Episode Transcript
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Tony Tidbit (00:00):
What's the movie
with Wesley Snipes and um, um, um,
it was about the crack epidemic.
New Jack City.
New Jack City, new Jack City.
Remember?
So when he, when they wanted totake over the apartment building,
he said, look, yeah, either they'll,either they'll be you taking the car.
We, we gonna take the Carter.
And they said either they'll be,uh, uh, excellent customers or
they'll be lived-in hostages.
What?
Alright.
(00:20):
Right.
And not where people here in UnitedStates now becoming live-in hostages.
You are live-in hostages.
'cause they, they've been overwhelmed.
Yeah.
Okay.
In terms of.
All these things that's happening,that's still happening and
they don't know what to do.
We'll discuss race and how it playsa factor and how we didn't even talk
about this topic 'cause we were afraid
BEP Narrator (00:42):
A Black
Executive Perspective.
Tony Tidbit (00:45):
We're coming to you live from
our new BEP studio for another thought
provoking episode of A Black ExecutivePerspective podcast, A safe space where
we discuss all matters regarding race.
Culture and those uncomfortabletopics people tend to avoid.
I'm your host Tony Tidbit.
So before we get started on afantastic episode, I wanna remind
(01:06):
everyone to definitely check outour partners at Code M Magazine,
whose mission is to save the blackfamily by first saving the black man.
So check them out@codemmagazine.com.
That is code m magazine.com
and speaking of code m magazine.com
today, I.
(01:27):
Brad Bowling, the president ofCode M Magazine, joins us for a
powerful conversation on how disastercapitalism and political chaos.
This unfortunately affectmarginalized communities from
the ripple effects of pol.
Decisions to the responsibilityof media will explore how men
(01:48):
of color can rise, respond, andreclaim agency in a world built.
To keep them reactiveinstead of proactive.
I know Brad has been on before,but lemme tell you a little bit
about my partner, uh, Brad Bowling.
Brad Bowling is a nationally recognizedthought leader, dynamic speaker, and
respected voice on the intersectionof race, media, and empowerment.
(02:11):
As president of Code M Magazine, hebrings a powerful vision to life.
One rooted in transformation,truth telling, and elevating the
lived experience of men of color.
Brad is a sought after panelist,host and presenter who leads bold
conversations that challenge perceptionsand ignite progress at CODE M Magazine.
(02:33):
As I talked about earlier, their missionis clear to empower men of color by
showcasing their strength, resilience, andpotential through compelling storytelling
and positive re representation.
The magazine shines as a light on thediverse realities of black and brown men
balancing the weight of responsibility.
I.
With the pursuit of legacy,family, and self-determination.
(02:56):
Brad Bowling, my brother.
Welcome back to Code M.
Excuse me.
Welcome back to A Black ExecutivePerspective podcast, my man.
I'm just forgettingthat we're intertwined.
Welcome back to Code M Magazine.
Man.
Brad Bowling (03:08):
We took over your company.
Yeah.
No, you said it right.
You said it right.
I, I see right.
I'm, I'm
Tony Tidbit (03:13):
subliminally.
I'm calling you Code Mand calling me Blanc.
He said so.
We'll, we'll figure it out.
But regardless, my brother.
I'm glad you came back to talk abouta very important, important topic.
So before we dive deep, man, giveus a little bit about what you've
been doing over the last few monthssince the last time we saw you.
Brad Bowling (03:29):
Man, you know, got
through winter spring is coming.
Uh, excited to get some warmerweather, but you know, we've had
three incredible issues of CodeM our January, February, March.
Issues were impactful and, uh, you know,with the change in the administration,
we've been able to kind of cover.
Not from a political perspective,but from a human perspective, what
(03:51):
is going on around the country, howpeople's anxiety, uh, is different.
And then just the ripple effect of what isgoing on around the country and how people
are kind of like thinking, surviving,talking about some of the changes that
are coming so quickly, um, that areimpacting people at a visceral level.
Tony Tidbit (04:08):
I know, buddy, I've read
a lot of, uh, the, your articles that
have come out and you guys are hittinga home run, and we're gonna talk
about one of them, the Shock doctrine.
But, you know, we're so glad that wehave you and other publications across
the country that's actually doingand really trying to educate and more
importantly, go on to the offensive.
(04:30):
In terms of what's happening froman administrative standpoint.
So we're definitely gonna dive in.
You ready to talk about it?
My brother?
Brad Bowling (04:35):
Man, let's go.
Tony Tidbit (04:36):
Alright
bro, let's talk about it.
So a few minutes ago you talkedabout the ripple effect, right?
And you talk about, you know, sinceJanuary 20th, 2025, there's been a lot of
different changes, a lot of things that'sbeen going on and going on very quickly.
To a point where, you know, by the timeyou says, I can't believe, and next thing
(05:00):
you know, you're like, I can't believe.
Right?
And then next thing you know,you kidding me, this too.
Right, right.
So it's coming.
It's a bullet.
It's a rapid fire situation.
And so this is nothing new though.
Right.
And you wrote about this in thearticle called The Shock Doctrine.
So talk a little bit first,what is the shock doctrine?
Brad Bowling (05:22):
The Shock Doctrine
is a process that governments use
to create crisis with the publicto introduce new platforms, laws,
rules, uh, changes in policy, right?
So they keep you off kilter andthen they numb you to the point to
where you can't keep up and you'reso shocked by what's going on.
(05:46):
They sneak in.
They enact laws and policies thatyou're not prepared for because
you're in a state of shock.
So what the, what the Trumpadministration is doing is not new.
It's actually, there is a book writtenabout it and we just use the book as
a form of expression to, to let peopleknow, listen what you're experiencing.
(06:07):
This is not an accident.
Right.
And so a lot of times governments willplay around with people's emotions.
You know, we have false flags.
Uh, that governments enact, andthat's a whole different conversation.
But the, Shock Doctrine is a part B tokind of having a false flag where they
introduce chaos, uh, where you feellike you can't keep up and you don't
understand what's going on, and they'reactually going off of a playbook that
(06:31):
kind of tells them what to do first.
Let's, let's create a, a controversy ora, you know, a, a cascading effect of
laws, policies that keep you off kilter.
So you can't keep up to planA before plan B comes out.
And by the time Plan C comes out,you're just now digesting plan A.
(06:52):
And you, you, you don't know what to do.
Uh, and so the Trump administrationis playing by up a certain playbook.
They're winning using thisplaybook because right now
America doesn't know what to do.
Tony Tidbit (07:04):
Absolutely, ma'am.
I'm gonna read this outta your, um, uh,excerpt, outta your article that, uh,
you wrote the, so the Shock Doctrine.
Yeah.
And so here I quote, itsays, the Shock Doctrine.
The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is atwo, 2007 book by the Canadian author
and social activist, knowing, knowingNa, knowing Naomi Klein, Naomi.
(07:25):
Yep.
In this book, Klein argues thatneoliberalism economic policies promoted
by Milton Freeman and the Chicago Schoolof Economics have risen to a global
prominence because of the deliberatestrategy she calls disaster capitalism.
And here she says, and it kind of speaksto what you said in this strategy.
(07:45):
Political actors exploit the chaos ofnational disasters, wars, and other
crisis to push through on popular policiessuch as deregulation and privatization.
The eco economic shock therapy favorscorporate interests while disadvantaging
and disenfranchising citizens whenthey are too distracted and overwhelmed
(08:10):
to respond to effective resistance.
So buddy.
Talk a little bit about, give us someexamples of how that's happening today.
Brad Bowling (08:18):
Well, if you take a
look at the real estate market, right?
Um, if you took, if you take a lookat BlackRock and some of the other
large corporations, when they'resaying, well, people shouldn't
own anything, we should have asociety where everybody are renters.
Look at what's going on withthe cost of living right now.
You can't afford, I, I mean, justin four years, the cost of a home,
(08:39):
which used to be two 50, is now 500.
That house was, whichwas 500, is now seven 50.
So my kids who are 26, 24, 21 20,can they afford a home going forward?
Can they live in the neighborhoodthat they were raised in?
I don't know.
And so if you take a look at what'sgoing on, that's one example of the shock
(08:59):
doctrine where people even working twojobs, even being married, a husband and
a wife's income may not guarantee youa piece of the American pie anymore.
Tony Tidbit (09:11):
So, and I
definitely get that part right.
Yeah.
And, and, and to be fair though, to befair, you know, those things have been
rising, uh, before Trump became president.
Right?
True.
But, but if you add on some of the otherthings, like, well, let's be clear, right?
The immigration policies, okay?
Then you have Doge, where now you'recutting people and, uh, you have
(09:34):
a, a, a, a foreigner, uh, the,the, the richest man in the world.
Going through the governmentwith a, with a chainsaw.
All right.
And slashing jobs.
Okay.
And sending emails, telling themthat the people at the federal
government, that they have to tell himby tomorrow, what's the five things
that they got going on this week?
(09:55):
What can do today?
Yeah.
And if they don't do that, they get fired.
Okay.
Then you have the tariffs, which is now,uh, uh, uh, a wrecking havoc in our,
our financial, uh, uh, institutions.
Correct.
Uh, it was six and a halftrillion dollars lost in two days.
Right.
Okay.
And then he changes policy andsays, we gonna, we gonna pause
(10:18):
these tariffs for 90 days.
And the stock market comes up.
And then you have the,the eradication of DEI.
Where now you're seeingpeople, uh, lose their jobs.
And here's the kicker.
Okay, here's the kicker.
I.
There's, you know, when, you know,unfortunately they painted the word DEI as
meaning black or people of color, right?
(10:40):
Right.
But the people that's losing their jobsain't black, ain't people of color, right?
Yeah.
Right.
So, so now you have chaos, everything thatyou talk about, and this is not women.
Let's be fair, uh, the, thedate of this recording of this
episode is April, uh, uh, 10th.
Right.
The dude's been in office70 days, I mean, 80 days.
(11:03):
Okay.
Right, right.
So, so all these things arehappening at the same time.
And to your point, all the otherthings that we've been dealing
with, the cost of living and twoparents and all those things.
But then you have a president comingin and just tearing up the, the, the
mindset and just throwing all thesethings where people can't respond and
(11:25):
then they become, um, what's that?
Remember?
You ever saw the movie?
You ever saw the movie?
Uh, um.
Um, uh, what's the movie withWesley Snipes and, um, um,
um, about the crack epidemic?
New Jack City.
New Jack City, new Jack City.
Remember?
So when he, when they wanted to take overthe apartment building, he said, look,
yeah, either they'll, either they'llbe taking the car, we gonna take the
(11:46):
Carter, and they said either they'll be.
Uh, uh, excellent customers orthey'll be lived in hostages.
Right.
Alright.
And that's where people here in UnitedStates now becoming lived-in hostages.
You are lived-in hostages.
They, they've been overwhelmed.
Yeah.
Okay.
In terms of all these things that'shappening, that's still happening
and they don't know what to do.
(12:07):
Let me hear your thoughts on that.
Brad Bowling (12:08):
Yeah.
Listen, no one is safe, okay?
You come from the grocery store,you're overpaying for eggs.
You get in your car, you'repaying too much for gas.
You go to your house where yourvariable interest rate just doubled,
then you got laid off from your job.
You're not in the hood, you'rein the, this is happening to the
people in the suburbs right now.
Washington, DC is upside down.
(12:28):
They don't know what to do out there.
Uh, prince George's County where wedominate, uh, in terms of race and income,
they don't know what to do out there.
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Brad Bowling (13:06):
more
importantly, across America.
All the departments ofgovernment are being impacted.
And Tony, it's not just thatnonprofits are being impacted.
I have a cousin who was personallyimpacted because she had a
scholarship, uh, that one of theprograms that the federal government
was sponsoring was canceled.
And now she's scrambling tryingto figure out, okay, and coming up
(13:27):
in the fall, how am I gonna go tothe same institution paying, where
am I getting this money to pay?
When I had a full ride scholarship,uh, that was gonna put her.
And an incredible career that is gone now.
So people, at every income level,every level of education, every
community is being impacted by this.
(13:47):
You have, uh, organizations thatwould disseminate money to lower
organizations that now can't do it.
And so you have food banks acrossthe country now being impacted.
Every facet of life is being impacted.
Your 401k as you're, as you know,you're a retired school teacher, your
school district had money in the market.
That's, it's lost half its value.
(14:08):
Your 401k is now worth half ofwhat it used to be in two months.
Tony Tidbit (14:14):
It's insane, man.
But backing up, speaking on in terms of,it's, it's affecting everyone, right?
Yeah.
Um, and we just got finished talk.
I just got finished statingthat it was certain voters.
'cause let's be fair though, too.
This, a lot of this, it's not a surprise.
He ran on these things in terms of whathe was going to do, um, in the campaign.
(14:38):
All right?
In terms of getting rid of DEI, uh,terrorists, deportation, shrinking
the deportation, shrinking thegovernment, all these things right now.
He didn't go into the details interms of that you're gonna lose
$8 trillion in a couple of days.
Yeah.
Right.
Or yeah, or people who are not,uh, uh, illegal aliens getting,
(14:59):
you know, caught up by ice andbeing deported, uh, uh, deported.
And they can't get, they don't haveno recourse or no legal, you know,
ramifications to get, say this is wrong.
So he didn't get into all that.
But my question is.
There was a base of votersthat did vote for him.
So are you seeing their perspectiveschange based on what's been happening and
(15:23):
how they're getting caught up in the wash?
Brad Bowling (15:26):
Well, I think the
responses across the board, right?
So you have some peoplewho have buyer's remorse.
They voted for him, but they did notknow that his actions would impact them.
They were naive to it, I guess.
I don't know.
Uh, a lot of the American rule.
Uh, a rural America voted for him,but guess what's happening to farmers?
He took all of theiremployees away, right?
(15:46):
And then if you come into the cities,you, I think you have some people
saying, well, let's give them time.
Let's see if the tariffs work.
I don't know.
And then when they lose half theirincome or their retirement through stock
options, or, you know, they saw Tesla gofrom whatever it was down to half, right?
Uh, now they're in shock to saying,wow, I don't know what's going on.
So, you know, unfortunately.
(16:09):
We all are kind of victims right now.
We're all handcuffed.
Just kind of we're at themercy of Donald Trump, bro.
Tony Tidbit (16:16):
Buddy, I just told you.
Hey, I told you New Jack City,
Brad Bowling (16:18):
right?
The only people, Tony, the only peopleimpacted right now are the poor and broke.
They didn't have anything to lose anyway.
Right.
Exactly.
That's why you see 'em line dancingwith the, with the, with the fans.
1, 2, 3,
Tony Tidbit (16:35):
Nino Brown.
He was like, either they'll be, they'llbe great customers or they'll be living
in hostages and that's why they are.
Yeah.
Well, let me ask you this though, ma'am.
So, and, and let's back up and talkabout the DEI 'cause a lot of this,
to be fair, you know, Trump, let's befair, he used race to divide people.
(16:56):
Okay?
Right.
To get them to vote a certain way.
Okay.
And, and, uh, and, and, and noteverybody, but some of his, some of
those people thought that these thingswould only happen to people they thought.
Was getting stuff for free, or theygot these policies to help them
out, which we know is not true.
Right.
Okay.
So there was a, a divide to be fair, rightnow, people don't even say it, but there
(17:19):
was a, a, you can see the, the races, youknow, becoming more uh, uh, uh, widen.
All right.
Do you think now, based oneverybody's not dealing with
this, there's a reality check.
That this wasn't just about,uh, people I thought was
getting more advantages than me.
Now everybody's dealing with, sodo you see this as a possibility
(17:41):
for more cross-racial coalitions?
Alright.
In terms of people comingtogether and saying, you know
what, we're on the same boat.
We shouldn't have listened to thisperson, or whatever the case may be.
We should come together and allof us collectively fight back.
Brad Bowling (17:59):
Yeah, well, you know, it
was starting to happen even under the
Biden administration when you saw the SanFranciscos and the Oaklands of the world
where, you know, crime was so rampant,it was impacting you at the ATM machine.
You know, uh, vacationers are gettingtheir cars broken in and luggage stolen,
and so crime was starting to permeate intothe suburbs and the white communities and
at the bank where you couldn't even walkout the bank depositing or getting some
(18:22):
money for, you know, a new barbecue grillbefore you're getting cracked on the head.
Or followed home and getting robbed.
So we were already starting to see,you know, crime change right now under
the Trump administration, where hisdecisions are impacting everybody.
It will be interesting tosee over the next four years
how Americans react to this.
Tony Tidbit (18:43):
So, yeah, and
go ahead, finish your thought
Brad Bowling (18:44):
there.
There's a contraction insome of the rules, right?
So, you know, the black way of lifeis being attacked, where you know, the
right to vote is under attack right now,where they're making it harder to vote.
Um, you're seeing people kindof be stripped of their heritage
where, you know, DEI wasn't real.
I mean, listen, in theory it was, it wasfor blacks, but we always knew the truth.
(19:05):
Now what they thought was DEIit we're, we're now starting to
understand who it's impacting.
So we'll see.
That's my point.
What looks like over thenext four years Exactly.
So I think everybody is waking up tothe idea that no one is safe, and we
have more in common than ever before.
Tony.
(19:25):
The changes that he's making because it'simpacting everybody at their pocketbook.
Tony Tidbit (19:30):
Exactly.
And I love what you said.
We have more, we'vealways had more in common.
Brad Bowling (19:34):
We do.
Okay.
Tony Tidbit (19:34):
To be fair,
they don't think we have
Brad Bowling (19:36):
more in common, but we do.
Tony Tidbit (19:37):
Yeah.
And but they, they did that on the, thepowers to be, do that on purpose, to get
us fighting against once, uh, amongsteach other so they can stay in control.
Right.
Let's divide and conquer.
Correct.
Let me ask you this.
What made you write this article?
Okay, and let's be fair, you guys, thisain't the first time that you, that's
one thing I love about your magazine.
You always are educating people andtrying to get them to see things
(20:02):
that they may, may not be privy to.
But what was the reason foryou to write this article?
Brad Bowling (20:07):
Well, I wanted to
write the article because we noticed
during the pandemic that everybodyhad different levels of anxiety
and people were falling apart.
By what was going on with the pandemic.
The same thing was happeningwith the Trump administration.
So when he won the night that he won,I think I had three, four people tell
me they were leaving the country.
(20:27):
Okay.
That's how bad it was.
And then as he took office, you startedto see even more people say, listen,
man, I, I got heart palpitations.
I don't know what's going on.
I have trepidation, I'mfearful, I'm scared.
I don't know what the future looks like.
You know, what are we gonna do?
And I'm like, what?
Wait a minute.
You do realize this is all by design.
Tony Tidbit (20:47):
Correct?
It.
Brad Bowling (20:47):
I think a lot of people
thought that what was going on was
abnormal and they didn't understand it.
So we wrote the shock doctrine toeducate people, this is what is going on.
This is how you need to be prepared.
Stop looking at thedistraction and stay focused.
Right?
Stay focused America, because ifyou take your eye off the ball.
(21:10):
You are going to suffer even more.
So people who weren't prepared for this.
And again, right now the bottom rung ofAmerica is probably the most protected
'cause they had nothing to lose anyway.
If you didn't have a 401k, you're okay.
If you working two jobs and Ubering, oryou're doing DoorDash, you're still okay.
It's the top.
It's the middle income and uppermiddle class right now that's being
(21:31):
impacted by everything that's going on.
And so they needed to kind ofsee, look, this is by design.
He's doing this on purpose.
Tony Tidbit (21:40):
Flat out.
Brad Bowling (21:41):
You need to know.
You need to know that.
Stay focused.
Tony Tidbit (21:43):
Flat out.
Flat out straight strategy.
And, and you, and you, and, and, well,I don't wanna say it like that, but
if you stay involved in these things,you knew it was a strategy, right?
The dude was already president before.
All right.
Right.
He knew exactly what, whathandcuffed him before.
Yeah.
So this time he was gonna be prepared.
Oh, and then he was gonnaoverwhelm you so nobody could try
(22:06):
to impeach or try to push back.
First, let me set up my, again,Nino Brown, let me get my team.
These people loyal to me, so I ain'tgotta worry about somebody saying, Hey.
You can't do that, Mr.
President or Nino.
You can't.
No, no, no, no.
I'm gonna make, I'm gonna get rid ofanybody who ain't loyal to me right now.
I can do what the hell I want todo now I'm gonna overwhelm them
(22:28):
and I'm gonna come at it so hard.
They don't know what to think.
So it is a strategy.
Speaking of that though, whatdo you say to those people?
That feel helpless or too exhausted toengage because I chatted with somebody
today, I had lunch, and she was like,you know, Tony, I just turned the tv.
I can't take it no more.
Right.
It's just horrible.
(22:49):
And, and you know, I just don't, Ijust wanna talk about happy thoughts
and, and I get all that right.
But at the end of the day, this, the,the country is, is, is being ripped apart
in my opinion, right under your nose.
So you need to do something.
So what do you say to those people?
Brad Bowling (23:04):
Man, it's tough because
depending on where you are, income level,
depending on what you, what you have inthe market, depending on, you know, what
kind of, uh, equity you're losing, right?
Depending on, uh, the layoff that youjust suffered from, it's very difficult
to tell people what to do when theyfeel so much anxiety about their future.
When you used to have a job, right?
(23:25):
They used to say, go to college, get youa good government job, and you'll be okay.
Well, that's not the case anymore.
So when people are knocked off theirfoundation, you know, we'd love to
be able to sit here and say, Hey man,just do A, B, and C and you'll be okay.
But now they don't know how they'repaying their mortgage the next
month, that bill, that bill iscoming whether you have a job or not.
(23:46):
And if you live in a community where80% of everybody around you are federal
employees, who you selling your house to?
Where are you moving to?
What private job you know?
Are you going to with the resumeyou haven't prepared in 20 years?
You don't even know what AI is, man.
Tony Tidbit (24:02):
Right.
So,
Brad Bowling (24:02):
you know what I mean.
So you have people out there, um, whohave high anxiety, who do not have a plan
B 'cause they didn't need one, right?
They were comfortable for18, 20 years in government.
You know, 3% raises, you might'vemade less than the national
average, but you were okay.
Now you don't know what to do.
And he's going after everydepartment, every way of life.
(24:25):
And nobody is safe.
So there's nowhere to hide.
There's nowhere to protect your money.
There's nowhere to protect your sanctity.
So I think right now you better hold on.
Love those around you.
You know, treat people likeyou want to be treated.
I think, I think we all need to dosome soul searching and figure out what
country would want to be going forward.
(24:45):
Right?
Because now you have everybodylooking at us, China, because did
you see the, the meme of the people.
Uh, the big people working inthe, in, you know, doing a fabric.
Did you see that meme?
Tony Tidbit (24:55):
I have not, no.
Brad Bowling (24:56):
Oh my God.
Okay.
I I,
Tony Tidbit (24:58):
I'll check it out though.
I have to hear right.
Check it
Brad Bowling (24:59):
out.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Because, you know, now everybody islooking at America because he did the
ripple effect, which is the cover of ourApril, uh, issue, the cascading injury
that we're all suffering from this.
Who knows what the end result will beafter the four years, when he gets done,
if he doesn't find a way to circumventthe Constitution to get a third term.
Tony Tidbit (25:21):
Yeah.
So let me, let me throw this at you, man.
And again, I I'm, I'mgonna use Nino Brown again.
Okay.
Brad Bowling (25:27):
You like him, huh?
Tony Tidbit (25:28):
I, I, because I think
it, it, it, it, it parallels what,
what's happening today, right?
And it goes to my question, right?
And again, let's go back, right.
Nino, either they're gonna behappy customers as he taking over
the, the apartment building, orthey're gonna be lived in hostages.
Okay?
Okay.
Now, based on what's happening.
(25:49):
And I just asked you the question,what, what, what do you say for those
people who feel hopeless and tooexhausted, you just came back with
saying, Hey, I don't know what to do.
So they, they, they'relived in hostages, right?
They're lived in, and I don't think,I don't think they wanna be lived
in ho so there should be somethingthat we can do as a collective.
Right.
And here's the thing, because yes, it's,it's, it's, it reminds me of World War ii.
(26:15):
When Germany, the reason they wereable to take over Europe because
they used the same strategy, but theydid it from a military standpoint.
It was called Blitz Creek, okay.
Where they would just come inimmediately in the Poland and just
take over everything before they hadeven chance to get the Army together.
All right?
And next thing you know, they surrender.
And then they did the samething, the Netherlands and, and
so they overwhelmed them beforethey can even get a defense up.
(26:39):
And then by the time they werealready at the rolling at the Capitol
where everybody gave up, and theneventually they owned that country.
Okay.
And so at the end ofthe day, I get it, that.
These things are happening and thereis a strategy to overwhelm you.
Where this way a person can put in allthe different policies that they want.
Mm-hmm.
To try to shape America, not justnow, 10, 15, 20 years from now.
(27:01):
That's really the key too, here.
So based on that, I.
You can't just be like, I give up.
Alright, there's gotta besomething for people to do.
So what do you think they could do?
Uh, in terms of pushing back orgetting more confidence or, yeah, I
got a mortgage to pay, but I gotta dosomething Because at the end of the
day, if they don't, then going back toNino Brown, they are lived in hostages.
Brad Bowling (27:25):
Well, if you take
a look at the fifth, right?
You saw protest all over the world.
In our major cities, you sawthousands and thousands of people.
And I would, you know, sarcasticallysay, you know, what good is that doing?
But I think it startswith, you know, an emotion.
Uh, then it starts with the organization.
And then I think we have to thenstart to coalesce and, and, and
(27:47):
wrap our minds around who weare electing as a, as officials.
And I, I think we play games withthat where, you know, sometimes we
come out to vote, sometimes we don't.
I don't think we can afford to miss vote.
I think we have to do a betterjob paying attention to who we
vote for at the local level first.
And then our local level, uh, seepsup to who we vote for on a, on a
(28:08):
congressional level and regional level.
And so I think that that matters.
Right?
Right now the only balance wehave are the regional judges,
uh, who mostly are Republican atthis point, who are saving us.
Uh, from the wrath of the, the, thechanges in the executive orders that he's
making, and he still circumvent knows.
(28:28):
Yeah, I heard you say that.
Uh, we can't deport these kinds ofpeople, but we're still gonna do it.
You don't have authority over us.
Right.
So he's still fightingeven court decisions.
Right.
So, you know, look, this isthe, this is the hand that we've
dealt, laid out for ourselves.
Tony, I don't know ifthere's any recourse.
(28:49):
He's in office for four years.
Um, he's a felon.
They still voted for him, right?
Uh, I don't know what the recourse is.
I, I think we have to, unfortunatelyright now, man, and I hate to
say this 'cause I just don'thave a good answer for you, bro.
You gotta hold on and you haveto pray that his decisions
(29:11):
don't impact you directly, likethey're impacting everybody else.
And I, I, I don't have ananswer for you at the moment.
Tony Tidbit (29:17):
Right, right.
Well, here's the thing, Deborah.
I think so some of the things thatseem, um, that they, you know, seems
passive, that it reminds me again,what was the flick I saw where, um,
oh, I think it was Black Panther.
Brad Bowling (29:35):
Okay.
Tony Tidbit (29:36):
Where they went out
and protested and they got arrested
and they were in the jail and, um.
I forget the brother who founded theBlack Panthers, I forget his name.
And he was all upset.
He would be Newton Huey Newton.
Huey Newton, yeah.
Yeah.
And he was all upset.
And the pastor says, look man, hesaid, we gotta go out and fight.
(29:57):
He said, look man, we gotta pray.
And he was like, I don't wanna pray,pray it ain't gonna do nothing for
us, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Right?
But here, here, but here's,here's the thing though, bro.
Here's the thing.
Prayer worked, protests worked because ifthey didn't work, we wouldn't be sitting
here with the rights that we have today.
Right?
So at the end of the day, it mayseem that these things don't matter
(30:19):
or they're not strong enough, but atthe end of the day, as an individual
of the United States of America.
That is the one of the mostpowerful things that we can do.
Regardless if you've got a lot ofmoney or you got no money, regardless
if you got two houses or you aboutto go into foreclosure, regardless
if you just, you are holding on toyour job or you just lost your job.
(30:42):
If people come together and those protestsand everybody starts doing them right,
and, and, and then staying engaged.
Okay.
'cause that's the other thing, you knowwhen, when, when Hitler took over Poland.
They, they, they wereasleep at the switch.
They knew the dude was building an army.
Okay.
And the next thing youknow, he takes over.
(31:04):
Alright.
Right.
So, and that's what happens to,to your point, part of the shock
doctrine is to overwhelm you.
Yes.
Where you mentally surrender.
Correct.
Okay.
And at the end of the day when youdo that, then we are again, I hate
keep saying, lived in hostages.
We are lived in hostages, livein hostages, and we don't wanna
be a lived in hostage becausewe have more power to come in.
(31:26):
So let me ask you this, you know,how do you interpret the idea when
you don't stand up for everyone,you eventually suffer too.
Brad Bowling (31:36):
Correct?
If you don't stand up for everyone.
You stand up for no one.
Right.
And so, man, it's so poignant thatyou bring up that point because I
take a look at how African Americanshave been treated, are treated, uh,
and continue to be treated right.
So, you know, we can sit here and,and Tony, I'm just as mad at the
Democrats as I am at the Republicans.
Yeah.
It doesn't even matter.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I don't like none of it.
Tony Tidbit (31:56):
Exactly.
Brad Bowling (31:56):
Exactly.
Exactly.
So, you know, when you take a lookat the, when we were under Democratic
rule, we still were being policeprofiled, killed at a high rate.
Incarcerated at high levels, and thenhere you got the Republicans in office and
they're going, oh, we're gonna take awayyour DEI, you know, affirmative action.
Our DI, yeah,
Tony Tidbit (32:12):
our DEI.
Right, right.
Right.
Now our DI get outtait, but go ahead buddy.
It
Brad Bowling (32:15):
never, it was never our DEI.
Correct?
Correct.
And just to kind of bring that up,me and the media, when you take a
look at D-E-I-D-E, I only workeddepending on who you, uh, reported to.
If you reported to the CEOand you could impact policy.
Then you had power, you had influence.
But you, if you reported to thedirector of sales or marketing, you
know, you didn't have any power.
(32:37):
And that's a lot of times whereDEI report, he'd be like, how
did the thing tree you end upway over here under sanitation.
You know what I'm saying?
So, right.
Um, you know, but, butto answer your question,
if you don't, if you don't havepolicy for everybody and you don't
have the rule of law for everybody.
You don't have the rule of law for anyone.
BEP Narrator (32:58):
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Brad Bowling (33:17):
And I think what you're
starting to see is that how blacks are
treated is not how everybody is treated.
If you take a look at what'sgoing on in America, the rule
of law applies to no one, right?
Trump is above the law.
This stupid 9 87.
You can't prosecute uh uhpeople unless they steal over
a thousand dollars of stuff.
(33:37):
So you got guys in cv, s and Walgreens.
Just not, it's insane.
Insane.
It's insane, bro.
It's insane.
The criminals have all the power
Tony Tidbit (33:43):
by flat
Brad Bowling (33:44):
out, they
have all the power.
So I hope what we, what we begin to seeis Americans take our country back, right?
Originally government wassupposed to be for the people.
By the people of the people.
We need to take the countryback kicking and screaming.
We need term limits forCongress and the Senate.
(34:05):
And I don't mean term limits,meaning well, they get to run again.
No term limits.
You got eight years.
Get the.
Uh, can I cuss on here?
Tony Tidbit (34:12):
Yeah.
You get the hell out.
Oh, you, you got four years.
You got four years.
Okay, go four years.
That's it.
Right,
Brad Bowling (34:18):
right.
You get, you get one term,two terms, and you gotta go.
Right.
Right.
Tony Tidbit (34:22):
And you refresh the plot.
Brad Bowling (34:23):
Right.
Americans need to take theConstitution back into our own hands.
We need to demand the kind oflaws that we want in the books.
Half of me, I don't, I can't besuper mad at Doge because I've
always wanted the, the governmentto function like my business.
Right.
I can't operate at a deficit.
I can't live at a deficit.
Why should the governmentlive at a deficit?
(34:46):
I can't, I don't have waste in my budget.
How can the governmenthave waste in its budget?
So half focus are kind of like, man,I'm kind of, you know, I don't mind with
Doge is doing because it needed to havepeel back the onion and let's see where
the, the know the bodies are buried.
Right?
How does a guy make 200 granda year as a congressman?
But then they went worth240 million in 20 years.
(35:07):
Right.
Aren't you a little curious as to howNancy Pelosi is worth all of this money?
So, I, I kind of don't mind some of it.
And I'm gonna tell youanother thing, Tony.
I never used to believe that an Americanpresident can move the needle in four
years, but Donald Trump is the firstpresident that I've seen to come
(35:28):
in and move the needle at a globallevel in 90 days of being in office.
I've never seen this before.
Half of me has respect for him becausehe does what he says he's going to do.
Now we can debate if it's goodfor us all day, but I gotta give
him his props because he, he'sliterally living the playbook.
(35:49):
He set out, he said, tariffs, deportation.
I'm gonna do this, I'm gonnado this, I'm gonna do this.
And he's doing it.
He's literally doing whathe said he was going to do.
Yeah.
So can we really be surprised?
Can we really be surprised?
Did you think he was gonnacome in doing all of this?
Tony Tidbit (36:05):
Yeah.
Okay.
Alright.
So yeah, because that was partof the strategy and stuff, right?
Right.
Here's the thing though, bro.
So here's the thing, and I hear you andI respect what you're saying and, and
you know, I, I, I look at it like this.
So was there, is therewaste in government?
Absolutely.
(36:26):
Okay.
I've worked at billion dollarcompanies and there's waste.
Right.
Okay.
They they have more resourcesthan they don't even know about.
Correct.
Okay.
See, here's, this is whyI'm saying the hypocrisy.
Okay.
Because I've been at places, I,I, I'm just being honest with you.
Right, right.
And so I'm all about, I don'tthink there, see, here's the thing.
I don't think nobody was sittingback saying, uh, there's no waste.
(36:48):
Of course it is, it's the government.
Okay.
But it's how you go about to do it.
Okay?
And then framing everybody that worksfor the government as lazy or framing
everybody that's uh, uh, uh, uh, fromMexico or, or, or else as criminals.
Okay?
And see, these are the thingsthat, that going back to getting
(37:09):
people to start believing.
So you can do your Daly deed.
Okay.
So Bill Clinton cut thegovernment by 12% back in 96.
Okay.
He didn't, so he was able to shrink it.
Did you, do you remember that?
No, most people don't becausehe didn't do it this way.
Right.
And so at the end of, and thenhere's the other thing, man.
It's, it's park gangster.
(37:30):
I hate to say it because thebottom line is ain't problem, huh?
Yeah, because here's the thing.
You know, somebody taught methis a long time ago, right?
And I never forgot it.
And they said, look, always you, ifyou put a little truth to anything,
you can do what the fuck you wanna do.
Excuse me.
And I'm cussing, okay, go ahead.
(37:52):
You know,
Brad Bowling (37:52):
keep going.
Tony Tidbit (37:53):
So my point is, my point
is, if, if I wanna take over, if I want
to, uh, I don't wanna say destroy, but ifI wanna make things my way, I'll go in.
With a sledgehammer, and then I'll showyou the little, uh, uh, the, the, the,
the waste and say, see, I told you.
Right?
But hold on.
(38:14):
But that's just to, to placateyou to say, I told you there's
a lot of waste, and then I startdoing other things to take care.
So let's stop a second.
I gave prime example.
Who's got Elon Musk?
He's got government contracts.
Yes, he does.
All right.
Is he cutting his own stuff?
No, he's still getting $6 trillion a day.
Yeah.
(38:34):
So this is my point here.
See, that's, that's what I'msaying about the hypocrisy.
But he's on TV saying, look, there's thisschool teacher making 300 grand, or This
person got Tim, but what about your stuff?
See, that's.
The point I'm trying to make here, soif I can throw you, it's, it's called
the, what was it, three card Molly game.
Remember the day?
Yeah.
Or the shell game.
Yeah.
So I can come out andsay, Hey, look at this.
(38:56):
And then you startsaying, see, I told you.
But I'm the one that also has,uh, contracts and, and nobody's.
Nobody's doing a doge on me.
You seem like pointy.
So that's what, that's the part.
So that's the game.
Okay.
So you throw a little truth intosomething and then people believe
it and you can do what you wanna do.
Right?
Because now they're thinking thatyou are doing the, you are basically,
(39:18):
um, doing everything that's right.
And you're not, alright.
So look, did he come in and, and, and,and, and do everything he said he did?
Absolutely right.
Number two.
Um, but I don't look.
Time will tell, history will tell, okay?
But what we need to do iswhat we need to do today.
And at the end of the day, and that'sthe question I want to ask you buddy.
(39:40):
So
all these things are not justaffecting people of color, but
they're affecting everybody, right?
But let's, let's justgo right to the people.
Let's go to our people,let's go to people of color.
What do we need?
And let's talk specifically about men.
Okay?
Let's, let's go there.
What do men need to do?
While all this turmoil and all thesethings are going on, I'm talking, and when
(40:05):
I say men, I'm talking real men head ofhousehold that's running their family.
And I don't care if they're a bricklayer, I don't care if they're a CEO.
The job title really doesn't matter.
Right.
But I wanna hear from you, what does, inthis situation where everybody's being
effective, how can men make a difference?
Brad Bowling (40:22):
The first thing that
I would do, or the first piece of
advice that I would give, uh, to men.
Is to go join an an organization.
Okay?
When we take a look at the 1940s,fifties, and sixties, and the
Civil Rights Movement, black peoplebelong to the A CLU Urban League
naacp, all three of them today.
(40:43):
We don't belong to any of them.
Okay?
And so I would say go findan organization to join.
It doesn't have to be one of those.
It can be 100 black men.
It can be your local church.
It can be a social group, it canbe big brothers, big sisters.
It can be anything, but wehave to, we have to go back
to becoming servants, right?
(41:05):
If you take a look at theintegrity of America, it, the
Fabric of America is gone.
I think we have to restore thefabric of America from the bottom
down, from grassroots down, andthen expect integrity going up.
So when you take a look at it, becausewe let so much get away with it.
Well, let me look away when I seethe black man getting profiled.
Let me, let me look the other way.
(41:27):
Hey, I like black.
This is what they say.
I like black people.
But did you do anything when you sawthe police pull him over, when you saw
the police stop the guy for no reason,when he walked out of Starbucks with a
coffee and you're questioning him sayinghe fit the description, did you do
anything when the brother got killed inthe apartment building in his own house?
Because he just answered thedoor and a cop decided to, did
you, dude, did you do anything?
(41:47):
Right.
If you didn't do anything, then why wouldI care about your 401k being half now?
So we have to go back to takingcare and caring about everybody,
Tony Tidbit (41:57):
right?
Brad Bowling (41:58):
That's
the first step, right?
So you have to go join an organizationand become a servant to society again.
That's where I would start.
And then once you start that atthe head of the household, you
demand it throughout the household.
Honey, what are youdoing to give back kids?
Go join something.
We're gonna go to church as a family.
We're gonna go over hereand paint this house.
We're gonna take the, the neighborwho's 87 lives by herself.
(42:21):
We're gonna knock on her doorand see does she need food?
Is that wall wet because the house is dampor are we gonna go and make sure that her
house is not imploding from inside out?
Right.
Um, so those are the first things that Iwould recommend that we do as a society
is become servants of society again.
A lot of us take, but we don't give.
Tony Tidbit (42:41):
Buddy.
That is some excellent number one.
Thanks for sharing that.
Because you're a hundred percent rightand those things are in our control.
Okay?
Correct.
And they, and here's the thing.
They matter and they maynot be on the evening news.
Okay.
Yeah.
But those little things that everybody cando together, I love start being a servant.
(43:01):
Start the community, come together.
Start with your own family.
Right?
Yeah.
This is time to buckle down andlet's become, let's, let's, let's.
Let our family stand for something.
Right?
Right.
Let us all get together and really,you know, focus on not only loving
one another, but also lovingthe community and helping them.
Because when you do that acrossall different lines, it's hard for
(43:23):
people not to come back and love you.
Okay.
And what happens is, and, and this.
Is the thing, my brother, you hit itright on the head, so thank you for that.
Mm-hmm.
And we've gotten away from that.
So now when you've gotten away, it's everyman, you know, what's that old saying?
Three, you know, every day for24 hours, seven days a week.
Every individual thinks aboutthree individuals all day long.
(43:45):
And those three individualsare mean, myself and I.
Okay.
And that's just a fact.
That's a fact.
Right?
Right.
And so when you start be thinkingabout me, myself, and I, and then
you are not looking out, or to yourpoint when you see the brother get
pulled over and just walk over andsay, Hey officer, is everything okay?
What's going on here?
Right?
Right.
Or you see the old lady who needsa seat on the train and everybody's
(44:06):
standing and she's standing up andeverybody's sitting down, why don't,
excuse me, miss, why don't youcome over here and take this seat?
Take my seat.
Right?
Correct.
All these little things matter becausewhat happens is when we don't do them.
Then it's easy for people toput narratives out and say, this
group is getting more than you.
These people are tryingto take advantage of you.
(44:26):
And because that community is not togetherand people are not experiencing that,
they start saying, yeah, you right.
Yeah, you, and then weget to where we are today.
Right, right.
So I love what you said,my brother, I love.
Let me ask you this.
How can BEP help.
Code Magazine continueto move forward in 2025?
Brad Bowling (44:48):
You know, man, I, I, I
think we continue to have conversations
like this and I say, you know, maybe,I don't know if we start some type of
online movement where after these, youknow, we have some kind of form fill.
If people want advice or if theywant communication, if they have
anxiety, if they need support, ifthey want to have a conversation.
You know, I think maybe we setup the platforms to have some
(45:09):
of these conversations, becauseyou and I are not the only ones.
Uh, having this compensation, ifwe're having it, a hundred thousand
people are thinking about it,
Tony Tidbit (45:17):
right?
There's no question, buddy.
Brad Bowling (45:18):
And, and so we have
to find new and better ways to
support each other's, uh, passions.
Our anxiety, uh, our fears, um, and Ithink we have to have a greater sense
of community because I'm gonna tell youthere's two, three guys that we know right
now who are not saying anything to us.
And we don't know wherethey are mentally, right?
(45:40):
We don't know what theirfinancial situation is.
We don't know what their anxietylevel is, and we don't know
what their next steps are 'causethey're not telling us and right.
And so, you know, suicide, uh,thoughts of suicide, this is real.
This is real.
So we have to pay attention to each other.
We just have to do a better job oftaking care of, uh, of each other.
Tony And the, and the one thingthat I wanna say to you is when
(46:01):
we hold ourselves accountable.
And then we start to holdeach other accountable.
We will start to hold them accountable.
And then that's where you'regonna start to see change.
Right?
But because we're not accountable, wedon't hold anybody else accountable.
And I think that's where it starts.
Tony Tidbit (46:16):
Brad Bowling,
president CODE M Magazine.
Thanks for coming on my brotherand sharing your perspective.
Brad Bowling (46:22):
I appreciate it, man.
Thank you so much.
You're doing a fantastic job.
Congratulations on your award, uh,that you received just recently.
I know your second year I'm watching you.
Has kicked off to a strong start, man.
So continued success and Ican't wait to be back on.
Tony Tidbit (46:37):
Uh, buddy, we're gonna
have you come back to dive into a
couple more articles, so stay there.
Love you a lot problem.
Really appreciate it.
So I wanna thank Brad Bowling, presidentCol magazine for coming on and sharing
his perspective about this shock doctrine.
So now I think it'stime for Tony's tidbit.
Okay, and the tidbit today, disastercapitalism feels like confusion.
(46:59):
It counts on people being toodistracted, too divided, or
too overwhelmed to respond.
But clarity is a weapon.
When you understand the game,you stop being a pawn in it.
Or like we were talkingabout, a lived in hostage.
All right?
Purpose gives you direction and directiongives you power in times of crisis.
(47:22):
Knowing who you are and why youfight is the beginning of liberation.
And you heard a lot of thatfrom my brother, uh, Brad
Bowling at Code Air Magazine.
So don't want everybody to forgetto check out this Thursday.
Need to know by Dr.
Nsenga Burton on A BlackExecutive Perspective podcast.
Dr.
Burton ties into the timely, crucialtopics that shape our community and world.
(47:45):
You ain't got time to knoweverything, but you should have time
to check out, need to know with Dr.
Nsenga Burton because she's gonnaeducate you so you don't wanna miss it.
And don't forget to checkout coming out next week.
Next episode of Pull Up, speak up ourround table where they dive into bold,
unfiltered, uh, uh, topics, the mostprovocative issues, sharp perspectives,
(48:07):
real talk, and the call to action.
I'm telling you, this isnot just, uh, an episode.
This is a revolution.
So check out.
Pull up, speak up.
So now, as everyone knows, andthis is your first time listening
or watching to A Black ExecutivePerspective podcast, our goal is to
eliminate all forms of discrimination.
And we've come up with a call toaction, an acronym, which we call
(48:28):
less LESS, and I'm gonna kick it off.
L stands for learn.
You wanna educate yourself onracial and cultural nuances.
'cause the more that you learnabout other people, the better.
And then once you learn,you have the letter.
E, which stands for empathy.
Right now, since you've learned,you should have more, you should
be more empathetic to what yourfriends and brothers and colleagues
(48:51):
are going through because you canput yourself in their shoes, and
then the first S stands for share.
You now.
As Brad was talking about, you wannago out and share what you've learned to
other people that don't know your friends.
And Colin, lemme tell you aboutthis, lemme tell you about that so
that you can help enlighten them.
And then the final S stands for Stop.
You wanna actively stop discriminationas it walks in your path.
(49:14):
As Brad talked about.
You see the guy get pulled over,walk over there, say something right?
Because if everybody can actually, uh,if you see Aunt Jenny or Uncle Joe.
This is simple as this and theSunday dinner table and they say
something that's inappropriate.
You say, I'm Jenny Uncle Joe.
We don't believe that.
We don't say that.
And you stop it right there.
(49:35):
So everyone can incorporate less LESS.
We'll build a more fair,more understanding world.
And we'll see the change we wannasee because less will become more.
You can follow A Black ExecutivePerspective of listen to watch our
episodes on YouTube, apple, Spotify,or wherever you get your podcast.
And you can follow us on our socialchannels of LinkedIn, X, YouTube,
(49:57):
Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok at a blackexec for our fabulous guest president
of Cold Air Magazine, Brad Bowling.
I'm Tony Tidbit.
We talked about it, we laughedabout it, we learned about it.
We're still gonna strive about itand we're gonna thrive about it.
We love you.
And guess what?
We're out
BEP Narrator (50:21):
A Black
Executive Perspective.