Staying Energized Under Trump w/Journalist Jarrett Hill + Staying Encouraged with Atty Virgil Roberts

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La Talk fifteen eighty. That's your walk on music.
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Jared Hill, Jared Hill, Award winning journalist, Fine Artists, Theologian
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a more.
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Ok, I love the Alogian. That's always a little too heavy.
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That's that's a little too much.
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I did some religious study, I'll put it that way.
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Yes, and your walk on music is not at all religious.
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Not at all religious. I was like, give me some
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D smoke. I want to come int D smoke. I listen.
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I'm already light skinned. I can't come into Drake yet.
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I haven't heard the album. I'm not beating the allegations.
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So I was like, give me some D smoke. I
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love me some D smoke.
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Yes, we love D smoke around here too, and we
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love Peak Drake.
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Yes, I don't.
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I don't.
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We're not going to talk about Iceman because you haven't
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heard it yet.
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I haven't heard it yet. I've been I saw him
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drop three albums and I said, it's giving over compensation.
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I don't know what we're doing over here, but I
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will listen to it. I'm I'm excited to see what
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it is. But like I do love me some like
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Classic Drake. Give me some nice for what take care
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you know the era.
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Yeah, Peak Drake, I you know, yeah, I'm I'm through
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two of the three and you know.
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Okay, wait, so what's your vote though, I'll take your opinion.
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It's not Peake Drake.
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It's not Peak.
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That's that's my I'm not comparing him to anybody on
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the West Coast that you may be thinking.
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I'm not talking about Kendrick.
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Yeah, okay, not really, No, no, no, no, I mean, you know,
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I'm I'm I'm a very West Coast centric girly. I
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live here Bay Area, Los Angeles. But I'm not even
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talking about that. I'm talking about Drake because I like Drake.
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Drake to me is like workout music.
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Yeah, key.
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As I'm doing my abs or whatever it is all.
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But yeah, I mean, there's a couple of songs on there,
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but I didn't it wasn't. Yeah anyway, have you heard
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Isaiahschats do what Well?
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So I watch a Rap Life review every most weeks
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and they've been talking about Isaiah SHOT's album for a
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couple of weeks now, and I'm saying, like, I need
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to check this out. I need to check out Iceman.
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But like my media consumption over the last few months,
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has been really different than it normally is, where I
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can normally put on an album and play it and
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listen to it, or my media consumption with politics in
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the way that I'm used to watching cable news. It's
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it's just feeling different for me right now. I feel
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like I'm like really protective of myself since.
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You're protecting your piece.
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Yes.
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Absolutely. Since Donald Trump got reelected, I was like, oh, Okay,
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We're gonna have to do some different things. I'm gonna
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have to consume in a different kind of way because
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I know with a fire hose that is coming, yeah.
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And it is a fire hose, it's a zone is
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officially flooded.
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Yeah, absolutely, And like, I mean, you know this better
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than anyone, Like as a journalist, you feel like you're
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supposed to know everything, and especially for you where you're
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on the air every day for three hours. I've come
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from like doing daily radio or doing cable news, or
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doing digital media and podcasts and all that kind of stuff,
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and having the state tapped in has had such a
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such an impact on my mental health and I'm like,
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I cannot stay hooked into cable news all day in
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the way that I used to. I used to put
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on CNN or AMSNBC and leave it on all day. Yeah, right,
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and like and then wonder why I felt the way
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that I felt.
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Well, Plus, they tend to be very repetitive. They have
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the same guests and the same topic show after show.
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But I get your point. I usually try to give
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myself Saturdays as a little vacation from the news. Yeah,
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because the rest of the days I have to read
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it and watch it. But I do a lot of reading,
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partly because I just don't want to hear Trump's voice
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all day and all.
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I mean, yeah, yeah, And to that point, though, reading
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Trump in text as opposed to listening to him delivered
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the words that he's saying can sound really especially if
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you're reading like a speech. Donald Trump sounds like a
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maniac when you're just reading the words. And then you
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listen to him, and sometimes he can he can sell
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something with inflection, right, But to your point, like, reading
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him is definitely easier than watching him all the time.
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Can I can I ask you a question? Of course,
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so new podcasts, the Jerry Hill Show, and I'm always
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asking people how are you taking care of yourself in
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the midst of all this? And you said, you take
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your saturdays, but like, how else does that look for you?
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Really?
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Not skipping my workouts really like and I, you know,
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sometimes I do, but for the most part, I really
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you know, I've taken up yoga. That was something that
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came in with this new administration. Okay, because I'm a weightlifter.
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I like to lift weights. I like to run or walk.
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But I really felt like, okay, we're going to have
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to do some stress management now starting January twentieth, Okay,
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and I did. I started yoga and I do about
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you know, thirty minutes. I'm not some great yoga, but
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it helps.
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Okay. I like that. I love that. It was Oh,
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I see exactly what this is and I need to
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respond in that kind of way, like, Yeah, I've been
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trying to figure out the things for me because when
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the change happened, I was in grad school and then
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being abroad kind of watching things happen after for on sabbatical,
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and then being back here in Los Angeles. It's been
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it's been really really challenging. And I'll tell you being
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in Washington, DC, we do a game show based on
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our book Historically Black Phrases Live will be in Boston
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if there's people in Boston listening. But I was in
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DC and I saw National Guards people walking down the
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street in formation, and to me, that hit something for
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me that was like, Oh, this is where we're going, right, right, right,
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this is the direction that we're moving in. We're going
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to have National Guards people walking down our streets sooner
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than later. Right. I think it's important for people to
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get that. And when when you and I were talking,
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I was like, I'm feeling energized. I think it's yesterday
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hearing James Cliburn with Tavis yes on the show and
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seeing the various different things that are happening. We have
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to recognize, like it's time to get active because things
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are moving quickly and they're not going to it's not
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going to be easy, but like it's time for people
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to get up and start paying attention and moving. And
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I'm wondering about what those things are and how we
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take care of ourselves in the midst of that.
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Yeah, I think that's right.
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The thing that I was stressed out about yesterday is
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that Trump's approval ratings are in the toilet, but he
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keeps winning these primaries, right, he keeps being able to
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primary people that oppose him, the Thomas Massey's of it all.
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And what I realized doing a slightly deeper dive is
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that they are spending massive amounts of money. So it's
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not just the incredible Trump magnetism. It's tens of millions
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of dollars that they are putting into races to take
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out people who defy Trump.
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Absolutely, And I mean, I think we have to, like
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sometimes I appreciate a documentary for putting all of the
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things about a story in one place so you can
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see them all together.
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Yeah.
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Right, And I'm always thinking about, like, what is the
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story that we're going to be telling about this moment
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in the future as we look back at it, right
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and saying like, oh, all of these things were happening
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at the same time, right, I think about how if
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we just take a few of them. Right before this
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administration started, the Supreme Court comes in and says Trump
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can do what the president can do whatever he wants
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without without without being prosecuted. We then also have a
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president who just now and this week right is cannot
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be cannot be audited by the Irs. His family has
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forever and ever and ever his crime family. To be clear, right,
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his crime family cannot be audited and dieted. They can't
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be investigated, none of that. Right. We also have ICE,
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which is getting the biggest budget that they've ever had,
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that is hiring people on mass right, not not taking
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them through processes, not onboarding them, not doing all the
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background checks that they should be. And he's they are
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the president's military exactly, who just show up at your
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house and not and kick your door in and come
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get you for whatever reason. We also have like a congress,
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a government and administration that does whatever they tell him
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to do, whatever he tells them to do. Excuse me,
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whatever he says to do, they're gonna do, right, And
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we see that time and time again. And then we
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see these redistricting moments that are happening down in the south, right,
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and we see California getting ready to possibly have two
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Republican gubernatorial candidates, and we see what the mayor's race
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here in Los Angeles is looking like. All of these
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things are happening at the same time.
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Yeah, this is a lot, right, And when we look.
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Back at this moment, when we get past this, if
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we get to this election, right, if they let this
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election happen, because you know, they don't want to. We're
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going to look back and say like, oh wow, all
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of those things happened at one time, right, and things changed,
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And I think it's important for people to see that
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in this context.
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Well, that is one of the reasons why Jarret Hill
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that I am saying this is a moment to vote strategically.
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I'm not saying vote your fear. I just don't think
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it's a good time for a protest vote in the
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mayor's race or the governor's race period full stop.
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Yeah, I've been having a really difficult time trying to
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figure out, like between candidates. I mean, I feel pretty confident.
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I feel pretty clear on I feel about Spinner Pratt right,
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Like I feel clear about that. Not mysterious, yes, but
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like when I'm looking at the wide range of candidates
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for governor, I was watching the debate that we just
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saw here from CBS California. I was looking at I've
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called my one of my family members who used to
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work with Matt Mayhan, or works and used to work
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in the city of San Jose, and I was like,
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what do you think about Matt Mayhan. I was like,
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I saw him in the ads. I've seen him in
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the debate. What do you think?
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You know?
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And like I'm trying to ask people what they think
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to get a sense of how I'm going to vote.
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But I agree with you that it is a moment
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to be really thoughtful about how we're voting because of
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the times that we're in. It's not just like, oh,
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skip the primary.
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Oh I'm not right, and we have some great candidates.
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I mean Tony Thurman, Antonio Villa Rugosa, you know Mayhan.
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I know is you know from my Bay Area connections
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is funded by the same tech bros That are funding
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our current president.
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So that for me is a red flag.
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Well, and Matt Mayhan also, like I was asking, like
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the person when I was talking to was saying to me,
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like the dynamics in the city of San Jose are
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unique and specific, right, and like the way that he
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would apply some of the ideas that he's doing to
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you know, various other kinds of cities that don't look
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like San Jose, right, that don't have the same kinds
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of resources that you're talking about with the tech bros
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and that kind of money. Like how with the things
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that he wants to do work in other places and
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so we were talking about that, and I'm like, I
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don't feel like i'm leaning in that direction toward Matt Mayhon.
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I'm just getting information. I don't feel like i'm even
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we saw I saw I came in the mail Maxine
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Waters is my congresswoman, and I saw her her sample
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ballot that came in the mail, and I saw Sarah
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is the person that she's that she's endorsing, and I
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was like, I feel like that probably puts him at
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least up to number three or two for me, right,
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And it'll bump him up there the bumps, it bumps
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him up, but it don't make him number one for me, right,
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because I'm like, I'm probably gonna be left of of
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of our our good Maxing Waters, right, our representative that way.
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Hey, I try to compare all those sample ballots. That's
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why I say, look at Courage California, look at not
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l A, look at several lawmakers.
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I'm looking at Stonewall Democrats, I'm looking at the at
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the party. I'm looking at various different places to see
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like what are the different people saying. And I'm like,
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too much of the democratic establishment is supporting this candidate.
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They probably not gonna be left enough for the things
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that I want to see done.
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So I'm well and to that then, you know, butch
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where I mean, he's probably the furthest steff there, but
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again he's not. He's a write in.
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Yeah, you know what I mean.
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And the question is do you want to give any
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ground to an oath keeper h you know, a current
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sheriff who's running. Do you want to give any ground
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to the Trump endorsed.
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You know Steve Fields.
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Yeah, he's a he's a Fox host and and you know,
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Trump is officially endorsed it. Trump has unofficially endorsed Spencer Pratt.
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Yesterday he said he he hopes he does well.
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Yeah. I when I was watching the debate, it was
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the first time I'd heard some of these people talking
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right outside of like, you know, seeing them in ads
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and things like that, because there are plenty of ads.
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And I was looking at the Republicans and he was
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talking about being shared for thirty years, and the way
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that he was talking, I was like, I already know
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this is enough for me, right, like the way that
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he was talking about it. But I thought that they
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were effective at messaging, right, They always are effective at messaging.
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And being able to talk to the problems that people
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are experiencing, and always being able to speak to change
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in this country and the way that we want to
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see things move. And I was like, I know this
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is going to be effective for some people, and that's
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scary to me because I know that it's going to
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connect with people in a way that it's going to
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shift them to say like, oh, maybe I should listen
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to this guy because yeah, and then you find out
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he's an oathkeeper, right, or then you find out more
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things about their backgrounds and the things that they support
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or the ways that they show up. Because if you
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watch the whole debate, like maybe two thirds into the debate,
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things start to really fracture a little bit and you're like, oh, see,
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that's what I was expecting from you. And so it's
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an interesting dynamic being in California where we've had so
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many of these elections with such crowded fields.
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Yeah.
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Brendon Murray says she got a letter from the voter
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registration the registrar's office saying she had moved to New
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Mexico and wouldn't be able to vote here. She says
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she's never been to New Mexico and she had to reregister.
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She said she thinks Trump pat Elon Musk do things.
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To our records.
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Ain't no telling, but it is a good idea to check.
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Here in California, you can even register on the day of,
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So there's that's not a good reason not to vote.
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I that is actually disturbing to hear. I mean, it
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makes me think immediately when she says Elon Musk, I
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think about Doze and the way that Doze went and
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got all of Americans data and information and addresses and
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phone numbers and Social Security numbers and all those things,
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And I'm like, what did they do with that information?
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They still have it. I call it the department. I
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called it the Department of grifters for Elon.
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Oh my gosh, yes, because you.
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Know, now he's got a huge competitive advantage over everybody
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because he has all the data. Yeah, now he's out.
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He's got all the data. He's got all our all
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of our information in ways that like one is not
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being that has no oversight right, but also is not
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protected by anything. I think one of the things I
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often think about with my generation, particularly as millennials, is
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we have let go of any illusion of privacy. Yeah, right,
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I have. We have. We have clicked agree so many
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times to things that we do not read right, Like
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and when I say we, I don't mean millennials, I
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mean all of us, right, But like this generation saw
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that transition happen and this agree agree, agree, accept cookies,
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reject cookies like all the time. Yeah, And I don't
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think we have any illusion that we have privacy. But
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when something like doge happens and they take all of
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our data and all of our information and just do
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what with it, it makes a lot of sense that
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a person comes and when they see that their their
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registration has been changed to a place they've never even visited. Right,
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it makes you ask a question of like, well, hmm,
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what are they doing with that information? Like I get
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why she would ask that question.
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Jared Hill is my guess. He is a journalist, he
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is an artist, and he's a podcaster. Now listening to
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KBLA Talk fifteen to eighty o, he's gone crazy.
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Oh yeah.
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He dedicated it to all the politicians. Jared Hills with me,
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when and how can we find your podcast?
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Yes, my podcast is on YouTube if you go to
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at Jarret Hill on YouTube. We're doing live every uh
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every Wednesday at five o'clock. We're having a live conversation
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coming through this brand that I have called Troublemaking, which
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is t r B L m k g AT. Trouble
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Making is on YouTube as well. But like, we do
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these conversations because we are interested in having talks about
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the revolution and like how we can see things differently,
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and we're taking that from a pop culture and a
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politics perspective. We're looking at like one of the episodes
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that we just did was around gender and sexuality. Right
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this week, we talked with black queer men about relationships
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with black queer men. A couple of weeks ago we
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were talking about the straight relationships that we were seeing.
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But then we're also having conversations around labor. We're having
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conversations around this administration and the ways that we see
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and how resistance looks in this moment. You've been on
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to talk about that. So the Jerr Hill Show, we're
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doing twelve episodes in the spring and twelve episodes in
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the fall. That is what works for my mental health
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to be able to give you guys, half of the year.
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We're doing, you know, twenty four episodes each year now,
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and I'm excited to be able to have a space
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to bring in the voices that I want to be
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talking to about the different kinds of issues that we're
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saying it, whether they be really serious, heavy issues that
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we've got to deal with and sometimes the light things
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that are part of our everyday lives and part of
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how we're getting through this moment.
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Okay, we don't have too much time. It's crazy time
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around here. But you know, I've been really upset about
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this Department of Justice fund. They're calling it, you know,
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weaponization fund. Ellie ms Stahl called it White grievance reparations.
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What do you make of this? I mean, the president,
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the Department of Justice basically handing a one point eight
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million check to the president.
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Yeah. I think about this as one of the moments
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that they are showing us they can do whatever they
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want to do, right. They're showing us that they can
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do whatever it is that they want to do however
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they want to do it right. And what you're gonna
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do is it's a very sure ray wit Phil who
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gonna check me?
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Yeah?
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Right?
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The Supreme Court, no, the irs, No, the people maybe right.
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I was talking with doctor Charles Davis about this, and
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I was like, I feel like we've heard people say
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like revolution is going to require people to break the law, right,
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And I'm like, and I'm not here to tell people
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to break the law. Like, we're not in that moment.
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We're not in that moment. We're not in that moment.
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I'm not saying that. But this is one of those
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moments that as I'm reading and listening to people, I'm
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hearing this phrase about becoming ungovernable, right, and like, I
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don't even know that I'm telling you that right now,
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but I'm not not telling you that either, right, right, Like,
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this is a moment when we've got to start thinking about,
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like how do we respond to this because things are
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moving quickly, as we talked about in the last segment,
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like all of these things are happening in concert with
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one another, and it is not by accident. It is intentional,
401
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and it is not something that is kind of I
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think it's it's not useful. And I do this a lot,
403
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like calling them.
404
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Stupid, Right, No, that's not useful at all.
405
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It's not useful because it makes the things that they're
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doing seem random or erratic. It may be erratic, right,
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but random and non directional, maybe right, unmoored, but like
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they are doing a thing right, and that thing that
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they are doing is making this a white supremacist nation
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that is focused on whiteness, right, and to be clear,
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to make it a more white supremacist nation.
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Right. I mean, we're importing another ten thousand white South
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Africans while not letting anyone else have refuge, even though
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the first couple thousand, a lot of them want to
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go home already because they realize it's not the wonderland
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they thought it was over here.
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I I didn't plan on saying this, but I'm often
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thinking about what we're fighting for. And when I say we,
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I mean we us black folks, I mean brown folks,
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I mean all of the different groups of folks that
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are marginalized in this country. And I'm really really struggling
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with the image of our ancestors at the lunch counters
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and the boycotts and the protests and the let us in,
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let us in, and then like they finally got in
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and ate the food and they were like, this is trash,
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Like what is this turkey sandwich? Like whatever? It is?
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Right?
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And like and I feel like it's such a metaphor
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for America, Like I was abroad and having that feeling
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like why am I going back? Like I and thinking
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to myself like, oh, I want to go back and
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fight for my country and fight for my people, and
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fight for the communities that are really important to me,
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and like the fight fight, fight. Part of me is
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like looking at that picture of them at the lunch
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counter and thinking, like the thing that we're fighting for
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in many ways is wonderful and in many ways is
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trash sometimes. And so I'm like, I'm having that push
439
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and pull with myself all the time.
440
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Right, are we fighting for potato salad with raisins?
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Let me go? I can't even do it.
442
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Yet, But yet you're energized.
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So is thirty seconds? Yeah? Give us, I mean, we'll
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give me your energy.
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Where's your energized viewpoint coming from?
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To be honest with you, I find myself frustrated that
447
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we are letting it go to this guy. We are
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letting this country the things that we have fought for,
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the things that we have built, the things that our
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ancestors have have fought and bled and dyed and strategized
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and organized and cooked dinners and stood up for like,
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we are letting it go to this man for this,
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Like I would cuss if I was on the podcast, right,
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but we are letting it go to the folks like
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to do this, Like I'm I'm energized about that. Like
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what is the if it was gonna go to somebody, right,
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Like if we wanna let somebody take it. The idea
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that it's going to these people is actually what's really
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been pissing me off lately is like they are so
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whack right. They don't bring anything to the table that
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is really useful or interesting or new or creative or
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generative or any of that. And so that's where I am.
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I'm like, I'm frustrated about that.
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Jared Hill j R.
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R Ett Hill on YouTube. We gotta go news, traffic
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in sports, and then we will be hearing from one
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of our civil rights commissioners. That's next on KBLA Talk
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fifteen eighty Okay, okay, okay. Then so much is going
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on around here today and buckle your seat belt is
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about to be like this until at least June third. Okay,
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I'll make it June fifth because I'm about to have
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a birthday. It's Gemini season. Okay, we got Cherry on
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the phone. I'm squeezed Sherry in really quick here because
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she's been so patient. Hi Sherry, Hi, how you doing.
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I'm good. What's on your mind?
476
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Is fine?
477
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Day?
478
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Well, I just wanted to say between the governor's race,
479
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Barsera and Stier, they're both Barsera is polling ahead of Stider.
480
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But because I think that they were calling and asking
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people who they're going to vote for, a lot of
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the Hispanics aren't going to be able to vote, and
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I think they're even going to be scared to go
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to vote. So of course they said Barsera, But I
485
00:22:34.559 --> 00:22:36.559
really think we should go with Stier.
486
00:22:37.640 --> 00:22:40.279
Okay, Sherry, I got your opinion. I appreciate it. I
487
00:22:40.319 --> 00:22:42.160
hope you'll call me another time when we have more
488
00:22:42.160 --> 00:22:44.480
time to talk, because I would love to explore your
489
00:22:44.519 --> 00:22:47.400
thinking on some of these things. I assume you're saying
490
00:22:47.400 --> 00:22:50.400
that some Latinos won't want to vote because of the
491
00:22:50.440 --> 00:22:53.000
Ice presence, and they're talking about how many Ice people
492
00:22:53.000 --> 00:22:55.319
at the polls. They could always mail in their ballots.
493
00:22:55.519 --> 00:22:59.319
So but yeah, I got you. I appreciate your thoughts
494
00:22:59.319 --> 00:23:01.519
on that. At least somebody has made up their mind
495
00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:04.720
about this governor's race, and certainly that's a good thing.
496
00:23:04.960 --> 00:23:08.319
We got to vote, that's the most important thing, all.
497
00:23:08.240 --> 00:23:09.799
Right, and I will be calling him back.
498
00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:12.200
Thank you, please do surey, I would welcome you. I
499
00:23:12.240 --> 00:23:16.119
would welcome you back right now though, we're welcoming welcoming
500
00:23:16.279 --> 00:23:21.440
in an LA City civil rights commissioner. He's spent decades
501
00:23:21.480 --> 00:23:26.799
helping shape LA across entertainment, education, civil rights, and philanthropy.
502
00:23:27.680 --> 00:23:31.319
But one of the big big things that he does
503
00:23:32.039 --> 00:23:38.960
is get people ready to serve as well, similar to
504
00:23:39.039 --> 00:23:43.720
how he has served. Virgil Roberts welcome.
505
00:23:44.640 --> 00:23:48.119
Well, good morning to you, and thank you for having
506
00:23:48.160 --> 00:23:48.759
me on your show.
507
00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:53.720
Yeah, thanks for coming on. Certainly congratulations are in order.
508
00:23:53.759 --> 00:23:58.559
I know you are being honored at the African American
509
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:03.960
Board Leadership instead you Dinner tonight, tribute dinner tonight. It's
510
00:24:04.000 --> 00:24:06.680
the fifteenth annual and you are one of their honorees.
511
00:24:07.000 --> 00:24:08.880
So congratulations on that honor.
512
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:13.279
Well, thank you very much, and you know it's I'm
513
00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:17.200
humbled and excited about being honored.
514
00:24:18.559 --> 00:24:22.720
You know, you have a seemingly glamorous job. I mean,
515
00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.920
you're an entertainment attorney with a big firm. You got
516
00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:31.119
glamorous clients like Yay and Usher and Chaka Khan and
517
00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:35.880
people like that MTV. So why would you say, let
518
00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:41.119
me spend some time with the Civil Rights Commission, let
519
00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:47.039
me spend some time with the African American Board Leadership Institute.
520
00:24:47.039 --> 00:24:49.240
You know what I could be. I could be, you know,
521
00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:51.920
backstage with Usher, but I think I'll do this instead.
522
00:24:53.960 --> 00:24:59.519
Well, it's really a simple answer. It's the converse. I
523
00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:02.759
think the most important thing for all of us to do,
524
00:25:02.880 --> 00:25:08.039
especially those of us who are Black Americans, is really
525
00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:14.319
to keep pressing for full involvement in society at all levels.
526
00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:18.400
And the work I do helps pay the bills and
527
00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:23.200
pay my rent so I can pursue my passion. But
528
00:25:23.440 --> 00:25:27.000
my passion really is to work in the community. So
529
00:25:28.839 --> 00:25:31.400
it's the other way around. I don't look at missing
530
00:25:31.400 --> 00:25:35.680
the opportunity to hang out with my friend, you know,
531
00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:39.000
Usher and stuff. What I look at is the work
532
00:25:39.079 --> 00:25:42.640
that I do in the entertainment business, which full of
533
00:25:42.680 --> 00:25:46.759
progressive people, allows me to make money to pay the
534
00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:49.640
bills so I can spend my time and my passion,
535
00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:54.079
which is to try and improve the quality of life
536
00:25:53.559 --> 00:25:55.720
for black folks in America.
537
00:25:56.319 --> 00:26:00.839
That's amazing, it's wild though graduated from UCLA, graduated from
538
00:26:00.839 --> 00:26:07.279
Harvard Law School, you know, representing people like Babyface and Usher.
539
00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:11.680
But and is you know, for fun he does civil rights.
540
00:26:12.839 --> 00:26:15.839
Gotta love that. So explain to me what is.
541
00:26:15.799 --> 00:26:19.480
The African American Board Leadership Institute, because I do think
542
00:26:19.599 --> 00:26:23.400
they call it ably that many of us don't track
543
00:26:23.480 --> 00:26:24.480
that organization.
544
00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:32.240
Well, it's the African American Board Leadership Institute. I co
545
00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:41.640
founded with a woman who's a dear friend, Yvette Chappelle,
546
00:26:41.960 --> 00:26:44.160
fifteen years ago, and it grew out of my own
547
00:26:44.160 --> 00:26:48.000
personal experience. What I began to realize is I did
548
00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:50.960
more and more work in the community, and I started
549
00:26:50.960 --> 00:26:58.839
to focus on nonprofit organizations because the social the venture
550
00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:03.200
capital money a social change is in philanthropy. If you
551
00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:06.599
want to do as you have an idea about how
552
00:27:06.640 --> 00:27:10.119
to do education differently, where do you go get the
553
00:27:10.160 --> 00:27:11.680
money to do it where you're not going to get
554
00:27:11.720 --> 00:27:16.039
the money from existing institutions. If you have the idea
555
00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.240
about doing childcare differently, where do you get the money, Well,
556
00:27:20.279 --> 00:27:23.599
you get the money from philanthropists. You don't You don't
557
00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:25.440
have to go to Congress, you don't have to go
558
00:27:25.440 --> 00:27:28.799
to state legislature. You just have a group of people
559
00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:32.039
who are sitting around in a room and maybe seven
560
00:27:32.119 --> 00:27:35.880
and maybe eight it maybe eighteen, and you just convinced
561
00:27:35.920 --> 00:27:38.640
that group, hey, I have an idea for doing things differently,
562
00:27:39.240 --> 00:27:41.559
and if you get an agreement, then all of a
563
00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:46.039
sudden you have the capital to do something differently. So
564
00:27:46.480 --> 00:27:50.319
what I discovered years ago is that there were not
565
00:27:50.599 --> 00:27:55.640
nearly enough of folks that have lived the black experience
566
00:27:56.119 --> 00:27:59.519
in the rooms for those decisions are made, the decisions
567
00:27:59.559 --> 00:28:05.319
about who funds of Brotherhood Crusade, who funds you know,
568
00:28:05.519 --> 00:28:10.319
community bill, who funds the organizations that do work in
569
00:28:10.400 --> 00:28:15.440
our community. Boardrooms are not full of Black people, They're
570
00:28:15.480 --> 00:28:19.920
full of people of other persuasions. So the African American
571
00:28:19.960 --> 00:28:27.480
Board Leadership Institute was created to try and identify talented
572
00:28:27.680 --> 00:28:31.480
Black executives, talented Black folks who wanted to give back
573
00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:35.279
in their community, give back to the community, equip them
574
00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:39.319
with the skills and knowledge they need to be effective
575
00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:44.720
in board rooms, and then to work with commissions and
576
00:28:45.000 --> 00:28:50.559
nonprofit organizations and for profit organizations to try and get
577
00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:55.559
more Black voices in the room where decisions are made.
578
00:28:56.400 --> 00:29:00.440
That's the sole goal of ABLE. So it's not there
579
00:29:00.519 --> 00:29:07.519
was not designed to be a mass marketed organization. He
580
00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:12.200
was designed to be more of a strategic organization that
581
00:29:12.440 --> 00:29:16.400
would really teach leadership to folks and then hopefully what
582
00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:19.839
they would do is use those skills they've gained to
583
00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:25.000
go out and get involved in boards and commissions. And
584
00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:28.960
over the last fifteen years, we probably have trained over
585
00:29:29.039 --> 00:29:32.519
one thousand black folks and I think currently about four
586
00:29:32.599 --> 00:29:36.559
hundred of them are serving on various governing boards across
587
00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:40.359
the country. We've got people from our programs and as
588
00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:45.640
far away as Kenya and Canada, of the South and
589
00:29:45.680 --> 00:29:49.359
stuff seeking to get that training to make them affective
590
00:29:49.359 --> 00:29:50.200
board members.
591
00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:51.799
Yeah, that's powerful.
592
00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:55.480
I mean, if you're not in the room, you who's
593
00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:56.440
going to represent us?
594
00:29:57.119 --> 00:29:57.440
We are.
595
00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:03.400
We're talking with Attorney Virgil Roberts, Commissioner Virgil Roberts, and
596
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:05.400
the organization. If you want to check it out yourself,
597
00:30:05.440 --> 00:30:08.480
it's a A b l I dot org AA b
598
00:30:08.680 --> 00:30:10.079
l i able dot org.
599
00:30:10.279 --> 00:30:12.759
We'll continue the conversation when we come forward.
600
00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:17.400
On KBLA talk fifteen eighty. Before forming his entertainment law
601
00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.920
firm Bobbitt and Roberts, he was President General Council of
602
00:30:20.960 --> 00:30:25.680
Solar Records He's been involved with community and legal professionalist
603
00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:28.039
whole career. Right now, he's Chairman of the Board of
604
00:30:28.200 --> 00:30:33.400
Broadway Federal Bank, Trustee or director of the Board of
605
00:30:33.400 --> 00:30:37.160
Directors of the James Irvine Foundation, Families and Schools, Southern
606
00:30:37.200 --> 00:30:40.920
California Public Radio, the Fedco Foundation, Community Build, and the
607
00:30:40.920 --> 00:30:44.200
Alliance for College Ready Public Schools. He's also an LA
608
00:30:44.319 --> 00:30:49.759
Civil Rights Commissioner, and he pretty much embodies the concept
609
00:30:49.839 --> 00:30:55.880
if you want something done, ask a busy person. Commissioner
610
00:30:56.400 --> 00:31:00.000
Virgil Roberts I left out that you helped, you see,
611
00:31:00.160 --> 00:31:03.440
LA build their their African American Studies program, which was
612
00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:09.079
one of the first ever. And you know, I imagine
613
00:31:09.960 --> 00:31:12.200
all of these different arenas that you've worked and you've
614
00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:14.119
been on board, you've had your own law firm, you've
615
00:31:14.480 --> 00:31:18.359
you know, done civil rights work. Must it must be
616
00:31:18.680 --> 00:31:23.799
a strange moment for you to watch the not it's
617
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:25.519
not illegal, it's not that, I don't want to say
618
00:31:25.519 --> 00:31:30.759
the outlawing, but the executive orders frowning on DEI, the
619
00:31:30.880 --> 00:31:36.759
sort of attacks on anything that seems designed to help
620
00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:41.160
black people, to help African Americans in fact ably, which
621
00:31:41.359 --> 00:31:45.079
you know, you you've co founded African American Board Leadership
622
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:49.440
Institute appears to be exactly the type of organization that
623
00:31:49.480 --> 00:31:53.680
could come under fire in this current administration. How do
624
00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:55.079
you see where we are now?
625
00:31:56.599 --> 00:32:01.279
Well, the way where the way I look at current
626
00:32:01.400 --> 00:32:06.279
things is to look at history. We're really in sort
627
00:32:06.319 --> 00:32:08.480
of a post reconstruction era.
628
00:32:09.079 --> 00:32:09.279
You know.
629
00:32:09.640 --> 00:32:14.039
Uh, I'm one that believes history doesn't repeat itself, but
630
00:32:14.119 --> 00:32:19.839
it does rhyme. And there's there has always been in
631
00:32:19.880 --> 00:32:25.400
this country a fundamental core of people who are basically
632
00:32:25.680 --> 00:32:29.680
white supremacists. That's why we had we had the Civil
633
00:32:29.759 --> 00:32:34.799
rights uh, I mean the Civil War, and so there's
634
00:32:34.839 --> 00:32:40.279
a constant struggle between those of us who believe in
635
00:32:40.319 --> 00:32:46.720
a multi racial democracy and those people who believe that
636
00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:50.440
there should be white rulers of the world. You know,
637
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:54.279
now that's not unique for black folks. We lived through
638
00:32:54.359 --> 00:32:59.440
Jim Crow. You know, we got to America four centuries
639
00:32:59.480 --> 00:33:03.880
ago in sixteen nineteen, and we didn't get the full
640
00:33:04.079 --> 00:33:08.039
right to participate and vote until the Voting Rights Act
641
00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:12.799
was passed in nineteen sixty five. So from sixteen nineteen
642
00:33:13.720 --> 00:33:19.759
until nineteen sixty five, we lived under an oppressive system
643
00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:23.599
of apartheid. And there always have been peaks and valleys.
644
00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:28.000
You know, if you study history, it right after the
645
00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:31.000
Civil War, for the first time there were a number
646
00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:33.920
excuse me a blacks who were elected to the Senate.
647
00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.400
They were able to create schools, free slaves, created over
648
00:33:39.480 --> 00:33:44.359
one hundred HBCUs. It still exists today. And yet there
649
00:33:44.640 --> 00:33:48.640
was the reaction of the ku Klux Klan, the black codes,
650
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:53.200
the denial of voting rights, and we had to continue
651
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:57.319
to fight even after the Civil Rights movement until we
652
00:33:57.480 --> 00:34:00.720
got the voting rights we were at. What we're seeing
653
00:34:00.720 --> 00:34:06.480
now is kind of that cyclical reaction of conservative white
654
00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:10.800
nationalists to the progress of colored people in America. And
655
00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:15.519
so I think that now is a time when more
656
00:34:15.639 --> 00:34:19.559
than ever, we need to be vigilant. We need to
657
00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:25.800
be active. Everybody that is a person of color needs
658
00:34:25.880 --> 00:34:30.320
to vote. They need to understand that we have to
659
00:34:30.360 --> 00:34:34.840
strengthen the organizations in our communities that really are the
660
00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:43.599
bedrock democracy. It's it's local organizations, it's local nonprofits, it's
661
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:48.880
local churches. All of those organizations need to be strengthened
662
00:34:49.239 --> 00:34:54.679
because they really are the bulwark against hypocrisy. And we're
663
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:58.840
in a fight, and it's a very serious fight. I
664
00:34:58.840 --> 00:35:03.760
was listening to somebody a few weeks ago who were saying, well,
665
00:35:03.800 --> 00:35:08.519
you know, in the nineteen sixties, over eighty percent of
666
00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:14.920
the people in America were white. Today that percentage of
667
00:35:15.000 --> 00:35:18.039
people who are white is down to about fifty seven percent.
668
00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:24.159
And so there is a reaction that's taking place in
669
00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:28.119
the most conservative parts of white America to say, we
670
00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:31.599
need to stop this because in another twenty years, the
671
00:35:31.679 --> 00:35:34.199
majority of people in America will be people of color.
672
00:35:34.920 --> 00:35:37.719
And that's what's led to this idea of we need
673
00:35:37.760 --> 00:35:43.960
to deport one hundred million people. And the things that
674
00:35:44.119 --> 00:35:47.599
are happening are designed to try and turn the clock back.
675
00:35:48.360 --> 00:35:51.199
I think you can't turn the clock back. I hope
676
00:35:51.239 --> 00:35:56.880
that we're able to resist and overthrow the forces of
677
00:35:56.920 --> 00:36:02.239
white nationalism without there being another soul war. But you know,
678
00:36:02.679 --> 00:36:07.440
I've often said that this time is the time when
679
00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:11.280
when we need to look back in our history. I
680
00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:15.079
think Abraham Lincoln and his Gettysburg address said it perfectly
681
00:36:15.679 --> 00:36:19.639
when he said, you know, our forefathers brought forth upon
682
00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:24.280
this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated
683
00:36:24.360 --> 00:36:28.360
to the proposition that all men are created equal, and
684
00:36:28.480 --> 00:36:34.000
that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights,
685
00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:38.000
among those being the right to the pursuit of life, liberty,
686
00:36:38.039 --> 00:36:41.599
and happiness. Now we are engaged in this great civil
687
00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:47.239
war to determine whether this nation, or any nation so conceived,
688
00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:53.239
can long endure. This is the oldest multi racial democracy
689
00:36:53.599 --> 00:36:56.760
in the history of the world. We're coming up on
690
00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:00.800
our twred and fifty year anniversary as a country, and
691
00:37:00.840 --> 00:37:03.679
when you look at the history, there's been a steady
692
00:37:03.880 --> 00:37:10.079
progress of expanding rights, expanding the ability of people to
693
00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:15.440
participate in society. And we now have in the head
694
00:37:15.440 --> 00:37:18.880
of our administration a group of people who are trying
695
00:37:18.920 --> 00:37:22.440
to reverse what has been the moral arc of the
696
00:37:22.559 --> 00:37:25.639
universe in America for twenty and fifty years. We have
697
00:37:25.719 --> 00:37:29.440
to oppose it in every battlefield.
698
00:37:28.719 --> 00:37:31.239
That we can, I mean and just I mean.
699
00:37:31.760 --> 00:37:34.039
We could talk about this for now, but just a
700
00:37:34.119 --> 00:37:37.719
quick snapshot with your attorney hat on. With the gutting
701
00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:41.079
of the Voting Rights Act? Is that possible?
702
00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:42.159
Is it?
703
00:37:42.159 --> 00:37:44.039
It kind of feels insurmountable.
704
00:37:45.559 --> 00:37:50.440
Well, the answer is to things one, the gutting of
705
00:37:50.440 --> 00:37:56.559
the Voting Rights Act, it may in some respects create opportunity.
706
00:37:56.679 --> 00:37:59.000
You know, I always think that you have to look
707
00:37:59.039 --> 00:38:02.320
at both sides of the problem. One of the things
708
00:38:02.360 --> 00:38:06.920
that the Southerners had done over the years to jerryman
709
00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:10.000
their districts is they able to round up all the
710
00:38:10.039 --> 00:38:13.519
black folks. Let's say, like in South Carolina. South Carolina
711
00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:16.599
is thirty percent black, they put all the black folks
712
00:38:16.679 --> 00:38:21.880
in one district. Basically that Jim Clyburn represents. If you
713
00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:25.760
break up the black folks and spread them around in
714
00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:29.280
other districts, the people who are doing it may not
715
00:38:29.320 --> 00:38:32.119
get what they want because all of a sudden, you
716
00:38:32.280 --> 00:38:36.840
may have enough black folks in different districts so that
717
00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:40.320
somebody can come along who is not a right wing
718
00:38:40.360 --> 00:38:44.400
Republican and win. Because let's say, all of a sudden,
719
00:38:44.400 --> 00:38:47.199
the district that used to be one hundred percent white
720
00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:50.440
is now going to be twenty percent black. Well, if
721
00:38:50.440 --> 00:38:54.119
you get the twenty percent blacks voting for another candidate,
722
00:38:54.599 --> 00:38:57.400
you only need to get thirty percent of the whites,
723
00:38:57.960 --> 00:39:02.840
Whereas in a situation you'd have to have at least
724
00:39:02.840 --> 00:39:05.440
fifty percent plus one of the whites to vote against
725
00:39:05.440 --> 00:39:08.920
the conservative candidates. But there may be twenty five or
726
00:39:09.039 --> 00:39:12.559
thirty percent of whites who don't like that candidate, but
727
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they can't win because there's nobody else for them to
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lie with. So you know, one of the things I
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would say is people should be careful for what they
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wish for, because the chickens may come home to roosts.
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You may say we're going to break up black districts,
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but what you are also doing is you're straying around
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black folks who can still vote, and they may vote
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for candidates that are not the Republican candidate. And that's
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00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:42.880
why I say it is so important for us to
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be informed and not to give up on voting, but
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to look at the opportunities that may exist to sort
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of turn the worm, if you will.
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So yeah, so well said, so well said.
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We have to leave it there.
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Attorney Virgil Roberts, congratulations to you on your able award.
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If you guys want to go, and there might be
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00:40:03.360 --> 00:40:05.440
some tickets left, you can go to AA b l
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00:40:05.480 --> 00:40:08.920
I dot org. It's at the Skirball Cultural Center. It
745
00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:11.679
is tonight you may be able to purchase a ticket.
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Congratulations and thank you once again for joining.
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00:40:14.639 --> 00:40:17.599
Us well dominics, Thank you and thank you for the
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00:40:17.639 --> 00:40:19.440
work that you do in our community. You really help
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00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:21.960
keep people unformed. I appreciate you.
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00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:25.360
Oh thanks, that's much appreciated. Tavis Smiley does the same.
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00:40:25.400 --> 00:40:27.440
He's up next and guess who he's got on today.
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00:40:27.440 --> 00:40:30.480
He's got Javier Bessetta, who's running for governor. So you
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00:40:30.639 --> 00:40:34.519
do not want to miss that. All y'all confused ones
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00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:38.239
out there. Put myself in that category. Two. Like my father,
755
00:40:38.360 --> 00:40:41.639
the late Great Amir Baraka, used to say, a person
756
00:40:41.719 --> 00:40:44.880
is either free or they are not free. There can
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00:40:44.880 --> 00:40:49.000
be no apprenticeship for freedom. And I shall see you
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00:40:49.199 --> 00:40:52.599
on social media at KBLA fifteen eighty or find me
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00:40:52.800 --> 00:40:55.400
at Duprema Radio d I p R I m A
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00:40:55.639 --> 00:40:59.360
and then radio until tomorrow. One love,