strategic competition, UH so many different
national security issues to where it helps explain how these
issues impact us here at home. It's an easy read.
(55:58):
Definitely check it out. It's on Amazon and Barnes and Noble,
so definitely consider purchasing my book.
Speaker 13 (56:05):
Thank you so much. That's Asha Castleberry Hernandez, a seasoned
US Army that are in national security strategist and foreign
policy expert who has served in the Middle East and China,
as she just mentioned, and advised on international security at
the highest levels. Not to mention she's also an author
named that book again, Asha.
Speaker 5 (56:24):
Why National Security Matters.
Speaker 13 (56:26):
Asha Castleberry Hernandez, thank you again so much for joining
us here on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 5 (56:31):
Thank you, and that's.
Speaker 2 (56:33):
Our program for this week. Thank you all who contributed.
For more on these stories, listen to the Black Information
Network on the free iHeartRadio app or log onto Bionnews
dot com for all of the latest news impacting the
black community. Also be sure to follow us on social
media at Black Information Network and on xCE and Blue
Sky at black Info Net. Now make the Black Information
(56:55):
Network first on your car radio and iHeartRadio app pre sense.
Be sure to tune in next week. I'm Mike Island,
wishing everyone for a great Sunday, and be sure to
tune in next week at this time for another edition
of the Black Perspective right here on the Black Information Network.
Speaker 15 (57:11):
The opinions, beliefs, and viewpoints expressed in this commentary are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those
of BN and its founding partners and employees.
Speaker 7 (57:23):
I'm James Harris, and I have something to say. It's
happening again, folks. Carin John Pierre just dropped a book
titled Independent, A Look inside a Broken White House outside
the party lines, and it reads like a political Dear
John Lennard to the Democrat Party first heard and now
it's joy read.
Speaker 4 (57:40):
Joy, freaking read.
Speaker 7 (57:42):
The high Priestess of Progressive Snark the MSNBC Echo Chamber
in Heals is subtly talking like a woman ready to
ghost a Democrat plantation and go independent. You can't make
this up. This is the same recently released from MSNBC.
Joy Reid, who called Trump voters everything but the children
of God, now she's out here hinting that the party
(58:04):
she's defended with the fire of a thousand hot takes
might not be so great after all. Why the sudden
crisis of faith. Maybe it's because Joe Biden's black agenda
turned out to be Juneteenth flags, student loan scams and
the occasional Cardi b shout out. Even the diehards are
waking up because here's the truth. The Democrat Party has
never seen black voters as equals, only as guaranteed votes.
(58:27):
It's a political sugar daddy, offering broken promises and bad policy.
And now that Biden is gone and the Democrats' approval
ratings are falling down like Biden did up the steps
of Air Force One, folks like Joy Reid are suddenly
discovering reality. Oh now you want to be an independent?
We see you, Joy. This isn't political courage, it's panic.
(58:48):
It's rats leaving a sinking ship. The Titanic is listing,
and the party that once wore that black voters were
its backbone is now cracking at the spine. And black
Maga We're just sitting here withcorn smiling because we've been
saying it for years. Walk away, think for yourself, be free,
And if joy read of all people is peeking through
(59:09):
the door, the great Escape has officially begun. I'm James C.
Harris for the Black Information Network.
Speaker 1 (59:14):
Mark Morial here, President and CEO of the National Urban League,
and on Thursday, July seventeenth, I'll be live in Cleveland
at our national conference with Tony Coles, president of the
Black Information Network. It's called Black America Speaks, and it's
exactly what it sounds like. We'll tackle pressing issues economic inequality,
health disparities, voter suppression, and this manling of our democratic institutions.
(59:37):
You must be a part of this conversation. Join us
in Cleveland. To register, go to NUF conference dot org.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.