24 - Marion Barry (DC Brolic) w/ Bria Beddoe

In a special DC episode, following his road trip Evan, and guest cohost comedian Bria Beddoe examine the life and career of activist and Washington DC 'mayor for life,' Marion Barry.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-brolic--5805159/support.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to the Bralic and theAll Things Broke network. This is a
biweekly sometimes when we don't have toomany jobs. New York History. But
wait, what was this? Thistime? It will not be a New
York History podcast. It will bea DC history podcast because I recently went

(00:22):
to DC and and keeping in traditionof the travel episodes, wanted to do
one there. Uh where I manwho lives in affordable housing, A man
who still rents set affordable housing andlives with a wildcat as my son Evan

(00:45):
Masterinardi read a story of New Yorkhistory to my special guest. Go ahead,
Hello, I'm breathing you. I'mthe special guest, and do you
have any idea what the story isgoing to be? A I have no
idea what's going on? Great,That's how we like it. People completely
have no idea. All right,So now is when the intro music comes

(01:08):
in, and I'll cut that outlater. And now I say, uh,
I say we're sponsored by something thatwe're absolutely not sponsored by. That's
the running theme for the first twentythree episodes. So we're not sponsored by
anything. But from our earlier conversation, I'm gonna say we're sponsored by hookah,
were sponsored by just the National HookahAssociation if that exists, what if

(01:33):
we were sponsored by Like I feellike we're You're worth more than that,
you know, I think you canget a bigger sponsor than that. I
think you should be sponsored by MitsubishiHookahs, Mitsubishi, you think do you
think they make it? Absolutely?I've seen a Mitsubishi TV. Why not
have a Mitsubishi houkah ah Damn,Yamaha gotta step it up. Yamaha gonna

(01:57):
do those Yamaha gonna do eiggs.I mean, Yamaha gotta do something or
the or the vappens. I meanYamaha weed pins Yamaha. Yeah, I
mean Yamaha does kind of sound likea strain of weed. You got that
Yamaha, I got that Yamaha.You got that loud Yamaha. Oh no,
you're so thirty that that's like,uh hay, kids want to buy

(02:23):
some drugs. That's like kids wantto buy some reefer. Yeah, some
some refer. Well, uh,until who could decides to sponsor us,
We'll just keep putting out the content. So the way it starts is,
I every every podcast starts with someoneyelling a year. That's the tradition.
So it's the only podcast where youyell a year and people get excited.

(02:46):
So I will in tradition. Nineteenthirty six. March sixth, nineteen thirty
six. Yep, Marion Ship ofBarry was born and rural at the Benna,
Mississippi, Marion. So it doesn'tring a bell yet Marion Barry.

(03:13):
Wait a second. I thought youwould know this early. No, because
I was like, no, hedidn't just say that. I was like,
are you really going to read astory about Marion Barry? Right?
Yes, we're doing it. We'regetting in those weeds. It's gonna get
messy. Are we getting those weeds? Are getting in something a little harder?

(03:36):
Oh? Well he did, butanyway, let's not. I don't
want to bury the leader. Okay. So he's the third child of Maddy
Cummings and oh uh based on theon the name, No, I'm mature.
Oh okay, I mean it's howwe all come to be quite literally.

(04:00):
Uh. His father died when hewas four years old and later moved
the family. They moved the familyto Memphis. Have you been to Memphis?
No? I'm still alive. Yes, that's the So what is it?
I mean, no, Like Ithere's actually a comedian on the DC

(04:26):
scene right now. She's from Memphisand she talks about Memphis and like it's
it's a very scary place. Allright. Yeah, So having lived near
very scary places, I just Iwant to kind of contextualize here, you
know. So, I mean,I I'm the bronx always gets thrown up
there, you know, with Chicago, Detroit, Newark, slash Camden.

(04:50):
And now apparently Memphis wins. Memphiswins because all of those places that you
named were cold places except for Memphis, like warmer places, like the more
crime there is. The block isliterally hot all that time, all the
time, got it? Wow?Climate affecting? All right? All right,

(05:16):
climate can change, and climate canchange, and that means the block
will get hot er where it's usuallycold. All right. Wow, all
right, it's all connecting. Wehaven't even gone to the drugs part of
this yet, and we're already soundinglike we're on drugs. I'm just a
dropout, that's just drop out,dropout, sore, smarter than people actually

(05:43):
go to school, look at DonaldTrump. Uh But anyway, so growing
up, you know, Lantham StreetsSouth park Way. Mariontended Florida Elementary,
graduated from Booker T. Washington Highand that was the first time he noticed
racial issues. So, you know, the demographics of Memphis might be different
now, but at that time,I mean, I don't know how segregated

(06:05):
a city it is, but hehad to, of course at that time
walk to school, and the whitekids were cited or signed a bus to
ride. Now sounds pretty segregated.Considering he was born in nineteen thirty six,
I think it's safe to say inhis formative years things were, yeah,

(06:26):
pretty darn separated, no, ofcourse. I mean, I'm wondering
now what it's like. I don'tknow what the demographic Yeah, I don't
know now if it's still as likesegregated between like the suburbs and the more
a black line and a white line. That's how Detroit is segregated basically,

(06:46):
and parts of Mississippi too. There'sliterally a rail and there's a town in
Mississippi where it's literally a rail lineand the rail like the train line,
the tracks are literally separating white fromfrom black and everyone's still poor. It's
not like it's not like it's richand no, it's still poor people.

(07:08):
But it was like poor people justclustering. Yeah so, but the most
segregated town town area is actually LongIsland, Long Island, New York.
I've been to Long Island, NewYork, and uh, I must say
I did not enjoy my time there. No, No, I understand there's

(07:28):
a lot of roid rage out there. That plus the racism and just the
Italians that I wish we could justlike, you know, send on a
boat. Oh, like those Italians, like the ones that yeah, oh
my god, they're all in onespot and it's Long Island. I hope

(07:49):
none of them listen to this.Oh I'm sure they already do. Anyway,
it's always going to be the mostconservative like side that somehow finds.
Like if you have seventeen viewers,like five of them are just random conservative
people looking looking for shit and liketwo Russian bot profiles. Uh this sothy

(08:13):
Russian bot told me to come listento this podcast. Yeah yeah, there's
the real hit kids. You wantto buy some drugs. So he then
started in the American Legion, earnedthe rank of Eagle Scout. I never
tried any of the Scout stuff,but appealed to some people, and he

(08:35):
really liked it. He began hefirst began his civil rights activism. Here's
a paper boy in Memphis, andpaper had a context contest which any boy
who got fifteen new customers could goto New Orleans. No girls, probably,

(08:56):
no, it's just any boy.It was very specific. Yeah,
okay, no paper girls out here. No, we were not. It
was a very gender You're right,there is no paper girl even today.
Why haven't we made progress with thatsexism? Yeah? Well, and if
she did, she would make likeseventy cents on the dollar. So and

(09:18):
she's already barely like making enough tobuy the damn newspaper she's given away.
Why are we making the kids buythe newspapers? Then? Right? Right,
well, why are we making themwork when they're fucking like seven years
old? That's about to start happeningagain, by the way. Oh yeah,
Florida I think passed something that allowedfor Yeah, because that's what Christian,

(09:39):
that's what Jesus would want. Hewanted these kids in the factories,
in the minds, using their littlehands to do God's work with is selling
cheap dresses for each and a Yeah, that's like a Book of John somewhere.
So he and a couple other paperboys reached the quota, but they

(10:05):
weren't allowed to go to New Orleansthough, because it's a segregated city,
and he decided to boycout his paperroute until they sent them on the trip
and got past this segregated racist policywhere they were supposed to go. So

(10:28):
they ended up giving them a tripto Saint Louis, which is not as
but Saint Louis is also very racist, but whatever, they said, Hey,
I'm sorry, we can't send youto New Orleans, the fun jazz
town with all the really good foodand Bennie's and parties, but we can
send you to Saint Louis, Missouri. I mean, like, what has

(10:54):
one heard about Saint Louis, Missouriat like seventeen in nineteen, so what
is that gonna be Now it's goingto be fifty three, So what does
one even know about Saint Louis atthat time? Nelly wasn't even born yet,
Nelly, Nelly is far from beingborn. I don't know if father

(11:16):
is born. I don't know ifthe Saint Louis or the Saint Louis Cardinals
are still there, but anyway,so he goes to college in Memphis,
graduates in nineteen fifty eight. Againhe is active junior year, sees racial
injustices, and he and his friendswent to a segregated fair ground. They

(11:37):
segregated fucking everything fair the fifties,everything segregated everything, free civil rights movement.
I was like, they say that, like, we don't assume.
Is this not implied that this wasa segregated thing. Well, it's just
you know, it's emphasized because sometimessometimes there's like moments where we think,

(11:58):
okay, so we could go there. It's like, no, no,
we can't because that's still a placeand as long as it's a place,
it's segregated because it's the fifties.So when they were close to the exhibit,
of course a copp rolls up askedhim to leave, barring his friends
left, but you know they werestill treated poorly. And now he's gonna

(12:20):
become more active in the NAACP inLemoyne, Owens. I don't know where
that is, but I'm guessing it'ssomewhere in Tennessee, serving as its chapter
president. So, uh, hisart, he got a nickname Shep and

(12:41):
and this is This is a veryweird. It's in reference to the Soviet
politician, like where does Soviets comein? Soviet politician Dmitri Sheppalov. And
then Barry began using Sheppalov as hismiddle name, so he gets a new
middle name later in life. Whichwould you would you choose a new middle

(13:01):
name at this point in your life? I mean to each their own,
like if somebody wants to change theirname, like go ahead, Like if
you wanted to be Evan Max Powers, you can be Evan Max Powers,
the proud Boy. Look to eachtheir end. Man, I'm just saying,
that's what you wanted to do.That's you're right as an American sis
to be Evan Proudboy Max Powers.But like very random that he would do

(13:30):
this and just okay, Shep Soit's really his nickname is really going to
be Shep, even though the fullthing is she Belove. So his nickname
is going to be Shep because ofhis tenacity in the in the role.
Uh So, he criticized the trusteeat the college from Mark he felt or

(13:52):
offensive to African Americans and he almostgot expelled. Sadly, that's happening today
with students who are criticized in theIsraeli government. Some of them are facing
very close to expulsion just for youknow, voicing what many college students do.
But you know, during the thisis not a Stanley cup, it's
a it's a hydro, not asty Oh okay, that's a healthy sized

(14:18):
water. Stay hydrated. Yeah,make that distinction. I don't I don't
follow hockey. We're just baseball here. Ah, So he made the comments,
what the fuck black people should betreated as a younger brother, not
as an adult. Yet he hasa right to get mad if somebody says

(14:41):
that said that one of the trusteesat the college. No, I remarked,
like somewhere else, but Barry ishere's this, and it's like,
you know, this guy is makingdecisions and financially supporting the college. We
should black people should be treated likea younger brother, and like say that

(15:03):
again, should be treated as ayounger brother, not as an adult.
Why exactly, It's like, andif that's the case, shouldn't they mean
that you should like just like giveus things like it's so weird. It's
like racists are not only are theyfucked up, they're just dry, like

(15:28):
they they can't even like. Theracism gets so shitty creative over time because
they keep saying the same stupid thingslike what the fuck like you said,
what does that even mean? Asa younger brother, not sense a macist?
And I really think that black peopleshould just we should take better care
of them. Okay, yeah,you know. Or he didn't like his

(15:56):
younger brother and everything everything that hehas animates towards is now like his younger
brother. I don't know, butit makes sense for him to get upset.
So he objects to the comments,asks him to be asked him to
be removed from the board, anduh, then he told Barry to run
in the new Okay, I guessrun for office, run for like school

(16:19):
office. And then the from therethe oh, the letter made it to
the front page of Memphis's newspaper.So he's seeing that his words have power.
He's seeing that when he when herebels, when he stands up for
its right, his words have power. But interestingly enough, even though you
know he was great orator, strongcivil rights activists, he earned his MS

(16:41):
and organic chemistry. So he's wow, so he's able to go like different
directions right now, he's Walter White. Well, yeah, that that reason
for the chemistry isn't there yet,but it may yeah, but it might
later. So he joins a fraternity, Alpha Pay Alpha Phi of that.

(17:06):
Yeah that as you I never Yeah, it's a world renowned Greek organization.
Yeah. And they got they gotYeah, they got Marrion. So he
was he was a graduate school atFisk University, and he keeps getting arrested

(17:26):
while participating in the Nashville sit insUH to desegregate the lunch counters during the
Civil rights era. So he's startingto get so involved that now he wants
to be involved in one of themost historic organizing movements during the Civil rights
era, what's called SNACK but standsfor a Student non Violent Coordinating Committee.

(17:49):
So he wants to develop an organizingproject project, not just not just where
he was there now, he wantsto go back to Mississippi and organize a
chapter there. So they're doing voterregistration. He and other activists lived with
locals in order to stay safe.It says, I guess, I guess

(18:11):
they kind of all were holed uptogether, and they used all this information
and organized people, and they hadtheir first chapter in this part of Mississippi.
So then he starts the doctoral program, but then he quits because it
was another doctor in chemistry. Hewas the only African American in the program.

(18:33):
And when he gets married, Iforget, this guy had so many
women love interests. I even forgotthis wife was here. It's Blanty Evans
because I forgot I thought there wasanother. I guess the first wife.
This is the first wife. Iguess. So at who can't keep up?
There's just so many, there's somany. I can't keep up.

(18:55):
So he at one point he goeswhen he studies chemistry, it's back in
Tennessee, in Knoxville, and hewas prohibited from tutoring white children. He's
trying to help, he's trying totreat them like the little brother. Okay,
he's trying to do good, andlike you can't even shouldn't be tutoring
white babies if like you keep Idon't know. If I kept dealing with

(19:18):
racism my whole life from white peopleand they kept segregating me, the last
thing I would be like is letme go teach these white people's kids.
But that's just me. Well,yeah, he wanted he wanted to,
though, Yeah, no, I'mlike, I don't understand why you would
want to do that. I youknow, he's probably trying to I don't

(19:40):
know. He knew that the administrationwould probably already be against him. Maybe
he thought it would be like agesture or some shit. His wife wasn't
allowed to work at the white schoolsfrom the area. So it's his entire
livelihood in this place. Just sayin'tworth it. So he quits and he
goes full time with senc see withSnick. So spring is sixty four.

(20:03):
He's now officially one of the foundersin the Nashville area. He led protests
against segregation discrimination, He lobbied statelegislatures. UH, he wanted to create
a chapter of the Mississippi Freedom DemocraticParty. He was recognized during the national
Convention the DNC in sixty four.And Barry's very slept on a boardwalk in

(20:29):
Atlantic City to demonstrate to bring attentionto issues. So he's going all around.
Now, I was going to NewJersey and Atlantic Atlantic City. That's
not that's no joke. To sleepon a boardwalk in Atlantic City. Yeah,
cold, cold, dirty. There'sa lot of the people that want
to go to Atlantic City, andthey're there people Sometimes it's yeah, sometimes

(20:53):
old people. I went, Iwent there for a concert, funny enough,
and yeah it's it's you know,you can't if you can't go to
Vegas for whatever reason. Just thinka lot of people who couldn't go to
Vegas to do whatever the fuck theywanted to do in Vegas said it,
let's go to New Jersey. Oh, I'm well aware. My uncle has
a gambling problem, and we spenta lot of time in Atlantic City growing

(21:18):
up. Well, yeah, youwould up there and it was nice.
My aunt would try to make itfun for us and like take us to
all you can eat buffets and stuff. But really she was just keeping us
busy while he was gambling. Look, adults do what they gotta do for
the better of the children. Wehad a great time. That's what matters.
That's what matters. I don't know. I just remember Chuck E Cheese.

(21:40):
I don't remember what was happening withthe adults before there. Actually,
I thought Chucky chees We was kindof scary, Like, I don't know,
I didn't like any of those suitedup figures around those with them kids.
Something was off about that to me. Atlantic City used to have a
very nice boardwalk, and like,there used to be a lot of stuff
to do back in the nineties andit has since now died. But once

(22:03):
upon a time, even when itwas like sort of trashy, it was
still kind of nice. Did youever go to New Rock City in New
Rochelle, New York? No?Okay, so that's a step down.
Uh. That's like like when Iwas in high school, I couldn't get
the sidekicks, so I got thexenon. Oh and I have a history

(22:30):
of this, Like when I wasa kid, I wanted I'm not making
this up. I wanted Jordans,and at one point I got Pippins.
Oh my god, and it waslike what That's how I learned. That's
how I learned who Scottie Pippen.It was through getting those shoes. Like
does no one else knew what thePippins are? That's terrible. Anyway,
I'm here, I'm here to talkabout it. I succeeded. I got

(22:52):
my Jordans and and you didn't haveto sleep on the board walking. I
know that's a privilege. I definitelyhave that Mary made so they made a
point there, and in sixty fiveBarry and Evans his wife Ablante Evans,

(23:15):
moved to d C. Now,at the time d C, I did
not know this that DC at thetime didn't vote for city council. There
was a time that d C wasruled by the South and it was like
some let me see, I'll findlater. It was like some maybe South

(23:37):
South Carolina congressman or something who waslike the leader of the committee that ruled
d C. They couldn't vote forcouncil, they couldn't vote for mayor.
They just there was people there.It was mostly black people, and they
were literally being ruled by southern whitepeople with no representation. Yeah, that's

(24:00):
we still have. Like I don'tknow if you've ever seen a DC license
plate, but the license plate atthe bottom of every DC license plate says
taxation without representation because we don't haverepresentation. A lot of people want d
C to be a state. Thewhole point of DC not being a state

(24:22):
is because it's supposed to be theone unbiased like place in America that doesn't
like vote based off of like staterules or anything like that. Because like
it's a district, you know,this is where laws are made, Like
it's it's a real tricky like dance. It's very complicated. I understand why

(24:45):
it is the way that it is, even though I'm aware that like it
does have its setbacks for the peoplethat are DC you know citizens and Washingtonians.
But eh, you know, shouldhappen. I mean, granted,
we could definitely have a better system, like we don't, like we have

(25:08):
mayors, yes, but it's notlike we've had mayors for very long.
Like the mayorhood of DC, likeisn't even one hundred years old, right,
It's only a few decades. Itwasn't until the mid seventies exactly that
they got so yeah, John JohnMcMillan was that guy. John McMillan of

(25:32):
South Carolina was leading this committee thatimpacted It's just crazy. It's basically a
Southern It's it's physical location is inthe northeast, but it's basically a Southern
controlled area, even though it's notreally in the South. I mean,
DC is the South, do youthink so? No? It literally is
the South. Is DC is belowthe Mason Dixon line. Anything below Mason

(25:57):
Dixon, Pennsylvania is the I neverthought of the South. EC has always
been the source. He's literally apart of Virginia and Maryland. Yeah,
yeah, okay, Yeah, essentiallyI never thought of d C. That's
but you're right, you're right.So and it was so for a long
time. It was ruled by aSoutherner and people are just trying to make

(26:21):
ends meet. It's become a verypoor city. There's there's no one really
to help run basic necessities resources.So yes, there is going to be
high crime when you don't have thattype of support. There's drug epidemic,
of course, terrible you know,abusive policing. So at some point,

(26:41):
so Barry comes in like sixty five, so he's in, he's really in
the thick of it. H andhe's still part of SNICK and he's a
representative for them now in dc' soat the time he is considered he's considered

(27:02):
to be definitely what that for thattime was called radical because he would have
he would you know, do sitins, he would do civil disobedience,
he would do all the things thatreally now aren't that radical because they were
absolutely necessary. But a lot ofpeople at the time, especially you know,

(27:22):
fellow white colleagues, thought he wasa militant, he was radical.
He would wear he would always wearDashiki's and this is something that a lot
of the people were organizing there weren'tused to this, just out blatant like
I'm not gonna take this. I'mgonna be proud of my heritage and you're
gonna have to deal with it.And that's how he operated, and he

(27:45):
got a lot of people to beorganized in their protests. And not only
that, he ended up employing peoplethrough this program called Hope and Hope.
I'm trying to figure out what it'sstood for, but Hope would would end
up employing twenty eight hundred local peoplethat didn't have work before, and they

(28:08):
would get uniforms, he would dotraining programs, and some of the police
actually stopped being as aggressive because theysaw that these people are like a brotherhood
and they're not going to take it. And there's a lot of people part
of this unit at once. SoBarry's impact help with jobs, it helped

(28:30):
organization and resources, and it helpedwith community protection and kind of community policing,
which of course is something we don'twe don't really have. So hed
got me the first job because ofMarion Berry, not because specifically directly because
of Maryllberry, but like not likeI met him, he gave me a
job. It's not like that.So there is a program that they have

(28:52):
for the youth in DC called theSummer Youth Employment Program. You can start
working at like fourteen, right,so like he implemented that program. Like
here, I want to say maybelike the at least it was like at
least the eighties, like at leastforty years because like my mom got a

(29:12):
job through the Summery's Employment program inDC because she's from DC too, and
so just yeah, my man's justmaking sure people were getting paid. Yeah,
and he had a really good ChinaTown when Marion Barry was here,
Like his name is on the ChinatownBridge in downtown. It is. Okay,

(29:33):
there's gonna be an interesting story aboutthat later, but I won't.
I won't give it away. Soyeah, he's doing he's just doing so
much at once. I mean atthis time, like everyone was saying you
could not literally have three black folkson the same corner. Any three black
folks is an au lawful assembly.And the cops are like, nope,

(29:56):
once you have more than two,they're gonna go on in there. Like
it was that bad. And peopledon't think of this as I like,
I wasn't even thinking of this asthe South. Most people think all this
harsh policing and stuff they think ofthe South. No, this made it
when it comes to policing, thismade its way all the way up the
coast. As someone who's very knowledgeablewith the NYPD, we have a long

(30:18):
history too. So policing was justa brutal, arbitrary all the things you
can say during like in many waysit is now, of course, but
his presence, his organizing of justall these people moving as a unit,
was actually able to deter some ofthe practices of the police because he knew

(30:45):
that they had a problem with threepeople on the corner. Okay, how
about hundreds? Now, what areyou gonna do? Because we're all gonna
stand up for each other. Andalso we're working, we're being you know,
what are you gonna say, don'twork? And I'm not saying some
didn't do that anyway, but right, but they're they're making it. The
point is they're making it harder.The point is that they're making it harder.

(31:08):
So, uh see, just seeingwhere we're at next, My notes
are all over the place. Yeah, he would employ people who were ex
convicts that couldn't get a job otherwise. He was giving he was employing people
who couldn't get a job because oftheir drug record. You know, he

(31:30):
was employed. He was I meanin like a few years, like basically
three years. I mean, thinkabout how long it is to be effective.
Not many of our represent representatives,and like three years he got you
know, reformed for the good ofpublic safety at least as best he could
launch. Yeah, he got jobs, community organization. He employed people that

(31:57):
were covering ad so he's affecting thedrug issues. He employed people that are
ex comics, so he's affecting recidivism. That's just a few years. So
he's already an effective legislator before he'sactually a legislator. And he's doing this
all just like in the first fewyears of being in DC, first few

(32:20):
years of being DC and being likepart of Snick's chapter and that's that's all.
That's really all it is at thistime. So he's yeah, that's
what I wrote. He's basically Ishouldn't say single handedly, but having a
big part in basically creating a governmentbefore DC had a government, so in

(32:45):
seventy four, so it takes untilnineteen seventy four when Washingtonians are granted what's
called home rule. And now inseventy four is I mean, that is
so recent, that's just a fewdecades ago. You can vote for mayor
vote for council, make these decisions, and you're no longer ruled by a
dude from South Carolina. Carolina.Yeah, and in uh seventy seven,

(33:13):
so he's he's running I think inseventy five. Are like he announced his
campaign and he gets elected. Ohyeah, he gets elected in seventy five.
So seventy four council are established oryou can vote for council, and
that permissions established and then immediately heruns for council and then he gets re

(33:36):
elected and in his re election.All right, so this is this is
the wife I remember, or thisis the woman interact I remember because he
said something very smooth, his mostmemorable wife. Well, so this woman
just moved there Fie and e Fiejust moved from New York to DC.

(33:58):
And she says, I can't everywhereI go the second I get here,
everywhere I go, I keep seeingthis man around. He just keeps popping
up, like no matter where shegoes. So one day, and I
guess he's noticing her as well.So, uh, one day he goes
up to her and he says,while she he's like looking for something in

(34:20):
her bag, and he goes upto her and says, there's something for
me in there, and she goes, well, what what could possibly be
for you in my bag? Andhe says your phone number, and then
okay, yeah, no, that'swhat I think. I think that's a
good one. But what hurts well, I guess maybe there was already some

(34:45):
mutual respect because it worked. Butshe was like, I don't think he's
even gonna call me. I'm like, you see this man, how ambitious
he is. You don't think he'sgonna call you. He's gonna call you
the second you get home. Soanyway, trash all right, So you

(35:05):
think it's a trash line. Yes, maybe I've heard worse. Living in
New York for like my entire lifeand spending half of that on a subway
in which all pickup lines live anddie. I mean, this is the
seventies, so it's probably a fleshline in the seventies. Yeah, like,
oh, some some New York bagfor me and your phone number,

(35:27):
like in the seventies. Some womanwas probably like, oh, well,
wow, that's really something that's reallyfunny. Oh you saw virginal it was
gemming. But now I would definitelynot talk to men who said that.
I mean, yeah, he's alreadygetting close, Like why are you looking
in my possessions? I mean,I barely know you? Again, it's

(35:50):
it's yeah. But it worked,and he did call the next day,
he did start taking her out,and that's that. Then they started to
so Barry in what year is this, seventy eight, seventy nine, sometime
around there, he's in a federalHe's in a federal building in d C.

(36:15):
And that building is taken hostage.They take hostages in a few actually
it's not just that building. It'slike a few buildings, and they're taken
hostage by the Hanafi Muslim community andthey want people to stop torturing Muslims,

(36:36):
many of the you know, theterrible things the US has been doing for
decades, and they're, you know, doing all these terrible acts to make
light of the terrible acts being doneagainst them. So the story is so
intense. Now, yeah, itgets really intense really quick. So now
he's he's taken hostage in one ofthese district buildings they have we have a

(37:00):
lot of hostages. What is it, one hundred and forty nine, So
between all these buildings have one hundredforty nine people hostage. And you know,
of course the DC police, astactical as ever, gets into a
just just an all out shootout andBarry gets shot. And I don't think
we even know if he gets shotby one of the hostage people taking hostage

(37:22):
or by the police or both.Uh, I'm sure they don't really,
they didn't really care about accuracy.So he gets shot in the stomach and
if the bullet was like just alittle bit like to the left and to
the right, it would have beenwrapped. But he's like back to work
in a few days. It's justhe did the man. The man had

(37:44):
to get back to stop him.You cannot stop this man. He won't
survive Atlantic City. He can survivea gunshot sleeping on a boardwalk in Atlantic
City. Yeah, I've seen walkEmpire, Yeah, right, history of

(38:05):
prohibition. So uh yeah, sohe it's like it was like it was
nothing. Uh, it's like apebble. So now he uh, he's
against he's working I use the otter, which is like a voice app that
takes notes for what you're saying andit gets them the words you say just

(38:29):
horribly. So he's against walk Walterwashed Trenton obviously, obviously that's not his
name unless he is named after Trenton, New Jersey. Walter, I'm pretty
sure it's Walter. I'm pretty sureit's Walter Washington. Uh or Yeah,

(38:49):
So Barry calls him a quote unquotegold Coast black person. I guess because
of his money. I didn't knowthat was thing, but it's still I
guess a prejudice within gold I don'tknow what gold coat. It sounds rich.

(39:13):
I'm not going to bail you outon this one because I also have
no idea what that is. I'venever heard of that before. Let me
google that. Actually, well it'sit's I know, it's talking about economic
class and that like he would bedetached from people like detached from the everyday
Washingtonian, Gold Coast negro and yeah, let's let's see when was the last

(39:37):
time that was used? After marryonBarry. Now, hey, let's see,
let's see what happens now, Google, show me something worth it worth
laughing about I don't know what's goingon. All of a sudden, the

(40:01):
service is like not great, sogood? Where's my phone? All right?
He doesn't want to look up negrookay? Or like you've cracked a

(40:21):
coke the Gold Coast. We don'ttalk about negros from northern territories of Gold
Coast. Uh gold Coast region?Yeah, no, I don't This is
I've never heard of this before.Where where where gold Coast? That's see
to me that sounds like California,But I don't know where is that?

(40:44):
Which I'm just trying to figure outhow is this a slur? I don't
think he I don't think he's callinghim that. I think Barry's calling the
Walter his opponent. This is frommayor now he he is? Now okay,
but like you know how like okay, I don't know if you've heard
the term uncle Tom? Yes,yeah, yeah. So like I'm trying

(41:06):
to think, like is it likealong the lines of something like that,
like what iss? What does thismean? Sounds like Tom light Tom Jr.
It's not going that far. ButI think it's just saying that he,
while he may also be black,that he does not necessarily have the

(41:29):
experience of the everyday person he's goingto represent, whereas Barry clearly has put
in the work to show that hedoes. But but something interesting is also
happening. So while he's saying that, a lot of his advisors and Effie
and the people around him are saying, you can't now that you're running from
Mayo, you can't wear the dashikiand have your hair out like that.

(41:51):
And it's like, this is hisidentity up to this point, but they
keep telling him. So this isgoing to be a shift in Barry's identity
how he operates because once he's goingnow to run for mayor. Uh,
and I shaved his head, hewears a suit and you know, the
blocking blockades of the past are longgone. He's not doing those now.

(42:19):
So yeah, so he he doesthat, and we're what's next. Uh
Yeah, because he's trying to getright, he's trying to get also these
different endorsements and let's see soon.Right. Oh, that's the other thing,
because he and his wife are alsothey're not they're not married yet,

(42:45):
right, they're living together. Butthat back then that was a big thing.
You know, if you're living withsomeone, Oh, that means there
must be regular sex and if andif Jesus didn't sanction that ship, they
weren't married yet, so they hadso during the campaign they get married.
Right during the campaign. They getmarried because they get married because they know

(43:07):
it looks bad that they're living togetherand they know he will look better.
In addition to the change of howhe's dressed, he also now has to
be a married man. Okay,so all these things are being done to
like change his image. So Barrytalks about this. He said he didn't

(43:27):
want to be a part of thesystem, but now he's joining the system
to change it. But before hewas learning much against it. Yeah,
before he's very much against this,so yeah, he's see So yeah,

(43:49):
liberal liberal whites were not because ifit's mayor, it's a DC white thing.
Now liberal white folks weren't voting forhim. They thought unless he does
this, So now he's he he'seven meeting with people who wouldn't meet before.
He wouldn't meet with before, Sonow he's meeting some of the quote
unquote liberal white voters who now suddenlystart supporting him donating now after he makes

(44:12):
these changes to his image and allthis stuff. The Washington Post even endorses
him from mayor. So he winsat the end of seventy eight, and
in seventy nine he gets sworn inby thoroughgood Marshall, which that's some I
don't know, that's that's that wasreally powerful. Yeah, that was really

(44:36):
powerful to see. So his wifeand him are kind of seen as opposites
that they call Marion rugged rough onthe edges, and you know, up
until recently, he didn't even wantto wear a suit. And then you
have Effie who comes from New Yorkwho I think came from a little more

(44:59):
of a at least middle class background. Barry was in Mississippi, raised very
very poor. And a journalist saidat this point, oh, yeah,
yeah, that's what I That's whyI wrote this because I was they still
write about women during this time,Like it's so it's very sexist because they

(45:22):
write about women, the first thingthey write about is what they're wearing.
It's like when you hear about thearticles about his wife, not just that.
On a different podcast, the onethis is based on one of the
first women Congress, one of thefirst women to run for Congress, even
after she won, Like the firstpage is just and her hair was like

(45:44):
this and she's wearing this dress,and it's like, you're not gonna do
that for a man. You're notgonna be like, Okay, he got
this men's warehouse vest. I meanthey might as well. They were making
him cut his hair and changes thesheiky's like right, yeah, but yeah,

(46:06):
that's that's where this intersex, becausethat's that's like racial that that that's
with racial perceptions, and that's alsointernal. Not that I'm sure, I'm
sure people wrote about it externally too, but his wife, who is successful
in own regard, they're just they'rejust describing her immediately by how she looks,

(46:27):
what she's wearing, like you know, she barely has individuality, which
is yeah, which is a lotof what the seventies was. So a
lot of people even thought that Barry. One journalist said Barry had a chance
to be Martin Luther King's successor.They thought after he was, which is

(46:47):
some high praise because this died insixty eight. That's a highly people thought
about him, especially after this win. Let's see, all right, okay,

(47:10):
so for his second term, there'sa lot of development. Yeah,
so we're going into the second term, now, there's a lot of development
going on in downtown d C,and the commerce is bringing in more white
people, and uh, Barry,but Barry's very aware of this, and

(47:32):
what he does is he says,I want to make my office have the
highest population of black government workers becausebefore d C, as we said,
the history of d C even onceit did have a council for a period
of time, and like initially it'salways been ruled by white people and had

(47:54):
a very black populations. He says, in my administration, most of the
positions, high level, low levelare going to be black people. And
he made good on his word.It was like the blackest administration that DC
had and probably most major cities hadat that time. But at the same
time, he kind of does haveto play this card to get re elected.

(48:17):
Where he's okay with the redevelopment,where he's okay with the commerce,
because that looks like good for thecity. It looks like something new is
happening under his administration, and hecan you know, he could do what
he can to make jobs be apart of that that redevelopment. But you

(48:37):
know, we all know a lotof this also leads to displacement and community
changing and gentrification and all of thatas well. So what I gonna say,
Oh, so now they get intoso while this is happening in a
second term, he's starting to hisphilander is starting to become more apparent.

(49:01):
And and you see, you know, his wife Efie says, women just
throw themselves at him. But it'snot really an exaggeration because there's pictures of
Barry, Like you see Effie,his wife in the front, and you
see him like kissing a woman onthe mouth right behind her. I don't

(49:22):
even know if you're gonna say therewas a woman literally like flying in the
air towards him. Oh, Idon't know. Maybe they just didn't get
that on a camera, but theydidn't have motion film back then. But
you know what, it's just itwas just very blatant. I mean that's

(49:43):
what surprised me. I mean hewas like, I don't care what the
cameras are here. There was athere was another there was a singer I
forgot if it was. I thinkit was Robin Thick who like like there
was a picture of him because hewas with Paula Patten and I think there
was a picture of him like touchinga woman or like kissing a woman or
like grabbing her while Paula Patton isstill in the shot. It's like,

(50:08):
it's like the audacity. It waseither I got to miss either him or
Michael Buble. One of them.Oh wow, very different. Well,
Michael Bubley, I know, hadsomething else where. He's like him and
his girlfriend took a picture of awoman's ass and that was the thing.
Yeah, it made no damn sense. Maybe they wanted a unicorn and who

(50:29):
knows, but oh wow, thisis taking a turn. Yeah, who
knows. I'm not. The pointis that one of them did something where
like it's in the shot and Iand I always find that like the uh,
that's a lot of that's audacity toactually have the woman that you're with
in the same shot as a personthat you man. Yeah, I've been

(50:54):
in a body of one for aboutthirty three years, but I I would
never do I mean, not thatI believe in this in general, but
the same shot. That's like,I just don't. I just don't know
at that point. Maybe maybe atthis point he's drinking so he's not even
thinking well, or he's under theinfluence, But I don't think men gotta

(51:19):
be under the influence to Philander,but I feel you not not to but
but Falander like within the same likelike I don't even need to go to
a separate image where his wife isin a different picture. Like it's all
happening. All the evidence exhibits A, B and C are like all in
one place. Yeah, Bob Marleyused to do it all the time.

(51:40):
Yeah, oh no, yeah uhso, yeah, so he's he's just
out here and women apparently would sendwould send pictures of themselves. I guess
this was this was the classy nudeback then, m because we didn't have

(52:00):
d MS, we didn't have this, so they would mail marrying a picture
of them in a bathtub mm hmm, and like on a real picture and
send it in an envelope. Yeahthat's yeah, that's how you did it
back then. That's how you Butlike he's getting that, you don't know

(52:21):
who's gonna pick it up. Idon't think he cared. Well no,
but Marian doesn't even get half ofthese things because his wife gets them.
His wife picks them up. Ibet, like I don't see. So
if you send in you know,your your bathtub nude whatever, you don't

(52:44):
even care at this point if thewife sees it, no, I don't
know. Man. Like, let'sbe real, like a lot of women,
especially back then, did not hearabout a man being married. That
was not stopping them. There wereso many men who had two and three

(53:07):
different families. Yeah, because hewas they were just all out here full
landering, dude, still full lander. It's just easier to get caught now
he was just a regular man.Yeah, yeah, he was taking like
barely any precautions. But this isjust I mean, it was just it's

(53:28):
funny that you know. It wasalmost like I would be interested. I'm
not just saying this because I'm aman. I would be interested in seeing
an exhibit of the classing nude ofeach era, because like this seemed to
have its own era of classing nudethe bathtub and it's like that it's in
him bathtub pics. Well most ofthem are women. That's is the other

(53:50):
things like did they get together andsay, will I'll send marrying something in
a bathtub because like most a lotof it was seemed to be a regular
occurrence. And then the other oneI saw was that they would actually include
in a documentary because they weren't completelynaked. They would just sit, you
know, sit at the foot ofthe bed and like that seventies lingerie sounds
hot and yeah no, but I'msaying, like, to me, this

(54:12):
is almost art. This is justa boudoir at this point. This this
could be an exhibit, you know, DM DMS nudes whatever through the ages,
just saying men too. I'm suremen had more creativity back here than
just sending the meat. I guessthey tried to frame it. Maybe they

(54:35):
were in a bathtub. Oh,this is getting out. Let's get back
on focus. Well, we're aboutto get to cocaine. So, so,
uh, what's what's her name?Dan? I think it's Danielle.

(54:58):
Person me, all right, Ican't find the first name, but her
last name is Johnson. And shestarts applying Marion with cocaine. I think
it's Danielle. Possibly Danielle starts givingMarian Yeah yeah, oh Karen Karen.
Sorry, wow, very different name, Karen Johnson. So Karen Johnson starts

(55:25):
giving uh maryon cocaine, and hestarts seeing her as I'm sure she's not
the only person he's seeing. He'sgetting many bathtub invitations during this time,
but certainly the most regular one isfrom Karen Johnson, so he's seeing her
regularly, he's getting the cocaine.But after a certain point, you know,

(55:50):
it was maybe a little easier tohide back then, but people did
find out and he was constantly beinghounded by the press because they whatever,
they found images of them together.They had inside sources and both okay,
and they would hound him and hiswife when they would go between different events

(56:15):
or outside their home. He says, I didn't sleep with her, I've
never did cocaine. But apparently,I guess some of her friends, Karen's
friends. I think that's the leakhere. I think it's Karen's friends or
bragging that they supplied her with cocainethat ultimately went to Marion. So there's

(56:39):
always going to be a leak.I mean, you can't trust after like
I mean, after these are afterlike the third degree, there's no way
it's not going to get out thatyou've given the mayor cocaine and asked,
oh wow, it's gonna it's gonnaget out at some point. I mean,

(57:00):
isn't that how Monica Lewinsky like gotwhat it was her friend that was
like talking on the phone. Shedidn't want any part of releasing this story.
But her friend like talked to ajournalist or something. I forgot her
friend's name, and then that's howthe Monica Lewinsky story got him. It's
always a friend. It's always likesome third fourth degree shit. I mean,

(57:20):
people like secrets are not a thing. Secrets aren't real, No,
especially sallacious ones like this, likesupplying the man with cocaine and sleeping with
him. So yeah, so's he'sjust denying everything. He at one point
just said, hey, where doyou get this shit from? And but

(57:40):
the Republican prosecutor is a love andthis the US prosecutcause this is like the
federal prosecutor that covers that district,that's a Republican And he's like, Marian's
just saying it's all fake. Thisis a hit job. They just want
to get me, which generally wouldbe true. And it's still say this

(58:01):
is literally true. This is literallywhat they're trying to do right now.
They're trying to get him, likewell, like the f when the FBI
got that tape of doctor King cheatingand that it's the same thing he could
be cheating. But they're still tryingto take him down. So uh,

(58:23):
he's say, all right, whenhe gets re elected, I think now
to his third term, so Ithink he still gets I think he still
gets re elected right after this,right, he said. Someone asked him
because at this point, because ofthe allegations of cheating and of cocaine,

(58:44):
he lost a lot of the whitebass, but he's still white white base.
I got it. I got it. So he was asked about this,
he said, okay, but youwont but that, I mean,
you lost so much support, hesaid. He was asked them such a

(59:07):
dumb questions like are there white peoplein DC? Like what do you?
What the fuck? So he's asked, that's a real question, and he's
like yeah, and he's like,do they want to take Washington back?
And he says, yes, thereare some white people who want to take
Washington back, and they don't wantblack people to have Oh no, this

(59:30):
is and then and then he hasa this is a separate comment he makes
later that later on some dates,some white people just don't want black people
to have participatory democracy and relationships anda portion of decision making, and uh
don't like that black people are runningthe city, and they want to put
as many barriers as they can fora third term. And in a church,

(59:55):
this was funny because churches can't endorsecandidates. But this pastor was with
Barry uh next to the pulpit,and he says, I can't endorse mister
Barry from the pulpit. So thepastor literally walks out from the pulpit,
goes to the other side of thestage and then says he's endorsing Barry and

(01:00:17):
hiss and still his priest like,you know, still, yeah, he's
still in his pastoral close too.That's not he should have at least stepped
outside. Okay, So I don'twant them to like, you know,
the the FBI already is on thisguy's tail. I can't do the let

(01:00:37):
me stand off, okay, allright, thanks. Uh So let's see
Barry said. Yeah, he said, at this point in my career,
people don't just stab you in theback, they stab you in the front.
I thought that was that's a prettypoignant thing to say at this point.

(01:00:59):
But he does get reelected for thirdterm. And there's a lady who
comments at this point he could gobuck naked down the street on a float
and women and everyone around him wouldvote for him. Maybe they're right.
Uh yeah, so now the meaningso now he's so now the reputation again,

(01:01:30):
mostly white journalists are calling him trouble. They just say Marion Barry's,
you know, just trouble. Theysay that they're not focusing on any of
the positive things he's doing. Ohyeah, he was kind of at this
point, like very not concerned aboutimage. He went to a Christmas party

(01:01:57):
at a strip club. He's runthree straight and he won three straight.
With allegations of cheating in cocaine.The man's like, I could do.
It's a fun guy. I coulddo whatever I want. He's just fun.
He's just chilling. But also yeah, but also like I may I
may not be interested in strip clubsand other people may not. But let

(01:02:19):
the man like, I really don't. These things are not maybe great for
his marriage, but it doesn't meanhe's an ineffective leader. Oh he'll be
fiat leader. Let him have finer. But but there are there are tragedies
strict striking DC. So in themiddle of his third term, crack cocaine
now infiltrated the city. So thisis like, now we're talking about the

(01:02:39):
worst kind dropout rates. Uh,I'm guessing this is high school. We're
getting close to forty. Wow.And the and the mortality rate, infant
mortality rate became the highest in thecountry. Oh wow. So poor,

(01:03:01):
poverty is increasing, health is declining. And see oh and two of the
two of the Central People administration aresent to prison for corruption. So he's
hiring people that some of maybe hedidn't do enough of a background check on
some folks he's putting in in hisadministration. He's doing maybe some political favors.

(01:03:27):
And now his drinking is also gettingout of control. He's going to
four or five receptions per night andhaving and he never just has one drink,
So, I mean, I canI'm old. Now two receptions is
and I'm receiving my ass home.I mean, it's just not getting past
that. But four to five andhe's at this point, I guess,

(01:03:52):
close to forty and he's having multipledrinks at each one. I'm surprised he
can be coherent. IM, that'sa lot he was cohering, right,
I guess that's kind of the point, right, if you get him,
he'll then he'll promise things he can'tmaybe deliver on. But he's a people

(01:04:14):
pleaser. He said, you know, friendships in retrospect on his life,
he's saying, you know, friendshipswere hard to find, and because friendships
were hard to find, he wantedto please people. And I think he
liked this attention that he thought someof these friendships were legitimate and they ultimately
weren't. Uh. In addition tothe nightclub Christmas party episode, a woman

(01:04:39):
uh and and so there's another.So there's there's Karen Johnson. There's apparently
another woman prepared to come forward.That's Norton cocaine with him and one of
the women he's philanslighted like he's I'mlosing track, the documentarian losing track,
everybody's losing track of these women he'sphilandering with. But one of them kicked

(01:05:00):
him out of her house and he'syelling to get back in. So you
just see the mayor. Just justthink the mayor of d C is like
in the middle of the street,drunk, yelling, banging to get back
in this woman's home. Like it'sit's it's a tough time, you know,
as mayor to see to see hermayor out here doing that. Uh

(01:05:26):
So, now the administration is startingto get out of control, at least
to the federal government. They areworried that maybe he's even overdosing at times,
and there were reports he had togo to the hospital. He's starting
to sweat a lot. I didn'tknow cocaine does that to you, but
yes, I guess it does.And again, and you know, the

(01:05:49):
man's got a little bit of pressureon him, and he's also got like
seventeen women he has to like managealong with his actual job as mayor and
his wife. Yeah, so hein the past, I mean when when
Barry looks back at this, hesaid he thought he could just do cocaine

(01:06:12):
his way, Like he was like, I won't be a typical user.
I'll do it when I want,Like he thought he could really have a
user would like a typical user wouldthink, right, he Yeah, So
he now that cocaine is making himgo so high up that he now needs

(01:06:33):
the valium to bring him back down. So now he's got the valium,
he's got the cocaine, he's gotthe drinking, he's got the god knows
how many women, and the mediais on him. And of course DC's
going through terrible times with employment,uh and poverty and health. Uh.

(01:06:57):
And while he's doing this, hegoes to like a school. At one
point, there's footage of him goingto a school and he's talking to kids
about slinging dope and not to doit, and he's saying, you know,
uh, PCPs terrible And it's notjust because it's illegals, because a
message with your brain. I knowI tried it, Yeah, and what

(01:07:23):
was what was the experience it hadon on your mentality? If I'm talking
about Marion, that's that's the answer, then I'll just never forget. You
know, the legendary Rick James cocaine'sa hell of a drug. I had
a friend in high school who refusedto believe that in that episode of Chappelle

(01:07:45):
Sor that that was actually that Jameswho said that, And we went throughout
high school saying, no, that'sRick James. He is saying that.
It's like, that's not James.I just I was always an anecdote that
it took like four years to convincethis man Rick would actually say that.
But yeah, he's being honest drug, just like Marion Barry's being honest.
Now, I don't know if he'stalking about PCP, because maybe that was

(01:08:10):
the ones he was leaving out ofhis repertoire, and he felt like he
could, you know, be alittle more confident with that denial. But
you know, he's regardless. He'stalking about things, talking about drugs,
and he's doing it, he says, you know, and he's talking about

(01:08:30):
this later on in life. Hesays, I'm saying the kids shouldn't do
this while I'm putting this poison inmy body. And so it runs you
rather than you run it. That'show he describes and that that's he thought
he could run it. And oncethe cocaine's in the system, you don't
get to make that choice. Yeah, uh so, Restie. Oh so,

(01:09:04):
at this point, the FBI hasbeen running an investigation on Marion and
one day in the middle of hisI guess sometime in the middle of his
third term, he's arrested. Andso he's he's arrested. The chief of

(01:09:28):
staff just informs his wife one dayhe's been arrested, just out of the
blue, and he's and he's he'sarrested by the FBI. He's arrested by
the DC police. How many ofas motherfuckers do you need? He's arrested
by the US attorney, Like isthere it's like just one guy on cocaine,
but they always got to show upwith like every member of the damn

(01:09:48):
Academy. In the video, itjust shows him and I forget if it's
Karen Johnson, I think it.I think it's her who becomes an informant
at some point. It's yeah,and there once she she keeps trying to

(01:10:10):
get him to do it, notjust her to do the cocaine. So
once once I've seen the video,Yeah you seen the video. Yeah,
like I'm from DZ, but like, yeah, no, she definitely was
urging him to do and he waslike he just wanted to have sex.
He did not want to do correct, And she was like, fine,

(01:10:32):
fine, we can have sex ifyou do this correct And so fine,
I'll do this fucking crank. Itis so important to you that I spoke
Greg right now. Fine. Sothe moment he smokes the crack, that's
when they bust in. They comeget him. Yeah, and uh,
first I was just about to sayfirst job up. Yeah, so he

(01:11:05):
I see what. Uh So heends up going to uh jail for six
months after I don't know how longthe trial is exactly. Oh but wait,
I actually want to go back tothe story, because he recalls the

(01:11:27):
full, uh, the context ofit. He's he he wanted to meet
she asked to meet him, andhe goes to the hotel and he said,
I ordered She she says, comeup, I just ordered a bowl
of soup. I just found thatto be so specific. Come up,

(01:11:50):
Marian, I just and he's like, no, I want to meet you
down here and see what's up andcome up. No, because I guess
at this point, I think they'repretty much like this on again, off
again fly. So at this hethought this was just the up text of
the time. And now now thislady's talking about soup. He thought he
was just gonna be as simple,maybe get as Maybe there was something else,

(01:12:13):
maybe she was just gonna give himsome who knew, but he wanted
to meet her downstairs. First shewants him to come up soup, and
then he's like no, And thenhe says, get some coffee, and
he's like, coffee. I thoughtwe were just getting soup. So already
the lady's changing her story, andoh right, he doesn't want to go
no, no, no, it'sworse than that. He doesn't want to
go out first, even it wasworse than the you up she was saying

(01:12:34):
it was a matter of life anddeath. She's he at least in his
retelling of the events that she calledhim saying this a matter of life and
death. And then he gets thereand it's I just ordered soup. Come
on, Marian, I know,I know where, I know we're smoking
things, but this doesn't add upalready. If it's a matter of life

(01:12:57):
and death, I'm not ordering soup. I'm trying to figure out how to
live and not die. He's obviouslylying. But yeah, now, but
maybe, but it's pretty specific soupand coffee and then all right, So
then finally he comes up, andthat's what leads to all this. So
he could he was very close tonot even going up to that hotel room.

(01:13:19):
Is the point. Ah, therewas a lot of you know of
her part here to get him doall these things. Coercion, yeah,
which honestly I'm sure was part ofhis defense, but it didn't. It
led. It led to a shortsentence, but still he did have to
do time. Uh so uh ohright, I put he keeps asking for

(01:13:47):
a hug, and I just puta note, why is he turning into
the where's my hug? Guy?Because yeah, because these guys, I'm
like Marion Barry generally shouldn't be awhere's my hug Guy's getting hugs left them
right, And obviously then he's tryingto get more than a hook. But
so his his big return is gonnacome in a few years. So for

(01:14:13):
the first few years he's he actuallydoesn't go to I think he doesn't go
straight back. I think he decideshe's gonna I think he decides he's gonna
wait a little while, right,and then he goes to city council.
He decides he's not gonna go straightfrom mayor. He's gonna go to city
council. And okay, so he'sso he's arrested. He's released in ninety

(01:14:39):
one. It's the first time intwenty years now that Barry had been out
in DC and not held public office. Uh you know. But then he
decides that it's time to run again. He gets the book, he knows
he can still do things, andhe takes a new name. During this

(01:15:03):
time, it's anwar Amal. He'sback where we're going back into the dashiki,
the original, the og Marion Barry'sback is what he wants to sit
and he also uh he he alsois kind of running on this like redemption,

(01:15:30):
like I am I've been this person. I've been some of the downtrodden
members of DC and now I'm MarionBarry. Yeah, I've been Marrion Berry
exactly, and now I want torepresent them. So that message it works.
You know, people a lot ofthe upper class white people are saying

(01:15:55):
nasty things, calling him a thug. That's always the greatest hit of that
that class. But he gets uhand then he makes it into right during
this time, he makes it intoa Chris Rock fit, which I didn't
even when I saw it back then, I didn't even know about Marion Barry.
And he was saying about how ifthe mayor can get he said,

(01:16:15):
it's Rock said, it's where theyyou know, you couldn't get caught smoking
crack and then ultimately be re electedto like a position where you can't get
your job back at McDonald's. Andinteresting point, it's true, not really
you can get your job back atMcDonald's. Pharrell worked at for McDonald's and

(01:16:36):
he stole from three of them andgot fired from the fourth one because I
did three called and was like,this guy's fucking stealing chicken nuggets. So,
I mean he was able to runfor McDonald's office a few times.
In the sentiment, I didn't knowthat you said that was Pharrell. Yeah,

(01:16:58):
Pharrell. He used to work inMcDonald when he was younger, before
he was for real, he wasa serial McDonald's like stealing, used to
eat the nuggets and what everyone's gonnado that? I mean it's stealing,
Like she didn't do that. Ithink he was eating like an egregious amount.
All right, it'd be hilarious ifhe wrote that into a song and

(01:17:23):
and like something about the chicken nuggetthief. Uh. But anyway, he's
so he talks about, you know, resiliency and that oh right, he's
asked once again, he's asked thisquestion about you know, you one now
it's now it's a council seat.He's like, you one with almost no

(01:17:45):
white support, and and and whatdo you have to say to that group?
And he says get over it,which I thought is what kind of
what the type of thing I wishmore people would say today. You know.
Uh, he really didn't mince wordsand I appreciate that, but Congress

(01:18:06):
ain't happy. Congress doesn't like that. Marion Barry's got his groove back.
Congress does not like that. Sothey're going to establish a control board.
Oh wait, no, no,I'm sorry. It wasn't city council.
It was mayor. I forgot.He went to forgot. He went to
mayor at the fourth point fourth time. Now, so right right, because

(01:18:31):
now Congress in the middle of hisfourth term, basically want to make it
useless. They basically want to takeback control of the city. They control
the finances, they control the staffing, they control everything that he's gonna do,
so that it's it's He basically isa figurehead at this point. So

(01:18:51):
two decades after they get back,DC gets its city and its ability to
rule. Congress takes it back mainlybecause of Marion Barry. They just don't
like he keeps Look, the mankeeps winning, and they do not want
to let the man win. Theydon't want to They don't want to see
you win. Mary, They don't. Okay, So he retire from politics

(01:19:18):
at the end of his fourth term, but you know, he takes so
he takes some time off, buthe he works at a consulting firm.
But then he decides that in afew years later, in two thousand and

(01:19:41):
so now we're at two thousand andfour, he decides that he'll be he'll
be a council member again and heand he initially defeated Waite let me see
right, all right, So hegoes back and he defeats incumbent Sandy Allen.

(01:20:03):
Yes, I remember this, okay, and he got fifty eight percent
of the vote. Uh oh,no, he got he and then in
the general election gets ninety five.Of course, in ward eight because who's
going to be a Republican there?All right, that's my award. You're

(01:20:25):
in ward eight. Yep? Ohnice, all right. And then in
two thousand and six Barry uh endorses. So now there's just some political back
and forth here endorses Adrian fenty.Yeah. Despite Linda Kropp hired many of

(01:20:46):
people from his administration, he publiclyclashed with Fenty over and what now,
Oh, okay, they're supposed supposedto be Uh oh, you think they
should be mayor? No? No, no, I have been alive long

(01:21:09):
enough to remember when all of thesethings have happened. Now, because it's
like two thousand and four, Yeah, Adrian Fenty was the city was not
happy with Adrian Fenty, Okay,A lot of the people weren't. So
Marion Barry was like he was makingsome points. All right, Yeah,
I mean he's no matter what rolehe runs for, he's gonna be his

(01:21:32):
voice is gonna matter. He waschosen. Okay. So in two thousand
and seven it gets real because hegets to be one of fifty wax statues
that debut from Madame Tussan's apparently okayso now right. So then in two

(01:21:53):
thousand and eight he also held offAll lou There's a lot of challenges here,
Ahmad Braxton, Jones, Howard Brown, Shanda mcant mahon, Sandra Sears,
Charles Wilson. So there's a lotof people running two thousand and eight,
a lot of people want it,and he gets to see okay,

(01:22:14):
so now in so in this inthis part of it, I also see
in this stage in the mid twothousands, what I like is that you
start to see Marion's godson roll aroundwith him in the campaign trail, and
the godson is just sounding just likea young Marion Barry. He's talking about

(01:22:40):
how you got to be a goodpolitician. You can't believe the lies,
you can't listen to what they're sayingabout you. He's on these streets talking,
he's literally talking to kids. Yeahyeah, but what you're gonna do
after football? Okay, you're probablynot making the NFL? All right,
we need you. Like he's likelike fourteen, and he's talking to ten
year olds about out when your whenyour NFL career doesn't work out, Okay,

(01:23:04):
like let them, let's let thechild dream. But at fourteen,
he's like already saying trying to getthem prepped to be civically engaged and vote
and maybe be a part of hisfuture administration. So it was it was
fun to see in documentary, likeyou could tell the Barry dynasty isn't going,

(01:23:24):
isn't going anywhere. So there wassome cons of reason why I said.
There was also some controversy about youknow, in twenty twelve, when
he's in council, he's now makingremarks, unfortunately about the Asian community.
He says, we've got to dosomething about these Asians coming in. They're

(01:23:44):
opening business dirty, they're dirty shops. They ought to go. We need
African American business people take their place, So he kind of equated dirty to
the Asian community, which of coursethey didn't rais. Other people didn't like.
Oh well, I mean it's it'sa very unlikable thing. I feel

(01:24:08):
like at this point in his life, like because like Marion Barry was very
old by this point, I feellike he definitely was just like becoming a
see now man and shouldn't write inoffice that late in life, right because
Chinatown was such a major part ofDC and like the seventies, eighties and
like even the nineties, Like it'sjust so sad that that's something he said.

(01:24:33):
Yeah, like you said, likeat this point he probably should have
just you know, taken a pension, relaxed. He could do all the
recreational drugs he wants at that point. You know, no one's going to
judge you, but he this iswhat he knows. The man does not
know, not being on the pulseof the city. I wanted to find

(01:24:59):
one of the slogans though, Iwant to find one of the slogans,
Uh, where is it? Becausehe had a very good campaign slogan At
one point. It reminded me ofhave you seen Brewster's Millions Now it's with
Richard Pryor and he's running I guessI think it is for president. He's

(01:25:20):
running for some elected office, andhis his thing is basically his slogan is
like, don't vote for me.It's but but it gets so many people
interested in him that it has thereverse effect. Anyway, there was a
good one. I'm just trying tosee it. Who all right, um,

(01:25:48):
let's see. It was something likeI ain't perfect, but no one
is. What is true? Verycampaign slow in. Oh, he may

(01:26:14):
not be perfect, but he's perfectfor DC. Sounds about right. That's
not bad. No, I mean, it's like it's admitting to false,
has some humility, but at thesame time it's saying I'm still the guy
for the job. Okay, Sothat was the fourth term one? Yeah,

(01:26:36):
all right, how many more termswe got because I got to be
out of yere bust of fifteen.No, no, I'm sorry. Then,
I was just about to do thelast part with you. Unfortunately,
I just wanted to get that sloganin. But unfortunately, you know,
after twenty twelve was his last washis last run as kind He's on counsel

(01:26:57):
at that point, and then twentyfourteen in DC. He is found dead,
apparently to a drug overdose. Soit ultimately was drugs that still got
him in the end, which isreally sad. So he was living at
Ward eight too, and he wasliving He's really a man of the people.
So I you know, I wentinto this hearing like him characterized kind

(01:27:23):
of as this wacky figure that wasdrug riddled and like there was all this
corruption, all these things, andafter learning about him, it's like,
yes, some of that was true, but he was someone who cared about
his values and he was someone whomade a difference and he fought his personal

(01:27:45):
demons. Yes, but he mademore impact in a short amount of time,
at least on a local level,than a lot of these dudes out
here are making. Really really yeah, I was. I really think as
a society we got a problem withif a guy cheats, like we can't

(01:28:06):
separate these things, Like okay,these things were also It's all true.
He wasn't the best husband, clearly, Yeah, no, Mary and Mary
was not a good guy, buthe was a great activist. Why do
you think we don't hear about him, like at least I didn't hear about
him ntil like recently, well forstarters. You don't live in DC.

(01:28:29):
Like it's not like he was thepresident. But like, also it's funnier
just to say that this black guydid crack than it is to say that
this black guy made an impact inhis community. So it's true. Uh,
yeah, he's someone that we shouldreally be talking about more when we

(01:28:50):
talk about Black History Month, whichshouldn't be a month in the first place,
but since it's a month, it'slike, I feel we don't go
deep enough to all the many multitudesof people have made a difference. This
man basically, like within showing upjust just made like twenty eight hundred people
work and be somewhat safer and likethe second he got here. And to

(01:29:13):
me, it's sometimes some guys take, you know, decades and administrations in
order to do that, and hewas doing these things before he even got
elected to office. Yeah, Imean, well, now he is forever
immortalized in DC because there's a streetnamed after him now, So yes,
he's considered the mayor for life.Yes, and I think he certainly deserves

(01:29:38):
that title. Well, thank youso much. I didn't realize we had
one of Ward eight's own here andyou were DC, but I didn't I
should have asked which Ward YEP.So that makes this especially meaningful. Uh,
I don't know final final thoughts aboutmarrying it and maybe like how he
impacted like you said, well theSYEP getting that job, but anything else

(01:30:00):
about hearing about him growing up andhow he impacted your life. Well,
he was the mayor when my momwas a kid and so like, and
he, like I said, wasa Ward eight councilman in my lifetime while
living in Ward eight because I've beenhere my whole life. But yeah,
like nobody's perfect. He was nota good guy. Like I cannot stress

(01:30:25):
that enough, you know, buthe got a lot of things done,
and I feel like his legacy istarnished just because it's like people find it
more salacious to talk about, whichsucks. But yeah, no, thanks
for everything you did, mister Barrywhile you were here. Very lot he

(01:30:47):
did, and I'm glad he gotyou that s YEP. No, I
mean he didn't personally get it forme, but you. Oh, but
he his legacy is with us eventoday, and of course with your hard
work to get it, like yousaid, demand didn't just put down an
s YEP card And honestly, Iapplied for s YEP in New York and

(01:31:12):
I know it. I don't evenknow what I would have done, but
it wasn't easy to get. Thenagain, it was easy in DC.
Yeah, sign up. Yeah.Well, now we're all gonna start working
at you know, twelve. Iguess at least they're born Florida. Who
had Florida's Marion Barry b that's whatwe need to know. Oh it's Mickey

(01:31:32):
Mouse, Mickey Mouse and an alligator. Yes, well on math. Well,
anyway, thank you for your time. This was great. Like I
said, it's made especially meaningful.And yeah, you're you're definitely welcome to
come back for many other topics.And you better be booked soon because you

(01:31:56):
should. Yes, I'm gonna bebook I'm doing something tomorrow. I'm playing
corn O West for the Washington Roastas Corner West. You're gonna be Corner
West. That's what's up. Yeah, I've done it a few times.
I've got some clips of it onmy Instagram, so you can go ahead
and look at those if you want. But yeah, no, thanks for

(01:32:16):
having me. This was very informative. I like when people know about Marion
Barry. Okay, cool, allright, well, thank you again,
and yeah, happy to have youon the future. And I'll definitely make
some cool clips that you know,feel free to share, all right,
cool, Thank you man, havea good night you too, bye righte.