Podcasts about Black Caucus

Valerie Wilson Wesley writes mysteries, novels and children's books. Her latest mystery is A Shimmer of Red (2023), which is the third book in her Odessa Jones Mystery Series. She is the author of nine Tamara Hayle Mysteries, including When Death Comes Stealing, named by Times magazine as one of the best mystery and thriller books of the last 100 years. Most of her mysteries and several of her novels have been published in Germany, France and Great Britain. Wesley has also written paranormal romances under the pen name Savanna Welles. They include When the Night Whispers and The Moon Tells Secrets. Her novels include Playing My Mother's Blues, Always True to You in My Fashion and Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do for which she received the 2000 award for excellence in adult fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA).Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/valwilwesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/valwilwes/Website: https://valeriewilsonwesley.com*****************About SinCSisters in Crime (SinC) was founded in 1986 to promote the ongoing advancement, recognition and professional development of women crime writers. Through advocacy, programming and leadership, SinC empowers and supports all crime writers regardless of genre or place on their career trajectory.www.SistersinCrime.orgInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sincnational/Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sincnational.bsky.socialThreads: https://www.threads.net/@sincnationalFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/sistersincrimeTikTok:: https://www.tiktok.com/@sincnationalThe SinC Writers' Podcast is produced by Julian Crocamo

It's been a challenging session in Olympia, especially with the threat of federal budget cuts and state revenues on the decline. Brian Callanan of Seattle Channel checks in with Rep. Chipalo Street, D-37 (Southeast Seattle) for more insights on measures he's championing, including rent stabilization, transit-oriented development, supporting dual credit programs for high school students, traffic safety, and more. Note: you can join Rep. Street, Rep. Tomiko-Santos, and Sen. Saldana at a town hall on Saturday, March 22nd at 10 a.m. If you like this podcast, please support it on Patreon!

“I’m a child of the revolution” Theatre as protest, storytelling as weapon. Fifty two years since the inception of Black Theatre - the subversive art form that spoke back to the colony and incited the beginning of community controlled services; resonates to this day. We’re so honoured to be speaking with Angeline Penrith, the creative director and curator of Redfern Renaissance. Angeline is a Wiradjuri & Yuin actor and story teller, a proud Redfern local and from a trailblazing family of activists and storytellers. Show up, everyday for First Nations resistance Black Caucus - mutual aid and local actions Action for Public Housing - resisting gentrification of Redfern, fighting for housing rights Black Peoples Union - revolutionary organisation that pursuing full self-determination and Sovereignty Survival Guide on Radio Skid Row - archive of conversations hosted by Joel Spring and Lorna Munro on the history of Black resistance and the destruction from gentrification, in Redfern. Pay the rent Black Caucus - mutual aid funds Deadly Connections Decolonise Sex Work - mutual aid funds Grandmothers Against Removal NSW Stop Black Deaths in Custody content note for names and images of deceased peoples This episode was collaboratively produced, hosted and edited by Alicia Zhao and Shareeka Helaluddin. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to shoptalkpodcast EP458. J and Dame are back for another week of foolishness. They discuss their weeks, the extreme cold temperatures, the Lions, and more. This week, they are joined by Brandon Jessup, who is running for Chair of the Black Caucus on February 22nd. We catch up with Brandon, learn about his political journey, gain a deeper understanding of the Black Caucus, and engage in a thoughtful discussion about the clash between old and new thinking. It's an insightful conversation. To get get caught up with Brandon, get involved, or just get more informed, please check out the links below: Action NetworkBrandon's Facebookhttps://upxmichigan.com/ Dame's Music Pick Of The Week Playlist ❶ Youtube  ☞ YouTube.com/jjohnson313 ❷ Website ☞ www.shoptalkpod.com ❸ Book some time ☞ www.shoptalkpodcastudio.com ❹ Facebook ☞ https://m.facebook.com/ShoptalkPod/ Follow @jjohnson313 on Instagram and Twitter Follow @dame___313 on Instagram and Twitter Follow Shoptalkpodcast on Instagram and Twitter

Breonna Greene is a former OA intern and current student at Penn State where she serves as the PR Chair for the Black Caucus and is on the e-board of the Multicultural Resource Center. A native of Penn Hills, PA, Breonna discusses her upbringing and sports background and why her taste in music and TV make her an old soul. Tune in to hear how she got her start with OA last summer, including some of her favorite memories (notably, a Chick-fil-A sauce incident) and her advice for future OA interns.

Repping the Black Caucus and some of the staunch advocates he organises alongside, Wiradjuri organiser and creative Ethan Lyons joins us as guest host. Stories that ode his matrilineal teachers, movements across black resistance, solidarities across borders and how young people can find their space in liberatory movements. Plus, a track list of queer, Black and First Nations excellence selected by Ethan. Continue to follow, learn, get organised and show material solidarity In conversation: Uncle Robbie Thorpe, Kieran Stewart-Asherton and Uncle Coco on 3CR Radical Radio Follow Ethan's work Aunty Lizzie Jarret Justice for David Dungay Junior Campaign @blakcaucus @firstnationsresponse @sydtentembassy @paulsilva69  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Novelist Jacinda Townsend believes that "writing is a habit, and the imagination begets the imagination." Having a set writing routine helps her create because "the imagination is a kind of muscle." On this episode, Jacinda explains the steps she takes each morning to fire up her imagination, including using writing prompts.Her favorite prompt to share focuses on pacing. Her students generate such strong work with this exercise that some have even published their finished pieces.About Jacinda TownsendJacinda Townsend is the author of Trigger Warning (Graywolf, 2025) and Mother Country (Graywolf, 2022), winner of the 2023 Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Townsend's first novel, Saint Monkey (Norton, 2014), winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize for historical fiction, was an Honor Book of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. A former broadcast journalist and elected official, Townsend has written nonfiction for Al Jazeera and The White Review.

Les républicains récidivent : après les propos anti-haïtiens de leur candidat à la présidence Donald Trump et son colistier JD Vance, un élu conservateur a publié un message particulièrement raciste, traitant les Haïtiens de « sauvages » et suggérant aux migrants de quitter les États-Unis » Le député républicain Clay Higgins a publié ces propos après la décision de l'ONG Haitian Bridge Alliance de demander l'arrestation de Donald Trump et de JD Vance, après leurs diffamations contre les migrants haïtiens de Springfield dans l'Ohio, prétendant que ces derniers voleraient et mangeraient des animaux domestiques. Sous la pression de ses collègues du Black Caucus, y compris des républicains, Clay Higgins a rapidement effacé son tweet.Selon Politico, le message posté sur le compte officiel du Congrès a provoqué un tollé au Parlement. Le député démocrate Steven Horsford a demandé des sanctions contre son collègue républicain. « Ces mots postés sur le compte officiel ne donnent pas une image crédible du Parlement », a expliqué le démocrate. Selon lui, ils incitent à la haine et à la peur. Steven Horsford a demandé à la Chambre des députés de parler « d'une seule voix et de veiller à ce qu'il y ait une obligation de rendre des comptes ». Cette rhétorique anti-haïtiens est très suivie par Le Nouvelliste. Son rédacteur en chef Frantz Duval est inquiet : « On craint pour la sécurité de la communauté haïtienne aux États-Unis ». Frantz Duval rappelle que l'histoire montre comment des mots xénophobes peuvent se transformer en atrocités et qu'il faut rester vigilant. La délégation haïtienne à l'ONU à la recherche de soutien pour la MMAS Avec le rédacteur en chef du Nouvelliste, nous sommes revenus aussi sur les discussions diplomatiques en marge de l'AG de l'ONU en vue de renforcer la Mission multinationale d'appui à la sécurité (MMAS). Le Nouvelliste a appris selon une source proche des discussions que plusieurs pays, dont le Canada, la France et l'Allemagne et l'Union Européenne, vont donner plus d'argent pour financier la MMAS. « Le Guatemala s'attend à déployer 150 policiers dont 16 femmes en Haïti pour rejoindre la mission. Le Surinam a également promis des troupes », écrit le Nouvelliste. Selon le Premier ministre par intérim Garry Conille, interrogé par le journal, « les résultats sont encourageants mais il faut faire mieux »À écouter aussiBilan du MMAS en Haïti : « l'échec d'un modèle décentralisé » Donald Trump dit que sa vie est menacée par l'Iran Selon son équipe de campagne, le candidat républicain a été informé par les renseignements américains de l'existence de menaces concrètes d'assassinat contre lui, des menaces en provenance de l'Iran. Donald Trump qui a été visé par deux tentatives d'assassinat sans que l'on connaisse le mobile, n'a pas tardé à réagir à cette nouvelle information. « Si j'étais président, j'informerais le pays qui profère des menaces, en l'occurrence l'Iran, que si vous faites quoi que ce soit pour nuire à cette personne, nous ferons détruire vos plus grandes villes et le pays lui-même », a-t-il déclaré lors d'un meeting hier. C'est à lire sur le site de la chaîne ABC News.Les renseignements n'ont pas voulu préciser les détails de ces menaces mais une source gouvernementale, à savoir le porte-parole du Conseil de sécurité nationale les a confirmées au journal USA Today. Selon lui, le gouvernement suit « les menaces iraniennes contre l'ancien président Trump et les anciens responsables de l'administration Trump depuis des années ». Ces menaces découleraient « du désir de l'Iran de se venger de l'assassinat de Qasem Soleimani, le général iranien tué en 2020 lors d'une attaque de drone ordonnée par le président Trump de l'époque ». De son côté, lemagazine Time a consacré un long article sur un homme pakistanais, Asif Merchant, arrêté en août dernier (2024) aux États-Unis, et accusé de fomenter un plan d'assassinat contre le candidat républicain Donald Trump pour le compte de l'Iran.À lire aussiÉtats-Unis: l'équipe de Donald Trump accuse l'Iran de piratage informatiqueUn pont immense dans l'Amazonie péruvienne Au cœur de l'Amazonie péruvienne se trouve la ville d'Iquitos, c'est la plus grande du monde à ne pas être accessible par la route. Le seul moyen pour y arriver, c'est de prendre le bateau ou l'avion. Le Pérou veut changer les choses et prévoit de construire un immense pont pour rallier la frontière colombienne. Reportage sur ce projet titanesque de Juliette Chaignon. Journal de la 1ère Les maires de Martinique se penchent sur « l'octroi de mer », cette imposition spécifique, dans le but de faire baisser les prix.À lire aussiMartinique: malgré le couvre-feu, les tensions entre manifestants et forces de l'ordre restent vives

We discuss the Organizing Revival, launched by Citizen Action with our national partners earlier this year, which is investing in improving permanent organizing capacity in every corner of the country. Leaders from 9 Midwestern states converged in Milwaukee last week to strategize on this critical power building initiative. Next, Robert encourages your attendance at next Wednesday's statewide virtual Healthcare Action Meeting, where the group is engaged in a deep strategic analysis of the health care industry. We laud the effort of state and national advocates who urged Congress this week to raise the corporate tax rate and ensure those who make over $400,000 annually “pay their fair share” to fund critical investments such as child care, and care for the elderly and those with disabilities. On the other end we call out the International President of the Teamsters who used the crutch of internal polling to sit out this historic presidential election. The Teamsters' Black Caucus and Teamsters Wisconsin Council took a more proactive stance, supporting pro-labor candidate Kamala Harris. In other news, RFK Jr is trying to get off Wisconsin ballots days before they begin to be mailed. Why is he spending so much money on this? Robert also highlights two Issues (immigration and abortion) where the politics have dramatically shifted over the past two decades. Which will have the biggest impact in the 2024 Election?

Donald Trump was the target of another assassination attempt, this time at his golf club in West Palm Beach. It's been just nine weeks since the Republican presidential nominee survived an attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Democrats seem to blame Trump for the attack. Kamala Harris seems to have another new accent as she speaks at the Black Caucus dinner. JD Vance rips CNN's Dana Bash a new one on her softball questions for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. We listen to another song about Haitians eating cats. And we recap all the pro and college football action from the weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoicesSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Donald Trump was the target of another assassination attempt, this time at his golf club in West Palm Beach. It's been just nine weeks since the Republican presidential nominee survived an attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Democrats seem to blame Trump for the attack. Kamala Harris seems to have another new accent as she speaks at the Black Caucus dinner. JD Vance rips CNN's Dana Bash a new one on her softball questions for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. We listen to another song about Haitians eating cats. And we recap all the pro and college football action from the weekend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Golf Course Gunfire & Kamala's Big Black Caucus @bradbinkley | Linktree https://linktr.ee/bradbinkley https://x.com/freedomactradio/status/1833334826226557373 https://youtu.be/PTAT1TZYERM?si=uxAZJ_QqQCPJ1bzm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two weeks ago, I sent my first child off to college.To say it's been an adjustment is an understatement. I didn't realize how deeply I would grieve not picking up his cheese wrappers, and smelly soccer cleats, or giving him a nightly hug. The silence at home is unnerving – I miss hearing him shout, “Mom, are you home?” and the chaos of soccer boys rummaging through the kitchen. And the bodily heartache around the passing of time or that our family of four is now a family of three.This transition has given me time to reflect on my immense gratitude for all those who have supported my son, Tommy, through his journey—his coaches, teachers, and school administrators. They've taught him about respect, hard work, curiosity, teamwork, and most importantly, love. Tommy would not be the person he is today without their support.That's why this week's Cracking Open podcast guest, Rashid Davis, holds a special place in my heart. Rashid is the founding principal of Pathways in Technology Early High School (P-TECH) and embodies the power of education and love. "We only have a short shelf life, a moment to make an impact. I was raised in the poorest district in the Bronx, so I saw inequities, but I saw love and understanding, so I lead with love.” ~ Rashid DavisRashid has dedicated his life to improving education and uplifting humanity. P-TECH, a groundbreaking model that spans grades 9-14, provides a pathway from high school to college and a career in industry. The first P-TECH school in Brooklyn partners with New York City College of Technology and IBM. In 2013, P-TECH was highlighted by President Obama in the State of the Union and received a visit from him in October of that year. As of August 2021, P-TECH has expanded to 28 countries with over 200 school and college partners and more than 600 industry partners.In 2016, Rashid was honored as a Legendary School Leader by the Black Caucus of CSA and Administrators and received proclamations from the City Council of New York, the State Assembly, and various Senate Districts. He was also named to City and State's 2016 “Brooklyn Borough 50,” recognizing influential leaders in Brooklyn.In this episode, Rashid shares his journey from growing up in the Bronx with a deep passion for education to obtaining multiple master's degrees and dedicating his career to school development. He shares his invaluable wisdom, inspiring story, and open-hearted approach. Rashid imparts a powerful lesson: If you can open your heart and mind, you will see that everything is education. He emphasizes: “Love people the way that they know and experience love. And so, it really becomes a microcosm of society. And meet people where they are. And when I say love, it's not always the love that feels good, sometimes you have to do things for people to protect them.”As we kick off a new back-to-school season, Rashid helps remind us of the importance of teachers and educators. I hold deep gratitude for individuals like Rashid who have played such a pivotal and positive role in the educational and growth journeys of so many children, including my son.Love,MollyLearn more about P-Tech hereConnect with Rashid Davis on LinkedInInterested in a VIP Coaching Day with Molly?Email Molly for more details!Follow Molly on Instagram and Facebook

Help Stop The Genocide In American Ghettos Podcast is a platform for ordinary law abiding citizens from Emmanuel Barbee friends list and from his social groups who are emerging artists, allied healthcare professionals, church leaders, and upcoming entrepreneurs to promote their products and services to people from the podcast community. This no holds-barred talk show focus on promoting grassroots advocacy, business, finance, health, community-based solutions, employment and Christianity which speaks to the interests of our listeners. Broadcasting on multiple social networks throughout the United States and around the globe. This show will provide insight on how our creative abilities can be used to create tangible change in our communities. These are not just online groups for me to sell my book but rather groups for us to build our own network so we can support one another.

Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay react to the death of Fatman Scoop (8:10), before digging into conversations surrounding Kamala Harris's accent (15:10). Then, Lee Daniels stirs up controversy for his new horror film (29:30), and an NFL executive gets recorded insulting the league (40:46). Finally, the chair of the California Reparations Task Force, Kamilah Moore, joins to discuss the blocking of a pair of bills by the Black Caucus (49:24). Hosts: Van Lathan and Rachel Lindsay Guest: Kamilah Moore Producers: Donnie Beacham Jr. and Ashleigh Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Watch past live footage highlights of Day 1 the Democratic National Convention (DNC) with news show host, Julia Ann Dudley Najieb who recaps on the latest election news in California, with light new commentary between DNC speakers.  Dudley Najieb also talks with San Francisco affiliate news partner from KPOO 89.5 FM, who is on the ground in Chicago, Harrison Chastang who gives a detailed recap, from the live protests to the Black Caucus meeting results.Thereafter, watch a lively roundtable discussion with hall of famer and award-winning news publisher, Cheryl Smith, popular social media influencer, Ashley Ann and Bay Area news publisher, Brigitte Jones who recap on the DNC speeches of the day, First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and President Joe Biden.

Andrew Jackson is the Director Emeritus of Queens Library's Langston Hughes Community Library and Cultural Center where he served in that role before retiring in 2017. He is also a past president of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association from 2004-2006. Andrew is currently an adjunct professor at both York and Queens colleges where he has taught a combined 23 years. A published author and essayist, Andrew wrote the Foreword to the 9th and 10th Editions of The African American Almanac and Queens Notes: Facts About the Forgotten Borough of Queens, New York.  He co-edited the award-winning book, The 21st Century Black Librarian in America: Issues and Challenges, and his essay, In The Tradition: The Legacy of Cultural Messengers From Langston Hughes to Tupac Shakur, was published in Phati'tude Literary Magazine.  Andrew is currently working on the Third Edition of The Handbook of Black Librarianship, due to be published in 2024.

An older podcast quickie I did at the time with my mans. Thank God I have someone open minded because it is easy to believe what you see, but what you can't see is what you really need to worry about.

Monday, July 22th 2024Today, President Joe Biden has ended his bid for re-election and has endorsed Kamala Harris; Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee has passed away; abortion rights supporters report they have enough signatures to put abortion on the ballot in Montana; the Ten Commandments in Louisiana classrooms is on hold pending a lawsuit; the Treasury has warned that anti-woke banking laws like the ones in Florida are a threat to national security; and Roger Sollenberger has interesting news on the latest Save America PAC FEC filing; plus Allison delivers your Good News.Promo Codes:For up to 30% off all mattress orders AND two free pillows for our listeners! Go to https://www.helixsleep.com/dailybeans.Tickets and LIVE show dates https://allisongill.comSubscribe for free to MuellerSheWrote on Substackhttps://muellershewrote.substack.comStoriesJoe Biden's Letter (twitter.com)Ten Commandments won't go in some Louisiana classrooms until at least November as lawsuit plays out (AP News)Abortion rights supporters report having enough signatures to qualify for Montana ballot (AP News)Treasury warns that anti-woke banking laws like Florida's are a national security risk (AP News) Check out other MSW Media podcastshttps://mswmedia.com/shows/Subscribe to Lawyers, Guns, And MoneyAd-free premium feed: https://lawyersgunsandmoney.supercast.comSubscribe for free everywhere else:https://lawyersgunsandmoney.simplecast.com/episodes/1-miami-1985 Follow AG and Dana on Social MediaDr. Allison Gill Follow Mueller, She Wrote on Posthttps://post.news/@/MuellerSheWrote?utm_source=TwitterAG&utm_medium=creator_organic&utm_campaign=muellershewrote&utm_content=FollowMehttps://muellershewrote.substack.comhttps://twitter.com/MuellerSheWrotehttps://www.threads.net/@muellershewrotehttps://www.tiktok.com/@muellershewrotehttps://instagram.com/muellershewroteDana Goldberghttps://twitter.com/DGComedyhttps://www.instagram.com/dgcomedyhttps://www.facebook.com/dgcomedyhttps://danagoldberg.comHave some good news; a confession; or a correction to share?Good News & Confessions - The Daily Beanshttps://www.dailybeanspod.com/confessional/From The Good NewsNARAL (reproductivefreedomforall.org)abletochangeone.comAble To Change One Youtube ChannelPATRONS SPONSORING PATRONS (dailybeanspod.com)  Live Show Ticket Links:https://allisongill.com (for all tickets and show dates)Friday August 16th Washington, DC - with Andy McCabe, Pete Strzok, Glenn Kirschner https://tinyurl.com/Beans-in-DCSaturday August 24 San Francisco, CA https://tinyurl.com/Beans-SF Listener Survey:http://survey.podtrac.com/start-survey.aspx?pubid=BffJOlI7qQcF&ver=shortFollow the Podcast on Apple:The Daily Beans on Apple PodcastsWant to support the show and get it ad-free and early?Supercasthttps://dailybeans.supercast.com/OrPatreon https://patreon.com/thedailybeansOr subscribe on Apple Podcasts with our affiliate linkThe Daily Beans on Apple Podcasts

Originally built in 1877 as a segregated school for African American children, P.S. 103 will soon host a new headquarters for Baltimore's public health efforts, a museum space for the life of Thurgood Marshall and the city's field office of the Maryland Legislative Office of the Black Caucus. A 2016 fire ravaged the building, but a multi-millionaire dollar partnership with Community Services Corporation is helping to restore the historic Baltimore building. Rev. Dr. Alvin C. Hathaway Sr., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Beloved Community Services Corp, joins Midday to discuss the project. (Photo courtesy Baltimore City Commission for Historical and Architectural Preservation)Email us at midday@wypr.org, tweet us: @MiddayWYPR, or call us at 410-662-8780.

Find me and the show on social media @DrWilmerLeon on X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd FULL TRANSCRIPT Wilmer Leon (00:15): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon. I'm Wilmer Leon. So here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they occur in a vacuum, failing to understand the much broader historical context in which they occur. During each episode, my guests and I have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between the current events and their broader historic context. This enables you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode, there are a few events that have occurred and transpired recently that I want to get into. First, the United States has vetoed a UN Security Council resolution granting Palestine full membership in the United Nations. It's important to remember that Palestinian statehood was recognized by the UN General Assembly in November of 2012 when it was given non-member observer status. (01:23) The US has agreed to withdraw troops from a key drone base in Niger. The United States recently agreed to withdraw more than 1000 troops from Niger, which will have a dramatic impact on the United States posture in West Africa. US lawmakers have passed a draft resolution containing some 95 billion in military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, also approving a bill that will allow Washington to hand Kiev assets that have been seized from Russia and paved the way for a ban on TikTok. So with all of these things that are going on, oh, and by the way, more than 40 Palestinian protestors were arrested this week at Yale University. The school said that 47 students protesting peacefully the school's investments in military weapons manufacturers were arrested and will be referred for disciplinary action, potentially including suspension. And we know that a similar action has been taken at Columbia. (02:35) So again, speaking as an African-American looking at our current circumstances as a community and in the much broader American imperialist context, I decided to call my guest and I asked him, what's on your mind right now? He directed me to a speech by Dr. Luther King, Jr. Entitled, honoring Dr. Du Bois. The speech was given at Carnegie Hall in New York on February 23rd, 1968, in commemoration and celebrating the 100th birthday of Dr. Du Bois. In this speech, Dr. King said that Dr. Du Bois recognized that the keystone in the arc of oppression was the myth of inferiority, and he dedicated his brilliant talents to demolish it. And as Dr. Du Bois was creating the naacp, Dr. King said at the same time, he became aware that the expansion of imperialism was a threat to the emergence of Africa. He recognized the importance of bonds between American Negroes and the land of their ancestors, and he extended his activities to African affairs after World War I, he called Pan-African Congresses in 19 19, 19 21 and 1923, alarming imperialists in all countries and disconcerting negro moderates in America who were afraid of this relentless, militant black genius. That was Dr. King. So this is going to be the basis of our conversation For this segment of connecting the dots, let me introduce my guest. He's a lifelong activist and scholar, former dean of the African-American Studies Department at Ohio University, former director of the King Center in Atlanta, and former host of morning conversations with Tom Porter. He is Brother Tom Porter, and as always, man, welcome back to the Tom Porter (04:47): Good evening. Wilmer Leon (04:48): So with that long introduction, Tom, what's on your mind, man? What do we need to be paying attention to? Tom Porter (04:57): Well, it's interesting how you started off, and I would paraphrase what you said was what so many people are guilty of. That is an analysis of the results, not an analysis of how the results were obtained since we actually are told by the Israeli government and our government and the Western government that October 7th, 2023 started the Israeli Palestinian conflict. (05:35) And then we do a real stretch and say we compare the events of October 7th to the Holocaust. And that's a stretch. One incident involved a couple thousand people, the other one involved the assassination murder of millions of people, but they would have you to believe that they're one and the same. And that is so important today. If we go back to the speech by Dr. King, among other things, he said, while honoring dubois, that black America will never be free until a long light, long night of imperialism is lifted from Asia, Africa, and Latin America. And he also said, in honoring Dr. Dubois, who was an admitted and a vowed and proud communist, Dr. King in speaking of communism, said that our blind anti-communism, read Vietnam, read Korea, read Afghanistan, that our blind anti-communism has led us into one quagmire after another. So what's on my mind is that we're in a quagmire. (07:09) Where does the African-American community go from here? If we look at the African-American community, it's leaderless. There are individual pockets of people and groups that are challenging the system. But if you look at the black caucus, the black elected officials, the black actors, the black musicians, there's no real leadership. We forget that the movement in the sixties was a movement of African people. It was a movement of black people in this country, but it was a movement that was a Black Panther party in Britain, black Panther Party in the Virgin Islands in Puerto Rico. So it was a movement of African people against imperialism, against colonialism and neocolonialism. Now, the leadership seems to be embracing that very few of our leaders have called for a ceasefire, for instance, in the Middle East, very few of our leaders speak forcibly about the environment or about police brutality or about the medical conditions of black people. And that extends to the leaders in Africa where you have thousands of people risking drowning in the Mediterranean weather to stay in their home country. And then you complain about the Chinese building roads and infrastructure complain that they're trying to take over. So that's on my mind. Wilmer Leon (09:18): Well, it's very telling that you talk about leadership, because when I think about leadership, I think about Dr. Du Bois. I think about Dr. King. I think about activists like Dory Ladner. I think about Mrs. Hamer and Paul Robeson. I think about the Tom Porters of the world. Now we're looking at athletes and musicians. The discussion is LeBron James better than Michael Jordan? You asked that question. Oh man, you can be in a bar and wind up with damn near a fight on your hands that people are so personally invested in that conversation. But ask them about Palestine, ask them about Niger. Ask them about Haiti, and you'll get glazed looks, gloss looks, or you'll get talking points from CNN and MSN. Ask somebody about Ukraine. And the first thing you're going to get is, well, Vladimir Putin is an authoritarian and a dictator, or ask them about Taiwan and China and all they want to talk about is a spy balloon. (10:47) And then you mentioned some of the individuals in the Black Caucus. Right now, the United States is looking to work with Canada and looking to work with France to reinve for the, what is it, the third time in 30 years, reinve, Haiti, Hakeem Jeffries, an African-American member of Congress is leading that charge. In my open, I talked about the UN and vetoing, the initiative to take Palestine out of observer status and make it a full fledged member of the un. Linda Thomas Greenfield, an African-American woman raises her hand as the representative of the United States in the UN against people of color. You've got General Lang. I just talked about what happened, transpired in Niger, a black general, the of africom. General Langley, a black man is trying to find a way to undermine the new government in Niger and keep those US troops. Your Honor, those are just a few examples of what we're missing, what we're missing. And Tom, we don't even miss it. Tom Porter (12:22): You're so right. But the fundamental question for me as a black man, as an African man, I mean, at my age, 84, I'm okay, but when I think about the future of my kids and my grandkids, what about their future? And it raises the fundamental question, can African African-Americans obtain freedom, justice, and equality in a society that's imperialist capitalists and politically, economically, culturally, and socially? For all intents and purposes, that's a nation of white supremacists from the top to the bottom. And so the question is, do we stay here? One of the mistakes that I think that we've made that our politics and our politics has been to challenge the society to let us in on it, (13:44) To give us an Academy Award and whatever, whatever, whatever. And we have to ask ourselves, as James Baldwin raised, who wants to integrate into a burning house. And so that thing's on the table, as we see America in decline in many significant ways, including its allies in Western Europe at the same time that who realizes more when you are in decline than the people who are in decline. And so it looks as if, and the situation in the Middle East is part of that, that the West United States feels that Africa has insignificant leaders and the people are not united. And that is true for African people in the United States till they're going back in for another helping, they're going back in for another helping. And they sense that black leadership is weak. Black leadership are going to do what they've been told every four years and vote for the Democrats. And if I say don't vote for the Democrats, I'm not saying vote for the Republicans. I'm saying vote your interests. Wilmer Leon (15:16): Talk about that binary thinking because I wrote a piece a while back, the dangers of binary thinking for the African-American community. And what prompted me to write that was listening to these discussions about, well, if you criticize Biden, then you are either obviously or by default, you are championing Trump. And no, both of them are not above beyond reproach. Both of them are in fact, in many instances, they're engaged in some of the same activities because we tend to get caught up in the politics of personality and we lose sight of the politics of policy, not really understanding that Julian Assange, Donald Trump started that process. Joe Biden followed up on it. That's just one example. So this danger of binary thinking for us, it's got to be Biden or Trump. We can't see beyond the two options that we've been provided. Tom Porter (16:29): Well, that has to do with the philosophical underpinnings of what makes a society go in America. There's a rare university that offers political economy. They offer economics and political science at the same time. It's a rare school that offers, of course, in dialectical logic, symbolic logic is basically the structure of arguments. That's what you're going to see in New York in the trial is that who can argue correctly, not who's correct, but who can argue structure the argument that makes a better case than the other one. It has absolutely nothing to do, whether there's a crook and a bomb that's on trial that shouldn't even have gotten this far. Fortunately, I took philosophy, symbolic logic from a person who was a scientific thinker. And so he taught it in a electrical way, which means that your thinking should be rooted in the interconnected of things, the relationship between things, not this or that, black or white, either or. It can be boan. Wilmer Leon (17:58): Well, hence this program, connecting the dots, always trying to find context and provide the interrelatedness between events so that you're much better able to engage in better analysis because the factors that you bring more factors into your equation. Tom Porter (18:26): Oh, I mean, you're absolutely correct, but that is the thinking. If you don't vote for Biden, it's a vote for Trump. And if you don't vote for Trump, then it's a vote for Biden. That doesn't make any sense at all. But people say, those are the choices that we have. No, we have another choice. We forget that we made the most progress when we didn't have a black caucus, when we didn't have many black judges. When we had, maybe we had one judge on the Supreme Court, very few black mayors because we struggled, we fought, we banged on the door and push the door in. And that's not happening. That's not happening anymore. So you talk to people and it's that binary thinking, but it's that in everything. It's that. It's that kind of thinking. And that's one of the real problems that you have in the educational system here, why Americas is lagging far behind in certain critical bodies of knowledge. Because I soon realized when I was in undergraduate school that many of my professors concealed more than they revealed. Wilmer Leon (20:11): They concealed more than they Tom Porter (20:13): Revealed than they revealed. I remember when I started teaching at Antioch, one of the books I used in the child development course was Thought and Language by ky. And another faculty member said that that was too difficult for graduate students. How can a book be too difficult for graduate students? But the book by ky, which is thought Language is all the rage now rave now in educational psychology and psychology circles. But then because he was a Russian and therefore assumed to be a communist, even though he was born, if I'm not mistaken, before the Russian Revolution. But that's where we are. But the point is, my point today is what are we going to do? Are we going to go down with the ship? Are we going to get off the ship? But that's the fundamental, Wilmer Leon (21:38): Are we going to take control of the ship? Tom Porter (21:45): That's a good thought. Wilmer Leon (21:47): Well, to me, it only seemed like a logical extension of the other two options that you provided, or at least since we're using the metaphor of a ship, are you going to create your own lifeboat? Tom Porter (22:05): Well, I think it's now time before serious call, given some of the emerging forces in Africa and Brazil and what have you, even in Venezuela that it's time for a new Pan-African movement, 21st century style. It is really time. And I just talked to somebody who was in Geneva on, there's a conference, UN conference on racism and civil rights. I don't have the correct title, but he's on his way back and he said he's going to brief me in person, but he was very optimistic about some of the things that he was seeing. But also obviously, so there's movement and we're in a transitional period on the planet. So there was a unipolar world, it was United States, and it controlled mostly through NATO and other relationships, the politics of Europe and the United States. But now you have the bricks, you have a number of, we live in a multipolar world and it is not just the bricks with China. (23:46) There are all kinds of different relationships between countries and Latin America and Central America. And they may not all be trying to get away from capitalism, but they're certainly open to the new changes that are going on in the world in their own interests. I mean, countries entering relationships with China, not because they want to become communists, but because they want to get some of what China has to offer and they realize that they've tried the West. And so you have all of these around the world, these various groupings and what have you, and we've got to internationalize our struggle. That's not new with me. He was Malcolm, even Dr. King understood that and some new progressive forces. And I'm encouraged by what I see around what's happening in the Middle East that these young students on these campuses across the country, and I think that Gaza may be the achilles tendon of Joe Biden. Wilmer Leon (25:10): Oh, I think you're absolutely right. Not only is Gaza the Achilles tendon of Joe Biden, but I also believe that one of the reasons why the Biden administration and so many other forces in the West are so adamantly behind this settler colonial genocidal project is because I believe they understand as goes the settler colony of Israel, so goes the rest of colonization, period. And that the end of this is the, that Tom Porter (25:58): One of these days, somebody's going to really take a real look at the relationship between Israel, not just in this country, but in the rest of the world, and where does its power come from and where's his strength come from? Why would Biden put his presidency on the line, but not just his presidency, he actually believes what he's doing is right. Wilmer Leon (26:32): Well, he is on record and folks can scream antisemitism if they want to. He's on record very clearly as saying, I am a Zion, which a proves the point. Not all Zionists are Jewish, and not all Jews are Zionists because he's Irish Catholic, but he's very clear on I am a Zionist. And contrary to the dominant narrative, Zionism and Judaism or Zionism and Judaism are not the same thing. And being anti-Zionist doesn't mean you're, and being anti-Zionist doesn't even mean it means you are anti-Zionist. But their vested interest in controlling that narrative, which by the way, they are dramatically losing control of as evidenced by what we're seeing playing itself out on our college campuses. They've lost control of that narrative. And I don't see how they're ever going to be able to reclaim that narrative. Tom Porter (27:52): Well, it's very clear that the forces supporting Palestine is growing, and the questioning, which never happened before, Israel was never questioned before in a way that it is being questioned down. But the question is because, well, let's be clear. You strike up a conversation with the average white person about Jews and you'll get some antisemitism. And of course, Hitler was white. He wasn't a Jew, he was white, European, Mussolini was, and the rest of the fascists in Europe were Caucasians. And so what would make this country send him a bunch of weapons in the middle of a situation where the whole world is saying, you shouldn't do that? Wilmer Leon (29:02): Well, what did Al Hague say? He said, Israel is our unsinkable aircraft carrier in the region. And so they saw in that colony a ideological and military base bastion region that they believed would be their space to project power and to control that space. Tom Porter (29:41): I don't have the answer, but it's an interesting question. The reason why I say it's interesting because the relationship is not making sense now, Wilmer Leon (29:51): Right? Tom Porter (29:53): It's not making a sense. When you stand alone at the un, you voted against something that the rest of the world was for, Wilmer Leon (30:04): And you're voting for genocide. We're not arguing borders. We're not arguing an issue on the maritime navigation of the seas. We're not arguing whether it's 12 miles or 14 miles from your coast where you get into international waters. We're not arguing access to mineral rights. It's genocide. And it's not even debatable. It's not even debatable because those such as Netanyahu that are being in Morich and Benny Gantz, we have their own language. They have made it very clear in their own statements in court, you would call that statements against interest. We got to take 'em for their word because they're saying things that are really against their interest Tom Porter (31:15): And doing things that are Wilmer Leon (31:16): And do it exactly. Tom Porter (31:18): But still, the question comes back what's on my mind? I care less about the fight between Trump and Biden and more about what are we going to do because we come out losing whoever gets in, and we need to be clear about that. If Biden will do what he's doing in the Middle East and Haiti and in Africa, what will he do for us? When the vote comes up? Wilmer Leon (31:54): To that point, Tom, the house has just passed a 92 billion military spending bill where they're going to send something like 62 billion to Ukraine. They're going to send, I don't know, 20 something to Israel. And of course, Taiwan, while people in the United States are having to make decisions between paying rent and buying food or buying medicine, the homeless rate or the unhoused rate in the United States right now is somewhere 800,000. And that's just based upon the number of people in shelters that's not actually dealing in addressing the number of people that are living either under bridges in tents living with other family members. The social in indices in this country are, the rate of suicide is on the rise, particularly among white men. The rate of depression among children is on the rise. I mean, I can pick a litany of things. Oh yeah, go ahead. Tom Porter (33:15): The Misery Index, which used to be something that they used to measure the conditions of black people and other people of color in this country, now it's extended to looking at the misery index among whites, because when we talk about homeless, and DC is rare where you see a significant number of black people who are homeless, but you travel throughout the rest of the country in rural Virginia, rural Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, and what have you really see some poverty that you've never seen. Wilmer Leon (33:57): So my question is 92 billion, and that's just this latest round of funding. And we don't seem to, we're paying for healthcare in Ukraine. We're paying for pensions in Ukraine when Americans can't get either. But where is the pushback and the outcry from the Congressional Black Caucus, for example? Tom Porter (34:27): It really isn't. I mean, that's the problem, is the deafening silence come out of black leadership at all levels. Even here in Washington, I don't think the non-voting delegate, Eleanor Holmes Norton has stood out, stood up for a ceasefire. Wilmer Leon (34:51): Nope, Tom Porter (34:52): I don't think the city council has called for a ceasefire. So where do we fit in all of this? That's the fundamental question for me Wilmer Leon (35:08): That it keeps going back to that, Tom Porter (35:11): Right? Wilmer Leon (35:14): The A DL is going to spend, I think the number was a hundred million dollars. I think that was the number on this upcoming election to unseat, if I'm off on that number, folks, I apologize. I was just getting it off the top of my head. I think it's a hundred million to unseat what are considered to be progressive Democrats. Now, in the 2020 election, and in the 2016 election, there was all this boohoo and crying and concern about Russian interference and Chinese interference and Iranian interference in our elections. Now you've got APAC getting ready to, or in the process, or they're in the midst of spending a hundred million dollars and not a moan, not a grip. Tom Porter (36:14): And the reason why is the influence, again, people always say the United States is supporting Israel. It is one way to look at it. Another way to look at it is that in significant ways, Israel and the Israeli diaspora controls significant aspects of American business, cultural, social, and economic life. And that book hasn't been written well. Wilmer Leon (36:52): Oh, okay. Tom, sounds like my next book. Yeah, that Tom Porter (36:59): Book hasn't been written. And so from that stand, well, Wilmer Leon (37:03): If you could get it written, how are you going to get it published? Tom Porter (37:06): It's interesting question. (37:11) So the protection of Israel and its influencing the rest of the world is something that I think gets overlooked because Israel is perceived as a little small country in a sea of Arabs and what have you. But actually it is more powerful than any African country. It is probably more powerful than most of the countries in Latin and Central America. If you look at its military, its weapons, its technology, industry and what have you. And so it is significant among nations of the world in terms of its influence. And APAC is a part of that influence. So again, that's where my mind is these days. What are we going to do? And then how are we going to get there when we decide what we're going to do? But guess what? We got to do it. Wilmer Leon (38:29): I asked the question about if the book were written, how would it get published? And I was looking off at my bookcase because this book right here, the Israel lobby and US Foreign Policy by John Heimer and Steven Walt, I remember when this book came out and they damn near ran these boys out of town. I remember it was how long I tried to get an interview with Heimer or Walt and what those guys were damn near in hiding because the uproar of the publication of the book, the Israel lobby. Now, it's interesting too, Tom, that you just mentioned how powerful Israel is, but give me that analysis. While they can't defeat Hamas and they can't defeat Hamas, they're getting their hind parts whooped in Gaza, Iran just sent them a real serious message about mess around with us if you want to, and we'll reign missiles down on you for the next 15 years. And Hezbollah has not gotten into the mix. Ansar Allah in Yemen has shut down the maritime traffic in the Red Sea, and before Iran launched their retaliatory strike against Israel, they captured a cargo ship in the Straits of Horus to demonstrate to the United States, we will shut down the straits of Horus. We will shut down the Red Sea, and you won't get a drop of oil or nothing. So when you talk about the power of Israel, talk about it in that context or those contexts. Tom Porter (40:28): Well, I think the United States, Wilmer Leon (40:33): Is that a good question to ask? Tom Porter (40:34): Oh, it's an excellent question because, but what we see in the West Bank and in Gaza, it's the same thing we saw in Vietnam. Same thing we saw in Korea. Same thing we saw in Cuba. Same thing we saw in Guinea Basa in Angola and Mozambique and South Africa. That is, you could misjudge the sentiment to say that the Palestinians don't support Hamas. Some of that is probably true, but one thing that all Palestinians are clear about Wilmer Leon (41:29): Freedom, Tom Porter (41:29): Freedom, justice, and equality. And I think that is a mistake that they've made. And I think that is a mistake that they've made in Lebanon. That is, they underestimate, in fact, they have increased the number of young Palestinians and young Arabs throughout the Middle East in their hatred for both Israel and the West and down the road. Arab leaders are going to have to deal with that. The people not going to, Wilmer Leon (42:04): And that's a very practical reality because some people listening to this conversation, when you make that statement say, oh, that's because they're antisemitic, and that's because they hate Jews. No, they hate oppression and they hate oppressors. And no matter what color stripe or size they are, I hate the person that has his or her foot on my throat, no matter what size that foot is. And no matter what kind of boot they're wearing, that's what I hate. Tom Porter (42:44): I think they're making the same miscalculation around the students. I mean, you can lock up 40, you can lock up 50, you can lock up a hundred people, but you really can't lock up an idea. And unless you are willing to make certain changes, the idea is going to grow. I mean, it's small, but it's significant that a group of auto workers, I'm thinking it was in Tennessee. Wilmer Leon (43:13): It was in Chattanooga, Tennessee Tom Porter (43:16): Voted to unionize. They thought they had broken the unions, but the conditions of such among workers, white workers and black workers, that something has to be done because they're filling it when they go to the grocery store. I went to Costco to fill up my gas tank the other day, and because I have to use premium in my 1992 Volvo wagon, it cost me almost $60. Wilmer Leon (43:55): I have to put premium in mine. It was 85. Tom Porter (43:59): Wow. So everybody's beginning to feel the decline of this economy At the same time that they're saying that the economy is growing, you notice they never say use the word development again. That's kind of like binary thinking. They never use the word, they always use word. The economy is growing. That's a quantitative analysis. But a qualitative analysis would be, are you developing as a society or your school's turning out educated people? But if you just deal with growth, it's all about numbers. Wilmer Leon (44:51): It's all about numbers, primarily because when they come and tell us that the economy is growing, they're talking about the financialized side of the economy. So if you have a 401k program, then you're happy as a clam because over the last three or four, maybe five quarters, the financialized side of the economy is running like gangbusters. But we're not manufacturing anything in this country anymore. The manufacturing base in this country is on the decline because we've exported all of those jobs to China and to Vietnam and to India. So the wage, has there been wage growth in this country? No. And to your point about the unions, so Sean Fe comes out the head of the UAW. He comes out in January saying the UAW endorses Joe Biden. But that same day, he has to give another speech where he comes out and says, the rank and file of the UAW does not back Joe Biden, because they're more concerned about their paychecks, and many of them are going to support Donald Trump. That's Sean Fain. That's not me. That's the head of the UAW making that statement. And that's what goes to the, as you talked about, the UAW in all places, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and from Chattanooga, they're going to Alabama now to a Mercedes plant in Alabama. Now that's going to be a harder fight. They're going deeper south. But still, Tom Porter (46:54): How can you have the largest economy in the world and be a detonation Wilmer Leon (47:02): And debt to your, who you consider to be your primary enemy, which is China, Tom Porter (47:08): Right? But how can you be? There's some oxymoronic about that, right? Wilmer Leon (47:13): That Tom Porter (47:15): You have the largest economy in the world, but Wilmer Leon (47:19): You're a better nation, Tom Porter (47:20): Better nation, and people are seeking different ways of economically engaging with each other other than using the dollar. And yet you, but every day people are feeling it. Every day people are filling at the pump, at the grocery store, at Wilmer Leon (47:44): The a pack of chicken wings and a gallon of milk, Tom Porter (47:47): The doctor's office. I mean, if you can Wilmer Leon (47:51): Get in. Tom Porter (47:52): Yep, yep. Wilmer Leon (47:55): So, Tom, to your point, what are we to do? Tom Porter (48:02): Well, we used to have men and women who thought these things. A lot of people are writing books. I'm encouraged about some of the things, and there's a lot going on in the street. There doesn't seem to be a unifying theme. I mean, the Montgomery Bus boycott was something that significant numbers of African-Americans, the black people felt in the north and the South, because many of us had a two-state experience, born in the south, grew up in the north, and so on our yearly summer visits back home, we ran into what our brothers and sisters and kin folks were dealing with. And it was a spirit in the community that it was our time to fight back and to be independent and what have you. That spirit, you can see it bubbling up young people. I'm encouraged by young people because you really can't lie to them as easy as you can lie to everybody Wilmer Leon (49:28): Else. Not watching CNN and MSPC, Tom Porter (49:32): Without a doubt. Without a doubt. So I'm actually encouraged. On the other hand, I would encourage people to get a passport. You never know when you're going to need it. I think you ought to look for options, particularly for your grandchildren and what have you. And that's not unusual. People are leaving America, not just black people going back to Africa, but white people going to Europe, and some of 'em are going to places like Puerto Rico, Wilmer Leon (50:08): Right? Central and South America, Tom Porter (50:10): And say nothing of Africa. So people are leaving. And that's one option. That's one option that has always been on my mind and Wilmer Leon (50:25): Abandon ship. Tom Porter (50:27): No, get on another ship. Wilmer Leon (50:29): Well Tom Porter (50:33): Get on another ship. Let Biden and Trump and that group fight it out. They seem to be doing a pretty good job of battling each other. But on the serious side, we've got to raise significant questions wherever we can. We got to discuss these things wherever we can. We can't allow this leadership class that we have, and even some of the so-called progressive pundits, we can't simply allow them to get away with what they've been getting away with. And I'm grateful for programs like this and some other programs or a few other stations where people are speaking out and are being heard and are being heard. Wilmer Leon (51:30): Just really quickly, did you happen to see the fallout from the National Action Network Congress, a convention where folks went in protesting as Hakeem Jeffries was brought in to speak and folks were protesting Hakeem Jeffries and Reverend Sharpton called him Renta Coons, and did you see any of that? Tom Porter (51:58): No, but I'm not surprised. Wilmer Leon (51:59): Okay, then I won't go any further into it. Tom Porter (52:02): Well, but you raised an interesting point about the bankruptcy of leadership. They used to refer to Al Sharpton as Jesse on a budget. But Wilmer Leon (52:23): Lemme just quickly make one point, because one of the things that Reverend Sharpton was promoting or displaying, he was basically saying, look at. So he got Joe Biden to do this little video and supporting, thank you Reverend Al, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But so everybody's, wow. Look, Reverend Al got President Biden to zoom in to the National Action Network Convention, but nobody seems to want to talk about that 10 days after Biden was inaugurated. Biden had to be forced. And I mean, kicking, brought in, kicking and screaming to have a meeting with black leadership. And when he got on that call, he disrespected everybody on that call. But if you didn't see it, you didn't see it then so Tom Porter (53:33): Well, but the role of, again, it just points out the bankruptcy of certain African leaders. I mean, here you have, well, a two-way race between Democrats and Republicans. Two Democrats are running in the primary to become democratic senators. One's a black woman and one's a white man. Without discussing Dem merits of either one of them, why would Hakeem Jeffries, Anthony Brown and Jonathan Jackson endorse the white candidate? I mean, why would you do that? I mean, Jonathan Jackson is from Illinois. I understand that connection between he and David Cron is Itron Wilmer Leon (54:37): Cone, cone, David Tron in Maryland. Tom Porter (54:43): He owns total wine and liquors, right? And Jonathan Jackson is in the liquor business. He's a big distributor in the Chicago era. I don't get Hakeem Jeffries, who's in New York. The point of it is, where's the integrity? Where's the integrity? On the one hand, you talk black out of the side of your mouth, and I'm not in any mean pushing black nationalism. I'm simply saying, why would you get in that fight? I mean, why would you get in that fight? Obviously, Wilmer Leon (55:21): Angela also, Brooks is running, right? That's what I'm saying. A black woman, and why wouldn't you back her? Tom Porter (55:31): But why would you get in the race at all since you got you from another state? And you would not want that to happen to you when you were running? And so there's obviously a cash nexus. Wilmer Leon (55:50): Well, we do know that Hakeem Jeffries has received, I think, over a million dollars from APAC over his tenure in office. And the same thing with Gregory Meeks. He's another one that falls into that same camp. And both of them, along with the Vice President, Kamala Harris, they're all behind the Global Fragilities Act, which is being used as the rationale for the United States to rein, invade Haiti. Go figure. Tom Porter (56:32): Again, we have to do an analysis of how the results were obtained rather than the results. I mean, it looks like Haiti is a failed state. So how do you go from the first independent black Republic on the planet? Well, not on the planet, but in that era, because there were black leaderships. But how do you become that, given any slave who could get to Haiti freedom? I mean, how do you get defeating Napoleon then? How do you become the basket case, a basket case in the world? How does that happen? Why do they still old friends and see should be the other way around, Wilmer Leon (57:25): Way around? (57:29) Why is the United States wring its hands and going through all these machinations talking about we have to go in and stabilize this country when the United States is responsible for the instability? Why does the United States send $60 billion to Ukraine when the United States is the one that started the fight in the first place, and Ukraine is merely the proxy for the United States? Why is the United States saying we can't do anything with Netanyahu? Yes, you can. You call 'em and tell 'em, you're not giving in any more money. You are against genocide, but you send them the bullets, you send them the bombs, you provide the logistics. Same thing with China. Oh, Taiwan, Taiwan, Taiwan, Taiwan. Why are you trying to pick a fight with China? Who by the way, holds more of your debt than anybody else in the room? Why? Let's get to the cause, right? Tom Porter (58:48): Of course. I mean, again, the Haiti situation, it gets played out and we go in, why did the United States involve itself in the overthrow of John Butra? Wilmer Leon (59:06): What was his aired? John Beron aired, Tom Porter (59:10): Aired Wilmer Leon (59:11): Twice Tom Porter (59:14): A legitimately elected democratic leader who's very positive. Why do you place sanctions on Cuba? Only because you don't believe in what they believe in? Wilmer Leon (59:33): Here's another, and Tom Porter (59:33): Then get upset when they're successful in the biotech industry and what have you. And the list goes on and on and on. But because they don't think that people study history or read history, Wilmer Leon (59:53): The average Haitian makes less than $3 a day. Folks, you can look it up. The average Haitian makes less than $3 a day, but somehow they can walk around with $1,800 sniper rifles, military grade equipment Tom Porter (01:00:18): Where they get 'em from. That's the question that you asked. All of these militias running around the deserts of Africa, where are they getting these weapons from? Where do they get food from? Wilmer Leon (01:00:33): Right, right, right. Brother Tom Porter. Man, as always, thank you. Tom Porter (01:00:45): Thank you for having me. It's been a long day. Wilmer Leon (01:00:48): I know it has, and I appreciate you giving me your time today. I got to thank you Tom Porter so much, man, for joining the show today. Greatly, greatly appreciate it. Tom Porter (01:00:57): Thank you for having me. Have a good evening, Wilmer Leon (01:01:00): Folks. Thank you so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Wilmer Leon. Stay tuned for new episodes each week. Please follow and subscribe, go to the Patreon account. We'll greatly appreciate you contributing to the program. We can't do this without your support, so please go to the Patreon account. The address for that is on the bottom of your screen. Also, leave a review. Share the show with those that you think will like it, and then those that you think will hate it, send 'em to 'em anyway. They might just surprise you. Follow us on social media. You can find again, all the links to the show are below in the description. And remember, folks, that this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge because talk without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter on connecting the dots. See you next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wilmer Leon. Have a great one. Peace. I'm out Announcer (01:02:08): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge.

Haiti has become engulfed in an unprecedented crisis of deadly gang violence over the last several weeks. Political gangs vying for control of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, have effectively laid siege to the city, storming prisons, seizing control of the port, torching shops and buildings, destroying hospitals, and taking over the main international airport. The United Nations estimates that eighty percent of Port-au-Prince is now under gang control, pointing towards a veritable collapse of society.  Over 300,000 Haitians have been forced to flee their homes, and thousands have become victims of indiscriminate violence at the hands of the armed gangs. Over 1,500 people have been killed since just the start of this year, and morgues have been overflowing with bodies. Hospitals are flooded with countless patients with gunshot wounds, many of them civilians hit in gang crossfire. Harrowing reports of kidnappings, gang rapes, and homes being burned add to the picture of a nation in the throes of a deep-rooted crisis. To help us understand the roots and historical context of this crisis, why it should matter to American working and young people, how it relates to the other crises internationally under capitalism, and what strategy is needed to end the crisis in Haiti, we have two special guests today. Toya Chester is a rank-and-file member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. Eric Jenkins is an educator in the Philadelphia Public School district, and is a member of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Both Eric and Toya are among the leaders of the Black Caucus of Socialist Alternative. On Strike is 100% funded by working people. BECOME A MEMBER of Workers Strike Back now to support our work: https://www.workersstrikeback.org/membership  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OnStrikeShow  On Strike is a production of Workers Strike Back. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onstrikeshow/support

An advocate for access to quality healthcare, a student of socioeconomics and equity, and a seeker of equality in justice and among humanity. Selena Smith joins us on the podcast to discuss her career journey and current role as COO of GRO Community, a mental health organization specializing in providing mental health services and support to Black men, by Black men. Selena is passionate about ensuring that the support needed to educate underserved and underrepresented populations is present and available. Join the conversation to hear a detailed background on Selena including what catapulted her into a career in public health. Selena highlights what it means to her to be a part of the Black Caucus of APHA and she delves into her role as COO and the mission behind GRO Community. Mental health as public health is also discussed, why we should normalize visiting a therapist, and why we, especially Black women, should not operate on zero. To hear all this, and much more, be sure not to miss out on this great and insightful episode of the Public Health Epidemiology Conversations podcast. Thanks for tuning in! PHEC Podcast  

There's a nasty virus spreading through the U.S.  We're not talking about COVID and we're not even talking about humans. Avian influenza or bird flu has affected millions of birds across the country, including here in California.  And in the Central Valley, farmers have been set back months due to the loss of flock and eggs. Reporter: Kerry Klein, KVPR The push for California to provide reparations for Black Californians is taking shape at the state capitol. Members of the legislature's Black Caucus have chosen 14 reparations bills to prioritize this year. Those range from a formal apology on behalf of California lawmakers who supported slavery, to limits on solitary confinement in state prisons. Reporter: Guy Marzorati, KQED 

In this episode, we're focusing on Biden's loss of support among Black voters, which has been dramatic in a number of polls. Black voters were crucial in Biden's 2020 election, but recent polls have shown half of Black voters wanting a different candidate, and growing numbers who either said they wouldn't vote at all or would support Trump. It's clear so many working-class people want a genuine alternative to business as usual in the 2024 elections, but what can we do to fight for it? We're lucky to have with us Ryan Watson, who is a tech worker based in Chicago, a Workers Strike Back activist, a rank-and-file member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and a leading member of the Black Caucus of Socialist Alternative. Ryan is going to help us understand what the South Carolina primary results show about Black voter consciousness, and what Black working and young people can and should do to fight for a better world. On Strike is 100% funded by working people. BECOME A MEMBER of Workers Strike Back now to support our work: https://www.workersstrikeback.org/membership  Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OnStrikeShow  On Strike is a production of Workers Strike Back, hosted by Kshama Sawant and Bia Lacombe. --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/onstrikeshow/support

Find me and the show on social media @DrWilmerLeon on X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd   TRANSCRIPT: Announcer (00:37): Connecting the dots with Dr. Wilmer Leon, where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. Dr Wilmer Leon (00:45): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon and I am Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they occur in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which most events take place. During each episode, my guests and I will have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between the current events and the broader historic context in which the events take place. This will enable you to better understand and analyze these events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode, the issue is the Guardian and other outlets have reported that the Biden campaign has decided to jumpstart its 2024 reelection by highlighting what they perceive to be a sharp contrast with former President Trump ailing in opinion polls. Biden has decided to jumpstart this campaign with events designed to symbolize the fight for democracy and racial justice against Trump. So the question is, what are Americans to do in a 2024 election when many of them don't have faith in the process and or the system? Well, for run insight into this, let's turn to my guest. He's a scholar and activist. He's an expert in WEB Du Bois, one of the most cited Du Bois scholars in the world. He's an organizer with the Philadelphia Saturday Free School. He's Dr. Anthony Montero. Tony, welcome to Connecting the Dots podcast. Dr Anthony Monteiro (02:31): Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here Dr Wilmer Leon (02:32): With you. And let's do this as a first point here, just a little data. Joe Biden's job approval. This is according to real clear politics, 40% approve, 56% disapprove. That's a negative, almost 16 rating direction of the country. Is the country headed in the right direction? About 24% say right direction, 67% say wrong direction. It's about a negative 42% spread. Tony, your thoughts on where we are right now as we look towards November of 2024? Dr Anthony Monteiro (03:30): Well, I think we have to start with the polling numbers. Over the last, almost five months now from reputable polling companies, Biden has been losing to Trump and his favorable numbers have been in decline. In fact, in many respects, Biden's approval numbers are below 40%. The real clear politics numbers are an average. Dr Wilmer Leon (04:13): Yeah, that's an aggregator. Yes, Dr Anthony Monteiro (04:15): That's right. But I think for the most part, for the most credible polls, we're continuing to see Biden in the mid thirties. This is unprecedented for a sitting president at this stage of a campaign, Dr Wilmer Leon (04:36): Not only in the mid thirties, but heading south. He's, and no pun intended as it relates to the border, but as they would say on the corner, he's hustling backwards. Dr Anthony Monteiro (04:50): Oh, yeah. There's no question this is unprecedented. I don't think this has ever been seen in the modern history of polling presidents and their attempts at reelection. I think what the public is saying is that we don't trust Biden. His presidency has failed. Inflation is still hitting working people in the lower middle class, very hard. The jobs that they are counting as showing a vibrant economy are in many cases, gig jobs, jobs without benefits, jobs without security, and in many cases at the lower end of the minimum wage. So Dr Wilmer Leon (06:00): In fact, hang on to that point because one of the things, the misnomers that people have about these employment or job numbers is that they equate job to one person working, one person, working one job. But in this gig economy, what that now means is in many instances you have one person working multiple jobs just to remain poor When you were growing up, when I was growing up, we heard these job numbers and they usually meant one person, one job. That's no longer the case. But they don't factor that into their analysis, particularly as they're explaining these numbers to the people. So when you hear, oh, unemployment down to 3.5%, there are also a lot of other factors that go into this that don't reflect a strong economy. What they reflect is a middle class, a working class in a poor group of people that are struggling to get by. Dr Anthony Monteiro (07:23): There's no question about it. And people are saying to pollsters what you, and I know that the majority of working people, the majority of the lower middle class, are not doing good at all. People cannot afford food. And that is where the rubber meets the road, where you go to the supermarket and try to buy eggs and milk and cereal and other things that you need. And there you discover that inflation is as bad as it's ever been while there's some relief at the gas pump. But when it comes to feeding your family, things are not good when it comes to paying rent or renting an apartment. Things are bad when it comes to getting a mortgage. You can almost forget that. So the Biden campaign, who in the spring and summer of last year said they're going to run on omics until they realized that that was a sure enough loser because Biden had produced an economy which was austerity for the majority and good times and big profits for the billionaire class reflecting the fact that inequality is greater now perhaps than at any time in the last 80 years. This is a serious situation for the people. And when people say that the country is moving in the wrong direction, forgive me when 70% of them say that what they are saying is things don't look good for them and things look even worse for their children and grandchildren, that is where we're at going into perhaps the most consequential election in the modern history of the United States. Dr Wilmer Leon (09:39): In fact, to that point, there have been studies and reports out recently indicating that the American dream is dying. I want to say, and I might be slightly off on my numbers, but the point is valid, that polling those who were born in 1940, almost 90% of those born in 1940 are now doing better than their parents were able to do those born in 1980, only 50% of those polled were able to say that they're doing better than their parents did. That tells us that the American dream is dying. You mentioned last year Biden wanted to run on omics, and I have to now wonder if it's been determined that omics is no more than voodoo economics, a La George HW Bush referring to Reagan's plan. So we're talking voodoo economics 4.0. Dr Anthony Monteiro (10:47): Yeah, we're looking at something like that. But we're looking at the fact that the Biden administration and the Biden campaign have no way to achieve narrative hegemony. That is, they thought that given the fact that most of the corporate media or all of the corporate media would be a propaganda arm of the Biden administration and of his reelection campaign, and given that elites, for example, university professors, politicians, part of the religious community, certain labor leaders or most labor leaders would all be on their side, that they would be able to achieve narrative hegemony, by which I mean that what they were putting forward would dominant over what their opposition would try to put forward. So the narrative would be controlled by the Biden campaign. That has not happened, and the reason it has not happened is that the nation is in a profound crisis of legitimacy where no matter what Biden says, the results will be the same in terms of the majority of people. They don't trust Biden, they don't trust insiders. They don't trust elites. Be they university professors or presidents, be they politicians, be they church leaders, be they labor leaders, be they military leaders. People do not trust the institutions and those who lead them in this country, and therefore this point (13:02) People will vote against rather than vote for necessarily. People. I think in November, and this will gather momentum throughout this year, will kind of set into a mindset that says anybody, but those who are currently in the highest office of the country, they will vote against Biden. Biden will not be able to dig out of the hole that he's in. So I would predict that in November we will have a new president, and not just a new president, but the nation will enter upon in this year a political realignment, the likes of which we have not seen since the Franklin Roosevelt years in the presidency. Dr Wilmer Leon (14:13): I wanted to throw out one more data point on the food issue because we have been seeing stories on local media affiliates about the rise of retail theft in this country, and we've been seeing the flash mobs that run into the high-end stores and steal Gucci bags and all kind of stuff. But what's not being reported as much is theft of retail in grocery stores, people stealing food and the guardian in the UK has us to the international implications of this, Brits stealing food to sell on the black market. The UK's cost of living crisis is fueling a record surge in shoplifting as people increasingly turn to black to the black market for food, the items most commonly stolen are meat, cheese, and sweets, because those are the items that can be stolen in large quantities and can be sold on the black market. So I wanted to make that demonstrate that point to show that it's not only happening here in the United States, it's also happening to some of the US allies that are blindly following the United States down this perilous rabbit hole. And you mentioned as a fellow political scientist, we were taught people tend not to vote against things. They vote for things, but in this instance, the script is being flipped because things are so bad. That's why Biden can't run on his record. He's got to run on, I'm not Trump a negative message trying to convince people to vote against something. And so I just wanted to, oh, final point. I don't think Biden's going to be on the ticket. Dr Anthony Monteiro (16:20): Yeah, why do you say that? I think that's a possibility. But why do you say it? Dr Wilmer Leon (16:24): I say that because the numbers are so bad. I don't understand how anybody in the Democrat party elite can look at these numbers and think they've got a winning ticket. That's one point. No, Dr Anthony Monteiro (16:44): That's fine. Dr Wilmer Leon (16:45): When you're at 35% approval rating, that means that you got 65% of people that disapprove. That's a losing bet. And also with his cognitive decline, I don't see, look, they're not having any debates in the primaries. They're not having any debates. They're not allowing any Democrat challengers to challenge him. And they've also come out now and said they may not even participate in the general election debates because they know that he cannot stand on a stage unscripted for 45 minutes and engage in combat, in intellectual combat. He can't do it. I don't see him on the ticket. Dr Anthony Monteiro (17:34): Well, I would agree with you, and I think given what you just said, there's a big irony here. The Democrats are shutting down all the primary opponents for Joe Biden, even though those opponents, Marian Williams and the other guy are doing abysmally poorly. I mean there's no way they can win, but the Democrats don't even want to have a public debate with those people. So they're shutting down democracy in the name of democracy of Dr Wilmer Leon (18:16): Democracy Dr Anthony Monteiro (18:18): And the claim that Trump is a threat to our democracy, when in fact what we see is that the Biden campaign is pursuing a campaign that is anti-democratic in the primaries and in the general election and supports. This is what is also interesting, supports the two states that have already kicked Biden off the ballot and the Trump Dr Wilmer Leon (18:53): Kicked Trump off Dr Anthony Monteiro (18:54): The ballot, Trump off the ballot, forgive me, and the 17 others that have legal suits that have been filed to put him off the ballot. So here we have in the name of democracy, perhaps the most anti-democratic campaign in our history. Dr Wilmer Leon (19:20): You mentioned people not trusting in the, well, I mentioned people not trusting in the system. You mentioned that as well, and I really want people to understand this conversation is not an antibi conversation. It's not an anti or pro-Trump conversation. We're social scientists and we're looking at the data, and Pew Research Center has a poll out from September of 23, public trust in government from 1958 to 2023, public trust in the federal government, which has been low for decades, has returned to mere record lows following a modest uptick up through 21. Currently fewer than two in 10 Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right. That's the data. That's not my opinion. That's not your opinion. That's the data. So I just wanted to throw out that data point. So the people listening to this saying, oh, these guys are going into this antibi conversation. No, Dr Anthony Monteiro (20:32): We're Dr Wilmer Leon (20:33): Just giving you the numbers. Dr Anthony Monteiro (20:35): And to your point about Biden not being on the ticket by the time of the Democratic National Convention. Dr Wilmer Leon (20:45): Now that is my opinion, but Dr Anthony Monteiro (20:47): Yeah, that's my opinion. But you have leading figures in the Democratic party calling for Biden to step aside. They're usually saying on the basis of age, but they're also saying more than that when they're not speaking publicly. A lot of this is coming from the Obama wing of the Democratic establishment. As you know, the Biden wing, which is also the Hillary Clinton wing is the most powerful side of this. However, the Obama people, especially Axelrod and probably some others have come Dr Wilmer Leon (21:41): Out. David Ignatius, Dr Anthony Monteiro (21:43): David Ignatius. Well, definitely I would say, but I would say he's not with the Obama wing. Oh, Dr Wilmer Leon (21:48): No, no, but no, I was just saying he wrote, he came out before Axelrod Dr Anthony Monteiro (21:53): Did. That's right. That's right. And so these figures are saying Biden can't win. Robert Kagan who writes mainly on foreign policy is saying that for the sake of national security, Biden should step aside and allow a more capable Democrat to challenge Trump. But the thing is, the question is will Biden do it and can he do it? What do they do? Who do they turn to if Biden is not the candidate? Kamala Harris, certainly not. No, I just don't. I mean maybe the governor of California, but besides winning California, which Democrats will win anyway, what does he bring to the conversation and to the contest for the presidency? I just don't think they have an alternative to Biden. They're going to have to go with him, come hell or high water. And that is the paradox, the dilemma of the Democratic Party at this moment. (23:17) And to add more hurt to the situation with the war in Gaza and people looking at babies and children and mothers being bombed, Biden has now lost the youth vote. Trump is leading him by six percentage points among young people. I don't know when in recent history a Republican has won the youth vote, maybe Reagan, but Democrats almost could take young people as a part of their coalition, and now they are bleeding. Black voters, especially black male voters who I contend are the angriest part of the electorate, the most alienated, the most angry. And those who say, for example, if you are in the barbershop, you might hear the conversation where one of the people says, I am for anybody except Biden, and I'm for the one that the Biden people and the establishment hate the most. If Biden hates them, I can see a path to aligning or voting for them. Dr Wilmer Leon (24:55): You mentioned who do the Democrats turn to in a baseball analogy? I will say they got no arms in the bullpen. They're calling the bullpen and nobody's answering the phone. But I think the only options they have are Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, and Gretchen Whitmer, the governor of Michigan. And I'm not saying that this is a winning ticket. What I'm saying is any port in a storm, and they don't have many options here. Gavin Newsom is young. Gavin Newsom is white. Gavin Newsom looks great in a suit, and he's the governor of California. (25:49) So let me say he checks off those boxes. Gretchen Whitmer is young, white female, fairly attractive, and the governor of Michigan, which is a state they can't afford to lose. And right now to your point, based upon Biden's approach to the genocide and Gaza, they've alienated African-Americans in Michigan. They've alienated Arabs in Michigan. So by putting Gretchen Whitmer on the ticket that might enable them to salvage Michigan, and by throwing Kamala Harris overboard because she's a big fat zero, by putting another female on the ticket, they may be able to offset some of that ire from females or from women who are angry about Kamala being jettison. So I'm not saying it's going to win. When I look at the options, when you have no options, that's your only option. Dr Anthony Monteiro (27:00): It's a desperate situation. And then you got Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Cornell West, and who knows who else. If there's a no labels candidate like Joe Manchin or the former governor of Maryland and they're nipping at Biden's coattails, head up, Biden Trump, it gets close. But if you throw these independents in there, Trump goes ahead. It seems like the independents take more from Biden than they do from Trump. Trump. It's a very desperate situation for Biden and the elite of the ruling class, the ruling elite, they have no answers. It's just all over the place. The president emeritus of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haes, went so far as to say the greatest threat to America's national security is not Russia or China. It's the rebellion of the people here at home who are against war, who are against war spending when there is not hardly enough being done for the people here and who are angry about open borders. I mean, it's a situation that I don't admire the people who have to live it and have to try to work through it. It's a lose lose situation, I think for the Democrats. Dr Wilmer Leon (28:48): I want to mention one more name, and we mentioned Kamala Harris, and so there are those who are listening that they're saying, wait a minute, why are y'all saying they're going to throw her overboard? Well, as the sous chef of the word salad, I don't know that Kamala Harris brings anything of substance to the game. She had to leave the campaign early and she didn't even make it to the first debate. Well, she did make it to the first debate, but she didn't make it to any primaries. She couldn't get 1% of the vote. So again, folks, this ain't anti Kamala. I'm looking at the numbers and the African-American community didn't want her. Why is the nation going to want her again, sous chef for the word salad? I don't see it. But you were also talking about people, black males and others voting for Trump. How much of this do you think will be actually people crossing over party lines versus people just deciding to stay home as a friend of mine says they're going to stay home and rake leaves, they're not going to turn out to vote. Dr Anthony Monteiro (30:17): Well, we see it here in Philadelphia. We just went through a mayoral election, the Democratic primary, which is the major election that chooses the mayor because the city is so overwhelmingly democratic and the leading candidate, one of the two or three leading candidates was a black woman. And in spite of that, 75% of registered black voters did not turn out when it got to the general election where her victory was more or less guaranteed. Again, only about 25 or 26% of registered black voters turned out, and this is for black woman, which would've made her the first black woman mayor in Philadelphia. Most black voters didn't see it as a historic opportunity to do anything. But that is prologue for what will happen in this November, black Philadelphia whose turnout decides which way the state of Pennsylvania goes in presidential elections, I would suggest to you will not turn out inadequate numbers to deliver Pennsylvania, which is a major battleground state to Biden. (31:52) They are fed up, they're tired, and in fact, they're sick and tired of being used by Democrats who once the election is over, look the other way, in fact run in the opposite direction from the black community and so on. All of the issues that people are concerned about in their day-to-day life, the Democrats who run this city have done horribly for people. And the separation between the Democratic party elite and politicians and the masses of black people who regularly vote overwhelmingly for Democrats is so wide that the way I see it right now, Biden would have a very difficult time winning the state of Pennsylvania. Dr Wilmer Leon (32:57): What do you think about the discussion that if in fact he loses or whoever they decide to put on the ticket does not prevail, they're going to blame black people for failing to turn out? We're seeing a number of articles. There was a New York Times article, black voters shift to Trump, why black, Latino and Asian voters are leaving the Democratic Party as black voters drift to Trump. Biden's allies say they have work to do. Some black men lose faith in Biden and Democrats In 2024, I remember the Hillary Clinton campaign, and when she lost, there were many and many African-Americans and African-American women of Democratic note that were coming out and saying we did not turn out. Therefore, we got stuck with Trump never taking into account that Hillary Clinton ran a horrific campaign in Philadelphia. She ran a horrific campaign. She didn't campaign in Michigan. She rolled out Barack Obama the last two or three days of the election, just as my older brother would say, just felony stupid kind of things, but then turned around and blamed us. Your thoughts, Dr Anthony Monteiro (34:32): My is so what I mean the blame game is going to be played however the election goes. And I think as a black man, most black men don't care anymore who blames us for whatever. We are the most politically alienated group in the electorate. We feel that we have nothing to lose by abandoning the Democratic party, which most black men feel, especially as you hit into the working class and the working poor, most black men feel that we have gotten nothing from the Democratic party. And let me tell you another thing, black men have a longer memory than people give us credit for. We haven't forgotten the crime Bill of 1994 and Joe Biden being the major spokesman for it publicly and in the Senate. So we haven't forgotten that. We haven't forgotten mass incarceration. We haven't forgotten the unequal treatment that black men experience in every sphere of social life in this country. There is deep resentment among black men. Polls can't fully detect and explain what black men feel, but it's a deep resentment and a sense of betrayal. So I think black men, no matter what elites say, don't care anymore. Dr Wilmer Leon (36:29): So now the Biden administration has decided that they're going to, they're going to retool. They're going to talk about democracy and saving democracy when in fact, not having democratic primaries, not allowing candidates on the ballot to run against Joe Biden not having debates is anti-democratic. So they want to save democracy by being anti-democratic. Help me understand that. But people also don't, probably many never knew and don't remember that after the 2020 election, Joe Biden was basically forced to have a meeting with African-American leadership, those that were responsible for putting him over the top. It was probably about 10 days, maybe two weeks after his inauguration that they finally got him into the room. And the readout from the meeting was that he was so disrespectful to the members of leadership that Reverend Sharpton and so many others, mignon Moore and all of these black Democrats begged him for the meeting. He comes to the meeting and I think it was a teleconference that they had or a Zoom meeting, and folks had to pull his coat and say, Hey, man. Instead of the leadership hanging up on him saying, Hey, dude, you talking to the wrong people, they, of course, they went ahead and took the whipping, but just another data point. So now they want to come out and talk about saving democracy and racism under Donald Trump, Dr Anthony Monteiro (38:27): Why people are not going to buy it. The whole country is in a state of protest against the establishment. I don't think people understand this very well. A crisis of legitimacy means that the people do not accept the leaders of the society. And that means in universities, it means politicians, it means journalists. It means wherever a dominant elite figures run things, people reject them, soundly reject them. I always mention the Italian revolutionary, Antonio Gramsci who said from a prison cell where he was confined by Benito Mussolini, the fascist leader of Italy in the 1930s, Graham, she said, the old is dying and the new cannot yet be born. I think in this country we see that the old system of political rule of the organization of political power is dying. However, I do see that the new is being born and it's from the bottom up, not from the top down. (40:03) And if you are a black leader who is connected to white elites, black folks see you as much illegitimate as the white power structure. They don't see a difference between the black leadership class as it is now called and the white establishment. So black people do not generally protest blacks in high spaces being fired by whites that control those spaces because they don't see those people as black in the sense of standing up for ordinary black people. So what is the end goal? What is the objective of this logic? It is a profound political realignment of the country. You see it in the labor movement. Labor leaders take one position and all the workers in those unions vote in the opposite way. Not all, but the majority of them vote opposite to what the leaders say or how the leaders say they should vote. That is a crisis of leadership, a crisis of legitimacy. (41:32) The same true in the black community. Most black leaders, the overwhelming majority of so-called black leaders are going to come out and say to black people, we should vote for Biden. I would say a huge part of the black electorate will not vote, and a considerable part of the black electorate will vote for Trump or one of the independent candidates, either Cornell West or JFK Jr or whoever else is out there. They're in rebellion, in the labor movement, in the black community, in the Mexican and Hispanic communities. There's a rebellion against the established order and the elites can't rule. They're not trusted. We have not seen this. We have not seen this, I don't know, even in the time of the Civil War, if it got this bad. Now, desperate times often produces desperate measures. Let's hope that the elites, especially those institutionalized in the deep state, don't attempt to do anything crazy like a provocation that could be used to justify calling the election off or a provocation that could lead to a major war, let us say with Iran or something serious with China where they could declare a national emergency and say that if Biden does not remain in office, the nation faces a foreign threat that could undermine our nation. (43:47) I don't rule any of that out. I think the easy way would be to remove Biden and put somebody else as the candidate. But that does not guarantee very much Gavin Newsom or anyone else might not do as well as Biden can do, even though they look good in a suit. But I think it's a more than desperate situation. It is an existential and a systemic crisis for the ruling elite for the political order as we have known it. And so Biden and knows who are the elites. The Democratic party is the party of elites. In fact, the two parties are almost the direct opposite of what they were 50 years ago where the Democrats were a party of black people in the working class and women and so on. Now, it is becoming the opposite that the Democratic Party is the party of the rich. (44:57) It is the richest party, the most wealthy party perhaps in human history. There's nothing like it. Whereas the Republicans have become what the Democrats were. And so it is a deep undoing of what was and the possible replacement with something that we have not seen since The Great Depression in Franklin Roosevelt. His administration was the result of a political realignment, and his presidency redefined what the Democratic Party was leading to John F. Kennedy. And finally, the alignment of the Democratic Party with the Civil rights movement. That was the last time we saw anything like this. But we are coming close to that happening similarly in this period, Dr Wilmer Leon (46:07): And you mentioned Black Elite coming out and telling African-Americans that they need to vote for the Democratic party, and let's unpack quickly what they're advocating that we vote for. They're advocating that we spend more money in Ukraine, that we waste more money in Ukraine, that we pay for the salaries of Ukrainian civil servants, that we pay for the retirement plans of Ukrainian civil servants that we pay for the healthcare for Ukrainians. We don't have those things here. That's when the Black Caucus votes in favor of this funding. This is what they're voting for. They're voting for us to send more weapons to commit genocide in Gaza. Your taxpayer dollars are paying for genocide. It's paying to try their damnedest to start a fight with China. We haven't won a fight since 1953. Dr Anthony Monteiro (47:23): Yeah, that's true. Dr Wilmer Leon (47:24): Unless you want to throw in Grenada and Panama. Dr Anthony Monteiro (47:31): Yeah, I think we won that, right? Maybe you could throw Iraq in there. No, Dr Wilmer Leon (47:38): That was an ass whooping too. Dr Anthony Monteiro (47:40): Oh, I didn't know that. I was going to say I wouldn't include Korea in there because that was a standoff. Dr Wilmer Leon (47:47): That fight still hasn't ended. Dr Anthony Monteiro (47:49): Yeah, that's right. Dr Wilmer Leon (47:51): So you mentioned Gramsci. I'll mention Fred Hampton as he said. That's why we come up with answers that don't answer explanations, that don't explain, and you come up with conclusions that don't conclude. When you have members of the caucus that want to convince black people that we need to pay Kenya to invade Haiti, these are the things that they are advocating that we do. And how do I know that? Because that's the stuff they voted for. Again, you just got to look at the data, Dr. Montero. Dr Anthony Monteiro (48:33): Well, of course, and I think, well, we've been talking about these matters for a long time. In a sense, the majority of black people have caught up to where we have been, and they don't trust the Black Congressional Caucus. They might sometimes trust their individual Congress person, but not the caucus, not the Congress Dr Wilmer Leon (49:05): As a body, Dr Anthony Monteiro (49:06): As a body. That's what I'm saying. Right. And certainly the more they learn about their individual Congress person, the less they will trust them. And you are right. Black people have returned after the Obama years to our historic position of being anti-war and anti-military spending, and most in the Congressional Black Caucus are big military spenders. They are big spenders on aid to Ukraine and now to the genocide in Gaza. Well, some people say that the Jewish lobby or better the Israeli lobby in the United States controls the Congressional Black Caucus and many of the mayors, black mayors in the United States, for example, the one in New York and the one here in Philadelphia who are embarrassments given the historic peace attitude, anti-war attitude of black folk. Dr Wilmer Leon (50:20): So really quickly to that point, help me with what I perceive to be hypocrisy here. We get our shorts all in a bunch when Russia is tampering with our election and our hair gets set on fire. China is tampering with our election, but somehow the Israeli lobby can spend hundreds of millions of dollars buying votes and influencing electoral outcomes at the state and local level. I see that as being somewhat hypocritical. Dr. Montero, what Say you? Dr Anthony Monteiro (50:59): I agree with you, Dr. It's profoundly hypocritical, but isn't that what American politics has descended into where money talks? The Congress for the most part, is bought and paid for, and it is really a grotesque thing for we black people to look at black elected officials who overwhelmingly are elected because of the black voter, and we have to be for real about it. We didn't actually, as a people have the vote until 1965, and now the people who have benefited from the struggle for voting rights and benefited from black people voting in hope, that by putting black people in high places, some things can change. We are now looking at, as you say, a hypocritical group of opportunist who dance to the piper that pays the most. Dr Wilmer Leon (52:18): That's why I called it. I wrote a piece called The Dangers of Menstrual Diplomacy. Dr Anthony Monteiro (52:24): I saw that. Yes. Dr Wilmer Leon (52:25): Because it's basically a black face on white folks foolishness. Dr Anthony Monteiro (52:31): That's right. Dr Wilmer Leon (52:32): Really quickly shifting gears are what has happened with the resignation of Harvard's president, Charlene Gay, and I bring that up because she's one of a few that have lost their positions recently. Do you see this as an attack on free speech? Do you see this as an attack on intellectualism at the academic level? Dr Anthony Monteiro (53:06): Well, yes, but it did not start with the president of Harvard or the president of the University of Pennsylvania or of MIT or the faculty at Cornell University or wherever. The universities, especially the elite ones, had been captured by the billionaire class some time ago. If you were looking for freedom of speech, maybe the last place that you should have gone would've been to a university. The professoriate has literally been subdued, silenced. They know how to keep their mouth shut, and they know that if they speak out on issues, they shouldn't speak out on the Palestinian cause, that they will be fired and driven out of the university and driven into poverty. Now as to the first black president of Harvard University, she wrote an op-ed in the New York Times, and in it, she drew attention to the fact that what she was going through was much larger than her and much larger than Harvard University. (54:40) And it was a matter of speech and the rights of students to speak as well as the rights of faculty. But I cannot believe that she did not know what she was getting herself into when she was made the president of Harvard, she had been around Harvard for some years. She knew, for example, that Cornell West was denied tenure while she was there. She wasn't president, but she was in the administration. Cornell West was denied tenure because of his views on Palestine. You knew that. So why is it all right to reduce Cornell West and to diminish him as a scholar and a public intellectual? And nothing is said by most of the black faculty, if not all of the black faculty and administration at Harvard, but suddenly, when it happens to you, it's something that we should all rise up and be concerned about. No, Harvard had done away with effective free speech several decades ago. The American University is a scandal of corruption, of money controlling what goes on of professors and departments being bought. It's a scandal. So yes, she is right. It is an attack upon free speech. But has it been free speech any of the time that Professor Gay has been at Harvard? I don't think so, Dr Wilmer Leon (56:49): And I go back to the George W. Bush administration. When Dick Cheney was vice president, his wife Liz, was one of those crusaders against liberal thought in academia, and I can't remember whether it was the Heritage Foundation that she was part of, but she led a crusade across this country getting what they deemed to be progressive thinking academics removed from their institution. So this goes back quite a while. Dr Anthony Monteiro (57:32): Yeah, no, when you said his wife, I think that's his daughter, Dr Wilmer Leon (57:36): Liz. His daughter is Lynn. Dr Anthony Monteiro (57:39): Oh, oh, I'm sorry. Well, Dr Wilmer Leon (57:41): Either way. Either way. It's either Lynn or Liz. Dr Anthony Monteiro (57:44): Yeah, Lynn or Liz. Okay. Dr Wilmer Leon (57:46): One of the Dr Anthony Monteiro (57:46): Two. I recall that very vividly. I know I had a situation at Temple University where what I stood for and the speech that I was trying to defend was not acceptable. Dr Wilmer Leon (58:05): Lynn Cheney, you're right. It's Lynn Cheney. Dr Anthony Monteiro (58:08): Yeah. It was not acceptable to the head of the department, and so I was fired. So this is not new. I'm saying to those who are now saying, well, I'm a victim because it happened to me. Well, why were you silent when it was happening to other people? Dr Wilmer Leon (58:30): It happened to me too. Dr Anthony Monteiro (58:32): Yeah, it happened to you too at a historically black college to show you that it does not end at the color line. And black people have learned well from white people how to silence, freedom of speech. But yeah, the American University has to be remade. It is a corrupt enterprise. It is a billionaire's playground. Universities are more interested in gentrification and building up their endowments than they are with educating students educat or discovering new truths. I think there was a recent article in one of the major newspapers, the New York Times, Washington Post or somewhere that said that at Yale University, everybody is given an A one. It's less work for the professors. They don't have to grade papers and so on, and everybody walks away happy. And so we find at universities this transactional relationship between professors and students. Students say, I'm going into debt to get a degree at a university, and the professor work for me, and you must give me what I want because I'm paying for an A or high grade. (01:00:03) I read someone somewhere where Professor said that, well, I gave a student an A, and they came to him. The student came to him and said, well, why didn't you give me credit for that outside presentation I gave? He said, because we don't give a pluses. Well, you could have made an exception. In my case, it's just that bad. And professor Gay, I think there's the other question of her scholarship and whether she plagiarized, and I think the university has acknowledged, or the committee that was looking into it, acknowledge that in fact, plagiarism did occur, but let's keep it real. That's normal in the academy where careers and tenure are the most important thing. So a professor might write on a very obscure matter that is published in a relatively obscure journal, which claims to be peer review and use that obscure article, which may be plagiarized for tenure. (01:01:27) And so the question is, what is going on among elites? Let's be real. The president of Harvard is part of the elite class. Professor Gay, as was the case with the president of the University of Pennsylvania, got caught up in elite conflict having to do with the question of Israel and Zionism, and whether or not Jews are a protected group, who stand above society and whose interest have to be defended. Even if in defending the rights of Jews and Zionists, you violate the right to freedom of speech of students and professors. That's what they got caught up in and that's what brought them down. Dr Wilmer Leon (01:02:36): And by defending that, you also are defending genocide. Dr Anthony Monteiro (01:02:39): Yes. Oh, no question. Dr Wilmer Leon (01:02:41): You mentioned plagiarism. Well, Joe Biden has plagiarized. He became president, so that seems to be the order of the day. Professor, Dr. Anthony Montero, my brother, thank you so much for your time. I greatly, greatly appreciate you joining me today, Anthony Montero Dr Anthony Monteiro (01:03:06): And thank you and good luck with your podcast Will. Dr Wilmer Leon (01:03:09): Amen. With interviews with brothers like you, this is nothing but success. I got to thank you all so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Woman Leon. Stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, please follow and subscribe. Leave a review, share the show, follow us on social media. You can find all the links below in the show description. I'll see you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wier Leon. Have a good one. Remember, folks, that this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history, converge talk without analysis is just chatter. We don't chatter on connecting the dots. Peace. I'm out  

This week on Black and Published, Nikesha speaks with Dolen Perkins-Valdez, the New York Times bestselling author of  Take My Hand. The novel was awarded a 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work, Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association, and Fiction Award from Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Dolen, who is an Associate Professor in the MFA Program at American University in Washington, D.C.,  is widely considered a pre-eminent chronicler of American historical life. In our conversation, Dolen discusses why telling the hard truths of history in a way that is easy for readers to stomach is her gift. How her love of archival research lays the foundation for her work as a historical fiction novelist. And the reason she believes she doesn't get enough credit for the doors she opened in historical Black writing. Support the showFollow the Show: IG: @blkandpublished Twitter: @BLKandPublished Follow Me:IG: @nikesha_elise Twitter: @Nikesha_Elise Website: www.newwrites.com

You can find me and the show on social media by searching the handle @DrWilmerLeon on X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube. Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd All our episodes can be found at CTDpodcast.com.   TRANSCRIPT: Dr Wilmer Leon (00:13): Welcome to the Connecting the Dots podcast with Dr. Wilmer Leon. I am Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they occur in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which most events take place. During each episode of this podcast, my guests and I will have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between the current events and the broader historic context in which they occur. This will enable you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. On today's episode, we explore the presidential candidacy of Dr. Cornell West. If you go to Cornell West 2020 four.com, it opens with this brother, Cornell West is a living embodiment of the power of an independent mind forever reminding us that greatness is born of the courage to stand apart and speak one's truth. (01:13) To help me connect these dots, let's turn to my guest. He needs no introduction, but I'll say he is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer professor of philosophy and Christian practice at Union Theological Seminary. He's the former university professor at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard in three years and obtained his master's and PhD in philosophy at Princeton. He's the first black person to receive a PhD In more detail, let me say, he's written 20 books, edited 13 and has written numerous forwards as we'll talk about in. He's one a sacramental zone and affectionately known to many as Brother West, Dr. Cornell West. Welcome, and let's connect some dots. Dr Cornel West (01:59): I'm with you though, man. We putting smiles on our precious mama's faces. I know mom was there right there in the living room and in the kitchen when you got home and your precious mother had passed. But just think how blessed we are. I think it's very providential as well as significant that we could start this year together. Dr Wilmer Leon (02:20): In fact, I'm glad you mentioned our parents because what would your folks be thinking of their son in these efforts today? Dr Cornel West (02:30): Well, it's hard to say Mom and dad were unpredictable in terms of their judgment and highly predictable in terms of their deep, deep love though, brother, so that they would be loving me to death as they always did up until their death and they loved me now after death on their life. But I think it's hard to say they were such independent thinkers, you know what I mean? Dr Wilmer Leon (02:53): I do. I do know. Lemme put you another way then. What are the two or three most salient points or lessons that you carry forward that your parents instilled in you? Dr Cornel West (03:09): Oh, one is that you want to be in the world but not of it. So that you always recognize as standards bigger than you. You will always fall short of those standards, but never forget what they are. And those standards are always hope. And the greatest of them is love, love of God, love of neighbor, love of especially the least of these love, especially of poor and working people love especially of those friends from on called The Wretched Up the Earth. That's what I learned. West Household, you can see it, my brother Cliff, my sister, Cynthia and Cheryl, and you certainly can see it, Shiloh Baptist Church right on Ninth Avenue at Old Park Brother with Reverend Willie P. Cook and others. So those were the crucial things, not just the values in the abstract sense, but the virtues in the lived concrete sense of ways of being in the world, modes of existing, trying to be forces for good in the language of the great John Coltrane. (04:05) You see his various incarnation in terms of his faces on the albums here in the backdrop of my room. I think my dear wife Vanta for that and buying me this gift. It's a beautiful gift, but I think for them, the question becomes, are you being true to that calling? Are you being true to that vocation? Are you being true to that? Which tries to lure out of you the best who you are given the crack vessel that you are? And I take those insights and those lessons very, very seriously though, brother. So I wake up every morning, I say, Hey, crack vessel, that I am center, that I've always been. I'm going to be a force for good. I'm going to tell some truth. I'm going to bear some witness. I'm going to seek justice and I'm going to do it no matter what costs, no matter what burden, no matter what responsibility it entails, because that's what I'm here to do. And I'm going to do it with fun. Joy. I just finished the biography, brotherly Stone. Thank you. Wow. Letting me be myself. And he talks about Cynthia Robinson, you know, from Sacramento. Yes, beloved sister Anita Robinson. We went to high school together. He talked about Cynthia Robinson when he moved to Sacramento for a while, Sacramento inspirational choir. He had played Shiloh sometimes with Clarence Adams, Bobby Adams, and Brother Clarence. Dr Wilmer Leon (05:33): I didn't know that. Dr Cornel West (05:34): Oh yeah, yeah. I used to see Sylvester on the organ right there. Shiloh man. Dr Wilmer Leon (05:40): I did not. He's Dr Cornel West (05:41): From Vallejo. Dr Wilmer Leon (05:42): Yeah, I know he's from Vallejo, but I didn't know that he had spent time in Sacramento. Dr Cornel West (05:47): Oh Lord. Yes. Dr Wilmer Leon (05:48): It says on your site, even as a young child, you exhibited the remarkable qualities that would define your life's journey and path to the presidency. In the third grade, you fearlessly stood up to your teacher challenging her ideas and defining the conventional norms of your time. And that stands out to me because during the medal ceremony of the Olympics in 1968, Mexico City, as you recall, John Carlos and Tommy Smith raised their black glove fists during the playing of the national anthem. And on October 17th, the day after that, I went to school, raised my fist during the morning pledge of the allegiance, and I got kicked out of school. And I read that on your site and thought about the parallels of our lives. And here we sit today still challenging the dominant narrative and the ideas and defying the conventional norms of our time. And I think is a very good summary of your candidacy. Dr Cornel West (06:59): That's beautiful. But I think that's also an example though, brother, of how your precious mother and my precious mother and precious fathers as well tried to support into us examples of integrity, honesty, and decency. And when you have a flag that's waving, that's not signifying what it ought in terms of it's talking about liberty and justice for all, but you got lynching going on and you've got degradation, discrimination, segregation going on is just decent to have integrity, to have honesty is to call it into question. And when you do that, you're going to be in the world or not of it because you're going to be going against the grain. You're going to be going against what is popular in the name of what ought to have a certain kind of moral substance and spiritual content to it. And here that was how many years ago now? Man, that was 1968 is, Dr Wilmer Leon (08:01): Oh, that was Dr Cornel West (08:02): 50, 52 years. Yeah, that's 56 years. You see, I refuse to salute the flag. My great uncle had been lynched in Texas and they wrapped the flag around his body. So that's what I associated as a young brother. Now that to me, I don't put other people down for salute the flag because some people see that flag and they think of their husband or their uncle or their wife who was killed in the war and they loved, they got right to support their loved ones, and they were fighting for that flag. But that's what goes in their mind. But my mind is the flag wrapped around the body s sw in the southern breeze, that strange fruit that Billie Holiday sing about. So everybody has their right to respond. Same was true with Brother Colin. When Colin saw that flag, he thought all of these young black brothers and sisters being killed, the police, yeah, he gets down. We can understand that somebody else see the flag and they think of their uncle, a great uncle in Hiroshima who's fighting against Japanese fascism. Sure. Everybody's got their lens through which they view the world. We have to be open to that. But most importantly, we got to be true to ourselves. Dr Wilmer Leon (09:15): In talking about your candidacy, you announced your candidacy in the People's Party switched to the Green Party, and now you're running as what you call a truly, truly a people's campaign that is a movement rooted in truth, justice, and love. Why the changes? And where are we with your candidacy today? Dr Cornel West (09:39): Yes, back in June, June 5th, it was the People's party that came forward. It met with myself and Brother Chris Hedges, my dear brother, I have great respect for, great love for. And they were kind enough to make the invitation. When I accepted the invitation, I realized very quickly that there were going to be some very deep challenges. There's going to be some very deep problems there. Chris Hedges and Jill Stein and Jammu Barack and others asked me to meet with the Green Party people and to see whether there's a possibility. We met, we made the shift to the Green Party. We worked very closely for a good while, and I realized that the Green Party had so many different requirements in terms of internal debates with presidential candidates going to different states and state conventions and so forth. And I wanted to go directly to the people because I've been going directly to the folk. (10:33) And I realized that even though the Green Party had 17 states in regard to ballot access, that I could actually get 15 or 16 states rather quickly. And that's precisely what we're doing now. We already got Alaska, we're moving on to Utah by eyes of March 15th. We should have, we hope a good 15 states or so. I would've caught up with the Green Party. But I have a freedom to really not just be myself more fully, but also to go directly to the people rather than spending so much time on inter-party activities that the Green Party requires. And so a lot of people say, well, you got false starts. I say, no, no, I'm a jazz man. That's first take. That's the first take. Dr Wilmer Leon (11:23): Folks can go to your website, Cornell West 2020 four.com, click on the platform tab and they can see a list of general areas such as economic justice, worker justice, environmental justice, and a number of others. And then below each of those, there are the bullet points that articulate your positions on those issues. And I'd like to get to this point, this particular point, because I think it allows us to speak to a number of things that are impacting not only this country but the world, and that is the United States supporting funding and arming genocide in Gaza. How does an American administration, the Biden administration with the backing of Congress, and particularly the Congressional Blackhawk Caucus, which is supposed to be the conscious of the Congress, how can they back this play? Dr Cornel West (12:27): Yeah, that's a wonderful question though, brother. I think we have to first begin by situating my campaign as a moment in a movement that's rooted in a great tradition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Fannie Lou Haman, rabbi Heschel and Dorothy Day. And what they were about was first there's a moral starting point. You see that a precious Palestinian baby has exactly the same value as your baby and my baby, an Israeli baby, a Haitian baby, an Egyptian baby, a Guatemalan baby, but there's been almost 9,000 babies killed a 50 some days. We can see just the level of baity there. Now, every life, no matter what color agenda for me, has the same value. There's no doubt about that. But you start with on a moral premise, then you got to move to your social analysis. How could it be that the United States, the American Empire, enables not just this genocidal assault that's been going on, but how has it enabled the apartheid regime for so long of Israel vis-a-vis those occupied territories with precious Palestinians have been subjugated and degraded. (13:47) How has it facilitated ethnic cleansing where you're seeing now almost 2 million fellow Palestinians who are pushed out of their land? Well, the same thing happened in 1948 with 750,000 Palestinians. They called Arabs at the time were pushed out. So you start on a moral note, and I begin on a spiritual note, just as a Christian, you know what I mean, that there's certain principles that I'm not going to give up. And there's oppressed peoples no matter where they are, no matter, it can be in cashmere, they can be in Chad, they can be in the south side of Chicago. They could be white brothers and sisters in Kentucky. They could be Latinos in South la. Their lives have exactly the same value as the lives of the rich and wealthy and famous. And when you proceed in that way, you have a set of lens that you're looking at the world that's very different from any of the parties because you see both parties, Republicans and Democratic parties have been so tied to Israel in a critical, Israel's been proceeding with impunity for decades, not just since October 7th for decades. (14:57) They've been able to do and say anything they want. They've been able to get billions and billions of dollars from taxpayers' money to the United States with no accountability whatsoever. And when people try to impose some accountability, be it United Nations or be it progressive Jews, or be it Palestinians or Arabs or other people around the world, Israel acts as if they can still do what they want to do with no answerability and no responsibility. They just proceed and do what they want to do. You say, well, wait a minute. And we've reached the point now where, oh, my brother, you got the invoking of Amalek, the first Samuel 15, and the third verse, what does that say in the Old Testament for Christians and Hebrew scripture from Jewish brothers and sisters, he would to kill every man, every woman, every child, every ox, every sheep. Well, that's genocidal intent. (15:52) And then you got genocidal execution when you got over 22,000. And that's just a modest count because you got so many in the rubble that are not counted, and the 9,000 children is just off the chart. I mean, it's just unimaginable that that could happen to so many precious children. You say, no, what is going on? Well, then you come back to United States and you say, wait a minute. Now we've got a politics where the lobby that is primarily responsible for the money that goes from the US government to Israel is one of the most powerful lobbies, not just in America, but in the history of the country, in the history of the country that owing to the high civic participation rate of Jewish Americans. And we talk about Jewish Americans, you're never talking about a monolith or a homogeneous group. You're talking about a variety of different kinds of Jews because we've seen the Jewish young people and Jewish progressives are as critical of Israel as I am, Dr Wilmer Leon (16:57): Jewish voices for peace, Dr Cornel West (16:59): That Jewish voices for peace. If not now, you've got a whole host of them that have been quite courageous in that regard. So it's not a matter and must never be a matter of anti-Jewish hatred, anti-Jewish sentiment. It's hating occupation, domination, subjugation. In this case, it's Israeli subjugation, Israeli domination, Israeli occupation. Now, the sad thing is, Dr Wilmer Leon (17:27): But wait a minute. It's also understanding the difference between Zionism and Judaism. And as much as the dominant narrative wants to try to equate those two, they are not the same. One is a religious practice, and the other for the most part is a political ideology. Dr Cornel West (17:51): That's exactly right. I mean, what makes it difficult really is that you see Jewish brothers and sisters have been terrorized and traumatized and hated over 2,500 years with different attacks, assaults, pogroms, culminating in the show and the Holocaust with the gangster Hitler and the gangster Nazis and so forth. And they jump out of the burning buildings of Europe and they're looking for a place to go. Zionism is a 19th century movement of nationalism that's looking for a home for Jews, a nation state for Jews, and they land on somebody else's land. It's like the pilgrims landing in the new world and saying, there's no people here. Yes, there are. Now of course, in America, what did they say? There's no human beings. There's just buffaloes and Indians. Hey, wait a minute, Indians are as human as you Europeans, we Africans, anybody else? Well, that's part of the deep white supremacy and racism that's happening. (18:58) What else was happening with Zionism? But they told a lie and they said, we got land with no people. That's not true. You got 750, got almost 1000080% of the population don't act like they don't exist. Oh, in your mind, they might be non-entities, but in God's eyes, in our eyes, they're human just like you and just like me. And so you end up with this ideology that responds to this indescribably vicious treatment of Jews for 2,500 years in the middle of Europe. So-called civilized Europe. Now, of course, Belgium already killed 7,000 Africans in Bellevue, Congo in the Dr Wilmer Leon (19:39): Congo, right? Dr Cornel West (19:40): Not too many Europeans said a mumbling word. Turkey had already killed Armenians with genocidal attacks. Europeans didn't say a mumbling word. Italy had already invaded Ethiopia. Europe didn't say a mumbling word. So you can already see the hypocrisy there. But what makes it difficult in the United States is that our Jewish brothers and sisters who are thoroughgoing Zionists, they use the fact that Jews have been hated for so long as a fundamental foundation of what they do and that they think allows them to rationalize, hating Palestinians, terrorizing Palestinians, traumatizing Palestinians. I'm against traumatizing, hating, terrorizing anybody, anybody. If black folk were terrorizing white folk, I'm going to defend white folk. If Palestinians are terrorizing Jews, I'm going to defend Jews. If Jews are terrorizing Palestinians, I'm going to defend Palestinians. That's morality and spirituality. Now, we live in a moment Dr Wilmer Leon (20:54): And consistency Dr Cornel West (20:55): And a certain kind of moral consistency that you try to hold on now. And I know, man, we live in a moment of such overwhelming baity man, organized greed, institutionalized hatred, routinized, indifference toward the suffering of others, especially the weak. So it's just a matter of the strong just thinking and the rich thinking. They can act and do anything. They like to crush the weak. And what happens now in the Middle East, especially in this situation with Gaza, is that you have Nathan, Yahoo, and others who are using the most reactionary tradition in the history of Zionism, which comes out of Jabotinsky that says that there will be Jewish security only when there's either Jewish domination of Palestinians or Jewish annihilation of Palestinians. That's in the writings of Jabotinsky. Netanyahu's father was an assistant to Jabotinsky that is a deeply, deeply right wing of not outright fascist version of Zionism. Now, there's liberal versions of Zionism that's very different, but even those liberal versions still want to argue that Palestinians would never have equality in their state have equal status in their state. And so we have to be able to put that in historical context. We have the right kind of morality and spirituality for people to understand why people like myself will never ever, ever be silent when it comes to Israeli genocidal attacks on Palestinians when it comes to Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestinians. And when it comes to Israeli apartheid regime, that's why South Africa's taking him to the international court. Dr Wilmer Leon (22:45): How does a president Cornell West intervene, interject and change the trajectory of this ongoing genocide? Dr Cornel West (22:57): It means that the policy is qualitatively different than you get into Biden. It's clear that Biden has no concern for the most part with Palestinian suffering. No, Dr Wilmer Leon (23:07): He has said numerous times that he is a Zionist. Dr Cornel West (23:10): He's a Zionist. He doesn't talk about the numbers, he doesn't talk about the suffering. He doesn't talk about the unbelievable pain of Palestinians, not just now, but during the 40 some years he's been in office. You see? So from the very beginning, he makes it very, very clear that these Palestinian brothers and sisters don't count for me. Their lives don't really matter. Now, of course, we got memories of white supremacists in the United States. These black people don't count. These indigenous peoples don't count. They're just farter for our projects. We step on them like cockroaches. We crush them like they're creatures below. And you say, now, oh no, that's not my tradition. So as presidents especially shoot under a West administration, shoot, I'd be calling for the end of occupation, the end of the siege, a cease fire to sit down and come up with a way in which Jews and Palestinians can live together under conditions of equality, with equality under the law and equality in terms of assets to resources. So it's a qualitatively different way of looking at the world and proceeding in that part of the world. Dr Wilmer Leon (24:32): What about the most recent action of circumventing Congress and sending more arms, weaponry, and military resources to the genocide? What about how does a President Cornell West cut off the spigot of the funding? Dr Cornel West (24:55): Oh one, it is not just for me, just a matter of withdrawing aid and cutting off the spigot, but it's a matter of trying to get the leadership, Israeli leadership, Palestinian leadership, to sit down and come up with ways in which they can create a society in which they live together. And whatever financial support I provide is a financial support that would sustain that kind of egalitarian arrangement. There would not be a penny from a West administration for any apartheid regime, for any ethnic cleansing, and certainly not for any genocidal attack and assault on Palestinians or anybody else. Dr Wilmer Leon (25:40): So how do you negotiate with a Netanyahu who you just so accurately stated, his father was an advisor to Jinky who has compromised his own principles to go further, right, to formulate his government. And so with the Troches and all of those other genocidal maniacs, Dr Cornel West (26:11): That's right. Dr Wilmer Leon (26:13): How can you negotiate with someone who is sworn to the annihilation of an entire group of human beings? Dr Cornel West (26:24): Well, one, in any diplomatic process, you end up sitting down with people you disagree with. But you're absolutely right. It would not so much be a negotiation with the Nathan Yahu. It would be a teasing out of Israeli leadership that was open to egalitarian arrangement with Palestinians and teasing out the Palestinian leadership that's open to an egalitarian arrangement among Jews. So you really talking about trying to lure and to appeal to voices and figures and movements. The combatants for veterans, for example, that has Palestinians and Israelis working together, the Baim de meanies who are part of the Martin Luther King Jr tradition of struggling together Palestinians and Jews together, and even try to tease out some of the best of their labor movements, the trade union movements, Palestinian trade union movement, Israeli trade union movements where you do have some, not enough, but you got some overlap of people recognizing that Jews and Israelis can work together for something bigger than them. So you're right, it's not so much a matter of just negotiation, but it's a matter of withdrawal of funds. It's a matter of a certain kind of rejection. We've got to have some wholesale rejection of fascists. And that's true, not just as it relates to Israel and Nathan Yahoo, but that would be true for fascism in all of its various forms. It could be in Iran, it could be in Chad, it could be in Haiti, it could be anywhere. Fascism raises its ugly face. Dr Wilmer Leon (28:20): Moving this out to a slightly broader context, you have the United States through the US UN ambassador, Linda Thomas Greenfield vetoing the calls for a peace agreement in Gaza. Then you have the Ansara LA or the Houthis reaching a peace agreement or working, coming very, very close to a peace agreement with the Saudis and the United States intervening and saying, we will not accept that. We will not accept a peace agreement that we're going to label the Houthis as a terrorist organization, therefore Saudis will not be able to engage with the Houthis without incurring sanctions. Then you've got the conflict between Venezuela and Guyana, and they agree, I think in St. Croix, they come to an agreement and say, we're going to work on this peaceably. And then the United States gets Britain to send a warship off the coast of God. Point being, these are three within the last 10 days. These are three examples of entities in conflict agreeing to work for peace in the United States, injecting militarism into the negotiation. How does a President Cornell West put a stop to that? Dr Cornel West (29:53): One is my brother. We need exactly what you just did, which means you have to respect the people enough to tell them the truth. So a president also has to play a role of a teacher. See the large numbers of our fellow citizens, they don't really know the truth about the Middle East. They don't really know about the truth of Latin America. They don't really know about the truth of the ways in which the American Empire has been reshaping the whole world in its interest in image, both in Latin America for so long, when Latin America was viewed as a kind of a playground for America and all the various cos and Democratic elections overthrown by Dr Wilmer Leon (30:30): Chile, Argentina, Dr Cornel West (30:32): Chile, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Panama, Grenada. We can go on and on and on. When you look at how the US government has overthrown democratically elected governments when it was not in the interest of the corporate elite to accept those democratic elected democratic elections. But you have to just tell people the truth. But that in and of itself was a major move. That's a major move to tell people the truth. And then beyond that, to intervene and to act and you say, oh, now as president, based on the legacy of Martin King and Fannie Lou Hamer and others, and looking at the world through the lens of the least of these poor and working people, I'm going to be putting forward policies that strike you as so outside of the realm that you are used to because these two parties, Democrats and Republicans have been tied to big militarism abroad. Military adventurism abroad have been tied to overthrowing. Democratic regimes abroad have been tied to 57 cents for every dollar going to them. And oftentimes they get more than they request. But then there's austerity when it comes to education, when it comes to housing, when it comes to jobs with a living wage, when it comes to the healthcare and so forth. That's a very different way of looking at the world. I mean, the very idea of there being a US president who would be an anti-imperialist, and you see, I am a gut bucket. (32:19) And what I mean by that is that I want nations to be nations among nations. We do not need empires that try to get other nations to defer to their imperial dominance, to their imperial domination. The United States has 800 military units around the world over special operations in a hundred countries. China and Russia have hardly 35 or 40 combined. Why do we need 800 military units around the world? Why do we need a ship in every shore? Well, we got corporate interests, you got us geopolitical interests, and you've got elites in Washington who want to do what dominate the world. And that's precisely the thing that needs to be called into question. We can be a decent nation among nations. We can be a dignified nation among nations. We do not need to be an empire. Why? Because like the Roman Empire, like the British Empire, it's not only that they all dissolve, but they all have an arrogance and a hubris. (33:31) And his brother, Martin Luther King used to say, I can hear the God of the universe saying, I'll break your power if you keep crushing these poor people and acting as if you're doing in the name of liberty and equality, and you're really doing it in the name of your own greed, your own wealth and your own power. That's a great tradition, and we need to keep that tradition alive any way we can. I'm just trying to do it because the movement spills over into electoral politics. I'm going to be doing it till the day I die, and I've been doing it prior to being a candidate. Dr Wilmer Leon (34:06): So as you look at the development of the bricks, the new international economic organization that's Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and then I think they've just admitted about another seven countries into the bricks as both President Xi in China as well as President Putin of Russia, have been talking about moving from the unipolar or the unilateral where the United States is in control of everything to a multilateral dynamic. How does a president Cornell West deal with the development of the bricks? Dr Cornel West (34:45): Well, one, you see, I look at the multilateralism through the same lens. I look at the unilateralism, us unilateralism on the one hand and the multi-country multilateralism because you see the multilateralism is still a combination of elite. And many of the countries that you talked about have high levels of repression and domination in their countries. I look at the world through the lens of the poor and the working classes in their respective countries, and I want United States to be in solidarity with the poor and working classes in India, for example, I'm not impressed by Modi. I know Modi is a Trump-like figure. I know Modi is not concerned about the poor. He's not concerned about the dollars, he's not concerned about the working class in India. So even when he, at those bricks meetings, I know he's not speaking on behalf of the masses of Indians. (35:48) He's speaking on behalf of that very ugly Hindu nationalist movement that he's a part. And so even when I look at the bricks, I know that that is a sign that US empire and US power is waning, but it's not as if simply because they're outside of the United States, that they're not subject to the same criticism, the same standards as the United States itself is. They have their own elites. They have their own policies that do not speak to satisfying the needs of their own poor and their own working class or their own women, or those who are outside of the dominant religion. Look at the Muslims in India. I'm concerned about them. No Modi's a Hindu nationalist, very narrow one at that because there's many Hindus who oppose him as well. And the same would be true in the other countries as well, even South Africa, as you know, I have tremendous respect for the legacy of a Nelson Mandela or sister. (36:57) I had a chance to meet both of them when I was in South Africa. But the South African government today, it doesn't speak to the needs of poor and working class South Africans. I'll say that the brother Cyril, I have great respect for Brother Cyril, and I'm so glad he's taking Israel to the court, the International Court of Justice, no doubt about that. And I believe all the nations need to be called into question if they commit war crimes, Hamas itself commits war crimes. But those war crimes are not crimes of genocide. There are war crimes. They're wrong, they're unjust, but there's not an attempt to act as if they're trying to wipe out a people war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of genocide. Three different levels. And it's very important to always distinguish them so that when we talk about bricks, I still don't want us to in any way assume that just because you get an Indian face or a Brazilian face or an African face, that somehow they are concerned about the poor and working classes in their own respective nations. Most of them are not. Most of them are part of their own bourgeoisie. They're part of their own professional classes that look down and do not put the needs of poor and working people at the center of their government. And Nelson Mandela, for example, in some ways turning over in his grave, when you look at the situation of poor people in Soweto and what he was trying to do when he emerged out of that jail cell, Dr Wilmer Leon (38:36): Is there an attack on independent thought and a growing sense of anti-intellectualism in the United States? That we look at the rise of the attacks on social media sites. We look at the attacks on independent journalists, the recent resignation of former Harvard President, Claudine Gay, Harvard's first African-American president and a female, and particularly looking at the manner in which she was done away with accusing her of plagiarism. So not only removing her from her position as president, but doing it in a manner of attacking her very character as a scholar, which seems like they almost want to see to it that she never gets another job. And I in her life, is there an attack on intellectualism and you truly as an intellectual, speak to that, please? Dr Cornel West (39:38): Yeah. Well, one is that United States has always been a deeply anti-intellectual country. The business of America is business. America's always been highly suspicious of those voices. That's why they put a bounty on the head of Ida B. Wells. They put a bounty on the head of Frederick Douglass. That's why they murdered Martin Luther King and Malcolm. That's why they kept Paul Robeson under house arrest at 46 45 Walnut Street in Philadelphia. Why they put Du Bois under House of West A 31 grace place in Brooklyn. It's why Eugene Debbs had to run for president from the sale he ran on the Socialist Park. All he was doing was just giving speeches critical of the war. So America has always had a deep anti-intellectual impulse. It is certainly at work today and certainly is manifest today. And you're right. I'm glad you mentioned Sister Gay because I think it's a very sad situation. It shows what happens when you get a little small group of highly wealthy figures, billionaire figures in this case, primarily Jewish figures, who feel as if they can shape and reshape an institution by either withholding their monies or bringing power and pressure to bear to try to eliminate. Dear Sister Gay, they had these major buses with her picture on it right in front of Harvard Yard, national Disgrace. (41:09) They're organized in front of her house, and she got what she calls racial animus and these threats that she received. It's a very ugly and a vicious thing. But you know, there's an irony there, which is that, as you know, just a few years ago, I was actually pushed out of Harvard. Dr Wilmer Leon (41:30): That's why I'm asking you this Dr Cornel West (41:31): Question. pro-Palestinian stances. I was a faculty advisor to the Palestinian student Group, and they made it very clear that they were not going to have tenured faculties who had strong pro-Palestinian sensibilities, strong pro-Palestinian convictions. Now, at that time, sister Gay was head of the faculty. She was dean of the faculty, which is third in charge after the provost Larry be Kyle, Alan Garber, Claudine gay. And at that time, it was hard for her to come forward and support of me. No, and I didn't want to put her in a position. I know she was new. I know that she's betw and between, but the irony is that her silence at that time about those forces now comes back, or those same forces come back at her. Dr Wilmer Leon (42:34): And what's that adage? When they came for the Jews, I didn't say anything because I wasn't a Jew. When they came for the Christians, I didn't say anything because I wasn't a Christian, blah, blah, blah. By the time they got to me, wasn't nobody left to defend. Dr Cornel West (42:47): Nobody left. Now see, many of us still supported her because it's a matter of principle. It's a deep, deep racism belief because what is happening right now, as you know, when you look at Ackerman, you look at Bloom, you look at Summers, the folk who are very much behind these things, what they're saying is, is that all of the black folk at Harvard, for the most part, do not belong because they didn't get there based on merit and excellence. They got there because of diversity, equity, and inclusion. And we're calling all of that into question. You just read the recent piece by Brett Stevens, the New York Times. He's the same brother who says, anybody who calls it genocide must be antisemitic. And yet the next moment Nathan Yahu can call Hamas attack on precious Israelis genocidal. But that's not anti Palestinian. Oh, no, no. See, the double standards, the hypocrisy is so overwhelming that it's hard to even sit still. (43:47) And so now we are in a situation where it's not just the Harvards and University of Pennsylvanias and others, but you've got now these groups that say, we will dictate who your president is. We will dictate what the criteria is of who gangs, assets, and professorships. We will even dictate some of the content of your curriculum because we got all this money. We got our names on the buildings, we will withhold it. Now, it's not exclusively Jewish, but it is disproportionately Jewish because it has to do with the issue of antisemitism. And you and I, we fight antisemitism. We're not going to allow Jewish brothers and sisters to get degraded and demeaned, but we are not going to allow Palestinians to get degraded and demeaned, let alone black folk get degraded and demeaned. And it's very interesting. You see, when they come for us, you don't get a whole lot of defense and concern about free expression cancellation. The same groups that were against cancellation now, not just canceling a president, but forcing a president out. Dr Wilmer Leon (44:57): Where's the Congressional Black Caucus in defending her? Dr Cornel West (44:59): Oh, congressional Black Caucus is about as weak as pre-seed Kool-Aid. They ain't going to do nothing. So much of they money comes out of the big lobby, APEC and so forth. But also we could say naacp Sharpton n Urban League, so much of their money comes out of Jewish elites so that they got a noose around their neck. They can't say anything. They're not free. They're not free. Can you imagine John Coltrane showing up at the club and they got this scarf around his neck where he can't blow what he wants to blow. And they say, we want you to sound like you're playing Mozart. He said, yeah, I can play Mozart, but I feel like playing Love Supreme. I got to be free. We don't have enough free black folk. They locked in. They accommodated. They well adjusted the injustice Dr Wilmer Leon (46:02): On the domestic front as we move towards the 2024 election, and we see that Biden's numbers have, he's hustling backwards. He's around somewhere between 37 and 40% and on the wane, but one of the things that they're going to tout is omics. And what doesn't seem to get articulated in this discussion about omics is the financialized side of the economy is doing great. If you have a 401k, you are as happy as a clam. If you are invested in stock market, you are invested. You are just ecstatic at how well your portfolio has grown. But homelessness is up in America. Oh, yeah. Homelessness has reached a level in this country. The likes we have not seen in years. Dr Cornel West (46:58): That's right. Dr Wilmer Leon (46:58): So how, two things, one, how do the Democrats square that circle of omics doing so well, but I'll just say poverty as a overall blanket term is on the rise in America when in fact, the Democrats canceled the extra monies that were going into the Wix programs and the other child poverty programs during the Covid era, which I think came out of the Trump administration. And then what does a president Cornell West do? Dr Cornel West (47:32): Yes, again, you see, following the legacy of Brother Martin King, I'm an abolitionist when it comes to poverty. I want to abolish poverty. We could abolish poverty nearly overnight if we had a disinvestment from significant sums in the military and reinvestment in jobs with a living wage, basic income support, housing, and free healthcare for all. We could do that. We have spent $5.6 trillion for wars in 20 years. We could abolish poverty with a small percentage of that. Dr Wilmer Leon (48:17): And wait a minute, Dr Cornel West (48:18): And wait a minute. Dr Wilmer Leon (48:18): Wait a minute. Wars that we have started. Yes, we started a conflict in Afghanistan. Dr Cornel West (48:25): That's Dr Wilmer Leon (48:26): True. We started the Ukraine, Russian conflict. Dr Cornel West (48:29): Iraq, yes. Dr Wilmer Leon (48:30): We started, we went in and bombed Iraq. Dr Cornel West (48:33): That's right. Dr Wilmer Leon (48:34): We went in and assassinated Kaddafi. Dr Cornel West (48:37): That's Dr Wilmer Leon (48:37): True. And Kaddafi warned Barack Obama, don't mess with them. Folks in the West, you have no idea who you're dealing with, do not mess with them. And the United States, and we are right now trying our damnedest to start a fight with China. With Dr Cornel West (48:54): China, Dr Wilmer Leon (48:55): So the Lockheed Martins of the world and the Raytheons of the world. That's Dr Cornel West (48:58): Right. Dr Wilmer Leon (49:01): We are, it's a money laundering scheme. We're taking our hard earned tax dollars, starting fights around the world. And then Lockheed Martin comes in saying, oh, I got the solution. Let's sell 'em some more F 30 fives and let's sell 'em some more tomahawk cruise missiles at a million dollars a copy. Dr Cornel West (49:20): That's right. Dr Wilmer Leon (49:22): I interrupted you, sir. Dr Cornel West (49:23): No, but you are absolutely right. And you think about this though. You got 62% of our fellow citizens are living paycheck to paycheck. 50% of our fellow citizens have 2.6% of the wealth. 1% has 40% of the wealth, and of course, three individuals in the country have wealth equivalent to 50% of Americans. That's 160 million. 160 million has wealth equivalent to three individuals. Now, all the omics in the world, the world does not address that kind of grotesque wealth inequality. This is the kind of thing brother Bernie Sanders was rightly talking about. Now, Bernie hasn't been as strong as he ought on the Middle East, hasn't been as strong as ought on a number of different issues. But when it comes to Wall Street greed, when it comes to grotesque wealth inequality, he still hits the nail on the head. And if we're serious, I was just with my dear brother, pastor Q and others down at Skid Row here in la, because you got almost 40,000 precious brothers and sisters in Los Angeles had their own skid row, their own city, 40% of 'em black, 90% of the town is black. Dr Wilmer Leon (50:39): Sounds like Oakland to me. Dr Cornel West (50:41): Well, yeah, Oakland and I Dr Wilmer Leon (50:44): Sounds like Sacramento to me, Dr Cornel West (50:45): Sister. Sound like s though I live in Harlem, sound like Dr Wilmer Leon (50:50): Over there near Cal Expo in Sacramento, along the American River where all those encampments are. Dr Cornel West (50:56): That's exactly right. I mean, it is a crime and a shame that the richest nation in the history of the world and the history of the species still has that kind of poverty. And of course, it goes even beyond that because you've got fossil fuel companies with their greed leading toward ecological catastrophe and the calling and the question, the very possibility of life on the planet if we don't come to terms with the shift from fossil fuel to renewable and regenerative forms of energy. So that, I mean, part of this is the philosophical question, which is to say, how is it that we, human beings are just so downright wretched, what we used to talk about in Shiloh, the hounds of hell, greed, hatred, envy, resentment, fear all used and manipulate it to crush each other. That's so much the history of who we are as a species, but we're also wonderful. We have the capacity to be better, to think, to feel, to love, to organize, to be in solidarity, but those who are suffering to have empathy and compassion and those two sides, the wretchedness and the wonderfulness, Dr Wilmer Leon (52:16): The yin and the yang, Dr Cornel West (52:17): The yin and the yang, the ugliness and the beauty of a smile, a grin, the beauty of a friendship and a love, the beauty of a mama and a daddy. The beauty of people marching, fighting for something bigger than them. The beauty of being in solidarity with Palestinians and Gaza right now, given the indescribable realities that they have to deal with. But same is true with solidarity, with our brothers and sisters in Sudan, with brothers and sisters in India, brothers Jews in Russia, whoever it is who's catching hell, we ought to be open to our solidarity. Why? Because that fights against the greed and the hatred and the fear and the wretchedness manifest in who we are as a species. Dr Wilmer Leon (53:08): As I was trying to figure out how to close this conversation. Well, you know what, before I get to that, let me ask you this. As you are now not only talking to America, but talking to the world, what are the three salient very important things that you want, those that are listening to this podcast, watching this podcast, other than you being brilliant and being from Sacramento and Southland Park Drive like me, what is it that you want the audience to really understand about Dr. Cornell West? Dr Cornel West (53:51): I want them to understand that I come from a great people of black people who after being terrorized, traumatized, and hated for 400 years, have continually dished out love warriors, freedom fighters, joy shares, and wounded healers. And I'm just a small little wave in that grand ocean. And what sits at the center of that great tradition of black folk just like this, John Coltrane I got it could have been, could be Aretha, could be Luther Vandross, could be a whole host of others, could be a Phil Randolph early by Russian. Rusty is courage to think critically and quest for truth, the courage to act compassionately and in pursuing justice. And then also the courage to love and laugh. To laugh at yourself, to know that you a cracked vessel, to know that you try again, fell again and fell better. That nobody's a messiah, nobody's a savior. We're here to make the world just a little better than we found it. As Reverend Cook used to tell us, if the kingdom of God is within us, then everywhere we go, we ought to leave a little heaven behind. Dr Wilmer Leon (55:09): Amen, my brother. Amen. Let me, so I was trying to figure out how to end this conversation, and it dawned on me as I was going from idea to idea. I said, I've got a piece. This is from a book, knowledge, power, and Black Politics by Dr. Mack h Jones, who I think, Dr Cornel West (55:38): Oh, he's a giant. He's a giant, Dr Wilmer Leon (55:40): And I went to this. It's a collection of essays that he's written over the years and chapter 17, Cornell West, the insurgent black intellectual race matters. A critical comment, and this is part of what Mack writes. Cornell West has established himself as one of the leading political thinkers of our time, and it is fitting and appropriate that we pause and reflect on his ideas. When we engage in such an exchange of ideas, we continue a long enduring tradition within the black community that goes to the beginning of our sojourn on these shores in spite of what our detractors want to say. Principled dialogue and debate have always been a part of black cultural life in the United States, and it is alive and well even as we speak. I've been familiar with West Scholarship for quite some time. I've read and studied most of his published works and found them for the most part to be challenging, insightful, and often provocative. (56:53) I've used some of his essays in my classes with good results. They address issues and problems essential to our survival and evolution as a people, and he makes us think more deeply about them. Professor West is a decided asset to us as a people and to the human family in general. And so to that, I ask the audience, or I want to leave the audience with this, I'm not going to be presumptuous enough to try to tell people how they should vote or who they should vote for. I merely ask them to consider this. Do you want a former President Trump, a man who Senator Lindsey Graham called a race baiting, xenophobic bigot, and a jackass? Now, that's not me. That's Lindsey Graham. Or do you want a President Biden, who is in a state of cognitive decline, started a war in Ukraine, trying to start a war with China, is a self-proclaimed Zionist who is backing funding and supporting genocide? Or do you want to consider a man who the brilliant Dr. Mack h Jones says makes us think more deeply about these issues? He is a decided asset to us as a people and to the human family in general. My brother, Dr. Cornell West with that, what you got, man, wow. Dr Cornel West (58:33): You moved me very deeply though. Mac Jones was one of the great giants that he invited me to come to Prairie Review, and he was teaching there, and he and I talked together, wrestled together. I learned so much from him. I really just sat at his feet. He was just so, so kind. Adolf Reed worked with him as well, with Mack Jones there at Atlanta University, but for you to read his words at the beginning of 2024, you don't know what that means to me though, man, because I had such deep love and respect for Mack Jones, and he has such a, it is like Brother Ron at Howard Walters, and he has, he's the Dr Wilmer Leon (59:17): Reason I have a PhD in political science is because of him. Dr Cornel West (59:20): Is that right? Dr Wilmer Leon (59:21): Yeah. I studied under him. I went to Howard and studied on him in Howard. Dr Cornel West (59:24): Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh my God. Because both of those brothers, they were at the peak of academic achievement, but they had such a deep love for the people, the love for black people, a love for oppressed people, a love for people catching hell everywhere in the world, and to see that in the flesh in him meant so much to me, and for you to read those words just fires me up, brother. It fortifies me. I think I'm going run on and see what the end going be. Dr Wilmer Leon (59:59): Well, Dr. Cornell West 2024 candidate for President of the United States, I want to thank you for joining me today. I want to thank you for connecting the dots Dr Cornel West (01:00:11): As a young brother for me. This is 35 years ago, and I'm talking about Mac Jones. You see, it just meant the world to me, and I'd seen it before in other examples, but to be able to see it. Thank you, my brother. Love you. Respect your man, Dr Wilmer Leon (01:00:24): Man, and you know I love you folks. Thank you so much for listening to the Connecting the Dots podcast with me, Dr. Wi Leon, and stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, please follow and subscribe. Leave a review. Please share the show. Follow us on social media. You can find all the links below because remember that this is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge in the show description. Talk without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter on connecting the dots. See you again next time. Until then, I'm Dr. Wilmer Leon. Have a good one. Peace and blessings. I'm out

MARGARET WILKERSON SEXTON studied creative writing at Dartmouth College and law at UC Berkeley.  Margaret practiced as a lawyer until she made the decision to change careers and become an author. Her debut novel, A Kind of Freedom, was long-listed for the National Book Award and the Northern California Book Award, won the Crook's Corner Book Prize, and was the recipient of the First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association.  Margaret's new  novel, On the Rooftop, was a 2022 Reese's Book Club Pick.On The RooftopVivian's three daughters have been singing in harmony since before they could speak. Together they are The Salvations, the hottest jazz band in San Francisco. But Vivian wants more for her girls, and she won't stop until they've got their big break. When The Salvations receive a once-in-a-lifetime offer from a renowned talent manager, Vivian knows this is exactly what she's been praying for. But somewhere between the grind of endless rehearsals on the rooftop and the glamour of weekly gigs at the Champagne Supper Club, Ruth, Esther and Chloe grow up and start to imagine a life beyond their mother's reach. Dancing to the rhythm of Jazz Era San Fransisco, On the Rooftop is a stunning story of ambition, success, and three sisters determined to define their own future. Follow Margaret Wilkerson SextonPatreon - Support The Showpatreon.com/theconversationwithnadinemathesonpodcastThank you for joining me. Don't forget to subscribe, download and review.Pre-Order The Kill List (Inspector Henley - Book 3) Follow Me:www.nadinematheson.com Threads: @nadinematheson Facebook: nadinemathesonbooksInstagram: @queennadsTikTok: @writer_nadinemathesonBlueSky: @nadinematheson.bsky.social

Breonna Greene is a former OA intern and current sophomore at Penn State where she serves as the PR Chair for the Black Caucus and is on the e-board of the Multicultural Resource Center. A native of Penn Hills, PA, Breonna discusses her upbringing and sports background and why her taste in music and TV make her an old soul. Tune in to hear how she got her start with OA last summer, including some of her favorite memories (notably, a Chick-fil-A sauce incident) and her advice for future OA interns.

Wilmer Leon and Tom Porter discuss , as we exist in a political duopoly, what is the African American community to do when neither party is interested in representing its interests and the community does not seem willing to demand that they do.  The geopolitical landscape is changing from a unipolar world with the US as the unipolar hegemon to a multipolar world.  The US empire and neo-colonialism are struggling to survive.  This is a perfect moment in history for the African American community to coalesce with other oppressed peoples and implement change.   You can find me and the show on social media by searching the handle @DrWilmerLeon on X (Twitter), Instagram, and YouTube. Our Facebook page is www.facebook.com/Drwilmerleonctd All our episodes can be found at CTDpodcast.com. Transcript: Wilmer Leon (00:14): I'm Wilmer Leon. Here's the point. We have a tendency to view current events as though they occur in a vacuum, failing to understand the broader historical context in which most events take place. During each episode of this program, my guests and I will have probing, provocative, and in-depth discussions that connect the dots between current events and the broader historic context in which these events occur. This will enable you to better understand and analyze the events that impact the global village in which we live. What are we to do when neither party is interested in representing our interests and we don't seem to be willing to demand that they do? For insight into this, let's turn to my guest. He's a lifelong activist and scholar, former dean of the African-American Studies Department at Ohio University, and former director of the King Center in Atlanta, and former host of morning conversations with Tom Porter. He's Tom Porter. Tom, welcome, and let's connect some dots. Tom Porter (01:21): Good morning and thanks for having me Wiler. Wilmer Leon (01:23): So Tom, there's a lot going on right now. There are certain times or moments in history when you look back at some time later and you say, wow, that was a pivotal moment. That was the time that changed the world, the industrial revolution, the first man on the moon, the assassination of Dr. King. I believe that we're in one of those moments right now, the transformation from a unipolar to a multipolar world with the US no longer being the unipolar hegemon, the US Empire and Neocolonialism are struggling to survive. Tom, with that being understood, your assessment of what I've just stated and what are we to do? Tom Porter (02:12): It's an interesting question. At the same time that the world is, and rightly so focused on the events that are happening in the Middle East, not dealing with it in terms of a historical context, but at the same time that this is happening, there's a big meeting in China celebrating 10 years of the Belt Road Initiative where countries from all over the world are there. We are at a pivotal moment in history and what's happening in the Middle East. It is a reflection of that. It's a reflection of something historically that was wrong from the very, very, the state of Israel was founded in 1948, not in the biblical times of old. And not only was it founded in 1948, and the question you have to really ask yourself, why did they simply allow the Jews to stay in Europe? That's an interesting question. So now if you look at what is happening in the Middle East and if you deal with the results and not how the results were obtained, that is the state of Israel is a geopolitical construct. (03:37) I say that because it was put where it was put, not because it had something to do with the Bible or history, but because it was a strategic move on the part of the West to solve a problem of what to do with the Jews in Europe and also to solve a problem of establishing a geopolitical body in the Middle East to checkmate the Arabs. But while this is going on, the world has moved on. It's no longer a duopoly. It is no longer the West that's dominating. It's not only China, but it's various other organizations and formations around the world in Africa and Latin and Central America, and even in Asia, all pointing in one direction that is trying to find a way to solve the pressing problems of today, which cannot be solved unless you have a multipolar world. Wilmer Leon (04:48): You mentioned the 10th anniversary of China's Belt and Road initiative in the fact that a number of countries from all over the world came to China in order to convene, and you had President Putin spending three hours meeting with President Xi, and this is a rarity. When Putin and Lavrov traveled, foreign Secretary Lavrov traveled together. Lavrov goes to meet with Wangee, the Chinese foreign minister, and they're talking about all kinds of trade initiatives. They're talking about security initiatives, all of this taking place, and the United States isn't in the room. That, in my opinion, speaks volumes about how the world has changed. Tom Porter (05:46): Well, the West is no longer the center of the world. The West is no longer the dominant force in the world, politically, economically and actually militarily because you have around the world, as I said, different organizations and formations and the west has been left out. I mean, take Israel for years. Yesterday the United States representative of the UN vetoed a proposition that was put on the table by Brazil, vetoed it as it has in the past, and that is whenever the subject of Israel misdeeds would come up at the UN and it would pass overwhelmingly, but it was vetoed by the United States. The problem is now that the world is not paying any attention to that veto. But what is also interesting in all of this, Wilma, is the presence of blacks out front representing this country. It was a black woman who vetoed it, Linda Thomas Greenfield. (07:09) Yes, it was Lloyd Austin who went to Israel, went to Israel, and then there was this deputy who I'd never heard of, this black guy who popped up and they always put us out front. We were always out front, but there's never any reciprocity, and that's one of the problems in the African world, including here in this country, is the lack of an understanding of reciprocity because there's no agenda. The last time there was an agenda was the agenda at the Gary Convention. That was the last time. I mean, for instance, everybody wants us to support their position, but we never ask them, what is your position on reparations? Not reparations in some little city out in Illinois that decides that it's going to give a few houses away, but reparations in the same sense that Israel got reparations, the Jews got reparations, the Japanese got reparations. We don't even put it on the table. Where's the black caucus in this? Do they have a position on what's going on in the Middle East? Do they really see any relationship between what's going on in the Middle East and what's happening to us in this country? Gentrification is nothing more than a move against black people to take land in the fifties and sixties. (08:42) They call it urban renewal. We call it negro removal when they put expressways through every major black community in this country that they could, and therefore separating not only black people in terms of communities, but also limiting the possibility that we would be able to act as a force, a unified force. Wilmer Leon (09:07): Go ahead. Tom Porter (09:07): So we don't make the connections between what is happening in the Middle East and potentially what could happen to us in this country as we are marginalized more and more. It's not just gentrification, but it's also the reduction of the quality of education and our school systems. It's also the quality of healthcare. It's everything that we consider the misery index, Wilmer Leon (09:42): And it's all of those things, the misery index that we keep being told that we can't afford to ameliorate or we can't afford to solve, but somehow we can find a hundred billion dollars to send to Ukraine. We can now have a president in Joe Biden who wants to send not only money to Ukraine, but now also send more money to the settler colonial state known as Israel. And you even have Janet Yellen, the Secretary of the Treasury, saying, oh, we can fight wars. We can afford to fight wars on two fronts. That's not a problem at all. Well, if we can fight a war on two fronts, then why can't we fight the war on poverty? Why can't we fight the war on homelessness? Why can't we pay teachers in this country who are supposed to be educating the most significant resource in our culture, our children? Then why can't we afford to pay them more? Why can't we fight those fronts instead of printing money in order to send to Ukraine and in order to send to the settler colonial state known as Israel? Tom Porter (11:06): Exactly. And the problem that I'm having in all of this Wilma, is, and as I talk with my friends, I say the fundamental question that we must ask ourselves today. What does all of this mean for us? Should we have representatives at the Belt and Road Initiative in China? I visited Palestine and Lebanon years ago in a delegation that was led by Jack odell, and one of the things that I admired about the Palestinians, even though they were in a large ghetto, they were organized. They had their own Red Cross, they had their own school system. They acted as if they were in exile. We act as if we belong to something, which each and every day is saying to us that you could stay here, but under our conditions, and we have to really ask ourselves, should we? The UN has already said that the conditions of black people in this country is similar to crimes against humanity. Should this woman who represents the United States represent us at the un or should we have our own? We have to connect ourselves to the forces that are moving forward, not continue to stay and plead each and every day for the devil to accept us in hell. Wilmer Leon (12:47): What I hear you saying there is we should be having an international Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. We should, as Mrs. Hamer did at the Democrat Convention because Mississippi would not seat black, a black delegation that we should create our own and take that to the United Nations. Tom Porter (13:16): Exactly. We have to act as we really are. We are people who are really in exile, whether we believe it or not, there was never any intention to free the slaves and there was never any intention when they were freed to honor that freedom in any meaningful way was never a 40 acres in a mule. I mean, there was never, they had no plan for black people of African descent in this country beyond slavery any more than they had a plan to give the land back to the Native Americans. They never had any plan, and they still don't have a plan. And we have been continuing in each generation, our politics has been focused on trying to convince the people who run this country that we are worthy of being a part of this piece of SHIT. Rather than saying, Hey, I mean it's like critical race theory. (14:25) Why should we be concerned about whether white people want to know about black people? We should be concerned about knowing about ourselves, knowing what our history is, what our history has been. It should be taught in every place that black people gather in the churches and the neighborhood houses and what have you, but we shouldn't be concerned about that. But if people seeking freedom would not be concerned whether or not they're enemies who have been their enemies and will always be their enemy because of the nature of the capitalistic system, they can't solve the problem of black people or the native Americans of brown people, of working people, of poor people within the confines of capitalism. It is impossible. Wilmer Leon (15:14): You mentioned putting black faces on the front of all of this. If we shift the conversation, for example to Haiti, that would be a perfect example of what you're talking about. It's Hakeem Jeffries who has been traversing the Caribbean, trying to convince Caribbean countries to join the US invasion of Haiti. I believe Kamala Harris was a part, I know she's not part of the CBC, but she was at one point that she also was down at Racom trying to convince Caribbean countries to back the US invasion of Haiti. And now they finally convinced Kenya to get on board and send a thousand Kenyan. So-called policemen to Haiti, and fortunately the Kenyan Supreme Court has said not so fast they think that this move violates the Kenyan constitution. But I just use that as an example of how African-Americans are put on the face. I call it minstrel internationalism because it's black face on white folks foolishness Tom Porter (16:37): Without a doubt. They haven't really asked anybody black to comment on what is happening in the Middle East. Only to say that I support the state of Israel or the state of Israel has a rhythm. Wilmer Leon (16:52): Right to exist. Tom Porter (16:53): Right to exist and right to defend itself. Well, that's an interesting question because it goes back to 1948. It's not like this is an old situation, and it was a land grab that the people who settled and formed the state of Israel were not from that part of the world world. Their history was in Europe. And that's why I say it was a geopolitical construct. I mean, they considered putting it where Uganda is, and then they were going to put it in Latin America. So they considered a number of different places. So there's nothing sacrosanct about the state of Israel because the other thing is they say that Israel is the only democracy in the, if in fact Palestinians were allowed to vote in elections in Israel, Wilmer Leon (17:57): They'd be outnumbered. Tom Porter (17:59): Yeah, they'd be outnumbered. But again, we have to ask ourselves, what does this all mean for us? Biden's making these crazy statements. What does it mean to us? What does it mean to us that we give Israel more money than we give the whole continent of Africa every year, but we take more out of the continent of Africa every year. Wilmer Leon (18:32): Go ahead, finish that. Tom Porter (18:33): Then we take out of any other continent. Wilmer Leon (18:36): And to that point, that's one of the things that motivated Niger to throw the French out of Niger, which was we have some of the most precious resources in our country that are extracted from our country every year and somehow some way we're one of the poorest countries in the world. And they were saying, we have to change that dynamic. And what did they do took, and you know what? I think this is a great place to talk about the difference between flag independence and real freedom. Because for example, when you look at Palestine, they have a flag. When you look at Niger, they have a flag. When you look at so many of these former colonial states, which are now neo-colonial states, they got their independence, which means they got a flag, they got a government to a great degree, they control a lot of their politics, but what they don't control was their economies. And when you control your economy, you then have real freedom. And that's what a lot of these resistance movements now are about, is controlling their, what did Gil Scott Heron say? When I control your resources, I control your world. Tom Porter (20:10): That's right. It's interesting because I'm constantly having to remind my friends from the Caribbean that who like to talk about we have our own flag, and I have to constantly remind them that brother and sister, that's just another place where the slave ship stop. Don't get this stuff twisted. And it's very important that we understand that because they are using, do you notice that people who were black Americans now refer to themselves as black American of Jamaican descent, black Americans, of what they were comfortable in being black Americans. And now that they understand that the country is using them, the Black studies movement was undermined by bringing reactionary Africans and people from the Caribbean into leadership. You don't have to take my word for it, do a survey. So because you can come here and don't have a commitment to the struggle of black people in this country, and you leave the real struggle that's going on in your country. So we're beginning to see that not only, but just notice this from now on, people who now say that I'm a black American and of so-and-so, but when you were taking advantage of everything that we had fought for, you were happy in being a black American. Wilmer Leon (21:37): But here's a point that I haven't heard anybody mention, and that is the Balfour Agreement from 1917, which is where the whole agreement to establish a colony in Palestine was agreed to in London. And one of the provisions of the Balfour Declaration was the civil rights and protections of the indigenous Palestinians will not be assaulted. They will be protected. In fact, if you read the Balfour Declaration, Israel isn't mentioned. All it talks about is a homeland for Jewish people in Palestine with a capital P. Tom Porter (22:33): That's interesting. But see, there you go, raising those vicious truths, Wilmer Leon (22:39): Connecting the dots, Tom Porter (22:43): Which is really so important that we understand, as Cabral would say, connecting the struggles that we understand the interrelatedness of the world in which we live, in which China talks about bringing the world together to solve pressing problems, Wilmer Leon (23:01): As does Russia, Tom Porter (23:03): Right? The West, basically everything is a matter of national security. They're motivated. The new justification for every dirty deeded that they want to do is it's a matter of national security. If black people really begin to push hard, they're going to say that it's a matter of national security that we have to deal with. Not that the issue that they're raising is not important. They're not even talking about unifying the world even to solve the problem of climate. They're not talking about peace. They're talking about war, strategic interests and what have you. They're not even discussing building a better world, because if they talked about building a better world, they would have to change the system. And I mean something as simple as trying to solve the climate problem. Well, you could always say that by so-and-so and so-and-So we're going to eliminate the use of automobiles and have more public transportation more. I mean, you can go some places in this country, like my state of Ohio, if you don't have a car, you can't get around. There's no rail system. I mean, one of the things about the east coast, you can go to Philly, you can go to New York, or you get in the Midwest, it gets tricky. Wilmer Leon (24:40): You can go to Europe and never need a car with trains and buses and subway systems. You can go to Europe and never need a driver's license. Tom Porter (24:54): It's a mess, I tell you. Wilmer Leon (24:56): But you know, I'm glad that you brought up war versus solving problems because going back to the meeting that recently took place in China, while that meeting was taking place in China and they were cutting economic deals, they were cutting development deals, they were talking about how to make the world safer and improve the world. Joe Biden was in the Middle East fanning the flames of war, encouraging Netanyahu to invade Gaza, telling him, I've got your back. Go ahead and go on in. And I found it ironic that a couple of weeks ago, maybe a month or so ago, we were looking forward to the Saudis signing a deal, an agreement to recognize the colony known as Israel. And then once Hamas went in and sent those missiles into the colony, the settler colony, Saudi Arabia said, no, that's probably not a good idea right now we need to sit back and reevaluate all of this. Tony Blinken goes to Saudi Arabia and Mohammed bin Salman makes him wait damn near an entire day before MBS sits down with Blinken sending a very clear message. The dynamic is changing Tom Porter (26:45): Because what the Arab nations have to deal with Wilmer Leon (26:50): Are the Arab people, Tom Porter (26:51): The Arab people, the Arab streets, and you got mostly all over the world. The population is getting younger and younger in Africa, in the Middle East, in Asia. It's getting young and younger, and they definitely want a better world, a world free from war. And what Biden and blinking and these people are all selling more war. Why would you send more military weapons to a country that's already just overburdened with weapons? And the thing that they don't mention in any of these discussions is that Israel has nuclear weapons that's always had them. And in contrast to when South Africa gained this political independence, the one thing that they had agreed to was to emulate their nuclear weapons. South Africa had nuclear weapons under apartheid, and one of their leading, if not leading most important trading partner was Israel. Was Israel. When people say Israel is an apartheid state, it has always supported apartheid. So that's not really, but a small step from supporting apartheid someplace else and instituting the same practices in your country. And Biden goes without any understanding, without any mentioning of the apartheid nature of Israel or in mentioning in a real meaningful, substantive sense, freedom, justice, inequality for the Palestinians. He didn't even mention the two state solution, I don't think. Wilmer Leon (28:47): No. What he did mention that he did in his last speech, he did utter the words to state solution. But what he did not do as he called for peace, he never talked about equality for the Palestinians. And he talked about democracy, but he never spoke about democracy for the Palestinians. Because if you talk, people need to ask themselves this question, what does it mean when Netanyahu or Ben or Mulch talks about an Israeli state? Nobody asks, what does that mean? And it's important for me to say right here, this is not an antisemitic conversation. This has absolutely nothing to do with Jews because this has everything to do with Zionism. And it's important for people to understand. Not all Jews are Zionists, and not all Zionists are Jews. So this conversation has nothing to do with antisemitism. It has everything to do with freedom and justice, not only for the Palestinians, because it has everything to do with freedom and justice for the world. Because if you solve that problem of the settler colonial state and the genocide that's being exercised in the settler colonial state, you can solve a lot of other problems at the same time. Tom Porter (30:40): Well, Israel will never be safe within its borders until it deals fairly with the Palestinians. I mean, you can't just, as Fanon would say, we rebel because we can't breathe. We rebel because we can't breathe. You have 2 million people pushed together in what is nothing but a ghetto. And then you're taking more and more of that each day. You're shooting more and more of them each day. We have to get beyond this notion that if we criticize Israel or if we criticize some behavior of some members of the Jewish community, that we will be accused of antisemitism. (31:29) We have to get beyond that. I mean, clearly they're going to anything that you say that is not in line with what APAC or one of those other organizations, you're antisemite. And so if you go for that, you will never say anything, even if it's in your interest. It's not in Hakeem Jeffries interest to be talking about, we got your back, Israel. They don't have your back. Where's the reciprocity? It's not in the interest of this black woman up in the UN doing the bidding of the United States by vetoing, by doing what the United States has always done. It is not in our interest. It is not an interest of black people. And you can't say that I'm doing my job because you can always leave your job. I mean, if you are doing something that's not in your interest, you're crazy. Wilmer Leon (32:30): You mentioned a world free from war, and I want to just reiterate the point that at that economic in China, they weren't talking about war. They were talking about peace. But what does Gil Scott Heron say? Ask them what they're fighting for and they'll never tell you the economics of war because you were asking about why is the United States sending more weapons into the region? The reason is Lockheed Martin makes a lot of money when they do Raytheon, which by the way, our Secretary of Defense sat on the board of makes a lot of money when they do. That's why these cluster munitions are being sent into Ukraine. Why? Because they've been sitting on the shelf for years because they've been banned internationally. They want to clear their basements and their shelves, say again, Tom Porter (33:34): Their inventory. Wilmer Leon (33:35): They want to clear their inventory why? So they can get contracts for new weapons. That's what a lot of this is all about. And because sending more weapons into Ukraine at this stage of the game isn't going to change the dynamics on the battlefield. That war is over. It's done. The only question now to answer is how much longer does the United States want to push Ukraine to continue to take this weapon? That's the only question. Tom Porter (34:07): And the fact is sitting, all these are matters into the Middle East, these ships and what have you. It's just a show and supporting the military industrial complex because the United States is not going to get involved in a war in a Middle East because it will inflame the whole Middle East and the state of Israel will cease to exist if that happens. So I mean, it is bs, but there's an old saying that capitalism can only grow under war, and socialism can only grow, can grow only in peace. And so the Chinese know that if we can build a better mousetrap, and we can't do that if we just trying to build up an army, what have you, we have an army, what have you, but we don't want to get in any kind of war at all. We're not going to get sucked into something. With Taiwan, we played a long game. The Taiwanese are Chinese people, and there's a difference between the government and people. So capitalism, the history of capitalism has been, war has been plundering, has been rape. That's the history of capitalism. It was founded Wilmer Leon (35:27): Markets and resources, markets, resources and labor. That's Tom Porter (35:34): We were both the market and the labor. Wilmer Leon (35:36): We, well, in fact, many will argue that that's one of the reasons why they had to end enslavement in this country was because they needed those enslaved individuals as customers. Tom Porter (35:52): That's interesting because that is basically what we are even in the country days, is consumers. (36:01) Consumers. And if we would stop, my godson has a book, the Myth of Black Buying Power, which is true. But the other side of that is that the strength that we do have is to withdraw participation in the game of capitalism except where necessary. That is real power. The guy who on the bus in Montgomery, he never quit lacking blacks, never quit discriminating against blacks in his mind. But he had to decide whether or not he was going to have a bus company or not, and he just held his nose and said, they can ride anywhere they want to ride. Wilmer Leon (36:48): Which is one of the things I always, and you were much closer to that than I was, than I ever could have been. I always felt that one of the mistakes that we made early in that game was getting back on the bus. Once we decided to not ride the bus. We should have sent the bus company into bankruptcy. Tom Porter (37:11): Right. And started our own. Wilmer Leon (37:14): Exactly. Exactly. Tom Porter (37:17): I mean, the history of black people in this country is that when we did our own, we had more power and greatest strength and greater community. You take the, I remember growing up with the Negro Leagues, it was nothing like it. And who cared about what Babe Ruth or somebody else was doing? Wilmer Leon (37:44): We had Hank Aaron, right? We had Josh Gibson. Tom Porter (37:47): The whole myth that black quarterbacks didn't have whatever it took to be quarterbacks, whatever were quarterbacks in every black high school to every black college in the country. They just wasn't playing in the NFL. Wilmer Leon (38:00): And look at the NFL today, Tom Porter (38:02): Right? And that is why the Negro Leagues, and that's a whole nother discussion about Jackie Robinson, not him personally, but the integrating of baseball had absolutely nothing to do, but fairness of being right by black people. It had to do with the fact that more people were going to see black baseball than was going to see white baseball. And whenever black baseball and white baseball meant black Wilmer Leon (38:33): Baseball, baseball won. Tom Porter (38:37): The same is true with the A, B, A and the NBA. More people were going to watch Dr. J and Artist Gilmore, they were going to watch the NBA. So we say we got to merge it. And it's so much that in America, it's like the difference between jazz and black music. Anybody can play jazz, but everybody can't play Wilmer Leon (38:59): Black music. Can't play black music. Well, it's interesting that you brought up the ABA and the NBA and comparing that to the integration of baseball, because when they integrated baseball, they didn't bring the black teams into Major League baseball. No, they did not. They brought the black players because if you bring the black teams, you have to bring black ownership. And I think it was Queen Mother Moore. And again, you may know that, you probably know that history a whole lot better than me, but I thought it was Queen Mother Moore in New York that kept advocating for don't take the players out of the Negro Leagues, integrate the teams. But when they went to the A, b, A and the NBA, the ABA was still, that was white ownership in the A, B, A. It was white ownership in the NBA. So what did they do with the A, B, A? They integrated players and teams instead of just players. Because if they had done the same thing with basketball that they did with baseball, a lot of those A teams would've folded. Tom Porter (40:08): You're absolutely right. You're absolutely right. So same, we see the same thing playing out today, and they give us Jay-Z and Queen B give us Obama and Michelle. They give us all of these things. And at the same time that the life for the majority of black people in this country is getting worse because it's good that magic decides to give some black kid a scholarship, but that's not the same as quality education for all black kids. That's like a lottery. You get lucky if Magic knows you or jz. JZ gets to do the Super Bowl a halftime at the Super Bowl, but that doesn't mean anything to these black kids who are out in the street, who can't go to the Super Bowl, can't go to a local NFL game, Wilmer Leon (41:17): May not have a television in their home to watch the Super Bowl. Tom Porter (41:21): It doesn't really mean anything. And so this kind of tokenism and we get caught up in it. I mean, right now we're kind of caught up in what's that? Will Smith and Jada? Jada Ja Wilmer Leon (41:34): Pinkett. Tom Porter (41:34): I don't know what it's all about, and I don't really care because it's really not that important. It just really isn't that important. So we have to be very, very, Wilmer Leon (41:44): Or the discussion about Tyler Perry and what Tyler Perry is doing and how great it is for black people, even though he has a non-union organization in Atlanta, and we know what unions did to help create the black middle class. He made a lot of his money playing off of stereotypes of black people. Tom Porter (42:08): He still, I mean, I think about a week ago I saw one of his movies, it was late at night. I turned on a movie. It was why I got Married or something. And it's basically black people playing white people in black face. That's basically what it is. I mean, the kind of issues that they have and the kind of jobs that they have Wilmer Leon (42:31): And the responses and solutions that are provided are not ours. In fact, I remember Barack is saying They playing you better than you. Tom Porter (42:42): No question. Wilmer Leon (42:45): So here's the question, Tom, what are we to do? We're looking at 2024 right now. We're looking at Trump and Biden don't know if Trump's going to get there because he may wind up in jail. Don't know if Biden's going to get there. He doesn't really know where he is. So given that right now, that's what we have. They're talking about Robert Kennedy now has declared he's going to run as an independent. Dr. West has left the Green Party and he's running as an independent. So to those that are watching and listening right now, Tom, what are we to do in a duopoly where neither party is concerned about us and we don't seem to be concerned about demanding that they are. Tom Porter (43:46): One of the reasons why they had to derail Jesse's campaign had and the Democrats derailed his campaign and led by a segment of the Jewish community. People forget that when Jesse announced that he was running for president and the convention center in Washington dc, the Jewish Defense League interrupted his announcement. And everywhere Jesse went in those early days, and in those early days, he called it the road team. It was myself, Jesse, and Florence Tate, the press secretary. We were traveling from city to city, and the JDL was harassing us at every place that we went. And it was because of the nation of Islam providing us security of security that they backed off. I can remember our first meeting in New York with a Jewish community, Jewish leaders in New York. Percy Sutton met us backstage with a Yama Corps in his head explaining to us how we had to deal with how we had to relate with Jews. (45:09) So the Jaime thing, they never heard. Jaime and Jesse never used Jaime in a negative derogative way. I mean, the Jewish community would tell you, New York is theirs, so they don't have a problem. Ask Chuck Schumer, right? So they didn't have a problem with that. Ask Gregory Meeks. But the base of the Democratic Party was labor and the black community labor split. A lot of labor went for Donald Trump. Trump. Some went for Biden. The black community is the only community that has remained loyal to the Democratic Party. The Democratic party. There's nothing on the agenda that speaks to any concrete solution to what black people need and deserve nothing at all. So my position is I'm not going to focus on the less of two evils. That's evil. Yeah, evil is evil. And that's been going on for a very long time. And we've come up short. (46:30) We came up short with Obama. We came up short with Clinton. We came up with both of the bushes. We keep coming up short. The only person who sincerely attempted to address the issues of black people was Jimmy Carter. And of course it got him in trouble. So we have to begin to think it's good to run as an independent, and I'm glad to see Cornell West through that, but he does not have the base and the understanding and the clarity that Jesse had in the notion of a rainbow coalition and the Rainbow Coalition. We used to call it the domestic third world in the sixties, the unity of black, brown and yellow people and whoever else wanted to you because that's where the strength is. And so unless Cornell West could pull it off and he can't, but we must independently, we must have an agenda that says, if you want our vote, this is what we're going to do. (47:35) And if you're not willing to do this, then we're not voting for you because you're going to come up, which we're going to come up with snake eyes anyhow. Because when you get in, as Biden has done, he does a lot of symbolic stuff and he's got some symbolic clowns around him, Clyburn Sharp, Al, and this group and all the people. I mean, there's just some interesting stuff that's happening and we're getting left out of it. Nobody asks us what we think about any of these issues, how King Jeffries can speak about the state of Israel, but he can't speak about reparations. I mean, what good is he to us if he's not carrying our water? I mean, what good is Lloyd Austin if he's Secretary of Defense Wilmer Leon (48:31): And not defending us? Tom Porter (48:32): That's right. And all of these so that if they're not doing that and we have to call 'em out, we have to call out the Black Caucus. If you say you represent us, this is what we want you to do. We'd be better off without you. Wilmer Leon (48:48): And in the state of things today. In fact, I'm glad you mentioned the Black Caucus, because I've said for a very long time that when you look at the original, I think it was 13, when you look at the original Black Caucus and you look at where they came from, they came out of the struggle. They came out of the community and they came out of organizations and organic, many of them organic organizations within the community we're now a couple of generations removed from that. And I don't think that it's an accident that they are now less progressive, less effective than the original group that was known as the Conscience, conscience of the Congress Tom Porter (49:42): And less connected to the community because they're not funded by the community. They are funded by outside interests, and they no longer see that they have to represent us. They don't go home to their communities. You don't hear anything from, I don't know any members of the black community, somebody, I mean Meeks, I don't know anything about Black Caucus. Yeah, black Caucus. I don't even know them anymore. I used to know all of them. I used to participate, but it's nothing to participate in now. And we've got to have a whole new thinking that's in line with where the world is going, not where the world has been. So that we need to have both a domestic and international policy. We need to be connected with the Belt and Road initiative. I'm not talking about just black people in this country, and there are some African countries that are connected. Wilmer Leon (50:49): A lot of them are. Tom Porter (50:52): We've got to rethink what does Pan-Africanism mean today? Because it is still important. I mean, we've only been in this country a short while, so I mean, it ain't like we've been here for a long time. So as Africa is beginning to emerge, that we must emerge with it. We must have a new way of thinking about Pan Africans and what does it mean? And the Chinese are trying bit by bit to reorganize Ong and the African, Asian and Latin American conferences that used to take place in this country. I mean in the world, we have to rethink all of this, but we have to also in rethinking that realize that we need these formations in today's world. Wilmer Leon (51:46): We need these formations in today's world. And you talk about organizing, and a lot of people listening to this might say, well, what do you mean? Well, when you look at, for example, the L-G-B-T-Q community, they organized, they demanded, they got a president to come out, an African-American president to come out and support same-sex marriage. You look at the women's movement and they organized. They demanded, and they got an African-American president who very proudly and rightfully says, the first piece of legislation that I signed was the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. And now you have folks that'll say, well, why is the African-American community complaining when there are African-American members of the L-G-B-T-Q community, there are black women that benefited from the Lily led better Fair Pay Act. There's a difference between being an indirect beneficiary of a policy. There's a difference between being an indirect beneficiary of a policy and being a direct beneficiary of a policy. Tom Porter (53:04): Well, as I say, I believe in reciprocity. And if you come to me, and I've experienced this before in the past, people asking me to support something, I said, where do you stand on the issues that affect black people? Don't come to me and say that our struggles are similar. I mean, I don't need to tell me that your struggle is similar to mine. I need you to tell me where you stand on those issues that impact me. When Kamala Harris was in Africa recently, the complaint of the Africans is that she spent more time trying to convince them why they should be involved with the LG community. I can never say that, right? Too many letters, but they complained that that's all she was talking about, the Africans. But where does this community stand? Wilmer Leon (54:03): Lemme just quickly interject that in that issue of L-G-B-T-Q on the continent, that issue was not an indigenous issue or an organic issue to countries on the continent. That issue was brought there by white evangelicals Tom Porter (54:26): Who Wilmer Leon (54:26): Went there and raised that and presented that as something that mattered in countries that didn't give a damn about it. Tom Porter (54:39): Again, as I say, we got to have a clear agenda, and it's got to be rooted in reciprocity, and it's got to be an agenda that impacts African people wherever they are. And because if you don't think about it in a large sense, what you'll get is what's happening to reparations. I mean, I think it's Evanston, Illinois, which has for some reason, they of doing something with reparations, and now they become a leader in the reparations movement. And then we have to watch these organizations in the black community because people are leading organizations today who 20 years ago were anti-socialist, were anti-communist, Ron Daniels and your mentor, I would say your mentor, but Ron Walters, they were part of expelling Ami Baraka from the Black Political Movement because he was a socialist. And yesterday Ron Daniel's organization was in Grenada supporting the anniversary of Maurice Bishop's movement. But 20 years ago, these people were on the opposite side. It's interesting that the MacArthur Foundation gave Ron Daniels $500,000. I don't know what for, but I know a leopard doesn't change its spots either. So they're bringing all of these people back. Al Sharpton, who used to be a snitch. How do you decide that you're not going to be a snitch? You go in and tell the people you were snitching to, I'm not going to do it anymore. (56:29) But these people, they have to justify. How do you come from that to where you presenting yourself as a leader? After Dr. King and all of the great speakers we have, it's easy for you to become a speaker. You can just plagiarize turn around Dr. King of Malcolm and what have you. So it's not Mr. Say, Mr. Do and what have you been doing in the past? So we got to take a look at the leadership and not be afraid to reject them. I think Barack Obama and his wife looked good. They were good representation of how middle and upper class blacks should look. Wilmer Leon (57:19): But what did they do Tom Porter (57:21): Right? Tom Wilmer Leon (57:22): Porter, I got to thank you as always, my brother. Thank you so much for joining me today. Big shout out to my producer, melody McKinley. Thank you so much, folks for joining Connecting the Dots podcast. I'm Dr. Wimer Leon. This is where the analysis of politics, culture, and history converge. And remember, talk without analysis is just chatter, and we don't chatter on connecting the dots. Stay tuned for new episodes every week. Also, please follow and subscribe. Leave a review, share my show, follow me on social media. You can find all the links on the show in the show description. I'll see you next time. Until then, treat each day like it's your last because one day you'll be right. I'm Dr. Wilmer Leon. Peace and Blessings. I'm out

The Western and Southern professional tennis tournament says no to Charlotte. Another piece of the Eastland Yards development is approved, and the Black Political Caucus is on board with CMS school bonds. Those stories and more with guest host Erik Spanberg from the Charlotte Business Journal, on this week's Local News Roundup.

It's that time of the year again: School is back in session, including for students working toward their master's degrees in library and information science. In Episode 86, Call Number looks at what's new in library school. First, American Libraries Associate Editor and Call Number host Diana Panuncial explores iBlackCaucus, a student organization formed by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA). She chats with Ana Ndumu, assistant professor in the College of Information Studies at University of Maryland in College Park; Shauntee Burns-Simpson, associate director at the Center for Educators and Schools at New York Public Library and immediate past president of BCALA; and Marlena Okechukwu, iBlackCaucus fellow and recent MLIS graduate who is now outreach coordinator at Hennepin County Law Library in Minneapolis. They discuss iBlackCaucus's mission of fostering camaraderie and creating mentorship in the field. Then, Panuncial learns more about the master's in library and information science and social work dual degree program at Dominican University in River Forest, Illinois. She speaks with Peggy Ryan, director of Dominican University's School of Social Work's field education office; Don Hamerly, director of Dominican's School of Information Studies; and Molly Layton, current student in the program. They discuss the overlap between these two disciplines and why it's needed in library school.

TOPIC: Congressional black caucus, TJ UK: "women's nature is clear to me now", MARQUEL GA: "question about you debating pastors", Domestic disturbance body cam footage, DIANTE FL: "thank you JLP, update on my progress", SUPERCHATS

A Response to Book Banning Born in Canada, Zetta Elliott moved to the US in 1994 to pursue her PhD in American Studies at NYU. She is the author of over thirty books for young readers, including the award-winning picture books Bird and Melena's Jubilee. Dragons in a Bag, a middle-grade fantasy novel, was named an American Library Association Notable Children's Book and was selected for the 2021 Global Read Aloud. Her poetry has been published in several anthologies, including Show Us Your Papers, We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices, and New Daughters of Africa; her young adult poetry collection, Say Her Name, was named a 2020 “Best of the Best” title by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was nominated for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction Award. Her picture book, A Place Inside of Me, was named an ALA Notable Book and a Notable Poetry Book by the National Council of Teachers of English. Elliott advocates for greater diversity and equity in children's literature; her essays have appeared in Blavity, The Huffington Post, and Publishers Weekly. She currently lives in Chicago, IL.

Nightmare Island Twelve year-old Serenity Noah has never told anyone about her recurring nightmares -- the haunting images of silver butterflies whose flapping wings drive away all sound, leaving only suffocating silence in their wake. Her parents already favor her "perfect" younger brother, Peace, and she doesn't want to be seen as the "problem" child. Instead, Serenity's found a productive way to channel her fears: creating a horror movie as scary as her nightmares.When Peace suddenly becomes afraid of the dark and refuses to sleep alone, their parents take him away for "treatment" on Duppy Island. Serenity has a very bad feeling about the mysterious island and the facility's creepy leader, Dr. Whisper. And when she sees a silver butterfly from her nightmares in the forbidden forest she realizes that something is seriously, dangerously awry.But nothing could've prepared Serenity for the truth: the island is home to douens -- faceless children with backward feet who are trapped in limbo between the world of the living and the land of the dead. And unless Serenity acts soon, her brother is going to join their ranks... Shakirah Bourne is a Bajan author and filmmaker. She once shot a movie scene in a cave with bats during an earthquake, but is too scared to watch horror movies. She is a recipient of the Governor General Award for Excellence in Literary Fiction for her short fiction collection, IN TIME OF NEED. Her first children's book, JOSEPHINE AGAINST THE SEA, received starred reviews in Kirkus and Booklist, was a SLJ Best Book of 2021, A Black Caucus of the ALA Best Book of 2021 and an Ignyte Award Finalist for Best Middle Grade Novel.She was also the co-editor of YA non-fiction anthology, ALLIES: Real Talk About Growing Up, Screwing Up and Trying Again (DK/PRH, 2021), which was a World Book Day Selection in the UK. Her upcoming middle grade horror, NIGHTMARE ISLAND, a tale based on Caribbean folklore, will be published by Scholastic in June 2023.

On this episode, Chavonne Taylor speaks with Gerald Garth, the executive director of the AMAAD Institute. AMAAD, which stands for Arming Minorities Against Addiction and Disease, facilitates personalized individual access to programs and services that foster safe and supportive healthy environments for people to live, learn, and develop to their fullest potential. Gerald has led health equity work for over ten years, previously serving as Chief Operations Officer of AMAAD and Manager of Prevention and Care with the Black AIDS Institute. He most recently served as the first Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Los Angeles LGBT Center. He serves as co-chair of the Black Caucus of the Los Angeles Commission on HIV and is also the President of LA Pride, the first Black man to hold the position. Resources: www.amaad.org www.instagram.com/amaad_institute

Host Nancy Derringer talks with special guests, attorneys Bill Seikaly and Joel Sklar, pollster Ed Sarpolus, public relations specialist David Rudolph and Deadline Detroit co-founder Allan Lengel.They talk about: Donald Trump's sexual assault case; Trump's CNN show; George Santos faces fraud charges;  Muskegon Memorial Day Parade bans county NAACP and Michigan Democratic Black Caucus for being “political”;  “White Boy Rick” charged in Florida; Should Dems push Sen. Diane Feinstein to retire? 

Paula Sardinas, CEO and Chief Lobbyist at FMS Global Strategies, a Black Government Affairs firm, joins Cindi Bright this week to discuss the 2023 Legislative Session in Washington State. Her work focuses on empowerment and advocacy work with a laser focus on BIPOC girls impacted by intersectionality and structural racism. Cindi is looking forward to hearing about progress made for all citizens, with a focus on Black Americans in Washington State. We will be focused on key wins for Washington State, Equity, Housing, Cannabis Equity, the work of the Black Caucus and other items Paula feels is relevant to this discussion. They will discuss what was not completed during this year's session and any key political races she feels our community needs to pay attention to.

Mississippi Today political reporter Bobby Harrison talks with state Rep. Chris Bell, D-Jackson, about his new role as Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus chair. Bell is taking over for Sen. Angela Turner Ford, D-West Point, who held the post for four years. He talks about the role of the 53-member Black Caucus in the legislative process and the plans for the group during this year's state elections.

Clint Smith is a staff writer at The Atlantic. He is the author of the narrative nonfiction book, How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America, which was a #1 New York Times bestseller, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Hillman Prize for Book Journalism, the Stowe Prize, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and selected by the New York Times as one of the 10 Best Books of 2021. He is also the author of the poetry collection Counting Descent, which won the 2017 Literary Award for Best Poetry Book from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. His new poetry collection is called Above Ground. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Leslye Penelope's latest novel, The Monsters We Defy (Redhook, 2022), takes readers to a version of 1920s Washington D.C. where bootleggers, powerful spirits, and humans blessed (and burdened) with enchantments engage in an epic battle over peoples' destinies. Penelope's protagonist, Clara Johnson, is based upon a real person—a woman who, as a teenager during the Red Summer race riots of 1919 shot and killed a police detective after he broke down her bedroom door. Prohibited from arguing self-defense, she was convicted of manslaughter, but a judge later tossed out the verdict. Penelope found the real Johnson's exoneration so remarkable that she felt “it had to be magic.” As she puts it, “How did this young Black girl get out of that situation? If magic was involved, that would make so much more sense.” The book's magical elements are layered over D.C.'s dynamic Black community, where Black entrepreneurs, artists and academics thrive even as they face racism that is both overt (the Ku Klux Klan holds a demonstration) and systemic (Woodrow Wilson had segregated the federal workforce a few years earlier). The magic echoes the hope and horror of the real world, providing Penelope's characters with the power to save themselves and their community—but at a painful price. Leslye Penelope is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Her debut novel, Song of Blood & Stone, was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. The novel also won the inaugural award for Best Self-Published Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Leslye Penelope's latest novel, The Monsters We Defy (Redhook, 2022), takes readers to a version of 1920s Washington D.C. where bootleggers, powerful spirits, and humans blessed (and burdened) with enchantments engage in an epic battle over peoples' destinies. Penelope's protagonist, Clara Johnson, is based upon a real person—a woman who, as a teenager during the Red Summer race riots of 1919 shot and killed a police detective after he broke down her bedroom door. Prohibited from arguing self-defense, she was convicted of manslaughter, but a judge later tossed out the verdict. Penelope found the real Johnson's exoneration so remarkable that she felt “it had to be magic.” As she puts it, “How did this young Black girl get out of that situation? If magic was involved, that would make so much more sense.” The book's magical elements are layered over D.C.'s dynamic Black community, where Black entrepreneurs, artists and academics thrive even as they face racism that is both overt (the Ku Klux Klan holds a demonstration) and systemic (Woodrow Wilson had segregated the federal workforce a few years earlier). The magic echoes the hope and horror of the real world, providing Penelope's characters with the power to save themselves and their community—but at a painful price. Leslye Penelope is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Her debut novel, Song of Blood & Stone, was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. The novel also won the inaugural award for Best Self-Published Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-fiction

Leslye Penelope's latest novel, The Monsters We Defy (Redhook, 2022), takes readers to a version of 1920s Washington D.C. where bootleggers, powerful spirits, and humans blessed (and burdened) with enchantments engage in an epic battle over peoples' destinies. Penelope's protagonist, Clara Johnson, is based upon a real person—a woman who, as a teenager during the Red Summer race riots of 1919 shot and killed a police detective after he broke down her bedroom door. Prohibited from arguing self-defense, she was convicted of manslaughter, but a judge later tossed out the verdict. Penelope found the real Johnson's exoneration so remarkable that she felt “it had to be magic.” As she puts it, “How did this young Black girl get out of that situation? If magic was involved, that would make so much more sense.” The book's magical elements are layered over D.C.'s dynamic Black community, where Black entrepreneurs, artists and academics thrive even as they face racism that is both overt (the Ku Klux Klan holds a demonstration) and systemic (Woodrow Wilson had segregated the federal workforce a few years earlier). The magic echoes the hope and horror of the real world, providing Penelope's characters with the power to save themselves and their community—but at a painful price. Leslye Penelope is an award-winning author of fantasy and paranormal romance. Her debut novel, Song of Blood & Stone, was chosen as one of TIME Magazine's 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time. The novel also won the inaugural award for Best Self-Published Fiction from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/literature

On this midweek show, newly-elected Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party Shasti Conrad joins Crystal for a conversation on what the role entails, lessons learned from the previous Chair, and her plans for continuing forward as a strong and effective political party. As leader of an umbrella organization for local party organizations across the state, Shasti acknowledges the futility of a top-down approach and the need to listen and to understand what resonates with Democrats from different areas. Discussion of her plans to broaden the Party's appeal includes creating inclusive spaces, expanding the base, messaging Democratic wins, and showing up and investing in rural areas.  Crystal and Shasti then tackle the question of “who is a Democrat” and the dilemma faced in sharing Party resources with: those who are ideologically aligned but not labeled as D, versus those who self-label as D but are not ideologically aligned. Finally, Shasti shares her dream of strengthening the Party through bench building of candidates and support staff by making campaign work attractive, which includes taking seriously the violence and hostility predominantly targeting Black candidates and staff members, building sustainable pipelines for careers in politics, and encouraging good working conditions through unionization. As always, a full text transcript of the show is available below and at officialhacksandwonks.com. Follow us on Twitter at @HacksWonks. Find the host, Crystal Fincher, on Twitter at @finchfrii and find Shasti Conrad at @ShastiConrad and the Washington State Democratic Party at @washdems.   Shasti Conrad Shasti Conrad was elected as Chair of the Washington State Democratic Party in January 2023. She is the first woman of color and youngest chair of the Washington State Democrats! She is also the first South Asian woman to lead a state party in the entire country! Previously, Shasti was the Chair of the King County Democrats from 2018-2022, making her the first woman of color chair in the org's history. She is a versatile strategist and thought leader with a broad range of political, policy and operations experience within government at all levels and throughout the private and non-profit sectors. She launched her own consulting firm in 2016 to support government, campaign, and business clients looking to better our world. She was named to the American Association of Political Consultants' 40 under 40 list and Seattle Met's 100 Most Influential List (top 10 in politicos category).   Resources Washington State Democratic Party   “Washington State Democrats Elect Shasti Conrad as Party Chair” from Washington State Democrats   “WA Democrats choose Shasti Conrad as new leader” by David Gutman from The Seattle Times   “Building Resilient Organizations: Toward Joy and Durable Power in a Time of Crisis” by Maurice Mitchell for Convergence Magazine   Transcript [00:00:00] Crystal Fincher: Welcome to Hacks & Wonks. I'm Crystal Fincher, and I'm a political consultant and your host. On this show, we talk with policy wonks and political hacks to gather insight into local politics and policy in Washington state through the lens of those doing the work with behind-the-scenes perspectives on what's happening, why it's happening, and what you can do about it. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, the most helpful thing you can do is leave a review wherever you listen to Hacks & Wonks. Full transcripts and resources referenced in the show are always available at officialhacksandwonks.com and in our episode notes. I'm thrilled to be welcoming back to the program, the now-Chair of the Washington State Democrats - Shasti Conrad - welcome. [00:01:01] Shasti Conrad: Hi Crystal, it's so great to be here. [00:01:03] Crystal Fincher: Great to have you here. So you were just recently elected as the chair of the Washington State Democrats, after a pretty notable tenure as the Chair of the King County Democrats. Starting off for a lot of people who may not be familiar - what does the Chair of the Democratic Party do? [00:01:24] Shasti Conrad: That is a great question and one that I have been getting quite a bit. So the State Party Chair, basically - I see it - job number one is to win elections for Democrats up and down the ballot. That's job number one. Job number two is really studying the vision and strategy for what the Democratic Party looks like, how it works, how it's built here in Washington State. We're here to work with our allies in labor and to build winning coalitions across the state and across the progressive movement. I've often described the party as - we are the steady drumbeat - we are here to make sure that candidates and campaigns have the resources that they need, that they have the volunteers, that they have the - they know the relationships, the community leaders. And then the candidates in the campaigns - they bring the jazz, right? They bring the energy, the nuances that match the different communities that they're representing - and we're here doing all year-round organizing to make sure that we're ready for whoever steps forward to run for office - that we can support them and get them across the finish line. [00:02:36] Crystal Fincher: That makes sense. So now you are taking over after Tina Podlodowski stepped down after a pretty successful run, by those metrics, as the Chair of the State Party. What lessons did you learn from Tina, and what are you carrying forward from her? [00:02:53] Shasti Conrad: I think that Tina deserves a ton of credit for the successes that we have had here in Washington state for the last six years. We had the three most successful cycles in terms of delivering Democratic wins across the state. We elected the most diverse State Legislature - each cycle we just kept improving and growing our majorities - this past cycle was probably one of the most successful cycles that we've had, certainly one of the best for Democrats in probably at least 20 years. We now have control of - the Democrats are in office for all of the statewide offices. We finally got a Secretary of State for the first time in, I think, 56 years as a Democrat in Secretary Hobbs. And so much of that credit does go to Tina. I think Tina really built the State Party as an organizing machine - she invested in it. We talked about doing this multi-cycle organizing, all year-round organizing. She helped to move the Party from it being - there were times when I think the Party was a bit of a social club - it was a bit about just who of our friends were gonna run for some of these different offices. And Tina really, especially in the Trump era, really built up the resistance and helped us make sure that we were winning. We can't lose any of that ground. Tina was a great ally for me these last several years while I was Chair of the King County Democrats, and so I learned a great deal from her. And we're not gonna go backwards, that's for sure. I think Tina would be the first one to say this, which is - now that we've built such a solid organizing foundation, in my tenure my hope is that we get to grow and expand it, particularly in bringing in more diverse folks into the Party. And that's inclusive of young people, that's inclusive of people of color, communities of color - and really helping to get more people into these leadership roles. The Washington State Democrats - we're comprised of 88 different local party organizations, so there's a lot of different regionality, diversity - but I think across the Democratic Party, we have our work cut out in trying to make sure that we are fully reflective of the state. And there's some of that work that I think I definitely wanna grow upon what Tina has built. [00:05:17] Crystal Fincher: Now you mentioned those local party organizations - like county party organizations, legislative district organizations, affinity caucuses, that type of thing. I think a lot of people don't realize necessarily that those are not branches, those are not subsidiaries of the State Party - they're actually their own independent organizations, their own bylaws, and can do what they want. They can't in most situations be told what to do by the State Party - it doesn't work like that. So basically it's a big statewide coalition of Democratic organizations. In that kind of structure, how do you galvanize and expand the organizing footprint in the entire state - in more metropolitan areas like King County, in rural areas in Central and Eastern Washington, Southwest Washington - and lots of different areas, different needs, different representation, different issues that they may be dealing with. How do you approach that, or how will you approach that across the state? [00:06:19] Shasti Conrad: Yeah, it's definitely a tall order to try to get all oars in the water rowing in the same direction. I have found that it's - we can be unified in our values, but it's important for us to be localized in our messaging. We're certainly seeing this here in Washington state, but I think this is something that the entire Democratic Party writ large is dealing with, which is that urban and rural divide and really thinking about - the ways in which we talk about things in King County and Seattle doesn't necessarily work in Spokane or in Walla Walla. And I look at Washington state as a microcosm for national Democratic Party politics. In Washington state, we have Pramila Jayapal, who is the Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. We now have Representative Suzan DelBene, who leads the DCCC, which is more moderate arm of trying to make sure that we are helping Democratic Congressional members get re-elected. And then you have our newest member of the Congressional delegation in Marie Perez. And Marie ran in - down in Southwestern Washington - as a very working class, working mom Democrat that was able to work with Republicans and get Republicans to support her. She won by just a couple thousand votes against a complete MAGA Republican. And so that's a big spectrum. And that is what I, as Chair, have to try to make sure that folks along that full spectrum feel that the Democratic party is theirs. And so like you said, each of the different party organizations are their own entities. It's not a top-down approach. We, as the State Party, are somewhat of an umbrella organization, but we're here to work alongside those different party organizations. And so it's a lot of just - it's a lot of listening, it's a lot of really making sure that folks are feeling that their lived experience is valued, that their perspective - that they know their neighbors, that they know what's gonna work with talking to their neighbors and moving them along. And that there's space for that, that it doesn't just come down from on high. One of the things that I've spent the last several years having to do quite often is unpacking when people say - Oh, the Democrats. It's like - Okay, but who are you actually frustrated with? Are you frustrated with the DNC, which sets the national stage and national messaging? Are you frustrated with the Senate Caucus or the House Caucus? Are you frustrated with your local party organization? What are these different pieces, and how do they all work together in this big ecosystem? And how can we help? How can we address your concerns? And a lot of that, I think, comes down to just people-to-people canvassing and organizing in those conversations, as well as really making sure that the messaging is resonant in those particular communities. [00:09:15] Crystal Fincher: So you talked about expanding the organizing apparatus - certainly something that you've talked about. In your tenure as Chair of the King County Democrats, was participating in all elections - not just the even-year elections right now that are legislative statewide, but also in what are currently - hopefully not for much longer - but currently odd-year elections for school boards, city councils, mayors, county council positions. Those elections haven't traditionally seen a lot of participation or engagement from the Democratic Party and local party organizations. What is gonna be your approach to that? [00:09:58] Shasti Conrad: Definitely. I think we saw, particularly in the last several years, the ways in which the Republican Party was doing a better job at building the bench than we were. They were having their folks run, and they were - run for these various seats, like you just said, like school boards and city council seats and whatnot. And they were going unchallenged. Democrats were not running for them because we just weren't paying attention in a lot of ways - we weren't indexing what all of those opportunities were. When I was Chair of King County Democrats, in an odd year, we had over 300 seats that folks could run for. And folks just didn't know that. And as soon as we started to talk about that, and started to actually really recruit, and also demystify the process - people didn't even know - how do you run? What does it take to run? How do I get onto the ballot? And once we started saying - Actually, there's a filing week in May where you go to - for King County Elections, or whatever your local county elections office is - and you can file online. Sometimes they have different fees, but they range in size - and you get your name on the ballot, and then you get to know your neighbors, and you encourage folks to vote for you. And so already this year at the State Party, I have asked our data team to look at opportunities where - what are the races across the state that we could win, that are at a nice edge. And one of the - really excited about this - so one of the things we just found when we were looking at the data this past week is that in the town of Sunnyside, which is in Yakima County, there are three seats that are up that are currently held by people that are leaning Republican. All three of those people won by less than 100 votes when they ran last time - one won by one vote. All three of them are men and they lean Republican. Sunnyside is a city that is 70% Latino. If we do the organizing work, if we get a Spanish language organizer, if we encourage those people to register to vote, we get some great candidates who represent the community - we could get those seats. And we could really make a difference that then, once those folks have some experience - their name's already been on a ballot - then in a couple of years, maybe they decide that they run for the next level of government. Maybe they even run for the State Legislature. And people have gotten to know them, they've been able to build up a resume. And that's the type of investment and engagement that I think is gonna be really important and a real opportunity for us to change up, particularly in these places that when you look at the map, they just look red. But then when you can get underneath that, there might be some opportunities where we can actually make a difference, pick up some of those seats, and start changing who's representing these folks. [00:12:51] Crystal Fincher: And part of that is also recruiting candidates. You talked about recruiting great candidates - that's been an area where there have been some excellent successes and there's still a lot of opportunity, some things haven't quite been mined yet for opportunity. What do you see the Party's role in developing leaders, and what can the Party do to help that happen? [00:13:12] Shasti Conrad: Yeah, I think - for years, we've talked about developing campaign-in-a-box - having some of these templates of - it's just people just don't, they don't know, right? They don't know - how do I find a treasurer? How do I set up a website? How do I - do I need to put a mailer together? How do I call people? How do I do all of these things? And for those of us who've been in this work, we do this year after year, but most people just - they're living their lives, they're not paying attention to the ins and outs of political work. And so I think that's something that we can develop the resources and the tools - there's been, especially in the Trump, post-Trump era - there've been a number of outside organizations that have developed really solid candidate training programs like Emerge, Institute for a Democratic Future, there's Run for Something, She Should Run - there's a bunch of these different organizations that are doing a great job. And I think that that's where we can partner with those folks. We've had our own candidate training program at Rise and Organize in the State Party. I am really passionate about training up the next generation of staffers and campaign managers and doing that type of leadership as well, because I also think that that's partially what we're missing in the ecosystem - is all of that support. So you get someone who's gonna step forward and decide to run, but they need help - they need a Crystal Fincher in their support system. And we need to be developing more of us that can help them do that, so I think that's something that we'll tackle in this next cycle as well, if the State Party is developing that training and organizing training. And then on the candidate recruitment side, it's really, it's just, it's finding those gems of talent. There are such great community leaders who - they're really active in their churches or they're really active - they're a nonprofit leader. They're doing this great work, but they just never thought about running for office. But talking about the impact and talking about - Okay, you're able to do this great work in your community or in your job. Let's take it to the macro level. Let's help you be able to do it for cities, and school boards, and the State Legislature, and things like that. [00:15:20] Crystal Fincher: Another issue that I think people on the ground, who may not pay close attention to party politics but they look around and they look at who Democrats are nationally, looking locally who are Democrats - wondering - there's lots of talk about - Okay, should Democrats be trying to win voters who may be disaffected from the Republican Party, or focus more on turning out people who may not be motivated to vote often for whatever reason. Do you do both? Do you do neither? What is that? And who is the base? Who is the party? Who is a Democrat? How do you approach that? Is this a big tent party that takes anyone? Is this a party that has strict ideological boundaries? What do you think that is and what will your approach be as Chair? [00:16:12] Shasti Conrad: Certainly, and I think that those answers are different in different places throughout the state, throughout the country. We are certainly a big tent. We have to create a space where the Party feels like it's welcoming, feels like it's inclusive, feels like it's a place where folks can make it their own. We need to be clear and aligned in our values - which is that we stand up for human rights, we stand up for people who are vulnerable, we're about choice, we're about freedom. These are the things that we are clear about. But there are some places where - I go back to CD3 because of just, it's the most, it's the biggest example of where that was a real opportunity for growth for us, because Marie Perez really did have to have conversations with folks who had been supporters of the Republican Party, who had voted for Jaime Herrera Beutler. But as the Republican Party has become more and more radicalized - where they are - they're not speaking for folks who maybe are a little bit conservative in their, some of their values, but for the most part are just trying to feed their families, get to work, pay the bills. The Republican Party has abandoned those folks too. And we have to be able to say the Democratic Party will make space for you if you are willing to recognize that there are some of these lines that will not be crossed, which is that we believe that everyone has right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and all of that. And then I also think that we have to expand the base. And that means really making investments with - into communities of color, young people - I think the Party is dealing with a relevancy problem when it comes to young folks, right? Young people have seen across their entire lives the ways in which our biggest challenges keep not being addressed. And at times, on both sides of the aisle, politicians have paid a lot of lip service but nothing changes. You can feel that, you can feel the lack of movement, and then this prioritizing of incrementalism over actually doing big, bold changes - transformative work. And so we have to demonstrate that we actually are going to do the work, that we're going to make the change, that we're going to not just talk the talk. Joe Biden wasn't my first choice as president several years ago, but he has - you have to give him credit for the fact that he has been a very progressive president. We have done big things underneath his leadership the last several years, and we're not doing a good job of talking about that. We're not doing a great job of actually messaging to say - Look at what the childcare tax credit was able to do - it halved childhood poverty, it made a big difference. We are delivering and bringing infrastructure projects back into the state - money is getting moved, things are improving. The economy has been tough, but we're making it through. That's under Democratic leadership. That is without Republicans helping. And . We believe in climate change. The Republicans don't. And these are big issues, particularly I think for young people as they're looking at a future that feels like it might be worse than their parents'. So we've got to do that work. And I think we've got to actually make it action oriented too. And that's a big part of what my job will be and what we will be trying to set with the State Party is that direction and that - those changes to make the Party feel like it is a much more welcoming place and a place where people can do good work and see change happen. [00:19:55] Crystal Fincher: I think that's spot on, really smart to recognize. Younger people actually are - definitely are feeling disaffected, trying to find reasons why they should trust institutions or institutional power after seeing so many examples of it not being helpful. And that you have to have an action-oriented approach that enables people to see the change around them without relying on rhetoric or seeing that rhetoric unfulfilled. With that, how do you play a role in messaging what Democrats are doing on a national and statewide level? How can the party improve that? [00:20:34] Shasti Conrad: One of my frustration points from the last several years is I have felt we spent a lot of time identifying and speaking about our values in reaction to the other side. And you heard me probably just do it just a few minutes ago. And so often we put ourselves against - because that's who they are, we are this. And I think it's important that we start to make the shift where we start to take some of the power back and start to control the narrative by saying - This is what it means to be a Democrat. And this is what Democrats are delivering. This is what Democrats are doing. Like I said, we are the party of choice and freedom and opportunity and optimism. We're more than just the fight, right? And also I think a lot of times we just talk about winning and losing elections, but I wanna take us also to the - how are we making a difference in people's lives? What does it mean to win? Because just winning - sure, we pat ourselves on the back, we get to run up the score and be like - Look, we have this many more than them and good for us. But is it actually making a change? Are people actually feeling like they are better represented, that their lives are improving because we have the majority in the State Legislature here in Washington state? I think that's true, but we have to make sure that we're talking about that. When things are getting passed through the State Legislature, when we're taking up the middle income housing bill, when we're taking up gun safety bills, when we are looking at the wealth tax - these are things that are going to actually make an improvement on people's experience, what their time on this earth is gonna be like. And that, I think, is really important for us to talk about and take it to that next step. And I think folks are tired - they're tired of the - we get these emails where it's like urgent, deadline, biggest fight of our lives. And it's hard because it's true - every election is, feels like it's the most important one - but at some point that just, it's burning folks out. And so we've got to just be able to be honest and level with folks - Hey, I don't know if this is gonna be radically different, but this is the right step that we need to take. It's like I-135 - I was so happily surprised that it did as well as it did. It's a step in the right direction. Is it gonna solve the housing and homelessness crisis in Seattle? No, but it is going to help us move in a direction where we can actually start to look at some solutions. And so I'm grateful that folks decided to step forward and vote and participate and do, especially in an off-cycle, odd year election. And again, it's we just have to be - we have to be able to level with folks. And that, I think, is a change in tone that I hope I can help to bring to the Party here in Washington state. [00:23:22] Crystal Fincher: I think Seattle's Initiative 135 for social housing is a really great and instructive example for how we can organize and what the opportunity is. We saw seniors who were afraid that they weren't gonna be able to age in place. We saw young people who wanted to make sure that there was gonna be a space for them in the community - urbanists, communities of color. The DSA was canvassing in support. We saw local democratic party organizations - from the King County Democrats, 46th District Democrats, and a number of folks and coalitions coming together. Some elected leaders, community leaders, activists - all coalescing around this. And really willed that to victory, as you said, during an off-year - not in those higher turnout elections that have Congresspeople and the president on the ballot. And in February, no less - I'm still excited by that. But it does bring up some interesting questions going back to - Okay, who is a Democrat and who is the Democratic Party there to serve? Because in Washington state, particularly to a degree that a lot of other states don't, there's an interesting dynamic here in that it's not just the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. Certainly we have very competitive Democratic and Republican races - we've both been involved in quite a few of those. But also in several areas in King County, especially in Seattle, Washington - Republicans aren't as much of a competitive party to Democrats as the DSA, Democratic Socialists of America, or the People's Party. People who predominantly skew younger and don't necessarily find themselves completely aligned with the Democratic Party - a lot of times due to national issues - but are saying, I am aligned with these values. I am finding more action and I feel that there is more honesty about those values outside of the Democratic Party in something like the DSA or other organizations. And that playing out in interesting ways, whether it's access to the Party database and VoteBuilder, endorsements in local party organizations, and so on and so forth. How will you be going about defining who is a Democrat, in ways that are consequential when it comes to running for office or advancing policy and the utilization of State Party resources? [00:25:52] Shasti Conrad: You have to be able to say that you're a Democrat, right? You have to be willing to identify as a Democrat in order for us to be able to share those resources. It's like any other kind of club or organization - you have to be willing to sit with us at the lunch table and say that you're willing to work with us to be able to do that. But I am clear that, particularly in urban areas in Seattle and King County in particular, that we as a Democratic Party - we have been losing out folks to alternative parties. You mentioned DSA, Working Families Party, the People's Party - we have been losing out. And particularly young people are finding that moving to some of these other parties is where they feel like they identify better, that they feel like they're being seen, that they feel like they're able to get more work done. And I think that's something that we have to address. We talk a lot about recruitment. We talk a lot about trying to get people to come into the Party. But I don't think we've spent enough time really talking about - what is the experience of being in the Party? It's the retention piece of it - it is the experience of when you come into a party organization - who are you being met by? Are our folks being welcoming? It's not a secret that a lot of our Party spaces are - it's mostly run by folks that are older, it's retired folks - because they have the time. And I value that work - so I've learned from so many of our elders, who have been organizing and doing this work since the '60s, right? And they have committed their lives to doing this. And that is something that I value and appreciate and respect. But you look at any kind of organization, company, brand - and if your workforce was all 65 and older, you would say - That's probably not a sustainable brand. We've got to figure something out. And so I think making room to create these intergenerational communities where younger people can see themselves - and not just as tokenized members, but as leaders. I'm the first woman of color in this role. And I'm also the youngest Chair - I'm under 40, and that makes me the youngest Chair in Washington State Party's history. And I think that I'm a marker of showing what - this next generation of leadership - that it's time. It's time for us to move into these roles and into - both in terms of the visibility, but also in just the change in perspective and the ways that we organize. And that's something that I think is - we're gonna have to show that. We do a lot of telling, but we're gonna have to really demonstrate that those changes are gonna happen. And that - particularly those younger folks that are choosing to go to other spaces, that they can see themselves in the work. Really quickly, I'll just say Maurice Mitchell, who's the head of the Working Families Party nationally, wrote a really beautiful article a couple months ago where he talked about what was needed for continuing the work in the progressive movement. And he talked about the need to be able to meet the moment, to build winning coalitions, and to bring joy into the work. And what I say to that is - I agree 100% - we are in alignment there. It's just maybe a little bit of a difference in tactics and in institutions. My sense is that the Democratic Party is what we have and what will be here, and that it needs to be built and transformed from within - to be able to meet the moment, to be able to build winning coalitions. And we've got to infuse it with more joy - to push back against the institutional burnout that is happening everywhere. And my hope is by doing that, folks will see that we, the Democratic Party, can also be a part of where they can do their organizing work. It can be a part of the coalitions that they want to be a part of, and that they'll see themselves as members of the Democratic Party, alongside maybe some of these other organizations. [00:29:49] Crystal Fincher: And following up on that - just because this has come up in so many different situations and circumstances here in Washington state, so you say - Okay, you need to be a member of the Party. Can someone align themselves with more than one party? If they say - Hey, I'm in DSA and I'm a Democrat? Do you feel that that counts as membership in the Democratic Party? Does it have to be exclusively the Democratic Party? I know some local party organizations have different approaches to this. What is the State Party approach? [00:30:21] Shasti Conrad: It is a case-by-case scenario. Again, as we talked about earlier, each of the party organizations have their own rules, their own sets of how they do things. And so I don't think that it's right for us, at the state, to go against what some of those different organizations have said. So it is case by case, but I will always just advocate that I want folks to feel proud to be a Democrat and so it is important - to be able to have access to resources and whatnot - that they are willing to say that and are willing to come and be a part of the work. And we have wonderful volunteers that are part of this Party that are doing great work. And I hope that folks who maybe have been a little bit wary of getting involved in the Party will just come and give it a try, and will see that it's a new day and folks are, I think, a bit more willing to work with people who come from different backgrounds and different perspectives. [00:31:17] Crystal Fincher: Definitely. And it is a very King County-centric issue to be having to negotiate through - Okay, we seem to be aligned on values, but this person says they're in the People's Party and we're Democrats - and working through that. But what has happened in situations where there is a clear lack of alignment, whether it be from people who are self-labeling themselves as Democrats - but who are predominantly supported by Republicans, or just officially endorsed by the Republican Party, have a history supporting and donating to Republicans. And that has been called out by your predecessor, Tina Podlodowski, in a few different situations - revoking access to the Party database, or preventing access to Party resources, and standing behind the refusal to endorse from several organizations. Do you anticipate that continuing? What's your approach to people who seem to be clearly misaligned, but who insist on calling themselves Democrats? [00:32:22] Shasti Conrad: Certainly, this is - probably at times I was somebody who was like - Hey, Tina, what do we do here? And maybe was pushing her in some ways on some of these issues. And now, as I'm in the role, I understand better what the challenges are - 'cause it's nuanced. To be able to set one policy that works for the entire state, it's difficult because the issues here in King County are - this person wants to organize with the Working Families Party, can they also be considered a Democrat? In other parts of the state, it's - No, this person is a full Republican, but we don't have any Democrats that are running. Can we endorse the Republican? And then we even had a case last year in King County where somebody was running as a Democrat who was on a - that was for a white supremacist rally. And those are our data we have to be so careful with. This is people's personal private data that we are responsible for, and so we have to be careful about how that is shared. And so that is something that I take very seriously. And I think that there's a lot more that we could be doing to ensure privacy and security for our candidates, for our elected officials, for our members, for our volunteers, and whatnot. And so these are things that I now think about when making these types of decisions - that it was easier when I wasn't in the catbird seat to be able to say - Hey, why can't we do X, Y, and Z? And it's - Now I'm on the inside, I get it. So these will be things that we'll get and review as they come up, but it is certainly a challenge and I think making sure that our folks are safe is the number one priority. [00:34:06] Crystal Fincher: That makes sense. There was - speaking of folks being safe - several notable instances of predominantly Black candidates and staff members of those Black candidates being targeted for violence and hostility during campaigns. Several of those instances made news, several more didn't - but certainly a concern among people who are volunteering and who are turning out in the Party apparatus to help their local and federal candidates. What is the Party's responsibility in keeping candidates safe, especially those candidates who have shown to be targeted at a higher rate than others? And what more can the Party do to address that? [00:34:50] Shasti Conrad: Absolutely, yeah. It's candidates - it's also their staff and their volunteers. We had a number of cases this last year where a Black campaign manager was targeted. We had volunteers who were followed and whatnot. Already, I've talked with members of our Black Caucus to say - Let's be proactive. 'Cause one of the things that I've heard quite a bit was - these things would happen, and then after the fact, there'd be some kind of - Okay, now what? But then action maybe wasn't taken. And we know that the environment that we are in right now is - it's very heightened. And that's particularly, it's even though that white hot light is even harder on people of color - we just know that particularly Black people. So I definitely want to be proactive in making sure that we have thought through safety and security plans as folks are starting to get back out on the campaign trail, that we have talked through what kind of security support we can provide. I think it's something that needs to be tackled by the ecosystem, so that's something that needs to be worked through with the caucuses as well - the House and the Senate - because they also support folks that are running for those seats. And working with the specific folks to make sure that this is something that they actually want. And yeah, I take it very seriously. And I think about it too - I'm a woman of color who - I live in south Snohomish County and I've got white supremacists in my neighborhood. And I know that feeling - both in terms of there's a physical threat, but there's also the psychological, the emotional, the mental, like all of that - of just knowing that these folks that are right here, who want to destroy what we believe in and want to hurt us, right? They see us as the enemy, so I take all of that very, very seriously. And I think that's something I would love to maybe come back - and if you can help me put together a group too - to talk through what that looks like and how we can build solid safety plans for our folks. [00:36:48] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely - have been involved in those conversations - happy to be helpful in any way I can. You talked about Marie Gluesenkamp Perez earlier who, in the Third Congressional District, won what was probably the biggest upset in the country last November - in winning her race over Joe Kent for the seat previously held by Jaime Herrera Beutler. What do you take away as lessons from that race, and how will Democrats be showing up in rural areas in your tenure? [00:37:18] Shasti Conrad: I think it was clear - we can't miss these opportunities. We can't take them for granted. We have to do the direct people-to-people organizing. And I think it's particularly true in rural communities, but I find that it's true also in communities of color where - in these places where they have often felt left behind, dismissed by the Democratic Party, we have to build trust - and it takes showing up, not just showing up only in the fall of an even year, but it takes showing up throughout the year, being there. And it's being neighborly. It's like - How are you? What do you need? What's going on in your life? It's asking and actually getting to know folks. Something a lot of people don't know about me, but I actually grew up on a farm. I grew up in a small town in Oregon. I grew up on a farm - we had ducks and chickens and sheep. My task as a small kid was to go get the eggs from the chicken coop every day, and I talked about this a lot as I was campaigning and whatnot. My grandmother really taught me how we would trade the chicken eggs with the neighbor down the street who had a beehive and we would get honey from them. And then you'd have the neighborly conversation of - Hey, how are you? How are the kids? You'd get to know - okay, if you wanted to meet up with so and so, the best time to see them was at church. Or everybody would go to the local Shari's and go after church. Or if you wanted to talk to Bob, you'd see him at the local pub on Wednesday nights - and that's where you would find these folks. And so getting to actually know them, talk to them - that it takes this people-to-people, conversation-by-conversation relationship building to be able to demonstrate that you are a real person who cares and wants to make their lives better. And because they know you, and you're saying - I believe that Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is gonna make the difference - then they'll trust you. And that just takes time. You have to operate at the speed of trust. And that's particularly true, I think, in rural communities - but I am finding that to be the case in the Latino community, in the tribal communities, Black community, Asian API community - this is true just with organizing and with people, but particularly with folks who have felt like they've been sold a bill of goods before by many politicians. So yeah, so I think this type of organizing is what matters. I just heard about - last week, there was a house party for Marie and 140 people showed up - and that's exciting. And in February of an even year - folks are excited - they want to help. They wanna make sure that we return Marie in two years and that she has the support. Marie held the first town hall that that district had had in years because Jaime Herrera Beutler wasn't doing town halls. And she's talking to people who didn't vote for her. And she's talking to people who didn't think that she would represent them. And she's demonstrating - no, I represent this whole district and I'm gonna show up - even if you're gonna tell me you don't like me, I'm here. And that is what we have to do. And it's gonna take several years probably for some of these districts to change, particularly in Central and Eastern Washington. But if we make the investment, we do the organizing work - we have to be ready for when an opportunity presents itself for us to get that and flip those seats. [00:40:38] Crystal Fincher: So I know we're right at the beginning of your tenure - you're just starting out, learning everything, getting your feet underneath you. But what might that look like operationally and in practice? Is that more satellite offices across the state and in rural areas? Is that hiring a different kind of organizer underneath a different kind of model? What can that look like? [00:40:59] Shasti Conrad: Everything costs money, and so I have to go raise the money to go make this happen. But my dream is to develop a organizing pipeline that is particular to rural communities, and maybe even developing an organizing fellowship at some of the rural colleges, community colleges throughout the state - where we can actually develop folks who come from the communities to get the right training, but then get hired into the organizing jobs - onto the Coordinated Campaign where we can actually keep them and support them so that they're not only there for a few months at a time, but actually are building these relationships over several years. And then when we have a Coordinated Campaign and that's over, that we have a place to be able to move those organizers - to go work with the unions and do union organizing when it's not high campaign season and then move them over to us, getting them into internship programs with different agencies and things like that. I benefited from the fact that I was a college student who graduated into Barack Obama running for president back in 2008. And had I not had those opportunities early in my life, early in my career - I would not be here today, I would have picked another job, I wouldn't have stayed in politics. But there were opportunities that presented themselves - and the mentors and people supporting me - and then one job turned into another and suddenly it's been 15+ years and here I am. And I just think that there's so many Shastis out there. There's so many folks, but they just haven't had the opportunity and the support. And like the rest of the country and so many other industries, young people are like - How am I gonna take care of myself? How am I gonna pay the bills? And if politics and working for a local government and whatnot doesn't pay the bills and those opportunities aren't there - they're gonna leave their home communities, and they're gonna take jobs with Amazon, or they're gonna take jobs that are steady paychecks, and we're gonna lose them for a generation. They're gonna - it's hard to get off those trains when you're on them. And so we've got to build those opportunities, and we've got to - one of the things that I'm really excited about potentially doing is I really wanna work with the youth councils on the reservations to really talk about job opportunities in the political sector - and running for office themselves - but also being a campaign manager, being an organizer, finding those opportunities. So that they can see that there's this whole other world of opportunities and jobs that could help them to stay in their own communities, but also take them around the world to work on other campaigns all over the place if they would like to. [00:43:42] Crystal Fincher: That makes sense. And thank you for spending all of this time with us, being generous with your time. As we begin to wrap up, I want to draw inward a little bit. We've talked about what the Party will be doing within the community and your approach to that. But I also wanna talk about staff, really - of the State Party, of campaigns, of Democratic electeds serving in office - and this conversation that we've been having, that's been evolving, about unionization, working conditions, supporting workers in that. We have lots of labor partners, as a Party entity, and alignments there. But there has been, frankly, a mixed reception from a lot of people when it comes to the unionization of campaign workers, for campaigns across the board - this is something that has certainly made it to legislative and congressional campaigns. There may be conversations about that in some local campaigns - we have seen a few instances of that. But also within the Party, legislative staffers just had a battle to get some of that kicked off. Do you think that campaign workers should be able to be represented by a union? And what guidance and examples are you providing for local electeds and other progressive organizations? [00:45:02] Shasti Conrad: 100%. I actually believe that the State Party - under Tina's leadership, to give credit where credit's due - was the first State Party to unionize. And that's not without its challenges, right? People have been figuring it out as they go - we've been building the plane as we flew it, and so I think that's been - some of the trying to find the right home for Campaign Workers Union, trying to work through the particular seasonal working issues that come with being on campaigns and whatnot. But I think it's incredibly important. I remember what it was like as a young person where I was in unpaid internships - I was certainly working way more than 40 hours a week at times on campaigns and didn't have much recourse of things were happening, where to go to. And so I think it's a vast improvement of where we were 10 years ago, 20 years ago - certainly the last couple of years. So yeah, I think we will certainly encourage the candidates that come through that they should unionize their staff, depending on the size, on all of that - but I think it's really important. I did the Pathway to Power program last year that's put on by the Washington State Labor Council and learned a lot about labor issues, but learned a lot also about - in the role of candidate or chair or whatnot, how to leave room for your staff and workers to be able to unionize and the ways to show support. But also that means sometimes taking a step back and allowing them to take the lead and not having - you now have to see yourself as a manager, and not putting yourself on both sides of the table and things like that. So there's things that we're still working through to have all of this stuff figure itself out, but I think it's incredibly important. I was excited to see that I believe the - nationally, I believe that the Democratic Congressional staffers unionized and I think here in Washington State, we're gonna continue to see those unionizing efforts happen in all parts of our ecosystem, and I think it's a really exciting thing. As I've been talking to labor union leaders - particularly the last few weeks, like I've just said - some of the best progressive wins of the last several years have been labor wins. And so we have to be good partners, and that includes unionizing efforts of our own staff, our own teams. [00:47:16] Crystal Fincher: Absolutely, completely agree. And thank you for spending this time with us today. We'll be following along as things progress and look forward to speaking with you again. Thanks so much, Shasti. [00:47:26] Shasti Conrad: Thank you so much - always a joy to see you and spend time with you. Thanks so much. [00:47:29] Crystal Fincher: Thank you for listening to Hacks & Wonks, which is co produced by Shannon Cheng and Bryce Cannatelli. You can follow Hacks & Wonks on Twitter @HacksWonks. You can catch Hacks & Wonks on iTunes, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts - just type "Hacks and Wonks" into the search bar. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get the full versions of our Friday almost-live shows and our midweek show delivered to your podcast feed. If you like us, leave a review wherever you listen. You can also get a full transcript of this episode and links to the resources referenced in the show at officialhacksandwonks.com and in the episode notes. Thanks for tuning in - talk to you next time.

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