KBLA’s Altadena Rising Town Hall: Understanding the Wildfire Recovery Compensation Fund (Part Two)

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And then I actually apparently have not been paying that
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much attention to the news today because Andy told me
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when I walked in that we also lost Dwayne Wiggins
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from Tony Tony Tony, so we are losing the greats uh,
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and wanted to take a minute to appreciate them as
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they as they transition. So we are also uh, continuing
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our conversation about the thing. There are many things maybe right,
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but certainly one thing that that that sort of shaped
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the conversation. The political conversation of the week was the State.
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Of the Union.
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And you know, whether you watched or you did not
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watch the State of the Union, the one thing that
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you certainly know by now is that Representative Al Green
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of Texas stood up during the Joint Session Joined address
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and you know, took Trump to task for his lies
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and threats to medic Aid and Medicare and social Security.
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He was very clear both during and after that his
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protest was a protest of conscience and morality. And after that,
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you know, his his uh, you know, he was very
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clearly concerned about a set of issues, right, and that
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the programs that we are seeing under threat from the
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Trump administration that cuts to those programs will destroy lives
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in his district and across the country. But he also
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said that he was willing to accept whatever punishment that
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Republicans were prepared to hand out because his protest was
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righteous and he was okay with whatever they were gonna do.
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And the punishment came swiftly. Representative Green was censured in
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the House the very next day. Now, mind you, when
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Joe wash called Obama a liar at the State of
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the Union, he was not censured. When Margie Taylor Green
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and Lauren Bolbert screeched at Joe Biden twenty three and
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again in twenty twenty four, they were not centured. But
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apparently censure wasn't enough for the Republican majority in the House.
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They have introduced.
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Resolutions to have not only Representative Green kicked off of
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his committees, but every single Democrat who stood in solidarity
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with him in the well of the House while Republicans
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tried to shame him.
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They want them kicked off their committees too.
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So now, obviously, kicking Congressional Black Caucus members and other
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Democrats off of committees is an absolute red line. And
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I think we have a clip andy of Leader Hakeem
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Jefferies and what he had to say about these efforts.
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Here in the office.
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Just finished up a telephone town hall meeting with my
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dynamic sister, our Attorney General Tis James, and my team
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informs me that some far right extremists have introduced a
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resolution to try to throw Democratic members of the House
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off of our committees. That resolution is going nowhere. You
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ain't throwing no one off of any single committee. These
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people are malignant clowns Andy Ogos is a fraud, a
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complete and total fraud. You aren't throwing anyone off of
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any committee in the House of Representatives. Don't make me
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expose you to folks who don't know you.
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So I love when Representative Jeffries just refuses to code switch,
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when he just says what he means. And so I
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think that what that's a demonstration of is that the
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Democrats are, you know, are not going to allow their
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members to be thrown off committees. And we can talk
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some other time, and maybe we will a little bit
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later with our guest about why committees are so important
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and what we're seeing the attacks that we're actually seeing
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on the committees.
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But it's also.
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Important to note that there were ten House Democrats who
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crossed the aisle to censure their own, who crossisle to
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censure Representative Green for quote reach of conduct right they
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were so they were clutching their pearls at the fact
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that he stood up and spoke true to power. And
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in many ways, I think that those Democrats, those ten
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democrats who who censured their own for their righteous for
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his righteous protests, in many ways, are no different from
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those who doctor Keene described in his letter from a
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Birmingham jail. He said, you deplore the demonstrations taking place,
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but your statement fails to express a similar concern for
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the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. So we think about,
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you know, them talking about the decorum of Representative Green,
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but not about the issues that they as a caucus
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are about to have to address in terms of the
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threats to Medicaid, Medicare, and social security. Doctor King said, Uh,
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the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom
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is not the white citizens counselor or the ku klux
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Klan clanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted
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to order than to justice. And I think that that
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is so much of what we're seeing from some Democrats
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right now, and it's a good thing that you all
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are staying on their phone lines because you need to
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help them shore up their spine to do the right
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thing in this moment.
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When we come forward, we are going to be.
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Joined by Chris Towler, the principal investigator of the Black
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Voter Project, and I want to talk to him about
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both what we're seeing in Congress right now, but also
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what they are learning from from voters, from Black voters
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about this moment, and we'll take talk a little bit
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about their their their most recent set of findings that
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I think are both fascinating for all of us to
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know about. So when we come forward, we'll have that conversation.
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Stay with us. This is KBLA Talk fifteen eighty.
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You are listening to the Black Pack on Adrian, Shropshire,
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and we are joined by Chris Towler.
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Chris, I'm glad to have you on.
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I want to talk a little bit about what we're
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seeing in Congress right now. Someone in the comments on
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the live on YouTube ask me to name the names
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of the ten Democrats who voted to to censure Rep.
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Green and I'm gonna I'm gonna do that but before
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I do that, I want to just get your thoughts
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on what we're what we're seeing right now. I mean,
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we saw again the sort of you know, I guess
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one question would be like, what kind of message actually
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is does it send? Right when we see Democrats joining
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the other side of the aisle, which we know is
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anti democratic, right, that is undermining every institution, uh, dismantling
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you know, in support of antling all of our government agencies.
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What kind of message does that send?
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One?
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And then and then two, I want to talk about
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what we're seeing in committees, especially since they're you know,
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part of the resolutions that got put forward today were
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about removing or yesterday we're about removing democrats from from
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from committees.
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Well, thanks so much for having me back on the show.
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Happy to be here and excited to talk with you.
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I think you know, from what I study, which is
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primarily black public opinion and political behavior, the general attitude
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around the city of the Union speech was especially for representatives,
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either don't show up or if you're going to show up,
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do something right. Make it be known that you do
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not support what's going on. And I think Representative Green
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did that, and you know, the overwhelming sentiment amongst my
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circle is that you know, most, if not all Democrats
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should have walked out with him and followed him out
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of the out of the speech altogether. But the censoring
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that's taking place is really just another reflection of something
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that I'll hopefully get a chance to talk about in
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the data, which is really that there's there's a sense
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amongst the black community that there's not really room for
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them in politics, especially in the Republican Party, but maybe
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not even in the Democratic Party as well, and that
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there's there there's really no sense that black attitudes, black representation,
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black politics is important or valued or considered something we're
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standing up for. And I think that's what, you know,
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the what's being sort of reflected in these ten Democrats
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who did end up voting to center representative Green, three
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of whom were also strongly pushing for Biden to drop
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out as well and move forward, you know, in the
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presidential race.
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So yeah, that's right.
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Well, I think I'm I'm glad you brought brought up
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this this sort of debate before the State of the Union,
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because I certainly I at least from from from my perspective.
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You know, we were we were saying to.
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Uh, all Democrats, but certainly the Congressional Black Caucus, that
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they should not go right, that they should not give
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him an audience, that they should not give him an
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opportunity to demean our community, to attempt to humiliate our community,
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to give him the you know, made for TV moments
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that he that he desires, right, that they should that
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they should stay home, right, and they and you know,
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they different members and certainly the leadership had a whole
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host of reasons why they thought that it was important
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for Democrats to to to be in attendance, and even
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for those who did walk out, because there were about
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twenty of them who walked out after Representative Green was removed, uh,
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and they talked about they sort of gave their reasons
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for being there in the first place. Some folks said
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that they, you know, there was sort of a procedural
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thing where they you know, they didn't want for their
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seats to be filled by you know, Republican staffers, and
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that if they didn't claim their seat at the beginning,
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that it would have been filled. But you know, when
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they left, you know, during the speech, that their seat
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would remain empty. But it just felt like much like
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the the Oval Office visit with Zelensky that it really
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was about posturing. It really was about uh, coning people.
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It really was about you know, you know, being hostile, right.
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And and when we think about the President of the
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United States being hostile to members of Congress, they're really
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being hostile to their constituents, right. And so I think
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that that's the you know, when we think about that
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that debate ahead of time, it really was from my perspective,
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it was why why give him that?
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Right?
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He craves attention, Why give him attention?
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Yeah? And Trump, Trump has a history of sort of
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searching for to be hostile, specifically to black representation. And
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it takes you back to the interview he did with
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the National Association of Black Journalists where it was a
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real intentional attempt to have sort of a power to
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show power over black people. And you know, I think
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despite the powerful statement that Representative Green may, ultimately this
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played into his hands, into Maggi's hands and their ability
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to show that they're in power and they can control
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black representatives and in turn, as you mentioned, right, black
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constituents and voters.
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Yeah, so let me ask you about you know, some
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of the data that you all are seeing. I mean,
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I think that there and tell me what the sort
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of sentiment around, you know, the the idea of black
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representation and politics right now and in political institutions right now.
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And I asked that question about is there a sentiment
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or that you all see around that question because because
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of this threat right to to kick members off of
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their committees, we saw how outrageously representative Aana Presley was
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treated the other day on her committee when she tried
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to read, you know, a title of an article into
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the record that was about, you know, the sort of
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lie around immigrant communities and we were just talking to
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Nana Jumfi about black black immigrants.
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She tried to read into the record the.
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Lie around crimes being committed by by immigrants, and was was,
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you know, now I'm doing decorum right, like trying to
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find the words right, like treated very badly, right, treated
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very harshly, treated in an incredibly offensive way. And so
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I just wonder about the importance right of black political
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representation right now, and how the the voters that you
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all are talking to, how they see the idea of
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the importance of representation.
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I think for black voters, especially black voters who are
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feeling somewhat disillusioned and down after the election, it's that
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much more important for them to see black representation and
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to see their voices and their sort of identity uplifted
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within the Democratic Party in national politics as much as possible,
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and to see not people sort of turning against black
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representatives speaking out and speaking up for black people, but
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embracing that. When we ended up collecting a post election
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survey as part of the Black Voter Project election series,
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and so we had data towards the second half of
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December where we actually talked to people a final time
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after the election, and interestingly enough, when thinking about representation,
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we ask people what sort of the top characteristics or
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attributes of they'd like to see in the next Democratic candidate,
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and the top astribute was having a candidate that was
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black and so black voters, you know, compared to things
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such as being politically experienced, having a high education, even
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being sort of young in age. This idea of not
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wanting older representation through it all, even after Harris has
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lost the number one that the thing most important to
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Black voters they're looking for in the next Democratic camp.
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It's another having someone that represents them and represents their race.
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And I think that really the idea of this is
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not only there in this type of direct representation and
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descriptive representation, but it also shows as you mentioned with
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Presley's the clip going around of press League trying to
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enter some something into the record that's being denied, and
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the sort of procedural impacts that she has, aside from
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necessarily just passing policy or even speaking up for people
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being there and having her voice and the voice of
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her constituents on the record challenging power structures. As you mentioned,
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speaking truth to power is something that's extremely important, right,
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and is almost one of these intangible things that goes
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into understanding black representation.
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Mm hmm.
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So I want to talk I want to talk a
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little bit about I want to go back right or
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maybe look backwards perhaps right.
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And so you and I talked about before about.
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This sort of narrative that was emerging around the campaign, right,
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the sort of narrative that there was going to be
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this massive racial realignment of black voters right behind Donald Trump.
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We coming out of the election, we you know, understand
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that he may have made some gains, right, But I
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think my question for you there's is maybe two. And
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so one is, you know, what is the evidence of
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this sort of you know, gains that he made in
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some places, Is there actual evidence of that?
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Is is that really the case?
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And then the other question is we did not see,
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as had been predicted by you know, every pundit in
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the country, that there was going to be this massive
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racial realignment, political realignment, and and yet they're still talking
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about it, I mean, and so like we can't get
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beyond you know, like it's again it's like, you know,
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don't believe you're lying eyes, right, and we sort of
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can't get beyond this ongoing you know, narrative and and
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and you know, Trump does it too, right, It's a
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part of the propaganda at this point. But why can
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we not get beyond it? And is it because we
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really did see shifts that that you know, allow people
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to continue to try and force this argument.
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So from what I've seen, there's absolutely no evidence of
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a racial realignment, especially when it comes to black folks.
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Looking at a general data or the data that collected
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with the Black Voter Project, black voters supported Harris at
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almost exactly the same rate that they supported Biden in
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twenty twenty and only about twelve percent of the Black
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community reported voting for Trump, again almost identical to the
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support he got in twenty twenty. Moreover, a lot of
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the discourse around this racial realignment was with black men,
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and my data actually suggests that black men, when it
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was all said and done, supported Terrris at slightly higher
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rates than they supported in twenty twenty, where I have
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about eighty two percent of black men saying that they
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voted for Kamala Harris for president. And so the evidence
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suggests nothing of the sort when it comes to a
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racial realignment. If anything, we might be able to make
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an argument for a slight adjustment of Latino voters when
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it came to their understanding of sort of the candidate
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that's best for them, but overall, no evidence of a
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racial realignment, especially when it comes to Black voters. And
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so now when it comes to understanding how this conversation
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is continuing and why we keep caring about it, I
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think what we can't say is that it was somewhat
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effective in driving down turnouts and creating this idea that
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there might be little, you know, less difference between the
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two candidates than we're being told, building some sense of
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false equivalency between the Democrats and Republicans and their ideas
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that are putting forward and whether or not someone is
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actually good or bad black community. And we did see
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turnout drops significantly across the board, especially in some of
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the more urban areas where you have more black votis right.
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And that's I think again to your point. I think
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that that uh demonstrates the effectiveness of the propaganda campaign, right,
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the effect effectiveness of a lot of the dis and
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misinformation that we were you know, that everyone was sort
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of warning about, but the campaigns didn't. The campaign didn't
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seem to be able to get on top of that
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ar or to disrupt that in a way that would
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impact people's participation. And so I can see that now
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too as being you know, as we head into off
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your elections and as we head into the midterms. Part
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of the reason that we're still hearing that narrative or
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that narrative is still being pushed is because it again
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can have impact right on people's willingness to participate in
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the in the upcoming elections. And I know we talk
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a lot about twenty six and and you know, at
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the federal level, but it's also important I think for
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folks to remember that there are local and state elections
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this year in many places around the country, and so
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it's still so we still have a problem, right, We
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still have a problem with making sure that people are
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getting accurate information, that people understand the distinctions, et cetera. So, Chris,
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when we come forward, I want to talk a little
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bit about the data about what you are seeing in
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the top lines in your in about your study. I
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think there's just a lot of great data there that's
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important for us to try and uncover.
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And let people know about. So stay with us.
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This is KBLA talk fifteen eighty year listening to the
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Black Pack, and we will be back with Chris Twler
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from the Black Voter Project. You are listening to the
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Black Pack and we are talking with Chris Tyler of
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the Principal Investigator. But you know, so every time I
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say that, I want to ask you, what does the
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principal investigator do?
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In my case, as the principal investigator or director of
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the Black Voter Project, for years, I've pretty much done everything.
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It's been a project that has been my baby, and
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I've you know, sort of built from the ground up
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over the years I've had the opportunity to work with
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some wonderful copis. This most recent election survey, I worked
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with Professor Christopher Parker at U SEE Santa Barbara, who
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is an expert in sort of black politics and public
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opinion as well, and so that you know, offered so
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much more insight and expertise to this round of the survey.
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But for the most part, right, I've taken on at
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times everything from designing the survey, to programming the survey,
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to testing the survey, collecting sample, you know, analyzing data.
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Pretty much all that goes into, yeah, goes into completing
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such a project.
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All the things. I love it.
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I I you know, both when I when I when
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I say it and I see it, I think I
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want to like I want you know, I want that
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on my business card too, principal investigator for you of
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the Black Voter Project. So I wanted to talk when
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we when we talked last, I think when we talked last,
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you all were uh in the wrapping up the final
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round of of the twenty twenty four Black Voter Study,
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and so we were we were going to come back
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and and talk about you know, that piece of it.
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And so I'm wondering that, you know, when we think about,
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you know, all that happened in twenty twenty four and
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again just to sort of looking back, and we know
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there's some looking forward that we need to do as well.
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What did you all find in terms of top lines
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that stood out to you about about black voters and
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their role and their participation in the twenty twenty four election.
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Yeah, So last time we talked, we had just wrapped
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up the final and fourth wave of the survey, which
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ended up being a post election wave, which we fielded
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in December. We surveyed about six hundred and sixty five
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Black respondents across the country. Ninety three percent of those
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we surveyed were people from previous ways of the survey,
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which means that we can go back and actually look
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at differences in opinions and attitudes with these people before
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and after the election and throughout the election cycle. And so,
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as I mentioned, right, we're able to not only understand
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sort of top lines, but also track public opinion and
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attitudes during this entire campaign. I think some of the
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most interesting things that came out, aside from understanding just
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ok choice right, was looking at attitudes, particularly towards the
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Democratic Party and how black people feel about politics moving forward.
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And so, as I mentioned a lot of black people,
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our survey results suggest that there's a significant amount of
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black people that saw the Democratic Party as more welcoming
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to them throughout the course of the campaign, such that
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in Wave one, when we collected data in April, about
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twenty eight percent of the people we survey said that
401
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the Democratic Party was extremely welcoming to Black people. That
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jumped up to thirty six percent in August. Again we're
403
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talking to the same people, So people changed their minds
404
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up to thirty six percent in August once Harris became
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the nominee, and then it jumped even further up to
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forty two percent. Almost half of black people that we
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were talking to said that the Democratic Party was extremely
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welcoming to them by the time we were in Wave
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three in October, and so we saw this steady increase
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in positive perceptions towards the Democratic Party and it's, you know,
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the space for black people. However, in Way four we
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saw a decline there where it dropped from forty two
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percent to thirty five percent, slightly lower even than Wave two.
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After the election, we're only thirty five percent said the
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Democratic Party was extremely welcoming to black people, suggesting that
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this sort of push with Harris was changing perceptions of
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how black people view the Democratic Party, seeing it as
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more welcoming. But we saw a somewhat sharp reversal of
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that following the election. And you know, we've been doing
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focus groups the last couple of weeks talking to black
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people more individual in group settings across the country, and
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that sentiment is persisting that they want to see the
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Democratic Party fight. They're worried that the Democratic Party is
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going to turn away from Black voters and black representation
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because of Harris's loss.
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And so, are there when you're talking to folks in
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the groups, does it seem like folks feel like it's
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going to be kind of business as usual in these
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off your elections and also as we head into the
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midterms of twenty twenty six, or are there opportunities for
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engaging black voters that you have been able to glean
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from those conversations or even from the post election analysis.
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There's absolutely opportunities to engage black voters. However, the black
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voters who were sort of on the fence and maybe
435
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sat out twenty twenty four after voting in twenty twenty
436
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or maybe voting problema previously. Those black voters are even
437
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more apathetic and disillusion than before. And so another important
438
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finding that I wanted to point out from the survey
439
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is we also asked people whether or not a second
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Truck presidency would motivate them to become more committed to politics, yeah,
441
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or if, on the other hand, they viewed the second
442
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Truck president and sy as exhausting and they kind of
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just wanted to be left alone. And what our results
444
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suggested that forty three percent of people felt they wanted
445
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to be left alone, with only twenty three percent saying
446
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they were motivated and committed to politics following the election.
447
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Even more so, when we look at that breakdown by gender,
448
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a whole fifty one percent of Black women said that
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they saw a second from presidency as more exhausting and
450
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really just wanted to be left alone following the election.
451
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And so that there are opportunity out there, but.
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That's a big number for people are worn out.
453
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Yeah, people are worn out. People feel you know, a
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little less hopeful, there's less positive perceptions of the Democratic
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Party as a whole, and so there's going to need
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to be a lot of work put in on the
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ground and through messaging to re engage black voters and
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not only right bringing them back into the fold, but
459
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as we see increase turn so that we surpassed twenty
460
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twenty four and get closer to twenty twenty numbers and beyond.
461
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Yeah.
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So I mean that it is the thing that that
463
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is striking about that, not as just I mean not surprising, certainly, right,
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like there's a greater sense of apathy and disillusion among
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voters who didn't participate in twenty four. But what is
466
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striking to me is that in order to have the
467
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kinds of conversations that need to be had with those voters,
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that work actually has to begin right now. And there's
469
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always this tendency right certainly within the democratic ecosystem to
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not talk to those folks into the very last minute, right,
471
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And so I wonder if folks feel that, right, if
472
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voters feel that sort of you know, you can, we
473
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can put you on the back boner and wait until
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the last minute and talk to you. Does that come
475
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through that people see that sort of being take it
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for granted as an actual real thing.
477
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I think it does come through, And I think some
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of our data speaks to that in a more detailed way,
479
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where we also asked people whether or not they had
480
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been contacted by the Harris campaign or someone sort of
481
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working for Harris. And what we found is that forty
482
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one percent of voters said that they were never contacted
483
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at all. And we asked about different different modes of contact,
484
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things such as email, text message, social media, in person contact,
485
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so on and so forth. But when we looked at
486
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that by age groups, a whole fifty two percent of
487
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eighteen to twenty nine year old said that they had
488
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never been weren't touched by the Biden or by the
489
00:28:42.200 --> 00:28:45.720
Harris campaign, right, they were not contacted, And of those
490
00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:49.039
who did not vote in twenty twenty, another fifty six
491
00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:52.000
percent said that they did not receive any type of contact.
492
00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:54.599
So you know, there's a higher rate of non contact
493
00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:58.039
in the group's right looking back, that probably needed the
494
00:28:58.119 --> 00:29:01.079
most contact to get out to vote, to get off
495
00:29:01.119 --> 00:29:03.400
the couch and possibly turn the tide in some of
496
00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:04.240
these swing states.
497
00:29:04.359 --> 00:29:07.839
Yeah, well, we have a lot of work cut out
498
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:09.759
for us, because I think that as as you know,
499
00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:13.079
that this work is not just about you know, getting
500
00:29:13.119 --> 00:29:15.440
people to vote, but it really is about the broader
501
00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:19.279
you know, small deed democratic participation, and the need for
502
00:29:19.279 --> 00:29:23.039
folks to be active in civic life for a whole
503
00:29:23.319 --> 00:29:25.640
host of reasons, right, not just to get folks elected,
504
00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:27.680
but to make sure that we're driving policy and getting
505
00:29:27.720 --> 00:29:29.839
you know, having the kind of moving the kind of
506
00:29:29.880 --> 00:29:33.279
agenda that's that's necessary to improve the lives of our communities.
507
00:29:33.279 --> 00:29:36.400
And so if we can't get folks to participate in voting,
508
00:29:36.599 --> 00:29:38.720
we can't get them to participate in anything else.
509
00:29:38.759 --> 00:29:40.599
So a lot of work to do.
510
00:29:40.680 --> 00:29:43.720
And I appreciate the the data and the analysis that
511
00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:45.799
you all are putting out there and providing because it
512
00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:48.440
gives a blueprint, right it says that these are that
513
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:50.440
it helps us to see these are the things and
514
00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:52.160
the places, and the and the and the folks that
515
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:53.079
we need to focus on.
516
00:29:53.160 --> 00:29:55.319
So I want to again as.
517
00:29:55.200 --> 00:29:58.440
Always, appreciate you for the work that you all are
518
00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:01.279
doing and for sharing the data that you all have
519
00:30:01.839 --> 00:30:05.160
with us on the show, but also broadly, so again,
520
00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:09.480
Chris Towler, the principal investigator at the Black Voter Project,
521
00:30:09.559 --> 00:30:11.039
I want to thank you for joining us again and
522
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:12.400
then hope to have you back on soon.
523
00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:15.519
Thank you so much. Always a pleasure.
524
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:18.559
Of course, when we come forward, we're going to talk
525
00:30:18.599 --> 00:30:22.119
about a new show that is going to be airing
526
00:30:22.160 --> 00:30:28.559
on KBLA Talk fifteen eighty tomorrow, really focusing on the
527
00:30:28.640 --> 00:30:35.799
Alta Dina fire and the rebuilding of that will have
528
00:30:35.880 --> 00:30:40.200
to happen with residents who have been displaced and sometimes
529
00:30:40.480 --> 00:30:43.440
overlooked and forgotten. So we're going to talk about that
530
00:30:43.480 --> 00:30:44.200
when we come forward.
531
00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:46.880
Stay with this. This is KBLA Talk fifteen eighty. This is
532
00:30:46.960 --> 00:30:47.559
the Black Pack.
533
00:30:47.599 --> 00:30:50.559
I'm your host Adrian Shropshire, and joining us now is
534
00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:54.880
James Farr, the host of the new KBLA show starting
535
00:30:54.880 --> 00:31:00.279
tomorrow called Conversation Live Alta Dina Rising. So welcome to
536
00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.400
the Black Pack, James.
537
00:31:02.720 --> 00:31:05.920
So Stagdrian, thank you so much for having me such
538
00:31:05.960 --> 00:31:08.279
a pleasure to be here on the Black Pack.
539
00:31:08.400 --> 00:31:12.960
Wow, this is nice. Well, I appreciate you joining us
540
00:31:13.039 --> 00:31:16.680
and talking to us a little bit about the show.
541
00:31:16.759 --> 00:31:20.640
So it's premiere, it's premiere and tomorrow it's called Conversation
542
00:31:20.759 --> 00:31:24.799
Live Altadena Rising. Tell us a little bit about the show.
543
00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:27.920
First of all, tell us the time for tomorrow.
544
00:31:27.519 --> 00:31:31.039
Well, the time the show premiere is live tomorrow at
545
00:31:31.079 --> 00:31:34.839
ten am Pacific, Standard that's one o'clock on the East Coast,
546
00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:38.880
and then there's a replay on Sunday at twelve noon
547
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:44.480
Pacific Standard and three pm Eastern Standard time for folks,
548
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:46.000
and they'll be able to if they miss it on
549
00:31:46.039 --> 00:31:50.240
Saturday Live, they can certainly catch it Sunday after they
550
00:31:50.240 --> 00:31:51.079
get out of church.
551
00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.000
So folks will have two opportunities to catch it over
552
00:31:55.039 --> 00:31:59.400
the weekend. So ten am Pacific on Saturday Live and
553
00:31:59.480 --> 00:32:03.319
then rebroadcast on noon on Sunday. So tell us a
554
00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:06.440
little bit about the show and how you're going to
555
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:09.279
be focusing Altadena.
556
00:32:09.440 --> 00:32:13.359
In the absolutely as many are familiar with and then
557
00:32:13.680 --> 00:32:17.279
some aren't, kind of outside of our Los Angeles region.
558
00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:23.559
But on January seventh of this year, Altadena was scorched,
559
00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:28.240
torched and burned to the ground and a massifire that
560
00:32:28.480 --> 00:32:34.519
is beyond comprehension Sosa Adrian and so we're talking about
561
00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:38.960
thousands of black folks and Altadenians that have been displaced.
562
00:32:39.279 --> 00:32:43.480
Over eleven thousand structures were essentially burned to the ground.
563
00:32:44.799 --> 00:32:49.279
Altadena was an African American enclave where you know upwards
564
00:32:49.279 --> 00:32:52.880
of eighty percent of the African American and our folks
565
00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:57.039
that lived, there were homeowners, so it was a community
566
00:32:57.119 --> 00:33:02.640
that was steeped in generational wealth, tradition, culture. I mean,
567
00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:05.160
it was just kind of like this utopia kind of
568
00:33:05.319 --> 00:33:06.880
you know, Wakanda really.
569
00:33:06.640 --> 00:33:10.039
Existed right in the foothills.
570
00:33:10.519 --> 00:33:13.319
In the foothills, and so you know, we know what's
571
00:33:13.480 --> 00:33:16.440
happened in the fire. And so what we're gonna do
572
00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:18.720
with the show is we are the show of records.
573
00:33:19.039 --> 00:33:25.000
We're going to chronicle, uh, this journey for rebuilding. We're
574
00:33:25.039 --> 00:33:27.960
going to talk about the recovery. We're going to talk
575
00:33:27.960 --> 00:33:31.240
about reunions. But before we can do that, we have
576
00:33:31.400 --> 00:33:34.680
to kind of talk about the origin, right, like the
577
00:33:34.880 --> 00:33:38.319
roots and so as you're aware, black folks been in
578
00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:41.960
Altadenas since well into the late eighteen hundred, So we
579
00:33:42.000 --> 00:33:45.519
want to bring the audience into a complete understanding of
580
00:33:45.559 --> 00:33:46.200
that community.
581
00:33:46.319 --> 00:33:46.799
I love that.
582
00:33:46.839 --> 00:33:51.400
So it's both telling the history of Alta dina why
583
00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:54.680
this is so, why it is such an important kind
584
00:33:54.680 --> 00:33:59.400
of cultural center for black folks in the Los Angeles region.
585
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:02.680
I really, I I appre I am going to appreciate that,
586
00:34:03.119 --> 00:34:05.839
and I hope that others will too. We know that
587
00:34:06.480 --> 00:34:09.800
Altadena was, you know, overlooked in many ways During the
588
00:34:09.840 --> 00:34:12.920
course of the fires, the media coverage largely focused in
589
00:34:12.960 --> 00:34:16.039
many ways on U on the Palisades.
590
00:34:16.880 --> 00:34:17.519
You know, I can.
591
00:34:17.440 --> 00:34:24.559
Remember during you know, that that first few days, right, remembering,
592
00:34:24.840 --> 00:34:28.599
you know, saying that the only people that the people
593
00:34:28.639 --> 00:34:31.960
that I know that have lost their homes are people
594
00:34:32.159 --> 00:34:36.280
in in Altadena. And that's just about the connections of
595
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:39.679
our of our community, right. But a lot was being
596
00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:44.119
missed in the coverage of of the fires. But you
597
00:34:44.519 --> 00:34:48.320
were on the ground right in the immediate aftermath, you know,
598
00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:50.639
covering what was what was going on. Can you talk
599
00:34:50.960 --> 00:34:54.159
a little bit about the importance of black media right
600
00:34:54.199 --> 00:34:57.239
in elevating the stories of our people, and particularly in
601
00:34:57.280 --> 00:35:00.199
moments of tragedy like this. Yeah.
602
00:35:00.199 --> 00:35:03.280
Absolutely. I mean I have the duality of being someone
603
00:35:03.320 --> 00:35:05.480
that lives in this community. I live on the border
604
00:35:05.480 --> 00:35:08.760
of Altadena, and so I was amongst the first to
605
00:35:09.079 --> 00:35:13.599
have to evacuate. And I consider myself extremely fortunate that
606
00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:17.159
I did have notification from the police who came through
607
00:35:17.239 --> 00:35:20.519
my neighborhood on a PA system about eight point thirty
608
00:35:20.559 --> 00:35:24.960
on the seven telling us to leave. Now that being said,
609
00:35:25.079 --> 00:35:28.599
you know, as we kind of become conditioned to we
610
00:35:28.719 --> 00:35:33.280
don't see coverage of us palace ades dominated the coverage.
611
00:35:33.559 --> 00:35:36.679
It also was the fire that started first, right, and
612
00:35:36.760 --> 00:35:40.400
so in my instance, you know, once I learned that
613
00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:43.519
my home was okay, and then I woke up on
614
00:35:43.599 --> 00:35:47.960
the eighth hearing from scores of friends who live on
615
00:35:48.000 --> 00:35:50.800
a completely other side of town. I'm closer to Eton,
616
00:35:51.119 --> 00:35:54.079
and I'm finding out the news as they're finding out,
617
00:35:54.199 --> 00:35:56.840
and then in some cases they didn't know. So I
618
00:35:56.840 --> 00:36:01.880
immediately returned back to my home, grabbed my camera, my photographer,
619
00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:05.400
and we hit the streets and you know, some of
620
00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:07.880
the things that we saw in the early stages still
621
00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:11.280
with smoky Yeah, there were still fires burning, right. But
622
00:36:12.079 --> 00:36:15.679
to your question, black media has to tell this story
623
00:36:15.719 --> 00:36:19.199
if we don't do it. Kb LA Talk fifteen eighty,
624
00:36:19.199 --> 00:36:22.039
as you know, is the only talk radio station west
625
00:36:22.079 --> 00:36:26.199
of the Mississippi. It's duty and I'm honored that Tavis
626
00:36:26.239 --> 00:36:30.360
Smiley as saw fit to provide this platform for us
627
00:36:30.360 --> 00:36:32.400
to tell this for the next fifty two weeks.
628
00:36:32.639 --> 00:36:35.199
Yeah, yeah, and it will be.
629
00:36:35.320 --> 00:36:41.039
I mean, the history of Altadena is important. Understanding what happened,
630
00:36:41.840 --> 00:36:44.480
you know, during the course of that you know, week
631
00:36:44.559 --> 00:36:47.519
or so of the fires. I think, you know, the
632
00:36:47.519 --> 00:36:51.480
the missteps right, the alerts that didn't go out. That's important,
633
00:36:51.639 --> 00:36:53.559
But it's also going to be important to talk about
634
00:36:53.559 --> 00:36:57.320
the challenges of rebuilding, the challenges that families are facing.
635
00:36:57.320 --> 00:36:58.840
And I know that there's a lot of you know,
636
00:36:58.920 --> 00:37:05.000
families who you know, generations of family members lost their homes, right,
637
00:37:05.880 --> 00:37:08.280
and sort of telling that story and the challenges of rebuilding.
638
00:37:08.280 --> 00:37:11.840
I've heard lots of people you know already making comparisons
639
00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:15.400
to Hurricane Katrina, right, and the sort of worry and
640
00:37:15.480 --> 00:37:18.320
concern about whether or not we can bring our community back.
641
00:37:19.320 --> 00:37:22.199
So the all of it together, right, will be an
642
00:37:22.199 --> 00:37:24.880
important story to tell. And I wonder if you're hearing
643
00:37:24.880 --> 00:37:28.960
some of that now, right, of concerns of community members
644
00:37:29.000 --> 00:37:34.159
about the ability and the wherewithal to actually reb to
645
00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:37.920
rebuild what was and what will be again Alta Dina.
646
00:37:39.079 --> 00:37:41.559
Right, Yeah, I mean as an observer, as someone that
647
00:37:41.719 --> 00:37:45.840
has the privilege and responsibility of bearing witness to folks
648
00:37:45.880 --> 00:37:50.079
and their struggle their challenges to rebuild. What's happened in
649
00:37:50.079 --> 00:37:52.599
a Casa Adrian is there's not a light switch, right,
650
00:37:52.639 --> 00:37:56.519
There's not a universal solution for the thousands of people
651
00:37:56.519 --> 00:38:00.000
who are obviously have survived with their lives there are
652
00:38:00.079 --> 00:38:03.880
there were about I believe eighteen souls that perish here
653
00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:07.079
in the fire in Alcadena. So that the stories and
654
00:38:07.159 --> 00:38:11.079
the challenges are similar yet different. You know, it has
655
00:38:11.159 --> 00:38:15.960
a lot of uniqueness in each individual person's situation. So
656
00:38:16.400 --> 00:38:19.159
we're going to bring forward as many of those stories
657
00:38:19.199 --> 00:38:22.280
as we can and kind of balance them off with
658
00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:25.679
you know, some joy, some history, some art, you know,
659
00:38:25.760 --> 00:38:29.559
and just the nostalgia of Alcadena. But yes, we are
660
00:38:29.599 --> 00:38:33.559
hearing people selling homes or land at what you and
661
00:38:33.639 --> 00:38:36.559
I may think is under what they should be paid for.
662
00:38:37.039 --> 00:38:39.000
But I think we also have to give some grace
663
00:38:39.079 --> 00:38:43.199
in space and allow people the opportunity to decide what's
664
00:38:43.239 --> 00:38:47.519
in their best interest because the situations are so different,
665
00:38:47.559 --> 00:38:51.000
and so my folks outside of the areas allow the
666
00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:53.360
people to make the best decisions for them. This is
667
00:38:53.400 --> 00:38:57.119
a long, long road, a long long road.
668
00:38:57.199 --> 00:38:57.920
Yeah, I know that.
669
00:39:00.079 --> 00:39:03.159
You know, the folks that I know are all in
670
00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:07.559
different places right with both dealing with insurance companies.
671
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:09.559
There's some folks who have joined the lawsuits.
672
00:39:09.639 --> 00:39:12.519
There's you know, there's everyone is in a different place,
673
00:39:12.519 --> 00:39:15.360
and it's gonna and it's gonna look different. I want
674
00:39:15.360 --> 00:39:18.039
to ask you one more time as we as we
675
00:39:18.159 --> 00:39:21.239
close out here to tell folks one more time the
676
00:39:21.920 --> 00:39:25.599
details the deets on the show starting tomorrow.
677
00:39:27.679 --> 00:39:31.320
Absolutely Tomorrow is our premiere episode at ten am Pacific
678
00:39:31.400 --> 00:39:35.719
Standard time. There's a replay on Sunday at twelve pm
679
00:39:35.760 --> 00:39:39.400
Pacific Standard time. Folks can obviously download the KBLA Talk
680
00:39:39.480 --> 00:39:43.000
fifteen eighty app. They can listen to it via the website,
681
00:39:43.039 --> 00:39:45.599
and if they're in the cars and their homes doing
682
00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:48.159
what you do on a Saturday, you know, mid morning,
683
00:39:48.679 --> 00:39:51.000
you know, I want to invite you into the show,
684
00:39:51.039 --> 00:39:53.920
and I appreciate you allow me to come into your
685
00:39:54.000 --> 00:39:57.400
homes or wherever you are occupying and share this story
686
00:39:57.480 --> 00:39:59.280
over the next fifty two weeks.
687
00:39:59.719 --> 00:40:02.719
So I really appreciate you coming on and talking to
688
00:40:02.800 --> 00:40:05.119
us about the show. I will be listening tomorrow morning.
689
00:40:05.519 --> 00:40:08.360
I'm excited about your show, both of what you said,
690
00:40:08.400 --> 00:40:10.400
like giving us the you know, telling us what's happening,
691
00:40:10.440 --> 00:40:12.639
but also making sure to incorporate that with joy and
692
00:40:12.639 --> 00:40:14.480
culture and history. I really appreciate the way that you
693
00:40:14.519 --> 00:40:18.440
conceptualize the show. So thank you for joining us. Thank
694
00:40:18.480 --> 00:40:21.800
you all for joining me here once again on a
695
00:40:21.960 --> 00:40:25.960
Friday afternoon. I appreciate you all joining and listening in
696
00:40:26.000 --> 00:40:29.159
and catching up on what has happened throughout the week.
697
00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:31.559
While we'll be back next Friday forty six pm as
698
00:40:31.599 --> 00:40:35.159
you know, right here with the Black Pack, please try
699
00:40:35.199 --> 00:40:38.480
and have a great weekend. This is KBLA Talk fifteen
700
00:40:38.559 --> 00:40:38.800
eighty