August 19, 2023 • 25 mins
This week we are joined by Jacob Raiford AKA Roqy Tyraid…the notable emcee/activist! He sits down to discuss the importance of holding public office as well as his personal journey and how folks can follow in his footsteps.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am
your host Ramsey's job. Big shout out to my guy Q.
Ward was on the other side of the world in Italy.
Wow right now. Wow, he's living his life to the
fullest and also impacting the world. So that don't fear
(00:20):
it's not just a vacation. He is bringing a little
bit more joy and kindness to this planet as he does.
But fortunately we have a special guest in studio with
us today, Jacob Rayford, better known to me at least
as Rocky Tirade. Now, for those that don't know, my
(00:41):
background is in hip hop broadcasting, not necessarily social justice
and so forth. And Rocky as I know him, is
a longtime contributor to the many shows that I've done
on the radio. Rocky as an artist but also Rocky
and Jacob has really leaned into activism, i'd say more
(01:06):
or less around the same time as Q and I did,
around twenty twenty. I know you've always been active, as
have we, but around that time we realized that there
was a need or rather more from people like us
and leadership petitions and so today we're going to be
talking to Rocky about let's be honest about the importance
(01:27):
of holding office, because that is a space where you
have been very effective and you've been able to shape
some outcomes. And then for the second half of the show,
we're going to discuss some of the outcomes that you've
helped shape. In particular, there's been a story that has
made national headlines about, you know, especially in Arizona, about
(01:47):
people not being able to film the police, and how
you've been instrumental and pushing back on that and actually
getting that overturned. So a lot to look forward to
in today's show. But first and foremost, like we always
do it, this time, let's get into some Ebony excellence.
So today's Ebny Excellence is sponsored by Major Threads for
(02:08):
innovative fashionable sportswear. Checkmajorthreads dot com. I'm going to be
sharing from ABC seven Chicago, and I'm going to do
this in honor of all of my skiwee's out there
across the country. So the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has
incorporated its own credit union, Bravo. The four Members Only
(02:30):
or FMO credit union is the first black owned woman
led sorority based digital banking financial institution in the history
of the United States. The Akas are one of America's
oldest service organizations founded by college educated African American women,
with nearly half a million members worldwide. Everyone quote, everyone
doesn't understand the impact we make financially, so you have
(02:52):
to start doing things so folks know we know how
to control our money, said Dennette Anthony Reid, International President
and of the AKA Sorority. FMO's grand opening at the
group's international headquarters in Chicago coincided with the one hundred
and fifteen year old Sororities Leadership Conference. The FMO is chartered, regulated,
(03:12):
and insured by the National Credit Union Administration. In other words,
it's official and while for primary savings, loans, and other
banking services during its first year of operations, it's open
to AKA members, their immediate families, AKA staff, and credit
union employees. I have another quote for you. Every member
will be an owner of the credit union, said Terry
(03:33):
Bradford Easen, FMO Federal Credit Union Executive Director. The first
of its kind credit union is based in part on
the sorority six initiatives, which include building economic wealth plans
for the Credit Union began a few years ago with
the idea to create economic health and financial stability for
women of color. So again, shout out to the Skiwe's.
(03:54):
Shout out to doctor Westernberg. She's the main ski wie
in my life. Oh maybe Dodor Westerburg and big shout out. Yeah,
so really proud of you all. All right, onto my guest. Now,
I did my best to kind of give you a
bit of an introduction, but I know that there's a
lot more to it, and so, uh for everyone listening,
(04:18):
I would like to go through this line by line. Sure,
but before I get there, let let's talk a little
bit about, uh, who you were and and sort of
what led you to being more of an activist. I
kind of give a quick and dirty version of serve.
But I think it's important for our listeners to.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Know that I mean artist, yeah right, yeah, you know,
being MC artists, you know, performer.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
It's just hip hop has been part of my life.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, you know, I'm preaching to the choir like
you and body hip hop in multiple ways. I mean
both in terms of your contribution, in terms of your
family's contribution. Like it's just what we are so you know,
I've been you know, part of you know, the hip
hop realm for some time, doing my best to represent Phoenix,
Arizona on my travels both you know, regionally, nationally internationally,
you know, regarded as someone who's nice with the pen,
(05:08):
who's able to put together some complex lyricism and things
of that nature. And because of my own individual perspectives,
there's always been things that I incorporated into like my
art that has been I guess considered to be socially
conscious and things that that nature challenging, challenging series, totally
unintentional stuff. But you know, because of that, I've been
pulled into specific areas.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And you know.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That led to me being a part of various social
justice movements since the early twenty tens, going back as
far as Occupy Wall Street times we had occupied Phoenix,
and you know, the various unfortunate issues that would occur
over the over the following years when it comes to
police brutality and you know, one of the many faces
that would show up in those spaces and whatnot. But really,
(05:53):
at that time I was moving solely strictly as as
an MC, as an artist and doing everything from knocking
at your wake up shows to you know, putting out
to you know, wreckers with green lantern and all sorts
of things. And you know, life ended up pulling me
in a different direction while you know, still leading as
an artist, but being being a musician is always something
(06:14):
that's been very like just foundationally a part of who
I am as a human being.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Sure. Sure, now I noticed that you got in a
little bit of a slight you know plug there. You're
like regionally nationally and then internationally. And I don't want
our listeners to think. For the listeners that maybe they
haven't become familiar with your music yet or anything like that.
(06:41):
I don't want them to think, Okay, because I haven't
heard his music yet, that that means he's not really
booming on that level. The fact that you really are.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Yeah, yeah, right, so I'll take that, Yeah, yeah, is hilarium.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, I could be here for a little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I mean I'm rocky to raid, you know, quintessential artist MC,
Cultivator of Culture, prevailable punchlines, hardest working man to flow
business in this moment in time. You know, what I've
been doing is really uplifting the bars when it comes
to you know, Phoenix lyricism out here, you know, one
of the few people that was at that time able
to you know, take that flag and stamp that all
across like the indie sphere and what have you. You don't
(07:22):
have to be a triple A artist to find your
own level of success. And I've been very fortunate, very blessed,
very honored to be able to travel the world and
you know, represent this culture that has given me so
much life. I say all the time, I'm just a
fourteen year old kid in the back of the city bus,
listens to mixed CDs I burnt off like lime Wire
and everything. So to be able to, you know, contribute
(07:44):
to this culture that I hold so so near and
dear is it's it's it's been amazing. So you know,
there's so many different people that you can check out,
so many different avenues. But for my following, I hate
using the term cult because you know, there's certain connotations
that come with it, but like my kind of base
and what have you been very supportive over the years,
and it's allowed me the ability to, like, you know,
(08:06):
use this artist a platform to talk about things that
you know, can resonate with with people. You know, all
in the spirit of like MC and in the spirit
of you know how we said, peace, love, unity, have
a fun dropping knowledge.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So exactly so when you talk about that as a
sort of baseline for your brand, you know, MC thought leader, entertainer, performer,
and then you transition into a community leader, an activist,
(08:43):
and a person who's kind of immersed in a different
way into the culture. Obviously, I'm my belief and I'm
sure you would agree, is that you'll forever be an artist.
Sometimes artistic people it kind of themes from them, and
I found part and there's been a bit of an
intersection between your art and your activism, and I think
(09:04):
that that is something that shows growth on your part.
But it's inspired art and it's inspired activism as well.
It's it's a different type of activism from you know,
the sort of we shall overcome type of activism. Now
I want to talk about not only that, but sort
of what has come as a result of that. So
(09:25):
first thing. Jacob Rayford aka Rocky Tirade is the co
chair for the Maricopa County Democratic Parties Black Engagement Committee.
Now we're talking about the importance of holding office, and
I'll make a point a little bit later. First off,
talk to us about what that means being the co
chair for the Americopa County Democratic Democratic Parties Black Engagement Committee.
(09:49):
What is what does that entail?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
You know, I feel like I me and people, you know,
my peers within that committee serve as a conduit, you know,
between like the community and you know, politics and what
have you. You know, there is justifiable cynicism when it
comes to politics and you know, historically speaking you know,
the black community and what have you. So to be
able to kind of use this platform as a means
(10:12):
to engage with people and show them that, you know,
we can be politically empowered, show up in unison and
move as a community. You know, that's one of the
many aspects that the Black Engagement Community Champions are community
champions and what have you.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
So everything from.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Voter registration, speaking about various policies, you know, things that
are relevant to our community, and kind of channeling that
through our legislative districts because you do have you have
your school districts, you have your you know, congressional districts,
and you have something called the legislative district. And within
that legislative district is where your lawmakers where your state
come from. So you know, you have your state House
(10:49):
or representatives and your state senators and that's where your
laws are generated and pushed through to the governor and
the governor signs it off and what have you. But
you know, we are able to point to people's legislative
districts empower them to become what is called a precinct
committee person, show up to these meetings and it's just
once a month meetings. Anybody can do this and you know,
champion the things that matter to their community, be able
(11:12):
to engage in those small level political actions like you know,
voting for or championing for various candidates to come out
of their communities and thereby, over time change the landscape politically.
Speaking of their legislative districts, I mean their communities, I mean,
for instance, I'm a legislative district eight and tenper Arizona.
So that's like for those who may not be aware
of how that works, it's kind of like broken off
(11:35):
into various parts of community, so it might intersect intersect
in between different communities. Say, my legislative district in my
community is North Tempier, Arizona, East Phoenix Northwest Mesa, South Scottsdale.
So you know, as you can see someone who understands
that the has a familiarity with the community here, it
takes over various parts of communities and what have you,
(11:57):
and that is where the law for our state is
based out of. So when you think of the Black
Engagement Committee, you think of, you know, community representatives that
are also engaged in the political party who can serve
as a bridge between the neighborhoods and the political party
and then using that as a means to empower other
people to do the same.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Okay, so now here's the thing that I thought was
relevant for today's episode. So recently on the Black Information
Network Daily Podcasted, which is another show that I do,
I had doctor Camilla Westernberg as a guest, the one
that we referred to earlier in the show as our
(12:36):
favorite ski we Yeah, they always get mad and I
call them ski Weez. But anyway, doctor Westernberg had a
conversation with me recently about some of the goings on
in Florida, particularly the goings on relative to the educational
(12:57):
standards or the changing educational stand there and a lot
of that that takes place in Florida. And indeed around
the country. I'm not gonna suggest that, you know, the
governor of Florida has nothing to do with it, because
clearly he does. But a lot of that has to
do with just people getting involved, getting engaged, showing up
(13:21):
to school board meetings, on and on and on, getting elected, right, absolutely,
And so for people that think running for office really
entails I have to be the governor, or I have
to be the senator, or you know, something like that
that feels a little uh, might might feel yeah, and
(13:41):
a little bit beyond what their capabilities would or rather
their circumstances would allow. Uh. You know, there are other
other ways to get involved in, other ways to get active.
I don't believe that the things that you do, at
least to me, they don't seem particularly taxing, and indeed,
(14:02):
when you talk about them, it's just kind of a
base level. I care about this issue. I'm willing to
dedicate some time to it and make some meaningful inroads
or an impact. And what happens is a lot of
times the deeply conservative opposition to our positions they are
engaged way more than liberal things are. In fact, I
(14:27):
quoted Malcolm X, I believe it was who said that
we are not outnumbered, we are out organized. And so
that's why I kind of wanted to talk to you
today about how significant it is to hold not necessarily
elected positions, but to hold some sort of position in
(14:50):
the community where you are given a voice. And so,
while we're on the subject of the exact, yeah, the
Democratic Party's Black Engagement Committee talk to us about how
a person gets to that position, right, So.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
I mean that's a specific committee, but when you talk
about being organized, I mean the whole concept of converting
people into what is you know, in a official title,
which is a precinct committee man woman person. That is
a form of organizing in itself. I mean, I've been
involved in politics for a few years now, but it
took about a year and a half or so for
me to understand or be educated on what a precinc
(15:27):
committee person is. Because unless you're deeply involved in the
day to day actions of say local politics, you may
not know what it is. But it's one of those
things where you know, by itself, there is not it
is not significant by itself. Yes, it's important by itself, like,
but when you think about organizing groups of precinct committee
(15:48):
people to vote on behalf of a specific by law
that thereby shape your legislative district, or to help vote
for things that pertain to the Americopa County Democratic Party,
or to even run for office for like low level
office in your legislative district. Say you want to be
the chair, the co chair, the secretary of the treasurer
(16:08):
and have this like foundational infrastructural influence on your legislative district,
meaning a huge part of your city or community. You
could do that, or run for office within your the
Americopa County Democratic Party in itself. You can be say
the chair or the vice chair, or have this infrastructural
like influential.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Role in you know, for speaking.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I know this is very local and this is broadcast
to you know, various communities, but this applies to all
of your communities. You can be influential in, you know,
from a county standpoint, for your entire party. Now you
have somebody from your community who's able to speak to
things that they know from a first hand perspective, show up, effect.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Change, and you know, do that in a way that.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Benefits your community and benefits you know, the push towards
a more progressive society. Sure, so when you speak of
like alcome X's quote, that is one of the ways
in which we can do that. Because as someone who
is helping organize the protest back in twenty twenty twenty,
one of the things that we're telling people is that
this is a pivot towards policy change. Protesting is a
pivot towards policy change. And at the end of the day,
(17:15):
everything starts and ends around policy. So to be involved
in say a Black Engagement committee, or just to be
someone who is involved in local politics, that is a
means of affecting policy change because you're naturally going to
create ripples in that water just by being involved and
like educating people and how to do that. And it's
(17:36):
something it's so minimal, and it's really what you can
make of it. If you want to be completely involved
in a day to day basis and you want to
show up in canvas and knockdoors, and or you want
to call in phone bank and convince people to be
more politically engaged, okay, cool.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
If you have family.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
If you have a family, a growing family, if you're
nine to five, is taking you away or say you're
having I don't know given a climate they're in right now,
financial troubles and you're too stressed to think about things
going on at that particular time, It's okay, but just
be registered to be able to affect change when those
opportunities present itself, when those times to vote present itself,
(18:13):
when those times to prepare your community to vote and
show up in mass in order to affect change at
the ballot shows up. So it's one of those things
that is the foundation of like political organizing. It's being
a precinct committee person. And I feel that, inadvertently or
maybe intentionally, given the conversation that you want to have,
(18:33):
we have been bottlenecked from being able to be involved
in that. So me showing up as someone from outside
of this political landscape now recognizing this information, I'm trying
to impart this information on other individuals so they can
go out there, become their own platform and you know,
within their own ecosystem, bringing other people in, and we
just create that ripple effect and then within our specific
community we build a stronger black political presence.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Well said, so well said, So I think that you
touched on something really significant, because if I'm honest, I
once upon a time felt that holding any sort of
office came with a lot of pressure, came with a
(19:17):
lot of responsibility, and I'm sure that they all do.
But these specific type of pressures and responsibilities included fundraising.
I have to raise money to you know, to launch
a campaign. I have to be extremely educated on all
the issues and issues that aren't even relevant to the
(19:41):
particular task that I'm trying to perform. I have to
you know, not work. I have to you know, on
and on and on. I just I the monster that
it became prevented me from kind of looking in a
general direction. And as I began to associate with people
(20:02):
who were holding elected office, I realize that absolutely that's
true for different positions, for different positions, but it's not
true for every position. And there's a level, there's different
levels of engagement, and there's a space for everyone, everyone
who chooses to be engaged beyond a cam registered to vote.
(20:22):
I cast a voute every four years or every two years,
hopefully it's every two years at least, But there's a
level of engagement beyond that. And I think that that's
significant because you know, as you mentioned, the more information
that makes its way to us, the more we feel like,
or rather the better we're able to determine the degree
(20:44):
to which we've been disenfranchised, right, And you know, for
those people who have been affected fiscally, for those people
who realize that they have to work two nine to
fives and ultimately happened upon the truth that their life
should not be this way. Life should not be a
cap to work. And then I get old and then
I die, and that's what I did with my life.
(21:05):
That doesn't seem right. And people make money off of
me so that they could live good and I cannot
get out of my circumstances easily. And when I do,
there are systems and external forces in place that prevent that.
And there's this narrative that suggests that education and hard
work are the keys to accessing the fortune that you know,
(21:27):
these other people enjoy, which the boots. Yeah, yeah, for
the most part, that is not realistic and it's not accurate.
There's tons of people who are educated and live the
same life as you know, the poorest of us. There's
tons of people who you know, the bootstrappy sort of language.
This narrative that exists to suggest that everyone is in
(21:49):
their own predicament as a result of their own choices,
and there are not systemic issues present that are suppressing
people's rightful life paths. Right, So, for folks that feel
like they should push back against the life that they
(22:10):
have been kind of forced into, boxed into, political engagement
is one way of affecting change that maybe you can
enjoy in your lifetime. And if not, do you want
your children to live as tough a life as you.
And so I appreciate having learned really through watching you
(22:31):
and a handful of other people become engaged in formal capacities.
You know, I never left radio, so this is still
I'm still in the nest. I'm still very comfortable here.
But you absolutely have done that, and that's something that
I've always done my best to commend you for and say,
you know how proud I am of you. But also
(22:52):
you've made it less of a monster than it once
was good. And I think that it's important for us
to suggest to those would be activists or sorry, those
would be individuals who would be politically engaged beyond again
casting a vote every two years, it's important to suggest
(23:14):
that you're a living, breathing example of how engagement can
enhance your life. Can allow you to create change in
your community and doesn't necessarily cost you so much to
where it's prohibitive. So I appreciate you saying.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Thank you, yeah, and thank thank you for mentioning that
that last part, because you know, I myself was once
you know, hit with like imposter syndrome and you know,
especially like working in the ACLU. And we could talk
about that later, but you know, looking at this like
the political landscape is like this huge monolith and almost
being really being intimidated by that because you know, I'm
an MC and things of that nature. And first I
(23:51):
started recognizing and that's that's like that kind of Eurocentric
like centering around around what professionalism is. Because at the
end of the day, like I was still able to
go from being an MC to being in these rooms
of people who have been you know, politically engaged, going
back as far as like the you know, courses of
study that they took in university and what have you.
And because at the end of the day, like this
(24:13):
all is about community engagement. Everything centers around the neighborhoods,
the families, the working class families, you know, the people
who are on the receiving end of policy change, And
so who better than people from around the neighborhoods to
show up and be engaged in whatever way, shape or form.
And like I'm saying, and like I'm saying, you know
(24:36):
you don't have to be There's different levels you could
run for office, and like from you could run for
like a high level office, so you can be a
precinct committee person at the very bottom of you know
this line, or like tiers of like political engagement and
still affect change and ways that work for you.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
All right, hold that thought. We're gonna come right back
after this school
Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. I'd like to
welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher. I am
your host Ramsey's job. Big shout out to my guy Q.
Ward was on the other side of the world in Italy.
Wow right now. Wow, he's living his life to the
fullest and also impacting the world. So that don't fear
(00:20):
it's not just a vacation. He is bringing a little
bit more joy and kindness to this planet as he does.
But fortunately we have a special guest in studio with
us today, Jacob Rayford, better known to me at least
as Rocky Tirade. Now, for those that don't know, my
(00:41):
background is in hip hop broadcasting, not necessarily social justice
and so forth. And Rocky as I know him, is
a longtime contributor to the many shows that I've done
on the radio. Rocky as an artist but also Rocky
and Jacob has really leaned into activism, i'd say more
(01:06):
or less around the same time as Q and I did,
around twenty twenty. I know you've always been active, as
have we, but around that time we realized that there
was a need or rather more from people like us
and leadership petitions and so today we're going to be
talking to Rocky about let's be honest about the importance
(01:27):
of holding office, because that is a space where you
have been very effective and you've been able to shape
some outcomes. And then for the second half of the show,
we're going to discuss some of the outcomes that you've
helped shape. In particular, there's been a story that has
made national headlines about, you know, especially in Arizona, about
(01:47):
people not being able to film the police, and how
you've been instrumental and pushing back on that and actually
getting that overturned. So a lot to look forward to
in today's show. But first and foremost, like we always
do it, this time, let's get into some Ebony excellence.
So today's Ebny Excellence is sponsored by Major Threads for
(02:08):
innovative fashionable sportswear. Checkmajorthreads dot com. I'm going to be
sharing from ABC seven Chicago, and I'm going to do
this in honor of all of my skiwee's out there
across the country. So the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority has
incorporated its own credit union, Bravo. The four Members Only
(02:30):
or FMO credit union is the first black owned woman
led sorority based digital banking financial institution in the history
of the United States. The Akas are one of America's
oldest service organizations founded by college educated African American women,
with nearly half a million members worldwide. Everyone quote, everyone
doesn't understand the impact we make financially, so you have
(02:52):
to start doing things so folks know we know how
to control our money, said Dennette Anthony Reid, International President
and of the AKA Sorority. FMO's grand opening at the
group's international headquarters in Chicago coincided with the one hundred
and fifteen year old Sororities Leadership Conference. The FMO is chartered, regulated,
(03:12):
and insured by the National Credit Union Administration. In other words,
it's official and while for primary savings, loans, and other
banking services during its first year of operations, it's open
to AKA members, their immediate families, AKA staff, and credit
union employees. I have another quote for you. Every member
will be an owner of the credit union, said Terry
(03:33):
Bradford Easen, FMO Federal Credit Union Executive Director. The first
of its kind credit union is based in part on
the sorority six initiatives, which include building economic wealth plans
for the Credit Union began a few years ago with
the idea to create economic health and financial stability for
women of color. So again, shout out to the Skiwe's.
(03:54):
Shout out to doctor Westernberg. She's the main ski wie
in my life. Oh maybe Dodor Westerburg and big shout out. Yeah,
so really proud of you all. All right, onto my guest. Now,
I did my best to kind of give you a
bit of an introduction, but I know that there's a
lot more to it, and so, uh for everyone listening,
(04:18):
I would like to go through this line by line. Sure,
but before I get there, let let's talk a little
bit about, uh, who you were and and sort of
what led you to being more of an activist. I
kind of give a quick and dirty version of serve.
But I think it's important for our listeners to.
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Know that I mean artist, yeah right, yeah, you know,
being MC artists, you know, performer.
Speaker 1 (04:45):
It's just hip hop has been part of my life.
Speaker 2 (04:46):
I mean, you know, I'm preaching to the choir like
you and body hip hop in multiple ways. I mean
both in terms of your contribution, in terms of your
family's contribution. Like it's just what we are so you know,
I've been you know, part of you know, the hip
hop realm for some time, doing my best to represent Phoenix,
Arizona on my travels both you know, regionally, nationally internationally,
you know, regarded as someone who's nice with the pen,
(05:08):
who's able to put together some complex lyricism and things
of that nature. And because of my own individual perspectives,
there's always been things that I incorporated into like my
art that has been I guess considered to be socially
conscious and things that that nature challenging, challenging series, totally
unintentional stuff. But you know, because of that, I've been
pulled into specific areas.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
And you know.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That led to me being a part of various social
justice movements since the early twenty tens, going back as
far as Occupy Wall Street times we had occupied Phoenix,
and you know, the various unfortunate issues that would occur
over the over the following years when it comes to
police brutality and you know, one of the many faces
that would show up in those spaces and whatnot. But really,
(05:53):
at that time I was moving solely strictly as as
an MC, as an artist and doing everything from knocking
at your wake up shows to you know, putting out
to you know, wreckers with green lantern and all sorts
of things. And you know, life ended up pulling me
in a different direction while you know, still leading as
an artist, but being being a musician is always something
(06:14):
that's been very like just foundationally a part of who
I am as a human being.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Sure. Sure, now I noticed that you got in a
little bit of a slight you know plug there. You're
like regionally nationally and then internationally. And I don't want
our listeners to think. For the listeners that maybe they
haven't become familiar with your music yet or anything like that.
(06:41):
I don't want them to think, Okay, because I haven't
heard his music yet, that that means he's not really
booming on that level. The fact that you really are.
Speaker 3 (06:49):
Yeah, yeah, right, so I'll take that, Yeah, yeah, is hilarium.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, I could be here for a little bit. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:02):
I mean I'm rocky to raid, you know, quintessential artist MC,
Cultivator of Culture, prevailable punchlines, hardest working man to flow
business in this moment in time. You know, what I've
been doing is really uplifting the bars when it comes
to you know, Phoenix lyricism out here, you know, one
of the few people that was at that time able
to you know, take that flag and stamp that all
across like the indie sphere and what have you. You don't
(07:22):
have to be a triple A artist to find your
own level of success. And I've been very fortunate, very blessed,
very honored to be able to travel the world and
you know, represent this culture that has given me so
much life. I say all the time, I'm just a
fourteen year old kid in the back of the city bus,
listens to mixed CDs I burnt off like lime Wire
and everything. So to be able to, you know, contribute
(07:44):
to this culture that I hold so so near and
dear is it's it's it's been amazing. So you know,
there's so many different people that you can check out,
so many different avenues. But for my following, I hate
using the term cult because you know, there's certain connotations
that come with it, but like my kind of base
and what have you been very supportive over the years,
and it's allowed me the ability to, like, you know,
(08:06):
use this artist a platform to talk about things that
you know, can resonate with with people. You know, all
in the spirit of like MC and in the spirit
of you know how we said, peace, love, unity, have
a fun dropping knowledge.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
So exactly so when you talk about that as a
sort of baseline for your brand, you know, MC thought leader, entertainer, performer,
and then you transition into a community leader, an activist,
(08:43):
and a person who's kind of immersed in a different
way into the culture. Obviously, I'm my belief and I'm
sure you would agree, is that you'll forever be an artist.
Sometimes artistic people it kind of themes from them, and
I found part and there's been a bit of an
intersection between your art and your activism, and I think
(09:04):
that that is something that shows growth on your part.
But it's inspired art and it's inspired activism as well.
It's it's a different type of activism from you know,
the sort of we shall overcome type of activism. Now
I want to talk about not only that, but sort
of what has come as a result of that. So
(09:25):
first thing. Jacob Rayford aka Rocky Tirade is the co
chair for the Maricopa County Democratic Parties Black Engagement Committee.
Now we're talking about the importance of holding office, and
I'll make a point a little bit later. First off,
talk to us about what that means being the co
chair for the Americopa County Democratic Democratic Parties Black Engagement Committee.
(09:49):
What is what does that entail?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
You know, I feel like I me and people, you know,
my peers within that committee serve as a conduit, you know,
between like the community and you know, politics and what
have you. You know, there is justifiable cynicism when it
comes to politics and you know, historically speaking you know,
the black community and what have you. So to be
able to kind of use this platform as a means
(10:12):
to engage with people and show them that, you know,
we can be politically empowered, show up in unison and
move as a community. You know, that's one of the
many aspects that the Black Engagement Community Champions are community
champions and what have you.
Speaker 1 (10:25):
So everything from.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Voter registration, speaking about various policies, you know, things that
are relevant to our community, and kind of channeling that
through our legislative districts because you do have you have
your school districts, you have your you know, congressional districts,
and you have something called the legislative district. And within
that legislative district is where your lawmakers where your state
come from. So you know, you have your state House
(10:49):
or representatives and your state senators and that's where your
laws are generated and pushed through to the governor and
the governor signs it off and what have you. But
you know, we are able to point to people's legislative
districts empower them to become what is called a precinct
committee person, show up to these meetings and it's just
once a month meetings. Anybody can do this and you know,
champion the things that matter to their community, be able
(11:12):
to engage in those small level political actions like you know,
voting for or championing for various candidates to come out
of their communities and thereby, over time change the landscape politically.
Speaking of their legislative districts, I mean their communities, I mean,
for instance, I'm a legislative district eight and tenper Arizona.
So that's like for those who may not be aware
of how that works, it's kind of like broken off
(11:35):
into various parts of community, so it might intersect intersect
in between different communities. Say, my legislative district in my
community is North Tempier, Arizona, East Phoenix Northwest Mesa, South Scottsdale.
So you know, as you can see someone who understands
that the has a familiarity with the community here, it
takes over various parts of communities and what have you,
(11:57):
and that is where the law for our state is
based out of. So when you think of the Black
Engagement Committee, you think of, you know, community representatives that
are also engaged in the political party who can serve
as a bridge between the neighborhoods and the political party
and then using that as a means to empower other
people to do the same.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Okay, so now here's the thing that I thought was
relevant for today's episode. So recently on the Black Information
Network Daily Podcasted, which is another show that I do,
I had doctor Camilla Westernberg as a guest, the one
that we referred to earlier in the show as our
(12:36):
favorite ski we Yeah, they always get mad and I
call them ski Weez. But anyway, doctor Westernberg had a
conversation with me recently about some of the goings on
in Florida, particularly the goings on relative to the educational
(12:57):
standards or the changing educational stand there and a lot
of that that takes place in Florida. And indeed around
the country. I'm not gonna suggest that, you know, the
governor of Florida has nothing to do with it, because
clearly he does. But a lot of that has to
do with just people getting involved, getting engaged, showing up
(13:21):
to school board meetings, on and on and on, getting elected, right, absolutely,
And so for people that think running for office really
entails I have to be the governor, or I have
to be the senator, or you know, something like that
that feels a little uh, might might feel yeah, and
(13:41):
a little bit beyond what their capabilities would or rather
their circumstances would allow. Uh. You know, there are other
other ways to get involved in, other ways to get active.
I don't believe that the things that you do, at
least to me, they don't seem particularly taxing, and indeed,
(14:02):
when you talk about them, it's just kind of a
base level. I care about this issue. I'm willing to
dedicate some time to it and make some meaningful inroads
or an impact. And what happens is a lot of
times the deeply conservative opposition to our positions they are
engaged way more than liberal things are. In fact, I
(14:27):
quoted Malcolm X, I believe it was who said that
we are not outnumbered, we are out organized. And so
that's why I kind of wanted to talk to you
today about how significant it is to hold not necessarily
elected positions, but to hold some sort of position in
(14:50):
the community where you are given a voice. And so,
while we're on the subject of the exact, yeah, the
Democratic Party's Black Engagement Committee talk to us about how
a person gets to that position, right, So.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
I mean that's a specific committee, but when you talk
about being organized, I mean the whole concept of converting
people into what is you know, in a official title,
which is a precinct committee man woman person. That is
a form of organizing in itself. I mean, I've been
involved in politics for a few years now, but it
took about a year and a half or so for
me to understand or be educated on what a precinc
(15:27):
committee person is. Because unless you're deeply involved in the
day to day actions of say local politics, you may
not know what it is. But it's one of those
things where you know, by itself, there is not it
is not significant by itself. Yes, it's important by itself, like,
but when you think about organizing groups of precinct committee
(15:48):
people to vote on behalf of a specific by law
that thereby shape your legislative district, or to help vote
for things that pertain to the Americopa County Democratic Party,
or to even run for office for like low level
office in your legislative district. Say you want to be
the chair, the co chair, the secretary of the treasurer
(16:08):
and have this like foundational infrastructural influence on your legislative district,
meaning a huge part of your city or community. You
could do that, or run for office within your the
Americopa County Democratic Party in itself. You can be say
the chair or the vice chair, or have this infrastructural
like influential.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
Role in you know, for speaking.
Speaker 2 (16:30):
I know this is very local and this is broadcast
to you know, various communities, but this applies to all
of your communities. You can be influential in, you know,
from a county standpoint, for your entire party. Now you
have somebody from your community who's able to speak to
things that they know from a first hand perspective, show up, effect.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Change, and you know, do that in a way that.
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Benefits your community and benefits you know, the push towards
a more progressive society. Sure, so when you speak of
like alcome X's quote, that is one of the ways
in which we can do that. Because as someone who
is helping organize the protest back in twenty twenty twenty,
one of the things that we're telling people is that
this is a pivot towards policy change. Protesting is a
pivot towards policy change. And at the end of the day,
(17:15):
everything starts and ends around policy. So to be involved
in say a Black Engagement committee, or just to be
someone who is involved in local politics, that is a
means of affecting policy change because you're naturally going to
create ripples in that water just by being involved and
like educating people and how to do that. And it's
(17:36):
something it's so minimal, and it's really what you can
make of it. If you want to be completely involved
in a day to day basis and you want to
show up in canvas and knockdoors, and or you want
to call in phone bank and convince people to be
more politically engaged, okay, cool.
Speaker 1 (17:52):
If you have family.
Speaker 2 (17:53):
If you have a family, a growing family, if you're
nine to five, is taking you away or say you're
having I don't know given a climate they're in right now,
financial troubles and you're too stressed to think about things
going on at that particular time, It's okay, but just
be registered to be able to affect change when those
opportunities present itself, when those times to vote present itself,
(18:13):
when those times to prepare your community to vote and
show up in mass in order to affect change at
the ballot shows up. So it's one of those things
that is the foundation of like political organizing. It's being
a precinct committee person. And I feel that, inadvertently or
maybe intentionally, given the conversation that you want to have,
(18:33):
we have been bottlenecked from being able to be involved
in that. So me showing up as someone from outside
of this political landscape now recognizing this information, I'm trying
to impart this information on other individuals so they can
go out there, become their own platform and you know,
within their own ecosystem, bringing other people in, and we
just create that ripple effect and then within our specific
community we build a stronger black political presence.
Speaker 1 (18:56):
Well said, so well said, So I think that you
touched on something really significant, because if I'm honest, I
once upon a time felt that holding any sort of
office came with a lot of pressure, came with a
(19:17):
lot of responsibility, and I'm sure that they all do.
But these specific type of pressures and responsibilities included fundraising.
I have to raise money to you know, to launch
a campaign. I have to be extremely educated on all
the issues and issues that aren't even relevant to the
(19:41):
particular task that I'm trying to perform. I have to
you know, not work. I have to you know, on
and on and on. I just I the monster that
it became prevented me from kind of looking in a
general direction. And as I began to associate with people
(20:02):
who were holding elected office, I realize that absolutely that's
true for different positions, for different positions, but it's not
true for every position. And there's a level, there's different
levels of engagement, and there's a space for everyone, everyone
who chooses to be engaged beyond a cam registered to vote.
(20:22):
I cast a voute every four years or every two years,
hopefully it's every two years at least, But there's a
level of engagement beyond that. And I think that that's
significant because you know, as you mentioned, the more information
that makes its way to us, the more we feel like,
or rather the better we're able to determine the degree
(20:44):
to which we've been disenfranchised, right, And you know, for
those people who have been affected fiscally, for those people
who realize that they have to work two nine to
fives and ultimately happened upon the truth that their life
should not be this way. Life should not be a
cap to work. And then I get old and then
I die, and that's what I did with my life.
(21:05):
That doesn't seem right. And people make money off of
me so that they could live good and I cannot
get out of my circumstances easily. And when I do,
there are systems and external forces in place that prevent that.
And there's this narrative that suggests that education and hard
work are the keys to accessing the fortune that you know,
(21:27):
these other people enjoy, which the boots. Yeah, yeah, for
the most part, that is not realistic and it's not accurate.
There's tons of people who are educated and live the
same life as you know, the poorest of us. There's
tons of people who you know, the bootstrappy sort of language.
This narrative that exists to suggest that everyone is in
(21:49):
their own predicament as a result of their own choices,
and there are not systemic issues present that are suppressing
people's rightful life paths. Right, So, for folks that feel
like they should push back against the life that they
(22:10):
have been kind of forced into, boxed into, political engagement
is one way of affecting change that maybe you can
enjoy in your lifetime. And if not, do you want
your children to live as tough a life as you.
And so I appreciate having learned really through watching you
(22:31):
and a handful of other people become engaged in formal capacities.
You know, I never left radio, so this is still
I'm still in the nest. I'm still very comfortable here.
But you absolutely have done that, and that's something that
I've always done my best to commend you for and say,
you know how proud I am of you. But also
(22:52):
you've made it less of a monster than it once
was good. And I think that it's important for us
to suggest to those would be activists or sorry, those
would be individuals who would be politically engaged beyond again
casting a vote every two years, it's important to suggest
(23:14):
that you're a living, breathing example of how engagement can
enhance your life. Can allow you to create change in
your community and doesn't necessarily cost you so much to
where it's prohibitive. So I appreciate you saying.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Thank you, yeah, and thank thank you for mentioning that
that last part, because you know, I myself was once
you know, hit with like imposter syndrome and you know,
especially like working in the ACLU. And we could talk
about that later, but you know, looking at this like
the political landscape is like this huge monolith and almost
being really being intimidated by that because you know, I'm
an MC and things of that nature. And first I
(23:51):
started recognizing and that's that's like that kind of Eurocentric
like centering around around what professionalism is. Because at the
end of the day, like I was still able to
go from being an MC to being in these rooms
of people who have been you know, politically engaged, going
back as far as like the you know, courses of
study that they took in university and what have you.
And because at the end of the day, like this
(24:13):
all is about community engagement. Everything centers around the neighborhoods,
the families, the working class families, you know, the people
who are on the receiving end of policy change, And
so who better than people from around the neighborhoods to
show up and be engaged in whatever way, shape or form.
And like I'm saying, and like I'm saying, you know
(24:36):
you don't have to be There's different levels you could
run for office, and like from you could run for
like a high level office, so you can be a
precinct committee person at the very bottom of you know
this line, or like tiers of like political engagement and
still affect change and ways that work for you.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
All right, hold that thought. We're gonna come right back
after this school
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