Podcast appearances and mentions of tamir rice

Lieutenant Joey Sperlazza, Ed.S. is joined by J. Harris Academy of Police Training Instructor Lieutenant Collin Congleton, JD in LEO Radio Episode 32. Collin is a subject matter expert in Use of Force. Collin founded and now supervises the Force Investigation Unit for a major urban Police Department in New Jersey, is a United States Marine Corps combat veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and a nearly 20 year veteran law enforcement professional. He earned a B.S. in National Security Studies (Summa Cum Laude) from New Jersey City University and a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers School of Law (Newark) where he was awarded the prestigious Judge J. Skelly Wright Prize for work in civil rights. He also completed the Certified Public Manager Program at Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration, where his research work on police training reform was nominated for the nationally recognized American Academy of CPM's Askew Award. Some of his certifications include: FBI certified hostage and crisis negotiator; Force Science Institute certified force analyst; Gracie University certified Instructor of Gracie Survival Tactics (GST) Levels Iⅈ NJ PTC certified firearms instructor; NJ certified ICAT and ABLE instructor. Collin is also heavily involved in volunteer work supporting veterans and is an avid practitioner of Brazilian Jiujitsu. Full bios for Joey and Collin are available at JharrisTraining.com. Joey and Collin analyze three incidents in this episode of LEO Radio: • NYPD Officer Involved Shooting of Christopher Ferguson: The New York State Attorney General Office of Special Investigation is currently conducting an investigation into the death of Christopher Ferguson who died on December 5, 2024 following an encounter with members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD 77th Precinct) in Brooklyn. OSI has released videos from body-worn cameras that officers were equipped with during the incident and video from a dashboard camera. The full footage is available on the NYC AG website (https://ag.ny.gov/osi/footage/christopher-ferguson) and on the NYPD YouTube channel (https://youtu.be/I1oAPLhD9GU?si=JsdFy0uw8TZNIw-h) • Cranford, NJ Police Officer Involved Shooting of Kevin Harlfinger: According to the preliminary investigation, officers from the Cranford Police Department were pursuing a stolen vehicle when it crashed in the area of a southbound exit on the Garden State Parkway. After the crash, the driver of the vehicle, Mr. Harlfinger, exchanged gunfire with Cranford Police Officers Christopher Folinusz and Ryan McSharry. Mr. Harlfinger was pronounced deceased at the scene at approximately 12:04 a.m., December 29, 2023. A firearm was recovered near Mr. Harlfinger. Officer Folinusz sustained a non-fatal gunshot wound, was treated at a hospital, and later released. The full footage is available on the NJ AG Website: https://njoag.app.box.com/s/q0so00a1u4lbh1x005yy7gch4nuewvf5• Cleveland Police Officer Involved Shooting of Tamir Rice On November 22, 2014, 12-year-old Tamir Rice, an African-American boy, was fatally shot by Cleveland police officer Timothy Loehmann while playing with a toy gun at a recreation center; the incident sparked widespread controversy due to the rapid shooting despite the caller mentioning the gun was likely fake and the victim's young age, highlighting issues of police brutality and racial profiling within the Black Lives Matter movement. Tamir Rice was playing with a replica airsoft pistol at a park when someone called 911 to report a person with a gun. The video was released by the Cleveland Police Department, and the incident is well covered with dispatch and 911 audio by News 5 Cleveland: https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/cleveland-metro/tamir-rice-shooitng-video-warning-cleveland-police-release-surveillance-video LEO Radio is a podcast produced by the J. Harris Academy of Police Training. As always, the items described in this podcast are for information only.

Since 2014, the City of Cleveland has been under a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice to address a finding that the division exhibited an unconstitutional pattern or practice of excessive force. The investigation that led to that finding was sparked by the 2012 shooting of Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. A 23-mile car chase involving 60 police officers ended in a parking lot in East Cleveland when 13 officers fired 137 shots into a vehicle, killing both Russell and Williams. Both were unarmed.rnrnThe consent decree requires the Cleveland Division of Police to reform its policies, practices, and procedures to address accountability, use of force, crisis intervention, and more. The Cleveland Community Police Commission (CPC) was also established at this time, bringing 13 community voices into the process of police reform. The CPC's role was deepened after voters passed Issue 24 in 2021--giving the commission final say in disciplinary proceedings and policing policy police discipline cases and officer policies. The consent decree also calls on the community to be a part of the reform process through service in various groups and ongoing engagement through public forums.rnrnThe consent decree itself is broad-reaching, its work significant, and we have heard many perspectives on it over the last decade, most recently in a conversation about the legacy of Tamir Rice. Join us to hear about progress made, opportunities ahead, and challenges still to overcome from two of the leaders tasked with implementing the reforms: Cleveland Police Chief Dorothy Todd, and Dr. Leigh Anderson, Executive Director of the Mayor's Police Accountability Team.

On November 22, 2014, just after 3:30 in the afternoon, a 12-year-old boy was shot by a police officer outside of the Cudell Recreation Center. Tamir Rice had been playing with a toy gun, an airsoft replica that was missing the telltale orange tip. The officer shot Rice twice less than two seconds after getting out of the police cruiser which had not even come to a complete stop. Rice died from his wounds the following day.rnrnThis tragedy was seen by many to be part of an ongoing pattern of excessive force by the Cleveland Division of Police. In the intervening years, many reform efforts, including a consent decree and a new citizen-led oversight commission, have been attempted and implemented to not only reduce violence but also improve relations between police and the communities they serve.

We'll discuss police reform efforts in the city of Cleveland since Rice's death, and how communities of color continue to fight for change.

Welcome to this incendiary, probing, brand-new installment of Light ‘Em Up.We're currently being actively downloaded in 1⃣1⃣3⃣ countries globally! Thank you, for your constant support!In this intensive episode we'll investigate and unpack the cold-blooded killing of Sonya Massey — a 36-year-old mother of two and resident of Springfield, Illinois. Ms. Massey was concerned for her safety and called law enforcement to her home for protection.Sonya Massey, was fatally shot in the head by the now terminated and criminally charged former Sangamon County Sheriff's Office Deputy Sean Grayson in her own kitchen over a pot of water that was heating on the stove.Today, with all the tangible evidence from a multitude of past deadly incidents with law enforcement — the argument could be made that it no longer seems safe for individuals of color and/or anyone who may be “spiraling downward” in the grips of a mental health crisis to call law enforcement for any assistance.When a person is stuck in the unrelenting grip of a mental health crisis and they are rapidly spiraling downward — they need help, compassion, empathy and understanding.  They don't need to be shot in the face and killed.Law enforcement simply is not trained to properly handle such emergencies. A crystal-clear example of this was what happened to Daniel Prude in Rochester, NY.Far too often the fact pattern turns out to be identical to the last senseless killing.The officer dispatched to the call shows up on the scene:—      terrified (having little direct exposure to those who don't look identical to him)—      short on time—      short on patience—      and far too often short on the requisite racial sensitivity for the communities they are charged with protecting and serving—      short on the requisite “humanity” one needs to see people who need help as people, not as constant and potential threatsMany aspects of this case are perverted. This case serves as a textbook example of “officer induced jeopardy”.As we press deeper, farther and wider we'll uncover the ever-expanding and troublesome issue of “Wandering/Roaming Cops”.Wandering/Roaming Cops are law-enforcement officers fired by one department — sometimes for very serious misconduct, who then shortly thereafter find work in another agency.A perfect example of this would be Timothy Loehman, who shot and killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland, Ohio.The defendant, Former Deputy Sheriff Sean Grayson, had not one, but two previous DUI convictions and a history of personnel problems, but was still hired by the Sangamon County Sheriff's Office.Through an extensive number of exclusive Freedom of Information Act Requests (FOIA) we've obtained the:

You feeling this episode? Send us a text!Nothing has changed in the hunt to gun down innocent African Americans. I'm not going to put another hashtag to a person's name as if it solidifies that that was all they were. There was much life lived before they were murdered and it's about time we started talking about that. There needs to be reform and consequences for individuals whose actions are spiraling or too tense for working in public service. The goal is to protect and serve not kill on demand. We are not tallies on a board or target practice. Let's get into this episode. Support the Show.

Annie Friday is joined this week by Samuel Broaden of Honoring Childhood and Kisa Marx of The Play Lab Foundation to discuss their newly released book titled Rethinking Weapon Play in Early Childhood: How to Encourage Imagination, Kindness, and Consent in Your Classroom. Right away, Kisa and Samuel dive into the reality that many adults feel activated, challenged, or triggered by this type of power play. They offer strategies for reflection and growth for the adults in play spaces while also explaining the benefits of this category of play. In a world filled with violence and a country full gun violence, the fears are valid, and yet as adults it is our moral imperative to face those fears. In that process, we need to decide how we can share our concerns and shift those into boundaries that honor consent and safety. This episode does include references to violence and real life examples of when gun play has turned to tragedy. The Tamir Rice Foundation led by Samaria Rice and Rebuild Foundation led by Theaster Gates are two important organizations preserving the memory of Tamir Rice and uplifting the power and potential of community through ensuring the existence of  safe and culturally-rich spaces specifically for Black children and families. Here 4 The Kids is another organization focused on ending gun violence in the US and hosts weekly community chats every Thursday at 12:00 pm ET. Curious how we can hold space for both the fears around violence and the need for kids to engage in power play? Listen in as Kisa and Samuel share how our feelings toward gun violence are tied to and also separate from the benefits of weapon play.  Thanks for listening! Links Share a comment or ask a questionSupport the show (and save 10%) when you shop early learning trainings at Explorations Early LearningVisit the show archives to browse and search all episodesMore AnnieMore CandisVisit Blue Bridge School's website or Instagram

Rod and Karen banter about Karen's professional voice and "Worst Roommate Ever." Then they discuss Rick Ross attacked by Drake fans, YSL RICO trial paused, Supreme Court rules against regulators and in favor of Trump's presidential immunity, four die from drinking from bottles found in the sea, four hospitalized after using BBQ to heat home, Waffle House raising wages, Chilli gives dating advice, Nashville police officer fired over OnlyFans video, officer who shot Tamir Rice resigns from new police job, racist fast food receipt, woman uses stolen COVID funds to get BBL, woman assaults boyfriend because he won't cuddle and man chases another man with machete.  Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@rodimusprime⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@SayDatAgain⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TBGWT⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@TheBlackGuyWhoTips⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Email: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠theblackguywhotips@gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Blog: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.theblackguywhotips.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Teepublic Store⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon Wishlist⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Crowdcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Voice Mail: 704-557-0186Go Premium: https://www.theblackguywhotips.com/premium/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Officer who fatally shot Tamir Rice resigns from the police department in West Virginia amid public outrage. Update: banker who slugged woman at NYC pride event charged with assault. Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe drama? Host: Sharon Reed (@SharonReedLive) Guest Host: Wosny Lambre (@BigWos) *** SUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ https://www.youtube.com/IndisputableTYT FACEBOOK: ☞ https://www.facebook.com/IndisputableTYT TWITTER: ☞ https://www.twitter.com/IndisputableTYT INSTAGRAM: ☞ https://www.instagram.com/IndisputableTYT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Context of White Supremacy hosts the weekly Compensatory Call-In 06/15/24. We encourage non-white listeners to dial in with their codified concepts, new terms, observations, research findings, workplace problems or triumphs, and/or suggestions on how best to Replace White Supremacy With Justice ASAP. This weekly broadcast examines current events from across the globe to learn what's happening in all areas of people activity. We cultivate Counter-Racist Media Literacy by scrutinizing journalists' word choices and using logic to deconstruct what is reported as "news." We'll use these sessions to hone our use of terms as tools to reveal truth, neutralize Racists/White people. #ANTIBLACKNESS Just in time for Juneteenth and in the midst of a presidential election, a Suspected Race Soldier in Arizona was arrested and charged with planning a mass shooting at an Atlanta, Georgia "rap concert." Mark Adams Prieto reportedly wanted to kill as many black people as possible and to ignite a "race war" during the midst of a bitterly contested US presidential election. This is right on time for "Juneteenth," which allegedly celebrates negro liberation and the end of plantation slavery. Speaking of liberation, right in Gus T.'s beloved King County, Washington, a 17-teen-year-old non-white teen was shot 7(!) times in a parking lot while attempting to return a defective air-soft gun. A White civilian saw the non-white teen and his two friends, immediately assumed they were there to rape and pillage, and commenced shooting to kill. Much like privileged black males Tamir Rice and John Crawford III, the King County teen had a toy gun. We also make time to acknowledge that June 13th is International Albinism Awareness Day - which highlights how this genetic mutation impacts the safety and quality of life for thousands of melanin deficient people. Day#ReadingIsMoreImportantThanWatchingTelevision #TheCOWS15Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#

Today's episode features Jonathan and Sy talking with Pastor Rasool Berry. They discuss:-        The importance of acknowledging and understanding your own and your community's power-        The social and spiritual forces behind the opposition to CRT or DEI (or whatever they're calling it today)-        Pastor Berry's incredible documentary about Juneteenth and Christian faith-        When to leave communities that push back against racial justice-        And after the interview, Sy and Jonathan reflect on the work it takes to pass on a tradition like Juneteenth well, and the truly, literally unbelievable levels of ignorance whiteness creates in people-        Plus, they discuss the Daniel Perry pardon, and the threads that connect it to the Donald Trump convictionsMentioned in the Episode-        Our anthology - Keeping the Faith: Reflections on Politics and Christianity in the era of Trump and Beyond-        An abridged version of Pastor Berry's article from the anthology.-        His subsequent article, “Uncritical Race Theory”-        The documentary Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom-        Resources for screening Juneteenth and inviting speakers involved with the film-        The soundtrack for Juneteenth-        Pastor Berry's podcast, Where Ya From?-        The article on Daniel Perry Sy put in our newsletter-        The Texas Monthly article about how legally unusual Perry's pardon wasCredits-        Follow KTF Press on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to get our bonus episodes and other benefits at KTFPress.com.-        Follow host Jonathan Walton on Facebook Instagram, and Threads.-        Follow host Sy Hoekstra on Mastodon.-        Our theme song is “Citizens” by Jon Guerra – listen to the whole song on Spotify.-        Our podcast art is by Robyn Burgess – follow her and see her other work on Instagram.-        Transcripts by Joyce Ambale and Sy Hoekstra.-        Production by Sy Hoekstra and our incredible subscribersTranscript[An acoustic guitar softly plays six notes, the first three ascending and the last three descending – F#, B#, E, D#, B – with a keyboard pad playing the note B in the background. Both fade out as Jonathan Walton says “This is a KTF Press podcast.”]Rasool Berry: There was a lot of nicknames and still are for Juneteenth. One was Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, but Jubilee Day. And when I discovered that, that's when I said we got to get involved in this process. Because you mean to tell me that these formerly enslaved people at a time when it was illegal to read, that they understood enough of the story that they picked out this festival, that it was this reordering of society, the kingdom of heaven coming back to earth. And in the context of this, of their faith, they saw God doing a jubilee in their lives?[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]IntroductionSy Hoekstra: Welcome to Shake the Dust, seeking Jesus, confronting injustice. I'm Sy Hoekstra.Jonathan Walton: And I'm Jonathan Walton. Today, hear us talk to Pastor Rasool Berry about his thoughts on the movement against CRT, or DEI, or whatever the term for the moment is right now when you listen to this. We're also [laughs] going to talk about his incredible feature length documentary called Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom, which is available for free on YouTube right now. And then after the interview, hear our thoughts on the pardon of Daniel Perry and the conviction of Donald Trump in our segment, Which Tab Is Still Open?Sy Hoekstra: The 34 convictions of Donald Trump.Jonathan Walton: All of them.Sy Hoekstra: All of them [laughs]. We're going to talk about each one individually…Jonathan Walton: Exactly.Sy Hoekstra: …the specific business record that he destroyed, whatever.Jonathan Walton: [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: Don't be afraid, we're not going to do that. By the way, I said at the end of last week that the guest this week was going to be Brandi Miller, and then we realized that we had to do the episode that was about Juneteenth before Juneteenth. So Brandi Miller's going to be in two weeks from now. And this time [laughs], it's Pastor Rasool Berry.Before we get to that, just a reminder, we need your subscriptions. Please go to ktfpress.com and become a paid subscriber on our Substack. Your support sustains what we do, and we need that support from you right now. We've been doing this as a side project for a long time, and like we've been saying, if we want this show to continue past this season, we need to get a lot more subscribers so that we can keep doing this work, but not for free as much as we've been doing it.So go and subscribe. That gets you all the bonus episodes of this show, which there are many, many of at this point. And then it also gets you access to our new monthly subscriber conversations that we're doing. Jonathan and I will be having video chats with you to talk about all the different kinds of things that we talk about on this show, answer some questions, just have a good time. And if you cannot afford a subscription, if money's the only obstacle, just write to us at info@ktfpress.com. We will give you a free or discounted subscription, no questions asked. But if you can afford it, please, ktfpress.com. Become a paid subscriber. We need your support now.Jonathan Walton: Pastor Rasool Berry serves as teaching pastor at The Bridge Church in Brooklyn, New York. He's also the director of partnerships and content development with Our Daily Bread Ministries. Pastor Berry graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in Africana Studies and Sociology. He's also the host of the Where Ya From? podcast sponsored by Christianity Today, and the writer, producer and host of Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom. Let's get to it. Here's the interview.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Sy Hoekstra: Pastor, thank you so much for joining us on Shake the Dust today.Rasool Berry: Oh, well, I'm glad to be here with you all, back at it again, Keeping the Faith.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah. Yes, exactly [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Amen. Amen.The Importance of “Mapping” PowerSy Hoekstra: So, you wrote this fantastic essay for… so, well, actually, it was originally for your blog, I think, and then we kind of took it and adapted it for the anthology. And it was about critical race theory, and you broke down a lot of the history and sort of the complex intellectual background of it and everything. But you talked specifically about something that you said, critical race theory and the Bible and the Black Christian tradition in the US all help us do something really important, and that thing is mapping power. Can you talk to us a little bit about what power mapping is and what the importance of it is?Rasool Berry: Yeah. I first kind of got wind of that framework when we were launching a justice ministry at our church. And two friends Gabby, Dr. Gabby Cudjoe Wilkes and her husband, Dr. Andrew Wilkes, who do a lot of great work with justice, actually walked our church through thinking about mapping power in our church as a way of evaluating what types of justice initiatives did it make sense for us to engage in, in light of what we had in the room. And so for instance, when I was in my church in Indiana, a lot of the parishioners worked at Lilly who's headquarters is in Indiana. And so when they decided to do something for the community, they ended up opening up a clinic in the church building, which still exists and serves the local community, because they all had medical backgrounds.So when they do mission work, they do mission work with a medical component, because that's a effective way of mapping power. Where our church in Brooklyn average age is about 28, 29 and they're more artsy. So we're not opening up clinics, you know what I mean? But what we can do is events that help inspire and help engage with people. And then eventually with our pastor's leadership started something called Pray March Act, which looks to be a place to mobilize churches around issues of justice in New York City. So what is oftentimes overlooked in Christian spaces, and I really am indebted to Andy Crouch and his book, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, for really surfacing the need for us to have a theology of power.That this is something that oftentimes especially evangelical churches, or more kind of Bible oriented or people kind of churches, there's a sense in which we don't know how to think about power. And I believe, I suspect this is one of the reasons why the church has been so susceptible to issues like sexual abuse, to egregious theft in money, is because we are not really conditioned to think about power, which is really ironic because the scriptures really do point to… I mean, we literally have two books, First and Second Kings, and those books are pointing to you have the king, this king was a good king, and it impacted the kingdom of Israel this way. This king was a bad king, and then this is what happened.And so it's wired in the text, right? Amy Sherman in her book, Kingdom Calling, Dr. Amy Sherman points to this when she points to the proverb that says, “when the righteous prosper, the city rejoices.” And it's this idea, when she says righteous, she's not thinking about it in the kind of traditional pietistic aspect of righteousness, but she's talking about “tzedakah” in the Hebrew, which has this connotation of justice. Because when people who are put in positions of power and influence, when they do right by the people underneath them when they do right, that people celebrate. Versus when there's somebody who's a tyrant that's in office, the people groan because there's that sense of they recognize we've mapped power dynamics, and somebody who's going to do ill is going to have a disproportionate impact on all of us.And so power mapping is bringing to surface the awareness of what is it that we have in the room. And it's also a very humbling way of being aware of our own power, right? Like how do I show up as a man in a space, in certain things? Like I know if I get up and I'm about to preach that there's some different dynamics depending on who I'm talking to in a room. Like if I'm in a predominantly Black context that's younger, then the locks might actually kind of give me some street cred. Like, oh, that's kind of cool. But if I'm in a older, traditional space, looking younger is going to be more of a uphill climb to say, okay, what's this guy coming at? And if I'm in a White space, versus but I also recognize that when our sisters come up, that there's a whole different type of power mapping situation.And so all of these things are helpful in being aware of how we show up and how that matters. And Andy's kind of thesis is that unlike the kind of post Nietzschean postmodern suspicion and critical view of power that only sees it as a negative, that God has actually given us and ordained us to exert influence and power in redemptive ways. But we can only do that if we map it, if we're aware of it, and if we use it in a way that's not just for our own self or comfort or glory, but for those who we're called to serve.Sy Hoekstra: Can I ask, just for some like to get specific on one thing, because I'm not sure this would be intuitive to everyone. You said if we map power, then we might not end up in the same situations that we are with, like abuse scandals in the church?Rasool Berry: Yeah. Yep.Sy Hoekstra: And I think I… where my mind goes is I think we would react differently to the abuse scandal. I don't know if the abuse scandals themselves would… those happen unfortunately. But I think where the power mapping might come in, is where so many people are then just deferring to whatever the person in, the pastor's narrative is. Is that kind of what you're talking about, like the reaction?Rasool Berry: I think it's on both sides.Sy Hoekstra: You do? Okay.Rasool Berry: Yeah, because for instance, if I am aware, very aware of power dynamics with children and adults, I would see the value in a practice of not leaving an adult in a space with a child by themselves.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, I see. You might put systems in place ahead of time. Yeah, yeah.Rasool Berry: Right. So there's the sense in which we can put policies in place that recognize… it's the same thing why we put the labeling system on kids when they check into childcare, right? Like you put the little label so that some random person can't just come and pick them up because a kid can't defend themselves. Or they may not have the capacity to understand what's going on if somebody just random comes up and says, “Hey, your mom and your dad told me to come get you,” and then they believe that. And so we have systems that we put in place to recognize those power dynamics. And I think unfortunately, that in a lot of our church context and culture there's an overly naive sense of, and really sometimes idolatrous view of pastors and leaders that essentially say, well, they're good and they're godly people, so there isn't a need for accountability, or there isn't a need for, you know…And so no, it's like, well, in the same way that we have trustees in certain churches, or there's a elders board, depending on what your church polity is, that polity should reflect a sense of accountability and transparency so that there is an awareness on the front end as well as on the backend that when it does come to bring people into account, that there's also an awareness of a power dynamic at play there too.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense especially when [laughs] we throw those things out, all we have are the systems of hierarchy and social dominance that exist to define what power is, right?Rasool Berry: Right.Jonathan Walton: So the train just keeps going.The Social and Spiritual Forces behind the Fight against CRT/DEIJonathan Walton: So leaning into that a little bit, you wrote an essay focusing on CRT power mapping and things like that. But it feels like nobody in the Trump camp really had an idea of what CRT was, and it didn't even really matter to them what it was.Rasool Berry: Right.Jonathan Walton: So what do you think is at the core of what's going on with White people when they reject CRT or DEI or whatever the—conscious—whatever the term would be?Rasool Berry: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: What do you think the underlying concern is?Rasool Berry: Well, you know, after… and it's so funny because when I wrote that first piece, I wrote it as a way… [laughs] I wrote it just to get it off my chest. And in my mind, almost nobody was going to read it because it was like a 20-something minute read, and I just didn't care because I was just like, “I'm getting this off my chest,” and this is the last I'm going to say about it. Like I thought that was going to be just this thing, just so I can point people to, if anybody asks. I did not intend, nor did I think that it was only going to kind of position me as this person that people were listening to and reading and resonating with about it. So that was funny. But then what ended up happening, and especially after I was on the unbelievable? podcast with Justin Brierley, kind of in this debate format with Neil Shenvi, who's kind of been one of the most outspoken evangelical Christian critics of critical race theory. Critics is probably too mild of a term, kind of a…Jonathan Walton: Antagonist.Rasool Berry: Antagonist, even stronger. Like this doomsday prophet who says that, who's warning against the complete erosion of biblical norms because of the Trojan Horse, in his mind, of critical race theory. In the midst of that conversation, that kind of elevated, it was one of their top 10 episodes of the entire year, and it just kind of got me into these spaces where I was engaging more and more. And I kind of sat back and reflected, and I had a few more interactions with Neil on Twitter. And I ended up writing a separate piece called “Uncritical Race Theory.” And the reason why I did that, is I went back and I was curious about what kind of insights I could get from previous instances of the way that there were being controversies surrounding race in America in the church, and how the church talked about those debates.So I went back and I read The Civil War as a Theological Crisis by Mark Noll, who looked at and examined the actual debates during the time of the antebellum period of pro-slavery Christians and anti-slavery Christians, and he analyzed that. Then I went back and I read The Color of Compromise by Jemar Tisby, who looked at the pro-integrationist and segregationist arguments in the church. And what I found was that there was incredible symmetry between what was argued in each of those instances, going all the way back to the 1800s, to the 1960s, to now, and there were two things that emerged. The first was that the primary response from those who were supportive of slavery in the 1800s, or those who were supportive of segregation in the 1960s was to claim first of all, that the opposing view were not biblically faithful, or were not even concerned about biblical fidelity.So this is different than other types of discussions where we could say, even going back to the councils, right? Like when there's some type of, like during the Nicaean Council or something like that, they're debating about how they're understanding the text about certain things. Whereas is Jesus fully God, is he man, is he both? But there's a basic premise that they're both coming at it from different aspects of scriptures. What I noticed in the American context is that there was a denial that the side that was kind of having a more progressive view was even biblically faithful at all.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. Christian.Rasool Berry: The second part is related to the first, is that there was this allegation that there was outside philosophies that was actually shaping this impetus because it wasn't clearly the Bible. So in the 1800s that was the claim, “Oh, you're being influenced by these post-enlightenment ideas.” In the 1960s it was straight up Marxism, communism. You see the signs. “Integration is communism.” Like you see the people protesting with that, and of course the new version of that is kind of the remix of cultural Marxism, or these type of things. And so what I acknowledged in each of those scenarios is that part of the problem is that there is such an uncritical understanding of race that it causes, I think especially those in a dominant culture or those who've been susceptible to the ideologies of White supremacy, which can be White or Black or other, There's a tendency to see any claim that race is a problem as the problem itself because there's an underlying denial of the reality of racial stratification in our society, and the what Bryan Stevenson refers to as the narrative of racial difference or what is more commonly known as White supremacy. So when your default position is that you are introducing a foreign concept into the conversation when you talk about the relevance of race in a scenario, then it causes… that sense of uncritical nature of the reality of race causes you to then look upon with suspicion any claim that there's some type of racial based situation happening. And that is what I call, it is really ironically uncritical race theory. It's the exact opposite of what critical race theory is trying to do.And so I think that that's my take on what's happening. And then I think that's more of the scientific sociological, but then there's also a spiritual. I am a pastor [laughter]. And I have to end with this. I have to end with this, because in some ways I was naively optimistic that there was, if you just reasoned and show people the right analogies or perspectives, then they would, they could be persuaded. But what I have since realized and discovered is that there is a idolatrous synchronization of what we now know of different aspects of White Christian nationalism that is a competing theological position and belief system that is forming these doctrinal positions of what we now kind of look at as American exceptionalism, what we look at as this sense of the status quo being… all the things that are moving toward an authoritarian regime and away from democracy, that that is all solidifying itself as an alternative gospel.And I think that at the end of the day, I'm looking at and grieving about mass apostasy that I'm seeing happening in the church as a result of an unholy alliance of political ideology and Christian symbols, language, and values expressed in this kind of mixed way. And that's what is really being allowed to happen with this unmapped power dynamic, is that people don't even realize that they're now exerting their power to kind of be in this defensive posture to hold up a vision of society that is actually not Christian at all, but that is very much bathed in Christian terms.Jonathan Walton: I want to say a lot back, but we got to keep going, but that was good.Sy Hoekstra: We got to… [laughs]. Yeah. I mean, we could talk forever about what you just said, but we could also talk forever about your documentary. So let's transition to that.Rasool Berry: [laughter] You all are like exercising restraint.Sy Hoekstra: Yes.Jonathan Walton: I am.Rasool Berry: Like, “oh, I want to go there.” I just threw steak in front of the lions [laughter].Why Pastor Berry Made a Documentary about JuneteenthSy Hoekstra: But it's because, I mean, the documentary's interesting in a way... It's sort of like, okay, you've seen this movement of mass apostasy and everything, and you've had all these people tell you you're not faithful. And with this documentary in some ways, you're just sprinting on down the road that you're on. You know what I mean? It's like sort of [laughs], you're just going straightforward like we need to remember our past. We need to learn about power dynamics in American history. So you wrote this—[realizing mistake] wrote— you were involved in, you're the kind of narrator, the interviewer of this documentary Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom. And you went to Galveston and you went to Houston, Texas to learn more about the history of Juneteenth and the communities and the people that shaped the celebration and everything.And I guess I just want to know how this got started and why it was so important for you to engage in what was a very significant project…Rasool Berry: Yeah.Sy Hoekstra: …to teach people about this kind of history that I think the movement against CRT or DEI or whatever is quite actively trying to suppress.Rasool Berry: And these two stories are very much intertwined…Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Jonathan Walton: Absolutely.Rasool Berry: …in ways that I didn't even fully anticipate in some ways. In some ways I knew, in some ways I didn't. But I grew up in Philly, where there was not growing up a significant Juneteenth awareness or celebration or anything like that. So I had heard about it though when I was very young, the concept of it. I had a classmate whose middle name was Galveston, and I was like, “That's a weird name. Why is your middle name Galveston?” [laughter] He told me that it's because his mom had told him about this situation where there were Black people that didn't know they were free for two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation. I was like eight years old when I first heard that, but filed that away.It wasn't really until more recent years with the, just massive racial justice movement spurred on by the murders of Tamir Rice and George Floyd and others, Sandra Bland. And so, as that movement started to gin up, conversations about race that I was kind of plugged into, I heard about this 90-something year old woman that was appearing before Congress…Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Rasool Berry: …and challenging them to make Juneteenth a national holiday.Sy Hoekstra: I can't believe you got to interview her. She was amazing.Rasool Berry: Yeah. And I was like, why would a 90-something plus year old woman be like this committed to this? So I started looking into it and realizing, I think both spiritually and socially, that there was incredible potency and opportunity in the recognition, the widespread recognition of Juneteenth. I'll go socially first. Socially, the reality has been the United States has never had a moment where we collectively reflect on the legacy of slavery in our country. And if you do the math, from the first enslaved people that we have documented coming into the States in 1619 until if even if you go to the abolition of slavery in 1865 or 1866 with the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment, that's about 244 years.If you go from 1865 to now, it's like 159 or so years. So we still have way more time in our society that has been shaped by this most intense version of a caste system and brutal slavery that had global, it literally reshaped the globe. And sometimes we forget. I live in Brooklyn where most of the Black folk are Afro-Caribbean. When you think of Jamaica, you think of Usain Bolt or Bob Marley. Do you realize that all of those people are from Africa, like our African descent people. That like the native people of Jamaica would've been Native Americans. So the legacy of slavery and colonialism has literally reshaped population centers in our world. That's how significant it was.And so to not have a moment to reflect on all of it, the implications of how the legacy still shapes us, but also the progress of what we've seen happen and how we are not in that same place is a missed opportunity. But on the contrary, to put that in place is an opportunity for reflection that I think could really help ground us toward being a more perfect union, toward us being a unified people. Because we're basing it on the same story and information, which increasingly in the age of misinformation and disinformation, that the erosion of us having a shared narrative is really upon us. So I think it's interesting and important from that standpoint. Spiritually, it was even more dynamic because one of the… so there was a lot of nicknames and still are for Juneteenth. One was Emancipation Day, Freedom Day, but Jubilee Day.And when I discovered that, that's when I said, “Okay, Our Daily Bread, we got to get involved in this process.” Because you mean to tell me that these formerly enslaved people at a time when it was illegal to read, primarily because they didn't want people to read the Bible, that they understood enough of the story of the Old Testament, that they picked out this festival in Leviticus 25, this ordinance that God had put in place, that on the Jubilee year, the Sabbath of all Sabbaths, I call it the Super Bowl of Sabbaths [Sy laughs]. Seven years times seven, forty nine years plus one, fifty. That on that day that it was this reordering of society, the kingdom of heaven coming back to earth, which simultaneously anticipates the wickedness and the brokenness of human systems in power, but also projects and casts vision about the kingdom of heaven, which would allow for equity and equality to take place. So debts were forgiven, lands were returned, and people who were in bondage primarily because of debt, that was the main reason back then, they would be set free. And in the context of their faith, they saw God doing the jubilee in their lives. So what that gave was the opportunity for us to talk about and reintroduce in many faith traditions the relationship between spiritual and physical freedom, and see that in the Bible story those things were wedded.What's the major account in the Old Testament is the Exodus account. Like it was both physical and spiritual freedom. And in the same way we see that is why Jesus, when he reveals himself and says, “The kingdom of God is at hand,” notice when John the Baptist starts to waver because he's expecting this conquering king. He's still in prison and he says, “Hey, are you the one or we should expect another?” Jesus points to physical and spiritual aspects of liberation in his response. “Tell John what you see. The blind receive sight. The sick are healed. The gospel is preached. Blessed is the one who is not ashamed of me.” So in the sense of that, what we see elements of the kind of seeds of in the gospel is this aspect of the physical and spiritual liberation being tied together.And that is what Jubilee gives us opportunity to explore and investigate. And I think lastly, seeing the role of the Black church in bringing out that insight, I think is particularly valuable in a time where oftentimes those contributions are overlooked and ignored.Jonathan Walton: Yeah, absolutely. I think being able to watch the documentary was transformative for me. Mainly because I'm 38 years old and it's being produced by people who look and sound and act like me. It's interviewing the people who came before us, trying to speak to the folks that are younger than us. And each generation I think has this, this go around where we have to own our little piece of what and how we're going to take the work forward. You know what I mean?Discerning Whether to Leave Communities that Push back on Discussions about RaceYou interviewed Lecrae in the documentary and he's taken that work forward, right? And you both say that you've had the experiences of believing you are loved and accepted in these White evangelical spaces until you started talking about racial justice issues.And so I feel like there's these moments where we want to take the work forward, and then we're like, “All right, well, this is our moment.” Like Opal was like, “Hey, I'm going to do Juneteenth.” Where now you're like, “I'm going to do something.” [laughs] So I wonder, like for you, when you have to make decisions about how to stay, not to stay or just leave. What is the effect of constantly engaging in that calculus for you?Rasool Berry: Oh, man! It's exhausting to do it. And I think it is valuable to count the cost and realize that sometimes you're best suited to reposition yourself and to find other ways to express that faithfulness. At other times, God is causing you to be a change agent where you are. And I think how to navigate through that is complicated, and I think it's complicated for all of us, for our allies who see the value of racial justice as well as for those of us who are marginalized and experience, not just conceptually or ideologically the need for justice, but experientially all of the things through macro and microaggressions that come up, that weigh and weather us and our psyche, our emotions, our bodies.And I think that it's important to be very spiritually attuned and to practice healthy emotional spirituality as well as, best practices, spiritual disciplines, all the things that have come alongside of what does it mean to follow Jesus. I was recently reflecting on the fact that in the height of Jesus' ministry, when it was on and popping, he's growing, the crowds are growing in number, it says that he went away regularly and left the crowds to be with God. And then the verse right after that, it's in Luke, I can't remember which chapters, I know the verse is 16 and 17. And then it talks about how he had power as a result of going away to do more. And there's this relationship between our needing to rest and to find recovery in the secret place in the quiet place with God in order to have the energy to do more of the work.And that's a lot to hold together, but it's really important because otherwise you can end up being like Moses, who was trying to do justice, but in his own strength at first when he kills the Egyptian, and then he tried to go to his people being like, “Yo, I'm down!” And they're like, “You killed somebody. We don't want to hear from you.”Jonathan Walton: [laughs] Right.Rasool Berry: And then he flees. Because he tried to do it in his own strength. And then when God reveals himself at the bush, now he's totally broken and not even confident at all in himself. And God has to say, “No, the difference is going to be I'm with you.” So I think in my own journey, I've been one of many people who've had to evaluate and calculate where I've been in order to kind of see where there are opportunities to move forward. For instance, I was on staff with Cru for 20 years and then as the opportunities to work with Our Daily Bread, and I remember specifically the podcast Where Ya From?, that we launched and then Christianity Today got connected to it.They were eagerly looking, or at least supporting the idea of us having conversations about faith and culture and race and all these things. Whereas in my previous environment, I felt like that was not something… I didn't even feel like it, I experienced the pullback of talking about those things. So it has actually, by repositioning myself to kind of be able to be in spaces where I can tell these stories and advocate in these ways, it has been a better use of my energy and my time. Now, even in that other space, everything isn't perfect. It's still the same type of challenges that exist anywhere you go in the world where you're a minority in race and racial difference is prominent, but at least it's a opportunity to still do more than I could do maybe in a previous position. And all of us have to make those type of calculations.And I think it's best to do those things in the context of community, not just by yourself, and also with a sense of sobriety of encountering and experiencing God himself. Because at the end of the day, sometimes, I'm going to just say this, sometimes the answer is leave immediately. Get out of there. At other times, God is calling you to stay at least in the short term time. And it's important to be discerning and not just reactive to when is the right situation presenting itself. And the only way I know to do that is by doing it in community, doing it with a sense of healthy rhythms and time to actually hear the still small voice of God.Sy Hoekstra: Amen.Jonathan Walton: Amen.Sy Hoekstra: Because you really can err in either direction. Like some people, “I'm getting out of here right away,” without thinking. Meaning, when you're being reactive, when you're not being discerning…Rasool Berry: Right.Sy Hoekstra: …you can get out right away or you can have the instinct, “No, I'm going to stick it out forever,” even if it's bad for you, and it's not going to accomplish anything.Rasool Berry: Yup, yeah.Jonathan Walton: Yeah. Which I think leans into jumping all the way back the critical versus uncritical.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah [laughs]. There you go.Jonathan Walton: Like if we're not willing to lean into the radical interrogation of the systems and structures around us that inform our decisions each day, we will submit to them unconsciously, whether that be running when we should resist or whether that be resisting where we actually should flee. So yeah, thanks for all that.Where you can Find Pastor Berry's workSy Hoekstra: Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. And so we will have links to both of the articles, to the documentary, which is entirely free on YouTube.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: So you're just wasting your life if you're not watching it, really [laughter]. And a couple other things you talked about, we'll have links. But is there anywhere that you want people to go to either follow you or your work online?Rasool Berry: Yeah. So the other thing that what we did with the Juneteenth documentary, because the response was so strong and overwhelming, really, people wanted to host screenings locally. And so we did a few things to make that more possible. So you can actually go on our website experiencevoices.org/Juneteenth. And you can fill out like a form to actually host a screening locally. And we have designed social media so you can market it, posters that you could print out, even discussion questions that you can use to host discussions. And sometimes people invite some of us from the production on site. So I've gone and done, I've been at screenings all the way from California to Texas to Wisconsin and here in New York.So you can reach out to us on that website as well if you're interested in hosting a screening with the director or one of the producers or myself, and we can kind of facilitate that. Also be looking at your local PBS stations. We partnered with PBS to air screenings so far over a hundred local channels.Sy Hoekstra: Oh, wow.Rasool Berry: And have aired it. Now, the PBS version is slightly different because we had to edit it down to fit their hour long format. And so the biggest version is the PBS version doesn't have Lecrae in it [laughs].Sy Hoekstra: Oh no [laughs].Rasool Berry: We had to cut out the four-time Grammy winner. Sorry Lecrae [laughter].Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Rasool Berry: You know what I mean? But it just so happened that way it, that it was the best way to edit it down.Jonathan Walton: You had to keep Opal.Rasool Berry: Had to keep Opal, had to keep Opal [laughter].Sy Hoekstra: I feel like Lecrae would understand that, honestly.Rasool Berry: Yeah, yeah, yeah. He was so gracious. And actually, the other thing that Lecrae did, I had told him that we were working with Sho Baraka, a mutual friend of ours, to do the music. And he said, “Yeah, I heard something about that.” He's like, “I have a song I was going to put on Church Clothes 4, but I feel like it would be a better fit for this. If you're interested, let me know and I can send it to you.” I'm like, “If I'm interested? Yes, I'm interested.” [laughter] Yes. I'll accept this sight unseen. And so he sent us this incredible song that features, well actually is listed as Propaganda's song, but it features Lecrae and Sho Baraka. And you can get the entire Juneteenth: Faith and Freedom soundtrack 13 tracks, poetry, hip hop, gospel, rnb, all on one thing. And wherever you listen to your music, Spotify, Apple Music, anywhere, you can, listen to it, stream it, buy it, and support this movement and this narrative. So yeah. And then personally, just @rasoolb on Instagram, @rasoolberry on, I still call it Twitter [Sy laughs]. So, and we're on Facebook as well. That's where folks can follow me, at rasoolberry.com, website. So thanks for having me.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah, pastor, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it.Jonathan Walton: Thanks so much, man.[the intro piano music from “Citizens” by Jon Guerra plays briefly and then fades out.]Reflecting on the InterviewSy Hoekstra: Hey, Jonathan, you know what's really useful, is when in the middle of an interview with one of our guests, we say, “Oh no, we don't have time. We'd really like to get into this, so we have to move on to another subject.” It's really useful when we have these little times that we're doing now after the interview to talk more about the subjects than we did with the guests [laughter]. This works out well for us.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: Why don't you tell everybody what you're thinking after the interview with Pastor Berry?Passing on a Tradition Well Takes Significant WorkJonathan Walton: Yeah. I think the biggest thing for me that I took away among a lot of the nuggets that he… nuggets and like big things that got dropped on me while we were listening, was like the amount of work that he went through to make this film. Like traveling to Galveston. There's a lot in the documentary that reminds me of how much it costs us personally to create things that are moving. To be able to have these conversations, sit down with these people, smell the smells of these folks' homes. That's just a big thing, particularly for me, like not having… I grew up with the Juneteenth story and needing to think through my own traditions and what I'm going to pass to my kids and stuff like that.It's just I'm challenged to do that work so that I have something substantial to pass on to Maya and Everest. And to the folks who listen to the preaching that I give or the stories I write, or the books I'm going to write, just so I can communicate with the same amount of intimacy that he did. So, Sy how about you? What stood out for you?The Literally Unbelievable Racial Ignorance of WhitenessSy Hoekstra: I think what stood out for me was actually right at that point where we said we really wanted to talk more about something, I really did have more thoughts [laughs]. When he was talking about the thing that underlies the fight against CRT and DEI and all that sort of thing. Being just a straight up denial of any sort of racial caste system or racial stratification in our country, I think that point is extremely important. That so much of our disagreements about racial injustice, at least on the intellectual level, not on the emotional and all that kind of thing, the intellectual level that come down to a difference in beliefs about the facts of reality in America. It is literally just do you think racism is happening or not? Because if you do think that it's happening, then everything has to change [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: And there's not a lot of room… you'll have to do a lot more like kind of active denial. A lot more having a very active lack of integrity [laughs] to continue in the way that you're thinking when you believe that there is no racism in America if you find out that there is. Which kind of explains why there's so much resistance to it. But I think one story that sort of illustrates how this dynamic works a little bit that just, this is something that happened to me that this reminded me of. I was an intern right after college at International Justice Mission, and I read Gary Haugen's book, The Good News About Injustice, where the intro to this book is about his childhood growing up in kind of suburban, I think he's outside of Seattle, somewhere in Washington. A suburban Christian home, things were pretty nice and easy and he just did not know anything about injustice or anything in the world. Like oppression, racism, he did not know anything about it. And then the book takes you through how he discovered it and then his theology of what God wants to do about it and what the organization does and all that kind of thing. But just that intro, I remember talking to one of the other interns who was at IJM m when I was there, who was a Black woman who was ordained in the Black Baptist Church and had grown up relatively low income. And I was talking to her about this book because I read that intro and I was like, “yes, I totally resonate with this. This is how I grew up, check, check. That makes sense. I understand all of it.”And it makes sense to a lot of the people who support IJM, which are a lot of suburban White evangelicals. She told me, she read the intro to the book and her immediate reaction was how, there is no way that anyone could possibly be this ignorant. It is not possible [laughs]. And I was like, [pretending to be hurt] “but I was” [laughter]. And there's this wrench in the gear of our conversations about justice where there's a large spectrum of White people who are, some engaging in actual innocent good faith about how much nonsense there is, like how much racism there is in America, and people who are engaging in complete bad faith and have ignored all the things that have been put right in front of them clearly.And it is just very difficult for a lot of people who are not White to understand [laughs] that there are actually… the level of ignorance of a lot of White people is unbelievable, by which I mean it literally cannot be believed by a lot of people. And I don't know, that's just, it is a complication in our conversations about race that doesn't really change what you have to tell people or how seriously you should take your conversations or whatever. It's just a note about what you might need to do to bring people kind of into the fold, by which I mean the fold of the truth [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Yes. This is true of like a lot of White people. And the sad part is that it can also be true of a lot of people of color…Sy Hoekstra: Well, yeah.Jonathan Walton: …who say, “I'm just going to deny, because I haven't experienced.” Or, “We have opted into the system of ignorance and don't want to engage.” And so I'll tell a story. Priscilla was at the airport this week.Sy Hoekstra: Your wife.Jonathan Walton: My wife Priscilla, was at the airport, not a random woman [laughter], was at the airport this week. And someone said, “Yeah, everyone who came to this country, like we're all immigrants.” And Priscilla said, “Actually some people came here as slaves.” Then the person says, “No, that's not true.” And it's like, what do you say to that? When someone just says slavery doesn't exist? And that's literally why we celebrate Juneteenth. So I don't know what this person's going to do on Juneteenth, but when there's a collective narrative and acknowledgement that this happened, and then there's a large group, James Baldwin would say, ignorance plus power is very dangerous.If there's a large group that's ignorant and or like intentionally not engaging, but also has power and privilege and all the things, the benefits of racial stratification without the acknowledgement of the reality of it, which is just a dangerous combination.Sy Hoekstra: So when somebody says something like that, like that didn't happen, people didn't come over here as slaves, I think it is possible that they legitimately don't know that I suppose [laughs], or that they think it's a conspiracy theory or whatever. My guess is, tell me what you think about this. What I would imagine happened there was, “Oh, I never thought about the fact that Black people are not immigrants. And so I'm just going to say no.” Do you know what I mean?Jonathan Walton: Oh yeah. Well, I agree. I think some people even, so let's say like, I write about this in 12 Lies. Ben Carson says that we all came here as immigrants, even if it was in the bottom of a ship. He says that. And I think that is a, to be kind, a gross misrepresentation of the middle passage [laughs], but I see what he's trying to do. He's trying to put Black folks in a narrative that fits in the American narrative so people can, so he's not othered. Because what happens when you acknowledge enslavement is that you have to acknowledge all that. They all come with each other. It's like being at a buffet and there is literally no other menu. Like once you say, once you go in, you can't order one plate. If you talk about slavery, you're opening up all the things and some people just don't want to do that. And that sucks.Sy Hoekstra: Yeah.Which Tab Is Still Open: Daniel PerryJonathan Walton: It's true. And [laughs], I think this feeds into a little bit of this segment [laughs] that we have aptly called Which Tab is Still Open. Because out of all the things in our newsletter and our podcast, there's stuff that comes up for us and it's just still hanging on our desktops, we still talk about it offline. So for Sy, like for you, which one, which tab is still open?Sy Hoekstra: Yeah. We're going to talk about Daniel Perry and Donald Trump today.Jonathan Walton: Fun times.Sy Hoekstra: So I recently had an article in the newsletter that I highlighted as one of my resources, that is about the case of Daniel Perry, which I think kind of flew a little bit under the radar in the fervor of 2020. But he was a known racist, meaning we have now seen truckloads of social media posts and text messages and everything revealing his out and out racism, his fantasies about killing Black Lives Matter protesters, all these kinds of things. Who in the summer of 2020, during those protests, drove his car through a red light into a crowd of protesters. And he did not at that moment hurt anyone, but another, an Air Force vet, Daniel Perry's also a vet, but another Air Force vet named Garrett Foster, walked up to him carrying, openly carrying his, in Texas, legal assault rifle.He didn't point it at Daniel Perry, but he was carrying it. And he knocked on the window and motioned for Perry to roll his window down, and Perry shot him through the window five times and killed him. He was convicted of murder in 2023 by a jury. And the day after he was convicted, governor Greg Abbott republican governor of Texas said that he wanted his case to be reviewed for a full pardon, so that the pardons board could send him a recommendation to do it, which is the legal way that a governor can make a pardon in Texas. And that happened a couple weeks ago. Daniel Perry walked free with all of his civil rights restored, including his right to own firearms.Texas Monthly did some really good reporting on how completely bizarre this pardon is under Texas law, meaning they very clear, they kind of laid out how these pardons typically go. And the law very clearly says that a pardon is not to be considered for anyone who is still in prison, like hasn't finished their sentence, except under very exceptional circumstances, which are usually that like some new evidence of innocence has come to light.Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: And the actual materials that the board reviewed were basically just his defense case where like him arguing that he was doing what he did out of self-defense. He was standing his ground, and that he was afraid of Foster and therefore allowed to use deadly force. In any other case, the remedy for that, if you think that's your defense and you were wrongly denied your defense by the jury is to appeal. Is to go through the appeals to which you have a right as a criminal defendant. And in this case, he became a bit of a conservative cult hero and the governor stepped in to get him out of jail. It was so bizarre. So the weird thing here is, for me at least, for these cases, for the cases surrounding like where someone has been killed either by the police or by an individual, it has always been pretty clear to me which way the case is going.Like if you're someone who's actually taken a, like me, gone to law school, taken a criminal law class, you've studied murder and then like the right to stand your ground and the right to self-defense, and when you can use deadly force, most of these cases are pretty predictable. I knew that the killers of Ahmaud Arbery and Walter Scott and Jordan Davis were going down. I knew that people were going to get off when they got off. Like those were not confusing. And that isn't because the law isn't racist or whatever, it's just the law doesn't take race into account at all. It just completely ignores, it has nothing to do with the cases, according to the law. So it's like this one was stunning.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: Because if it had gone to the appellate judges, the judges who actually are thinking about like the whole system and the precedents that they're setting would say, “Hey, in an open carry state like Texas, we do not want to set a precedent where if someone who is legally, openly carrying a gun walks up to you, you can kill them.” That is not a precedent that they want to set. But this is not an appellate case, so we're not setting that precedent, we're just letting this racist murderer go. That's it.Jonathan Walton: Yes.Sy Hoekstra: And that is like what effectively Greg Abbott and the Board of Pardons in Texas have conspired to do. And I didn't know this was coming actually. I hadn't heard the news that he was calling for the pardon when it happened, but it's wild. And I just kind of wanted to give that additional context and hear what you're thinking about it, Jonathan, and then we'll get into Donald Trump a little bit.Normalizing Punishing Protestors and Lionizing MurderersJonathan Walton: Yeah, I mean, I think first thing for me is like this is a PG podcast. I won't use all the expletives that I would like to use. The reality of like Kyle Rittenhouse lives in Texas now. George Zimmerman, after he killed Trayvon Martin, he was in other altercations with people with guns. So this is not a person or a scenario that is new, which is sad and disappointing. But the reality of an institution stepping into enforce its institutionalized racism, is something that feels new to me in the environment that we're in. And what I mean by that is like, I think we now live in a society that desires for protestors and folks who are resistant to the system that oppresses and marginalizes people, if you believe that is happening.There are individuals and institutions that desire to punish that group of people. It is now normed that that group of people can be punished by anybody.Sy Hoekstra: If you're in the right state.Jonathan Walton: Well, I won't even say the right state, but I almost think if you can get caught in the zeitgeist of a certain media attention, then you will be lauded as someone who did the right thing.Sy Hoekstra: Oh yeah. Even if you might still end up in jail.Jonathan Walton: Even if you might still end up in jail, like you'll become a hero. And so the circumstances have been created where protesters can be punished by regular members of society, and then their quote- unquote punishment could be pardoned in the court of public opinion, and so much so you could end up being pardoned by the institution. There are going to be more protests on campus. There are going to be more protests in light of Trump's conviction and potential election. The chances of political violence and protests are very high, highly probable there're going to be thunderstorms. And what we're saying is like, let's give everybody lightning bolts [Sy laughs]. And we all know if this is a racially stratified society, which it is, if it's a class stratified society, which it is, then we will end up with things like Donald Trump getting convicted and becoming president.Sy Hoekstra: And the racial stratification is important to remember because people have pointed out, if there had been a Trump rally and someone had been killed, that like, not a chance that Greg Abbott does any of this, right?Jonathan Walton: The hallmark of White American folk religion is hypocrisy. If this were a person of color, there's no way that they would've got pardoned for shooting someone at a protest.The Criminal Legal System was Exceptionally Kind to Donald TrumpSy Hoekstra: And this is the connection to the Donald Trump case [laughs].Jonathan Walton: Right.Sy Hoekstra: Because despite the fact that he was convicted, he has been treated throughout this process in a way that no poor or BIPOC would, like no poor person or any BIPOC would ever be treated by the New York State courts. I can tell you that from experience [laughter] as an actual attorney in New York state. Donald Trump had 10 separate violations of a gag order, like he was held in contempt by the court and required to pay some money, which is significant, but nobody does that and doesn't spend some time in jail unless they are rich and famous and White. It was shocking to watch the amount of dancing around him and his comfort that the system does. And this is, pastor Berry mentioned Bryan Stevenson, another Bryan Stevenson quote.I've mentioned, we've mentioned Brian Stevenson so many times on this show [laughter]. But it's true. One of the things he says all the time is that the system treats you better if you're rich and White and guilty than if you're poor and BIPOC and innocent.Jonathan Walton: Yeah.Sy Hoekstra: And, that's the demonstration. So the Trump indictments happened when we're recording this yesterday. Or the convictions, I mean. And in terms of what it'll do to the election, probably not much. In terms of what it'll like [laughs], like Jonathan was just saying, like this is the situation that we're in here. We don't have a lot of political analysis to bring you about this case because I don't think there's much political analysis to do except to continue to point out over and over again that this is not the way that people are treated by the criminal justice system. This is an exception to what is otherwise the rule.Outro and OuttakeOkay. I think we're going to end there. Thank you all so much for joining us today. Our theme song, as always is “Citizens” by John Guerra. Our podcast Art is by Robyn Burgess. Transcripts by Joyce Ambale. And thank you all so much for joining us. Jonathan, thanks for being here. We will see you all again in two weeks.[The song “Citizens” by Jon Guerra fades in. Lyrics: “I need to know there is justice/ That it will roll in abundance/ And that you're building a city/ Where we arrive as immigrants/ And you call us citizens/ And you welcome us as children home.” The song fades out.]Jonathan Walton: Yeah, I think the biggest thing for me was like the amount of work that he went through to make this film. I'm challenged to do that work so that I have something substantial to pass on to Maya and Everest, just so I can communicate with the same amount of intimacy that he did.Sy Hoekstra: So now you're going to go make a documentary about Juneteenth, is what you're saying?Jonathan Walton: [deep exhale, and Sy laughs] At least a reel [laughter].Sy Hoekstra: A reel… yeah, those are pretty much the same I'd say. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ktfpress.com/subscribe

Currently we're being downloaded in 113 countries!  Thank you!With the May 3rd, 2024, shooting and killing of Sr. U.S. Airman Roger Fortson in his off-base home in Fort Walton, FL, by an Okaloosa County Sheriff's Deputy, we shine the antiseptic light of the truth in this deep, thorough and investigatory episode of Light ‘Em Up on the killing of black men in their homes by law enforcement.Click the link to view the available Body Worn Camera footage + extra coverage on the Fortson case.This isn't a topic anyone is talking about or wants to hear — these are precisely the topics we cover.  In a time of uncertainty, facts help guide and educate.The cold hard facts bear out evidence that the 2nd Amendment's “Right to keep and bear arms” as well as the Castle Doctrine DO NOT apply equally nor consistently for individuals of color as it does for Caucasians.  Note well: (The Castle Doctrine is a common law principle which states that individuals have the right to use reasonable force, including deadly force, to protect themselves against an intruder in their home.)In this episode we'll unpack the: ♦ Actions taken by the Deputy Sherriff before, during and after the 6 shots he emptied into Mr. Fortson.  We'll examine what crucial dispatch and on scene information he had when he responded to the call. ♦ Examine similar fact-patterns in the cases of Amir Locke, asleep on the sofa in his cousin's Minneapolis, MN apartment, Donovan Lewis (in his home in Columbus, Ohio) and the “Open Carry Rights” of young 12-year-old Tamir Rice (in Cleveland, Ohio).♦ Introduce you to a little-known concept of “dispatch priming” (where the 9-11 dispatch officer “primes” the officer with information which can lead to “mistake of fact” deadly confrontations…as in the Tamir Rice shooting death with the Cleveland Division of Policing.The fact remains:  Good intel saves lives; bad intel gets people killed.♦ We'll review closely the language of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Graham v. Connor, 490 U.S. 386 (1989) which is used daily to determine the legality of every UoF (Use of Force).It's imperative that every person understands and comprehends the key components of the legal holding of this case, so much so that that we will itemize them verbatim in our “Show Liner-Notes” for this episode here.♦ We'll expose the harsh history of many of the founding U.S. states on how they perceived black people as “property” and spoke unequivocally regarding their “rights, privileges and immunities” to access to firearms.This isn't argument nor conjecture, but the real-world fact pattern that we are faced with.  We feel like we constantly ask this same question:  Where do we go from here? Why do we keep coming back to this again and again?  Will anything ever change?The most recent effort in the U.S. House, The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act of 2020, is just as dead as its namesake.We truly believe simply because this bill bears the name of George Floyd, no Republican will vote for it.  It would be political suicide to do so. There seems to be no hope for it passing.Tune in for the explosive details.  Follow our sponsors Newsly & Feedspot We want to hear from you!

Re-release of our highest rated episode as a tribute as we celebrate and recognize black history month. Black history is american history and it should be honored, acknowledge and recognized. Rest in Peace George Floyd, Brianna Taylor, Tamir Rice and more. We recognize and honor you by reminding our listeners so you are not forgotten. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/oust/message

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley joins the show to talk about his history, background, why he ran for prosecutor and addresses criticism over juvenile bindovers and the Tamir Rice case.

Alyssa (of The Silver Scream Podcast) joins Caitlin to cover The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster, a 2023 retelling of Frankenstein with poignant, modern social commentary. Nobody asked for two white women to reflect on a movie about Black culture and Black trauma, but we hope to use our voices to lift up this fantastic debut from director Bomani J Story. With allusions to the murders of Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin, affecting depictions of violence against Black communities, and examples of intergenerational trauma, TABGAHM strikes an emotional chord. It also has moments of humor and joy that make it an enjoyable watch (and rewatch). This movie hasn't gotten a lot of press in the horror community, but it should Check it out on Shudder. Tangents for this episode include: book collecting, werewolf movies, our inability to pirate things, 2023 horror releases, tattoos, witches, teleportation, sunrises, moths, and long movies.

If you are anything like me, you like to think of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s & 60s as a movement that helped our country achieve, maybe not the entire dream that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. described, but at least something that was closer to that dream, something that showed we were on the right path toward fulfilling that dream. After all, didn't the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act get passed and implemented by the government? Haven't we seen great strides in the implementation of fair housing and lending? Hasn't segregation been relegated to the dark corners of our past? Unfortunately, this is a mythology that many of us would like to hold on to. The assassination of Dr. King in 1968 should have been enough to disabuse us of that mythology. And yet that mythology persists. In more recent years, it has been perforated and torn time and again by the abuse and murder of Black citizens by police and white supremecists: Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, Philando Castille, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Walter Scott, Eric Garner, Michael Brown, Oscar Grant, Tamir Rice and so many more.These names represent our collective failure to realize King's dream of justice, equality and equity. Perhaps, if nothing else, these names help those of us in the white community to understand just how frayed and fractured that mythology of progress really is. And there is no place that I can think of that reveals the stark contrast between our hopes and their unfulfilled promise than the city of Birmingham, Alabama.  My guest today is Clay Cornelius, the owner and guide of Red Clay Tours in Birmingham, AL. How do we get to know cities that we visit? How do we get the lay of the land and find out what really happened there? Of course, we can visit monuments and historical sites, but that doesn't begin to fill in the canvas of a city. Clay is the sort of guide that will fill in that canvas with stories and historical detail that you can't get anywhere else. And that detail is especially important for a city as famous and infamous as Birmingham, Alabama. Birmingham, as we know, played a huge role in the era of the civil rights struggle. It was the place of confrontation with Bull Connor, of tragedy with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church and the deaths of four Black children. It was where Dr. King was jailed and wrote one of his most extraordinary writings, Letter from a Birmingham Jail. As I mentioned on a previous episode, I was part of a wonderful civil rights pilgrimage with a group from Westminster Presbyterian Church here in Olympia, WA. And Clay was our guide when we were in Birmingham and as you will hear, he is a fount of knowledge about Birmingham and its history.Books Mentioned in this episode:“Carry Me Home” by Diane McWhorter  “But for Birmingham: The Local and National Movements in the Civil Rights Struggle” by Glenn Eskew “A More Beautiful and Terrible History” by Jeanne Theoharris

The Context of White Supremacy welcomes Suspected Racist Dr. Mark Neocleous live from England. Dr. Neocleous was resistant to revealing his racial classification, and only after lots of giggling and "buckets of words" did he finally admit that he is accepted as White. Importantly, he immediately agreed with Gus's definition of White Supremacy/Racism. A Professor of the Critique of Political Economy in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at Brunel University London, Dr. Neocleous is a "critical theorist who focuses on questions of state and capital, especially as they pertain to police, security and war." He also has an "interest in the political imagination, especially concerning bodies, monstrosity, and death." We'll discuss his report: "The Monster And The Police: Dexter to Hobbes." A White serial killer (this time, fictitious) is equated to policing in general. Dexter's character does actually work for enforcement officials and adheres to a "police" code to aid in his undetected serial killing. Gus thought it would be interesting and relatable to discuss this report as it compares to authentic US police terrorism. However, Dr. Neocleous is adamantly opposed to discussing White Supremacy/Racism. At every instance, Dr. Neocleous interrupted and/or attempted to steer the dialog away from Racism - even away from his own report. He pivoted towards Iranian "patriarchy" and police abuse of Iranian females - a region not discussed in the police as monsters essay. Then he brought up China. He interrupted Gus stating that bleaching creams are a product of White Supremacy to retort that "capitalism" warps everyone and even sells tanning creams to White people. Dr. Neocleous alleged to be ignorant about serial killers, but knew about Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and Lucy Letby. Like the famed television killer Dexter, these are all White murderers. Gus emphasized that one aspect of White Supremacy is the unwillingness to highlight White people's racial classification - especially in a criminal context. Dr. Neocleous interrupted Gus again to say that he was "wrong" about scholarship on "racial power" in the US. Dr. Neocleous lied about what Gus said, and we promptly read current reports of Timothy Loehman, the Ohio officer who killed 12-year-old Tamir Rice. Loehman's Whiteness is omitted. #ItsNotRacism #TheCOWS14Years INVEST in The COWS – http://paypal.me/TheCOWS Cash App: https://cash.app/$TheCOWS CALL IN NUMBER: 605.313.5164 CODE: 564943#

Video: Ukraine - Anarchism - Solidarity: Tom From Rhizome House Part 2 - YouTube Link tree https://linktr.ee/TheRightPodcast Website: The Right Podcast | politics This will be episode one of a two-part series in which I talk to Tom from the Rhizome House. The Rhizome House is a radical center and info shop found in Cleveland ohio that sponsors and facilitates activites ranging from harm reduction to reading groups. I found Rhizome House after learning about Cooper Harris Andrews in research about anarchist efforts in Ukraine. Tom speaks about Cooper who was active at Rhizome House before leaving to fight in Ukraine in an act of international solidarity and autonomous action. We ended up talking about a lot more which is why I broke this up into two parts. In this episode we covered topics such as international solidarity and resistance, Tamir Rice, realities of conflict, right to self-defense, campism, stability politics, abstraction of thought in the left, alternative media and more. If you've listened to previous episodes, 

Video:  Ukraine - Anarchism - Solidarity: Tom From Rhizome House - YouTube Linktree: TheRightPodcast | Twitter | Linktree This will be episode one of a two-part series in which I talk to Tom from the Rhizome House. The Rhizome House is a radical center and info shop found in Cleveland ohio that sponsors and facilitates activites ranging from harm reduction to reading groups. I found Rhizome House after learning about Cooper Harris Andrews in research about anarchist efforts in Ukraine. Tom speaks about Cooper who was active at Rhizome House before leaving to fight in Ukraine in an act of international solidarity and autonomous action. We ended up talking about a lot more which is why I broke this up into two parts. In this episode we covered topics such as international solidarity and resistance, Tamir Rice, realities of conflict, right to self-defense, campism, stability politics, abstraction of thought in the left, alternative media and more. If you've listened to previous episodes, then these topics are probably familiar to you. If not, hang in there as we try to bring things home and make these concepts relatable. Website: https://rhizomehouse.org/ email therhizomehouse@protonmail.com Email list rhizomehouse.org/email/

Author's Note: This writing was adapted from a series of conversations around race in America and edited as audio, recorded in 2020.   The podcast of this writing is the real thing, as it were.  What follows as text is edited to clarify the narrators, absent the audio.  Please consider following the podcast associated with this newsletter and leaving a 5-star review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe to support high-impact content like this.The author, David Foster Wallace, described the experience of reading his novel Infinite Jest as intended to feel “tornadic,” like you're in the middle of a tornado. That's what the last several weeks have felt like.Protesters:"Racist ass police! No justice, no peace! F**k these racist ass police! No justice, no peace!""F**k these racist ass police!"Owen Muir, M.D.:I originally tried making this episode some linear narrative, and it just wasn't happening. So, welcome to the tornado of racism in America. Buckle up.George Floyd spent 8 minutes and 46 seconds gasping for breath.  Police officers, some of whom were very experienced, knelt on his back...until he didn't breathe anymore. As a psychiatrist, I often emphasize how the words we use to describe someone's death have meaning. So, I'll say, you know, completed suicide, not commit. And George Floyd was lynched.Welcome. This is about anxiety, uncertainty, and existential despair. And I recorded the narration in one take because I wasn't, like, going to get it right a second time. So much of what we say about race is calculated, polite, and wrong. So I'm not going to try to do that tonight.Here we go.Sequoiah:"Yeah. My general reaction to all this is a little more, a little more extended. The, uh, f**k".Owen Muir, M.D.:That's my teammate. She is a TMS technician at the mental health practice we worked at together. She also works in the community with patients helping put their lives together, but tonight she's a field reporter on the revolution.Sequoiah:"I am a TMS tech, Winnicott coach, and black woman. Which seems very important right now. George Floyd, Say His Name.  George Floyd, Say his Name.So I just got home from a protest in Flatbush. Police would not let us pass. We were chanting with our hands up. And after a while, they decided to push the line backward. We resisted—we stood there with our hands up. They pushed us and pushed us, and when we wouldn't..."Owen:Now, as someone with a lot of white privilege, I'm outraged at hearing this, like, wow, this is fucked up. So I called another colleague in the special operations community, and I'm not using names in this episode for semi-obvious reasons, and I heard what he had to say.Master Sergent:“The things that U. S. police forces are apparently fully within their legal rights to do, like, use tear gas, would literally have…been against the Geneva Conventions. It's an actual war crime. We cannot gas a civilian population.”Owen Muir, M.D.:The person I'm interviewing has over a decade of experience in the special operations community. He has fought and killed for our right to do what my other colleagues were in the street doing, peacefully protesting.Master Sergent:"This is a perversion of what the United States stands for. We invade countries who treat their people the way that our police forces are on camera treating Americans "Sequoiah:"People started to back up, , and run and they then started to hit us with batons. , I fell. And then we reformed the line."Master Sergent:"It's disgusting in a lot of ways."Owen Muir, M.D.:So when someone whose life has been dedicated to protecting our freedoms tells me they're upset with what they're seeing, I take that pretty seriously.Sequoiah:"Well, the other night, well, last night, when the cops and protestors were getting into, into fights and they were trying to, the cops were trying to push back the protestors, I saw them bring out the batons and, like, start attacking people...and each time they'd tell us to back up and back up and kept pushing us and pushing us. And finally, there was a frustration in the air, and people started to act out."Owen Muir, M.D.:Now, as a psychiatrist, my life has been saved by police officers on more than one occasion. I have been physically attacked in hospital settings.  The police have been called, and I have not died, and my colleagues have not died thanks to them. And this is Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, and these people are black people. The Flatbush, at least the area I was in, is a predominantly black neighborhood.  So, look, Americans love the police.  They are a highly regarded part of society by many people, but that's not the experience for black America I have learned.Master Sergent:“There are many things you can do in that spectrum that don't involve actively using force against a human being, which makes the process easier across the board. If I don't have to hurt somebody, the only thing that is hurting another person does for me is further endanger my Troops. "Owen Muir, M.D.:Now this makes sense to me because, having run the show in a psychiatric emergency department, where I have to protect myself, other patients, and violent people themselves from getting hurt, sometimes we use violence, but oftentimes we don't.Master Sergent:"What started this particular instance has been four cops lynched George Floyd. One guy put his knee on the man. We don't do that to terrorists actively trying to kill us. ""George Floyd, Say His Name."Sequoiah:"It was at that point that they called in more backup and started to attack and arrest groups of gathered people from the neighborhood.”Owen Muir, M.D.:Police officers, when they're called to stand trial for the use of force, have a standard called a reasonable officer standard.I feel like I have to make it relevant for me--a white person—to watch humans being murdered by police and then people killing each other in the streets about it. There was an article I read about six months ago about yet another person being slammed to the ground, handcuffed behind their back, and suffocated to death by the police. I was shocked..that the person was white. Until I read several paragraphs down that he had schizophrenia. Oh, that's what made it okay. Reasonable officers can only be judged based on what someone would do in that moment of terror when they have to decide to use force.Sequoiah:"I was so emotionally spent and so exhausted. And then we saw marauding bands of police officers going down the street, just telling people to go home and attacking groups of people on the street.”"George Floyd, Say His Name.  George Floyd, Say His Name."Owen Muir, M.D.:Police officers are represented by unions. Those unions have spent 20 years bargaining for lack of accountability to protect, in their minds, their members. This means police officers have the right to huddle and discuss their stories before speaking to prosecutors. It means many other things.  But importantly, whenever any officer stands trial, the jury is instructed, per Chief Justice Rehnquist, to not use the benefit of 20/20 hindsight in judging their actions, but only what a reasonable, that is, terrified person, would do at the moment.Master Sergent:"We have an entire job in the US military to validate whether or not we killed someone the right way."Owen Muir, M.D.:The court system is what's supposed to do that for police officers. But it doesn't; it just says, eh, it's okay.Master Sergent:"That's an actual thing; we have entire organizational structures dedicated to the legality of murder,"Owen Muir, M.D.:Killing black or brown people in America, if you're a police officer, has literally never been ruled against the law. Ever.Master Sergent:"To not call it murder, to call it, to call it killing combatants, that's what a JAG does. Overseas, when they're deployed, they tell you whether or not you can kill this person. And sometimes, even though we can kill someone, we don't because they have a much higher value as an intelligence asset. Or for any number of other reasons. Or they're not actively shooting at us when we go get them. That happens a ton. Because sometimes when you see 20 or 30 goons show up outside your house, breach your door with a shotgun round, rush in, and then point all their guns at you, you won't fight back. And then, okay, well, he's not shooting back at us, so we're going to take him in, and then... "Owen Muir, M.D.:You don't get to kill someone. In the U. S. military. Deployed in the field. In Afghanistan. Even if someone's a terrorist, if they're not pointing a gun at you and about to pull the goddamn trigger.“Cause one of the things I don't want to do is vilify police officers. And, and ...”Master Sergent:"I mean, Owen, to be perfectly honest with you,  You may not want to vilify police officers, but the things I've seen police officers do in the past week while they know they're being recorded are actively the actions of villains."Owen Muir, M.D.:This hit me like a ton of bricks. This is not okay, but when people call for help, and the police arrive, they deal with a crisis. A lot of those crises involve people with mental illness, and police officers are being asked to do a thing that like is a whole medical specialty. Like, I'm a psychiatrist. It was 45 000 hours of training to learn how to calm people down when upset and have experiences we don't have access to. And, if you're called to the scene of a crisis, and someone's acting in a really strange and scary way, and you have a gun. You've been told to protect yourself, don't let yourself get hurt or let this person harm you, and you know nothing bad will happen to you if you pull that trigger. You're going to pull that trigger.  More often than not. And that's about a thousand times a year. You're about... God knows it doesn't even matter. The percentage of time you're more likely to be killed if you're black and mentally ill. The fact that we have a statistic for that is fucked up enough. Help isn't helpful for black America. And that's just a fact of life.”Master Sergent:"You know, I have friends in New York who are talking about the cruelty they see in these police officers' eyes. And what's worse, what's truly evil about this whole system is even in the throes of this violence, they're exhibiting racist and preferential behaviors towards white protesters versus black protesters. Or brown protesters. They're active, you know, taking it easier on white people because they're white. "Owen Muir, M.D.:And this is just f*****g killing me at this point. Ugh. Look, what's happening in the streets is not okay. It's not been okay for hundreds of years. And police officers are part of a system designed to keep order, and order used to mean slaves. That's just why they're there.Master Sergent:"Things I don't even f*****g think about, man. Like, I'll go for a run or a rock at night. And I'll, I'll like, sometimes I'll go on my own, but if I don't go earlier, like, T. is like, well, I guess I'll go for a run. Like, one day, I just asked, like, why do you only run with me? Why do you only run with me? And she's like, well, it depends. We're in a quiet neighborhood in Florida, and I'm a black woman like I'm; there's a bunch of Trump signs everywhere like I'm not going running on my own. I was like, wow, yeah, I've never even thought along those lines; I don't question my safety when I go places. I'm hyper-vigilant for a lot of other reasons, but like, there's never a question in my mind, like if someone attacks me, it's not, it's an unexpected event, I'm not expecting, That at any moment, someone might attack me for the color of my skin. Because I'm in the neighborhood."William Osei, M.D.:"Hey, I'm Dr. Will Osei.I am a postdoctoral fellow, an African American psychologist living in Bedstuy, Brooklyn. " Owen Muir, M.D.:Dr. Osei is a scholar of racism and multiculturalism.And helped me explain what it's like for the black kids I've treated at Bellevue all these years.William Osei, M.D.:"The average African American, this is like... This is a fact. This is not a revelation because we now have better cell phone coverage of these crimes. I remember being in Cleveland the day following Tamir Rice being murdered in the playground. And I was working with 12-year-old boys in the Cleveland school district. And I was devastated that day, and I went into that school expecting those boys to be devastated that their schoolmate, a kid they used to play with at the playground, was just murdered. And to them, it was nothing. It was more shocking because they knew a dozen people that the police had murdered. They knew that was just the latest murder that year. It just happened to be one that rose to the national conversation, but in Cleveland that year, there were probably 30, 50 police shootings.Owen Muir, M.D.:My level of outrage at watching all of this. That's privilege too.William Osei, M.D.:"Yes. "Owen Muir, M.D.:Because to understand this as anything other than the rules of engagement would be a misunderstanding.  For a long time, Black America has known to watch out when you talk to the cops because they can kill you. Nothing's going to stop them if they want to. And they do. On camera. A thousand other times every year. And I wish it were as easy as saying it was a couple or even a lot of bad apples, but that is insufficient.Master Sergent:"As far as privilege goes, I'm a combat veteran in the Ivy League. I'm an Arab Jew, but I look white enough that no one asks that question. I wear a suit, and you can't see my tattoos. And I... I can fit in anywhere from West Hampton to the slums of Bangladesh. Like, I'm good. You know what I mean? I have levels of privilege that people use to run for the presidency."Owen Muir, M.D.:But the magic of America is that white privilege runs out as soon as power wants it to. My colleague's married to a black woman.Master Sergent:"And a huge part of this is like... It's the knowledge that I'm married to a black woman. My kids will be black, and this is like their plight. "Owen Muir, M.D.:Usually, we'd have credits now. Instead, I'm going to read these names.George Floyd, Ahmad Arbery, Brianna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Iyanna Jones. Freddie Gray, Michael Brown, Sandra Land, Walter Scott, and a kid on a playground in Cleveland named Tamir Rice. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit thefrontierpsychiatrists.substack.com/subscribe

In late 2014, Cleveland PD received a 911 call about a young man waving a gun near a recreation center. When police arrived and tried to detain the subject, he reached for his waistband and was subsequently shot by one of the officers. The gun turned out to be a pellet gun that resembled an actual firearm, and the young man turned out to be 12 year old Tamir Rice. He died of his injuries a day later, and the police and dispatchers came under close scrutiny after his death. Join retired police officer Drew and current dispatcher Jon as they break down the 911 call and the different perspectives from area surveillance cameras. If you're tired of taking calls and hearing everyone's complaints, this is the show for you. Whether you're a dispatcher, a cop, or a firefighter/paramedic, this is your chance to sound off and be part of the problem for once. Call our non-emergency line at ******(848) COMM-911****** ******(848) 266-6911******** SPONSORED BY: Ghostbed | Use Code: WOLFPACK - Save 35% Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

INTRODUCTION: Ciahnan is the author of two novels, the award-winning A Lifetime of Men (Propertius Press, 2020), and the critically acclaimed Blood at the Root (Atmosphere Press, 2021). He holds Masters degrees from the University of Chicago and Stony Brook University, and a PhD in Comparative Literature from the University at Buffalo. Both his creative work and his scholarly research explore systemic inequality and the ways in which discourse on race and gender shape the horizons of individual and social life.  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to): ·      A Look Into “Blood At The Root”·      Critical Race Theory·      How Homeless Veterans Are Represented·      Respect For Women ·      The Implications Of Work/Life Balance·      The Black Wall Street/Tulsa Race Massacre ·      Shootings·      Race Wars Between Blacks & Hispanics ·      Ciahnan's Philanthropy ·      Advice For Aspiring Writers  CONNECT WITH CIAHNAN: Website: https://www.ciahnandarrell.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ciahnan-darrell/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CiahnanQuinnDarrellInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ciahnan_quinn/Twitter: https://twitter.com/CiahnanQuinn  CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comWebsite: https://www.DownUnderApparel.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonPinterest: https://www.pinterest.es/SexDrugsAndJesus/_saved/Email: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com  DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS: ·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      OverviewBible (Jeffrey Kranz)o  https://overviewbible.como  https://www.youtube.com/c/OverviewBible ·      Hillsong: A Megachurch Exposed (Documentary)o  https://press.discoveryplus.com/lifestyle/discovery-announces-key-participants-featured-in-upcoming-expose-of-the-hillsong-church-controversy-hillsong-a-megachurch-exposed/ ·      Leaving Hillsong Podcast With Tanya Levino  https://leavinghillsong.podbean.com  ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net VETERAN'S SERVICE ORGANIZATIONS ·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org ·      What The World Needs Now (Dionne Warwick): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfHAs9cdTqg  INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon  TRANSCRIPT: Ciahnan Darrell[00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Blood at the root is a coming of age take on critical race theory among other poignant issues. And Ciahnan Darrell is the amazing individual who has brought this great word to us. Please join us as we discuss how Canaan's contributions to literature are influenced by racism, respect for homeless veterans, respect for women, and so much more.Canan is an author with a huge heart and at the center of his heart and [00:01:00] his workis the spirit. Of this quote from James Baldwin, which says that not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced. Let's face some tough shit together.Hello, are you delicious? Delectable delights out there and welcome back to the Sex Drugs in Jesus podcast. My name is Devon, and I'm your host, and I have with me the very, very soulful and intuitive Darrel. He's an author and a writer, and a a scholar on many fronts. How are you today, my friend? Ciahnan: I'm doing well.I'm excited to be here and you know, ready to really get into it, you know, the depth of things. Mm-hmm. . De'Vannon: So we, we, we shall go meaningfully deep today. [00:02:00] Okay. Now you've got two books that we're, we're gonna talk about Blood at the Root. Your first one was called A Lifetime of Men. Can you give us just like a little synopsis of what that one was about?A lifetime of men? Yeah. I'd love to thank you. Ciahnan: It's about three generations of women fighting against a society that wants to take their autonomy away from them, that wants to tell them how they can live, how they can dress, how they can talk. The first one is contemp with the Great Depression, and then it goes on to the present.Just the inspiration real quick for this was the fact that I grew up, I was raised by women you know, my aunts, my grandmother, and my mother, they're all very strong, all very intelligent. And so I knew no different. And then I went away to college and I heard the word feminists and I like, I didn't really know it.I'd heard it, but I didn't know what it meant. So I. And someone said, well, it's someone who believes all these d [00:03:00] derogatory things about women that I was scandalized. Like, they better not say that around my grandmother. She'll cut 'em . You know, I was, you know, I, I was lucky. I was blessed to have these women in my life, and so I guess, You know, part of the, the subject matter of the book is a tribute to them.De'Vannon: You know what? There's nothing wrong with that. I was raised by like three women too. Cuz God knows the men in my life. I did not want to be like, you know, like pretty much every male in my family either hits women. or cheat son or like, or a combination of the two. And so I think the Lord really did me a mercy by letting me be the gay one , you know, who was more drawn to the females.You know, I would rather this life than to be like they are on any fucking day of the week. So that gave you that view, you know, from the, from the female perspective. Now the book, blood at the Root. talks a lot [00:04:00] about like racial issues and things like that, so people watching and listening, you know you know, as you know, as you've stated in like, different research I've done might go, what does white boy know about that?You know, . But I'm gonna tell y'all, I'm gonna tell y'all from, from my days in the Air Force to my days on the streets selling dope in Houston, Texas, there are a lot of white boys out there. Who are very, very soulful and really, really feel what's going the struggles of like ethnic people. I'm not talking about like white guilt.I'm talking about like they just identify with more of a diversity of racists than you might. Think the type of guys I used to hang out with didn't hang out with really white people. They would rather hang out with, with the folk and things like that, and I appreciate. The sympathizers and the empathizes and the [00:05:00] diversity.God has given us some, all the way back in the slave days, not every white person was pro-slavery. You know, we had the defectors that would come and help the black people and stuff like that. And so I believe it's a way of God balancing things out. If someone's more proponent of the universe, you could say it's the universe bringing.Or whatever the fuck. And so give us like, like a brief over like rundown of blood at the root and what it means to you. Ciahnan: Okay. Well, I, I have studied critical race theory and my dissertation was on racialized and gendered violence in South Africa. So at least the, the, the bones of the theory are familiar to me.When it comes to BLI at the. I think it's important to say that it began not in a desire to say what race is cause that's not my place. It began by looking at this society in which I live and seeing all these false narratives [00:06:00] and, excuse me, their narratives that crushed people, that denigrated them that them and James Baldwin was writing about this, you know, in, in the fifties and sixties and he basically said, you.How dare you try and reduce me to my suffering. How dare you try and reduce me to. You know, to my the racism I've experienced. And so what I did is I looked at these narratives and I tried to pick out false narratives, and then I don't think with a story you can disprove it because it's a story, it doesn't follow a logical argument.But what you can do is you can tell other stories, stories that like, take, you know, take. The pin and prick the balloons of, of those those stories, stories to problematize them so that you're not getting that collapse collapsing of all black people into one identity or you're not getting that collapsing of all women into [00:07:00] subordinates, to victims to play things of men.And so what I tried to do, part of the reason I have 33 different characters in here is cuz I didn't want anybody to be able to point to one. And say this is what he believes. Because this isn't about belief beyond the fact that I think that what is is sick. I think that the narratives that we as a society have internalized and project, you know, onto ourselves are sick.So, you know, again, the idea is, is to just make it impossible to take these dominant narratives, these violent narratives, and take them as gospel. De'Vannon: Hmm. Well that's the gospel right there. Have I ever heard it y'all? Hallelujah. Tabernacle and praise. And so like, like the man said, yo, the book is broken down in the 33.Is there, like, you might call 'em like little short stories and things like that and, and there's like humor drizzled, I would say throughout [00:08:00] these these. Excerpts or little snippets called Giggle House, which I think are meant to like maybe lighten the mood as you're going through it, but they can get a little dark too.I, this is a very dark read . It's dark and I'm here for the darkness. Especially as we get this close to Halloween. So delicious. But you know, the darkness though is true. You know, it's not, You know, it's like fictional, but it's also, it's a lot of truth to it too. And so you mentioned how Mr. Baldon was talking about not being reduced to his struggles.So I'm gonna cut right over to my favorite story, the one that stood out to me, which in within the book is called Voices. Okay. Okay, so I'm gonna read a little excerpt if I may. Actually, I have several excerpts that I, that I might read. I'm channeling my inner Bugs Bunny right now. So this first, this first Ex from Voices, it says, He drank when he [00:09:00] could malt liquor or skunked beer or ethyl alcohol until he blacked out.He smoked or ate or snorted or shot whatever drugs he came across with communal pins or razor blades or jagged edged light bulbs. Turned crack pipes bent on annihilation if possible, oblivion at a minimum. This story here was talking about a homeless person. Who, but I like abandoned his family. I wanna know how, how were you able to tap into this sort of reality?Because the writing speaks like somebody who was homeless before. Have you been homeless before? Ciahnan: No, but I, I I worked as a chaplain in a VA hospital. and over 50% of the country's homeless population are veterans. So I would get a lot of people that would come in and it was the most heartbreaking thing [00:10:00] because there's a limit.I think it was 60 days, it might've only been 30. So you get these people who are hooked on drugs. You know, out of their mind, their body's crashing. They come to the VA hospital, they get in the alcohol program. They get to have three meals a day in a warm place to sleep for, you know, the 30 to 60 days.And then they go right back out and the cycle starts again. And I say this not, I'm not trying to judge them. I'm just trying to say, watching them. , they took so much pain upon themselves. And some, some soldiers were more transparent and others were less transparent about the reasons why they, they were living the way they did.But, you know, what it all come, came down to is that, you know, they didn't have in anyone in their life, To love them. And I know love sounds like such a hokey word, but you know, I, I, I think when you're not talking necessarily about the hearts and flowers love, but you're talking about that, okay, I'm [00:11:00] gonna look you in the eye.I'm gonna listen and let you tell me who you are and what you need, and then I'm going to respond to you. And you know, either they don't have family or they've sort of, Broken the family's hearts. So many times the family has cut them off. Mm-hmm. , when it comes to the doctors and nurses, it's not like they don't care, but they're trying to carry a massive caseload and they just don't have the time to sit down and hold people's hands as much as they'd like to.So, you know, I listen to a lot of stories from such people men and women you know, some stories that, that I'll never tell not because. I guess because I want to think that in some way, even though I'm not a Christian, I wanna believe that those moments were sacred. I wanna believe that when we sat down and I allowed them to say what they wanted to say and listen with them, listen to them, I think it actually made a difference.So anyway, that's, that's how I had insight. [00:12:00] Into that. I also and this is me being bold and doing what I know is right as uncomfortable. It's, I'm I'm very significantly bipolar. And so when you see the voices and the bifurcation, the tri, what that is, it's pulling together the gross statistics about former servicemen, veterans.being homeless, and then the percentage of the homeless that are mentally ill is massive too, because Ronald Reagan said in the eighties, you know what, we're gonna eliminate all federal care for, for, you know, the mentally ill overnight. And he, he doubled the homeless population. So there's a lot of drawn together, a lot of anger, a lot of betrayal and.You know, I think there's so many different ways to read a scene. I think I wrote it one way because I am bipolar, but for me, the guy left his family cuz he didn't want to expose them to what was coming. And, and you know, [00:13:00] that's significant I think, I hope because I think there are a lot of people who deal with that.And I think there are a lot of people who don't know from day to day whether their presence in somebody else's life is positive or. And I mean, I can tell you, you know, sometimes I struggle with that, that question, but the idea for me of walking away from people that I love as my wife and son is just.Devastating. So when I was writing that, I was trying to put myself in the head space of somebody who felt so hopeless, who had so little access to the care they need, the therapists they need, the drugs they need that they thought the the best thing they could do for, for their family is to walk away.So yeah, I No, I've, I've lived a pretty sheltered life in some ways, but I've, through various decisions I've made and jobs I've taken, whatever, have run into some [00:14:00] well, a, a wide variety of people with very different experiences, and it, it's something that I'm grateful for and, but it's also something that's tremendously humbling because I can't understand.What they went through. I can only listen. And really and blood it the root. That's what I'm, I was trying to do, is just listen, listen to the things our society says and talk, you know, interact with them. Let me, let me give you one more example and I'll shut up and let, let you. How the floor again, sorry.So the way this book works is by inversion distortion manipulation, but there's also celebration in there. And so it's not meant to be unrelentingly. You know, dark and horrible, but there's a lot of dark and horrible in there. But anyway, one of the perversions that's in there is the, the Latin name of the billionaires company stands for stands for it translated as someone [00:15:00] who has been elected to have to accumulate limitless wealth or limitless, limitless profit.And I think that sort of, Sort of, you know, just encapsulates a lot, a lot of what makes our country so sick is it we teach people to pursue things that aren't gonna make them happy, that aren't gonna fulfill them. We have people who save. Family is the most important thing, working 60 hours a week. And we have this idea of, of limitless profit, limitless income, but it literally can't work out.And I won't go into the technical details of derivatives and whatnot, but let's just say that in the eighties there were about I wanna say eight eight billion worth of derivatives out there. There's over 700 now. So a derivative is essentially a made up A made up financial product and, and it just goes to show that our house is a house of [00:16:00] cards.We're, and we're telling our people, we're gearing our people to this unlimited consumerism. So we're, we're, as a society telling them to do things, basing around based their lives around something that can't happen. You know, something, something that, that is an illusion. . And so that's one of the things in, in making that the name of the, the corporation, I wanted to kind of point to.The fact is like thi this is, this is perverse, you know, we are all of us for the most part, directing our energies towards things that A, we don't need, and B, they're not going to solve the problems that society has anyway. You have to pick up . De'Vannon: No, you know what? I like my show to be cathartic, you know, for, for my guests.And I could tell this is this, this is some shit you need to say. So I'm, I'm just gonna let you go ahead and get it off your chest. And so [00:17:00] couple of things here. So, You know, you know, plenty of people in the military, you know, we go in there and we just don't come out the same, you know, whether you went over to a war or not.And so I appreciate that that aspect of it. Now, you, you, you mentioned like if you were being nice and talking to these people and you said, even though I'm not a Christian, why did, so do you equate like some sort of. A valor or some sort of characteristic of niceness to Christianity, and yet you disassociate yourself with that.Why did you specify that you're not a Christian, but you feel like you were still doing a good Ciahnan: thing? I guess the reason I specify that is cuz I grew up evangelical. Oh, okay. went to seminary and I got ordained. I did that whole thing. Oh. And so, like it or not, those are the words and images [00:18:00] that are in my head.Like when I search for, you know, when I, when I search for something that has the power of what I'm trying to say, it often falls back on that kinda language. Now I left. Basically cuz I didn't feel like I could in good conscience continue in the church. As far as you know, any anger or residual hurt I, I really I really try to.To let go of anger and who, who doesn't. Right? But I'm very much, I, I wouldn't say I'm a Buddhist, but that's the practice that I follow. The precepts, you know, the meditation, the, you know, what have you. And one of the things that Buddha teaches is that, you know, the future is in your imagination, the past of your memory.The only thing [00:19:00] that's real. Is right here, right now. Now, I'm not saying take that in a hippie dippy, you know, live in the moment type thing. But what I am saying is that I don't wanna reach for something that is gonna be like poisoned to me. I don't wanna reach for something that is going to make me angrier than I already am.So I guess the, the reason I was trying to say I'm not a Christian, but I had that experience was just, To take advantage of that, that imagery, but also to say that when I'm talking about this interaction, when I'm talking about its power, it's not what you hear about in church for the most point. I don't mean angels or Jesus or, or God or anything.What I mean, and, and I guess the closest thing I would, the definition I would, I would give of God at this point in my life is to say that God is what happens when two people are present for each other. So in listening to the person, it wasn't just being nice. It was like, you know, especially street people, how many people stop and have a conversation with [00:20:00] 'em?You know, you hear all , all the debate about, well, what should a homeless person be able to spend their, you know, food stamps on or whatever. They're not treated like human beings. And I know most homeless don't have food stamps, but you know what I mean. And so for me to just say, you know what, I'm gonna give myself to.For, you know, for this time. I think it, it is a tremendous gift. And, and you know, it's not just homeless people, I don't think, I think everybody wants to, to be heard. Mm-hmm. . You know, I think anytime somebody pays attention to another person, that person is gonna feel valued to a greater or lesser extent.That person is gonna feel like they've been invested in you know, You could be doing any, any number of other things but you're here talking to me or more appropriately listening to me De'Vannon: so you know of. [00:21:00] So, you know, something that that stands out to me about you is that you took the time to write this, and this book is really all about, you know, disadvantaged people, marginalized people, people who haven't been heard, people who are reduced to their negative circumstances and things like that.And, you know, you could have walked by, you know, or nothing like, you know, you didn't have to even, you know, stop and do this. So I'd like you to give yourself a hell of a lot more credit , you know, than what you. Do, because writing a book is AAN undertaking. You know, people might say, oh, I'm gonna write that book, girl, or whatever.Most people won't like actually sitting down and do it. You've done it twice now, and both times you did it for the sake of giving voice to people other than yourself. And so, I don't refer to myself as a Christian either because the word has become corrupt and I don't need a word to define my faith anyway.Jesus himself [00:22:00] technically wasn't a Christian. That's something that people came up with after the fact, and so I'm actually, I'm actually about to release a free book that's just gonna be on my website called don't Call Me a Christian, and it's gonna get into like my my views on the fuckery that has become of the church.And you're right, the, the sort of love you're showing is not found in churches, not, not typically. And so, I appreciate the vegan food that they have down at the Buddhist temples. You know, I've been to the lawns here. It's always great to go hang out with other ball bitches, such as my . I, I, I don't feel alone when I'm there.And so so y'all, he mentioned, Ken mentioned Mr. Fairchild, like the billionaire from the book. So when the book opens Fairchild's kid. Has decided that he's going to make a video like sacrificing himself in a [00:23:00] way. He's g he's like getting his ass kicked and beaten. He's like walking on broken glass and he hadn't eaten in 22 days and all of this, you know, is going on and he's videoing this and broadcasting this as if to a tone for all the like race racist sins of his forefathers and stuff like that.And so you see this echoed throughout the stories through. The book there is the appearance of like, you know, like Hispanic people and, you know, middle Eastern people. I think you really covered like the gamut on a lot of different eth ethnicities here, sir. I mean, I am impressed. Thank you, . Ciahnan: I'll, I'll tell you the first scene that you mention, I've been, I've been accused of being a racist against whites.Because, because I wrote it. Fuck it. Yeah. To me, to me, with a book that. It doesn't have a traditional structure. There's very obviously something going [00:24:00] on here that isn't normal, so if you wanna just blow through it, that's fine. I, you know, there's many ways to read, but don't blow through it and then go and write a review and say these insane things.That first scene with Christopher Fairchild being led. That's an inversion of the historical reality, one of the biggest slave markets in the country. Ut used to be in New York City on the corner of Wall and Pearl. So what, what do we assume with, with wall Street? It, it's like this symbol of American wealth, right?So you have this scene that people are objecting to and calling me anti-white . And it's like the history isn't hard to find. You can read it for. My point is not to be anti-white or pro-black or anything like that. My point is to say we are telling ourselves this story. We're not telling ourselves these stories as the case may be.And guess what? They're real. We need to face them. We are destroying [00:25:00] ourselves by making these lies, this center, center of our social life in the country. You know, that opening scene is super. And just so all your listeners know, I'm not a psycho. I did not get off writing that there's tons of violence in there, but guess what?Sit down and talk with some people who've lived in certain places or escape certain places or whatnot. It's a violent fucking life. Sorry, I didn't mean to say that, but, and, and people like. It just is insane to me. They so hate being uncomfortable, even for 10 seconds, that they're gonna completely reject this scene and not sit with it.And you know, I know I sound like a pissed off writer, and I guess I'm letting myself express that a little more than I De'Vannon: should today. Let it out. Let it out. . Ciahnan: I mean, the reality is, is we need to, we need not just to talk to each other, but we need to listen to each other. We need to listen to what's happened.[00:26:00]You know, it's probably cliche at this point but James Baldwin, he said, not everything we face can be changed, but nothing can be changed until we face it. And I think that at the heart of all this, the, the heart of this project is, This sort of almost petition on my part. It's like, what if we gave honesty a chance?What if we sat down and acknowledged what had happened? You know, what would that do to our society? Now I've been really frustrated by people going on and on about Black, black Lives Matter recently, cuz they completely misrepresented in so many ways. They're also acting like the American public has attention span that's going to last more than 18 months.You know, in this stuff it just goes further and further from, from memory. And so these people are convincing themselves that this is a great threat. Their, well, their way of life in their [00:27:00] rights are, they're not even trying to walk reality. And, you know, I just, it, it, I don't know. I keep tripping over my own words, but I, I guess what I want people to see is that, you know, there's a liberation in truth.You know, it'll be uncomfortable for a while, maybe for a very long time. But wholeness is the point, right? We wanna be healthy, we wanna be there for each other. We don't wanna be at war with each other. We want to understand each other to a certain extent when we talk. And and that's only gonna happen if you're willing to do the work required to uncover the actual.Of this country. I mean, I don't know how many people are aware that the, the, we bombed bla Black Wall Street into non nonexistent. We say that, well, you know, black people have never had wealth. Actually no. We just bomb the shit out of 'em every time they get it, you know? And I lived in Chicago for a while and one of the things they [00:28:00] had theirs, you know, they have these sort of neighborhood stores.The idea being that if you're black, you give your mind to another black person, not to some. Billionaire who owns a corporation. Well, guess what? Those stories were put out of business, and it wasn't because of anything that those, the proprietors were doing. It was because the powers that be recognized, the threat that equality posed to their bullshit narratives and to the power predicated.It, it, I, I don't know why. Maybe it shouldn't, but it does bother me sometimes that that. Enjoyed such privilege and so maybe there is a, a mona of guilt or anything here, but I really think that where most of where I'm coming from is just disbelief that amidst all this darkness, there can be celebration, there can be triumph.It won't ever be final, cuz we'll always be imperfect, sinful to use the Christian phrase, but, [00:29:00]We don't even know because we're not even willing to try to, with, with the levels of joy and wholeness and health that, that are available to us that we could have in our lives. De'Vannon: So y'all, what, what what, what Ken is talking about when he says like the Black Wall Street you might wanna look it up. This is the the Tulsa race massacres back in in 1921. And I'm just gonna put that out there and y'all can go and research it. Man, I feel like you talk like, like a.Like a minister, like a, like a preacher. Not the fake ones, not the rapey ones. Like , like, like, like the act, right. Hallelu. Like the actual real ones that I, you know, and I remember listening to whenever I did go to church, they had a certain [00:30:00] anointing and like the spirit of God, like was truly, truly, truly with them and they were.You know, and like different, and therefore I can see that you're cold, like, like by God, I can see that you're cold. And I believe that that is what has given you your perspective. Because when the Lord puts his puts, puts that stamp on our forehead like that, it changes us. It changes the way we look at the world.It changes the way the world perceives us. You're somebody who has been set apart. By Christ. And so what I appreciate about the openness of Jesus Christ is that you don't have to go to church, find him like you don't have to. These things, all these religions and stuff that people have created, the 50 million versions of the Bible, well, well, 50 million versions of Christianity and all of that unnecessary.All you need to do is be sincere. in your relationship with him and you, you carry that sincerity heavily. And thank you. And I, and I respect that you're a, [00:31:00] a practicing Buddhist now, but I, I still, I, I, I feel, I feel that, I feel that spirit on you, bruh. And so cuz your first book in this one here, they both sound.It is like, it's like, it's like written ministry because y'all preaching and carrying the gospel. It's not just standing in a fucking pool pit wearing a suit that is so last season, you know, now you reach people. It's, it's just reaching people in whatever way you can be that YouTube books. Podcast setting down at a coffee table, talking to somebody, preaching the gospel or carrying the message of Jesus Christ is not relegated to televangelist in four goddamn walls.God is not limited to that. Now, you had you had. Dropped an F Bond, you said Fuck seem to be quite comfortable with that. But I just wanna remind you, , this is, this is the sex drugs in Jesus podcast where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to, and [00:32:00] so you and I, and I know where you're coming from, you still have those like re maybe like religious restraints and stuff and you, but I'm just gonna let you know again that you were free on this show,Thank you. So now. I have in my head who I think your book is for. And when you were writing this and when you finished it, and I want this is going beyond that, that boring old question, you know, who is your ideal reader? Mm-hmm. , this, this, this dark, this dark stuff right here. Doesn't really, this is different.And I also wanted to tell you about those, the negative reviews, because I get those. We have to remember that people like Amazon and different book retailers don't make their, the people who read and review things go through mental health tests or anything . So literally anybody can go on there and say anything and remember the devil.The devil will try to attack you whenever you're going to [00:33:00] do good. And this is a very good thing that you're trying to do. People have called me entitled after reading my memoir. You know, they, they, they, they, they took away from it that I was entitled . So, and I just had to like, okay, we're just gonna like, let that one go.And so, What kind of change would you like to see this book make in the world? Who did you personally write this for? Why? Who do you want to read this? Is it white people? Is it what? Like who is it? I don't know. Ciahnan: I think I think it just one. People who read it, who will think about it. I don't think it, it's sort of a call to arms and the way that some, some other things are like marching orders.But I, I do hope that people will look, look at this and look at some of the stories and be like, you know, start, like, getting in their head and, and, and asking theirself why, why does it seem different or why does it seem weird? I, I would like them to see [00:34:00] and most people haven't commented it. I dunno if they see it or not, but I would like them to.The spots where joy crops up the spots where healing crops up. One of my favorite chapters in there, I is you know, Mary the Mary section, and it's these two church going people father kicks. The the son out of the house because he is gay, even though he doesn't want to, even though he's like crying as he's doing it and like tries to distract his wife so he can slip a ton of money into his son's pocket.And, you know, that's, that's so much pain and, and. And whatnot. And then you, they go ahead and, and after limited reconciliation, they lose him to aids. And so all this unrelenting pain and like the worst kind of pain, the deepest pain, and at the. That chapter, this woman and her husband before they passed, he [00:35:00] passed away, were able to reconcile.They were able to be together to name their mistakes and find love in the love that carried them. And the, the chapter ends with Mary writing a letter to Fairchild his, to his father, saying, you know, whatever he did, however bad it was. Love is the. Trust me. We mess this up and don't do it. You know, all you need is love.And so on the one hand, like I intentionally chose that hokey all you need is love. But I did that because here's a woman who's been through Helen back, who's lost every person that mattered to her. and she's okay. She found a way to interact with her husband and her son, even though they're both gone.She's found a way to look at the garden that he made for her and, and to Dr. Derive joy from that. And so here's this woman. Who suffered so much and she's discovering these [00:36:00] blessings and then she reaches out to another person. And that's the big thing there. That's what I want to, that's the theory that I wanna test that love cannot but extend itself.So I've heard some, somewhere along the way, I think it was Richard of Saint Victory, he was a theologian and he said that the reason there is the Holy Spirit is because when there's love, it can't. Go outward and create something new. So, you know, is that chapter key to understanding the whole book?No, but it's definitely raising a possibility that maybe we have something right available to us that we don't take advantage of, that we don't know. You know, and, and one of the things, and, and this was important to me, is that these people, I wanted them to have, I wanted them to be sinful, especially the father, so that, that love, it wasn't just coming to Miss Perfect.It wasn't to j just coming to somebody who'd earned it. It was love [00:37:00] and coming and it changed things. You know, so I think, I think what I would like people to do is maybe just read the chapters and ask themselves if there's anything in. That resonates with them deeply or anything in there that, that jars with some of the stories that they've been told.De'Vannon: So yeah. Well, something that jars, thank you for that breakdown with my friend. And I'm gonna read me another X. So, because this here jarred with me and And this here is a good example of kind of like how the comedy can be mixed with this seriousness here. And so I'm gonna read now. So it says, y'all hear about the new drug they coming out with?Yeah. It's a dick pill. They're calling it black guaranteed to double your dong and a New York minute. There's a lot of New York references y'all, because this store is based in New York City. So now before you, why [00:38:00] people? And he's spelling it. W Y P I P o, which I think is hilarious. I don't know if there's a reason, but I really, really love it.So now, before you, why people hiding in the corner get too excited? You should know that it has some pretty serious side effects. Cab drivers, employers, and loan providers won't be able to see you no more cops in your vicinity are gonna hallucinate automatic weapons and hot damn. If you won't be drawing the Tyler Perry.Drinking water at room temperature and baby bougie teas, like a moth to a motherfucking flame.And then I'm gonna add to that. Piggybacking off of the hallucinating automatic weapons and take it a bit more serious. There's another excerpt that says we interrupt this broadcast for a breaking news special report. We have unconfirmed reports coming in at a standoff between a man and the St. George Police has ended without casualties.[00:39:00] While we have yet to ascertain the alleged gunman gunman's identity, eyewitnesses describe him as a thin, clean shaven Caucasian male, approximately six feet tall of the military haircut. We can also now confirm that police have recovered. HK four 17, a two 20 inch sniper rifle from the crime scene leading the speculation that they may have apprehended the courthouse gunmen while ballistics have yet to be run.Authorities believe the rounds that killed Stacey Harrison and Terrace Green will match the rifle. Talk to me about both of those excerpts in just how relevant this is. Right. Ciahnan: Well see, the first one I was a little conflicted about early because it's, it's a play on a racist joke. Obviously, you know, dick pill, black side effects can't spell or swim.I, so, I, I didn't mean, I hope that doesn't offend you, but that's the, that's the joke. . And so I was trying to [00:40:00] flip that. Mm-hmm. so that, you know, we're no longer gonna be shitting all over black people with Punch China. This joke, we're gonna be pointing, pointing a lens in society. You know, it is also very hard for a white person to know what.To what extent it's helpful to talk about these shootings. You know, the there's there's been so many. Yeah. And you know, people at Ferguson were railing like it never happened before. It's like, you guys, do you have any memory? We had race Rios in the late eighties. You know, America gets really interest interested in.Every 30 or 40 years. And it's usually just to remind African American people that, you know, if they step outta line, boom. I decided to use it just because it had become so ubiquitous. I'm not saying that any of the [00:41:00] lives that were taken deserved it or anything, but there was one in particular that just devastated me.Tamir Rice, a 12 year old kid. I. Oh my God. Like I, I, I don't, I can't explain that. I mean, I, I've heard all kinds of, you know psychiatric explanations about people seeing what they're taught to see. And so therefore the, you know, the training, the police gett, which is like for Armageddon they see a threat no matter whether or not one exists.So maybe that's the case, but my son's nine and. A nine year old, a 12 year old's gonna be a little bit older, but he's four six or four 10. You can't mistake a child, a pre ascent child for an adult, you just can't. And, and, and that to me says again that there's some narrative buried deep in our psyche as a certain that allows [00:42:00] this, that authorizes this.You know, and, and, and. Obama when he said that that his son would've looked like Trayvon. Like that, that, I mean, it was so right. So perfect. He got slammed for it as we knew he would. But it, it needs to get that kind of real for more people. You know, but before things are gonna happenDe'Vannon: I could see this book here.Used for like open mic nights, you know, in different poetry rooms. I could see this being used on like group Zoom discussions and stuff like that. It's very provocative and the way that it's broken down is good talking points to bring up a lot of things, you know? I could see this in colleges and universities, you know, and, and things like that.And, . It just, it's, [00:43:00] it's, it's a, it's, and it's, there's things like almost 300 pages too, so it's not like, it's like It's, it's, it's, it's like a good whole lot of content. This is very, very high value to me. I cannot wait to leave you quite a delicious review. Thank you. I'm gonna read my final excerpt because it gives me an excuse to speak a little bit of Espanol.Okay. Nice. And also highlights these, you know, the, the race wars that I have witnessed personally between like, And Hispanic people, which I thought was the damn thing when I was in Southern California and a recruiter for the, for the Air Force and some of my high schools, the blacks and the Hispanics were fighting while the white people were standing there looking at them.And I was like, y'all have got this completely fucked up. And so to again, he says who else we got here tonight? I see a bunch of brothers and sisters. [00:44:00] Ss I know my people. Have had beef with your people. Perro, the enemy of my enemyrights. Laquanda is an 87 year old swartz swallowing lesbian from Detroit. Jose is a 17 year old digital overlord from Moka. She loves to doco. His mama once drilled him with his shoe at 30 yards. What brought them together? White people,Ciahnan: I I had a review that one they got left and like his big nasty, you know, the, like, the worst thing he said is, you know what? And that comedy is not funny. Funny to.I am glad it, it resonated with De'Vannon: you, . Yeah. If, if only we could just let the good people come in there and review us there. [00:45:00] I went on someone else's show and we were talking about like Jesus and Dick and fucking, and whatever, and somebody messaged her and she, and they were like fearing, you know, for her soul.You know, it was gonna go, it was like quite dramatic, you know? But there's all kinds of minds in this world. But what, what do you have to say to this whole war between like black people and Hispanic people? Which is I felt like was at the heart of this. Yeah, no, I Ciahnan: It kicked off while I was in Chicago, or at least escalated.And I think what you have is, is something that you can find. In just about every totalitarian society. And what I mean by that is, say I, I'm sitting pretty, I'm a white person. Life is good for me. I got these black people. I gotta keep them under control. They outnumber me by tons. So what am I gonna do?Well, I'm gonna, I'm gonna create a third group or help a third. Achieve some kind of [00:46:00]success, some kind of wealth, some kind of, you know, toehold, and then they're gonna turn on each other. And it's not an accident. It, it's, it's manufactured. It's facilitated. And I mean, it's, it's most obvious, I guess, in South Africa where they, they basically took a small group of the the, the black folk there and some Indians.And allowed them to achieve middle class. And suddenly those black folk and Indians are voting for the Apartheid government and helping them keep the Black South Africans down. And, and I really think that what's, what happens here is sort of to a variety of that. De'Vannon: Yeah, the only thing I have to say to that is, oh hell now.That's all I could say. That's all I could say. So I read where you [00:47:00] donate 10% of the profits from your books to charity, and so I was wondering which charities and why, and then is this 10% like a tithing thing or what did you come up with that number from?Ciahnan: So I came up with a number just cuz it was a nice round number.An independent author like me is like, I don't make any money. I haven't sold that many books honestly. But that said what little money I do get, if I could take that and put it on something that's support. You know, a project that I'm trying to, to help or support in my book, then that's you know, that's a really good feeling.A way of, I think speaking putting my money where my mouth is, if you will. Girls Inc. Is the one that the charity that a lifetime of men donates to. And basically what that is, is a program that through mentorship science, technology, engineering, medi. [00:48:00] Just went right outta me. Sorry. Medicine.Create creates women who will be more likely to success and succeed in the future. It's, it's a program targeted at young girls, teenage girls. So mathematics, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The other one blood at the root supports rock your world. Which is a organization that I just absolutely love because what they're doing is they're trying to teach the next gen generation of artists how to use their art as activism, how to use their art to affect the world.And so I actually had a interview with them. I spoke to their class and accidentally dropped an F bomb, and I haven't heard that from them yet, . But I still love what they're doing and great people great people. De'Vannon: I think you're a great person. Keon. . [00:49:00] He has oh, you're welcome. He has an you said your name's from Ireland.Gaelic, Ciahnan: yeah. GA ish, but yeah, De'Vannon: Ireland gay. I think it's a sexy ass name. . So and so, how long were you in the military? Ciahnan: I was in Roxy from 2001 to 2004, and then I was in the Army national Guard from 2006 to 2011. I never got sent anywhere. I mostly worked as an acting chaplain because the The battalion that I was part of didn't have a chaplain assigned to it.It was for the most part pretty wonderful for me cuz I got to help a lot of people. I didn't have a whole lot of oversight. So I didn't feel the hierarchy. Too intensely. No. There, there's some pretty hard parts though too. [00:50:00] Human beings aren't meant to kill each other. They just aren't. And when, once they have, you know, they come back, like you said, differently.You know, you see some guys who a thousand yards stare. You know, after that just seemed sort of vacant or, you know, one guy I knew stabbed his wife obviously that wasn't who he bet at, at all up to that point. Doesn't forgive what he did, but, you know, I think, I think when you go and you have certain experiences, it changes you.But I did have, this is kind of funny. I did have a guy sign up for a wedding retreat, or excuse me, couples retreat that I was that I was organizing, and he put down one wife's name. In another wife's number turned out he was married to two women at the same time. And [00:51:00] dealing with that, that was fun.I finally said uh, this is above my grade. , just move it up De'Vannon: the ladder. And I'm assuming these, this was not a polyamorous situation. No. No, that's important. They could have, they could have had all the fun three ways every night. Come on. Hell yeah. . So . Well, thank you. Thank, thank you so much for your service.I appreciate that. Thank you. You too. Immensely. Oh, absolutely. I can't say I do it again, but you know, I did what I did and so it's done now, so. Okay. So then my so then just as we get ready to close, and I thank you so much for your time for somebody else who might want to use writing in this way.Or any kind of closing words you have at all, whether it's that or whatever, just for the world in general. Cause this is a very specific type of [00:52:00] polarizing writing that I've never seen before. And so if somebody's inspired to do this, what would you say to them? All Ciahnan: right. Two things. The first is sort of procedural, I guess.Whenever you have violence and you use the word provocative whenever you have a a book that that is violent or provocative, you always have to weigh and it it's this really difficult, difficult calculus because. You risk on the one hand seeming like you're just going in for a pornography of violence, trying to be shocking.And then you lose your ability to communicate. On the other hand, if you get it right, who knows exactly what that means, but then that violence will re lead them to further questions. And one of the things that I have found I is Is that it's, it's can be very [00:53:00] difficult to, to get people to read books that ask questions that, that that demand answers, that require that you not just take your first impression and have that be it.And the final thing I, I wanna say, and this is I think more important if you wanna. And you want to write specifically to have some kind of impact on the world, the first thing you need to do is read tremendously, read widely. There's so much, much out there, so many different circumstances and perspectives.And what that'll do is it will not just give you information, but it'll give you a sense of the conversations that are already going on. So you're not trying to reinvent the wheel. And what that writing or that reading will give you time to do too is get yourself to the point. And this is, this is the most important thing I can say to any aspiring writer.[00:54:00]Get yourself to the point where you can be your own source of affirmation. If you are writing. To get compliments from other people. If you are writing to get a book deal, if you are writing to make money, the odds are you're gonna fail and that failure compounds and then you internalize it. I have to fight that against money against that myself sometimes more successfully than others, and I've seen it in so many others.Do not. For, you know, for, for other people according to other people's standards. Read tremendously. Write for yourself. Figure out who you are and what you're doing, and once you're armed with that background knowledge, the knowledge of your identity and what specifically it is that you want to do. Then you can step out into the world, then you can step out into trying to get published and whatnot, and you could step out with the confidence that comes from knowing who you are, from knowing you know your stuff [00:55:00] and from knowing exactly what it is you wanna accomplish.I think a lot of writers rush things, cuz everybody wants to be published and I wanna be published. And, and what ends up happening is a tremendous amount of rejection and some of it you can learn from. Some of it is really useful. I've had some, some rejection and even a negative re review of, of blood that I felt was tremendously helpful.But you'll be ready to deal with that, to process that. You'll be ready to take it and learn from it if you do the work ahead of De'Vannon: time. You preaching now. Thank you so much Canon for coming on the show today. Y'all's website is kenan darryl.com. I'm gonna put this in the showy notes as I always do.He's on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Again, his first book is called A Lifetime of Men, and the second one, it's called Blood at the Root. Both of those are at his website, ken dorell.com. [00:56:00] Thank you so much my friend. It was, Pleasure speaking with you today. You Ciahnan: as well really, really appreciate the opportunity and it was just a fun conversation. .De'Vannon: Thank you all so much for taking time to listen to the Sex Drugs and Jesus podcast. It really means everything to me. Look, if you love the show, you can find more information and resources at sexdrugsandjesus.com or wherever you listen to your podcast. Feel free to reach out to me directly at DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com and on Twitter and Facebook as well.My name is De'Vannon, and it's been wonderful being your host today. And just remember that everything is gonna be all right. 

This week in our Political Remix series, we're bringing back some of Farai's key interviews with three women of color exploring the impact of gun violence and policing in the U.S. First, Farai speaks to activist, therapist, and mother, Nelba Marquéz-Greene on the aftermath of the Sandy Hook shooting. Then, we get reflections from Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice, on policing and justice right after the conviction of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Plus, Farai speaks to former Dallas Police Chief Reneé Hall on bridging the divide between Black communities and the police.

What delightful show with this 10-year-old entrepreneur and doll creator, Demetrius Davis, Jr. aka Lil Dee, CEO of Our Brown Boy Joy, and his mom Dr. Luciana Gilmore. www.inthedollworld.com Our Brown Boy Joy created "My Friend," a character plush doll that speaks positive affirmations, such as “Brown Boy you are smart!” and more.LiL Dee shares that while watching the news during lock down from COVID, stories of George Floyd was unfolding, his mom could see it was making him incredibly sad.  Conversations lead to other young boys with similar stories, as she states, “because I needed it to connect with him," she continues. "We talked about Trayvon Martin and [my former student] Tamir Rice, and I could see the pain he felt." LiL Dee then told his mom he really wanted to do something to help others. Soon after that, Dr. Gilmore, said the ‘My Friend' doll came to me in a dream," She felt it was a sign and Gilmore got to work, developing a company focused on young Black boys to present to her son as a surprise on his 8th birthday. It was important to LiL Dee to have the doll say positive affirmations to help people who speak negatively about themselves, to learn to speak more positive and kind things about who they are. The doll is created in LiL Dee's likeness, and he shares with us how he feels about having a doll that looks like him out in the world, although he was not thrilled with the first prototype, he voiced his opinion on changes and created a doll that he was happy to share with others.LiL Dee has big visions for his My Friend doll and the Our Brown Boy Joy company that he shares with us as well. I have no doubt he will see his visions become reality and continue to expand and empower his company and be a major player within the doll world.To learn more about LiL Dee and Our Brown Boy Joy you can visit them at www.ourbrownboyjoy.com #itdw #inthedollworldpodcast #inthedollworld #georgettetayloritdw Thank you for listening to In The Doll World, to see all the artists we have featured on the show or to leave a review visit www.inthedollworld.com or to see our video interviews please visit our Youtube channel at www.youtube.com/inthedollworld.com. Did you know you can now listen to In The Doll World on Alexa, just ask Alexa to open "Doll World"

POD BOYS, POD BOYS, YEAHHH THAT'S USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!WE'REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE BAAAAAAAAACK!!!!This one is a WELCOME BACK episode of sorts... We give you guys a long detailed check-in, prior to hitting on a lot of stuff... To include Elon Musk and his new toy, Twitter... Kanye/Kyrie and last but not least 'Her Loss'... Hope y'all enjoy it.WE THANK YOU FOR THE CONTINUED LOVE AND SUPPORT! REMEMBER TO LIKE/RATE/REVIEW/GIVE FEEDBACK on Apple Podcasts and Spotify... REST IN POWER to the late great Hank Aaron, Larry King, Pedro Gomez, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Dumile (MF Doom), Earl Simmons (DMX), Terrence Clarke, Michael K. Williams, Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (Young Dolph), Virgil Abloh, Betty White, Sam Jones, John Madden, Sidney Poitier, Bob Saget, Bill Russell, Ray Liotta, Aaron Carter, Coolio, Kirsnick Ball (Takeoff) ...AND ONCE AGAIN... REST IN POWER to a decade of BLACK Kings and Queens that lost their lives at the hands of those we pay to serve and protect; Rayshard Brooks, Makkah Bryant, Ahmaud Arbery, Jacob Blake, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Natasha McKenna, Walter Scott, Bettie Jones, Philando Castile, Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson, Eric Reason, Dominique Clayton, Dontre Hamilton, John Crawford III, Ezell Ford, Tony Robinson, Eric Harris, Freddie Gray, Terrence Crutcher, Alton Sterling, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland… And the list goes on.Music: Let It Breathe - Jaden SmithCame and Saw - Young Thug feat. Rowdy RebelPrivileged Rappers - Drake x 21 SavageSkrilla - Kodak Black

In this episode of Rockford Reading Daily, the lack of an indictment against the officer who killed Tamir Rice is discussed, as well as the controversy surrounding activist Shaun King as we conclude the second chapter of They Can't Kill Us All.

In this episode of Rockford Reading Daily we begin the second chapter, entitled “Cleveland: Coming Home” and we learn about the murder of Tamir Rice.

Summer Jam: New baby update! https://nypost.com/2022/07/25/racial-slur-appears-in-tv-weather-forecast-we-apologize/ Sesame Place lawsuit https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-07-28/sesame-place-discrimination-lawsuit-viral-video-rosita Warren buffet redlining lawsuit https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/27/mortgage-company-under-warren-buffetts-berkshire-hathaway-redlined-in-philadelphia.html Nope movie review Selling Hope Like Dope: Cop that killed Tamir Rice hired on as a cop in another city...briefly https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/07/07/tamir-rice-timothy-loehmann-officer-hired/ Hold This L: I gotta story to tell. Not All Heroes: Bill Russell & Nichelle Nichols Health Over Wealth: Healing your inner child.

POD BOYS, POD BOYS, YEAHHH THAT'S USSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! (Minus Mr. Kyle Clark... He'll be back VERY soon, TRUST)First one in a while, and Kyle wasn't able to join so we decided to give y'all a little bit of content.On this episode we hit on a lot of stuff, a lot of REAL and relatively in-depth conversations on this one... Hope y'all enjoy it.Our Roe V. Wade reference:https://supreme.findlaw.com/supreme-court-insights/could-roe-v--wade-be-overturned-.htmlWE THANK YOU FOR THE CONTINUED LOVE AND SUPPORT! REMEMBER TO LIKE/RATE/REVIEW/GIVE FEEDBACK on Apple Podcasts and Spotify... REST IN POWER to the late great Hank Aaron, Larry King, Pedro Gomez, Chadwick Boseman, Daniel Dumile (MF Doom), Earl Simmons (DMX), Terrence Clarke, Michael K. Williams, Adolph Robert Thornton Jr. (Young Dolph), Virgil Abloh, Betty White, Sam Jones, John Madden, Sidney Poitier, Bob Saget...AND ONCE AGAIN... REST IN POWER to a decade of BLACK Kings and Queens that lost their lives at the hands of those we pay to serve and protect; Rayshard Brooks, Makkah Bryant, Ahmaud Arbery, Jacob Blake, Trayvon Martin, George Floyd, Elijah McClain, Breonna Taylor, Eric Garner, Michelle Cusseaux, Tanisha Anderson, Tamir Rice, Natasha McKenna, Walter Scott, Bettie Jones, Philando Castile, Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson, Eric Reason, Dominique Clayton, Dontre Hamilton, John Crawford III, Ezell Ford, Tony Robinson, Eric Harris, Freddie Gray, Terrence Crutcher, Alton Sterling, Michael Brown, Sandra Bland… And the list goes on.Music: Let It Breathe - Jaden SmithCame and Saw - Young Thug feat. Rowdy RebelFinal Hour - Big Sean

Adrian and Devin are back with you for another edition of Weekly Round-Up. This week they are joined by Content Creation Team Intern, Khaleb DeLeon. Plenty of news to cover, so Sit back and Listen well!1st Segment: DiscussionCop that killed Tamir Rice gets hiredArizona governor faces universal school vouchers challengeWhite supremacist group march in BostonBreak2nd Segment: News UpdatesBrittney Griner pleads guiltyDisneyland's social media accounts hacked with racist, offensive postsRetailers scale back hiring as worry about a slowdown growsGas weekend special: $1.99Festival aims to celebrate Afro-Latino culture and fight 'erasure'Biden awards Medal of FreedomBreakQuick HitsMan killed after he lights firework on his headRhode Island Senator Tiara Mack twerking on the 4th of JulyGOP candidate vows to fight 'Democrats in Klan hoods' with AR-15California woman fakes cancer, forges notes to avoid prisonIdaho zoo's 60-year-old spider monkey might be world's oldestFL man speaks his mind in brutal obituary for his fatherEndingJuly Theme: Fatherlessness and Single-Parent HomesDonateCharity of the Month: Single Parent ProjectLike, Follow, Share, SubscribeCheck out our News ArticlesThanks and Farewell Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On this episode, Wole and Josh are joined by special guest Stacie Bel. Together we discuss Derek Chauvin being sentenced to 20 years for the murder of George Floyd. We also touch on the officer who murdered Tamir Rice, Timothy Loehmann, being hired as a Police Officer again for a department in Pennsylvania, and resigning in the same week because of the backlash! Stacie gets interviewed about the Stacie Bel Show. And the crew shares their take on the Twerking Senator from R.I. #thepregamepodcast #blackpodcasts #georgefloyd #tamirrice #jaylandwalker #endpolicebrutality #twerksenator #senatormack #entertainment #blackculture

7.7.2022 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Brittney Griner's Guilty Plea, 17 awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, NY GOP quits Party President Joe Biden handed out the nation's highest civilian award to 17 people, including civil rights attorney Fred Gray, Gymnast Simone Biles, and actor Denzel Washington. I was in the room and will share my analysis of today's ceremony. WNBA Star Brittney Griner pleads guilty to drug charges in Russia. We'll give you an update on how much time the detained basketball star is facing and a breakdown of the next steps with Legal analyst Candace Kelly. Derek Chauvin gets sentenced to 21 years for violating George Floyd's civil rights. The cop who killed Tamir Rice resigns a day after being sworn in as a Pennsylvania town's only police officer. Protestors are taking to the streets and getting arrested in Akron, Ohio, after the death of an unarmed black man, Jayland Walker. Among the arrested, Jacob Blake's father and Breonna Taylor's aunt. A New York Republican drops out of the state senate race and quits the republican party.  Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered and #BlackStarNetwork via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered Venmo ☛https://venmo.com/rmunfiltered Zelle ☛ roland@rolandsmartin.com Annual or monthly recurring #BringTheFunk Fan Club membership via paypal ☛ https://rolandsmartin.com/rmu-paypal/ Download the #BlackStarNetwork app on iOS, AppleTV, Android, Android TV, Roku, FireTV, SamsungTV and XBox

Sen. Lindsey Graham to ignore Georgia subpoena. Father of Highland Park shooter Robert Crimo sponsored his son to get guns despite him threatening others before. Officer who killed Tamir Rice was hired again and much moreCo-Host: Dina Sayegh Doll*** Indisputable, features Dr. Richey talking about the top news stories of the day, reading viewer comments, and engaging in debates and conversations with guests.Help support our mission and get perks. Membership protects TYT's independence from corporate ownership and allows us to provide free live shows that speak truth to power for people around the world. See Perks: ▶ https://www.youtube.com/TheYoungTurks/joinSUBSCRIBE on YOUTUBE: ☞ http://www.youtube.com/IndisputableTYTFACEBOOK: ☞ http://www.facebook.com/IndisputableTYTTWITTER: ☞ http://www.twitter.com/IndisputableTYTINSTAGRAM: ☞ http://www.instagram.com/IndisputableTYTTWITCH: ☞ http://www.twitch.com/tyt

Highland park shooter charged with 7 counts of first degree murder, Malik Shabazz serves eviction and subpoena to Carloyn Bryant last known address, Elon Musk has twins, Timothy Loehman the murderer of Tamir Rice gets a new job, Real estate firm connected to trump held in contempt, Lindsey Graham says he wont comply, This episode sponsored by Luv me Hair

Thursday, July 7, 2022: Learn what we know about the death of James Caan from “The Godfather,” the latest on the police officer who shot and killed Tamir Rice withdrawing from a job in Pennsylvania, important information about a major rise in Syphilis cases in Ohio, a new report on settlement talks between Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson and the NFL, how Baker Mayfield can make up the $3.5 million he gave up in his trade to the Carolina Panthers, details on this weekend's Tall Ships Festival, and more on 3News Now with Stephanie Haney. Need a break from bad news? Watch It's All Good (News!) with Stephanie Haney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsNvfcPGAvE Like this show? Check out the 3 Things to Know with Stephanie Haney podcast: http://wkyc.com/3thingstoknow Connect with Stephanie here: http://twitter.com/_StephanieHaney http://instagram.com/_StephanieHaney http://facebook.com/thestephaniehaney Read more here: 'The Godfather' actor James Caan dead at 82 https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/nation-world/actor-james-caan-dead-at-82/507-a1092492-9746-4654-927f-da38d1fd3412 Former Cleveland police officer who fatally shot Tamir Rice hired by Pennsylvania borough, mayor says https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/former-cleveland-police-officer-who-killed-tamir-rice-hired-pennsylvania-mayor-says/95-e338192e-a137-4833-9971-89d179b9a1f9 Syphilis cases up 82% in Ohio since 2016: What health officials are saying https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/health/syphilis-cases-ohio-increase/95-20abf0b5-3451-4e4f-a193-18be38c006ee Report: Browns QB Deshaun Watson, NFL, not currently negotiating suspension settlement https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/nfl/browns/browns-qb-deshaun-watson-nfl-not-negotiating-suspension-settlement/95-99e447db-f67a-48a0-9b1e-bc76faf0a4be JIMMY'S TAKE: Goodbye and good luck, Baker Mayfield https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/commentary/jim-donovan-jimmys-take-goodbye-and-good-luck-baker-mayfield/95-323bc4c4-d3b7-43dd-bac0-19e82791e838 Cleveland Browns now a 1-point favorite vs. Carolina Panthers after Baker Mayfield trade https://www.wkyc.com/article/sports/nfl/browns/cleveland-browns-1-point-favorite-vs-carolina-panthers-after-baker-mayfield-trade/95-776907a9-36c7-401f-b377-fc45f046d9c6 They're back! Tall Ships Festival returns to Cleveland: What you can expect https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/local/cleveland/cleveland-tall-ships-festival-july-2022-event-guide-schedule-tickets/95-549237e0-e1d1-4f80-b53f-e5971d553284

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A. Van Jordan, a 2005 Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards winner for his nonfiction about a thwarted spelling bee contestant, joins The Asterisk* to discuss listening closely, the death of Tamir Rice and the writerly fellowship among A-W honorees. Born in Akron, Ohio, Jordan is a graduate of the Cave Canem Workshop. Now a professor of English at the University of Michigan, Jordan won the Anisfield-Wolf prize for M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A. The Virginia Quarterly Review called it a, “multi-voiced, collaged, and sometimes experimental in form . . . these poems surprise us with their range and approach . . . A narrative that breaks your heart with an intimacy most poets writing about their own lives could only dream to achieve.” Jordan sat down with The Asterisk* in March of 2022 at the Akron-Summit County Public Library's main branch, where he did much of his research for M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A .

In 2012, a car heading past the county courthouse in Cleveland, Ohio backfired in front a police car. The police, thinking it was gunfire, engaged in a high-speed pursuit with as many as 60 vehicles. Twenty-three miles and 23 minutes later, the police unleashed a barrage of 137 shots, killing Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams. The police stood trial, Ojai documentary filmmaker Mike Milano, who along with his wife Noemie, produced the seminal Thomas Fire document, HBO's "Burning Ojai," has spent 10 years putting this project together. It was just released and available for streaming on Netflix. The ensuing trial gripped the city and nation, leading to widespread calls for police reform. In the aftermath of George Floyd's killing, the issue remains as timely as ever. Five officers were fired, included Mike Brelo, who jumped up on the car's hood and fired 40-plus rounds at close range. All were eventually reinstated. The trial and uproar were in high heat when 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot in a local park. Mere days after Milano and his wife and child moved to Ojai in late 2017, and while he was deep into the edits on this film, a glow on the horizon presaged what was at the time the largest wildlife in California. It is now 9th. "Burning Ojai" was one of HBO's most popular films when it came out in 2021. Milano, a journalism major from UC Berkeley, was featured in the current issue of Ojai Quarterly magazine. We talk about how his local connections gave him unprecedented access into the justice system and police force, as well as the families of the victims. The film dives deep into the complexities of the justice system, policing and communities, and has spurred calls for reforms. We did not talk about the designated hitter rule, Fauvrism or Bonnie Lu's Rueben sandwich.

EPISODE DESCRIPTIONIn this Race Hustler series fifth episode we talk about everything that went wrong with Shaun King's Justice Together donation management, delving on the former members' open letters that revealed he tried to centralize donor support and accused every person who didn't agree with him to be a white supremacist or a troll. Did he take accountability? How did he react? The answer is just absurd.(4:20) - Picking up from where we left off: When Shaun King fundraised in the name of Tamir Rice without informing his family.(8:28) - Can someone please think about Wal-Mart? Discussing the Justice Together controversy and the need for rioting to get true law reform.(15:41) - JT30 open letter: The mission to ‘end police brutality in America' and Shaun King's lack of leadership.(23:56) - ‘Fool me once…': Everything that went wrong with Shaun King's donation management.(34:45) - shaunkingtruth.com (yes, this actually happened): How Shaun King reacted to the wave of accusations and open letters against him.(42:33) - The problem with Shaun King being the most visible fundraiser of the BLM movement (+ a tease for the upcoming episode).RESOURCES-Tamir Rice's Mother Blasts Shaun King for Fundraising Off Son's Death: 'You Are an Imposter' (read)-An Open Letter From Former Directors of Justice Together (read)-Shaun King Threatens to Sue Activists Who Accused Him on Twitter of Mishandling Fundraisers (read) 

SHOW NOTES:Samaria Rice, Da'Shaun Harrison, and Joy James will discuss the DOJ's refusal to convene a grand jury for the prosecution of  Timothy Loehmann the police office who killed Tamir Rice.SHOW NOTES:'Justifiable police homicide' and the ruse of American justicehttps://scalawagmagazine.org/2022/03/...NEW BPM DISCORD!https://discord.gg/TDP9a4f5EzJared A. Ball is a Professor of Communication and Africana Studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD. and author of The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power (Palgrave, 2020). Ball is also host of the podcast “iMiXWHATiLiKE!”, co-founder of Black Power Media which can be found at BlackPowerMedia.org, and his decades of journalism, media, writing, and political work can be found at http://www.imixwhatilike.org ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

Today on Sojourner Truth we kick off our Black History Month Coverage. We discuss challenges facing Black and Brown communities today including: on-going bomb threats against HBCUs; the latest on what is going on in Congress to protect certification of Presidential elections and community based work being done to encourage voters and to protect the vote; those on the right slamming President Biden's announcement that he will select a Black woman to the US Supreme Court and the Dept of Justice has refused to reopen the federal investigation into the 2014 police killing of 12 year old Tamir Rice . Our first guest is Barbara Arnwine President and Founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition. And racist and anti-Semitic vandalism at Queens College part of the City University of New York. Delany Hall is a building used by the SEEK Program and was recently vandalized. SEEK students while mixed race are primarily low income, ethnic and people of color students. SEEK Students and faculty alike are pressing the college administration to take action. The SEEK program grew out of the Civil Rights Movement in an effort led by the late Shirley Chisholm. What's going on? We speak with Dr. Natanya Duncan, Director of Queens College Africana Studies. Likely many of you are gearing up to relax and root for your favorite team during Superbowl 2022 which takes place at the SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Los Angeles on Sunday February 13th. Inglewood is a community facing gentrification with a large Black and other people of color population. But what is going on behind the scenes as law enforcement promises to crack down on those viewed as “undesirables”, houseless people and sex workers. For every Superbowl there is the claim promoted by law enforcement and anti-sex worker campaigners that the bowls are a haven for sex trafficking. Not so says a coalition of sex worker organizations. They are planning to expose racist and sexist trafficking and the superbowl misinformation, and the misinformation about trafficking generally. Our final guest is Alex Makulit an organizer with USPROStitutes Collective.

BZ Douglas is an independent journalist, host of the "BZ Listening" podcast, and producer of a new documentary series "State of Injustice". Executive produced by Black Lives Matter Cleveland, this series takes an unflinching look at the systemic abuses of Ohio police, beginning with Euclid Ohio. Go to https://linktr.ee/stateofinjustice to watch the first two fifteen-minute episodes, read some of the coverage, and find out how to contribute to their crowdfunding campaign to fund the pilot season. The campaign concludes on March 24th with a 12 hour stream-a-thon event from 9am-9pm EST. At the top of each hour an episode will play, followed by discussions about police reform and accountability with activists, journalists, policymakers, and artists. You can follow BZ on Twitter and Instagram @bzdug. (FYI: BLM Cleveland is wholly separate entity from BLM Global and their recent nonsense. BLMCle has joined Tamir Rice's mother in forcefully admonishing BLMGA in recent days)

5.26.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Rally in Fort Worth, TX for mayoral candidate Deborah Peoples; Missouri appointed its first black Supreme Court Judge; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will have its first Black Woman administrator; Calif. to track police misconduct; Black woman in Texas shot by an off-duty cop; Tamir Rice's mother asks the Supreme Court not to consider the police union's appeal to reinstate the cop who killed her son; Recording Artist Major will join us to talk about the re-release of Why I Love You. Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛ https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

4.16.21 #RolandMartinUnfiltered: Indy mass shooting claims the lives of 8; Family of Tamir Rice asks DOJ to reopen case? Tennessee authorities say cop wounded during a confrontation with a student inside a high school bathroom was not shot by the student's gun; Bill to make D.C. the nation's 51st state will get a vote in the full House next week; Newsmax Reporter wants President Biden to fire a Black UN Ambassador for her speech about slavery and white supremacy; Crazy a$$ man drags a cop with his car doesn't get shot; Education Matters: Pennsylvania is failing Charter Schools and we'll breakdown why. Support #RolandMartinUnfiltered via the Cash App ☛ https://cash.app/$rmunfiltered or via PayPal ☛https://www.paypal.me/rmartinunfiltered #RolandMartinUnfiltered is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rod and Karen are joined by Justin to discuss Bulletball, Insurrection News, Coronavirus News, Bezos steps down, Trey Songz sextape leak, R. Kelly friend pleads guilty, men vs women's side of the bed, Khloe Kardashian uses Black emojis, Golden Globes snub some Black shows, Morgan Wallen n-word video, officer who killed Tamir Rice joins football team, woman has a lot of My Little Ponies, body in the trunk, woman boards flight with no pass and sword ratchetness. Twitter: @rodimusprime @SayDatAgain @TBGWT @RhymeOverReason Instagram: @TheBlackGuyWhoTips Email: theblackguywhotips@gmail.com Blog: www.theblackguywhotips.com Voice Mail: 704-557-0186

Rod and Karen discuss the effects of tech in schools, Coronavirus News, LGBTQ News, police officer says he'll shoot mayor, PPP went to businesses that didn't pay employees, Meek Mill on Clubhouse, Booger McFarland, charges dropped in Tamir Rice case, officers in Breonna Taylor case may be fired, father gives toddler Smirnoff ice, men playing with guns, woman pulls gun in drive-thru and sword ratchetness. Twitter: @rodimusprime @SayDatAgain @TBGWT Email: theblackguywhotips@gmail.com Blog: www.theblackguywhotips.com Voice Mail: 704-557-0186

This was quite a heavy week in celeb news. Emma and Julie begin with the allegations brought on Chris D'Elia, the outpouring of response, the victim's receipts, his statement, and the response of others close to him in Hollywood. They dig a little deeper into the male celebrity power struggle and the bravery of the victims. They also touch on other allegations that surfaced this week - including against the cast of Riverdale and Justin Bieber. They also explain Chelsea Handler's problematic Instagram post and read through some of her comments defending her decision to post it. They then gush over super hot couple Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox, celebrate Beyoncé's surprise drop of "Black Parade," give the latest update on G-Eazy and Ashley Benson, and Angelina Jolie's latest statements about Brad Pitt and their children. In epic TikTok news, they report on how a trend impacted Trump's rally in Tulsa, some of the latest drama with the biggest stars of the app, plus Addison Rae and Kourtney/Mason's friendship. The Kardashian recap includes Travis Scott's epic new Brentwood mansion, Kendall's collection for Kylie Cosmetics, KKW launching a podcast, and so much more. Highlighted Black-Owned Business: Jade Purple Brown @JadePurpleBrownhttp://jadepurplebrown.com www.justiceforbreonna.orgPetition to demand justice for Dominique Fells: https://www.change.org/p/philadelphia-police-department-justice-for-dominique-fellsPetition to demand justice for Riah Milton: https://www.change.org/p/liberty-townships-board-of-trustees-justice-for-riah-milton-womanmurdered-in-liberty-township-ohioPetition to reopen Sandra Bland's case: https://www.change.org/p/texas-governor-i-want-sandra-bland-s-case-reopened Petition to reopen Tamir Rice's case: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-investigate-the-killing-of-tamir-rice Petition to reopen Kendrick Johnson's case: https://www.change.org/p/united-states-supreme-court-justice-for-kendrick-johnson See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Guys, this was a GOOD ONE. Emma and Julie continue their recaps of KUWTK Season 1, with this whirlwind of an episode. The episode centers around 2 main plots: Kourtney & Scott's budding relationship, and Kendall & Kylie's wish for a puppy. (Julie even recites the handwritten letter that her 11-year-old self wrote to her parents begging for a dog - it's gold.) It kicks off with Kourtney, who has been nauseous and hormonal, taking a pregnancy test. After an initially inconclusive result, which is later proven negative by a trip to the gynecologist, the family decides to take a celebratory trip to Vegas. Before they go, Kris gives in to Kendall & Kylie's wish, defying Caitlyn and buying them a new puppy. Leaving Kendall, Kylie, and Caitlyn at home, the rest of the family heads to Vegas...and things. got. ROWDY. Everyone is wasted, Scott semi-proposes to Kourtney, and they make it all the way to the infamous Little White Chapel before realizing that it was a bad idea. Back in Calabasas, Caitlyn finds out about the puppy, and is less than pleased. This was a RIDE.www.justiceforbreonna.orgPetition to demand justice for Dominique Fells: https://www.change.org/p/philadelphia-police-department-justice-for-dominique-fellsPetition to demand justice for Riah Milton: https://www.change.org/p/liberty-townships-board-of-trustees-justice-for-riah-milton-womanmurdered-in-liberty-township-ohioPetition to reopen Sandra Bland's case: https://www.change.org/p/texas-governor-i-want-sandra-bland-s-case-reopened Petition to reopen Tamir Rice's case: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-investigate-the-killing-of-tamir-rice Petition to reopen Kendrick Johnson's case: https://www.change.org/p/united-states-supreme-court-justice-for-kendrick-johnson See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

There was a lot to get into this week. First, Emma & Julie were so excited to share the news that, between CBC's donation and the generosity of their followers, they raised $25,000 for The Loveland Foundation - an organization that funds therapy for Black girls & women. They gave an update on the VPR scandal, including Stassi's pregnancy announcement & Faith's response. As The King Of Staten Island just came out on Friday, they talked at length about the movie, and their continued appreciation for Pete Davidson as a person. They spoke about Jay Pharoah's statement regarding his unfair treatment by the LAPD, and how it highlights the disgusting reality of racial profiling in our country. They also discussed Outer Banks' Chase Stokes and Madelyn Cline confirming their relationship, and had a whole analysis on all the TikTok drama (Bryce/Addison, Hype House, etc.) Isabel then joined for a brief Bravo discussion, regarding Tinsley's RHONY departure and Andy Cohen confirming Lori Loughlin will not be joining RHOBH. In the award ceremony, Blake Griffin and Chelsea Handler took home the gold for "best clapback" and "funniest comment" of the week. In the Kardashian recap, they spoke about the possibility of Tristan and Khloe's rekindling. After, they were joined by E!'s Erin Lim, host of The Rundown & BingE! Club, for a discussion on Matt James, Kelly Clarkson, and the tragic death of Jas Waters. Highlighted Black-Owned Business: Gilded www.gildedbody.com @theartofbodycare www.justiceforbreonna.orgPetition to demand justice for Dominique Fells:https://www.change.org/p/philadelphia-police-department-justice-for-dominique-fellsPetition to demand justice for Riah Milton:https://www.change.org/p/liberty-townships-board-of-trustees-justice-for-riah-milton-womanmurdered-in-liberty-township-ohioPetition to reopen Sandra Bland's case: https://www.change.org/p/texas-governor-i-want-sandra-bland-s-case-reopened Petition to reopen Tamir Rice's case: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-investigate-the-killing-of-tamir-rice Petition to reopen Kendrick Johnson's case: https://www.change.org/p/united-states-supreme-court-justice-for-kendrick-johnson See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Before they began the season 1 Episode 5 recap, Emma & Julie reflected on the past few weeks and discussed how the conversation and work need to continue - not just for them, but for all of us. They also highlighted some concrete changes that have resulted from all of the pressure being put on our officials. Clearly, there is so much work to do. But this momentum cannot slow down. This isn't a trend or moment in time, this is a huge change that has been a long time coming. This episode of KUWTK centered around the fourth anniversary of Robert Kardashian's death, and the emotions that came with it. This time of year is always difficult - for everyone, but specifically for Khloé. Her excessive drinking results in a DUI, where she spends the night in jail. Emma & Julie highlighted that moment and her release as a very most pertinent example of White privilege in action. Throughout the episode, we are brought on her emotional journey, and ultimately get to witness her getting in touch with what's really going on inside. Petition to reopen Sandra Bland's case: https://www.change.org/p/texas-governor-i-want-sandra-bland-s-case-reopened Petition to reopen Tamir Rice's case: https://www.change.org/p/department-of-justice-investigate-the-killing-of-tamir-rice Petition to reopen Kendrick Johnson's case: https://www.change.org/p/united-states-supreme-court-justice-for-kendrick-johnson www.justiceforbreonna.org The Cut Article - Tamika Palmer's story: https://www.thecut.com/2020/06/breonna-taylors-mother-speaks-on-her-daughters-birthday.html Tamika Palmer/Tamika Mallory video:https://www.instagram.com/p/CBQnrYoAuX2/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.