Former Atlanta mayor and gubernatorial candidate Keisha Lance Bottoms joins Rickey Smiley for a powerful and wide-ranging conversation on On The Spot. From growing up in Atlanta to serving as mayor and later advising in the White House, Keisha shares her journey through leadership, public service, and the moments that shaped her path. She opens up about what it was like working inside the White House, the responsibility of representing her community at the highest level, and the lessons learned along the way. The conversation dives into the current political climate, voting rights, and why civic engagement is more important than ever. Keisha speaks candidly about the challenges facing democracy and the importance of showing up, staying informed, and being intentional about the future. Keisha shares her vision, what drives her, and why this moment matters.
CHAPTERS
(00:00) - Introduction: Meet Keisha Lance Bottoms
(02:23) – What It Was Like Being Mayor of Atlanta
(06:45) – Her Impact While In Office
(07:02) – HBCUs & Greek Life
(11:47) - The Danger Of Losing Democracy
(20:03) - State of the Democratic Party
(24:58) – Running for Governor of Georgia
(27:34) – Voter Suppression & Election Concerns
(31:05) – White House Experience
(40:00) – Mac & Cheese Debate
(42:46) – Rapid Fire Questions
ABOUT THE PODCAST
Rickey Smiley On The Spot is Rickey in his truest form — Authentic. Funny. Heartfelt. Honest. Each episode brings audiences up close with one of comedy’s most trusted voices as he dives into real conversations that mix humor with humanity. From laugh-out-loud stories to deeply personal moments, Rickey creates a space where guests can let their guard down, share their truth, and reflect on life, faith, family, and growth. Whether he’s trading jokes with celebrity friends, offering unexpected wisdom, or exploring the issues shaping our culture, Rickey reminds listeners why he’s been a voice they can laugh with — and learn from — for decades. Blending comedy, culture, and conversation, On The Spot delivers the authenticity and energy that only Rickey Smiley can bring.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
What was it like waking up every morning going to
the White House and what was your job?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
What was your day like?
Speaker 3 (00:06):
It was incredible, it was, and compared to being the
mayor of Atlanta. In Georgia, we have what we call
motive voter registration. When you go and get your driver's license,
you can say I want to register to vote at
my address. Do you know they turned that off? Really,
it was turned off for over a year.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Are we in danger?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Are we in danger of losing our democracy in this country?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
We absolutely are.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I also embarrassed one time.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Why did I have a snug of fabric sheet hanging
out of my sleeve to get roasted by President Obama?
I said one thing, No, I said, no disrespect was
the president.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I promise you my shirt.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's probably the best snowy shirt in this room.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Remember sitting across from the Resolute desk in the over
office in President Bying saying, Keisha, what do you think?
And I just talk to myself. I bet you that
question has never been asking here before, Keisha, what do
you think? In all?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
All right, hey, welcome to the Ricky Smile on the Spot. Listen,
listen this.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I'm really excited because my guess today is a very
it's very very special like she served as the sixtieth
mayor of Atlanta, unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
She also worked in the body in administration. She's a
proud member, a proud.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Member of Delta Sigma, Theayter Sorority, Incorporated, and she is
currently running for governor of the State of Georgia. Y'all
please welcome Keisha Lance Bottoms. Y'all, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Y'll thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I'm I'm so glad to be here. It always this
warm from my heart to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And we got to start off with how we met.
Craziest thing. You were running for mayor.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yes, and uh, you know we have we have this
coach like what up brouh?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
When somebody said what up brouh?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
That means you're a Delta and you know, and that's
our connection automatically off the bank, I said, what's up?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Sorrow? We hugged and.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Uh it was like, hey, not not a sorrow. I'm
running for mayor of Atlanta. I said, Okay, what were
we gonna do? I said, let's go. We've been riding
yea and and you went all the way up Okay,
what was it like being the mayor of Atlanta. You know,
that's a big accomplishment to become mayor of one of
(02:28):
the greatest cities in the United States, Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
What was that like for you?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It was an incredible honor because I'm born and raised
in Atlanta. My family goes back five generations in Georgia
to a plantation in Crawfordville, Georgia. So my family, my
grandmother came on a horse and buggy to Atlanta when
she was a little girl, and so my mom's family
is from here. So to be born and raised, graduated
(02:54):
of Frederick Douglas High School, Atlanta Public Schools, and then
to have an opportunity to serve as mayor. I never
believed that being mayor was something that a kid like
me could even aspire to be, right, and you know.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
Atlanta is his place where dreams come true.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
So awesome.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
I was honored like that.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
That's really a big deal of fam you yes, right, like.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
You in the country. Yes, how was that?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Every all the public figures know off the bat we
wet school, especially the public figures that attended HBCU.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
How do we all know what college? Everybody went to?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Like, but family's being because you got Will Packer, you
got Ben Crump.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's a lot of y'all.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Ben did not go to fam you. But I was
good and grown before I realized he didn't go to
fam you because he was on campus every single day,
and I swore somebody down. I'm like, no, Ben was
like vice president the SGA, Like no, he wouldn't. He
went to Florida State, so he like Dian Sanders, he
(04:01):
spent a lot of time on the set at FAMU.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Wow. And Will Packard was that before you? After you?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I graduated spring of ninety one. I think Will came
in fall of ninety one. Really, but you know, with
our HBCUs, we feel like when one of us wins,
we all win. That's why we're always so proud of
each other.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Absolutely. So what how did you get into politics?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
How did you become interested in you know, politics and
in government and law school?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Because well, when I graduated from FAMU, I had no
idea what I wanted to do, right, I just knew
I wasn't ready to go to work. And I knew
some people who were applying to law school, and I'm like, oh,
that's what we're doing now some guys who I used
to hang out with at Morehouse. So I applied to
law school. Ended up going to Georgia State. Never loved
practicing law. I was good at it, I just didn't
(04:59):
love it. I ended up becoming a magistrate judge, and
this was in two thousand and eight because Obama was
on the ballot. I challenged got out of jail, and
I ended up challenging a sitting judge, which at that
time people weren't really challenging incumbents. And I lost. It
(05:20):
was the best failure I've ever had. The next year,
I ended up running for city council. Not because I
was particularly interested in politics, but when I ran for judge,
I just saw the difference in communities and the difference
what that representation made. So I served eight years on
the Atlanta City Council and then ran for mayor.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Wow, and what inspired you to run for mayor?
Speaker 6 (05:46):
You know?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Again, this is one of these things like I didn't
I knew that I could do it. I didn't know
that I should do it, but I knew that I
wanted better for my city, and I knew the representation
I wanted to bring. A knew you know I wanted
to make a difference in affordable housing, which we did.
We ended up seven thousand units of affordable housing, one
(06:12):
hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, created a child
savings account, a citywide child savings account. I mean, there
were so many wins from being mayor and that's what
I wanted to do. We created our first LGBTQ Director
of Affairs for the LGBTQ Department and I won Atlanta Department.
(06:36):
So there were like just so many things that I
wanted to accomplish and to be able to do it
as mayor was quite fulfilling.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I didn't I didn't ask this.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I should have asked earlier why are HBCUs so important?
Because now I think, looking at funding being cut into
from this president administration, why is HBCUs are so important?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So remember when I was looking at going to college
Hampton Hampton University was my number one choice, and having
a conversation with Loreen Brown, who at that time was
the Dean of Library Sciences at Atlanta University, and her
sitting me down and talking to me about not only
(07:23):
the importance of an HBCU, but which HBCU, which is
how it ended up going to FAM you and I
remember her saying to me, you need to be somewhere
where you can grow, where you can shine, where they
will care about you, where they will support you, they
will nurture you. But also you'll have this opportunity to
grow into yourself and become a leader. And all these
(07:47):
things that she spoke into me came to be. And
that's what our HBCUs represent. And especially when we're looking
at the funding cuts that are happening, the attack on
hb CUS even at FAM. You you know, DeSantis is
just appointed a new president of FAM. You that, as
(08:08):
far as we can see, then particularly aligned with what
we know FAMU to be. But it is the legacy
of HBCUs is bigger than any one person and any
one president of the United States. And it's important that
we support our own right. So it's great that we
(08:30):
get state funding and federal funding, but when that's being guted,
what are we doing? How are we pouring into our HBCUs.
I know you are a huge supporter. I've been able
to endow scholarship at FAM. You will packer, build an amphitheater,
and the list goes on. We got to take care
of what's ours. We can't look to anybody else to
(08:52):
do that right.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
And we're gonna get back into that because I have
a lot of political questions.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
But real quick, before we get into that.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Delta sigmund Theta Sorority Incorporated, found in nineteen thirteen, that's
all right, break it down.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
When did you play it? I mean, we know you
pledged that family.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Shout out your chapter and what was that process like
and whether ada.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Alpa, Yeah, okay, Beta Alpha Spring nineteen ninety, number number eight,
Esoteric Distinction of the twenty fifth Dynasty.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Oh no.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And when I went to fam you, I actually thought
I wanted to pledge AKA and you know, we love
the case. But once well, my roommate gave me a
copy of insert OF's Sisterhood and it was about the
history of Delta Sigma thetas Ward Incorporated and just this
long line of these incredible women, Mary Church, Terial, Dorothy Heyde,
(09:46):
Mary McLeod, Bethune, Cicely Tyson, just all these incredible women
who were a part of this sorority and the sisterhood
and this commitment to service really spoke to my heart
and all that I hope to be so I'm a
(10:06):
proud member.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
We're celebrating that homecoming this year.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
My middle school principal was a Delton.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I was in the office all the time and she
had the shield up behind her desk, and I was
supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
In there doing my work, and I'm drawing the shield.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
I was started out with the nine pearls and started
drawing the shield. And one day she saw I wasn't
doing my work and she.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Said, what is this?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
She said, I am a member of Adult Sigma Theata
Sorority Incorporated. And if you're going to be an Omega man,
you need to start doing your work.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You don't draw this.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And she was going off on me. Almost she Alma
got almost took me up. So one day I was
getting on the flight Southwest Airline flying to Chicago, and
there she was Rosa P. Hankes, I think she was
on the shorter line University of Alabama. And I said,
I said, miss Hanks, I had my jacket and I said,
she said, sit down, Roderick. I had two people still,
(11:00):
I mean project, that's Rosea P. Hanks and Alien every
that's my uh sorrow principal and uh my sixth grade
teacher so they always said, everybody say ripid, but they're
only to pop on this earth. That called me Broderick,
And I sat next to her, and I'm like, miss,
do you remember when I was joining?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
She act like she don't remember that. She's I didn't
do all that. Yes she did. Plus you fush, plus
you hit me with that paddle a couple of times,
but you got me in line. But she didn't.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
She didn't play no games. But uh, every time I
see a sorrow, I always think about Ms. Hanks or whatever,
and my aunts and whole family, just phill of Delphis,
Phil of Delphins Q's capitals and we got some K.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
My daughter's a K. But we got the whole Greek
dynasties in the in the family.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
So it's all in love. Absolutely, it's all in love.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Absolutely. Let's let's switch gears for a second. WHOA, this
is a lot. I don't I don't know where to start.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
We're gonna we're gonna start with this administration and then
we're gonna go into you know, you're running for governor
State of Georgia. Like this is a big deal, Like
this is huge.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Are we in danger?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Are we in danger of losing eye democracy in this country.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
We absolutely are. And you have heard it said that
democracies are fragile and that democracies have a lifespan and
we've exceeded that lifespan in this country, which means that
you have to be intentional about democracy. So you think
about history and you look at autocrats and how dictators
(12:37):
came to be and the things that they did in it.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
They aren't one off things.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
They began to erode trust in voting and start to
erode people's rights, and they do it. They play the
long game. And it is the reason that showing up
to vote is so important because we have to be
intentional about who we elect. Right, you know, we elected
(13:08):
this guy or they elected this guy president and.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
People have really short memories.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
But this time he's come back one hundred times worse
because he knows exactly what he's doing. They spent the
past four years figuring out what they couldn't get done,
knowing exactly where to pick up even you look at
how he started appointing people to the courts. That was
the long game. Look at the Supreme Court, law the land,
(13:37):
what you know Roe v. Wade. These things have been
the law of the land for the past fifty years,
and now you have judges justices who have lifetime appointments.
So the answer is yes, our democracy is in jeopardy
if we are not intentional about protecting that.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Are we presently in a constitutional crisis?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
I believe that we are in a constitutional crisis because
he's testing the limits. He's pushing the envelope, and you
know what, the language is nuanced around that. But if
you think about what he's doing, from how he's dismantling
(14:19):
federal agencies, to how he's ignoring the law, to how
even he's he's activating and using the National Guard and
and wielding his power, if we aren't in a crisis,
we certainly are on the verge of one.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Do you now call me a conspiracy theorist if you want.
I personally don't think that they. I think that they
that something that's up with the midterm elections are But
I was thinking that it wasn't going to be one,
But now I feel like it is going to be one,
because what they're doing is trying to redraw the maps
(14:59):
in some or whatever just where he won't lose the House.
Do you think it'll be a mid term election, because
he's anybody that have control of the military.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
He don't care what any judge may rule. How do
you feel about all that? Am I overthinking?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
No? I think you're spot on, and I'll tell you
something else, Ricky. Even in Georgia, we don't have a
date for our election, for our primaries. We have a
date for the general election in twenty twenty six. A
secretary of state still hasn't given us a date for
the primary. Why that's a great question. We don't know why.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
I don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So as we sit here today, I don't know what
date Monday will be on the ballot.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
And George's governor two term.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
You can serve two four year terms, right, so hopefully
he'll give us a date soon. I don't have any
reason to believe we're not going to have an election,
except for he hadn't set and the election date yet,
So not just share that, just to say you have
to pay attention to everything in Georgia. We've got this
(16:07):
massive voter purge of voters, huge purge of voters off
our roles in Georgia. And you know, I remember having
this conversation with my husband as soon as Trump was elected,
and I said, what if he does all these things,
(16:28):
who's going to stop him? What if he says, I'm
not leaving a White House? How do you remove physically
remove a president from the White House? How do you
how do you how do you could? He controls his
Secret Service, he controls the military. You see the racial
erasure literally of history, the way he's rewriting things. In
(16:52):
the Smithsonian I saw something the other day. There was
a display on impeachments and giving the history of who's
been impeached, and he's changed the wording around his impeachment.
He literally is rewriting and erasing history. So while it
(17:13):
seems far fetched that we won't have free and fair
elections in this country, you can't make any assumptions about
anything that he will won't do.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I totally agree with you. I've been telling people this.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
People been laughing at me, like, you know, he only yeah,
I said, who's going to stop And if he's in
control of the military, and he's gotten rid of all
of everybody that the Biden administration or any administration before
that appointed, he's only appointing people that's lawyer to him.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
I mean, he didn't like the job to report.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
So he fired the person who issues the jobs report,
and now he's saying, maybe I won't issue any more
job to report. I mean, and I think the thing
that really concerns me is it's becoming so normalized that
and it's so much every day, Like we're not even
talking about the big, ugly building anymore. That's cutting medicaid
(18:08):
to thousands of people across this country, right, We're not
talking about the fact that, you know, whatever's happening or
not happening with the Epstein files, and I mean, you
can't even keep up with it, and to protect your peace,
a lot of people are just tuning out, which also
is a threat to democracy when you're not paying attention.
(18:31):
And these things are happening and they become normalized. You immigration,
and people having to give plans to their kids if
you get off the school bus and I'm not there,
this is your safety plan. And now there's military in
the streets of DC with local police officers that the
(18:55):
mayor didn't ask for, right, Like where does it end?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah? Yeah, I've been saying this.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I had Jeff Johnson on it on uh, you know,
he always come on and do three things that you
need to know. And I was talking about the mid
term election and I said the same thing you just said.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I'm not crazy.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I study politics like as funny as I am on stage.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
There's no comedy, nothing on my television.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
It's all news, like all day since the third fourth grade,
like you know, And I'm really I'm really afraid. You know,
United States Supreme Court? Uh, all three branches of government.
What has happened to the to the Democrat Party?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
And what are your concerns about our party?
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Because why why is it that Democrats always come off weak?
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And uh? And and and.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I don't you know how you you have a like
when Bush was president and when the mid term elections
came up, you could feel the energy from the from
the Democrat Party or whatever.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
I don't feel that uh you know that energy? You know?
Or am I overthinking?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
I think that we live in a society now where
decency is is.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
Compared to weakness.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
So Democrats have been a decent party, right, and you've
got this man on the extreme who's the face of
the Republican Party. And people want to see us fight more.
They don't want us just to be decent. They want
us they want to see people out fighting and pushing back.
(20:35):
And the reality is that, you know, when you are
fighting it out in the courts, that doesn't always come
off as strength, but sometimes it's the only tool in
the toolbox that you can have. The other thing that
really concerns me is that people are giving up on
us as a party. That they're saying Democrats, we I
(21:00):
don't want any parts of that. I don't want any
parts of the Republican Party. They've gone off the rails.
So I'm just not gonna be a part of anything.
I'm not gonna vote. It doesn't make a difference. And
it is, you know, again, this erosion of democracy, this
erosion in the belief of law and order and systems
(21:23):
and decency. And so it's like, it's not a simple answer,
but we got to remember we aren't the first generation
that has faced difficult times. You and I are post
Civil rights movement babies. It's like just you know, generation
before us, right, And thankfully people didn't give up. And
(21:45):
I'm not saying that the Democratic Party is perfect. We're
far from perfect. But I do believe in this moment,
our best chance to turning things around are to stick
with Democrats right now because unfortunately the Republican Party has
been hijacked.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, why why are when you see the Congress? Uh uh?
Speaker 1 (22:10):
And I know, I just I'm so happy to talk
to you because I just want to you know, ask,
you know, have a conversation because I don't get an
opportunity to talk about this on the air because of
our segments only like a couple of minutes, two to
three minutes.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
But it's so many questions that that I you know
that I have.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So when the Republican congressmen go out congressmen and congressmen
go out to do town hall, what are the Republican
constituents upset about? What are they concerned about? What are
they because it's been chaos. I've just been seeing a
lot of pushback from constituents when Republicans go.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Out and now that they have control now.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
News, it seems like the news, the media is afraid
to report certain things because they're afraid of the Trump administry.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
You know, what people need to recognize, in my opinion,
is that this really is about party affiliation. The things
that are happening coming out of this White House in
DC impacts all of us. My husband was just telling
me about a conversation he was having with someone who
has been receiving for the past several years in experimental
(23:23):
cancer drug. The funding has been pulled from this drug
that has kept her alive. Literally, that doesn't have anything
do with party affiliation. When you're talking about taking away
funding for vaccines and for cancer research, that doesn't have
anything do with party affiliation. When you are cutting health
(23:46):
benefits to people, that's not party affiliation. When you know
people are being laid off from their jobs thirty percent
of the federal workforce for veterans, and these people being
laid off Democrats Republicans alike, that doesn't have anything to
(24:09):
do with party affiliation. I think we all want the
same things, right. We want to live in a country
that's free. It's not perfect, but we have certain rights
and liberties that we want to be able to experience
in this country. We want our communities to be safe.
We want access to good paying jobs. We want great
(24:30):
schools for our kids, we want access to great health care.
That doesn't have anything to do with party affiliation. And
I think the danger that we have is that we
are giving up on who we are as a country again.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
We're not perfect. We've never been perfect.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
It's always been this pursuit of happiness, this pursuit of perfection.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Right, And so you're running for a governor of Georgia.
What's one of.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Let's talk about some of the reasons you're running for
governor for the state of Georgia, and what concerned you
most about you know about the state of Georgia, and
what would you do some of the things that you
would do if elected.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
So I woke up the day after the election in November,
like so many people, going what the hell just happened?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
And what am I called to do in this moment?
Past four years for me hadn't been an awful four years.
I've written a book that's coming out next year, executive
producer on a television show that's up on Netflix, MS,
governor Congressions. I worked at Thank You, worked at the
(25:45):
White House, senior advisor to the President. I've done consulting.
And I'm not sharing all that to brag, but just
to say life is you know, life has been lifing
personal things, but professionally it hadn't been awful for me.
But when I woke up in November, I had to
(26:05):
ask myself what am I going to do in this moment?
What am I call to do in this moment, and
for me is to get back into the ring and
fight because I was mayor for three of the four
years that he was President of the United States, and
I know what it took to stand up and fight
in twenty twenty and how I had to go to
(26:27):
bat for the people of Atlanta and the people of
Georgia as a whole because our governor wasn't making the
most sound decisions at that time. So in running and one,
I'm pushing back against all the craziness him and all
the things that he's pushing out. Medicaid expansion in Georgia
we don't have. Even before this big, ugly bill that
(26:49):
just came out of Congress, we already had three hundred
thousand people who didn't have health insurance. Alabama has medicate expansion,
Louisiana has Medicaid expansion. We don't have it in Georgia.
Making sure that people affordable housing was a big cornerstone
in my work as mayor, making sure that people can
live in dignity across the state, afford to live in
(27:11):
this state. Also, jobs, people want well paying jobs so
all of the things that we care about. These are
things that I want to promote and do my part
to make sure people are experiencing the best of who
we are as a state and to make sure that
we have solid leadership in this crazy moment that we're
(27:32):
all living.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
In now when they purge, like, I have so many questions,
but sitting here talking to you, you know, I'm a
political here because I'm not even like I'm on a
role because I'm just so excited about getting this information
and having this conversation. What about when they purged the
voting roles in the State of Georgia and the things
(27:55):
that they've done that they did, I believe to to
Stacey Abrams, how do you plan to fight against that?
And uh, I know it's going to be a fight
and a challenge just even in the you know, in
the in the primaries, but if you become the Democratic nominee,
(28:20):
how do you plan to fight against everything that they
will try to do to try to keep you from
becoming the governor of the State of Georgia.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
We got to run the numbers up so how that
there's no question I agree that there's no margin of
error that we we aren't counting the last ten votes
to try and figure out who want right that we
show up in such strong note numbers that it's very
clear that our ya has been our ya and our
name has been our name. Donald Trump is already trying
(28:52):
to put his thumb on the scale with this governor's race.
He's endorsed a lieutenant governor who was an election denier,
who tried to steal the airport from the City of Atlanta,
who is self funded candidate. So who is you know,
he's not having to answer see anybody. The only person
(29:14):
he's answering to is Donald Trump, and Donald Trump has
given his endorsement to him. So we gotta show up
and vote. We just cannot We can't give up. We
cannot give up because one election can make a difference.
It will make a difference in this state. So you
talk about this voter purge when you go in and
(29:36):
you vote for governor. Also you're gonna vote for a
senator US office. Back on the ballot, you're gonna vote
for the Secretary of State, who's controlling these voter rolls.
This huge voter purge. And even on top of that,
in Georgia, we have what we call motive voter registration.
When you go and get your driver's license, you can
say I want to register to vote at my address.
(29:59):
Do you know they turn that off really and claimed
it was a computer glitch, but it was turned off
for over a year, so thousands of people who otherwise
may have registered to vote. So you've got all these
people moving from northern cities and moving from across the
country who may lean with their political affiliation a certain way,
(30:22):
and you turn that voter registration off.
Speaker 5 (30:25):
You're tipping the scales.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
But it's the Secretary of State who controls that. It's
the governor who said we need motor voter registration in
the state. So these things matter, These elections matter.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
What was it like working in the White House with
the Biden and Harris administration? What was the president like? Like,
I feel that's a greater compassment number one, being mayor
of Atlanta. Number two working on you know, with any
presidential administration.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
What was that like? And what was the president like
in person?
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I know he's funny, always cracking.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Jokes or whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
What was it like waking up every morning going to
the White House?
Speaker 2 (31:12):
And what was your job? What was your day like.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
It was and compared to being the mayor of Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
When you are support staff for someone, in my case,
it was support staff for the President of the United States,
it gives you an appreciation for how much your team
does to make you successful. It was hard work. I mean,
it's the White House. So I'll never forget sitting at
(31:41):
a state dinner and it was almost two o'clock in
the morning. I kept checking my phone, like, I know,
our morning meeting is gonna be canceled because every meeting
we would meet in the Roosevelt Room, which is just
outside the Oval Office, and I'm like, I know, we're
not gonna have this meeting in six hours.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Was sure enough.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
We were all there, you know. So when I got
in at three o'clock that morning, you know, I closed
my eyes for a couple of minutes and had to
get back into the White House.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
So it's none stop.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
So the difference for me, you know, as opposed to
being the leader supporting a leader, that was a very
different experience for me, very humbling in a lot of ways. Presidents,
I mean President Biden's a great man. He cares deeply
about people. When you see him express empathy for people
(32:33):
and his care and concern like that.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
It's genuine.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Going into the White House every day, I'll never forget.
I would go through the East Wing. You've been there
several times, so you can need to go through the
West Wing, which is where the offices are, or through
the East wing what's called the East Wing, where you
know they had parties and things like that. And I
would walk through the basement and there were cardboard by boxes.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Usually because it's a staging area.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
And it always reminded me of my grandfather because it's
the smell reminded me of my grandfather because he used
to haul cardboard and paper out the buildings downtown. And
I would go through, and I go, Granddaddy, we're in
the White House.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Like I never took it for granted, Like, yes, we're
in the White House.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Sitting there in the Roosevelt Room was everything I couldn't
believe I was. I started out at the end of
the table and next you know, I'm sitting next to
Revenue Al, almost directly across from President Obama. I was
so embarrassed one time, Why did I have a snug
of fabric.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Sheet hanging out of my sleeve.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
And get to get rid and to get roasted by
President Obama. I said one thing, no, I said, no
disrespects the president. I promise you my shirt. It's probably
the best smelling shirt in this room. And I couldnot
bleive in his age behind him in tears. Is the
fact that I was talking, asking a question and the
(34:04):
President noticed you have something.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Well, you know, the White House is not big, it's
like a.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
Really cozy like that Roosevelt Room is small. So yes,
of course the President would notice that you had a
fabric sheet and.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I'm just talking to fabric sheet. That means you used too.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Many that you want to smell good.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
I wanted to smell good, you know.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
But then I mean, you think about the representation. For me,
it was being able to sit in the White House.
And I remember sitting across from the resolute desk in
the office and President Buying saying, Keisha, what do you think?
And I just talked to myself. I bet you that
question has never been asked here before, Keisha, what do
you think? In all office?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Right?
Speaker 3 (34:53):
So you know, being there, you're representing who you are
and all the people you bring with you on your
show and the wind beneath your wings, like it it's
a really big deal, wow, because a lot of us
don't get to walk a lot of people don't get
to walk through those gates. And to be a voice
(35:14):
and to represent us in those rooms, I mean, it's
an honor.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Yeah, it was just amazing to me to see you
at the Christmas party in the White House, knowing that
we met in the lobby at the radio station Hot
one on seventy.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Nine, you know, Bruh Sorrow and came on the morning
show in full circle.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
We are in the White House at the Christmas party
and it's like it's like we made eye contact and
the big old hook and I'm just I.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Have to personally say, like it just give me chilled,
Like I'm.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Really really proud of you, and like I think people
from all over the country will be excited about your
race for governor and we'll.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Support you well.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
And you know what, Rickyavin really fortunate. I have gotten
a lot of support from across the country. Obviously, people
in Georgia can vote, but everybody knows everybody has a cousin,
a friend, or somebody who lives in the state that
you can encourage them to register to vote, to show
up a vote, but.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
Also you can send your money.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
So first forty one days of the campaign, I had
seventy one hundred donations from across the country. Over half
the counties in Georgia people donated. Average donation was less
than one hundred dollars. People were sending me five dollars,
ten dollars like it.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
It all matters.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
So I really believe, for some reason, I really believed
that you could go down and those rural area of
Georgia and get people that normally vote Republican and win
them over because I think people also regardless of their
party affiliation, won't decency back, you know, in government, and
(36:57):
don't like everything that they've seen. I really believe that
you could go and knock on some of those doors,
and sit at some of those tables and have some
great conversations and get people out to vote for you.
What how do you feel about that? And have you
had some of that? Have you talked to people like that?
Speaker 5 (37:13):
I certainly have.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I there's someone I know who's a very staunch Republican
who sent me a check wow, because he supports me
as a candidate and he believes that I'm a sober
minded person who makes sound decisions.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
And I don't think that's a one off.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
I think there are a lot of people out there
who want solid representation. They're not necessarily stuck on whether
you're a Democrat or Republican. A lot of people identifies
as independent voters. Sometimes they vote Republicans, sometimes they vote Democrat.
But I'm not going to surrender or soon that anybody
(38:02):
will or or will not vote for me. I'm gonna
work to earn votes. I'm not gonna assume because I
look a certain way, because I identify a certain way,
that people will vote for me. But I'm also not
gonna assume that they won't be supportive of me. So
I'm gonna work to earn votes across the state.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
So, so we need everybody to t I.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Uh, it's been supportive. Yeah, the t I gave me
a check already, you know, I mean, you know, and.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
Money is not everything. Let me be clear about that.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
You have to have financial support so you can get
to these places and hire people in these places. But
t I, my brother has always been supportive. Uh. He
and Killer Mike, And you know, I got a call
in the two chains. I got to call in the candy.
Rashidah is on boy you know, so, I guess.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
We'll text you when you found out sit that text message.
Let's go that you did, Come on, now you did and.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
All gap, let's go you with the file like listen,
so you know I'm I'm boring. And if anybody want
to make a campaign contribution or get on board to
help you with your campaign, look right there in that
camera and you let them know how they can find you,
how they can follow you on social media all of that.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
So if you want to see me make mac and
cheese and things, you can follow me on my personal
page Keisha Bottoms on Instagram. The campaign is Keisha for Georgia.
You can also go to Keisha for Georgia dot com
sign up to volunteer. We're sending volunteers out weekly. Nothing's
(39:51):
too big or too small. If you want to donate
all that informations on that campaign page.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
No, no, just don't have nothing to do with policies.
You brought up macaroni and cheese. Something to put your
on the little game because I used to have a
cooking show. Okay, first of all.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
You got do you boil your noodles? In chicken broth
and garlic. I do not, okay, something to put you on.
Some game I can put you on. I have a
witness or sitting right over there.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
I made some macaroni and cheese, rice and chicken bro Okay,
So imagine if the noodles are so good that you
could eat the noodles by themselves, Imagine how they would
taste with macaroni and cheese. I yes, and text me,
I'll see you in the recipe.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
I walk you through it. Okay, macaroni and cheese is
only dairy and pasta, and it's just okay. But when
you season it right, as a matter of fact, in
the Bahamas, you dice you up a little small handful
of onions and some red peppers. That's sweet, the sweet peppers,
and you caramelize them. You put that over in your
(40:53):
macaroni and cheese.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Oh my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
First of all, let's go ahead and just boil the
noodles and garlic against garlic and some chicken broth.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Right, you can eat the noodles by themselves. Okay. So
when you do that, you take you some cage and
seasoning and you.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, and you put some parsley
off in that baby, and some black pepper. Now you
can smell it. You can smell it. That's part of
your taste. But so now you're smelling it. And when
you put that sharp cheese on top, put some proxy
on top, and go ahead and make that thing.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Listen how the ladies in the church basement in Birmingham
feel about.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Oh, they love it.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
They love it because when I cook in Birmingham, some
of my grandmother friends are still living, I take them.
They said, Baby, that's the best macaroni in what you
put in it? Really absolutely Okay, next time you make Sime,
text me and I'm gonna walk you through it, all right.
And for the kids, now you go ahead and put
your somem to the side. For the kids, go ahead
(41:55):
and put some frosty flakes in the blunder and put
the frosty flakes on top of them macaroni and.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Cheese, and make it.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
And it just gives you a light golden crust that's
slightly sweet, and the kids will lose their mind. I
put that recipe out one Thanksgiving and people went crazy.
The reviews is crazy. I'll come over there. I'm back
in Atlanta, so let me know. I'll come over there.
It sounds delicious, absolutely so, ladies and gentlemen, I am
(42:23):
a wedding honor to be sitting here having a conversation
with you. I wish you the best, and we are
so excited for you, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
I don't even know how to close this thing, because
this is real. This is like one of my.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
Favorite interviews right here. We've been doing this podcast, but
I was so excited. I didn't get to ask you know,
I having to ask you like I have. Okay, let's
do this right quickly, quick, rapid fire game these just quickly,
all right, okay, let's go just for fun. We was
deep because I can. I can talk to you all
day on politics.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
I can go, Yes, you can. Yeah, So let's go.
Here we go. Best Southern comfort food spot in Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (43:04):
Piccadilly, y'all, y'all, let me say Green Bri Piccadilly South Potatoes.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
They do.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Piccadilly.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
When I tell you, I love Piccadill Okay, oh man.
Most underrated thing about.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Being mayor, most underrated thing about being mayor. Oh, I
don't know. Most underrated, underrated thing about being oh plain
sight service.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Okay, yeah, awesome, all right, one politician passed or president
that you would love to sit down and.
Speaker 5 (43:50):
Have dinner with Barack Obama?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Absolutely absolutely, all right if politics disappeared tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
What job would you do?
Speaker 3 (43:58):
Be a radio DJ?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Come on, come on, you can be on Rick Spider
Boys show.
Speaker 5 (44:03):
I used to be a DJ in college.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yes, on Joe Bullet Station. There that was.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
My work setdy job. What okay, I'm the traffic director
and the DJ.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Come on now, all.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Right, what's the one song that always gets you hype
before a big speech?
Speaker 2 (44:20):
You'll come on. What's your hight song?
Speaker 3 (44:22):
My hype song? I love it when people do an
intro with me from one of my daddy's songs. Okay, hey,
little girl monkey time. It just you know, it just
makes my heart skip a beat.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
There you go, all right, and before we wrap it up,
you're running for governor Georgia.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
What did your grandmother teach you about fighting back?
Speaker 3 (44:43):
Oh? That you done back down from bullies, right and
that and it always works for for our good?
Speaker 2 (44:52):
All right, there it is, y'all.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Thank you so much for joining me on this episode
of the podcast.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Is there are anything else you like.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Dad, I'll just end it with a good old dad.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Are ladies and gentlemen can your Lance bottles?
Speaker 3 (45:09):
Yeah? Thank you, thank you,
What was it like waking up every morning going to
the White House and what was your job?
Speaker 2 (00:03):
What was your day like?
Speaker 3 (00:06):
It was incredible, it was, and compared to being the
mayor of Atlanta. In Georgia, we have what we call
motive voter registration. When you go and get your driver's license,
you can say I want to register to vote at
my address. Do you know they turned that off? Really,
it was turned off for over a year.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
Are we in danger?
Speaker 1 (00:26):
Are we in danger of losing our democracy in this country?
Speaker 3 (00:30):
We absolutely are.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
I also embarrassed one time.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
Why did I have a snug of fabric sheet hanging
out of my sleeve to get roasted by President Obama?
I said one thing, No, I said, no disrespect was
the president.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
I promise you my shirt.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
It's probably the best snowy shirt in this room.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
Remember sitting across from the Resolute desk in the over
office in President Bying saying, Keisha, what do you think?
And I just talk to myself. I bet you that
question has never been asking here before, Keisha, what do
you think? In all?
Speaker 2 (01:03):
All right, hey, welcome to the Ricky Smile on the Spot. Listen,
listen this.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
I'm really excited because my guess today is a very
it's very very special like she served as the sixtieth
mayor of Atlanta, unbelievable.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
She also worked in the body in administration. She's a
proud member, a proud.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Member of Delta Sigma, Theayter Sorority, Incorporated, and she is
currently running for governor of the State of Georgia. Y'all
please welcome Keisha Lance Bottoms. Y'all, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
Y'll thank you, thank you, thank you.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I'm I'm so glad to be here. It always this
warm from my heart to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
And we got to start off with how we met.
Craziest thing. You were running for mayor.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Yes, and uh, you know we have we have this
coach like what up brouh?
Speaker 2 (01:55):
When somebody said what up brouh?
Speaker 1 (01:57):
That means you're a Delta and you know, and that's
our connection automatically off the bank, I said, what's up?
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Sorrow? We hugged and.
Speaker 1 (02:06):
Uh it was like, hey, not not a sorrow. I'm
running for mayor of Atlanta. I said, Okay, what were
we gonna do? I said, let's go. We've been riding
yea and and you went all the way up Okay,
what was it like being the mayor of Atlanta. You know,
that's a big accomplishment to become mayor of one of
(02:28):
the greatest cities in the United States, Atlanta.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
What was that like for you?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
It was an incredible honor because I'm born and raised
in Atlanta. My family goes back five generations in Georgia
to a plantation in Crawfordville, Georgia. So my family, my
grandmother came on a horse and buggy to Atlanta when
she was a little girl, and so my mom's family
is from here. So to be born and raised, graduated
(02:54):
of Frederick Douglas High School, Atlanta Public Schools, and then
to have an opportunity to serve as mayor. I never
believed that being mayor was something that a kid like
me could even aspire to be, right, and you know.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
Atlanta is his place where dreams come true.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
So awesome.
Speaker 5 (03:12):
I was honored like that.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
That's really a big deal of fam you yes, right, like.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
You in the country. Yes, how was that?
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Every all the public figures know off the bat we
wet school, especially the public figures that attended HBCU.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
How do we all know what college? Everybody went to?
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Like, but family's being because you got Will Packer, you
got Ben Crump.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
It's a lot of y'all.
Speaker 3 (03:40):
Ben did not go to fam you. But I was
good and grown before I realized he didn't go to
fam you because he was on campus every single day,
and I swore somebody down. I'm like, no, Ben was
like vice president the SGA, Like no, he wouldn't. He
went to Florida State, so he like Dian Sanders, he
(04:01):
spent a lot of time on the set at FAMU.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
Wow. And Will Packard was that before you? After you?
Speaker 3 (04:10):
I graduated spring of ninety one. I think Will came
in fall of ninety one. Really, but you know, with
our HBCUs, we feel like when one of us wins,
we all win. That's why we're always so proud of
each other.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Absolutely. So what how did you get into politics?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
How did you become interested in you know, politics and
in government and law school?
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Right?
Speaker 3 (04:36):
Because well, when I graduated from FAMU, I had no
idea what I wanted to do, right, I just knew
I wasn't ready to go to work. And I knew
some people who were applying to law school, and I'm like, oh,
that's what we're doing now some guys who I used
to hang out with at Morehouse. So I applied to
law school. Ended up going to Georgia State. Never loved
practicing law. I was good at it, I just didn't
(04:59):
love it. I ended up becoming a magistrate judge, and
this was in two thousand and eight because Obama was
on the ballot. I challenged got out of jail, and
I ended up challenging a sitting judge, which at that
time people weren't really challenging incumbents. And I lost. It
(05:20):
was the best failure I've ever had. The next year,
I ended up running for city council. Not because I
was particularly interested in politics, but when I ran for judge,
I just saw the difference in communities and the difference
what that representation made. So I served eight years on
the Atlanta City Council and then ran for mayor.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Wow, and what inspired you to run for mayor?
Speaker 6 (05:46):
You know?
Speaker 3 (05:46):
Again, this is one of these things like I didn't
I knew that I could do it. I didn't know
that I should do it, but I knew that I
wanted better for my city, and I knew the representation
I wanted to bring. A knew you know I wanted
to make a difference in affordable housing, which we did.
We ended up seven thousand units of affordable housing, one
(06:12):
hundreds of millions of dollars in investment, created a child
savings account, a citywide child savings account. I mean, there
were so many wins from being mayor and that's what
I wanted to do. We created our first LGBTQ Director
of Affairs for the LGBTQ Department and I won Atlanta Department.
(06:36):
So there were like just so many things that I
wanted to accomplish and to be able to do it
as mayor was quite fulfilling.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
I didn't I didn't ask this.
Speaker 1 (06:47):
I should have asked earlier why are HBCUs so important?
Because now I think, looking at funding being cut into
from this president administration, why is HBCUs are so important?
Speaker 3 (07:02):
So remember when I was looking at going to college
Hampton Hampton University was my number one choice, and having
a conversation with Loreen Brown, who at that time was
the Dean of Library Sciences at Atlanta University, and her
sitting me down and talking to me about not only
(07:23):
the importance of an HBCU, but which HBCU, which is
how it ended up going to FAM you and I
remember her saying to me, you need to be somewhere
where you can grow, where you can shine, where they
will care about you, where they will support you, they
will nurture you. But also you'll have this opportunity to
grow into yourself and become a leader. And all these
(07:47):
things that she spoke into me came to be. And
that's what our HBCUs represent. And especially when we're looking
at the funding cuts that are happening, the attack on
hb CUS even at FAM. You you know, DeSantis is
just appointed a new president of FAM. You that, as
(08:08):
far as we can see, then particularly aligned with what
we know FAMU to be. But it is the legacy
of HBCUs is bigger than any one person and any
one president of the United States. And it's important that
we support our own right. So it's great that we
(08:30):
get state funding and federal funding, but when that's being guted,
what are we doing? How are we pouring into our HBCUs.
I know you are a huge supporter. I've been able
to endow scholarship at FAM. You will packer, build an amphitheater,
and the list goes on. We got to take care
of what's ours. We can't look to anybody else to
(08:52):
do that right.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
And we're gonna get back into that because I have
a lot of political questions.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
But real quick, before we get into that.
Speaker 1 (09:00):
Delta sigmund Theta Sorority Incorporated, found in nineteen thirteen, that's
all right, break it down.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
When did you play it? I mean, we know you
pledged that family.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
Shout out your chapter and what was that process like
and whether ada.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Alpa, Yeah, okay, Beta Alpha Spring nineteen ninety, number number eight,
Esoteric Distinction of the twenty fifth Dynasty.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
Oh no.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
And when I went to fam you, I actually thought
I wanted to pledge AKA and you know, we love
the case. But once well, my roommate gave me a
copy of insert OF's Sisterhood and it was about the
history of Delta Sigma thetas Ward Incorporated and just this
long line of these incredible women, Mary Church, Terial, Dorothy Heyde,
(09:46):
Mary McLeod, Bethune, Cicely Tyson, just all these incredible women
who were a part of this sorority and the sisterhood
and this commitment to service really spoke to my heart
and all that I hope to be so I'm a
(10:06):
proud member.
Speaker 5 (10:07):
We're celebrating that homecoming this year.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
My middle school principal was a Delton.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
I was in the office all the time and she
had the shield up behind her desk, and I was
supposed to be.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
In there doing my work, and I'm drawing the shield.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
I was started out with the nine pearls and started
drawing the shield. And one day she saw I wasn't
doing my work and she.
Speaker 2 (10:27):
Said, what is this?
Speaker 1 (10:28):
She said, I am a member of Adult Sigma Theata
Sorority Incorporated. And if you're going to be an Omega man,
you need to start doing your work.
Speaker 2 (10:35):
You don't draw this.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
And she was going off on me. Almost she Alma
got almost took me up. So one day I was
getting on the flight Southwest Airline flying to Chicago, and
there she was Rosa P. Hankes, I think she was
on the shorter line University of Alabama. And I said,
I said, miss Hanks, I had my jacket and I said,
she said, sit down, Roderick. I had two people still,
(11:00):
I mean project, that's Rosea P. Hanks and Alien every
that's my uh sorrow principal and uh my sixth grade
teacher so they always said, everybody say ripid, but they're
only to pop on this earth. That called me Broderick,
And I sat next to her, and I'm like, miss,
do you remember when I was joining?
Speaker 2 (11:17):
She act like she don't remember that. She's I didn't
do all that. Yes she did. Plus you fush, plus
you hit me with that paddle a couple of times,
but you got me in line. But she didn't.
Speaker 1 (11:25):
She didn't play no games. But uh, every time I
see a sorrow, I always think about Ms. Hanks or whatever,
and my aunts and whole family, just phill of Delphis,
Phil of Delphins Q's capitals and we got some K.
Speaker 2 (11:36):
My daughter's a K. But we got the whole Greek
dynasties in the in the family.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
So it's all in love. Absolutely, it's all in love.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Absolutely. Let's let's switch gears for a second. WHOA, this
is a lot. I don't I don't know where to start.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
We're gonna we're gonna start with this administration and then
we're gonna go into you know, you're running for governor
State of Georgia. Like this is a big deal, Like
this is huge.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Are we in danger?
Speaker 1 (12:09):
Are we in danger of losing eye democracy in this country.
Speaker 3 (12:12):
We absolutely are. And you have heard it said that
democracies are fragile and that democracies have a lifespan and
we've exceeded that lifespan in this country, which means that
you have to be intentional about democracy. So you think
about history and you look at autocrats and how dictators
(12:37):
came to be and the things that they did in it.
Speaker 5 (12:41):
They aren't one off things.
Speaker 3 (12:43):
They began to erode trust in voting and start to
erode people's rights, and they do it. They play the
long game. And it is the reason that showing up
to vote is so important because we have to be
intentional about who we elect. Right, you know, we elected
(13:08):
this guy or they elected this guy president and.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
People have really short memories.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
But this time he's come back one hundred times worse
because he knows exactly what he's doing. They spent the
past four years figuring out what they couldn't get done,
knowing exactly where to pick up even you look at
how he started appointing people to the courts. That was
the long game. Look at the Supreme Court, law the land,
(13:37):
what you know Roe v. Wade. These things have been
the law of the land for the past fifty years,
and now you have judges justices who have lifetime appointments.
So the answer is yes, our democracy is in jeopardy
if we are not intentional about protecting that.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
Are we presently in a constitutional crisis?
Speaker 3 (13:59):
I believe that we are in a constitutional crisis because
he's testing the limits. He's pushing the envelope, and you
know what, the language is nuanced around that. But if
you think about what he's doing, from how he's dismantling
(14:19):
federal agencies, to how he's ignoring the law, to how
even he's he's activating and using the National Guard and
and wielding his power, if we aren't in a crisis,
we certainly are on the verge of one.
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
Do you now call me a conspiracy theorist if you want.
I personally don't think that they. I think that they
that something that's up with the midterm elections are But
I was thinking that it wasn't going to be one,
But now I feel like it is going to be one,
because what they're doing is trying to redraw the maps
(14:59):
in some or whatever just where he won't lose the House.
Do you think it'll be a mid term election, because
he's anybody that have control of the military.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
He don't care what any judge may rule. How do
you feel about all that? Am I overthinking?
Speaker 3 (15:17):
No? I think you're spot on, and I'll tell you
something else, Ricky. Even in Georgia, we don't have a
date for our election, for our primaries. We have a
date for the general election in twenty twenty six. A
secretary of state still hasn't given us a date for
the primary. Why that's a great question. We don't know why.
Speaker 5 (15:37):
I don't know the answer to that.
Speaker 3 (15:38):
So as we sit here today, I don't know what
date Monday will be on the ballot.
Speaker 1 (15:44):
And George's governor two term.
Speaker 3 (15:47):
You can serve two four year terms, right, so hopefully
he'll give us a date soon. I don't have any
reason to believe we're not going to have an election,
except for he hadn't set and the election date yet,
So not just share that, just to say you have
to pay attention to everything in Georgia. We've got this
(16:07):
massive voter purge of voters, huge purge of voters off
our roles in Georgia. And you know, I remember having
this conversation with my husband as soon as Trump was elected,
and I said, what if he does all these things,
(16:28):
who's going to stop him? What if he says, I'm
not leaving a White House? How do you remove physically
remove a president from the White House? How do you
how do you how do you could? He controls his
Secret Service, he controls the military. You see the racial
erasure literally of history, the way he's rewriting things. In
(16:52):
the Smithsonian I saw something the other day. There was
a display on impeachments and giving the history of who's
been impeached, and he's changed the wording around his impeachment.
He literally is rewriting and erasing history. So while it
(17:13):
seems far fetched that we won't have free and fair
elections in this country, you can't make any assumptions about
anything that he will won't do.
Speaker 2 (17:24):
I totally agree with you. I've been telling people this.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
People been laughing at me, like, you know, he only yeah,
I said, who's going to stop And if he's in
control of the military, and he's gotten rid of all
of everybody that the Biden administration or any administration before
that appointed, he's only appointing people that's lawyer to him.
Speaker 5 (17:42):
I mean, he didn't like the job to report.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
So he fired the person who issues the jobs report,
and now he's saying, maybe I won't issue any more
job to report. I mean, and I think the thing
that really concerns me is it's becoming so normalized that
and it's so much every day, Like we're not even
talking about the big, ugly building anymore. That's cutting medicaid
(18:08):
to thousands of people across this country, right, We're not
talking about the fact that, you know, whatever's happening or
not happening with the Epstein files, and I mean, you
can't even keep up with it, and to protect your peace,
a lot of people are just tuning out, which also
is a threat to democracy when you're not paying attention.
(18:31):
And these things are happening and they become normalized. You immigration,
and people having to give plans to their kids if
you get off the school bus and I'm not there,
this is your safety plan. And now there's military in
the streets of DC with local police officers that the
(18:55):
mayor didn't ask for, right, Like where does it end?
Speaker 2 (19:00):
Yeah? Yeah, I've been saying this.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I had Jeff Johnson on it on uh, you know,
he always come on and do three things that you
need to know. And I was talking about the mid
term election and I said the same thing you just said.
Speaker 2 (19:11):
I'm not crazy.
Speaker 1 (19:12):
I study politics like as funny as I am on stage.
Speaker 2 (19:17):
There's no comedy, nothing on my television.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
It's all news, like all day since the third fourth grade,
like you know, And I'm really I'm really afraid. You know,
United States Supreme Court? Uh, all three branches of government.
What has happened to the to the Democrat Party?
Speaker 2 (19:37):
And what are your concerns about our party?
Speaker 1 (19:39):
Because why why is it that Democrats always come off weak?
Speaker 2 (19:43):
And uh? And and and.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I don't you know how you you have a like
when Bush was president and when the mid term elections
came up, you could feel the energy from the from
the Democrat Party or whatever.
Speaker 2 (19:56):
I don't feel that uh you know that energy? You know?
Or am I overthinking?
Speaker 1 (20:03):
No?
Speaker 3 (20:03):
I think that we live in a society now where
decency is is.
Speaker 5 (20:10):
Compared to weakness.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
So Democrats have been a decent party, right, and you've
got this man on the extreme who's the face of
the Republican Party. And people want to see us fight more.
They don't want us just to be decent. They want
us they want to see people out fighting and pushing back.
(20:35):
And the reality is that, you know, when you are
fighting it out in the courts, that doesn't always come
off as strength, but sometimes it's the only tool in
the toolbox that you can have. The other thing that
really concerns me is that people are giving up on
us as a party. That they're saying Democrats, we I
(21:00):
don't want any parts of that. I don't want any
parts of the Republican Party. They've gone off the rails.
So I'm just not gonna be a part of anything.
I'm not gonna vote. It doesn't make a difference. And
it is, you know, again, this erosion of democracy, this
erosion in the belief of law and order and systems
(21:23):
and decency. And so it's like, it's not a simple answer,
but we got to remember we aren't the first generation
that has faced difficult times. You and I are post
Civil rights movement babies. It's like just you know, generation
before us, right, And thankfully people didn't give up. And
(21:45):
I'm not saying that the Democratic Party is perfect. We're
far from perfect. But I do believe in this moment,
our best chance to turning things around are to stick
with Democrats right now because unfortunately the Republican Party has
been hijacked.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
Yeah, why why are when you see the Congress? Uh uh?
Speaker 1 (22:10):
And I know, I just I'm so happy to talk
to you because I just want to you know, ask,
you know, have a conversation because I don't get an
opportunity to talk about this on the air because of
our segments only like a couple of minutes, two to
three minutes.
Speaker 2 (22:23):
But it's so many questions that that I you know
that I have.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
So when the Republican congressmen go out congressmen and congressmen
go out to do town hall, what are the Republican
constituents upset about? What are they concerned about? What are
they because it's been chaos. I've just been seeing a
lot of pushback from constituents when Republicans go.
Speaker 2 (22:47):
Out and now that they have control now.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
News, it seems like the news, the media is afraid
to report certain things because they're afraid of the Trump administry.
Speaker 3 (23:01):
You know, what people need to recognize, in my opinion,
is that this really is about party affiliation. The things
that are happening coming out of this White House in
DC impacts all of us. My husband was just telling
me about a conversation he was having with someone who
has been receiving for the past several years in experimental
(23:23):
cancer drug. The funding has been pulled from this drug
that has kept her alive. Literally, that doesn't have anything
do with party affiliation. When you're talking about taking away
funding for vaccines and for cancer research, that doesn't have
anything do with party affiliation. When you are cutting health
(23:46):
benefits to people, that's not party affiliation. When you know
people are being laid off from their jobs thirty percent
of the federal workforce for veterans, and these people being
laid off Democrats Republicans alike, that doesn't have anything to
(24:09):
do with party affiliation. I think we all want the
same things, right. We want to live in a country
that's free. It's not perfect, but we have certain rights
and liberties that we want to be able to experience
in this country. We want our communities to be safe.
We want access to good paying jobs. We want great
(24:30):
schools for our kids, we want access to great health care.
That doesn't have anything to do with party affiliation. And
I think the danger that we have is that we
are giving up on who we are as a country again.
Speaker 5 (24:46):
We're not perfect. We've never been perfect.
Speaker 3 (24:49):
It's always been this pursuit of happiness, this pursuit of perfection.
Speaker 2 (24:55):
Right, And so you're running for a governor of Georgia.
What's one of.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
Let's talk about some of the reasons you're running for
governor for the state of Georgia, and what concerned you
most about you know about the state of Georgia, and
what would you do some of the things that you
would do if elected.
Speaker 3 (25:17):
So I woke up the day after the election in November,
like so many people, going what the hell just happened?
Speaker 2 (25:23):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (25:24):
And what am I called to do in this moment?
Past four years for me hadn't been an awful four years.
I've written a book that's coming out next year, executive
producer on a television show that's up on Netflix, MS,
governor Congressions. I worked at Thank You, worked at the
(25:45):
White House, senior advisor to the President. I've done consulting.
And I'm not sharing all that to brag, but just
to say life is you know, life has been lifing
personal things, but professionally it hadn't been awful for me.
But when I woke up in November, I had to
(26:05):
ask myself what am I going to do in this moment?
What am I call to do in this moment, and
for me is to get back into the ring and
fight because I was mayor for three of the four
years that he was President of the United States, and
I know what it took to stand up and fight
in twenty twenty and how I had to go to
(26:27):
bat for the people of Atlanta and the people of
Georgia as a whole because our governor wasn't making the
most sound decisions at that time. So in running and one,
I'm pushing back against all the craziness him and all
the things that he's pushing out. Medicaid expansion in Georgia
we don't have. Even before this big, ugly bill that
(26:49):
just came out of Congress, we already had three hundred
thousand people who didn't have health insurance. Alabama has medicate expansion,
Louisiana has Medicaid expansion. We don't have it in Georgia.
Making sure that people affordable housing was a big cornerstone
in my work as mayor, making sure that people can
live in dignity across the state, afford to live in
(27:11):
this state. Also, jobs, people want well paying jobs so
all of the things that we care about. These are
things that I want to promote and do my part
to make sure people are experiencing the best of who
we are as a state and to make sure that
we have solid leadership in this crazy moment that we're
(27:32):
all living.
Speaker 1 (27:33):
In now when they purge, like, I have so many questions,
but sitting here talking to you, you know, I'm a
political here because I'm not even like I'm on a
role because I'm just so excited about getting this information
and having this conversation. What about when they purged the
voting roles in the State of Georgia and the things
(27:55):
that they've done that they did, I believe to to
Stacey Abrams, how do you plan to fight against that?
And uh, I know it's going to be a fight
and a challenge just even in the you know, in
the in the primaries, but if you become the Democratic nominee,
(28:20):
how do you plan to fight against everything that they
will try to do to try to keep you from
becoming the governor of the State of Georgia.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
We got to run the numbers up so how that
there's no question I agree that there's no margin of
error that we we aren't counting the last ten votes
to try and figure out who want right that we
show up in such strong note numbers that it's very
clear that our ya has been our ya and our
name has been our name. Donald Trump is already trying
(28:52):
to put his thumb on the scale with this governor's race.
He's endorsed a lieutenant governor who was an election denier,
who tried to steal the airport from the City of Atlanta,
who is self funded candidate. So who is you know,
he's not having to answer see anybody. The only person
(29:14):
he's answering to is Donald Trump, and Donald Trump has
given his endorsement to him. So we gotta show up
and vote. We just cannot We can't give up. We
cannot give up because one election can make a difference.
It will make a difference in this state. So you
talk about this voter purge when you go in and
(29:36):
you vote for governor. Also you're gonna vote for a
senator US office. Back on the ballot, you're gonna vote
for the Secretary of State, who's controlling these voter rolls.
This huge voter purge. And even on top of that,
in Georgia, we have what we call motive voter registration.
When you go and get your driver's license, you can
say I want to register to vote at my address.
(29:59):
Do you know they turn that off really and claimed
it was a computer glitch, but it was turned off
for over a year, so thousands of people who otherwise
may have registered to vote. So you've got all these
people moving from northern cities and moving from across the
country who may lean with their political affiliation a certain way,
(30:22):
and you turn that voter registration off.
Speaker 5 (30:25):
You're tipping the scales.
Speaker 3 (30:27):
But it's the Secretary of State who controls that. It's
the governor who said we need motor voter registration in
the state. So these things matter, These elections matter.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Wow.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
What was it like working in the White House with
the Biden and Harris administration? What was the president like? Like,
I feel that's a greater compassment number one, being mayor
of Atlanta. Number two working on you know, with any
presidential administration.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
What was that like? And what was the president like
in person?
Speaker 1 (31:05):
I know he's funny, always cracking.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Jokes or whatever.
Speaker 1 (31:09):
What was it like waking up every morning going to
the White House?
Speaker 2 (31:12):
And what was your job? What was your day like.
Speaker 3 (31:15):
It was incredible.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
It was and compared to being the mayor of Atlanta.
Speaker 3 (31:20):
When you are support staff for someone, in my case,
it was support staff for the President of the United States,
it gives you an appreciation for how much your team
does to make you successful. It was hard work. I mean,
it's the White House. So I'll never forget sitting at
(31:41):
a state dinner and it was almost two o'clock in
the morning. I kept checking my phone, like, I know,
our morning meeting is gonna be canceled because every meeting
we would meet in the Roosevelt Room, which is just
outside the Oval Office, and I'm like, I know, we're
not gonna have this meeting in six hours.
Speaker 5 (31:57):
Was sure enough.
Speaker 3 (31:58):
We were all there, you know. So when I got
in at three o'clock that morning, you know, I closed
my eyes for a couple of minutes and had to
get back into the White House.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
So it's none stop.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
So the difference for me, you know, as opposed to
being the leader supporting a leader, that was a very
different experience for me, very humbling in a lot of ways. Presidents,
I mean President Biden's a great man. He cares deeply
about people. When you see him express empathy for people
(32:33):
and his care and concern like that.
Speaker 5 (32:35):
It's genuine.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
Going into the White House every day, I'll never forget.
I would go through the East Wing. You've been there
several times, so you can need to go through the
West Wing, which is where the offices are, or through
the East wing what's called the East Wing, where you
know they had parties and things like that. And I
would walk through the basement and there were cardboard by boxes.
Speaker 5 (33:00):
Usually because it's a staging area.
Speaker 3 (33:03):
And it always reminded me of my grandfather because it's
the smell reminded me of my grandfather because he used
to haul cardboard and paper out the buildings downtown. And
I would go through, and I go, Granddaddy, we're in
the White House.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (33:19):
Like I never took it for granted, Like, yes, we're
in the White House.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Sitting there in the Roosevelt Room was everything I couldn't
believe I was. I started out at the end of
the table and next you know, I'm sitting next to
Revenue Al, almost directly across from President Obama. I was
so embarrassed one time, Why did I have a snug
of fabric.
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Sheet hanging out of my sleeve.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
And get to get rid and to get roasted by
President Obama. I said one thing, no, I said, no
disrespects the president. I promise you my shirt. It's probably
the best smelling shirt in this room. And I couldnot
bleive in his age behind him in tears. Is the
fact that I was talking, asking a question and the
(34:04):
President noticed you have something.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
Well, you know, the White House is not big, it's
like a.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
Really cozy like that Roosevelt Room is small. So yes,
of course the President would notice that you had a
fabric sheet and.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
I'm just talking to fabric sheet. That means you used too.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Many that you want to smell good.
Speaker 2 (34:31):
I wanted to smell good, you know.
Speaker 3 (34:32):
But then I mean, you think about the representation. For me,
it was being able to sit in the White House.
And I remember sitting across from the resolute desk in
the office and President Buying saying, Keisha, what do you think?
And I just talked to myself. I bet you that
question has never been asked here before, Keisha, what do
you think? In all office?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Right?
Speaker 3 (34:53):
So you know, being there, you're representing who you are
and all the people you bring with you on your
show and the wind beneath your wings, like it it's
a really big deal, wow, because a lot of us
don't get to walk a lot of people don't get
to walk through those gates. And to be a voice
(35:14):
and to represent us in those rooms, I mean, it's
an honor.
Speaker 1 (35:19):
Yeah, it was just amazing to me to see you
at the Christmas party in the White House, knowing that
we met in the lobby at the radio station Hot
one on seventy.
Speaker 2 (35:26):
Nine, you know, Bruh Sorrow and came on the morning
show in full circle.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
We are in the White House at the Christmas party
and it's like it's like we made eye contact and
the big old hook and I'm just I.
Speaker 2 (35:41):
Have to personally say, like it just give me chilled,
Like I'm.
Speaker 1 (35:44):
Really really proud of you, and like I think people
from all over the country will be excited about your
race for governor and we'll.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Support you well.
Speaker 3 (35:53):
And you know what, Rickyavin really fortunate. I have gotten
a lot of support from across the country. Obviously, people
in Georgia can vote, but everybody knows everybody has a cousin,
a friend, or somebody who lives in the state that
you can encourage them to register to vote, to show
up a vote, but.
Speaker 5 (36:12):
Also you can send your money.
Speaker 3 (36:14):
So first forty one days of the campaign, I had
seventy one hundred donations from across the country. Over half
the counties in Georgia people donated. Average donation was less
than one hundred dollars. People were sending me five dollars,
ten dollars like it.
Speaker 5 (36:33):
It all matters.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
So I really believe, for some reason, I really believed
that you could go down and those rural area of
Georgia and get people that normally vote Republican and win
them over because I think people also regardless of their
party affiliation, won't decency back, you know, in government, and
(36:57):
don't like everything that they've seen. I really believe that
you could go and knock on some of those doors,
and sit at some of those tables and have some
great conversations and get people out to vote for you.
What how do you feel about that? And have you
had some of that? Have you talked to people like that?
Speaker 5 (37:13):
I certainly have.
Speaker 3 (37:14):
I there's someone I know who's a very staunch Republican
who sent me a check wow, because he supports me
as a candidate and he believes that I'm a sober
minded person who makes sound decisions.
Speaker 5 (37:37):
And I don't think that's a one off.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
I think there are a lot of people out there
who want solid representation. They're not necessarily stuck on whether
you're a Democrat or Republican. A lot of people identifies
as independent voters. Sometimes they vote Republicans, sometimes they vote Democrat.
But I'm not going to surrender or soon that anybody
(38:02):
will or or will not vote for me. I'm gonna
work to earn votes. I'm not gonna assume because I
look a certain way, because I identify a certain way,
that people will vote for me. But I'm also not
gonna assume that they won't be supportive of me. So
I'm gonna work to earn votes across the state.
Speaker 2 (38:21):
So, so we need everybody to t I.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Uh, it's been supportive. Yeah, the t I gave me
a check already, you know, I mean, you know, and.
Speaker 5 (38:36):
Money is not everything. Let me be clear about that.
Speaker 3 (38:40):
You have to have financial support so you can get
to these places and hire people in these places. But
t I, my brother has always been supportive. Uh. He
and Killer Mike, And you know, I got a call
in the two chains. I got to call in the candy.
Rashidah is on boy you know, so, I guess.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
We'll text you when you found out sit that text message.
Let's go that you did, Come on, now you did and.
Speaker 1 (39:08):
All gap, let's go you with the file like listen,
so you know I'm I'm boring. And if anybody want
to make a campaign contribution or get on board to
help you with your campaign, look right there in that
camera and you let them know how they can find you,
how they can follow you on social media all of that.
Speaker 3 (39:29):
So if you want to see me make mac and
cheese and things, you can follow me on my personal
page Keisha Bottoms on Instagram. The campaign is Keisha for Georgia.
You can also go to Keisha for Georgia dot com
sign up to volunteer. We're sending volunteers out weekly. Nothing's
(39:51):
too big or too small. If you want to donate
all that informations on that campaign page.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
No, no, just don't have nothing to do with policies.
You brought up macaroni and cheese. Something to put your
on the little game because I used to have a
cooking show. Okay, first of all.
Speaker 2 (40:05):
You got do you boil your noodles? In chicken broth
and garlic. I do not, okay, something to put you on.
Some game I can put you on. I have a
witness or sitting right over there.
Speaker 3 (40:16):
I made some macaroni and cheese, rice and chicken bro Okay,
So imagine if the noodles are so good that you
could eat the noodles by themselves, Imagine how they would
taste with macaroni and cheese. I yes, and text me,
I'll see you in the recipe.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
I walk you through it. Okay, macaroni and cheese is
only dairy and pasta, and it's just okay. But when
you season it right, as a matter of fact, in
the Bahamas, you dice you up a little small handful
of onions and some red peppers. That's sweet, the sweet peppers,
and you caramelize them. You put that over in your
(40:53):
macaroni and cheese.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
Oh my god, oh my god.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
First of all, let's go ahead and just boil the
noodles and garlic against garlic and some chicken broth.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Right, you can eat the noodles by themselves. Okay. So
when you do that, you take you some cage and
seasoning and you.
Speaker 1 (41:10):
Sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, sprinkle, and you put some parsley
off in that baby, and some black pepper. Now you
can smell it. You can smell it. That's part of
your taste. But so now you're smelling it. And when
you put that sharp cheese on top, put some proxy
on top, and go ahead and make that thing.
Speaker 3 (41:27):
Listen how the ladies in the church basement in Birmingham
feel about.
Speaker 2 (41:32):
Oh, they love it.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
They love it because when I cook in Birmingham, some
of my grandmother friends are still living, I take them.
They said, Baby, that's the best macaroni in what you
put in it? Really absolutely Okay, next time you make Sime,
text me and I'm gonna walk you through it, all right.
And for the kids, now you go ahead and put
your somem to the side. For the kids, go ahead
(41:55):
and put some frosty flakes in the blunder and put
the frosty flakes on top of them macaroni and.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
Cheese, and make it.
Speaker 1 (42:01):
And it just gives you a light golden crust that's
slightly sweet, and the kids will lose their mind. I
put that recipe out one Thanksgiving and people went crazy.
The reviews is crazy. I'll come over there. I'm back
in Atlanta, so let me know. I'll come over there.
It sounds delicious, absolutely so, ladies and gentlemen, I am
(42:23):
a wedding honor to be sitting here having a conversation
with you. I wish you the best, and we are
so excited for you, ladies and gentlemen.
Speaker 2 (42:32):
I don't even know how to close this thing, because
this is real. This is like one of my.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
Favorite interviews right here. We've been doing this podcast, but
I was so excited. I didn't get to ask you know,
I having to ask you like I have. Okay, let's
do this right quickly, quick, rapid fire game these just quickly,
all right, okay, let's go just for fun. We was
deep because I can. I can talk to you all
day on politics.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
I can go, Yes, you can. Yeah, So let's go.
Here we go. Best Southern comfort food spot in Atlanta.
Speaker 4 (43:04):
Piccadilly, y'all, y'all, let me say Green Bri Piccadilly South Potatoes.
Speaker 2 (43:17):
They do.
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Piccadilly.
Speaker 2 (43:24):
When I tell you, I love Piccadill Okay, oh man.
Most underrated thing about.
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Being mayor, most underrated thing about being mayor. Oh, I
don't know. Most underrated, underrated thing about being oh plain
sight service.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
Okay, yeah, awesome, all right, one politician passed or president
that you would love to sit down and.
Speaker 5 (43:50):
Have dinner with Barack Obama?
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Absolutely absolutely, all right if politics disappeared tomorrow.
Speaker 2 (43:56):
What job would you do?
Speaker 3 (43:58):
Be a radio DJ?
Speaker 2 (44:00):
Come on, come on, you can be on Rick Spider
Boys show.
Speaker 5 (44:03):
I used to be a DJ in college.
Speaker 2 (44:05):
Yes, on Joe Bullet Station. There that was.
Speaker 3 (44:10):
My work setdy job. What okay, I'm the traffic director
and the DJ.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Come on now, all.
Speaker 1 (44:15):
Right, what's the one song that always gets you hype
before a big speech?
Speaker 2 (44:20):
You'll come on. What's your hight song?
Speaker 3 (44:22):
My hype song? I love it when people do an
intro with me from one of my daddy's songs. Okay, hey,
little girl monkey time. It just you know, it just
makes my heart skip a beat.
Speaker 1 (44:34):
There you go, all right, and before we wrap it up,
you're running for governor Georgia.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
What did your grandmother teach you about fighting back?
Speaker 3 (44:43):
Oh? That you done back down from bullies, right and
that and it always works for for our good?
Speaker 2 (44:52):
All right, there it is, y'all.
Speaker 1 (44:54):
Thank you so much for joining me on this episode
of the podcast.
Speaker 2 (44:58):
Is there are anything else you like.
Speaker 3 (45:00):
Dad, I'll just end it with a good old dad.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Are ladies and gentlemen can your Lance bottles?
Speaker 3 (45:09):
Yeah? Thank you, thank you,
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