America! Have Ya Heard? Don't Engage.

David Day, Chairman of 100 Black Men Chicago and Director of the Emmett and Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, joined Jesse Jr to talk about mentoring, back to school, avoiding conflict and parental engagement in the Trump era as a nation-wide organization, as well as the 70th commemoration of Emmett Till's murder. In the second hour, "On the Grind" host Barbara Arnwine lays out a "20 years later update" on the anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and the progressive march of the Trump administration toward provoking a fight.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm Jesse Jackson Junior. Welcome forward to the Jesse Jackson
Junior Show on KBAA Talk fifteen eighty. The Democratic National
Committee chairman has said he is tired of the Democratic
Party bringing a pencil to a knife fight. Sounds exciting,
sounds like the Democrats are trying to step up. But
here's the problem. When districts are drawn to comply with

(00:26):
the Voting Rights Act of nineteen sixty five, you bring
a pencil. Because of the history of racial segregation in
neighborhoods in every state in the Union, the pencil is
the key to majority minority districts. If you bring a
knife to the redistricting fight, you cut up a district
so badly that African Americans and Hispanics will have no

(00:47):
representation or chance of winning. African Americans must keep their
eyes on Democrats and Republicans or the end of Second
Reconstruction is going to look just like the end of
First Reconstruction. Zero Blacks and Congress. As victims of historic
racial discrimination and segregated neighborhoods, we must be loyal to
the cause and case for our own survival. First. That's

(01:10):
just my opinion in this very very Special Hour. Our
first guest is none other than David Day. David is
the Director of Public Engagement and Programs at the Immittil
and Maymi Till Mobley Institute. David is a seasoned executive
and an astute connector who joined the Till Institute to
lead public Engagement and programming mission. David has served in

(01:31):
a number of roles in the nonprofit, government and private sectors.
Most recently, David served as the Chief Operating Officer at
the Rainbow Push Coalition, where he played an essential role
in effectively managing the operational growth of the organization across
a number of offices around the US. Prior to the
Rainbow Push, David was Vice President of Development of Chicago

(01:51):
State University and previously served as the Chief Administrative Officer
of the National Black MBA Association. David is also the
chairman of the Board of Directors for the premier youth
mentoring organization, the one hundred Black Men of Chicago, and
as a member of the Development and Corporate Relations Committee
of the one hundred Black Men of America, Inc. He

(02:12):
also serves as Vice president of Operations for the Chapter
Development and the National Black NBA Association David Day, Welcome
forward to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Jesse Junior, thank you so much for having me on today.
And I don't know if you can see my video
or not. I am trying to make sure that I'm
in and.

Speaker 1 (02:33):
On well one way or the other. I can definitely
hear your voice, and we are live on the radio,
so even as we struggle with getting your video quality,
I can certainly hear your voice. David. How are you
doing today?

Speaker 2 (02:45):
I'm doing quite well, Jesse. You know, just continuing the fight.
You know that story, well, you know it's about continuing
to fight. And you know, we're really focusing in on
young African American males, you know, not only with the
Till Instituted, but in particular and especially with the National
Black with the hundred Black Men of Chicago. You know,

(03:06):
our organization, we're celebrating our thirtieth anniversary this year and
we have a number of events that we do each year.
We have mentoring programs. We have a South Side mentoring program,
South Suburbs, West Suburbs, and we have a new mentoring
program at i T called Programmers and it's a step program.

(03:28):
So you know, our our our mission of Jesse is,
you know, for lack of better terms, to continue to
do good in the hood. And we're making every effort
to do that with all of the programs that we have.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
David, we have about two minutes before the break, and
we have plenty of time to work out the visual,
technical technical problems during that during that break. But I
do want to ask you this question. I have found
it somewhat compelling that young African American men do need
to be mentored in our history, but they also need
to be mentored during this period of time where there

(04:03):
seems to be so much confusion about the franchise about voting,
about the importance I want to ask you this about understanding.
Found it somewhat a minute American David, men, your thoughts
do need difficult us in our hist including mentoring black men.

Speaker 2 (04:20):
Yeah, I think that you're right. I think the whole
concept of making sure that they understand that they have
a voice and that their vote counts. And it's really
critical when you look at some of the statistics of
the leading calls of death for African American men between
fifteen and twenty fours homicide and while representing only six
percent of the population. African American men represent forty nine

(04:43):
percent of prison inmates. Only four African American males attend college,
while twenty three percent of those college age are either
incarcerated or on probation. So it's really about us, and
that's what we're trying to do with the one hundred
Black men of Chicago is is to let them see
that there are other options, but they need to be engaged,

(05:04):
and it starts with the voting.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
I'm Jesse Jackson Junior listening to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show.
In the first hour on tenacious Tuesdays, our very special
guest is none other than Chairman David Day, director of
the IMATIL and maybe Till Mobile Institute. When we come
forward more with David Day, Jesse Jackson Jr. Welcome forward
to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show on KBLA Talk fifteen
to eighty In this hour, David Day is our very

(05:26):
special guest, chairman of the board of directors of the
premier youth mentoring organization one hundred Black Men of Chicago.
David Welcome forward to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show.

Speaker 2 (05:36):
Yes, sir, thank you so much, Jesse.

Speaker 1 (05:38):
David in this mentoring space. I mean this is this
is comprehensive and it's also very very complex work. There's
obviously the space of spiritual mentoring. There's also the space
of a physical mentoring. There's also the absentee father space.
There is the incarceration space. Can you share with us

(06:00):
in this our longest segment, your thoughts on how one
hundred black men conquer, if you will, how they take
on this space in the lives of not only young
men but young women, and how difficult the task of
mentoring is in our space.

Speaker 2 (06:17):
Well, Jesse, I think that as an organization that is
celebrating its thirtieth anniversary, it's really critical that we take
a look at the process that we used to be
successful and understand that we have to adjust our process.

(06:37):
What we did ten years ago with young African American
males and females, we have to do something different today
because times have changed. Our models they will be what
they see. So the first standard is that we have
to make certain that we are individuals of integrity, of

(06:58):
truth of action. I teach a class Jesse called Pride.

Speaker 3 (07:03):
P R I d E.

Speaker 2 (07:06):
And the acronym stands for personal responsibility. In developed, develop developing,
and demanding excellence. That the standards that you set for
yourself should exceed the standards that others set for you.
And we talk about the importance of not only responsibility,
but accountability. The first thing that I tell young men

(07:28):
and young parents, mothers or fathers, the first responsibility that
child will be that your child will have that they
will be held accountable for is making up their bed.
It starts there, But also mom and dad, what does
your bedroom look like? So one of those things where

(07:50):
you have to really understand the importance obviously of the visual,
because a toddler only sees and hears things they don't
yet they don't yet you interpret what they're seeing and hearing.
So if there's a lot of profanity in the house,
and that toddler ends up going to school and in
second grade and the press, the principal calls the parent

(08:11):
up saying this child is cursing in class, and then
the parent looks at the child and curses the child
out in front of the principal. You have a sense
of where that's going. But I think though, the important
thing that we teach again is accountability and responsibility and
setting that standard for excellence. Quick story. I remember coming

(08:32):
home with my report card. I was really happy. I
showed it to my mother. She looked in me, she
looked at the report card. She looked in me. She said,
they don't give a's in math anymore. This is a B.
And she said, David, do you understand the only difference
between that letter A and that letter B is that
letter E for effort. So what are you going to

(08:54):
choose to cut out? Is it TV? Is it going
out and playing with your friends. So that's kind of
what we try to make sure that our mentoring is
not just with the young men and young ladies, it's
also with the parents because African American males they require
a different type of parenting, and there's multiple parenting styles.

(09:18):
You have the authoritarian parent and you know, highly demanding,
highly monitoring, but there's low responsiveness. You have the permissive parent,
do whatever you want.

Speaker 3 (09:29):
You have the.

Speaker 2 (09:29):
Neglectful parent who just doesn't care. And you have the
authoritative parent, you know, which has the high standards. But
there's a lot of feedback and a lot of a
great job kind of thing. So we really make sure
that are the parents who are part of our programs
and that their students that they are part of the
mentoring as well.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
David. You know, let me let me just say that
you gave us a lot of fat meat to chew on.
And I know our producer Gina Towns would just love
to hear me refer to fat meat Fridays where she's
the host of our program. But let's let's let me
unpack some of it. Let's start with the mentors. How
do you recruit mentors based upon the standards that you

(10:10):
have suggested exist in your program? And the reason I
say that is you just took us through a litany
of from making a bed to a mother cursing at
a child who got brought to the principal's office. It
just seems that in so many different areas that the mentory,
the mentoring relationship has to take place, that your mentors

(10:36):
have to have an understanding of exactly what they're looking
at for these various dynamics, that dynamics that occur across
the mentees entire life for which the advice the mentor offers.

Speaker 2 (10:50):
David Well, first of all, we ask individuals who have
an interest in joining the organization to become a volunteer.
We have volunteer opportunities at our Health and Wellness Fair.
We have volunteer opportunities at our mentoring sites. We also
have an economic empowerment program where we teach a certain

(11:14):
classes like wallet wise, for example, which is a free
financial education program to teach consumers or basics of budgeting,
credit banking, investing. We have a college scholarship fair, which
I want to talk a little bit more about later.
But we ask individuals who want to be interest to
be a volunteer once they volunteered, if there is an

(11:34):
interest to join. Our program is set up where a
member can nominate one person, so that one person is
nominated and then they are interviewed by three other members
in the organization. And the question that we ask is
what do you bring to the game. And I think
that we learned again long time ago. We've been in

(11:56):
thirty years. We've had almost everybody. We've had the Thomson,
the president of McDonald's Don We've had Harry Cokes from
VP and McDonald's. We've had brothers who are vice presidents
of State Farm. And one of the things that we
realized though, is we interviewed a young man. He came

(12:18):
in he had on Gator Gator green Gata shoes. Everything
I said, Oh, this is not gonna work. He taught
us a lesson. This young man was a journeyman plumber,
and he taught us the lesson that we as as
black men, we come to this game from a lot
of different places. We aren't all Indian attorneys and doctors.

(12:39):
Even though we have a lot of attorneys and doctors.
We also have brothers who are plumbers and electricians. We
have a college fair every year. We have one coming up, quick,
quick plug. It's October the eleventh at the University of
Illinois at the Isidore and Sadie Door informed. More on
that later. It's October the eleventh, Saturday. But we are

(13:02):
also going to have right now, Jesse. Only four percent
of African American males graduate out of college. Four so
what about the other ninety six percent? So we're looking
at having an event where we're calling it a career exposition,
where we want to introduce them to careers where you
do not need a college degree, where certification is all

(13:24):
you need. You know, quick, quick secret, I have a
pilot's license. My dad was a Tuskegee airman. You do
not need a college and degree to FLA seven thirty seven.
I can't fly one, but it's you only need to
be certified. So we ask for members as we interview them,
what can you bring to the game. Some people can
only bring time working on Saturdays in our mentoring program.

(13:47):
Some bring dollars and cents and their influence. Others are
able to help us with our websites, et cetera. So
it's just really critical that they have a game and
one of our other models. And I kind of made
this one up. If everyone does a little, no one
has to do a lot.

Speaker 1 (14:06):
So those are the mentors. Now, let's shift our focus
for a moment to the mentees. Share with us what
going back to school means. I was watching a CNN
report just before our program where they've already had gun violence,
first day of school, gun violence in some states across
the United States. Obviously, these are very very difficult and

(14:28):
trouble times. How do you select the mentees, how do
you engage the mentees, and how do the mentees become
part of the program.

Speaker 2 (14:37):
The selection of the mentees, we tend to do word
of mouth, especially if we already have a mentoring program
that's been in existence for twenty five years. We have
a lot of mentees. As a matter of fact, one
of our mentees that we had in high school, he
joined our collegiate program, our college one hundred Collegiate program.

(14:58):
He eventually we graduated. We got him into internship programs
in the summer internship program. After he graduated, he eventually
became the president of the one hundred Black Men of Chicago.
So it's important that one we for our mentors, we
have a program called Mentoring the one hundred Way, which

(15:19):
we trained them how to do the mentoring. But for
the mentees, what we do is that we make certain
that they go through our program and then they are
able to turn around even if they've been in the
program for three or four years. We actually have them
as men tea mentors to the younger three or four

(15:40):
years younger mentees to help them understand no, you don't
say ain't you know they'll do the correct thing. And
a lot of times what we realize is that we
have to tune into their FM station in their head.
Just because we said something didn't mean that they heard it.
And so a lot of times we ask are mentees

(16:00):
to interpret to the younger mentees what we said. So
it's a constant program where when we have our gala
every year, Jesse, the members only two members are on
the stage for the entire night, the president or chairman
who says welcome, and at the end you would have
the executive director that says thank you. The mentes run

(16:22):
the entire program from beginning to end.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
You know, I've been to a couple of the galas
and to see these young men in black tie, oh yes,
to know that they're from the neighborhood, Yes, to know
that they've struggled with speaking the King's English, but by
the time they get to this gala, they are speaking
the King's English. That they are eating with their forks
and their knives, and they're being served, and they're standing

(16:45):
for women when they walk to the tables and offering
them their seats. I mean, it's a transformative process that
gives them a sense that is different than the neighborhood
and that I find particularly particularly fascinating. We've got about
five minutes before we come forward. But what are the
pillars and how are they affected by the big ugly bill,
and how are we preparing for the issues of mentoring, education, health,

(17:07):
and wellness and economic empowerment across the reality that we
find today as Americans.

Speaker 3 (17:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (17:13):
Well, first of all, we do have our Health and
Wellness fair that we have each year. We partner with corporations,
other foundations, and nonprofits to promote preventive health strategies and
provide education on prevalent diseases that negatively impact our community.
And with this Health and Health and Wellness Expo, it

(17:33):
is focused towards African American males a lot of times,
you know, just mental health. I'm actually working and I
think I had an opportunity to introduce you to Danita Hathaway,
Donnie Hathaway's daughter, who has a program where it is
focused on mental health. So we make sure that from
that health and wellness perspective, that we not only have

(17:54):
these events, but that our mentees and our members are
part of that. I mentioned earlier that we have an
economic empowerment program. We have the Dollars and Cents Youth
Investment Program, which is a financial literacy program sponsored by
State Farm where it is designed to provide high school
students grades nine through twelve with the opportunity to learn

(18:14):
and apply best practice strategies for saving and investing. Another
program we have under that Economic development is the Hands
on Banking that's sponsored by Wales Fargo and that's a
design design for all ages and it's an easy and
enjoyable way to teach and learn the essentials of financial
education of basic banking service. A lot of times we

(18:37):
don't understand the concept of money. There's only three things
you can do. You can spend it, save it and
invest it. And even from the perspective of investment, we
tell our students, no matter what they plan to do
in their for a career, whether it's going to college,
having a career or having a trade, take finance courses
and understand the importance of money and the importance of banking.

(19:02):
We also, as I mentioned, have our college fair and
each year we have a holiday toy drive. But the
important thing is for our young people and members are
mentees as well as the parents to understand that you know,
our pillars are like the legs on a table, and

(19:23):
that table is as strong as each one of those legs.
If one of those legs on that table is shorter
than the other three legs, the table will fall over.
So it's really important that we embrace the fact that
all of these pillars have to be equally as strong,
equally as long for that table or your life to

(19:45):
be balanced.

Speaker 1 (19:46):
Debby, we have about just a couple more minutes before
we come forward and the end of our break. I
do have a question about whether or not that four
percent number is in the four percent that you said
of men who graduate from college. What kind of retention
programming in terms of black male mentoring to stay in

(20:07):
college do we have at one hundred black men.

Speaker 2 (20:09):
Well, you know, one of our strategies is there's a
difference of getting in and getting through. So what we
do is we embrace them. As I mentioned a lot
of the chapters. There are over one hundred and six
chapters nationally. And what we have is a collegiate program
here at the University of Illinois, here in Chicago, we
have a one hundred collegiate program where we have students

(20:31):
male and female, where we tie them with mentors. We
have an e mentoring program. So let's say that you
are a member of the organization. You are retired VP
of a bank. You really don't need to know information
about scholarships and everything, but you want to give back,
So we connect them with students who may be in

(20:53):
finance and in banking, to help them to navigate and
get through this thing called college.

Speaker 1 (21:01):
Really, yes, sir, When we come forward, I'm Jesse Jackson
Junior on KBLA fifteen eighty more with David Day. When
we come forward, I'm Jesse Jackson Junior. Welcome forward to
the Jesse Jackson Junior Show on KVLA Talk fifteen to eighty.
Our very special guest in this hour is a seasoned
executive and a stute connector who joined the Till Institute
to lead public engagement and programming mission. David Is has

(21:22):
served in a number of roles in the nonprofit, government
and private sectors. He's also the chairman of the Board
of the directors of the premier youth mentoring organization for
African Americans, particularly African American Men, the one hundred Black
Men of Chicago, and as a member of the Development
and corpor Relations Committee at the one Hundred Black Men
of America. David, Welcome forward to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show.

Speaker 2 (21:45):
Jesse, thanks again for having me on.

Speaker 1 (21:47):
David. Listen. Something unique is about to happen in Chicago,
and in my opinion, it does impact the mentor mentee relationship. Right,
it's already happening in LA. So the one hundred black
men in LA dealing with it, and clearly one hundred
black men of Washington, d C. Maybe even one hundred
black men of Baltimore, Maryland, and god knows who's next.

(22:09):
Each of these cities are going to be under federal
occupation by the President of the United States. More specifically,
in each of these communities, crime has been going down,
and crime is largely associated, unfortunately and however tragically, with
black men and black people. It is not an accident

(22:31):
that Donald Trump is targeting towns with black mayors, and
he is constantly hitting the buzzwords that somehow crime and
black people are synonymous. Mentoring young black men in the
context of a president who is sending in federal troops. Now,
listen to this part right here, real carefully. Who are

(22:53):
not even from Chicago, not even from Washington, d C.
Not even from Baltimore, Maryland, not even from Los Angeles,
but from Tennis, Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi National Guardsmen and Army
reservists that he is calling to service as National guardsmen
and federal troops come to our cities with whatever they

(23:14):
think about young black men and impose on our cities
some form of Donald Trump's law and order. I'm really
interested in knowing how one hundred black men are coordinating
their activities in light of what looks like an imminent
federal engagement between our communities and the President of the

(23:38):
United States.

Speaker 2 (23:41):
Jesse, Clearly the this is going to be a challenge.
I know, brother Davis. Davis is the president in the
LA area, and you know certainly is dealing with the
issues that we are about to deal with. I'm sure
or this is going to happen. What we've done, Jesse,

(24:03):
is we've started a what we call a conflict resolution training.
I guess training is not probably the best word, but
to engage young African American males and females in the
concept of conflict resolution and having those discussions in our
mentoring classes and understand or letting them understand it's not

(24:24):
what they say, it's how they say it, because you know,
the authorities are looking for you to look at them
at the wrong way, much less saying something. So you know,
we're we're trying to help, you know, young black men
to learn how to isolate their problems, take personal responsibility
for their actions, and negotiate kind of win win solutions

(24:47):
as they are navigating just through their life, much less
if they are confronted by a policeman or a national guard.
And this we just it's important for us to discuss
the importance of identifying emotions before and during a conflict.
You know what some past patterns are, and understand the
different outcomes when they are emotional from when they are

(25:12):
not emotional, and understand that they do control that because again,
and this is can just be a part of part
of life. But a lot of times we don't prepare them.
I know that, you know, coming up, our parents kind
of prepared us when you're driving your first time you
get in the car, your driver's license, you know, make

(25:33):
sure you hand them say yes sir, say no sir
to the police officer. But I think that it's just
really critical today that the chapters nationally that you know,
we do have a conversation national and we're kind of
broken into regions where we have regional meetings and we
talk about this, how do we prepare them for these
instances where they may be stopped or how do we

(25:55):
prepare them when they're witnessing something that they know emotionally
they want to be involved in. It's not getting involved,
it's how you get involved. And we're hoping and helping
to better prepare them. And I always say, and their
parents to deal with it.

Speaker 1 (26:11):
You know what, David, I am proud of one hundred
black men for the efforts that they're undertaking. I think
that the scale of a federal occupation in these cities
far exceeds any of our organizational capacities to address. I'd
like to see the mayors of these cities engage with
one hundred black men publicly, with press conferences, whatever is

(26:33):
necessary to get the word out about about not our
changed behavior, because we're functioning under the First Amendment, we're
functioning under the Bill of Rights and under the Constitution.
I'm telling you it's these mountain boys that are about
to step into our cities. Oh yeah, and I'm talking
about you know, the guys you see at a pre
branded Cracker Barrel restaurant. I'm talking about the guys who

(26:56):
went to Cracker Barrel before they changed the branding see
and are very upset about homeboy on the cover of
the Cracker Barrel not being on the cracker barrel anymore.
They're very angry about that, and they feel like cracker
Barrel is now woke as a result of that. And
these people who feel this some kind of way about
this whole woke movement are now coming to our cities

(27:18):
and potentially policing our streets with their own opinions about
young African American males and young African American women. And
I'm not convinced they are getting the proper training before
they engage with our communities. They're not going through what
one hundred black men are taking our young mentees through.

(27:39):
And on the scale of this problem, I certainly hope
that your organization is ringing the bell of these elected
officials and these local mayors that they have to share
with them what these foreign invaders represent in our communities
and the biases that they bring to their potential engagement

(28:00):
with federal authority.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah, you know, I think that the the challenge is
is coming from a lot of different areas. One to
you brought the point we have young men from the
Mountain as you're, you know, coming in who already have
a preconceived notion of what they're what they're coming into
and who they're dealing with. And they also, hey, I
got the power because I got the gun, and they

(28:24):
certainly can say shut up boy if they want to.
But I think one of the other things too, to
your point of bringing the you know, elected officials, it's
not just ringing their doorbell. Let's knocking down the door
and letting them know that they have to stand with us.
You know, we've kind of changed our mentoring since January
with making sure that we focus on building that self esteem,

(28:47):
you know, providing this unique opportunity to interact with committed consciousness,
conscious conscientious men and providing positive role models. But at
the same time, we need to make sure that we
draw a clear picture to these young people, young boys
and young girls, young young men and young women on

(29:08):
what's happening in this country because they have a target
on their back and it's really critical that they know that,
you know, they have to be even more careful than
they have been in the past. So it's a challenge,
but you know, we've we've come through stuff and I've
learned if my mom says, you know, in life, you

(29:29):
gotta you gotta go through stuff to get through stuff.
You know, Yeah, it's about you to take control, to
be controlled. So let's do it.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
In this moment. I'm thinking in this moment about Wallace
Gator Bradley. Your better listen, y'all better listen. David Day
is a seasoned executive and a stude connector from the
Public Engagement Division and programs of the Immatil and May
Me Till Mobley Institute. When we come forward more on
David and his work at EMMETT and Made Me Till
Mobley's Institute, I'm Jesse Jackson Junior and k they talk

(29:57):
fifteen to eighty. When we come forward more with David Day,
I'm Jesse Jackson Junior. Welcome forward to the Jesse Jackson
Junior Show and this our final segment with the chairman
of one hundred Black Men of the City of Chicago
and those of you in Los Angeles. You can contact
the one hundred Black Men of Los Angeles three one
zero nine four seven seventy seven forty five three one

(30:18):
zero nine for seven seventy seven forty five. We certainly
want you to stay in touch with this organization or
at one hundred b m LA dot net, an organization
that is very, very important to helping our men through
this very very difficult period. Also, you can support your
local chapter of one hundred Black Men LA DC. The

(30:41):
national website can help you find your chapter. One hundred
BMA dot org front slash donate one hundred BMOA dot
org dot org front slash donate. Jesse Jacksonjir listening to
Jesse Jackson Junior Show. Our very special guest is none

(31:03):
other than the chairman, David Day. David, welcome forward to
the show.

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Thank you again for having me back, Jesse.

Speaker 1 (31:09):
David, it's a pleasure listen. Let me ask you another
question because I think that it's the organization is titled
one hundred Black Men, but you also mentor young ladies.

Speaker 2 (31:22):
That's correct. You know, we do have our collegiate program.
I think I mentioned we have here in Chicago at
the University of Illinois, the one hundred Black Men in
Chicago's collegiate program, and I would say the majority of
them are females. It is as I talked about earlier
in the conversation that fewer and fewer of African American

(31:46):
males are going in graduating out of college. So we
do have a large contingency of African American females. We
also have a programmers program, it's a STEM program at
the Illinois Institute of Technology. Also a number UH in
that program are females. But we also partner with the
Coalition of one Hundred Black Women, which is a similar program.

Speaker 1 (32:09):
UH.

Speaker 2 (32:09):
And I think I remember you mentioning coming to our
gala and the African the young young mintees with their tuxedos.
And we actually conduct classes with the Coalition of one
hundred Black Women here in Chicago where there are etiquette
classes where we will go to a restaurant, we will
sit down and we will show them etiquette, getting the

(32:32):
chair for the lady, understanding the force, the food, the spoons,
the knives, Understanding how to hold a conversation, uh with
with a young lady. So it's really clear that we
understand the importance as a young man what the power
of African American females are at an early age, and

(32:54):
understand the importance of respecting them at an earlier age
and make certain that as they grow older that that
respect it gets even greater.

Speaker 1 (33:04):
David, can I use this opportunity to pivot to the
other organization that you are associated with, the EMMET, and
may me tell Mobley Institute. We all remember the story.
We've heard the story of the death of Emmettel, and
I remember Maymi Till Mobley when she would come to
push on Saturday mornings and sit in the third row
when she was here in Chicago. She was a faithful,

(33:25):
faithful member of that organization. UH, David, share with us
more about the Emmitt and Maybe Till Mobile Mobile Institute
and what you're doing and how we can assist you.

Speaker 2 (33:36):
I am so honored to be a part of the
Maymie Till. I'm sorry, the immate Till in Maybe Till
Mobley Institute.

Speaker 3 (33:43):
Uhur.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
Our drive is to make certain that that name does
not disappear. I think that my mother told me that
you know you you're born twice and you die twice.
Your first birth is when you take your first breath.
Your second birth is when you find out what your
purpose in life is. Is your first deathist when you
take your last breath, and your second deathist when people

(34:05):
stopped saying your name. So it is important to me
that he continues to live and that his story continues.
This is the seventieth year. August the twenty eighth was
when he was murdered seventy years ago. Had an opportunity
to kind of have a quick chat with Revenel Sharpton,

(34:25):
who hasn't a bit going on in New York the
March on Wall Street, and I told him, you know,
you got to remember that was the that d Till
was murdered. What we are doing. One of the things
that we did this year is we had at the
Chicago History Museum and internship. We had about thirty students
that we recruited. We sent it out to all the

(34:45):
high schools. They registered, we interviewed them, and we ended
up with thirty students and it was really about continuing
the Till name. It was broken into two groups, one artists,
the other were journalists. And we're talking about between four
teen and eighteen years old. And what was interesting, Jesse,
half of them were in Black, We had Palestinians, we

(35:06):
had a couple of young Jewish, we had Hispanic students,
and with them teaching me that that it's not just
in our community that there's injustice, and how do you
look at injustice from as a fourteen year old, because
that was the year that Emmettil was murdered. So we

(35:27):
had that Institute. On September the twentieth, we're going to
go back to the Chicago History Museum and they're going
to show their art and they're going to show their documentary.
We are also planning, you know, the Roberts Temple is
where his services were held. We are we're renovating that.
It is now on the registry for the History Registry,

(35:49):
and we are working also to have a garden created there.
We are also in it. It was buried in Burr
Oaks and back in fIF nineteen fifty five, the Negroes
were way back in the back where it floods. We're
going to have and now maybe Till Mobley her mausoleum
is right at the entrance, we're going to move in it.

(36:10):
We'll have a Muslim being built that is going to
be put next to his mother, and we're going to
have him recommitted. Next summer. We're taking the students on
the same train that he took to Mississippi and show
them what he saw in Mississippi seventy years ago when
he was murdered. And then next year will be his

(36:30):
eighty fifth birthday. We're going to really celebrate that.

Speaker 1 (36:34):
When Rosa Parks sat down on the bus that began
the Montgomery bus boycott. Rosa Parks is reportedly reported to
have said, when asked the question why did you sit
down on the bus, she said, I couldn't get the
death of Emmattil off of my mind. And in our

(36:57):
Bible it says remove not the ancient landmark upon which
our fathers now in Mattil, who seventy years ago was murdered,
would be one of our fathers have set his life
set a landmark and a frame of reference for us perpetually.
And David Day helps continue that work at the Emmet
and Maybe Till Mobili Institute. David give us the call letters,

(37:20):
the email address on how we can reach that institute.

Speaker 2 (37:23):
It's The website is www dot Tillinstitute dot org. Go
to the website. There are a lot of events that
we are planning. We want this to go on and on,
and it is really critical that we bring young people
in with that with the summer internship, and we realize
that it's more than black children who understand the importance

(37:46):
of the inmit Till and Maybe tell Mobi's story.

Speaker 1 (37:49):
David I always ask our guests at the conclusion of
their first hour to offer us a word of hope.
We have about two and a half minutes before our
program comes to an end. I'd like to ask you
to use that two and a half minutes to share
with our listeners, with our country, with the world, a
word of pope.

Speaker 2 (38:09):
I think that what we have to realize is when
we think about the word significant and insignificant, and if
we say, hey, the Earth is just one planet in
the solar system, the Solar system is one solar system
in the galaxy, and the galaxy is just you know,
and we say, boy, how insignificant we are, But no,

(38:31):
we're significant because there is only one day to day.
There has never been one before, there will never be one. Now.
What I've learned is none of us is going to
get out of this movie alive. You're going to die
live with it. When you die, though, you can't take
anything with you, but you can leave an awful lot behind.

(38:55):
And it's just really critical that we realize who we
touch in our lives. We don't know, we don't know
that we touch them until maybe later on, uh you know,
in our life that we found out we touched them.
So I think that everyone needs to understand that they
are significant. Every decision I tell these young people, decisions

(39:16):
that you make as a young teen, is going to
impact your grandkids. So be wise. There's a difference between
you know, having the wisdom and and and actually executing
from wisdom. So I just simply ask all of the
listeners be a part of the solution. You know, as
I said, if if we all do a little, no

(39:37):
one has to do a lot. This is not a
pleasure cruise. Grab an oar and let everyone please row.

Speaker 1 (39:45):
David Day in his own way just cited for us
Psalms eight by King David. But I consider thine heavens
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the star,
which thou hast ordained. What is man that thou visitest him?

(40:07):
This verse expresses all at the immense power and artistry
of God in creation, particularly the vastness of the heavens,
and serves as a prelude to the questioning of mankind's
significance in contrasts to God's amazing power. Thank you David
for being on the Jesse Jackson Junior Show.

Speaker 2 (40:24):
Jesse, thank you so much again for having me.

Speaker 1 (40:28):
David. Let me David. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Gina's
telling me now that I need you to sing. Is
David supposed to sing? David David?

Speaker 2 (40:36):
No, See, she's being confused with that other guy. I
wasn't going to do this.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
I was going to leave it alone, but my producer
has shouted across the studio. This is also the brother
of none other than Mars Day. And we've had him
for an entire hour and our producers trying to get
him to say, Wow, I'm just gonna go oheo, eoh
there you got. I have Jesse Jackson Junior. You've been

(41:02):
listening to Jesse Jackson Junior Show on Cabule Talk fifteen eighty.
When we come forward more with Barbara on Wine and
the Grind, It's Tenacious two days off Jesse Jackson Junior
Show on k b Le Talk fifteen eighty. I'm Jesse
Jackson Junior and in this our our most tenacious host,
Attorney Barbara on Wine, President and founder of the Transformative

(41:23):
Justice Coalition, Internationally renowned for contributions on critical justice issues,
including the passage of landmark Civil Rights Act of nineteen
ninety one and the two thousand and six reauthorization provisions
of the Voting Rights Act. I sure hope she's around
in twenty twenty eight or twenty twenty six, when the
new Congress hopefully reauthorizes the Voting Rights Act of nineteen

(41:44):
sixty five. Barbara, Welcome forward to the Jesse Jackson Junior Show. Barbara.
I think your mic might be muted. Barbara.

Speaker 3 (41:57):
There you go? Is Gina?

Speaker 1 (42:00):
Last week and we said that when we start the
Barbera ar Wine Program show, we just need to have
a countdown five three, two one, Barbara, let him have it.

Speaker 3 (42:13):
Kyrie is so good to be here and I am,
you know, thrilled to uh to participate in today's shoulder
Oh there, Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Gina.

Speaker 2 (42:28):
Gina put a count down in the middle of the program.
I can't believe it.

Speaker 1 (42:33):
I thought we had an audio block out here for
a minute.

Speaker 2 (42:35):
Barbara.

Speaker 1 (42:36):
Let's let's jump right into a thirtieth anniversary of Katrina. Yes,
please share with us the parallels before we get to
the Kalay decision and Turtle Mountain and some of the
other issues that I absolutely know you want to talk
about the thirtieth anniversary of Katrina. There are some amazing
parallels between then and now. Barbara, as you know, this

(42:58):
hour is all yours.

Speaker 3 (43:00):
Well, the most vicious parallel is the dereliction of duty
by the government to people who doesn't care about when
they're in need. You know, it's I can't help it,
you folks. It took as everybody knows, Wisconsin had a

(43:24):
hurrd flooding. It did major damage all over the state
of Wisconsin. During the same time as that flooding happened,
the President of the United States decided that he would
nationalize the National Guard. Federalized the National Guard and deployed

(43:49):
them in Washington, d C. Based on a lie and deceit,
a very deceptive message. Quote all of this crime. While
in Wisconsin people are begging federal government, we need help,
Federal government, we need help. How long do you think

(44:11):
it took him to get any kind of FEMA or
anybody else on the ground in Wisconsin. How long do
you think it took?

Speaker 1 (44:23):
Did they ever come want?

Speaker 3 (44:25):
It took them more than a week. He's ben announced
that they would come to announce they would come, not
to get there. And there are people, as I saw
this weekend, who say they still haven't been contacted, Still
no information. Uh, you know, priorities are wrong. Wisconsin, he's

(44:46):
gonna ignore because that doesn't serve his politics, his political purpose.
But d C, he's gonna over over, you know, just
you'll go all in one thousand percent on racial control
and nationalives overnight. Have people all running around and the

(45:07):
only thing they're doing is making tourists go, oh, can
I get a shot with a picture with a National Guard?
Because you know, it's just insane. And now he's giving
them guns. And while these people are still hurting, still
hurting all around the country from these national disasters, these

(45:28):
natural disasters, and he has not deployed FEMA in any
real sense. The people who've suffered the wildfires in California
still suffering, the people who suffered the flood and Texas
still suffering, you know, the people who were the victims
of their hurricane, and North Carolina still seeking relief bolts.

(45:52):
There's something rome when you can do hateful actions and
talk about crime and penal life fourteen year olds and
make believe stuff and make all this stuff up, but
when there's a real need, you can't be there. You're
the federal government. So in FEMA, because I was very

(46:14):
involved in FEMA in their Hurricane Katrina recovery. Folks, we
actually sued FEMA. It's a case that you can find.
It's called Macwaters versus FEMA. That was the litigation that
my organization brought against FEMA for failing to assist people

(46:39):
who were in need at that time. When we foiled
that case. I want you to know, Jesse, when we
filed the case, you got to know that people were
it was so we were considered so out of line.
People said there was no way we could win that
case because no one had ever won a case against FEMA.

(47:00):
And they said that, you know, you're just wasting their time.
In fact, they thought we were so insane to file
the case that in Las Vegas they put up a
betting line against us. Wow, we could go and bet
how much we're going to lose the case.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
By Barbara, I've got to break for it. I got
a break back.

Speaker 2 (47:20):
You're looking forward more.

Speaker 1 (47:21):
On the thirtieth anniversary of Katrina and parallels between what
is taking place with Donald Trump's engagement with federal troops
and the nation's African American cities. I'm Jesse Jackson Junior.
You're listening to KBAA talk fifty eighty when we come
bef forward more with Tenacious on the Grind with Barbara Arnline.

(47:42):
I'm just junior looking forward to the Jesse Jackson Junior
Show on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty. We're with the president
of the Transformative Justice Coalition, Attorney Barbara Arnwine. Barbara, welcome
forward to the show.

Speaker 3 (47:55):
It's great to be back, Barbara.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
You know thirty years ago, I think that'd been about
nineteen ninety five. For those of our listeners who were
not here thirty years ago and are too young to remember,
I was thirty years old at that time. Today I'm sixty.
Kanye West famously said George Bush doesn't care about black people.
That's what he said thirty years ago. But that's not

(48:19):
all he said. He specifically said George Bush doesn't care
about black people. They're saying black families are looting and
white families are just looking for food, giving the army
permission to shoot us. That's the whole quote.

Speaker 2 (48:39):
Barbara.

Speaker 1 (48:40):
Please consider continuing the parallels that you were drawing the
work that your organization did with respect to Katrina the
Lord ninth Ward in Louisiana. Bring us up with that
data point to the callousness that we are seeing in
our urban areas today. And when you finish with that
analysis will shift our attention to the voting rentect of

(49:02):
nineteen sixty five.

Speaker 3 (49:04):
Folks. It all goes back to government believing that it's
only role when it comes to black people is racial control.
It's you know, if you're going to use law enforcement,
it's only not the help, not to protect, not the serve,
but for racial control, and it's to keep those black

(49:26):
people in line. So you had, folks, after Katrina, there
was literally a case that was prosecuted and officers went
to jail because instead of helping people they saw need,
they shot them. They shot and killed those people because

(49:50):
they just assumed that these were black people in areas
that quote were traditionally white areas. They were fleeing Black
people flee fleeing from the flood, and they decide to
shoot and kill them, shoot and kill without asking questions,
without trying to protect. In those cases, that particular case

(50:15):
went all the way for years in litigation, and finally
the blue line cracked and some of the officers involved confessed.
And I just want people to understand that you know race,
you know, I saw somebody saying today, you know, they

(50:36):
always get get angry when you talk about racism online,
and they're always saying things like, oh, you people see
race everywhere. Well, the problem is is that it is everywhere.
Did you see the new pole that just came out.
There's a new poll out. There's a gallop pole people,

(50:57):
you can look it up. It just came out. Is
striking because one of the things it finds is that
sixty five sixty four, a little bit over sixty four
percent of all Americans says, all Americans, all the races
you know, put together, say that sixty four percent say

(51:19):
that anti black racism is widespread in America. That's everybody, White, Latino, Asian, black,
sixty four percent. It's shocking. It's the highest that number
has ever been since. It's even higher than it was
in two thousand and eight.

Speaker 1 (51:40):
Is that more than any other ethnic group? For example?
I would think that discrimination against you know, based upon
the news, that anti Semitism might be ranked higher, anti.

Speaker 3 (51:52):
Anti black races.

Speaker 1 (51:54):
More than immigrants.

Speaker 3 (51:55):
Anti black racism.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
Wow.

Speaker 3 (51:59):
And you know what's shocking about this poll. There's a
couple of things that's really shocking. I was unaware that
since twenty twenty one, you know, since you know twenty
twenty basically the George Floyd incident. George, the impact of
George Floyd is still with us. May not be, you know,

(52:19):
the monetary, it may not be the people in the streets,
et cetera. But guess what that poll went up to
sixty percent and during the time right after George Floyd
about anti black racism. It has never gone below sixty
percent since, but it's now up to sixty four percent.

(52:42):
You know what else has happened in the polling has
really shocking people? Get ready for this. In two thoy
and sixteen, when President Trump was first elected, forty one
percent of all Americans, white Americans said that anti white

(53:04):
racism was a major problem in America. Forty percent in
twenty sixteen. Guess what that number is today. I can't
imagine number today.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Uh, anti white it's got to be higher because of
the rhetoric that it's lower. I thought Donald Trump's rhetoric
might make you actually feel that white folks were really
being discriminated against.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
What are you saying, Barbara, it's down to twenty twenty.
I think it's twenty eight percent.

Speaker 1 (53:34):
So in short, don't nobody believe white folks are being
discriminated against?

Speaker 3 (53:38):
Isn't that amazing?

Speaker 1 (53:40):
I could believe this.

Speaker 3 (53:43):
Said, this is amazing.

Speaker 1 (53:47):
The people complaining that they're racially discriminated against are not
being racially discriminated against. The people who can't even complain
they're being racially discriminated against are being racially discriminated again.
Oh wow, Yes, I mean it's wow.

Speaker 3 (54:03):
I mean this is mind blowing people. And I mean,
this is a brand new pole and it's not like
it's last year, you know, a couple of weeks ago.
It's a brand new pole gallop and which means, you know,
it's very professionally dumb. And what's interesting to me about
this is that that number, that twenty eight percent is

(54:25):
what it's almost h totally consistent with the numbers for MAGA.

Speaker 1 (54:31):
Right.

Speaker 3 (54:33):
It's fascinating. Uh So, one reason why you know Trump
is attacking the Smithsonian, why he's attacking black history, is
because the more white people learn, the more they understand
the racism that predominates in our society. And guess what,
they he why he really wants to kill it, not

(54:56):
because he just doesn't want them to know, because they
start saying something to be done about it. That's what
he doesn't want.

Speaker 1 (55:04):
Wow, that's I had no idea Barbara that that. You know.
It's like, here's the truth based on what Barbara just said.

Speaker 3 (55:13):
Yes, he should be leaving.

Speaker 1 (55:14):
The African American History Museum alone. He should be attacking
the American History Museum. That's where the lie is. It
has nothing to do with our truth. It has everything
to do with the way they tell their story, not
the way we tell our story.

Speaker 3 (55:32):
And and he's not fooling anybody because even Americans are saying,
nah Son wrong here, you know, is quite the I mean,
come on, guess what the other pole is out? That
got me going. I mean, there's another poll out, folks.
I mean, I know y'all said where she get all
this stuff from? Because I read I said, all right, Barbara,

(55:57):
I'll sit around play it all day. So one of
the things that the the other poem, this is an
August sixth pole that came out. Guess what it says?
And I said, oh go, now that pole kind of
got a little bit buried, but it's resurfacing now. That

(56:17):
pole shows that in the Since May twenty twenty five
this year, Black folks, black folks that you're talking about
going back to Katrina. Since May of twenty twenty five,
Trump has lost twenty five percent of his black support.

(56:43):
You hear me, twenty five percent. His approval rating among
blacks is dropped by twenty five percent.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
So there are some lot time bowl So you're saying,
there are some supporters of Donald Trump who are African American,
but the polls are now suggesting a major black buyer's
remorse Donald. I mean, they can't go back home and
explain to nobody, why are we losing everything?

Speaker 3 (57:12):
Not just the people who voted for him, but the
people who didn't vote, the people who didn't vote for
him but said, Okay, he ain't gonna be that bad.

Speaker 1 (57:20):
Right, that's what they said, even though he won.

Speaker 3 (57:23):
He's not gonna be that bad. Blah blah blah. Honey,
what do you think the black approval rating is for
Donald Trump right now? As we said here?

Speaker 1 (57:33):
Oh? I sure hope it's in negative numbers? Is it black?
Below zero?

Speaker 3 (57:38):
I wish it's eleven percent, Okay, but that's.

Speaker 1 (57:41):
Still too high. That's still too high.

Speaker 3 (57:43):
But that's lower than the vote.

Speaker 1 (57:44):
County guy, Listen, listen, this is the moment where every
African American that I know says that they are particularly
impressed with the Jewish community, that when you affect one
of them, you affect all of them. Any form of
anti Semitism anywhere in the world is an attack on
Jewish people everywhere. That's what they say an African American

(58:09):
may or may not be true, but that's what they say.
And we often say, as African Americans, why is it
when something happens to one of us, we don't all
feel the same way. We often say we all should
feel the same way they feel when they get attacked. Right.

Speaker 3 (58:22):
Well, but but I think that if you did the
Jewish numbers, I mean, let's go back to you know,
post October seventh. You know, people tend to forget that
some of the best, the strongest leaders of the you know,
stop you know, punishing Gaza movement. We're Jewish. You know,

(58:45):
people forget that. And you know why, because the only
people they've been persecuting have been the Arab people. They
have not been persecuting all those Jewish leaders.

Speaker 1 (58:55):
So I would say that would be true, Barbara, I
would say that would be true about Gaza. Barbara. Each
a little bit here, but I would say on October seventh,
every one of them felt the same way. Yes, I
felt the same way in that moment. That reaction was
just universal. We did not like what happened. What took
place after October seventh, you know, shocks the conscience. With

(59:18):
the number of people who've been killed and the starvation
and not getting aid in that that shocks the conscience.
And I get that. But the point is, though, for
Black people, we have to develop what my dad calls
an insult level that when something happens to a George Floyd,
it happened to your son, to my daughter, to all
of us at the same time, and we ought not
be trying to make excuses. Well, the police didn't have

(59:41):
his knee on his neck, he had it on his back. No, no, no,
that could be any one of us. And I think
the principal associated with that is the content.

Speaker 3 (59:51):
You want one hundred percent Jewish people don't get one
hundred percent a period, not even after October seventh. And
you should also we should also be aware that eighty
four percent of all blacks are mad as hell with
some Trump eighty four percent, They're not missing the racial subtleties.

(01:00:12):
I mean he's tried to, Oh, I'm making this slaper
for black people, that beautiful world, the beautiful black women
in Chicago.

Speaker 1 (01:00:22):
I sure hope you won't get the podcast. You will
have to see Barbara, Barbara. They've got to see you.
They can't just hear you. I mean, this is dramatic
her expressions. I get it, Barbara, Now please, I didn't
mean interrupt you. I should allowed the entire thing to finish.
It's beautiful.

Speaker 3 (01:00:46):
It's beautiful Black Will who wanted to send troops to
Chicago turns out is what one food?

Speaker 1 (01:00:53):
You know?

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
Anybody? I think you know what I mean. It's live.
He's been one thing he's been good at over the history,
has been able to lie and have a teflon like
an effect that nothing sticks right. But black folks are
beginning to wake up bad and hard and fast because

(01:01:16):
they're they're hearing.

Speaker 1 (01:01:17):
You know.

Speaker 3 (01:01:17):
I always said, now you know, folks, have you been
watching this show? What have I been saying? I said,
they're starting with the immigrants, They coming for the black folks.
I kept saying that, and and what's happening now is
that he's making the black shift as the Epstein fowls
are you know, eating at him as he's as he's

(01:01:40):
trying to cover that up, as he's trying to feed
his base something some raw meat to make them turn
their you know, their attention away from the Epstein fouls.
He's going to their old always worked, you know mantra.
They're always work playbook, and that is playing the black folks,

(01:02:01):
you know, get everybody angry and wanting to punish the
black folks. That's why he's talking about troops. That's why
he put troops in DC. That's why he's talking about
putting troops in Chicago, Baltimore. Did you notice all these black.

Speaker 1 (01:02:15):
Cities and in Los Angeles and in Los Angeles.

Speaker 3 (01:02:18):
And Los Angeles. But be clear, folks, be very very clear.
All they did la that was the little immigrant you know,
his first you know, little evil you know, attempt to
make everybody be hateful towards immigrants. Well, that didn't go
far enough. They don't have enough. They lied, lied, lied, lied, lied,
and talk about all these millions, millions and millions of

(01:02:41):
you know immigrants who were running around in the country,
take stealing jobs, whatever the hell they were telling people.
That was a lie and now they run out of
they don't have enough immigrants to arrest, and they don't
know what to do. They can't even meet their quotas.
They're dainly quotas of three thousands of rests all over
the country to day. They can't come up with it
because there aren't enough people in the United States who

(01:03:06):
are undocumented who have committed crimes. They're just aren't enough,
and they lied about those numbers, And so now he
can't do his little parade, you know, of the immigrants.
So instead he wants to parade the blacks. Barbara turning
to the blacks.

Speaker 1 (01:03:24):
I'm Jesse Jackson Junior. Listening to Jesse Jackson Junior Show
and KBLA Talk fifteen eighty. When we come forward more
on the Grind with Barbara Ronwine Tenacious Tuesdays on Jesse
Jackson Jr. I'm mister Jackson. You're welcome forward to the
Jackson Junior on KBLA fifteen eighty. We in the not
too distant future are going to begin a countdown for

(01:03:45):
the Barbara Arnwine Show. Just say, Barbara, I'm only here
to announce the breaks. Here we go. She told me
to watch.

Speaker 3 (01:04:08):
You know, that's not right. That is that right, Barbara.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
Can we turn our attention to the Voting Rights Act
and then the last segment and a half or so
you can, you can just bring us up to date
on everything we need to know. I want to start
with Louisiana versus Kalay. This case challenge is a new
congressional map in Louisiana. I think it's the Cleofields District
that created a second majority black district to remedy a
previous map that illegally diluted black voting power. The key

(01:04:35):
issue the court will examine whether drawing a district to
comply with Section two of the Voting Rights Act, which
bans racial discriminating and voting, constitutes an unconstitutional racial gerrymander,
or racially drawing the district in the first place under
the equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. How concern

(01:04:58):
to you about Louisiana versus Clay.

Speaker 3 (01:05:02):
I am very concerned about the court, the lawyers in
the case. It's the Legal Defense Fund. They have been extraordinary.
They have done such a good job. The law, previously
established law is all in our favor. So in order

(01:05:24):
to rule the wrong way, the court is going to
have to go through major contortions. The problem is that
we know they can do that.

Speaker 1 (01:05:32):
Right, it's twisted like a principle with their logic.

Speaker 3 (01:05:35):
Right, we get all exactly, we're just you know, totally
all crazy. We know that they can do that because
we know what they did in twenty thirteen in the
Shelby case. They can twist logic, twist facts. And in fact,
some people are arguing literally arguing in this case that

(01:05:57):
the Voting Rights Acts section two of the Voting Rights Act,
which basically mimics the language of the Fifteenth Amendment that
says that you know that you cannot discriminate on the
basis of race in voting, that they basically are saying
that that section should be unconstitutional because there's no evidence

(01:06:24):
of racism in voting.

Speaker 1 (01:06:26):
Right now, even though the language mirrors the fifteenth Amendment.

Speaker 3 (01:06:30):
You've heard me? Did you hear me? And the fact
that you don't just win a case, you got to
fil case, improve it, right, But they're arguing that the
whole section of the Voting Right Acts should be invalidated.
So they're trying to use Shelby versus Holder logic now

(01:06:52):
to apply to the whole totality of the voting right statute. Folks,
this is so dangerous and uh, you know, I you
know people, it's all about. This is you know, coming
up on the redistrict being. They don't want to have
you know, they don't want to power share, they don't
want to have you know, black.

Speaker 2 (01:07:10):
Power at all.

Speaker 3 (01:07:12):
And just like we saw in Texas where they redrew
those maps so that uh they could reduce the number
of blacks in Congress from Texas, and that's what those
maps will do. We're gonna see them, sue them, sew them.
Hopefully we win there because it's racial gerryman during the
worst sort in Texas. But here you got Louisiana. Uh

(01:07:34):
that I was forced to do the right thing. And
then you got the none black and that's what they
call themselves, Jesse, the non b the non blacks. They
don't say they're white. They call themselves the non blacks
who have brought this case against the redistricting, against the

(01:07:55):
uh you know the existence of two black majority already districts.
And it's not I mean, I couldn't believe it the
first So I saw the term non blacks.

Speaker 1 (01:08:08):
Are There's there's no such thing There's no such thing
as a local Supreme Court decision. When the Supreme Court
of the United States rules in a major case like this,
it sets precedents all across the country, from sea to
shining sea, in every congressional district, every state plan can
be thrown into a quandary if in fact Section two

(01:08:31):
of the Voting Rights Act is strucken down. Well, yes, question,
isn't that that includes Hispanic districts? Right? I mean, I'm
awawyre of lots of Hispanic districts that are drawn pursued
to the Voting Rights Act of nineteen sixty five.

Speaker 3 (01:08:45):
If in fact they win, half of the Congressional Black
Caucus disappears, half.

Speaker 1 (01:08:52):
Of the Congressional Black Caucus disappears.

Speaker 3 (01:08:55):
A good percentage of the Latino Caucus disappears. You know,
they know what they're doing, folks. They're trying to institutionalize
artificially white powers and white political domination. And we know
that they got people on the court who are sympathetic

(01:09:15):
to that, who are themselves, you know, obsessed with those
kinds of issues. And as somebody was saying, given the
corruption on the court, and yes, folks, I said corruption
on the court because if you're taking five million dollars
and taking trips and lavish trips from billionaires who got
issues before the court, who got cases and matters before

(01:09:37):
the court court, and you're taking their money, you're telling
me that somehow you are impartial. No way, no way.
That's corrupt. So we got corrupt justices sitting on the
court and they have, you know, too much say on
what's going to happen with this case. The other thing

(01:09:59):
I mean, but think about it, folks, this also has
to do with Katrina. Because if you have the right Congress,
the right Congress would be saying a couple of things
right now. They would say, oh, this anniversary Katrina, what
has happened? What else needs to be done to make

(01:10:21):
people of Katrina hold? And I'm not just coming out Louisiana,
New Orleans, folks in the ninth Ward. I'm also talking
about Gulfport, Mississippi, where you know there was a tremendous
loss of life, hundreds of people died. I'm talking about
in all those areas I swore I would never forget,
forget the people of Katrina. I never will, because we

(01:10:47):
have to do more. In that case. I mentioned to
you that case where they were saying we're gonna lose
it of the mecwaters versus FEMA case, we want it.
And that's why so many people were able to get
relief from FEMA. And the fact that FEMA's been allowed
to just ignore people's needs, especially for those of you

(01:11:08):
in California right now, Los Angeles, in Alta, Dina, all
over who have suffered from the wildfire. You know FEMA
can do better.

Speaker 2 (01:11:20):
Arbert.

Speaker 1 (01:11:21):
Just this week, Barbara, just this week, and I know
they we're coming forward in just a moment. Just this week,
the Supreme Court in the state of Mississippi, Yes, a
federal judge struck down the state's plan and says that
the more than forty percent of African Americans in the
state of Mississippi are entitled to a second congressional district.
Another data, the Congressman Benny Thompson should not be the

(01:11:44):
only member of Congress representing nearly half of the state's
African Americans got the state itself. Democrats and Republicans in
the state need to draw another district in Mississippi that
gives African Americans a chance to serve under the Louisiana
versus Kalay case the Federal Supreme Court and under Turtle

(01:12:05):
Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians versus how it is quite
possible that even before Mississippi can draws another Congressional district
to give African Americans representation in that state, they could
strike down the Voting Rights Act entirely, and we can
lose not only the district they just gave us permission
to draw, we can lose Minnie Thompson's district.

Speaker 3 (01:12:27):
Fl It's serious.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
I got to go to break right here, but I
promise you we're coming right back to Barbara Arnwine. I'm
Jesse Jackson ju One. Can't be LA fifteen to eighty
more on the grind with barbar Ironwine. When we come
forward the entire Jesse Jackson, Jesse Jackson Junior Show. Our
very special guest in this hour is the president of
the Transformative Justice Coalition, Barbara Arnwine. Barbara Lesslie, welcome forward
to the show. I think your mic is still muted.

(01:12:58):
Great to be here, thank you. I'll listen, folks. Folks,
y'all need to listen. Barbara Arnwy knows the routine by now.
She knows the last two or three minutes. I always
save it for her word of hope. She already knows that,
so she knows what the outtime is at the top
of the hour, which is in exactly ten minutes. She
got ten minutes, she got ten minutes, she got ten minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:13:22):
So I'm giving Barbara.

Speaker 1 (01:13:23):
A chance to clear her throat, and on her throat
is clear, she's going to have nine minutes and thirty
seconds to unload everything she wants to unload, including how
we can support her and her organization. Barbara five four
three two one. Ladies and gentlemen on the grind with

(01:13:44):
Barbara Arnwine.

Speaker 3 (01:13:45):
Well, thank you again. You know, to the people of Katrina,
everyone who lost your homes, everyone who's rebuilt New Orleans,
you know, I go. I'll be there soon. I have
family in Louisiana, I have land in Louisiana. My mom
is a native of Louisiana, and so Louisiana New Orleans

(01:14:11):
is very special to me, and I'm there all the time, visiting,
in working with people in Louisiana and especially in New Orleans.
And I won't supposed to know that you've suffered. Most
of the people who ever lose homes in a natural

(01:14:33):
disaster rarely recover the fact that people have been able
to rebuild the city's not what it used to be.
The fact that people are doing everything they can to
make a great life and it made that city vibrant
and beautiful again is a tribute to you and I

(01:14:56):
just you know, pray for all the people who suffered
and lost during Katrina, To those of you in Mississippi
who lost so many lives, over three hundred people. I
want you to know that our hearts will always be
with you and thank you for what you've done. You know,
the people of Golf Court, the people of all those areas,

(01:15:19):
we see you, we hear you, and we know that
you deserve every bit of justice that you can achieve
in this society. We also know that the greater imprint
of racism is here, and sadly we don't have an
administration that has a common sense and decency to respond

(01:15:44):
to your needs. But that doesn't stop us. We never
stop because we know that our fight is not a
fight of one day, one hour, of just minutes. It's
a fight of generations and we will prevail in the end.
So don't ever you'll give up, don't ever turn your back.

(01:16:08):
You know, I know people who have successfully come through
this period, and I know people who turn their backs
on New Orleans and live elsewhere now. But I just,
you know, really want to give so much credit and
so much love to the people of New Orleans who
have struggled onward and forward. Thank you so much. That's

(01:16:31):
my first note, and I thank you for allowing me
to say that.

Speaker 1 (01:16:36):
Barbara, just generally, generationally, general Generation Z has been seeing
the videos of the Superdome, uh, and it's really ringing
their bills for the first time. People are now coming
back from Houston, from Atlanta and Dallas, and they're coming
back on a scale that's of biblical proportions because that's

(01:16:58):
how many people actually left.

Speaker 3 (01:17:00):
Yes, and they were you know, treated so poorly and
so badly at first. I mean, we had, you know,
when we sued FEMA, we sued FEMA on behalf of
you know, more than a thousand, almost two thousand people.
And during that time, and let me say two thousand,

(01:17:23):
I meant two thousand households because what they were doing
that was so vicious is that if you lived in
the household, you know how our households are multi generational, right,
so you might be living with your mom, your sisters,
your brother, your children who may be grown, and their grandchildren.

(01:17:47):
We all lived together. That's very common. But they had
a rule that they would only recognize one person in
the household, one person, one person for relief in regards
to the fact that there were other, you know, family
units within the household. They were ignoring them, and we

(01:18:09):
sued them to make them recognize everybody. Women who were
abused by their husbands were being subjected to the only
person who could get the money would be the husband
who they just left and ran away from gave them.
I mean, we that's what we sued over. We sued over,
you know, the amount of money people should be given.

(01:18:31):
They were saying, oh, we're gonna only give people money
for you know, a couple of hotel nights. We were saying, no,
people need real money, and they not only for you know,
more than a couple of hotel knights. Their homes are gone.
You know, they need recovery money, you know, real money.
Then there was a fight over how much money per
you know, there was just so much. But we fought

(01:18:52):
that fight, and we didn't win everything we wanted, but
we won. We won more than they would have ever
given if we hadn't fought. And I know I'm grateful
to the judges in those cases that you know, junicated
in our favor. I'm grateful for everybody who did that
work and will always be grateful for everyone who has

(01:19:16):
fought for justice for people in Katrina. A big shout
out to the Hip Hop Caucus and Reverend Lennox Rearwood,
TC Mohammad and all of the people from the Hip
Hop Caucus who has been in Katrina, in who have
been in New York. I'm sorry in New Orleans for

(01:19:38):
the Katrina victims every single year, and not just on
the anniversary, continuously working with people, continuously bringing relief, continuously
fighting for it. So I want to give them a
shout out. In every other church, every other organization that
has fought for the people of who suffered during Katrina, Barbara.

Speaker 1 (01:20:05):
Want to give you a shout out because you and
your organization have been steadfast. I mean, some of us
this is just an anniversary, but in between the anniversary,
there are these fights for two thousands and two thousand
families and two thousand households, and then there are the
details that one person don't equal know one household, y'all

(01:20:26):
know how we live in a shotgun and all of
the people of the lower ninth ward where the levees
broke yes and the squalor that they had to endure
at the super Dome, we I mean, we remember that.
And then, like Kanye said, when we were I guess,
looting or breaking in stores trying to get something to eat,

(01:20:48):
we were shot like we were uncivilized when we were hungry,
and it was not coming from FEMA and the federal government.
And don't forget George Bush took a helicopter ride over
our problem. He looked down on us, He saw the
flooding and had something simple to say. But he did
not swim through the flood, walk through the flood, or

(01:21:09):
experience the flood, or to see the human the human devastation.
He just didn't see it. So he missed it. And Kanye,
who did see it, said he don't really care about us,
and it was a resounding statement that really shook Washington.
D C. Barbara.

Speaker 3 (01:21:27):
But it also shows you about how people can devolve, right,
because you know, Kanye had some kind of consciousness back then,
and people can devolve, They can go from you know,
thinking about others to thinking about themselves and becoming thinking
that there's some godlike figure. That's a tragedy. I'm sorry, folks.

(01:21:51):
You can worship a human all you want to, but
you're making a mistake because a human is just human.
There's only one god in this universe, and it's a
mistake for you to sit around worshiping humans. People think
Trump is a god. Uh, there are people who think
Kanye is a god. It is just craziness and people.

(01:22:13):
And the worst thing is when they think themselves are gods. Uh,
you know, because they're not. They're just humans with you know,
bloated hands. We've been looking at the bloated hands on
Trump and all the other problems. You're not going to
escape that. My organization will be fighting for these foot
soldiers who walked across that Edmund pettis Bridge sixty years ago,

(01:22:37):
who knew that there should be a private right of action.

Speaker 1 (01:22:41):
I need that phone number right now.

Speaker 3 (01:22:43):
Yes, people can help, you know, support the Transformative Justice
Coalition by going to TJ Coalition dot org. T J
Coalition dot o org. You can donate to us, you
can send checks, you can do whatever you work to
but also you can volunteer