November 18, 2025 • 33 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
It's that time time time time, wuck and load. So
Michael Verie show is on the air like the kisshit,
But I just washed my hair.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Fine.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Let me explain something to white people. Our hair comes
out of our head naturally in a curly pattern. So
when we're straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we
are trapped by the straightness. That's why so many of
us can't swim and we run away from the water.
People won't go to the gym because we're trying to
(00:38):
keep our hair straight. For y'all, it is exhausting, and
it's so expensive, and it takes up so much time.
Braids are for y'all, so we can work harder and
focus on the work. Don't tell me how to wear
my hair, don't wonder about it, don't touch it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Just don't.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We have to start educating people about all kinds of beauty. Yes,
and our beauty is so powerful and so unique that
it is that it is worthy of a conversation, and
it's worthy of demanding the respect that we're old for who.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
We are and what we offer to the world.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Let me tell you something, For the first time in
my adult life, I am proud of my country because
it feels like Hope is finally making a comeback.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
I guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation
here and a strong woman. And you know, but that's
been an image that people have tried to pain of
me since, you know, the day Barack announced that I'm
some angry black woman.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's the story that I witness every single day when
I wake up in a house that was built by slaves,
people line up for my advice and you're walking away.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Like I'm stupid.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
It's like.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I've written books, I've given speeches. Don't even look at
me about running because you all are lying.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You're not ready for a woman.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
You are not.
Speaker 6 (02:16):
Michelle Obama talks a lot about white people don't respect
Black people and what no one ever responds to her,
and that's part of the problem. I've seen this happen
with CEOs, I've seen it happening with rock stars. When
(02:40):
nobody ever questions your opinions and you just keep offering them,
you get kind of Howard Hughes esque, You get kind
of out there, get a little weird, and you need
people to say, well, I disagree with that, and let
me explain to force people to think through things.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It's healthy.
Speaker 6 (03:01):
But for everything that Michelle Obama says, white people don't
respect black people. We shouldn't have to straighten our hair.
We shouldn't have.
Speaker 7 (03:09):
To do this.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
I got news for you. There is nobody white telling
anybody black what they need to do with their hair.
There is nobody white going out in public. And when
a black person shows up at the grocery store and
they didn't have much time to get ready before they
went to the grocery store, and say.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Girl, you ashy, You ashy girl, go home, you ashy.
You ought not out beyond in public. You ashy.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
You got to be ashamed of yourself, you ashy. White
people don't do that. Black people do that. Black people
do that to black people. Black people are cruel to
black people. They're vicious, they're judgmental. They poke into each
other's business. Girl, you with that boy, that boy ain't nothing.
(03:57):
He ain't no good. That boy gonna mess around on you,
but I love him. Uh uh no, no, no, that
boy bad, that boy bad or dude. You with that girl,
that girl she is not that girl. Nasty, that girl
nasty boy. You need to give that ain't nothing to
be parading around like you got somebody special that is
(04:18):
not coming from white people. You watch fights and they're
all over the internet of black people fighting in the streets.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And it's constant.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
It's public housing projects, public spaces, grocery stores, you name it,
hair pulling, fighting, drive by shooting.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's not white people judging black people.
Speaker 6 (04:39):
That is black on black Black hatred of other blacks
is a massive problem. And then they've been taught blame
it on Whitey. White he's not even around. And then
they get mad at Whitey because his defense of I
swear I didn't plot your destruction.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I didn't know you existed. See, y'all don't care about us.
You gotta pick one or the other.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Either you want us involved or we're out to destroy
you and we're scheming your demise. But it can't be
both at the same time. And truthfully, most white people
don't care. Most white people are over it. In fact,
a lot of black people are over it.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
It is a.
Speaker 6 (05:23):
Cottage industry, quite the successful boutique these days to be
a black commentator offering opinions on black fatigue and how
much they've had enough of it. Terrence Williams, I mean
there's a lot of people doing it and it's very,
very popular. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama has been really feeling it lately.
(05:44):
She's going on podcasts talking about just how terrible it's
been to be the first lady, how we don't deserve
her as president. She's not going wrong because we're not ready,
we're not acting right. Having to dress up nice, so much, work,
so much hass y'all don't even know y'all, Kate, No,
y'all too stupid. Poor, She has to get her hair
(06:04):
done just for those white people's approval.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, she's tired of it. I don't do it no
more like there's.
Speaker 6 (06:11):
Some kind of committee out there going around to black
hair salons.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Can you imagine? Hello, ladies, and the hell are you?
Speaker 8 (06:20):
We're the hair slave team here to make sure everything's
in order for the white folk approval. First off, we
gotta change this music.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Excuse me? Did you say slave? Of course?
Speaker 8 (06:30):
Straight, long, accessible, vivacious, helegant slave.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Somebody could have picked up better name. Hi, let's do
a quick assessment here.
Speaker 8 (06:39):
All right, straight looks good, but you're at a point
three on the length meter. We're gonna please the white folks.
They like it long extensions, chair two. What do we
have here?
Speaker 9 (06:47):
Who?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Frizzy short? No? No girlfriend.
Speaker 8 (06:50):
It's like I'm smacking the face by the nineties away
with the perm making more firm.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Oh, dear lord, are those braids on chair seven?
Speaker 8 (06:57):
Clippers and a broom stat give her the Jennifer Anniston
frends cut.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
White heroes still love that.
Speaker 8 (07:02):
Okay, ladies, if you want to look good for the
white folks, Lots of things to clean up here.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
We'll be back in six months. By Felicia. But no,
I'm not being rude. Her name's Felicia. I'm just telling her.
Speaker 9 (07:10):
Mind cattle, cattle.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I had a fine Michael berry in.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
Delicia Ballinger. I hope I pronounced that correctly. We'll find
out just a moment. Lives in Memphis, Tennessee. She's a
mother journalist and until last month, a freelance reporter for
The Tri State Defender. The tri State Defender publishes online news, entertainment,
and information specifically focused on the African American community in
the greater Memphis area. That's black people remote, it's not Elon.
(07:57):
I don't want you get a stupid idea. And they
have since ninetie well in September. As you know, President
Trump signed in an executive order ordering the National Guard
into Memphis to help combat crime.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Which is good for the people of Memphis.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
A few weeks later, Delicia shared her observations and her experience,
but apparently her experience did not conform to the standard.
She wasn't reading the rules. She was not going to
be Malmoud. She wasn't going to be told what to
do and what to say. She's an independent black woman,
and I thought, remind me, I thought that was a
(08:32):
good thing.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
No, it's not.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
It's only if you say what you're supposed to say.
People like Delicia are far more damaging and detrimental and
dangerous and subversive than I could ever be, because she
is a black woman who dares to have her own opinion,
and that makes people angry.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
She's our guest. Welcome to the show, sweetheart.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy
to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You have a great voice, Delisia.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
All right, so tell your story. Let's first catch up
with who you are. Where were you born, who were
your parents? Where'd you go to school?
Speaker 7 (09:06):
Yes, so again, I'm the Lasia A Balinger, and I'm
a Myphist. I've been a lifelong Myphian. I did spend
a little bit of time away in Chicago, so I'm
a little mixed with the little Midwest there. My parents
are originally well, I have one that's originally from Florida
and then another one that's.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Also a Memphian here too, you know.
Speaker 7 (09:25):
As well as I'm a mom my wife, I'm a
boy mom of two amazing children, and I love Memphis
and I love being a journalist and just being for
the people.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
That's just always been my thing is to always just.
Speaker 7 (09:42):
Kind of see things from my point of view, seeing
things from my eyes and just being honest.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And that's just something that.
Speaker 7 (09:48):
I've just always just kind of carried with me throughout
the years. I've always been outspoken. I've always been the
type to just say how I feel, and again just
from a pointed from an honest point of view.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
And how did you get involved as a freelance reporter?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
What was your professional background?
Speaker 7 (10:07):
So I come from the media world. Of course, I've
been a freelance journalist.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
For well over ten years.
Speaker 7 (10:15):
This was just a dream that I had and I
was actually taken off of the street by the publishing
editor at the time, Benaal Smith for the Tri State Defender,
and he merely just saw my extreme passion and my
love and just my gift of writing, and he hired
(10:36):
me off the spot, off the street.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
At the time. I didn't have a degree or anything.
Speaker 7 (10:40):
He just merely just thought my passion and he knew
that I was there for the people, and he actually
hired me off.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Of the street.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
And from that point going forward, I just kind of
tapped a little bit more into the entertainment side, working
doing entertainment for.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Quite some for years, and then pretty.
Speaker 7 (11:00):
Much kind of towards the middle of my tenure, it
kind of shifts one to the educational side, working with
the government doing things of that nature, and just kind
of just doing a tid bit of everything at that point.
Speaker 6 (11:15):
And so, how long had you been reporting for the
African American community for the Tri State Defender.
Speaker 10 (11:24):
So I've been there nearly eight years.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Okay, all right, So you've been at this for a while.
And the art of storytelling, which is something I'm passionate about.
I think that I think that good preaching and storytelling.
I think the good book writing and storytelling is so songwriting,
stories and film is storytelling. A good salesman is a storyteller.
How if you look back in your life, sit on
your therapists couch here and tell me why you think
(11:51):
you wanted to tell stories. Who was that influence in
your life that you think led you to want to
tell stories?
Speaker 7 (11:57):
You know, really it was from my all personal experience
siences that made me want a story to me want
to tell stories.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
You know, I was pregnant and homeless with my first child.
I've also before that too. You know.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
I wasn't on the straight and narrow. I was in
and out of the system for quite some time. I
didn't make the best decisions, but I knew what my
focus was.
Speaker 11 (12:20):
I knew that my purpose was bigger than me. I
know that God had something.
Speaker 10 (12:24):
Planned bigger for me.
Speaker 7 (12:25):
It was changing my mindset and that came for me
telling my own story and changing the own my own
narrative for my life.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And once I'd done.
Speaker 10 (12:34):
That, it opened the siguay for me to be able
to do that for others.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
And that's what's something that I try to incorporate within
my writing, is to be able to not only narrate
the story, but to be able to, you know, tell
the truth and to be able to capture what it
is that my audience want to know and be able
to fully grasp and tell that story. But I can
honestly say that my own story was pretty much my
(13:01):
foundation on being able.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
To do the same thing for others.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
It's a gift.
Speaker 9 (13:09):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
A journalist should be a truth teller, and that should
be the top of the mountain, the gold that's sorry,
the goal.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
The gold standard.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
It should be what a journalist is seeking to do,
and the belief that sunlight is the best disinfectant at
telling the stories and exposing things. People will come to
the best conclusions.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Thomas Jefferson famously said, do you want the media regulating
the government or the government regulating the media, And I
think we all know where that stands. But now we
move to the next step. How did you find out
living in Memphis that the President had signed the executive order?
What can you remember the first time you heard that
he's going to be sending troops to Memphis? Because Memphis
is never look, I'm an Elvis fan, Ben to Beale Street,
(13:56):
there's FedEx, there's Saint Jude, which were one other spokesmen.
So I understand Memphis, but it does not come up
in the conversation of major cities. You expect federal troops
to go into La Chicago, Atlanta, New York.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Memphis is never on that list or DC. And then
it was do you remember when you learned that?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Absolutely? I started hearing rumors real around.
Speaker 10 (14:20):
The top September, and it wasn't until I woke.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Up one morning and.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
I saw President Trump I believe it was on Good
Morning of America or something like that of the sort,
where he basically said, hey, Memphis is pretty much nixt
on the least, and I was like, wow, you know,
I was pretty skeptical at first.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I'm thinking okay.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
On behalf of me is saying okay, relief.
Speaker 7 (14:44):
Because again, I live in these neighborhoods where I'm I'm
pretty much a victim, and I'm seeing others around me
are become victims of the high crime here within the city.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So I'm relieved that he's doing this.
Speaker 11 (15:00):
And then the other half of me.
Speaker 7 (15:01):
Is kind of like, so, what is this going to
be like, because again you have the fear mongering coming
in from the community, from the media here, especially the
local media here at this point, and basically just kind
of pouring into us.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
That's like, oh my god, they're going to come down here.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
It's kind of giving Nazi vibes. You know, they're going
to be marching down the streets. They're going to be
doing this in the third and doing a bunch of harassing.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
So let she's you know, be prepared, you know for that.
Speaker 11 (15:27):
So I was a bit fifty fifty on the fence
about it.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
But more wait right there, Alicia A. Balinger is our guest.
More with her and how she lost her job when
first I've been.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
Destroying the black community is to dismantle the black family.
Michael Barry show, why don't we ask missus Willie Brown
if Kamala Harris cares about black families.
Speaker 6 (15:50):
Alicia Balinger was a reporter for the Tri State Defender
in Memphis, and she dared to write about her perspective,
her observations, her experience after President Trump signed an executive
order ordering the National Guard into Memphis, where crime was
notoriously bad. Lisa, let's start before we get to your
(16:12):
perspective on that action and the result. How bad was
it in Memphis? Because we hear stories.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It was awful.
Speaker 7 (16:23):
I again, I live in a neighborhood that's a majority black,
and the crime.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Is extremely high.
Speaker 7 (16:31):
And there were things that I was dealing with, such.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
As burglary, you know, the shootings.
Speaker 10 (16:37):
That was a constant, constant thing.
Speaker 7 (16:39):
It was a normalcy for my family. I just think
we remember being on the phone one day with my neighbor.
We I'm pretty close with my neighbors, and I just
happened to be on a phone call with my neighbor
and as.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
We're chatting, I'm hearing gunshots.
Speaker 10 (16:55):
It sounds like.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
A machine gun. It's just like thirty shots within a
span of minutes.
Speaker 10 (17:02):
And we're both on the phone, like what's happening here?
Speaker 7 (17:05):
And then literally five minutes later, we're seeing crime, seeing
tape and.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
We couldn't even leave off of our street. You know,
this is going on both ends. It's again, it was
a normalcy.
Speaker 7 (17:15):
I was afraid for my children to come outside because.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I'm afraid that we were going to be innocent bystanders
from bullets.
Speaker 10 (17:24):
You know.
Speaker 7 (17:24):
There was there was an instance where I was in
my backyard just trying to pull some yards of the
weeds and things out of my yard, and before you
know what, I'm hearing gunshots, and I had to run
in the house.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
You know, I couldn't complete the things.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
That I wanted to do around my home because I
was so fearful of going outside.
Speaker 10 (17:41):
And it was to the point that I did not
let my children outside.
Speaker 7 (17:44):
They were not outside plane and if they did, it
was heavily supervising.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It wasn't for long with us being outside. So the
crime was absolutely terrible.
Speaker 10 (17:54):
You couldn't go places, you couldn't do things.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Without you know, things happening.
Speaker 7 (17:59):
You know, people pulling out out guns, people shooting everywhere.
Speaker 10 (18:02):
This is even happening in spaces.
Speaker 7 (18:04):
Where children are and people aren't in full control of themselves.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
It was very scary, for sure.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
I don't know what led President Trump to make the
decision to make that executive order, but I have spent
a lot of time and you would have no reason
to know this. But in my early life I was
in politics. I was a citywide city councilor for the
city of Houston, and I was a mayor pro tem
and I got very, very involved in the parts of
town that most people never go to. And these are
(18:40):
the almost exclusively black parts of town. And Houston has
a great and rich history legacy in our black community.
Barbara Jordan was the congressman. Music came out of this area,
and culture and cuisine and personalities and the like. But
one of the things I found was there was the
sense of quote unquote black lead who were themselves black,
(19:01):
and before that it was white liberals. And I've always
said that they referred to this as their own little
fiefdom and they don't want anybody from the outside coming in.
It's like when Boris Yeltsen came and visited Houston, Texas
and he saw the grocery store. It was a Randall's
grocery store, and he saw all the options in produce.
(19:21):
He said, Communism is sunk. America wins. Communism won't last
in Russia because when the people realize there are all
these options, so many different grapes and apples and bananas,
they won't live under our system.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Again.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
It's as if it's as if these elected black officials,
the Democrats don't want people to see that you don't
have to live this way. There don't have to be
drive bys, there doesn't have to be filth. This could
be a nice place to live in America. And so
I'm really proud of President Trump that he was willing
to say I'm going to do the right thing for
the people who live there, even though their elected officials
(19:57):
are going to make me out to be a monster.
It would be easier to just forget about Memphis, which
is what's typically.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Not mm hmmm mm hmm. Yep, I.
Speaker 7 (20:06):
Agree with you, you know, and that's why I feel
like a lot of this we're talking about President Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I feel like a lot of people's anger.
Speaker 10 (20:16):
Are it is totally misdirected.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
And that's where that separates me from the majority, because at.
Speaker 11 (20:23):
First I felt like.
Speaker 10 (20:25):
Everyone else, I'm like, what is President Trump doing?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
What is he on?
Speaker 11 (20:29):
But then once I realized.
Speaker 12 (20:32):
And took a look at the scope of things, and
I'm like, this is the He's an actionable president.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
He came in.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
Swiftly after I've seen that interview. It was nearly two
weeks later before we saw an influx of the Tennessee
Highway State Patrol or the Memphis Pass Force and a
bit of the National Guard.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And that was.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
When that Bible video was made.
Speaker 11 (20:57):
Because that's when the light well clicked in for me
and was.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Like, Wow, my local city leaders have done nothing they've
done nothing. And these are the people who we've elected
and have been in office for quite some time, and
it's nearly taken two weeks of President Trump's action.
Speaker 10 (21:20):
For them to come in and swiftly.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Give me peace and give me and my family peace.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
That was an eye opening moment for me and made
me realize that I have been voting incorrectly.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I've been voting wrong.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
I've been I have not been making the best decisions
not only for my family, but for the citizens of mythist.
Speaker 10 (21:41):
Because he created this action, he.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
Gave me peace to me and my family. He restored
some form of order within my city. And again, this
was just in two weeks for me to feel like this,
and I commend President Trump for it.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
The line they use online is we don't have to
live like this, and it's so true.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
It is so very true.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
I can remember going into communities and campaigning, and then
I can remember I was on city council for a
week and we got a call to our office from
one of the black pastors who had endorsed me.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
And almost all of them did.
Speaker 6 (22:19):
And here I was a Republican, but we took care
of our people, and they had a hole out in
front of the church, that it was a crater you
could lose a car in. And they called and said,
we just want this hole in front of our church
fixed because there's one way in and one way out
of our church, and everybody there's scraping the undercarriage of
their vehicle and it's frustrating, and why can't we get
(22:42):
it fixed? And they had supported the mayors, and we
had a black mayor, and he had been to that
church and he had received their endorsement, and he had
received all their votes, and nobody ever did anything. And
they called us on like a Tuesday, and by Friday
we had the hole field. And he brought me up
to to the pulpit that Sunday and he said, I
(23:03):
know what you're saying. Why are you letting that white
boy up at the pulpit, Because he's my white boy,
and he took care of my people, and he's my counselor,
and he cares about us. And what he was trying
to say was open your eyes to good government. And
I think this is a problem that plagues I hate
to term black communities because there are well it's a
(23:26):
complicated question, but I think this is a problem that
plagues communities that are exclusively or close enough to being black,
is this is the brainwashing that the people who are
here to represent you are the people who keep telling
you that white he's evil. Well, that's not true. You
want everybody working for you, You want everybody trying to
(23:48):
trying to protect you.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Hold on.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Delicia Ballinger in Memphis, Tennessee. We're going to talk about
how she was fired from doing something she loved to do,
reporting truth telling in memph because she dared say nice
things about President Trump making Memphis better.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
The hell coming up. She was twelve, I was thirty,
but it was wonderful to have you, mister President. The
Michael Barry Show.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
Alicia Balinger is our guest. She came to my attention.
I should probably tell you. We have a listener in
just outside of Houston about two hours named Dan Agan,
and he has He started a charity a few years ago,
a charity with a real purpose called we Won't be
Canceled dot org.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
We Won't be Canceled dot org.
Speaker 6 (24:38):
And when he first told me about it, everybody's going
to start a charity and nobody ever does it and
never fund it.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And he funded it.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
He seated it himself with money and lo and behold,
I would have people on like the guy who went
to prison for a meme about Hillary Clinton. How ridiculous
is that? And I had to got on and in
short order he had sent him the cash to get
back up on his feet. When people speak out and
do the right thing, then this charity with a purpose
advocates on their behalf and provides financial assistance so that
(25:06):
they don't suffer from being fired. It's called we Won't
be Canceled dot org. It's a pretty pretty neat deal.
So instead of him this time hearing me talk about
somebody and saying I want to support them, which I
think he's done that for thirty people or so so far,
and it's real money every time, real money, he reached
out and said, hey, I want you to know about
this woman, Delicia Ballinger, and we've had her on. Now
(25:27):
what happened? How did you find out that saying something nice?
Where did you say that the support that President Trump
was giving was a good thing? And then how did
it happen that it fell apart?
Speaker 11 (25:38):
So this was a day, this is a Friday, and I'm.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
Something that getting postponed and so I had a moment
to sit.
Speaker 12 (25:50):
Out on my porch and I grabbed the team and that's.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
When the light bulb could be in. For the first
time in five years of me.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
Being in my neighborhood. I am hearing the birds trunk.
I am seeing families outside. I'm seeing a family. I'm
seeing a father throw a football as his kids. I'm
seeing families walking. It's peaceful, it's quiet, it's different.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
And.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I'm like, what in the world this is peace?
Speaker 7 (26:18):
And I grabbed my phone and I set on my
porch and I talked about it. And that's when I said,
you know, I again, you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Know, I'm not into politics or anything. I don't like to.
Speaker 10 (26:32):
Get into all of it, but thank you President Trump,
because who else could I have thanked for doing this.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
It was President Trump that did it.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
So I merely told him thank you and share my
experience on what was happening in my neighborhood at that time.
And again, I'm not thinking anything of it, you know,
I'm just to share my experience.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
And before i know it, I'm.
Speaker 10 (26:55):
Just seeing the numbers just blow.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
Up and I'm like, oh wow, this is I didn't
I wasn't expecting this so I ended up reaching out
to the Tri State Defender, because again, I'm a journalist,
I believe in communication, and I reached out to some of.
Speaker 10 (27:10):
The editors there, and when I first initially told him,
you know.
Speaker 11 (27:13):
They were they were fine with it, you know, I
told them my experience.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
My editor at the time.
Speaker 10 (27:18):
She's also from a different community.
Speaker 7 (27:20):
She's from Jackson, Mississippi, which is basically like a smaller
version of Memphis, so she understood at that time where
I was coming from.
Speaker 11 (27:29):
But then the numbers started.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
Climbing and climbing and climbing some more, and then eventually,
I guess people.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Started sending her the video.
Speaker 10 (27:36):
And then she.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Reached out to me and said, hey, why.
Speaker 10 (27:39):
Did you think Trump?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And I'm like, well, he's the president.
Speaker 10 (27:44):
Because she was like, well that made me want to
cut your video off because.
Speaker 11 (27:49):
You said thank you, And I said, well, who else
am I.
Speaker 7 (27:55):
Supposed to think? Because he's the person that did this.
And then and then she went silent, and then I
began to tell her like, hey, you know, I'm getting
other opportunities to be on Fox News things of that nature.
She was like, well, if you go, because these people
are pro Trump, They're gonna make you look like Diamond
and Stilk.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
They're gonna make you look.
Speaker 11 (28:14):
Like these supreme like pretty much she ever want.
Speaker 7 (28:17):
She did a boot licking Trump supporter, and if you
do this, you will no longer be affiliated with.
Speaker 11 (28:24):
The Tri State Defender. And I sat there for a.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Minute and I was just like okay, and then it.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
Just kept bothering me. It just kept itching away with
me because I'm like, I feel like I'm being silenced.
I feel like I'm being biased because the whole time
before all of this came about, I'm in the city.
I actually filmed where the.
Speaker 10 (28:48):
State troopers rolled upon us while I was talking to
a family that.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Was pulled over.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
I'm covering so many different viewpoints of what's happening in
the city, and.
Speaker 11 (28:57):
They were fine with it. But the first moment that
I said thank.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
You to Trump or anything in relation to the Trump administration,
my career was on the line. And so from that
point I went back online and I just kind of
gave my following an update, was like, hey, like, my
media company is actually trying to silence me all because
I'm telling the truth. And before I know it, the
(29:21):
next day, I'm getting they've removed me from all of
their social media platforms. I'm getting emails stating that my
assignments that I had they no longer wanted me to do,
and that was it.
Speaker 11 (29:33):
They no longer wanted anything else to do with me.
And then they came out with this statement like I've
never worked there when I've been there.
Speaker 10 (29:41):
For almost ten years, and just.
Speaker 11 (29:43):
Tried to, of course, make it seem like it was
my decision.
Speaker 10 (29:48):
To do or voluntarily to do when they gave.
Speaker 11 (29:52):
Me an ultimatum.
Speaker 7 (29:54):
And so yeah, it was really, you know, disheartening, because
again it's like having your own people slammed the door
in your face because I actually told the truth, which
again opened my eyes even more to the fact because
I'm like this whole time, I'm thinking I'm working for
a company that's not biased, and the whole time I'm
(30:16):
on a side and I did not know, and it's disheartening.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
It was very disheartening.
Speaker 7 (30:25):
I worked, as I did my research more and more
the owners they're very far left, and so me saying
what I said was a huge no.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
No, yeah, you know, I could go through. So Marcus L.
Charles's good friend of mine.
Speaker 6 (30:42):
He wrote the book Loan survivor began the movie, and
he had to go through hell and his three mates,
his fellow seals, his buds, his brothers.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Died for this story to be told.
Speaker 6 (30:57):
And I often think about out you know, and as
a as a believer, and I think of Christ's suffering
and that it was it was preordained, it was destined,
And I think about the suffering that has to happen,
the things we go through in order to reach the
(31:18):
point that our voice has meaning.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
The fact is it brought us together.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
For you to tell this story to a lot of people,
and it's brought you to a lot of people. And
there's somebody out there, maybe they're black, maybe they're white,
maybe there's.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Something else who is saying.
Speaker 6 (31:34):
You know, I might not be exactly like Alicia Balinger,
but in my life I'm ready to be a full
person as well. I consider the suppression and repression of
black independent thought in this country to be absolutely disturbing,
and I see it every day. I see it, and
(31:56):
I see it being done.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
By other blacks.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
The crab in a bucket theory, the sort of social hierarchy,
political hierarchy, and the way that there is a regimented
system of enforcement like a capo system. And it bothers me,
It really really bothers me.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
You know, this makes me think a whole lot in
which I have to sit back and think a lot
about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 11 (32:19):
And I owe that man an.
Speaker 10 (32:21):
Apology because I realized I am him, you know he.
The difference is, especially when you're talking about the black community.
Speaker 7 (32:31):
You know, I'm black, okay, and it's bad enough that
me as a black person that I.
Speaker 11 (32:36):
Can't say anything about my community.
Speaker 7 (32:38):
And it's different, even even more different, when you have
a white man that's literally saying the exact same thing
that I'm saying, and.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
It did not being well recepted.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
Delicia A. Balinger, we're up against a break. You are wonderful.
I adore you.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
You be strong. Anyone out there that wants to learn
more reach out to her.
Speaker 6 (32:57):
You could go to we Won't be Canceled dot org
and you will see her as one of the people
on that site We Won't be Canceled dot org and
you can support the great work they are doing. It's
one man funding at all. He can't fund it forever.
He's not wealthy. He's made a little money, but he
wants to make a difference, and he's putting his money
up to make a difference for people like Delicia and
(33:18):
for you
It's that time time time time, wuck and load. So
Michael Verie show is on the air like the kisshit,
But I just washed my hair.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Fine.
Speaker 3 (00:18):
Let me explain something to white people. Our hair comes
out of our head naturally in a curly pattern. So
when we're straightening it to follow your beauty standards, we
are trapped by the straightness. That's why so many of
us can't swim and we run away from the water.
People won't go to the gym because we're trying to
(00:38):
keep our hair straight. For y'all, it is exhausting, and
it's so expensive, and it takes up so much time.
Braids are for y'all, so we can work harder and
focus on the work. Don't tell me how to wear
my hair, don't wonder about it, don't touch it.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Just don't.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
We have to start educating people about all kinds of beauty. Yes,
and our beauty is so powerful and so unique that
it is that it is worthy of a conversation, and
it's worthy of demanding the respect that we're old for who.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
We are and what we offer to the world.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
Let me tell you something, For the first time in
my adult life, I am proud of my country because
it feels like Hope is finally making a comeback.
Speaker 5 (01:31):
I guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation
here and a strong woman. And you know, but that's
been an image that people have tried to pain of
me since, you know, the day Barack announced that I'm
some angry black woman.
Speaker 3 (01:49):
It's the story that I witness every single day when
I wake up in a house that was built by slaves,
people line up for my advice and you're walking away.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
Like I'm stupid.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
It's like.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
I've written books, I've given speeches. Don't even look at
me about running because you all are lying.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
You're not ready for a woman.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
You are not.
Speaker 6 (02:16):
Michelle Obama talks a lot about white people don't respect
Black people and what no one ever responds to her,
and that's part of the problem. I've seen this happen
with CEOs, I've seen it happening with rock stars. When
(02:40):
nobody ever questions your opinions and you just keep offering them,
you get kind of Howard Hughes esque, You get kind
of out there, get a little weird, and you need
people to say, well, I disagree with that, and let
me explain to force people to think through things.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
It's healthy.
Speaker 6 (03:01):
But for everything that Michelle Obama says, white people don't
respect black people. We shouldn't have to straighten our hair.
We shouldn't have.
Speaker 7 (03:09):
To do this.
Speaker 6 (03:10):
I got news for you. There is nobody white telling
anybody black what they need to do with their hair.
There is nobody white going out in public. And when
a black person shows up at the grocery store and
they didn't have much time to get ready before they
went to the grocery store, and say.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Girl, you ashy, You ashy girl, go home, you ashy.
You ought not out beyond in public. You ashy.
Speaker 6 (03:34):
You got to be ashamed of yourself, you ashy. White
people don't do that. Black people do that. Black people
do that to black people. Black people are cruel to
black people. They're vicious, they're judgmental. They poke into each
other's business. Girl, you with that boy, that boy ain't nothing.
(03:57):
He ain't no good. That boy gonna mess around on you,
but I love him. Uh uh no, no, no, that
boy bad, that boy bad or dude. You with that girl,
that girl she is not that girl. Nasty, that girl
nasty boy. You need to give that ain't nothing to
be parading around like you got somebody special that is
(04:18):
not coming from white people. You watch fights and they're
all over the internet of black people fighting in the streets.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
And it's constant.
Speaker 6 (04:30):
It's public housing projects, public spaces, grocery stores, you name it,
hair pulling, fighting, drive by shooting.
Speaker 1 (04:37):
That's not white people judging black people.
Speaker 6 (04:39):
That is black on black Black hatred of other blacks
is a massive problem. And then they've been taught blame
it on Whitey. White he's not even around. And then
they get mad at Whitey because his defense of I
swear I didn't plot your destruction.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
I didn't know you existed. See, y'all don't care about us.
You gotta pick one or the other.
Speaker 6 (05:06):
Either you want us involved or we're out to destroy
you and we're scheming your demise. But it can't be
both at the same time. And truthfully, most white people
don't care. Most white people are over it. In fact,
a lot of black people are over it.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
It is a.
Speaker 6 (05:23):
Cottage industry, quite the successful boutique these days to be
a black commentator offering opinions on black fatigue and how
much they've had enough of it. Terrence Williams, I mean
there's a lot of people doing it and it's very,
very popular. Meanwhile, Michelle Obama has been really feeling it lately.
(05:44):
She's going on podcasts talking about just how terrible it's
been to be the first lady, how we don't deserve
her as president. She's not going wrong because we're not ready,
we're not acting right. Having to dress up nice, so much, work,
so much hass y'all don't even know y'all, Kate, No,
y'all too stupid. Poor, She has to get her hair
(06:04):
done just for those white people's approval.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Yeah, she's tired of it. I don't do it no
more like there's.
Speaker 6 (06:11):
Some kind of committee out there going around to black
hair salons.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Can you imagine? Hello, ladies, and the hell are you?
Speaker 8 (06:20):
We're the hair slave team here to make sure everything's
in order for the white folk approval. First off, we
gotta change this music.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Excuse me? Did you say slave? Of course?
Speaker 8 (06:30):
Straight, long, accessible, vivacious, helegant slave.
Speaker 1 (06:35):
Somebody could have picked up better name. Hi, let's do
a quick assessment here.
Speaker 8 (06:39):
All right, straight looks good, but you're at a point
three on the length meter. We're gonna please the white folks.
They like it long extensions, chair two. What do we
have here?
Speaker 9 (06:47):
Who?
Speaker 1 (06:47):
Frizzy short? No? No girlfriend.
Speaker 8 (06:50):
It's like I'm smacking the face by the nineties away
with the perm making more firm.
Speaker 1 (06:54):
Oh, dear lord, are those braids on chair seven?
Speaker 8 (06:57):
Clippers and a broom stat give her the Jennifer Anniston
frends cut.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
White heroes still love that.
Speaker 8 (07:02):
Okay, ladies, if you want to look good for the
white folks, Lots of things to clean up here.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
We'll be back in six months. By Felicia. But no,
I'm not being rude. Her name's Felicia. I'm just telling her.
Speaker 9 (07:10):
Mind cattle, cattle.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I had a fine Michael berry in.
Speaker 6 (07:34):
Delicia Ballinger. I hope I pronounced that correctly. We'll find
out just a moment. Lives in Memphis, Tennessee. She's a
mother journalist and until last month, a freelance reporter for
The Tri State Defender. The tri State Defender publishes online news, entertainment,
and information specifically focused on the African American community in
the greater Memphis area. That's black people remote, it's not Elon.
(07:57):
I don't want you get a stupid idea. And they
have since ninetie well in September. As you know, President
Trump signed in an executive order ordering the National Guard
into Memphis to help combat crime.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
Which is good for the people of Memphis.
Speaker 6 (08:12):
A few weeks later, Delicia shared her observations and her experience,
but apparently her experience did not conform to the standard.
She wasn't reading the rules. She was not going to
be Malmoud. She wasn't going to be told what to
do and what to say. She's an independent black woman,
and I thought, remind me, I thought that was a
(08:32):
good thing.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
No, it's not.
Speaker 6 (08:35):
It's only if you say what you're supposed to say.
People like Delicia are far more damaging and detrimental and
dangerous and subversive than I could ever be, because she
is a black woman who dares to have her own opinion,
and that makes people angry.
Speaker 1 (08:50):
She's our guest. Welcome to the show, sweetheart.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Thank you so much for having me. I'm so happy
to be here.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
You have a great voice, Delisia.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Thank you.
Speaker 6 (08:58):
All right, so tell your story. Let's first catch up
with who you are. Where were you born, who were
your parents? Where'd you go to school?
Speaker 7 (09:06):
Yes, so again, I'm the Lasia A Balinger, and I'm
a Myphist. I've been a lifelong Myphian. I did spend
a little bit of time away in Chicago, so I'm
a little mixed with the little Midwest there. My parents
are originally well, I have one that's originally from Florida
and then another one that's.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Also a Memphian here too, you know.
Speaker 7 (09:25):
As well as I'm a mom my wife, I'm a
boy mom of two amazing children, and I love Memphis
and I love being a journalist and just being for
the people.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
That's just always been my thing is to always just.
Speaker 7 (09:42):
Kind of see things from my point of view, seeing
things from my eyes and just being honest.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
And that's just something that.
Speaker 7 (09:48):
I've just always just kind of carried with me throughout
the years. I've always been outspoken. I've always been the
type to just say how I feel, and again just
from a pointed from an honest point of view.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
And how did you get involved as a freelance reporter?
Speaker 1 (10:04):
What was your professional background?
Speaker 7 (10:07):
So I come from the media world. Of course, I've
been a freelance journalist.
Speaker 2 (10:13):
For well over ten years.
Speaker 7 (10:15):
This was just a dream that I had and I
was actually taken off of the street by the publishing
editor at the time, Benaal Smith for the Tri State Defender,
and he merely just saw my extreme passion and my
love and just my gift of writing, and he hired
(10:36):
me off the spot, off the street.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
At the time. I didn't have a degree or anything.
Speaker 7 (10:40):
He just merely just thought my passion and he knew
that I was there for the people, and he actually
hired me off.
Speaker 2 (10:47):
Of the street.
Speaker 7 (10:48):
And from that point going forward, I just kind of
tapped a little bit more into the entertainment side, working
doing entertainment for.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Quite some for years, and then pretty.
Speaker 7 (11:00):
Much kind of towards the middle of my tenure, it
kind of shifts one to the educational side, working with
the government doing things of that nature, and just kind
of just doing a tid bit of everything at that point.
Speaker 6 (11:15):
And so, how long had you been reporting for the
African American community for the Tri State Defender.
Speaker 10 (11:24):
So I've been there nearly eight years.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Okay, all right, So you've been at this for a while.
And the art of storytelling, which is something I'm passionate about.
I think that I think that good preaching and storytelling.
I think the good book writing and storytelling is so songwriting,
stories and film is storytelling. A good salesman is a storyteller.
How if you look back in your life, sit on
your therapists couch here and tell me why you think
(11:51):
you wanted to tell stories. Who was that influence in
your life that you think led you to want to
tell stories?
Speaker 7 (11:57):
You know, really it was from my all personal experience
siences that made me want a story to me want
to tell stories.
Speaker 2 (12:04):
You know, I was pregnant and homeless with my first child.
I've also before that too. You know.
Speaker 7 (12:10):
I wasn't on the straight and narrow. I was in
and out of the system for quite some time. I
didn't make the best decisions, but I knew what my
focus was.
Speaker 11 (12:20):
I knew that my purpose was bigger than me. I
know that God had something.
Speaker 10 (12:24):
Planned bigger for me.
Speaker 7 (12:25):
It was changing my mindset and that came for me
telling my own story and changing the own my own
narrative for my life.
Speaker 2 (12:33):
And once I'd done.
Speaker 10 (12:34):
That, it opened the siguay for me to be able
to do that for others.
Speaker 7 (12:38):
And that's what's something that I try to incorporate within
my writing, is to be able to not only narrate
the story, but to be able to, you know, tell
the truth and to be able to capture what it
is that my audience want to know and be able
to fully grasp and tell that story. But I can
honestly say that my own story was pretty much my
(13:01):
foundation on being able.
Speaker 2 (13:03):
To do the same thing for others.
Speaker 1 (13:07):
It's a gift.
Speaker 9 (13:09):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:09):
A journalist should be a truth teller, and that should
be the top of the mountain, the gold that's sorry,
the goal.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
The gold standard.
Speaker 6 (13:20):
It should be what a journalist is seeking to do,
and the belief that sunlight is the best disinfectant at
telling the stories and exposing things. People will come to
the best conclusions.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
You know.
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Thomas Jefferson famously said, do you want the media regulating
the government or the government regulating the media, And I
think we all know where that stands. But now we
move to the next step. How did you find out
living in Memphis that the President had signed the executive order?
What can you remember the first time you heard that
he's going to be sending troops to Memphis? Because Memphis
is never look, I'm an Elvis fan, Ben to Beale Street,
(13:56):
there's FedEx, there's Saint Jude, which were one other spokesmen.
So I understand Memphis, but it does not come up
in the conversation of major cities. You expect federal troops
to go into La Chicago, Atlanta, New York.
Speaker 1 (14:10):
Memphis is never on that list or DC. And then
it was do you remember when you learned that?
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Absolutely? I started hearing rumors real around.
Speaker 10 (14:20):
The top September, and it wasn't until I woke.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
Up one morning and.
Speaker 7 (14:25):
I saw President Trump I believe it was on Good
Morning of America or something like that of the sort,
where he basically said, hey, Memphis is pretty much nixt
on the least, and I was like, wow, you know,
I was pretty skeptical at first.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
I'm thinking okay.
Speaker 10 (14:42):
On behalf of me is saying okay, relief.
Speaker 7 (14:44):
Because again, I live in these neighborhoods where I'm I'm
pretty much a victim, and I'm seeing others around me
are become victims of the high crime here within the city.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
So I'm relieved that he's doing this.
Speaker 11 (15:00):
And then the other half of me.
Speaker 7 (15:01):
Is kind of like, so, what is this going to
be like, because again you have the fear mongering coming
in from the community, from the media here, especially the
local media here at this point, and basically just kind
of pouring into us.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
That's like, oh my god, they're going to come down here.
Speaker 7 (15:16):
It's kind of giving Nazi vibes. You know, they're going
to be marching down the streets. They're going to be
doing this in the third and doing a bunch of harassing.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
So let she's you know, be prepared, you know for that.
Speaker 11 (15:27):
So I was a bit fifty fifty on the fence
about it.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
But more wait right there, Alicia A. Balinger is our guest.
More with her and how she lost her job when
first I've been.
Speaker 7 (15:41):
Destroying the black community is to dismantle the black family.
Michael Barry show, why don't we ask missus Willie Brown
if Kamala Harris cares about black families.
Speaker 6 (15:50):
Alicia Balinger was a reporter for the Tri State Defender
in Memphis, and she dared to write about her perspective,
her observations, her experience after President Trump signed an executive
order ordering the National Guard into Memphis, where crime was
notoriously bad. Lisa, let's start before we get to your
(16:12):
perspective on that action and the result. How bad was
it in Memphis? Because we hear stories.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
It was awful.
Speaker 7 (16:23):
I again, I live in a neighborhood that's a majority black,
and the crime.
Speaker 2 (16:29):
Is extremely high.
Speaker 7 (16:31):
And there were things that I was dealing with, such.
Speaker 2 (16:34):
As burglary, you know, the shootings.
Speaker 10 (16:37):
That was a constant, constant thing.
Speaker 7 (16:39):
It was a normalcy for my family. I just think
we remember being on the phone one day with my neighbor.
We I'm pretty close with my neighbors, and I just
happened to be on a phone call with my neighbor
and as.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
We're chatting, I'm hearing gunshots.
Speaker 10 (16:55):
It sounds like.
Speaker 2 (16:58):
A machine gun. It's just like thirty shots within a
span of minutes.
Speaker 10 (17:02):
And we're both on the phone, like what's happening here?
Speaker 7 (17:05):
And then literally five minutes later, we're seeing crime, seeing
tape and.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
We couldn't even leave off of our street. You know,
this is going on both ends. It's again, it was
a normalcy.
Speaker 7 (17:15):
I was afraid for my children to come outside because.
Speaker 2 (17:19):
I'm afraid that we were going to be innocent bystanders
from bullets.
Speaker 10 (17:24):
You know.
Speaker 7 (17:24):
There was there was an instance where I was in
my backyard just trying to pull some yards of the
weeds and things out of my yard, and before you
know what, I'm hearing gunshots, and I had to run
in the house.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
You know, I couldn't complete the things.
Speaker 7 (17:36):
That I wanted to do around my home because I
was so fearful of going outside.
Speaker 10 (17:41):
And it was to the point that I did not
let my children outside.
Speaker 7 (17:44):
They were not outside plane and if they did, it
was heavily supervising.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
It wasn't for long with us being outside. So the
crime was absolutely terrible.
Speaker 10 (17:54):
You couldn't go places, you couldn't do things.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Without you know, things happening.
Speaker 7 (17:59):
You know, people pulling out out guns, people shooting everywhere.
Speaker 10 (18:02):
This is even happening in spaces.
Speaker 7 (18:04):
Where children are and people aren't in full control of themselves.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
It was very scary, for sure.
Speaker 6 (18:16):
I don't know what led President Trump to make the
decision to make that executive order, but I have spent
a lot of time and you would have no reason
to know this. But in my early life I was
in politics. I was a citywide city councilor for the
city of Houston, and I was a mayor pro tem
and I got very, very involved in the parts of
town that most people never go to. And these are
(18:40):
the almost exclusively black parts of town. And Houston has
a great and rich history legacy in our black community.
Barbara Jordan was the congressman. Music came out of this area,
and culture and cuisine and personalities and the like. But
one of the things I found was there was the
sense of quote unquote black lead who were themselves black,
(19:01):
and before that it was white liberals. And I've always
said that they referred to this as their own little
fiefdom and they don't want anybody from the outside coming in.
It's like when Boris Yeltsen came and visited Houston, Texas
and he saw the grocery store. It was a Randall's
grocery store, and he saw all the options in produce.
(19:21):
He said, Communism is sunk. America wins. Communism won't last
in Russia because when the people realize there are all
these options, so many different grapes and apples and bananas,
they won't live under our system.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
Again.
Speaker 6 (19:34):
It's as if it's as if these elected black officials,
the Democrats don't want people to see that you don't
have to live this way. There don't have to be
drive bys, there doesn't have to be filth. This could
be a nice place to live in America. And so
I'm really proud of President Trump that he was willing
to say I'm going to do the right thing for
the people who live there, even though their elected officials
(19:57):
are going to make me out to be a monster.
It would be easier to just forget about Memphis, which
is what's typically.
Speaker 2 (20:02):
Not mm hmmm mm hmm. Yep, I.
Speaker 7 (20:06):
Agree with you, you know, and that's why I feel
like a lot of this we're talking about President Trump.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
I feel like a lot of people's anger.
Speaker 10 (20:16):
Are it is totally misdirected.
Speaker 7 (20:19):
And that's where that separates me from the majority, because at.
Speaker 11 (20:23):
First I felt like.
Speaker 10 (20:25):
Everyone else, I'm like, what is President Trump doing?
Speaker 2 (20:28):
What is he on?
Speaker 11 (20:29):
But then once I realized.
Speaker 12 (20:32):
And took a look at the scope of things, and
I'm like, this is the He's an actionable president.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
He came in.
Speaker 7 (20:38):
Swiftly after I've seen that interview. It was nearly two
weeks later before we saw an influx of the Tennessee
Highway State Patrol or the Memphis Pass Force and a
bit of the National Guard.
Speaker 2 (20:54):
And that was.
Speaker 7 (20:54):
When that Bible video was made.
Speaker 11 (20:57):
Because that's when the light well clicked in for me
and was.
Speaker 7 (21:02):
Like, Wow, my local city leaders have done nothing they've
done nothing. And these are the people who we've elected
and have been in office for quite some time, and
it's nearly taken two weeks of President Trump's action.
Speaker 10 (21:20):
For them to come in and swiftly.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Give me peace and give me and my family peace.
Speaker 7 (21:25):
That was an eye opening moment for me and made
me realize that I have been voting incorrectly.
Speaker 2 (21:32):
I've been voting wrong.
Speaker 7 (21:34):
I've been I have not been making the best decisions
not only for my family, but for the citizens of mythist.
Speaker 10 (21:41):
Because he created this action, he.
Speaker 7 (21:43):
Gave me peace to me and my family. He restored
some form of order within my city. And again, this
was just in two weeks for me to feel like this,
and I commend President Trump for it.
Speaker 6 (21:58):
The line they use online is we don't have to
live like this, and it's so true.
Speaker 1 (22:05):
It is so very true.
Speaker 6 (22:07):
I can remember going into communities and campaigning, and then
I can remember I was on city council for a
week and we got a call to our office from
one of the black pastors who had endorsed me.
Speaker 1 (22:18):
And almost all of them did.
Speaker 6 (22:19):
And here I was a Republican, but we took care
of our people, and they had a hole out in
front of the church, that it was a crater you
could lose a car in. And they called and said,
we just want this hole in front of our church
fixed because there's one way in and one way out
of our church, and everybody there's scraping the undercarriage of
their vehicle and it's frustrating, and why can't we get
(22:42):
it fixed? And they had supported the mayors, and we
had a black mayor, and he had been to that
church and he had received their endorsement, and he had
received all their votes, and nobody ever did anything. And
they called us on like a Tuesday, and by Friday
we had the hole field. And he brought me up
to to the pulpit that Sunday and he said, I
(23:03):
know what you're saying. Why are you letting that white
boy up at the pulpit, Because he's my white boy,
and he took care of my people, and he's my counselor,
and he cares about us. And what he was trying
to say was open your eyes to good government. And
I think this is a problem that plagues I hate
to term black communities because there are well it's a
(23:26):
complicated question, but I think this is a problem that
plagues communities that are exclusively or close enough to being black,
is this is the brainwashing that the people who are
here to represent you are the people who keep telling
you that white he's evil. Well, that's not true. You
want everybody working for you, You want everybody trying to
(23:48):
trying to protect you.
Speaker 1 (23:49):
Hold on.
Speaker 6 (23:49):
Delicia Ballinger in Memphis, Tennessee. We're going to talk about
how she was fired from doing something she loved to do,
reporting truth telling in memph because she dared say nice
things about President Trump making Memphis better.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
The hell coming up. She was twelve, I was thirty,
but it was wonderful to have you, mister President. The
Michael Barry Show.
Speaker 6 (24:18):
Alicia Balinger is our guest. She came to my attention.
I should probably tell you. We have a listener in
just outside of Houston about two hours named Dan Agan,
and he has He started a charity a few years ago,
a charity with a real purpose called we Won't be
Canceled dot org.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
We Won't be Canceled dot org.
Speaker 6 (24:38):
And when he first told me about it, everybody's going
to start a charity and nobody ever does it and
never fund it.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
And he funded it.
Speaker 6 (24:44):
He seated it himself with money and lo and behold,
I would have people on like the guy who went
to prison for a meme about Hillary Clinton. How ridiculous
is that? And I had to got on and in
short order he had sent him the cash to get
back up on his feet. When people speak out and
do the right thing, then this charity with a purpose
advocates on their behalf and provides financial assistance so that
(25:06):
they don't suffer from being fired. It's called we Won't
be Canceled dot org. It's a pretty pretty neat deal.
So instead of him this time hearing me talk about
somebody and saying I want to support them, which I
think he's done that for thirty people or so so far,
and it's real money every time, real money, he reached
out and said, hey, I want you to know about
this woman, Delicia Ballinger, and we've had her on. Now
(25:27):
what happened? How did you find out that saying something nice?
Where did you say that the support that President Trump
was giving was a good thing? And then how did
it happen that it fell apart?
Speaker 11 (25:38):
So this was a day, this is a Friday, and I'm.
Speaker 7 (25:47):
Something that getting postponed and so I had a moment
to sit.
Speaker 12 (25:50):
Out on my porch and I grabbed the team and that's.
Speaker 2 (25:55):
When the light bulb could be in. For the first
time in five years of me.
Speaker 7 (25:59):
Being in my neighborhood. I am hearing the birds trunk.
I am seeing families outside. I'm seeing a family. I'm
seeing a father throw a football as his kids. I'm
seeing families walking. It's peaceful, it's quiet, it's different.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
And.
Speaker 2 (26:14):
I'm like, what in the world this is peace?
Speaker 7 (26:18):
And I grabbed my phone and I set on my
porch and I talked about it. And that's when I said,
you know, I again, you.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Know, I'm not into politics or anything. I don't like to.
Speaker 10 (26:32):
Get into all of it, but thank you President Trump,
because who else could I have thanked for doing this.
Speaker 2 (26:39):
It was President Trump that did it.
Speaker 7 (26:40):
So I merely told him thank you and share my
experience on what was happening in my neighborhood at that time.
And again, I'm not thinking anything of it, you know,
I'm just to share my experience.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
And before i know it, I'm.
Speaker 10 (26:55):
Just seeing the numbers just blow.
Speaker 7 (26:58):
Up and I'm like, oh wow, this is I didn't
I wasn't expecting this so I ended up reaching out
to the Tri State Defender, because again, I'm a journalist,
I believe in communication, and I reached out to some of.
Speaker 10 (27:10):
The editors there, and when I first initially told him,
you know.
Speaker 11 (27:13):
They were they were fine with it, you know, I
told them my experience.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
My editor at the time.
Speaker 10 (27:18):
She's also from a different community.
Speaker 7 (27:20):
She's from Jackson, Mississippi, which is basically like a smaller
version of Memphis, so she understood at that time where
I was coming from.
Speaker 11 (27:29):
But then the numbers started.
Speaker 7 (27:30):
Climbing and climbing and climbing some more, and then eventually,
I guess people.
Speaker 2 (27:34):
Started sending her the video.
Speaker 10 (27:36):
And then she.
Speaker 2 (27:37):
Reached out to me and said, hey, why.
Speaker 10 (27:39):
Did you think Trump?
Speaker 2 (27:41):
And I'm like, well, he's the president.
Speaker 10 (27:44):
Because she was like, well that made me want to
cut your video off because.
Speaker 11 (27:49):
You said thank you, And I said, well, who else
am I.
Speaker 7 (27:55):
Supposed to think? Because he's the person that did this.
And then and then she went silent, and then I
began to tell her like, hey, you know, I'm getting
other opportunities to be on Fox News things of that nature.
She was like, well, if you go, because these people
are pro Trump, They're gonna make you look like Diamond
and Stilk.
Speaker 2 (28:13):
They're gonna make you look.
Speaker 11 (28:14):
Like these supreme like pretty much she ever want.
Speaker 7 (28:17):
She did a boot licking Trump supporter, and if you
do this, you will no longer be affiliated with.
Speaker 11 (28:24):
The Tri State Defender. And I sat there for a.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Minute and I was just like okay, and then it.
Speaker 7 (28:32):
Just kept bothering me. It just kept itching away with
me because I'm like, I feel like I'm being silenced.
I feel like I'm being biased because the whole time
before all of this came about, I'm in the city.
I actually filmed where the.
Speaker 10 (28:48):
State troopers rolled upon us while I was talking to
a family that.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
Was pulled over.
Speaker 7 (28:51):
I'm covering so many different viewpoints of what's happening in
the city, and.
Speaker 11 (28:57):
They were fine with it. But the first moment that
I said thank.
Speaker 7 (29:00):
You to Trump or anything in relation to the Trump administration,
my career was on the line. And so from that
point I went back online and I just kind of
gave my following an update, was like, hey, like, my
media company is actually trying to silence me all because
I'm telling the truth. And before I know it, the
(29:21):
next day, I'm getting they've removed me from all of
their social media platforms. I'm getting emails stating that my
assignments that I had they no longer wanted me to do,
and that was it.
Speaker 11 (29:33):
They no longer wanted anything else to do with me.
And then they came out with this statement like I've
never worked there when I've been there.
Speaker 10 (29:41):
For almost ten years, and just.
Speaker 11 (29:43):
Tried to, of course, make it seem like it was
my decision.
Speaker 10 (29:48):
To do or voluntarily to do when they gave.
Speaker 11 (29:52):
Me an ultimatum.
Speaker 7 (29:54):
And so yeah, it was really, you know, disheartening, because
again it's like having your own people slammed the door
in your face because I actually told the truth, which
again opened my eyes even more to the fact because
I'm like this whole time, I'm thinking I'm working for
a company that's not biased, and the whole time I'm
(30:16):
on a side and I did not know, and it's disheartening.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
It was very disheartening.
Speaker 7 (30:25):
I worked, as I did my research more and more
the owners they're very far left, and so me saying
what I said was a huge no.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
No, yeah, you know, I could go through. So Marcus L.
Charles's good friend of mine.
Speaker 6 (30:42):
He wrote the book Loan survivor began the movie, and
he had to go through hell and his three mates,
his fellow seals, his buds, his brothers.
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Died for this story to be told.
Speaker 6 (30:57):
And I often think about out you know, and as
a as a believer, and I think of Christ's suffering
and that it was it was preordained, it was destined,
And I think about the suffering that has to happen,
the things we go through in order to reach the
(31:18):
point that our voice has meaning.
Speaker 1 (31:21):
The fact is it brought us together.
Speaker 6 (31:23):
For you to tell this story to a lot of people,
and it's brought you to a lot of people. And
there's somebody out there, maybe they're black, maybe they're white,
maybe there's.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
Something else who is saying.
Speaker 6 (31:34):
You know, I might not be exactly like Alicia Balinger,
but in my life I'm ready to be a full
person as well. I consider the suppression and repression of
black independent thought in this country to be absolutely disturbing,
and I see it every day. I see it, and
(31:56):
I see it being done.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
By other blacks.
Speaker 6 (31:58):
The crab in a bucket theory, the sort of social hierarchy,
political hierarchy, and the way that there is a regimented
system of enforcement like a capo system. And it bothers me,
It really really bothers me.
Speaker 7 (32:12):
You know, this makes me think a whole lot in
which I have to sit back and think a lot
about Charlie Kirk.
Speaker 11 (32:19):
And I owe that man an.
Speaker 10 (32:21):
Apology because I realized I am him, you know he.
The difference is, especially when you're talking about the black community.
Speaker 7 (32:31):
You know, I'm black, okay, and it's bad enough that
me as a black person that I.
Speaker 11 (32:36):
Can't say anything about my community.
Speaker 7 (32:38):
And it's different, even even more different, when you have
a white man that's literally saying the exact same thing
that I'm saying, and.
Speaker 2 (32:47):
It did not being well recepted.
Speaker 6 (32:49):
Delicia A. Balinger, we're up against a break. You are wonderful.
I adore you.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
You be strong. Anyone out there that wants to learn
more reach out to her.
Speaker 6 (32:57):
You could go to we Won't be Canceled dot org
and you will see her as one of the people
on that site We Won't be Canceled dot org and
you can support the great work they are doing. It's
one man funding at all. He can't fund it forever.
He's not wealthy. He's made a little money, but he
wants to make a difference, and he's putting his money
up to make a difference for people like Delicia and
(33:18):
for you
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